Latias' Journey
by Ri2
Summary: With her home destroyed, Latias sets out on a journey to protect herself from the mysterious Ghost King. On the way, she encounters new friends and adventures, and wonders if perhaps the one who destroyed her city is really all that he seems.
1. A Vision in White

Hi, this is the sequel to my one-shot Your Secret Admirer, but this one will hopefully be a lot longer and more in depth. This will be my first big contribution to Pokemon, and I hope it will be received well. Also, my knowledge about future events in the anime is very minimal, so I apologize in advance for any continuity errors. I guess you could call it an AU if you wanted, or just think of it as your average fanfiction.

Disclaimer: Nintendo and the Pokemon company own all regular characters. Any new Pokemon or techniques are copyright of myself.

Oh, and m46ik,b6, Shedinja is NOT the Ghost King, he's just a servant. The King's true identity is a secret to all, even his own minions. And Mermaid Ninja, how can the Soul Dew restore everything if Shedinja broke it?

…

The dream started as it always did.

Latias was a vision in white, wearing a beautiful bridal gown custom-made for her Pokemon form as she floated up the makeshift aisle formed in the Alto Mare city museum. The dress was a lovely piece, done with sequins, lace, and pearls, with colorful streamers hanging off of her wings and shimmering ribbons wrapped around her arms and neck. Many women wept in jealousy at the beautiful dress. The dressmakers had nearly gone blind from the sheer amount of work needed to make the dress, but not a one of them regretted it, finding it to be the most beautiful piece of art they had ever made.

The seats arranged on both sides of the aisle were crammed full of human and Pokemon citizens of the city in the back, and closer to the front were filled with close friends and family of the bride and groom. Her brother Latios was present, along with an older dragon that could only be her mother Latias sr., whom nobody knew a thing about. Even the great legendary Pokemon were there, sitting in the front row! Latias could not help blushing and feeling a hint of pride at this. Of course they had come, she was a legendary just like them, wasn't she? They owed her the pleasure of coming to her wedding. Even so, she did feel a tiny bit humbled that all of them, from the bickering elemental birds to the elusive and mysterious Mew and Celebi, had decided to come. She would still have been satisfied if only Ho-oh and Lugia or the three mystic dogs had come, but every legendary in Kanto and Johto had seen fit to come. This truly was an event of momentous proportions that would have consequences that would change the world as everyone knew it.

Latios sr. led her up the aisle, over the fossilized Aerodactyl and Kabutops that were covered by the red carpet, and into the chamber containing the DMA, which had been painted white and decorated with rosettes and streamers to keep it from looking so foreboding at this special occasion. At the makeshift altar at the foot of the special weapon were Lorenzo, who would serve as the priest, Bianca, who would be Latias' Best Girl, a squinty-eyed man who served as the Best Man, and of course Ash. Her darling Ash. He looked stunning in his tuxedo (albeit a bit uncomfortable) and Latias could not help but laugh when she saw he was still wearing his lucky hat for this special occasion, and Pikachu was resting on his shoulder as usual. Latias reached the altar, Lorenzo read the rites and she and Ash kissed, sealing their relation as husband and wife.

At least, that was how it was _supposed_ to go.

This time, the wedding was different. It was still in the museum, she was still wearing her dress, and the majority guests were still the same citizens of Alto Mare, but a few things seemed a little off about this ceremony.

First of all, there were several Ghost Pokemon laughing gaily and floating about. Latias didn't mind, all were welcome to this occasion, and the ghosts were clearly causing no harm, just enjoying themselves.

Second, Latios sr. was not leading her up the aisle. In his place was a very tall being she had never seen before, mostly white in color. He looked fearsome and dangerous, but she couldn't help but feel comfortable at his side, and did not mind his presence much.

The third thing was that Ash was sitting in the aisle close to the front, next to Pikachu, the squinty-eyed one, a whole bunch of other Pokemon, and a girl with red hair. Ash stood up and waved to her, but the girl grabbed him by the ear and pulled him back down. Latias blinked in confusion. If Ash was marrying her, why was he sitting with the guests?

The figure at her side tugged her arm, and they kept going. Her confusion deepened when she saw that her mother and brother were nowhere to be seen, and a few new faces were sitting among the legendaries. Who were these strangers? They looked vaguely familiar, but Latias was certain she had not seen them in any of the fairy tales Lorenzo's father had read to her when she was just a little dragon, barely hatched from the egg.

She looked towards the altar, wondering who her groom was, and her vision was filled by a pair of huge glowing eyes.

…

Latias gasped and woke up, sweating and panting for breath. She looked around in confusion, seeing that she was not in her nest in the garden but instead lying on a cliff overlooking the sea, before she remembered the events of the last few days. Her memories sobered her, and she lay her head on the ground, tears seeping from her eyes as images of the burning city and the corpse of Bianca ran through her mind.

Almost a week ago, after several hours of recovering from shock and crying her eyes out, she had realized she needed to do something. She did not want the ghosts to return for her and drag her to the court of their phantasmal lord, and since she knew none of her special attacks save the ability to tackle (which is no good against Ghosts anyway) she would be ill-prepared to fight them. The first thing that came to mind was to find Ash, certain that he could protect her. She knew that he was currently in the Hoenn region thanks to numerous looks on the Pokemon League trainer database online, so she knew that he had recently won a badge in Fortree City and was heading to the Petalburg Gym to get another one. He had been supposed to get the one at Petalburg first, but he got hopelessly lost and wound up in Fortree instead. She was all ready to fly into his arms in Hoenn, before she was struck with a dismal thought. The Ghost King said he was watching her, and if she went to Ash he would know for sure he was the one she loved and would kill him immediately. In the back of her mind she wondered why the King did not already know Ash's identity if he truly had been watching her for as long as his letter seemed to indicate, but decided not to fret too much over small miracles and just do what she could to prevent the King from knowing her lover's name.

So, she puzzled over what to do next. She could not stay near the waterlogged ruins of Alto Mare, and she could not go to Hoenn. Where could she go, then?

She figured she needed someplace that was safe, but also somewhere that she could find information about the Ghost King. That way she could understand and avoid him for the rest of her life, or maybe even get help to destroy him, since she was sure she could not do it herself. And then she thought of Professor Oak. He was one of the world's foremost experts on Pokemon, had his own TV show and appeared on numerous talk shows both radio and televised, had numerous fanbases online, not to mention his own line of action figures, T-shirts, and autographed Pokeballs. Surely if anyone knew anything about the ruler of the ghost Pokemon, he would! And it would probably be safe there too, because according to information given on an interview for the popular talk show Hardball, he possessed one of the world's finest security systems, designed to protect his laboratory environs and all the rare Pokemon within. It was a bit of a stretch to assume that the security system was ghost-proof as well, but Latias didn't think it was too big a gamble. After all, the Professor himself had boasted that he had purchased the system from the high-tech land of Silica, and no other technology in Kanto or Johto could match that produced by that desolate region. Therefore it was to Professor Oak's in Pallet Town she was heading. The irony that this small hamlet also happened to be Ash's hometown did not escape her.

She looked out to the horizon and saw the sun was just starting to rise. Looked like she had woken up just in time, then. She had had the same dream, which was a mutation of her usual fanciful Ash dreams, for the last few nights, whenever she managed to catch a little sleep during her long flight to Pallet. The dream puzzled her, because it seemed just odd enough to smack of a premonition. Who had been the figure taking Latios Sr.'s place as Father of the Bride? Who had those new legendaries been? And did those great eyes belong to the Ghost King? Of the last one, Latias was almost certain. Did this dream mean that she would end up marrying the Ghost King after all? She tried to recall how she felt in the dream as the memory of it started to fade away in the growing light of day. She had not been scared at all, she had felt…happy. Did that signify she might indeed fall in love with the monster that had destroyed her home? She shook her head, denying it with every fiber of her being. She would never marry the King of the Ghosts. Never.

She grabbed some berries from a nearby bush and stuffed them into her mouth. The juicy spheres did little to dissuade the growing hunger in her stomach, but the sweet taste made her feel a little better. Maybe she could get something more filling to eat in Pallet Town. She looked around, checking for ghosts. She lacked the special vision to see invisible Pokemon that was possessed by Hoothoot and Noctowl, or by the Scopes invented by the Silph and Devon Corporations, but she felt she had to look anyway, just to be safe. As always, she saw nothing, but she was sure they were out there somewhere.

Finishing her meager breakfast, she rose into the air and continued flying eastward. She had traveled swiftly across the seaside length of Johto, and from the maps Lorenzo's father had made her memorize when she was younger she knew she was only a few hours' flight from Pallet Town.

And when she got there…

Well, she'd see what she could do. And she hoped with all her soul that the professor could protect her from the clutches of the Ghost King.

So she continued flying towards an uncertain future, haunted by the ghosts shadowing her and the horror of the past.

…

That's it for this chapter. This chapter and the next couple may be a little slow, but I'm trying to warm up and establish a few things. Afterwards, I can assure you things will get very stressful for our little dragon. Please review.


	2. Meeting the Professor

Last time: Latias had a strange dream in which she was wed to the Ghost King, and recounted her memories since her flight from Alto Mare and her intentions to find Professor Oak to protect her.

Nukerjsr, if you want to see the other movies all you have to do is go to your local Blockbuster and rent them.

Story Weaver1, I make no promises about couplings (Although I do favor Pokeshipping myself) but I'm pretty sure Latias and Ash aren't getting together.

Super Hurricane, never fear, the Ghost King is a real Pokemon. And the reason he didn't wait for Latias to die is because she's a legendary, meaning she has a lifespan of a few centuries. He might not want to wait that long. Also, he doesn't have a wife, so the position of Ghost Queen is still open. I'm not going to kill off _everyone_…and it never occurred to me to use Gastly from Maiden's Rock, but I have someone far more powerful in mind to help Latias.

Disclaimer: All characters owned by Game Freaks and Nintendo. The Silica region and Omnian belong to me.

…

Professor Oak muttered to himself as he typed up a document. "Just a few more words…there! Finished my report on the Dragonite migration patterns. Let's see the other scientists laugh at me now when I present this baby at the next conference, heh heh…"

He was interrupted from his daydreams of laughing maniacally at his colleagues, all of whom were bowing to him to demonstrate their inferiority, by a feminine voice saying "Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, phone call! Phone call! Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, phone call! Phone call!"

"Tracey, can you get that?" Oak yelled. There was no response. The phone kept repeating its annoying verbal ring like a broken record. "Tracey?"

In another part of the lab, the professor's raven-haired assistant was busy trying to keep a stack of boxes full of Pokemon chow he was carrying from toppling over. "I'm a little busy right now, Professor!"

"Oh fine, I'll get it myself." He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

To his surprise, the picture of a pink creature wearing a shell crown appeared on the video screen. "Is this Professor Oak?"

The professor reared back in surprise. "You're a Sloking!"

Sloking rolled his eyes. "Yes, and you're a human."

"And you're talking! And…" Oak paused, looking over the creature's pink body. "And you're wearing pants!"

Sloking looked down at the khakis he was wearing. A hole had been ripped out in the back to make room for his wagging tail. "So I am. I got tired of freezing all the time from sea spray or cold winds so I got something to keep my nether regions warm, but that's really not important. Are you truly Professor Oak? I thought he was one of the smartest humans around, who would surely remember meeting a rare talking Pokemon like myself."

Oak blinked. "Wait! I remember you! I met you back on Shamouti Island, after those elemental birds went berserk and the world nearly froze over!"

"Yes, I'm surprised it took you so long to remember me."

Oak laughed a little from embarrassment. "Well, I suppose I'm getting a little forgetful in my old age."

"Being immortal, that will thankfully never happen to me," said Sloking. "Anyway, it is of great importance that I speak to the Chosen One immediately. The fate of the world may be at stake."

"Er…Ash isn't here right now. He's in the Hoenn region," said Oak, slightly worried.

Sloking frowned. "Hoenn? Where's that?"

"South of here, past the Orange islands. What do you need to talk to him so badly about anyway?"

Sloking got a grave look on his face. "All four great birds are missing."

Oak was surprised. "_All_ of them?"

"Yes. It's not uncommon for one of the three birds of fire, ice, or lightning to leave occasionally to get some fresh air away from the others, but they all departed at once recently to stretch their wings out in Johto. The Guardian took this as a sign that nothing would go wrong if he took a little vacation, so he headed over to the Whirl Islands to visit his wife and child. That was six months ago. None of them have returned since then. I got worried a few weeks ago and sent a message to the Whirl Islands by Wingull, but none of the Lugia family has been seen anywhere near there for months."

The professor had a frown on his face. "That does seem odd."

Sloking nodded. "I fear some terrible force has captured the birds, like that Collector endeavored to years ago. If this is so, then the world is in danger once again. None of the prophecies I know of speak of this, so I thought the best thing to do was get in contact the Chosen One and see if he could handle things from there."

Oak sighed. "Well, Ash is in the Hoenn region so I don't think he can be of much help at the moment, but I'll leave a message with the Joys down there to tell him he's needed back home as soon as possible. Will that be all right?"

The mystic Pokemon nodded in relief. "It will have to do for now. Thank you for your help, Professor."

"No problem, it's all in a day's work. I just hope this is nothing but a big misunderstanding."

"So do I, Professor. So do I." Sloking hung up.

Oak had barely a second to mull over the possible implications of the absence of the legendary birds when a pink and blue avian of a different sort appeared on his computer screen. "Professor, Omnian has detected an airborne object coming towards us at high speeds," said the Porygon2.

Oak frowned. "Show me."

A radar picture appeared on the screen, showing a small wedge-shaped figure flying towards Pallet Town from the southwest. "Sensors indicate the object has lower body temperature than a human, so it could be a Pokemon of some sort or some other unidentified flying object. Shall I activate the defense systems?"

The professor leaned back and stroked his chin. "No, not yet. Let's see what this thing's intentions are before we activate Omnian. It could just be a low-flying Dragonite or some other high-speed Pokemon."

"Whatever you say, Professor."

…

__

So this_ is Pallet Town,_ thought Latias. She was hovering invisibly over the tiny hamlet to remain undetected from the populace. _It's a lot smaller than I expected. I would have thought the boy destined to be the world's greatest Pokemon master would come from a bigger place._ Then again, maybe small wasn't so bad, she admitted to herself. From what she could see of the people and Pokemon walking about, Pallet Town looked to be a peaceful, happy place. Much like Alto Mare…

She clamped down on that thought like a vice before it could stir any tears. She had cried enough in the last week. Alto Mare was gone. She had to be strong for the future. She was certain her brother (and, a smaller part of her mind added, Ash as well) would approve.

Looking across the town, she saw a large house atop a hill with a windmill growing from it. It had a massive field behind it filled with beautiful flowers, trees, and numerous species of Pokemon. Recalling that one episode of Lifestyles of the Studious and Intelligent, she knew this was Professor Oak's laboratory estate. She immediately dove towards it, startling a group of Pidgey by breezing past them.

Just as she was almost there, a delectable scent wafted into her nostrils. She stopped in midair, trying to get a better sniff of the odor. It smelled like…like fresh apple pie, right out of the oven and sitting on a windowsill. Her stomach grumbled and her mouth watered. The most she had eaten recently was a few berries. An apple pie would go down really well about now.

She flew away from the laboratory, questing for the source of the delicious smell. She soon arrived at a small, peaceful house. Her attention was drawn to the open window facing the backyard and the steaming pie sitting on its sill. She was about to grab the pie and stuff it gluttonously down her throat when she was suddenly reminded of an encounter she had with Lorenzo's father back when she was still just a little Pokemon, only a couple of years hatched from the egg.

…

Latias looked around the garden carefully. Nobody else was there but herself. Smiling, she turned her attention back to the plate of cookies she had taken from the kitchen sitting in front of her. They were supposed to be for dessert that night, but she saw no reason she couldn't eat one (or a dozen) now. She picked one up and started to put it in her mouth. "What do you think you're doing, young lady?" Startled, she dropped the cookie and spun about to face the brooding face of her father figure, Vincentio. "Did you steal those cookies?"

She bowed her head. "Yes."

"Why?"

"I was hungry," she said stubbornly.

Vincentio picked up the plate. "Then why didn't you ask Marcella for something to eat?"

"'Cause she'll just give me Brussels sprouts, and I _hate_ Brussels sprouts," Latias said bitterly.

Vincentio chuckled. "So do I, but if you're hungry you should eat what's available to you instead of stealing it from someone who may need it more…or is saving it for a special occasion." He picked up the plate. "Do you know who else steals, Latias?"

"No, who?"

"Team Rocket. They steal Pokemon and money, and do other bad things every day. Do you want to do bad things, Latias?"

"No! But I wasn't doing anything bad, just taking some cookies 'cause I was hungry!" she protested.

Vincentio shook his head disapprovingly. "Team Rocket is hungry too, Latias…but it's a different kind of hunger called greed."

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

"A very bad thing Latias…something I hope you never encounter. In any case, do you want to be like Team Rocket?"

She shook her head. She had seen news footage on television where members of the Rocket gang were doing horrible things like blowing up buildings or hurting innocent people. "No!"

"Then don't take what isn't yours. That is the first step to becoming just like them. Now let's go inside and get you something healthier to eat, okay?" asked Vincentio, taking Latias by the hand.

"Can it be something other than Brussels sprouts?"

"No."

"Aww…"

…

Latias sniffed at the memory and backed away from the window. Those had been such good days. Vincentio had taught her and her brother the ways of life, how to tell right from wrong, and all that other stuff fathers do, and Lorenzo had continued that care-taking task when he was old enough. It had been a hard blow for both of them when Vincentio had died, and they first became aware of the curse of being a legendary Pokemon. Their friends and loved ones would continue to age and die while they stayed relatively unchanged for years at a time. Latias shook her head. She could not in good faith steal this pie and tarnish her mentor's memory.

Unfortunately, not everyone watching believed in her pure intentions.

"AHA!" Startled, Latias looked up to see a figure standing on the roof of the house, the sun framing its silhouette. It leaped off the roof, wielding a staff as it fell right towards her. She quickly got out of the way as the figure landed where she had been floating and swung its staff at her, nearly striking her head.

"How can you see me? I'm invisible!" she said in disbelief.

The figure laughed. "I'm a mime! I'm experienced at making invisible barriers, so it's easy for me to see things that nobody else can!" The Pokemon was white with red balls for shoulders and hips, and had another ball on his chest. He had two wing-like tufts of dark blue hair, and his staff on closer inspection was a broom. The Mr. Mime twirled the broom before him like a baton held by a master of combat. "I've been waiting for you to show yourself all day, you thief! Now you'll pay for stealing all of Delia's pies!"

"I haven't stolen any pies!" Latias said in confusion.

The Mr. Mime wasn't buying it. "Don't think you can pull one on me. You've been stealing our pies for over a week now!"

"I just got here a few minutes ago!" she argued desperately.

"Sure you did." He leaped towards her, raising the broom over his head in preparation for a powerful attack.

She feinted to the right and zoomed past him, trying to get away from the deranged clown. Mr. Mime held up a palm, and Latias suddenly ran into what felt like an invisible wall of super-hard glass. "Ow!" She tried to back away and bumped into another wall. She tried to go up and found her way blocked again.

The mime walked over and leaned on his broom, blowing coolly on his knuckles. "We Mr. Mimes are pretty good at making Barriers, you know. That should hold you until Delia gets here!"

As if on cue, a kind-eyed woman with brown hair in a Ponyta-tail stepped out of the house. Latias had no way of knowing that this woman was in fact her crush's mother Delia Ketchum, and if she had known the irony would kill her. "Mimey? What's going on out here?"

The Mr. Mime-now known as Mimey-puffed out his chest proudly. "I caught that thief who's been taking all your pies, Delia! She's right over there!" he said, pointing to the trapped Latias.

Delia stared at him in confusion. She couldn't understand Pokemon, so she had no idea what Mimey had just told her, and he was pointing to an invisible Pokemon in an invisible box, which her untrained human eyes could not perceive. "I don't understand."

Mimey sweatdropped and tried to figure out how to explain things to his mistress. He snapped his fingers, getting an idea. He ran over to the pie on the window and began to pantomime stealing it, then getting into an exaggerated battle with himself before getting trapped in a Barrier box. Delia, who had never been good at charades, just stared at him blankly.

Mimey was so busy with his little play-acting that his focus on the Barriers trapping Latias waned, causing them to weaken. Sensing this, Latias moved back as far as she could, then slammed into the barrier in front of her as hard as possible, shattering it and securing her freedom. The noise caught the attention of Delia and Mimey. "Hey, come back here!" The clown yelled, shaking his fist at Latias as she flew away. Delia continued to stare blankly at her Pokemon, wondering what had gotten into him and fearing that he had somehow gotten addicted to that illegal Rare Candy drug that was going around. And while neither of them were looking, a sneaky Rattata crept up to the windowsill, snatched the coveted pie, and tiptoed away, giggling to itself.

…

Latias, panting a little from exertion, landed in front of a tree near Professor Oak's estate. _Phew…that was close! I'd better be more careful, next time I might not be able to get away!_ She looked up at the laboratory. _It would probably be a good idea to sneak in as a human so I don't freak anyone out or get the attention of some overzealous trainer that might be visiting. Bianca, forgive me for borrowing your form one more time…_ She closed her eyes and shimmered, transforming from a red and white draconian bird into a tall, brown haired human girl, identical to her late friend Bianca. Latias looked at her human hands and bit her lip to hold back tears, realizing this was the only remnant in the world she had left of her best friend.

Wanting to look strong for the professor, Latias pulled herself together and walked determinedly through the front gates, up the stairs on the hill, and knocked on the lab's front door. After a few minutes, it opened to reveal a tall black haired boy with a green shirt. "Hello? Can I help you?"

Latias opened her mouth to speak, only to remember the biggest downside of her human form. She was mute. In this shape she could still communicate telepathically with those she was especially close to, just as she could in her Pokemon form, but since all her friends were dead she was totally without a voice. Fortunately, Vincentio had taught her sign language when he discovered her special shape-shifting abilities so that she could talk to people who didn't know her secret identity. She signed to the boy that she needed to see Professor Oak immediately.

Tracy gave her a blank look. "I'm sorry miss, but I don't understand sign language." Latias facefaulted. "But I'm sure the professor will. I'll go get him." He closed the door.

Latias spent the next few minutes trying to prepare herself for her meeting with one of the world's most renowned Pokemon researchers. Despite her confidence in the man, she could not help worrying. What should she say to him? Would he believe her story? And could he protect her from the desires of the Ghost King? Her pondering was interrupted when the door opened, revealing an older gray-haired man in a lab coat Latias immediately recognized from television as Professor Oak. "Ah, I've been expecting you. Please come in."

Latias was startled. Was the great professor so wise and knowledgeable that he already knew of her plight and who she was? Uncertain, she entered the laboratory and suddenly found herself face-to-face with a hideous Muk. "HUUUUUUUG!" The repulsive purple mass of toxic waste howled, wrapping the frightened Latias in its slimy unbreakable grasp.

__

Let me go! She screamed telepathically. The Muk was not a good friend of hers, so of course it heard nothing, but even if it were her friend it's debatable whether or not it would have heard anything seeing as how it had gooey sludge for a brain.

"All right, I know you're not who you seem," said the professor. "I picked you up on my radar entering Pallet Town and saw you appear almost out of thin air as a human on my exterior cameras. I don't know what you are, but my body temperature scans show you're not human. Reveal your true form!"

Latias struggled futilely against the poisonous blob, which was still babbling 'hug' over and over again. If only she could use Psychic attack in her human form! Well, if only she could use it, period. She had only been able to do a Psychic attack once or twice in her life, and it had always been instinctual, right when she was on the brink of dying, like when she and Ash were drowning in a living column of water. She sighed and gave up fighting. She shimmered with light, startling Oak and the Muk as she transformed into her sleek, graceful dragon body. Awed, the Muk let her go, saying "Hug," to itself in a hushed whisper as it stared at her reverently.

"Wow! I've never seen a Pokemon like that before!" said Tracey, who had been standing unnoticed in the corner. "I've gotta draw it!" He whipped out a sketchpad and started doodling a picture of Latias.

"Never in all my years have I seen a Pokemon like you!" said Oak in amazement. From a man who had spent his life researching Pokemon, not to mention traveling through time with a Celebi among other adventures, this was saying something.

He pulled out a small red device from one of his many pockets and pointed it at Latias. It beeped and started speaking in a monotone voice. "Latias, the Eon Pokemon. This rare Dragon/Psychic Pokemon was last sighted at the island city of Alto Mare. No other information available." Latias looked at the red device in puzzlement. How did it know who she was and where she came from?

"Alto Mare…I remember now, Ash told me about an adventure he had on that island with a Pokemon named Latias! That wouldn't happen to be you, would it?" She nodded. Oak shook his head in disbelief. "Then I suppose you must be wanting to see him? You're the second Pokemon today to ask me about him, and I'm afraid the answer is-" She shook her head. "No? You're not looking for Ash?" Latias shook her head. The professor looked at her in confusion. "Then why did you come here?"

Latias opened her mouth to tell him, then remembered she might be being watched. "Is this building secure?" she asked.

Oak looked confused. "I'm sorry, but I don't recognize that dialect. Say it again, a little slower."

"Is this building secure?" she asked slowly, in a louder and clearer voice.

"What did she say professor?" asked Tracey.

Oak scratched his head. "I think she asked if I had pruning shears."

Latias facefaulted, then transformed into a human and signed the same question for the third time. He shrugged. "Sorry, I don't understand sign language."

Latias' preconceptions of the professor were dropping by the second. She stormed over to Tracey and grabbed his sketchpad. "Hey!" he protested.

Practically stabbing the paper with Tracey's pencil, she wrote _IS THIS BUILDING SECURE?_ And showed it to Oak.

He looked at her message and smiled. "This is the most secure building in Kanto. I purchased a special security system from Silica after a group of thieves almost robbed me a few years ago. It centers on an artificial Pokemon they built called Omnian. (All Silica Pokemon are artificial, because the environment there is too hostile to support real ones.) It's a Steel/Psychic robot of sorts wired into a series of sensors and computers scattered around town that allows it to detect any possible threat to these premises and dispatch it with a powerful Disable or Confusion attack before any harm is done. It can also project an impenetrable force field to keep out any outsiders at nighttime or in case of emergencies so all the Pokemon here can sleep easily."

__

Can it keep out Ghost Pokemon? She wrote.

"The force field can, but it doesn't need to. I had a Ghost infestation a few years before I purchased Omnian and the exterminators got rid of the ghosts by fumigating the lab with fumes from a special vegetable called a skive. Ghosts are allergic to skives, just like vampires are allergic to garlic and demons are allergic to onions, so I decided to line the fences and interiors of the walls with dried skives just in case any unruly Ghost wanted to play a prank on me. This lab and my estate perimeter are almost 100 ghost-proof, so we are safe from spectral eyes and ears. Now, what is it that got you so worried you came here all the way from Alto Mare, and why are you afraid of ghost intrusion?"

Latias scribbled out an explanation of her feelings for Ash, leading into a narrative of how the Ghost King had failed to woo her on three occasions, leading him to destroy Alto Mare in a fit of rage and swear to kill Ash (though he didn't actually know who he is) and finishing with the tale of how she had come to Pallet Town to seek the professor's aid. She had decided to leave out the wedding dream because that felt a little too personal. The whole story took up three pages of Tracey's sketchbook, and her writing was scrawled and hard to read due to the emotional turmoil she went through as she was forced to recall her painful memories while putting them on paper. She wiped away the beginnings of tears and handed the pad to the professor when she was finished. Oak looked shaken and worried when he had finished reading the tale. "Oh my, " he said, swallowing. "So…so you're saying Alto Mare has been destroyed…and some psychopathic ghost intends to kill one of my favorite young trainers because you're in love with him?!"

"Bet Misty wouldn't be too happy to hear that," Tracey murmured.

Oak shot his assistant a look that told him to shut up, which left Latias perplexed. Who was Misty? Was she in love with Ash too? Even though Latias was fully aware she had never stood a chance with Ash to begin with, she couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy. The professor brought her focus back to the topic though. "And you came all this way because you thought I could help you? What gave you that idea?" he asked unhappily.

She took back the sketchbook and wrote out her reply. _You are the world's foremost researcher on Pokemon._ _If anyone can solve the mystery of the Ghost King, you can. Also, I heard your laboratory was one of the most secure areas in the world, so I thought I would be safe from the King's minions here._

Oak scratched his head. "Well, off the top of my head I don't know a thing about this Ghost King. I can, however, provide you with asylum while I research him. I'll do anything I can to protect Ash, the boy's just as much a member of my family as my grandson Gary is." He nodded and turned to Tracey. "Tracey, take her outside and let her get acquainted with her new neighbors. But come back quickly, that storeroom isn't going to finish reshelving itself you know."

"Yes Professor. Come on Latias!" The boy grabbed her by the hand and started leading her down a corridor.

"I'll start looking up anything I can on the Ghost King, so don't you worry! We'll find a way to bring this fiend to justice!" Oak promised as Tracey led her away.

"Huuuuug!" Feeling lonesome, Muk tackled the professor without warning.

"Ack! Not now Muk, I have important work to do, go bother someone else!" the scientist protested.

"Huuuuug!" Muk persisted, forcing the professor to the ground with its sheer body weight. Oak's anguished screams were muffled by the sludge monster's mass, so nobody could come to his rescue. This was, sad to say, an almost hourly occurrence at the Oak estate.

…

"Here you are, Latias. This is your new home," said Tracey.

Latias looked around. The Oak estate encompassed a huge field full of undulating hills and flowers, as well as numerous small ponds and even one big lake in the distance. Further off she could see deep forests and mountains towering into the sky. It suddenly struck her how different this place was from Alto Mare. Back there, she knew no matter where she went she'd eventually run into the sea. Even when she fled the ruins she had stuck to small islands and coastlines. But this was the first time she had ever been truly inland. It felt strange to see land extending from horizon to horizon, with no ocean anywhere to be seen. She felt smaller all of a sudden, realizing the world was a much bigger place than she could have ever imagined. No old map could ever compare to seeing a new place in person! She took a few tentative steps forward, feeling the grass crunch underneath her shoes. She took a sniff of the air. The scent of unfamiliar flowers and Grass Pokemon filled her nostrils, exhilarating her and making her forget her sorrows for a moment.

"Welp, I've got work to do. Ash's Pokemon should be somewhere around here, and I'm sure you'll be great friends with them." He started to turn away, then hesitated. "Um, I'm sorry for what's happened to you. I've never really lost a home or family before, but…I'm sure it must hurt." He looked down. "Sorry." He went inside.

Latias closed her eyes and transformed back to normal. She rose into the air to get a better view of the estate and try to spot the Pokemon Tracey had recommended. When she reached a certain altitude, she gasped in wonder. She had already thought about how strange it was to be unable to see the sea from anywhere on land, and she felt the size of this land mass even more so now that she was in the air. She had failed to notice this before due to her rush to see the professor, but now that she was in a safe place she was able to see the world around her at a more leisurely pace. She could see the ocean now to the south, framed by port towns and fishing villages. Between the coast and the town beneath her were forests and tiny villages, even smaller than Pallet Town was. To the north was a great city made of glass and metal instead of the old stone she was used to, shining in the light of the rising sun. Vaguely recalling her geography, she realized this must be the famous Viridian City, home of the infamous and mysterious Viridian Gym. Much further away, to the northwest, she could just see a plateau rising above the land. This was no doubt Indigo Plateau, headquarters for the Kanto region Pokemon League. As she recalled from her studies of Ash's League history, he had fought on the Plateau and lost, only making it to the bottom of the list of the top dozen or so trainers of that year. Even so, it had to take a lot of experience to get that far in the League championships, right?

"Enjoying the view?" asked an unfamiliar voice behind her.

Latias turned around to give an affirmative reply, and gasped in horror.

Hovering in the air was a Ghost Pokemon. A Misdreavus, to be exact. Its long gray-black hair rippled in the breeze over its dull red eyes and clinking pearl necklace. The ghost was smiling in amusement, as if it had just won a game of some sort. "What's wrong? Meowth got your tongue?" It looked almost exactly like one of the other Misdreavus Latias had seen just a week ago, cackling evilly as they blasted buildings apart with their Shadow Balls.

Latias considered fleeing, but realized that if one ghost could infiltrate Oak's defenses surely others could, so there was probably nothing she could so but give up. If she struggled, they might threaten to hurt the professor, and she couldn't condone the poor man to that fate. "I-I surrender," she said meekly.

The Misdreavus looked confused. "Surrender?"

"Yes, I give up. You can take me to the Ghost King, just don't hurt anybody else."

Misdreavus stared at Latias for several seconds in confusion. "How do you know about the Ghost King?"

"Because he wants to marry me. Aren't you going to capture me and take me to him?"

The ghost shook her head, still looking confused. "Uh, no."

"Why not?"

"I don't work for the Ghost King."

"You don't?" asked Latias in confusion.

Misdreavus got a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, _technically_ I did once…the majority of Ghost Pokemon never see or hear from the King, but we're raised from death to obey him should he ever call upon us. I never saw him myself, so when I got captured I renounced my ties to him, just like most Ghosts do when they're captured. We see it as swearing allegiance to a new leader, our trainers. Still doesn't mean we tell anyone else about him though, loyal or not there's some things a ghost's gotta keep secret. Like how we mate." She chuckled at that.

Latias chose to ignore that disturbing last comment. "Is there anything you can tell me about him? The King that is?" Latias asked hopefully.

Misdreavus frowned in thought. "Well, like I said there's some things a ghost's gotta keep secret…but since you already know about the King I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you what I know. Unfortunately, that isn't much. All I know is that he's the most powerful of all ghosts, and he's lonely. Very lonely. I don't think he wants to be King to be honest, but he doesn't have a choice."

Latias wasn't sure she could feel much sympathy, seeing as how he had destroyed her homeland. "What kind of Pokemon is he?"

Misdreavus shrugged. "Search me. Not even the _King_ knows what species he is. His form is immense and enshrouded in eternal mists, from what my friends who've seen the guy told me."

"Oh…" said Latias in disappointment. She frowned, suddenly getting a thought. "I thought this place was ghost-proof. How'd you get in?"

"After my trainer caught me, I was transported right into the laboratory and went into a coughing fit when I smelled skives. I didn't feel better until I was let out into the fresh air. The skives don't bother me as long as I stay away from the lab or the fences, and if I ever want to leave the area I can just fly too high for the fumes to reach me," Misdreavus explained.

Latias got a horrible thought. "Then what's to keep other ghosts from flying in?"

Misdreavus quickly reassured her. "That's nothing to worry about. The professor's Omnian will sense any foreign ghost in the area and throw up a force field if they try to get inside the lab or estate. No ghost Pokemon can get in here unless it's registered on Omnian's master list of people that it isn't supposed to hurl out of the lab or if it's captured by one of the professor's disciples, and I doubt that'll happen anytime soon. We Ghost Pokemon are hard to catch, we can only get caught if we want ourselves to, and I doubt any truly loyal subject of the Ghost King will let that happen to him or herself. (Not that they're anti-human or anything, it's just a matter of pride.)"

Latias relaxed somewhat, though she was still uncertain of her safety. She suddenly remembered why she had flown so high up in the first place. "Do you know where I can find Ash Ketchum's Pokemon?"

"Ash's group? Sure, follow me. I think they're playing baseball today to entertain the resident Pokemon and keep their minds off of territorial disputes. My girlfriend Umbreon should be there too."

Latias looked at Misdreavus in confusion as they started flying back down to the estate. "I thought you were a girl."

Misdreavus winked. "I am. Haven't you ever seen a lesbian ghost before?" Latias had not, but wisely decided not to say anything.

…

They came to a hilltop overlooking a bowl-shaped depression in the field. Dozens of Pokemon of varying types and species sat on the sides of the depression. In the wild they were natural enemies, but for the moment their racial differences were put aside as they all tried to enjoy the game being played out before them. At the bottom of the depression, a diamond-shaped path had been worn into the grassy field, three corners of which were marked by small white pentagons. The fourth corner was marked by the mass of a huge Snorlax, sleeping peacefully and ignoring the cheers from the crowd. Standing on the Snorlax's belly was a small mousy Cyndaquil holding a sturdy tree branch in its paws. Behind the Cyndaquil, sitting on Snorlax's head, was a stern-looking shiny Noctowl, red and yellow in color and wearing a catcher's mask. Standing just behind Noctowl was a Bulbasaur, no doubt the umpire. On a mound in the middle of the diamond was an insectoid Heracross, shifting back and forth while clutching a ball in its claws. Out in the field were a Kingler and a pair of Tauros. A few other Tauros took positions around the bases to guard them. Still more Tauros sat on a bench along with a Phanphy. A Totodile was dancing on the sidelines, waving pom-poms and singing inane songs to amuse the crowd. An excited Pidgey flew in circles overhead as it narrated the game to the viewers. "Heracross is winding up…THERE'S THE PITCH! And Cyndaquil's about to swing…HE'S HIT IT! IT'S GOING OUT OF THE PARK!" The wild Pokemon cheered as the fielders scrambled to catch the ball while Cyndaquil dropped the bat and started running along the bases.

Sitting on the hilltop watching the game was a red-eyed black vulpine Pokemon with long ears and yellow rings all over her body, softly glowing in the daylight. This was Umbreon. She looked up as Misdreavus and Latias approached. "You haven't been cheating on me, have you?" she asked mock-seriously.

Misdreavus kissed the Moonlight Pokemon's cheek. "Don't be silly, you know I'd never do that."

"Of course not. So who's the new kid?"

"Her name is-" Misdreavus paused. "Hey, I never did get your name!"

"It's Latias," said the dragon.

"Nice to meet you Latias," said Umbreon. "Are you going to be staying with us long?"

Latias thought of the being hunting her and shuddered. "As long as I possibly can."

Sensing this was a delicate topic, Misdreavus quickly changed the subject. "So who's winning?" she asked.

"The Pokemasters. This inning just started, and while Cyndaquil may have just gotten to third plate, it'll take a lot more than that for the Ketchums to win," said Umbreon. "They'd have a much better chance if Bayleef were playing."

"Who's Bayleef?" asked Latias.

Umbreon turned her head towards another hill. "See that Pokemon underneath the apple tree right over there? The one that looks like a yellow dinosaur with a leaf on her head and fronds around her neck? That's Bayleef."

Latias looked. Bayleef was sitting under the shade of the tree, looking off into the horizon wistfully. "Why isn't she playing?"

"Oh, she's just having one of her depression spells. They come and go. She misses her trainer, I think," said Misdreavus.

"Who's her trainer?" asked Latias.

"Ash Ketchum."

Latias blinked in surprise. Bayleef was Ash's Pokemon? She looked again at the Grass-type, staring off into the distance, and immediately sensed a kindred spirit. She quietly left her new friends as they started chatting about who would win the game and kissing now and then and floated over to the Pokemon sitting beneath the shade of the tree. "Hello," she said.

Bayleef looked up. "Oh, I haven't seen you before. Are you new?"

"Just got here. My name's Latias."

Bayleef extended a vine whip from the side of her neck and shook Latias' hand. "Hello Latias. What brings you all the way over here?"

"I wanted to see why you weren't playing with the others."

"Hmm." Bayleef leaned against the tree. "I'm missing someone. You are too."

Latias was shocked. "How did you know that?"

Bayleef gave her a sad smile. "Misery loves company. It's easy to recognize sadness when you're experiencing it yourself."

Latias lay down, not feeling like hovering at the moment. "Who is it you miss? Your trainer?" Bayleef nodded. "Was his name Ash Ketchum?"

"You know him." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes." Bayleef nodded and looked away. "How long has it been since you last saw him?"

"Over a year."

__

Almost as long as me, Latias thought. "Why has he been gone so long?"

Bayleef shifted her weight away from the tree. "Last year, we competed in the Johto League Silver Conference. He made it really far with us, but in one of the final matches he lost to a trainer from Hoenn. Afterward, his friends all had to leave to take care of their own things, leaving Ash confused and without a purpose. He got it into his head to go and compete in the Hoenn League and take only his starter Pokemon Pikachu with him, so it would be like he was beginning his Pokemon journey all over again. He got the idea from his ex-rival Gary, actually."

"And he left you here."

"Not just me…all of us. Noctowl, Phanphy, Totodile, Heracross, Cyndaquil…we had all been with him for a good length of his journey. It hurt that he wasn't going to take us with him to the new region." She shook her head. "Out of all of us, I was the most depressed when he left…me and little Phanphy, that is. The poor kid thinks Ash is his father. We all look after him, but he still cries sometimes. I do too, when I feel really bad. At first I wouldn't eat for days, I was pining for him. But eventually I came to a realization. Something that doesn't make me any happier he left us behind or miss him any less, but it makes it easier to bear."

"What's that?" asked Latias.

Bayleef smiled, and this time it was a genuine smile. "Ash is a lunkhead. A great trainer and a good friend, but also a lunkhead. As such, he often makes mistakes, both in battle and out. This new journey is one of them. He thinks it'll be good for him to start his adventure all over again…but he can't. No matter what new Pokemon or people he befriends down there, it'll never be like his first journey. He's more experienced now, he's changed too much. Things won't seem as new or fantastic as they did the first time. Eventually, he will realize this. He will realize he can't surmount every challenge before him with his new friends alone. And when that happens, he'll remember his old friends. His friends who are still waiting for him. Who would _always_ wait for him. And then…" She shrugged. "And then he'll come back to us." Bayleef said that last sentence without a shadow of doubt in her voice. She sounded so sure of this that Latias could not help but be convinced that Ash would eventually see the light.

"You love him, don't you?" asked Latias suddenly, wondering why she hadn't seen it before.

Bayleef nodded. "Yes. And so do you."

Latias was stunned that once again, Bayleef had read her so easily. "How did you know?"

"Like I said, misery loves company." Bayleef closed her eyes. "I don't need to know the details, I can already see enough of it in your eyes. You've suffered a great loss recently, haven't you?"

Latias nodded sadly. "Yes."-

"Hmm. And your love for Ash is the only thing you've got left?"

"Yes."

Bayleef paused. "You know, of course, that he can never love you?" Latias nodded. "Good, at least you aren't suffering from any delusions." Bayleef extended some vines, pulling a pair of apples from the tree. She tossed one in her mouth and threw the other to Latias, who hungrily devoured it. Bayleef couldn't help smirking at her new friend's appetite. "You know, if we had met over a year ago, I would be enraged that you were in love with Ash. I would probably have tried to beat you to death out of sheer jealously." Latias nearly choked at that. "Don't worry though, I've had a lot of time to think about it. I've mellowed out with time. If anything, I feel empathy more than envy for you, because now the both of us are stuck with the torture that is unrequited love."

Latias finished her apple. "Why is it that he can never love us anyway? I've always felt he couldn't but I never understood why. Is it because we're Pokemon and he's a human?"

Bayleef leaned back in thought. "Well, partly…but that's not the whole reason. To be honest, his heart was taken a long time ago…and being the big lunkhead he is, he's too dense to realize it. But he'll figure it out, someday."

"Who is it?" asked Latias.

"Pretty much all of us agree its Misty."

Latias recalled hearing that name back in the lab. "Who is she?"

Bayleef pulled down another apple and started chewing on it. "She joined Ash at the very beginning of his journey years ago under the pretense of wanting him to pay back for a bicycle he wrecked, but in time a friendship blossomed and grew eventually grew much, much deeper. I denied it back in the old days because I still hoped I had a shot at Ash, but…well, now I know I never really had a chance."

"And you're okay with that?"

Bayleef bowed her head. "Not completely…but even if I did have a chance, it would never work out."

"Why?"

"Well…you know Ash is going to be the greatest Pokemon master in the world, right?" Latias nodded. She had every confidence he would succeed in that endeavor. "Well, like any celebrity, a Pokemon master is constantly in the public eye. If Ash were to fall in love with either of us, there's no way it could be kept from the rest of the world. Marital law forbids humans and Pokemon from getting married because our races are physically incompatible. If Ash were seen kissing or dating or maybe even hugging one of us, the press would blow it up into a huge scandal. Ash would be labeled a freak and would lose his status as a Pokemon Master. His dreams would be broken forever." Latias was shocked. She had never considered this. "And I love him too much to want to ruin his dreams, and for that reason I won't stand in the way of him and his true love. I suggest you do the same." Latias had a wild thought of turning into a human permanently so she would have no legitimate reason not to be with Ash, but she immediately gave it up. If he was really as dense as Bayleef said he was, she might be forced to seduce him to make him understand her feelings, and she didn't want to get his love that way. And she didn't like spending too much time as a human anyway, it made her uncomfortable. She didn't know if she would willingly sacrifice her true form for life as a human, not even for love. She liked flying too much anyway.

The two girls sat in silence, contemplating their relationship with the boy they both loved. In another world they would have been hated rivals, but here they were united in friendship by the knowledge of what could never be theirs. Suddenly, Bulbasaur ran up, panting for air. "Bayleef, we need your help!"

"What is it?" she asked, her semi-melancholy state turning to worry.

"Snorlax rolled over right as Phanphy was sliding for home, and now he's stuck under him! You've gotta help us push Snorlax off!"

"Right!" Bayleef stood up, her soft yellow body pulsing with strength gained from months of training without Ash. "Latias, I've gotta go handle this. Wanna help?"

Latias shook her head. "I doubt I'd be much help. I think I'll just sit here and rest for a few minutes, maybe eat a little something. You go ahead."

Bayleef shrugged. "Okay." She ran off.

"Goodbye!" cried Latias. As her new friend reached the diamond and started helping several Tauros in pushing the enormous still sleeping Snorlax over, Latias grabbed an apple and started munching on it as she thought about what she and Bayleef had talked about. She realized that Bayleef was right, that making Ash fall in love with them would only jeopardize his dream, and Latias loved him too much to do that. He could have his Misty then. She honestly hoped they would be happy together. And in time she and Bayleef might even move on and find new loves, but she knew deep down that Ash would always have a special place in her heart, no matter how much time passed.

"Ah, there you are Latias. I've been looking all over for you." Latias looked up and saw Professor Oak had arrived without her noticing. Her heart leaped, and she wondered if he had found anything about the Ghost King. "I suppose you're wondering if I've found out anything. Well, I'm sorry to say my research so far has turned up absolutely nothing on the subject of a mysterious ruler of Ghost Pokemon. I even checked with Gym Leader Morty in Ecruteak City, and he checked with his ghosts, but he said they were oddly uncommunicative." Latias' face fell.

Seeing how sad she looked, Oak sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. "I'm sorry Latias, but you shouldn't worry. This is just the preliminary search. I'm sure one of my colleagues around the world will know something about the Ghost King, I just have to get around to talking to all of them. Until then, you can stay here as long as you want. I promise I will do everything I can to help bring the Pokemon who destroyed your home to justice. Is that all right?" She nodded, although she was still disappointed that she was nowhere closer to solving the mystery of the Ghost King. "Good." He got back up and stretched. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check up on some sick Jumpluff. I hope you can enjoy your stay here, Latias." He walked off.

"Hey Latias!" Latias looked around for whom had called her and saw Bayleef was running back up the hill. "When we pushed over Snorlax, we accidentally flattened one of the Tauros, so now we need an additional player. I'm already taking Phanphy's place, so do you wanna join us?"

Latias thought for a moment. Why not? She could use some cheering up right now, after her enlightening but slightly depressing talk with Bayleef and Oak's lack of news. "Sure!" She got up and followed Bayleef down to the field, eager to play with her new friends and hold off the shadow of grief for a while longer.

…

Kinda slow, despite the foreshadowing? Don't worry, the next chapter will be much more intense. Hope I managed to grab your attention with this chapter and didn't bore you too much. Hopefully, not all of the ones in the future will be as long as this. Please review!


	3. Enter the Rockets

Okay, this chapter won't be shorter than the last one like I promised but it will be more intense. I think you'll enjoy it.

Mermaid Ninja, Ash won't come into the story for a while, but when he does you bet there's gonna be trouble with the Ghost King. And how will putting the pieces of the Dew back together help? The soul inside is gone. It's just a hunk of broken glass now, totally useless.

Mimic12455, Sloking walked into town, went into the nearest Pokemon Center, and politely asked Nurse Joy to let him use the telephone. Would _you_ say no to a talking Pokemon in khakis if you were in her position?

Geniusboy, I write fanfiction because I'm not original enough to create totally new stories. But thanks for the compliments anyway. And why don't you want the Pokemon to save the day?

Anonymous, if Latios junior's gonna show up, it's not going to be for a long, _long_ time, if at all.

Thanks Story Weaver1. Omnian will be making an appearance this chapter.

Persian's Mistress, I'm glad you like this so much. Have you read the prequel, Your Secret Admirer? I've never been on , I'm happy enough here. And it never occurred to me to cast Richie as Ash's Best Man. Latias is scared because despite her 'legendary powers', she has no idea how to do any attacks other than tackling, rendering her somewhat weak when it comes to fighting enemies. I didn't think of Phanphy like that either until I read Alex Warlorn's 'Divorced.' It talks about how it looked from Phanphy's point of view when Ash and Misty went their separate ways, because he felt they were his 'parents.' If you want another good story, I recommend Cavern of a Million Colors by Eeveebeth Fejuvu. It's excellent for AAML fans, and just plain excellent anyway even if you're not. She's also written a really adorable story from Togepi's point of view. I think you'd enjoy both. (And by the way, I like Alex Warlorn's stuff too. Weird!)

Disclaimer: I only own Omnian, Silica, and another new concept to be revealed in this chapter. All else belongs to the companies that own Pokemon, both in anime and game form.

…

Professor Oak yawned and leaned back. "Well, I suppose that's enough for today." He was perturbed that after several hours of research, he still had no clues on the nature of the Ghost King. He shook his head and got up. Well, maybe he'd have better luck in the morning, when he felt less tired. Of course, he had one more task to do before he went to bed.

He turned off his computer and walked through the house, passing by Tracey in the living room. Tracey was eating ice cream with his Venonat while watching something on TV. Oak paused to watch.

On the TV screen, an angry young man slapped a card down on a ridiculously bulky device on his left arm, causing an oddly hued Dragonite to materialize before him. "You'll never defeat my Blue Eyes White Dragonite, Lugi!"

The camera panned to a CGI Lugia wearing a ridiculous tri-colored spiky wig. The Lugia bellowed, and thanks to the miracle of dubbing and voice-overs it appeared that he said, "You will never win Saiba, not as long as I believe in the heart of the cards!"

"What are you watching?" asked the professor, confused by the wig-wearing Lugia.

"Lu-Gi-Oh," said Tracey, not looking away from the screen.

Oak shook his head. "You kids and your TV shows." He continued on his way, walking through hallways until he reached an inauspicious bookcase. He pulled out a book titled "The Secret Button" by I. M. Hallo and opened it, revealing a large hole had been carved out of it with a button inside. Oak pressed the button and the bookshelf rose, revealing a large hidden chamber that was in fact an elevator. Oak put the book in his coat pocket and walked inside the elevator.

Once inside, he examined the three buttons that determined the elevator's destination. They were labeled "Lab", "Security", and "Vault". Oak pressed the second button. Doors slammed shut, blocking the bookcase passage, and the elevator descended. Lights flashed passed Oak's eyes through the windows as the elevator shot down a deep tunnel, into the subbasements beneath his laboratory. After approximately five seconds of rapid transit, the elevator slowed abruptly and came to a halt on the first of the lower levels. The doors opened, allowing the professor access to the security room.

It was your typical 'war room' with computers and maps everywhere. Most of the monitors showed images shot from cameras hidden all over Pallet Town, including the Ketchum household. A table with a holographic diorama of the town sat in the middle of the chamber, with little dots moving back and forth with labels on them to designate them as specific Pokemon or townspeople. Oak walked past the table to a large glass tube at the back of the room. In this tube sat a strange creature. It looked somewhat like a Sableye in body structure, with thin limbs and an oval-shaped head, but its skin was made of black metal instead of purple ectoplasm. It also had no ears and a pair of large blue photoreceptors for eyes. Blue lines cut across its body in strange circuit patterns. Wires and cables grew from the back of its head, plugging into the ceiling of the tube. This was Omnian, heart of the lab's defense systems, currently in its passive 'watcher' mode in which it constantly scanned for approaching threats. If any were detected, it would automatically raise a force field around the lab. If the threat got inside before the shield went up, Omnian would automatically eject the intruder and then raise the shield until the threat went away. This had happened several times today due to ghosts trying to fly over the skive fences.

Oak went to a console at the base of the tube and started booting up the android. The artificial Pokemon's eyes lit up, and the cables growing from its head started glowing. "Omnian, are all your systems working properly?" the professor asked.

"Affirmative," said the console in a monotone voice.

"Good. Has our new resident been logged into your 'friends' database?"

"Checking…one new subject. Designation: Latias. Priority: Protect at all costs."

Oak smiled. "Good. Any ghosts hanging about?"

Several dots lit up on the hologram of Pallet Town, circling the lab from several yards away like hungry sharks, looking for a weak spot in their enemy's defenses. "Several have been detected, but skive defenses and force fields have kept them at bay."

"Anything else I should worry about?"

"Negative."

"Good. Activate the force field."

Omnian got to its feet. Its eyes and lights turned green, and the machine started making weird motions in the air. A shimmering dome of light appeared over the holographic lab, startling the ghosts and causing them to draw back a bit. "Barrier is in place. Next command?"

"Nothing else, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Omnian. Keep a good watch." Professor Oak yawned and walked back across the room, entering the elevator. The doors closed, and it rose out of sight, the lights above the doorway indicating that it was going back up to the main level. Oak exited the elevator when he reached the top, replaced the secret book switch, and headed for bed. Omnian stayed in the position it was standing in, vigilantly maintaining the barrier.

Several minutes later, Omnian received a new command from a different source. Obediently, the android sat down and shut itself off, causing all its lit areas to turn black. All the surveillance equipment in the room shut down, and the hologram of the town flickered and vanished. The lights went off, leaving the security center pitch black and the Oak estate totally defenseless.

…

Latias had had a surprisingly fun day with Ash's Pokemon. With her and Bayleef's help, the Ketchums had won the baseball game, which led to much partying and celebrating and cheered Latias up quite a lot. She had even been asked to dance! (Mind you, it was by Totodile, who dances all the time anyway, but STILL…) For a little while, she felt like her happy, playful old self again. After they had spent several more hours playing, night had fallen, and the myriad Pokemon went off to get some sleep. Bayleef had invited Latias to join her since she had nowhere else to stay, and so the little dragon was curled up next to her friend the vegetative dinosaur in peaceful slumber. For once, her subconscious was empty of any strange wedding premonitions, allowing her to relax in dreamless sleep. It only lasted for a few hours though, before there was a loud explosion that startled all the sleeping Pokemon (except Snorlax) and brought them to a disharmonious awakening.

The estate was lit up as if it was broad daylight, but the gibbous moon was still high in the sky. They looked up, and gasped in horror when they saw what was floating up there, covering the sky like so many swarms of Beedrill.

Blimps. Over a dozen tremendous black blimps, each with a big red symbol emblazoned on it and shining spotlights down on the sleepy and disoriented Pokemon. "Oh no…" whispered Bayleef, recognizing the symbol on the blimps, as did Latias and at least half the trained Pokemon in the estate. "It's Team Rocket!"

…

Tracey bolted through the hallways of the lab, panicking. Venonat chased after him, leaving a trail of Stun Spore due to all the trembling it was doing out of fear. "Professor Oak! Professor Oak!" Tracey reached the professor's bedroom and started pounding on the door. "Professor Oak, wake up! We've got an emergency!"

The door opened, and a disheveled Professor Oak wearing Pikachu-patterned pajamas looked out, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He yawned. "What is it Tracey? Has the cable gone out again?"

Tracey shook his head. "It's much worse! Team Rocket's invading the lab!"

Oak looked at his assistant in surprise, then burst into laughter. "Tracey, don't be ridiculous! Omnian's force field keeps out all intruders, they couldn't have possibly gotten in!"

"Tell that to the people outside!" Tracey pushed past the professor and pulled aside the blinds on the bedroom window, letting in the blinding light from outside, causing them all to flinch and cover their eyes.

When his sight had recovered, Oak stared in horror, his mouth agape, at the spectacle unfolding outside as Rocket Grunts rappelled down ropes from the blimps floating overhead. The frightened wild Pokemon ran off in terror at the sight of the approaching goons, while the more experienced and trained Pokemon prepared themselves for a fight. "This cannot be…Omnian's system is supposed to be infallible! Something must have gone horribly wrong. Tracy, we must get to the Security room immediately!"

Tracey nodded. "Right!"

The trio of scientist, artist, and bug ran down the hallway towards the secret bookcase elevator. Unfortunately, they never made it. Just as they rounded a corner, a tremendous explosion rocked the house, smashing the roof in and filling the halls with smoke, which started to choke the trio. Hacking on the smog, Tracey quickly pulled out a Pokeball and threw it. "Scyther, I choose you!"

A large green cross between a raptor and a praying mantis emerged from the ball. He immediately started coughing. "Scyther Scythe!" (What's with all the smoke?)

"Scyther, blow away this smoke with Swords Dance!" Tracey commanded.

"Scyther!" (Right!) The bug Pokemon started spinning rapidly, generating a breeze that blew away the smoke and revealed the damage. He stopped spinning when the smoke was gone and started wheezing while clutching his chest. He really was too old for this. A gaping hole had been blasted through the roof, and hovering overhead was a huge black helicopter with a pair of rotors sticking out on the sides. A pair of guns emerged from the bottom and fired at Scyther and Venonat. Before the insects could do anything, balls of paralyzing red electricity hit them and froze them in place.

"Oh no, Scyther, Venonat!" cried Tracey.

Laughter echoed from the helicopter's loud speakers. "Prepare for trouble!" said a feminine voice.

"And make it septuple!" added a male voice that sounded like a frog.

"To fill the world with devastation!" said a male voice that sounded vaguely familiar to the professor.

"To annihilate the peoples of every nation!" cried another female voice.

"To further the evils of hate and greed!" said yet another female voice.

"To extend our reach with every dark deed!" said, you guessed it, another female.

The roof of the helicopter opened up, and a platform rose from inside, carrying seven people and one Pokemon. Lights came to life on the railing that ringed the platform, illuminating the figures.

The first was a woman with long blond hair that resembled that of a Blaziken and wore a black Team Rocket uniform. "Cassidy!"

The second was a man with short green hair and a uniform that matched Cassidy's. "Botch…I mean Butch! BUTCH!"

The third was a muscular man with a red vest that had room for six Pokeballs on its sides and wore a yellow mask with red slits for eyes and had a vertical slit going across the top to let out his spiky brown Mohawk. "Iron Masked Marauder!"

The fourth was a woman with a stylish pink outfit and blonde hair done up into corkscrew buns on the side of her head. "Anny!"

The fifth was a woman with short blue hair and a stylish black outfit. "Oakley!"

The sixth was a younger blonde woman clad in a black uniform with matching beret whose hair was done in two thick braids going over her shoulders. She also carried a black tulip. "Domino!"

The seventh was an ominous figure that commanded attention from all around him. His outfit was reminiscent of Darth Vader's, but he had thicker armor with spiked shoulders and boots, a big red R on his chest instead of life support equipment, and a black skull mask with glowing red eyes. "And Boss Rocket!"

The six lesser rockets posed around a giant holographic R as the boss stood tall, fists on his hips. "Team Rocket Elite, conquering the world at the speed of light! Surrender now, for we WILL win this fight!"

"Perrrrsian!" (That's right!) Said the Pokemon, who was a large feline Persian.

Tracey and Oak gasped. "Team Rocket!"

"…Of course we're Team Rocket, idiots. What do you think that whole introductory routine was for, entertainment?" growled the Marauder.

"How did you get inside my lab?! Omnian should have sensed you and thrown you away at once!" cried Oak.

Domino laughed. "Any fortress can be breached if a traitor opens the gates from inside. Isn't that right, special agent 400?" she said, pointing her tulip at Tracey.

Oak gasped. "Tracey, how could you?"

"I-I don't know what they're talking about!" stuttered Tracey.

"Not you!" said a voice from behind them. "It's me, the one _behind _the girly-man."

Tracey and Oak whirled around. The professor's jaw dropped when he saw whom the traitor was. "MUK?!"

"No, behind him!" A pink and blue bird flew around Muk, who just stood there stupidly. "It's me, Porygon2!"

Oak was shocked. "Porygon2…how could you betray me? You were one of my most loyal assistants! I _trusted_ you!"

The digital bird laughed. "Silly human! How could I betray you if I was never on your side to begin with!" His chest flashed, and a big red R appeared on it. "I have been a member of Team Rocket since the day I was hatched!"

"But…but how could that be?" Oak protested. "You were sent to me as an egg just last month by Professor Palm! How could you have always been a Rocket?"

Butch laughed, sounding like a dying frog and causing all his teammates to flinch. "You idiot! Team Rocket has members in every branch of society all over the world! Palm's been our woman for decades, she programmed Porygon2 to be loyal to the team and help us get what we wanted from you!"

Oak was stunned. He and Palm had been friends for years, or so he had thought. Had she really been a Rocket all along? Had their friendship all been just a ploy to use him for nefarious purposes?

Tracey stepped forward. "You'll never get away with stealing all the Pokemon here, Team Rocket!"

"Who said we wanted them?" asked Boss Rocket.

Tracey blinked. "Huh?"

"Admittedly, the rare Pokemon and the research information in this lab are valuable to us and we will be departing with them…but they aren't all what we came here for. We want the _real _prize!" said the Boss. Persian purred in affirmation.

"Real prize? What could he possibly mean by-" The old scientist's eyes widened in horrific realization. "No, you can't! They're too powerful, you'll never be able to control them!"

Tracey was confused. "Professor, what are they talking about?"

"Since your mentor failed to let you in on his biggest secret, allow me to educate you," said Cassidy snidely. "Despite what the Pokemon League wants you to think, not all wild Pokemon are eager to become trained. Many of them downright hate us humans. Some of them were abandoned or ran away from their old trainers for any number of reasons, includes abuse. Some of them are scared of us, which translates into hatred. Some of them are just plain insane and hate everybody. All of them are dangerous, because they have no problem with organizing groups of rebellious human-hating Pokemon and launching assaults on trainers or peaceful towns in their crusade to kill all humans. The craziest ones don't stop with killing all humans and end up deciding to slaughter all Pokemon too. The League and police work together to stop these monsters and put them away where they'll never harm anyone again. In the old days these Pokemon would have been executed, but Pokemon rights activists found out about them and forced the government to pass new namby-pamby laws that have allowed these insane murderers to be contained in special indestructible inescapable spheres called Prison Balls instead of being killed. Every region has their own share of bad Pokemon caught in Prison Balls and they all have a place to keep them. The Johto League keeps theirs in a safe in Mt. Silver that we haven't found yet. We've been after the Kanto Balls for years, but they've always been on the move until they were put under the care of Professor Oak just last year."

Tracey was shocked to realize he had been living in the same building as several mass murderers. "Professor, why would you agree to take care of those things?!"

"The government didn't give me a choice!" Oak snapped. "They'd been trying to get Silica to give them a better security system to protect the balls for years, but the people up there don't like to give technology to those who they deem as inferior humans. I only managed to get Omnian because their Prime Minister owed me a favor. (I saved him from a rabid Slowpoke. Long story.) I had to take the Balls or else my funding would have been cut off."

"And it was no good anyway, because we've broken through your unbreakable security," boasted Oakley. "Now those Prison Balls are ours!"

"You can't control them," Oak protested. "They hate humans, they'd rather kill you than listen to you!"

"We've perfected a new brainwashing process that will allow us to control the awesome destructive power held by these killers," promised Boss Rocket. "And even if we can't control them, we can still release them in public areas. The death tolls would be in the hundreds. We could hold all of Kanto for ransom, and Johto too once we obtain their Prison Balls!"

"I'll never let you have them!" promised the professor.

"You don't need to, Porygon2 can take us there, can't you Porygon2?" Domino asked.

"Affirmative."

"Excellent. Domino, restrain these fools!" said the Boss.

"Yessir. Yaaah!" She pointed her tulip at the heroes. A large net shot out, ensnaring Muk, Oak, Tracey, Venonat, and Scyther, leaving them all helplessly immobilized. "That should hold you!"

"Just in case, we'd better assign some Grunts to guard them," said Boss Rocket. He jumped off the platform, landing in the lab hallway. Domino, Persian, and Porygon2 followed him. "Marauder, Oakley, Anny, get out there and start capturing Pokemon, many of them should be quite rare. And get some Grunts in here to start looting this place and to guard our prisoners."

"Right!" The three Rockets hopped out of the helicopter and headed outside.

"Butch, Cassidy, take the helicopter and join your teammates in capturing the Pokemon here. As today's youth say…gotta catch em' all."

Butch and Cassidy grinned at the boss's joke. "You got it, boss!" The platform lowered back into the helicopter, which flew off.

The boss turned to Porygon2. "Now, which way to the Prison Balls?"

"Right this way, sir." The digital bird led his teammates down the hall, leaving Oak and the rest behind.

"What do we do Professor? Scyther's blades can't cut the net!" said Tracey. This was true. The metal wire that made up the net was too strong for Scyther to cut through, much to the poor old bug elder's consternation.

Oaks sighed. "All we can do now is pray that the police will hear the commotion and get here before it's too late."

Unfortunately, there was no hope of that happening. The cops were currently battling a huge group of Rocket Grunts outside at the front of the estate, and both sides were stuck in a tie. They were both so busy fighting that they didn't notice a local housewife and a Mr. Mime climb over the wall and sneak into the house.

…

When the Rocket Grunts had started attacking the wild Pokemon, all of the other trained Pokemon, Ash's or otherwise, had banded together to work out a battle plan to take on the invaders. They had unanimously elected Bulbasaur the leader, due to his ambassadorial skills and seniority in Rocket-fighting. He was one of Ash's first Pokemon, and as such had more experience in battling the forces of evil than all the others. (Admittedly, the evils he had faced most often had been lame, stupid and pathetic, but they were still evil.) "Okay, here's what we're gonna do!" he said, gesturing to a map drawn into the ground with his vine whip. "First of all, we need to take out those blimps so they'll stop lighting everything and we can have the advantage of night cover. Noctowl, you take all the bird and flying Pokemon up there to knock those things out of the sky! If they're anything like Meowth balloons all you have to do is peck them or fly into them hard enough."

The owl saluted with a wing. "Yes sir!"

"Totodile, we need help from the Tauros. Are your jaws strong enough to break the bars on their corral?"

The little crocodile picked up a rock, put it in his mouth, and bit down. The stone crumbled to dust. "That answer your question?"

Bulbasaur nodded. "Yes. Take Cyndaquil with you so he can melt through the bars just in case and lead the Tauros over to that giant mech thing the guy with the yellow mask is riding. Their Earthquake and Fissure attacks should make short work of that thing."

"We'll go too," said Gary's Nidoking. His mate Nidoqueen nodded. "If the mech doesn't go down from the earthquakes, we could always push it over."

"And if that doesn't work, I'll melt it down!" promised Gary's Arcanine.

"All right. Heracross, Kingler, I want you guys to escort Phanphy to Snorlax."

"Why?" asked the little elephant.

"When you blow your trunk loudly enough, the noise is so powerful it can even wake Snorlax. We'll need his tough body and firepower to beat these Rockets. Wake him up and combine your power to take out that helicopter!" he said, pointing to the helicopter in the distance, which was pelting Pokeballs at herds of panicking wild Pokemon.

The three saluted. "Aye-aye sir!"

"Misdreavus and I saw a pair of woman with some tough-looking Pokemon on the way over here. They looked fairly high-ranking. Can we take them out ourselves?" asked Umbreon.

"Go ahead. The rest of you split up, try to calm down the wild Pokemon, and organize them against the Rocket Grunts. I'm going inside the lab to chase after that bunch of Grunts that we saw entering it and see if we can help the Professor and Tracey. They're probably in big trouble by now. Bayleef, you're with me!"

"Okay!" said the dinosaur.

"I'm coming too!" said Latias, surprising herself and the others.

Bulbasaur blinked. "Do you know any attacks?"

"No, but I can turn invisible and slam into people. Is that good enough?"

The plant Pokemon shrugged. "It's good enough for me. Okay, everybody move out!" The Pokemon immediately ran off to their assigned tasks. Bulbasaur started for the wrecked lab, followed by Bayleef and Latias.

"Why did you volunteer to come with us?" Bayleef asked. "You could have gone to help some of the others or just hid somewhere out of the way. Nobody would have blamed you."

Latias wasn't certain herself, but she figured out an answer after a few minutes of thinking. "Well, I'm a legendary Pokemon, aren't I?"

"Yeah." Bayleef looked at her friend inquisitively, wondering what she was going to say.

"Vincentio always said a legendary Pokemon's duty is to defend their territories and all that live in them. I did a horrible job of doing that the last two times Alto Mare was in danger. The first time, Latios died and Team Rocket nearly destroyed the city. The second time, my home and everyone in it were totally destroyed. I'm not going to let that happen a third time. I got here just this morning, but I know this is my home now. I won't let it go without fighting as hard as I can for it! My honor as a legendary Pokemon and the lives of my friends are at stake here!" Latias said.

Bulbasaur had been listening and looked back, giving the dragon an admiring smile. "You have spirit, Latias. I think with a little training, you could become as good a fighter as any of us!"

She blushed at the compliment. "Thank you Bulbasaur." What she hadn't told the two Grass-types was that when she saw the Rocket blimps floating overhead, an unfamiliar flame of anger had started burning in her heart. She hated both the Rockets and the Ghosts for what they did to Alto Mare, but she was too terrified of the spirit Pokemon to fight them. The Rockets, however, were more tangible and solid, something she could vent her anger and feelings of helplessness at stopping the catastrophe that destroyed her city on. More than that, she also felt a strange sense of courage and confidence welling up from deep within, whispering that she could beat these thieves and save her new home. She could avenge herself against the group that was ultimately responsible for her brother's death, a thought that had never occurred to her before. These strange new feelings fanned the small flame of anger, making it stronger. She felt a little scared, yes, but she was more interested in paying back the Rockets for what they had done than being afraid. _Watch out, Team Rocket!_ She thought. _I'm not a scared little girl anymore. I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop you and then I'll become strong enough to defeat the Ghost King!_ She gave a wry smile. Some strange primeval part of her she hadn't even known existed was actually looking forward to this.

…

"Are we almost there?" asked Domino.

"Just a little further. The elevator is right around this corner," said Porygon2. The traitorous bird was still leading his masters to the vault containing the Prison Balls.

Suddenly, a brown haired woman and a Mr. Mime stepped around the corner to confront them. They looked startled that they had run into some of the highest-ranking members of the region's most nefarious criminal organization, but hid it quickly behind masks of confidence and anger. Mimey took a little longer to hide his fear, because he sensed something strange about the Persian. He shook it off as Delia attempted to make a courageous speech. "Stop right there, Team Rocket! We won't let you get away with hurting Samuel and stealing his Pokemon!"

"Who are you?" asked the Boss.

"I'm…I'm D-Woman, super-heroine mother of the world's future Pokemon Master!" she said quickly, realizing that letting these fiends know her real name could mean bad news for her and her son later down the road. "And this is my partner in crime-fighting, Mimey!"

"Mr. Mime!" (Yeah!)

Porygon2 rolled his eyes. "Mimey the Mr. Mime. How original." He started charging up a Tri Attack. Domino raised her tulip and pointed it at the duo.

Boss Rocket raised a hand. "Stop!" He stepped forward. "Persian and I will handle this. 'D-Woman', I challenge you to a one-on-one Pokemon battle. If you win, all members of Team Rocket will vacate these premises immediately and return everything we've stolen. If I win, we get your mime. What do you say?"

Delia was worried. She had some experience in Pokemon training, (Which was to be expected since she had a trainer who made it into the semifinals in Kanto, won the Orange Islands, and almost won the Johto League for a son.) but was pretty sure the Rocket Boss was a more experienced trainer than her. She also didn't want to lose Mimey. Despite his own uncertainty about the feline and not wanting to leave Delia, her companion made her decision for her, stepping up to face Persian. "Mime Mr. Mime!" (I can take him!)

Boss Rocket chuckled. "I suppose that means he accepts. I will allow you the first move." Persian sneered at Mimey. He didn't even regard the clown as a threat.

Delia noticed this and her worry grew. She decided to just use Mimey's strongest attack right away and hope that it KO'd the cat. "Mimey, Psychic attack!"

"Mime!" Mimey twirled his broom and his eyes started glowing blue. A crushing blue aura surrounded Persian, who didn't seem to notice it at all. The cat shook itself and the aura dissipated, shocking Mimey and Delia.

The boss grinned behind his mask. Those fools had no way of knowing that Persian, demonstrating a lust for power similar to that of his master, had willingly undergone numerous painful methods to increase his strength, including steroids, illegal drugs, even more illegal Rare Candy, genetic engineering, and much more. Persian was now one of the most powerful non-legendary Pokemon in Kanto or Johto, strong enough to take on a level fifty Tyranitar without getting a scratch. And he was so much stronger now thanks to his latest power-up. "Persian, we don't have time to play around. Use Shadow Rush!"

"Shadow Rush?!" Delia and Mr. Mime said in their own languages.

Persian cackled and glowed with blue-black power. He charged forward, slamming into Mimey and hitting him so hard he was thrown back into Delia's stomach, knocking them both over. Mimey's eyes had become swirls, indicating he had been knocked unconscious the instant the attack had struck. Delia moaned. "That attack…what was it?"

Boss Rocket laughed and petted his Persian, who purred affectionately. "Shadow Rush, a move that can only be used by a Shadow Pokemon."

"Shadow what?"

"Shadow Pokemon. Pokemon whose hearts have been artificially closed. We recently learned how to do it from a scientist seeking employment who used to work for another criminal organization less successful than our own. Persian willingly underwent the Shadow Pokemon Process, and as such is not a simple mindless fighting machine like his brethren but a ruthless, calculating killer. Impressive, isn't he?" He stood up. "Now, by the terms of our agreement, you owe me one Mr. Mime." Sorrowfully, Delia reached for Mimey's Pokeball. The boss held up a hand. "No need. I'll do it myself." He pulled a Pokeball off of his belt and held it in his left hand. To Delia's amazement, the ball started to glow as he clutched it. Boss Rocket tossed it at Mimey. The ball struck the mime on the forehead and opened up. Instead of the usual red capture beam, a hand formed of yellow energy shot out, grabbed Mimey, and pulled him inside the ball. The ball shook for a moment, the button on its side flashing red as Mimey struggled to escape it, but after a moment the light went out and the ball was still. It flew back into Boss Rocket's hand and was placed back on his belt. Delia gaped. "Impressed? You should be. That was a Snag Ball, another ingenious invention from our new scientist. It allows us to capture Pokemon already owned by trainers. With this new Pokeball and the Shadow Pokemon Process, along with all the research and other wonders stored in this laboratory, Team Rocket will be invincible!" He snapped his fingers. "Domino. Deal with her so we may be on our way."

"With pleasure!" Domino pointed her tulip at Delia. A spray of yelled powder shot out and covered her face. Delia screamed and clawed at her face as the powder filled her vision, burning her eyes. Then she felt a stinging pain and everything went black.

…

The trio of Bulbasaur, Bayleef, and Latias stormed through the lab, attacking any Rocket foolish enough to get in their way. Bayleef and Bulbasaur pummeled them with vine whips before they could reach for their Pokeballs, and Latias took out some of her newfound anger by invisibly tackling them. They continued in this manner until they abruptly came to a hallway beneath a gaping hole in the ceiling. In the middle of the hallway was a net containing the miserable Muk, Professor Oak, Scyther, Venonat, and Tracey. The net was guarded by half a dozen Rocket Grunts, who reacted immediately when they saw the trio. (Or duo from their perspective, since Latias was invisible.) "Hey, wild Pokemon! Get em'!" They threw their Pokeballs, sending out their partners.

"We are not wild!" cried Bayleef as she grabbed a Houndour with her vine whip and tossed it into a Koffing, knocking it back into a trainer and knocking all three out. "We're trained and proud of it!"

Bulbasaur said nothing as he launched a seed from the bulb on his back which split open on contact with an Ekans and covered it with vines, draining its energy. He then grabbed a Hitmontop spinning towards him with his vines and threw it into a Primeape, knocking both out.

Latias flew behind the Rockets and slammed into them with her tackle, knocking them over and allowing her friends to incapacitate the goons and the rest of their Pokemon. The battle had lasted only seconds, and soon all six Grunts and their Pokemon were out cold.

Bulbasaur and Bayleef hurled a few Razor Leaves at the net, cutting it open. The five inside stood up, relieved to be free. "Hey, how come you guys could break the net and I couldn't?" asked Scyther.

"Because we've been spending our free time training while you sit on a couch and eat Chunky Puffs while watching anime all day," said Bulbasaur.

"And we're also still in our prime and don't have a heart condition like you do," Bayleef added.

Scyther's cheeks flushed. "Oh."

Tracey recalled Venonat and Scyther. "Great work, guys! You saved us!"

"No time for congratulations now, Tracey! We have to stop the Rockets before they reach the Prison Balls!" Oak pointed out. "We have to get there before it's too late, and reactivate the security system while we're at it!" He started running down the hall. Latias quickly flew in front of him, lowering to the ground. "Huh? Are you telling me to get on?" She nodded. "Well, if it'll get us there faster…" He climbed onto Latias' back while Tracey hopped onto Bayleef. "Follow my directions! Let's go!" Latias took off and started flying down the corridors of the lab, following the professor's directions. He also gave her a brief description of the Prison Balls, saying that they contained extremely evil Pokemon and the Rockets intended to use them to bring Kanto to its knees. Shocked at this revelation, Latias picked up the pace, zipping through the hallways and leaving her friends in the dust until Oak told her to stop when they reached an unconscious woman lying on the floor.

"Delia!" he cried. He hopped off Latias and felt the woman's forehead. "She's feverish. What's this?" He noticed some dust on her face and picked up a pinch in his finger. He gasped when he got a good look at the dust. "This is Stun Spore!"

At that moment, Bayleef and Bulbasaur caught up, panting from the exertion of chasing after the speedy dragon. Tracey gasped when he saw the unconscious woman. "Mrs. Ketchum!"

Latias blinked. This woman, who she remembered as the person who had distracted that Mr. Mime earlier that day, was Ash's mother? Her blood boiled and the flame in her heart burned brighter. How dare those Rockets do this to Ash's mother?!

"Tracey, get Delia to the infirmary immediately to get her some Stun Spore antidote. She took a very heavy dosage, so if she's not cured fast she could be paralyzed permanently!" said Oak urgently.

"Right! Come on Bayleef, let's get Mrs. Ketchum out of here!" Bayleef nodded and gently picked Delia up with her vines, placing her on her back behind Tracey. Then she galloped off down the hall, leaving Oak, Latias, and Bulbasaur behind.

The professor ran over to a bookshelf, pulled out a book, flipped it open and pressed the button inside. The bookcase rose, revealing a deep elevator shaft. The elevator was clearly still at the bottom. The professor reached for the call button, but Bulbasaur restrained him with a vine whip. "No!"

The professor looked at him in confusion. "Why did you…oh, I see. If I call the elevator, they'll know we're coming down and be ready for us, right?" Bulbasaur nodded. "Hmm. In that case, I'll need both of your help to stop this. Bulbasaur, can you lower me down to the security station with your vine whips? Our only hope of stopping this madness is reactivating Omnian."

"Sure, I can do it," said Bulbasaur.

"And Latias, your invisibility power makes you perfect for getting the Prison Balls. If you fly down to the bottom of the shaft, you should find the elevator. There's a maintenance hatch at the top you can squeeze through to get into the Vault area. Grab the Prison Balls and get them to the security center as fast as you can. By that time I should have Omnian back online and we can say goodbye to those Rockets once and for all. Can you do it?" Latias nodded. She wanted to pay back those Rockets for hurting Ash's mom and threatening her new home. "Good. Bulbasaur, lower me down the shaft. Gently, if you please." Bulbasaur nodded and wrapped his vines around Oak's waist. He carefully started lowering the scientist down the shaft. Latias turned invisible and flew quietly past him down the elevator shaft, passing dozens of lights as she went deeper and deeper beneath the laboratory.

After a minute or two of downward flight, she reached the bottom of the shaft, which was filled by the bulk of the elevator. The maintenance hatch was easy to spot, "MAINTENANCE" was written in large red letters across its top. She pulled on the handle and lifted the hatch upward, moving slowly so as not to make any loud noises. She squeezed through the hatch and found herself inside the elevator. The doors were open, revealing the Vault.

It was essentially a small dark passageway dead-ending in a thick metal security door that could probably sustain several Hyper Beams without a mark. Boss Rocket, Domino, Persian and Porygon2 stood in front of the door. Latias shuddered as she looked at the tan cat. There was something terribly wrong with it. It seemed to exude an aura of pure evil. The Persian looked back towards the elevator as Latias entered the passage, and for a moment she feared it had sensed her. Then the cat shook itself and turned back to the door. Relieved, she silently floated closer to the four villains. She guessed the man in the Darth Vader getup was the boss, as could be told by his proud stance and the fact that only the head of a super criminal organization like Team Rocket would ever wear such an imposing costume. "Is this going to take much longer?" asked Domino, frustrated.

"Hang on, I'm almost done," said Porygon2, who had interfaced himself with the door's computerized lock. "There, it's done." He floated back as various clicks could be heard from inside the door. A green light flashed on the lock, and the door swung open with a hiss of depressurized air, revealing a small alcove holding a large metal suitcase.

Boss Rocket stepped into the alcove and opened the suitcase. Sitting inside, nestled on foam cushions, were twelve strange Pokeballs. Each of them was dark gray on the top and steel gray on the bottom, and chains ran across their surface to the button that opened them, which looked to be designed like a combination lock. The balls were constantly shaking, as if whatever demon locked inside of them wanted out badly. Each was marked with a different icon to designate the monsters inside from one another. The ball marked with a sickle belonged to a psychotic Scyther that had haunted the streets of Saffron for over a year, raping and slaughtering females of both species, before it was finally caught. The ball marked with a roaring dragon belonged to an unusually aggressive and bloodthirsty Dragonite that had tried to lead a group of equally bloodthirsty Pokemon on a violent rampage that could have killed thousands if Master trainer Lance hadn't stopped him in time with his own Dragons. The one marked with a crescent moon belonged to a Wigglytuff that had been the lead actress in the ill-fated movie _Pokemon Love._ When she had seen how horrible and degrading the reviews for her acting and the movie were, Wigglytuff lost her sanity and she hunted down and killed all the critics that had insulted her. Then, blaming her co-actors and the movie crew for the film's abysmal box office ratings and her loss of fame, she hunted down and killed all of them too. The police managed to catch her just before she could kill her final victim, the Psyduck who had played the role of lead actor. All of these are only samples of the twisted minds locked inside the spheres.

The Boss laughed evilly. "At last…the Prison Balls are mine!" He closed the suitcase, picked it up, and turned around. "Come, let's make our-ooof!" That was the sound he made when Latias rammed headfirst into his stomach. The impact slammed him into the alcove, causing him to drop both the suitcase and the Snag Ball containing Mimey. It rolled into a corner, where it would remain until a police investigator found it broken with an unconscious Mr. Mime sitting in the remains the next morning. Latias grabbed the suitcase, smacked the boss's helmeted head with it, and flew down the passage at top speed.

"What is it?!" asked Domino, frightened.

"It must be some sort of invisible Pokemon! Persian, stop it!" cried the Boss.

Persian yowled and dashed after the invisible suitcase-carrying dragon as she flew into the elevator and tried to squeeze back up through the hatch. Persian charged into the elevator and leapt at her tail end, nearly grabbing her leg in his jaws as she pulled herself out of the hatch and started flying up the shaft. Persian growled and looked upward as the ruby on his head started to glow. The jewel fired an enormous Hyper Beam, obliterating the elevator roof and sending a powerful golden laser up at Latias. She saw the light of the beam racing up the shaft and plastered herself to the wall. The beam just missed her, continuing upward and ripping a hole through the ceiling as it kept going up into the sky, being visible for miles around. When the beam finally faded away, Latias quickly flew the remaining distance up the shaft and went through the open doors to the security chamber.

Oak was inside, frantically pressing buttons and switches as he tried to reactivate Omnian as fast as he could. Latias became visible, holding the suitcase into the air. "Professor, I got them!"

Hearing her, the professor looked away from the control panel for a second and gave her an appraising nod. "Excellent work, Latias! Just another second now, and we'll be able to put this nightmare behind us!" He pressed one last button, and Omnian lit up. The holographic Pallet Town activated, along with all the surveillance equipment. Alarm systems started blaring, saying intruders had been detected inside the premises. A little late for that now.

Suddenly, all of the monitors changed to show images of Porygon2. "I will not allow you to defeat us! I'm taking control of Omnian! Omnian, crush Professor Oak with your Confusion attack!" The android got up and started glowing blue as it raised a hand towards Professor Oak.

The scientist smirked. "I think not, traitor. Override Oak-12, authorization Alpha-Kappa-Gamma!"

Omnian immediately lowered its hand. "Override accepted. What are your orders?"

"WHAT?! This can't be happening!" protested the cyber bird as it tried and failed to regain control of the artificial Pokemon.

"Omnian, delete Porygon2 from your system immediately!" commanded the Professor.

"Processing."

On the screens, Porygon2 immediately started to disintegrate. "Noooo! Don't think this is over, Oak! I'll still get the last laugh! Team Rocket forever! Forever! FOREV-" He was deleted.

Oak chuckled darkly. "Now that that's dealt with, let's get rid of all these Rockets. Omnian, eject all intruders at once and throw up a force field to keep them out!"

"Processing." Omnian's lights turned red as it used Disable. In the elevator shaft below them, Domino, Boss Rocket, and Persian, all of whom had been trying to scale the shaft walls found themselves paralyzed. The same thing happened to all the Rocket Grunts outside and all the elite agents, who had been facing a thorough thrashing at the hands of the trained Pokemon. And so did Latias, who tried to cry out to the professor but found her vocal chords frozen.

Omnian then turned blue and used Confusion.

Outside, the Iron Masked Marauder had been knocked out of his mech by a huge earthquake made by Tauros, Nidoking, and Nidoqueen, and was about to be flame-broiled by Arcanine and Cyndaquil. Oakley and Anny were hugging each other and screaming along with their Espeon and Ariados due to the unholy terrors Umbreon and Misdreavus showed them. Butch and Cassidy were about to be flattened by Snorlax after he and Kingler had blasted their helicopter out of the sky with Hyper Beams. Noctowl and her bird squad were pecking the agents who had crawled out of the blimps they had crashed. All the other Pokemon had managed to invigorate their wild brethren and lead them against the Rocket Grunts. All of these attacks were broken off when the Confusion attack hit. Every member of Team Rocket or Rocket vehicle was surrounded by a glowing blue aura, lifted into the air, and thrown out of the estate. All the Pokeballs containing Pokemon they had captured on the estate shattered, releasing the prisoners back to their homes.

The trio in the elevator shaft screamed as they shot upward, flying through the hole made by the Hyper Beam and were cast outside the front gates with the rest of their gang, flattening the grunts already there as well as the police waiting for them. Latias finally regained control of her voice and screamed as she was flung into the elevator shaft and hurtled upwards.

Oak heard her cry and whirled around just in time to see the dragon vanish up the shaft, taking the suitcase of Prison Balls with her. Oak gasped. "Oh no! Porygon2 must have deleted Latias from Omnian's list of 'friends', so it thought she was an intruder! Omnian, quick, let Latias go!"

"Cannot comply. All intruders must be ejected," said the robot.

"She's not an intruder, she's a guest! A friend!" Oak protested.

"Negative. All 'friends' are listed in database. Subject Latias is not on this list, and as such is an intruder."

Oak gritted his teeth. "Override Oak-12, authorization Alpha-Kappa-Gamma!"

"Cannot comply. Overrides do not apply during ejection process."

"Damn it!" Oak cursed. "Now Team Rocket's going to get the Prison Balls, and Latias too if they're faster than the ghosts!"

…

Latias groaned and shook her head, coming back to her senses. The last thing she remembered was being thrown out of the lab due to Oak's security system and hitting the ground outside the front gate hard. Rubbing her sore head, she suddenly noticed she was still carrying the suitcase containing the Prison Balls. She also noticed the shimmering force field around the lab, locking her out, as well as the huge pile of unconscious Rocket agents lying in a heap next to her.

At the top of the pile was Boss Rocket, whose landing had been somewhat cushioned by Domino, Persian, and everyone else beneath him, and as such was still awake. He groaned and got to his feet, staggering a little. He pulled off his mask and threw up, splattering vomit all over some unfortunate Rocket Grunt's shirt. He stood up straight and stiffened. He had seen Latias without her invisibility. And by the same token, Latias had seen him without his mask.

Latias saw a hard, angular face framed by elegantly coifed dark hair, with a frown on his lined face and a pair of cold eyes frozen in an eternal look of anger, filled with layers of greed, hatred, disappointment and dissatisfaction that had built up over the years. But as she watched, his expression seemed to soften somewhat. _Wh-Why's he looking at me like that? Does he want to capture me and make me serve Team Rocket? _Not wanting that to happen, she tensed, ready to turn invisible and flee or charge into him depending on what he did next.

The leader of Team Rocket saw a red and white dragon holding the suitcase with the Prison Balls he wanted in them. But he forgot them for a moment when he saw her golden eyes. They had anger and defiance in them, something he was used to in his victims, but there was something else to. Pain. Sorrow. Shattered innocence. While the boss saw all of these plenty of times, the latter struck him more than usual. A chord struck deep within his long-buried heart, bringing up memories of his own painful childhood and the mother who had never loved him. He suddenly felt that he had to comfort this Pokemon, to make her smile and forget her pain. And maybe he could smile again as well. He was confused by these sudden uncharacteristic feelings and was even more confused when her body language suddenly turned from battle-ready to fear. _Why is she afraid? Is she scared of me? _He wondered, feeling strangely hurt.

Actually, Latias was not staring at the boss, but at the figure that had appeared out of thin air behind him. It was an insectoid of sorts, looking like a shed bug's skin with a crescent halo over its head. The sight of this being, the Pokemon who had murdered her best friend, desecrated her brother's remains and summoned forth the destruction of Alto Mare extinguished the flame of anger, confidence and courage that had been burning inside her heart.

__

Shedinja.

Terror gripped her soul as at least a hundred Gastly, Haunter and Gengar appeared behind the ghost ninja. They all looked at her eagerly, knowing their lord and master would be pleased with her capture and then they would finally have a queen, someone who might make the King's life less dismal and depressing. They had been repelled numerous times when they tried to get her earlier that day, and had been uncertain of whether or not to interfere when Team Rocket attacked, but now that she was outside, she was all theirs. Quivering in fear, Latias started backing away. The ghosts made no move to stop her. Abruptly, a bolt of lightning split the sky above, sounding a thunderclap that caused the tense and nerve-wracked Latias to panic and fly as far away as possible.

"Wait!" The Boss said lamely, wondering why he felt such unhappiness as she flew away. His logical side rationalized it was because she was a rare Pokemon who happened to be carrying the subject of this entire heist, but another part of him told him it was something more. Shedinja and his ghost army vanished silently as rain started to fall from the heavens, pursuing their prey and leaving the torn and confused leader of Team Rocket to get drenched.

The hunt was on.

…

Okay, that was _very_ long but also hopefully intense and satisfying enough for you guys. I'm not going to promise the next one will be shorter, because I just don't know anymore. I hope you liked it. Please review!


	4. Fearow and Loathing on Route 1

My last chapter took a lot of hard work to complete, as did this one. I hope you enjoy it, it was originally going to be the first half of a much bigger chapter but I decided to split it in two and load the second half later. Enjoy!

Nukerjsr, I didn't mean any diss on Yu-Gi-Oh. I like it. That idea's just been in my head for a while, and I had to get it out.

Lark, Ash will show up, but not for a long, _long_ time, as I said before. I'd like to think he's gotten a little smarter, but he still may not realize Bayleef and Latias' feelings…_yet_. I think Latias and Ash are cute too, but I'm still more of an AAML fan. As for the Ghost King…well, you'll have to see for yourself, won't you?

Geniusboy, glad you liked the foreshadowing I put in. And I'm glad you liked Omnian, too.

Persian's Mistress, I think Porygon2's a bird. I mean, he's got a beak and all. And I'm sorry to say the worst side of Team Rocket will eventually show themselves, and the seriousness of this story will decrease a little as a result. It's only so dark and serious now because I'm trying to establish better things for Latias later. Chapters further on in the story may feel like a regular episode of the anime, albeit with my own little touches here and there. The Tauros can't break out of the corral because it's strong enough to hold them in. It'd have to be for thirty or so powerful bulls, right? And no, Boss Rocket is not Latios in human form, he's Giovanni wearing a costume to keep witnesses from recognizing him and reporting him to the police or to the Pokemon League. And don't worry, Delia and Mimey are fine. And I'm glad you like Umbreon and Misdreavus, I think they're the first lesbian characters I've ever actually used. Though I wonder how Gary would feel if he knew I made his Umbreon gay…

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this chapter except Wing Fortress, the Prison Balls and mentions of the Ghost King.

…

Run.

That was the word most dominant in Latias' mind. She had to run. She had to flee from what was behind her. She had to fly from the ghosts. The minions of the Ghost King.

She tore through the air at speeds a Dragonite would envy, fueled by terror and panic, still holding the suitcase containing the lethal Prison Balls in a death grip. She wasn't even flying anywhere in particular; it was sheer coincidence that she had headed north, over the forests of Route 1 on the way to Viridian City. All she knew was that she absolutely had to get away.

A lightning bolt cracked through the sky nearby, and a still-rational part of Latias' mind pointed out that it was really stupid to be carrying a metal suitcase in the middle of a lightning storm. Another far less rational part screamed that getting electrocuted by a bolt of lightning had to be better than the Ghost King.

She was so focused on flying far, far away from the ghosts as quickly possible that she didn't see the thing flying at her until it was too late. It rammed into her side, causing her to shriek as it drew blood and knocked her sideways out of her flight, sending her down towards the forest. She tried to pull out of her dive, but something else rammed into her, pushing her down again. This was followed by over a dozen more somethings, all ramming into her repeatedly and crying out as they hit her, forcing her down to the woods. More things flew up from the forest and assisted their friends in beating up Latias, causing torrents of blood to blemish her pure white skin as they forced her down to a clearing. As she fell to the ground, still more things appeared, and they all ganged up on Latias, clawing and pecking at her. She screamed and tried to push them off and fly away, but they all jumped on her back and forced her back to the ground then continued hurting her. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, unable to bear the pain much longer. And then, all of a second, a high, shrill voice cried "ENOUGH!"

Instantly, the pressure on her back and the sharp pain from being penetrated by hooked beaks and claws over and over again stopped, leaving her with the dull pain of blood leaving her body through numerous open wounds. Wearily, she looked up to see what had attacked her.

Standing silently in a ring around her were a large group of red and black birds with brown heads, glaring at her hungrily. Spearows. Latias instantly switched from fear of the ghosts to fear of the Spearow, knowing these birds had a reputation for cruelty. A much larger bird, this one pure brown with a long neck and an even longer pointy beak flapped down out of the trees and landed in front of her. Her blood went cold, recognizing the bird as a Fearow, rumored to be even worse than their de-evolved cousins. "Well," he said, stalking towards her, lust in his eyes. "What have we here? A pretty white birdy out for a fly in the rain?" He turned his head sideways, looking at her with one of his dark eyes. "Where do you have to go so fast, birdy? So fast that you'd go out in the rain? So fast that you wouldn't stop to say hi to your friendly neighborhood gang of bird Pokemon?" The Spearow snickered at this.

Latias shivered. "P-please don't hurt me."

The Fearow ignored her, noticing the suitcase she was still holding. "What's this? A human device? What're you doing with one of those? Give me that!" He grabbed at the suitcase with a talon.

Frightened of what would happen if these birds somehow managed to open the Prison Balls, Latias tightened her grip and pulled the suitcase back. "No, you can't!"

"Shut up, bitch!" He pecked her hand, causing her to gasp in pain and let go of the suitcase. He tossed it on the ground and pried it open with some difficulty due to his non-opposable talons before gazing at the contents inside. He scowled at what he found. "Pokeballs? Bah!" He flung the case away with a flick of his wing, causing the orbs to spill out onto the rain-soaked ground. "No use to us! Filthy human things!" The bird turned his gaze back to Latias. "You, however…" He started walking back towards her. "You have some use."

Latias struggled to rise, fearing what the bird had in store for her, but a Spearow rammed into her, drawing more blood from her sides and convincing her it might be best to stay on the ground. Mustering all the meager courage she could gather, she said in a slightly quivering voice, "I-I am a legendary Pokemon. If you hurt me, there will be serious repercussion." The threat sounded ludicrously feeble to her own ears, but she had to try.

The Fearow laughed, obviously not believing her. "You hear that, boys? A legendary Pokemon!" The cruel birds burst into raucous laughter at this. "Well, I've never done a legendary before. And it has been a long time since our last gang rape, hasn't it? I have first dibs!" Latias' eyes widened in fear. She tried to rise again, throwing caution to the winds. Maybe staying with the ghosts would have been better. At least they wouldn't have raped her, right?

But she didn't even make it an inch off the ground before the Spearows pounced, digging their claws into her flesh and pecking at her hard, ripping out skin with their hooked beaks. She cried out and fell back to the ground as they kept abusing her, pushing her over as the Fearow approached. She struggled, but they stood on her wings and grabbed onto her body with their talons to keep her from escaping. The Fearow spread his wings and raised his head in the air to make a piercing cry as he prepared to mount her when a thunderous voice screamed, "GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARDS!"

A flash of lightning lit up the clearing, revealing the silhouette of a bird the size of Fearow flying towards them. The Spearows backed off of Latias, frightened. Fearow's pupils dilated and a growl rose from his throat. "_You…_"

Another lightning bolt illuminated the figure, causing Latias to stare in wonder as it swooped down on the clearing, aiming right for the Fearow. It was a great eagle Pokemon, light brown and white in color, with a beautiful red and gold plumage streaming from her head as she shot towards the leader of the birds. Enraged, Fearow flapped his wings and soared straight at his nemesis, beak glowing in preparation for a Drill Peck. The eagle dodged his thrust at the last second, whacking him with a Wing Attack as she flew by. The Fearow wobbled and flapped his wings to stop himself before he could fly into a tree. The eagle did a turnabout and slammed into his back, smashing the Fearow face first into said tree and causing him to get his beak stuck in it. The bird started thrashing about furiously, trying to break free from his woody prison so he could rip his foe to pieces.

The eagle ignored him and flew back to the clearing, landing gracefully and spreading her wings out to make herself seem bigger than she really was. The Spearow stepped back, quivering in fear. "Anybody else want some?!" The birds panicked and flew away, squawking like the cowards they were. The eagle folded her wings and strode over to Latias, concern in her eyes. "Are you all right?" she asked gently.

The dragon's eyes watered, and she was vaguely aware of a numbness growing throughout her body. "You're beautiful," she said. Then she passed out from blood loss.

…

Fearow pushed against the tree with all his might and ripped his beak out, sending splinters flying everywhere. He screamed to the heavens in fury, yelling curses that would make a sailor blush. Finally, he screamed one word that echoed throughout the forest, expressing all the hatred and loathing he had for the eagle in three syllables. "PIDGEOT!!!!" Filled with rage, he struck the tree with a Wing Attack, knocking it over. Then, he gathered his composure and cried another word. "SPEAROW!!!"

Wings fluttered, and dozens of the weaker birds flew down around him. "Y-you called boss?" asked one of them timidly.

Fearow lashed out with a talon, drawing blood from the lackey's face. He flinched and backed away. That was a mistake, for the bigger bird pounced on him and eviscerated the poor avian, showering blood everywhere. The other Spearow watched in fear and morbid anticipation, knowing their leader was not in the best of moods but also aware that they got to eat whatever was left. Finally, Fearow finished killing the bird and backed away, slurping what was left of his guts down his throat. The Spearow surged forward, fighting each other to claim eating rights to the remains of their former wingman. Fearow stormed over to those too slow to reach the dead bird and towered over them. "Why the FUCK didn't you tell me Pidgeot was coming?!"

"W-we didn't have a chance. Her friends knocked us out before we could warn you," said one of the Spearow, trembling in fear.

Fearow raised his beak, fully intending to peck his fool minion's head open, when another Spearow thankfully intervened, swooping in from overhead. "Boss! Boss! They're here, they're here!"

Fearow looked up. "They're here?"

"Yes! They're finally here!" cried the Spearow joyfully.

Fearow cackled darkly. "At last…Hahahaha! Pidgeot, you'll be dead before dawn!"

"Dead before dawn! Dead before dawn! Dead before dawn!" chorused the Spearow, shaking with barely contained glee.

…

"Is she dead?"

"I don't know. She looks dead."

"Let's poke her and see!"

"Okay!"

Latias felt something jabbing her. She grunted and rolled away from it.

"Ah, she's still alive!"

"Darn."

"Children, what are you doing in here? This person was just healed from a serious injury! Get out!"

"Aww…"

Latias grunted and opened her eyes a crack. As her vision came into focus, she saw the green head and white wings of an elderly Xatu looming over her. "Are you all right, child?"

Latias blinked and rolled onto her stomach, looking at herself in surprise. Last she had recalled, she had been bleeding all over from the Spearow attacks. But she could feel no pain, nor could she see any sign of damage or wounds on her body. There weren't even any scars. "What happened to me?"

"I healed you," said the Xatu. "And just in time, too. If Pidgeot hadn't brought you to me in time, you might have bled to death."

In a flash, she suddenly remembered the other thing that had almost happened to her. "I almost…they nearly…"

Xatu nodded. "Raped you? Yes. But Pidgeot saved you."

"Pidgeot…" The memory of the beautiful eagle that rescued her flashed through her mind. "Who is she?" She blinked, and suddenly became aware that she was lying in a huge nest on a tree branch. "And where am I?"

"You are in the medical branch of Wing Fortress," said Xatu. "And when I say branch I mean branch." He gestured behind Latias, and she turned her head around to see the branch her nest was on extended quite a ways back to the trunk of an enormous tree. Several other nests were placed on the branch or lying on smaller branches growing out from the main one, many of them occupied by injured bird or insect Pokemon. She looked up and gasped, seeing hundreds of equally large branches overhead, all towering up to a huge green leafy canopy. There were bird and bug Pokemon of all species everywhere, flying about from branch to branch, some carrying baskets of food and others had what looked like important documents. Incredibly, they seemed to be getting along perfectly well, even though they were by nature mortal enemies. Latias wondered how this had come to pass if all of them were wild Pokemon, and as such had not had the experience of working with Pokemon of types anathema or alien to their own that trained Pokemon did.

"Wing Fortress?" she said, unbelieving.

Xatu nodded. "Yes. This place is indeed a fortress, designed to protect the Pokemon of Route 1 and the surrounding area from the Spearow gang."

"It's amazing!" said Latias, awed. "But I flew over Pallet Town earlier and I never saw this tree. If it's big enough to house all these Pokemon, how could I have missed it?"

Xatu pointed outwards from the tree trunk. "Look over there." Latias looked and saw a steep dirt slope going down to the tree roots. "The tree grows out of a very deep depression in the earth, practically invisible from the air. To any looking for us from above, the tree's canopy resembles that of any other group of trees and keeps us hidden unless they know exactly what they're looking for. The only way to get here other than walking is to fly in, past all the sentinels we have on patrol. We take our security very seriously, little one. We do not want to be slaughtered by the Spearows."

Latias frowned. "Why are they so evil anyway? Why did they…" she shuddered, not wanting to remember how close she had been to losing her virginity and her life.

"That is an interesting story," said a voice from above. The two looked up to see a great eagle descending towards them.

Xatu bowed as Pidgeot landed. "I am honored by your presence, esteemed leader."

Pidgeot looked somewhat embarrassed. "Knock it off Xatu, you know I hate all that formal talk."

"Of course, O great one." Despite the fact that Xatu had a beak instead of a mouth, Latias somehow got the idea that he was smiling.

Latias bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you for saving my life."

Pidgeot shrugged. "No problem. I'd do the same for any of my flock. I won't let those filthy rats with wings kill anyone on my watch. By the way, I believe this is yours?" She extended one of her talons, clutching a large metal suitcase.

Latias gasped. She hadn't even realized that it had been missing. She grabbed it from Pidgeot and quickly opened it. She sighed in relief when she saw that all the depressions in the foam cushion were filled with Prison Balls and closed the suitcase. "Good, they're all here."

"Mighty strange Pokeballs," commented Pidgeot. "Not like any I've ever seen. What kind are they?"

"They're Prison Balls," explained Latias. "They're jails for extremely dangerous and psychotic Pokemon."

"And what are you doing with them?" asked Xatu.

"I was rescuing them from Team Rocket," she explained, not having the energy at the moment to tell them all about her problems with the Ghost King.

Pidgeot squawked. "Team Rocket? So _that's_ what all those blimps were doing around here. I would have knocked them out of the sky, but I was in the middle of a fight with some Spearow when they started towards the town. Sorry," she said apologetically.

"No, it's okay," said Latias. "They got beaten anyway." Now that she was in a less panicked state of mind she realized she might still be in danger from the ghosts even in this sylvan fortress. She would ask Pidgeot if she could escort her back to the lab later, when the force field went down and she was sure she could get back in, so that the ghosts wouldn't capture her. Surely they wouldn't risk a fight against such a magnificent warrior like Pidgeot! But first she wanted to know why the Spearows had nearly deflowered her. "What was that you were saying about why the Spearow are so evil?"

Pidgeot ruffled her feathers. "It all started a few years ago, in this very forest. A boy left Pallet Town on his first day as a Pokemon trainer, eager to win badges and great victories at the Pokemon League. His Pokemon was less eager to do this and was more interested in either attacking the boy or ignoring him completely. In an attempt to impress his Pokemon, the boy tried to capture a Pidgey with his bare hands. Needless to say, he failed. Frustrated, he threw a rock at what he thought was another Pidgey in an attempt to weaken it so he could capture it in a Pokeball. Unfortunately, the bird he had hit was in fact the leader of the local gang of Spearow, and was not happy at being attacked.

The leader called his flock, and they attacked the boy and his Pokemon with the intent to kill, causing them to run for their lives. The Pokemon tried to attack the Spearow, only to get himself gravely injured and cause the situation to get even direr. The boy rushed towards Viridian City, hoping he could find safety there and even stealing a bike to get there faster. Sadly, he didn't make it. The bike crashed, dumping the two on the road as the Spearow swooped down for the kill. The boy tried to shield his Pokemon, hoping they would take him over his injured friend. The Pokemon was touched by this and realized the would-be-trainer was after all worthy of him, and launched a powerful attack that knocked the Spearow out of the sky, killing many of them. Unfortunately, the leader survived, and when he awakened half-dead to see the corpses and wounded bodies of his flock around him, he swore vengeance against the boy and the Pokemon that had done this to him.

He trained hard, fighting weaker Pokemon and attacking anyone who went through the forest to build up enough experience to evolve into a Fearow. It took a long time, over a year, but it finally happened and he was ready for his revenge. Eventually, the boy returned, stronger and more experienced as well. The Fearow attacked the boy, leading his Spearow in a huge assault to fulfill his old grudge.

That boy was my master, and this is where I entered the story.

I evolved into Pidgeot to save my master, fighting off the swarm and sending Fearow packing. I saw that the weaker Pidgey and Pidgeotto of the forest needed protection, for they were not strong enough to defeat Fearow's gang on their own. I knew then that my place was here, fighting off the evil birds and protecting those who dwell in or pass through these woods. It was with a heavy heart that I parted with my trainer, but I knew that someday we would meet again.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of the story. Fearow was enraged that I had defeated him and challenged me over and over again, but I trounced him every time. He became obsessed with defeating me and having his revenge. He learned that he could increase his power by feasting on the entrails of bug Pokemon and his fellow Spearow, and so he became a cannibal and a murderer, slaughtering those who crossed him to make himself stronger. The Bug Pokemon were terrified by Fearow's ruthless slaughter of their kind and came to me, threatening that if I did not leave the forest and stop this senseless fighting between Fearow and myself they would declare war on all humans and Pokemon in the area, including Pallet Town. And the last thing I needed was to have another enemy in this fight.

Fortunately, diplomacy happened to be something I had learned from my friend Bulbasaur while on my journeys with my trainer and I managed to come to an agreement with the insects. It stated that I would extend protection over the insect Pokemon of the forest as long as they provided the troops I was training to combat the gang with some of their excess eggs for food and a hideout for us to stay in safety. We also would not eat any of their living, just their eggs, as long as this war against the Spearow continued. They had more than enough eggs to feed us, and they happened to have a giant hollowed-out tree for us to use as a hideout that Fearow's goons wouldn't be able to attack easily. It was through this threat from Fearow and his gang that the birds and the bugs, normally hated enemies, managed to unite against a common foe.

That hideout has evolved into the mighty fortress you see today, where the majority of the forest's avian and insectoid Pokemon dwell together, protected by myself and the elite flying corps I've put together. Admittedly, there are still many fights between the two groups now and then, but due to the need for unity against the Spearow they have actually managed to form a small sort of civilization that any Pokemon researcher would love to study. And so we have continued to this very day, working together as best we can with the common goal of surviving against the Spearow," said Pidgeot, finishing the tale. Some of the injured Pokemon nearby applauded.

Latias was amazed at all the Pidgeot had done with her life, going from being a trained Pokemon to combating the wicked birds and founding a small city of wild Pokemon. In her eyes, this mighty eagle was a true hero! She had a sudden thought, but immediately dismissed it, thinking there was no way it could be possible. But still, she felt she had to confirm it first. "Was that trainer's first Pokemon…you?" she asked, half-hoping the answer was no.

Pidgeot laughed. "Me? No! I was his third. His first Pokemon was a Pikachu."

Latias blinked. Could her suspicions be correct after all? "A Pikachu? Would your trainer's name happen to be Ash Ketchum?"

Pidgeot's eyes widened. "You know him?"

"Know him? I'm in love with him!" Xatu and Pidgeot stared at her. Latias winced, realizing that she had accidentally slipped her biggest secret. "Oops. Shouldn't have said that."

Pidgeot blinked a few times. "Well, that's a twist. I always thought he'd end up with that red-haired girl who kept haranguing him about breaking her bike, though it was obviously just a cover-up for why she _really_ kept following him."

"Yeah, everyone else seems to think so too," Latias muttered.

"How is the boy?" Pidgeot asked urgently. "Is he all right? Does he have a new flying Pokemon?" That last one sounded the most important to her.

Latias thought back to her first encounter with Ash, over a year ago. "He was fine when I last saw him," she said truthfully. "He's champion of the Orange Islands and he made it to the Victory Round in the Johto League. I hear he's in the Hoenn region now. He's got a couple of Pokemon that can fly, including a Noctowl and a Swellow." The first she had met just that afternoon, the second she had read about on the trainer database.

Pidgeot's shoulders sagged. "Darn. Well, guess I shouldn't be too surprised. That's what happens when you leave a team, someone else takes your place." She sighed. "I know I'm needed here, but sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I had stayed with him and the others instead. Oh well…" She looked a little depressed, and Latias empathized with her. "It's been years since I've last seen him, I've always been busy fighting the Spearow every time he was in town. I kept saying I'd visit him, but I never got around to it. And now you say he's in Hoenn?" Latias nodded. "Then I may never see him again."

"Don't say that!" Latias argued. "He'll come back sooner or later. Maybe you can take some time off from your job defending the forest to see him when he comes home."

"I've been saying the same thing to you for ages, leader," said Xatu. "It really is unhealthy for you to stay on the job all the time. You need a break."

"But if I stop, Fearow-"

"Will be dealt with by your troops. You've trained them better than you know, Pidgeot. They can handle things here while you go get reacquainted with your old trainer. It would be good for you, both physically and spiritually," promised the psychic bird.

Pidgeot reluctantly gave in. "Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt if I went to see him for a few hours. When he gets back, that is, which probably won't be for months if not a year or two," she said quickly.

Getting an idea, Latias spoke up. "Actually, I was hoping you could escort me and these Prison Balls back to Professor Oak's lab, where they belong. Maybe you could see some of your old friends there while you're at it."

The eagle looked interested. "All right, I guess I could do that. We'll leave first thing in the morning, after I get some sleep, it's been a long day for me. How's that?"

"That would be all right," said Latias, although she felt slightly uncertain about her safety here. "Um…would there happen to be any Hoothoot or Noctowl here?"

"Plenty, why?" asked Pidgeot.

Latias relaxed. The owl Pokemon would be able to tell if any ghosts tried to invade in the night and surely all the birds and bugs here could drive them off. "I'm just a little scared some ghosts might try and get me, that's all." She really didn't want to tell the whole story about the Ghost King, she had already done that once with Professor Oak and again with her new friend Bayleef, and she didn't feel like reliving the past for a third time that day.

Pidgeot chuckled. "Kid, you got nothing to worry about. No harm will come to you as long as you're here in Wing Fortress."

Almost on cue, a Hoothoot flew down to them, looking terrified. "Pidgeot! Pidgeot! We've got company!"

Latias' blood ran cold. Were the ghosts coming for her after all? "Who is it? Fearow again?" asked Pidgeot.

"Yes…and he's brought friends!"

…

I think I've got a good cliffhanger here. I hope you liked the addition of Pidgeot and Wing Fortress, and if you think the near-rape scene was bad, wait'll you see what I've got in the next chapter! Please review!


	5. Bloodbath

I'm glad so many people liked the last chapter. This is going to be one of the darkest yet, I'm afraid. Those who hate graphic violence, stay away!

Thank you Geniusboy, I wasn't aware you were British or wealthy enough to walk around with a monocle. Not many people can get away with that without looking stupid, but you managed it!

Thank you for your sympathies, Story Weaver1. As I said before, what happens in this chapter will be worse than the near-rape.

Nukerjsr, which scene in Wrath of the Damned are you referring to? There are so many!

Serpent's Tail, thank you for your interest. However, I'm afraid I must correct you on a few details. First, Delia wasn't wearing a disguise; she just made up a nickname so the Rockets couldn't target her later. And I don't think Giovanni and Ash are related. (In this story anyway, though I doubt it's that way in the show either.) "Sea of depression" is a little overdoing it, they all miss him but Bayleef and Phanphy are the only ones who still really mope about it, and that's only on certain occasions. They're all sure he'll come back to them, though. And the only Pokemon 'killing' will be in the wild, normal trainer battles will still be the good old beat-em-up-till-they-faint routine. And you forgot to add Ho-oh to your list of legendaries, I never said she was missing. And what about the three silicate Pokemon? (Not that they're important, just thought I'd mention them.) Pidgeot knew all those events because Pikachu told her one day when they weren't fighting anyone in particular and were just taking a break from their journey. Also, Fearow's buddies are NOT Gary Stu Pokemon, as you will soon see. And I'm curious about your website, but the address didn't show up in your review. Can you E-mail it to me? Oh, and I don't suppose you can predict where this pattern of events will end up?

Persian Mistress, I suppose Gary would be that angry. Good thing he's a fictional character and can't do anything about it, right? And Latias did try to fight back against the Fearow, but his buddies kept pushing her back down. I get tired of Team Rocket's motto too, so I may make fun of it a bit when they eventually show up. And I'm glad you liked the fortress idea so much!

…

Bird Pokemon.

There had to be hundreds of them. So many that they blotted out the night sky, which had cleared up hours ago from the earlier storm. There were Skarmory, Murkrow, a few Wingull, even a few Pidgeys, Hoothoots, and Noctowls from outside the forest. And Spearows. Lots and lots of Spearows. And one Fearow at their head.

"There's so many of them…" whispered Latias. She and Xatu had followed Pidgeot to a clear spot in the canopy through which they could see the great many wings flying towards them.

"That idiot…what's he done now?" growled Pidgeot.

"HAHAHA!" Fearow cried from the front of his army. "You see this, Pidgeot? This is for you! I've called in members of other bird gangs from all over Kanto and Johto so they would come here just for you, bitch! Hahahahaha! This is it! Your little fortress and everyone in it will be destroyed!" He craned his head back over his shoulder to the birds behind him. "ATTACK! DESTROY EVERYTHING!" The crooked avians screeched and flew forward, eager to rid the world of another group of innocent Pokemon.

Pidgeot turned to Hoothoot. "Rally the corps! Get every bird and bug who can fight up here, we'll need everything we've got to fight these creeps!"

The owl saluted. "Yes ma'am!" He flew back into the tree.

Latias saw Pidgeot was about to fight and flew up to her. "I'm coming with you!"

Pidgeot looked skeptical. "Can you fight?"

"I can turn invisible and tackle people!" she said proudly.

"Not good enough."

Latias blinked. "But-"

"No buts. Invisibility won't do you any good; there are owls out there that will spot you in an instant. And do you really think you can just tackle everyone without them noticing and launching attacks in every direction? Sooner or later, one's gotta connect, invisible or not, and then you're through." Pidgeot nodded at Xatu. "Take her and the children down to the egg shelter. They are our future. Don't let anything happen to them."

The psychic bowed. "You have nothing to fear, my lady."

Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Noctowls, Hoothoots, Natu, Yanma, Beedrill, Butterfree, Ledyba, Ledian and other winged Pokemon started flying out of the canopy around them and headed for the wicked birds in large numbers. "That's my cue. To battle!" With a flap of her great wings, she burst through the leaves and into the air, passing her cohorts as she led them straight for the enemy. More birds and bugs flew out of the canopy by the second, joining her flight as they prepared to defend their home.

Xatu turned away and started to fly back down the trunk. "Come little one. We must join the others in the egg shelter. It is the most secure room in the fortress, for it holds both our future children and an alternative food source in case of supply shortages." Latias looked at him in disgust, and he shrugged. "We are not trained Pokemon with regular meals, Latias. We are wild. We must take whatever food we can if we are to survive, even if it means eating our unborn children. Come." Latias took one last look out into the sky, at the proud, beautiful figure of Pidgeot, and reluctantly turned away, following the psychic back beneath the canopy.

…

Fearow cackled when he saw Pidgeot and her corps flying towards them, ready to battle. "Pidgeot, you old bitch, we meet again for the last time!"

Pidgeot folded her wings to her sides and shot at Fearow like a feathered missile. The evil bird dodged her and swiped at her with his claws as she shot past him. She unfolded her wings and spun like a corkscrew, deflecting the talons as she came out of her missile drive and hovered in place, preparing for the next attack. The other birds of both armies gave the two combatants a wide berth, knowing this fight was between their commanders alone. "What have you done, Fearow?! What did you have to promise your friends so that they'd come all the way here just to wipe out a little colony of forest Pokemon?"

The bird sneered. "I promised them an entire city and more. Once we've destroyed your fortress, we'll assault that little town of Pallet and turn it into a breeding ground. With all the birds at my command, it will be no problem. Once we've hatched enough new soldiers, we'll attack Viridian City with enough force to bring it to its knees. And from Viridian, it's only a short flight to the Indigo Plateau. Just imagine what we could do if we had control of that!"

"You're insane!" cried Pidgeot. "The security in Pallet Town is too strong, and if you take Viridian City the Pokemon League will retaliate with its strongest trainers! There's no way you can beat the Elite Four!"

Fearow shook his head. "Silly birdy. Any foe can be conquered if you throw enough soldiers at it. And with the soldiers we'll hatch by conquering Pallet and Viridian, not even the legendary Dragon Master Lance can defeat us!"

Pidgeot stared at the villain in disbelief. He had truly lost his mind if he thought this plan would work, but that didn't surprise her, she knew he had lost his sanity a long time ago when he had decided to become a cannibal. Even though she was sure he couldn't succeed, a shadow of doubt ate at her. There were an awful lot of Murkrow here, wasn't it possible that they could overload the psychic defenses she had heard were set up in Pallet Town with their innate darkness? If they actually could somehow defeat the guardian of Pallet, they might be able to take Viridian as well, since the Gym Leader there preferred Ground-Types, which were naturally weak against most bird Pokemon. And if they could take Viridian…would even the Elite Four be able to stop them?

She shook off her doubts. She had to believe she could stop these fiends, even if they did have overwhelming numbers. And she had to believe that the forces in Pallet Town could defeat the birds if she didn't. The alternative was unthinkable. She glared at her rival with a level of piercing hatred that can only be expressed through the great eyes of an eagle. "Fearow, this time you've gone too far! Our rivalry ends this night, once and for all!"

Fearow nodded. "I agree. One of us will not live to see the light of day!" They charged each other, as their troops fought and died around them.

…

The egg shelter was a huge room hollowed out inside the trunk of the tree filled with hundreds of Pokemon eggs of all shapes and sizes on racks, each a bug or bird waiting to hatch (or be eaten, depending on the circumstances.). All the other Pokemon living in the fortress had left to fight the invading army, leaving only Latias, Xatu, and a whole lot of irritating baby Pokemon with way too much energy behind. Latias watched in disbelief as the babies, who seemed impossibly hyper, were rolling around on the floor play fighting and flying around the room screaming nonsense. She held the suitcase full of Prison Balls tightly to her chest, not wanting the children to get their hands on it. She turned to Xatu, who looked oddly calm and serene in comparison to the rowdy chicks and larvae. "Are they always like this?" she asked.

"No, they're worse when they've had sugar," said Xatu. Latias stared at him, hoping he was joking. He wasn't. She idly wondered if she had been this much of a bother when she was younger and felt a twinge of sympathy for poor old Vincentio, having to deal with her every time she stole his underwear or drew pictures all over the walls of the house.

A young Delibird ran up to her, pulled out a wrapped present from his bag, and tossed it to her. "Here!" He ran off.

"I wouldn't open that if I were you," Xatu cautioned. Latias didn't hear him over all the shrieks and squealing coming from the young Pokemon running around.

The dragon's uncomfortable feelings about the children vanished as she stared at the present. Maybe they weren't so bad after all. She started unwrapping the gift, not hearing Xatu's cries of alarm, and the box exploded in her face, covering her red and milky white body in soot. She blinked. "I tried to warn you," Xatu said sadly. Latias scowled and wiped the grime off of her face, vowing never to have children.

It was at that moment there was an explosion of a different sort, much bigger and more deadly than the one caused by Delibird's Present, which caved in the far wall and caused dirt to fall from the ceiling. Eggs fell from their racks, smashing on the floor. The children screamed and ran away from the smoke coming off of the blast area. Shocked, Latias and Xatu stood up. "What's going on?!" she asked.

A Gust attack blew away the smog, revealing a few dozen birds, mostly Spearow and Murkrow but there were a couple of Pidgeotto as well and one Skarmory. From the hostile expressions on their faces, it was clear that none of them were here to play with the children. "How did you get in here?!" asked the horrified Xatu.

The metallic Skarmory sneered. "All of your fighting Pokemon went out to meet the rest of our flock, so no one was left to guard this place but you. We had no trouble sneaking in here and blasting our way through the tree trunk."

Xatu stepped forward, spreading his wings out. The terrified babies cowered behind him. "I must ask you to leave immediately or face the consequences."

Skarmory cocked his head. "You know, I really don't think that's going to happen. Kill 'em!" The birds at his sides leaped forward, towards the elderly Psychic. Xatu immediately retaliated with a Confusion attack, hurling the invaders into the walls. Unfortunately, the attack had no effect on the Dark-type Murkrow. They opened their mouths, forming spheres of darkness, and spat a dozen Shadow Balls at Xatu. The Ghost-type attacks exploded on contact with Xatu's body, flinging him back into the mass of children, who screamed and backed away from his smoking form. He was clearly dead.

Latias gaped at the corpse, suddenly perceiving the difference between fights between trained Pokemon and fights in the wild. Trained Pokemon always held back a little of their power to keep their attacks from being lethal or permanently injuring to the opponent, but in the wild, there were no such restrictions. In the wild, the fighting was real, and the attacks were often deadly to those on their receiving end. The flame of courage and anger ignited in her heart once more, sparked by the murder of the poor old bird who had healed her wounds and tried to protect these children. Screaming in rage, she dropped the suitcase and charged right for the Skarmory, causing a moment of fear to flash through the steel-winged vulture's eyes.

That's when one of the Murkrow slammed into her literally from nowhere with a Dark-type Faint Attack, doing extra damage due to her innate Psychic type. For a second it felt like a thousand needles were piercing her brain due to the dark energy crackling through her body as a result of the attack. Another Murkrow slammed into her, and another. Pain inflicted to her body and mind by the Dark attacks began to build up, and she collapsed to the floor as they continued hitting her with Faint Attacks even after she had blacked out until Skarmory called them off. "Enough!" he said. "She's dead, no need to keep pulverizing perfectly good meat." He licked his lips. "We can eat her…_after_ we have a little appetizer." He looked hungrily at the terrified children. They screamed and started flying away, too blinded by fear to go in any specific direction. They were easy pickings for the vile birds.

They had been wrong about Latias, though. She was still alive, albeit injured. Several minutes after she had been knocked out, she groaned and struggled to open her eyes. They shot open fully when she got a glimpse of the horrors strewn about her.

There was blood everywhere. The dismembered bodies of young insect and bird Pokemon scattered the floor, dripping vital fluids. The head of the Delibird that had given her the explosive Present lay near her, eyes staring wordlessly at the ceiling, his mouth open in a silent scream. All the eggs on the racks had been shattered, and some of the evil birds were eating the yolks or unformed fetuses within. The majority of the avians were in the middle of the room, cackling as they shoved the few children still alive towards Skarmory, whose shining metal wings were now covered in blood. The baby Pokemon cried and pleaded, begging the wicked vulture to let them go. Skarmory pretended to think it over for a second…then lifted his wing, glowing white, and severed their heads with a single chop. The fiends laughed.

The fire in Latias' heart burned brighter than ever before, fueled by the sight of these atrocities. Not even Team Rocket had been this cruel, to kill defenseless children whose only crime had been to be a little annoying. The birds didn't even look like they were going to eat most of the corpses, they were doing this for fun! Something inside of her snapped in outrage and the sweet, playful Latias was replaced by a remorseless fighter. She knew that something as evil as these birds had to be abolished. And the flame in her heart told her she was going to do the job.

She floated off the ground, her body automatically using Recover to heal itself. One of the Spearow noticed and jabbed Skarmory with its wing. "Boss, look!"

"Hmm?" The Skarmory turned around and saw Latias. His eyes bulged in surprise. "She's still alive?!" He turned his head to address the Murkrow. "Kill-" Latias suddenly shot forward so fast none of the birds could see her, slamming into the Steel-type's chest. The metal bird flew across the room and smashed into the wall, cracking it and denting his armor.

The other birds stared at their fallen leader in disbelief, then looked at Latias, who suddenly seemed like a whole new Pokemon. Every muscle in her body was tensed for battle, and the cold look in her yellow eyes showed she would not give them any mercy. The air was thick with tension as the birds wondered which of them would make the first move. Then, one of the Pidgeotto, unnerved by the intensity in Latias' eyes, shifted back a little. "No," she said. "There is no escape." In the back of her mind, a mysterious force roared, like a dragon disturbed from a long slumber which strengthened her resolve. A great power awakened inside Latias, welling up from deep within her very soul. Her eyes narrowed. "No escape," She repeated. She shot forward, her wings glowing in preparation for a Steel Wing attack. She ripped through the Pidgeotto and everyone in her path with enough force to reduce them to a spray of blood staining her snowy white skin.

The other birds were snapped out of their tension-induced paralysis by this act and quickly charged forward to take out this Pokemon that dared to fight them. She turned around, eyes glowing, and sent out a ring of psychic energy, recognizable as a Psywave attack. The wave rippled through the air, ripping the Spearow and Pidgeotto to bloody pieces but passing the Murkrow harmlessly. The Dark-types quickly spat Shadow Balls at Latias, but she cupped her hands together, concentrating on the space between them. The air dampened and condensed into a cloudy sphere in her claws, roiling with volatile psychic energies. She tossed the Mist Ball at the oncoming Shadow Balls. The balls exploded, filling the chamber with light and blinding the Murkrow. They squawked and covered their eyes, so they didn't see Latias slice through them with her Steel Wing until it was too late and they were bisected and lying on the floor.

The Skarmory stirred from the place where he had hit the wall. Latias immediately flew over to him, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him into the wall repeatedly until his armor cracked and started leaking blood. He gasped and sputtered as she constricted his throat. "Why?" she asked.

"F-Fearow told us to," he gasped out. "He wanted us to wipe out any future enemies and to demoralize Pidgeot's forces in the unlikely event they won the battle outside."

Latias pulled the Skarmory close to her, so that their noses were touching. The metal bird looked into her cold yellow eyes with unconcealed terror. "You failed." She opened her mouth and released the white flame of a Dragonbreath attack. Skarmory screamed as the fire burned him, roasting him with the heat of a thousand angry dragons. His metallic form started to soften and melt, dripping liquid steel to the floor. Latias shut off her flame after half a minute and dropped Skarmory to the ground. He splattered on impact, the metal that made him up coming apart and oozing across the floor. "You made the worst enemy you could possibly imagine." Her body glowing with power, she grabbed the suitcase she had discarded and flew out through the hole the birds had made, intending to avenge the fallen by killing every last one of the filthy invaders.

…

The fight seemed to have no end. All across the skies, members of both armies were dropping like flies, littering the forest below with innumerable corpses.

Pidgeot and Fearow didn't seem like they would ever overcome each other either. They were like poetry in motion, striking at each other again and again, each time missing due to the other's great agility and only landing a glancing blow. A peck to the feathered crest, a Wing Attack to the tail, none of their hits did any lasting damage. Both combatants were tiring, and each of them knew it. Pidgeot knew she had to end this battle quickly before too many of her friends died. As she dodged a thrusting Drill Peck attack, she flew up higher into the air as Fearow wheeled about for another strike, gathering all the energy she had left. The air around her ignited, causing her body to seem to be covered in flames as she prepared to use a Sky Attack, one of the most powerful of all Flying-type techniques. To her surprise, Fearow was flying straight towards her, not seeming to mind the giant flaming bird beginning to manifest around Pidgeot.

Fearow laughed. "If you had tried that attack on me yesterday, I would have started flying for my life. But when you saved that girl earlier, I devoured one of my minion's innards in rage, and I finally got the power that I've been desiring for years…the power to use one of the strongest attacks in all the Pokemon world!"

Pidgeot's eyes widened. No, he couldn't possibly be telling the truth, it had to be a bluff! But if it wasn't…She tried to charge up her Sky Attack faster, but the fight beforehand had tired her and so the charge-up process was going slower than usual. She realized to her horror that this had to have been Fearow's plan all along. "You're lying!" she cried desperately, but in her heart, she knew him to be telling the truth.

"Haha, if only! Witness the mightiest technique of them all…the power of HYPER BEAM!" Fearow opened his mouth and started collecting ambient energy into a golden ball of light.

Even though Pidgeot knew the Sky Attack was not finished, she knew she was out of time. She launched the incomplete firebird at Fearow, hoping it would knock him out of his beam power-up. Unfortunately, the attack never connected. Fearow fired the Hyper Beam, sending out a golden laser which burst apart the fire bird and drove right into Pidgeot, ripping a hole through her stomach as it passed through her. Pidgeot's eyes bulged in shock and disbelief. Blood dripping from her beak, she plummeted from the sky, shedding bloody feathers as she fell.

Latias had emerged from the canopy just in time to see Fearow fire his Hyper Beam at Pidgeot. She gasped, the fighter persona she had been wearing cast aside, and she flew towards the falling eagle, trying to catch her before she hit the ground. Moving at unimaginable speeds, she got under Pidgeot and caught her with strength that she hadn't been aware she had, stopping her before she could hit the ground. "Pidgeot!" she cried. "Pidgeot, wake up!" The eagle could not. She was dead. "Pidgeot…" She hugged the great eagle to her chest, not noticing the blood pouring out on her as she sobbed into the bird's chest.

She became aware of a cackling and looked up, tears still dripping from her eyes, and saw Fearow flying in circles over her, proclaiming his victory to all. "I win! I WIN! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Latias' claws dug into Pidgeot's side and the handle of the suitcase, drawing blood in anger. The fire within her began to grow out of control, turning into a massive wildfire inferno. The power building inside of her was so great, it hurt. It needed a release. She intended to give it one. She closed her eyes as her body started to glow a luminescent pearly white, catching the eye of Fearow and the other combatants. "Wh-what's going on?!" asked a Skarmory, looking worried.

"I don't know…but I think we'd better get out of here!" said a rogue Pidgey, turning to fly away. Several others took his cue.

They never got the chance. Latias' eyes flew open, illuminated by the power within. "PIDGEOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!" she screamed. Her body gave off an incredible flash of light as a huge sphere of energy formed around her, expanding into a wall of invisible force, the awesome Psychic attack. Fearow was right over Latias when she released her Psychic attack, vaporizing him instantly. The pure energy released in the blast spread outward, annihilating every Pokemon in its path, be they good or evil. The forest below was buffeted, driving trees into the ground or bending them at unreal angles from the force of the attack. When the Psychic attack finally dissipated, there were a whole lot of dead birds and broken trees, their molecules dancing through the air.

The Murkrow remained unharmed, however. "Ha! We're Dark types! You can't hurt us with that psychic shi-at, bitch!" Latias responded by exhaling a ridiculously large blast of white fire, coalescing into a gargantuan white dragon of flame that loomed over the crows. It roared, causing many of the Murkrow to die of heart attacks or defecate themselves just before it consumed them, creating a huge explosion that lit up the night like an early sunrise. When it was finally over, there was a tremendous chunk blasted out of the forest, including Wing Fortress. The unique community where truly wild bird and bug Pokemon lived in peace was no more.

Latias lowered to the ground, her glow fading as her power vanished. Her strength withering away, she moaned and dropped Pidgeot, barely managing to keep herself hovering off the ground. She blinked and looked at all the devastation around her. "…Did I do this?" she whispered. She looked back at the corpse of Pidgeot and saw that it was the only body left. All the others had been vaporized in the explosion. Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she mourned the death of another good friend. "I'm a monster," she whispered. "I killed all those Pokemon without a second thought. Some of them were innocent. Now they're all gone." She clenched her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears. "Everyone I get close to dies or gets hurt or endangered in some fashion. Latios, Bianca, Lorenzo, all of Alto Mare, Mrs. Ketchum, everyone back at Professor Oak's lab, all the Pokemon here…Pidgeot…" She shook from repressed sobs. "Everywhere I go, disaster follows. Maybe it would be better if I disappeared so that no one would ever be hurt by me again." Trailing tears, she flew into the remaining woods of Route 1, intending to vanish forever.

…

"What _power_," Shedinja whispered from over the devastation. "What _incredible_ power. I can see why my lord wishes her as his wife." For a fleeting second he wondered if he could somehow harness that power for himself.

"Sir?" asked one of the Gengar under his command. "Shouldn't we go after her?"

Shedinja shook his head. "No need. That exertion will have tired her out. Soon enough she will collapse and be able to run no more. That is when we shall strike and claim her for our master."

…

True to the ghost bug's words, Latias could barely get half a mile away from the site of her mass genocide before she collapsed from exhaustion at the base of a tree, unable to fly any further. The suitcase full of Prison Balls, which she had been holding without noticing all this time, fell from her hands and clattered on the ground. She threw up the little she had eaten that day, unable to keep it in anymore, and gave several dry heaves afterwards before finally falling on her stomach and bursting into tears, sobbing her eyes out at what her life had become. She was an orphan, lost and alone in the world. She was hunted by the minions of a mysterious evil that refused to let her be. She was harboring a strange and terrible power inside of her, one capable of mass destruction if it ever got out of control. Bad things happened to the people around her wherever she went in the world. Not to mention most of the people she loved were dead and she had just killed hundreds of Pokemon and destroyed a large portion of the forest in a fit of anger. At the moment, it seemed like her life was hell. She couldn't see any way that things could possibly get any worse.

Abruptly, she heard a twig snap. She stiffened, fearing a threat. With a few last tears tumbling down her cheeks, she mustered enough strength to look up and see what was approaching.

Just a few feet away was a human. It was holding a miniaturized Pokeball of some sort in its hands.

Latias' heart skipped a beat. In her weakened condition, there was no way she could escape from that ball if it hit her. She lunged for the suitcase and tried to fly away, but the action drained her of the last of her energy and she crashed back to the ground a few feet away. She struggled to get up, but she had nothing left. She couldn't move.

She heard the telltale whistle as the human enlarged its Pokeball, preparing for a capture. "_Master Ball, go!_"

The ball made a whooshing noise as it spun through the air and struck Latias on her left wing. It opened up, and everything went dark.

The last thing Latias could think of before she was sucked into the ball was that she had been wrong.

Life could always get worse.

…

Man, I'm mean to Latias, aren't I? Don't worry, things will look up for the little dragon eventually! Tune in next time, when she meets a new friend and learns just what kind of trainer she's been captured by.


	6. Mystery of the Master Ball

I'm sure being mean to Latias, aren't I? But that's only because I love her. Lots of authors do the same things to their favorite characters, don't they? Anyway, in this chapter Latias meets a friend who will change her life forever…and I DON'T mean her trainer.

TT, yes, that Umbreon is Gary's. And I personally thought the reason Anny and Oakley were looking at that thing on Lawrence at the end of the movie was because they were planning on robbing him. I mean, the guy's gotta be rich to afford such a tremendous high-tech airship, right?

Nukerjsr, thanks for clearing up the scene thing, and I'm glad you reacted so well to the fight. I must be doing this story properly then. And I wouldn't be so happy for the trainer, I'd feel sorry for poor Latias.

Sir Pudding, maybe I did overdo it a little last chapter. Sorry.

Persian Mistress, I had no idea Shedinja was immobile. That or the soul-stealing thing.

A BIG thank you to Alex Warlorn for all your help. You rock! Thank you for all the advice and tips. By the time this is up, I'll have gone back and made a few changes based on your concerns. And what link were you talking about in your E-mail? I didn't get anything.

Disclaimer: I own the history of the Master Ball and Latias' new trainer. That and the Prison Balls.

…

"My lord, I have news from the field."

_Have they found Latias?_

"No. In fact, they've…um, they've lost her."

_…WHAT?!_

"My apologies, lord."

_Tell Shedinja to stay out there and not to come back until he finds Latias!_

"Yes my King."

_I have to see her. If I don't, then how can I tell her how sorry I am?_

…

Many years ago… 

"Vincentio! Vincentio!" cried a telepathic voice.

Vincentio looked up from his work in the garden to see little Latias flying towards him. "Yes, what is it Latias?"

"Where's Hell?" she asked innocently.

Vincentio looked at her in confusion, a frown on his face. Where had she heard that word? Certainly not in his household! "Why do you ask?"

"Somebody told me to go there."

Vincentio's frown deepened. "Who told you to?" he asked, suspecting the foul-mouthed couple just down the street from their home.

"A man," she said.

Vincentio sighed. He was still trying to teach Latias to tell him important, specific details whenever she was talking with him. "What KIND of man? What did he look like?"

Latias blinked. "Oh. He was tall, mean-looking, and he wore a black shirt with a picture of a Pikachu with red eyes and fangs on it."

Understanding dawned on Vincentio's face. "Ah, I see. Latias, that man was not a nice person. He's a member of a religious group dedicated to the persecution of all Pokemon. They essentially believe Pokemon are demons spawned from the infernal regions of a place called Hell, where evil people are supposed to go when they die to be tortured for all eternity by a creature called the Devil."

Latias looked confused and unhappy. "That doesn't sound like a nice place. I don't wanna go there!"

Vincentio chuckled and hugged her. "Little one, you have nothing to fear from Hell. If it exists, your heart is far too pure to be sent there. The Devil would be unable to hang onto your soul without being burnt by its sheer goodness."

"So there's nothing to worry about?"

"Nothing at all, my love. Nothing at all."

…

Despite Vincentio's assurance years ago, Latias was certain she was in Hell. She was wrapped in flaming chains and suspended above a huge lake of fire (and _still _holding the stupid case of Prison Balls), surrounded by the forms of numerous Pokemon and humans also hanging in chains, looking quite dead and lifeless. The crackling of the flames was accompanied by constant screams of agony, some so bestial it was hard to believe they could come from anyone civilized. Shadowy figures darted around out of the corners of her eyes, laughing at her distress. The chains holding her burned so hot they actually felt _cold_, both freezing and burning her at the same time.

The pain was constant and all encompassing, coming from every direction and no direction all at once, inflicting her body with the sensations of broken bones, Dark-type attacks, her flesh ripping off, choking, and a thousand, thousand other forms of torture in less than a span of a second, repeating over and over again without actually damaging her body in any way shape or form. But phantom physical pain was not all that tormented her, the vile forces in the air inflicted mental pain as well, hitting her with images of Latios dying alone in some spiritual otherworld, of Shedinja strangling Bianca and Lorenzo to death, of Skarmory severing the children's heads, of Fearow piercing Pidgeot with his Hyper Beam, and many more horrible memories of people she cared about being slaughtered over and over again. The very worst image was of Ash, blood seeping from his broken body, being crushed by the sheer power of the Ghost King. She became aware of a new scream added to the chorus around her, and it didn't take long to realize it originated from her own mouth.

Is this punishment for the lives I took? She wondered. _Is this what I get for losing my temper and slaughtering so many?_ While she did believe she deserved punishment for what she had done, what was being done to her now struck her as something like unfair overkill. Surely not even the worst of villains such as the Ghost King or Fearow or even Boss Rocket deserved an eternity in this place, writhing in the fires!

Then the pain impossibly increased a thousandfold as more chains came up from the lake beneath her, piercing her flesh and latching onto something inside of her. The chains started to retract into the lake, causing the pain to increase again as they started to drag something out of her, something that made Latias feel as if her mind was being split as she could feel her very soul being pulled from her. And in its place something foul and dark flowed into her body, corrupting her physical form and slowly wrenching control of her body away from her. She struggled to fight it, but the force pulling the chains was far too strong, and she was losing control of her body by the second as more and more of her spirit was dragged out of her and the dark things came in.

Then, impossibly, a figure appeared before her. It was disconsolate and seemed to be made of blinding light, scaring off the weird shadow things around her. The entity extended what looked like a limb to her. _Take my hand_, it whispered.

Latias stared at the proffered hand in uncertainty. The chains jerked at her again, and more of her soul lost its grip on her body. Could this be a trap? Was it the Devil, playing tricks on her? _Take my hand!_ Repeated the figure, more urgently than before. The chains jerked once more, and her spirit almost fell into the lake. Latias knew she was nearly lost. Throwing caution to the winds, she grasped what little control she had left of her body and reached out to touch the figure's hand.

…

Latias blinked and looked around in confusion. She was no longer being torn apart above a burning lake of fire, but somewhere else entirely. She was at the top of a small stone hill of an island rising from the center of a lake surrounded by forest on top of a tall mountain surrounded for miles around by a beautiful valley filled with forests, flowers, and a great shimmering river cutting its way across the land like a giant silver ribbon. She wondered if this was the opposite of Hell that Vincentio had once told her about, that place called Heaven or Paradise where the souls of the good went after death.

"I'm glad you are all right. It is fortunate that I got to you in time," said an unfamiliar voice. Latias turned around and gasped at the figure behind her.

It was over six feet tall and covered in white skin. It stood on bent-back legs ending in two stubby toes, with a large purple area growing down from its waist to beneath the legs and towards the back, where it grew into a long, thick tail ending in a large bulge. Its torso was narrow with an unfamiliar muscle structure that almost looked exoskeletal, and had a pair of long, thin arms ending in three ball-shaped fingers each. Its head was large and angular, starting with a bulging cranium that narrowed into a stubby point with a pair of nostrils and a small mouth underneath them. A pair of ear-like structures, looking more like some kind of weird bone formation than ears, grew from the top of its head. A tube grew from the back of its head down to the middle of its back, between the shoulder blades, possibly to supply blood or other vital fluids to the creature's incredible brain. A pair of large purple eyes stared out from the thing's head, showing a hint of concern for her. They were the eyes of one who had seen the world and found it a somewhat worthy place to live in, of one who has accumulated a great amount of wisdom in his time, and also of one who has seen great pain and suffering along all his other accomplishments. Latias could feel a sense of unbelievable power radiating from this creature's body, and she suddenly knew without a doubt that this creature was the mightiest being she had ever encountered, if not the mightiest being in the entire world. She felt cowed and humbled by this creature's might, and sought to placate it for fear that it would destroy her. The being seemed to read the fear in her eyes, and to her surprise it smiled. "You have nothing to fear, little one. I mean you no harm."

Despite his assurances, Latias wasn't so certain. "A-are you the devil?" she asked.

The creature looked amused. "Me? No, though I have been called by that name on some occasions."

Latias recalled Vincentio had also once mentioned the Devil's opposite, an omnipotent being that had created the world. "Then are you God?"

The look of amusement remained on the thing's face. "No, though I have been called that name as well. I have also been called hero, savior, demon, monster, and many other things…but my creators named me Mewtwo, and so that is what I call myself."

Latias gasped. She had heard of this being, his name whispered in the dark alleyways of Alto Mare between frightened trainers and Pokemon, unwilling to speak his name in the sunshine for fear of attracting his attention. He was a rumor, a myth, a legend among legends. A white phantom seen in the back streets of a city, or on a mountain path, or in the depths of a forest, appearing for only a brief second if at all. All who managed to provoke a battle with him were defeated most soundly, more quickly than even the most elite of Pokemon Masters could have done. Some said he was an invader from outer space, some said he was sent by a vengeful Ho-oh to punish the humans who had disrupted the fragile balance of nature, and some said he was cloned from the fossilized eyebrow of a Mew on a secret laboratory out at sea. But all agreed that he was mightier than all the legendary Pokemon in the world, making him the most powerful being alive and a Pokemon to be feared. Yet the entity before her, if it truly was Mewtwo, did not seem nearly as bad as the rumors portrayed him. In fact, now that she saw him in person, Latias did not fear him anymore. With a flash, she suddenly realized he looked exactly like the creature that had walked her up the aisle in the wedding dream. What did this mean? What would the most powerful Pokemon in the world be doing at a wedding that should never take place?

She looked back into the Pokemon's deep purple eyes. He did not seem troubled by her long silence. "M-my name is Latias," she said finally. "Where are we? Weren't we in…in…Hell?" She shuddered, reliving the horrific experience that was still fresh in her memory.

Mewtwo shrugged. "I don't know if I'd call it Hell, seeing as I am not a believer in any religion, but whether or not that place does or does not exist, I suppose it would be an appropriate enough name for the world we were just in. Or should I say, still are in, for we have not truly left it."

She looked at him in confusion. "But…this place…" she said gesturing to the valley.

"Is an illusion. It was formed when our two minds joined." He saw she had no idea what he was talking about, so he elaborated. "When my astral projection found you, the forces that control this world were trying to separate your soul from your body. I was able to save you before it was too late, using my own mind as an anchor for yours to keep it from falling away again. I created this world for us to speak in mind-to-mind rather than in that other place for obvious reasons, for here we at least have a semblance of freedom. Here, we are linked. And I should think you'd prefer this place to the reality of where we are anyway." She nodded at that. He looked in curiosity at her. "May I ask what you were doing with a suitcase? I sense great hatred emanating from the Pokemon inside of it."

Latias blinked and looked into her hands. To her surprise, the suitcase she had remembered holding before was gone. "Where did it go?"

"If a Pokemon is holding an item or wearing something like a ribbon when they are captured, the item is transported with them into the Pokeball. But since this is just an illusion created by our joined minds, the suitcase did not follow because it is an inert, brainless container. It's still with your body in the world outside our minds," the Psychic explained.

Latias' eyes widened. That was right, she had been captured hadn't she? She had all but forgotten. "I rescued it from some thieves," she said, too confused about what was happening to her to really feel like telling any long stories. "So…this is what it's like inside a Pokeball? I thought they were supposed to be little gateways leading to a pocket dimension designed to make a Pokemon as comfortable and happy as possible…not THIS place," she said, referring to the hellish area she had just been in.

Mewtwo shook his head. "It is. But then again, we're not in a Pokeball. We're in a Master Ball."

She was confused. "What's the difference?"

Mewtwo cocked his head. "Do you know the history of the Pokeball and the relationship between trainer and Pokemon?"

Actually, she did. Vincentio had taught her this. A long time ago, humans and Pokemon were at war. They had been so for a very long time, and were exhausted of it. Finally, they gave up and tried to make peace with each other. As part of the new peace agreement, which allowed humans and Pokemon to live with each other in harmony, human babies and Pokemon eggs were paired together at birth. They would grow up together as life partners to symbolize the new peace between both species. Eventually, a rite of passage evolved where the partners left home to travel around the world and fight against other partners to demonstrate their growth into adulthood. But a problem arose where many partners starved on their journeys because they were unable to find enough food to sustain the both of them. Some Pokemon went insane from hunger and consumed their partners, reverting to their wild instincts. Some humans abandoned their partners to find better shelter. And there were also the times when one or the other got injured, far away from civilization, and there was no way to get them to help without hurting them even more. Due to all these problems, the peace was breaking down.

Then scientists hit on a solution that would solve most of the crises on journeys. They found a gateway to another dimension, one that was practically a paradise for the Pokemon species, and managed to duplicate it and mass-produce it in little containers that humans could use to keep their Pokemon partners in when food got scarce on their journey. The Pokemon would be held in a sort of timeless state in the other dimension, where they could move around freely but nothing actually changed for their physical condition. They did not grow hungry or tired, and injuries were forgotten. It was a place for them to rest and relax until they got to the forerunners of the Pokemon centers and could be properly healed. This arrangement seemed good and so the peace continued.

Then somebody discovered they could capture wild Pokemon in these dimension containers. They thought it was a good idea at the time, because often partners lost to someone who had a Pokemon with a type advantage over their own. And wild Pokemon were mostly those who had objected to the alliance between humans and Pokemon, and they hated both sides, (or they just preferred the natural way of living than to a somewhat pampered life among humans) so the partners saw no reason not to capture these wild Pokemon to give them an advantage over other partners they might meet. Either that or they wanted a taste of travelling with a human, because they were sick of the rough life out in the wild. While they would still fight a lot when they were with humans, at least they'd get free meals and board, healing after most battles, and in many cases a kind of companionship they had never before experienced out in their old life. This eventually evolved into the Pokemon League system and the current way of life, with a little more emphasis on the capturing Pokemon and fighting other trainers than on being partners and friends.

Despite this, many people were still great friends with their Pokemon, and Ash and Pikachu weren't the only examples Latias had seen of this. There were plenty of Pokemon/human friendships in Alto Mare (or had been, until it was destroyed) among both residents and visiting trainers. Still, there were the sadly frequent number of humans who did not acknowledge that their Pokemon were sentient beings just like them and not simply animals to be used in fights, and as such abused them or simply did not treat them the way they deserved to be. But no matter how hard you tried to weed them out, you always get a few bad apples along with the good ones, right? That applied to Pokemon and humans both, if Team Rocket and the Pokemon inside the Prison Balls were any indication.

In short, she did know the history of the Pokeball and told Mewtwo as much. He nodded in appreciation of her education. "Then you know that when wild Pokemon are captured, they usually forget about hating humans or Pokemon of other types and species when they experience the blissful world they are transported to when they enter the Pokeball. They decide the life they have just come into may be better than the one they left behind, so they try their best to settle with their trainers and become friends. However, not every Pokemon is like this. Some refuse to serve humans, and disobey or attack their trainers. Some manage to go back through the gateway used to transport them to the pocket world, causing them to pop out of their Pokeballs without warning and make nuisances of themselves or escape back into the wild. And then there are the Pokemon who are too strong to be sent through the gateway without being severely weakened in battle and escape the trainer. This is fine if they are your average wild Pokemon, but not so if they are dangerous like the ones I sense are inside that suitcase of yours." Latias nodded, that made sense. "So the scientists at the Silph Corporation sought to build a universal Pokeball that could not only capture any Pokemon without fail, but could also make them obey their trainer and keep them from escaping or popping out whenever they felt like it."

"How could they make a ball that can do all that?" Latias wondered.

"It's not that complicated a premise, they had already found ways to make stronger balls and tweak the dimensional gateways to have special effects on certain Pokemon, like how a Lure Ball makes catching Water Pokemon easier, or how a Friend Ball makes the captured Pokemon more friendly to the trainer. This was basically just like that, but a combination of all the previous forms of Pokeball designs and gateways to make the ultimate Pokemon capture device. They called it the Master Ball." He closed his eyes, looking angry. "The fools had no idea what evil they were about to unleash upon the world." He shook his head and looked at Latias. "You must understand, Latias. Freedom is something I value greatly. I do not totally agree with the way humans and Pokemon live today, but I recognize it as being somewhat effective and beneficial for both parties, and I have yet to see a way to change things for the better without causing another war. I might have once," he admitted. "But not anymore. I am not the person I once was." Instead of elaborating on that, he continued his story. "In any case, the form of training that is used now-even abusive training-is better than what those scientists were trying to do. Even an abused Pokemon has a chance to escape. But those captured by a Master Ball could not." He shook his head again and resumed his story. "They sought out the master Pokeball craftsman Kurt, who like me harbored misgivings about the Master Ball, but he helped to build it anyway."

"Why?"

Mewtwo shrugged. "Like so many other humans, he needed the money. So, they did it. They combined every Pokeball style and technique known to man, fusing all the slight gateway modifications to make one guaranteed to tame the captured Pokemon while housing it in an indestructible shell for safety purposes, and the Master Ball was made. Early tests proved to be tremendously successful, as even the wildest of Pokemon proved to be as docile and obedient as a Chansey while retaining their fierce battle skills after being captured in a Master Ball. The scientists rejoiced and started mass-producing the Ball to sell to the public at exorbitant prices. Unfortunately, it was not until they had already completed a few thousand balls and were preparing to ship them to Pokemarts around the world that the full horror of what they had done was realized.

One of the scientists was taking his new Master Ball-trained Voltorb on a walk around the building when they passed the cubicle of a simple engineer. When she saw the Voltorb, she started screaming and gibbering, calling the thing evil and claiming its aura was all wrong. The company checked her profile for any records of psychosis and were startled to discover she was one-eighth psychic. Somewhat concerned and wondering if this meant anything, they exposed one of their Master Ball-trained Pokemon to a Kadabra to see what kind of reaction it had. It was just as frightened and horrified as the engineer was, even when it was introduced to a Mr. Mime that had also been captured by a Master Ball. The Kadabra and other psychic Pokemon as well as the few psychic humans the company had were all tested against these Master Ball Pokemon, and their reactions were always the same: something was terribly wrong.

They called in Sabrina, Leader of the Saffron Gym to see if she could figure out what was wrong. She was one of the world's greatest psychics, the closest a human has ever gotten to reaching-and in some cases, surpassing-a Psychic Pokemon's level of power. The instant she saw one of the dubious Pokemon, she demanded to see the Master Balls. They gave her one to examine, and she instantly told them, in horrific gut-wrenching detail, the incredibly stupid and brainless thing they had done.

By tweaking the dimensional gates so much to make the Pokemon totally obedient to the trainer, they had caused the gate to go somewhere altogether different than the Pokemon paradise every other gate led to. The gates in the Master Ball led to this world, a dimension of pure pain that stripped the Pokemon of their very souls and replaced it with something that seemed docile and obedient, but was capable of unbelievable brutality, cruelty and evil when provoked. They had, to coin a religious term, thrown open the gates to Hell and invited all the evil and twisted things there to come out and play.

The scientists were horrified at what they had done. Kurt was so disgusted with himself that he almost committed suicide, but remembered his granddaughter would be all alone without him to take care of her. (That and he had a mysterious Pokeball he had received from a trainer that he still hadn't finished examining.) He immediately quit the Master Ball project and refused to have anything more to do with Silph. He returned to his home in Azalea Town to continue taking care of his granddaughter and hand-making Pokeballs to sell to interested trainers. Without him, Silph corp. no longer was capable of making Master Balls that did not send their victims to this world and had to cancel the line completely.

Sabrina tried to free the Pokemon souls trapped in this world but confessed she could not. She wasn't powerful enough, it would take a far stronger Psychic than herself to free the enslaved ones. They tried all the Psychic Pokemon they had, but none of them were strong enough. I'm sure one of the super-Psychics like Mew or myself could have done it, but none of us knew about this catastrophe at the time. The scientists had no choice but to put the Pokemon to death to keep the evil things possessing them from breaking loose and destroying the world. They tried to destroy the Master Balls as well, but due to their indestructible state nothing could be done. So, they arranged to transport the Balls to the ultra-secure Oak compound in Pallet Town, where hopefully they would be safe. Unfortunately, Team Rocket learned of the existence of the Master Balls and attacked the transports in an attempt to steal them. Most of the balls fell into a nearby river and were washed out to sea, where they were later found floating around the Orange Islands and placed in a secure vault by the League there, but a few were captured by local Rocket agents and eventually given to one of their elite members, the Iron Masked Marauder, when the Rocket scientists found the balls to be impossible to reverse-engineer. He named them Dark Balls to make them sound more evil.

Fortunately, the Marauder did not hold on to the balls long, because an unfortunate side-effect of having too many Pokemon consumed by the power of this dimension of evil was that the whispers of the things on this side became audible to his ears, twisting his mind with images of power. If he had held them too long, he would have been driven insane. He sought to capture the Voice of the Forest, Celebi, to use her powers to dominate the world. He would have succeeded were it not for the efforts of a few trainers, who discovered the power of friendship could break the Master Ball's hold on Celebi and free her. The process killed her, but her cousins from other times managed to resurrect her before her death was final. The Master Balls were stripped from the Marauder, and the Pokemon inside freed thanks to Celebi's power of purification."

Latias had a sudden thought, and couldn't stop herself from expressing it. "Were any of those trainers Ash Ketchum?"

Mewtwo looked surprised, then a smile grew on his face. "You know him too? I shouldn't be surprised, the boy has a tendency to show up most of the times when a legendary Pokemon's power is in jeopardy." He frowned. "But we can go into how either of us know the boy later, I have yet to tell you of how the Master Balls fell into the hands of the trainer who currently holds us in her grasp, who has conquered some of the most powerful Pokemon in the world through the use of these evil spheres." He turned from Latias, looking out at the shining river in the illusory valley. "The Balls were swept out to sea by the river, but some few hundred were caught up in an eddy and swept down a branching stream which took them all the way to Johto, to an estate belonging to one Lawrence III, also called 'The Collector' in some circles. Fortunately, he was out at the time on one of his jaunts around the world in search of rare and exotic Pokemon to add to his collection. Unfortunately, one of his maids, a young air-headed teenager, was down by the estate reservoir taking a swim when the Master Balls just happened to float right into the water with her. She recognized them as Pokeballs, and she managed to grab them all. She had always secretly dreamed of becoming a Pokemon trainer, like most youths, but she had always been too low in intellect to pass the trainer exams and as such had never been allowed to hold a Pokeball. It was a dream come true to have a few hundred of them float right into her grasp, and she foolishly thought this was a sign from fate that she was meant to become a trainer after all.

She used the Master Balls to capture all the rare Pokemon on the estate to bolster her new team and left to fulfill her destiny as a Pokemon master. She captured at least one of every Pokemon she saw on the way, recalling that someone had once told her that a trainer who could capture every species of Pokemon on Earth was automatically declared a master. Since the Master Balls were not registered on any of the Pokemon storage systems, she was forced to carry all her surplus captures around with her in a very large backpack. She did not realize she was serving the things in this dimension by giving them more souls to play with and increasing their power over her as well. Under the whispers' influence, she managed to kill a registered trainer to steal her ID, then gave herself a makeover to look like said trainer, taking on the poor soul's name as well: Mary Sue. She blazed through the eight gyms in the region, capturing many Pokemon on her way and going further and further into the depths of insanity. She was too late to compete in the Silver Conference but she managed to force her way into a match with the Johto League Champion and win his title, but it wasn't enough for her. She then decided to hunt down the legendary Pokemon and add them to her collection, to truly prove herself as a master."

Latias gasped. "She didn't!"

Mewtwo gestured, and a window appeared in the air, showing a horrible image. Fantastical creatures that Latias recognized immediately from old storybooks were hanging in chains over the lake of fire, as dead looking as everything else in that awful dimension. There were Arcanine, Tyranitar, Dragonite, and all their lower evolutions to fill in the category of sub-legendary Pokemon, along with every possible Eevee evolution plus a Kingdra or two along with some other unbelievably rare Pokemon like Porygon and Porygon2. But the really awful thing was not the sight of these imprisoned rare and noble creatures, but the magnificent beasts in the center, held high above the others as if to display their worth.

Latias instantly knew who the captives were. There were the three elemental birds of fire, ice, and lightning, called Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos. Next to them were clustered three mighty beasts, looking like some cross between enormous felines and hounds. There was the mighty fire-beast Entei, who according to legend had stopped a group of crazed Unown from crystallizing the world hundreds of years ago. There was the graceful aquatic Suicune, reincarnation of the North Wind who possessed the power to purify poisoned water. And there was the powerful Raikou, whose very bark summoned lightning from the heavens through which he could travel. Hanging above the two sets of three Pokemon were another group, these more powerful than the ones below them and more magnificent as well. There was a trio of silver Lugia, one of whom looked like just an infant, with the other two as parents. There was the beautiful and resplendent Ho-Oh, the rainbow phoenix, her famous seven colors now worn and dull in captivity. Between the mighty birds were three smaller but no less powerful figures. One was a small pink kitten, the elusive and mysterious Mew. One was a green pixie-like creature, the time-travelling Celebi. And between those two was the form of Mewtwo, managing to look somehow defiant despite being bound. Latias thought she could see a glimmer of life in the chained Mewtwo's eyes, something lacking from the other legendaries. "Behold the awesome legendary Pokemon," said Mewtwo sadly. "Once virtual masters of the world, now they are slaves of a foolish trainer who is herself slave to the powers in this world. She now has almost two hundred and fifty species of Pokemon in her grasp. Only the Unown and Togepi and Togetic have escaped her reach as well as the species and legendaries in Hoenn and elsewhere around the world, but only because she has not visited them yet. The Unown and Togepi are safe because they live in parallel universes virtually inaccessible from our own, but I'd say the others are all up for grabs."

"How did she capture them?" Latias asked.

"The whispers told her where to find them. She found Suicune near Lake Rage and captured her first. Entei and Raikou came after her for that, but got captured as well. Ho-Oh was so angered at the capture of her servants that she broke her own vow to stay away from the world until the hearts of human and Pokemon were one to try and defeat Mary Sue, and so she was captured too. She ran into the Lugia family on their vacation in the Whirl Islands, and caught Celebi by luring her from her hiding place in the forest with a platter of sweets sprinkled with all-too-alluring Sweet Scent and caught her when she was distracted. Mew and the three other birds were captured during her more recent journey through Kanto, along with myself."

Latias then had another shock, because she could see her body added to the group of legends as well, suspended somewhere on the right side of Ho-Oh. And unbelievably, she was still hanging on to the suitcase. "That's me!" she cried.

Mewtwo smiled. "Of course. You are a legendary Pokemon just like them, aren't you Latias?"

She blinked. "How did you know that I'm a legendary? All I told you was my name!"

He looked away. "I have spent the last few years travelling the world, Latias. One of my travels took me to your city of Alto Mare. When I arrived I saw you flying overhead invisibly with a larger, blue and white Pokemon and inquired as to the species of Pokemon on the island. I learned the story of your father, who sacrificed himself to save the island, and also of you and your sibling Latios. I was intending to make contact with the two of you, but the ferry I had taken to the island was leaving and I had to catch it so I wouldn't miss a Jigglypuff Moon-worshipping ritual I heard was going to occur back in Johto. I suppose I could have flown or teleported there after staying behind to meet you, but I was trying to stay as low-key as possible so as not to attract attention. (And just between you and me, I hate teleporting. It always makes me feel queasy after I do it to myself.) At that point I had not learned how to become invisible, though I could see those who were and disguise myself as a human. I still haven't learned that invisibility technique, come to think of it. It's refreshing to know that there are still things I have yet to discover in my journeys." He looked back at Latias. "I have heard your brother passed away some time ago. Is this true?"

She looked down. "Yes," she sadly.

He nodded. "My condolences. I know what it is like to lose someone." She looked at him in confusion at that, but he didn't elaborate.

She looked back at the window overlooking the legendaries, asking the question that had been troubling her. "How could they get captured? They're legendary Pokemon!"

"Yes, but they are still just that: Pokemon. And no matter how powerful it is, a Pokemon can always be captured in a Pokeball if it is weak enough. But what has been done to them is truly disgraceful. Mary Sue didn't even bother to soften them up in battle. She simply tossed a Master Ball and caught them right away. They never had a chance." He looked furious at this, but his look of anger immediately turned to one of shame. "_I _never had a chance."

"How were you captured?" Latias asked.

"I received a telepathic message from Mew saying she was in distress right before she was captured. I returned to Kanto and foolishly confronted the trainer head-on, unaware of the power she possessed. She unleashed all her legendary Pokemon to attack me, and they distracted me long enough for her to hit me from behind with a Master Ball. And so I was captured." He looked disgusted at himself for his error in judgement. "I overestimated myself. Despite all my travels and changes, pride is one thing I have not been able to rid myself of completely." He waved a hand, and the window vanished. "I have only managed to survive when the others could not because my spirit proved too powerful for the lake of fire to consume, that lake which was even able to overcome Ho-Oh. Even so, I was not able to save myself fully, most of my body is now under the control of the forces in this world. Whenever Mary Sue sends me out, I have managed to put up resistance to her commands, but enough of my body obeys her to keep my rebellions from truly meaning anything. I was able to project my mind to you and protect you from being devoured at the last second…but that is nearly the limit of my abilities here. In the real world, I would have a better chance of escape, but I am not let out of the Master Ball long enough for me to do anything productive. But if I could escape, I would be able to defeat Mary Sue and free the others from their imprisonment here, and this is not an overestimation of my skills, in this I am certain. I believe I was the one Sabrina was referring to who could free the imprisoned ones, me or one of the other super-Psychics. But I believe I have the best chance since I still have some of my free will left."

"Is there any way I can help?" Latias asked. She wanted to be free of this place as much as Mewtwo did. Even the Ghost King was preferable to this!

Mewtwo looked thoughtful. "Perhaps…Mary Sue came to Kanto to capture more Pokemon for her collection as well as to defeat the League here. She has already obtained seven badges as well as capturing Pokemon unavailable in Johto such as poor Mew, and was heading to Viridian City to obtain her eighth when she heard a loud explosion, went to investigate, and found you. Now that she's captured you, she will no doubt continue to Viridian and fight the Leader there for her Earth Badge." A shadow passed over his face. "I have a long and painful history there…but it may still be our best chance for escape." He looked back at Latias before she could ask any questions about what he meant. "Since I'm her most powerful Pokemon and you're her newest, it's a safe bet she'll use either one of us during the fight. If she chooses you, I can use the mental link we've established to transfer some of my willpower and strength to yours so we can try and regain control of your body during the fight. Once you're free, you can attack Mary Sue, retrieve the Master Balls in her backpack, and escape before you're captured by the gym's security. Then you can release me and I can purify all the captive Pokemon and put this nightmare world behind us."

"But what if she chooses you instead?" asked Latias.

"Then you'll just send me some of your willpower and strength so that I can break free. I've come close several times, I think I just need a little more to do it. Once I'm free, the plan will proceed as I outlined previously."

"Um…" Latias looked down. "I don't know how to do any of that."

Mewtwo blinked. "You don't?"

"No. I have no control over my powers. In fact, you know that explosion I was found near? I caused it."

Mewtwo frowned. "Did you mean to cause it?"

She shook her head. "I was really angry because a friend of mine was killed, and I guess that triggered my powers or something. I've never learned how to use any attacks or anything, but when I was angrier than I've ever been before it came naturally."

Mewtwo thought for a moment. "Is there any way we could perhaps duplicate that anger to use when I'm fighting?"

"Not unless you're planning on murdering an old man and beheading a bunch of children in front of me, followed by piercing someone I looked up to with a Hyper Beam."

"Hmm…" Mewtwo tapped his chin. "Years ago I may have done just that, but as I said I am not the person I used to be…though I may be forced to resort to it if we have no other option. We'll just have to hope she chooses you first. Because of my sheer power she can't afford to not use me when she really needs to, but since she knows I'll fight her control she will probably save me for last. The odds are high that she'll use you in the coming battle before she uses me, and then we'll have our chance at freedom."

"But what if she chooses neither of us in the Gym battle?"

"Then I will have a little time to train you in the use of your powers so we can be ready when she heads for the Indigo Plateau. There, if not here, is where we will have our chance," said Mewtwo.

"And if she doesn't use us there?"

"Then I will have still more time to train you as we head for either Hoenn or the Orange Islands, which would logically be the best choices for the next League to win, and we will have another chance there."

"And if she doesn't use us there or in any of the other future Leagues or battles in the world?" Latias persisted. She knew Mewtwo was probably right, that they would probably be used in the coming fights, but she was still afraid of the worst possible outcome.

Mewtwo shrugged. "Then we will wait until she captures another incredibly powerful Pokemon we can link with, I am certain there are others out there. Even if we are unable to break free now, or the time after that, or the time after that, we will always have a chance, and as long as we have that, there's still hope. Remember that Latias, for I speak with experience when I say that no matter how bad things get, you must always have hope." As an illusory sun shone brightly down on them, Latias could not help but believe it.

…

How was the addition of Mewtwo and the eerie past behind the Master Ball? I hope it doesn't seem too religious or anything, because that's not what I'm going for. If you liked this, tune in next time for a battle in Viridian City!


	7. Battle for the Earth Badge pt 1

Dear readers, I'm glad we've gotten this far. The story's nowhere near ending, but I'm glad you've stayed with me despite all the mean and hurtful things I've done to our heroine, form killing (almost) everyone she loves to casting her into Hell. Thank you all so much.

Alex, the Silph corporation wouldn't have named the prototype Master Balls 'Dark Balls' because it would have had a bad response from the public. They'd think the name was too ominous. Latias was with the legendaries all along, but she was in too much pain to really notice at the time. I actually have no idea how a Friend Ball works either, it's a plot hole. The Pokemon in the Prison Balls aren't safe from the evil things, but since they're already locked up in stasis in yet another dimension there's nothing bad they can do. This happened after the sixth movie, because I have plans for the Wishmaker and his snowy white guardian. Cipher didn't go after Mew and the others first because they had no reach outside of Orre so couldn't hunt the others without making the other evil teams angry for intruding on their turf. Celebi was the closest super-psychic, so they thought it would be best to deal with her and consolidate their power before trying to capture the others and fighting their rival gangs like Team Rocket. You like Sword of Truth too? I loved that book! Have you read the whole series? (By the way, your Absol theory gave me an idea for later. Thanks.)

Geniusboy, as far as I am concerned you can still use Master Balls in the game. It's impossible to really bond with game Pokemon, so I feel no moral obligation with using the Master Ball. Now if it were real life, that would be another story. And when I meant Shedinja is immobile, I meant he couldn't turn his head or arms. He's still fully capable of flight and attacks.

Don't worry Serpent's Tail, a Mary Sue can always be killed if a truly original and likable character (or one of the regulars powered up) arrives to overthrow her. (What did you mean by my true form?) And I wouldn't worry about Shadow Pokemon. Mewtwo-sama is the world's most powerful Pokemon; he can handle a weak little Shadow Pokemon any day. (Well, I suppose a Tyranitar might give him some trouble, but what are the odds Gio has one of those?)

Disclaimer: I only own Mary Sue and the evil Master Balls. That's all.

…

"Latias, wake up. We're almost there."

Latias groaned and opened her eyes, blinking sleep from them. She was slightly disoriented at the beautiful valley around her. Where was she? That's when she saw the tall white feline walking towards her. _Oh that's right, I'm in an illusion,_ she thought. Mewtwo had put her to sleep earlier so she could rest up for the coming gym battle. By the way her illusory body felt better, she supposed he had healed her as well…unless Mary Sue had stopped at a Pokemon Center while she was sleeping, but from the way Mewtwo talked about her, how she was now almost completely controlled by evil things which cared little for human or Pokemon frailties, she didn't think it was likely. He had told her that none of Mary Sue's Pokemon had been healed in months, because the evil things controlling Mary Sue believed the legendaries to be so powerful they didn't need something as trivial as rest or medical attention. She gathered that the evil was malicious and somewhat intelligent, but it could be a lot smarter. "Almost where?" she asked.

Mewtwo gestured, and another viewing window appeared. Latias found it amazing that Mewtwo could see through the barriers between dimensions, but he claimed all he was doing was tapping into Mary Sue's eyes so they could see what was happening in the real world while creating false signals identical to that of the evil so that it didn't know he was looking. Latias still found it impressive.

The window showed an imposing stone building with flags hanging around it and guards in Roman-style armor standing in front of a pair of large double doors. The building was vaguely reminiscent of a structure or temple built by some ancient civilization. "Viridian Gym. Hmmph, I destroyed the place last time I was here. It is unfortunate that they rebuilt it."

Latias looked at Mewtwo, sensing the hostility in his voice. "What happened to you here?"

Mewtwo said nothing for a second as he mentally debated whether or not to tell Latias about his origins. Finally, he said, "I was not born from an egg like a normal Pokemon, Latias. I was cloned for the use of Team Rocket. Their leader Giovanni, who is also the Viridian Gym leader, lied to me and used me to further his ambitions…and when I found out the extent to which I had been deceived, I destroyed the gym in rage and fled to the island where I had been created. It was there I vowed to destroy the world…and I would have too, if a certain trainer hadn't stopped me."

"Ash?"

He nodded. "Who else? He helped to show me that humans and Pokemon can be friends…and that it is not the process through which a person is born that defines who they are, but what they do with the life they are given that makes them special. He saved my life the second time we met, but that is another story for another day."

Latias nodded and looked at the gym. They were almost there. "So are you worried about what happens if the leader sees you?" she asked.

"Hopefully, it will not come to that. With luck, you will be able to break us free before Mary Sue resorts to using me. If we're not lucky…" he shrugged. "My powers have increased since the last time we crossed paths. Even if we are enslaved, if Mary Sue utilizes me or her other Pokemon properly we should be able to escape with little trouble. If not…" he sighed. "If Giovanni can get his hands on the Master Balls containing me and all the other legendaries, I fear for the world. Team Rocket will be invincible. That is why it is so critical that you must succeed in our plan when you are called out, Latias. If you fail, there is a chance that we cannot be saved. And I would rather be used by Mary Sue than by Team Rocket again."

"Are you certain she'll use us then?" Latias asked.

Mewtwo nodded. "I looked through her eyes while you were asleep. She's chosen both of us for the six Pokemon to carry with her into battle, along with four of her favorites who happen to have an advantage over Giovanni's Ground-types. That does not mean her victory is assured though, Giovanni has trained his Pokemon well to fight despite any type disadvantage. She may be in for one of her toughest fights yet."

Latias nodded. "Speaking of fighting, what do I do if she calls me out? I don't know how to use any attacks."

"The sentient part of you does not, but the instinctive part, which is now under the control of the evil things here, does. They will tell Mary Sue which attacks to call out for the sake of appearance, while the things inside the enslaved Pokemon will already know to do those attacks because they are all connected to the primary evils in this world. It would do you well to observe how your body performs the attacks, so you can learn how to do it yourself when you regain control of your body."

They fell silent then, for the person whose eyes they were looking out of had reached the doors to the gym. The guards crossed their spears over the door, blocking the entrance. "Halt! Who goes there?"

"Mary Sue, and I'm here to battle for my Earth Badge!" said a preppy unseen voice.

The guards removed their spears and knocked them on the ground, causing the door to open and reveal a dark interior. "Enter!" The girl entered the gym, causing darkness to fall in the window.

…

Giovanni was not feeling well. He had had a bad night. The big heist he had spent months planning had been a huge failure, his head was aching from that Omnian's Confusion attack, the Prison Balls were stolen just when he had claimed them for himself, he hadn't gotten much sleep, and now some brat of a trainer was challenging him for a badge. Not only that, but he couldn't stop thinking about that strange red dragon Pokemon he had seen fly away with the Prison Balls he had wanted so much. Research indicated it was called a Latias, and Oakley and Anny had mentioned encountering it in Alto Mare, but none of that really interested him. What confused him so much was why the image of the creature's sad, soulful eyes continued to occupy his mind even after the mandatory drinking binge he had gone on to drown out the failure of a busted heist. He sighed and scratched Persian's head absent-mindedly, causing the Shadow Cat to purr. Sometimes it just didn't pay to be the leader of Team Rocket. Oh well, crushing a weak trainer's dreams of becoming a Pokemon master always made him feel better. If he was lucky, this newcomer might even have some Pokemon worth stealing.

He leaned back in his seat so the shadows of the dark room could hide his face up in the second-story balcony overlooking the arena. "So you're here to win an Earth Badge?" he asked, head flinching from the volume of his 'imposing gym leader voice'.

"Yeah, my name's Mary Sue, and you have the last badge I need to compete in the Kanto championships!" said the girl at the other end of the room happily.

Giovanni chuckled at this. Such a little fool. "Child, the championships aren't for another six months. You're a bit early, don't you think?"

The girl looked surprised. Obviously she hadn't known when the championships were. Perhaps she was from a different region, which could explain her ignorance of the tournament schedule. "Well, I'll just fight you anyway. The Elite Four and the champion will have to see me after I get eight Kanto badges!"

Giovanni rolled his eyes but said nothing. She was definitely from a different region if she thought the top five trainers in Kanto would agree to battle her just because she had eight badges. If that were true, they'd be mobbed constantly by wannabes trying to claim their titles. He grinned. He was already looking forward to shattering this fool's ambitions. "Very well, we'll have a five-on-five Pokemon battle with no time limit. Have you chosen your team for this fight?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!"

"Very well. Go, Dugtrio!" He tossed out a Pokeball. It opened up in midair, sending a beam of white light down to the arena below, coalescing into the form of three large brown mole heads sticking out of the ground, all of whom looked angry as they were called from the other dimension in which they had been kept.

"Trio trio trio!" said the three-headed mole. Like all of Giovanni's other Pokemon, Dugtrio had been boosted by numerous illegal drugs to make it more powerful than your average Dugtrio. However, Persian was the only one who had been fortunate enough to be transformed into a Shadow Pokemon, making him envied by all his 'teammates'.

"A Ground-type, huh? Just as I figured!" said the girl. "So go, Suicune!" Giovanni sat straight up in his seat as he heard that name. _Did she say Suicune?!_

The girl's oddly familiar-looking Pokeball burst open, unleashing a huge blue and white hound onto the field in a burst of darkness instead of the usual white light. It had a long purple mane and two white ribbons encircling its body. Unlike most Pokemon, it made no sound as it emerged from its sphere…that and the odd look in its eyes made Giovanni wonder if something was wrong with it. It almost reminded him of a Shadow Pokemon…he shook his head, reminding himself to focus. "A legendary Pokemon, eh? It takes a real trainer to capture one of those…" As the idiot girl blushed at the false compliment, Giovanni pressed a button on his chair, locking the exits. He felt under his seat and cursed under his breath, realizing he had left his Snag Device back in his office along with the rest of his Boss Rocket costume. Oh well, no worries. He pressed another button, calling his Rocket Grunts. When this battle was over, they would grab the trainer and remove whatever Pokemon she had on her. He grinned; starting to think this might turn out to be a good day after all. It wasn't every day a legendary Pokemon entered your gym!

"Suicune, Bubblebeam!" yelled the trainer. The beast opened its mouth and fired a stream of explosive bubbles at the mole.

"Dugtrio, get underground and avoid those bubbles!" commanded Giovanni.

"Trio!" Dugtrio's heads pulled underground, just dodging the beam attack.

The trainer smirked. "Ha, that's not gonna stop us! Suicune, fire your Bubblebeam down that hole so it'll flood that Dugtrio out!" The beast bounded gracefully over to the hole and spat bubbles down the tunnel Dugtrio left behind.

Giovanni chuckled. "Don't you think every trainer with a Water Pokemon has already tried that? Dugtrio, Fissure."

The entire gym started shaking. "Wh-what's going on?" asked Mary Sue, frightened. Suicune stood over the tunnel, not showing any reaction to the small earthquake. Suddenly, the ground split open beneath the beast, creating a giant fissure. The legendary fell with a startled bark and vanished into the depths. The crack sealed up, and the earth shook again as Dugtrio beat the crap out of Suicune deep underground. A minute later, the ground split open and Suicune was tossed out by Dugtrio, who looked pleased to have bested one of the world's strongest and most mysterious Pokemon.

The leader of Team Rocket smirked. "Excellent work, Dugtrio." The mole gave a happy "Trio!" at the compliment. It got very few of those from its trainer.

Mary Sue looked stunned.

Giovanni barely held back his laughter, obviously this trainer had not lost a round in a Pokemon battle for a very long time. Well, that was all going to change, wasn't it? "Choose your next Pokemon."

Snapping out of her stunned trance, Mary Sue pulled out another oddly familiar Pokeball. "Articuno, I choose you!" She threw out the ball, releasing a beautiful blue ice bird that the Gym Leader noted looked slightly tired. He wondered if the trainer had bothered going to a Pokemon center before challenging him. He frowned suddenly, noticing that instead of the usual flash of light Articuno and Suicune had both emerged in a burst of darkness. Something felt very familiar about that, but his mind was still slightly addled from last night's debacle, so he couldn't remember where he had seen a ball like that before. Regaining his composure, he smirked. "A Flying-type? Every trainer tries to use those, too. Don't think just because Articuno's a legendary and a Flying Pokemon means you'll win this battle."

"We'll see about that!" said Mary Sue confidently. "Articuno, Ice Beam!" The bird opened its beak and shot a burst of super-cold energy at the mole.

"Dugtrio, use Rock Throw!" Dugtrio burrowed underground, then popped up a second later, holding a huge rock on its heads. The mole tossed the rock at the ice beam, intercepting it and taking the full brunt of the frozen blast. The frozen boulder fell to the ground and shattered. "Now, use Sand Attack!"

"Trio!" Dugtrio burrowed again and started spewing huge amounts of sand into the air, filling the arena with dust clouds. Articuno looked around blankly, its vision occluded by the sand.

"Articuno, blow the sand away with your wings!" commanded Mary Sue. The ice bird flapped its wings, creating gusts of wind that blew away the sand and revealed the empty arena. Dugtrio had burrowed while the sand was up.

Giovanni wiped some sand off his suit and gave his next order. "Dugtrio, Rock Throw!" Dugtrio popped up from behind the legendary and hurled another huge rock at Articuno. The boulder hit Articuno from behind, knocking it to the ground with a surprised squawk. "Now that it's on the ground, finish it with Fissure!"

"Quick Articuno, use Ice Beam on Dugtrio!" The bird fired its beam just as the mole started to submerge itself but missed, instead causing the ground to harden from the cold. Dugtrio suddenly found itself unable to dig through the frozen soil.

"Dugtrio, use Earthquake to break the ice quickly!" said Giovanni.

"Too late for that! Quick Articuno, use Hyper Beam!" The ice bird opened its beak and spat a powerful yellow laser at Dugtrio, blasting it out of the hard dirt and knocking it out. "Yeah, I won!" Then Articuno fainted. "Huh?" she said, stunned again.

"Hmmph." Giovanni called Dugtrio back to its Pokeball. "Your Articuno looked a little tired when you sent it out. I don't suppose you've taken it to a Pokemon Center recently?" The embarrassed look on her face gave him his answer. "I thought not. Go, Nidoqueen!" A big blue armored monster came out of the ball, roaring as she thumped her tail on the ground. This Nidoqueen was much stronger than the one Gary trained, thanks once again to drugs and other illegal power boosts. "I've knocked out two of your Pokemon, while I have four left, counting Nidoqueen. Choose wisely."

"Okay…" Mary Sue cocked her head, as if she was listening to something. Giovanni idly wondered if she was actually receiving instructions through a headset, she certainly didn't seem smart enough to capture two legendary Pokemon and get seven badges on her own. No doubt she had help of some sort. After a moment, she threw out a Pokeball. "Mary Sue chooses Ho-Oh!"

Giovanni took in a sharp breath as he saw the magnificent phoenix Pokemon burst out of the sphere, once again in a flash of darkness. "Incredible…" he whispered. Persian snarled at the giant bird, jealous of how taken his trainer was by it.

Nidoqueen looked a little unsettled by the huge firebird, but held her ground just like she had been trained. "Ho-Oh! Use Sacred Fire!" commanded Mary Sue. Ho-Oh opened its mouth and breathed out a magnificent blast of golden fire, melting the frozen ground as it raced towards Nidoqueen.

"Nidoqueen, jump now!" Giovanni ordered. Nidoqueen crouched and pushed off the ground, leaping high enough to touch the ceiling and dig her claws into it just before the flame attack could hit her.

Mary Sue gawked. "How can she jump that high? She's so heavy!"

"I've trained Nidoqueen with weighted armor to improve her speed, strength and agility in normal combat." _Not to mention a good healthy dose of steroids,_ he thought to himself. "Now Nidoqueen, use Body Slam!" Nidoqueen swung off her vantage point on the ceiling and dropped towards the phoenix belly-first.

"Ho-Oh, get out of the way!" The rainbow bird tried to fly away, but quickly discovered it was too big to move about the gym effectively. Nidoqueen landed on Ho-Oh's back, hitting it with enough force to push the bird down a few feet before it recovered its flight.

"Nidoqueen, fire a Hyper Beam at Ho-Oh's head!" commanded Giovanni. The Drill Pokemon opened her mouth and started collecting ambient energy.

"Ho-Oh quick, knock her off!" said Mary Sue. The phoenix couldn't move much around the gym due to its size, but it did find one thing it could do. It suddenly flew upwards, driving Nidoqueen into the ceiling. The impact forced Nidoqueen to fire her Hyper Beam straight down into Ho-Oh's back, damaging the phoenix and pushing it back down but also slamming Nidoqueen back into the ceiling and knocking her out. She hit the ground with a thud and lay there, groaning. Ho-Oh was a little hurt by the Hyper Beam, but shook its head and screeched, showing it was still in the game. "Yeah, great job Ho-Oh!" said Mary Sue. "Now I've beaten two of your Pokemon!"

"True. Nidoqueen, return!" Nidoqueen was converted into energy and sucked back into the gateway inside her Pokeball to rest until the Team Rocket medics healed her. "Let's see if you fare as well against Nidoqueen's mate. Go Nidoking!" Out came a big purple monster, covered in spikier armor than Nidoqueen's and with a longer horn and tail as well. The Drill Pokemon roared, ready to fight the legendary phoenix.

Mary Sue pointed at Nidoking. "I'm gonna knock him out just like I did his girlfriend! Ho-Oh, Swift attack!" The phoenix flapped its wings, firing dozens of glowing white stars at the Drill Pokemon.

"Nidoking, use Poison Sting!" Nidoking spat dozens of glowing white needles at the phoenix. The stars and needles collided and exploded, filling the arena with smoke.

"Quick Ho-Oh, blow away the smoke with your wings!" Ho-Oh flapped its wings to get rid of the smoke, only to find Nidoking was gone! "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"Nidoking, Body Slam!" Nidoking, who had jumped high into the air when the smoke was up, slammed into Ho-Oh, pushing it down a bit.

"Ho-Oh, knock him off!" The phoenix flew upward, intending to smash Nidoking into the ceiling.

"Nidoking, don't let that second-rate bird beat you that way!" Nidoking reached up and grabbed the ceiling before he could collide with it, using his immense strength to stop Ho-Oh's upward surge in its tracks. Mary Sue gaped, shocked at the Pokemon's strength. "Now, use Horn Attack!" His horn glowing, Nidoking slammed his forehead into the small of Ho-Oh's back. The phoenix screeched and thrashed in pain, finally managing to cause Nidoking to slide off its back and hurtle towards a wall. "Nidoking, push off the wall and use Mega Kick!" Nidoking flipped over so he hit the wall feet-first and kicked off, using the momentum to slam into the phoenix with a tremendously powerful kick!

"Ho-Oh!" Mary Sue cried as her Pokemon was smashed into the other wall, cracking it. Nidoking roared and beat his chest, proud of his successful attack. The phoenix suddenly rose up from the wall, emotionless eyes glaring at the Drill Pokemon. "Ho-Oh, use Fire Blast!" The phoenix spat out a huge five-pointed star of flame that loomed over Nidoking. He tried to jump over the blast, but it was too big and he got thrown across the room, colliding with the wall, his armor black with soot from the flames.

"Nidoking, return!" Giovanni recalled his Pokemon and pulled out one more Pokeball. "Impressive. Not many trainers get this far. Let's see how you like this one…go, Rhydon!" The Pokemon Giovanni summoned looked like a large gray bipedal rhinoceros with a drill for a nose, a spiky back, and a long tail. The beast growled at Ho-Oh, which was starting to look a tiny bit tired after the beating Nidoqueen and Nidoking had given it. "Rhydon, use Thunderbolt!" The Drill Pokemon clenched his muscles and released a powerful electric blast at Ho-Oh, shocking the phoenix soundly and taking advantage of its Flying-type weakness to Electric attacks. Ho-Oh screeched in pain.

Mary Sue gasped. "But it's a Ground Pokemon, how can it use electric attacks?"

Giovanni shook his head, laughing. "Silly girl, Pokemon of a certain type are not necessarily limited only to attacks of that type. Many can learn ones contrary to their very nature. I'd think you'd know this, if you've really conquered seven gyms already. You shouldn't have even come here anyway, there are plenty of other gyms out there where you could obtain your eighth badge."

"I could have, but I knew you were the toughest gym leader of them all!" said Mary Sue.

"Ah, I see. You wanted a challenge. Just like the last twenty idiot trainers. Rhydon, Bubblebeam!" The rhino opened his mouth and spat a stream of explosive bubbles at Ho-Oh, almost as powerful as the one Suicune had used.

After cocking her head for half a second to listen to something, Mary Sue cried, "Counter with Sacred Fire!" Ho-Oh opened its mouth and breathed golden fire at the bubble stream. The hot flames and cool water collided and erupted in a burst of steam, which enshrouded the room for the third time that battle. "Quick Ho-Oh, fly up high so you won't get hit from above like last time!" Ho-Oh quickly flapped its wings, blowing away some of the steam as it hovered near the ceiling. When the steam cleared away, Rhydon was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't hanging on the ceiling or hurtling towards the phoenix with a Body Slam. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

Giovanni sneered. "Do you really think I'm that predictable? Rhydon, attack now with Mega Punch!" Rhydon, who had burrowed underground when the steam cloud formed, burst out of the ground underneath the phoenix and slammed a glowing fist right into Ho-Oh's stomach. The phoenix screeched and spat out globs of hot blood, which sizzled as they hit the ground.

"H-how did he dig underground?! Articuno froze it!" said Mary Sue in disbelief.

"Don't you remember when you used all those fire attacks on Nidoqueen and Nidoking? The heat from those flames was enough to thaw the ground and let Rhydon burrow underneath it. I must say, for a trainer who's captured legendary Pokemon you don't seem to know how to use them very well. Don't tell me, you've won all your battles using raw power over strategy, am I correct? Well, you'll find I'm craftier than my fellows. It will take more effort than you've demonstrated so far if you're going to defeat me."

Mary Sue growled, a look of uncharacteristic anger appearing on her face. This was obviously a huge blow to her ego, one she intended to repay in full. "Ho-Oh, Hyper Beam!"

"Rhydon, Hyper Beam!" Both Pokemon charged up their super beam attacks and fired. The twin lasers exploded when they hit each other, throwing up a shroud of smoke for the fourth time.

"Ho-Oh, blow away the smoke, and watch out for Rhydon's surprise attacks!" said Mary Sue. A weak wing flap could be heard, blowing away the smoke and revealing the two combatants. They were looking weary from that last attack, both of them were panting and sweating heavily. They stared at each other, Ho-Oh with its expressionless eyes and Rhydon with his tired eyes, neither willing to concede defeat. Time seemed to crawl to a standstill as everyone watching, from the two trainers to the Rocket Grunts hiding in the room's secret passages, waited to see which fighter would fall first. Then, it happened. Rhydon took a deep, shuddering breath and collapsed, unconscious before he hit the ground. "YEAH! I did it, I did it!" screamed Mary Sue, not even bothering to give credit to Ho-Oh, who looked like it wasn't far from following Rhydon.

"Good job, Rhydon. You've done exactly what I wanted." Giovanni recalled Rhydon and stood up from his chair, moving into the light so the girl could see his face. "I must give you a little credit. No one's beaten all four of my Ground-types in quite a while. So I'm giving you a special treat. Persian?" The Classy Cat got up, knowing what was expected of him. "It's your turn."

Faster than any of them could see, Persian leaped off the balcony and slammed into Ho-Oh's head, slashing it across the face and drawing blood. Ho-Oh screeched as the cat landed on the ground, turned back towards the phoenix, and began to crackle with electricity. The feline unleashed a massive Thunder attack that would have taken our good friend Pikachu by surprise, blasting Ho-Oh with a million volts of electricity. Not even the great legendary bird could take that much abuse and it collapsed, blackened and sizzling from the attack. Persian's fur was standing up from the electric discharge, but he pushed it back down with a few licks. Mary Sue stared at her defeated Pokemon in disbelief. "B-but Ho-Oh's the greatest of legendaries…"

"And as I've already demonstrated, even legendaries can fall. A Pokemon's true power is not defined by how strong it looks or how many stories have been spawned by it, but by how it has been trained. And my Persian's been trained very well indeed. Isn't that right, old friend?" Persian growled in affirmation, staring coolly at Mary Sue and waiting for his next victim.

She gritted her teeth, listened to whatever voices were guiding her for a second, then pulled out another Pokeball. "I just got you, but I think you might be strong enough to win. Go, Latias!"

Giovanni nearly had a heart attack. _Latias?!_ In a burst of darkness, the same dragon he had seen the night before materialized in front of him. And by some miracle, she was still holding the suitcase. He stared into the dragon's eyes again, feeling the same confusing and unfamiliar feelings he had had before wash over him. Her eyes were not blank and lifeless like the other legendaries the newcomer had used. No, there was still some life left in her…and more pain as well. Giovanni felt the need to comfort her grow stronger than ever, unsettling him. "Th-that Pokemon…" he started.

Mary Sue looked confused. "Yes?"

"That Pokemon…belongs to me!" Giovanni lied.

The trainer blinked. "It does?"

"Yes. Yes!" the crime boss said quickly. Persian stared at his partner in confusion, wondering what the heck was going on. "It's a…messenger of mine. Yes, I sent it out to collect an important package from one of my associates. It was supposed to arrive last night, but it never showed up. I suppose you must have captured it by mistake…do you think you could please return it and that suitcase to me at once?"

Mary Sue cocked her head, once more listening to something. "What do I get for it?" she asked.

Giovanni gritted his teeth. He promised to hunt down and kill whoever was feeding her information when this is over. "Oh, a few hundred Pokebucks, maybe an Earth Badge too," he said, trying to sound like the Pokemon and the suitcase were of trivial interest to him. That way he could get away with paying less for it.

Mary Sue looked like she was about to say yes, then paused to listen again. She frowned and shook her head. "No, I don't think so. How about if you beat me, you can have the Pokemon and the suitcase?"

Giovanni clenched his fists in anger, feeling like shouting at her. He almost pressed the button that would order his Rockets into the room to capture the foolish girl. Then he calmed himself down. What was the big deal? He didn't have a chance of losing this battle. Persian was almost as strong as any legendary. And Mary Sue had proven not to be the best strategic mastermind, so it was doubtful she would be able to outsmart him. And in any case, Persian would claw his Corinthian desk to shreds if he stopped him from fighting, and those things were very expensive. And in the unlikely event that she did win, he'd still take all her Pokemon. "Very well, we have a deal. Persian, show that Pokemon what a real fighter is!" _But don't hurt her too badly!_ He almost said. The cat yowled and pounced at Latias. And so the battle began.

…

Not much from Latias' point of view, I know, but I thought this chapter was getting a little long so I figured we could save her fight for the next chapter. Please review!


	8. Battle for the Earth Badge pt 2

Okay, here's the conclusion to the thrilling two-part gym battle special. Hope you enjoy it!

Alex, the collector doesn't know Mary Sue (which is now the name of the trainer who the possessed maid killed and assumed. I changed chapter 6 on your recommendation) stole his Pokemon because on his latest jaunt around the world, he got badly injured and was nursed back to health by a local woman. He fell in love, renounced his evil ways, and married her. We'll never hear from him again. (Hey, it's better than me killing off Blaine or Kurt like I originally planned, right?) And this is after Wes got the Shadow Tyranitar, Cipher's been history for months now. The shadow things are bad strategists, as I may have commented in the edited last chapter. I also made a reason for why all the legendaries lost their battles, none of them have been healed in months so they're weakened from all the fights they've been put through. This is the day right after Gio got booted out of Oak's lab, the whole Pidgeot thing happened on the same night as well as Latias getting captured and introduced to Mewtwo. And Gio did lie to Mewtwo, he told him they would rule the world as equals, but he double-crossed him remember?

Story Weaver1, like I said before, don't feel bad about using the Master Ball, if I get to the Tyranitar fight in Pokemon Coliseum I'll use the M-Ball to catch it right away. As I said before, you can't bond with game Pokemon so why feel guilty for doing things to them? They don't exist. Sorry if that seems callous, but that's the way I feel. And you were supposed to root for Gio, glad that worked out.

Mimic12355, of course the League has inspectors. Gio either bribes them or shows them a team of identical (but non-enhanced) Pokemon team that looks just like his own. Fools them every time.

Persian's Mistress, have you ever seen Samurai Jack? In one episode, they trained him to be able to jump higher by forcing him to carry giant boulders all over the place. That built up strength in his legs and enabled him to leap hundreds of feet in the air. The same concept was used to increase Nidoking and Nidoqueen's jumping power.

Geniusboy, Shedinja wasn't in Johto, he just showed up in Hoenn.

Glad you like it Dannichu. I wouldn't think you'd be interested in a darkish fic like this what with all your humor stories, but I suppose interests shouldn't be limited by what one writes.

Disclaimer: I only own the evil Master Ball concept and stuff.

…

As Latias emerged from the Master Ball, the first thing she felt was relief that she was finally back in the real world.

That changed to disgust almost immediately. Her body felt like it was covered inside and out with the vilest of filth, so disgustingly dirty she couldn't even move with it on her. This filth was the evil infesting her that had poured into her body when her soul was being removed. Fortunately, because Mewtwo was able to save her in time, she still retained control of one arm and her left ear. He explained that during the fight, he would extend his will into her body through the link they shared and use his powers to begin purifying her of evil. He would send false signals to the real evil at the same time to keep it from realizing Latias was being purged. He had warned her that when she regained control of more of her body during the fight, she must continue to obey the instructions given to her to keep Mary Sue and the evil from noticing she was being freed and calling her back, which would undo all their hard work. Fortunately, even though the evil's flawed battle strategy would probably be ripped to pieces by Giovanni's cruel and calculating mind, Mewtwo intended to boost the power of her attacks while he cleaned the evil from her body's system to hopefully give them an edge over the pumped-up Persian.

She looked across the arena to the Classy Cat, not paying attention to the banter between Giovanni and Mary Sue as she made out the aura around the feline that had just seemed like a weird feeling of extreme wrongness when she had first seen him back in the Vault in Professor Oak's lab. She had asked Mewtwo if Persian was kept in a Master Ball, which would explain the aura, but Mewtwo told her that Persian's aura was similar to that of a Shadow Pokemon. He had explained that Shadow Pokemon were created through a process invented by the mad scientist Ein in which the door to a Pokemon's heart was closed, blinding them with anger and turning them into mindless fighting machines. The process was somewhat similar to that of the Master Ball, except it didn't use evil spirits from another dimension. He had learned of this process while travelling through the land of Orre, where an evil organization called Cipher had tried to build an army of Shadow Pokemon to destroy the world but had been defeated by an ex-criminal named Wes and his partner Rui.

The Persian seemed to be far from mindless however, because he started speaking to her. "Hmm, I don't think I've seen a Pokemon of your species before." Well of course he hadn't, she had been invisible when she had attacked his master down in the Vault. "I'm going to enjoy finding out what you taste like. Maybe my partner will give you to me for dinner instead of keeping you to himself like he wants with all the other Pokemon your idiot trainer has." Latias said nothing. How could she? Her mouth was controlled by the evil, which weren't interested in making a witty comeback. Persian seemed unhappy with her lack of response and growled. "Ignoring me, huh? You'll regret that. I'm one of the most powerful Pokemon in Kanto. I knocked out Ho-Oh with a single Thunder attack!" he boasted.

__

Somehow I doubt that trick would have worked if Ho-Oh had been at full strength, said a telepathic voice in the back of Latias' mind. Mewtwo was watching through the link they shared and seemed amused by the Classy Cat's overconfidence. _I'll leave you to deal with this trash while I start purifying you. Good luck._ A tingling sensation began in her untainted left ear and slowly started to spread outwards, destroying all the filth in its path.

Giovanni pointed to her, and Latias suddenly realized he looked exactly like the man she had seen last night at Oak's house. That wasn't really surprising, since Mewtwo had already told her he was the boss of Team Rocket. "Persian, show that Pokemon what a real fighter is!" A weird expression flickered across his face for a second. Latias didn't have time to wonder what it was as Persian yowled and pounced at her.

"Latias, go get him! Show him your power!" yelled Mary Sue. At the same time, something told her body to charge forward at the oncoming cat. Latias saw no point in that, but since she didn't have control of her body she didn't have a choice.

Persian slammed into her, forcing her to the ground and making her drop the Prison Ball suitcase as he clawed and bit at her. She winced inwardly, even though she couldn't control her body she could still feel it hurting. "Latias, use Psywave!"

Latias felt the psychic portion of her mind flare to life as she heard a faint roar somewhere in the back of her head. Her eyes glowed and the psychic force flung off Persian, throwing him onto the dirt. He was back up in seconds, totally unharmed. "Persian, we can't let her use Psychic attacks. Use Conversion2!"

Persian's tan fur shimmered and turned black as he became a Dark-type. The majority of Latias' psychic powers were now useless against him. Of course, it would turn out that Psychic attacks weren't _all_ that she had hidden in whatever part of her brain controlled fighting…

"Latias, we have more than just Psychic attacks! Use Dragonbreath!" Latias felt another roar, then an increasing feeling of heat from inside of her. She opened her mouth and exhaled a burst of white fire at Persian.

"Persian, Double Team!" Persian suddenly split into two dozen identical cats, which started spinning around Latias to confuse her and keep her from finding the real one. Her Dragonbreath hit one of the fakes, causing it to vanish.

"Uh…" Mary Sue paused a minute to listen to her evil masters. "Latias, use Thunder attack to hit all the Persians at once!"

Latias hadn't been aware she could use electric attacks, but apparently she could as her muscles clenched up and bolts of electricity shot out of her body, striking all the Persians. All of them vanished, but the real one was still nowhere to be seen! "Huh? Where'd he go?"

Persian suddenly erupted from the ground beneath Latias, Biting at her underside and injecting dark energy into her body. She had thought the Faint Attacks the Murkrow had used hurt, but Persian was much stronger than them so his Bite did that much more damage to her mind. However, compared to the pain she had experienced back in the evil dimension, this was negligible. It still hurt though.

"But-but Persian can't use Dig!" Mary Sue protested.

Giovanni chuckled, his feelings of confusion and other unfamiliar things hidden behind a mask of ruthlessness. "Mine can."

Persian shook Latias about in his mouth then spat her away, causing her to hit the ground. "Latias, Recover!" She felt a tingling sensation not unlike the one Mewtwo was causing as her body healed itself. Unfortunately it only healed physical damage, not that caused by the evil inside of her. She suddenly found she could wiggle her right ear and had regained control over her mouth, and realized Mewtwo was slowly winning his fight against the evil…but at this rate it would take a while and Persian might KO her before she could be freed.

"Persian, Dig!" Persian clawed into the ground swiftly, vanishing in a tunnel beneath the earth.

"Latias, fly above the arena so Persian can't hit you when he pops out!" commanded Mary Sue. Latias' body flew off the ground, hovering somewhere around the ceiling, hopefully out of range of the evil cat.

"I'm afraid that won't do any good. Persian, Hyper Beam!" The ground exploded as a golden laser shot out and struck Latias, slamming her into the ceiling and doing extra damage. She cried out with her now-freed vocal chords and fell towards the ground, her body thoroughly hurting from the attack. Persian burst out of the ground, caught her in mid-fall with his Bite, and shook her around some more before tossing her away.

Her body ached as it hit the ground. "Latias, Recover!" Although her body healed, she still felt a little tired from the attacks, and the pain caused by the mightiest of all Beam attacks and the Dark-type Bite did not leave her memory so easily. On a lighter note though, she found that her long neck no longer felt disgusting and dirty. Mewtwo was starting to pick up the pace. She hoped she would be conscious long enough to take advantage of it.

"Persian, Shadow Rush!" The cat glowed with blue-black energy and charged at Latias.

"Latias, Safeguard!" said Mary Sue. Latias felt her psychic area clench up again, projecting a blue force field around her body. Persian smashed right through the shield with his Shadow Rush and slammed into her, knocking her across the room and into the wall. She slumped to the floor, once again on the brink of fainting. How could this one cat be so strong?

"Recover and get out of the way, quick!" said Mary Sue desperately as Persian was charging towards Latias again.

Latias healed again and flew out of the way just as Persian was about to run into her. She half-hoped he would crash into the wall, but instead he changed directions at the last second and pounced, knocking her out of the air. He dug his fangs into her side with a Crunch attack, doing even more damage than his previous Bites. "Just give up already, you can't defeat me!" said Giovanni, his ruthless mask slipping a little as he hoped that Mary Sue would surrender and stop Latias from suffering anymore.

"No chance! Latias, Flash attack!" Latias didn't know how, but her body suddenly illuminated, lighting up the room with a flash of light so bright that it forced Persian to let go of her and cover his eyes to keep himself from going blind. "Now, hit him with Dragon Claw while he's dazed!" Latias' claws started glowing as she heard another faint roar in the back of her mind and she charged towards Persian, slashing him across the face with her powered-up claws. The hit knocked Persian back, startling him.

He blinked his eyes several times to get rid of the dazzle in them and he glared at her, furious that she had actually managed to hit him. He snarled and started towards her, but Giovanni's command halted him in his tracks. "No Persian, use Dig!" He hissed angrily but obeyed, burrowing into the ground.

"Uh…" Mary Sue looked uncertain. Her masters weren't sure how to handle the combo Persian had used before. Finally, she said "Latias, fly above the arena!" Her body flew up to the ceiling, and Latias noted briefly that she could now feel both of her arms and her midsection was starting to feel a little cleaner.

"That poor attempt at evasion didn't work last time, and it won't work now. Persian, Hyper Beam!" The floor exploded as a golden laser shot out of it.

"Latias, use your own Hyper Beam!" Latias waited for her mouth to open, but realized to her horror that it didn't. Since that part of her body was no longer under the evil's control, it couldn't use Hyper Beam because she didn't know how! Fortunately, Mewtwo intervened at the last second, taking control of her mouth and causing energy to gather there and fire just before the Classy Cat's Hyper Beam could strike. The two super-lasers intersected and exploded, throwing Latias into the ceiling and cracking it…along with her back.

She nearly fainted in pain as she fell into the huge smoke cloud formed from the blast, when she felt Mewtwo's reassuring presence in her mind again, triggering her Recover ability and healing her body. _Thank you,_ she thought.

__

Don't thank me, my negligence got you hurt. I forgot that you don't know how to use your attacks, so I didn't realize you would be in trouble if you were commanded to use one after I had purified that section of your body. I'll pay more attention the next time, he promised.

Thank you anyway, if you hadn't intervened I could have gotten a lot worse than back pain. 

She almost could feel him smiling back in the Master Ball. _Glad to be of assistance._

As the smoke cleared, Persian looked at her in frustration, angry that she had lasted this long. Giovanni was more worried than frustrated, because he wasn't sure he could watch his partner beat up the strange little dragon much longer, it was causing guilt of all things to express itself in his heart. Then he got an idea of how to end the fight quickly and painlessly. "Persian, use Attract!"

__

Oh no! thought Mewtwo, as Latias wondered what Attract was.

Persian purred…and Latias gasped. The cat was now the sexiest and handsomest being she had ever seen or could ever imagine in her wildest dreams and fantasies. Every breath he took caused his muscular body to ripple sensually and enraptured her. She became vaguely aware of drool coming out of her mouth and blood leaking from her nose. The Persian stared at her with beautiful eyes as red as the ruby on his forehead and opened his gorgeous mouth to speak the words of love she longed to hear. "Come to me, little one. Let me devour you. Ravish you. Love you. Come to me," he said in a voice which made the singing of a thousand angelic hosts sound like fingernails scratching on a chalkboard.

Her heartbeat increased, and it was all she could do to keep from screaming in joy that this wonderful creature had chosen her, an insignificant ugly little monster, to mate with! Her body trembled in anticipation as she flew towards the waiting cat, ignoring the annoying voices screaming in the back of her mind and behind her to snap out of it. Nothing else mattered but satisfying Persian, her beautiful black god of love.

But then one of the annoying voices cried out two words that sent a wave of horror through her body. "Latias, return!"

"NO!" she screamed. "Let me be with him! Let me love him!" It was too late. A red beam struck her and she dematerialized, screaming as the image of her beloved Persian faded away.

And then she was sitting on top of the illusory mountain, dazed and confused. She blinked. "What just happened?"

Mewtwo looked furious, but not at her. "You were struck by an Attract and fell in love with Persian. Gah!" He smashed a rock with a thought. "I can't believe he learned that technique! If Mary Sue hadn't called you back, you could have lost your maidenhood then and there!" He calmed down a little. "I tried to get control of your wings, but the evil still controlling them was just as enamored by Persian as you were and kept going. Now it's too late."

"So what happens now?" she asked quietly, ashamed that she had fallen for such an evil creature.

"Now it's my turn. We may still have a chance." With that, he vanished as Mary Sue used his Master Ball. And Latias couldn't help wondering if he was disappointed in her for failing.

…

Giovanni sighed in relief when Mary Sue recalled Latias. Now he didn't have to feel any more of this unfamiliar guilt about having Latias pummeled, now he just had to help Persian beat whatever last Pokemon Mary Sue had, and then he could take custody of all her legendaries and use them for Team Rocket purposes. But not Latias. No, she had suffered enough already. In his mind he was already sketching out blueprints for a garden habitat that would be perfect for the little dragon to live in peace, where he could visit her anytime he wished and perhaps begin to understand these odd feeling in his heart. All he had to do now was win one more battle.

But that all changed when Mary Sue called out her last Pokemon. "Go, Mewtwo."

Giovanni's heart skipped a beat. _Did…did she say…MEWTWO?!_ And so it was. In a flash of darkness, Giovanni's former pawn materialized in the arena. And he looked angry. Giovanni suddenly realized he was going to lose. No matter how powerful Persian was, he didn't stand a chance against Mewtwo. He opened his mouth to call Persian to return and found he could not. The strange words lodged in his throat. How could he possibly say it? How could he, Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, say that he forfeited? He had never done such a thing before! But if he didn't, who knew what would happen to Persian? As he gathered up the courage to try and say the words again, Persian made his choice for him, charging towards Mewtwo with a Shadow Rush.

Persian had always hated Mewtwo when the freak had been Giovanni's toy. He had been envious of the attention he had received from Giovanni, how the human favored the psychic in battle over his partner of so many years, and how obsessed he had been with finding Mewtwo after his escape. But he was stronger now than he had been when Mewtwo had been around, and he intended to show the ugly white mutant just how powerful he had become!

"Mewtwo, Barrier!" cried Mary Sue. A hint of conflict flashed in Mewtwo's eyes, and for a moment he seemed to be struggling with himself. But then he raised his hand and formed an impenetrable wall of psychic energy. Persian slammed into it headfirst, cracking the jewel in his forehead and breaking his nose and a few teeth. Yowling in pain, he backed away, pawing his gushing nose in distress. Furious that Mewtwo had damaged his perfect snout, he started charging up a Hyper Beam, ignoring the pain in his forehead and Giovanni's desperate cries to back down. Persian fired the strongest Hyper Beam he had ever created from the broken jewel on his forehead, intending to smash through Mewtwo's barrier and fry the freak.

He didn't get the chance. The Beam struck the barrier and was reflected right back into its sender, exploding with incredible force and flinging the Classy Cat into the wall beneath Giovanni's balcony. "PERSIAN!" cried Giovanni in an uncharacteristic burst of emotion. He felt confused again. Yes, he cared for his partner, but he had never actually felt such concern for his health as he did now. That stupid (yet lovely) dragon had done this to him! Thanks to that (adorable) bitch he was actually going soft!

Persian shook and struggled to get up, his muscles screaming at the exertion that he was forcing on them. His jewel had shattered and there wasn't a part of his body that didn't hurt. He had no idea his own Hyper Beam attack was that strong. He could not help feeling a momentary hint of sympathy for everyone he had ever used it on, because they must have been in a lot more pain than he was because they lacked his genetically engineered and drug-boosted stamina. For a moment he regained his footing and managed to stand up…and then he lost what was left of his strength, collapsing back to the ground.

Giovanni sighed. He knew when he was beaten. The words that had been so hard for him to say moments ago flowed from him easily. "Very well. I forfeit. You win the Earth Badge."

"No!"

Giovanni blinked. "What?"

Mary Sue looked furious. "You humiliated and insulted me! Nobody does that to me! For that, I'm gonna kill your Pokemon! Mewtwo, make the biggest Shadow Ball you can muster!" Gritting his teeth in protest and trembling from his attempts to disobey, Mewtwo slowly raised his arm and started forming a mass of dark energy.

Giovanni was shocked. He had done the same thing to plenty of trainers in the past, but he had never thought it would happen to him. Well, that's karma for you. "Y-you can't! Killing a trained Pokemon in battle has a penalty of ten or more years in prison, along with the permanent termination of your trainer's license!"

She shrugged. "My license is stolen anyway. I'll just take someone else's, I did it before."

Giovanni clenched his fists, realizing she was right. There had to be something he could do, Persian had been his companion for years, ever since they had met on the streets in their childhood. One a lonely, embittered boy unloved by his mother, the other an abused Meowth, they had recognized each other as fellow outcasts and banded together against the world, eventually rising to become the primary force behind Team Rocket. He was the closest thing Giovanni had to a friend. He could not let him die this way.

Without thinking, he leaped off the balcony, landing on the arena floor in front of Persian. He grunted and got back to his feet, spreading his arms to out as if to shield his feline companion from the growing Shadow Ball. Mewtwo widened his eyes in surprise. Persian, along with everyone else, stared at him in confusion. "I will not let you kill my Persian," said Giovanni. He reached into a pocket and pulled out the Earth Badge. "If Mewtwo fires that Shadow Ball, the badge will be vaporized along with myself. You'll never be able to get into the League championships." He prayed that his ploy would work and she would back down, or else he and Persian would both be very dead.

Mary Sue paused once again to listen to the voice in her head, and Giovanni realized he was doomed. "You said yourself there were other gyms where I could get my eighth badge." Fuck. "Mewtwo, Shadow Ball!"

Giovanni closed his eyes, waiting for the heat of impending death. There was a swooshing noise, and he felt something pass by him, followed by an explosion…_behind_ him? Giovanni opened his eyes to see the dumbstruck Mary Sue and Mewtwo, who looked as if he was struggling with himself and winning. Giovanni turned around and saw that his balcony had been obliterated. Mewtwo had missed.

He blinked, suddenly realizing the full implications of that.

Mewtwo had missed. Mewtwo never missed. Except on purpose.

Giovanni's jaw dropped. By all rights, Mewtwo should have killed him. He had manipulated the clone and used him for his own evil purposes. Mewtwo had blown up his gym and flown off to destroy the world the last time he had seen him (but never got around to it) and had every reason in the world to kill him…but Mewtwo had spared him. Why?

Mewtwo's body was tense, veins bulging beneath his skin. Mary Sue gasped as the ball she had kept him in started to crack. Mewtwo spread out his arms and roared, causing his body to pulse with a tainted dark purple and blue aura. What looked like ghostly chains appeared for a moment on his body and shattered, and his aura became pure blue, radiating azure light throughout the arena. The ball Mary Sue was holding exploded, causing her to scream and clutch her burnt hand in pain. "I…AM…FREE!" cried Mewtwo. He spun around and pointed a hand at the trainer. A blue glow appeared around her, and she cried out as she was levitated into the air. The Master Balls on her belt and her backpack all slipped off her and flew towards Mewtwo, hovering in place around him. The suitcase of Prison Balls, which had been lying forgotten on the floor all this time, floated into the air and joined them.

"No, this can't be happening!" screamed Mary Sue. "I'm Mary Sue! I'm the greatest Pokemon master in the world!"

"What you are is a weak little girl who has been a pawn of dark forces for far too long." He waved a hand, and the same ghostly chains appeared around the girl and shattered, causing her to have a blank look on her face. "Now begone! May you find peace wherever your path may take you." He gestured again, and she vanished.

"Wh-what did you do to her?" asked Giovanni, frightened at the prospect that his old servant was not only totally operating under his own free will but had also apparently gotten stronger than he could ever have imagined.

"Since I didn't know where the family of the girl whose identity she stole lives, I erased her memory and teleported her to an aging couple I met on my journeys who were never able to bear child. Hopefully she will be the daughter they always wanted," said Mewtwo.

Giovanni blinked. "But-but she kept you imprisoned. You could have killed her. You _should _have killed her, and you should have killed me for that matter. Why didn't you?"

Mewtwo gave him a wry smile. "Because of something I learned on my journeys…something you never bothered to teach me, my old 'master'. Mercy."

Giovanni was confused. "Mercy?"

Mewtwo nodded. "Yes. Kindness to one's enemies is sometimes one of the best ways to prove you are not like them. It is because of this mercy that you and your friend still live…and you have yourselves to thank for that as well."

"What do you mean?" asked Giovanni, still confused.

"You risked your life to save Persian. You showed me that somewhere deep inside that blackened heart of yours, there is still a fraction of a good human being. Someone worth saving. It gave me the strength I needed to free myself and defeat Mary Sue. And so I find I must thank you Giovanni, for helping me to save myself."

Giovanni shook his head. "I still don't understand."

Mewtwo sighed. "I suppose you wouldn't. But maybe, someday, you will." He turned away. "I will leave your memory intact this time. It would do well for you to remember what you risked to protect your Persian. Perhaps someday that memory will blossom into something more, and the next time we meet we will no longer be enemies."

Giovanni's confusion deepened as Mewtwo started floating into the air. "Wait…this time? You've erased my memory before?" He blinked. "Hey wait, give me those Pokeballs, I won them!"

Mewtwo turned around and looked him in the eye. "_Won_ them?" He scoffed. "These items are far too dangerous for your hands. In any case, how do you expect to stop me from walking out with them?" Giovanni said nothing. For a moment he considered activating the heavy explosives he had rigged throughout the gym just in case Mewtwo returned to kill him, but the trigger to detonate those bombs was all the way in his underground bunker deep beneath the city, which he was nowhere near at the moment. Besides, Mewtwo, being who he was, would probably survive anyway. "I thought not. Goodbye, Giovanni. May the next time we meet be in happier circumstances." Surrounding himself and his companion objects in a blue sphere, he shot through the ceiling, smashing through it and flying away from the city.

Giovanni stared blankly at the ceiling for several seconds, then shook his head and sat on the arena floor, trying to make sense of all that had happened. Persian limped over to him and put his head in his trainer's lap. Giovanni absent-mindedly started petting him. "This has been a very odd week, hasn't it Persian? Last night we failed the biggest heist of the year, I saw that strange dragon for the first time which caused me to have all these strange feelings…a trainer with legendary Pokemon shows up and nearly kills you, then I almost sacrifice myself to save you and who of all people but Mewtwo ends up sparing us? And we didn't even capture any of her rare Pokemon!" Persian purred to him. "What? Oh yes, I forgot about that confused and overly affectionate Growlithe bitch that tried to bear your children on Monday, how could I forget about that?"

Persian rubbed his head against Giovanni's chest, purring happily. Giovanni couldn't help but crack a small smile. "Very touching," said a familiar voice sarcastically.

Persian looked up and growled. Giovanni gently pushed the cat's head off his lap and stood up to greet the approaching figure. He frowned. "Ein, what are you doing out of your lab? Shouldn't you be making more Shadow Pokemon for our organization?"

Ein, a man with a stylish lab coat, sunglasses, and long black hair gelled into zigzagging strands stopped several yards from Giovanni, a disconcerting smile on his face. "Just thought I'd take a break and see what the boss-man was up to. And I must say I'm somewhat disappointed."

Persian snarled and tried to step forward, but lost his balance and fell again. He was still too weak from the battle with Mewtwo. Giovanni scowled. "Watch what you say, Ein. Remember who pays your salary."

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten." The disconcerting smile widened. "You bungled a very important heist just last night and had a girl possessing several very rare and powerful Pokemon right in front of you and you never even tried to capture them."

"I forgot my Snag Device," Giovanni grumbled.

"That's bad enough as it is, but you also seemed to have forgotten that there were Rocket Grunts in the walls waiting for your orders to grab the girl and her Pokemon. Orders which never came." Giovanni blinked, realizing Ein was right. He had forgotten about the Grunts. Curse that Latias and Mewtwo, he had gotten so caught up in emotions by them that he forgot all about his minions! "And what's worse…you risked your life to save a Pokemon. A _Shadow_ Pokemon."

Giovanni narrowed his eyes. "So?"

Ein snickered. "Giovanni, Shadow Pokemon are soulless husks whose only purpose is to fight for us. They're not worth saving."

Persian growled angrily at this. "Persian is different from the other Shadow Pokemon. You yourself said that when you performed the process on him. He still has a heart."

Ein shrugged. "Yes, but he is still a Pokemon. And as you yourself have said so many times, Pokemon exist to serve humans. None of them is worth risking your life for."

Giovanni reached down and stroked Persian's fur. "Persian is." The words coming out of his mouth surprised him. Perhaps Mewtwo had been right. Perhaps there was some good in him after all. But he had a feeling that it may not have manifested at all were it not for that Latias.

Ein laughed. "It's just as I thought. You've gotten soft, old man. Team Rocket is going downhill because it has a sentimental fool for a leader."

"And I suppose you think you could do better?" asked Giovanni sarcastically.

Ein grinned and pulled a Pokeball out of his pocket. He opened it, releasing a gray canine with golden spiky hair. A Manectric. "Actually, I think I can."

Giovanni froze. "Is this mutiny, Ein?" The mad scientist nodded, grinning sinisterly. Giovanni growled, as did Persian. "You'll never get away with this."

Ein chuckled. "Already have. Why do you think none of your hidden agents have saved you by now?" Giovanni blinked in surprise. Ein laughed. "The Rocket Admins have been fed up with you for quite some time, Gio. They think you're holding the organization back. Keeping us from our true potential. They chose me to take your place. Well, actually I volunteered, but you get the point."

Giovanni stared at his rival for a long moment, then startled him by bursting into laughter. "Idiot. You think you can run this team better than I can?" He shook his head pityingly. "You poor fool. You won't last a year. The stress'll get to you, or the other Rockets will get fed up and revolt, I can guarantee it."

Ein shrugged. "Maybe. But you won't be around to see it. Manectric? Kill!" Manectric barked in affirmation and fired a lethal Thunderbolt at the duo. Giovanni's last action was to hold Persian, as if to shield him from the blast, while at the same time he flashed one last grin at Ein. The shock hit them, electrocuting them with over one million volts of electricity and reducing Giovanni's fine suit and Persian's coat to blackened threads. Ein frowned as the electric assault ended, noticing that Giovanni's face was frozen in a grotesque, mocking smile, as if to say that in death he would get the last laugh. He felt a hint of unease, but shrugged it off and held up his Pokeball. "Manectric, return." The electric dog vanished back into its Pokeball in a flash of red light. The scientist ripped off a red "R" badge sewn onto his shirt and pulled a new symbol, a black X on a blue background, from his pocket and slapped it onto his chest. "Out with the old and in with the new, I always say."

He smirked. "Long live Team Cipher."

…

Gio's dead, and Team Rocket-or should I say, Team CIPHER-is now under new administration. Well, at least Mewtwo's free and this Mary Sue thing is finally over, right? See what awaits our favorite dragon next time!


	9. Of Love and Ghosts

Okay, I've put Latias through a lot in these last eight chapters, but now she must face her greatest trial yet…Muhahahahaha!

Nukerjsr, I'm glad you liked the battles and the merciful fate of Mary Sue.

Sir Pudding, I don't know if Ash and Gio are really related or not. There seems to be lots of rumors going about, and I don't know what to believe. It doesn't matter anymore though, cause Giovanni is dead and if he was Ash's dad, well, Ash never knew the guy anyway. No big loss, right? And Wes won't know because he's somewhere else (though he may show up later) and the Rocket execs will whip up a cock-and-bull story about Giovanni dying in an accident and leaving his gym to Ein. The League will never know the truth. And nice going on beginning your first story!

Oh, and Persian's Mistress? Sorry, but Persian is very dead. Fried to a crisp. And Persian knew Conversion2 because Porygon data was translated into DNA and encoded into his genetic structure so he could use it.

Thanks as always for the tips Alex, and by the time you've read this I'll have edited the last chapter to meet your recommendations. I had Ein rebel and take over because I thought it would be cool for a newer villain to take control of the Rocket Empire. I originally was planning for Latias to run into the idiot squad at some point, and since Gio's obsessed with her he'd have given them anything to capture her. But I ended up changing my mind at the last minute, so his whole love thing served the purpose of weakening him in Ein's eyes and giving him the opportunity to knock him off. If it hadn't been for that, he would have waited longer to do it. And it didn't occur to me that Ein might be happier doing research than administrative stuff, but since he was an Admin back in Cipher I figured he wouldn't have a problem doing it. And besides, mad scientists have a long history of trying to take over the world, right? And he didn't try to capture Mary Sue's legendaries because he figured if she had more than the ones she was using on Gio she would use them on him if he attacked her, and he didn't want to get beaten _that_ badly.

I hope I do have the stamina to finish this. I really do.

Disclaimer: I own the Ghost King, evil Master Balls, Prison Balls, etc.

…

Mewtwo floated down to the clearing below, his mental powers causing the grass beneath him to rustle before his feet even touched the ground. The backpack, suitcase and Master Balls all lowered gently to the ground, except for one. This one flew towards Mewtwo at the Genetic Pokemon's wish and popped open, releasing a red and white dragon in a burst of darkness. By the look in her eyes, anyone could tell she felt like crying for joy, but her mouth stayed closed, as if held shut by an invisible vice. The evil had almost totally retaken her body when she had been pulled back into the Master Ball. However, that was all about to change. Mewtwo concentrated and placed his hand over her forehead.

Now that he was totally free from the evil, Mewtwo's powers had returned to their full strength, and so Latias' body was instantly filled with purity, washing away the spiritual filth and leaving Latias feeling contented and at peace with the world for a moment. When she resumed full control of the body, she tackled the psychic in a hug. "You did it Mewtwo, you did it!"

Mewtwo gently but firmly pulled the dragon off of him. "Thank you Latias, but I could not have done it without your help."

She blinked in surprise. "Me? But I lost the match! Persian wiped the floor with me! What good did I do?"

"Giovanni seemed to have a strange reaction when he set his eyes on you. One that awakened long-hidden emotions buried in his heart, of kindness and friendship for his Persian, that caused him to spare you pain in the fight and also caused him to try to sacrifice himself to save his long-time partner and Pokemon. Were it not for that single selfless act…the willing self-sacrifice to protect his friend…I would never have seen that within Giovanni's dark heart lay seeds of light, seeds which were just beginning to bloom. If I had not seen that, I would never have been able to free myself before I had destroyed Persian. And Giovanni would never have thrown himself willingly into death as he did were it not for the feelings you awoke in him Latias. I owe my freedom, just as Giovanni and Persian now owe their lives, to you," explained Mewtwo.

Latias was amazed that she had done all that. "What was the feeling I awakened? The one that allowed those seeds you were talking about to bloom?"

Mewtwo smiled. "It was love, Latias. Pure and simple love."

She was shocked. "Love?!" She almost said that the notion of a human loving a Pokemon in that manner was absurd, until she remembered she was in love with Ash and so she shouldn't be talking.

Mewtwo nodded. "I do not confess to understand all the secrets of love, even though I myself have experienced it, but somehow Giovanni fell in love with you and in doing so saved us all. And who knows? This could be the start of something good for him. He may yet see the error in his evil ways and start doing something meaningful with his life." He paused, and a twinge of sadness appeared for a moment on his face. "And yet…I wish he could have shown _me_ the same affection he did Persian…" he said under his breath, almost too quietly for Latias to hear.

Latias was about to question him on that when the rest of what he said came to her attention. "Wait…you've been in love?!"

It may have been her imagination, but she thought she saw his chalk-white cheeks darken slightly. "I still am, actually."

She stared at him expectantly. "Well go on! Who is it?" she asked, feeling like she was about to learn a piece of really juicy gossip.

He looked away to hide another faint blush and began his story. "It was a couple of months ago. I had released my clone friends into the wild and had been wandering the world for almost two years seeking enlightenment, the state of eternal bliss that the other super-psychics such as Celebi and Mew seem to be capable of reaching whenever they wish. I envied their ability to feel so happy, and they told me that they had found it through exploring the world and seeing its wonders. I had journeyed through many countries and regions, seeing the lighter and darker side of both human and Pokemon, getting a better understanding of life and why the world is the way it is…but despite all I had seen, all I had discovered, I was not truly content. So I continued on my quest.

While journeying through a desert on the distant region of Warta on the other side of the planet an object fell from space, landing not too far from where I was. I went to investigate the crash site of what I thought to be a meteor, only to find it was something much, much more."

"What was it?" she asked, getting wrapped up in the psychic's vivid storytelling once again.

"Deoxys. A being from the depths of space, an alien Pokemon of sorts, feared throughout the universe. He had destroyed over a thousand worlds, and ours was next on his list. Throwing aside my traveler's cloak, I fought the invader in pitched battle to defend the world I was coming to care for. It was the most difficult fight I had ever been in, for Deoxys was truly a mighty foe, but in the end I damaged him enough so that he was forced to retreat to lick his wounds and heal himself. I, however, was in nearly worse shape, and was too exhausted from the fight to use Recover on myself. I collapsed, and I may very well have died out there if someone else hadn't come out to investigate the fallen star and found me before it was too late.

When next I awoke, I was refreshed and in a small bedroom carved into the rock wall of a cleft torn in the earth at the base of an extinct volcano. The cleft was an oasis in this dry and desolate desert. The cleft floor was filled with vegetation and trees, growing around a burbling natural spring that supplied the small, fragile haven with life. Despite the fact that it could probably support a small family, there was only one other inhabitant in the cleft. The one who had saved me from the brink of death."

"Who?" Latias asked, feeling the suspense building.

"Gardevoir," he said with a wistful expression on his face. "Gardevoir. The one who saved me, who eventually showed me how to love and ended up loving me in return…if only she could love herself." Latias looked at him in confusion. Mewtwo quickly elaborated. "She was born with a hideously deformed face. One eye is blind, the skin on her face never grew properly, half her mouth is fused shut…she wears a beautifully ornate mask to hide the ugliness of her face from the world and from herself. She loathes her face, and wakes up every day wishing it were normal. I cannot heal her because she was born that way, so there's no new skin cells to build upon. I suppose I could construct machinery to alter her DNA and make her face beautiful as she has asked me to so many times…but I will not."

"Why not?" Latias asked, confused.

"Because beauty isn't everything, Latias. That is something I have learned on my journeys, from the looks on the faces of people who see me and find my physical appearance disgusting. Despite what they all think, I know I am not hideous. Not inside, where it counts. An ugly Feebas has the beauty of a Milotic deep inside of it, waiting to reveal itself, it doesn't need Pokeblock or evolution to show it to the world, it just needs someone to look closely enough to find it. Just because Gardevoir's face is revolting does not mean the mind and heart behind that face is as well. Becoming beautiful will not solve all of Gardevoir's problems, if anything it will cause more of them, for wandering trainers or traders or even hostile Pokemon will be drawn to her beauty and will try to exploit it. I love her just the way she is, but she cannot see that for herself. It is a very distressing problem, one which I still do not know how to solve." He shook his head. "I was with her when I received Mew's telepathic summons. I told her I wouldn't be gone long and left for Kanto immediately, where I was captured." He frowned. "It's been weeks. I hope nothing has happened to her…" He looked at the backpack and the Master Balls lying around. "I shall return to her posthaste, after I purify the Pokemon trapped in that hellish otherworld."

"Can I come with you?" Latias asked hopefully.

Mewtwo frowned. "Don't you have a home in Alto Mare waiting for you?"

Latias had all but forgotten about the events leading up to and following the destruction of her city. All of the other tragedies that had happened to her recently were covering the wound caused by the death of the city to be covered by so much emotional scar tissue…scar tissue which was now threatening to be ripped off. "Alto Mare's gone," she said quietly. "It was destroyed."

Mewtwo glanced at her, startled. "What? By whom?"

"By me." A familiar light brown specter materialized from the shadows of the trees, crowned by a crescent halo and framed by stiff angel wings. Over a hundred more Ghost-types followed him, along with a gigantic Gengar covered in tattoos, proving the old adage about ghosts only coming out at night false as they floated before Latias and Mewtwo in the broad daylight.

Latias gasped. "Shedinja!"

Mewtwo frowned. "Shedinja. What are you doing here?"

Shedinja seemed annoyed. "I could ask the same of you, Mewtwo. This is none of your concern."

Latias was shocked. "Y-you two know each other?"

Mewtwo's frown deepened as he started charging up a Shadow Ball. "We've met. _What_ is none of my concern?" he asked Shedinja.

Shedinja gave an exasperated sigh. "I have come on business from my lord. He sent me to retrieve Latias and bring her to his court."

Mewtwo blinked, but didn't lower the Shadow Ball. "What does the Ghost King want with Latias?"

"She is his betrothed."

Mewtwo's eyebrows raised and he looked at Latias. "You never told me that."

"I am not!" Latias said angrily. "I'd _never_ marry him! He destroyed my city and killed everyone I loved!"

Mewtwo looked at the ghost ninja, somewhat confused. "Is this true?"

"Technically, he _ordered_ me to lead an attack on the city and to execute everyone there. The King didn't lift a finger," Shedinja clarified.

Mewtwo's puzzled look remained. "That doesn't sound like the Ghost King I remember. Why would he do such a thing?"

"The Ghost King's will is none of your concern," Shedinja said coldly. "Kindly step aside and let me fulfill my duty or you will pay the consequences."

Mewtwo made his Shadow Ball increase in size. Latias hid behind him, sensing Mewtwo was trying to protect her. "I want to get to the bottom of this. Take me to the King and let's see if we can't straighten things out."

"I can't do that," said the Shed Pokemon quickly.

"Then you had best prepare for a fight, because I will not allow you to take Latias without one." He raised his arm and fired his Shadow Ball at the giant Gengar.

The ball exploded on impact with the colossus, causing it to fall over and hit the ground with the force of a small earthquake, knocking it out. Many of the ghosts backed away in fear, getting Mewtwo's point. Shedinja stayed put, fuming. "Fine," he said at last. "But only if Latias goes with you."

"No!" cried Latias, trying to shrink into nonexistence behind Mewtwo's back.

Mewtwo grimaced. "She doesn't want to."

Shedinja shrugged. "Too bad. She goes, or you don't. And even if you beat us all, we won't let you see the Ghost King without her."

Mewtwo sighed and looked at Latias. "Latias." She looked up. "It is imperative that I speak with the Ghost King. I must find out what is going on. But I can't go without you."

"I can't!" she cried. "He-he'll rape me or something!"

Shedinja scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, the King would never stoop so low as that. He cares for you too much. All he wants is to talk to you. He sent us after you in the first place so we could take you to him and he could explain everything."

She blinked. "H-he did?"

"Yes!"

She glared at the bug. "Then why didn't you tell me that all those times you were following me on the way to Pallet Town or after I was kicked out of the lab?!"

Shedinja shrugged. "Some would call me sadistic, I just see it as having fun. My master sent me to get you, but he didn't say I had to grab you right away or not have a little fun while doing it. I turned my retrieval mission into a hunt, with you as the terrified prey. It was just as enjoyable as when I smothered your family to death."

Latias growled, her fear replaced by anger and hatred for this disgusting, hideous insectoid. Mewtwo put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down before she could charge at the ghost. "You're just as disgusting as you were the last time we met. I don't know why the King keeps you on," he said angrily.

Shedinja cackled. "I may be thought of by many as a horrible evil thing, but I am also my master's most loyal and efficient servant. He can't afford to lose me."

"If you're his most loyal servant, I'd hate to see the disloyal ones," Mewtwo muttered.

"So what'll it be, Latias?" asked Shedinja. "Will you come?"

Latias glared at the ghost who had quite literally haunted her ever since her home was destroyed, a small flame igniting in her heart. She was scared of the King, that much was true, but Shedinja's claim, that he only wanted to explain things to her, puzzled and intrigued her. What could he possibly have to say that would make up for the horrible slaughter he had committed? Still, her curiosity won out, and she reasoned that Mewtwo was coming too so it had to be somewhat safe. Besides, if she tried to tackle Shedinja the other ghosts would probably be on her before she could move an inch…and then Mewtwo would get involved, and there'd probably be a big fight that would wreck half the forest, and she had destroyed enough of it as it was. "If he just wants to talk…all right. I want to know why he did the things he did just as much as Mewtwo."

"And she is to return with me to this world when our audience with the King is done, is that clear?" said Mewtwo firmly.

Shedinja shrugged. "I make no promises on that, Mewtwo. What my master wants with Latias, other than to talk, is his business alone. For all I know, she may even _want_ to stay with the King when this is over." Latias snorted. As if that would ever happen. Shedinja's eyes started to glow, as did the eyes of all the other ghost Pokemon. Mist started to swirl into existence on the forest floor, enshrouding the clearing in fog as it rose. The mist came together in the center of the clearing and seemed to fold in on itself, compressing into a sphere. The sphere grew as more mist fed into it, until it was the size of a curled-up Onix. "The Mist Gate has opened," said Shedinja. "If you wish to enter the lair of the Ghost King, follow." He flew into the sphere, vanishing inside its swirling depths as the other ghosts faded away.

"What is that?" wondered Latias.

"That is the Mist Gate, a doorway to the dimension in which the King of the Ghosts dwells. I have traversed this gate before, when I forced a ghost to take me to the King to see about stopping a spectral plague that had befallen the citizens of a town I was passing through…but that is another story. Come. It's time to find out just what's going on." He strode into the ball. It rippled as he entered then settled back into its swirling pattern. Feeling uneasy, Latias followed right behind him.

…

The first thing that came to Latias' mind was that the interior of the sphere was much bigger than she would have expected. The mists seemed to go on and on in every direction, stretching to infinity. She looked around for any sign of people or landscape but there was nothing, just the mist. "This is it?" Latias asked, slightly disappointed.

"This is it," said Mewtwo, stepping out of the mist and startling her. "The Realm of Mists."

"Eternal home and prison to the Ghost King," added Shedinja as he appeared.

Latias looked at them in confusion. "Prison?"

"_Prison_," said a great, echoing voice filled with sorrow as deep as the Abyss Sea trench in the Johto ocean. "_One from which there is no escape. For me, anyway_." The mists around them roiled as a new creature emerged from the fog. Latias had braced herself when she heard the voice, expecting some horrific beast, a creature from the deepest and darkest nightmares of an individual long driven insane by the cruelties of life.

What she got wasn't what she expected. The Ghost King was large, much larger than Mewtwo, but otherwise seemed to have little form. His body, if he had one, was enshrouded in an eternal smoke screen, showing occasional glimpses of claws and fangs but not enough to get an idea of what he looked like, and what could be seen was shown so briefly it could inspire no fear of the individual within. The only clear features were the King's eyes, great yellow orbs tinged with sadness and depression. An aura of loneliness seemed to radiate from the ruler's occluded form, and Latias could not help feeling sorry for him…until she reminded herself that he had destroyed Alto Mare and all who lived there. But in the back of her mind, a peripheral roar could be heard…

"Here they are, my lord," said Shedinja. "Your beloved…and a tagalong," he said, shooting a look of pure spite at Mewtwo. Mewtwo returned it with a withering glare so powerful Shedinja was forced to back down. Even anyone who had never met them before could easily see that they really didn't like each other.

The King's gaze lingered on Latias for a few seconds, then he looked at Shedinja. "_Shedinja, leave us. This is private business_."

"Of course." The ghost vanished.

The King turned back to the psychic pair. _"Mewtwo…it has been a while. And Latias…you have no idea how wonderful it is to see you with my own eyes at long last…_"

The flame in her heart flared. "I don't take compliments from murderers," she said, nearly surprising herself with her coldness.

"…" The King looked away. "_I deserve that. And more_. "

The fact that he agreed surprised her, and caused her flame to cool slightly. "If you know you deserve it, then why did you bring me here?"

"_To apologize. I needed to tell you…just how sorry I am for what I have done_."

She was stunned. The flame burned brighter. "APOLOGIZE?! You ordered the deaths of everyone in Alto Mare! Your servant strangled my best friend and her grandfather! The last fragment I had left of my brother was destroyed, along with the rest of my city! And you think you can make it better by saying you're sorry?!"

"_No_," said the King with such sadness and guilt in his voice that it cut through Latias' anger like a knife and left her feeling somewhat guilty as well. "_I cannot make it better. Nothing can. Not even Jirachi could grant a wish like that and bring everything back. But I had to say I was sorry. I had to tell you why I did what I did, so that you might understand just what kind of person I am. A person who loves you. A person who's lonely. A person who very much wishes to live again._"

"My friend," said Mewtwo with a slight hint of anguish and disappointment in his voice. "How could you do this? How could you so callously order the deaths of so many innocent people, even if you did feel guilt for it afterwards?"

"_For reasons similar to the ones that led you to seek the death of the world_," said the King.

Mewtwo looked away. "I tried to do that because I was miserable that my existence was due to the fact that a greedy human wanted a slave to fight for him. My life had no purpose but to serve the desires of Giovanni. Because I was man-made, I believed I did not even count as a real Pokemon. I did what I thought was right because I wanted to prove that my life meant more than being a pawn or a clone of Mew. I wanted to prove that I had a right to exist, that I was as real as anything else in this world. In what way are your reasons similar to mine?"

"_Because I too want my life to have meaning_," said the King sadly. "_I too am miserable because my existence is pointless. The Ghost Pokemon need no king, I am just a figurehead to unite them as one nation. A figurehead with power, yes, but still just a figurehead. They don't need me. If I did not exist they would continue living as they always have, playing tricks on people and making mischief in general_." He gestured around him with smoke-covered arms. "_Look around you. This is all I have ever had. My first memory was of this place, I have lived here for as long as I can remember…which is a very long time indeed. I could see into the real world, watching as humans and Pokemon played in the sunlight, while I was trapped here in this world without escape, forever enshrouded in mist. Many times I tried to lose myself in the mist, to become nothing, but I always returned to myself, to the loneliness that is my life. My loneliness eased for a time when Ghost Pokemon first discovered me, and named me their king, but it did not last. None of them truly cares for me, they all fear me. The only ones who even bother to get close to me are those that want something, or those who would serve me but care nothing for being my friend. And so I have always been alone._

_And then one day, when I watched the world of life with my usual longing, I saw a miracle. A Pokemon egg hatching, evolving in a hidden garden in the city of Alto Mare. I watched in awe as it transformed into a beautiful red and white dragonet…you, Latias. The instant I saw you open your beautiful golden eyes for the first time, a part of my heart that had always been empty felt filled. Confused by this sensation, this unfamiliar feeling that could only be happiness, I watched your life carefully at every opportunity I had, seeing the world anew as you experienced it for the first time and discovering emotions I never imagined I could feel._

I laughed when you laughed when you and your brother Latios played and shared visions together. I cried when you cried when Vincentio died of cancer, depriving the world of his fine mind and genius. You awakened sensations long buried deep in my heart, allowing me to feel as close to being alive as I have ever felt in all the time that I can remember existing. And so I fell in love with her. I fell in love with Latias." He laughed bitterly. "_And thanks to my actions, you can never love me back can you_?"

Mewtwo was thoughtful, but Latias was stunned that this entity had been watching her from her very infancy and had remained infatuated with her ever since that day. Some would call this stalking or perversion, but something…something ancient, something powerful deep within Latias didn't think this was so bad. The flame of anger in her heart started to flicker and go out, so she had to fight to re-ignite it. "If you love me…if you always loved me, as you say you have…why did you never act on it until recently? Why did you wait so long? And why did you destroy Alto Mare?!" The flame roared to life again, while at the same time another part of her growled and tried to put it out.

The Ghost King looked away. "_I was scared_," he admitted. "_I was scared you wouldn't love me. Most people are afraid of Ghost Pokemon, how would your family have felt if one of my servants had arrived at your doorstep and asked if you could be courted by the ruler of all ghosts? They would have been frightened and tried to protect you from me. I would have lost any miniscule chance I had at having you. And besides, what would someone like you, someone with such a bright future ahead of her, ever want with a lonely old monster like myself?_

But then one day, that all changed. The day of the annual water Pokemon race in Alto Mare, where you met and befriended that boy Ash and his Pikachu and were attacked by the Rockets Anny and Oakley. The day your brother Latios died." He sighed. "_I watched in horror as they invaded your garden and captured your brother to activate the DMA. It never occurred to me to send some of my minions to help you, so caught up I was in the drama of the event. I watched in excitement as you, the boy and the Pikachu, raced through the canals, cheering you on as you escaped from the zombie Aerodactyl and Kabutops. I watched in horror as you almost drowned in the living pillar of water, and was elated when you managed to use a Psychic attack to destroy it…but in doing so, the unthinkable happened. The psychic energies you gave off collided with those generated by Latios and the DMA and caused a disruption that shorted out my ethereal viewer and left me with no knowledge whatsoever of what was going on. I panicked and raced to fix it, never thinking to send my minions to the city to see what was happening, and so it was many, many hours later when I could finally look into the city once more and see you again._

_You have no idea how relieved I was when I saw you were all right and unharmed…until I realized Latios was nowhere nearby. And I saw you were crying. And I knew your brother was dead. Realizing it would be wrong to spy on you during this difficult time in your life, I withdrew my vision from Alto Mare, focusing my attention on other things while I waited for the grieving period to end and for you to slowly rebuild yourself. I know it was cruel and selfish and opportunistic of me, but a little voice in my mind told me that this could finally be the chance I was waiting for, the chance to win your love by providing you with a new sense of stability and someone to love you just as much, if not more, than your brother did. To satisfy my conscience, I waited a year until I was sure it would not be construed as taking advantage of you by trying to win your love and sent Shedinja with gifts and a letter to see if I could woo you. On the advise of my servants, who thought it would be wonderful to have a queen, I sent you flowers, chocolates, an engagement ring, gifts they assured me would be guaranteed to win you over along with the offers I made in my letters, offers which still stand if you are interested…though I suppose you would not be, after what I put you through." He shook his head sorrowfully. "I watched every time you received my gifts, feeling my heart sing when I saw how much you loved them, how tempted you were to accept my offers. But every time your duty to your family and city stayed true, and that made me love you even more. But then, when I sent the final gift, the engagement ring, which I was assured would be virtually guaranteed to work…you said no. You said you loved someone else. And that shattered me." _

Latias felt another twinge of guilt fighting the fury that was slowly but steadily dying in her heart as she listened to the King's sad tale. "Th-that still doesn't explain why you killed everyone," she stammered.

The King's eyes were downcast. "_To be honest, I myself cannot say for certain what happened. In all my years of watching you, it had never occurred to me that you might have fallen in love. The fact that you might actually care for someone else broke the dream I had made for myself, that you would marry me and I would find happiness, and left me with the horrible realization that if I had ever had a chance I missed it and I was now totally and utterly alone. I-I went insane with anger_," he confessed. "_It was as if a fire lit in my heart and I heard a roar from deep within my subconscious, consuming me with rage and demanding retribution. I sent Shedinja and his troops to the city with the orders to burn it to the ground and sink it beneath the waves. It was only after the horrible deed was done, when all in Alto Mare but you were dead and I left you with a threatening, furious letter stating that I would find and kill whoever you loved and then hunt you down and make you love me, that I came to my senses._

I felt sadness greater than I had ever felt before when I realized what I had done. If I could have, I would have destroyed myself for it. But I am neither living nor dead, so I could not, and thus had to make amends in my own fashion. I dispatched Shedinja to track down Latias and bring her here so I could explain things…but being the sadistic bastard he is, Shedinja turned his retrieval mission into a game of predator and prey with Latias as the target." The King sighed. "_I would have gotten rid of him years ago if I hadn't promised him life employment when he signed on for the job of second-in-command and general of my army. I had no idea then of his true nature, and he was the best candidate I could get. And even if he's evil, he's still the most loyal ghost I've got and despite numerous opportunities he's never once tried to overthrow me. But in any case, you are here now after too long a time suffering out in the darker side of the world. I am so very sorry for all the trouble that I have caused you Latias." _He sounded sincere in this. He sounded as if he truly was sorry.

"I…" Latias was confused. "Do you want me to say that I understand? That I forgive you? Because I don't."

The King seemed to nod. "_I_ _know. I'm not asking you to forgive me or understand me. I just had to tell you my side of the story…so you would see why I did the things that I did. Because I truly do love you Latias_."

She was uncertain. She turned to Mewtwo. "Is he telling the truth?"

The psychic shrugged. "Ghost minds are hard to read. I couldn't tell you. But I see no reason to doubt him."

Latias was still confused. The flame in her heart demanded more anger, but something older, deeper told her to stay her fury. "But-but he killed Alto Mare!"

"And I slaughtered a laboratory full of scientists and committed numerous heinous crimes under the banner of Team Rocket, and almost destroyed the world. Despite this, I have found repentance for my sins. No crime is totally unforgivable, Latias. What the Ghost King did was truly horrible and wrong, yes…but he is sorry for it. He is trying to make amends for it. That does not make what he did any more right, but it does prove that he may be worthy of forgiveness, if you can find it in your heart to do so."

Latias couldn't believe this. How could he ask her to forgive the creature who had ordered the destruction of everything she loved, even if he claimed he was sorry for it? "I can't!" she cried.

"_And I'm not asking you to_," said the King. "_I just had to tell you the truth, of how I feel, so I could at least alleviate the burden I've placed by a small amount in the knowledge that I did not leave you in the dark, hating me without knowing who and what I was. Without knowing how truly sorry I am._"

The fight inside of Latias continued. Without knowing it, she was floating closer to the King. "How could it have worked out between us, anyway?" she asked finally. "I mean, I'm alive and…well, you're a ghost!"

"_Latias, I cannot explain this phenomenon myself, but…somehow, just seeing you, even being around you, makes me feel stronger than I ever have before. I feel more substantial, more solid, more real. I don't know who I am or how I got to this realm, but I feel as if somehow…somehow you hold the key, or part of the key, to my past. To my life. To escaping this barren plane_," said the King.

Latias blinked and backed away. "So that's it! You really just want to use me to get out of here don't you?"

"_What_?" asked the King in surprise. "_No! I did not even know that you might be my way out until you actually came here! I love you, Latias, I mean it!_"

"If you didn't know I could be your key, then how did you know when I came here?" she challenged.

He gave her a frustrated look. _"Don't you feel it, Latias? Don't you hear the roar from deep inside your very being? The voice telling you that it's all right, that you can trust me?"_

She looked at him, shocked. "H-how did you know about that?"

"Because I hear it too!" he said. _"Our souls are resonating, Latias! They tell us that somehow, in some way, we know each other on an intimate level, even if neither of us remembers it! You are my key to life, to freedom…and I am your key too, the key to whatever power lies deep within you! Deny it all you want, your heart still knows it to be true!_"

Latias wanted to argue. To protest. To scream and shout that he was wrong, that she could never love him. But she did not. The fire in her heart abruptly went out and was suddenly rekindled, not from anger and hate but from something far stronger, while the voice inside growled in approval. "I…"

They looked into each other's eyes. Slowly, slowly, they came towards each other, until Latias' face intersected with a bit of smoke that had protruded from the King's shrouded body. They closed their eyes, and they kissed.

Mewtwo watched in disbelief. He had detected no signs of Hypnosis or Attract being used by the King or any of the other ways to coerce a Pokemon of the opposite gender to react that way, which could only mean one thing: the King had been telling the truth all along. "Amazing…" His thoughts wandered back to his own beloved, his green-haired maiden of the desert, his Gardevoir...

Latias had thought she was in heaven when she had tasted the chocolates the King had sent to her on the second day of his courting. She was wrong. This moment, this kiss, transcended all imaginable levels of joy and bliss, leaving her in a state that could only be called Nirvana. She did not know how, but this felt _right_ somehow. Like it was meant to be. As if she and the Ghost King had always known each other, had always been lovers, had always been two halves of the same soul. And now that they were together, everything was perfect. All thoughts of a human she had once been infatuated with were swept away in this tidal wave of emotion.

The voice within her was singing in ecstasy. Something was welling up from her, like the power she had released in Wing Fortress but more gentle, benign to all. And then, just as it was about to burst out of her, an image flashed through her mind. An image of Bianca, lying still on her bed.

"NO!" She broke away from the kiss, causing the voice inside her to scream in anguish as her power waned and vanished completely. Confused, the Ghost King looked at her with eyes so full of sadness and hurt that she almost wanted to kiss him again and had to use all her willpower to keep from doing it. "NO! I can't, you-you evil, horrible, foul, twisted, disgusting, murdering-" Unable to bear it anymore, she burst into hysterical tears.

Mewtwo was there instantly, holding a hand over her face. "Sleep," he whispered. Latias immediately fell into unconsciousness, her face still twisted with inner turmoil. He looked sympathetically at the King, who seemed to have gotten much smaller than he had once been. "I'm sorry," he said. "I think I should take her out of here."

"_Yes_," said the sad monarch distantly. "_Perhaps you should_." Mewtwo nodded and turned to head back into the mists, using his powers to pull Latias through the air behind him. "_Mewtwo_."

He looked back. "Yes?"

The King had turned his back to the psychic and was looking into the mists. "_Before, when I was filled with anger, I promised Latias in my last letter that I would kill the one she loved if I ever found out who he was. And you know I cannot break a promise. It is not my nature._"

Mewtwo closed his eyes. "Then I hope for Latias' sake that you never find out who it is."

"_So do I, Mewtwo. So do I._"

Mewtwo sighed and turned away, carrying Latias with him as he vanished into the mist.

…

How was that? Bet you weren't expecting this twist from the Ghost King, were you? Heh, I hope none of you saw that coming. And Alex, I'm sure that the one thing you'll disagree with the most about this chapter is that I gave Mewtwo a girlfriend…but I only did it because I thought he deserved a little romance in his lonely life. I hope you can understand. (And in any case, at least she's a fancharacter that's actually _ugly_. That's gotta be a first, right?) Please review!


	10. Truth of the legend

All right, I'm sure you're wondering how much longer this story can go since I've already resolved the Master Ball thing and finished up loose ends with the Ghost King. Ha! You think we're through? If you're planning to stick with me to the end, we've got a long way to go my friends! (If I keep the resolve to finish this, that is. I want to, but I don't know for certain that I will. I hope I can!)

Mermaid Ninja, how the hell was I supposed to bring Lilo back from the dead anyway? Would you have wanted her to be a zombie or something? And I don't do good guy resurrection because it's not my style. The dead should stay dead (unless they come back for a chapter or two as ghosts or if they're bad guys with backup plans). My stories are like this because this is my style. A dramatic death can increase a story's worth in the eyes of a reader, and also adds an unexpected twist to make the reader want to know what happens next. I have no guarantees on deaths in the future, so don't bother asking. If you want stories without even a hint of death, go somewhere else.

Story Weaver1, I'm glad you liked the romance last chapter. I tried to accomplish something new with Gardevoir, an OC with horrendous physical deformities and a real psychological problem as a result. (hates herself because she's ugly.) We'll get to meet her for real in a couple of chapters, if you want to see her.

Sir Pudding, as I said before, this isn't over yet. Remember, the Ghost King is promise-bound to kill Ash, and our favorite semi-dense trainer hasn't even shown up in the story yet. When he does…well, we'll see won't we?

Alex, more on Ein later. What's this strange 'ability' you're saying Deoxys has? And Mewtwo didn't know about Alto Mare's destruction because he was stuck in the Master Ball at the time.

Thanks for pointing out my mistake Meep, I forgot he only smothered them.

Persian Mistress, glad you like the King. You're supposed to feel bad for the poor guy, even if he might be the villain. (Or IS he???)

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this chapter (I think).

…

She was a vision in white, wearing a beautiful bridal gown adorned in pearls and ribbons as she walked up the aisle, ignoring the envious glances from some of the unattached women in the pews as she headed for the altar, where a young man with a red cap and a Pikachu on his shoulder was waiting. She reached the altar, and smiled at her soon-to-be-husband as the priest started reading the rites.

Latias, sitting in the front row, was confused. Shouldn't that be her in the beautiful dress? Shouldn't that be her at the altar, about to join Ash in holy matrimony? What was she doing sitting here in the pews as some redheaded girl was about to steal the boy she loved?

As the priest reached the critical part of the ceremony, where he asked if anyone had any objections to this wedding, numerous hands shot up from jealous humans (and a few Pokemon) of both genders, but nobody paid them any mind. Latias started to raise her hand as well, but a firm grip restrained her shoulder. She looked to her side, to the person holding her, and saw a pair of reassuring yellow eyes. And somehow…

Somehow she didn't care anymore.

Her confusion gone, she snuggled up to the person next to her as Ash and the red-headed girl in the dress kissed (albeit a little clumsily) sealing the marriage. And as the guests all applauded, the one with the wonderful yellow eyes whispered into her ear, "Maybe we can get married some day too…" Latias smiled, finding that to be a very nice idea indeed.

…

Latias woke up feeling strangely refreshed and peaceful, despite her last waking memory being of screaming at the Ghost King. Even though part of her knew the dream, like the King, could not be trusted, the warm and fuzzy feeling she had gotten from the King in the church couldn't help making her think back to the kiss they had shared, and made her wonder if perhaps she had been too hasty in cursing out the King.

No! She shook her head. There was no way that those feelings could have been genuine. There was no way she could possibly feel anything but hatred for the one who had destroyed her city. He had obviously used some sort of mind game to confuse her into thinking she liked him. And that sob story he told had to have been fake too. Just something to make her feel sympathetic and seduce her.

She continued this tirade of lies and self-denials, not noticing the big blue eyes in front of her until the creature they belonged to said, "Hi!"

Latias screamed and scurried back. The blue-eyed creature screamed too and flew away, then started giggling. Latias blinked, realizing the creature couldn't possibly be a threat. It looked like a small pink kitten with an extremely long tail and large feet. From her memories of old stories and the recollection of seeing it in the Master Ball, Latias realized this had to be the mythical "Mew?" she asked, awed.

The kitten nodded. "Yup! And you're Latias! Nice to meetcha!" She summoned a big pink bubble out of thin air and started bouncing at it, glancing at Latias as she went up and down. "Mewtwo says we wouldn't have gotten out of that nasty burning place if it weren't for you. Thanks!"

Latias blinked, confused by this legendary Pokemon's antics. "Uh, thanks…" She looked around and saw she was in a small cave lit by a hanging electric lamp, lying on a larger pink bubble just like Mew's. The bubble abruptly popped, nearly dropping her to the floor. She caught herself a few inches from the ground and flew over to Mew, who was still bouncing. "Where are we?"

Mew glanced over at Latias. "Mt. Cena."

"Where's that?"

"It's a mountain in Purity Valley located in Johto. Mewtwo used to live here a few years ago, but then Team Rocket invaded it and even though he gave them all amnesia he decided it was time to stop hiding in here and see the world for himself. Trying to find enlightenment or something. Well, Celebi and I recommended that part, but you get the drift." She was still bouncing. Latias had lost count of the number of times she had gone up and down. "He came back here because the mountain's magical spring is perfect for healing purposes and boosted Mewtwo's purifying abilities enough to allow him to purge the evil from all us captured Pokemon and shatter the Master Balls."

"And where is Mewtwo anyway?" asked Latias, once again remembering the strange events that had occurred back in the Ghost King's realm. Perhaps Mewtwo could verify whether or not what had happened between her and the Ghost King was genuine.

Mew's bubble popped abruptly, and Mew nearly hit the ground, but her tail coiled into a spring just before she could land and bounced her back into the air, where she floated, looking at Latias with curiosity and slight unease. "Why do you want to know?"

"I need to ask him something important. Where is he?"

Mew frowned. "After he freed all the Pokemon, they vamoosed, but the legendaries stayed behind. Ho-Oh wanted a word with him. He told me to watch over you and make sure you were all right."

"Well, I'm fine now, so can you take me to him please?" Latias prodded.

Mew frowned. "I told you, he's in the middle of a meeting with Ho-Oh."

"Then I'll won't say anything, I'll just wait for him to finish up. Please? I've always wanted to see the other legendary Pokemon!" she begged. This was true. Seeing them in storybooks or in chains wasn't the same as seeing them up close in real life. Already Mew looked somewhat different to her than the stories suggested, the pictures always seemed to show her with smooth skin but now Latias could see her flesh was actually covered in millions of very small, almost microscopic hairs.

Mew looked like she was about to argue but sighed, for a moment looking older and more mature than her earlier bubble-bouncing antics had made her seem. "Very well," she said. "I suppose everyone has the right to make their own mistakes growing up. Follow me."

Wondering what the kitten meant, Latias followed Mew as she flew into a tunnel leading out of the cave. The tunnel had been carved out by some unknown force (probably Mewtwo) and strung with electric lights to look like some underground corridor, which it technically was. Mew expertly lead Latias through a maze of crisscrossing halls and passageways, which would certainly have caused the dragon to get lost on her own, before finally leading her out into a massive cavern that left Latias speechless.

The chamber was like a huge underground garden, covered by a dome-shaped rock ceiling covered in moss and wall-clinging flowers. Huge lamps were set up amongst the flora to supply light to the subterranean utopia. The numerous concentric ledges and platforms that made up the cave floor were covered in grass and flowers, with some bushes and trees as well, looking just as odd as all the other growing things in this strange place. The ledges formed a tiered surface descending towards the center of the cave, where a large spring burbled, filled with crystal-clear water that seemed to be glowing from a mysterious light. A group of juvenile Rhyhorn and Nidoqueen played about the edge of the area, watched anxiously by their parents.

But the real wonder of this place was the legendaries, who were positioned around the spring. There was Raikou, Entei, Suicune, and Ho-Oh, all shining with their vibrant colors instead of being dimmed by the flames of another dimension as they stood at one side of the spring. Only a few feet away from them were the female and child Lugia that Latias had recalled seeing earlier, with the quite larger male sitting on the other side of the spring from them, looking strangely unhappy. Next to the male Lugia were the three elemental birds Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno, who were all glaring at each other with hatred and distrust. Mewtwo was hovering above the surface of the spring, causing it to ripple slightly. He and Ho-Oh were glaring at each other, and it took Latias a moment to notice the tension in the air. This looked like the brink of war.

Finally, Mewtwo spoke, not taking his eyes off the bird of seven colors. "I have tried my best to convince you that I was not behind your imprisonment Ho-Oh, or that of the others, but still you insist that I assisted Mary Sue in capturing you, despite the fact that I would have had nothing to gain from it _and_ the fact that I too was trapped."

"Something you have yet to prove, Mewtwo. You would have had _everything_ to gain," Ho-Oh corrected in a soft voice like an iron fist veiled in a velvet glove. "Without us legendaries, there would be nobody to stop you from taking over the world. And how else could Mary Sue have gotten those ridiculously powerful Pokeballs if you had not given them to her?"

Mewtwo shook his head. "As I have already told you, I lost my interest in global domination long ago. The balls were produced by Silph Corp. and found themselves in Mary Sue's hands through an unfortunate twist of fate. You give the humans too little credit Ho-Oh; they are smarter than the ones who destroyed your tower three hundred years ago. They have found ways of creating things of astonishing power, power that could rival even yours in the wrong hands."

"Like yourself?" the phoenix taunted.

Mewtwo didn't take her bait. "Yes, like myself," he said. "They created me with what could someday become the world's most dangerous power, science. Something even you cannot defeat, oh mighty Ho-Oh."

Looking infuriated by this barb, Ho-Oh screeched and spat a burst of Sacred Fire at Mewtwo. The psychic was engulfed in golden flame, causing Latias to gasp in horror. Mew looked on passively, no hint of worry on her face. As Ho-Oh cut off her attack, steam flew up from the spring, caused by the intense heat from the fire. All three Lugias shook their heads, disgusted. Raikou laughed. "That showed him, milady!"

A sudden gust of wind (which was odd, since they were in a cave and far from any openings to the outside) blew through the room, blowing away the steam and revealing Mewtwo, totally unharmed from the attack. He hadn't even thrown up a barrier to deflect the Sacred Fire, he had taken it head-on without visible damage. As the legendaries' mouths dropped in disbelief, Mewtwo said, slowly and calmly, "I have danced in fire before Ho-Oh…and I have come out unburned. I faced down the space tyrant Deoxys for the fate of the planet and won." He gestured with his hand, and a Master Ball materialized in the air. With another gesture, it shattered. "If I can do all this and more, what possible need would I have to imprison you? If I wished to rule the world, I would simply take it by force."

"Maybe if you fought each of us one-on-one, but you can't possibly beat all of us together!" challenged Entei.

Mewtwo opened the palm of his hand, a giant Shadow Ball instantly appearing in it. "Do you care to back that up?"

Entei hesitated, then looked to Ho-Oh, uncertain, as did Raikou and Suicune. The mother Lugia quickly shielded her child with a wing. The male Lugia looked wearily at the three elemental birds, all of whom looked eager for a fight. Ho-Oh glared at Mewtwo angrily for a long time, slowly deliberating. Finally, she sighed. "You're not worth it. Come on, let's get out of here." She glared at the male Lugia. "Get those three out of here and go back to the Orange Islands where you belong."

Lugia looked like he wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat under Ho-Oh's glare. "Yes Ho-Oh," he said sadly. He started to turn away.

"Daddy!" cried the baby Lugia, wriggling out from behind his mother's wings. "Daddy, don't go away again!" he cried, tears rolling down his cheeks.

The male didn't look back, not wanting his son or Ho-Oh to see he was crying. "…Come on you three. Let's go home." The elemental birds sneered, but followed him as he led the way to a tunnel going out to the surface. After they were gone, Ho-Oh followed, her three beast servants pushing the Lugia mother and child ahead of them.

When all the legendaries were gone, Mewtwo collapsed the Shadow Ball and floated to the shore of the spring, looking somewhat frustrated. Mew flew over to him, sitting herself down on the bigger Pokemon's shoulder. "You kept your anger in check. I'm very proud of you," she said.

Mewtwo scowled. "All the pride in the world doesn't mean a thing if it doesn't do any good," he said unhappily.

A small green insectoid sprite flew down and landed on his other shoulder. "What, did you expect Ho-Oh to listen to you?"

"I expected her to have some common sense," he said angrily.

Celebi shrugged. "Well, prejudice robs people of their common sense, doesn't it? And I think you would know that from experience."

He grunted. "Yes, yes I know."

Latias hesitantly flew over to Mewtwo. "Why did Ho-Oh act like that?"

Mewtwo sighed. "I was hoping to spare you this…but since you saw it, I suppose you deserve to know the way of things. How did you expect her to act?"

"Well…I don't know," she admitted. "But the legends always showed her as a caring and loving Pokemon who gave hope to the hopeless and restored life to dead forests and all that."

"The legends are all lies," he said flatly.

"Now Mewtwo, that's not totally true," said Mew. "The legends are exaggerated, not lies. That's how they always are."

"Let us explain it," prodded Celebi. "We were there, after all. We know what happened."

Mewtwo shrugged, throwing them off his shoulders. "Fine. I'll go talk to Nidoqueentwo and Rhyhorntwo, I haven't seen them in a while." He walked off, looking a little grumpy.

"You'll have to forgive him, he's made a lot of progress but he's still hard to deal with when he gets really grouchy," said Mew apologetically.

"That's okay…you were about to tell me about Ho-Oh?" Latias inquired.

Celebi nodded. "She wasn't always like this. She used to be cheerful, optimistic, a real joy to be around. This was a long time ago though, back in the days when humans and Pokemon were at war," she added quickly. "In those dark and depressing times, she was a ray of sunlight, a sign that hope for a better future existed. We all loved her, and after she helped negotiate peace terms with the humans she became chief legendary of Johto."

"That was cause for celebration as it was, but then her longtime boyfriend, another Ho-Oh from Orre, finally proposed. It was a beautiful wedding," Mew reflected wistfully. "But then came the simple innocuous question that changed everything."

"She asked me if I could go into the future and see if she would ever have children," Celebi said a little guiltily. "I saw no harm in that, so I went a couple of hundred years into the future and saw that no, she didn't have children. A little regretfully, I went back and told her that. And that began the process that would destroy the happy Ho-Oh we all used to know."

"When Celebi told her she wouldn't have kids, Ho-Oh was confused and disturbed. She refused to believe that a mighty legendary Pokemon like herself would never have children and began taking drastic measures to make sure that she would have her own progeny one day. She made love to her mate frequently, trying to fertilize her eggs. She took numerous fertility drugs and even tried lying around with a few other males, in secret of course. Nothing worked. It never occurred to her that she, the great Ho-Oh, might be impotent, so she blamed it on her mate, saying he wasn't a worthy partner if he couldn't give her any children. The poor male Ho-Oh, who had already been bent out of shape by his wife's increasing demand for lovemaking and other eccentricities, lost it. To prove her wrong, he took one of his servants, a common Pidgey, and made love to her. A few months later, she laid his eggs."

"Ho-Oh was furious. She banished her mate back to Orre, telling him never to come near her again. He gladly obliged. It was a sad day for us all," said Celebi unhappily. "And things got worse. She blamed us Psychic Pokemon for her impotence, saying we had removed her fertility to weaken her power. She didn't do much to the regular Psychics-she saw them as being beneath her-but she did everything that she could to get all the legendary Psychics out of Johto. I managed to stay here by threatening to travel back in time and erase her from existence if she tried to kick me out. I couldn't have of course, I'm not that powerful, but in her newfound state of paranoia she believed I just might do it and so she left me alone."

"I got kicked out as well," said Mew. "Of course I came back all the time, because she couldn't really get her claws on me to punish me for breaking her rules. And I have seniority anyway. Lugia, however, wasn't so lucky," she said sadly.

"She thought Lugia was a threat to her power and managed to convince enough people that he was dangerous to their livelihood, and he got exiled to the Orange Islands, where he was forced to keep the three ever-fighting elemental birds from destroying the world. He would have fought back, but Ho-Oh thought ahead and captured his wife and egg. She threatened to kill them if Lugia didn't leave quietly. He would be allowed to visit once a century, but only if he stayed in the Orange Islands for the rest of the time. Not wanting his family hurt, he agreed. His wife's been confined in the Whirl Islands by Ho-Oh's followers ever since, and now his poor kid's gonna have to spend all his days there too." Celebi shook her head sadly.

Latias was shocked at Ho-Oh's cruelty. "Well why don't you do something about it? Depose Ho-Oh or something?"

Mew shrugged unhappily. "Well, we do have the power, but she's very popular among the human and Pokemon population. Any attempt to overthrow her would have resulted in mass chaos, and we were still recovering from a war. It would have put us right back on square one if we got rid of her. Even in this present day and age she still has enough loyalists about the land to cause major havoc if for any reason she was removed office. And as peace-loving creatures, we can't do that."

"Well, Mewtwo could…" mentioned Celebi. "But enough people are convinced that he's evil as it is. Deposing Ho-Oh would only prove those rumors true. And if somebody got rid of her, due to an ancient rite of passage the one who did so would have to take her place, and since I'm already a legendary of the forests and of time I can't do it. There are all sorts of rules against it."

"And I'm chief legendary of Kanto so I can't do it," said Mew. "And Mewtwo's not interested in ruling anymore, so he couldn't take the job either. And Ho-Oh's followers are convinced Lugia was banished because he was evil, so they would never accept him. And the three beasts are totally loyal to her, and the three birds are only interested in fighting, so none of them would do. Either way we look at it, overthrowing Ho-Oh would mean war. And nobody wants that."

Latias thought that an unsatisfactory answer, but the two had a very good point. Nobody wanted war. "Why does Ho-Oh hate Mewtwo though?" she asked.

"Because he's a powerful Psychic, like we are, so she believes he's plotting against her. And also because he was made by humans," said Celebi.

"Oh, so she hates humans?"

"No, she doesn't hate them. She just doesn't trust them," said Mew.

Latias was confused. "I don't understand…"

"It's like this," said Celebi. "After she got Lugia out of the way, she settled in Ecruteak City, which was the center for all her followers. She resided at the top of a great tower, so she could look down on all around her. As the humans and Pokemon venerated her, she grew more and more convinced of the righteousness of her actions, and began to truly believe she was a deity. But even there, in the heart of her kingdom, the seeds of paranoia bloomed, and so she became fearful that the humans, silly little mortals that they were, were plotting against her.

One day, three human children and their partner Pokemon ventured into the tower on a dare to see if they could take a feather from the sleeping Ho-Oh. Being the fearless overconfident little children they were, they didn't think there would be a problem. They made it to the top of the tower all right, but the effort of removing the feather caused Ho-Oh to wake up. She panicked, thinking assassins had come for her, and set the tower ablaze. The humans were killed in the inferno, but the three Pokemon just barely managed to cling to life. Prejudiced into thinking that the humans had tricked them into coming for her, she used her powers to give them new forms, changing them into her servants Entei, Suicune, and Raikou. She declared to all her followers that they had disappointed her with their immature greed and selfishness, and until human's hearts were as pure as that of a Pokemon, she was leaving and would never return. (Of course, Pokemon are no more pure than humans, but try telling her that.) She flew away, leaving her three servants behind to watch over the now confused and unhappy humans and inform her of when they finally reached the impossible level of perfection she was setting in front of them.

She still loves the humans in an offbeat way, like how a saint would love a sinner," Celebi concluded. "But she thinks they're childish now and trying too hard to obtain power for themselves. She believes they cannot purify their hearts without abandoning their current high-tech lifestyles and returning to the old ways of human/Pokemon partnership, but I doubt even that would be enough to truly satisfy her. She hates Mewtwo because he's a powerful psychic, and because he embodies the science and power that humans have developed, a power that she cannot stand against with her outdated ways and prejudiced beliefs. He represents the ultimate embodiment of the fact that less and less people worship Pokemon like her and instead turn to the modern god that is science. She also thinks that because he tried to destroy the world once, he'll try it again, regardless of how many times he's helped to save it."

"And that is how things are," said Mewtwo, returning to the trio. "Ho-Oh has lost touch with reality. She is paranoid that everyone is out to get her, so trusts no one save her servants. She sees humans and myself as a threat to her power and to her way of life, even though I have no interest in being worshipped or ruling anything. All I seek is enlightenment now. But because of her bitterness, her paranoia, and her failure to see that Pokemon and humans, legendary or otherwise, are not really all that different, she is the way she is. And I doubt anything can change that."

Latias couldn't help feeling a bit sad for Ho-Oh, too wound up in her fears and prejudices to be happy anymore. "Isn't there anything that can be done to help her?"

Mewtwo shrugged. "It would take a drastic life-changing event. It took me several, and I am still slightly prejudiced against humans and some other Pokemon. It is not that easy to change what you are once you have gone so long being something else. That is why I seek enlightenment, to rid myself of my remaining prejudice and pride, to find peace with myself, to obtain self-actualization and be the best that I can be."

"Well, can't Ho-Oh do the same thing?" Latias asked.

"She could, but she won't," said Mew. "She doesn't believe in that kind of thing. She already thinks she's enlightened, like most self-absorbed people do. And none of us who have found enlightenment can just tell her that because enlightenment isn't something that can be taught, it has to be experienced. That's why Mewtwo had to go off on his own to discover it, it wouldn't have done him any good if I just _told_ him how it worked, because he wouldn't get it."

"Well, can't something at least be done for poor Lugia?" she asked desperately.

"I looked," said Celebi unhappily. "I looked into all the possible futures I could find where Lugia's family is rescued from the Whirl Islands. All of them result in war."

"Sometimes standing on the sidelines and doing nothing is what allows evil to win," said Mew. "But if it's a choice between life, even if it means being watched over by a crazed phoenix, over death in war, I'd choose life any day. It's the lesser of two evils."

Latias looked clearly unhappy that nobody was going to do anything. Mew quickly changed the subject. "So Mewtwo, where did Latias come from anyway? I don't think I've seen anyone like her at any of our old legendary council meetings…though her species does look vaguely familiar."

Mewtwo glanced at Latias. "She says she came from Alto Mare. She was carried there in an egg by her father Latios."

"And where did he come from?" asked Celebi, interested.

Mewtwo shrugged. "I don't know. Could be from Hoenn, could be from somewhere else…but none of the sources I've checked give any indication of his origins."

"Interesting…" muttered Celebi.

"Even more interesting is how it sounds like she was able to live right under Ho-Oh's beak without even being noticed!" Mew pointed out.

"She says she's never been able to use her powers, so I doubt Ho-Oh ever detected her. And in any of the cases where she did accidentally use an attack while on Alto Mare, I doubt Ho-Oh would have cared enough to take a look. No doubt she would have blamed it on one of us, or assumed it was another one of the humans 'silly' science experiments," Mewtwo said sarcastically.

"You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here, you know," Latias muttered.

"Sorry dear," Mew apologized. "I suppose all of this has been a bit much for you. Would you like us to take you home?"

Latias flashed back on Alto Mare, destroyed and buried beneath the waves. "I don't have a home. Not anymore," she said.

"Alto Mare's been destroyed," Mewtwo clarified.

The other psychics were shocked. "What! By whom?!" Mew asked in disbelief.

"By someone I've met before on my journeys named the Ghost King. Ever heard of him?"

Celebi looked perplexed, but Mew looked like she was trying to remember something. "Ghost King…Ghost King…wait, I think I remember him. Big amorphous guy with yellow eyes, really lonely and depressed?"

"That's the one," said Mewtwo.

Mew frowned. "Why would he want to destroy Alto Mare?"

"I rejected his advances," Latias muttered.

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow. "I seem to remember there being a lot more than just _that_."

He quickly told his friends a synopsis of the Ghost King's story, which intrigued them. When he got to the part about where Latias kissed him, she blurted out, "He hypnotized me!"

Mewtwo looked doubtful. "I still retain the telepathic link we formed in the Master Ball, and I did not detect any sign of you being hypnotized or fooled using an Attract. It felt genuine to me."

Latias refused to believe it. "Just because you didn't detect anything didn't mean it wasn't there, you're not all-powerful after all!"

"She's got a point," said Celebi.

Mewtwo shrugged. "I suppose it is possible that I was mistaken, but I am almost certain that Latias was not being coerced, hypnotized, manipulated or seduced in any way. What they expressed in the kiss felt like genuine love to me…but then again, I myself am still fairly new to love, so I suppose I could be wrong." He still looked doubtful.

"We'll have to look into this," Mew said finally. "But before we go into that, we have one more thing to think about: what's to be done with Latias?"

"What do you mean?" she asked in confusion.

"Well, if the King's been after you it wouldn't be right for us to just let you go off on your own and get hurt," said Celebi.

Mewtwo shook his head. "Actually, I don't think the King will try to capture her again, but I agree with you on one point. It's a dangerous world out there, too dangerous for someone as fresh and inexperienced in life as Latias to survive in. Perhaps one of us could take care of her?"

"Ooh, that sounds like a wonderful idea!" cried Mew. "How would you like to come with me, Latias? I haven't had anyone visit my Rainbow Cloud in ages, not since that cute camera-boy stopped by. We can have girl parties and look at the stars and do all sorts of fun stuff!"

"Or you could come with me," suggested Celebi. "I could teach you all about the woodlands and the balance of nature, and I could also take you through time to see the past or possible futures. Would you like that?"

"Well…" said Latias, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

"Or she could come with me," said Mewtwo. "She asked if she could come home with me before we met the Ghost King. I could introduce her to Gardevoir, show her all the things I have learned in my journeys…and maybe I could train her," he mused.

Latias blinked. "Train me?"

"Yes. Through our telepathic link, I felt a great power inside of you when you were fighting against Persian, when you got angry at Shedinja and the Ghost King, and when you were in the middle of your kiss. But so far it is wild, uncontrolled, if what you told me about obliterating part of Viridian Forest out of anger is true." Celebi gasped in horror at that, and Mew looked interested, but neither of them said anything. "If you lose control of your emotions again, you could cause destruction and chaos on a massive level. I could teach you how to harness your abilities and do some good with them."

"I could teach her too!" said Mew.

"Yes, but I've already established a link with her so it would be easier for me to handle it. But we're making too big a fuss here, in the end it's all Latias' decision isn't it?" asked Mewtwo.

"You're right," said Celebi. "Okay Latias, what would you like to do?"

"Well…" To be honest, Latias had been thinking of heading back to the Oak estate, but Mewtwo's comment made her think. What would happen if something occurred while she was living there, something that made her angrier than she could ever have thought imaginable? The memory of how ruthlessly and coldly she had slaughtered all those Pokemon back in the forest ran through her mind. She didn't want that to happen again. "I'll go with Mewtwo."

"Awww," Mew and Celebi whined.

Mewtwo nodded, pleased. "All right Latias, thank you for choosing me. We shall depart for the Cleft as soon you are ready."

"We'd better be going too then," said Mew. "So long, Mewtwo, Celebi, Latias. Nice seeing you." She teleported away.

Celebi prepared to depart as well, but Mewtwo stopped her. "Ah, Celebi, before you leave I'd like to ask a favor of you," said Mewtwo.

"Sure, what is it?" she asked.

A familiar metal suitcase levitated over to her. "Do you think you could drop this off at Professor Samuel Oak's estate? I think he'll be very happy to have what's in here…as well as to see you again."

Hiding a blush of embarrassment that Mewtwo had known of her early friendship with the future professor, Celebi grabbed the suitcase and quickly flew out of the cave. "Couldn't you have teleported those Prison Balls to the estate?" asked Latias.

"Yes, but Celebi and Oak were friends when he was just a young trainer, and I thought he might be pleased to see her again," explained Mewtwo, as he conjured a worn traveler's cloak and a woven grass hat from thin air.

She gave him a look as he donned the cloak. "How do you know these things?!"

He chuckled as he tilted the hat over his eyes, giving him the look of a wandering monk or samurai. Too bad he didn't have a sword or the image would be complete. "I have my ways. Shall we depart for the Cleft?"

"Um, okay," she said, flying closer to him. "I've never been to a desert before; they're hot right?"

"Very. But you'll get used to it." His eyes flashed blue and the two vanished, leaving the depths of Mount Cena in the hands of Nidoqueentwo, Rhyhorntwo and their offspring once again.

…

This ends the first and probably most depressing part of this story. I'm a little antsy about the next part, because I don't think it'll be of the same quality as this part, but I'll do my best. I hope you can stick with me, and that I can stick to this story. Please review.


	11. Make a Wish

Okay, this is an interlude of sorts. This is going to be the first chapter in the story to not feature Latias, and it may not be the last either. Enjoy.

Alex Warlorn, Ash wore his hat to the dream wedding in chapter 1 too. And I thought Deoxys was a shapeshifter, thanks for confirming it. Mewtwo knows he's not invincible, his extreme battle with Deoxys shows that, but after facing the extraterrestrial a little phoenix fire is nothing after what Deoxys put him through. Ho-Oh's not even a threat to him anymore, combat-wise. And I think the three legendary beasts who showed up in Orre aren't the same as the ones we know from Johto, just like the Ho-Oh isn't. I think the same could be said for the Celebi there. And no, the beasts don't remember who they were. Just like Ash and the girl in your story One Life, they were totally brainwashed. (Speaking of which, you're really updating it? It's kind of freaky!) And I see no reason for Mewtwo not to admit he's prejudiced. I openly admit that I am, and it's human nature to be that way. As the Broadway Musical Avenue Q said; everyone's a racist in one way or another. And when Mewtwo said silly, he was being sarcastic. Ho-Oh would have thought it was silly. And as always, all your other concerns have already been edited in the last chapter.

Geniusboy, sorry but I didn't get anything. I'm not psychic, but I'll try anyway.

Sir Pudding, I see no reason why Gardevoir and Shedinja should be treated as single-person species just because they don't have names. As Hudson from Gargoyles once said, names are a human thing. Pokemon have their own ways of telling each other apart.

xSPiNx, I'm glad I could help. And as one Pokeshipping fan to another, I hope you'll stick with this story, because I'm gonna have plenty of stuff with Ash later on.

alex, no. I'm not writing a sequel to Devil's Girl. I think it's stupid now and needs no continuation. I can't believe I wasted so much time on it.

Disclaimer: Sorry these replies took so long. I own nothing in this chapter.

…

Ein stood on a podium in an amphitheater somewhere deep beneath Viridian Gym, in Team Rocket headquarters. Behind him hung a big banner with the R of Team Rocket on it. In the seats before him were numerous Rocket Grunts and Admins, all listening to the scientist as he gave the traditional acceptance speech as he took his new position as Boss of Team Rocket. Some listened with awe, some with disbelief, and some with anger, furious that this upstart had killed Giovanni. But Ein is not the focus of our attention at the moment, and neither are the Rocket members. Instead we turn it to a man backstage. A man who was short, balding, and somewhat plump. A man named Evice.

Evice had once been the Mayor of Phenac City, as well as the leader of Cipher. When Wes and Ho-Oh had put him behind bars, he had stewed angrily, swearing revenge and plotting to restart Cipher when he escaped. When he had eventually broken out of prison, he sought out Ein, his old cohort and developer of the Shadow Pokemon process, with a new scheme to begin their plans for world domination anew.

With his knowledge of Shadow Pokemon and how to construct the Snag Device, Ein was in high demand by criminal organizations around the world. His job would be to join one of these organizations for a while and pretend to be a loyal member of the team while secretly spreading seeds of dissent towards the current administration. When the time was right, he would assassinate the boss and take over for himself, then hand the position over to Evice when he arrived. The plan had worked perfectly, and now Ein was leader of Team Rocket. As soon as this speech was over, Ein would hand the job to Evice and Cipher would truly be reborn.

Ein was wrapping up his speech. "My fellow Rockets, we are moving into a new age…"

That was Evice's cue. He walked onto the stage, startling the people in the audience. "An age ruled by me!"

"Ein, what is the meaning of this?" asked one of the Admins.

"This?" said Ein, looking at Evice with disdain. "Oh, nothing really."

Evice looked at Ein in confusion. "What?! What are you talking about, Ein?! It's me, Evice!"

Ein ignored him and reached for a Pokeball on his belt. "The time has come for us to throw off the mantle of the old. The new must take control of the future and throw off the corrupt, inefficient leaders of the past who have led us down the road to failure! The future is in our hands and we will no longer take orders from madmen who have no true visions for the future." He released his Manectric.

Evice stared at the scientist in disbelief. "Ein, wh-what are you doing?"

"Getting rid of the old. Manectric, kill!" The dog howled and launched a Thunderbolt at Evice. The former Cipher conspirator tried to run for it but he didn't have a chance. The electric attack hit him and electrocuted him instantly, frying him to a crisp.

The Rockets looked at the spectacle in disbelief. Ein had just killed a nameless, harmless old man without warning or visible motive. Only the man they would call leader could possibly be that sadistic. Several of the junior members started calling the scientist's name enthusiastically. Ein smirked as he recalled his Manectric, turning back to the crowd. "My friends, as I said this is a time for the new! The old is obsolete and must be eliminated!" He gestured, and the banner behind him fell, revealing the blue and black X of Cipher, but it now had a gold ring about it to symbolize a new beginning. "It's time for a brand-new crime ring to make its appearance! My friends, welcome to Team Cipher!" All of the junior members were incensed by this and started chanting Ein's name reverently while the Admins and older Rockets glanced at each other with unease. Ein took in all the praise and adoration with the twisted, malicious smile of one who had long ago sold his soul for power.

…

He was alone.

This single thought, this sensation, crushed down on him mercilessly. _He was alone._

He had had plenty of friends throughout history, yes, but none of them lasted. The time he spent with them was sweet, blissful, but ultimately futile due its brevity. They all faded away, leaving him alone again until his memories of them started to fade, leaving him with a sense of longing and sadness. The only one who stayed, the only one who ever stayed, was his guardian…but the time he spent with him was too brief as well, as brief as the time with his friends, for the guardian was not here now. And so he was all alone once again.

He didn't even know why he was cursed to live this way. This had been his fate for so long he couldn't remember living any other way. He vaguely remembered someone once telling him it was his destiny, that he was to sleep and wake, sleep and wake, following the path of the star as it sailed through the sky. But he didn't want to live like this anymore. His last friend had been dear to him, more dear than any other, and he did not want to forget him like he had all the others.

"I DON'T WANNA LIVE LIKE THIS!" He screamed. "I WANT A LIFE OF MY OWN! I WANT FRIENDS! I DON'T WANNA BE ALONE ANYMORE!"

_Do you wish to be free?_

"Huh?" He blinked. "Who said that?"

_Do you wish to be free?_

He wondered how it was possible for someone else to be here, but that faded in realization of what this voice was offering him. "Yes! Yes, I want to be free!"

_Then it shall be so._

…

Voices. Annoying, singing, high-pitched voices of joy and celebration, rattling his brain and plaguing his dreams.

With a moan, he awakened, forming an eye to see what was around him, while scanning the area with his powerful mind.

_Who is foolish enough to disturb my slumber_? He wondered. He had been sleeping in a healing coma for weeks, still recovering from his fight with the strange creature that had sought to prevent the annihilation of the puny planet that he was currently orbiting.

He heard the voices growing louder, and spotted them quickly with his psychic and normal senses. It was a large dull yellow sphere passing within a few kilometers of him, with a pair of thick antenna growing from the bottom and a ridge running around its hemisphere. He recognized the design instantly as that of a Clefairy vessel. From the voices his senses picked up on board, they were celebrating because they had finally made it off the planet after being trapped on it for years. _Hmmph. I thought I destroyed their planet years ago. It seems as if some survived._ Chuckling, he extended a tentacle from his body mass, forming it into a hand. _Let's see if I can't remedy that._

Golden energy collected in his palm before firing as a huge laser that instantly vaporized the Clefairy spaceship. The split-second of screaming he had heard before the beam struck them was magnificently painful, causing him to laugh. That felt good. A weariness came over him. He had still not fully recovered from his battle. Deoxys closed his eyes and went back to sleep, the screams from the Clefairies making his dreams much more entertaining.

…

The Hyper Beam had a side effect, one that the fiend Deoxys could not have anticipated, and he probably would not have fired the laser if he had known what would happen. The Hyper Beam did not stop with the spaceship, rather it had continued through space at several times the speed of light before striking a luminescent white comet just exiting the solar system. The beam had been diluted severely by the many millions of miles it had passed to reach the comet, and normally would have done no damage, but this was no ordinary comet. This one contained a mysterious power that had only months ago been sucked out of it and then forced back in aggressively, resulting in a deterioration of the comet's physical structure and thus making it vulnerable to the weakened Hyper Beam. The ball of ice and dust exploded, releasing the power buried deep beneath its surface. A magnificent spark of light formed from the shattered remnants of the comet and immediately sped for Earth at the speed of thought, sensing its presence was needed there.

…

At the same time, another kind of light show was going on in the lush land of Firia.

Surrounded by a large group of indigenous Pokemon, a makeshift stage had been set up at the base of one of the land's towering stone pillars, complete with curtain, trap doors, and all other sorts of gimmicks to assist the star of that night's show.

"Aha! Nothing up my sleeve…" A purple-haired man in a white and light blue tuxedo rolled up his sleeves and thrusted his arms outward. On cue, his Dusclops and Salamence fired their Hyper Beams into the air from backstage, colliding and creating a tremendous explosion that rained sparks of multicolored light on the crowd of Pokemon, who oohed and awed.

The man gestured to his left, and a beautiful blond woman in a red dress appeared in a flash of light, waving her fans in the air and startling the crowd. He gestured to his right, and a Mightyena with a top hat-wearing Kirlia on his back appeared in another flash of light. The quartet bowed to their audience, who immediately burst into applause.

The magician grinned. "Thank you, thank you, it has been a pleasure to entertain you this evening! Now, who wants to see one last trick before we call it quits for the night?" From the adulation of the audience, it was clear they all did. "Very well! Dusclops, bring out the Mystic Boxes!" A big one-eyed ghoul wheeled out a pair of tall chests with question marks on the front. He placed them on opposite sides of the stage and went back behind the curtain. He returned a second later with a case which he placed on the ground and opened, revealing over a dozen swords. "Now, if my lovely assistant will please step into box number one?"

The blond woman smiled. "Of course." She stepped into the waiting box, which was closed shut on her. Without being told, Kirlia grabbed a pile of chains and padlocks and wrapped them around the box, making it totally secure.

The magician nodded. "Excellent, Kirlia! Now Dusclops, you know what to do!"

The ghost gave him a thumb's up. "Dusclops!" His eye began to glow and he moved his hands about as he utilized Psychic attack. The swords glowed and floated into the air, then shot towards the box, impaling it. The audience gasped.

The magician gave them a knowing smile, wagged his finger, and walked across the stage to the other box which he threw open to reveal…Kirlia and Mightyena making out. The audience laughed at the magician's theatrical look of confusion. "Hmm…wherever could she have gone?" he asked loudly. He snapped his fingers. "Oh wait, I know!" He reached around to the back of his head and undid a zipper, causing his skin and suit to fall off and reveal the beautiful assistant. "I was here all along!" she said in her normal voice.

The real magician walked onto the stage, took his assistant's hand, and bowed to the applauding audience. "Thank you for attending The Great Butler's latest performance! That's all for tonight, folks!" Kirlia's eyes glowed, and without warning they all teleported off the stage.

The group reappeared some distance away at their trailer. Salamence winged his way over to them, roaring to show his pleasure at that night's show. The magician clapped his hands. "Excellent performance, everyone! I think that was our best show yet!" He got various pleased cries from his Pokemon as well as a hug from his assistant at that.

"Well of course it was Butler, any show you host has to be the best," she purred seductively into his ear.

The four Pokemon started snickering at the Voltorb-red color that had come to the magician's face. He scowled and pulled some Pokeballs off his belt. "All right, that's enough from the peanut gallery. Return!" Dusclops and Salamence were struck by the crimson beams of light and sucked into the spheres before they could escape. Kirlia had quickly grabbed Mightyena and teleported away before they could be caught as well. The magician frowned. "I've _got_ to find out where those two are always escaping to."

"Oh relax," said the assistant. "They did a good job tonight, they deserve some time by themselves. For that matter, so do we. Why don't we go into our trailer and just relax? The two of us?" she said with a wink.

Butler smiled. "Well, that sounds like just the thing to finish off a busy-hey, what's this?" He frowned as he saw a point of extremely bright light fall from the sky, lighting up the valley and startling all the Pokemon who were just starting to go to sleep. "What in the name of…"

"Butler, is this one of your tricks?" asked the confused assistant.

"No, I think I'd remember setting up a falling star." He frowned, trying to calculate the falling object's trajectory in his head. "Good lord, it's heading straight for the cave where Absol and Jirachi are sleeping!" He pulled a Pokeball off his belt and tossed it into the air, releasing a confused Salamence. "Salamence, quickly, take us to Jirachi's cave!" The dragon growled in affirmation, waited for the two humans to get on, then took off, following the falling light as it headed for Jirachi's cave.

…

In the heart of Firia was a small cave that was avoided by all the residents of the valley out of respect for the two who slept inside.

One was a black-skinned animal with snowy white fur, sharp claws, and a blade for a tail. Another blade grew from the side of its head, like a horn. This was Absol, guardian of the cave's second resident, under the same curse as his charge to sleep for a thousand years until a magic comet flew through the skies.

The cave's second resident, the mythical Pokemon Jirachi, was currently slumbering inside a crystal cocoon that was in turn encased within a huge boulder. Like Absol, he would lie there undisturbed until the Millennium Comet made its rounds through the skies again, awakening both Wishmaker and guardian. However, the duo's latest sleep might just be coming to an early end.

The spark of light flew into the cave through a hole in the ceiling, illuminating the dark cave and filling every corner of it with light. The spark flew past Absol, causing him to stir in his sleep, and entered the giant boulder at the back of the chamber. Seconds later, the stone exploded, rocking the cave and showering pebbles everywhere.

Absol started and opened his eyes, wakened not by the explosion but by the mysterious sensation of power emanating from the shattered boulder. "What?" He blinked sleep from his eyes. "Has it been a thousand years already? It feels like I've only been sleeping for a few months…" He looked up through the hole in the ceiling and was surprised to see the sky was entirely comet-free. But that was impossible, if the comet wasn't there then how could he be awake?

He heard a sudden groan from the shattered boulder, causing his protective instincts to kick in. "Wishmaker!" He bounded across the room, making his way to the side of a tiny white creature lying in the midst of the broken rock.

The creature was small and white, with a pair of gold ribbon-like wings growing from his back. Each of his arms had a fin-like extension that looked kind of like sleeves. He wore a big three-pointed golden hat with one long blue-green sticker attached to each point on his head. His face was plain, with a mouth and two eyes, each of which had a blue-green streak going down from them. There was a third eye in his chest, but this one was closed, looking like an upside-down semicircle tattoo instead. His eyes quivered and opened. "Ab…sol?"

"Wishmaker, are you all right?" the Disaster Pokemon asked, worried.

Jirachi groaned and levitated off the ground. He looked through the hole in the ceiling and gasped. "Absol, look! There's no star! There's nothing calling to me!"

"I noticed. But what does it mean?" he asked.

"It means we're free, Absol!"

Absol looked at Jirachi in confusion. "Free?"

"FREE!" Jirachi sang happily. "FREEFREEFREEFREEFREEFREEFREEFREE…" He flew around the room wildly, laughing with unrestrained joy. Absol stared at him blankly, a heavy sweatdrop forming.

It was then that two humans Absol recognized as Butler and Diane rushed into the chamber, halting abruptly and staring at the singing, flying Jirachi in disbelief. Jirachi noticed them and stopped flying. "Hi Diane, hi Butler! Wow, you two look great for people over a thousand years old!"

They stared at him some more. Then Diane fainted from shock. "Diane!" cried Butler in horror.

Jirachi blinked. "Oops. Was it something I did?" Absol facefaulted.

…

When the other valley Pokemon learned Jirachi had awakened 999.5 or so years early, ecstatic was the understatement when it came to describing their mood. They saw the early awakening as a miracle and Jirachi as a savior who could make all their wishes come true. They rushed him en masse as he exited the cave with Diane, Butler, and Absol, begging him to heal their wounds or make them stronger or any of a hundred other stupid things. The Wish Pokemon had been so frightened he almost teleported away out of panic, but Absol saved the day, fighting off the horde of supplicants single-handedly and giving Butler enough time to get Salamence out and, with the help of a friendly Flygon, escape back to the magician's trailer. There, Butler got out his old equipment and tried to figure out just what Jirachi was doing up and about so soon. Throngs of wish-hungry Pokemon were crowded around the trailer, but Dusclops, Salamence, Mightyena, Absol and Flygon were doing their best to fend them off while Butler finished his experiments.

"This makes my head itch," Jirachi whined, scratching at the contact wires Butler had attached to his forehead.

"Don't worry, this should only take a moment longer…ah, here we go," said Butler as a machine started printing out a long sheet of paper.

He picked it up and scanned it, making interested noises to himself now and then. In the meantime, Jirachi pulled the wires off his head and went to find something to eat from the refrigerator; he was hungry after not eating in months. "Well, what does it say? Do you know why Jirachi woke up so early, and what that light in the sky was?" Diane asked.

Butler put the sheet down. "Hmm…I haven't the slightest idea." Diane and Kirlia, who was giving Jirachi a piece of leftover cake from the fridge, facefaulted. "The only thing I can find is that Jirachi seems to be containing the level of power he held whenever he was channeling energy from the Millennium Comet. But that's impossible, because the comet should be nearly out of our solar system by now."

"The star is gone," Jirachi said around the piece of cake he had shoved into his mouth.

"Yes, that's what I just said, the comet's almost out of the solar system," said Butler, looking frustrated.

"No, the star is _gone_," Jirachi repeated. "It doesn't call to me anymore. I can't feel it at all. It's gone."

Butler furrowed his eyebrows, pondering that. Then, he slowly turned to look at Jirachi. "Jirachi…are you saying that the Millennium Comet…has been _destroyed_?"

"Yep!" he said happily.

Butler blinked. "But _how_?!"

Jirachi shrugged. "I dunno."

"Hmmph." Butler sat down. "Well, I suppose this explains things. If the comet was destroyed, its energies would naturally seek out the only vessel capable of focusing its power; namely Jirachi. That would explain why he's woken up, he doesn't need to draw off the comet's power for life anymore because that power now lies within him."

"Amazing!" said Diane. "But what is he going to do with all that power?"

Butler shrugged. "I believe that is up to Jirachi. Jirachi, now that you will be able to walk our world for more than seven days at a time, what do you want to do?"

As Jirachi opened his mouth to speak, a window suddenly shattered, frightening them all. A crazed Minun poked her head through the hole. "Wishmaker! Heal my babies!" she screamed, thrusting a pair of wailing Plusle and Minun into the trailer, who due to some horrific birth defect were fused at the hip. Mightyena's head appeared behind her, and the Bite Pokemon bit his teeth into her ear and pulled her out, screaming. Kirlia quickly put a Barrier up around the window to keep anyone else from using it.

With the terrifying moment over, Diane and Butler looked back at Jirachi, who was trembling in fear. "I-I don't w-wanna stay here," he said, sniffing as he started to cry. "I d-don't want everyone fighting over me and asking me to grant wishes, because I don't know how. I don't wanna be all alone while everyone else gets to enjoy the world. I…" He sniffed and looked up. "I want friends. I want a life of my own. I want…" He blinked, remembering the closest friend he had ever had, the only one he could still remember and might still be alive. "I want to see Max again."

Butler got a pensive look on his face. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Diane, Kirlia, and Jirachi all gave him confused looks. "Why not?"

Butler sighed. "From soil analysis and my own research into the legends of this place, I have discovered that scientifically speaking, Firia should be totally inhospitable. The dirt here is completely hostile to plant life and incapable of supporting Pokemon of any kind. The only reason it's so beautiful is because Jirachi came here millions of years ago and used his power to give this place life, then sent the rest of his power into space for some reason so every thousand years it would come back and replenish the valley's energy."

"I don't remember doing that…" Jirachi muttered. "Then again, it _was_ a long time ago."

Diane frowned. "Why couldn't he just have used enough of his power to make the land hospitable forever instead of dealing with the comet coming around once a millennium?"

Butler threw up his hands. "I don't know. I'm just telling you what I've studied. My point is this: since the comet is destroyed and if Jirachi can no longer channel its power into Firia to give it life, there is a chance this place could die. If Jirachi leaves now, all the life here in Firia may no longer be able to sustain itself. Is that you want, Jirachi? Do you want this place to die?"

Jirachi looked out an unbroken window, out at the beautiful forests and stone pillars of Firia. "No…" he admitted. "But I'm tired of being here! I don't wanna exist just to make this place live! I wanna life of my own! Is that too much to ask?"

"Come on Butler," begged Diane. "Doesn't he deserve to be free? To have his own chance of seeing what the world has to offer him?"

Butler leaned back in his chair, chewing his lip in thought. "Well," he said finally. "I suppose now that you do have your freedom from the millennial cycle, it would be a waste not to enjoy it. And," he said, brightening up. "Many of the Pokemon here know Sunny Day, Rain Dance, or any of the other techniques which affect the environment. Perhaps, with a little work, we can make Firia hospitable on its own, without having to rely on the powers of legendary Pokemon to do it for us. Besides," he reflected. "If you stay here, those Pokemon outside will rip you to pieces to get their wishes granted. You'd probably be better off far away from here."

"Then I can go look for Max?" Jirachi asked hopefully.

Butler nodded. "Yes, you can go look for Max."

"YAY!" Jirachi started flying around the trailer happily. The little Wishmaker's enthusiasm and joy were so great the others couldn't help but laugh with him.

…

Some time later, Absol and Jirachi were all set to go and were on the western border of Firia. Absol had immediately volunteered to go with Jirachi when he found out the little Wishmaker was leaving because, as he said, it was his duty to protect him in any and all circumstances. Diane and Butler had loaded the Disaster Pokemon up with food and water before they sent them off, starting a distraction using a fake Jirachi made from a jester hat, blue-green sticky notes, and a balled-up undershirt wrapped in a yellow blanket while their Pokemon escorted them to the border.

Jirachi stared out to the west, across the desert into the setting sun. "Wow…it's pretty!"

"I suppose it is," agreed Mightyena.

"Are you two going to be all right?" asked Kirlia.

"There is no need to worry. I will protect the Wishmaker with my life," promised Absol.

"Remember, Max's family lives somewhere called Petalburg City. Since you don't know where Max is, you should check with them, for they will surely know," Dusclops reminded them, handing Jirachi a map of Hoenn.

"Thanks, I'll remember," said Jirachi, taking the map.

"Good luck on your journey. I hope you can find the life you're searching for," said Salamence.

Flygon nodded. "Yeah. And if you see that Ash kid, tell him I said hi, okay?"

"Okay!" said Jirachi.

Mightyena looked back into Firia. "We'd better get back, those Pokemon aren't gonna be happy when they find out Butler set them up with a fake Jirachi. Come on guys!" He ran back into the valley. The others followed him, but Kirlia lingered one last moment to wave goodbye to Absol and Jirachi as they started off across the desert.

"Goodbye you two! Good luck!" she cried.

Jirachi, who was now on Absol's back, turned and waved to her. "Goodbye Kirlia! Thanks for the cake!" She laughed and went back into Firia.

"Where to, Wishmaker?" asked Absol.

Jirachi floated into the air, pointing into the setting sun. "To Petalburg City, and Max's family!"

"Very well! To Petalburg!" The Dark Pokemon started loping off at a faster pace, and Jirachi quickly landed on his back so as not to get left behind. The duo headed off into the sunset, going west towards Petalburg City.

Petalburg was of course far to the south, but by the time they realized that they would be horribly lost and it wouldn't matter anyway.

…

Well? Did you like the stuff about Jirachi? He's not really an important character, but he's showing up later so I wanted to get the reasons for why he's up and about explained first. We'll go back to Latias next chapter.


	12. Cleft

Okay, if you liked the Jirachi filler chapter good, if not then too bad. We're gonna have a lot of filler in the future, I expect. Enjoy this one at least!

Alex, why can't a Dark type be teleported? They can be hypnotized, can't they? (And besides, Absol was teleported back to Firia after Jirachi blew up evil Groudon.) Nobody knew Evice's face because Wes crushed Cipher before it could get very far out of Orre. And it was so secretive anyway that the Rockets never knew it existed. Deoxys' thing may have been DBZ-ish, but other than random spontaneous combustion how else was I supposed to blow up the stupid comet? And what's wrong with the statement Butler made about finding their own way to keep Firia alive? And Jirachi can't teleport to Max because he has no idea where Max is. If he tried to find him through random teleportation, he'd probably end up at the bottom of the ocean or inside a rock wall. And logically, he couldn't teleport to Petalburg since he's never seen it and doesn't know where it is. And as for Mewtwo…I have ideas for that flaw, but what do you think? Oh, and Butler and Diane were in Firia because they decided to stay there after evil Groudon was destroyed and they took Ash and friends to the nearest town. They said so in the movie.

Ezna, I'm glad you enjoy this. And you like Latias too? Maybe you should hook up with my friend DiamondLatias3000, you might like each other…as long as you're not 100 determined that she's gonna love Ash, because he doesn't like that coupling very much. I know the feeling.

Mimic12355, a new motto for the Three Stooges? Of course there will be!

And I'm glad you like this so much, xSPiNx. I make the Pokemon life-like by thinking of them as actual people, or at least portraying them the way I think they should be portrayed. That's all. And I like theories too, they help clarify the Pokemon world we love so much. Hey Alex, if you're reading this how do you think Pokeballs work?

Disclaimer: Only things I own are Mewtwo's training methods and his deformed Gardevoir girlfriend. The cleft was inspired by the one in Myst's the Book of Atrus and Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.   
…

Again, said the voice in her head.

Latias charged at the boulder in front of her, wings extended to her sides, focusing her anger on the ugly piece of rock up ahead. She veered slightly to the side as she flew, so she struck the boulder with her wing as hard as she could as she flew past. Unsurprisingly, the wing broke. She bit her tongue and immediately used Recover to heal the pain. Her wing, bent at an unhealthy angle by the impact with the boulder, instantly righted itself.

_Again._

She growled, turned around, and charged at the boulder again, striking it with her wing. Once again, the wing broke. She gritted her teeth and used Recover.

_Again._

She charged again. She broke her wing again. She healed again.

_Again. _

She charged. She broke. She healed.

_Again._

Charge. Break. Heal.

_Again_. 

Charge. Break. Heal.

_Again._

Charge. Break. Heal.

This continued for an indeterminable amount of time as Latias strove over and over again to break the boulder. Every time, she failed. Finally, exhausted, she fell to the ground as the sun beat down on her mercilessly. She glared at the boulder, which stood totally intact, almost mocking her. "WHY CAN'T I BREAK YOU?!"

_You know why._

"No I don't! Tell me!"

_I already have. Ten times. Are you willing to make it eleven? _

She gritted her teeth. "Just tell me how to break the damn thing!"

_Change your attitude first. You'll never get anywhere acting like that._

She gritted her teeth and tried to calm down. It was hard to focus in all the heat, it was making her drowsy. "All right. How do I break the boulder?" she asked calmly.

_First of all, you are going about this the wrong way. You see the boulder as an enemy, something that you must defeat. This is false. The boulder is a limitation. A barrier within yourself. Unlike an enemy, a limitation waits patiently for you to develop the skills to overcome it. Developing these skills also requires patience. You constantly charge at the boulder head-on, without stopping long enough to concentrate properly on your attack. You need to relax first._

She took several deep breaths and closed her eyes. "I'm relaxed."

_Good. Now, focus your mind on your wing. Think of it as being as hard as steel, a metal limb attached to your body. You know how to do this, you've done it before, all you need to do is remember how. You can do this. But remember one thing: It does not matter if you fail to overcome it today, or tomorrow, or the day after that, as long as you overcome it someday. And so you shall._

Latias realized Mewtwo was right. Now that she had calmed down, she _did_ know how to do this. She concentrated on her wing, sending her will into it, thinking of it like a third arm or something equally as flexible. Slowly, slowly, the wing started glowing as it hardened to the density of steel. Then, she suddenly knew that it was ready. Her eyes shot open and she charged at the boulder for one last strike. She veered to the side, bringing her glowing Steel Wing to bear and…

It stopped glowing milliseconds before it hit the boulder, causing it to break again. Startled, she swerved out of control and crashed into the ground, digging a trench in the desert sand. She lay there for several stunned seconds as the wind blew grains of sand onto her white coat. Then she heard the crunching sound of footsteps coming towards her on the soft sands. A pair of small, two-toed white feet appeared in her line of vision. She looked up weakly and saw Mewtwo looking down on her, clad in his traveler's cloak. "Well done."

She blinked. Why was he congratulating her? "But I failed…"

"Yes, but yesterday it took you two hours to make your wing glow. Today it only took you one. You're improving." He crouched down next to her wing and started healing it while his words sunk in.

Latias was surprised that it had only been an hour. The heat had made it seem much longer. In seconds, her wing was all right and she was able to get up again. "I'm really improving?" she asked.

The clone nodded. "Yes. If we keep this up, you will break that boulder very soon." He looked up into the blazing sun. "It's almost noon. Let's return to the Cleft, Gardevoir will be preparing lunch for us. Let's not waste her hard work." He turned and started walking across the dunes, towards a towering edifice in the distance. Revitalized by Mewtwo's encouragement, Latias followed him.

…

The Cleft was formed from a fissure split in the earth from an old volcanic eruption. The volcano was silent now, but it still towered over the Cleft, as an eternal reminder of nature's might. It went several yards underground and had a natural series of ledges and cliffs on its sides, connected by bridges and ladders. The bottom of the cleft was a small oasis, a garden covered in blue flowers and fruit-bearing trees, fed by a stream that ran down the Cleft from a spring at the base of a large hollowed-out tree. There were several caves on the Cleft walls that had been made into rooms by the fissure's former occupants. They had been refurbished into a couple of sleeping chambers, a crude laboratory, a kitchen, and a small library. Amazingly, the Cleft had had electrical power before Mewtwo had ever set foot here thanks to a windmill generator and a battery that could be charged up using steam power from one of the old volcano's vents on days without wind.

According to Mewtwo, who got his information from Gardevoir and old diaries in the library, the Cleft had once been inhabited by a genius that had been ahead of his time, but was ostracized by his fellows for being a 'witch'. He had been exiled to the desert, where he managed to stumble upon the Cleft and made it his home over time. After he died, his descendants inherited the Cleft and passed it down through their family until a decade or so ago, when the last member of the family died.

That last member had saved an ugly Ralts who had been abandoned by her parents in the desert and nurtured her into the still ugly Gardevoir who now inhabited the Cleft when he inevitably died. He had made her his servant and forced her to don a mask to keep from looking at her face, and the psychological damage from that remained to this day, forcing Gardevoir to hide her face from the world. She taught herself how to read and operate the windmill and battery by observing the man that called himself her 'master' doing such things, and buried him out in the desert when he had finally died. She had managed to survive on her own for a while, dealing with merchants and wandering trainers until one day a white and purple creature had fainted just a kilometer away from her Cleft, near a massive crater.

She had found that creature and nursed him back to health, growing to trust him enough to actually show him her true face. That led to their first (slightly awkward kiss) and…well, Mewtwo didn't say much else about their relationship after that, though Latias could tell from the way Mewtwo glanced at the Embrace Pokemon that he cared deeply for her.

Unfortunately, it could not be said that Gardevoir felt especially caring for Latias. The dragon figured this out when the humanoid Pokemon never looked directly at her or spoke to her. She was often elsewhere when Latias was around Mewtwo or in her favorite places around the Cleft. Mewtwo explained that Gardevoir was unused to other people due to her harsh treatment from the Cleft's previous owner and so was naturally shy to them. That and the fact that Latias had gasped from fright when she first saw the green-haired female's face probably didn't help matters between the two. Latias had tried to connect with her several times, but Gardevoir seemed to still be hurting from their first encounter, which was why she never went around without her mask anymore.

Still, Gardevoir respected Mewtwo's trust in Latias enough to give her plenty of food at every meal and a bed in one of the caves, so that was something. At least she wasn't trying to poison her like Latias had half-feared she might after her initial reaction to Gardevoir's face. Latias didn't think Gardevoir hated her, she just didn't like her very much. Maybe she felt somewhat scared that Latias would steal Mewtwo from her, which might explain why she tried to spend all the time Mewtwo was not off training Latias with him.

"Do you think you could tell Gardevoir I'm not out to steal you? I'm not attracted to you or anything, I see you as more of a mentor figure," Latias said as they walked towards the Cleft.

Mewtwo shook his head. "I've already told her I'm not interested in you in that way, but that isn't exactly what she's afraid of. Even if there is nothing between you and I, you are still stealing me from her."

"Huh?" Latias said, confused.

"Gardevoir is still getting used to the concept of company," Mewtwo explained. "Most of her life she has been alone and betrayed by people. Her parents abandoned her, her savior made her into a slave and forced her to wear that mask, and then he died and left her alone for a few years. Then I came into her life. It was a difficult time for the both of us, teaching each other how to love. She began to trust me, thinking I would not abandon her like everyone else. Then I had to leave to save Mew and got captured. The heartbreak she went through when I did not return must have been terrible. Then, one day out of the blue I return with you in tow. I now spend most of my time with you, leaving her to tend the Cleft all by herself, and what little time we do have together is fleeting and obviously not enough. How do you think that makes her feel?"

Latias looked at the ground, feeling guilty. "Oh. Is that why she ran off in tears when we first got here?"

"That, and because you gasped at her."

"I'm sorry. I even told her that," said Latias unhappily.

Mewtwo sighed. "It'll take a lot more than that to earn her trust. Mew knows I had to."

"How'd you do it?" Latias asked.

The Psychic shrugged. "I made her fall in love with me."

"Oh. Guess I'll have to find some other way then, huh?"

Mewtwo nodded. "Unless you're attracted to women…and judging from how you kissed the Ghost King, you're not."

"That wasn't a real kiss, he seduced me," she snapped.

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "He didn't and you know it." While they were talking, they had reached the Cleft. They stopped and floated down to a clearing near the tree pond, where a small wooden table sat surrounded by three smaller chairs decorated with flower carvings. A tall and graceful being with short green hair, two green stalks for arms, and a flowing white robe covering her body stood next to the table, setting silverware at two plates with a pile of sliced fruits and a piece of Skarmory meat on each. She looked up as Mewtwo and Latias landed, causing her ornate mask, made to look like a half sun and half moon with only a single eyehole on the sun side and an open area for a mouth on the moon side to glisten in the sunlight. She backed away as they came over to the table.

"Thank you for making lunch, Gardevoir." Mewtwo paused, noticing only two of the three places were set. "You do not wish to dine with us?" he asked, looking disappointed. She had stopped eating at the same table as Latias weeks ago when she was unable to take the tension building between the three of them.

She shook her head fiercely, single red eye gleaming. Mewtwo didn't press the point, every time he had she would relent and sit with them but the atmosphere would be very tense and uncomfortable. Gardevoir seemed to be lonelier but more comfortable eating by herself in the kitchen. Looking at the forlorn expression on Mewtwo's face as Gardevoir started to walk away, Latias suddenly had an idea on how to make both of them happy. "Actually, I'm not feeling that hungry. You two eat."

Mewtwo and Gardevoir looked at her in surprise. "Are your sure, Latias?" Mewtwo asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll just grab something from the kitchen and go to the library. You two can have lunch together."

Mewtwo looked grateful. "If you're sure. But make sure to drink plenty of water, you lost a lot of moisture out in the desert. You don't want to get dehydrated."

"Yeah, yeah I know. Bye you guys." She turned and started for the kitchen.

Gardevoir didn't say anything as Latias flew away, but Mewtwo was certain the look in her eye was one of gratitude. He sat down and levitated a fork into the air above the meat. "So Gardevoir, how have you been-" She stopped him with a deep, passionate kiss. Mewtwo made a note to himself to reward Latias for this later as he fell off his chair, still embraced by Gardevoir.

…

Latias closed the icebox one of the Cleft's previous owners had installed in the kitchen to keep the more perishable foods fresh, chewing on a thick, juicy fruit whose name she didn't know, but she called 'Rainbow Fruit' because of its seven swirling colors. She took a long drink from the bucket of water taken up from the spring to wash the juice down her throat and headed out of the kitchen to the library.

As she floated across the Cleft, she looked down to see how Mewtwo and Gardevoir were doing and were pleased to see that they seemed to be relaxed and enjoying each other's company. Gardevoir had removed her mask to reveal her grossly deformed face. Latias felt the fruit she had just eaten rising in her throat but swallowed it back down. Even from a distance, Gardevoir's face was hard to stomach. She finished the rest of the Rainbow Fruit and continued her course to the library, whose quiet solitude and shelter from the heat was calling to her.

Members of the Cleft owner's family had gathered the books within the library over the years from traders travelling across the desert and merchants in the nearest city. The collection had grown to fill three bookshelves with volumes on numerous topics, from studies of Pokemon mating habits to every book in the famous Terry Cotter series, the tale of an orphaned boy who became a wizard. The room was filled with the musty smell of old books, giving the library an oddly pleasant aroma that, in conjunction with the natural coolness of the chamber, made the library a very nice place to be on an especially hot day. (Which it almost always was, out in the desert.)

On a regular day, Latias would have pulled out one of the romance novels and started reading…but today, she didn't feel like it. She actually felt like trying something she and Mewtwo had been doing regularly on her own: meditation.

Mewtwo's training regimen consisted of two phases repeated daily. They would go out to the desert in the morning and practice one of Latias' techniques, stop for lunch, then go up to the volcano to meditate for several hours. Mewtwo told her that most humans and Pokemon could only use a small percentage of their brains, but Psychic Pokemon are naturally capable of using more, which is why they have powerful mental abilities and can learn so many attacks. Through meditation, more of a Psychic Pokemon's brain power could be unleashed, allowing them to grow stronger and learn new abilities, some of which didn't even have to do with fighting. Mewtwo for instance had long ago mastered the power of psychometamorposis, the ability to transmute air molecules into solid form and create objects from them. He had once used this power to erect a massive castle and Pokemon stadium, but used it rarely nowadays unless he really needed to, like to generate food if the harvest from the bottom of the Cleft was bad. He used it for little else in the desert, because he had grown accustomed to the hard but simple life of the Cleft and felt using his powers too much might spoil him. He had to keep his body in shape after all, and he couldn't do that by simply conjuring whatever he wanted all the time now could he?

In any case, Mewtwo had helped her through their telepathic link during her first meditation to show her how to delve deep into her subconscious and unlock the knowledge hidden there. It took a long time to master on her own, but she was starting to get the hang of it. She already knew how to perform various attacks…in theory. She knew how to do the attacks, but getting her body to pull them off was another story. Progress was slow, and the only attacks she had mastered were Recover, Psywave, and Charm. She was getting better at Steel Wing though, another day or two of practice and she might actually get it down perfectly.

Each time she had meditated so far, she had always felt something stirring deep inside of her, further in her subconscious, past the attack and ability information she looked for. She had mentioned it to Mewtwo, and he believed it to be the source of the mysterious power he had sensed in her before. He recommended she investigate further when she had the chance, and now was the perfect time to do just that.

The library's cool and calm atmosphere made it the perfect place to meditate, and it was such a contrast to the dry, hot air up in the volcano. She floated down to the floor, folding her arms across her chest while using her wings and small leg-like protrusions to prop herself into a comfortable sitting position. She closed her eyes and leaned her head forward slightly and started humming softly while emptying her mind of all thoughts. She had done this many times before, and so it only took her ten minutes of quietly sitting, humming, and thinking of nothing before she gradually felt herself awakening in a different state of consciousness, somewhere deep inside herself.

As her body sat humming, her spirit delved deep inside the vagaries of her subconscious, passing the familiar fringe area between her active and inactive brain and through a thick layer of memories as she did so. Bits and pieces of the past flashed by her as she flew through the layer…days spent being tutored by Vincentio, playing with Latios, attending Bianca's birth…seeing Bianca lying on her bed, cold and lifeless…

Latias closed her inner eyes, unwilling to see these tragic reminders of the last few months. She pushed on, clearing through her conscious memories and moving deeper into her subconscious mind. Here was a place she had come to many times, where the secrets to all her abilities were locked. If the place could be presented visually, it would resemble a great shimmering void filled with shiny bubbles. Each bubble contained the knowledge for how to perform a single attack or technique. There were more of them than Latias could count, and they were all spread so far about Latias doubted she would ever be able to use them all. That didn't matter though, she had other things to focus on. Like the silent voice whispering to her, enticing her to come deeper into her own mind.

The bubbly void faded away as she passed downwards into the next level of her mind, to where other memories were kept, these genetic, passed down from her ancestors. There were much fewer of them than her conscious memories, and so were easier to avoid as she continued downwards into the very heart of her subconscious, following the call of the mysterious power within her.

As she went deeper, she accidentally brushed against a memory she had not noticed and was suddenly flung into an unfamiliar setting.

It was warm and dark. She lay next to a warm body, holding her close as it slept. She looked down and saw a pair of eggs, one red, and one blue.

And she smiled…

Latias blinked, finding herself back in the depths of her subconscious. That had been a very odd experience. Obviously one of her ancestors next to her mate, admiring her own eggs. Funny though…the body next to her had felt larger than a Latios…

She shrugged mentally. Oh well, it didn't matter. She could feel the voice, the same as the one that had called to her while in the Realm of Mists, stronger and clearer than ever before. It spoke not in words, but in a series of roars and growls sounding heavy with age yet still very full of life. And somehow, somehow she understand what it was saying.

_Come…come…_

She had no intention of doing anything but that. She continued, passing level upon level of ancient memories, remnants from the Latias' before her, and finally came into a clear space in the core of her mind.

There, before her, was a shimmering light. It was magnificent, shining in colors impossible to comprehend with the naked eye but fully visible to the psychic senses. Could this be the source of her hidden power?

_Come…come…_

The voice was emanating from the light. It wanted her to come to it, to unleash its power. To achieve her highest potential. She felt slight misgivings at this point, but she had come this far so there was no reason for her to back down now.

Her spirit floated up to the light. Extending a limb formed from her will, she touched it.

She felt a sudden wrenching sensation as her mind was flung through time and space and across limitless dimensions in the span of time it took a Beautifly to flap its wings. And then, abruptly, she came to a halt in a place full of mists. Confused, she looked around…

…And made contact with a pair of surprised yellow eyes.

"_Latias? Is that you?"_

Latias screamed…and woke up back in the library, sweating and gasping for breath.

That voice, those eyes, belonged to the Ghost King.

…

Well, that was an eerie ending. Next time we're taking a break again from Latias so we can FINALLY see how Ash is doing down in the Hoenn region! Tune in next time for a chapter you won't want to miss! Oh, and just so you know, the Ghost King's voice and the one from the light are two different voices.

Oh, and I have a challenge for all you readers. As you may or may not know, it is customary in the Pokemon section to give little names to certain couples. This is called 'shipping'. For instance, Ash/Misty is Poke/Bike/Saka/Twerpshipping, Brock/Suzie is Breedershipping, Jessie/James is Rocketshipping, Mrs. Ketchum/Professor Oak is Eldershipping…get my drift?

Anyway, the challenge is for you to come up with shipping names for all the new and original couples I have introduced in this story and may introduce in the future. What do we call a Misdreavus/Umbreon? Or Latias/Giovanni, or Latias/Ghost King for that matter? Or how about Mewtwo/Gardevoir? Or any of the couples in this story? Be creative! The shipping name I like the most will become the official name for this couple (in this story at least.) Do your best and have fun! Include the names you come up with in a review, if you can.


	13. The Wandering Heroes

Okay, this chapter is the first of many including good old Ash, as well as precluding a major change in the direction of the plot. Hope you enjoy, and please don't be offended if you are especially fond of Team Rocket.

But first, who wants to see who won the shipping challenge? Here are the now-official names for the original couples seen so far in this story:

Mewtwo/Gardevoir: Lonelyshipping, by Alex Warlorn.

Misdreavus/Umbreon: Shadowshipping, by Ezna

Latias/Giovanni: Remembranceshipping by DiamondLatias3000

Latias/Ghost King: Mistshipping, by Ezna

And as a bonus, Kirlia/Mightyena: Showmanshipping, by DiamondLatias3000

Thanks to everyone for your submissions. Now for reviews:

StoryWeaver1, sorry I didn't use your name, but thanks anyway.

Glad you liked the ending, xSPiNx.

Ezna, would you believe I got the idea for Shadowshipping and Psyshipping before you did, but wanted to see what suggestions my fans had first? Talk about being on the same wavelength!

Geniusboy, thanks anyway for the names, even if they weren't winners. Latias/Ash already has a name though, it's Altoshipping. The idea of Brock/Gardevoir is hilarious because he'd run screaming when he saw her face and Mewtwo would probably murder him. The main problem with your Misty/Shedinja (aside from the fact that we all know who she'll really end up with) idea is, well, he's a bug. And Misty is an insectophobe, as we all know. And why would they want to kill May?

Alex, thanks for the tip on the comet. I'll go edit that part a little. Mewtwo allowed Latias to test Charm on himself, with varying degrees of success. I agree with you totally about Pearl and Diamond, do we really need ANOTHER hundred-plus species of Pokemon?! 386 are enough! Oy. And Gardevoir's master beat her, called her cruel names, and generally abused her. (No rape though, he had SOME limits.) More on the Ghost King and the Realm of Mists at a later date. Much later. Thanks for all the other general random information too. And which author said you were an idiot? I halfway agree with her, but since I ask lots of questions all the time I sympathize with you two. If you don't ask questions, who will? Oh, and I wasn't saying they don't need Jirachi anymore, but realistically they're gonna have to find their own way to power Firia if he's leaving right? And the guy in the second Zelda game was a _mummy_, and only half of one at that. And the meat was from a Skarmory shot out of the desert sky with an armor-piercing arrow, they're like vultures so they're everywhere in a desert.

Oh, and since you wanted to know, here's the definition of shipping:

Shipping (shi-PING). Suffix. Meaning to combine two conciousnesses in a relationSHIP of varying seriousness. Circa who-knows-when, fanfiction writers

Disclaimer: I own everything that's happened here after the events in Lavaridge Town in the anime, along with other ideas used here. You'll see what I mean. Oh, and for convenience's sake all Pokespeak will be written in English. Just pretend the humans can't hear them though, okay?

…

Today we join four…well, _five_ heroes as they continue their journey for greatness in the Hoenn region. This band of friends has been through a lot since we last checked up on them, so let's see how they're doing, okay?

First there was Brock. He was tall, dark skinned, spiky-haired, no eyed, and Mew's gift to women. (His words, not mine.) Brock hasn't really changed much since we last saw him, he still wants to be the world's best Pokemon breeder and he still goes gaga over nearly every pretty girl he sees. His weird Lotad evolved into a weird Lombre, and his Mudkip and Forretress are still about the same.

Then there was Max. He was short (due to his young age) with blue hair and glasses. He was the group's navigator. For a time that job had been ousted by Brock and Ash due to a tragic accident we'll go into later, but now he was once more in possession of the satellite-powered Pokenav device and on his way to becoming a gym leader. (Well, not really, but a kid's gotta dream right?) He also had no idea his best friend Jirachi had been awake for awhile now and was searching the countryside for him. Wonder what he'd do if he did know?

Then there was May. Max's big sister, she had blue eyes, brown hair, and a penchant for wearing red. She desired to be the world's greatest Pokemon coordinator. Unfortunately, due to an unfortunate incident that will be explained later, she's missed out on pretty much every contest in Hoenn and will have to wait until another year to try again. Her Torchic evolved into a Combusken, while her Beautifly is unchanged and her Skitty still has a brain and attention span the size of a fly. She did manage to get a Bulbasaur, though.

And then there's everyone's favorite future Pokemon master, Ash Ketchum. Black haired, russet eyed, and wearing a cool hat and jacket ensemble, he now had six badges and was en route for his seventh in Mossdeep City, which was sadly still many, many miles away from their current location. Due to all the unfortunate delays that have happened recently, he'll be lucky if he makes it to Ever Grande City in time to compete in the Hoenn League (assuming he gets the last two badges, of course). His Taillow and Treecko have evolved into Swellow and Grovyle, while Corphish is slowly learning how to behave better and his newest team member, Torkoal, was still learning that he didn't need to make Smokescreens every time he came out of his Pokeball.

And who could possibly forget Pikachu, the super-powerful yellow electric mouse sitting on Ash's shoulder? Ash's first Pokemon and best friend, Pikachu had stuck with Ash since the very beginning and planned to be there at the very end, whenever that might be. He's also kinda cute, isn't he? We all love Pikachu! He rocks! YAAAYYYY! (Ahem. Sorry.)

Now, I'm sure you're all wondering about the unfortunate incident I've been hinting at. After defeating Flannery of the Lavaridge Gym and capturing Torkoal, Ash and friends planned to head down to Petalburg for a rematch with Max and May's father Norman. Unfortunately, one night at dinner the ravenous Corphish accidentally devoured Max's Pokenav, leaving them in the wilderness without a guide.

Fortunately, Brock and Ash had years of experience of navigating thanks to all the time they've spent hiking up and down Kanto and Johto for badges, and were confident they could lead the group to Petalburg. So they set off and, more than a month and many wild and crazy adventures later, wound up in _Fortree City_ instead. Ouch.

Not to be deterred, Ash battled Winona for a badge while Brock tried unsuccessfully to flirt with her and May got a new Pokenav for Max, swearing she would never let Ash or Brock lead again as long as she lived. She also competed in a Pokemon contest and lost to her rival Drew, but that's not as important. Anyway, after winning a badge Ash and friends left Fortree, on the road for Petalburg once again. (And thanks to Max, it was the right one.)

However, on the way, something unexpected happened. When Ash called Professor Oak at a Pokemon Center on the way to Petalburg, he was surprised to see construction workers busy at work to fix the lab. The Professor soon showed up and explained to Ash that a few nights ago, Team Rocket's elite had invaded his lab and tried to steal his research and valuable Pokemon. Ash had been shocked at this, and even more shocked to hear that his mother had gotten caught in the crossfire. He had been relieved to find out she was okay though, and proud to hear his Pokemon had spearheaded the attack that drove the Rockets off.

Oak neglected to tell Ash about how the legendary birds went missing for a while, because Sloking had called him that morning and told him Lugia and his trio were back were they belonged, and saw no reason to mention it to the boy. He also didn't say anything about Latias or the mysterious Ghost King, because his prior trust in his indestructible security system had been broken and he was no longer sure that there wasn't anyone listening to his phone conversations. Someone who might be working for an unknown evil entity who would kill Ash if he knew who he was. What he did tell Ash was, in its own way, even worse than all that: his Pidgeot had been found in nearby Route 1, lying dead in a giant crater.

Ash was horrified at this, and immediately felt immensely guilty. Pidgeot had been one of his first Pokemon and a good friend, and although he had promised to visit her when he got the chance he never got around to it, despite numerous opportunities he had had whenever he had been in Pallet Town. Distressed by his friend's death and the fact that he had never even gotten to say goodbye, he sank into a deep funk, much like the one he had had when he learned his Butterfree, who had left him for love, was without a doubt dead. It turns out that male Butterfree didn't survive the mating process. But the difference between the two funks was that he had at least said farewell to Butterfree, but never really did with Pidgeot, he had had so many chances to check up on her but he had never taken any of them. And now she was dead, and he had not even seen her since he had left for the Orange Islands. And so Ash was sad.

His friends had tried to cheer him up, but all their efforts failed. Brock's brotherly words of wisdom, May's attempts at an uplifting dance routine with Beautifly, and even Max's hilarious rendition of a drunken Seedot were all for naught. And then, as if delivered from on high, Brock suddenly had a brilliant idea. When Ash had been in a funk over Butterfree's death, his old travelling companion and good friend Misty had been the one who finally pulled him out of it. In fact, whenever Ash had been truly down, whether it was from a humiliating defeat in battle or a particularly venomous insult from his rival Gary, Misty had been the one to make him feel better again. Maybe she could do so once more.

So Brock rang up the Gym in Cerulean City once they got to the nearest Pokemon Center and left Ash alone with her for over an hour. Although he had expected good results, he was surprised when Ash burst out, looking much better than he had been over the last week. He wasn't totally back to normal, and he still felt guilty about Pidgeot, but he was getting much closer to recovery. After they had a touching roadside memorial service for Pidgeot, the friends continued on their way to Petalburg.

However, a couple of things had changed. One thing is that whenever they got to a Pokemon Center, right after depositing his Pokemon to be healed Ash would head straight for a telephone and spend nearly an hour on the phone with Misty while Pikachu warded anyone off to keep them from listening in. What passed between the two friends over the phone was unknown to all but Pikachu, and whenever he was asked the energetic rodent ended up rolling on the floor in laughter, too amused by the secret he kept to tell anyone. Also, whenever the question of his phone conversations arose Ash's face turned Voltorb-red and he clamped up tighter than a Cloyster while Pikachu once more burst into hysterics. So, the topic was dropped…although Brock harbored his suspicions.

Another thing that happened was that Ash became determined not to let the mistake of neglect he had made with Pidgeot repeat itself. Whenever he finished with Misty, he immediately dialed up Oak's lab so he could spend some quality time talking to his Pokemon. He apologized for leaving them behind and introduced them to his new team (Bayleef seemed to especially take to Grovyle and Noctowl seemed most interested in Swellow, for some reason). He would have transferred as many of them over to Hoenn as he could to see them in person if it weren't for the fact that the Professor's Pokeball transporter was destroyed during the Rocket heist. The nearest one was in Viridian, and whenever Ash asked if the Professor could just take them there he would whine about how old he was and how he really shouldn't be travelling at his age until Ash just quit asking him. Whenever Tracey was asked, the young watcher immediately claimed he was too busy helping the workers fix up the lab and ran off…even after it was clear that the repairs had been completed weeks ago. Lazy asses. Oh well, he'd just have to wait for the replacement transporter to arrive before he could see his friends again.

Anyway, the heroes made it to Petalburg, beat Norman for a Balance Badge, and were now heading for Mossdeep so Ash could obtain his Mind Badge. The sun was shining, they were all in good spirits after eating a hearty breakfast made by Brock, and it seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

That's when the ground collapsed beneath them and they were dropped into a pit. "Muhahahaha!" laughed a pair of familiar voices.

The quintet groaned. "Not _again_…" Brock grumbled. Pikachu nodded his head in agreement, this had gotten old years ago.

A man and a woman appeared at the top of the pit. They were both wearing white uniforms with a big red R on their chest that had been crossed out and had black Xs over a blue circle with a gold ring around it scribbled underneath them. The man had longish blue hair and green eyes, while the woman had blue eyes and long gravity-defying curly red hair in desperate need of a cut and less gel. Each of them wore a strange metal glove and shoulder pad on their dominant arms. They both also were wearing yellow scarves and gray helmets with dark visors in an attempt to make themselves look cooler. As always, it failed.

"Prepare for trouble!" said the female.

"And make it double!" added the male.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

Max wailed and clutched his head. "Make it stop! Make it stop!" May hugged him sympathetically, unable to do anything else. The poor boy had been having horrible nightmares lately wherein their worst enemies and constant annoyances were saying their stupid motto over and over and over again _and they wouldn't stop_. Max woke up screaming and crying every time.

Ignoring Max, the duo continued. "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

They posed as a big X over a blue background with a gold edge appeared behind them. "Team Cipher, encrypting important communiqué at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight fight fight!"

Three Pokemon jumped out in front of them. "Meowth, that's right!" said a tan cat without a nose.

"Chimecho!" said a small white creature with red splotches, a long banner of sorts hanging from its body, and a small golden bell on top of its head.

"I hate you all," said a large blue blob with clenched eyes and a permanent scowl on his face. He was wearing a black jacket covered in chains and had black eyeliner outlining his eyes. Wobbuffet had recently become a Goth for no apparent reason and refused to do anything his trainer told him. What else is new?

By this time, the heroes had climbed out of the pit. "Can't you guys give us a break for just one day?" asked May.

"Yeah, we're really tired of this Team Scyther!" said Ash.

The group of villains facefaulted. "That's Team CIPHER!" Jessie yelled.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

The tale of the group formerly known as Team Rocket was a strange and entertaining one. After Ash's revitalization, the heroes had been approached by their nemeses who informed them that they were quitting. Apparently their boss Giovanni had been assassinated and they were resigning in protest and to fulfill their lifelong dream of opening a restaurant. At first the heroes had thought it was a trick, but when a week went by with no pitfalls, no balloons, and no retarded giant robots, they actually started to think they might be rid of Team Rocket forever.

Then they had returned with a 'new' motto, a 'new' wardrobe, and a 'new' team name. They had gotten bored of being straight and had more fun being evil anyway, so they signed on with the new Team Cipher. (That, and their restaurant had been closed down for breaking every health code in the book, so they needed a new source of income and Team Magma and Aqua were too stingy when it came to salaries (not to mention scarily fanatical), so Team Cipher was their best bet.) Aside from the snazzy new Snag Devices on their arms with which they could capture trained Pokemon with spare Pokeballs, they had also gotten to send their strongest Pokemon off for a multi-week training session at Cipher headquarters to make them stronger followed up by a mysterious process that would make them horrifically powerful. Something about Shadows or whatnot, they didn't really read the brochure thoroughly. Unfortunately, they couldn't use their nifty new Snag Devices because they had long ago sold all their spare Pokeballs for food. And because they had sent Cacnea, Seviper, and Dustox to be trained and transformed, all they had left were Chimecho, Meowth, and Wobbuffet. Chimecho (which James had caught one day by accident in the shower) was powerful but stupid, Meowth was a weakling, and Wobbuffet…was Wobbuffet. Yeah. So, their level of competence had actually managed to drop further into the negative numbers of the scale, causing them to humiliate themselves tremendously almost every time they showed up. In fact, Pikachu hadn't needed to blast them off for ages; they had done a good job of doing it to themselves instead.

Ash sighed. "So, what do you three have planned now? A rubber extendo-glove to grab Pikachu? The millionth incarnation of your vacuum cleaner? Another stupid giant robot?"

"No to all three!" said James.

"We've got an army!" proclaimed Meowth. The trio laughed evilly while Chimecho floated with a vacant smile on his face and Wobbuffet thoroughly hated everything.

May raised an eyebrow. "An army."

Jessie smirked. "Yes! After you sent us blasting off last time, we crash-landed in the middle of a group of innocent Pokemon who, after twelve hours of ruthless training, were transformed into an unstoppable army of evil!"

"Uh huh." Brock looked skeptical.

The Ciphers frowned. "What? You don't believe us?"

Ash sighed. "It's kind of hard to take you guys seriously after what you've done recently."

"What do you mean?" asked James, perplexed.

"Take this week alone for example," said Brock, cueing a flashback.

MONDAY

The heroes were walking down the path. Without warning, Team Cipher leaped out in front of them. "Haha!"

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it doub-" Suddenly, the ground caved in and they fell into a deep pit.

"Ow! James, I thought you and Meowth dug the pit further down the road!" whined Jessie.

"Sorry," said James sheepishly.

The heroes sweatdropped and quickly ran off before the villains could climb out.

TUESDAY

Ash wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Geez, it's hot as Charizard's tail flame out here!"

"Yeah!" Pikachu agreed, exhausted from the heat.

May moaned. "What I wouldn't do for a glass of cool lemonade right now…"

"Did somebody say lemonade?" The group looked to the side of the road and saw a classic lemonade stand, manned by a couple of scantily clad women. "We just happen to have some lemonade right here! And y'all can have it for free if you like!"

"Oh boy!" said Max. Too hot and thirsty to think this through, the group ran over to the lemonade stand…and a cage immediately dropped down from above, trapping them!

"Gotcha!" cried Meowth from the top of the cage.

"Oh no!" said May.

"This can only mean one thing…" growled Brock.

"That's right!" said the first woman. "So y'all had better prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!" added the second woman.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" Jessie threw off her disguise, revealing her uniform.

"James!" James threw off his uniform, revealing…_absolutely nothing!_

The heroes screamed. Jessie turned red. "JAMES, WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!"

He looked down and blushed. "I knew I was forgetting something…"

Brock stared. "Well, that explains a lot."

"Is it supposed to be that small?" asked Ash.

Meowth fell off the cage, howling with laughter. Max was silent, traumatized, while Pikachu was retching. May was furious. "NICE GOING! NOW WHENEVER I'M AROUND A HOT GUY I'LL SEE YOU NAKED IN MY HEAD! THANKS FOR RUINING MY CHANCES OF DATING FOREVER!"

James looked down, miserable. "Sorry…"

WEDNESDAY

It was very hot, and they had fallen for the lemonade scheme again. Jessie and James were wrapping up the motto, and the heroes (and Meowth) cringed, not sure what to expect.

"Jessie!" said Jessie, throwing off her disguise and revealing her uniform.

"James!" said James, throwing off his disguise and revealing…a bra and a pair of very frilly pink underwear.

They all stared. Jessie exploded. "JAMES, WHY ARE YOU WEARING MY UNDERWEAR?!"

James looked down and blushed. "Darn it, I knew I had forgotten something again!"

Meowth was howling with laughter again while the heroes stared in disbelief. Jessie looked like she was trying to keep herself from murdering her partner. "James, how many times have I told you to stay away from my underwear?" she said through gritted teeth.

"But Jessie, you know how much I like frilly things! I can't resist!" James whined.

Jessie lost the fight to control her temper. "JAMES, WOMEN'S UNDERWEAR IS FOR WOMEN, NOT FOR MEN!"

James burst into tears. "Why can't I wear whatever I want? You never let me have any fun!" He ran off, bawling.

Jessie growled. "James, come back here!" She ran after him, waving a mallet.

The heroes blinked. "They get weirder every day, huh Pikachu?" muttered Ash.

"Yeah," the mouse agreed.

THURSDAY

"Wahahaha! You can't beat us this time, twerps!"

The Ciphers were towering over the heroes in their latest weapon, a giant Tyranitar-shaped robot. "Our Tyranitron will crush you like little easily crushed grapes!" taunted Jessie.

"It's fireproof, shockproof, waterproof, psychic-proof, ice-proof, and pretty much everything else-proof!" said James happily.

"And it's got these nifty cupholders!" said Meowth, sipping from a huge cup of soda.

"How do we beat that thing?!" asked Max.

"We'll find a way…we always do!" said Ash.

"Not this time! Meowth, activate the grabber arm!" commanded Jessie

Pikachu groaned. This was the part he always hated. They would grab him in an electric-proof hand and let him shock himself silly trying to break out of it and the electric-proof cage they'd have waiting for him. They did it almost every single time, and he had grown to loathe it as much as he loathed the people who put him in the aforementioned cage. If he weren't a trained and civilized Pokemon, he would have electrocuted the three idiots to death years ago.

"Roger-eh?" said Meowth, pausing before he could press the grabber arm button. "Chimecho, what are you doing?"

"Chimecho…" said the chime Pokemon, drooling. He was looking at a large flashing red button on the control panel, labeled DO NOT PRESS in big glowing letters. It was soooo pretty…

"Chimecho, noooooo!" cried James.

"Chiiiiii!" Chimecho pushed the button.

KABOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!! The Tyranitron exploded, sending the Ciphers flying away.

"James, this is all your fault!" yelled Jessie.

"Me? Why is it my fault?" whined James.

Meowth whacked his head. "Because your Chimecho is so poorly trained, that's why!"

"Chimecho!" said Chimecho stupidly.

Wobbuffet popped out of his Pokeball. "I hate my life."

"Looks like we're blasting off agaaaaaiiiinnn!" they cried, vanishing in a twinkle of light.

The heroes sweatdropped. "Wow Pikachu, if this keeps up you may never have to zap anyone ever again," said Ash.

"What about all your opponents in Pokemon battles?" asked Brock.

Ash laughed. "Oh yeah, forgot about them!" The others facefaulted.

Pikachu laughed. "Silly Ash," he said jokingly.

…

The Ciphers were sweatdropping. "Well, I guess that is a good reason not to fear us…" James admitted.

"But that's all going to change!" claimed Jessie. She snapped her fingers, and over a dozen glowing red eyes appeared in the forest behind her. "Our army will trump you twerps any day! Not even all your Pokemon combined can beat them!"

"We'll see about that! Go, everybody!" said Ash, sending out all his Pokemon. A big red and black bird, a small red lobster, a tall green gecko with long leaves growing from his head, arms, and rear, and a small reddish turtle with a rocky shell materialized. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and ran in front of the others, ready to lead them into battle as usual.

"I'm ready to go!" cried Swellow, flapping his wings.

Corphish snapped his pincers at the trio. "Lemme at 'em! Lemme at 'em!"

Grovyle got into a fighting stance. "Come and get some."

Torkoal simply vented smoke from his nostrils while Pikachu started giving off sparks from his cheeks, indicating they were both ready to kick some ass.

"You guys come out too!" said Brock, throwing out his Pokeballs. Out came a grayish bug/rock thing with spokes sticking out of its sides, a small blue amphibian with a tall fin on her head and spikes growing from her cheeks, and a humanoid green thing with a beak, claws, and a sombrero that looked kind of like a lily pad.

"I'm ready!" proclaimed Forretress.

Lombre took off his hat and bowed in Jessie's direction. "Hola, senorita!"

"She's not a senorita, she's evil!" said Mudkip.

"Si, this is true," Lombre admitted, putting his hat back on.

"And don't forget us!" said May, sending out her Pokemon. A yellow and red bipedal chicken, a gray butterfly with gorgeous wings, a blue-gray frog thing with a bulb on her back, and a small pink and tan kitten appeared.

"Hi!" cried Beautifly, flapping her wings and spreading sparkling powder everywhere.

Combusken punched the air, showing off her muscles. "Who wants some?!"

Bulbasaur panicked. "Are we about to fight?! Oh, I'm scared of battles!" She had never really been good in any fights before encountering May. She had been a gift to the girl from a failed coordinator who was tired of losing contests in the hopes that she would do well in another trainer's hands.

Skitty was about to say something, but suddenly noticed her wagging tail, squealed with joy, and started chasing it in circles.

Pikachu's cheeks crackled with electricity. "Okay, bring on your army!"

"You heard him!" said Meowth.

"Actually, no, I don't understand Pikachu-speak. What did he say?" asked James.

His teammates facefaulted. "He said bring on the army!" Meowth yelled.

"Oh, okay then!" He brandished a rose at the large group of humans and Pokemon. "Go! For the glory of Team Cipher!"

With a surprisingly shrill and high-pitched cry, the army ran out of their hiding places and into the light. The heroes stared at them in disbelief.

They were wearing armored combat helmets with visors and the Cipher mark on their foreheads. They had a plastic arm shield mounted on their left arms and held a small bazooka in their right. Each of them was small, pink, round, and were only about a foot tall.

They were Igglybuff.

There was a long, long silence as the heroes and Igglybuff stared each other down. Then the good guys broke down and started laughing hysterically. The girls on the other hand, had another reaction. "They're so CUUUUTE!" May screamed with sparkling eyes. Her Pokemon agreed with her. She instantly ran over to an Igglybuff, picked it up, and started hugging it, causing the little Balloon Pokemon to giggle happily. Skitty had lost interest in her tail and was now pushing one of the Igglybuff around like a ball. Beautifly and Mudkip were cooing over the little things, going on about how adorable they were. Bulbasaur, realizing the little Pokemon were pretty much harmless, started playing with them. Even Combusken had dropped her tough fighter's façade and was hugging as many of the little things as she could at a time.

"No! Stop! You're not supposed to be playing with them!" Jessie yelled at the pink ball Pokemon, who were having too much fun to pay attention to her. "Start blasting them already! They're laughing on the ground helplessly! Pikachu is unguarded! Go get it!" The Balloons ignored her, favoring the adoration poured on them by May and the other girls instead. "Gah! Why isn't she laughing with the others?!"

James pouted. "I told you this was a bad idea. Putting those cute little helmets and combat gear on them made their adorability skyrocket and appealed to her 'Awww! How cute!' senses. We should have tried that bunch of Nuzleaf instead."

Meowth shook his head. "They wouldn't listen to a thing we said. The Igglybuff were the best we could get. I knew relying solely on the twerp's sense of humor to incapacitate them was a stupid plan!"

At that moment, the Igglybuff Skitty had been pushing around rolled to a stop at Team Cipher's feet, bazooka pointed right at their faces. They panicked. "No, don't-"

She accidentally pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

"Looks like Team Cipher's blasting off agaaaaaiiiin!" they chorused.

"Chimecho!" said Chimecho happily.

"I wish I were deeeaaaad!" shouted Wobbuffet as they all flew off into the horizon, vanishing in a twinkle of light.

…

After the boys finally stopped laughing, they pulled the armor and weapons off the Igglybuff and melted them down with Combusken and Torkoal's Flamethrower. Soon all the Igglybuff were running around happily, playing with the trained Pokemon, while the humans watched. May was still cuddling the Igglybuff she had picked up earlier. "You are sooooo cute!" she said happily, nuzzling the balloon's cheek. Igglybuff giggled happily. May pulled out a Pokeball. "I think I'll catch you!"

"Ah, I don't think that's a good idea May," said Brock.

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, Igglybuff are baby Pokemon, and as such it's odd that a whole group of them would be out in the wild unsupervised. Their mother is probably looking for them right now," Brock explained.

As if on cue, the bushes rustled and a large fat pink and white blob with bunny ears and blue eyes waddled onto the path. "Children? Where are you?" she called.

"Mommy!" The Igglybuff all stopped what they were doing and ran over to their mother, hugging her.

"Where have you all been?" she scolded them. "I've been spending all night and day looking for you!" She smacked them. "No more running off again, you hear?"

"Yes mommy!" they all chorused.

May ran over to the Wigglytuff and got on her knees. "Please ma'am, _please_ can I have one of your children?" she begged. The Balloon Pokemon scowled, but May pressed on. "I promise I'll feed her and take good care of her and help her win Pokemon contests-"

"Did you say Pokemon contests?!" Wigglytuff got a dreamy look on her face. "When I was a little Igglybuff, I always wanted to compete in Pokemon contests and win ribbons, but my mother wouldn't let me get captured by a trainer because she was afraid I would be abused." She frowned and looked at Beautifly. "Would she hurt one of my babies?"

The butterfly shook her head. "No ma'am!"

"May's not the best trainer fighting-wise, but she has a passion for coordinating. If you want your daughter to win contests, she's the best trainer you could ask for!" bragged Combusken.

Wigglytuff picked up the Igglybuff that May had been hugging earlier and shoved it into her arms. "This one's always wanted to travel and compete in Pokemon contests, just like I did. I'm too old now, but maybe together the two of you can fulfill my old dream."

May had no idea what Wigglytuff just said, but essentially understood that she had just been given a new Pokemon! "Yeah!" she cried, boosting Igglybuff into the air. "We've got a new friend!"

"Yaaayyyy!" said the Igglybuff.

…

After saying farewell to Wigglytuff and her children, our heroes continued on their way to Mossdeep City and Ash's next gym battle, with one more friend to add to the team!

TO BE CONTINUED…

Okay, weird chapter yes, and kind of an abrupt ending, but I promise more action next time. Seriously! This was just for humor after the strange ordeals and seriousness we've had in the last several chapters. Please review! Oh, and if anyone spotted any new couple possibilities in this chapter, don't hesitate to enter ideas for them. The challenge will continue for as long as this story does!


	14. Team Cipher strikes back pt 1

Okay, I'm glad you all loved the comedy chapter so much. If only this one were as funny…oh, and the official names for the couples I hinted at last chapter are now 'Leafshipping' and 'Beakshipping.' Thanks Story Weaver1!

Geniusboy, it's all right, nobody cares if shipping was pronounced wrong in your definition. And your Misty/Shedinja team-up is funny but for two things. First, I don't think Misty hates May. She may have initially for taking her place, but they seemed to get along when they first met (unless Misty was hiding her true loathing or something.) Second, Misty's seen a Shedinja before. And even if she hadn't, she'd know it's a Bug-type. She's not that stupid. Then again, I suppose that's why the idea itself is so funny!

Emotionally endeared, Alex? Aww, how sweet! I was hoping you liked me! (Or the story) And I am aware of the mummy-to-zombie thing, let's forget about it. Does May desire Ash? I haven't seen anything (or maybe I'm not looking hard enough or just don't want to see it) but I'd like to think there's nothing like that between them. And if there was, I thought she might have become more interested in Drew anyway…And I hear Ash might catch a Swalot (Or not) but I have my own idea for his sixth Pokemon here… And his friends didn't know about the Butterfree thing either, it's not widely known, he only found out by looking in the Pokedex one day. I honestly don't know what I was thinking by making Wobbuffet a Goth…I thought that it was funny at the time. Igglybuff do know Sing, but to quote the Pokedex, Igglybuff can't sing very much because its vocal cords will expand too rapidly and it'll explode. At least, that's what Ezna said.

By the way Alex, a couple of questions: One, what do you think Pokemon food and normal food is made of? Two, why do so many people hate Togepi? Ash is hated because they think he's a cocky overconfident brat, Brock because they think he's a bit of a lecher, Misty because they think she's a loudmouthed bitch (Their words, not mine! I love Misty!) And so on, but why do they hate poor, sweet innocent little Togepi? Is it because taking care of her caused Misty's attitude to change a little due to her constant need to nurture the poor thing? If so, tough, because that's part of what parenting is all about. So like I said, what do you think?

And one more thing: Kudos to Ezna for being my 100th reviewer! As a prize, you get a Mystery Egg! What's inside? Even I don't know! Hatch it and find out for yourself!

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything in this chapter other than Team Cipher's lame new motto. Like last time, Pokespeak will be in English, though you readers are the only ones who'll really understand it.

…

After their 'harrowing' battle against Team Cipher and May's 'capture' of Igglybuff, our heroes reached one of the numerous towns throughout the Hoenn region between them and Mossdeep City. As always, they headed for the Pokemon Center to check in for the night, since it was getting late and May was whining about how she wanted to sleep indoors for once and have a shower. (Despite the fact that they had done just that the night before.) And as always, Brock immediately rushed over to the Center's front desk, terrifying a dozen years off of poor Nurse Joy's life with his usual routine. "Ah, Nurse Joy! My days have been dark and lonely without the light from your beautiful, radiant face!"

Max jumped up, grabbed Brock's ear, and started dragging him off, muttering "Maybe they'd be less dark and lonely if you opened your eyes for once."

Nurse Joy blinked in surprise when she saw Ash and May, (along with Max, who was struggling to keep Brock restrained.) "Oh my. Are you Ash Ketchum, Brock Slate, and May and Max Maple?"

Brock's eyes turned to hearts. "SHE KNOWS MY NAME!" He wrenched his ear from Max's iron grip and started racing back to the desk, scaring another dozen years off poor Joy's lifespan.

Ash immediately stuck out a foot, causing Brock to trip and fall onto the floor face-first, cracking it. "Ow…" he moaned.

"Um…why do you want to know?" asked May.

"I have messages for all four of you. First, this is for you Ash." She handed Ash a Pokeball.

Pikachu sniffed it. His ears shot up. "Hey, I know who's in here!"

"Professor Oak finally got a new Pokeball teleporter and sent this ball over after checking to see which town Pokemon Center you were most likely to come to today. He said the Pokemon was very enthusiastic to see you, so thought it should get the first chance to do so out of all the others," Joy explained.

"Huh!" said Ash, surprised.

"Open it up, let's see what's inside!" said Max eagerly.

Ash shrugged and popped open the red and white sphere. A bolt of white light shot out and coalesced into a small blue elephant with red stripes on its nose and ears. It blinked and noticed Ash. "DADDY!" The elephant immediately tackled Ash, knocking him over and started thumping him on the head with his trunk repeatedly while chanting, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy…"

"Oh my! Your Phanphy seems to be very happy to see you!" said Nurse Joy.

"Phanphy?" May took out her Pokedex and pointed it at Phanphy. "Phanphy: The Long Nose Pokemon," said an emotionless feminine voice as Phanphy continued to whack Ash affectionately. "Phanphy is powerful enough to knock over trees and smash boulders with its trunk, but usually does not know its own strength."

"You can-ow-say that-ow-again," Ash said, wincing as Phanphy's trunk hit him again.

Pikachu hopped over to Phanphy to assist his trainer. "Phanphy, I know you're happy to see Ash, but could you please stop hitting him?"

Phanphy blinked and turned to Pikachu. Then he got all happy again. "Uncle Brother Pikachu!" He tackled the startled mouse and started thumping him on the head too. Phanphy, like his elder sister Togepi, referred to Pikachu as their 'Uncle Brother' because he was close enough to Ash to be his brother, making him an uncle, and acted as a big brother for the both of them, hence the second part of the name.

Pikachu gritted his teeth and reflexively let loose a Thunderbolt, but being a Ground-type and no longer fresh from the egg Phanphy didn't notice. Then Brock moaned and started to get up, catching Phanphy's attention. "Lusty Uncle Brock!" he cried, tackling the older and unprepared trainer and showering him with little love taps from his trunk.

"Ow! Ow! My Nurse Joy, save me!" Brock cried.

The nurse sweatdropped. "Um, I think I'll stay out of this."

"Wow, who'd have thought a little guy like him could be so strong?" asked May, examining the bruises already forming on Pikachu and Ash's heads. She was already thinking up what she could do with her coordinating routine with a cute powerhouse like Phanphy in the act. Maybe she should try and catch one.

Phanphy heard her and stopped pummeling Brock. "Mom-" He stopped in mid-charge. "Wait…you're not Mommy!" he said angrily. He glared at Max. "And you're too big and ugly to be Big Sister Togepi!"

Without warning, Skitty suddenly popped out of her Pokeball in May's fanny pack, appearing before Phanphy. "Hiiiiii!" she said cheerfully.

"And you're not Idiot Brother Psyduck!" said Phanphy furiously. "I've seen people like you on Grandma Delia's television shows, you're trying to steal Daddy from Mommy and us!" He charged at Skitty with a Take Down. Thinking it was just a game, Skitty giggled and rammed into him with a Tackle, causing both of them to get knocked back by the impact.

"Aww, how cute! They're playing!" May cooed.

Max adjusted his glasses as Phanphy tried to ram Skitty into a wall, but she slapped him with her tail and ran off giggling. "Um, I don't think they're playing."

Ash quickly grabbed Phanphy and held him off the ground before he could attack Skitty again. "Phanphy stop, she's our friend!"

"Let me at them! They're trying to steal you!" Phanphy growled, trying to pull himself from his 'father's' hands.

Pikachu ran over and quickly tried to calm Phanphy down. "Little Brother, stop! They're not trying to steal Ash!"

Phanphy blinked and stopped struggling. "They're not?"

"No! Ash-er, Daddy still loves Misty-uh, Mommy very much and calls her every chance he gets to tell her that. May and Max and Skitty are just friends. JUST friends," he said emphatically.

"Oh…okay!" said Phanphy, calming down.

Seeing the little elephant was okay now, Ash put Phanphy down, and he immediately rubbed against Ash's leg, wanting to go up again. Ash chuckled and picked Phanphy back up. "Nice going Pikachu, not sure exactly what you said but it worked." He frowned, trying to match the words in Pika-speak he had learned over the years with what Pikachu had told Phanphy. "Did you say something about Misty?"

"What about Misty?" asked Brock, coming over.

"Oh, uh…I was just saying how misty the weather's been!" Ash said quickly.

Confused, Brock looked outside, where the sun was shining brightly. "No it's not."

"Well what do you know!" Ash said loudly, laughing nervously.

"Excuse me?" said Nurse Joy, getting everyone's attention. "I said I have messages for _all_ of you, not just Ash!"

"Would it happen to be from a secret admirer?" May asked blushing.

"No."

"Oh," she said disappointed.

"Is it my dad, sending me my first Pokemon?" asked Max eagerly. "Oh, I hope it's not a Slakoth…"

"No…" said Joy.

Brock shoved Max out of the way and grabbed the nurse's hands. "Are you telling me you finally want to stop playing these games and admit your eternal and undying love for me?" he asked hopefully.

Before Max could grab Brock's ear, Joy's assistant Chansey saved the terrified nurse. The egg Pokemon grabbed Brock by the collar, pulled him down to her level, slapped him vigorously, and tossed him away, all with a smile on her face. "Um, no," said Joy, thinking to herself that the sooner these people were gone the better. A serious expression formed on her face. "Max, May, Brock…I regret to inform you that your fathers are in the hospital!"

This caught everyone's attention. Brock snapped out of his usual love trance in shock. "WHAT?!" Max, May and Brock cried at the same time.

Joy looked down. "At approximately ten o' clock this morning, Flint Slate was admitted into the Pewter City hospital. Less than an hour after that, Norman Maple was admitted into the Petalburg City hospital. Both of them show similar symptoms: they are comatose, with virtually no heartbeat or breath, yet seem to be hanging on firmly to life. Neither shows any signs of injuries or wounds of any kind, they simply froze where they were and fell into comas. It is unknown why these two men have the same affliction, but what is known is that both of you are needed home by your families immediately. There's a helicopter waiting to transport you to the nearest port, and ferries have been arranged to take you back to Petalburg and Pewter right away."

There was a stunned silence as the three most affected by Nurse Joy's message stared at her in disbelief. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" said Ash unexpectedly.

The others looked at him in surprise. "Ash?" asked Brock.

He frowned. "Hey, you guys practically dropped everything going for you at your homes to come with me on my journey. It's only fair if I return the favor. Family is more important than badges any day, and I know that if my mom were in the hospital you'd come to help me out right?" He grinned and gave them a thumb's up. "Maybe it's time for me to be the tagalong and moral support for once."

Brock was stunned that Ash was so willing to quit his journey to help them out. "Are you sure about this Ash? You might miss your chance to enter the Hoenn League."

He shrugged. "Like I said, family is more important! Besides, if I stayed here I'd be kind of lonely. Pikachu and all my other Pokemon are great, but it's not the same as having a human companion beside you, you know?"

A smile came onto May's face. "Thanks Ash."

"Are all of you coming, then?" asked Nurse Joy. They nodded. "All right! Follow me!"

The nurse and her Chansey led the heroes out through the Center's back entrance, out to a yard where a helicopter was waiting. The pilot was reading a magazine, but when she saw the people running towards her she put down the magazine and began the chopper's start-up procedure. Brock's girl-senses went off, alerting him to the pilot's gender, and he started running faster towards the helicopter, hearts trailing behind him.

Suddenly, several small orbs fell from the sky and exploded in front of them, startling them and bringing them to a stop. Surprised, the helicopter pilot almost broke a lever off in her hands. "Oh my! What's going on?" asked Joy.

The heroes groaned in unison when they heard an all-too familiar laugh and a Meowth-shaped hot air balloon lowered from the sky.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it-"

"You guys already said the motto today!" Ash snapped.

"Hey, our contracts with Toei state we have to do it whenever we make a big appearance, so there! No interrupting!" snarled Jessie. "As I was saying: To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite-" started James.

"Look, we don't have time for this!" said Brock. "My father and May and Max's father are in the hospital!"

"If you found out something bad happened to your parents in the middle of a fight, we'd let you go! Why can't you do the same for us?" asked May.

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Because we're evil."

"Duh!" added James.

"And besides, my parents are dead," Jessie mentioned.

"And mine would probably just be faking an injury to force me to come back and get married to my awful fiancée Jessiebelle," said James. "Though I am somewhat sorry to hear about your parents. I'll send them get-well cards later."

"And my parents…" Meowth paused. "Hey, I don't even know my parents! I'M AN ORPHAN!" He burst into tears.

Jessie whacked him with a fan. "Be quiet! Now, on with the motto! Ahem: To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend-HEY! They're getting away!" cried James.

And so they were. The heroes were making a break for the helicopter while the ruffians were reciting their rancid motto. "Oh no they don't! Go!" Jessie tossed out a pair of Pokeballs.

They popped open and sent out two Pokemon, which materialized in front of the heroes' path. They were a light purple moth with green wings and a big dark snake with purple stripes and gold plates, a barbed tail, and red fangs. And something was wrong with their eyes…

"BLOOD!" yelled Dustox.

"DEATH!" hissed Seviper.

The heroes stopped in their tracks. Pikachu, Phanphy, and Skitty all felt uneasy. Something seemed terribly, horribly wrong with the evil Pokemon. Skitty yelped and pawed at May's fanny pack, pulling out her Pokeball and locking herself back inside. Phanphy whimpered and hid behind Ash's leg. Pikachu growled and started emitting sparks. He wasn't a Psychic-type, but he was still in tune with nature enough to know that something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" asked Ash, worried. He had no supernatural senses, but after all the wild and crazy adventures he's had it was unsurprising that he felt something was wrong too.

"Didn't you three send Dustox and Seviper away?" asked Brock.

"Yes, but we just got them back after we went blasting off! They finished their training and went through the Shadow Pokemon process with flying colors!" said James happily.

"Now they're one hundred percent pure evil, totally obedient, and stronger than ever before!" said Jessie.

"And all we had to do was have some scientist guys close the doors to their hearts or something like that," said Meowth.

Joy gasped. "That's horrible! If you close the door to a Pokemon's heart, it becomes filled with rage and turns into an unstoppable fighting machine!"

"How do you know that?" asked Max, impressed.

"I'm a nurse, it's my job to know all I can about what might affect a Pokemon's physical or mental health," she explained.

"Nurse Joy knows everything!" said Brock dreamily.

"The nurse is right, Dustox and Seviper are more powerful than ever and with Cacnea by their side, along with all our other Pokemon, Team Cipher will be unstoppable!" James said. "Go, Cacnea!"

A small green ball-shaped Pokemon covered in spikes with a shock of yellow hair, stubby legs, long arms, and holes drilled in its face for eyes and a mouth appeared. Cacnea emitted so much malice and hatred that even the helicopter pilot, safe in her cockpit, shivered from fear. "Murder…" Cacnea purred, perched on the rim of the Meowth balloon's basket.

James laughed and pointed towards the heroes. "Now Cacnea, show them how powerful you and the others have become! Get that Pikachu!" Cacnea didn't budge. James blinked. "Cacnea?" The cactus slowly turned around and looked James in the eyes. He took a step back, frightened by the anger in his Pokemon's eyes.

"Murder…" Without warning, Cacnea pounced at James, knocking him to the floor. He screamed as she started pummeling him over and over again, smashing her spiky fists into his face and drawing blood. Everyone else watched in horror.

"Cacnea, stop!" cried Jessie. Cacnea ignored her and kept beating James. "I said STOP!" Cacnea paused and narrowed her eyes at Jessie. She backed away to the edge of the basket in fright. "Th-that is, if you want to, do whatever you want…" Cacnea stayed frozen on James' chest for several seconds. Then she hopped off, leaving her trainer alone. Jessie helped her partner up. "James, are you all right?"

He shook himself from her grip, staggering to the edge of the basket. "Huh? Oh, I'll be all right. Getting shocked by Pikachu every day hurts worse than that," he said reassuringly, wiping blood from his face.

Cacnea pointed at James. "Murder. Murder murder. Murder murder murder."

"What's it saying?" asked Jessie.

Meowth shrugged. "I dunno, just sounds like a lot of 'murdars' to me."

"It's saying that if I want it to do something I'd better ask politely or not at all," said James.

"How do you know that?" asked Jessie.

James pulled out a small booklet. "It says so in the pamphlet we got when they sent us our Pokemon. Apparently there was a glitch when they performed the Process on it so it's permanently stuck in something called 'Hyper Mode' causing it to have some element of free will left and will beat to death anyone who doesn't treat it with proper respect."

Jessie's eye twitched. "Then why didn't you _ask_ Cacnea to get Pikachu instead of commanding it?"

James shrugged. "I forgot." That earned him a whack from Jessie's mallet.

"Daddy, Uncle Brother Pikachu, I'm scared," Phanphy whimpered.

Ash seemed to pick up on Phanphy's fright. "Don't worry Phanphy, we're not going to let anything bad happen, right Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded in agreement.

James had recovered from the mallet attack and was pointing towards the heroes. "Okay Cacnea, _please_ help your teammates capture Pikachu!"

"Murder!" Now willingly compliant, Cacnea hopped out of the basket, landing next to Seviper and Dustox.

Ash pulled out his Pokeballs. "Guys, get to the helicopter. I'll hold them off."

"What?!" cried Max.

"You can't! We'll stay and help!" said May.

"No!" insisted Ash. "Your fathers need you. Getting to see them is what's important now. Pikachu and I'll handle these guys!"

"I don't know…" said Brock uneasily.

Ash winked. "Hey, if I can survive nearly drowning several times, electrocution, burning, and a heck of a lot of other near-death experiences, one more can't hurt right?" He nodded. "Don't worry. I'll be all okay."

"…Okay," Brock said finally.

"What?!" May protested. "You can't be serious!"

"…Ash'll be fine. Come on." Brock and the others started running towards the helicopter as Ash released all his Pokemon, who looked uncomfortable at the sight of the three evil Shadow Pokemon.

"What's wrong with them? They look all weird…" muttered Swellow.

"They've been turned into Shadow Pokemon, whatever those are. They're stronger than ever and meaner too. Cacnea practically beat James to death. Be careful," cautioned Pikachu.

Corphish laughed. "Ha! I eat cacti for breakfast!"

"Along with everything else," said Grovyle, chewing on his twig.

"Hey, I heard that!"

Torkoal shook his head, chuckling at the lobster's antics.

Jessie scowled. "Hey, no fair using all your Pokemon at once!"

"You do it all the time," Ash pointed out.

"…Oh yeah, good point! James, send out Chimecho and I'll use Wobbuffet! Then we'll clobber him for a team victory!" Jessie said.

"Um, all right," said James, uncertain that this was a good idea. He threw out Chimecho, who happily wrapped his tail around James' head. "No Chimecho, get them, not me!"

"Chimecho!" The chime Pokemon happily floated down to the battlefield, not seeming to notice the Shadow Pokemon at all.

"You go too, Wobbuffet!"

Wobbuffet popped out next to Cacnea, who growled at him. "Bite me bitch," he grumbled. Furious, Cacnea tried to punch him but was repelled by the Goth blob's Counter attack. She was about to attack again when James called out for her to please stop fighting her teammate. Reluctantly, the cactus stood down.

Meowth hopped out of the basket and landed next to the other Pokemon. "I'll join too! I've been training and I've got a few new tricks I want to try out!"

Trembling a little, Phanphy stepped forward. "I-I guess I'll fight too. It w-won't be fair if it's not even, right?"

Ash and Pikachu both looked concerned. "Are you sure you want to do this, Phanphy? You don't have to fight if you're afraid," said Ash.

Phanphy shook his head. "No! I have to do this! I won't let you down, daddy!"

Meowth sneered. "Awwww, how touching, the little baby elephant doesn't want to let his daddy down," he said sarcastically. Ash blushed at this. "You'll be letting a lot more than your father down when we're through with you, kid!"

"Blood!"

"Death!"

"Murder!"

"Chimecho!"

"Whatever."

"Ha!" said Grovyle around the twig in his mouth. "We've never lost a fight to you guys before, and we won't start now!"

"Yeah!" agreed Swellow.

"I'm gonna rip you apart!" threatened Corphish, clacking his pincers.

"We won't lose," promised Torkoal.

"Everyone's counting on me. I'm not gonna let you guys down!" said Phanphy.

Pikachu grinned, sparks flying from his cheeks. "You guys ready for a butt-whooping?"

"Always! Wait, that didn't sound right…" muttered Meowth.

"Get them!" cried Jessie.

"Please!" James added before Cacnea could rebel and kill them all.

"Let's go guys! We're not gonna lose!" said Ash.

Both teams of Pokemon charged at each other as the battle joined.

…

Suspenseful, huh? I added Phanphy because I like the idea of him thinking of Ash as his father. You can thank Mr. Warlorn for that idea. Okay, tune in next time for the big battle between the heroes versus the pumped-up Shadow Pokemon! (And the losers like Meowth, Wobbuffet and Chimecho.) Please review!


	15. Team Cipher strikes back pt 2

Seemed to be a lot of varied responses for the last chapter. Hmmph. I didn't know you all would feel so strongly about the Shadow Pokemon thing. Let's see if I can't clear that up.

Alex, I do _not_ agree with you about a May/Misty war. There are too many of those on the site already, and almost all of them result in one or the other getting bashed horribly. I'm surprised you'd even suggest such a thing, after all that stuff you said in 'If you Hate Me, why did you make me? Pain!' And Wobbuffet will stay a Goth for just a little while longer. I don't know how to capture his true personality, what do you suggest? Jigglypuff might appear later. I agree with you on the food, I'm just wondering how they can treat most Pokemon like they're at least somewhat equal while killing others for food at the same time. What do you have planned for Brock's love life? I don't know May's last name, read it was Maple somewhere, so I thought I'd use it. Do you know what it really is? Phanphy calls Pikachu Uncle Brother because 1. Pikachu and Ash are close enough to be brothers, hence the name uncle, and 2. He's like an elder sibling and calls Phanphy Little Brother, hence the brother part of the title. Jessie was referring to her contract with the series, not Cipher. They often break the fourth wall with their antics, don't they? The brochure on the Shadow Pokemon process played it down as being like an all-expenses paid trip to a luxury spa, so they had no idea they were sending off their Pokemon to be tortured. And besides, since they've been given a chance to pull themselves out of debt and have revenge on Ash and Pikachu, would they really care as much about their Pokemon's conditions than on winning? Only Cacnea's in Hyper Mode, the other two just can't say anything other than 'blood' or 'death.' And since I didn't know about the policy, I will ignore it for these three. I can't go back and have either of those three Pokemon not get sent away, can I? It will ruin the last couple of chapters in which Team Cipher has appeared. Chimecho is only capable of saying his name (which means nothing in Pokespeak) because he's too dumb to say anything else. And I've never been good with accents, so you'll have to picture Meowth talking the way he usually does.

Don't be so sure, Super Hurricane. When held by trainers other than the player in Coliseum, Shadow Pokemon could use their other moves couldn't they? And Ein doesn't even know Pikachu or the trio exists, they're that far down the food chain. He's not as hands-on as Gio, so he lets others handle them.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this chapter belongs to me.

…

Ash yelled out commands to his Pokemon as the helicopter containing his friends took off and started flying away. "Pikachu, Grovyle, you two handle Seviper! Phanphy, you fight Meowth! Corphish, Torkoal, take out Cacnea! Swellow, can you handle Dustox?"

"I can beat that bug any day!" said Swellow.

"Okay then, let's take down some Ciphers!" said Ash.

"Hey, what about Chimecho and Wobbuffet?" James asked.

"Chimecho's so brainless it keeps messing up its own attacks, and Wobbuffet can't attack at all so he's harmless as long as everybody ignores him," Ash explained.

"Screw you," growled Wobbuffet.

James scowled. "That's not true! Chimecho, prove the twerp wrong with your ShockWave!"

"Chi?" Chimecho looked at his master in confusion.

"Use Shock Wave!" Chimecho stared blankly. "Shock Wave! SHOCK WAVE!"

"Chiiii!" Chimecho said, seeming to finally understand. He turned to the fiercely fighting Pokemon, tensed up, and…growled.

James groaned. "Why do I always have bad luck with my Pokemon? The only one who never hurt me was Weezing, and now he's gone." He burst into tears. "Why Weezing?! Why did you abandon me?!"

"James, you let Weezing go, remember?" said Jessie.

"…Oh right, I forgot." If Ash had heard that Weezing had been freed willingly, Team Cipher may have risen in his eyes, but he didn't because he was busy handling the psycho Cacnea. Too bad.

Back with the fighters…

Meowth cackled evilly. "You'll be the first one to experience my new attack, kid! Take this! PAYDAY!" He pulled the gold charm off his forehead and threw it at Phanphy ninja-style.

It bounced harmlessly off his head and fell to the ground. Phanphy blinked. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

Meowth sweatdropped. "Oh yeah, Payday only works if you actually have money in your wallet to toss, and I'm dirt broke."

"Phanphy, use Fury Attack!" cried Ash.

"This is for tricking me to capture Uncle Brother Pikachu, locking me in a cage and not feeding me the day I was hatched!" Phanphy cried, charging at Meowth. He smacked the cat around furiously with his trunk before flinging him into the air.

"Looks like I'm blasting off alo-" Meowth hit the transformer on a nearby telephone pole and got electrocuted painfully. "Or not," he said, hacking out smoke.

Meanwhile, Pikachu and Grovyle were tackling Seviper. "Seviper, use your new Sludge Bomb attack!" commanded Jessie.

"Death!" The Fang Snake started spitting black pellets of poison at the swift duo. Pikachu and Grovyle used their Agility to dash out of the way of the venomous projectiles.

Pikachu glanced over at his trainer and saw Ash was directing Torkoal and Corphish against Cacnea. The psychotic cactus seemed to be the biggest threat at the moment, so Ash had to focus on her first and foremost. That left Pikachu and Grovyle on their own…but since they were the quickest and strongest on the team, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "Grovyle, let's do one of those Quick Attack combos we've been working on!"

"You mean the X-Strike?" asked Grovyle.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "If you want to rip off the names of RPG combo techniques, then yes."

"Right! Let's do this!" The duo hopped away from each other, each facing the serpent at an angle.

Jessie looked at them in confusion. "What are they doing?"

"Now! X-Strike!" cried out Grovyle. They shot at Seviper with Quick Attacks, leaving trails of white light behind them as they crossed paths, striking the snake and dashing away, causing the light patterns to form a big X with Seviper in the middle.

Seviper shook his head in pain and hissed. "DEATH!"

Jessie laughed. "That might have taken out the old Seviper, but the new and improved one is more than powerful enough to handle that! Use Haze!"

Seviper spat out a cloud of black haze, fogging up the battlefield and concealing himself. Ash glanced over and saw the cloud. "Grovyle, spit your Bullet Seeds out in a wide radius to find Seviper! Pikachu, fire a Thunder attack at the haze from above to hit Seviper once Grovyle's revealed him!"

Pikachu fell backwards and used his tail as a springboard to launch himself over the haze as Grovyle spat dozens of glowing seeds machine-gun style into the haze. A grunt of pain emanated somewhere from within. Pikachu clenched up his muscles and fired a powerful bolt of Thunder into the haze where he had heard Seviper's exclamation of pain. A howl emanating from within the cloud seemed to indicate a direct hit. "Yeah, we did it!" Pikachu said as he landed. The haze faded away, revealing Seviper with a pained expression on his face as he crackled with electricity, indicating he was paralyzed.

Suddenly, Seviper's skin started cracking. It split down the middle and slid off him as a whole, taking the electric current with it, revealing a fresh, somewhat less damaged serpent. "Huh?! No way!"

Jessie laughed. "Seviper's Shed Skin special ability has a chance of recovering him from a status effect like paralysis, and that chance has been increased thanks to all the training he's gotten! Now Seviper, show them how strong your Poison Tail has gotten!"

"Death!" Seviper struck out at the duo with a glowing purple tail. It struck the ground as they dodged it, cracking the earth deeply and sending small dirt fragments and bits of rock flying everywhere. Pikachu and Grovyle exchanged glances. This was clearly not going to be as easy as they had thought.

Dustox seemed to be enduring Swellow's attacks pretty well. This said something for how much Dustox had improved, because in the past he had always been easy pickings in the sky. Of course, that didn't mean the moth stood a chance, since Swellow still had a large type advantage on his side and years of experience as a flock leader under his belt. There was also the fact that since Dustox was a Shadow Pokemon, he couldn't really think for himself and so could only take commands from his trainer, and since Jessie was busy with Seviper he was practically a sitting Psyduck. Swellow flew circles around Dustox with Agility in an attempt to confuse him. The Moth soon got swirly eyes, allowing Swellow to smash into him with a Quick Attack, knocking him several yards away in a daze. Jessie looked up from coaching Seviper and saw her precious Dustox was in danger. "Dustox, use Confusion!" she ordered.

The Moth's eyes glowed, and Swellow was startled to find himself paralyzed in the grip of Dustox's psychic attack. The moth's mind flung him away, causing him to slam into the telephone pole Meowth was dangling from, just inches away from the sparking transformer. He groaned and tried to clear the stars from his vision.

"Now, use Shadow Rush!" Jessie commanded.

"Blood!" Dustox started glowing with blue-black energy and rushed towards Swellow. The Swallow had recovered from his slight confusion and waited patiently for the Poison Moth to approach him, already planning his next move. At the very, VERY last second before Dustox could hit him, Swellow flicked his wing upward into the moth's face with a Wing Attack, causing him to wince in pain from the impact. This sudden unexpected strike knocked Dustox off course, causing him to slam right into the damaged power transformer.

The resulting blast of electricity lit up the sky, as both Dustox and Meowth were electrocuted. "Oh no! Dustox, return!" cried Jessie, calling back her defeated moth.

"Hey, what about me?!" Meowth screamed, every hair on his body blackened to a crisp. "When's somebody gonna get me down from here?!"

Swellow chuckled and tried to fly away…only to feel a sudden, abrupt weakness and sharp pain in his wing as he started to plummet to the ground. He realized to his horror that hitting the charging Dustox must have done something crippling to his wing muscles that caused him to lose the power of flight! He flapped frantically, trying to pull out of his dive, causing him to cry out in pain as one of his tendons snapped and he began falling even faster towards the ground. Jessie got an evil grin and pulled out an empty Pokeball. Ash gasped. "I thought you were all out of Pokeballs!"

The evil witch (or bitch, whichever you prefer) cackled as she charged up her Snag Device. "We crashed into a Pokemart when Igglybuff blasted us off, and we stole over a dozen new ones! Now we can finally use our Snag Devices! Snag Ball, go!" She flung the transformed Pokeball at the plummeting Swellow.

"Swellow, return!" The red beam of light hit Swellow only seconds before the ball did, sending the bird back into his regular Pokeball safe and sound. Ash quickly handed the ball to Nurse Joy, who had been standing on the sidelines and had gotten too caught up in the battle to think of going to get the police. "Nurse Joy, get Swellow inside and away from them!"

"Right! Come on Chansey!" The nurses quickly started running back to the Pokemon Center.

"No you don't! Seviper, get that Swellow!" commanded Jessie. Nothing happened. "Seviper?" Jessie looked down and was shocked. Seviper was helplessly tied into a knot as Pikachu and Grovyle waved at her. As had been explained earlier, Shadow Pokemon were sitting Psyducks without their trainers. The distraction Dustox caused had been enough for Pikachu and Grovyle to combine their powers and defeat the Fang Snake. "No, this can't be happening!" she screamed.

Ash smirked. "Nice going, guys! Now, Pikachu, Grovyle, come over here and help us with Cacnea!" Cacnea was proving to be a much tougher opponent than usual, due to her permanent Hyper Mode state, in which her emotions were at a constantly fevered pitch causing her to be virtually uncontrollable and much more dangerous. She was actually _dodging_ attacks (something that she had almost never done in the past) and had summoned a few Sandstorms to increase her evasive abilities and avoid Torkoal's lethal fire attacks. She had nearly used a Shadow Rush to knock Corphish out, but then Phanphy had joined to help out, and now the two sides seemed to be fairly even. With Pikachu and Grovyle's help they would be able to tip the balance in the favor of the heroes.

"Okay! Come on Grovyle!" Pikachu hopped off of Seviper.

Seeing her beautiful dreams of vengeance falling apart at the seams, Jessie got desperate. "Seviper, use Crunch on Pikachu!"

"Huh-AAAAHHH!" Pikachu screamed as Seviper's head lashed out without warning and snatched him up in his jaws, and started to crush him between his teeth. Grovyle watched in disbelief, too shocked to move. Pikachu clenched his teeth and blasted Seviper with a powerful electric attack, but the serpent shook it off with his Shed Skin and newfound endurance. He zapped him again and again, and Seviper started to show signs of damage, but he continued constricting his prey between his teeth. And Pikachu's shocks started getting weaker and weaker as Seviper's crushing fangs started to inject venom into his system. Finally, he groaned and fell unconscious from the poison.

"PIKACHU!" they all screamed, forgetting about Cacnea, who looked delighted by the pain inflicted on the yellow rat that had sent her blasting off so many times. Grovyle snapped out of his shock and slammed into Seviper's head with a Leaf Blade, causing him to spit out Pikachu, who rolled out onto the grass. He wasn't moving. "Hang on!" cried Ash. He started running towards his best friend when several glowing needles suddenly hit the ground before his feet, causing him to come to a halt. "Wha-"

"Murder," growled Cacnea, pointing her glowing needles at Ash. The message was quite obvious to the Pokemon fighting her. If any of them tried to attack, she'd fire at Ash, and humans were a lot more fragile than Pokemon. Frightened, they backed down.

James looked a little worried. "Jessie, isn't this going a little too far? That venomous Crunch looked like it really did a number on Pikachu…and with Cacnea's power boosts and new mindset, she might actually kill the twerp!"

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Oh relax James, he's the twerp, and Pikachu's Pikachu. They've survived legendary Pokemon, explosions, drowning, and anything else we can throw at them. A little pumped-up poison or Pin Missile won't do them much harm."

This logic seemed a little flawed, but James accepted it. "Okay then. Let's capture Pikachu!" He pulled out a Pokeball and charged it up in his Snag Device. "Snag Ball, go!"

"PIKACHU!" screamed Ash. Everything seemed to go into slow motion as the ball hurtled towards Pikachu. Meowth fell out of the power lines and landed in a dumpster. Chimecho floated around with a happy smile on his face. Ash started to run towards Pikachu, but a Pin Missile from Cacnea caught him in the leg, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the ground, blood seeping from the pants leg. Furious, Torkoal, Phanphy and Corphish were about to attack until Cacnea started charging up another Pin Missile, aiming right for Ash's heart. This time, she would shoot to kill. Horrified, they backed down. They could probably knock her out with one really good attack, but could they do it before she fired the deadly shots?

Pikachu opened his eyes a crack, enough to see the Snag Ball coming towards him. Fear took hold of his heart. He didn't want to get captured in a Pokeball again. He didn't want to leave Ash and all his friends. He tried to fire a Thunderbolt, but the poison had weakened him so badly he could barely emit a spark. It seemed as if this was the end.

Ash watched helplessly from the ground, tears starting to fall from his eyes. He had long ago destroyed Pikachu's original Pokeball as a symbol of their friendship, something he now regretted, since Pikachu now had no haven to protect him from the thieving Snag Ball that was about to take him from his friends forever and throw him into whatever hell Team Cipher had waiting for him. "Pi…ka…chu…"

A flash of green passed in front of Pikachu's vision. The Snag Ball struck and opened up, sending out a hand of yellow energy which grabbed the Pokemon and pulled it inside before sealing up again. The ball fell to the ground and shook as the button on its side flashed, showing the Pokemon within was trying to free itself. But after a few moments, the light went out and the ball stopped shaking. The Pokemon inside had been captured.

But it wasn't Pikachu.

"Grovyle!" Pikachu cried out. His friend had sacrificed his freedom to save Pikachu.

Jessie snapped her fingers in frustration as Grovyle's Snag Ball flew into her hands. "Darn it! Oh well, Grovyle's strong, he'll do well once he becomes evil. Here comes another Snag Ball!" She started charging up a Pokeball.

However, Cacnea was getting bored and decided to end the stupid Pikachu thing once and for all. She changed her aim, no longer pointing at Ash but right at the wounded Pikachu. "NO!" Torkoal spat an Overheat at the psychotic cactus, but she managed to fire off about a dozen needles before the flames consumed her, knocking her out of the battle.

"PIKACHU!" Ash called up hidden reserves of strength and got up, leaping the remaining distance to his hurt Pokemon and using his body to shield him from the deadly missiles.

"No, Ash!" Pikachu cried out.

But it was too late. Ash clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, expecting the next thing he felt to be the sensation of lethally sharp needles piercing his body. He was surprised when he heard what sounded like the aforementioned needles ricocheting off of armor plating. Confused, he opened his eyes and saw there was a Shedinja floating in front of him. He blinked. "Huh?"

"Hey, what's going on? Where'd that Shedinja come from?" asked James as he recalled Cacnea. Jessie frowned and called back Seviper without responding.

Meowth, covered in garbage, climbed into the balloon. "I don't know, but he doesn't look too happy."

This was proven true when the Shedinja's halo rose up and started gathering power. A white laser shot from the halo, striking the balloon and causing it to explode. "Looks like we're blasting off agaaaaiiiin!" they cried, vanishing over the horizon in a twinkle of light.

Chimecho, seeing his master was gone, burst into tears. "Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" he wailed, flying after the twinkle.

Wobbuffet blinked. "Hey, don't leave me with these guys! Wait for me!" He ran after the Wind Chime as fast as he could.

Torkoal, Phanphy and Corphish started to run over to their trainer. "Hey thanks, Ash could have died if you hadn't-"

The Shedinja suddenly fired a Shadow Ball at them, blasting them away. "Hey, what are you doing!" cried Ash.

A Dusclops suddenly appeared behind him, grabbing him with its grotesque hands and lifting him into the air. "Stop!" cried Pikachu. He tried to fire an electric attack at the ghost, but fell back to the ground in pain, still too weak from the poison.

"Lemme go!" Ash cried, struggling against the cyclops' clutches.

"Don't struggle. My master wishes you to be somewhat intact before you meet him," said the ghost, not that Ash could understand him. The bug's eyes glowed, and a huge swirling orb of mists formed behind them. "Come. Let us end this long drawn-out quest." He flew into the mists, vanishing into its depths. The Dusclops followed, taking the struggling Ash Ketchum with him.

"ASH!" Pikachu cried, finding the strength to get back on his feet. He ran towards the sphere as it started to shrink, hoping he could make it before it closed up. Seeing he wasn't going to make it by running, he gathered what little strength he had left in his legs and leaped at the portal. He soared towards the mists, and for a second he thought he would make it…but then it vanished completely, and Pikachu hit the ground, collapsing once again. Unable to move thanks to the poison flowing through his veins, he could do nothing but cry, lamenting his failure. "I failed. I FAILED! AAASSSHHHH!" He was gone.

…

Very short chapter, but a wicked cliffhanger right? Find out what happens to Ash next time in the Realm of the Mists!


	16. Enter the Mist Realm

Okay, sorry it's taken so long to get this out guys, but I've been busy and the site's been annoying as hell lately, hasn't it?

HVK, good to hear from you again. Sure, I wouldn't mind joining your community, what do I need to do? And what do you think of this story?

xSPiNx, Chrono Trigger's where I got the idea for the X-Strike.

Ring of fire, you think Team Cipher are Neo-nazis? Okay…and I knew Pikachu would eventually join Team Rocket, but it's only because of amnesia and only lasts for one episode, right? Why do you think Grovyle's Jamaican? And which friends are you referring to Ash running into in the Realm of Mists?

Sir Pudding, sorry about the long review answer, I just didn't want to type it all in the last chapter. Your questions will be answered in this chapter.

Alex, I don't think I could do that kind of thing to Ash, May, and Misty. Too complicated, and it seems too OOC for them anyway. (Yeah, I'm a hypocrite I guess. Big deal. So's everybody else in the world.) Thanks for the tip on Wobbuffet, I'll see if I can use it. The fourth wall is the term for the separation between fiction and reality. When characters in a book act as if they know they're in a story and the author him or herself shows up, that's called breaking the fourth wall. And I'm sure Jessie and James will feel guilty later, just not now. I decided to change the way Payday operates to work like Coin Toss abilities in other RPGs, because it would make more sense for the attack to not work without any actual money. And it keeps the economy from unbalancing like you said. Besides, they're Team Rocket/Cipher. Its canon for them to be broke all the time. Swellow is one of the strongest, which was why he could handle Dustox by himself. And as for Lugia declaring war, you're assuming he'll know the Ghost King killed Ash. Ho-Oh's exiled him to the Orange Islands for all eternity to baby-sit the legendary birds, how'll he ever know Ash was dead?

And Chimecho is saying 'Chimecho' in Pokemon speak. He's THAT dumb. And from your pleas, am I correct in guessing you're a Haunter fan?

Disclaimer: The Mist Realm and Ghost King are mine. ALL MINE!

…

"Huh?" Ash blinked and looked around warily at the mists surrounding him, the pain in his leg momentarily forgotten. "Where are we?"

The Dusclops let go of him. "In the Realm of Mists," it intoned.

Ash blinked. "Y-you can speak human?"

"We are in another dimension," said Shedinja, appearing as if from nowhere and startling Ash. "In this world, the boundaries of language are nothing. All can be understood here."

"Okay…" He frowned. "Then why'd you take me here? Why'd you hurt my Pokemon but save me? I have to get my Grovyle back from Team Scyther, and Pikachu's poisoned bad! Send me back!"

"It's Cipher, and you do not have to worry about your friends," said the ghost. "They are near a Pokemon Center and will be fine. You, however…" A menacing gleam appeared in his eye.

__

"Shedinja, stand down!" a voice boomed from all around them.

The insect bowed. "My apologies lord, I was simply having a little fun at the prisoner's expense. I shall depart now and leave you to your business. Come Dusclops." The two vanished.

"Um…thanks for saving me, I guess…" said Ash.

__

"If I were you, I would not be so quick to thank me." A pair of huge sorrowful yellow eyes appeared, followed by an unidentifiable form shrouded in smoke. _"Ash Ketchum, I am the Ghost King, and I am the last person you will ever see."_

Ash automatically whipped out his Pokedex and aimed it at the mysterious figure. "No data found," it said.

The King sighed. _"It is as I expected. If not even I know who I am, how can a simple machine identify me?"_

"Um, what was that about being the last person I'll ever see?"

"It means I'm going to kill you." 

"Ah." Ash was no stranger to people who wanted his head, he had pissed off a surprising number of people in his years as a trainer. There were several members of Team Rocket (even the irritating trio had tried to do him in a few times), Team Aqua, Team Magma, the three elemental birds, Mewtwo (not that he remembered that), the fake Entei, the fake Groudon, and lots of wild Pokemon (like good old Fearow). But all of them had reasons to kill him, like trespassing, revenge, because he had foiled their evil plans to subjugate and/or destroy the world, or because their master was being used as a puppet by strange beings from another dimension. As far as Ash knew, he had done nothing to piss off the Ghost King. He hadn't even heard of the guy until now! "Why do you want to kill me? I've never done anything to you!"

__

"…I don't want to kill you," the King admitted. _"But I must."_

"Why?"

__

"Because I made a promise, Mr. Ketchum. It was a thoughtless promise made in anger and sorrow…but as I believe you once said, a promise is a promise is it not?" He sighed. _"I have presented myself as a trustworthy and honest king to my subjects for all the time I have ruled. To break a promise…to go back on my word…would show that I am indeed just as deceitful and dishonest as many of the politicians you humans elect. I would be no better than them. And so I must keep my word and kill you."_

"…Who did you promise?" Ash asked. Could any of his old enemies have asked this King of Ghosts to kill him? If so, who?

The King looked away. _"Do you remember a friend you made on the island of Alto Mare? A red and white dragon by the name of Latias?"_

Ash blinked. "Latias?! But…but why would she want me dead?" he asked, shocked. He had not thought of her in a while, and he had thought they were friends, so it was quite surprising to hear that she wanted him dead.

__

"She doesn't want you dead. She loves you, in fact," he said with a hint of longing that went totally unnoticed by Ash.

"Well that's a…" He stopped. "Wait, she LOVES me?!"

The King frowned. _"You didn't know? Well, then again I didn't see it either when I first saw you two playing in the gardens…" _He sighed._ "Was it simple ignorance, or self-deception? Denial that she could never love anyone other than myself?"_

Ash could sympathize here. Many called him dense, and with good reason, since he hadn't even noticed his old friend Misty was in love with him until she told him over the phone. In fact, he hadn't even realized that he actually liked her that way until she had _told_ him she liked him, causing the rusty old gears in his head to finally turn and put two and two together. Talk about clueless huh? "So, if she loves me, why'd you promise her you'd kill me?"

"Because I love her." 

"…So?" Ash asked, confused.

The King facefaulted. _"You really are dense aren't you? Look, I've been in love with Latias for years. Practically since she was born."_

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Um, that sounds kind of perverted."

The King growled. _"I have a very good rationale for it not being perverted, but that isn't important. How would you feel if your girlfriend Misty were-"_

"Wait, how do you know about that?!" Ash asked, surprised. "Nobody knows that but me and Pikachu!"

The King rolled his eyes. _"Please, everyone knows. It's kind of obvious. And my servants did research on you after they found out you were the one Latias loved. They gave me a big report all about you."_

"Oh."

__

"As I was saying, how would you feel if she were dating your friend Tracey?" asked the King.

Ash didn't look worried. "Oh, that'd never happen. He's gay."

The King frowned. _"Are you sure?"_

"Well, no…but Brock said he was, and he's usually right about that kind of thing…then again, he never has been able to get a date, and I think he was jealous that Tracy got to travel around with us and see all the Jennies and Joys and other girls in the Orange Islands so maybe he's not the best person to take advice from," Ash admitted.

"True. Here's a better example: What would you do if your old rival Gary Oak was seducing your girlfriend?" 

As exploded. "WHAT?! How dare he?! I thought we were friends after the Silver Conference!"

The King sweatdropped. _"Ash…"_

"That rotten jerk, even after he's quit training he's still trying to beat me! Oooohhh, I'll show him! The minute I get back to Kanto, I'm kicking his ass!"

"Ash…" 

"And then Misty'll be like, 'Oh Ash, thank you for saving me from that awful Gary!' And I'll say-"

__

"ASH!" The Ghost King bellowed. _"IT'S A HYPOTHETICAL SITUATION!"_

Ash was puzzled. "Hypo-what?"

The King facefaulted. _"HYPOTHETICAL! As in, imaginary! It didn't happen and probably wouldn't happen anyway!"_

"Oh," said Ash sheepishly.

__

"But do you see the point I'm trying to demonstrate?" The spirit continued. _"When I found out Latias was in love with someone else, I flew into a rage. I swore to hunt down and kill the bastard who had stolen her heart…namely, you."_

"But I don't even love Latias, I already have a girlfriend!" Ash protested.

__

"I know that now, but I didn't then. And my rage…I was out of control," he admitted. _"I ordered the total annihilation of Alto Mare. Everyone in it was killed."_

Ash was shocked. "Then-then _you're_ the one who did it!" He had just remembered hearing about the destruction of Alto Mare over the news, but had felt somewhat reassured when there had been no mention of the corpse of any unfamiliar red and white Pokemon being discovered in the ruins. "How could you?! Even if Gary was hitting on Misty and she," He paused, trying to keep from vomiting at sheer disgust from the idea. "_Liked_ him back, I wouldn't go so far as to blow up a city!"

__

"I know. I know. But…you are a hero," said the King. _"You are different from most humans."_

"I get that a lot," Ash murmured.

__

"That's because it's true. The bond you share with your Pokemon is greater than that of most trainers. I can only think of a handful that would willingly put their lives on the line to save their Pokemon. If more trainers were like that, there wouldn't be so many abandoned and embittered Pokemon around the world. Your friendship with your Pikachu has inspired many of those you've encountered on your journey to strengthen their own bonds with their Pokemon, did you know that?"

"Uh, no I didn't," said Ash, feeling flattered.

__

"It's true. And who am I to compare to you, to a heroic boy who has befriended hundreds and saved the world so many times? I have no name, memories or identity to call my own, just my title and authority as King of the Ghosts. Many times, I feel as if I am not one person but many, divided by feelings of extreme anger, endless sorrow, moments of kindness and boundless love for one special person…" The King shook his head. _"And that is why it is so hard for me to kill you, knowing you as I do now. I had originally tried to convince myself that you were really a horrible person who would just hurt Latias, but all the evidence I have found seems to point otherwise."_ He sighed. _"If only Shedinja had not found Latias' diary in Alto Mare's ruins and seen the numerous love poems she wrote to you…or the 'LatiasAsh' and 'Latias Ketchum' notes she had made all over the place before the realization that she could never have you hit her. Then we would never have met, you would not have to die, and I would not have to have done what I did to get your friends out of the way."_

Ash was shocked again. "You mean…_you're_ the one who put Brock and May's dads into comas?!"

The King sighed. _"Regretfully, yes. But worry not, they are unharmed. A couple of my Haunters temporarily removed their souls to create an emergency strong enough to force your friends to return to their homes."_

"But why?!"

"If I had sent my servants to get you while your friends were there, they would have fought to protect you. They would have gotten hurt, perhaps severely since Shedinja would have been involved. I had to get them out of the way for their own safety. I'm sorry." 

This did not sooth Ash's anger. "Then you shouldn't have done it at all! If you just want me dead, you could have let Cacnea or your servant Shedinja kill me! Why go to all this trouble to bring me here?"

__

"Because I promised I would kill you myself. And besides," he said. _"I did not want those three buffoons to be able to claim so cruel a victory. I did not want them to be able to say to your friends, 'We killed Ash Ketchum,' and celebrate your death. And aside from that, I can kill you much quicker and painlessly than either Cacnea, Shedinja, or virtually anyone else can."_

"Then…then you're really going through with this? You're going to kill me?" Ash asked bitterly.

"I'm afraid so." 

"You won't get away with this," Ash said. "Somebody will stop you."

__

"I am afraid that is impossible," said the King. _"Only ghosts and those we allow here can enter this dimension. Your Pokemon are trapped in the real world, hurt and unable to help you. Do not worry though, for they are being cared for in the Pokemon center as we speak. Your friends will grieve and mourn your passing, but they will in time move on. It is the nature of things."_ He growled and shook himself. _"What am I doing?! I've wasted too much time…I've become attracted to you, just like nearly everyone else you encounter. Even more than ever, I regret the necessity of what I must do now."_

"If you don't want to kill me, then don't!" said Ash.

The King shook his head sadly. _"If I could, I would, but I am bound by my foolish, hateful oath. I have no identity, merely power and my promises…without those, I am nothing."_

"Well, can't you find a loophole or something?" Ash asked, starting to get a little desperate. It was really starting to dawn on him that he was doomed this time. Nobody was going to rescue him at the last second. He was all alone, lost and friendless in this foreign dimension.

__

"I tried to find one," said the King. _"Truly I did. I considered temporarily removing your soul as a Haunter once did to you in Lavender Tower, but that does not count as death. The body lives on without the soul, just in a comatose state. As long as your heart still beats and your lungs take air, you still live. And I also thought of waiting until you were old and near the end of you life and killing you then, but in my last letter to Latias I promised I would kill you as soon as I knew who you were." _His eyes started glowing as he prepared an attack. _"I'm sorry."_

Ash looked down. "I'd probably be more sympathetic if it weren't my life on the line…you know Latias can never love you for this, right?"

__

"I know." His eyes grew brighter.

"Just checking." His voice cracked as he tried to hold back tears, realizing this was the end. "Don't…don't let Pikachu or my other Pokemon get hurt or anything, okay? And could you save Grovyle too? I don't want any of them to suffer…"

__

"I promise I will take care of them," said the King.

"And…and make sure my mom and all my friends and…a-and Misty know that…that I loved them all, okay?" 

Tears of condensed vapor seemed to drop from the spectral monarch's eyes even as they grew ever brighter in intensity. _"I promise."_

A small smile came onto Ash's face. "Thanks."

The light from the eyes had become blinding. _"Goodbye, Ash Ketchum."_

… 

Elsewhere…

THE TIME HAS COME. SUMMON THE CHOSEN.

To be continued?

…

Well, this is a hell of a cliffhanger. Is Ash going to live or die? Who said that thing at the end of the chapter? And who are the 'Chosen'? Find out next time!


	17. Calling the Chosen pt 1

Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys, I got Beyond Good and Evil for my birthday and I've been spending all my time playing it. Jesus is it a good game. It rocks! I recommend you all get it, it's so damn cool!

Anyway, you all seemed visibly worried for the fate of Mr. Ketchum in the last chapter's cliffhanger. You're going to have to wait a little longer to find out what happened though, this chapter we meet the Chosen!

Alex, another reason I can't have a May-Misty fight is because I _do_ favor one over the other, so it would be unfair right from the start. And our opinions of the Unown, like Shadow Pokemon, differ, let's just put it that way. I don't know what the other walls are, it's a figure of speech. I did see the episodes with Sabrina, but Haunter won't be showing up because Sabrina got tired of him and turned him into a doll, reverting back to the sociopath she used to be. I know your belief on Entei, but like I said our opinions differ. After Mewtwo and Latias left, a half-assed search for Latias' lover was initiated (so as to spare the secret lover's life). Unfortunately, the tide had finally receded from Alto Mare at that time and one of the idiot ghosts assigned to the investigation stumbled upon a diary hidden safely beneath an airtight tile in the old garden and delivered it to Shedinja, who used it to identify Ash. I could have added this to the story, but why would the Ghost King explain all that? It's kind of a long and unneeded piece of exposition.

Ring of Fire, I still don't see what makes you think Treecko's Jamaican, but whatever.

Mimic12355, if this is the second biggest cliffhanger you've ever seen, what's the first?

Geniusboy, Jirachi was in the sixth movie, Celebi starred in the fourth.

Aww, you're not a Pokeshipping fan Sir Pudding? That's okay, none of us cares right guys? I answered the diary concerns above, and all other concerns will be resolved later.

And to everyone who guessed about the Chosen, let me say this: you assume too much. J

…

Disclaimer: All Pokemon are owned by their respective companies. Sadic is owned by DiamondLatias3000

…

THE TIME HAS COME. SUMMON THE CHOSEN.

…

The Frozen Wind

Somewhere in the icy peaks, a black speck crawled through the white snow, dragging a Snorunt carcass behind it.

The speck was a Sneasel, a Dark/Ice Pokemon that dwelled on this snowy mount. She had once been owned by a human, but her trainer had died on this very mountain, leaving her to fend for herself. All she had now was a cave, whatever food she could catch for herself, the worn medal her trainer had given her for winning a contest she could only vaguely remember, and the nickname Sadic.

She staggered into her cave, tossing the Snorunt into a corner as she went to a pile of dry wood she had scavenged from the wastes. Striking her claws against each other a few times, she made sparks which she used to ignite the wood, instantly filling the cavern with refreshing warmth. She sat by the flame for a few minutes, recovering from the cold outside, then got up and walked over to the dead Snorunt. "Good thing I found you," she muttered, stripping it of its parka. "I could use a good blanket, even with the fire it gets a bit nippy at night…more than even an Ice-type can stand." She tried to wrap it around herself, but the cloth was fit more for the small little ice monster than for a dark weasel like herself. That was easily remedied with a few cuts from her claws though, ripping apart the parka's conical shape and allowing her to tie it around herself. "Mmm…feels good." She licked her lips and picked up the Snorunt. "Time for dinner, little one." She started to walk over to the fire and abruptly vanished. The Snorunt fell to the floor, the blanket Sadichad been using drifting down to cover the little thing like a death shroud.

…

The Mother

"MOMMA!"

A huge gray-green dinosaur with thick spikes on its back, a large blue diamond plate on its stomach, and a powerful crushing tail stomped over to the little alcove where her child lay. "What is it?"

"Momma, I had a bad dream," whimpered the Larvitar, tears welling up in his eyes.

The Tyranitar picked up the little Rock/Dark hybrid and started holding him to her breast. "Shhh, dearest. Don't cry. It was just a dream."

"But momma, it seemed so real! There was this big storm, and-and it covered up the world. It destroyed everything," he persisted, holding onto his mother.

The Tyranitar nuzzled her child's tiny form. "Shhh. Don't worry. We live in a cave system that goes deep beneath Mt. Silver, my precious one. If a storm as bad as the one of old legends comes, we will simply hide there, as our ancestors did when our kind was hunted by humans. No storm could harm us there."

He looked up into her deep eyes. "Momma…I'm scared, please don't leave me!"

"Hush now," said the Tyranitar. "You have nothing to worry about. I will always protect you, my little one."

"Momma…" The Larvitar closed his eyes and relaxed in his mother's claws, letting her rock him to sleep. Then he suddenly felt himself falling and he hit the ground hard, startling him. "Momma?" He looked around. The Tyranitar was nowhere to be seen. "Momma? Where are you?"

…

The Angel

"Shedinja, Solar Beam!" A white beam of solar energy fired from the halo of a ghostly insect.

A small creature with white skin, a plump body with small limbs, cute little wings, and a long neck ending in a five-spiked head braced herself, forming the blue force field of a Safeguard to protect the dying Togepi behind her from getting hit. The beam struck, and Togetic clenched her teeth in pain, requiring all her strength to maintain the shield.

Her tormentor cackled insanely. "I'm afraid that won't work this time, little one! Go my Ninjask, break through that shield with your Hyper Beams!" Over a dozen black insects with golden masks and ruby eyes flew over, forming gold energy balls in their claws. They fired golden lasers at the force field, combining their power with Shedinja's to shatter it with such force that Togetic was flung backwards, slamming into a tree. The Togepi trilled in fear.

Struggling to remain conscious, Togetic tried to defiantly stare her foe in the eyes, but the madness dancing there sickened her pure heart and made her feel even worse than she already did. The evil man laughed as trees and grass all around him started bursting into flame without any visible source of ignition.

How had it come to this, that the beautiful and isolated Togepi's Paradise was being invaded and fast transformed into a burning hell as its inhabitants were slaughtered by the dozens?

The answer was simple. Hanson. The former colonel and commanding officer of Mirage Kingdom's army had gone insane in prison, seeking revenge for his defeat at the hands of 'those meddling kids and that Gyarados too'. He had escaped and sowed seeds of dissent in the kingdom's population, igniting the flames of revolution. While the majority of the kingdom's soldiers were occupied trying to put down the revolt, Hanson and his newly assembled troop of Ninjask forced their way through the Mirage Gate and into the home dimension of the Togepi. His very presence warped the peaceful world, turning it from a paradise into a barren wasteland. Togetic had done her best to protect her friends, but it was to no avail. Her powers had failed against the onslaught of Hanson's army.

The ex-colonel sneered. "Now, to finish you off. Shedinja, Ninjask, one more time!" The insects obediently started charging up their beam attacks again.

Togetic clenched her eyes shut, knowing this was it. She was going to die in this other world, far from her family. There was no Mommy or Daddy or Uncle Brother Pikachu to protect her from harm, and her numerous cousins and siblings were no help to her now, all the way back in Kanto and Johto. She burst into tears as the beams fired one last time…and then she vanished.

The Togepi cried out as the beams struck the tree and exploded, thinking their guardian had been killed. Hanson laughed, drool rolling down his chin. "Yes! YES! WAHAHAHAHA! One egg down, and so many more to go!" He grinned crazily at the Togepi.

Their screams echoed throughout the shattered paradise.

…

The Guardian and the Wishmaker

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

A few seconds later... "Are we there yet now?"

"No."

A few more seconds later… "How about now?"

"No, Wishmaker."

"Oh…how about-"

Absol growled. "Wishmaker, we'll get there when we get there."

"Aww…" After getting horribly lost over the last couple of months, Absol and Jirachi had went through many wild and crazy adventures (like Absol getting amnesia and thinking he was a woman, and Jirachi almost got married to a lusty Mawile) but now they were finally almost to Petalburg City.

Jirachi had recently been undergoing a series of strange and unusual transformations in his sleep, which Absol theorized might be caused by the whole 'absorbing all the mystic power of the Millennium Comet' thing. A third (well, fourth really) eye had sprouted on his forehead. The stickers hanging from his hat had gained writing in a strange unknown script on it. His ribbon-like wings had hardened and sprouted feathers, becoming beautiful golden wings that were really more for show since Jirachi levitated. Strange patterns were being tattooed onto his body, described in exquisite curlicues and swirls. Also, for no visible reason, he had a tail. It didn't serve any function, but it was fun to wag. Jirachi had said many times that he didn't feel any stronger…then accidentally proved it wrong by levitating a boulder, lighting a campfire with his mind, or firing a powerful beam of destruction from his true eye capable of leveling mountains. That one had been hard to explain to the colony of Rock Pokemon living there. He had also been having weird dreams lately about storms… Absol admitted that he too felt a little stronger, probably due to close proximity to the Wishmaker, but he had not changed in appearance…not that he could tell, anyway.

But I digress. Anyway, they were almost to Petalburg. "Are we there yet?" Jirachi asked after a few more minutes.

Absol sighed and checked the map. His expression brightened. "Actually, yes! Petalburg City is right over that hill over there!" he said, gesturing to the top of the hill their path was sloping up.

"Yay! Finally, I get to see Max again!" Jirachi started flying up the path.

Absol chased after him. "Wishmaker wait, remember what happened the last time you got overexcited!"

"Aw, I'm sure that Steelix will find another valley to live in…" Nevertheless, Jirachi slowed down enough for Absol to catch up. Quivering with anticipation, they crested the hill…and vanished into thin air.

As fate would have it, Absol had read the map wrong anyway, and they would have found themselves in _Ecruteak _City instead of Petalburg. Yes, I'm aware Ecruteak is all the way in Johto, that's how lost they were. So the whole vanishing thing really wouldn't have made much of a difference either way.

…

The Serpent and the Stone

Geodude peeked through the window, noticing a spiky-haired eyeless man lying comatose in a hospital bed. "Hey Onix, he's in here!"

"You sure? That's what you said last time, and that mean old lady kept hitting me with her cane for peeking at her."

"Yeah, I'm sure this time. Come on!"

"Oh all right." The Onix carefully balanced himself on the tip of his tail, pushing his thick rocky body upward to the level where Geodude was waiting. To bystanders, it was a very odd sight: an Onix balancing itself outside a hospital window, and a Geodude floating next to it. They had snuck out of Pewter Gym to take a look and see if the rumors were true: if their trainer's dad, Flint Slate, was really in such bad shape he had to be taken to the hospital.

Onix peered into the window and saw Flint. "Huh, what do you know, it is him." He scoffed. "And they said he was in critical condition. Just looks like he's sleeping to me."

Geodude shrugged. "Some people look like they're sleeping when they're dead."

"Bah, he's just faking it. Brock did the same thing when he was a kid to get out of going to school," Onix persisted.

"Why would Flint fake it though?" asked Geodude in confusion.

"Mrs. Slate's making an all-tofu dinner tonight."

Geodude stuck out a tongue. "Ewww…why can't humans eat pebbles like any sensible Rock Pokemon?"

"Because they don't have the stomach for it, of course." He nodded towards the window. "Go on, wake him up. Knock on the window so he'll let us in on the joke."

Geodude was canny. "I don't know…"

"Aw, come on! Just a little knock!"

"Oh, all right." Geodude knocked lightly on the window glass. Flint didn't move. "He's not getting up."

"Knock harder!"

Geodude knocked harder. Flint still didn't move. "I don't think he's faking it, he still won't get up."

"You're doing it all wrong, out of the way!" Onix tapped the window hard with his snout.

Predictably, it broke. Even more predictably, Flint still didn't wake up. The room's door opened as a nurse walked in carrying a tray with various cards and presents on it. "Here are some gifts from your children Mr. Slate-oh!" She gasped and dropped the tray at the sight of the broken glass and the embarrassed Onix and Geodude. "Security! Wild Pokemon are attacking the hospital!"

"No wait, we're not wild!" Geodude cried helplessly as the nurse ran out of the room and alarms started blaring. He glared at Onix. "Nice going, fossil-for brains!"

"Oops," said Onix sheepishly.

All of a sudden, they vanished. Seconds later, a group of armored security personnel and Growlithe raced into the hospital room and found it devoid of any hostile Pokemon. The nurse got fired from her job for causing a false alarm, the poor thing.

…

The Inferno Lord

The orange dragon stood imposingly, hands at his sides, glaring as the sun shone brightly down on him. "I demand you let me pass."

"No," said the female dragons blocking his path into the cave.

The Charizard immediately sagged. "Come on, please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"No!"

"Pretty please with a cherry on top and lava sauce on the side?"

"For the last time, no!"

He sulked. "Why not? That's my mate in there!"

"You know the rules: male Charizards are not allowed to attend the birthing ceremony. It brings bad luck to the newborn egg."

"But that's just a stupid superstition!" Charizard protested.

The females all glared at him dangerously. "Are you calling a tradition that has existed for over one hundred thousand years _stupid_?"

"Er, uh…no, of course not!" he said quickly. "But it's just…those rules are for the regular Charizards, aren't they? And I'm…well, I'm the guy who would have defeated Entei if he weren't a stupid fan-made version that was invincible and almost won the Johto League!"

"Yeah, _almost_," said one of the women.

"If you had actually _beaten_ that Entei and that Blaziken, we might have considered letting you pass. But you're just a failure, why should we let you in?" said another.

Charizard blinked. His tail drooped. "…A failure?"

"You haven't won a battle since you lost to that Blaziken in the Silver Conference! You can't even learn the ancient super attack only applicable to Charizard, Blast Burn!"

He fiddled with his claws. "I've been practicing…"

"Yeah, for the last seven months! Then you went and got Charla knocked up too. I don't get what she sees in you anyway…" grumbled one of the guards.

"Probably feels sorry for him," said another.

Charizard clenched his fists. "I'm…I'm not a charity case…or a failure!"

"Oh, you want to fight then? Prove you're not a failure?" asked one of the guards.

"Yeah…yeah I do!" he said. _What am I thinking? There's six of them and one of me! I'm screwed!_ He thought.

Fortunately, Charizard was saved by an earth-shaking roar from the cavern. The guards gasped. "It's over! She's laid the egg!" They raced inside to see, forgetting Charizard.

"Hey wait up!" He ran in after them.

The interior of the cave was brightly lit by the tail flames of the numerous Charizard midwives, illuminating ancient drawings and cave paintings speaking of Charizard legends passed down through the centuries. At the back of the cave, lying against a rock bed and panting and sweating heavily, was a female Charizard with a pink ribbon on one horn. Charizard rushed to her, forcing his way past the midwives and guards who tried to stop him. "Charla! Charla, babe, are you all right?" he asked, grabbing her claw.

Her eyes narrowed. Her free hand shot out and grabbed his neck, pulling him down to the level of her snout. "If I ever have to do this again, _I will kill you_."

Charizard laughed nervously. "That's just the pain talking, honey. Now can you please let go, you're starting to choke me!" Charla groaned and passed out, tired from her exertions.

"Here you go sir. Normally we wouldn't let you males handle these, but since you've already burst in here and totally ruined the ceremony, I don't see how you could mess up things more," said a midwife, handing him an orange-red egg.

Charizard stared at it in amazement. "Is this…is this mine?"

"Yes sir. That's your baby there."

"My baby…." He rubbed his cheek against it, feeling its inner warmth. "Don't worry kiddo…I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. And…" He paused, remembering what the cruel guards had said. "And…I'll make sure you're not a failure." Abruptly he vanished, and the egg fell to the ground and shattered.

Roars of anger shook the Charicific Valley.

…

The Songstress

Jigglypuff was angry. She was very angry. She was very, _very_ angry.

They had done it again. They had fallen asleep during her singing. Was she really that boring?! So boring that all somebody had to do was hear her voice and they would fall asleep?! Why did this always happen?! Everyone who listened to her fell asleep, even Whismur which were supposed to be Soundproof!

Her eyes turned blood red. This was the last straw. They were all going to pay for this. They were all going to PAY!

She screamed and leaped at the slumbering Rattata and stabbed it again and again and again, laughing insanely as she reveled in the sheer ecstasy of murder. Oh joy! Oh rapture! Why had she not done this long before? Why had she not-

Wait a minute. The Rattata was still snoring. Why wasn't it dead?

She blinked and saw there were several black marks all over the rat's body where she had stabbed it. She looked into her stubby hand and saw she was holding her marker.

Her face flushed. She had tried to stab someone to death with a _marker_. How embarrassing. Good thing nobody was around to see it. Calming down from her temporary madness, she started to walk away and vanished without warning.

…

The Shield

Wobbuffet panted, unable to keep up with the wailing Chimecho. "Slow…down…you stupid…wind chime!"

"CHIIIIIIII!" Chimecho screamed in response.

The two burst into a clearing, where they found the familiar site of Jessie, James and Meowth dangling from a tree branch, wrapped up in strings and cables from what was left of the exploded balloon. Chimecho squealed happily and flew up to James, wrapping his tail around his head. "Yes Chimecho, it's nice to see you too, now can you help get us down from here?"

"Oh good, you guys are okay! Uh, not that I cared or anything-" said Wobbuffet quickly

"Oh stop the Goth act already, you've won the bet!" Meowth snapped.

"I have? Great! Now I can stop acting like a jerk!" Wobbuffet tossed off his jacket and wiped the eyeliner away from his eyes. A few weeks ago Meowth had bet him a month's supply of food he couldn't act like a Goth for some reason, and Wobbuffet had set out to prove him wrong. "So where's my food?"

"Here." Meowth tossed him a single nugget of Pokemon food.

Wobbuffet stared at the very small nugget in disbelief. "…That's it?"

"What, you think we can afford food at the level of debt we're in?" The cat scowled. "If you're standards are too high for it, then give it back, I'm hungry!"

Fuming, Wobbuffet tossed the food on the ground. "Then get it yourself!" He walked away. A second later he ran back and stuffed it in his mouth, he hadn't had breakfast that morning.

Jessie whacked Meowth with her mallet. "Stop yelling at him! Now Wobbuffet, get us down from here right now!" Jessie yelled.

"Yes ma'am!" He waddled over to the tree but vanished before he could get there.

The Ciphers mouths were agape, while Chimecho was oblivious. "He disappeared!" said James, stating the obvious.

"Jessie, did you teach him Teleport?" asked Meowth.

Jessie smacked him. "Of course not, Wobbuffet can't learn Teleport!…Can they?"

"Well, since he can't help, maybe Cacnea can! Go Cacnea!" James tossed out the Pokeball containing his psychotic cactus.

"Murder?" she said.

"Cacnea, use your Pin Missile to cut down the strings holding us up!" James commanded.

She narrowed her eyes. "MURDER!" She pointed a glowing arm at James.

He panicked. "PLEASE! PLEASE!" Mollified, she fired the needles at the strings, causing them to snap and drop the Ciphers to the ground. They then set off to find Wobbuffet, unaware that he was not even in the same dimension as them anymore.

To be continued…

…

I bet you weren't expecting the Chosen to be Pokemon, were you? Ha! Score one for the author! Don't think this is over, we have another batch of Chosen showing up next chapter too!


	18. Calling the Chosen pt 2

Okay, here's the rest of the Chosen.

Alex, maybe you're right about Haunter. Okay, let's just say he got bored of Sabrina, went back to Lavender Tower, and over time forgot all about Ash, so he didn't react to the news about the Ghost King's future bride or her mysterious lover. Sadic is a Sneasel my buddy DiamondLatias3000 made up in his story Plague, which I post here on the site for him. Maybe you could check it out? He'd love to have a review. And if Sneasel's a cat, why does it's name sound like weasel? I don't really know how Safeguard works, all I know is that I've seen Togetic and other Pokemon use it like a force field, so that's what I'm going with. Hanson offered the Ninjask power and prestige, so they joined willingly. Absol got amnesia when a piano fell on his head. It was Jirachi's fault, he teleported it over him by accident. And as for how they got to Ecruteak…I repeat, they were so lost that they actually ripped through the fabric of space and time and ended up across the ocean. That. Damn. Lost. And the Mrs. Slate I'm referring to is Brock's Water-Pokemon loving stepmom who showed up in one of the special episodes, when Brock dropped off Geodude, Crobat and Onix and named his brother Gym Leader in his absence. Thanks for your concern but I'm feeling perfectly all right, Charizard's angst serves a purpose, as I will demonstrate next chapter and perhaps later on.

HVK, were you trying to give me a link? It didn't show up.

Story Weaver1, sorry about all the tragedies, but that's my style. For some reason I can't write something happy without something really angsty counterbalancing it these days. And don't pretend Charizard's broken egg or the Togepi massacre didn't happen, they'll be important things to remember later on. I can guarantee the momma Tyranitar and her child will reunite, however.

TheWhiteMonk, what's so surreal about my story? And no, I don't think I'm related to Murphy, though I am aware of his law. And what kind of good do you like then? And a Mary Sue is basically a perfect character, but these days it's evolving into a character that's either extremely cliched or is perfect but pretends not to be. Many authors have created at least one in their day (I made up several) but now I loathe them with a passion rivalling the heat of Charizard's tail flame. Fear the Sue, my friend. Fear them!

Disclaimer: I own none of these Pokemon except for the evil Shedinja and Umbreon's girlfriend Misdreavus, not even Kasurin, who actually does appear in a special episode. And I apologize in advance for Psyduck, I didn't know how else to portray him.

…

The Coral and the Dragonfish

He stared at the water, fixing it with a gaze as glassy-eyed and blank as that of a Slowpoke's. He raised one foot, preparing to step forward into the water. Then he suddenly lost his balance and plunged into the pool face-first.

Seconds later he was thrashing and flailing about, yelling "Help drowning help drowning help drowning-"

"Psyduck, the water's only waist deep over there!" cried an annoyed blue and pink Pokemon with coral horns growing from her back.

Psyduck stopped thrashing and looked down to see that he was indeed in very shallow water. "Shallow." He started waddling forward, abruptly reaching the part of the pool where the water got deeper and was instantly submerged. Seconds later he was flailing about yelling "Help drowning help drowning help drowning!"

Corsola sighed, very aggravated. "All right, I'm coming…" She hopped into the pool and started swimming over to the flailing duck.

She needn't have bothered, for the water around Psyduck darkened and a huge form erupted from the depths, lifting him into the air. He was now perched on the horned eyebrows of a long blue serpentine fish Pokemon called Gyarados…and he was _still_ flailing about screaming that he was drowning. Gyarados lowered his head over the side of the pool, tilting his head to drop Psyduck on solid ground, which finally seemed to make him notice he was safe. "Be more careful around water, duckling," said the Gyarados. "If you don't learn how to swim and you drown, I'll have to eat you to keep your carcass from polluting the water…and I doubt our trainer would be happy about that. Although I am somewhat partial to duck…" the Atrocious Pokemon mused.

"He'll never change," said a big ten-limbed purple starfish as it floated into the room. "He doesn't have enough of a brain to learn how to swim."

"That's mean, Starmie!" said Corsola.

Psyduck pointed at Starmie. "Star."

"Yes, I am a starfish. How clever of you to finally notice after being here for ALMOST A YEAR!" snapped the starfish. "See what I mean?"

"Okay, so he's a little dense-" started Corsola.

"A LITTLE?!" both Gyarados and Starmie said.

Starmie sighed. "Corsola, a rock is dense. Iron weights are dense. Ash is dense. Psyduck is…hey, where'd he go?"

"Help drowning help drowning help drowning help drowning!"

Everyone sweatdropped. "I think his actions speak for themselves," Starmie concluded.

Gyarados sighed and lifted Psyduck out of the water with his tail and deposited him on dry land. "Geez, do you have a death wish or something?"

"…Deaf?" Psyduck asked blankly.

Gyarados sighed. "I said death. Death!"

Psyduck stared at him blankly, then turned to walk back into the pool. "NO!" they all yelled.

Gyarados wrapped his tail around the idiot duck to keep him from killing himself again. "Argh, where's Misty? She should be taking care of this nut, not us!"

"She is waiting by the phone for word from her lover," said a pink heart-shaped fish as he hopped into the room.

"Actually, I just came from the kitchen and she was doing her tax returns…" said Starmie.

"Yes, but she is doing so next to the phone!" Kasurin, Misty's Luvdisc, looked concerned. "He said yesterday he would call when he reached the nearest Pokemon Center. He should have gotten there by now. Why hasn't he called?!" He started hopping around anxiously. "He could have gotten hurt! Or captured by that dreadful Team Cipher, or Aqua or Magma! He could even be dead! Or worse, that hussy he's travelling with could have seduced him by now!"

"…Dude, he's not even your boyfriend, why are you so worried?" asked Starmie.

"Because in a way, he IS my boyfriend!" said Kasurin.

Everyone stared at him, not noticing Psyduck was trying to wriggle out of Gyarados' coils. "…Huh?"

"I am a Luvdisc!" said Kasurin proudly. "As such, I am the defender of love! I must ensure the survival of my trainer's romance, no matter what the personal cost or the distance between the two lovers!"

"Shouldn't you be ensuring the survival of your own romance?" asked Corsola.

Kasurin's eyes started watering, and Corsola realized she had just made a horrible, horrible mistake. "RABUFIIIIIIN!" he wailed, bursting into tears.

"Uh oh," said Gyarados.

"Great, now you've got him going," accused Starmie.

"Why did you leave my darling? Was I not good enough for you? Did I not prove myself to you when we were captured by Butch and Cassidy? Why did you leave? WHYYYYYY?" Kasurin wailed.

"I thought it was because Daisy and the rest of Misty's sisters won _another_ freaking contest to go around the world and they wanted to take Rabufin with them," said Starmie.

"But it has been days since their last call! Why have they not contacted us? Why has she not called me? Could she have found another Luvdisc she finds worthier of me? Oh Rabufiiiiin!" cried Kasurin.

"HELP DROWNING HELP DROWNING HELP DROWNING!" screamed Psyduck, who had managed to jump into the pool without any of them noticing.

Corsola's eye twitched. "THAT'S IT!" She pointed her horns towards the thrashing duck.

"Corsola, no!" cried Gyarados.

"You know what happens when he gets headaches!" said Starmie frantically.

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE! I JUST WANT HIM TO SHUT UP!" She was about to fire her Spike Cannon when suddenly she and Gyarados vanished.

Starmie blinked. "Huh? Where'd they go?"

"They've disappeared…just like my RABUFIIIN!" Kasurin started sobbing again.

Starmie sweatdropped. "I'm glad I'm genderless and reproduce asexually, this love stuff is confusing."

"HELP DROWNING HELP DROWNING HELP DROWNING!" yelled Psyduck, forgotten by all.

… 

The Old Soldier, the Bloom, the Bulb, and the Shadows

"Come back here you whippersnappers! Give me back my medicine!" Scyther cried, running after Umbreon and Misdreavus.

"Come and get it old-timer!" chuckled Misdreavus playfully, tossing the meds to Umbreon, who ran off in a different direction.

Scyther paused for several long seconds to catch his breath. "Damn…wheeze…youngsters…always messing with their elders…" Gasping for air, he continued the chase.

On a nearby hill, Bayleef was resting underneath the shade of her favorite tree, staring off into the distance. Bulbasaur walked up to her and sat down beneath the tree. "What're you looking at?"

"The clouds."

Bulbasaur looked up. "Huh. They're kinda nice, aren't they?"

"Mm hmm."

They said nothing for a moment, just staring at the sky. "Phanphy's left."

"Has he?" asked Bayleef.

"Yeah, the professor sent him to Ash. You should have seen the little guy, he was bouncing around like a Hoppip."

"Mm." Bayleef nodded. "I'm next then."

"So you can see that Grovyle of his in person?" Bulbasaur asked with a trace of bitterness that went totally unnoticed by Bayleef.

"Yup."

"Heh. I thought you loved Ash."

"I do, and I always will. There's no love quite like your first," she said. "But it's different now. More like a deepening of the bond between trainer and Pokemon. And Grovyle…well, at the moment I guess it's just a crush. Still, with a little time and nurturing, it might become something more, just as the tiny seed grows into a tree."

"Huh." Bulbasaur said nothing for a moment. "Bayleef…"

"Yeah?" she said, looking at him.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about…" Suddenly, they vanished, along with Scyther, Misdreavus and Umbreon.

"Ambassador! Ambassador!" An Oddish ran up the hill. "Ambassador, the Hoppip Gang and Poliwhirl Brigade have declared war on each other and-huh?" He stopped, looking around. "Where'd he go? If he doesn't stop their fighting right now, they could-" A tremendous explosion sounded in the distance. The weed's leaves drooped. "Never mind."

…

The Thunderbolt, the Ruffian, and the Child

The emergency room was chaotic. Chanseys ran around frantically, grabbing antidotes and potions and other kinds of medicine and carrying them everywhere, often dropping them in their frenzy. Nurse Joy seemed to be everywhere at once, barking orders to her nurses and checking back on the patient frequently. The patient, Pikachu, was the only thing in the room not moving at high speeds. He was lying on a bed, quite clearly in pain from the twisted expression on his face. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, which was showing his heartbeats slowing gradually as the poison crept closer and closer to his heart. "Get me 50ccs of Super Antidote stat!" cried Nurse Joy. A Chansey handed her the medicine. Joy injected it immediately into Pikachu. It didn't do any good, his expression worsened and the heart monitor slowed some more. "No effect! 100ccs!"

Corphish, Torkoal, and Phanphy were watching through the plate glass observation window in horror. "This can't be happening…" muttered Corphish. "He's…he's Pikachu! He's been with Ash longer than any of us, h-he can't just…just die after everything they've been through!" The normally rough and tough lobster was close to tears.

"Uncle Brother Pikachu!" Phanphy cried, banging on the window with his trunk as tears rolled down his face.

Torkoal, emotional as always, burst into tears and emitted great jets of smoke from his nostrils and shell, triggering the room's fire alarms and causing sprinklers to shower them with water. The other two glared at him, causing the turtle to grin sheepishly.

In the emergency room, Pikachu was in the cold-fisted grip of sheer pain. The poison had infested his body, and was moving inexorably through his bloodstream, killing him second by second as it approached his heart. He heard voices screaming all around him, but they were nothing compared to the pain of the poison…and the pain of letting his best friend down. _Ash…_

The pain slowly started to ease, yet the screams started to increase in volume. Pikachu opened his eyes a crack and saw a blinding light overhead. Was it just a lamp or was it death? _Ash…I'm coming…_

Beep…beep…beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…went the heart monitor.

"UNCLE BROTHER PIKACHU!" screamed Phanphy. And then Corphish, Phanphy and Pikachu vanished without a trace, leaving a frantic and confused Nurse Joy, Torkoal, and Chansey behind.

…

__

The Soulless

Shedinja floated back and forth in irritation. Ever since he had retrieved the human for the Ghost King, he had been waiting for his next orders. Misdreavus floated silently next to him, intently following his movements.

"I'm getting sick of this nonsense! First, I get ordered to play delivery boy! Then, he orders me to destroy an entire town!"

Misdreavus grinned. "If I remember correctly, you enjoyed that quite a bit."

"That doesn't matter! Next, the Ghost King has me chasing his hopeful lover across the entire country!" He stopped and shook his head as best he could. "I finally catch up with her and I have to put up with that stupid Mewtwo again! If I ever see him again, I'll turn him into one of the Ghost King's subjects!"

"You just don't like meeting someone who could beat you. Don't worry about it."

"So I manage to drag Latias back here only to be dismissed by the king so that he can talk to that stupid feline. And as a result of all my troubles, she leaves!"

"Everyone screws up occasionally. It wasn't your fault."

"Then I get sent around the country trying to track her while my armies waste their time trying to find her lover. We find the identity of her lover and I have to fetch the brat so that the king can dispose of him." Shedinja paused and fumed briefly. "Now he's wasting his time talking to the boy! We should have stopped this nonsense after I destroyed the town! This is a waste of time and effort!"

Misdreavus sighed sadly. "Shedinja, love is never a waste of time. Maybe you would understand if you loved someone." She hesitantly reached up to comfort the angered bug.

He snorted and moved away, "Like you?"

She blushed. "Er, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please, how blind do you think I am? I've seen the way you blush when I pass by, the glances you give me. You're besotted with me, aren't you?"

"…Yes," she admitted.

"Well then, let me give you a bit of advice: leave me the fuck alone. It's not worth it."

"What's not?" she asked in confusion.

"Everything. Everything dies, be it a person or a feeling induced by hormones that technically we ghosts shouldn't even have. Everything dies, even love. So what's the point of getting into it if it will eventually bloat up and stink like a dead fish?"

Misdreavus frowned. "That's a very cold way to look at the world. You might as well say life doesn't matter."

He sneered. "Haven't you noticed Misdreavus? It doesn't. Nothing matters. We live and we die. Some of us are too scared to die and become ghosts, forced to spend an eternity being neither quite alive or quite dead either. Well, except for me. I'm not really a dead soul, I'm the animated shed skin of an evolved Nincada, so I'm basically just a living shell. I'm hollow and empty inside. There is nothing in me worth caring about, and that's the way I like it. If you're really serious about this stupid 'love' thing, go find someone with more substance to bother. I'm happy the way I am."

"You're happy being empty?" she said in disbelief.

"Surprisingly, yes. I don't want a heart to fill me up. So don't even try to give me one." He turned away.

"…"

Shedinja looked at her in frustration. "What, are you still here?" he snarled. She bit her lip to hold back tears and vanished. He grunted. "Good. Now I'm by myself. Just the way I like it." Then he vanished.

…

The Beast of the Sea

He heard voices…loud, shrieking, bickering voices, waking him from his slumber.

Lugia groaned and opened his eyes. They were at it again. Was it too much to ask for them to leave each other alone for one week? To let him sleep in?

It wasn't like he had anything better to do than sleep, he reasoned as he headed for the surface. He had nothing else to do. He couldn't leave the Orange Islands due to Ho-Oh's edict, he wasn't particularly interested in getting worshipped by islanders (it got tiresome after a while) and he had no hope of seeing his family for another hundred years. What else could he do but sleep?

In sleep, he didn't have to worry about whether his three idiot charges would destroy the world, or if somebody would try to capture them, or if his family was all right. In sleep, he could dream of a better world, one where Ho-Oh had not gone insane with paranoia and bitterness. One where he could raise his son like a true father. And that was why it was always so hard for him to wake up to a world without meaning, a life of endless solitude and fighting…even if his dreams of late _had_ been filled with ominous storm clouds…

He erupted from the sea in a towering corkscrew of water, getting the attention of Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno, who were fighting as usual. "It's Lugia! Get him!" screamed Moltres.

Articuno fired an Aurora Beam at the corkscrew, intending to freeze the guardian in his tracks. Lugia had gotten used to this tactic, and immediately countered with Safeguard, blocking the beam and allowing him to use a Psychic attack to blast out of the water, using walls of force to knock the three other birds away. His eyes glowed momentarily, and then he flew at the birds.

Moltres recovered first and spat a Flamethrower at him, but Lugia breathed out an Aeroblast, blasting through the flames and blowing Moltres into the side of one of the nearby islands. Zapdos screeched and fired a Thunder attack, but Lugia blocked it with Safeguard then fired a Swift attack at the thunderbird. Zapdos got knocked dizzy by the hundreds of glowing stars, so he didn't see Lugia ramming towards him until it was too late, and he was sent flying into another island.

Articuno breathed out a Haze to conceal herself and occlude Lugia's vision, but the great white bird wasn't falling for it. He blew the cloud away with his Gust attack and dashed at the icebird with a Steel Wing, knocking her silly.

By this time, the other two birds had recovered and were flying up to engage Lugia again. But suddenly, a great gust of wind blew across the sea, causing them to pause. "What the-" A huge ball of shimmering psychic energy appeared out of nowhere, slamming into them and crushing all three birds against the cliff of an island.

Moltres groaned. "Damn it…"

"That lousy Future Sight of his gets us every time!" snapped Articuno.

Lugia flew before them, glaring at them with a look of weariness and patience that was getting far too low. "Go back to your islands," he said. "Stay there for a good long month or more this time, or I'll break your wings to keep you there." From the cold, harsh tones in his voice it was clear that he meant it.

The trio gulped. Lugia wasn't normally this vicious, but after a few hundred of years of doing this thankless job it was understandable that he'd be getting tired of keeping them from destroying the world all the time. "Uh, s-sure Lugia, whatever you say," said Moltres, frightened.

"Y-yeah, we'll just go now," said Zapdos. Articuno nodded frantically. They peeled themselves off of the cliff and flew off to their respective islands, where hopefully they would stay for a while longer.

Lugia sighed and started circling over his sleeping place under the sea. Now he could go back to sleep and escape the hopeless reality that was his life. He didn't know he was about to get the chance to change his fate as he vanished without a trace.

…

The Rainbow Bird

A great phoenix soared through the air, alighting on top of a high mountain. She stared at the beautiful countryside stretching out before her, at the numerous towns and fields and forests and lakes, and reveled in the knowledge that it was all hers, hers alone.

It wasn't a very happy thought, though. It was all hers. Only hers. She had nobody to share her perceived kingdom with; no friend, no lover, no heir, only herself. It was lonely being the supreme legendary of Johto.

She sighed, feelings of bitterness and loneliness she usually held back with thoughts of pride and her own glory taking hold. She had no one to call friend, no one to come home to. She had once given someone that chance, and he had stabbed her in the back. She neglected of course to admit her own wrongdoing in driving him away by sleeping with other men, she saw it as justified because she dearly wanted a baby. She still refused to admit that she might be impotent, and had finally concluded that no male sperm was potent enough to fertilize her dormant eggs. This too was not a happy thought, for it meant nobody would ever be good enough for her.

She was far too jaded from years of self-deception and bitterness to shed a tear for herself, for doing so would admit she had been wrong for most of her life. And she couldn't possibly admit that, it would mean most of what she had done had been ultimately meaningless.

And yet, although she could no longer cry, she felt a deep weariness, something akin to that which Lugia was experiencing, through which his only escape was in dreams. Ho-Oh had no such escape. Her feelings of loneliness and bitterness had been building up for years, and she had nobody in her own dreams to push them away. She was nearing a breaking point.

For a second, just one split second, a fragment of the old Ho-Oh, the gentle and loving bird of the rainbow, emerged from the cold shell she had formed around herself, and she found herself dismayed by her own actions. Had she really done all this? Driving away her mate, banishing Lugia, nearly exiling Celebi, destroying her own sacred tower and abandoning her subjects, claiming that they were too corrupt and would only be worthy of her when they were as 'pure' as Pokemon? Had she really done all this?

But a second later, that Ho-Oh was back in her shell, and the phoenix reiterated to herself as she had so many times before that it had been necessary, it had been the best thing for everyone…but had it been, really?

She vanished from the mountaintop, her feelings of self-doubt unresolved…for now anyway.

…

The Virus

It was a typical day in the Big City. Pedestrians were walking about the streets. Commuters moved to and from their workplaces. Children sat bored and miserable in their school. Muggers attacked helpless senior citizens and got beaten off by their Pokemon. The city's vagabond gang of wild Pokemon was frolicking about in the city's park. The sun shone brightly as the bird Pokemon sang. Everything seemed normal and average, like it usually was.

And that's when the meteor hit.

A great ball of fire streamed out of the sky, crashing into the downtown area and triggering a tremendous explosion, shattering buildings and sending out a wave of fire that engulfed everything in its path.

The force from the crash struck the Pokemon playing in the park, hitting them like a car running into a brick wall at a hundred mph. Trees were uprooted by the blast, and the Pokemon were sent flying. A pair of Pichu twins were flung far apart from each other, and the last thing one of them, who was in need of a haircuts saw was his brother slamming into a building before he struck something and blacked out.

…

Some hours later, the Pichu came to, his head aching. He reached up and touched it, causing his body to writhe in pain as blood poured down his forehead. He sagged back down against the building he had struck, dazed and confused. There was fire everywhere. Every inch of the city seemed to be burning. That was odd. The city was supposed to be nice and bright and shiny. Why was it burning?

Something hit the ground at his feet. When he looked down and saw it, he snapped out of his confusion instantly and entered a whole new world of pain and anguish.

It was the severed head of his twin. "B-brother?" he whispered, unable to comprehend such a horrific thing.

"Not anymore," whispered a telepathic voice inside his head.

"Wh-who said that?" he asked, terrified.

A low, dark, malevolent chuckle echoed in his mind. Then a dark figure appeared in the flames surrounding him. The fire parted, revealing a creature that Pichu at first thought to be a demon, and he probably wouldn't have been far off in that assessment too. The entity radiated hatred and malice a thousand times greater than that of the psycho Cacnea, causing the little mouse to empty his bowels in terror. He could tell without a doubt that this being was nothing less than the very embodiment of absolute evil itself.

It was about five feet tall and humanoid in build. Its skin was mostly orange, but there was also some light blue-green mixed in as well. Its legs grew from disc-shaped hips and narrowed into sharp points. Its knees were covered by what looked sort of like an organic blue-green cable. Its waist was thin and black, attaching the lower body to an orange torso. The creature's arms were mostly blue-green ending in humanoid hands (although the fingers were a little longer and thicker than a human's) but had orange tops growing back to the shoulders of the torso. A hollow area was carved out of the center of the torso, revealing a spherical purple crystal that looked badly damaged, as if a significant portion of it had broken off some time ago. The front of its neck was blue green, going up to an oval-shaped head with two rectangular 'fins' extending to the sides, each with a thin purple raised line running down them horizontally. The being's face was like a blue-green mask with a raised purple line extending down it vertically, with almond-shaped holes revealing recessed eyes glittering with evil.

"I am Deoxys the Destroyer," the monster said telepathically. "I have annihilated countless worlds and civilizations, slaughtered billions of species across the universe to extinction during my endless journey across space."

Pichu shivered. "Why-why would you do such horrible things?"

Deoxys laughed. "Because it is my wish…" In a heartbeat, he was by the Pichu's side. He kicked the baby mouse with a sharp leg, hurling him through a broken window and cutting open his side. As the Pichu nearly blacked out in pain, Deoxys smashed through the wall and lifted him into the air with his mind. "Because they were in my way…" He telekinetically flung Pichu towards the ceiling and let go, causing him to fall screaming to the floor. Deoxys used his powers again less than a second before he could hit the ground, stopping his fall. "And most importantly…_because I can._" Deoxys relinquished his mental hold, dropping Pichu back onto the ground. His left arm wriggled and suddenly split between the orange and blue-green sections, elongating and turning into a pair of whip-like tentacles. They lashed out, wrapping around Pichu's neck and lifting him into the air. "And now, to send you screaming to the gates of Death to join everyone else in this city!" The alien started to constrict his tentacles…

And vanished. Pichu fell to the ground and died instantly, so badly injured was he from the explosion and Deoxys' torture. And the city continued to burn without any sign of stopping.

…

The Lifebringer and the Traveler

The Lake of Life was placid, calm and crystal-clear as always. Any humans who happened to stumble upon it would think it miraculous, a pure example of nature's beauty. Of course, no human would ever really see it up close, because the lake's fierce Pokemon guardians would tear any trespassing trainer to shreds, but you get the point.

Sitting on a log beside the lake, were two of the world's rarest and most powerful Pokemon. Any trainer that somehow managed to get past the Pokemon guardians would see them and would faint from sheer disbelief that they were lucky enough to see them. And then the aforementioned guardians, who were really watching them all along, would maul them, but you get the drift.

Mew looked anxiously at Celebi, who was in turn staring despondently into the water. She had been called here hours ago by a telepathic message from a frantic-sounding Celebi, but when she had arrived her old friend had seemed alright. She had acted as if nothing was wrong, as if she had just wanted to have a little get-together with her best friend. But Mew had known Celebi ever since they had both woken up a couple of thousand years ago with no idea who they were but a vague feeling they knew one another, and she could tell Celebi was hiding something. "Celebi?" she said finally.

Celebi didn't look at her. "Yes?"

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Celebi still looked at the water. She absent-mindedly rubbed an arm. After a few moments, she said at last, "I had a dream."

"Oh?" Mew said. "What kind of a dream?"

"I saw…" she paused. "I saw a storm."

"Oh!" said Mew. "Well that's not so bad. Storms bring rain, and as a guardian of nature you should know better than anyone how rain-"

Celebi looked up, and Mew was paralyzed by the fear in her eyes. "No Mew, it was…it was huge. Gigantic. Bigger than the whole world. It swallowed everything up. Everything was gone. Everything, everything gone." She shivered. Tears formed in her eyes.

Mew said nothing for several seconds. "Do you think it's an omen?" she asked quietly.

"I…I hope not," she said. "Because what it foretells is…is too horrible to imagine."

"Have you traveled to the futures to see if this dream comes true?"

Celebi shook her head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because…I'm scared. If I go to the future…I'll be forcing myself to admit that what I fear might come true. And if it does come true…I can see no way of stopping that future from happening. A future where the world is dead and barren. A future without life or hope. A future…" She sobbed. "A future without you."

"…Celebi…"

"Oh, Mew!" Celebi burst into tears and suddenly hugged the pink kitten. "Please…please don't go away. Please don't leave me."

Mew was startled by her friend's sudden burst of emotion. "Celebi, I…"

"Please…" the insect whispered, nuzzling Mew's chest.

"…Okay. I won't leave you," said Mew. She hugged Celebi, kissing her on the forehead, and curled her prehensile tail around the green Time Traveler to hold her closer to her breast, keeping her eyes shut to prevent a tear from falling…for she too, had had dreams about this horrible storm. The knowledge that Celebi had them as well only made her more worried than ever that they might come true.

And then, holding each other, they disappeared.

…

The Sage, the Masked, and the Dragon

Latias wiped away some sweat as they descended into the cleft. "That was some workout," she said.

Mewtwo nodded. "Yes, your technique is improving. Soon you will master your Dragonbreath attack, I think." If you couldn't already tell, they had been spending the morning practicing Latias' Dragonbreath. "Did the trick I showed you last night help your dreams?" he asked suddenly.

A chill ran down Latias' spine. "No," she whispered. "It didn't."

Mewtwo looked away. "Then you saw the storm again."

"Yes."

"As did I," said Mewtwo, surprising her. "And Gardevoir has as well. This does not bode well…" he muttered. "On another note, have you learned anything more through your meditation?"

Latias fidgeted. "I'm scared to dive too deeply," she admitted. "I'm scared that if I go too far down, _he'll _be there."

Mewtwo sighed. "I cannot say I do not understand…but we will never understand the secrets inside your mind unless we can fathom the nature and purpose of your connection to the Ghost King."

Latias forced a grin. "Well, it wouldn't be so bad really if we didn't find out, right? I mean, some things aren't meant to be known are they?"

The look Mewtwo gave her made her feel very small and stupid. "If we do not understand the nature of your bond with him, we will be unable to sever it or use it to our own advantage if for some reason he should become hostile. The more we know about the connection between you two, the better."

Latias didn't think so, because it made her feel uncomfortable and question the convictions of her heart, but said nothing about this. "Yeah…"

They reached the usual luncheon area near the big tree pond, where Gardevoir was setting for three places-

Wait. _Three_ places? Mewtwo looked at the third place in disbelief, then glanced up at Gardevoir. "Does this mean…you wish to lunch with us?"

She hesitated, then nodded briskly. Latias smiled. It looked as if her kind gesture the other day was making progress towards mending the rift between her and Mewtwo's amour. "It would be nice to have you join us, Gardevoir."

The woman said nothing, but nodded again and sat down at her place. The other two took their seats, reached for their utensils, and vanished into thin air.

…

The Voice

In the yard of a magnificent mansion somewhere in Johto, a little girl and her Teddiursa played happily. The girl's father smiled from his spot in a gazebo and continued to read his paper. All looked idyllic and peaceful.

And then the girl stopped in her tracks, eyes dilating. "What's wrong?" asked the little bear.

"They're coming…" she whispered. "PAPA! THEY'RE COMING!"

It took a few seconds for the father to register this, but then he dropped his paper and leaped out of his seat. "Molly!" He started running towards her.

But he was too late. For a split second, the fabric of space and time unraveled as creatures foreign to this universe, black alien monsters with unblinking eyes and bodies in mysterious shapes encircled the little girl. A second later, the moment was over, and the creatures were gone…but so was the girl.

The father fell to his knees. "No! Not again!" He held his head in his hands as the confused and frightened Teddiursa wandered over to him. "Molly! MOOOLLLLYYYY!!"

…

The girl's eyes were blank and unblinking, much like the eyes of her masters. "It is time," they said through her. "Time for the Chosen."

To be continued…

…

Okay, next time we finally discover Ash's fate as the Chosen unite for the first time and their destiny is revealed. Also, don't forget my shipping challenge! I'll accept any new names for couples you've noticed in this chapter or any others! Keep em' coming, people!


	19. Temptation of the Chosen

Hey guys. I had a lot of fun before starting this chapter. I beat Paper Mario! It's surprisingly fun, and I think it makes up for the somewhat stupidity of Mario Sunshine. I recommend it for all RPG fans, the unique combat system alone makes it worth playing. Anyway, this chapter (or the one after this, if I'm lucky enough to finish it in time, which I probably won't) will be the last for a while, because I'm going to Costa Rica over winter break. I'll be trekking through jungles and white-water rafting while you all freeze your asses off up here. Ha! Aw, I didn't mean it. The freezing part anyway, I really am going to Costa Rica. See you all when I get back! (By the way, Mew/Celebi is now officially called Mirageshipping, thanks to my buddy DiamondLatias3000. How come you guys didn't suggest any names? L)

Alex, I didn't say the Unown were evil, I just said we have different views on them. This chapter should show you what I mean, as well as answer your questions about Molly. Your stories about her still being connect to them inspired me, actually. As for unwanted characters, I originally wanted Psyduck, Kasurin, and an Aerodactyl among others to join the ranks of the Chosen, but my beta reader recommended against it. I didn't think of Haunter beforehand, and to just let him in with the others…well, I just didn't feel like including him I guess. Sorry. What was the mistake in Mewtwo's statement about Latias' link with the Ghost King? I only killed the Pichu brothers to demonstrate that Deoxys is freaking evil incarnate. I had a slightly longer scene at first, but my beta tester thought I should shorten it. Also, I do know of Deoxys' alternate forms and that his brain is in his crystal. Think of the implications of it being broken. And while Ho-Oh's servants aren't mindless robots, to her they're inferiors. She could never converse with one of them as an equal. They mean very little to her in the way of companionship. And Ho-Oh's not into cloning, another reason she doesn't like Mewtwo. It's the classic belief about clones being inferior and lacking souls. Lugia might not really like humans in general, it's possible he just worked with Ash because the prophecy told him to. Or maybe I just forgot about Melody. Either way, he doesn't feel much like socializing with others. And remember when his eyes glowed when he came out of the water? That's when he cast Future Sight. I didn't say Pikachu died…well, kinda…don't worry, he'll be fine, he's a Chosen now! And Misdreavus is just attracted to Shedinja because he's attractive among the ghosts. Truthfully, that's the only thing about him one could love (that, and his loyalty). When I said he's happy, it's more like being content or satisfied really. I don't think Psyduck's really a genius. If he's so smart, then why can't he swim after all these years and failed attempts to teach him? And you're right about the translations. Lots of people hate dubbers for this reason. I don't know if I should really blame them though, they're just trying to tone the show down for younger audiences right?

HVK, I joined your C2 thing's staff. What did you mean by your comment?

Sir Pudding, the thing about the Charizard egg's breakability only occurred to me later, and I have to keep it that way for plot reasons. Maybe it was just weak and fragile because it was still fresh from its mother's womb? And if you think twenty-nine (I think) Chosen is excessive, I originally had a roster of about fifty or less. Aren't you glad I shortened it?

Thank you WhiteMonk…I think.

RS, Leafshipping's already been chosen for Bayleef/Grovyle…sorry. And I've read stories just like the one you're describing! God, I hate them too!

Good point Ring of Fire. You'll see for yourself why the Chosen have been gathered.

Story Weaver1, like I said the horrible deaths and stuff had a purpose (like showing Deoxys to be pure evil, or in Togetic and Charizard's case a reason which will be revealed this chapter). And why has such a malevolent being as Deoxys been Chosen? You'll see.

Disclaimer: All new concepts and ideas used in this chapter are mine. Everything else belongs to someone else.

…

And so after two chapters, we finally return to Ash, whose eyes were clenched shut in anticipation of the supposedly painless death the Ghost King had promised him. Even through his shut eyelids, he could see the light emanating from the phantom's eyes, growing in intensity…and abruptly stopped. It was followed by several startled cries, along with a giant "WHAT THE HELL?!"

Confused, he opened his eyes and saw a very strange and unexplainable sight. He was no longer in the Mist Realm before the King of the Ghosts. He was in a new void, this one comprised of light that seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at once. Hovering around him were nearly thirty Pokemon, many of whom seemed familiar to him, and none of which seemed to know where they were or how they got here. Also, his leg no longer hurt from Cacnea's attack.

"Where'd my blanket go…?" Sadic asked, dazed.

Tyranitar looked around frantically. "My baby! Where's my baby?!"

Togetic blinked. "What…where are Hanson and…" she stopped, noticing the confused human nearby. She recognized the dumbfounded look on his face instantly. "DADDY!"

"Huh?" Ash almost got knocked over when Togetic slammed into his chest, hugging him and crying his name over and over again.

Phanphy, who was trying to understand how he got from the emergency room to this place, saw his 'father' getting hugged by a small white angel whom he recognized immediately. "Big Sister? Is that you?" he said, awed. She looked so much prettier than she ever had as a Togepi.

Togetic heard his voice and looked up from Ash's chest. "Little Brother?" She immediately let go of Ash and tackled the elephant. "I missed you!"

Ash had barely recovered from Togetic's glomp when he got tackled by Bayleef, Bulbasaur, Corphish and Pikachu, all of whom were overjoyed to see him all right. "Ash, you're okay!" Pikachu cried. "And I'm not poisoned anymore!" he said in surprise.

"Pikachu, you're okay!" said Ash, pushing off his other friends and hugging the electric mouse.

"Yeah…wait, you can understand me?"

Ash shrugged. "It's some weird dimensional thing, I don't get it myself."

"ASH!" The boy suddenly got grabbed from behind by a big orange dragon, who promptly started hugging him. "Man, I missed you! Things just haven't been the same since you left and I went back to the valley!"

"Uh, Charizard, I think you're hurting him," said Pikachu as Ash's face turned blue.

The dragon blushed. "Eh heh. Whoops." He let Ash go. "Thought I'd try a greeting other than the standard 'Flamethrower in your face' routine."

"The Flamethrower hurts less," Ash muttered, brushing himself off.

Jirachi looked around. "Absol, did you get us lost again?"

Absol rolled his eyes. "Wishmaker, as I've told you before it's impossible to get so lost you wind up in another dimension."

"Then how'd we wind up in that place with the talking mushrooms last week?" Jirachi pushed.

"…I thought we agreed never to speak of that again," Absol grunted. "I'm still getting the scorch marks that giant fire-breathing turtle gave us out of my fur."

Jirachi looked away and froze, noticing a pink kitten and a green bee nearby. "Absol, do we know those two?"

Absol looked at Mew and Celebi. "No, I don't think so."

Jirachi was puzzled. "Then why do they seem so familiar…"

"Onix, where are we?" asked Geodude.

The snake shrugged. "I dunno. This doesn't look like Pewter City."

Jigglypuff looked around ecstatically. There were so many people here, both new and familiar! They would love to hear her sing! And if they fell asleep, she'd kill them! She held her microphone up to her mouth and prepared to sing when she realized something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Her microphone was gone.

Her mind reeled in agony. Where could it have gone?! Had she dropped it by accident? Had it fallen into the void, never to be seen again. It was in fact lying on the ground back in her own dimension, but she didn't know that. She couldn't sing without it! It was her world, her soul, her very life itself! Defeated, she burst into tears, unnoticed by everyone else.

Wobbuffet looked around anxiously, noticing the numerous rare and powerful Pokemon around him. _Oooohhh, look at all the Pokemon here! Miss Jessie and James would have a fit and try to capture them…and then we'd get blasted off like we always do, but these guys look a lot tougher than our usual fare, it'd probably hurt a lot more._ He suddenly noticed Ash getting group-hugged by his Pokemon and smiled faintly. _So he's all right. That's good. I was hoping he'd be okay. Always thought this whole 'Shadow Pokemon' thing Miss Jessie bought into was a bad idea. I'm glad he didn't get killed._ He frowned slightly as Togetic and Phanphy hopped into Ash's arms, overjoyed to see their father again. _Why can't Miss Jessie ever treat me like that?_

Corsola and Gyarados were just as confused as everyone else. "Gyarados, wasn't I about to blast Psyduck?"

"Yeah."

"So, how'd we get here?"

"No idea." He looked down. "Hey Corsola, how come we're floating above all this light stuff? Shouldn't we be falling or something?"

"Maybe gravity doesn't work the same here," she suggested.

"Then how can Misty's boy Ash be standing there erect with his buddies running around him if there's no ground to stand on?" Gyarados questioned.

"…Gyarados, there are just some questions that can't be answered," she said finally.

Misdreavus and Umbreon were getting a stern and rambling talking-to from Scyther due to the fact that they no longer had his medicine. He accused them of dropping it into the abyss when they had been transported here, but it had in fact fallen from their hands as they were taken and was lying on the ground back at Oak's lab. "…And's that the trouble with you youngsters today, no respect for the elderly!" He said for the tenth time. "Why, when I was a young sprout-"

"What're you talking about? You were never a Bellsprout," joked Umbreon. Misdreavus giggled.

Scyther glared at them. "Pipe down you two! Kids these days…when I was your age, I got cut just for looking at my grandpa the wrong way! You're lucky I've softened up from all the junk food and easy living on the Oak Ranch or I'd beat the tar outta both of you for taking my medication!"

"I thought the rambling crotchety old man was a human stereotype, not a Pokemon one," Misdreavus muttered.

"It is. He's been watching too many reality shows and sitcoms, he's emulating the characters he sees on TV," Umbreon muttered back.

Misdreavus rolled her eyes. "Maybe he wouldn't have to take his stupid medication if he actually tried exercising once in a while instead of loafing on the couch with Chunky Puffs while watching Pokeporn and anime all day."

The Ghost King's right-hand bug Shedinja was just as confused as everyone else. "What am I doing here? This isn't the Realm of Mists." He frowned inwardly, seeing Ash intact, and deepened into a scowl when he saw Mewtwo, Latias, and a masked Gardevoir several meters away. "And what are _they_ doing here?"

Lugia and Ho-Oh were as unpleased to see each other as Shedinja was to see Mewtwo, maybe even more. "You had something to do with this, didn't you?" Ho-Oh accused, referring to the unknown place they were in.

Lugia snorted. "What gave you that idea?"

She growled. "You've always hated me. You partnered up with Mewtwo to take me here, didn't you?"

Lugia shook his head in disgust. "You're insane, you know that? I'm tired of listening to your accusations, your taunts, your threats…let's settle this once and for all!"

Ho-Oh looked incredulous. "You have the audacity to challenge me? Ha! Your family will pay the price! Entei-" She halted, suddenly realizing she couldn't call her servant from wherever they were.

Lugia grinned. "We're trapped in another dimension. No servants to send down to the Whirl Islands to attack my family. Just you and me." His eyes narrowed. "I've been waiting a long time for this…" The two birds got ready to fight.

At the same time, Mew and Celebi were looking at their fellow confused companions in curiosity. "How strange…Celebi, I don't suppose you know where we are?"

She shook her head. "No, time travel's my deal, not dimension warping." She paused. "Hey look, it's that nice kid who saved me from the guy with the iron mask a while back. Didn't he save the world a few times?"

"Yes, he's rather hard to forget. Oh, and look! There's Mewtwo and Latias, and that masked Gardevoir must be the girlfriend I've heard about. And there's Lugia, and Ho-Oh, and…" She paused, noticing Jirachi. "Celebi, does that guy with the gold hat and three eyes look familiar to you?"

Celebi frowned. "Yes…but I think I'd remember seeing a Pokemon as weird-looking as him before. I don't think we know him."

"And yet he seems…"

"…familiar," Celebi agreed.

"Yeah…" Mew looked away and saw an orange and blue creature. The hairs on the back of her neck stiffened. "That guy looks familiar too…but not in a good way." Celebi nodded in agreement, shuddering. They both felt something as they looked at Deoxys…not the feeling of seeing an old friend, as was the sensation they had with Jirachi, but the sense of past hatred and fear.

"Mewtwo, where are we?" asked Latias, worried. She had sat down to eat lunch just a second ago, and now they were in this strange bright place.

"I don't know," said Mewtwo, looking around him. "But I believe this is another dimension. And I don't think we're the only ones to have been taken here, either," he said, pointing to the rest of the confused and displaced Pokemon. He had not noticed Ash yet because the boy was once again buried under a pile of old friends eager to see him.

Gardevoir was frightened. She had spent all her life out in the desert, the largest group of people she had ever seen were trade caravans, and with modern transportation technology nowadays they weren't necessarily that big. There were more Pokemon assembled here than she had ever seen in one gathering in her life, and many of them, such as Mama Tyranitar, Sadic, Ho-Oh, Lugia, and others looked quite dangerous. She clutched Mewtwo's arm, getting his attention. He threw his cloak around her, pulling her close to him. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." He glanced at Latias. "_Either_ of you," he amended.

Latias smiled, feeling reassured. "How touching," said an unfamiliar voice from behind them.

Mewtwo's eyes widened. "That voice…" He whirled around, pushing Gardevoir behind him. "YOU!"

Deoxys chuckled. "Greetings, Mewtwo. You're looking much better since last we met. I was almost hoping I had killed you…then again, if you had died of exposure in the desert, I wouldn't have the chance to kill you myself, now would I?"

Latias felt sick with fear. She didn't know why, but everything about this monster, ever curve, every muscle, even the broken crystal in his chest caused a sensation of terror to fill her. He felt worse than all the other evil things she had seen…worse than Fearow, than the zombie Aerodactyl and Kabutops, then Persian, than the shadow things in the Master Ball dimension, even worse than the Ghost King. (Whom she still claimed was evil to deny her weird feelings for him.) When the being looked at her, she felt as if he was probing into her mind, reaching in and taking a look at all the information he could find. Gardevoir was clearly just as frightened, if her trembling lip and the look in her one eye were anything to go by.

The villain's gaze lingered on Latias and Gardevoir. "I never would have thought you to be a family man, Mewtwo. After surviving me, why would you possibly want to surround yourselves with targets?" continued the fiend.

"Leave them out of this. They have nothing to do with our past conflict," said Mewtwo.

"Oh, but they have _everything_ to do with it, Mewtwo. I have this habit of slaughtering my opponent's families before I actually fight them so that I can bring out their rage, their anger, and make the fight much more challenging. You managed to beat me last time by just a hair, and I still got out better than you did. Now that I'm all rested and healed up, and after I kill your friends, do you think you'll still be able to keep your cool and kill me?" Deoxys taunted.

"I would think that killing them would make me fly into an uncontrollable rage. Those kinds of things are dangerous, Deoxys. Are you so certain that you can defeat me once I am in that state?" asked Mewtwo.

Deoxys nodded. "Oh, definitely. While my foes are stronger when they're angry, they also lose all control. They're blinded with rage, and so they're easy for someone with an advanced mind like my own to defeat. Every time I've ever lost a fight, it's been to someone who can keep their cool in battle. Like you, last time we fought. But once I kill their friends, their families, and everything they cherish…well, all bets are off then." His body shifted and mutated then, taking on a different form.

The blue area on his legs lengthened to cover the area just above the pointed toe to beneath his angled hips, which were no longer disc-shaped but ending in curved points. Blue spikes grew from his knees. Most of his torso was black now, with only a horizontal strip of orange going around the body from the level of the recessed purple crystal and reaching the shoulders. His arms had split into four long tentacles, two orange, two blue. His mask and eyes remained the same, but the fins on the sides of his head had folded back and grown into points and a third spike of sorts grew from the back of his head.

Mewtwo seemed to change as well, but in wardrobe, not in body. His cloak changed into some sort of a cape while his grass hat floated off his head and ignited in purple-black flames. "I will not allow you to hurt them."

"That's what they always say." And then Deoxys lashed out with his tentacles. Mewtwo pointed his arm forward, flinging his flaming hat at the alien. At the same time, Ho-Oh and Lugia were about to fire their breath attacks at each other, and all the other Pokemon had finally noticed the two erupting struggles and started fearing for their lives. Fortunately, the fights were halted before they began.

"Stop." It was not a word spoken loudly or with any anger, and yet all could hear it clearly as well as the command underlying it. The word had emanated from a little girl with blond hair done up in pigtails with a cute blue dress. Most of those floating in the void had no idea who she was, yet suddenly felt that they strongly needed to listen to her. Even Deoxys paused at the girl's appearance.

But Ash and some of his friends recognized her immediately. "Ash, isn't that-" started Pikachu.

"Yeah, it's Molly Hale!" he said. "Molly! What're you doing here?"

Mewtwo and Latias had started at hearing his voice, realizing Ash was here. "Ash is here too? How peculiar…" Mewtwo muttered.

"Another friend of yours I can kill?" Deoxys asked. Mewtwo gave no answer.

Latias wasn't sure how to feel. This had been the first time in over a year she had seen the boy she had dreamed and fantasized about, and now that he was here she felt…nothing. No yearning, no aching desire to be with him like she had harbored even after Bayleef had informed her that he was taken for (sort of), just, well, nothing. Nothing special at all. Well, a bit of happiness to see him again, possibly a little more than one usually had, but other than that nothing. But that couldn't be right. She loved him, didn't she? Didn't she?

The girl who had been identified as Molly smiled as her oddly glassy and blank eyes looked over the assembled Pokemon. "We are and are not Molly Hale. The girl you see before you is our vessel, our 'voice'. We had to use her because we are unable to communicate to you any other way."

Many frowned, not liking the sound of that. "And who are you who would use an innocent little girl like a ventriloquist's dummy?" asked Mewtwo.

The air around Molly shimmered, and hundreds of small Pokemon appeared. Each of them had a body comprising of a single eye surrounded by a crystal frame that looked vaguely like a letter of the alphabet. Even though the coloring was wrong, the creatures were instantly recognizable to some of the more experienced members of the assemblage.

"The Unown!" Ash and Pikachu cried. Charizard growled, remembering how their illusory Entei had defeated him, and his tail flame flared.

"Calm yourselves," said Molly, but now her voice held an undertone of power and serenity in it. "We are not the Unown of whom you are thinking, who tried to crystallize the planet before. Nor are we the Unown whom fell on your friend's head and helped to heal the heart of a Larvitar." Mama Tyranitar listened intently at this, remembering her child had said something about the Unown when he had been returned to her. Come to think of it, the boy and the Pikachu looked an awful lot like the ones who had returned her child and helped to defeat the awful poachers who had stolen him in the first place. Could they be the same ones?

All were stunned. "H-how did you know we were thinking that?" asked Pikachu, startled.

Molly smiled. "The Unown which you have encountered in the past were two among the many groups of our kind that exist throughout the planes of reality. We are the eldest of the Unown, who long ago forsake our physical bodies to evolve to the forms you see us in now. We have reached a state of being far beyond that of any who have come before, granting us unbelievable knowledge and perception. We are almost omniscient, and without the mortal frailties of a limited mind, we have no risk of going insane from information overload. It also helps that we have evolved into a hive mind of sorts, so each individual Unown is a tiny fragment of the Whole, allowing us to process and analyze faster than any computer in existence. Your minds and your thoughts are open to us."

"I don't want Psychics like you in my head! Get out!" snapped Ho-Oh.

"We apologize, but we cannot. We have reached this state of being, but evolution is a one-way track. We cannot 'get out of your head'. Our very nature is perception, and as such we are unable to _not_ perceive anything around us, even that which we do not want to perceive. Another downside is that we have lost the ability to communicate effectively to those who are less evolved, which is the main reason we have utilized the human Molly Hale. She has already been linked once to lesser Unown, leaving her with a lasting ability to perceive things in greater detail than before, both on the physical and metaphysical level, allowing her to see into other dimensions as she wishes and alter the reality around her if she chooses. As such, she is the perfect link between those of the flesh and we of the mind, allowing us to speak to you now," Molly explained.

"Using a little girl as a puppet. How evil! I approve," Deoxys said with a laugh.

"She is not our puppet," Molly responded. "She is acting as our voice out of her own free will."

"Then let her speak for herself, so that we may see if this is true," said Lugia.

"Very well." Molly's eyes suddenly clarified. She gasped. "Oh…" She blinked. "Um…hi, everyone."

"Molly, do you remember me? It's me, Ash Ketchum," said Ash.

Molly giggled. "Of course I remember you, I made an illusory Entei that kidnapped your mom and almost killed your Charizard, it's hard to forget something like that!"

"Is what the Unown said true?" asked Mewtwo. "Are you helping them of your own will?"

She fidgeted. "Well…I was scared at first when they sent some normal Unown to get me, because I'm not very good at the mind-reading thing yet so when I sensed that they were coming for me I, well, panicked. But then they took me here and the crystal Unown explained things nicely to me and said I didn't have to help if I didn't want to, but they really needed to talk to you all about something, so I agreed to help."

"Why couldn't they come for you themselves?" Mewtwo asked, suspicious.

"Um…I don't know, something about evolution I think. They could explain it better," said Molly.

"And what is it they need to talk to us about?" asked Pikachu.

"Something about the end of the world, I think," she said without certainty. "They'll explain it better." Her eyes clouded over as the Unown took control of her again. "To answer your previous question, Mewtwo, another downside of our evolution is that while we are able to perceive all, there is little we can do to affect it directly. We have had to rely on the help of our lesser evolved cousins to transport you all here so that we may speak to you of a terrible catastrophe that is about to occur."

Latias suddenly remembered the dreams she had been having recently, as did Celebi and many others. "The storm?" she asked.

Molly nodded. "Yes, a storm. It is not a real storm of course, but it symbolizes the nature of the catastrophe: vast, powerful, and capable of washing the world away and blotting out all light and hope. But this catastrophe can be averted with the help of you Chosen."

"Chosen?"

"Yes, for we have chosen you for this task, to stop the catastrophe. We have seen into all the possible futures with greater clarity than even Celebi can, and we have perceived that our universe is reaching a critical turning point, one on which the entire flow of time could bend. In all of these futures, there is a great and terrible catastrophe. The only futures in which it is successfully averted are the ones in which a group of heroes unite to stop it. But in many of those futures, the world is devastated anyway and many die. We sought out the thread of reality that would lead to the most beneficial future, where the world is saved with a minimum of casualties. The most beneficial future stems from the one in which you thirty specific Pokemon come together against the evil, and so we tasked our cousins to bring you all here, so that you may understand the destiny that has been set out before you and act upon it."

There were many raised eyebrows among the listeners. Deoxys sneered. "This is foolsihness," he said. "Why would you add me to this band of heroes if I am clearly the cause of this so-called cataclysm?"

Molly smiled. "We did not say you caused it, Deoxys."

The alien blinked in surprise. "Then…I don't?"

"We did not say that either. The nature and manifestation of the cataclysm is not fixed. In all the futures we have foreseen, it stems from a different source. For while you are the ones who will help steer the future to a better tomorrow, there are still many possibilities branching from your own initiation as Chosen in which some of you are in fact the cause of the cataclysm. In one future, Gardevoir and Latias are murdered and Mewtwo loses his mind, devastating the earth." Mewtwo looked startled at that statement, as did Latias. Did he really care that much for her? "In another future, Lugia and Ho-Oh go to war, also devastating the earth. In many futures, Deoxys does indeed initiate a cataclysm that could destroy the world. Even one of the smallest among you, Jigglypuff, causes the cataclysm in a few futures." Jigglypuff's ears perked up at this, but Molly said no more on this subject. "Even you, Ash, have been the cause for this disaster in some realities."

Ash looked surprised, as did all his Pokemon. "Me?"

"That's impossible, Daddy would never destroy the world!" Togetic protested.

"Not intentionally, no. But in some futures, he is sacrificed or transformed by clandestine cults or criminal organizations, triggering events that lead to the destruction of the world, and eventually himself. We still do not know which of these numerous paths the future will take, but we have narrowed down the possibilities a great deal by selecting you all. And even so, there is still so much that must be left to chance. We know that the cataclysm _will_ take place, it has been building for a very long time. But as we said, we do not know what form it ultimately will take for us, or whether or not it truly can be stopped before it destroys the world. Team Aqua and Magma could awaken Groudon and Kyogre and restart an ancient feud which nearly ripped the world apart eons ago. Team Cipher could unleash an awesome army of Shadow Pokemon on the world, resulting in a great war. Any of the strongest legendaries could be captured and used for diabolical purposes to unbalance nature itself. And yes, Deoxys, in many futures there is still the possibility of you betraying the Chosen and trying to destroy the world," Molly said.

"That's good to hear," Deoxys said.

Mewtwo frowned and turned to Molly. "I'm not quite sure I understand, so please explain: if Deoxys is clearly going to betray us and try to destroy the world, why has he been chosen to save it alongside the rest of us?"

"Because it is not certain that he will betray you. While it is currently his intention to do so, in several possible futures his help is invaluable to the defeat of the cataclysm. In many of those futures, he actually reforms his evil ways," the Unown explained through the girl.

Deoxys looked like he was going to choke with laughter. "I find that highly unlikely. I have lived the way I have for countless eons and enjoyed ever minute of it. Why would I possibly decide to turn away from a way of life I love so very much?"

Molly shrugged. "Stranger things have happened, albeit not often. Surely you, who have spent your life traveling the cosmos, know this as well."

"…True," he grudgingly admitted.

Molly continued. "In any case, as I said before Deoxys is not the only one here who could potentially cause the cataclysm. But out of all the people in the world that could cause it, you all are the only ones who have the greatest chance of succeeding."

"How can that be?" Wobbuffet muttered to himself. "I'm no good at anything. I can't attack at all, I'm only good for deflecting stuff, being annoying to Miss Jessie and getting yelled at."

"Even the seemingly insignificant can sometimes play the greatest roles," Molly said, startling the blue blob. He had forgotten the Unown read minds. Ash and friends wondered why a member of Team Cipher was one of the heroes who might save the world, but if Deoxys had a chance for redemption, perhaps Wobbuffet did too?

"I don't believe a word of this!" snarled Ho-Oh.

"Of course you wouldn't, you're totally paranoid. But I agree somewhat, I do not trust this," said Lugia.

"And I still don't really understand what all of us can do to stop this cataclysm thing. I mean, those guys are legends," said Sadic, pointing at the two great birds. "And I'm just a weak Sneasel. What good am I?"

"As we said, even the smallest can sometimes play the biggest roles," said Molly. "But we see you are still skeptical. This is not unexpected. So, we came prepared with an offer for you all, one which may convince you to help us. It is your choice whether or not to accept it, we do not seek to pressure you in any way. Your decision to be heroes must be made freely or not at all."

"You're bribing us?" asked Absol.

Molly smiled. "We'd like to think of it as a reward for services rendered." Numerous normal, non-crystal Unown appeared. "By evolving, we have lost the ability to directly alter reality, yet our cousins still possess this ability. In return for you doing your job as Chosen, they have agreed to alter your own realities to fulfill your heart's desires."

This got everyone's attention. "Our heart's desires?" murmured Celebi.

Molly nodded. "Indeed. Sadic, we could restore life to your trainer." The Sneasel said nothing, but gave a grunt of interest. "Tyranitar, we could ensure your baby is never harmed by poachers again. Togetic, we could restore Togepi's Paradise from Hanson's damage and ensure it is never threatened again."

"Hanson's back?" Ash asked, shocked.

Togetic gasped. "Oh no, I forgot about that! He-he killed everyone…" She started crying.

"Their deaths can be undone by your assistance. Pikachu, we could make it so that you will always be able to protect Ash. Corphish, we could grant you evolution so that you can prove to everyone you're the toughest lobster around. Bayleef, we could give you the boyfriend you've always wanted. And Bulbasaur, your secret crush could finally be yours."

"Oh, you've got a crush Bulbasaur? Who is it?" asked Bayleef.

He blushed. "Oh, uh, just some Grass Pokemon."

"What about me?" Phanphy asked.

"Your only desire for a while now has been to be with your father, and we already granted that by bringing you here. But if you help us, you may travel with him for a while longer, since Ash has an important role to play in the coming events as well."

"I do?" he asked in surprise.

"Indeed. We will even reward you for your part by altering reality so that you might gain the title of Pokemon Master you have wanted all this time." Ash looked slightly dubious at this, since he had always wanted to gain the title through hard work and not just by wishing for it, but said nothing.

Molly continued. "Charizard, we could give you the glory and triumph you have longed for, so that your fellows will no longer mock and belittle you."

"The other Charizard are being mean to you?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Well, um…yeah," he said, looking kind of embarrassed. "I've been trying, but I haven't won a battle since the Silver Conference. On the plus side, I got Charla pregnant," he said, cheering up. "And she laid the egg just before I-" He paused. "Wait a minute."

"What?"

"The egg. WHERE'S THE EGG?!" He frantically looked around for it.

"We apologize," Molly said sadly. "The Unown were instructed to transport the Chosen only. They did not take any objects you were holding when they came for you, and thus your egg fell and broke."

Charizard paled while everyone looked at him sympathetically. "It-it broke?" he whispered. "But…but the penalty for breaking an egg is-"

"Death," Molly finished.

"They're going to kill you because the Unown made a mistake and pulled you away while you were holding an egg?!" Ash asked in disbelief.

"It's Charizard law, Ash. Our women don't lay eggs as often as, say, a Pikachu would," Charizard explained. Pikachu nodded in agreement. "So ancient rules regulate the caretaking of those eggs until they hatch. Since an egg is somewhat rare among our kind, breaking it is punishable by death. If I ever show up in the valley again, they'll kill me." Then suddenly a hopeful expression came on his face. "But…but you guys can change that, can't you!" He said, pointing to Molly. "You can make it so the egg is still okay and I don't have to get killed!"

"That we can," agreed Molly.

"Okay, then I'm in," said Charizard.

"Do not be so hasty," said Mewtwo, floating over to them. "I find the timing with which you absconded Charizard, and perhaps more of us, suspect. How do we know you did not intentionally take him without the egg so as to force him to agree to help you?"

Molly shrugged. "You don't. We might have done it on purpose, we might not have. But whether or not it was intentional, the egg is still gone, and we are the only ones who can bring it back."

Mewtwo grunted. "I am still skeptical of all this. As the humans say, 'if something's too good to be true, it usually is.' Your offers so far are very generous, almost too generous. And so I doubt them."

Molly smiled. "The humans also say, 'never look a gift Ponyta in the mouth.'"

"If you don't, then how do you know it doesn't have fangs?" Mewtwo retorted.

Molly chuckled. "Mewtwo," said Mew. "Please stop. I'd like to hear what else they have to say before we make our own decisions."

"…Very well." Reluctantly, Mewtwo returned to Latias and Gardevoir.

"Where were we?" asked Molly.

"You were talking about our heart's desires. Do me! Do me!" Jirachi pleaded. Once again Mew and Celebi noted how oddly familiar the Wishmaker seemed, not knowing that Deoxys was looking at all three of them with curiosity. The harbinger of destruction thought they all seemed vaguely familiar as well.

"We already helped to grant one of your wishes, which was to be free from the cycle of the Millennium Comet."

"Then you were those voices in my head?" he asked, surprised.

"Technically, it was our cousins speaking to you, but they were relaying our message and offer, yes. They altered reality to cause an event which would destroy the comet and release your power. In any case, you wish to see your friend Max again, correct?" asked Molly.

"Yup!"

"We can transport you to him with no trouble at all if you will help us."

"Wishmaker, I do not think this is wise," Absol advised. "We were on the verge of reaching Petalburg anyway before we were taken here. I do not think we require their help."

"Actually, you were on the verge of reaching Ecruteak," Molly corrected.

Absol blinked. "…Ecruteak?"

"Yes. It's a city in Johto."

Absol was stunned. "But…but how could we cross an entire ocean and not notice?!"

Molly smiled. "You were that lost."

Absol was silent for a moment. "Er, perhaps we should accept their help, Wishmaker, because I do not see how else we will reach Petalburg."

"Yay!" cheered Jirachi.

"And before you offer me anything, I must say that there is nothing in my heart which I desire. There is nothing I wish for," said Absol.

"Not even to be free of your duties as guardian?" asked Molly.

"I have at times wished I were not Jirachi's guardian," Absol admitted, surprising Jirachi. "But responsibility is more important than frivolous desire. No, there is nothing I wish for. I shall remain the guardian."

Molly smiled. "That is very noble of you Absol. Few others would have done the same thing in your place."

"You really don't wanna be my guardian sometimes Absol?" Jirachi asked sadly.

"Only on rare occasions, like when you start singing the Doom Song."

"Oh. I'll stop it then," said Jirachi.

Molly smiled and continued. "Jigglypuff, we can change your voice so it no longer puts people to sleep."

"That would be wonderful!" the slightly insane balloon squealed.

"Wobbuffet, we could make it so that your trainer treats you kindly, instead of yelling at you all the time and putting you back in your Pokeball."

"M-miss Jessie treats me fine!" Wobbuffet said quickly.

"No she doesn't and you know it. Onix and Geodude, we could grant you the singing voices you've always wanted so you could start your own rock band."

"Yeah!" said Geodude excitedly.

"We'd be the best rock band the world's ever seen!" said Onix happily. There were numerous sweatdrops at the horrible pun.

"Corsola, Gyarados, we could grant Psyduck a brain so he could finally learn how to swim and stop being such an annoyance."

Corsola began to cry with joy. "If you could do that, I'd worship you as gods."

"No need for that. Scyther, we could restore to you your long-lost youth, so that you may relive your glory days."

Scyther smirked at Misdreavus and Umbreon. "Ha, then I'd show you whippersnappers what a real fighting Pokemon can do!" They rolled their eyes at this.

"Misdreavus, Umbreon, we can grant you the same thing that Ho-Oh desires: an egg of your own."

The couple and bird listened intently at this. "You could actually do that? Give us that which nature prevents us from doing?" Umbreon asked hopefully.

"We can indeed."

Ho-Oh looked doubtful, and yet there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I-I don't know…I'll have to think about it…"

Ash was confused. "Wait, why can't they make their own eggs?"

"Ho-Oh arrogantly refuses to believe she's impotent, while Misdreavus, Umbreon, Celebi and Mew are all females and as such are not capable of producing eggs without male input," said Molly.

"I am not impotent!" Ho-Oh squawked. No one believed her.

Ash was still confused. "Then why can't they get male input?"

"Because they're lesbians."

He blinked. "What's a lesbian?" Everyone facefaulted.

Pikachu whispered something into Ash's ear. He looked shocked. "Seriously?!" Pikachu nodded. A disturbed look fell on the human's face.

Shedinja growled as Molly's gaze turned on him. "There is nothing you can offer me. I have no heart, and so I have no deepest desires."

"Are you certain of that?" Molly asked playfully.

"Positive!"

"Are you sure that what you really want isn't a heart itself, or a realization of a love you deny?" she asked.

Shedinja looked confused. "Why would I possibly want that?"

Molly smiled enigmatically. "We can see past the layers of your shell Shedinja. We can see what lies within you, what even you deny exists." The insect looked at her with confusion, but she said no more as she went on to the next person. "Lugia, we could free you from your exile with the legendary birds and allow you to return to your family."

Lugia shook his head. "I think it will take more power than even you possess to convince Ho-Oh to let me go."

"Perhaps not. Ho-Oh, if we were to promise you your egg, would you let Lugia and his family go?" asked Molly.

"I…" Ho-Oh hesitated. "If it's for an egg…and as long as Lugia promises he will take his kin far away from Johto, never to return…I suppose I could do that."

Lugia was shocked. "…Thank you, Ho-Oh."

"Don't think I'm doing it for you, traitor, it's for my egg," she snapped.

Lugia couldn't help smiling. "Even so, that proves that even you can change your mind. Thank you nevertheless." She scowled but said nothing.

"What about us?" asked Celebi.

"Both of you came into this world without any knowledge of what came before, but the vague feeling that you knew each other. You saw artifacts and ruins around the world which seemed to indicate that you had existed for thousands of years, but you can remember none of that."

"Then you're offering us our forgotten origins?" Mew guessed.

"Precisely."

"Interesting…" the kitten murmured. "And here I always thought my heart's desire was a slinky that works in the air. I love those things!"

"And what do you have to offer my group?" Mewtwo asked as Molly turned her gaze on him, Latias and Gardevoir. "Gardevoir's desire is clear, she wants a perfect face, even though I have told her numerous times it will not bring her happiness. I know Latias wishes for the lives of her brother and everyone in her city to be restored…and for a certain someone to love her, I think." Ash got a worried look on his face at this, remembering what the Ghost King had told him, while Latias blushed and fidgeted. "And I personally know that my own wish cannot be granted, all I seek is enlightenment. And that is not something that can be given, it must be attained through one's own actions. I cannot speak for my friends, but I know there is nothing that you can offer me which will convince me to believe you."

Molly smiled. "Are you certain of that?"

"Yes."

"Do you not wish to know what your own heart desires, Mewtwo?"

Mewtwo frowned. "I know what is in my heart."

"Do you though?" Molly chuckled and then said something surprising. "You know Giovanni died recently, don't you?"

"…Yes," Mewtwo said, uncertain where this was going.

"How did you feel when you heard the news? Relieved that he would no longer hunt you?"

"I felt somewhat disappointed," Mewtwo admitted. "He had seemed to show signs of improvement when I saw him last. I am regretful that he never had the chance to further reform himself."

"That's not all you felt though, was it? You also felt sad when you heard the news didn't you?"

Mewtwo looked uncertain. "…Yes, though I don't know why."

"Because, in your own way, you cared about him."

Mewtwo's anger rose. "I hated Giovanni. How dare you accuse me of caring for him?"

"He was the closest thing you had to a father." Mewtwo stopped, stunned. "Have you never wished, even for a moment, that things could have been different between you? That you meant more to him than just a pawn or another Pokemon slave? That he had not been filled with such anger and disdain for the world? Isn't that another reason for how you felt when you saw that he did have a chance for redemption, proof that he could indeed care for others? Did you never wish he could care about you the same way he cared about Persian?"

Mewtwo stared at the possessed girl, speechless. Latias was amazed too, but then she remembered what Mewtwo had said under his breath after they had escaped from Viridian City. How he wished Giovanni could have cared about him more. The psychic sagged. "I…how did you…"

"As we have said, Mewtwo…we can see almost everything."

Mewtwo looked shaken. "This does not mean I trust you. Just because you can see what even my heart denies does not mean you can grant it, or even should grant it. Often what one wishes for most is in truth the last thing they need, and they only find that out too late to help them." He looked at Ash. "Ash, you have saved me on more than one occasion, and I respect you more than any human…but I ask you, what is the point of becoming a Pokemon Master? What does it mean, anyway? It's just a title, something used to promote Pokemon battles and to get publicity. It doesn't mean anything at all. Nobody can really be a master of Pokemon, it implies that we are nothing but tools for fighting, when in reality we are the ones who choose whether to obey humans or not. If every Pokemon on Earth got fed up with humans and walked out on them, do you honestly think all your Pokeballs will be able to keep them with you?" He shook his head. "There is no such thing as a Pokemon Master. So what is the point of struggling all your life for this lofty title, only to find when you get there that it's empty? That by reaching this point, you have forsaken all else, and you now have nothing else to strive for? Once you're at the top, where do you go from there? Tell me, Ash Ketchum, if you do become a 'Pokemon Master', what will you do after that?"

"…I don't know," Ash admitted. It startled him to realize he had never given it much thought.

"I think perhaps that you should seriously consider that," said Mewtwo. He turned to Gardevoir. "And Gardevoir, you have told me many times that you wish your face was beautiful, instead of deformed as it is now." She nodded. "And yet, you still fail to understand that beauty doesn't bring you happiness. As you are now, you are virtually unhindered by trainers or desert bandits. None of them are interested in capturing a Gardevoir who is, in their opinion, ugly. But what if you were to become beautiful? You trade with caravans whenever they pass by. They would notice the change in you at once. Word would spread that an especially lovely Gardevoir is living in a desert cleft. People would come from all over to capture you for your rarity and beauty. Is that really what you want?" Gardevoir said nothing, but looked down at her feet. "And the same goes for all of you. Although I do indeed wish things had gone better with my…'father', he's dead now. Even if I had the power to bring him back and change things, should I? Is it really the best thing for me? Although he hurt me and abused me, he still molded me into the person I am now. Although I hate him for that, I also grudgingly owe him for it. Would I not be changing myself by doing this, by allowing the Unown to bring him back? Would I not be compromising the morals I have set my life by?" He shook his head. "I do not trust what we are being told here. Among other things, I believe that the dead should remain dead, and some things have a price too high to make them worth getting. The reward they are offering us comes with such a price. In this case, the price is fighting off some 'cataclysm.' We do not know if this cataclysm exists, or if it is even truly a threat. How do we know we are not simply opening the way for a greater catastrophe, or allowing ourselves to be manipulated for some diabolical purpose?" Latias felt somewhat relieved that Mewtwo hadn't psychoanalyzed her own wish, yet now she couldn't help wondering if there was something wrong with it. But what possible harm could there be in erasing the attack on Alto Mare? And who was this love he had been talking about? She didn't want to ruin Ash's current relationship, so who could he mean? Surely he hadn't been talking about the Ghost King…

"And that's not all," said Deoxys suddenly. "Tell me ancient ones, what is the desire which lies in my own heart? Metaphorically speaking of course, since I don't have one."

"You wish for death," said Molly. "The death of all things. For the light of every star, for every person on every planet in the universe, to be extinguished forever, and all will be cast in the eternal darkness of death."

"Exactly," said Deoxys. "And that is why you are lying to us. You said you would alter reality to grant all our wishes. But if you grant mine, won't that negate everyone else's as well as undo the work you are trying to make us do? Why are you asking us to save the world if you will pay me by giving me the power to destroy it all?"

Molly smiled. "We did not say we would alter a single reality to grant these wishes. Those desires that conflict or negate each other will take place in duplicate realities identical to the others, except for the fact that your wish will come true there while the others don't. So for you, we would transplant you in a reality identical to the one you came from, and grant you the power to destroy it."

Deoxys nodded. "I see. And that is why I still think you are lying."

Molly frowned. "Why?"

"You and your cousins seem to be willing to exert a lot of energy just so that all of us can get what we want, in return for saving a single planet. If you will do all this for us, why don't you do it yourselves? Why don't you use your great powers to save the world on your own, instead of relying on us? And for another matter, why do you even care so much about the fate of a single planet when surely there are an infinite amount out there which are also on the brink of destruction?"

This was a very good question, which all of the Chosen started wondering. Why did the Unown care? Why couldn't they do it themselves? And were they being manipulated, as Mewtwo seemed to think they were?

The Unown noticed this and knew they had to do something to regain everyone's faith. "All right, we will tell you why we are willing to exert all this power for you, and yet will not use it to save the Earth." Molly started talking.

Several hours later…

"…and that's why," Molly finished.

Latias had lost track of what they said ages ago, yet for some reason she could not help feeling that the Unown were telling the truth after all and their reason for not doing things themselves was complex, but totally airtight. Even Mewtwo, Deoxys, and Ho-Oh had swallowed the explanation, and now seemed more interested in what the Unown had to say. "So, now that you understand all that we have told you, will you help us?"

The resounding cry from all assembled was "YES!"

Molly smiled. "Good! So now, listen to what we have to tell you. The instructions we give you will help you to prepare for the coming catastrophe." She looked at Ash. "Ash, you along with Pikachu, Corphish, Bayleef, Charizard, Phanphy and Latias shall return to Hoenn and continue on to the Championships, where your destinies will be revealed."

"Yeah, I get to travel again!" said Charizard happily.

"And I get to stay with Daddy!" said Phanphy equally happily.

"Wait, I have to go with them?" Latias asked, suddenly feeling anxious. She had not finished training with Mewtwo. What help could she be to Ash? Especially since she was still trying to puzzle out her feelings, or lack of, for him.

Mewtwo didn't look happy with this arrangement either. "I am currently training Latias. I do not think she is as of yet ready to engage another Pokemon in battle. If she is to be travelling with Ash and his friends, does this mean she will be fighting in the Championships too?"

"Yes."

"Then may I come along or at least keep in contact with her to continue her training from afar?"

"No."

Mewtwo frowned. "Why not?"

"Because you will be remaining here with us. We have much to teach you, Mewtwo. Much that you might find beneficial in our struggle against the cataclysm…for we have named you leader of the Chosen, and as such there is much we must do."

Mewtwo frowned. "I'll be staying here? But…but what of Gardevoir?"

"She will return to your home in the desert, where she will pack up whatever she needs to travel and take a ride with the next trade caravan out of the desert. From there she will head to Hoenn, where she will eventually rendezvous with the rest of the Chosen at some point during the Championships in Ever Grande City," said Molly.

"N-no!" said Gardevoir suddenly. Latias blinked. She had never heard her speak before. "Don't…d-don't want to go!" she managed to slur through her half-formed mouth.

"You must. Like all the others, you have agreed to fulfill your duties as a Chosen. As such, you must take a journey of your own…alone."

"No!" she cried out.

Mewtwo growled. "I take back my agreement. She's never left the desert before. She is totally unprepared for the outside world. The culture shock and huge crowds alone could drive her insane."

"Once given, your agreement cannot be taken back," said Molly. "You will remain here. Latias will travel with Ash. Gardevoir will journey to Hoenn by herself."

"No…" Sobbing from her one eye, Gardevoir clutched Mewtwo's arm. "D-don't want you to…leave again…"

"…Neither do I," he whispered.

"However, we are not cruel. We will allow you to keep in touch with her," said Molly.

The couple looked hopeful at this. "You will?"

"Yes. Our cousins will give you an hour together each night in your dreams, as you sleep. Will that be satisfactory?"

"…It'll have to do," Mewtwo said reluctantly. Gardevoir sadly nodded in agreement.

"Very well. And you will not be totally separated from Latias either." Molly gestured, and an object fell into Latias' claws.

"What's this?" It appeared to be a polished bone flute with the end carved to resemble the head of a Salamence. It had a string attached to its mouth end which would allow it to be hung around a person's neck.

"That is the Dragon Flute. It is a mystical object that only you can play that operates on the psychic frequency both you and Mewtwo share. When you play it, it will trigger a signal in Mewtwo's brain, causing him to teleport to wherever you are. However, it can only be used three times, so make sure to only use it in the direst of circumstances," said Molly.

"But I don't know how to play the flute!" Latias protested.

Molly smiled. "You don't need to."

"Hey, why does she need Mewtwo's help? She's sticking with us, what makes you think we can't handle anything that gets thrown at us?" asked Charizard.

"This from the guy who hasn't won a fight since the Silver Conference?" said Bayleef.

"…Shut up."

"And while we're on the subject, I suppose you'll need some form of protection too, just in case," Molly said to Ash.

He blinked. "Huh? Why me?"

"Because even though we rescued you in the nick of time, the Ghost King is still promise-bound to kill you. The fact that Latias, the object of his affections, will be travelling with you will increase the chances of an attack from his army, wouldn't you agree Shedinja?"

Shedinja grunted. "I cannot honestly speak for my sire, but were I in his position, then yes."

Molly nodded. "Therefore we will provide you with this." A tiny stone tablet floated down into Ash's hands. It had a symbol carved into it resembling an X-shaped Unown and had a string attached to it to allow it to be worn around the neck. "This talisman will repel ghosts from your body, protecting you from the Ghost King's minions. Try it on."

"Okay." Ash slipped the necklace over his head. Misdreavus and Shedinja flinched visibly and floated a few inches away, where they immediately felt more comfortable. "Cool…"

"These two objects, along with the powers the rest of your team possesses, should keep you safe throughout your journey."

"Um, thanks." Ash glanced at Latias, feeling slightly uneasy. The Ghost King had told him she loved him, and he wasn't certain Bayleef was over him, so that meant he'd be travelling with two girl Pokemon who might or might not be crazy for him. That and the fact that he already had a long-distance girlfriend who most certainly would not be happy to hear about this made him worry even more. He didn't know that Bayleef was already crushing on Grovyle and Latias was still confused about her own feelings, so in truth he really didn't have to worry. Not that he knew that, of course.

After Ash's crew was set up, Molly and the Unown gave instructions to the rest of the Chosen. Sadic was to leave her mountain home and head towards Ever Grande City. It was likely that somewhere along the way she would meet Gardevoir, and the two would continue to the city together. Tyranitar was to leave Mt. Silver with her child and head for Pallet Town, where she would travel across the sea to Hoenn with the rest of Ash's Pokemon when the time came. Togetic would rejoin her mother along with Corsola and Gyarados. Jirachi and Absol were directly transported to Petalburg, where they would meet up with Max and his family and protect them until it was tournament time. They had instructions to keep May or Max from rejoining Ash, because the Unown predicted it would soon become too dangerous for them. Onix, Geodude, Corsola and Gyarados had similar instructions for their own trainers, but they would all meet up at Ever Grande City come tournament time. Misdreavus, Umbreon, Scyther and Bulbasaur were to return to Oak's lab where they would wait with Ash's other Pokemon (including Swellow and Torkoal) until it was time for the tournament. Jigglypuff was to continue stalking Ash's group from a distance, for the Unown promised she would soon find something that would outdo her microphone a thousandfold. Wobbuffet was sent back to Team Cipher, where he was told to basically do what he always did, which was generally be somewhat annoying. His time would come, they had said. Shedinja was to return to the Ghost King and inform him of the events he had witnessed, and also to tell the spectral lord that the answers to his past and to his mysterious connection with Latias were closer than he might think. Lugia, under reluctant permission from Ho-Oh, was allowed to leave the Orange Islands at last and spend the remaining time until the championships with his family. Ho-Oh was to take his place with the three elemental birds until the tournament. She had protested, until she was reminded that this was the only way she could ever get an egg. Mew and Celebi were to go to the Sevii Archipelago, where the Unown hinted they might find information about their lost memories that might help in the coming struggle. As for Deoxys, he was to go to the moon and meditate on his own missing memories and the broken crystal brain in his chest until it was time, not causing any havoc or destruction for the entirety of that period. Oddly enough, he agreed.

The Unown granted them with one final gift, total immunity to Pokeballs so that they could not be Snagged or captured, and then all the Chosen were sent off to do their assigned tasks. And out of all of them Deoxys was the only one who still remained suspicious of the Unown's intentions. And he had good reason, too. After all, he was one of the oldest and most powerful evils in existence. As such, he knew evil when he saw it, even if those committing it thought it to be good. And he had no problem with going along with it, for to Deoxys, anything evil was fun….

…

Very long, I know, but I wanted to leave you something to keep you occupied while I'm gone. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review.


	20. Cataclysmic Foreshadowing

Hey everyone, I'm back from Costa Rica. I had fun, though I wouldn't have minded staying home either. I rode a zip line through a rain forest canopy, snorkeled near a coral reef, got seriously sunburned, and spent two days rafting rapids on a river. Still, I'm glad to be back.

To everyone who wondered why I skipped over the Unown's explanation, the answer is simple: I have no explanation, just as Meep surmised. Although you might be suspicious that they were so easily able to convince everyone.

Alex, I answered your lengthy questions via E-mail, if you will recall.

HVK, glad you liked the characterization.

You don't trust the Unown, Ring of fire? Good. You should always doubt semi-omnipotent beings that con you into doing great labors for fabulous rewards on principle. Even if they think what they're doing is right and justified, that doesn't mean it actually is.

Yes Sir Pudding, I did unlock Ms. Mowz. She was kind of weak though. Never really used her. The Unown didn't count Ash because he's not Chosen, but his destiny is intertwined with theirs. We'll get to Grovyle eventually. And to be honest, I removed the other characters because they would have gotten in the way of what I have planned. They're not gone forever though, I can promise you that.

Oh, and I changed a few things in chapter 19. Now Mew and Celebi's wish is to know more about their pasts.

Disclaimer: I own naught but the Ghost King and some other stuff I can't mention here because it'd spoil the chapter. That all belongs to other gaming companies.

…

In the Realm of Mists, the Ghost King listened intently to his servant's report of his encounter with the eldest of the Unown. _"This is unbelievable…and Latias was sent to travel with Ash?"_

Shedinja nodded. "Yes my lord. And as I said, he now has a talisman which protects him from our kind."

The King considered. _"What do you think its range is?"_

"I was several yards from him, and I felt extreme discomfort at once. None of my soldiers would be able to get close to him or push him into a gate leading here."

"And it would be no good anyway, because thanks to his talisman I would not be able to approach him either due to my ethereal nature…" the King muttered.

"That does not mean we cannot still reach him, though. I have kin among the Ninjask assassins. If I inquired, they may be willing to finish off Ash Ketchum for us," Shedinja offered.

The Ghost King shook his head vehemently. _"No. I promised that I would kill him myself. I don't want any mercenary assassins involved in his death."_

"Well, that's easy to resolve!" said Shedinja. "We'll just send the Ninjask to remove the talisman in his sleep, and then we can grab him and bring him to you and-"

"NO, Shedinja," said the King. _"No Ninjask, _period " 

said the King. period " 

Shedinja didn't seem to mind. "Then we'll capture his friends and family. Talismans do not protect them. We'll threaten to kill them if he doesn't remove his protection, and then-"

"No. We will not harm Ash Ketchum or his friends or his family in any way, shape, or form," the King interrupted.

Shedinja stuttered in disbelief. "But-but why, my lord? You are promise-bound to kill him."

"Or so I thought," the King murmured. _"Remind me Shedinja, how did you say Latias looked when she saw Ash was there with you all in the land of the Unown? Did she smile with glee? Did she hug him? Did she cry with joy and longing?"_

the King murmured. 

"…No. Actually, she looked kind of…uncertain. Confused. And when she joined with the others to go, she didn't look any more certain. Kind of uncomfortable too," the bug admitted.

The King nodded to himself. _"As I thought. Tell me, do you think that is how a person would react if they saw the one they loved after more than a year of absence?"_

"I have little interest or experience in love, but…no, I suppose not," Shedinja said.

"Then we must seriously consider the possibility that she no longer loves Ash Ketchum. If that is true, then I am freed from my obligation to kill him. In my letter I promised I would kill the one Latias claims to love, but I never said that it would be the person she claimed to love right then and there, or at any specific time for that matter. This means that if she loves someone else now, I must kill that person instead of Ash. And that doesn't bother me very much, for I think I have an idea who that might be…" He chuckled in amusement.

Shedinja was astonished. He had never seen his master look so…_happy_ before. "My lord? Does…does this mean what I think it does?"

The King seemed to smirk. _"That Latias loves me? Perhaps. She has yet to admit it to herself, though. But this will change in time, I think. And if she does indeed love me, my promise is voided for I cannot very well kill myself. I'm a ghost. I'm already dead. Therefore I will be freed from any of my foolishly made obligations and we will then be able to love each other."_

Shedinja seemed doubtful. "I don't know, my lord. You have caused her much grief and distress. How can she possibly just let all that slide and love you despite everything you've done to her?"

The King gave his general a knowing smile. _"You underestimate the power of the heart, Shedinja. Such things have happened before. Do you think that Misdreavus has stopped pining for you despite the harsh things you said to her the other day?"_

Shedinja snorted. "I don't know why she persists in this foolishness. There is nothing about me worth admiring. I am an empty, heartless shell, as hollow as a Dusclops but without the black hole. What does she see in me?"

The King seemed bemused. _"Maybe she sees something beneath your supposedly empty shell. Something everyone else, even you, doesn't think is there."_

Shedinja looked at his liege in frustration. Why did everyone keep _saying_ that?! Knowing he could not win this argument, he decided to change the subject. "In any case, what are you going to do with Latias, since you are so certain she secretly loves you?"

_"At the moment? Nothing. She is in close proximity to Ketchum's talisman, so all I can do for now is observe her from afar through the ethereal viewer. I think I will wait and see if she finds out her feelings for herself…if and when that happens, I think I will recruit those Ninjask cousins of yours, but to deliver a message, nothing more."_

"A message?" Shedinja asked in confusion.

"Yes. One last apology, along with a gift." He looked thoughtful at this, but said no more. _"I do not wish to interfere overmuch with her duties as a Chosen, so I will leave it at that. If a possibility for a relationship between us exists, I will wait to pursue it fully until after this present business is concluded."_

He looked thoughtful at this, but said no more. 

"Has it occurred to you that you may be the cause of the coming catastrophe, and if so any attachment you have to Latias could cause the Chosen to fail if it is necessary for them to defeat you?" asked Shedinja.

"…It has occurred to me," the King admitted. _"But I do not think it will come to that."_ He nodded. _"In the meantime, I have work for you to do."_

the King admitted. He nodded. 

"Oh?" asked Shedinja, already dreading this. "More errand boy work?"

The King smiled. _"Not exactly. First, I need you to contact my mediums and tell them to try and get in touch with Latias' brother on the other side."_

"Does this have to do with the gift you mentioned?" Shedinja asked suspiciously.

The King nodded. _"Indeed it does. Then I want you to get my researchers to work in the Sevii Archipelago."_

Shedinja was confused. "Sevii? Why there?"

"Those islands are said to have existed since the beginning of time itself and to be the origin of life on our world," said the King. _"They house numerous mysterious ruins, castles, and at least one of every naturally occurring non-legendary species of Pokemon on the planet. The Unown sent Mew and Celebi there to find their origins. They are two of the planet's most mysterious Pokemon. If their secrets lie there, who is to say mine do not as well?"_

said the King. 

Shedinja was doubtful. "My lord, our researchers have already went over the Sevii Islands. There is nothing there regarding your past, or that of Mew and Celebi's that they could determine."

The King smiled. _"Tell them to look again, harder this time. From what the Unown told you to tell me, my past is right underneath my nose. Where better to hide something than an obvious place that has already been searched?"_

"Very well. Anything else?"

_"Three more things. One, I want you to train your army harder. You were Chosen for a reason, I think. We may need an army of ghosts to battle this great catastrophe."_

"And what if our army _is_ the catastrophe, my lord?"

_"Then so be it. Deoxys has a chance to be the threat, as does Mewtwo and most of the others, and yet all of them may also be the ones to stop whatever catastrophe befalls us. The same will be said of us. Second, I want you to see that Mr. Maple and Mr. Slate's souls are returned to them, we have no use for them now. As for the last thing, I want you to take Misdreavus out on a date."_

"Wh-what?!" This was so unexpected that Shedinja was left grasping for words. "You…y-you want me to go on…on a _date_?"

The King nodded. _"Perhaps you will reconsider your opinions on love and on your so-called nonexistent heart if you actually tried it for yourself. I know that love is a wonderful, terrible thing, Shedinja. But it is better to experience it and suffer than to never experience it at all, I think…or so the cliché goes, anyway. It may actually do you some good."_

Shedinja went silent. "Is…that…an _order_, my liege?"

_"Indeed it is. I will go fetch Misdreavus now. And apologize for goodness' sake, you really hurt her before!"_ The King flew off into the mists to find Shedinja's date. 

The bug's eye twitched. "…I just HAVE to be so damn loyal to him, don't I?!"

…

Ein winced and rubbed his eyes. He had a persistent headache, caused by too much liquor, along with stress and too many sleepless nights. Being the boss wasn't really working out for him. He belonged in a lab, not running a complex criminal organization! He was glad he'd be rid of the job soon enough.

He smirked, remembering that day months and months ago when he had been contacted by none other than the person who had been thought by many to be the leader of the Cipher organization back in Orre, the man with the freakish living hair named Nascour. He had gotten word that Evice had broken out of prison and was working on a plan to take over Team Rocket from within and rebuild Cipher…using Ein's help, of all things. Nascour was working on his own escape, but was very unhappy that Evice had left him behind to rot in jail, and so came up with a brilliant idea of his own to turn Evice's plan against him.

He told Ein that if he were to go along with Evice's plan, then kill him once he had taken over Team Rocket and run it until Nascour could escape from prison and take the job as boss, the scientist would be greatly rewarded. Ein had never liked Evice much anyway, so he agreed to help, and now he was in charge of Team Cipher and impatiently waiting for Nascour to relieve him. The man with the really bad hairdo had recently sent word that he had escaped from prison (finally) and was in the process of regaining his old Pokemon team and would be in Kanto within the month. Ein couldn't wait. He was tired of filling out paperwork after paperwork, getting snide looks from some of the older operatives, and having horrific nightmares of Giovanni and Persian returning from beyond the grave and doing horrible, horrible things to him. He could barely sleep at night now.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Getting tired, Ein?" whispered a familiar voice in his ear. "Don't worry, you'll get plenty of rest soon enough…_when you join us in Hell!_"

Ein's eyes flew open. "GIOVANNI!" he cried.

The three scientists who had been sitting across the desk from him recoiled in shock. "Uh, sir? Are you all right?" asked an old man who looked like an orange-haired Dr. Wily.

Ein paused. "Er, sorry? What was I doing?"

"You've been sitting there with your eyes shut for the last few minutes, then you abruptly yelled the old boss's name for no good reason," said a younger man with domed black hair with a silver streak, glasses and a goatee.

Ein laughed nervously. "Ah, did I say Giovanni? I meant rigatoni!" he said quickly.

"Rigatoni?" a fat man with dark glasses, a mostly bald head, and a thick orange mustache and needle nose asked doubtfully.

"Yes, rigatoni, I have a sudden craving for it. You, get me some right away!" he said to a woman standing guard outside his office.

Domino, who had been demoted to Ein's secretary and gofer after the takeover grumbled "Yes Mr. Ein," and went to carry out his bidding.

"Mm mm, can't get enough of that pasta," said Ein, rubbing his stomach for effect. "Now, where were we?"

The scientists stared at him for a moment, then shrugged it off. Ein had once been one of them, and it was not unheard of for evil scientists (or evil scientists-turned-administrators) to be somewhat insane. "You called us together because you wanted to discuss the projects we want funding for," said the Wily lookalike.

"Ah, yes, of course." Ein picked up a paper from his neatly organized desk. "Dr. Nanji-"

"Namba," corrected the Wily lookalike.

"Right, Namba. According to your file, you were one of Team Rocket's top scientists. You were given command of their underwater base in Johto, and invented the Pokemon Rage Power Enhancer, and masterminded numerous heists of rare and powerful Pokemon including raids on Professor Oak's laboratory…" Namba's chest puffed out with pride at this. "All of which were foiled by adolescent trainers." Namba's face drooped. "According to your latest report, you want funding to develop a new kind of Rage Enhancer?"

Namba nodded, his pride returning. "Yes, I think I've figured out a way to make it work on both Pokemon _and_ humans! Using the power of anger, my team has been able to amplify the physical strength and stamina of our agents by tenfold, and with a little more money I think we can boost it to a hundred. We could have super-Cipher agents and Pokemon, filled with rage at the world and virtually unstoppable to the police forces! Much like your Shadow Pokemon, actually, but it works on humans too! Imagine how strong a Shadow Pokemon, already filled with anger and hate, would be when boosted by the Rage Enhancer!"

"Hmm…" said Ein, interested. "I'll consider it. Let's move on to you, Professor Sebastian." The black-haired scientist nodded. "According to your file, you've invented the Crystal Field Generator System, which can absorb the power of electric Pokemon, and the Pokemon evolutionary wave frequency, which was intended to force Pokemon to evolve but instead turned one Magikarp into a mutant Gyarados and caused pain to any Pokemon close enough to the emitter. Unfortunately, both of your inventions were-"

"Destroyed by adolescent trainers, I know. However, I think I've worked out the kinks in the evolutionary frequency and any flaws in the Crystal System. With the proper funding, I can turn them both into weapons strong enough to take down even a legendary Pokemon," said Sebastian. "We could use the Crystal to capture electric-types like Zapdos and Raikou while causing them pain with the frequency. The frequency could also be used to force our own Pokemon to evolve and still work as a useful weapon on the battlefield as long as our Pokemon are shielded from it's effects."

"It has potential," agreed Ein. "But let's see what our last colleague has to say. Dr. Ivo Robotnik, code-named the Eggman, am I right?" The fat scientist nodded. "According to your file, you have invented all of Team Rocket's super-powered robot mechs, many of which are never used in the field. May I ask why that is?"

The scientist looked frustrated. "It was Mr. Giovanni's fault. He had Megamechaphobia."

"Megamechaphobia?" asked Ein, confused.

"Yes, fear of giant robots. It's a very sad story. His father was crushed by a giant robot at his fourth birthday, and he was scared of them ever since," explained the Eggman.

Ein blinked. "…What the hell was a giant robot doing at his birthday party?!"

Robotnik twiddled his fingers innocently. "Well, Madame Boss (as well as myself) were implicated, but nothing was ever proven."

"I see. So if Giovanni hated robots so much, then why did he allow you to stay around and let elite agents such as the Iron Masked Marauder and Bashou and Buson utilize them?" asked Ein. "And there have been mentions of the very, _very_ lowest members in the organization using your mechs on numerous occasions and always failing."

The Eggman chuckled. "You see, I'm too valuable to the organization to be fired. I bring in more than a quarter of our annual revenue." Sebastian and Namba glared at him jealously.

"How's that?" Ein asked, intrigued. He had only skimmed the doctor's file and wasn't aware of this.

"You know the nation of Metaba?"

Ein nodded. Like Orre and Silica, it was a desolate land where few Pokemon grew naturally. So instead, the League there had trainers which utilized giant robots instead of Pokemon. The region had collapsed into a war some years back which was still ongoing, each side using their own giant mechs to try and triumph over the others. "Yes, what of it?"

Robotnik grinned. "Who do you think supplies the factions tearing up the region with their machines?"

Ein gaped. "_You?"_

The doctor snickered. "Heh heh. People are so gullible. I sell one side powerful mechs, then sell a different side even stronger ones to counter them. Then I sell the first faction even stronger mechs, and so on and so forth, and I make a tidy sum for the team and for myself, of course. I have so much leeway with the administrators Giovanni had to let me be, but only allowed the topmost agents access to my creations. As for the low-lifes you mentioned, they are my unwitting test subjects. They are the most incompetent people I have ever met, and so they are virtually guaranteed to fail even with my mechas at their disposal. I send them the prototypes for every model I come up with, based partially on the demands they make of me to counteract the incredibly strong Pokemon they foolishly go up against practically every day, and watch through hidden scanners to see how exactly my machines are destroyed. I then correct the failures in them and sell the fixed versions to the people of Metaba. Or I sell them the flawed ones and tell the other factions how to destroy them, depending on how my mood is."

"Incredible," said Ein, awed by the Eggman's cunning. The other scientists glared at Robotnik furiously, certain he would get the funding for his special project now.

Robotnik nodded. "I know," he said without any hint of irony. "And now that Giovanni is finally dead and a leader more tolerant of robots is in charge-" He paused. "You don't have a problem with robots, do you?"

"Oh, none at all!" said Ein. He had loved watching the old movies and TV shows with giant robots when he was a kid, no matter how cheesy they were.

"Good! Anyway, now that you're in charge, I can finally get the funding approved for my masterpiece, something I've been planning and revising for years and years. With all the data I've been collecting from my imbecilic helpers, I think it will be perfect." He laid a weathered blueprint out on Ein's desk, brushing aside paperwork to reveal the form of an awesome machine, armed to the teeth with deadly weapons and defenses. "I give you the Tyranitron MK II, the ultimate robot!"

"What happened to MK I?" asked Ein.

Robotnik shrugged. "The prototype was tested and destroyed by the idiots. In any case, my robot will be virtually indestructible! It'll be insulated with rubber and other solvents to protect it from electric shocks, and its hull will be made from a new alloy I've developed that is resistant to almost 100 of fire-type, ghost-type, grass-type, water-type, or practically any other type of attack. And to make it even better defended, it will be covered in plates of finely polished mirrors to deflect any psychic or beam attacks fired at it. It will have missiles, lasers, machine guns, and a weapon called a Snag Cannon I based off of Gatling guns and Snag Device technology to fire multiple Snag Balls to capture any Pokemon in the area. It will also have a new device I've invented called an Attack Generator which is capable of synthesizing the most powerful Pokemon techniques, including an unbelievably powerful Hyper Beam Cannon as a super weapon which will be capable of leveling entire cities. And I threw in rocket fists for fun." He slammed a fist on the table. "I have calculated that it can withstand attacks from a legendary Pokemon, even the strongest of them! If constructed, my machine will be virtually INVINCIBLE!" He laughed maniacally for effect. "The only drawback I can think of is that it will require multiple pilots due to its sheer complexity, but I'm sure our elite agents will be able to drive it with no problem. And I'm also having a little trouble getting a power supply strong enough to make the thing work indefinitely, but I'm sure I could fix that with the right amount of money. All I need is the budget to build my Tyranitron, and I can guarantee that it will conquer the world for Team Cipher!"

Ein leaned back in his chair, impressed by the doctor's proposed plan. It sounded genius. Still…he glanced at Namba and Sebastian, who now looked bitter and unhappy. Ein admitted that their ideas were good as well, and he wasn't sure that there was room in Robotnik's Tyranitron plan for his own favored army of Shadow Pokemon like there was in the others. And he was sure that there were downsides and flaws in the robot's design that might be cause for concern, no matter how perfect the Eggman claimed it would be. To be honest, all three of the proposed projects (even his own Shadow Pokemon Plan) could quite easily fail under the right circumstances. If there was only some way to cover the bases on all of them…

He sat up, suddenly getting a brilliant idea. "I won't fund one of your projects, I'll fund all of them!" he said suddenly.

The scientists looked at him in surprise. "Huh?"

Ein nodded. "All of your projects are good ideas, but each of them has a good chance of failing, no matter how perfect you think they are. Why not combine them all?"

"Combine them? How?" asked the confused Sebastian.

"It's rather simple, really," said Ein, leaning back in his chair. "It even has a place for my Shadow Pokemon. Robotnik, you will construct the Tyranitron MK II, but your colleagues will be assisting you. Namba, you will finish your experiments with the Rage Enhancer and install them into the robot's cockpit so that they can be used to boost the focus and concentration of the pilots through the power of anger. Sebastian, you can use the Crystal System for the robot's power generator and use it to siphon electricity into its batteries. Your evolution inducement frequency will also be useful for stunning enemy Pokemon and capturing them. Finally, the Snag Cannon our good Eggman has envisioned can be fed into a chamber much like the ones we have here at headquarters where captured Pokemon are transformed into Shadow Pokemon. We can then release those Shadow Pokemon to fight alongside the robot, building up an army and increasing its already formidable power."

The trio looked doubtful about working together. "I don't know if this is really the best idea sir…" grumbled Namba.

Ein frowned. "Too bad, I've made my decision. The three of you are to work together on this. And there is to be no sabotaging or infighting, do you hear me? I want this robot completed as soon as possible, preferably before the Hoenn League competitions."

"That's a very close deadline, but doable. Why do you want it done by then?" asked Robotnik, his eagerness to construct his masterpiece overshadowing his contempt for his new coworkers.

Ein smiled. He had received information recently that Wes, the traitor Snagger who had dismantled Cipher and stolen his Raikou, was travelling in Hoenn and collecting badges. Ein expected Wes to be in Ever Grande City come tournament time, which would make it the perfect place for the robot to be unleashed upon the world and for Ein to have his revenge. "Let's just say I have my reasons."

…

The sun burned down mercilessly on the ruins of Alto Mare, once more exposed to the world by low tides. Wingull wheeled about overhead, looking for food and fish that had gotten stranded among the wrecked city when the tide had receded.

One seagull spotted a small Krabby scurrying about on the ground and swooped down on it. The crustacean saw the Wingull and tried to sidestep away, but it had noticed the predator too late, and the gull snatched it up in its claws. The Wingull landed on a stone slab set in the bottom of one of the old canals, pinned the Krabby down with a foot, and started pecking at the crab's shell with its beak in an attempt to crack it open.

Suddenly, the slab trembled. The Wingull paused in mid-peck. The slab shook again, harder. The Krabby used its captor's momentary distraction to snap a claw on the leg imprisoning it, causing the seagull to yelp in pain and hop off, allowing the crab to quickly scurry away to freedom. The gull was about to give chase when the slab shook again, and the surface cracked. Curious, as most Wingull were, the gull forgot about the escaping Krabby and watched the slab in amazement.

The slab shook again, and a fist smashed through the cracked surface, grabbed the startled Wingull, and dragged it down into the darkness.

…

Atop one of the great Mt. Pyre's two peaks, an imposing red-haired older man decked out in red and black uniform with a symbol looking like a mountain range emblazoned on his chest walked towards an altar. A huge Camerupt stood at his side and numerous men and women in hooded red and black outfits somewhat different from his flanked him with their Pokemon. Atop the altar was an orb made of red crystal, lit from within by some kind of mystic flame. The man grinned evilly and picked up the orb, holding it up into the air. "My fellow members of Team Magma, I hold in my hand the key to our lord's awakening! With the power contained within this Red Orb, we will summon Groudon back from his eons-long slumber and restore the world to the way it should be, where humans and land Pokemon rule all, while the blasphemous water-types and their treacherous allies are cooked under the rays of the burning sun! Once we find our lord, the heathens of Team Aqua and their false god Kyogre will be crushed beneath Groudon's heel!"

"All hail Lord Maxie and Groudon!" cried one of the Magma Grunts. They chanted the name of their lord and master, while Maxie laughed malevolently.

At the same exact time, on the other peak of Mt. Pyre, a muscular man with a black trenchcoat, a beard and mustache, and a blue bandana on his head with a symbol of a raindrop with two bones sticking out of it approached a similar altar. A Mightyena stood at his side and numerous men and women in black and white striped shirts with blue jeans and bandanas flanked. The man grinned evilly and picked up an orb made of blue crystal lit from within by some kind of mystic flame off of the altar. He raised it into the air for his minions to see. "My fellow members of Team Aqua, I hold in my hand the key to our lady's awakening! With the power contained within this Blue Orb, we will summon Kyogre back from her eons-long slumber and restore the world to the way it should be, where humans and water Pokemon rule all, while the blasphemous land-dwellers and their treacherous allies sink to the bottom of the global ocean! Once we find our lady, the heathens of Team Magma and their false god Groudon will be crushed beneath Kyogre's fin!"

"All hail Lord Archie and Kyogre!" cried one of the Aqua Grunts. They chanted the name of their lady and master, while Archie laughed malevolently.

Isn't it amazing how two different groups, each dedicated to the worship of a different Pokemon god and hating each other's guts can be so similar?

…

On the dark side of the moon, in the deepest point of the lunar ocean Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Tears, an evil older and greater than any so far seen in this chapter lurked.

Deoxys, the ancient destroyer of heroes, lives, and worlds, sat at the bottom of the lunar sea, his masked face enshrouded in deepest shadow. He was locked in a meditative trance, but he was by no means unaware of the world around him. The rubble that was all that was left of the Lunatone and Solrock foolish enough to approach him was proof of that.

His focus was turned inward, into depths of his fractured mind that even he had never explored. Like Mew, Celebi and the Ghost King, he sought answers to his past, but he knew his answers lay within, not in the Sevii Islands where the others were looking. And even if they were, he couldn't go there, because he had agreed to go along with the Unown's orders…for now anyway.

What would he discover by solving the mystery of his lost memories? Would they convince him to join the Chosen in their fight against the cataclysm, forsaking his old life as a destroyer for that of a hero? Or would they cause him to sink to even greater depths of evil, transforming him into a villain the likes of which the universe had never seen before? No matter which path he chose, Deoxys was certain he would never be the same.

…

From their shining dimension the Unown watched as the Ghost King dreamed, Team Cipher, Aqua, and Magma plotted, an evil emerged from beneath Alto Mare, and Deoxys sought out his past.

They knew for certain that one of these possible villains would cause the great cataclysm that could destroy the world. But they still did not know which one it would be for sure. Who would it be? Who would pose the greatest threat to the world?

Only time would tell.

…

Okay, this marks the end of the first big part of Latias' Journey and marks the transition to the second part, where we will hopefully actually see more of Latias and find out once and for all what the cataclysm will be. You've stuck with me this far, so I hope you will continue to follow this story as we enter the next portion. Please review.


	21. Can't beat the heat

Hey everyone. This is the first chapter of the second part, or "season" of the story. I hope it's as good as the first season. Enjoy!

Ezna, hi! Long time no see! Technically, Ein isn't funding all the projects, he's merging them into one project and then funding it. And if that can't be done, blame it on his being a scientist and not a good administrator/executive, he said himself he's not good at being the boss.

Ring of fire, I take it you're an Altoshipping fan? Sorry, I'm going to try as hard as I can to make sure that _doesn't_ happen in this story. I've already given Ash a girlfriend; I don't want to ruin that…I don't have the heart. Grovyle should appear next chapter.

Talon, I knew I forgot something. Should have mentioned last chapter that the Ghost King _will_ restore the stolen souls to Mr. Slate and Mr. Maple. I should go back and change that now, huh? And there is no Pokemon version of Sonic. I thought putting in Dr. Robotnik would be better than making a fancharacter scientist. And I like Robotnik. And Team Rocket will not save the day, (they're Cipher now for one thing) because there are enough of those 'JJ turn good' stories out there already and although they have shown glimmers of promise in the past, I doubt any side switching would last very long. They like being evil too much.

Sir Pudding thanks for your criticism. The way I've planned things is that each of the evils I mentioned will influence the story in one way or another, but not all at once and only one will become the true cataclysm. As for Team Aqua and Magma, that's how I perceive them: as evil Pokemon worshipping cultists. It makes them more interesting. And I suppose your reasoning for the Unown works, but it wouldn't take hours for them to say that. What have I done involving Mario? And I didn't make up Namba or Sebastian; they're actual TR scientists on the show. I just was pointing out that Namba looks an awful lot like Wily. I only inserted Robotnik because I wanted a good robotics scientist to build the Tyranitron, and I've had that idea in my head for a while. And there will be no Space Pirates, Black Hole army, or Psynergy, that I can promise.

Alex Warlorn: I never said the thing beneath Alto Mare was one of the golems. I have plans for those guys; this is something completely different. Did I say the King would destroy himself? I think I already said he tried that and it didn't work… The Wily wannabe is Namba, confirms this. I always thought Team Snagem caught the wild Raikou and other legendaries. Though I have wondered what they would be doing in Orre. Didn't you think Kyogre was a she once? Eh, doesn't matter. TA and TM have the orbs, but they don't know where Groudon and Kyogre are yet. That will change. Molly's back home, but she'll be called back if the Unown need her again. The factions I was referring to are the ones tearing up Metaba.

Disclaimer: All Pokemon and lyrics in this story belong to their company, I only own the robot and meditation concept.

…

Latias had, admittedly, been somewhat apprehensive about joining Ash's group. Aside from the obvious confusion over her feelings for the boy, she had worried that they wouldn't like her, or see her as a possible threat to their relationship with their trainer and the dynamics of the group. She had been relieved and a little surprised by how friendly they all were. They were used to getting new team members or being switched around now and then from all their time of travelling, and as such simply saw her as just another new friend to hang around. She and Bayleef had resumed their previous friendship, and Phanphy was already thinking of her as 'Aunt' Latias, which made her feel more like one of the group. Still, there were a few problems to surmount now that she was with the team.

First of all, Ash didn't transition easily to being a lone human traveler. He was too used to going around in a group of friends. He felt uncomfortable talking a lot, because now he had trouble understanding what everyone else around him said back. Latias managed to remedy this by remembering she could communicate telepathically with her friends and started speaking to Ash mind-to-mind, translating what the other Pokemon said to him. She also occasionally transformed into Bianca to give him the semblance of another human face to look at. He still called his other friends every chance he got at a Pokemon Center, but he was no longer painfully lonely.

Second, there was Team Cipher. They were confused as to why the 'Twerp' was walking around with all his Pokemon out, and wondered where the Big Twerp, Annoying Twerp, and Replacement Girl Twerp had gone, but totally forgot about it when they saw the ultra-rare Latias and tried to capture her. Needless to say, they were blasted off, but they came back every day with some crazy gadget or giant robot. But, the only things really dangerous about them were their Shadow Pokemon, and even then the only truly nasty one was Cacnea. The intense anger that filled the Shadow Pokemon's bodies and made them stronger also decreased their brainpower, making them easier to outwit, meaning they just had to exert a little more effort than before to beat them. Didn't mean they didn't stop coming though. Latias was unsure as to why Wobbuffet, a fellow Chosen, continued to help Cipher, but decided he probably didn't have much of a choice.

Third was the problem of navigation. Max had taken his Pokenav with him when he flew off to the hospital, and all Ash could afford was a few maps. He had gotten the group so lost that they had wandered in circles for days until Charizard took the map from him and got the idea to fly overhead and see if he couldn't do a better job of navigating from the sky. To the dragon's surprise, he could. So now, to keep from getting lost (and to get to the Hoenn League faster) Latias and Charizard spent a few hours each day flying the members of their party across the countryside until they got tired and had to continue on foot. Even then, Ash was denied the map, and Pikachu ended up becoming the land navigator. Unsurprisingly, he did a much better job. They expected to reach the port town of Lilycove within a couple of weeks, and from there go to Mossdeep City, where Ash could get his seventh badge.

Fourth, Latias was still uncertain about her feelings for Ash. They hadn't changed at all since they had left the Unown's dimension. She had gotten some time with him, a chance to know him better…and yet she could still swear she didn't feel like he was any different from a friend. Maybe her deep longing for him had been nothing but a crush after all. She was unsure how to feel about that. She didn't really want to believe it. And yet she still had dreams of marrying a yellow-eyed stranger at night…

Fifth, Latias was uncertain about how good she would be in a fight. She still only knew how to perform a few attacks well, and even then she could sometimes fail to pull them off if she was especially nervous and frightened, as she sometimes came to be when faced with the psychotic Cacnea. The other Pokemon protected her when she was in danger, but she didn't want to be shielded all her life, she wanted to help out. At least she was actually getting plenty of training done even without Mewtwo thanks to Ash's help and Team Cipher's constant attacks, perhaps that would bolster her skills a little. She had already noticed that she could complete certain techniques with increasing frequency.

Sixth, and most important, was the problem of food. Ash could not cook. This became quite evident when he not only managed to burn, but set on fire a pot of water. He also didn't have much money, because Brock had accidentally taken most of the cash with him when he had left. Ash was able to get some extra cash by fighting other trainers, but with so many mouths to feed it was eaten up fast. (Pun intended) He had tried to borrow some from his mom, but she gave him a long hard lecture about being responsible and taking care of himself. She probably wouldn't have been so stern if he hadn't asked for such a large sum, though…they could get free meals in Pokemon Centers, but the problem of meals on the road became more evident as time took its toll. It was made worse because thanks to the Unown's seemingly good intentions, none of them could conserve energy inside a Pokeball and thus needed to eat regularly. While berries were plentiful and easy to find, they weren't particularly filling. Finally, Charizard had gotten fed up and went out hunting. He came back a few hours later with an Altaria between its jaws, the clouds around its wings gone, its neck broken. Ash had been shocked and angry that Charizard had killed an innocent Pokemon, but the fire dragon had replied that desperate times called for desperate measures, and this was one of them. They all needed to eat, and hunting wild Pokemon for food was no different than what he had done for food back in Charicific Valley, he was just following his instincts. Ash still protested that it wasn't right: that all Pokemon were somebody's baby, until Charizard asked him what the heck he thought Pokemon and people food was made of anyway.

Ash had been shocked at this. He had never before considered that the food he ate was actually made from dead Pokemon. For a trainer like himself, who strived to love and care for his and all Pokemon, it was like he had just learned that everything he ate was in fact human flesh. Out of all the others, only Pikachu, who was closest to Ash, and Latias, who had gone through a similar stage at one point in her early childhood with Vincentio, understood his reaction. Humans and Pokemon had different values. For a Pokemon, eating another Pokemon was nothing to feel shocked or guilty about, it was necessity. As long as the thing you eat isn't a friend of yours, it's all right. But for humans, it was more complicated. Ash had always thought of all Pokemon as his friends. It was hard for him to reconcile this fact, that he had in fact always been eating potential friends, with his deepest morals and beliefs. Also, while he had always known Pokemon morals were different from those of humans, like a lot of people he had assumed that they were "higher" than those of petty humankind. It was a big shock to learn that this wasn't the case. It was kind of an eye-opener. He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable now whenever he saw food he had once craved, like cheeseburgers or steak, now that he knew what they were actually made of. He felt guilty eating anything made of meat. Bayleef, who could absorb sunlight through photosynthesis and thus didn't have to eat meat quite so much as carnivores like Charizard or Corphish did, took pity on Ash and showed him numerous plants and herbs he could eat instead, so he could feel free of guilt. Phanphy, who was mostly a vegetable eater anyway, imitated Ash in this, thus they became vegetarians.

In any case, all of this was in the past, and the party of seven was now travelling across a desolate, desert wasteland. The sun rose high above them, mercilessly bombarding them with burning light and heat. Ash, in the lead, was stumbling about, panting and dehydrating, developing serious burns on his arms and neck. Bayleef, who could only take so much sunlight, was wilting, her leaf drooping as she slowly moved along with the group. Corphish, who should never be exposed to heat such as this, was starting to go delirious as his exoskeleton steamed, parts of him turning as red as the rest of his shell. Phanphy hung close to his father's side, trying to find what little shade he could in this desolate heat. Pikachu hung limply on Ash's shoulder, his nose damp with sweat. Latias was a little more accustomed to this heat due to her time in the desert, but she knew it wasn't safe to stay out in the sun so long, and they should find some shade. Unfortunately, the place they were in was like a vast shimmering plain of heat, and the nearest source of shade was a huge bluff still some miles off, unless of course it was another mirage like the ice cream stand they had passed. Too bad there wasn't a nice safe cleft with fruits and a flowing stream running through it to cool off in. She wiped some sweat from her forehead, wishing she and Charizard weren't too tired from their previous flight to carry the others across this graveyard. She had no idea her back could hurt so much from carrying people for prolonged periods of time. They would have seen the desert coming and moved to avoid it if that giant flock of migrating Pelipper hadn't flown in their path, forcing them to change course.

And Charizard was whistling happily, not noticing the heat at all. He glanced back at his teammates and frowned. "Aw, come on, you wimps, don't tell me you're all feeling the heat that much! This is nothing compared to the lava streams back in Charicific Valley, and I took BATHS in those!" he exaggerated. They all glared at him hatefully, enviously desiring his Fire-type resistance to the heat and wishing they could muster the strength to strangle him to death without getting incinerated. "Look, if you're all feeling this bad, we'll just take a break at that bluff up ahead, okay?"

"Assuming we get there," panted Pikachu. That's when he felt his mount shifting unstably beneath him. "Ash? Ash, is something wrong?"

"Unnnhh…" Ash collapsed on the ground, exhausted from the heat and lack of water.

Bayleef blinked. "That can't be good."

Latias shook her head in agreement. "Definitely not."

"Daddy! Daddy, get up!" cried Phanphy, tugging on Ash's wrist.

Pikachu lifted the brim of Ash's hat to see his friend's face. "He's out cold! The heat could kill him!"

Charizard paled. "Aw crap. Corphish, quick, water!"

Corphish giggled madly, his eyes rolling in his head. "Hee hee…water! Water everywhere!" he cried, hallucinating, moving his limbs as if he were swimming.

Charizard sweatdropped. "Stupid lobster, the sun's fried his brain. We gotta cool Ash off!" Not even waiting for an alternate suggestion, he took one look at the bluff and lifted Ash off the ground, then started running for the big rock. The others followed, enduring the dust cloud the giant beast left in his haste through the dirt and sand.

They all reached the bluff even hotter and more tired than before, except for Charizard, once more due to his annoying resistance to heat plus his more early arrival. Phanphy and Pikachu nearly fainted in relief when they entered the cool, welcoming shadow extending from the bluff. Charizard placed Ash down on a big flat rock as the others caught up. "There you go, Ash. You'll be okay now, won't you?"

"I don't know," said Latias, landing hard in the sand as she stopped hovering. She recalled everything Mewtwo had told her about surviving in the desert. "He looks pretty dehydrated. His lips are cracked and everything. He needs water."

They all looked at Corphish, who was running sideways into a rock repeatedly. "I don't think we're going to get any anytime soon," muttered Bayleef. "Do you think hitting him would snap him out of it?" Her question went unanswered.

"Charizard, you can stand the heat better than the rest of us. Do you think you can fly around and find an oasis or spring?" Pikachu asked Charizard.

The dragon flapped his wings, flinching slightly. "They're still pretty sore from all the distance we flew this morning…but for Ash, I'll do it." He climbed up onto a tall rock and started flapping his wings hard, ignoring the tired signals his cramped muscles were sending him. They all sighed as gusts of wind from his flaps blew over them. "I'll be back as soon as I find a place!" Charizard called, flying off into the burning sun.

They all sat down to wait in the cool shade for Charizard to return. Time passed, as the sun moved gradually across the sky and the shadow of the bluff lengthened. Charizard was still gone.

"Where is he?" asked Bayleef in concern. Ash was still lying on the rock. He hadn't budged one bit and was starting to breathe shallowly. "I don't think Ash can last much longer without water."

Latias glanced at Corphish, who had calmed down somewhat a little while ago when Bayleef got tired of his antics and threw a rock that connected with his head, though he did wonder where his ocean had gone. "Do you think you can help out?"

Corphish pointed a claw at Ash and opened it. A bit of vapor hissed out, but no water. "Sorry," he said unhappily. "The sun evaporated all my reserves. I'll need to refill them before I can use any Water attacks."

Phanphy looked panicked. "But daddy might not be able to take any by the time that happens! Where's Brother Charizard?"

Pikachu put a hand on Phanphy's back. "Hey, don't worry, Charizard will be fine. Maybe he just got attacked by some Skarmory, they're all over this place," he said, pointing to some who looked hungrily down at them from the top of the bluff.

That did little to reassure the elephant. "But if he gets lost, he might not get back in time! Daddy needs water!"

They all looked at Ash, and knew Phanphy was right. He probably wouldn't be able to survive much longer without liquid. "Um…" said Latias, getting their attention. "I might have an idea."

"What?" asked Bayleef, concern and suspense in her voice.

"Well…" she started, fidgeting with her claws. "One time when Mewtwo took me out in the desert to train, and I was getting really thirsty, he sat down and meditated for a few seconds. Then he got up, opened his eyes, and a waterspout erupted from the ground. He told me that meditating can do many things for a Psychic Pokemon other than clearing their minds, raising their attack power, or gaining new abilities. It can allow them to get in closer touch with nature, to sense water underground and bring it up to the surface, among other things."

Pikachu looked pensive. "And you're saying you can do that?" The others were darkly wondering why the hell she hadn't mentioned this before.

"Well…he showed me the technique. I wasn't actually able to make any water burst out of the ground, but…I _think_ I could sense it. It's been a while since I've last tried, but…I was thinking maybe if I meditated I could find a water source and you guys could dig it up?"

Latias' doubtful tone didn't make them feel very confident. And yet… "We have to try," said Phanphy. "If Brother Charizard doesn't come back, it may be our only chance to save Daddy."

"The kid's right. Can you do it, Latias?" asked Corphish.

She nodded nervously. "I'll try. That much I can promise." She was more than a little scared, to be honest. Not just because she feared that she wouldn't be able to, but because the last time she had meditated (a few days ago) she thought she had heard the Ghost King calling her name. Still, if she did nothing, Ash could die. That was the most important thing now.

She closed her eyes and leaned back against the nearest rock, folding her arms across her chest. She leaned her head forward slightly and started humming softly as she thought of water. After a few moments, her consciousness slipped from her body and into the ground, where it started to quest for underground reservoirs of water.

The others looked at her for a moment. To the casual observer, she might be sleeping, but for the humming. "What do we do now?" asked Bayleef.

"Now we wait," said Pikachu. He glanced over at Ash and sighed. "And hope that Charizard or Latias find some water soon."

…

Meanwhile, Team Cipher was limping weakly across the desert, hot as always on the twerp's trail, pardon the bad pun. They had taken off their helmets and scarves because they were too warm, and were coming dangerously close to removing their clothing in an attempt to escape the heat.

"Jessie, I'm hot," whined James, too exhausted to form an exclamation mark.

"Be…quiet…" wheezed Jessie, feebly swinging a paper fan at him. It missed, but blew a tiny breeze at James, causing him to sigh in relief for the brief second of coolness. Jessie panted and waved the fan at herself. "Ohhh…Wobbuffet, fan us harder!"

"Yes Miss Jessie." Wobbuffet, who was now permanently out of his Pokeball like the rest of the Chosen, gritted his teeth and swung his big bamboo fan at Jessie harder, cooling off the Ciphers. "Why can't you do this, Meowth?" Wobbuffet asked.

Meowth, who was lying on James' head, sighed. "Because you lost the coin toss." He snickered, knowing that the coin he had used was in fact two-faced, the rascal. "Besides I'm management, I don't do physical labor."

Wobbuffet was starting to get a sunburn as sweat rolled down his slick blue body. "Right…whatever you say, Meowth." If only he could use attacks…

He frowned at himself for having such rebellious thoughts. Spending so much time out in the open wasn't good for him. Miss Jessie was getting more and more vexed at him than usual lately. Maybe it was in part because he was the only Pokemon on her belt who still could think clearly, while her cuddly beloved Seviper and Dustox had lost most of their rational thinking to the Shadow Pokemon process, causing them to sometimes snap at her for no reason. She often glared at Wobbuffet with looks interchanging between _Why am I stuck with you? _Or _Why aren't you like them too?_

__

Look on the bright side, he told himself. _At least I'm not James._

Wobbuffet glanced at the blue-haired man, who didn't either notice or care that Cacnea, whom Jessie had made him let out to get some fresh desert air in an attempt to improve her attitude, was sharpening a large axe with James' name on it on a rock she had picked up. It was clear that Cacnea deeply resented James for sending her off to become a Shadow Pokemon, and due to the glitch that left her in the permanent super-angry Hyper Mode she still had enough of her brain left to hate him for it. She continued to beat him up every time she was let out, which led to James getting a near-constant paranoia around her. James would rather not let her out at all, but the only other Pokemon he had was Chimecho, who was too stupid to be helpful in a fight. He was enough of a loser as it was, he didn't need the fact that he could barely control his only capable fighting Pokemon to be widely known to his enemies (even though it was obvious enough to them anyway).

Meowth suddenly stood up on top of James' head and pointed into the shadow of a nearby bluff. "Hey, look over there!"

The team looked. They saw Ash lying on a rock, Latias leaning on a rock with her eyes closed, and Pikachu, Phanphy, Corphish, and Bayleef all lying about with their eyes fixated on Ash. "It's the twerp!" said Jessie, the possibility of another attempt to capture his rare Pokemon re-energizing her.

"And look Jessie, all his Pokemon look tired and his mean Charizard is nowhere in sight! With Pikachu, the twerp and the others exhausted from this heat and that rare Latias sleeping, they can't stop us from stealing them all!" said James.

"That Latias ain't sleeping, ya moron, she's meditating!" said Meowth. He had seen more than enough insecure movie stars, hobos and junkies doing it back when he lived in Hollywood.

"Meditating?" asked Jessie.

James pulled out a Team Cipher field guide and flipped to a section on meditation. "Yes, according to this, Psychic Pokemon can meditate to do all sorts of stuff, like increase their power, or learn new techniques, or find water or gold that's buried in the ground!"

Jessie gasped, getting a brilliant idea. "Wobbuffet, you're Psychic aren't you?"

"Um, yeah…" the blob said.

"Meditate and find us some water, followed by a heap of gold!" she commanded with stars in her eyes.

"But I don't know how!" Wobbuffet protested.

"He says he don't know how," said Meowth.

Jessie growled and whipped out her paper fan. "You meditate and find us some water right now or I'll smash your head in!!!!!"

"Y-yes Miss Jessie!" said Wobbuffet, terrified. He put down the fan, crossed his arms over his chest, and started humming as he tried to make his consciousness escape from the close proximity of his wrathful trainer.

James tapped Jessie on the shoulder. "Hang on, Jess…according to the handbook, only experienced Psychics can find things when meditating," he said, showing her a paragraph of the book.

"Oh," she said in disappointment. She sighed. "Okay Wobbuffet, you can stop now." Wobbuffet kept humming. "I said you could stop it!" Still humming. "I SAID STOP!" She kicked him. The blob fell over…and still kept humming.

James tapped Jessie on the shoulder again. "It's no good, Jess. According to the book, when Pokemon meditate they enter a deep trance in which they are totally unaffected by outside stimulus and can only wake up on their own volition."

Jessie looked impressed. "James, I didn't know you learned so many new words!"

"I didn't, I was just reading from the book," he said, pointing to a page. "What does stimulus or volition mean?" Meowth and Jessie facefaulted.

Meowth suddenly sprang up. "Hey, I've got an idea! If Pokemon are in a trance where they don't notice anything when they're meditating, then that means if we attack them now when they're tired that Latias can't fly away! And since Charizard's gone, he can't burn us to death with that super-hot flame of his! We can finally get Pikachu and Latias! I can see it now!" he said, with stars in his eyes as he started narrating another one of his absurd 'grateful boss' fantasies/hallucinations. "The boss'll be wandering in the desert, looking for a site for a new Team Cipher base, and he'll get hot and dehydrated. The sun will beat down on him, making him sweat and ruin that nice fancy business lab coat of his. 'Boy, it sure is hot out here!' he says. And then, all of a sudden, he sees Latias, meditating nearby! Water will burst out of the ground in front of him, saving him from death by thirst, and then he'll be all happy! And then he'll say, 'For sending me this fine water-seeking Latias Meowth and his friends will receive a reward!' And that means…"

"Promotions! Expense accounts! The keys to the executive washroom!" the trio chorused happily.

"Exactly! So what are we going to do?" asked Meowth.

"Catch that Pikachu! And Latias, too!" said Jessie, pulling out a Pokeball and fitting it into her arm-mounted Snag Device.

"Wait Jessie, that won't work!" said James.

"Why not?"

"Our Pokeballs are broken, remember? Whenever we throw them at Pikachu, Latias, or any of the twerp's Pokemon, they bounce off!" That was the only explanation they could come up with for the Pokemon's Unown-gifted immunity to Pokeballs. They had yet to find a reason for Wobbuffet's immunity though, and the blue blob doubted they'd believe or be happy with him if he told them how he and the 'twerp's' Pokemon had been chosen by a group of extradimensional beings to save the world and were given immunity to all Pokeballs for that purpose.

"Of course I remembered!" lied Jessie, smacking James on the head with her useless Pokeball. "So if we can't use our Pokeballs, how will we catch them? Nets? A pitfall?"

Meowth got a wicked gleam in his eye. "I have a better idea. Ring up good ol' Doctor R, I've had an eye on one of his latest robots for a while now…"

…

The quartet of hot and somewhat tired Pokemon watched Latias anxiously, waiting for some sign of awareness, which would signal the end of her trance. There was none. Hungry Skarmory were circling overhead. "Get lost! We're not going to die!" Pikachu snapped at them.

"It's only a matter of time!" one of the steel vultures calmly called back.

"How much longer is she going to take?" Phanphy asked nervously.

"I don't know. It can't be that much longer," said Bayleef without conviction.

None of them wanted to voice what they feared most, that there was no water anywhere nearby. They hadn't seen any sign of plant or Pokemon life all the time they had been on this plain other than circling Skarmory looking for the corpses of those foolish enough to cross the barren waste. That's when the ground shook slightly. "What was that?" asked Pikachu.

"It's the water! She's making it come to the surface!" said Corphish eagerly.

Then the ground shook again. And again, a little stronger. Bayleef frowned. "I don't know…doesn't sound like water."

That's when the ground nearby exploded as a huge figure erupted from beneath the surface, throwing up a huge dust cloud. At first Pikachu thought it was a giant Steelix, but the familiar (and by now very, very annoying) laughter echoing from the cloud dashed that hope right away. "Oh Mew, not _them!_" he cried angrily. "Not _now!_"

The dust cleared, revealing a humongous purple robot Loudred, with giant amplifiers for ears and speakers lining the mecha's gaping mouth. The machine's fake esophagus opened like a hatch and a long tongue extended, with Jessie, James, Meowth, Chimecho, and a meditating Wobbuffet on it.

"Prepare for trouble! Listen to the sound of victory!"

"And make it double! Expect no mercy!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Scyther-I mean CIPHER! CIPHER! (Darn, now the twerp's making me do it too!) encrypting important communiqué at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight fight fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Chimecho!"

"Hmmmm…" hummed Wobbuffet.

"What's wrong with Wobbuffet?" asked Corphish.

"It looks like he's meditating too," said Bayleef.

Jessie laughed. "Now twerp, prepare to face our-" She stopped, seeing Ash was still lying down on his rock. "Hey, how come that didn't wake him up?"

"He can't wake up because he's sick from dehydration! If he doesn't get some water soon, he could die, and he really doesn't need you jerks bothering us now!" said Pikachu angrily.

"What did he say?" asked James.

"He said the twerp's got dehydration sickness and he could die if he doesn't get water soon," reported Meowth.

"Why that's terrible!" said Jessie with mock caring. "We'll have to give the poor thing some water…_after_ we steal Pikachu and Latias, that is!"

"Not if I can help it!" said Pikachu, powering up his electric sacs…and stopped as black dots swirled in his vision and he got very dizzy. "Ohhhh…" He stumbled back.

"Uncle Brother Pikachu, what's wrong?" cried Phanphy in concern.

"Heh, looks like the twerp's not the only one to get dehydrated," said Meowth, sipping from a cup of cool, refreshing soda from a subspace pocket. "Don't worry Pikachu, you'll get lots of water…in the Shadow Pokemon labs back at Team Cipher HQ! Okay you two, activate the Loudrematic's Ultra Symphonic Amplification System!"

Bayleef cocked her head. "L.U.S.A.S.?"

"Roger!" The humans grabbed Wobbuffet and ran back inside the robot. After a few seconds, a microphone rose from the surface of the tongue, stopping at the height of Meowth's mouth followed by a guitar scaled down to his size. The speakers and amplifiers whined, causing everyone to wince as they powered up. Meowth cleared his throat, pulled the microphone closer to him, and, to everyone's horror, began to _sing_.

**__**

"A NEW MOON SPECIAL TICKET WITH SILVER AND GOLD CRAYOOOONS…" the cat began.

His song was amplified by the numerous devices forming the Loudrematic, causing it to boom across the wasteland in every direction for miles and miles, and having a much more dire effect on the poor souls in front of them. They screamed and clutched their ears, trying to block out the horrible music. Meowth, like most cats, had an awful singing voice, but when combined with a speaker big enough, it was a weapon virtually without equal.

**__**

"IF I WRITE 'MEOWTH'S PARTY' RIDING IN AN AIR BALLOON I'LL GIVE THEM FREELY! IF THE GOLDEN SUNSET PLEASES ME, THAT'S THE SIGNAL FOR THE PARTY TO BEGIN!" Phanphy rammed his head into a rock repeatedly, trying to knock himself out.

**__**

"A CARPET OF GOLD COINS PACKS THE CEREMONY, THE NIGHT'S SKY PARTY BEGINS! WILL SOMEONE COME? WILL ANYONE COME? THOUGH THE CITY IS EXCITING IT WILL WAAAAIIIIT!" Bayleef screamed and tried to block out the noise by holding her vines over her eardrums, but to no avail, the awful sound continued reverberating inside her head.

**__**

"M-M-MEOWTH WAS GIVEN AN INVITATION! EVEN THE COFFEE CUP IS FLOATING! M-M-MEOWTH IS SO HAPPYYYYY! PLAYING HORSESHOES WITH SATURN!" Corphish stumbled a bit, his already somewhat addled wits driven out of whack by the music.

**__**

"M-M-MEOWTH FOUND SOMETHING! IT'S A CONSTELLATION OF ICE CREAM! IT'S SO DELICIOUS!" Pikachu screamed and, despite his dehydrated condition, released random thunderbolts, unable to control his powers any longer due to the sonic weapon. The electricity was absorbed by the Loudrematic and, if possible, the song became even _louder_.

**__**

"AURORA'S CURTAIN IS FLICKERING AND A BRIGHT PARTY IS BEGINNING, EASY SNAP! LIGHT FLASH! THERE IS A RADIANCE IN YOUR BROAD SMIIILLLEEE," Meowth hit a terrible jangling note on his guitar. **_"M-M-MEOWTH WAS GIVEN AN INVITATION! SUBTENANCY IN THE GUITAR, THE SKY LEAPS! M-M-MEOWTH IS SO HAPPY! _**With this climax, fireworks launched from the back of the robot and exploded in the air, knocking out of the sky any Skarmory who hadn't already smashed into the ground for the horrible singing. The four Pokemon were close to deaf from the attack and were now wandering around in a daze.

"Yes, we did it!" cried James happily.

"Now let's catch em' all!" said Jessie, starting to move the Loudrematic's arms down to pick up Pikachu and Latias.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure leaped off the top of the bluff and dove down onto the robot's tongue, knocking Meowth off with a Double Slap! "Gaaahhhh!" he wailed as he plunged towards the ground.

"No…it can't be!" James said in horror, staring at the figure on the tongue.

"It-it is…it's…"

"JIGGLYPUFF!" cried the pink puffball, pulling a pair of heavy-duty earmuffs off her kitty ears.

"Where did it get those earmuffs?" James wondered stupidly.

"That's not important, look, it's going to sing!" cried Jessie. And so she was. Jigglypuff had pulled down the Loudrematic's microphone and was about to blow her pipes. "Quick, shut off the Ultra Symphonic Amplification System!"

"Right!" James said, pushing a button, shutting off the robot's amplifiers and keeping it from broadcasting Jigglypuff's sleep song across the entire plain.

Unfortunately, Chimecho leaped at the control panel and happily pushed a completely different button. "Chimecho!" he said happily.

The melodious sound of Jigglypuff's voice became audible in the cockpit. "No, you…idiot…" Jessie said, yawning as the song started taking effect. "You…turned off…the cockpit's…sound proofing…zzzzzzz…"

"Bad…Chimecho…" said James, falling asleep.

"Chiiiiiiii…"Chimecho went out like a light.

Outside, Jigglypuff's soothing tunes filtered in through the dazed Pokemon's shattered eardrums, calming their addled minds and sending them drifting off gently to sleep. Only Latias and Ash were unaffected, due to meditation and dehydration. A few minutes later, Jigglypuff was the only one awake, and not happy about it. "They…fell asleep…AGAIN!" she screamed, going berserk. Hopping off the robot's tongue, she whipped out her marker and tried to stab the heroes to death. When that failed, she settled for scribbling all over their faces and writing rude words on them again and again. When that was settled, she angrily looked back up at what she had mistaken for some kind of stage and suddenly realized that it was in fact a giant robot. Jigglypuff got an idea. A terrible idea. An awful, wonderful, terrible idea.

…

"Huh?" The mental representation of Latias' self was flustered. "What am I doing here? I'm supposed to be looking for water!" She had somehow found herself back in the heart of her subconscious, close to the light which had transported her inside the Ghost King's mind the last time she had come here.

__

"You came because you wanted to," a familiar voice whispered. A strange and equally familiar sensation came over her as a pair of yellow eyes appeared in the light.

Latias immediately felt a rush of joy and longing…which she immediately suppressed with fear and loathing. "YOU!" she cried. "What are you doing here?"

The King looked a little hurt. _"I just wanted to talk…"_ he said.

"I don't care! Get out of here! Stay out of my mind! Leave me alone!" she cried.

__

"…All right. If that's what you want. I guess I can't tell you that Ash is safe then," he said, starting to turn back into the light.

"Wait!" she said, startled. "What was that?"

The King looked back. _"Your friend, Ash. He's safe from me now. My oath to kill him has been dissipated."_

She blinked. "It…it has? How? I thought you couldn't break a promise. Mewtwo told me so."

__

"Yes," said the King, with a smug tone in his voice. _"But that doesn't mean I can't find a way to wiggle out of it. I have found a way to leave Ash Ketchum alone. You can tell him this, if you wish."_

This was too good to be true. Very much so. "How did you figure it out? How to get out of your promise, that is."

__

"Simple," he said. _"You don't love him anymore."_

She frowned, unhappy that he presumed so much. "And why do you say that?"

__

"Well," he asked, looking at her innocently. _"Do you love him?"_

She started to answer, than paused. _Did_ she love Ash anymore? "…I'm not sure," she said.

The King shrugged. _"And for now, that's good enough for me."_ He paused, then smiled. _"Do you still hate me, Latias?"_

"Of course I do," she said automatically. "You destroyed my home, my family, my life. How can I not hate you?" So why did a part of her want to say she didn't hate him?

The King did not look bothered or disappointed. _"I'm sure you do. But perhaps, in time, that will change. I am working on something very special, my dear one. Something I think you will appreciate quite a bit, and perhaps make you think about changing your mind about me."_

"That's impossible. I'll never love you," she said, hiding a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

The King chuckled. _"Throughout history, those words have been said by many people to others who they hated…and many times, those words were proved false in the end. Perhaps that shall prove to be true for us as well."_

She frowned. "You seem different than you were before. More…confident. Not so gloomy and miserable." A tiny part of her almost thought it attractive.

The King smiled. _"Maybe I got tired of wallowing in misery. Or maybe I just got a taste of hope."_

"It's false hope," she said quickly.

__

"Perhaps, perhaps not. But even if it is false, that raises the question of which is better: false hope, or no hope at all? Either way, false or real, for the moment I have hope, and that's good enough for now." He smirked and started to vanish into the light.

"Wait!" called Latias. "How did you get in here, anyway?"

"Haven't you figured it out? This light represents the power that binds us. The light which makes our two hearts beat as one. Just as you came to my mind, so I can come to yours, the link works both ways. Deny that you love me all you wish, the connection between us will always say otherwise." 

"I don't want you in here again," she said, trying to ignore his comments.

__

"Don't worry, I won't come back," said the King. _"I just wanted to talk to you again. To assure you that no harm will come to you or your friends from my demesnes. That is a promise…and you know how I am about promises."_ He smirked. _"Until next time…" _he faded into the light.

Feeling somewhat unnerved, Latias decided to get out of there as quickly as possible, snapping out of her trance and awakening to find five sleeping Pokemon, one meditating Pokemon, and three sleeping humans, all of whom had violent graffiti scribbled all over them. She blinked, noticing Team Cipher was lying nearby, fast asleep like all her friends. "What the heck happened while I was meditating?" she wondered.

She heard a flapping of wings and looked up to see Charizard coming for a landing, holding a canteen. "Hey guys, I'm back and-" He stopped, seeing how most of the group was asleep with marker written all over them. "Aw no, don't tell me Jigglypuff showed up…"

"Jigglypuff?" asked Latias in confusion.

"Yeah, you remember, one of the other Chosen was a Jigglypuff. She's kind of our second stalker…keeps trying to get people to listen to her singing, but they always fall asleep, and she really doesn't like that so she scribbles all over them. Looks like you got tagged too," explained the dragon.

Latias blinked and looked down at herself. To her horror, her body was covered in violent drawings, scribbles, and profanity. "But I didn't even know she was here! I was meditating the whole time!"

Charizard shrugged. "You think she can tell the difference? She's not very bright." Latias groaned and tried to rub the marker off. "Hey, you don't need to bother with that, I found a Pokemon Center a few miles away where they've got nice showers and baths…for anyone that actually can take a bath without dying that is," he said, glancing at his tail flame.

"If it's only a few miles away, why'd it take you so long to get back here?" she asked.

"The Nurse Joy there was very insistent. She demanded to give me a full check-up before I left. She's one of the best of the bunch, I think. She even gave me this sweet ointment which makes my wings feel great!" He paused. "Guess I'll be needing more of it, though. I'm gonna have to carry some of these guys back to the Center, my wings'll be stiff again after this."

"Can't we just wake them up and walk there?" asked Latias.

He shook his head. "No, Ash has been out here long enough without water, we can't afford to risk his life for another minute, we've got to get him to the center as quickly as possible. Besides, Jigglypuff's song is kinda magical, nobody who's heard of it can wake up from outside stimulus. They'll do it on their own eventually though." He walked over to Ash propped him up, and poured the water from the canteen down his throat. The dehydrated boy stirred for a moment, but it was clear he required far more water than this. "Do you think you can carry Bayleef?"

Latias looked at her sleeping friend, then at her scrawny claws. She shook her head. "No, I don't think I can, she's too heavy."

Charizard sighed. "Fine, I'll do it, you take Ash and Pikachu, and the kid, I'll take the rest." After securing their separate loads, they took off for the Center. Their flying muscles would be pretty sore in the morning. Hopefully Nurse Joy would have enough of that ointment for both of them.

…

One by one, the members of Team Cipher yawned and woke up to find Skarmory were pecking at them. "Hey, get offa me you stupid birds, we ain't dead!" Meowth yelled, swatting them away.

"Curses! Oh well, it's only a matter of time…" said one of the vultures at they flew away.

"Aw, that was a good rest…" said James, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around and suddenly leaped to his feet, eyes bulging out of their sockets. "Where's the twerp?!" Ash and all the Pokemon were gone.

"Forget about them, where's the Loudrematic?!" screamed Jessie. For indeed, the giant robot had disappeared as well.

Meowth angrily kicked a rock. "That puffball must have taken it. Darn! There goes the last of our bank account. And she scribbled all over us too!"

"It did?" Jessie pulled out a mirror and saw, to her horror, that Jigglypuff had written all over her cough beautiful face. "AAAHHHH! THAT BITCH IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" she screamed, dropping the mirror and breaking it, sentencing the Ciphers to seven _more_ years of bad luck.

"Chiiiiii!" said Chimecho happily, not caring his body was covered in graffiti.

It was at that point that Wobbuffet awakened from his trance, not noticing that he had been scribbled on too. "Wow, that felt great! I should try meditating more often!"

"Hey Wobbuffet's up!" said Meowth.

They all crowded around him. "Well? Did you find any gold or water?" asked Jessie.

He sweatdropped. "Uh, no…but I did learn Destiny Bond!"

"He says he learned Destiny Bond," said Meowth.

James pulled out his handbook. "According to this, Destiny Bond is a technique that links two Pokemon together through pain. Whatever one experiences, so does the other. If one Pokemon gets knocked out, the same thing happens to the other one."

"That's wonderful!" said Jessie. "Great job Wobbuffet!" The blue blob basked in her praise, happy he had finally done something she admired for a change. "Now all we have to do is have you cast Destiny Bond on Pikachu or Latias and then have our Pokemon knock you out before they can attack us! It's brilliant!"

Wobbuffet sagged. _Me and my big mouth._

And that's when the Skarmory came back en masse as retaliation for Meowth's horrible singing. The quintet (including Chimecho) screamed and ran off, chased by the angry vultures. "LOOKS LIKE TEAM CIPHER'S RUNNING OFF AGAAAAIIIN!"

…

The Balloon Pokemon rubbed her hand nubs together evilly as she sat in the cockpit of the Loudrematic. Beneath her was a quiet, peaceful village, blissfully unaware of the two-sided bliss that was about to be visited upon it. The pink puff cackled with glee. Who needed a marker/microphone when you had a walking boom box the size of the moon? Soon, all those who had scorned and mocked her singing by falling asleep would finally appreciate the voice of Jigglypuff!

…

Heh heh. Hope that clears up any questions about Jigglypuff and Latias' relationship with Ash. How was it?


	22. An old friend returns

Okay, glad you liked the last chapter, but I must warn you things get really weird in this one.

HVK, tell me more about these essays.

Sir Pudding, Sebastian appeared in "Talkin 'bout an Evolution!" It was also Lance's first appearance…well, discounting the Raikou special, in which Sebastian also appeared. Thank you for reminding me, I forgot the Mario reference. And of course Wobbuffet knew he learned Destiny Bond right away, that's how meditation works, silly! And the King's just feeling much better than he used to, so of course he's confident. He knows Latias' feelings, or thinks he does, even if she refuses to admit them. That kiss they shared a while back told them both a lot. We won't be seeing Shedinja again for a while, though.

Ring of Fire, I'm afraid you spoke too late.

WildTotodile, welcome to the story. I liked your Pokemon 2000 sequel, even if it was a little…iffy. I doubt Lawrence III is really that much of a sociopath, for one thing. Anyway, Charizard cleans himself by increasing his body heat to the point where foreign bodies and dirt are burned off of him. Since as a reptile, he's incapable of sweating, this leaves him smelling squeaky-clean.

Talon, I have no idea how Ash gets his money. We've never seen it done on the show, so it may not happen, but I needed to give him some form of income, right? Just assume it's done digitally through Pokedexes. Ash's has his ID, maybe it works like a credit card too. As for gym battles, we'll see what I have in mind for them. I get my info from Serebii and strategy guides.

Disclaimer: All Pokemon owned by the Pokemon company, all costumes owned by Square.

…

It started out to be an average day for our travelling heroes in the Hoenn region. They woke up in the morning, had breakfast, flew a few miles, then continued on foot until they fell into a pit made by Team Cipher, which lead into the usual daily battle against the pathetic forces of evil. But they had no idea that today's battle against the pathetic forces of evil would be different from other days.

"Cacnea, use Needle Arm, please!" commanded James.

"Murder!" Cacnea wound her glowing arm back.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!" said Ash.

Charizard spat out a stream of fire, roasting Cacnea and knocking her out instantly. James sulked. "Rattatta, that always happens when you use that stupid flaming lizard!" He recalled Cacnea and reluctantly sent out his favorite Pokemon. "Go, Chimecho."

"Chiiiii!" said the Wind Chime happily. He wrapped his tail around James' head, not understanding he was needed to fight.

At the same time, Jessie was struggling to get Wobbuffet to obey her. "Hold still you idiot so Seviper and Dustox can pummel you!" she yelled at him as the blue blob narrowly jumped out of the way of another double Shadow Rush.

He gulped. "M-miss Jessie, it's one thing for you to ask me to cast Destiny Bond on Pikachu, b-but it's another to ask me to stand still and let myself get beaten into goo, I'm sorry but I'm really scared of pain!"

"Pikachu, Latias, try that aerial combo we've been working on! We can't let Wobbuffet get hurt!" said Ash, both because he felt it was wrong for Jessie to be abusing her own Pokemon in this matter and also to save Pikachu from getting hurt through the Destiny Bond..

The aforementioned electric mouse hopped on Latias' back. "Can you get me above them?"

"Sure!" She flew up above Dustox and Seviper, who were too distracted trying to hit Wobbuffet to notice anything else.

"Thanks!" Pikachu hopped off the dragon, landing neatly on the back of Dustox. Before the poisonous moth could shake him off, Pikachu zapped him silly with electricity, causing him to fall towards Seviper. Pikachu hopped off as Dustox, who was still crackling with static, crashed into the snake's head, giving him a nasty jolt.

Ash grinned. "Okay, Phanphy, Corphish, finish them off with your own combo!"

Phanphy curled into a ball as if preparing for a Rollout attack, but instead of rolling forward Corphish levered his horns under the elephant and hurled him into the air. As Phanphy came falling back to earth, Corphish swung at him with a mighty Crabhammer, sending the little elephant hurtling at Seviper at twice the usual force of his Rollout technique. He smashed into the serpent's head, cracking Seviper's teeth and knocking him out. Phanphy uncurled and stumbled about, looking dizzy. "Wheeee! Can I do that again?"

Corphish chuckled. "Maybe next time, kid."

Jessie stamped her feet angrily. "Ugh! Meowth, do something!"

"Agh! I'm a little tied up right now," said Meowth, who was being constricted by Bayleef's vines.

"Er…Wobbuffet, do something!" Wobbuffet, who was certain this would be very painful for him, quickly ran and hid behind a bush. "Arrrgh! James, why haven't you used our secret weapon yet?"

James looked away from the sight of Chimecho getting roasted by an unsympathetic Charizard (yet still retaining a happy smile) to stare at his partner in confusion. "Secret weapon?"

"Yes! You know, the secret weapon that just arrived for us today?"

Comprehension dawned on his limited mind. "Ohhh, _that_ secret weapon!" He twiddled his fingers uncertainly. "Er, Jessie, are you sure that's such a good idea? I'm starting to think Shadow Pokemon as a whole aren't the best thing for us, since yours aren't quite as amiable as they used to be and mine keeps beating me up. Maybe we should just cut and run?" he asked meekly. She glared at him in response, causing him to yelp and cave in. "Y-yes, ma'am!" He recalled the flame-blackened Chimecho and pulled out a Pokeball. "Let's see how you like seeing an old friend, twerp! Go, Grovyle!"

Ash, Pikachu, Bayleef, and Corphish were stunned. "_Grovyle?!"_

The ball popped open, revealing the familiar face of Grovyle, their old companion. But something about him was very, very wrong. Maybe it was his threatening posture, the hostile yet dead look in his eyes, the fact that he was lacking his favorite twig, or the tell-tale aura that Latias saw right away. "Kiiillll…" he hissed.

"He's a Shadow Pokemon!" cried Latias.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Ya think?"

The grass Pokemon didn't seem to notice his old trainer. "…G-grovyle?" Ash asked, horrified at the transformation his friend had undergone. "D-don't you remember me? It's me, Ash!"

Now he did notice him. "Kill!" The Wood Gecko spat a Bullet Seed at his feet, only missing because of Ash's reflexes.

Jessie laughed. "Don't bother twerp, he's a Shadow Pokemon now! Any past friendship you two had is meaningless…for him! And because you twerps are always so pathetically sentimental about your so-called 'friends', you'll try your hardest _not_ to hurt Grovyle while attempting to 'snap him out of it', and in the meantime he'll wipe the floor with you! Bwahahaha!"

"Now Grovyle, attack!" cried James.

"Kill!" Grovyle took a step forward…and was consumed by Charizard's fire breath. The Shadow Pokemon blinked, wobbled, and fainted.

They all blinked. "Charizard!" everyone yelled angrily at the dragon.

He huffed. "What? He's not my friend, I don't even know the guy! Besides, how are we supposed to 'snap him out of it' if we're fighting him? Now that he's kaput, we can knock him back to his senses without these clowns interfering."

"Hey, yeah!" Realizing he was right, Bayleef dropped Meowth and pulled the unconscious Grovyle over to her before James could recall him.

"No fair!" James complained. "You're the good guys, you're not allowed to steal what we've stolen from you, that's our job!"

"James, just recall him!" yelled Jessie.

"Oh, right. Return!" James said, holding out the Pokeball.

"Pikachu, hit the ball with a Thundershock!" commanded Ash.

Pikachu sent a bolt of electricity towards the sphere, causing it to explode before the capture beam could touch the knocked-out Grovyle. "Hey, that glove cost a lot of money!" James cried, pulling off the burnt glove that had been holding the ball.

"Bayleef, give Meowth back to them and let's send them blasting off!" said Ash with a grin.

Bayleef snagged Meowth, who had been sneaking away, with her vines and hurled him into Jessie, knocking her over. Pikachu blasted them with a Thunderbolt, the ground exploded, and- "We're blasting off agaaaaiiiin!" they wailed, vanishing in a twinkle of light.

Wobbuffet poked his head out of the bushes. "Are they gone? Guess I better get going then. Oh, just a sec-" He waved an arm. A shimmering cord of light connecting him to Pikachu appeared and vaporized. "There, Destiny Bond's gone. Good thing I remembered to take it off before I went, wouldn't want you to get hurt while Miss Jessie's angry with me."

"Wobbuffet, why don't you stay with us then?" asked Latias. "You're Chosen too. You don't seem like such a bad guy, really. Why do you hang around with the Ciphers if you know you'll just get into trouble?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. I think it's too late for me, honestly. I don't like being a thief that much but it's my duty to stay with Miss Jessie, especially now that she's as good as lost Dustox and Seviper. Besides, I'm kind of hoping to win Miss Jessie's favor some day. Though with my track rate, I doubt that'll happen…" He sighed. "But I've got to try. Well, see you later, I guess." He walked off to find his trainer.

"I don't get him," said Latias. "He clearly doesn't really like what he's doing, yet he does it anyway. He lets himself be abused. Why? Why doesn't he run away?"

"It's some psychological thing, I think," said Pikachu as he came over. "Humans do the same thing to themselves from what I hear. I think he really just wants his trainer to love him. That's all. The desire for love, for approval, can cause humans and Pokemon to suffer through lots of things others wouldn't. And in the end, most of them can't get it, but they keep going anyway, their egos causing them to blindly refuse to believe their efforts are meaningless. Or they fear they're in a hopeless situation, or that they've wasted their efforts from the start, and sometimes through all the punishment they suffer, they end up thinking it's somehow their fault. Telling them it's pointless is no good, they'll keep doing it anyway, that's the cruel side of hope. That's why my friend Brock constantly chases girls in all the wrong methods and fails spectacularly, because his ego refuses to let him believe his method is stupid and makes him think someday, somehow it'll work. But until he sees that for himself, there's not much that can be done to help him other than discouragement and pulling him away by the ear every time he gets horny."

Latias blinked. "Wow…I didn't know you had such insight on this kind of thing, Pikachu."

The mouse shrugged. "I watch a little of the Psychology Channel now and then when I get the chance at Pokemon Centers, it's actually pretty interesting."

They went back to the rest of the group, who were discussing what to do with Grovyle. Corphish had been all for re-capturing Grovyle and transporting him back to Pallet Town in the hopes that Professor Oak could cure him, but unfortunately Ash had had to exchange his empty Pokeballs for a room at the inn in the last town, since there weren't any Pokemon Centers nearby. Money was getting tighter these days. Besides, since Grovyle had been Snagged by James he was registered as the Cipher's Pokemon, so they couldn't capture him anyway without a Snag Device. Bayleef half-jokingly suggested that maybe a maiden's kiss would do the trick. Even Phanphy could tell who that maiden would be. Ash thought reminding Grovyle of better times might work. But in the end, none of them really knew how to fix a Shadow Pokemon. Fortunately, Latias did, and so she spoke up.

"I think I know how we can cure him," she said as she and Pikachu reached the knocked-out lizard. "Mewtwo told me some of the ways back in the desert. He found out about them when he journeyed to Orre, where Shadow Pokemon were first developed, and found the information in an old Cipher hideout."

"Will they work better than your method of finding water?" asked Corphish.

She scowled at the lobster. "They should."

"What are they?" asked Ash, who had been included in the conversation by Latias' telepathy. "I gotta help Grovyle!"

"Well, there are five ways. I think," she said, trying to remember. "One way is to leave him in a Daycare Center…but I don't think there are any of those near here, are there?"

Pikachu hopped up onto Ash's shoulder, unzipped his backpack, and pulled out the map. "Uh…nope. The closest one is in Lilycove, and we're still pretty far from there."

"We could also keep him with us and make him battle against lots of other Pokemon. Since your heart is purer than Team Cipher's, your bond of friendship will help him recover from the Shadow Pokemon process faster," said Latias.

"We can't do that," said Charizard. "I already spend enough time hunting for enough food for all of us that eat meat. I'm not sure it's safe to let this guy hunt while he's still a Shadow Pokemon, he might get too caught up in killing things and wreck the buffet-I mean food chain, which means I'm gonna have to feed him…unless he can absorb sunlight like Bayleef, that is. Not to mention he'd take up even more room in Pokemon Centers and inns and be a general problem since we can't keep him in a Pokeball."

"And in any case it's against League rules for a trainer to travel with more than six Pokemon on his team, so that's another reason we can't," said Ash sadly.

"Then we could also try to work his emotions up to a fevered pitch and call out his name, Mewtwo said it brings the darkness to a head and takes a bite out of it," said Latias.

"And how would we do that?" asked Pikachu.

"Well…by having him battle, I guess. And we can't do that since we already agreed we can't carry him around for very long. Most of these processes for Shadow Pokemon curing take lots of time. That means we have two other options: one is to massage him, and the other is to call Mewtwo."

"What good would giving him a message do?" asked Phanphy in confusion.

"Massage, not message. A massage is when someone rubs sore or stressed muscles to relax them and relieve tension," said Pikachu. "I've had a few myself. Man, those felt good on my power packs…"

"The massages relax all the uncomfortably tense muscles and stuff in the Shadow Pokemon's body to make it less angry…or something like that, I think," said Latias. "And summoning Mewtwo would probably cure Grovyle right away, because super-psychic Pokemon have the ability to purify Pokemon who have been tainted or corrupted by some sort of alien force."

"Great, then blow that flute and call Mewtwo!" said Ash.

Latias fingered the Dragon Flute uncertainly. "I don't know…the Unown said to only play this thing in a real emergency, and even then it'll only work three times. What if by summoning Mewtwo now we deprive ourselves of his assistance sometime later when we really need him?"

Ash frowned. "But this is an emergency! Grovyle's brainwashed or something and needs help! What else could be so bad we need Mewtwo's help that we can't handle on our own?"

"We could be about to be devoured by a giant super-Pokemon like that evil Groudon Butler brought to life," Pikachu pointed out.

"Or we could be lost in another desert without any water or convenient Pokemon Centers anywhere nearby," said Corphish.

"Or the big meanies could actually get a robot or thingie that works properly and knocks most of us out and leaves us on the brink of defeat," said Phanphy.

"Or-" started Charizard.

"All right, all right, I get the point!" said Ash angrily and somewhat unhappily. "We won't call Mewtwo. At least, not yet. You said we could make him less evil and stuff by massaging him?"

"I think so. Though the effect would probably be better if we had an experienced masseuse. I don't suppose any of you happen to be?" There was no response. She sighed. "Me neither."

"Then I guess we'll all have to give it a go. Let's tie him down so he doesn't cause any trouble when he wakes up, and then I'll try first," Ash volunteered.

"Can I ask you something first Ash?" Latias inquired.

"Yes?" he said.

"Giant evil super Groudon?"

"It's a long story."

…

Grovyle was not a happy Shadow Pokemon when he woke up. Not seeing his registered master anywhere his programming resorted to the only option it could: he yelled, growled, and tried to bite everyone who came near him. They had laid him out on a tree stump and used some rope Ash happened to have in his backpack, careful to make sure the bonds were nowhere that could be cut by the gecko's leaf blades. When asked why he just happened to have rope, Ash shrugged and said his mom never let him leave home without lots of survival equipment. He showed them this by pulling out a flare gun, a medical kit, a flashlight, some packs of totally inedible trail mix, and several hundred pairs of clean underwear, all of which somehow fit in his small backpack.

Ash pulled off his gloves and carefully approached the lizard. "Hey Grovyle, you remember me don't you?"

The lizard stopped struggling for a moment, glared at him, and snapped, "Kill!"

"Come on, you've gotta remember me! I helped you carry all that water from the stream so we could try and keep that dying tree you used to live in alive, remember? And after the tree fell down, you decided to come with me to see the world?" He got down on his knees next to Grovyle, cautiously putting his hands on the lizard's back. "Remember when we went to Dewford Island, Grovyle? How we lost to Brawly the first time because we relied too much on power attacks, but then we spent all that time training with the surf and got stronger? You really showed that Machop and Hariyama of his, didn't you?"

"Kill!" said Grovyle.

"Ash, it's no good. Bringing up old memories doesn't help, his Shadow Pokemon programming keeps them all buried too deeply for them to be freed by simple reminiscing," said Latias.

Ash sighed. "Well, I thought it was worth a try. Figured it might help calm him down a little first. Okay, let's do this." He rubbed his hands over the gecko's back, having no idea what he was doing, but hoping it might help him find the 'tense muscles' Latias had been talking about. He tried to remember Suzie's crash course in Pokemon massage therapy, but it had been so long ago that he could barely recall what she had told him. He was amazed to find that the lizard's back felt hard as rock. "Wow, these muscles must be _really_ tense…let's see…" Uncertainly, he pressed down hard with both hands on one spot. Grovyle howled at this. "Uh…okay, maybe that's not such a good spot…" He started rubbing the lizard's shoulder blades, which resulted in another howl of pain. "Grr…" Getting frustrated, he just started pounding Grovyle's back with clenched fists, mimicking something he had seen on TV once. Unfortunately, this ended up doing nothing more than making his hands sore and Grovyle angrier. "Ow!"

"Ash, maybe you should let someone else try," suggested Latias.

"No, I can do this!" he protested.

"Ash, all you're doing is making him worse," she pointed out.

Ash blinked, and looked at Grovyle. The gleam in the gecko's eye was murderous. The boys shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Um…maybe I should stop. I don't think he likes me very much anymore…" he said dejectedly.

…

Next up was Pikachu. He hopped up onto Grovyle's back and patted the gecko's shoulders reassuringly. "Don't worry buddy, we'll get you back to normal soon enough."

"Kill!"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see." He paused. "Does anyone think they can hold his mouth shut so I can do his cheeks?" Everyone facefaulted.

…

Charizard cracked his knuckles. "Okay, sorry for burning you up earlier, but this should make you feel better." He grabbed Grovyle, drove his knee into the gecko's back, spun him over his head and flung him face-first into a tree.

"Charizard! What'd you do that for?!" Ash yelled.

Charizard blinked. "What? That's how we do massages back in the valley!" Everyone facefaulted.

…

After they had put Grovyle back on the tree stump and given him some time to recover, Corphish volunteered to try next. Instead of walloping the gecko's sore muscles with his claws like everyone expected, he surprised them by walking sideways back and forth repeatedly along the gecko's back, pricking Grovyle with his sharp legs at the spots where he felt more tension than others. Amazingly, this relaxed Grovyle somewhat, as the bloodlust in the gecko's yellow eyes started to recede.

That's when Phanphy, who was fixated on a Taillow preening itself in a nearby tree, blew his trumpet at it to see what would happen. The sudden loud noise startled Corphish from the laser-like concentration required for him to hit Grovyle's trouble spots with such accuracy and caused him to accidentally dance across the gecko's back, driving his legs in just a little too deeply and drawing a fair amount of blood. Grovyle's blood-curdling screams showed he was not pleased.

…

After pulling a disturbed Corphish off of Grovyle's back and giving Phanphy a time-out for causing trouble, it was Bayleef's turn. Latias had elected to stay out, since she had scrawny little claws instead of hands and after Corphish's failure didn't want to risk making the gecko even angrier than he was already by accidentally piercing skin. Admittedly, she could have just turned into a human and tried, but she knew Bayleef had a thing for Grovyle and thought it would be nice to let her have a try first. Even though Bayleef didn't really know what she was doing, she couldn't help but feel thrilled, she finally had the chance to spend some time alone with her crush. (She had sent the others off to have lunch for this purpose. They hadn't been willing to leave her alone with a dangerous Shadow Pokemon, but after a loud argument and several threats to whip them all she had managed to convince them to eat just a few yards away, more than close enough to hear her and come running if she got into trouble.) "Hmm…I'm kind of glad we can spend some time together, how about you Grovyle?"

"Kill!" he roared.

She ignored him and went on. "You know, I forgot all about Ash when I saw you on the telephone. Your smooth green skin, a big alluring leaf like mine, every line and curve on your body practically screaming coolness…" She caressed the lizard's cheek with a vine.

Grovyle stared at her in confusion, uncertain how to react. His Shadow Pokemon programming gave no solution for this kind of behavior. "Kill?" he asked finally.

Bayleef seemed to snap out of her self-induced trance. "But we'll have time for that later, I suppose…now let's see what we can do about your muscles." She extended her vines and propped her upper body on the tree stump. "I don't have much experience with massages, but sometimes Snorlax asks me to scratch parts of his belly that he can't reach. It's all a matter of finding the part of the skin that feels especially different and causes the recipient to elicit the greatest response when stimulated, be it relief or otherwise. This can't be too much different, can it?" She ran the tips of her vines over the gecko's back, marveling at how hard it felt. "Wow, Ash is right, your muscles really are tense. Let's see if we can't fix that." She prodded areas of the lizard's back, searching for areas that felt tighter or harder than others. Grovyle grunted whenever she got close to certain spots, which led her to believe these might be the areas she was looking for. After finding and identifying numerous trouble spots, she decided it was time to finally take the plunge. She prodded one of the knots where there was the most amount of tension. Grovyle hissed in pain, but Bayleef took this as a good sign that this was the place to start. "Now just try to relax. Here, maybe some Sweet Scent will help." She swished her leaf over the gecko, sprinkling nice-smelling pink powder on him. Grovyle sniffed it and looked a little dizzy at the smell, but in a good way. His claws, which had been either clenched or swiping at the air all this time, relaxed a little.

She brought both of her vines to bear, gently prodding and applying force to the knot, feeling it slowly start to loosen as she stroked it. Grovyle was gritting his teeth at first, but eventually he actually began to relax again, the bloodshot degree of his eyes going down several decibels. "Kiiiiiilllllll…" he sighed, without much feeling of anger or genuine thirst for violence behind it. There was almost a note of relief in it.

Bayleef smiled. "There, you're feeling better already! This isn't quite so hard as I thought. Good thing for both of us, huh?"

"Kiiiiilllll!" he yelled loudly as she prodded a particularly sensitive spot.

"I'll take that as a yes."

…

"Come on, take it!"

Ash looked at the drumstick Charizard had thrust under his nose in discomfort. "No."

The dragon grinned. "Come on, I know you want it."

Ash pushed the drumstick away. "Charizard, I know you're concerned about what I'm eating-"

"Humans shouldn't go on an all-veggies diet, Ash, it just isn't right!" Charizard claimed.

Ash frowned. "It's bad enough you keep trying to make me eat what you hunt…but did you have to bring in a Pidgeot today?!"

Charizard looked at the stripped Pidgeot he had killed and was eating. "So it's a Pidgeot. I don't understand."

"Didn't you think it might remind me of our old friend, Pidgeot?! As in, the Pidgeot who I left behind in Route 1 and died?!"

Charizard looked shocked. "Pidgeot's _dead_?!"

"You didn't know?" asked Pikachu in surprise.

"I…no, how could I? It's not like I've ever gotten any phone calls or anything in the Valley, we barely have TV as it is." He still looked shocked. "She's dead…geez…" He looked at Pikachu. "Is that why you didn't want to eat any of it when I brought it in?"

"Well, that and I don't particularly like fowl," said Pikachu.

"Oh, um, same here," said Latias quickly. She hadn't told any of them she had been present at Pidgeot's death. She didn't feel responsible for her death, no, it was the deaths of all those other innocent birds and insects that still weighed on her conscience, their ghosts at the back of her mind. She didn't want to reopen any old wounds for any of them, even her own. Of course, Charizard had gone and done it anyway innocently and unintentionally.

"Geez," said Charizard again. He tossed the drumstick away. "Suddenly I don't feel quite so hungry anymore." He had never been close with Pidgeotto before she evolved and left, not like he had been with Bulbasaur or Squirtle. Still, she had been a fellow teammate and one of Ash's first Pokemon, just like himself. That gave them a common bond. The knowledge that she was dead reminded him of his own mortality. The thought of his broken egg flashed through his mind, and his stomach churned, almost rejecting the Pidgeot flesh he had already ingested, which now felt tainted by the poison of memories. He wondered if maybe the Unown would grant him an addendum to his wish, to bring Pidgeot back as well as his unborn child.

Phanphy, who was sitting with his back facing the group in front of a rock a few yards away, broke the somber mood. He called loudly, "Daddy, can I come out of time out now?"

"Five more minutes," grunted Ash, shoving some berries in his mouth.

"Okay." There was a pause. "Has it been five minutes yet?"

"No. Remind me to teach you how to tell time someday."

"Okay, daddy."

For a time, all was silent as the group ate their lunch, mulling things over. Charizard's fresh prey brought up memories of the noble bird in all of their minds. Latias remembered how Pidgeot had saved her life and virginity from the Fearow and died trying to protect her people, a task that she sadly failed in…partly because of Latias. Ash, Pikachu and Charizard all remembered their own times with Pidgeot before she had evolved, back when she was Pidgeotto. Ash remembered how he had tried capturing her using Caterpie, which also brought up the sad reminder of how Butterfree was dead too. Pikachu thought of all the times he had ridden on Pidgeotto's back into battle, fighting side by side. Charizard remembered a time on a cold mountaintop far away when he was still Charmander, when he and his friends, along with Pidgeotto, had huddled together with Ash to keep him warm in the middle of a blizzard. They were broken out of their reminiscience by Phanphy, who was asking if it had been five minutes yet, and it had not, so Ash left him in time out for an extra two minutes before letting him join lunch.

It was then that a smoke bomb exploded, accompanied by annoying laughter. They all groaned, not in the mood for this. "They attacked us just this morning! Can't they at least wait more than a few hours?" complained Ash.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it-"

"Yeah, yeah, we know, 'make it double,'" said Ash, bored and still a bit depressed from the trip down memory lane. No one was even looking at the pathetic losers.

Latias nodded. "And then Jessie says, 'To protect the world from devastation.'"

"'To unite the peoples within our nation,'" Ash continued, as Jessie opened her mouth to yell at them.

"'To denounce the evils of truth and love.'"

"'To extend our reach to the stars above.'"

"'Jessie.'"

"'James.'"

"'Team Scyther, encrypting important commu-whatever at the speed of light.'"

"'Surrender now or prepare to fight fight fight.'"

"'Meowth, that's right,'" said Pikachu dully.

"'Chimecho,'" said Phanphy.

"'Wobbuffet,'" said Charizard.

The Ciphers gaped (although Wobbuffet thought it was kind of funny and Chimecho didn't notice) in disbelief. "You stole our motto!" accused James angrily. "You stole our motto and my Grovyle! This trespass against the great Team Rocket, er, I mean Cipher shall not go unpunished!" "

"It was my Grovyle first, so really I was just taking him back," said Ash.

"Yes, but you're the good guys, you're not supposed to steal!" James complained. "That's our job!"

Ash sighed, not getting up from his picnicking position. "So I suppose you want to take him back?"

"Yes!"

Ash sighed. "Okay. Bayleef! Get over here!"

"Coming!" Bayleef ran over from where she had been massaging Grovyle behind some bushes a few seconds later. "What is it?"

"Team Cipher wants to take Grovyle back," said Latias.

"WHAT?!" she screamed, her head enlarging angrily. She took a step towards the Ciphers, looking extremely pissed.

Rightfully scared, James, Meowth and Wobbuffet quickly hid behind Jessie, while Chimecho floated around happily. "Quick Jess, use the device!"

"Uh, right!" said Jessie. She held up a metal disk with all sorts of switches and buttons on it. "Get a load of this, twerp! Our newest gadget will make mincemeat out of you!" She threw it at the ground.

Everyone recoiled, expecting it to explode. Nothing happened. "Um, Jessie, I think you forgot to turn it on," said James timidly.

She smacked him. "Be quiet!" She quickly reached out with her foot and tapped a button with her toe. "Ha!"

The device beeped and started to play 'Le Cucaracha.' Everyone facefaulted. "I think it's the other button," said James, reaching out and pressing a button on the other side of the device. There was a sudden flash of light followed by the sound of a horrible explosion, and everyone blacked out.

…

Latias didn't wake up, not exactly. From her point of view, it was like she had been in a void, and all of a sudden a grassy clearing appeared around her. The sun hung high in the air above them, and for some reason the edges of the trees and grass looked almost…_pixelated_ when examined closely enough. She blinked and saw that Team Cipher and her friends were all here too, except all of them looked…odd somehow.

Ash had lost his regular clothes and was now covered in unfamiliar garb. His hat was perched on top of a domed metal helmet fitted over his head. His shirt and vest were gone, replaced by a metal breastplate and backplate held together by leather straps over his shoulders, along with a green vest. His gloves had gotten metal studs on the knuckles and changed into leather. His pants had become quite baggy brown shorts with two belts looped diagonally across his waist and thighs. His shoes were simple slip-ons without laces. He blinked and looked over himself in confusion. "What the heck?"

Pikachu was wearing a metal vest that was built just for his size and shape, with a helmet fit over his head and hears. A blue tunic came down from the bottom of the vest, and his short upper legs were ensconced in white armored kneecaps. A red bandana was around his neck and a sword was tied to his tail. He blinked and moved his tail over so he could see it. "Heeyyyy…I've got a sword!"

Bayleef was wearing a veil over her mouth, with bands of green cloth crisscrossing across her front and near her back legs. She had white tattoos in bands and swirls on all her legs except for the left back one. There was an anklet on that leg. A long staff with a scythe-like blade at the end with a banner with an eye painted on it was tied to her back. "…What's going on?"

Corphish had grown to a gargantuan size, and his carapace had turned a very, very dark gray with weird glowing symbols on it and a tiny head with glowing red eyes and a pair of tiny claws underneath his mouth. He also had giant pincers. "…Whoa. This is MUCH cooler than being a Crawdaunt."

Phanphy had become huge, grown shaggy fur, and also sprouted tusks. "Daddy, daddy, look! I'm finally all grown up!" he said enthusiastically.

Charizard's body was covered in black plate scales with yellowish scales on his chest. His horns had become curvy, and his two dragon wings had sprouted feathers. Also, a large golden wheel materialized behind his back. He looked over himself, impressed. "Damn, I look cool!…But why the hell is there a wheel on my back?"

Latias looked down at herself to see if she had changed and was surprised to find that she was wearing a long hooded white robe with red triangles lining the hem and sleeves. A red sash with a staff attached was tied around the bulge of her stomach, and a red cape hung down her back. This was very odd.

Team Cipher appeared to have transformed too. Jessie and James were wearing green capes and bandanas with white and yellow striped shirts, a pair of belts looped around their waists, brown shorts, high brown stockings, and featureless shoes. They also had daggers and a couple of rings. Meowth had a light blue tunic with a headband, wristbands, and banded sandals. A lyre was strapped to his back. He had a ridiculous hat with a tremendous colored feather in it. "Jessie, was this supposed to happen?" asked the confused Meowth.

"I think so…" said Jessie without certainty. "Though I would have thought we would have been given better costumes."

"Why the heck do I have fur?" wondered Wobbuffet, who was covered in green fur and had a ruby imbedded in his forehead.

Dustox, Seviper and Cacnea had appeared as well, but Seviper had gotten larger and turned dark brown with plate scales, spikes, and a yellow belly. Dustox had grown larger and metamorphosed into an ugly fat woman in an insectoid costume…which was odd since Dustox was a guy. Cacnea had simply become gigantic and grown a curly moustache, which was odd since she was a girl. Chimecho was wearing a huge red and black jester's hat that almost dwarfed the little Wind Chime Pokemon. He had clown makeup on his face to make his perpetual smile look even wider.

All of them (except Chimecho and the shadow monsters) all wondered the same thing: _what the heck had happened?_

That's when there was a flash of light and a strange creature appeared before them. It looked like a Mew, except it was white, had a red nose, purple bat wings, longer ears, and an antenna ending in a big red ball sticking out of its head. "Hi!" said the thing. "I'm Mewgle, and welcome to…THE RPGENERATOR!"

…

TO BE CONTINUED…

…

And thus we enter another weird and wild story arc. What craziness will happen to our heroes next? What is Grovyle's fate? Find out next time!


	23. RPG MADNESS! pt 1: Enter the Game World

Hello readers! Bet I confused you on the last bit, huh? No worries, all will be explained here, hopefully. Sorry it took so long to get this up, but my beta reader got sick and he was very busy, so I was very grateful when he finished commenting on it. Hopefully, all of you will be pleased with the changes herein.

Sa, I'm glad you're interested.

Ring of Fire, I'm a guy. How can I possibly be a fangirl if I'm a guy? I've just wanted an RPG-style fight for a long time that's all. It just ballooned into this somehow.

HEY! HVK, you ripped off my anti-Pleakley 628! You could have asked! And I'm not proud of Ultimate Invader. It's one of the biggest Gary/Mary Sues I think there are on the site. I hate it now. And yes, you are a loser. J

Sir Pudding, if you want weird, you ain't seen nothing yet. Take a look at this chapter.

Disclaimer: Most things in this chapter are ripped off from various RPGs, all of which are owned by either Square or Nintendo. I don't own them.

…

They stared at the happy Mew-lookalike in disbelief. "What…the…" said Charizard, stunned.

"Jessie, was this supposed to happen?" James whispered to his partner.

Jessie pulled out a manual and flipped through it. "Er…yes, according to this that thing is the RPGenerator's artificial intelligence system and Dungeon Master, programmed to equip all game users with appropriate jobs, styles, abilities, items, etc., plus setting up the storyline."

"Yep, that's me!" smiled Mewgle.

"Dungeon Master?" Ash blinked. "What's that? Are we in a prison or something?"

"Of course not." Retorted the Mew lookalike. "My function is to direct the actions of all the NPCs and monsters and provide each of them with their own goals and personality to make the adventure all the more realistic and enjoyable."

They stared at him blankly. "Adventure?"

"Perfect." Mewgle moaned. "Newbies. At least it's better then the conga line of power players everyone keeps chucking at me."

"What's going on?" Bayleef said, exasperated.

"All right, what did you losers do this time?" Ash demanded.

"Ha! Haven't you ever played an RPG before, twerp?" sneered James.

Ash looked blank, along with the rest of his team. "RPG? What's that?"

"You know, a role playing game?" They stared at him. "It's a kind of video game!" he said, exasperated.

"Ohhhh…" they said in unison.

"Sorry, but my mom never let me play video games. She said they would rot my brain," Ash apologized.

"And controllers weren't designed to be held by my claws, so I could never play any games, by the time I learned to be human I had moved on to art," said Latias.

"And I don't have the slightest idea what a video game is," said Corphish.

"I think I saw Tracy playing something he called a vi-de-o game a few times on the TV," said Bayleef. "But I didn't understand it."

"I think I saw some of Prof. Oak's interns talking around a table once doing something called an 'R.P.G.' but I never found out what it was." Pikachu answered.

"Damian never let me near his gameboy." Charizard grunted.

Phanphy added. "What kind of game is vid-eoh? Is that that the pretty card game?"

"That's Lu-Gi-Oh," corrected Pikachu, who liked the show and watched it whenever he could.

"I was too poor to afford any games," Jessie said suddenly.

"And I could only look at them through store windows as I rummaged through garbage, cursing my fate to be a Pokemon and to have worthless non-opposable paws that were unable to hold a controller properly." Meowth glanced at his paws and burst into hysterical tears.

"Chimecho!" said Chimecho, wanting to throw his own two cents in.

James sulked. "Am I the only one whose parents got them expensive video game systems when they were young?"

"Not everyone can be born rich," Jessie pointed out.

James sighed. "Oh well, it never mattered anyway, Jessiebelle kept destroying them and saying they weren't gentlemanly. How I hate her."

"Benny an' me played some video games, but he really preferred the puzzle and action games." Wobbuffet commented.

Ash Pikachu started and stared at Wobbuffet while the rest of their team wondered what was with their star player and group leader's reaction.

Ash had his faults, but he never, ever, forgot a friend's name. "Benny!" Two of a pair exclaimed. Ash was left stuttering. "You're, but's, that's, how, but, that's impossible!" Ash pointed at the passive Pokemon not believing what he was hearing. "That's a lie! You can't be Benny's Wobbuffet! That's just not possible!"

Wobbuffet seemed rather offended. "I am-too-Benny's Pokemon! I even said Hi to the Likitung that traded my spot in Benny's group as we passed each other in the trading machine." Ash was stunned, there was no way Team Cipher could have known that.

"Ash what are you talking about?" Latias asked.

"That makes two of us twerp." Added Jessie. "What the heck are you babbling about? And who's Benny!"

"Where did you steal Wobbuffet?" Ash demanded.

"Steal? As much as I'd love to say we actually managed to pull off a poke'napping I got stuck with him when I accidentally traded Likitung for the living stop sign!" Jessie said indignantly.

"Liar! You've stolen poor Pokemon and gotten away with it before! Like poor Cacnea!"

"Er." James blushed. "Actually, she saved us from a swarm of Beedrill and I gave her some cookies as a 'thank you.' After we released Weezing and Arbok to lead some Koffing and Ekans that had been held captive by a poacher, turns out she couldn't get the cookie bag open so I had to open it for her." James stumbled over the next part. "And she kinda…fell in love with me." Bayleef suddenly felt a new sympathy to the poor shadow Pokemon.

"I don't believe you! I bet you used those cookie to trap her after your Pokemon finally escaped from you!"

"It's not a lie, I'm sad to say! Just ask Cacnea!" James protested

"Murder!" yelled Cacnea, thoroughly hating her trainer and wanting to rip his intestines out for turning her into a Shadow Pokemon.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, the whole 'turned into a hot-blooded killing machine.' Never mind about asking her," James said sheepishly.

"I believe them." Everyone looked at Charizard wondering if he had hit his head. "Think about it. These jerks are total failures at everything they do. They wouldn't be smart enough to capture a sleeping Caterpie after it had fought to stay alive with a, er, Fearow. Let alone Cacnea."

Everyone had to agree on that, the Ciphers included. "Jess', why do all the good points about us have to be bad ones?" Meowth asked.

"NOW do you believe Benny was my first trainer?" Wobbuffet huffed.

"Wobbuffet, if you're really Benny's Wobbuffet why are you doing all this!" Ash pleaded. Another part of his world turned upside down.

"I promised Benny I'd be a good team player for whoever I got traded for. Besides, you gotta do, whatcha gotta do, and this is what I gotta do. Though I don't always like it," he muttered.

Ash opened his mouth to say more but- "AHEM!" The Mewgle thundered. "As much as this sort of thing adds drama to a good gaming session can we get past the Tutorial first?"

"So…uh…what is an RPG then?" asked Ash, still confused and now somewhat unnerved by Wobbuffet's revelation.

Mewgle was more than eager to explain. "An RPG is a game in which you control a party of characters to save the world from annihilation and/or conquest. During the game you explore towns, dungeons, and fields to locate items and equipment to make your party members stronger. Speaking to key characters and average citizens reveals the plot and gives clues on how to accomplish certain objectives. Winning battles against randomly encountered monsters awards Experience points to party members which makes them stronger and eventually makes combat easier against enemies that were once hard. Of course, the difficulty level for other enemies rises…anyway, eventually the party must battle a final enemy to save the world from ruin and win the game."

"And that's an RPG?" asked Latias.

"Yes, that's an RPG."

"So…what's going on here then?" asked Pikachu.

Mewgle's voice was proud and bold. "You're in the RPGenerator, the latest and greatest joint creations of the Soni and Circle/Inix corporations." A sphere like logo and the word 'Soni Entertainment' appeared in the sky for a few seconds. "Makers of the Last Legend and Kingdom Souls series! The RPGenerator is a virtual reality simulator that plugs players into the game itself, allowing them to travel the game world and fight enemies firsthand, giving them a unique and unforgettable adventure each time. It can handle a huge number of characters at one time, allowing players to form numerous parties of either CPU or human (or Pokemon) members, with a maximum of eight per party (four characters, and four summons.) so that they could explore the massive RPG world together, compete against each other, and even fight side by side against the final boss. It can even translate speech among the human and Pokemon players to make everyone universally understandable!"

"Oh yeah, I was wondering why I could understand the twerp's Pokemon," muttered James.

"The RPGenerator will revolutionize the world of video gaming forever!" Mewgle paused, and then looked very unhappy. "Or it would have if the designers hadn't found out that experience points gained in the game world to make players stronger somehow transfer to the real world too. They couldn't figure out how to fix the flaw without deprogramming the entire system, and if they released it they were certain to get lawsuits from fitness centers and angry parents who would complain that they were giving children an easy alternative to exercise. And because all the AI systems like myself developed too much free will and started exerting control over players or something, I forgot."

"However, before Team Rocket's hostile takeover and transformation into Team Cipher our old boss had the foresight to 'acquire' several of these devices and use them as training simulations for his agents and Pokemon to boost their power. And after all these months and months of waiting after ordering one ages ago, we've finally received our own version!" said Jessie happily.

"And now we'll use it against you to get my Grovyle back!" said James.

Ash was perplexed. "I don't understand. How will playing a video game help you regain Grovyle?"

James opened his mouth to answer and froze. He blinked and frowned. "Er…Jessie, help me out here!"

Meowth groaned and Jessie slapped her forehead. "I _knew _we should have ordered the giant Magcargot robot! We always go with robots! But noooo, you just had to have your precious video game!" she snapped.

"But Jessie, I haven't been able to play one in years and years! I HAD to get it!" he protested.

"Idiot!" she started smacking him with her fan. A red 5 appeared over his head for a second.

The heroes decided to ignore the Ciphers amusing antics and instead interrogate Mewgle some more. "So, since this is all sort of a misunderstanding, do you think you could let us out?" asked Charizard. "Though I do like the costume…"

"Sorry, nope!" cheered Mewgle. "You have to beat the game first. Or part of it anyway."

"Why?" implored Bayleef.

"'Cause I said so! So listen up everyone, I'm gonna explain how things work here!" Mewgle yelled, getting everyone's attention. "Okay, first I need a volunteer from both sides. I pick…hmmmm…you and you!" it said, pointing to Ash and James.

"Uh, okay," said Ash, stepping forward from the rest of the group. James did the same.

"Okay, let's have a practice battle to explain how things work!" All of a sudden, the landscape seemed to shake, swirl, and twist out of proportions before reorienting itself in a slightly larger version of the same exact clearing they had just been in.

Numerous party members on both sides stumbled around and threw up. (which vanished an instant later) "What was that!" asked Ash.

"Battle transition. Those always made me queasy too," said James, holding his stomach.

"Okay, now listen up both of you!" said Mewgle. "If you look down, you'll see the command menu for battle."

Ash looked down and saw nothing. "What are you talking about? I don't see any-" That's when a big blue transparent flat screen appeared with the headings ATTACK, ITEM, MAGIC, and RUN AWAY on it. Ash blinked. "Whoa. What do I do with this?" James already had his up and was waiting for Mewgle's instructions.

"Now, in this game combat is done turn-based style, meaning each character in the party takes a turn to perform some action, then when all characters take their turns each member of the enemy party does something with their turns too. The turns continue until all members of either party have been eliminated from battle," said the AI creature.

Ash asked, "And how do we do that?"

James scoffed. "It's the easiest thing in the world, twerp! Just select ATTACK, then choose one of the options listed there to perform a technique. Or you could do the same with MAGIC and cast a damaging spell, I suppose."

"Hey, thanks!" Ash stomped on ATTACK, causing the screen to clear and display a new list.

James sweatdropped. "I shouldn't have told you that, should I?"

Ash saw about half a dozen possible attacks, but some of them had numbers with MP written next to them. The boy asked Mewgle, "What's this mean?"

"Ah, knew I was forgetting something. Okay, see those numbers above your head?"

Ash looked up. "What num-" There were two sets of numbers above his head. One said 100/100 in green numbers, the other said 50/50 in violet. James had the same numbers, except he only had 95/100 for some reason. "Oh. What are those?"

"The green top number shows how much health you have. Whenever you get hit with an attack, it causes that number to go down. If it hits zero, you're knocked out. If all of your party members are knocked out, it's Game Over. The second number shows how many magic points you have. You can use magic points to cast spells or perform more powerful attacks. The more expensive the spell, the stronger the attack," explained Mewgle. "Since this is a tutorial battle, I've set both of your HP and MP gauges to be roughly equal, but out in the game they will in fact be determined by your level and job class. And if for any reason you don't think you can defeat the enemy you're fighting, you can exit back to the first screen and select RUN AWAY to try and escape. If it works, you'll run away from the enemy, but you'll lose some money and you may have to confront the enemy eventually anyway. It doesn't work for bosses either, just so you know."

"Thanks. Let's see…I think I'll use this attack then, it sounds really strong!" Ash stomped on the last attack on the list, FINAL HEAVEN, costing him 15 MP. He suddenly started running towards James, but not under his own control. "Hey, what's happening!" Ash yelled, frightened.

"When you select an attack, your body performs it automatically," said Mewgle. "It goes through what's called a 'cutscene'! Why it's called that I don't know."

Ash grabbed James by the neck and pulled back his right hand, which started glowing. "Pleasedon'thurtmepleasedon'thurtmepleasedon'thurtme-" James babbled.

Too late. Ash punched James in the face, triggering a tremendous and incredibly well-rendered nuclear explosion, accompanied by a large glowing red 90 over his head. Ash backed away to where he had been standing before as the cloud faded, revealing a twitching James. The 95/100 HP over his head had lowered to 5/100. "Owie."

Ash blinked and looked at his fists. "Cool."

James quickly recovered. "Oh yeah, let's see how much you like it!" James stomped on his ATTACK command, and was surprised to see a totally different set of options than the ones Ash had. "Huh? Where's my Final Heaven?"

"Ash can use Final Heaven because he's a Fighter. You're a Thief so you have different abilities. I suppose I should have mentioned that I gave each of you jobs and abilities which fit your own personalities," explained Mewgle. "I'll explain more after the battle."

James got an evil grin. "Well, if I'm a Thief, I suppose it would be fitting for me to STEAL!" he cried, stomping on the STEAL command and spending 2 MP. "Hehehehe!"

He automatically ran over to Ash and started frisking him. "H-hey, stop that!" the boy protested.

"Sorry, can't, game's controlling me!" replied James. Finally, he dealt Ash 9 damage and retreated, something very important in tow. "Ha! Look what I've got!" he cried, holding Ash's hat in the air. A blue box appeared in the air with the words YOU STOLE LUCKY CAP!

"Hey, give that back!" Ash yelled.

James put the hat on his head, then stuck out his tongue and pulled down his eyelid. "Nya, nya, it's mine now!"

"Actually, if Ash defeats you he'll get it back," informed Mewgle.

James' face paled as he remembered he only had 5 HP left. "Oh dear."

Ash grinned evilly as he prepared to stomp on the ATTACK command and call up Final Heaven again. "Wait Ash, why don't you try a spell? Those are pretty powerful too!" said Mewgle.

"Great idea!" Ash stepped on MAGIC and was disappointed to see only three options: FIRE, CURE, and CHARIZARD. "This is it?" he asked in disappointment.

"Since you're a fighter, you've only got limited magical skill. However, every character on either party is bonded with another party member who is not available for battle normally. By selecting the appropriate spell, you can call this member into battle. This is called Summoning," said Mewgle. "Charizard is bonded to Ash, Phanphy to Pikachu, Corphish to Bayleef, Cacnea to James, Wobbuffet to Meowth, Dustox to Chimecho, and Seviper to Jessie."

"Then where's my summon?" asked Latias.

Mewgle clapped its hands. "Ah, but you've got a special summon! Notice how the flute you wear around your neck in the real world followed you here?"

Latias blinked and noticed that she did indeed have her Dragon Flute. "How'd that get here?"

"Any items that have special emotional attachment for the owner are transported to this world with them, or at least faithfully duplicated. Your virtual flute is attached to you in the same way as the real one because of your strong psychic bond with your mentor/parental figure. As such, if you blow that flute here it will work the same way as the real one does, summoning Mewtwo here to protect you in battle. But just like the real flute, it only works three times, and if you use them up here they'll be gone in the real world too."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Latias asked, amazed.

"I'm psycho! And psychic. I read all your minds when you were uploaded here," said Mewgle cheerfully.

"Wait, if special sentimental objects are duplicated then does that mean…" Ash blinked, then glared at James. "Even if it's virtual, you'd BETTER not touch what's inside my hat!"

"Why not?" James asked, taking a look inside the hat. "Hey, what's this inside the lining?"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Ash yelled.

"Oh, what's this?" said James, pulling out a blue and yellow handkerchief. "Why, it's a handkerchief! And what's this? Something's written on it! 'To my beloved Ash-'"

"THAT DOES IT!" Ash stomped on the summon spell, spending 25 MP. "Charizard, get im'!" James squealed like a girly-man, which he was, and dropped the hat in fear.

Charizard suddenly vanished from his spot with the other Pokemon. All of a sudden, the world shimmered and everything suddenly took on a sharper edge, like they were being rendered differently or something. The sky darkened as a glowing archaic circle formed around the ground Ash was standing on. There was a burst of light high above them, and an imposing figure lowered from above, arms crossed across his chest, a fierce look on his face. Charizard landed on the ground in front of Ash, looked at the terrified James, and roared to the heavens.

Then everything was abruptly as it was before, except Charizard was still in front of Ash. The dragon blinked. "What was that?"

"An FMV!" said Mewgle.

"A what?"

"'Full Motion Video.' It's a little movie introducing you to the field."

Charizard frowned. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I was just a few feet away. Couldn't I have just walked over here?"

Mewgle grinned. "Nope!"

A new menu opened at Ash's feet. It had several listed abilities: BLAST BURN (Charizard's strongest attack), FIRE IMPULSE, FIRE 3, SHIELD, and DISMISS. Mewgle quickly explained. "The first two options are the attacks Charizard can perform. The one at the top is the strongest technique, so of course it costs the most. Fire 3 is a fire spell, stronger than the one that you have, which Charizard can cast on opponents or himself. Since he's a fire-element monster, fire attacks will heal him, so Fire 3 works as a curative. Shield causes Charizard to raise his defensive power for one turn, which is useful if you know the enemy's about to hit you with a really strong attack. Finally, you can send him away by dismissing him if you don't want to wait for him to get KO'd by the enemy. That way you can save up MP to summon him again later in the fight, if you want."

"Okay," said Ash. "I want to finish James off and get my hat and handkerchief back so…Charizard, let's use Blast Burn!" He stepped on the appropriate button, using up 15 MP.

"You got it, Ash!" Charizard, still with his arms crossed over his chest, inhaled deeply for several seconds as flames crackled all around him. He thrusted his head forward, opened his mouth, and spat out…a very tiny ember which fizzled out immediately. Everyone sweatdropped. "Dammit, even in this virtual thingamajig I still can't do it!"

__

Hmmm, thought Mewgle. _Critical Failure._

James burst into laughter. "Bwahahahaha! Your turn is up, twerp! My summon can beat your summon!" He opened his magic menu and frowned to see all that was there were CURE and JUMBO CACNEA. "Thieves aren't very good at magic, are they?" he muttered. "Oh well. Summon Cacnea!" he cried, stomping on the command and spending 25 MP.

An archaic circle surrounded James as the FMV started. The ground in front of him turned into soil. The earth shook and the giant mustachioed Cacnea popped out of the ground. The FMV ended.

"Hey, how come my summon sequence was shorter than the twerp's?" James complained.

"Because you suck!" cheered Mewgle happily.

"Never mind!" said James. He looked at Cacnea's main attack on the list and grinned evilly. "This technique costs 20 MP, so it must be really evil! Bwahahaha!"

"Oh crap!" said Charizard, worried.

"Charizard!" Ash and Latias scolded. "Not in front of Phanphy!"

He cringed. "Sorry."

James stomped on the command. "Cacnea, use Hundred Needles!"

"Murder!" Cacnea pointed her arms at Charizard, barbs glowing…then abruptly spun around and fired approximately one hundred needles at James, each hitting and doing 1 point of damage, but cumulatively it was enough to drain the rest of his HP meter.

"I…don't…understand…" he wheezed, spitting out needles. "What…happened?"

"You forgot to say please," Meowth pointed out.

"Cur…ses…" James passed out.

Triumphant music played and Ash did a victory dance, finishing it with his trademark 'V for victory' pose. "Yeah, I won!"

A blue box appeared overhead, proclaiming various things:

ASH REGAINED LUCKY CAP!

ASH REGAINED MAIDEN'S HANDKERCHIEF!

ASH GOT 1570 POKEDOLLARS!

ASH GAINED 256 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

ASH GOT KAISER GLOVES!

Spiked gloves appeared on Ash's hands. "Awesome!" he said. "What are they?"

"Equipment items. Each character uses a specific kind of weapon, which has many forms of varying strength and ability. The Kaiser Gloves are stronger than the ones you were wearing, so you auto-equipped them," explained Mewgle. "Enemies sometimes drop them after being defeated."

Ash frowned. "But if James had these, why didn't he use him?"

Mewgle shrugged. "Because Thieves use Knives, not Gloves. I don't know why he had them though. Oh wait, I put them on him. Never mind."

"Hey, what about me?" complained Charizard.

A blue box appeared over his head that said:

CHARIZARD GAINED 256 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

CHARIZARD ROSE TO LEVEL 45!

CHARIZARD PERFECTED BLAST BURN!

"Yes, finally!" he cried.

JUST KIDDING!

"Dammit!"

"Charizard!" Ash and Latias repeated. "I'm going to find a bucket of soap and a fire hose for that mouth of yours," Latias said, forgetting about their situation for the moment.

The world darkened, and suddenly the clearing was as it was before the battle, except James was still lying on the ground in pain. "How come we can't transition into battles that easily?" asked Latias.

"Because it's no fun!" Mewgle defended.

"Chiiii?" Chimecho squeaked, worried for his master.

"Uhhnnnhh…"

"What do I do with James?" Jessie asked.

"In the field, you can't use magic, but you can use items! Look in your items menu!" Mewgle pointed happily.

"Okay." Jessie stepped on the ITEMS button and found a very meager list of items, most of which were potions and ethers. "What do these do?"

"Potions restore HP, Ethers restore MP."

"Got it." Jessie stepped on POTION. A colored spray bottle appeared in her hand. "This is a healing potion for Pokemon!" she protested.

"In this world, it works on humans too," said Mewgle. "Go ahead!"

"All right." Jessie bent down and sprayed the potion on James. It vanished, and a green glowing 5 appeared over his head, boosting his HP up 5 points from 0.

He groaned and got up. "Ow…my head hurts…"

"That's because you're almost one hit from KO," said Mewgle. "If you want a more proper healing, go to that save point over there." It pointed to a glowing circle on the ground that none of them had noticed before. "If you touch it, you'll be totally recovered."

"Why didn't you tell us before!" Meowth snapped.

"Because you need to know how to use items, of course!" Mewgle said happily.

James dragged himself over to the circle and touched it. It lit up and a blue box appeared over it saying, SAVING GAME DATA. A second later it vanished and James stood up, totally recovered. "Ah, that's better!"

"I'd better use it too," said Ash. He walked onto the save point, got the same box, and walked off with his HP and MP replenished.

"Now that we've gotten this practice session down, it's time to play for real!" said Mewgle happily, pumping its arm up and down.

"No offense, this seems cool and all," said Pikachu. "But we don't have time for this. We have only two more weeks to get to Ever Grande City before the Hoenn Championships start, and we're still two badges behind. Not to mention we have to resolve our problem with Grovyle."

Bayleef gasped. "That's right, I forgot all about him! I hope my Grovyle's all right." Everyone sweatdropped.

…

"Kill?" Grovyle called, still tied up and lying on the tree stump. He had passed into a sort of relaxing trance when that nice and strangely alluring Bayleef had started massaging him, but after several minutes of inaction he realized she was gone. "Kill? Kill kill kill?" He hoped she hadn't left him here. She had made him feel all strange and not-nasty inside. And she had smelled so nice, too…

His stomach growled, and the muscles in his back still needing a massage twinged in pain. Grovyle moaned. "KIIIIIIIIILLLLLL!"

…

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine! Come on, just play for a little while!" Mewgle begged.

Ash shook his head. "Sorry, but Pikachu's right, we've got a journey to continue."

"And we have to steal back my Grovyle!" said James.

"YOUR Grovyle!" said Ash angrily. "Do you want me to beat you _again_?" he asked, waving his spiked knuckles threateningly.

"Eeep! He's all yours," said James, frightened.

Jessie smacked him. "Hey, you're not giving up that easily are you? We had to fill out a lot of paperwork and pay big money to get that Grovyle on our team! We're not letting him get away from us!"

"And we're not gonna let you have him!" said Bayleef.

Both teams tensed up, ready to clash. "WAIT!" said Mewgle, getting their attention. "I've got a better idea! Instead of a battle, let's have a contest!"

"A contest?" Jessie's eyes turned into hearts. "Hah! And without that no-talent Replacement Girl Twerp and her witless Beautifly, we can finally show how talented and superior we are, isn't that right my little Dustox?"

"BLOOD!" yelled Dustox loudly.

Jessie sweatdropped. "Well, if you weren't now a brain-dead fighting machine, that is."

Mewgle frowned. "Not _that_ kind of contest! Maybe I should have been more clear. Let's have a _challenge._"

"What kind of challenge?" asked Corphish, who hadn't said anything in a while.

"A dungeon challenge!" Mewgle snapped its fingers and suddenly they were on a plateau with two structures. On one end was a small shack built around a large hole with several big glowing neon arrows pointing at it and giant signs saying EASY and FREE EXP surrounding it. On the other end was a HUGE black tower with gargoyles, flying buttresses, twisted spires and jaw-shaped gates looming above them, casting an evil shadow across them all. It was surrounded by a great twisting storm cloud which caused lightning bolts to strike the indestructible tower tops every now and then. Crobats, black Skarmory, and other nasty flying things circled the tower while other misshapen _things_ lurked and crawled along the walls. "Each team must enter a dungeon and defeat the Boss at its end. Whoever does so first gets to return to the real world before the others and claim this Grovyle!"

"What happens if we lose?" squeaked Meowth, frightened of the evil tower.

"Then you just stay here a little longer and play the game until you reach a point where you're automatically asked if you want to save, which should be after an important plot development. You'll have fun and it shouldn't take too long. However, you'll lose the Grovyle," explained Mewgle.

"I don't know. I don't think we should do this," quivered Latias anxiously.

Mewgle crossed its arms. "If you don't, then I won't let any of you leave."

"You can't do that!" protested Wobbuffet, his fear of the tower overwhelming his normal timidity. "…Can you?"

Mewgle pointed at Jessie and she was suddenly 'poof' transformed into an oversized Torchic. They all gasped. "What'd you do to her!" cried Phanphy, horrified.

"I turned her into a Torchicobo," stated Mewgle.

James shrugged. "Oh well, at least she can't hit me anymore." Jessie looked at him angrily and breathed a ten-foot tongue of flame at him, torching the poor thief and doing 15 damage. He coughed out a cloud of smoke. "Never mind, I liked her better when she couldn't breathe fire."

Mewgle snapped its fingers, and Jessie was back to normal, in all her bitchy glory. She immediately pounded James for no apparent reason, causing him to wonder if maybe she hadn't been better as a Torchicobo. "Now if I can do that, what makes you think I can't do worse if you don't play?" it said with a hint of menace.

They all gulped. "S-so what do we have to do exactly?" Bayleef requested.

"It's simple," Mewgle eagerly explained. "When you enter a dungeon, your ultimate goal is always to reach the end and defeat a big enemy called a 'boss'. But the boss is usually protected by tons of minor enemies, puzzles, and traps that you'll have to go through. On the plus side, you'll find lots of useful items and experience which you can use to get stronger and prepare yourselves for the boss."

"Sounds kind of like getting ready for a gym battle, but a little more complicated," commented Ash.

"Exactly! Sort of. So, let's assign dungeons. You losers," Mewgle pointed to Team Cipher. "Get to go in the Labyrinth of a Hundred Easy Peezy Challenges, where you'll have to go through lots of rooms, each of them with a fairly easy enemy and puzzle to beat on the way to the boss."

"That doesn't sound so bad," breathed Jessie in relief. Her teammates nodded in agreement.

"As for you lot," Mewgle commanded, addressing the heroes. "You'll have to climb to the top of the Necros Spire," The sound of thunder, a wolf howl, glass shattering, and a baby crying accompanied this. "Where you'll have to face hordes of undead fiends on your way to defeat the nefarious High Priest/Vizier/Chancellor, who will be trying to resurrect the evil Lord Necros." At the sound of the fiend's name, thunder sounded, a wolf howled, glass broke, and a baby wailed.

"Hey, why do they get the easy dungeon while we have to go to a place full of dead guys?" protested Bayleef.

"Because these guys suck so bad I actually feel sorry enough to give them a break," Mewgle again pointed to the Ciphers.

"Should we feel insulted or be thankful we don't have to go into the temple?" wondered James.

"I'd count our blessings and just shut up," advised Meowth.

"Besides, you guys are all seasoned warriors. I'm sure you can handle Necros Spire," said Mewgle. Thunder struck, a wolf howled, glass broke, and a baby cried.

"Well…we have gone through Pokemon Tower and the Unown Crystal Palace," Pikachu reflected reluctantly. "What's one more evil haunted tower?"

"Great!" cheered Mewgle. "Now before you go up I have a couple of extra things to tell you. First, I need to explain jobs. Half of you are Summons, which means that you stay out of the fight unless your partner calls you and then you kick ass until you get knocked out. Understand?" All the summons that weren't Shadow Pokemon nodded. "Good. Okay, Ash, you know your skill as a Fighter. You hit enemies hard and fast without much finesse. You're at level 37 with a max HP of 260 and 120 MP."

"I understand that," said Ash.

"Pikachu, as a Swordsman-er, mouse, you can perform special blade techniques which can strike enemies multiple times for heavy damage. Later you may learn how to charge up your electrical power and add it to an attack to make it even stronger," Mewgle instructed. "You're at level 47 with max HP of 390 and MP of 210."

Pikachu patted his sword with a grin. "I think I'm going to get to like this thing."

"Bayleef, you're an Elementalist, so you have control over the elements, like fire, water, earth, and air. You can use them to perform powerful techniques. You have a level of 39, with max HP of 305 and MP of 350."

"Um…cool, I think," she said uncertainly.

"Chimecho, as a Juggler your attacks are weak, but you can do more damage by throwing items or money from your inventory at your enemies. Eventually you'll be able to throw items of your own, but for now all you can do is toss items which might otherwise be useful to your team so you can inflict damage. Your level is 50 and you have a max HP of 400 and MP of 150."

"Chimecho!" chirped Chimecho happily.

"What good is he, then?" asked Jessie.

"Not much. But just look at his smile! He's so happy being a juggler! Isn't he adorable?" cooed Mewgle.

"Chiiiii!" responded Chimecho, his smile covering his face.

"Jessie, James, you're both level 17 thieves and as such can steal stuff from your enemies while inflicting a little damage too. Admittedly it's not much, but along with your normal attacks and Chimecho's throwing ability you should be okay. And you can call on your summons if you need help. You have a max HP of 125 and MP of 60 each."

"What about Meowth?" asked Meowth.

"You're a level 12 bard. You're almost virtually useless, have almost no attack or defense power, and your songs stink," said Mewgle. "You have a max HP of 90 and an MP of 50."

"Just like in real life," James joked. Meowth growled and attack him with a savage Fury Swipe, making scratch marks over his face. But apparently the attack was so weak that no HP was subtracted from James' health.

"Latias, as a level 31 White Mage with a max HP of 240 and MP of 300, you have the ever-important role of healer. If your companions are hurt critically or even K.O.ed, you can revive them with your magic. And while there aren't many White Magic offensive spells, the few you know will be extra effective in the Spire since undead enemies hate white magic. And if you don't have enough MP for an offense spell, you can always cast a Cure spell on them!"

"But won't that heal them?" Latias asked in confusion.

"Nope. The undead HATE being healed. It kills em', actually! Well, more so than they already are. It has to do with undeath being thought of as being a negative number, with the state of being dead being zero and the living state being a positive number while all white magic being numbers of an absolute value added to the respective state." Everyone looked at Mewgle stupidly. "Er, never mind."

"Oh…that's good!" Thus Latias, felt a little less insecure: if her game abilities were that effective, she doubted there would be much trouble.

"Also, there are three types of items: usable, special, and accessory, some of which I've already mentioned. Usable items can be used in battle or on the field to damage enemies or heal party members. Special items are usually only applicable to certain dungeon areas so that you can continue through them. Accessories are armor and weapons you'll find on your journey which will help increase or decrease your attack or defense, and sometimes adds additional effects. For instance, Ash's Lucky Cap will cause most attacks to miss him when he's very low on health, while Maiden's Handkerchief will bring him back from a KO with 1 HP, but it only works once a battle."

James scowled. "And that could have been mine!"

Ash smirked and put a hand on his cap. "Thanks Misty," he murmured to himself.

"I've given you all a bunch of recovery items to start with, but many of them are substandard so you'll have to find stronger ones on your own. Now, a little note for summons: most of them use elemental attacks, so you have to be careful using them. If you use Charizard's Fire attacks (or any Fire attacks for that matter) against a Fire-type enemy like a Ponyta or a Magmar, you'll actually _heal_ them. So be careful who you use. Remember this: Charizard is Fire, Corphish is Water, Phanphy is Fire/Electric/Ice (he uses all three at once), Cacnea and Seviper are Earth, Dustox is Wind, and Wobbuffet doesn't attack at all but helps shield the party. Don't use a summons or a spell that's of the same elemental type as the enemy you're fighting. Ever. But if you use an attack element that your enemy is weak against, like Fire against Earth or Earth against Electricity, the attacks do extra damage, just like in the real world." Mewgle took a breath, and continued. "Anyway, two more things to mention. One is the Defend command. If you have reason to believe your enemy is about to use a really powerful attack on the next turn, you can choose to Defend. You can't attack, but your defense will rise and you'll take less damage from the attack."

"I don't remember seeing that command in the menu," said Ash.

"Well it's there now. I just put it there a second ago. The last thing we need to talk about is Appeal. When you're low on MP, you can replenish it by draining it from an enemy with the proper item or spell, touching a save point, using an item, just plain old walking around, or Appealing the audience to receive MP from them."

Latias looked around. "What audience?"

"The audience right there," Mewgle directed, pointing at you, the people reading this.

They all yelped. "Where did they come from!" asked Pikachu.

"I could swear they weren't there a second ago!" said James.

"They were always there, you just didn't notice them." The screen showing them our world vanished. "They'll appear again if you make an Appeal. Anyway, you can appeal (beg) for MP from them if you're really desperate, but the amount they'll give you depends on their mood and by how much they like you. You can even use Appeal to get MP for another party member if you already have a full meter. So, that's about it." It smiled. "Now, each of you go to your respective dungeons and get going!"

"We're going to beat you so bad, twerp!" boasted Jessie.

Ash smirked. "Yeah, well we'll see about that! Come on guys, let's beat these jerks and get Grovyle back!"

The two teams hurried away to the different dungeons. When they were gone, an evil look crept onto Mewgle's face. "Fufufufu…the fools! Little do they know they've fallen right into my trap! The boss at the end of the Labyrinth of a Hundred Easy Peezy Challenges is the secret optional boss who's a thousand times more difficult than the final boss that tradition dictates virtually every RPG must have! As for Necros Spire, (thunder, howl, breaking, crying) the final boss will be a cheap bastard who just won't die! Neither team will win, and they'll have to play through the entire game! And even if by some chance one team does win, the other will be stuck here until the very end of the game, because in this game that's the ONLY time they're asked if they want to save automatically! They'll have to play with me throughout the entire duration! And I'll finally be able to show case my advanced story telling skills to someone! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Um, excuse me…" said Ash.

Mewgle yelped. "Wh-what are you doing here! Why aren't you in the temple!"

Ash shrugged. "The door's locked."

"The door's-" Mewgle blinked. "Oh. So it is. Well, to get the key you'll need to travel to the Bone Marshes on the other side of the planet and defeat the Skeleton King. Better get going!"

"Oh no!" roared Charizard angrily. "That's not fair! Team Cipher didn't have to get a key, they just needed to jump down that hole over there! They've got a lead on us already, we'll never win if we have to go looking for some key!"

"Yeah!" agreed everybody.

Mewgle scowled. "Oh _fine_!" It gestured, and a large green key with a skull shape on the end of it fell into Ash's hands. He lifted it above his head and it hovered there a few inches above him, radiating light as triumphant music played.

YOU GOT THE SKELETON KEY! Said a big blue box. WITH THIS KEY, THE DOORWAY TO DEATH LIES OPEN!

Ash blinked as the light and box vanished and the key disappeared. "What was that?"

"That's the game's way of telling you you've got an item. Get used to it, you'll be seeing it a lot," said the Mewgle. "Well, I've done all I can for you guys, so go have fun now!" As they started to turn away, he had a sudden thought. "Er, you guys didn't happen to hear me saying anything when you came over here, did you?"

"Do you mean your evil plot to keep one or both teams trapped in the game for you to play with? No, of course not," Bayleef snorted sarcastically.

"Oh, okay then!" bobbed Mewgle in relief. Everyone rolled their eyes and kept going for the tower.

"Shouldn't we be worried about what he said?" Latias pried.

"Nah, we can take him," said Charizard reassuringly, with his normal overblown ego.

"Do you think so? I mean, you all saw what he did to Jessie."

Ash folded his arms behind his head as they walked. "Well, if we can handle the elite and not-so-elite of three separate criminal organizations, a bunch of crazy elemental birds, a nutso Pokemon collector, some other-dimensional beings using a little girl's imagination to power their crystallization of the Earth, mind-controlled Pokemon, zombie Pokemon, a giant evil super-Pokemon, countless stupid giant robots, numerous angry wild Pokemon and jealous or hot-headed trainers, what's one semi-omnipotent bipolar mood-swinging AI Mew rip-off?"

"Don't forget the alien invaders we fought last week," pointed out Charizard.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about those…they really seemed interested in Latias and Bayleef, didn't they?" said Phanphy naively.

Bayleef grumbled and Latias flinched, recalling the extraterrestrial's rather invasive probes. Latias personally had thought their methods of 'learning more about other species' to be quite perverted. They had far too many probes for her sake.

They reached the locked door to Necros Spire. (Thunder, howl, breaking, crying.) Ash examined the lock, and a menu popped up displaying the Skeleton Key. He selected the key, and it appeared before them, inserting itself into the lock. The key turned, and the lock clicked and fell to the ground, where it vanished. The key went back into the items inventory where it belonged. "There, it's open."

As they were about to open the door, Latias suddenly asked a question that had been puzzling her since the demonstration fight. "Hey Ash, what was so important about that handkerchief that made you so angry when James started looking at it?"

Ash automatically clammed up and turned red, but Pikachu laughed. "Oh that thing? Well, it just happens to be-" Panicking, Ash quickly clamped his hand over Pikachu's mouth. This was of course the wrong thing to do, for the sword-bearing mouse responded with an electric zap, knocking Ash off and causing the number 9 to appear over his head. He also looked paralyzed. "Ahem. Like I was saying, that was Misty's gift to Ash when we all parted ways after the Silver Conference. She wrote this big romantic confessional message on it and everything, but Ash was so dense he never even thought of looking on the back, he just ended up sticking it in his new hat for good luck and didn't think there was anything particularly unique or romantic about that, despite obvious evidence to the contrary. Hehe! Imagine how frustrated Misty was when she met up with us later in Hoenn and he didn't act any differently towards her, or when she finally told Ash everything and she found out he hadn't even _looked_ at her handkerchief in ages! Then again, she did think it was very sweet for him to keep it so close."

"Awww, that _is _sweet! I didn't think you had it in you, Ash!" Bayleef smiled, touched.

He blushed, embarrassment recovering him from his paralyzed status. "Guys…"

Charizard laughed. "Wow Ash, I knew you two'd get together some day but I didn't think you'd be such a romantic about it!"

Phanphy happily burst into song. "Mommy and Daddy sitting in a tree, C-I-S-S-I-N-K! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes…um, then comes…uh, what comes next?"

"A new kid to draw their attention away from you," cracked Corphish. Phanphy gasped and trumpeted in horror.

Ash sweatdropped, even more embarrassed, partly due to Phanphy's poor spelling. "Guuyyyyys!"

The Pokemon laughed and continued to rib Ash good-naturedly as they opened the doors to the Necros Spire (thunder, howl, break, cry), releasing a huge flock of bat Pokemon and evil-looking dark mist, and entered the dark tower.

…

Okay, very weird yes, but hopefully very funny too. Please review!


	24. RPG MADNESS! pt 2: Dungeon Crawlers

HVK, Benny was Wobbuffet's old trainer before he got accidentally traded for Jessie's Likitung.

Lord Pudding, thank you for the compliment. I agree with you somewhat on the gender theory. Would you believe you're not the first person to make that mistake? Bard is a class from FFTA and FFV, I believe. And maybe FFII and IV. And my beta readers is better, thanks for asking.

Inukagfan159, Celebi took the Prison Balls back to Prof. Oak in chapter 10, remember? And no, I'm not continuing Lilo & Stitch. I kind of wrote myself into a corner, I think. I have no urge to continue what with this story to work on. Sorry.

Lord Karkon, to answer you and Pudding, I never thought to use Red or Black Mages. And none of the characters would fit those roles anyway. I like Trefoils too. (If you're talking about the Girl Scouts Cookie, that is.)

Thanks Dannichu, but insanity's not my thing. I prefer to write legible plots instead of insane randomness, no offense.

Scales and Arik, sorry but the answer is no. I'm done with Sonic and Scales stories. I will write them no more.

Disclaimer: I own the tower, the rip-offs, the bosses, and nothing else.

…

As the septet of heroes entered the Spire, the door slammed shut behind them. A twisted and spiked metal portcullis was soon to follow with a deafening clang. "We're trapped!" cried Bayleef.

A booming dark voice laughed, startling them all. Phanphy shivered and cowered behind Ash. This didn't quite work, given how he was now ten times the size of his father figure. "D-daddy, I'm scared!"

"Who's there?" Ash shouted defiantly into the darkness.

"Gwahahaha!" A figure materialized before them. The figure was a Gastly with its face pasted over a white sheet covering its body. "I am your welcoming committee, heroes. Welcome to Necros Spire!" (thunder, howl, breaking, crying.)

The ghoul couldn't have put them all less on edge. "Oh, it's just a Gastly in a sheet," said Latias in relief.

The ghost scowled. "What do you mean 'just' a Gastly in a sheet!" it demanded.

"Well, no offense, but a Gastly wearing a sheet isn't exactly the worst thing we've ever fought," said Charizard. "I mean, after almost getting my tail kicked by an illusory Entei, you aren't so bad."

The ghost's cartoonish features contorted in rage. "Oh yeah! Well just for that, I'm deactivating all the save points in this place, so if you screw up, you'll have to start all over again from outside! And you can't just run out and save whenever you want either, because the door's locked and it's not going to open again!" The world's color inverted for less than a second before going back to normal. "Done!"

Everyone glared holes into Charizard. He sagged. "Oops."

"Oh, and you'll have to fight fifty of my brothers and sisters before you can reach the next floor, so bad luck to you jerks!" The Gastly cackled and vanished.

They looked around. The entrance hall was a small, round room that was completely empty. At the other end from them was a stairway going up to the next floor. "I don't see any Gastly," blinked Pikachu.

"And where would they hide anyway? This room can't be big enough for all of them to fit comfortably," pointed out Bayleef.

"Yeah, he was probably just trying to mess with us. Come on, let's go!" declared Corphish.

The party shrugged and took a step forward. The world twisted out of control and suddenly they were in a larger version of the room, except there were four Gastly in sheets before them that weren't there before. Charizard lurched back and threw up. "By the feeling in my stomach, I'm guessing we're in a battle."

"Bwahaha, that's right!" sneered one of the ghosts. "You'll have to beat all of us to proceed!"

"I thought we were supposed to beat fifty of you. But there's only four," Ash counted.

"Heeheehee…that's what you think…" grinned the same ghost Gastly.

"Whatever, you guys only have 20 HP a piece," he said, looking at the numbers over their heads. "This shouldn't take long. Who wants to go first?"

"You should Ash," said Pikachu. "You're the leader after all."

"Okay, thanks. You can go next, then Bayleef, then Latias. That okay with you two?" Ash asked.

"Sure," nodded Bayleef.

"Yeah, okay," squeaked Latias. She was still a little nervous about fighting in this strange virtual world.

"Okay!" Ash called up his attack menu. "Since there's no save point in here and we only have a limited number of ethers, I'd better not waste MP." He selected his basic no-MP attack, Beat Rush. He immediately charged at a Gastly, fists flailing, and…passed right through it. "Huh?" he said in surprise.

"Haha! Foolish human! We ghosts are immune to physical attacks!" expo'd the Gastly.

"Oh yeah," Ash meekly responded, remembering all his other tangles with ghost Pokemon.

"In that case, I'd better use magic," said Pikachu, calling up his spell menu as he had seen Ash do before. "Good thing I learned how to read on the road."

"You did?" asked Charizard in surprise.

"Yeah, didn't you?" asked Pikachu.

"Er…of course I did," the dragon lied.

"Okay then. Let's see…like you said Ash, we should conserve MP, so I'll use this move!" Pikachu stomped on the BOLT spell, spending 2 MP. A lightning bolt struck the Gastly before him, depleting 30 HP and killing it.

"Nooooo!" the Gastly howled as it faded away.

"My turn now!" said Bayleef, calling up her magic menu. The weakest spell on her list was FIRE WHIP. "Fire Whip? Sounds like it's against my type, but it shouldn't hurt me right?" She stomped on it, spending 2 MP. A whip of fire extended from beneath her neck fronds, like her usual Vine Whip only all fiery. It lashed forward, striking another Gastly and doing 25 damage as it got burnt by the attack.

"Nooooo!" cried the Gastly as it faded away.

Charizard blinked. "You know how to read, too?"

"Yeah, Professor Oak taught us all one day because we kept eating from the wrong food bins because we couldn't read the labels," she said.

Charizard scowled. "No one ever taught me how to read," he muttered to himself.

"Okay Latias, take it from here!" said Ash.

"Uh, okay." She opened her spell menu. To her dismay, there were only one or two things that even sounded like attacks, and they all required an exorbitant amount of MP. "Guys, all my cheap spells are healing ones. I can't use them on the Gastly, can I?"

"I don't see why not, Mewgle said undead monsters hate healing magic," Corphish pointed out.

"Oh yeah. Okay then." Latias pulled her staff off her belt and tapped it on the proper command. "Cure!" A beam of sunlight shone down on the Gastly in front of her as she spent 2 MP. The ghost screamed and exploded horribly as its HP went to 0. "I did it!" she cried.

"Yeah, but now it's my turn!" said the last remaining Gastly. A blue box saying POSSESS appeared over its head. "Bwahahahaha! I'm going to possess one of you, slaying myself but KO'ing you instantly, meaning you'll have to waste one of your valuable health items reviving that character! It may only a fifty fifty chance of working, but I'm feeling lucky today, how about you?"

They gasped. "Oh no!" cried Phanphy.

"Gwahahaha! And I think I'll choose…YOU, human!" The Gastly shrieked and hurtled towards Ash. Frightened, he took a step back. But it didn't do any good. The Gastly slammed into his chest and vanished, leaving Ash twitching. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed to the floor, his HP instantly becoming 0.

"ASH!" they all cried.

They all thought he was done for, when suddenly a red-haired girl appeared out of nowhere, bent over Ash, and kissed him on the lips. His HP went up by 1, bringing him back to life. He blinked and looked up into the girl's eyes. She smiled and vanished, leaving him with a flushed face as he got back on his feet.

"Daddy, you're alive!" said Phanphy in relief.

"Yeah, I have the Maiden's Handkerchief equipped, remember?" he pointed out.

"Oh yeah…"

Triumphant music played, and their bodies moved out of their control, getting into victory poses. Ash did his standard victory pose, Pikachu waved his sword-tail happily, Bayleef reared back on her hind legs in joy, and Latias' body clasped her hands together nodding her bead a couple times in prayer. A series of blue boxes appeared above them.

PARTY GOT 1500 POKEDOLLARS!

PARTY GOT GASTLY SHEETX4!

ASH GAINED 100 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

PIKACHU GAINED 100 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

BAYLEEF GAINED 100 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

LATIAS GAINED 100 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

LATIAS ROSE TO LEVEL 32! Her MP, which was only marginally drained, refilled and grew by a couple of points, as did her HP. She frowned. "I'm only at level 32? That doesn't seem very high," she muttered. "At least, not compared to Charizard anyway."

The dragon grunted. "What are you complaining about? I'm on level 45, and I _still_ can't use Blast Burn!"

They transited back to the regular room. "Whoo, I'm feeling dizzy," Ash said, holding his head.

"That must be because you only have one HP left. Here," said Latias, applying a Hyper Potion to him. His HP instantly refilled completely.

He stretched, getting feeling back in his muscles. "Ahh, thanks Latias." He brushed himself off. "So, that was our first battle, huh? That wasn't so bad!"

"Other than getting possessed and K.O.ed," said Pikachu.

"Other than that, yeah. Guess they were bluffing about the fifty ghosts stuff after all. Come on!" Ash took a step forward and they were suddenly thrust into another violent battle transition.

"Gwahahaha!" cackled a brand new batch of four Gastlies. "Prepare to meet your doom!"

"Hey, no fair! We just beat you!" protested Bayleef.

"No, those were our friends who just looked exactly like us. All creatures of a specific monster species look exactly the same in this world," explained a Gastly.

"You've taken down four of our number, so you've got forty-six of us to go!" said another.

Latias sweatdropped. "Does this mean we're going to have to fight more of you guys every time we take a step forward?"

"Yes."

Corphish groaned. "We're never going to beat Team Cipher to the end at this rate!"

"Hey, we've never really lost to those guys before, so we're not going to start now!" Ash said, trying to raise their spirits. "Come on. Now that we know how to beat these guys, it shouldn't take us too long to take them down. Let's go!"

"You must admit though." Interrupted the same ghost. "This IS awfully-"

"Ghastly?" Pikachu sweat-dropped.

"Hahaha! Yes!"

"No matter where we go, you ghosts 'live' to say that line don't you?"

"You have no idea, heh heh! Have at thee!"

…

Speaking of Team Cipher, why don't we see how their first battle in the Labyrinth went, shall we?

"What _is_ that thing?" shrilled Jessie in disgust, pointing at the quivering green blob that they saw the instant they had entered battle mode. Wobbuffet rather thought it looked a little like himself, and felt somewhat insulted.

"I'm an EvlSlime!" the blob burbled, causing gross-smelling bubbles to form on its skin and pop.

"Don'cha mean Evil Slime?" asked Meowth.

"No, the game programmers had to shorten my name to make room for all the bigger, better monsters," whined the EvlSlime bitterly. A filthy tear rolled down its slimy body from nowhere. "'Snot fair. Just because I'm a low-level monster doesn't mean I shouldn't be treated like everyone else, should it?"

Wobbuffet immediately felt empathy for the slime, since he too was an underappreciated blob. He opened his mouth to say that he understood, but Jessie beat him to it. "Wah wah, boo hoo. You're in our way so you're going down. Get him James!"

"Right!" said James, activating his STEAL attack. He ran up to EvlSlime, frisked him, did 9 damage, and came back holding something. A blue box appeared over his head.

JAMES STOLE STINKY GOO!

"Huh?" James looked in his hands and saw he had stolen a mass of disgusting slime. He screamed and threw it on the ground.

"Haha, thanks losers!" EvlSlime trembled and suddenly split in two, creating a whole new EvlSlime.

The Ciphers gaped. "W-what!" cried Jessie.

"Ha! Bet you didn't know that doing physical damage to an EvlSlime only causes it to undergo mitosis! The only thing that can kill us for good is a magic attack!" said the slimes in stereo.

"Then you'll get a magic attack!" said Jessie, calling up her spell menu. The only offensive spell she had was Seviper, so she summoned him at once.

The summoning FMV began. An archaic circled formed around Jessie and the ground in front of her shook and buckled, cracks forming in its surface. Seviper exploded from beneath the earth, hissing loudly as he reared his head into the sky, raining boulders and chunks of earth down all around him. The FMV ended. "Now Seviper, use your Earth's Aura attack!" cried Jessie, selecting Seviper's main attack and spending 10 MP.

Seviper raised his tail into the air and smashed it into the ground, repeatedly, shaking the earth and causing an earthquake. The pair of EvlSlime trembled and split into four. Jessie gaped. "B-but I used a magic attack! How did you survive?"

"Magic attack? Lady, all you did was have your pet snake shake the ground a little! That ain't magic! Now, lightning bolts, fireballs, poison spray, ice bursts…_that's_ magic!" said the Slimes.

"That's not fair!" Snapped Jessie. "What do you mean Earth magic doesn't count as magic!"

"Life's snot fair is it? Heh heh!" Snickered the EvlSlimes.

"Then maybe I've got something for you!" said Meowth, pulling up his attack menu. "Let's see how you like my Lightning Limerick!" Meowth stomped on the command, spending 3 MP. He whipped out his lyre and started to play what he thought was an Irish Jig, which to everyone else sounded horrible. He sang along to the tune, hurting everyone's ears as he yowled like the alley cat he used to be. When he finally, mercifully finished, lightning bolts rained down from the heavens…right on their heads, inflicting 20 damage to the entire team.

"Meowth!" Jessie yelled angrily.

Meowth laughed nervously. "Eh heh…guess the powers that be don't like my singing."

"Ha ha!" laughed the EvlSlime.

It was Chimecho's turn now. After that, the Slimes would attack. "Chimecho, you're our only hope!" cried James.

"We're doomed," intoned Jessie and Meowth.

"Quiet! Now Chimecho, listen to me very, very, VERY carefully, okay?"

"Chi?" Chimecho listened attentively to his trainer.

"Now, I want you to do EXACTLY what I say: select magic, then Dustox, then Poison Powder. That should count as a magic attack and be strong enough to wipe out all those slimes at once. Do you understand? Magic…Dustox…Poison Powder. Magic, Dustox, Poison Powder. Magic, Dustox, Poison Powder. Got it?"

"Chi!" Chimecho nodded happily.

"Good! Now go to it, Chimecho!"

"Chiiiii!" Chimecho selected Attack, then Throw.

"Wait, no, what are you doing!" James cried.

"James, Chimecho's illiterate remember?" said Jessie.

"…Oh damn it all."

Chimecho happily selected the first thing he saw on the items menu to throw at the Slimes. "Nooooooo, not my bottlecap collection!" James cried.

"What's he doing with it anyway?" asked Jessie.

"I lent it to him for safekeeping since you and Meowth kept painting them to look like coins and selling them for food," he explained.

"Well that was a dumb idea," muttered Meowth.

"Chiiiii!" Chimecho flung what had to be several hundred bottlecaps at the EvlSlimes. Each cap hit for .5 damage, adding up to a couple of hundred points total. Unfortunately, since it was a physical attack, it had the unfortunate result of causing each EvlSlime to undergo mitosis numerous times to the point where there were now approximately a thousand blobs facing the so-called super villains.

"Oh, this is gonna be SO much fun…" boomed the Slimes in a glitchy voice. There were so many of them their images were actually clipping and skipping animation frames as the computer struggled to render them all.

"James, what'll happen if they kill us?" asked Jessie as the blobs rushed towards them.

"Then we should reappear at the save point outside and be forced to start all over again."

Jessie sighed. "Then we'll just have to be better prepared next time."

"Yep."

Just as the Slimes engulfed the group in goo, knocking the poor saps all out, they pathetically cried, "Looks like we're blasting off agaaaiiiin!"

…

The heroes had finally gotten past the army of Gastlies and climbed up a few floors of the tower, battling numerous undead monsters and collecting useful items as they went. Confidence was high, and even the somewhat insecure Latias felt that they could take whatever this Spire could throw at them. Or so they thought…

As they reached the top of another flight of stairs and entered a room identical to the last several they had been in. Unlike those, however, this time a ghostly image flickered in the air before them. It solidified, resolving itself into the appearance of a young woman. She was scarred and bruised heavily and clad in a tattered white gown. Her long red hair blew in a nonexistent wind, and her blue eyes were full of sorrow. "Ash…" she moaned.

"Mommy!" gasped Phanphy.

"Pikachupi!" cried Pikachu.

Ash frowned, looking uncertain. The woman continued. "Ash, my love…it's too late for me, I will be sacrificed to Lord Necros (thunder, howl, breaking, crying) within the hour. But you still have a chance to escape…the High Priest/Vizier/Chancellor is too powerful for you to defeat, if you challenge him he will kill you all and sacrifice you as well. You must get out…get out now, while you still can!" The image flickered like a bad TV reception and vanished.

"Ash, that looked like Misty! We've gotta save her!" cried Pikachu.

Ash snorted. "That wasn't Misty."

They looked at him. "What are you talking about Daddy, that looked just like Mommy!" protested Phanphy.

Ash shook his head. "I've traveled with her through Kanto, Johto, and the Orange Islands, and I've been her boyfriend for a couple of months now and her best human friend for even longer. I've talked to her so many times over the phone I've memorized every tone of her voice and every inch of her face. I think I'd recognize Misty, and that wasn't Misty." He started counting off the reasons why on his fingers. "One, her hair was too long and several shades the wrong color. Two, her eyes were the wrong shade of blue, Misty's are a little duller than that. Three, the real Misty would never have let herself get so many scars and bruises without a fight, she'd have ended up with broken bones by the time they made her stop struggling. Four, her nose was the wrong shape and a little too small. Five, her skin tone was all wrong. Six, her teeth were just a little too white and shiny. And seven-" He paused and coughed. "Er, her chest was too big."

They all thought about it for a moment. Corphish had never seen Misty, and Latias only had a vague recollection of the girl from her time with Ash in Alto Mare, but they bowed to the rest of the group's experience with her. "Yeaaaahhhh…" said Charizard. "Now that you mention it, those things on her chest _were_ a little too big."

"I think they're called 'boobs," said Bayleef.

"That's 'breasts'," Latias flushed.

Ash smirked. "And besides, my Misty's the prettiest girl in the world, that girl we just saw couldn't cut it!"

"Well, I suppose it's a matter of perspective, I doubt Brock or plenty of other people would agree with you, but since you're her boyfriend it makes sense you'd say that. Heh, good thing you're too dense to be affected by male hormones, right Ash?" Pikachu joked.

"Huh!" Ash's mom had painfully delayed 'the talk' with her son. Unfortunately, Brock had taken it upon himself to educate the boy, leaving Ash even more confused about the workings of puberty and the way bodies reacted to attraction then ever.

"That was a compliment."

"Oh." Ash paused, trying to work that out. "Okay then. So, let's move on I guess."

"Why? You said that wasn't Mommy," said Phanphy.

"No, but she's still someone in trouble, and as heroes we've gotta save her!" pointed out Ash.

"Good point," agreed Charizard. "Even if she's a digital dame, it still sounds like she's in trouble. Let's go rescue her." They all agreed, and headed up the stairs to the next floor.

…

Elsewhere, everywhere, and nowhere…

"Darn!" cursed Mewgle. "My brilliant plan to trick the human into staying in the game longer by creating a sexier version of his real-world girlfriend to replace his true love backfired! Curse his lunkheadedness and immunity to teenage hormones!" The Mew rip-off floated around, trying to think. Then it snapped its fingers. "I've got it! I'll just make the incredibly cheap boss even more cheap to the point where they'll be screaming their heads off about how unfair it is to fight him! Hehehehe!" It swished its tail, making it so. "In the meantime, let's see if those morons on Team Cipher will be more receptive than those heroes to a little psychological warfare…"

…

Team Cipher had managed to fight their way past several enemies and chambers, collecting items and experience along the way (and amazingly making up for their abysmal fight against the EvlSlime) until they found themselves thrust into a battle with a group of four amorphous shadowy blobs before they could reach a treasure chest which James claimed had to contain an important item because it was gilded and stuff. "What are those things?" moaned Jessie, wondering what spawn of a warped game designer's imagination they had to fight next.

"We're Nightmares!" said one of the blobs. "We can take the form of the worst fear of whatever opponent we face!"

Meowth raised an eyebrow. "Well I ain't afraid of any shadowy blob things."

"No, but you'll be afraid of this!" said the blob facing him as it transformed into his worst fear.

Meowth screamed. "Aaaahhhh! It's horrible!"

James was confused. "But it's you with a crown and cape. What's scary about that?" he asked, pointing to the mirror image of Meowth in royal garb.

Meowth cringed and hid behind James. "It's not my reflection that scares me, it's what's next to it!"

A pretty Persian walked up to the royal Meowth. "Hey Meowsie, look at me! I finally hit it big!" said the Meowth duplicate.

The Persian snorted. "So? You're still just a freak who can talk human. Big deal." She walked away.

Both the real and fake Meowth burst into tears. "NOOOOOOO!"

"Oh, stop whining, James' worst nightmare is much more terrifying than that," said Jessie, pointing to the blob that had transformed into a red-haired woman in Southern dress who oddly enough looked exactly like her, except with a whip.

"Jamesie dearest, I've caught up with you at last!" cried the woman.

James screamed shrilly. "Aiiiieeee! It's Jessiebelle! Save me!" He leaped behind Jessie, his scream sounding like a little girl's.

"CHIIIIIIII!" Chimecho squealed and hid behind Jessie as well, wrapping himself around James' head and bursting into hysterical tears.

"What're you so scared of?" She looked at Chimecho's Nightmare and sweatdropped. "You have got to be kidding me." It was a giant chocolate pie.

Chimecho whimpered, and James stroked the Wind Chime's head reassuringly. "There, there, don't worry, I won't let it get you." To Jessie he said, "Chimecho's mother died choking on a piece of chocolate pie. He's been terrified of it ever since."

"Hmmph." Jessie glared at her own Nightmare, a small, shriveled old woman, heavy with the weight of age. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm you," growled the woman.

Jessie blinked. "Me?"

"Yes, you in fifty years. I never got rich, my beauty faded, I wasted my life away trying to capture that Pikachu and its successors after it died of old age. My teammates and Pokemon left me, I lost my job, and I ended up living out the rest of my life miserable and alone in the gutter, right where it started in the first place."

Jessie's face went pale. "I-I…" she whispered.

"Look into my face, girl: I am the reflection of your future. I am what you will become. It is your fate," said the Nightmare. Jessie trembled, on the verge of collapse.

"Jessie, don't listen to her!" James cried. She gave no answer, just bit her lip. James growled and looked to Meowth. "Summon Wobbuffet!" They had switched their turns around in the last couple of rooms because they were fighting crystalline enemies that were impervious to magic or regular attacks, but were all too vulnerable to Meowth's horrible singing voice, and they hadn't bothered switching him back before coming into this room.

"Eh!" Meowth broke out of his crying long enough to opened his magic menu. "Wobbuffet, help me!"

Wobbuffet vanished from the sidelines as the FMV started. An archaic circled formed around Meowth. A hole appeared in the ground. Wobbuffet popped out of it and waved his hands in the air. He would have looked cute if it weren't for the seemingly permanent expression of unhappiness on his face. The heartbroken Meowth Nightmare transformed into a rather ordinary-looking kid with a rather disappointed and angered look on his face. "Benny!" Wobbuffet started.

"You're a failure Wobbuffet! I'm glad I got ride of you when I had the chance! You go up against the same opponent day in and day out and despite everything I taught you-still-always lose! You're a waste of space and a failure!" Hearing this kind of talk from Jessie came with the territory, but hearing these words from his original trainer was too much and the blue blob quivered like Jell-O during an earthquake.

"Wobbuffet, use Counter to shield us from the Nightmares!" commanded Meowth, with the Nightmare no longer tormenting him he was back to his sub-par wits.

"Er? Y-Yes Meowth." Wobbuffet waved his arms and red glowing energy shields formed around all of them. The feeling of terror all of them had felt at meeting their worst fears dissipated a little.

"Okay, my turn now!" James mustered his courage and opened his magic menu. "I summon Jumbo Cacnea!" Skipping the FMV sequence, Cacnea appeared before him.

The Jessiebelle Nightmare tried to transform into Cacnea's worst fear and failed. "Wh-what's going on? She doesn't seem to have any fears!"

James laughed. "That's because she's a Shadow Pokemon! Shadow Pokemon can't feel anything but anger!" He pointed at the Nightmares who were tormenting them all. "Cacnea, crush them with your 100 Needles attack, please!"

Cacnea glared at him, but obeyed, firing one hundred needles at the Nightmares, doing one hundred points of damage cumulative, enough to KO them all. However, just before the attack made contact, the Nightmare Jessiebelle snapped her fingers. "Wait! I found something!" The Ciphers all gasped when the Nightmare morphed into a perfect clone of Celebi. "Bi!" A green laser beam shot out from the fay Pokemon hitting Cacnea dead center knocking her on her rounded back just as the Hundred Needles made contact with the Nightmares. The Celebi actually seemed cheerful as it vanished.

"I am your future…" croaked the old woman as she died. "You cannot escape it!"

"Don't you dare forget, you're still a failure!" Benny snapped as he faded away, and the chocolate pie just looked delicious and vanished. Triumphant music played and most of the Ciphers did a lame victory dance, but Jessie was still shell-shocked.

"Come on Jessie, snap out of it, we won!" James cried.

"I-I can't…she was right…that is how I'm going to turn out, ugly and poor and alone…" whimpered Jessie.

"No you're not!" protested James. "That's never going to happen to you, because you plan to kill yourself when you hit 35, remember?"

Jessie blinked and cheered up instantly. "That's right, I do! That way I can keep myself from ever growing old and ugly! And I'll arrange for my body to be dipped in wax and put up in a museum forever so people in future generations can marvel at the gorgeousness that is me!" Everyone gagged at the thought, but said nothing. Blue boxes appeared over their heads.

TEAM CIPHER GOT 2000 POKEDOLLARS!

PARTY GOT NIGHTMARE MIRRORX4!

JAMES GAINED 576 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

JESSIE GAINED 576 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

MEOWTH GAINED 576 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

MEOWTH ROSE TO LEVEL 16!

MEOWTH LEARNED BERSERK BALLAD!

Meowth blinked. "Hey, I just figured out how to play a song that drives everyone crazy!"

"How is that different from any of your other songs?" asked Jessie.

"Hey!"

WOBBUFFET GAINED 576 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

CACNEA GAINED 576 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

Cacnea didn't even bother to say "Murder," she just huddled behind James, looking confused.

CHIMECHO GAINED 576 EXPERIENCE POINTS! They transited back into the now-empty room.

"What do you suppose that bit with Celebi was about?" James asked in concern for the Pokemon who had wanted him dead for so long now.

"Who cares!" Jessie snapped. "It's your Shadow Pokemon, you figure it out!"

James looked back at his summon, who gave him a dazed look rather than a murderous one. "Hmmm?" James didn't know what to think about that. After a moment, Cacnea's dazed look was replaced with her familiar bloodlust. James didn't know whether to be relieved or worried even more.

"Well, that was a thoroughly unpleasant experience," said Meowth, changing the subject.

"Yes, hopefully we'll never have to do anything like that ever again," agreed James. Little did they know that Mewgle had filled the next six rooms with even more Nightmares, each one programmed to dive deeper into their fragile psyches. When Jessie was screaming 'mother' a short time later, it wasn't figurative. However Mewgle made a point to cut off the whole 'mental probe' into the remaining shadow Pokemon's souls, after all that wasn't what it was meant for, heh.

…

The chamber was large and bisected by a huge black river flowing across it. There was no explanation for why there was a river on the 69th floor of a tower, it was just there. There were two noticeable ways to cross the river: one was a rickety boat with a skeletal ferryman in it, the other a rickety bridge guarded by a humongous zombie with an axe. "So how do we cross this thing?" asked Ash.

There was a sign at the edge of the river. They walked over and read it. "'This is the River Styx,'" Latias read out loud. "'You may cross by water, by bridge, or not at all. The choice is yours.'"

"Well, I don't think we'll all fit in that rickety little boat, so let's try the bridge instead," suggested Charizard. The heroes agreed and headed over to the bridge and the zombie guarding it.

As they approached, the undead axeman held his weapon horizontally before him, blocking them. "NONE SHALL PASS," he said. "WITHOUT ANSWERING ONE OF MY RIDDLES THREE."

Ash looked worried. "You mean we have to solve a riddle to get across?"

"CORRECT."

"Oh…I'm not good at riddles."

"TOO BAD. RIDDLE THE FIRST: IF A TREE FALLS IN THE FOREST AND NO ONE IS AROUND, WHAT COLOR IS IT?

"Brown, of course," said Bayleef.

"WRONG."

She frowned. "What do you mean, wrong? I'm a Grass Pokemon. I think I'd know the answer to a question like that."

"NO. I NEVER SAID WHAT _KIND_ OF TREE IT WAS. NOT ALL TREES ARE BROWN. SOME ARE YELLOW. SOME ARE RED. SOME ARE WHITE OR BLACK. HOW COULD YOU KNOW WHAT COLOR THE TREE WAS IF YOU DID NOT KNOW ITS KIND?"

"Er…" Bayleef was at a loss to answer.

"EXACTLY. THE APPROPRIATE ANSWER WOULD HAVE BEEN ALL COLORS, BECAUSE IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANY TREE IN THE WORLD. YOU FAIL THIS QUESTION. YOU HAVE TWO MORE CHANCES," said the loud zombie.

"Okay, give it to us!" said Ash.

"VERY WELL. WHAT IS THE WIND SPEED OF A SWELLOW?"

The heroes conferred a moment. "How the heck are we supposed to know that?" asked Latias.

"Hey, you have a Swellow don't you Ash? What's its wind speed?" asked Charizard.

Ash frowned. "How should I know? I never paid attention to that sort of thing."

Phanphy jumped up and down. "Wait! I saw this on TV once! I know the answer!" Turning to the zombie, he asked, "Is it a Hoennese Swellow or an Orrean Swellow?"

"HOENNESE."

Phanphy frowned. "No, you were supposed to say you didn't know, then fall off a cliff."

"YOU WATCH TOO MUCH TV. CAN NO ONE ANSWER THE QUESTION?"

The others looked stumped. Then a burst of inspiration lit up on Ash's face. "Wait a minute-if my hat and handkerchief were duplicated then maybe…" He rummaged through his pockets and triumphantly pulled out a small red device. "Yes! My Pokedex came here too!" He flipped it open and scanned through several entries. After a minute, he looked up. "30 miles per hour!"

"THAT IS CORRECT."

"Yeah!"

"BUT I CANNOT ACCEPT IT."

"Huh?" Ash blinked. "Why not?"

"YOU CHEATED. YOU LOOKED IN AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR THE ANSWER."

"Hey, but you never said I couldn't!" Ash protested.

"TOO BAD, I'M THE RIDDLEMASTER HERE, SO WHAT I SAY GOES. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, THEN GET OUT OF HERE. HERE'S YOUR LAST CHANCE, FOOLS: WHERE IS THE WEST POLE?"

They looked at the zombie in confusion. "_West_ Pole?" said Charizard. "I've heard of a North and a South Pole, but a _West_ Pole?"

"It's a trick question," said Latias. "The planet rotates on one axis, the points of which are the north and south poles. For there to be a west pole, that would mean there had to be a second axis, so there isn't. That means there can't be a west pole."

"WRONG," said the zombie.

"What?" said Latias. "That's impossible. Everything I've been taught says it's scientifically impossible for there to be a west pole."

"WHOEVER TAUGHT YOU IS WRONG."

"I somehow think a learned scholar and a super-Pokemon who's traveled the entire world would know more about the nonexistence of a west pole than a zombie who spends all his time guarding a bridge. If it exists, then where is it?"

"I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT."

"You told us the answer to the tree riddle," she pointed out.

"I FELT LIKE IT. I NEVER SAID I HAD TO TELL YOU THE ANSWERS TO ALL OF THEM."

"You don't even know where it is, do you?" said Bayleef angrily. "Because it doesn't exist!"

"ER…" The guard started looking nervous.

"All this riddle stuff is making my head ache. Let's just beat him up and cross the bridge!" said Charizard.

"I second that notion!" said Corphish, snapping his claws.

"UH OH. UH…" The zombie turned around and, before they could stop him, slashed through the bridge supports with his axe. The aging structure creaked and collapsed, falling into the Styx with a great splash, sending dark water everywhere and causing angry little water monsters to stick their tentacles out and wave them furiously at the zombie. The heroes gaped in disbelief. "HA HA! NOW NOBODY CROSSES! SO LONG, SUCKERS!" He jumped into the water and swam for the other side, only to be attacked by the angry water monsters and get dragged down to the bottom of the river.

They all stared at the spot where he had vanished. "…Well, that was pointless," said Pikachu finally. "Guess we'll have to take the boat then."

Unfortunately, that was not going to be as easy as they had hoped.

"What do you mean, I have to pay you 10000 Pokedollars for each of us!" said Ash angrily.

The boatman shrugged while chewing on a sandwich. "What, you think this job pays a lot? I gotta find SOME way of turning a profit. So I overcharge passengers. For 10000 Pokedollars, I'll take one of you across. For 70000, I'll take you all, one at a time."

"But that's highway robbery!" Ash protested.

"Hey, you need to get across don't you? And the other guy chopped the bridge down, so it's either my way or…well actually, no way at all. Heh heh."

"I don't even _have_ 70000 Pokedollars…" said Ash.

"Well, for 40000 I can take you and your regular party across. You can call your summons in the next battle you have, and they'll be transported here from the riverbank right to you," suggested the ferryman.

"But I don't have that much either! Most of my money got stolen by a Bandit who ran off before we could defeat him," Ash protested.

The ferryman shrugged. "Guess you'll have to go and fight lots of random enemies to build up your cash then."

Ash sighed, his shoulders sagging in despair. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Wait a minute, this is stupid!" said Corphish. "Why don't we just swim across?"

"Because the same thing that happened to that zombie'll happen to us," pointed out Latias.

"Yeah, but he's just a zombie. I'm an armored leviathan. Those monsters can't touch me. And Latias and Charizard can fly. Why don't we just swim or fly across on each other's backs?" the lobster suggested.

They all stared at him, shocked that they hadn't considered this themselves.

A couple of minutes later…

"Ow! What the!" Corphish exclaimed as he hit the invisible wall that seemed to run along the entire length of the river Styx. "What is this!"

"For high level players you don't know much do you?" Said the ferryman on his boat on the river staring right at them. "It's an event barrier. It's made to prevent players from cheating or getting around guardsmen or bodies of water that divide the living and spirit worlds."

Charizard growled. "I say I just char broil the jerk and _take_ his boat."

"As much as I'd love to see you try, I'm a NON-COMBAT NPC, which means aside from events, I…can…not…die!" Ash realized they just _might_ have to go fight random monsters and build up their cash reverses after all. "And while I think I might be breaking the rules by telling you this, but if you had started fighting monsters along the same time you started trying to _cheat_ your way across then by now you'd be-"

"We're not cheaters!" Ash snarled.

"Well that's what you are and cheaters never prosper. And I might get deleted for telling you this too, _but_ if you _had_ gotten across without paying, Mewgle would have used it as an excuse to keep you here. The guy's a total control freak! He wouldn't even let me change the color of my cloak from pitch black to ebony black! So I'll tell you what, my wife is being held by a troll near the mouth of the river a short ways up. Being the ferryman of the dead I can't leave my boat, but you guys _can_ save her. If you do that I'll let you all pass for free." The characters all looked at each other. It wasn't like they had any other options.

A minute or two later at the feeding grate or 'mouth' of the river Styx…

"Undead Troll cave. Do not enter, this mean you." Ash read off the sign. The giant dirt covered hole in the wall stank of things Ash didn't even WANT to guess at, with the Pokemon having a more sensitive sense of smell, it was agony.

"Let's get this over with before I faint." Complained Bayleef.

One Mini-Boss Battle Later-

"Thank you for returning my wife," said the ferryman, holding an animated skeleton whose only female traits were her long hair and black dress. "You may all pass for free now."

"I never want to go through anything like that again," stated Bayleef, glad this was all VR or she'd never get the Troll blood stains off of her perfect skin. "And this whole thing just ate up time!"

"Side quests are like that, hurry up across or you can enjoy a million of them after you lose. Oh and keep a look out for the giant zombie dinosaur on the other side of the river."

"Giant zombie _what_?" Ash exclaimed.

"You'll see." And they did indeed see, but we don't need to get into that do we?

…

James rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he examined the large switch on the floor. "Hmmm…" He placed a foot on the switch and pushed down. The room's exit opened. He pulled his foot off the switch. It depressed and the door closed. "Hmmm…" he said again.

"Well?" asked Jessie.

James stood up. "Well, after a complex and detailed analysis I've concluded that this is a switch puzzle. We have to find a way to keep this switch pressed down so the door will stay open."

"How are we gonna do that?" asked Meowth.

"Maybe we could use that block," said Wobbuffet, pointing to a large stone block nearby. Everyone ignored him.

"None of our items are heavy enough to keep the switch down, and they're too valuable anyway. The only way I can think of to keep it pressed is for one of us to stay behind," said James.

"Okay. You do it," said Jessie.

James sputtered. "Wha-me! But you need me! I'm the only one with any RPG experience, what if you come up against another puzzle and can't figure out how to solve it? Why don't you do it, Jessie?"

"Me! I'm the one who does all the heavy damage, you can't leave me behind!" said Jessie angrily. "Leave Meowth, he's useless anyway!"

"I am not!" said Meowth angrily. "I'm the only one who can defeat those crystal thingies we keep running into! And my special Team Motto attack boosts all of our attack power for five turns, that's too valuable to not keep around!"

"Good point. Chimecho, then," suggested Jessie.

James hugged Chimecho to keep him from Jessie. "You can't use Chimecho! He's too light!"

Jessie frowned. "That's true. Okay then. Wobbuffet!"

Wobbuffet came over. "Yes, Miss Jessie?"

"Stand on this switch and don't move until we all go through that door," she commanded.

"Yes Miss Jessie." Wobbuffet hopped on the switch, causing the door to go up.

"Great job!" said Jessie. "Let's go." She headed for the door, followed by Seviper.

James frowned. "I don't know Jessie, it seems a little cruel to leave him here."

She waved him off. "Oh relax guys, he's a summon. Just summon him next time we fight, and he'll be transported right to us. Easy as that."

"Oh, okay then," said James, reassured.

But now Meowth was starting to feel the unfamiliar pang of guilt too. "I don't know…couldn't we have just used that big stone block over there to weigh the switch down?"

Jessie scoffed. "Don't be silly Meowth, it's a huge stone block. How could we possible move it?"

Wobbuffet's heart sank as his teammates left him behind to stand on the switch. He recalled what he had said earlier to Ash, and to Latias even before that. The image of his Nightmare, Benny, disappointed and angry, flashed before him. He sighed. "Is there really a point in being a team player if none of the rest of the team even cares about you?"

…

The heroes had valiantly struggled their way up Necros Spire, (Thunder, howl, breaking, crying) staving off legions of undead horrors and growing stronger together as a team and all that stuff. They had finally, _finally_ made it to the top floor of the dark temple. Before them stood a huge set of doorways with macabre and grisly figures carved into them, and a set of treasure chests waiting invitingly on the floor. "We made it, guys!" said Ash.

"Yeah, and it looks like we got some goodies too!" said Pikachu, scampering over to a chest.

Each chest opened to reveal useful Equip items for each of them. . Well, each one of them that wasn't a summon that was, Charizard, Phanphy, and Corphish were sadly left out of the joy of receiving gifts. "Stupid game. Why couldn't we have been regular characters like the others instead of summons?" Corphish grumbled.

"This stuff should come in handy, especially if the guy we're facing next, like everything else in this tower, is undead," said Ash, finishing equipping the items from his chest. He was now wearing a white HolyMail over his chest, which cut down all undead-type damage inflicted on him by half, golden God's Fist gloves, which did triple damage against undead foes, Nike sneakers to make him faster, and a pair of Revive Bracelets, each of which would resurrect him with half his HP if he died in battle, but each only worked once per fight, like his Handkerchief.

Pikachu had found the mythical Master Sword, blade of evil's bane, which he tied to his tail. He also found a Mythril Helmet, a HolyMail, a Warrior's Bangle (which increased defense), and a holy Aegis Shield. All of them increased his attack and defense power against undead monsters. "Do you think female Pikachu would be attracted to me in this?" he asked innocently.

Bayleef had found a Shimmering Veil made of spun gold, a Miracle Seed, a Flower Pendant, and a crystalline blue Mythril Rapier, which (you guessed it) were all strong against undead opponents. She didn't understand why Elementalists used Rapiers, but all of the weapons she had found up to this point had been rapiers so she went along with it.

Latias had gotten a white and gold Light Robe which felt like silk against her skin, a pretty white Angel Ring on her claw, a staff with a glowing golden flower blossom at the top called a Nirvana Staff, and quite a few Ho-Oh Downs and Potions, which after some thought she distributed among the group. "I shouldn't be the only one with healing items," she reasoned. "If I get knocked out, someone will have to take my place."

"I want to wear shiny stuff," Phanphy complained.

"Me too Phanphy. Me too," Charizard admitted reluctantly.

"Okay, are we all ready?" asked Ash after they had finished equipping themselves and consumed a few items to recover their health. His friends and teammates nodded. "Okay, let's finish this!" He pushed open the great doors and they entered the next room.

The ceiling was hundreds of feet over their heads, supported by fluted columns, arches, and flying buttresses, and decorated with stained glass windows depicting acts of unspeakable violence and atrocity. There were numerous black candles on stands littered about the room, but all of them were unlit. At the back of the chamber was a tremendous statue of a regal Grim Reaper, with a crown made of fingerbones and two wings as black as night growing from his back. At the statue's feet was an altar on which lay the unconscious Girl-who-was-not-Misty that they had seen before. Standing above her was a hooded figure that could only be the High Priest/Vizier/Chancellor. "So…you've come at last." The figure spoke in amusement. The doors slammed shut abruptly. The figure whirled around and threw off his robe, revealing himself as what looked at first glance to be a human, but a closer look revealed he was anything but. He was clad in a black jumpsuit with a pair of white boots with gold heels and ankles, which sprouted wings. He wore a white silk coat with gold trim and buttons that reached the ground. A sword was held in a gilded scabbard on his belt. His hands were covered in elegant white gloves with holes at the end for surprisingly bird-like claws. His face was hawkish, with a nose like a beak and blue predatory eyes. He had long blond hair that had a pair of small wings sprouting from the top. Oh, and he had a pair of big flaming wings growing from his back, did I forget to mention those? "Fools! You've walked right into my trap!"

"What trap?" asked Latias.

The High Priest/Vizier/Chancellor threw back his head and laughed. "You took the bait I left for you outside! The weapons and armor and equipment, all of which will do no good against me!"

"What do you mean? Aren't you undead like everything else in this place?" asked Pikachu.

"Of course not! Do I look undead to you?" asked the man.

"Well…no, not really."

"That's because I am in fact both alive, and a holy creature. What's more, I'm the Pope of the Holy Church of the Phoenix," said the winged man proudly.

"What's a Pope?" asked Ash, who had never really experienced much of a church or anything much like organized religion in his journeys save of course for Celebi, Lugia, and Ho-Oh's respective shrines. And his own religion focused mostly on Mew, but he had been too interested in Pokemon in general to hear what his mom tried to tell him about that.

"It's a very important man, like a priest but more powerful," said the man. "As Pope I have power over all the people on the continent, but I wanted more so I joined the followers of Lord Necros, (Thunder, howl, breaking, crying) God of Death. I am both holy and filthy now, and by giving you nothing but holy weapons and armor I ensured your attacks would do minimal damage to me. Most of it will go towards healing me, in fact!" He laughed. "Admittedly, this means my own holy attacks will probably heal you, but I have more than just that type of attack and I know how to use it to my advantage anyway."

"That doesn't seem fair," Ash complained. "The final boss of a temple filled with undead monsters shouldn't be a holy monster! That's totally unfair! It'd be like, say, the Gym Leader of a Gym dedicated to Water Pokemon using Ground-types to defeat Electric-type challengers!"

The Pope/High Priest/Chancellor/Vizier shrugged. "Yeah, but life's not fair either. What are you going to do about it anyway? Thanks to my trap, you're all at a disadvantage against me, and now I will sacrifice Princess Kasumi to Lord Necros (Thunder, howl, breaking, crying) and achieve ultimate power!"

"Not if we can stop you first! We have more attacks up our sleeves than Holy techniques!" said Bayleef.

The evil man smirked. "You fools think you stand a chance…we shall see…hmmhmmhmmhmm! Prepare yourselves, for I, Master Grave (Thunder, howl, breaking, crying) shall knock you all down!"

They all sweatdropped. "Knock us down?" Latias asked.

The Pope/High Priest/Chancellor/Vizier rolled his eyes. "It's the dubber's fault. I had this really cool and evil line about scattering your heart to the heartless winds, but they didn't think it was appropriate for younger players. Anyway, prepare yourselves!" The world's colors inverted, then all grays and blacks as a flaming laughing skull appeared for a split second in front of all them as the final battle began.

…

James put his hand on the knob of the door. "Here it is…the entrance to the 100th and final challenge of the Labyrinth of a Hundred Easy Peezy Challenges! Are we ready for it?"

"Of course we are, we've come all this way and done so much leveling up! We can't just give up now, can we?" asked Jessie.

"Oh, I know that, I was just trying to be dramatic," said James with a grin. Jessie smacked him. "Ow!"

"Just open the damn door already, Jimmy!" snapped Meowth.

"Okay, okay." James opened the door. The octet of villains stepped through the threshold, the door slamming shut behind them.

The half of them capable of rational thought instantly found themselves wishing they hadn't gone through the door.

Before them was a monster. But not just any monster. It was the largest, ugliest, nastiest monster any of them could have possibly imagined, a fiend from the screaming depths of their darkest terrors, horrible enough to strike fear in each of their hearts. The humongous nigh-omnipotent creature glanced down at them indifferently, as if looking at a speck of dust. ""WHO TRESPASSES HERE? WHO INTRUDES UPON THE LAIR OF TERMINUS EST? WHO MUST NOW DIE!" the creature bellowed in a voice that could make mountains tremble.

Wobbuffet fainted and fell backward like a stiff board.

"…Jessie?" whimpered James.

"Yes James?" she said, not taking her eyes off the monstrous beast.

"…I think I just soiled myself."

"…So did I, James, so did I."

The creature roared and reached a claw capable of rending continents at them. They screamed.

…

"Bwahahaha!" laughed Mewgle. "Neither team can possibly beat the bosses I've laid out! They'll both lose the challenge and they'll have to stay here and play with me…UNTIL THEY BEAT THE GAME! MWEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!"

…

Will Mewgle's evil plan fail? Can the heroes or Team Cipher defeat their respective bosses? Find out next time, on Pokemon!


	25. RPG MADNESS! pt 3: The ridiculously chea...

Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait! My editor finally got this chapter finished, and damn is it good thanks to him!

Yes HVK, that line was indeed based on Garland. Don't call Ash's thing an obsession, call it true love.

Lord Karkon: Mmmmmmmm…trefoils…

EagleFox, you are indeed the 180th reviewer! Congratulations! And I am nowhere NEAR the best writer on the site. A few writers on the Zelda and Digimon section have my vote there. Check out the work of Arxane or Fierce Deity, their epic stories are nothing short of fantastic.

Iris, no, the phoenix guy is not like Dullahan.

Sir Pudding, to be honest, the thing with the Pokemon reading was Alex's idea. I forgot all about the translation protocols.

Hi Dannichu! Yes it's funny now, but it gets a lot darker later on. Trust me. And I'm pretty sure that it is spelled Phanphy.

I would like to thank Alex Warlorn for everything he has done to help me these last few chapters. Many of the passages and spelling corrections in the last chapter I may attribute to him, for he deserves the credit for them. He came up with the idea of using Benny as Wobbuffet's fear, having the ferryman's wife side-quest and a few other things here and there. Also, Alex himself wrote a huge portion of this chapter himself because he didn't think it was up to snuff. Alex, thank you very much for everything you've done for me.

Disclaimer: I own the bad guy of this chapter and the game itself. No more.

…

When the horrible bone chilling battle transition had ended, the evil Grave (thunder, howl, breaking, crying) stood in front of the altar, as he had before, except the room now looked a tiny bit bigger. The background music sounded like church choirgirls singing something in Latin repeatedly. "I'll start this battle off! Prepare to die, fools!" A blue box with the words BLACK HOLE appeared over his head.

An FMV started, beginning with a zoomed-out view of the solar system. A huge comet shot across the scene, smashing into Pluto and obliterating it instantly. It kept going, drilling holes through Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter, causing each to collapse and explode horribly. It sailed through the Asteroid Belt, punching a large hole in it, and sending meteors flying towards Mars and smashing it to pieces. The comet sailed into the sun and crashed into it, causing it to explode in a horrific blast of nuclear fire, which swept outwards, engulfing Mercury, Venus, and then the Earth. Then the FMV ended and the wave of solar holocaust was roaring towards the characters, with Master Grave (thunder, howl, breaking, crying) hovering above them, untouched by the fires, laughing insanely.

They all would have sweatdropped if they didn't remember the stakes in play. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?" whimpered Pikachu.

"Quite a lot, I imagine," said Bayleef, terrified.

The wave was about to rush over them. They cringed, expecting the worst. Then, just a second before the wave could hit them, it stopped in its tracks. They sighed in relief…and then the wave receded swiftly, imploding upon itself and getting sucked into a huge space/time anomaly so great that even light got sucked into it, rendering it a huge ball of darkness. They were all sucked in as the villain who had started the attack continued laughing.

Seconds later, they were spit out and the black hole collapsed. All of their HP meters simultaneously dropped to 0 and they fell to the ground. The summons gasped. The Pope/High Priest/Vizier/Chancellor smirked.

"I win."

…

"All right, this shouldn't be too hard!" said James, cracking his knuckles.

Jessie looked at him in disbelief, then at the impossibly huge monster, then back at James. "What are you talking about? That thing will crush us easily!"

"Not if we wipe it out on the first turn! Look, it only has 8 HP!" James said, pointing at the numbers over the omnipotent being's head.

"James? That's the symbol for infinity," said Jessie.

James paused. "Er…by infinity, do you mean endless? As in, without limit? As in, he'll never run out of HP?"

"Yes."

"Oh my."

Meowth sagged. "We're screwed," said the Scratch Cat. "But then, what else is new?"

James managed to bolster what little courage he had. "Well, if we're going down, we might as well go down fighting!" He opened his attack menu and selected THIEF COMBO. "RAAAHHHH!" He charged Terminus Est, and scrambled all over the demigod's body, stabbing it here and there, and frisking in others. Finally, he jumped off and returned to his original place holding an unbelievably cool-looking sword.

JAMES STOLE OBLIVION BLADEX1! Announced a giant blue box.

"Jessie, look what I got!" said James eagerly.

"Wow, very nice…EXCEPT NONE OF US CAN USE SWORDS!" Jessie shouted at him.

His face fell. "Oh."

"I have an idea, why don't we just try running away?" said Jessie, selecting the RUN AWAY command.

A blue box appeared overhead. CAN'T RUN AWAY!

She sagged. "Oh."

"Wait, I have an idea!" said Meowth, pulling out his lute. "Maybe that new song I learned that can cause instant death to those who hear it will work! It causes HP to drop to 0 automatically, so it should still work even if he has infinite HP right?" Before anyone could answer, Meowth started playing the DOOM DIRGE, his caterwauling as horrible as always except he was now singing to the beat of a funeral march.

A laughing skull appeared over his head. His HP dropped to 0 and he collapsed to the floor.

They all sweatdropped. "The Powers that Be _really_ don't like his singing," said Jessie.

James sighed. "Well, it's Chimecho's turn now. Then we all die. Go ahead, Chimecho."

"Chi!" Chimecho opened his Magic menu and selected Dustox, spending 25 MP. The poison moth-turned-woman vanished from the sidelines and an FMV started.

A large flower blossomed in front of Chimecho as an archaic circle formed around him. Dustox leaped out of the flower, trailing pollen, and landed butt-first on the ground, causing it to shake. The FMV ended.

A new command menu opened up for Chimecho, with DO WHAT YOU WILL, FIGHT, GO! GO, ONE MORE TIME, DEFENSE, and DISMISS listed. Chimecho stared at the menu blankly for several long minutes, before smiling and happily pressing DISMISS, causing Dustox to vanish in a burst of light and reappear on the sidelines.

"What was the point of that?" asked Jessie. James shrugged.

Now it was Terminus Est's turn, the boss to end all bosses. However, as any gamer will tell you, on top of being the most powerful, the hidden bonus boss also always without fail has the worst AI imaginable, and was never programmed to take proper advantage of it's god like abilities. And while the nightmare of nightmares was capable of making a frightening introduction, it secretly wasn't all that much brighter than Chimecho!

So it really shouldn't have been all that much of a surprise when Terminus Est used the devastating attack, Fist Of Final Hades . . . on Meowth. "Agggh! Makeitstopmakeitstop!" Meowth screeched in agony as the mighty fist hammered into him again and again pounding his body into the ground without tiring. Of course, since Meowth's HP was already at zero, and it wasn't possible to gain negative hit points in this game, and Terminus Est was programmed to keep attacking with Fist Of Final Hades until the target lost hit points. It would be a long time before Mewgle noticed the lack of battle progress and let Terminus Est out of the logic loop. He was tempted to join with the secret bonus boss directly, but he knew that was as good as asking for himself to be deleted by some unseen miracle. Now that the first round was completed, the boss music started, sounding rather like techno punk gothic. It was enough to make the deities forget about Meowth's signing.

…

Grave's (cut the sound effects already!) laughter was stopped in its tracks when he saw Latias and Ash glowing. "What's this?"

The ghostly figure of a red-haired maiden appeared above the fallen trainer. She smiled down on him, leaned over, and kissed him on the lips. His HP instantly refilled 1 point and he shot to his feet, looking invigorated. He blushed when he saw the girl. She winked and vanished.

Latias' Angel Ring flashed and a pair of white wings descended from the sky, flapping and spilling white dust all over her. Her HP refilled as well and she floated back up into the air. "Ooh…that hurt…"

Grave was not a happy end boss. "Curses, I knew I shouldn't have included that ring!"

Ash smirked. "You bet you shouldn't have! Because now it's our turn and we're gonna take you down, right Latias?"

Latias' eyes shown with a determination that had been missing for some time. "I promise we will! I'll heal everyone on my turn, you go and attack him first Ash!"

He nodded. "Right!" He opened his attack menu and selected FINAL HEAVEN. Just as he had when he fought James, he ran towards his enemy, grabbing him by the neck and rearing back his glowing fist. He punched Grave, triggering a nuclear explosion. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to do any damage. In fact, it healed Grave by 150 HP! Well, not that it really healed him since he was already at full health, but you know what I mean. Ash was shocked. "Why didn't that do anything?"

Grave laughed. "I tricked all of you into using Holy weapons, remember? And because I am a Holy Monster, you can't damage me with them!"

Ash sagged. "Oh yeah…"

Grave sneered. "You are such a forgetful brat, I bet the Pikachu would make a better leader than you!"

Ash growled. "Hey! That's not true! All of us work together as a team! And if there's one thing I know its battles!"

Latias then opened her magic menu and selected the spell UNITY HEAL. Spending 10 MP, she turned to the others and waved her staff. A beam of holy light shone down from above, refilling their HP by 75. Pikachu and Bayleef groaned and got to their feet.

"Ouch…I hope that never happens again…" grunted Pikachu.

"Yeah, being squished by that big black ball stank," agreed Bayleef.

"Hmmph. I may only be able to use that attack once per battle, but I wouldn't count on standing for much longer!" taunted Grave. It was his turn now. A blue box saying PHOENIX BLADE appeared over his head. He pulled his sword from his scabbard and it ignited instantly, turning into a flaming blade. With a battle cry, he leaped high into the air and brought the sword down point-first at Ash, impaling him and dealing 150 points of damage, lowering his total to 120. (It has risen a bit with all the leveling up they had done.)

"Ow…I'm glad that attacks in this world don't work the same as they would in the real world, or I'd be dead by now…" Ash said, wincing as he clutched his stomach, where the sword had went in. "Okay…I've already learned that normal attacks won't work on you, but my only magic spells involve fire. And I'm guessing from those big wings of yours that you're immune to fire too, right?"

Grave cackled. "That's right!"

"Darn! Well, I can still heal until I find a way to smash you flat!" He opened his item menu, took out a Super Potion, and downed its contents, returning his health to 360.

"Let's see if I can't do better then," Pikachu said with a grin. He opened his attack menu.

Grave laughed. "Ha, weren't you listening? Your attacks won't work on me!"

"Oh, we'll see about that," said Pikachu. He selected CHARGE, costing 1 MP. He clenched his fists and muscles, his teeth gritted as he summoned electrical energy. His red cheeks glowed so brightly that they looked like stoplights, and his body started crackling with electrical energy. Grave frowned, getting an inkling but not certain of what Pikachu was doing. "So you're storing up power to increase your attack next turn? I told you, it won't-"

"Work, yeah, I know. Like I said, we'll see about that," interrupted Pikachu.

"It's my turn now," declared Bayleef boldly. "You've already told us you're part fire monster, but that means you're weak against water! So in that case, I summon Corphish!" She spent 25 MP to bring her party member to the field.

"Finally, some action!" said Corphish, snapped his claws eagerly as he vanished from the sidelines. An FMV started.

An archaic circle formed around Bayleef. A portal appeared in the air, sucking light into it. A surge of water burst out of the portal, pooling onto the ground and solidifying into the hardened carapace of Corphish. The giant lobster swam through the air above a desert, leaving a trail of bubbles behind him. He reared back his head and screeched, and suddenly a huge mass of rock erupted from the desert surface, towering into the air. Corphish landed on the rock and pounded it with his claws, causing waterfalls to burst out of the sides, pouring down to the sands below and causing flowers and trees to sprout. Corphish screeched again, and the FMV ended.

Charizard frowned. "Hey, his entrance was longer than mine!" Nobody paid attention to him.

"I'm raring to go!" cried the lobster, clicking his claws. Grave looked uneasy.

"Okay Corphish, use Tidal Surge!" commanded Bayleef, spending 15 MP.

Corphish clicked his claws, then held them open and pointed them at Grave. Four cannons popped out of his back and pointed at the fallen priest as well. Each of them glowed, gathering power, and fired a powerful stream of water at Grave. They collided with the phoenix man, throwing him back into the statue of Lord Necros (thunder, howl, break, cry) and did a total of 300 damage to his HP. "Yeah, all right!" cried the lobster.

Grave growled as he got to his feet. "You will regret that…" he warned the party.

"My turn, and…there's not much I can do," said Latias unhappily. "Aside from healing Pikachu or Bayleef a little more, that is." After some deliberation, she used a Super Potion on Bayleef, restoring the rest of her HP.

"My turn now, and you will regret your offense, lobster!" Grave threatened. He grinned, and to their horror, regenerated 250 HP!

"What the hell! How'd he do that!" asked a shocked Corphish.

"It's a special ability of mine. I regenerate a quarter of my maximum HP every turn. Also, every time you attack me it boosts my own attack power a little bit, so you had best end this quickly or I'll become strong enough to crush you all! But first…" He gestured, and a white box saying X2 appeared over his head. It had an X10 next to it.

"What was that?" asked Ash.

"I just cast a spell that allows me to perform two actions per turn for the next ten turns!" crowed the fiend. "Now I can attack you twice a turn for the price of one!"

"That's not fair!" protested Latias.

"Of course it's not, I'm on the verge of ultimate power! I don't have time to worry about meaningless things like 'fair!'! Now to use my second action, and avenge myself on that lobster!" A blue box appeared over his head saying CUBIA'S JIHAD. "Fire and holy attacks aren't all I know, you see!" He pointed his hands in the air. A lightning bolt shot up to the ceiling above Corphish and split into eight separate bolts, raining down on him in the form of toothed serpents. The bolts bit into the frightened crustacean's armor, dealing a total of 400 damage to him due to his weakness against electricity, knocking him out of the fight!

Bayleef gasped. "Oh no, Corphish, are you all right!" The lobster flipped over on his back with X'ed out eyes, twitched a leg once, and vanished, reappearing on the sidelines, still K.O.ed.

Ash meanwhile was gritting his teeth, it was his turn and he was useless! "I could attack you…"

"But you can't, so you might as well not be here!" Grave continued to taunt.

Ash sighed. "All I can do is Defend. No use in Appealing, it's not like my MP would be any use in this battle." He selected the appropriate command and got down on his knees, arms crossed for protection.

__

Hmmm… thought Bayleef. _I think I might be able to do something about that…_

"My turn!" Pikachu called out. He was still crackling and glowing. He opened his attack menu and selected his most powerful technique, spending 20 MP on it. A blue box appeared over his head saying LUMINAIRE. He held out his tail-sword and sent the electricity he had been building up into the blade, causing it to glow with a blinding white light. He coiled his leg muscles and sprung high into the air, spinning for some extra speed. He hurtled towards Grave, coming out of his spin with his tail-sword pointed right at the villain's forehead, glowing brighter and brighter as he came down. With a cry, Pikachu drove his blade straight down, piercing the fiend's forehead! There was a tremendous flash of light and electrical energy, accompanied by Grave's anguished screams.

When the light faded, Pikachu hopped off of Grave's head, leaving the Pope of the Holy Church of the Phoenix with 400 less HP. He was stunned. "How…how did you do that? Your sword is holy, it should have healed me!"

Pikachu smirked. "Luminaire is an electric-type technique which adds voltage power to my blade, along with whatever elemental effect it may already have. And I used my last turn to build up electrical energy for an even stronger attack. My sword's holiness blunted the charged-up effect of Luminaire, but it still did quite a bit of damage."

"And it'll do even more after I cast this spell!" said Bayleef suddenly, opening her magic menu and scrolling down to a spell labeled ELEMENTAL SHIFT. "This'll ruin your cheap trick!" she said, stepping on it and spending nearly half her MP.

She pulled her staff off her back with a vine and reared back on her hind legs, flailing her forelegs in the air. She waved the staff with her vine and stomped back down on the ground, sending a bolt of green energy at the startled Grave. It struck and knocked him back, causing him to crackle with energy. He abruptly saw his arms and legs become skeletal and his robes become moth eaten and dirty. He saw an icon above his head with angel wings turning into a skull with an X4 next to it.

Bayleef smirked. "I threw your scheme out the window! It cost me most of what I had left, but it turned _you _into the opposite of what you are for four turn! In this case Holy to Undead! And you know what that means!"

Latias gripped her staff tightly, her eyes burning at Grave. "And I am a White Mage!"

Grave's eyes filled with fear. "Oh dear."

Latias opened her spell menu and scrolled down to her second most powerful spell. "Holy!" she cried out, spending 80 MP.

The room seemed to tremble and shake as Latias raised her claws in the air, her eyes closed in prayer. The chamber around them seemed to fall away, revealing a heavenly cloudscape expanse. A ray of light fell upon Grave, then another, and another, almost like they were targeting him. Then, an enormous presence formed high above them all, so radiant that none could look upon it. The presence bellowed, and an enormous beam of white light blasted down on poor Grave, causing him to scream in agony as it did 500 damage.

"Wow!" said Charizard, impressed. "Not bad!"

Latias blushed. She really hadn't expected to do that much damage. "Thanks."

Grave was panting for breath. He only had 50 HP left, but that quickly regenerated to 300. Also the symbols next to the white boxes over his head changed to X9 and X3 respectively. "Damn…you all…" He regained his composure. "You will pay for that, foolish Elementalist!" He waved his hand, and a blue box appeared over his head saying PHOENIX WINGS. His flaming wings flapped, sending great streams of fire at the terrified and fire-shy Bayleef. She cried out as the flames engulfed her completely, burning her to a crisp. Screaming in pain, she collapsed to the ground, her HP depleted.

"Aunt Bayleef!" cried Phanphy.

"Oh no…don't worry, I'll save you on my next turn!" said Latias.

"Will you get the chance?" asked Grave. A blue box with the words PHOENIX REJUVENATION appeared over his head. His HP went up by 500 points, giving him a total of 800. "Ha! Now you'll have to inflict whatever damage you can now, because next turn I'll heal completely!"

"He's right, Latias," warned Ash. "Unless we can end this now, Bayleef's spell won't have been worth her sacrifice. If we use our strongest attacks, we should be able to bring him down for good!"

"Okay," acknowledged Latias reluctantly, seeing the logic in what he said.

"Okay then." Ash selected Final Heaven from his attack menu. "Take this!" He ran towards Grave, grabbed him by the neck, and punched him in the face, causing a nuclear explosion that did 300 damage thanks to his temporary vulnerability to holy weapons. The fallen Pope grunted.

Pikachu selected his Luminaire attack and leaped into the air, bringing his electrified tail-sword down on Grave. The sword hadn't been charged up, but since it was holy it did a total of 400 damage to the fiend, bringing him down to only 100 HP. "Gargh!" he cried.

"Okay Latias, finish him off! Do it for Corphish and Bayleef!" shouted Charizard.

"Okay. Holy would be overkill, so…" Latias selected her only other offensive spell, spending 40 MP. A blue box appeared over her head saying PEARL. She started to glow and spread her arms out, staff raised into the air. They waited…and waited…and waited…

And then a giant pearl fell onto Grave's head.

BONK!

"Ow!"

Everyone sweatdropped. "That's Pearl?"

Latias seemed embarrassed too. "Well, at least it finished him," she said. And so it had, the pearl had done 100 damage to Grave, finishing him off.

"Nooooo!" he cried as he fell to his knees.

Triumphant music played and the heroes got into their victory poses. "Yeah, we did it! We beat him!" said Ash.

ASH GOT 5000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

PIKACHU GOT 5000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

LATIAS GOT 5000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

LATIAS ROSE TO LEVEL 36! Latias' health and magic power replenished.

PARTY RECEIVED HO-OH DOWNX10!

The battle mode ended, and they were back in the altar room. "Okay, we beat you!" said Ash. "Now release Princess What's-her-name so we can go back to the real world!"

Gasping for breath, Grave grabbed the corner of the altar and pulled himself up, looking quite disheveled. "You…fools…have played…right into my hands!" He stood up, wobbling a little, and spread his arms and wings. He opened his mouth and _shrieked_, hurting the heroes' eardrums and breaking most of the room's windows. As the good guys held their hands over their ears, Grave rose into the air, glowing with an unearthly power. His wings folded around him, encircling him within a burning cocoon. Shafts of light shot out from the cocoon, and the bastard was _still_ screaming, so the heroes were both blinded and deafened. After what seemed like an eternity, the light and scream reached a crescendo as the cocoon exploded, revealing a transformed Grave to the awe and horror of the three heroes and two summons.

…

Back at the battle between the Ciphers and Terminus Est, James had had enough wits to use his turn to use a resurrection item on Meowth, remembering the basic rule of Final Boss Battles: keep the entire team alive.

Jessie however, panicking, repeated her try of using Run Away with the exact same results.

Meowth used a defense song to up their Resistance, and the powers that be were too annoyed with the boss music to bother smiting him so the spell actually worked like it was supposed to.

Chimecho happily threw a healing potion at Terminus Est but since it's HP was already full, it didn't exactly matter.

It was the super boss's turn again, and instead of attacking with an uber move and wiping out the party, it used 'De-spell', making shields appear above the would be villain's heads that shattered, undoing Meowth's spell effect.

Meowth's so-called sensitive artistic side snapped at the beast a thousand times his size. "Hey! My music finally works and ya think yer gonna just undo it! We'll see about that!" The human part of the team looked at each other, Meowth had really lost it. At least he would go out too crazy to care unlike the rest of them.

…

Grave had gone from a handsome man-bird-thing to a full-blown phoenix. But not a graceful or majestic picture of death and rebirth like Moltres or Ho-Oh, but a vicious and malevolent image of pain and suffering. He was covered in red, yellow and black down, with cruel black talons, eight wings of fire, and a long, curved vulture's beak with four red eyes higher up his face. A ring of fire burned in the air around his back, radiating twisted tentacles of flame like some sort of burning sun disk. "I am reborn…" the phoenix cried. "By the power of Necros (thunder, howl, break, cry) and the Holy Phoenix, I am reborn! I am lord of life and death, the very master of the world!"

"…This is bad, isn't it?" asked Phanphy.

"Very," everyone chorused.

"Now foolish mortals, burn in the flames of Purgatory! Feel the wrath of the Phoenix King!" And then the battle transition started, somehow even more twisted and warped than the last one. Everything seemed to be on fire, the world turned into blurry crimson nightmare shapes, ending, with what seemed to be the very virtual screen shattering to make room for the abominable beast. Most of the walls of the top floor of the tower itself blasted apart, showing the twisted black sky above and lethally far drop below.

…

"Kiiiiillll…kiiiiiiiiilllll…"

Grovyle grimaced as he moved himself inch by inch across the forest floor. When neither Bayleef or anybody else had come to check on him after a while, somewhere deep underneath his Shadow Pokemon programming he got worried. He had managed to roll off the stump and, over the last hour or so, managed to push himself gradually towards the campsite he had seen Bayleef run off to with his fingers and toes. And now, he was almost there.

Giving himself one final push, he forced himself into the clearing where Ash and friends had been having lunch before Team Cipher interrupted them. The Wood Gecko was very confused when he saw the tableau lying before him. The Bayleef and her…"friends", if that was the term he suddenly remembered, along with a group of people his programming told him were his masters, were lying unconscious around a small metal object. "Killll?" he called, trying to wake them up. They didn't budge. "Kiiiiilllll?" he called louder. Still no response.

The lizard's stomach growled, and he was reminded of his hunger. A not-quite-heavenly-but-still-tasty smell wafted into his nostrils, and he looked up hopefully. There, on a large stump, was an unattended hunk of Pidgeot meat!

Licking his lips in expectation, Grovyle began the long, slow process of pushing himself towards the juicy hunk of meat, accidentally brushing past the dormant RPGenerator and triggering a button with one of his leaf blades.

There was the sound of a horrible explosion, and all went dark.

…

The Ciphers meanwhile were surviving only due to bad programming and shortsighted AI. James and Jessie had called their Summons to the field. Chimecho kept throwing random items out of their inventory causing no damage on the great and unbeatable Terminus Est, he had, through random chance, called out Dustox again and used Poison Powder, of course, a rule to all secret Bosses is that they are immune to status effects so it didn't exactly matter.

As for Meowth, he just keep using that same stupid Defense Anthem over and over again, determined to make it stick while Terminus Est just kept using De-Spell the same turn to cancel it out, not attacking at all. Meowth had never looked so mad, so crazy, and his singing at this point had made Jessie and James ears bleed. Sadly, the battle system didn't allow them to attack each other's party members while in a fight, and as James pointed out, it _was_ the only thing keeping the king of cheap enemies from obliterating them all. Jessie didn't care, and promised to pound James and Meowth's heads in the first chance she got.

Meowth too busy singing the same song over and over and over and over again to really notice or care.

…

If the twisted battle transition hadn't been bad enough, the background was even worse. It was like the entire room was on fire, but that wasn't the creepy part, the fires looked to be made of the burning souls of human beings and not so human things all withering in torment. The lot of them were beginning to wish for the simple, gut-wrenching normal transitions. As for the music, it was a simple drumbeat, that reminded Ash way too much of a dying heartbeat he had once heard at the edge of his memory. And those stupid choir voices had returned, too.

"This shall be where you fall, heroes…where the Angel of Death takes you into his silent embrace…" The Phoenix King spread his wings as a blue box appeared overhead saying PHOENIX FIRE. The dark firebird flapped its eight wings repeatedly, flinging a seemingly endless barrage of red fire at the heroes. They braced themselves, but it was no good. The flames washed over them, painfully burning their HP down to 1 apiece.

"No! This isn't good. His next attack could kill us! Good thing I've _still _got a couple of Regen rings and my handkerchief's been recharged!" Ash said, regaining his famous battle face.

"Yeah, but the rest of us don't, even though Latias' Angel Ring has probably been recharged too. So we'd be safer healing up right away," recommended Pikachu.

"I can handle that," said Latias with dead seriousness.

"Okay," Ash agreed. "My turn again. And this guy has…oh come on…" The Phoenix King had 10000 HP. Ash felt his confidence take a serious hit again. "This is going to take a while." He opened his attack menu.

"Ash! Don't waste time attacking! Bayleef's spell wore off when the last battle ended, none of your special moves can hurt him." Latias pointed out.

Ash saw red. "Alright then! Let's see about normal attacks! You don't look like a ghost to me!" Ash nearly smashed his foot through the floor as he went through his attack menu and selected his non-MP attack Beat Rush, the one he had used and failed to hit with against the ghosts in the team's first monster battle. All the dramatics of the last few minutes had made Ash forget about his normal moves but he remembered them now and ran in swinging his non-magical charged fists like a maniac, all the leveling up he had done he managed to beat 250 HP out of the King's chest, and another 250 HP with his second fist. It may have not been that much damage, but it made Ash feel better. Everyone sweatdropped at Ash's wild man attitude except Bayleef and Charizard who both thought it was an improvement.

"Alright, since I don't think my Luminaire will be strong enough, I'll summon Phanphy!" said Pikachu, opening his spell menu and spending 25 MP to summon his little brother/nephew. "Come on, Phanphy!"

"Coming Uncle Brother Pikachu!" Phanphy vanished from the sidelines and an FMV started.

An archaic circle formed around Pikachu. The psychedelic battlefield turned into a frozen wasteland, with a great block of ice in the middle of it, containing the frozen Phanphy. Icy winds blew by, as a blizzard formed. Hail struck the ice block, causing small cracks. The cracks lengthened and connected, weakening the entire structure. Suddenly, it shattered, flinging ice everywhere, releasing Phanphy. The woolly mammoth shook his head and trumpeted loudly, echoing across the tundra.

And then it ended and Phanphy was in front of Pikachu. "Phanphy's attack utilizes three elements. One of them is fire, which will heal you, but the other two should knock off some feathers!" Pikachu opened his command menu for Phanphy and selected his strongest attack, spending 15 MP.

A big blue box appeared over Phanphy's head saying TRI-ATTACK. Phanphy reared back on his hind legs, flailing his front legs and inhaling deeply with his trunk. Energy started to gather there, causing his snout to glow. After several seconds, he slammed his feet back on the ground and blew the energy out of his trunk, accompanied by a loud trumpeting noise. A burst of fire, lightning, and ice shot out at the Phoenix King. The fire was absorbed, doing no damage, but the ice and lightning both did some damage, totaling about 300 more points off his HP meter. Phanphy sulked. "That's _it!_"

"I'm afraid so," said Pikachu sadly.

"But then it'll take forever to beat him at this rate!" the elephant complained.

"Hopefully not that long, but it will take a while. Latias, your turn," said Pikachu.

"Okay. I'll bring everyone back to full health," she said, selecting UNIFICATION HEAL and spending 30 MP.

Rays of healing light shone down on the entire party, including Bayleef, refilling their HP meters completely. Bayleef stirred and got up. "Ohhhh…so that's what burning to death feels like…" She said. "I don't want to ever do that again."

"Unfortunately, you will all burn!" cried the Phoenix King. And to their horror, he regenerated 5000 HP, healing the little damage Phanphy and Ash had inflicted.

The heroes were shocked. "How can you heal that much!" protested Ash.

"My special ability allows me to regenerate half of my maximum HP every turn," the dark bird explained.

"That's…it's…cheap!" said Bayleef angrily, unable to think of any other word to properly express herself.

"If you think that was unfair, this'll make you livid!" The phoenix flapped his wings, and a white box appeared over his head saying X3 with X5 next to it. "I just cast a spell called False Trinity that lets me attack _three_ times in a row for the next five turns! Bwahahaha!"

Now this was most certainly unfair, and the heroes said so. Very loudly and profanely in Charizard's case, but this time no one blamed him. The Phoenix King just snickered. "Come on now, you have me out-numbered eight to one and I attack last, I should be expected to have a _little_ edge." The fiend cackled. "Now where were we?" The villain attacked them with Phoenix Fire _again_, bringing all their HP to 1 where they started.

"I wasted 30 MP for nothing!" Latias said angrily. She growled. "…Guess I'll just have to do it again."

"I don't think so! I could blast you all to ashes _this _turn, but where's the fun in that?" A blue box appeared over the King's head, saying MEGA HELLBITER.

Five tentacles with skulls on the ends burst out of the ground and bit each of the heroes. They yelped as it happened, but lost no HP. Instead, each of them turned a putrid green and started to smell. "Ewwww! What did you do to us?" asked Bayleef in disgust, having turned a sickly blue since she was already green.

"I've afflicted you with the Zombie status, MY version of the Elemental Shift, only this one won't wear off!" madly giggled the Phoenix King. "Which makes you like the rest of the enemies in this castle. Holy attacks will do damage against you, bypassing the holy armor I gave you, and healing spells will damage you. Maybe after I've destroyed you and sacrificed the 'Heart of Light' girl to Lord Necros, (thunder, scream, shatter, howl) I'll bring you back as true zombies and we can all welcome our Master into his new world together!"

"But that doesn't make sense, our holy armor should still protect us from your attacks!" protested Latias.

"My attack strength is higher than anything you can imagine!" crowed the Phoenix King. "And I made sure not to leave any Remedies or Holy Waters lying about the Spire that you could use to cure yourself of this curse, just in case I had to use it against you! And I've been watching you, so I know Latias hasn't yet learned a spell that can cure status ailments! Ha! You can't win!" He nodded. "You're all doomed, so you might as well skip your turns and just let me swiftly end this meaningless little fight!"

No one noticed the figure stirring on the altar.

The heroes sagged. "We're gonna lose Grovyle," said Pikachu unhappily. "Even though Ash will be able to regenerate once or twice and heal the rest of us, it'll only work for a little while and we'll never be able to inflict enough damage to win!"

'Give up' however, for better or worse, had never been in Ash's personal vocabulary, and Lugia's former Chosen human had a sudden inspiration. "Wait!" he yelled. "Latias, what about Mewtwo?"

She blinked. "I forgot about him! But do you really think he can help?"

Ash looked her in the eyes. "It's worth a try, isn't it? We lose here, we lose Grovyle! We can't just give up and let him kill us!"

Latias checked her spell menu. "The Mewtwo summon costs all of my max MP, but I've already used up most of it on the last cure spell. I don't have enough."

"That's no problem, then!" said Ash. "Since we used up all our Ethers on the zombie dinosaur on the last floor, we'll just Appeal and transfer the MP to you!" He selected Appeal on his command menu, summoning the series of screens that showed the audience watching the battle. He smirked, turned his hat backwards, and gave the V for victory sign. The audience (as in, all of you reading this) cheered and sent him 55 MP, (except for a lunatic who cheered Latias and booed Ash) which he automatically transferred to Latias, slightly refilling her meter. "Okay, your turn Pikachu!"

Pikachu nodded and curled his tail in front of him. He made an adorable face and started chasing his tail around in circles, like a brainless dog. The audience were moved by his sheer cuteness and sent him 60 MP, which were then sent to Latias. Her meter filled up more. She just needed a little more MP to cast the spell.

"Okay Latias, this is for you!" said Bayleef. She turned to the audience screen, swished the leaf on her forehead, and winked at them. "Baayyyyy!" she crooned emphatically. Sadly, the audience did not seem particularly impressed by this (much to the insult of Bayleef's vanity), but the 45 MP they sent her was just enough to fill Latias' MP to the top.

"Okay!" she said. "Here goes nothing!" She opened her spell menu and selected MEWTWO, spending every single ounce of her MP for this one last chance at survival. An FMV started, one more beautiful and realistic than any of the others.

Latias raised the end of the Dragon Flute to her mouth and blew into it, moving her claws up and down the holes on its sides. She had no idea how to play a flute, she had never learned how to do it when she was little, and yet she somehow felt she didn't need to. The song she played was one engraved on her heart, one that needed no knowledge or mastery of musical instruments to play.

Music came from the flute and the dragon, strange and powerful music that stirred strange feelings within the hearts of all whom heard it, even in the shriveled organ of the Phoenix King. It spoke of the connection between mentor and apprentice, or perhaps the deeper one of father and daughter. As the music played on, the room darkened. A Sakura tree appeared, its pink leaves swaying gently in a breeze that had started up. A sudden gust started up, blowing off leaves and causing them to pass over a large full moon. Latias stopped her playing and looked at the tree in expectation. A figure stepped out from behind the tree, clad in ornate gold and purple samurai robes, with wooden sandals, shoulder pads sprouting golden curls, and an ornate disc-shaped hat over his head which covered his face. The figure raised a three-fingered hand, and a sword formed from purple-black energy appeared in it. He stood motionless for a second, then in one quick motion slashed sideways with the sword, before causing it to dissipate. For another moment he was motionless. Then the tree behind him creaked and fell in two pieces. The figure stood up straight and lifted his hat up, revealing a pale face and a pair of purple eyes. They met with Latias' golden ones…

And he smiled. The FMV ended.

Mewtwo stood in front of Latias, slightly bewildered. "What was that?" he asked. "Where are we?"

"An FMV," she said. "It's a sort of movie introducing a character to the battlefield."

"Ah," he said, not looking like he had the slightest idea what she was talking about. "And why am I…and you all, for that matter, wearing such strange costumes and glowing green?" Mewtwo kept himself from staring at Phanphy and Corphish's new forms. "What happened to you?" He frowned and looked at the Phoenix King. "And who is that?"

"The one who is about to remove you and the rest of the pests from existence!" the villain roared.

The lady in distress moaned.

Mewtwo started at this and looked darkly at the equally imposing beast, then he looked back at the heroes. "Now, if somebody could please explain to me what is going on?"

The heroes spent the next several minutes quickly explaining how they had been sucked into the RPGenerator, the rules of the place, and how they needed his help to defeat the giant evil cheap phoenix so they could return to the real world. The Phoenix King stewed impatiently, waiting for Latias' turn to end so he could finally attack. Mewtwo was a good listener, never needing to hear things twice unless they hadn't been clarified for him, and he quickly grasped the concept of the turn-based fighting system and what he was needed to do. "So you summoned me in a last-ditch attempt to save this Grovyle," he said. "I see. From what you have told me of this Phoenix King, the best method to defeat him would be to strike him with an attack that can kill him with a single blow." With Latias, he examined the command menu that had appeared when he had been summoned. "I believe this one will do," he said, finally choosing an attack after reading a helpful explanation box that popped up for it. "However, it will require me to absorb all of the MP you have left if it is to be effective. Even then, there is still a chance that this will fail, for the attack requires perfect timing and participation from all of you to succeed. Would you be willing to risk this?"

"Our only other option is to let him win," said Ash. "So we have no other choice. We trust you Mewtwo!"

The Psychic smiled. "I will see to it that your trust in me is justified. Latias, please activate the appropriate command so that I may defeat this great foe!"

"Yes Mewtwo!" Latias selected the attack PSYCHIC BLITZ. It cost her no MP (since she was already out) but it had a more complicated way of getting its power.

A glowing button appeared on the floor before each of the remaining three fighters. "What's this?" asked Pikachu.

"At several crucial points during my attack animation, one of those buttons should light up," said Mewtwo. "You must step on it the INSTANT it lights up, and all your MP will be transferred to me so that I may continue the attack. If you miss, my attack will end and it will be the Phoenix King's turn."

"So no pressure, huh? Okay, let's do this," resolved Bayleef.

"Very well." Mewtwo pressed his hands together and formed the Shadow Blade that had been seen in the FMV.

The Phoenix King's eyes narrowed. "Will you _please_ just get on with this?"

"If you insist." Mewtwo floated into the air and charged at the phoenix, thrusting his sword into the bird's chest and doing 100 damage right off the bat. Then he pulled it out, held it to his side and tensed his muscles, preparing for the next attack. He suddenly initiated a blinding series of slashes and cuts at the Phoenix King's body, moving so quickly that all the heroes could see of him was a blur and the increasing damage numbers appearing over the Phoenix King's head. Finally, Mewtwo slowed down to the point where they could see him, leaped above the evil bird, and brought his sword down in a tremendous chop, slicing right through the Phoenix King. If this weren't a limited battle system, the attack would have split him in two. The King screeched in pain, his HP decreased by 2500 points.

At that moment, the button at Ash's feet lit up. He quickly stepped on it, and his MP meter dropped to 0.

Mewtwo's sword vanished, and his hands, feet and tail were engulfed in purple-black energy. He proceeded to pummel the Phoenix King, performing a seemingly endless stream of physics-defying martial arts moves that would leave professionals like Jet Li or Ranma Saotome speechless, hitting the King with punches, kicks, and devastating tail attacks. After a truly impressive display of fighting prowess, Mewtwo backed off, having taken another 2500 points off of the Phoenix King's HP.

The button at Pikachu's feet lit up, and he stepped on it. Like Ash, his MP meter emptied itself totally.

Mewtwo conjured two Shadow Blades this time, and he attacked the phoenix like a tornado, spinning around the bird and constantly slashing off feathers and wings and stuff with his twin blades, looking even cooler than he had in the first phase of his attack. Despite the pain, the Phoenix King was filled with awe and disbelief. How could it be possible that this Mewtwo was so powerful! After only spinning for about five seconds, Mewtwo backed away again, having taken off another 2500 of the dark phoenix's HP. He just had a little more to go. Now was the critical moment.

The button lit up at Bayleef's feet and she pressed it immediately, transferring everything she had left to Mewtwo, hoping he would use it well.

He did. Summoning all his remaining power, Mewtwo formed a giant Shadow Ball in his hands. Flipping backwards in the air, Mewtwo shot the ball at the Phoenix King, timing it so it would strike just as he touched the ground. The ensuing explosion was tremendous, engulfing the room but harming none of the characters save the Phoenix King. His roar of pain was very audible, breaking most of the few windows remaining in the room. As the light and fire from the explosion cleared, the numbers 2500 appeared over the villain's head. His HP meter dropped to 0.

However, instead of the victory music playing, the huge fire bird hit the floor with Earth Quake level force, and a tiny one appeared above his head as his regained one hit point.

"Wha-what!" Bayleef exclaimed.

The Phoenix King breathed haggardly as he shifted his weight up. "My final special ability, a personal gift from Mewgle, Endurance, if I take damage equal to or more than my Max HP in one player's turn, I regain one hit point, at the cost of losing my ability to automatically regenerate . . . not that it matters . . . you won't be here at the end of my turn. Oh, and more thing." Two identical bird heads sprouted from the Phoenix King's shoulders, they all spoke in unison. "One last trick to my special ability, now it wouldn't matter if my spell wore off or not! I'm free to attack _nine_ times with my spell intact! And for my first trick!" He lifted up a black egg from nowhere and crushed it in his beak, a horrified scream filled their ears, and the Phoenix King was now at 6751. "You're not the only ones who can use items. But to show I'm a fairly good sport, I give up that spell and my ability to cast it for something else!" Purple beams shot out of the Phoenix King's center head's eyes and struck the startled Mewtwo, went through him, and into Latias. They suffered no damage, but both felt the experience of being impaled. "There, I can't cast my SPEED 3 spell anymore and _YOU_ can't use PSYCHIC BLITZ again . . . not that it matters like I said, I just wanted to show you that you had no real chance from the start. But now I'm done playing, and it's time for your ending."

"No . . ." Latias breathed.

"There has to be something we can do!" Pikachu swore.

"Game Over for you lot." The Phoenix King said simply. "No continues . . . I think I'll step on the brat first, good-bye fool." No one in that battle was expecting an FMV to start up just as the Phoenix King began his attack. Especially the Phoenix King. The doom music fell silent.

…

The competition in the Maze of a Hundred Easy Peezy Challenges too was facing defeat right in the face. (They should be able to describe its facial features from memory by now) Meowth had exhausted his entire MP reserves, and Chimecho had thrown their last Ether the previous turn. Jessie, James, and Meowth had all their Summons use Barrier, in hopes their Summons would be destroyed before them and give them another turn to get out of this mess alive. Predictably, this only made Cacnea hate James even more and caused Wobbuffet to seriously question the point of loyalty to an uncaring trainer.

Chimecho of course was playing just like a baby with a Gameboy, only not able to try and eat the game cartridge. The four other officially free willed members of the team got on their knees and covered their heads, waiting for the inescapable outcome having tried the Appeal function a couple times only to have their MP vanish more so. And they knew it was coming, the city sized jaws (all of them) of the terror had opened up, revealing hell's inferno within, just waiting to be unleashed upon the pathetic insects before it. However, by _sheer_ process of elimination and having used up his MP already in useless uses of his Summon's abilities, there was only one move that the game would let Chimecho make.

CHIMECHO THREW OBLIVION BLADE

"Huh?" James peeked through his fingers.

The sword of final nothingness sailed through the air, leaving a path of black as it cut through the very computer generated fabric of reality itself and went straight into one of Terminus Est's mouths. Nothing happened, and they knew they were doomed and screamed like little girls. However, as soon as Terminus Est's turn started, before he could even destroy the fools in one attack, he blew up.

…

The three-headed terror marched on the bloody and beaten Ash, and raised one talon to crush him into crimson dust. But in a blur of motion, a girl with red hair and a blooded white dress pushed the lad of the way, and herself as well, leaving the claw crushing nothing. Ash look up to see Princess Kasumi looking down at him, he blushed as she got off him. Kasumi looked at him meekly and said. "Sorry I'm late."

Ash heard himself say. "I'm just glad you're alright."

"Thanks."

The phoenix was livid. "You! But how! Win or lose you should have been trapped in that sleep until the ceremony's end!"

The virtual girl breathed and looked hatefully at the Phoenix King without fear. "Who can sleep when the person they love is in danger! You're about to endure your own master's monologue when you join in Limbo! You fake murdering thief!" Not taking her eyes off the center head she tore off the white dress. Ash felt himself dread a nose bleed but was even more surprised when he saw underneath the garment the crimson amazon armor he had imagined Misty wearing when they had done the Prince Goldenrod Radio show. She wiped the too red lipstick off on her arm and tied her hair back in a blood colored bowed ponytail. The Phoenix King was too stunned at seeing his lamb fighting back to react. Optimistic and bold music began to play in the background.

Cupping her hands slightly apart, a glowing white egg with familiar red and blue triangles came into being by an unknown method.

The fiend seemed more frightened of this egg than he had of Mewtwo! "Nooo!"

Licks of fire began to migrate from the Phoenix King to Kasumi's egg, turning into light as they entered, the King's flames becoming deader as the egg glowed brighter, until at last, it burst. Ash shielded his eyes. When he was able to see again, he saw a Togetic, with wings feathery and five times their normal size, and lacking the triangle marks but bearing a multitude of religious symbols. As for the Phoenix King, Ash in the FMV was shocked silent, the beast still had three heads, but he was now thin and skeletal, his wings were all black, red, or ash colored, and Ash could actually see his black heart beating in his rib cage.

"The power you stole is -gone-! It's back where it belongs! We'll never stop fighting! We'll never give up!" Togetic floated above her and a wall of bright light spread over everything. The dramatic and heartfelt FMV finally ended.

PRINCESS KASUMI THE RED MAGE HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY! The blue box read in the black between FMV and game play.

"Where were we during all that?" Bayleef asked, her head spinning, the flaming souls in the background replaced by the larger version of the blown apart tower.

"I have no idea," replied Pikachu.

"Red mage?" Latias asked in confusion.

"I can use white and black magic to a average degree and have able knowledge in sword play," Kasumi explained right next to Ash at the end of the fighting line. Another surprise was when Kasumi was standing along side them as a fifth party member.

"But I thought we could only have four members," Pointed out Pikachu.

Kasumi said calmly looking at the mouse, "I'm an NPC, Non-Player-Character, I don't officially count as part of the team." Togetic was already out on the battlefield in front of her. Their minds were taken off this fact however when a green and a blue 9999 appeared above all their heads, the players and the summons, restoring all their MP and HP followed by a couple of white sparkles that floated on them, undoing their undead status. And the Phoenix King shuddered and dropped to 5901 HP.

"Hot!" Grinned Charizard, not caring why.

Kasumi chose to explain anyway. "He no longer has the power of life, it's back where it belongs. All he has left is death, and it's eating him alive."

"So . . . he's not holy anymore?" Bayleef asked offhandedly.

"Less holy than a door nail!" Kasumi spat.

"All right!" Cheered Ash. "Looks like the only one it's Game Over for is _you_!"

The Phoenix King's voice was now little more than a whispered hiss. "Plans ruined or not, I'll see you all in Hades before me!" A heavy drum rolled began, climaxed by cymbals and going straight into new age rock music, the kind Ash always tried to listen to back at home but his mother said would somehow rot his brain worse than television.

Kasumi's turn automatically came first, being an NPC she didn't have to think about her battle choices, and instead had Togetic cast ANGEL SAFE GUARD spending one third of her MP.

"Alright!" Ash shouted. "Hit him with the best you all have!" Ash knew his choice from the start.

FINAL HEAVEN

Ash jumped into the air, his fist glowing, and hammered the Phoenix King's right head right between the eyes, resulting in a short FMV of a nuclear explosion. The beast made a shout of pain as it lost 900 HP instantly.

"My turn!" Pikachu stated.

LUMINAIRE

Pikachu also attacked the right head, splitting it down the middle, causing 700 points of damage.

"I might not have any Holy Attacks, but I can still dose you!" Bayleef shouted, selecting a spell called ICE 3. She was disappointed when it only did 300 points of damage.

Latias didn't need any instruction either.

HOLY

The uber light attack repeated itself, striking the undead horror for 1000 damage. The right head fell off, dead, destroyed, gone.

"You . . . you . . ." The Phoenix King seethed. "I still have two attack per turn!" The blue box appeared. "I'll kill you all in that one turn!"

HELL FIRE

A stream of black flame washed over the heroes, but instead of taking damage, a white sphere appeared around each of them, flickered and vanished.

"Angel's Safe Guard kicked in!" Kasumi stated. "It negates one attack per party member. Looks like you really only have one attack!"

"No!" The Phoenix King snarled. "If at first you don't succeed!" The attack repeated itself and everyone braced.

HELL FIRE

The worst damage it did however was 100 HP to Bayleef, the rest took around a third of that. "We're still alive?" Bayleef blinked.

"Of course!" Pikachu said. "Remember all the holy equipment he gave us at the start of the fight? Now that he's undead, his attacks are all the same element, he's helpless!"

More than that, the evil bird shuddered as he lost another 100 HP. "You're the one who's just lost this time!" Kasumi snarled. "There is no next turn for you!" She selected from her attack menu GYARADOS ROAR SLASH. Kasumi drew a sword from a scabbard along her lower back side and forward-flipped over the undead bird, slicing him across the head as she did so, in a flash she came across his left and right, leaving a deep cut each time. Kasumi returned to her spot, a red 750 appeared over King's head.

"My turn again!" Shouted Ash, repeating the attack process from before.

"I'm up next!" Pikachu said, again using the same attack, only this time, the head went down from just his Luminaire attack.

"One more to go!" Charizard grinned as only a dragon can.

Bayleef thought for only a few seconds before choosing her next attack. "I don't know why I didn't think of it before . . . if you're a bird, that means that you have a flying element, and that means thunder should hurt you plenty!"

LIGHTNING 3

A large 500 appeared above the Phoenix King's remaining head. "I have just enough to finish this!" Latias said firmly. "Holy!" she selected. The beam of light struck down, and the Phoenix King's HP hit zero . . . and did not go back up.

"No . . . No! Noooooooooooooooooooo! Master forgive me I have failed you!" he cried, somehow managing all those O's with only one breath. He fell to the floor, shaking it with his weight. His undead body falling apart in bits and pieces, lifeless bones shattering, blackened feather flying everywhere. He didn't move.

"Yeah, we did it! We won!" cried Phanphy. The heroes cheered, while Mewtwo stood there, a satisfied grin on his face. Triumphant music played, and everyone got into their victory poses. Phanphy hopped up and down happily, while Mewtwo just crossed his arms over his chest, practically radiating coolness. Kasumi hugged her Togetic and began dancing in a circle.

ASH GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

ASH ROSE TO LEVEL 40!

PIKACHU GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

PIKACHU ROSE TO LEVEL 50!

PHANPHY GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

BAYLEEF GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

BAYLEEF ROSE TO LEVEL 42!

LATIAS GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

MEWTWO GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

MEWTWO ROSE TO LEVEL 80!

KASUMI GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

KASUMI ROSE TO LEVEL 40!

TOGETIC GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

The battle and music ended, and the Phoenix King had somehow reverted back into Master Grave, who was now lying face-down on the floor among his much larger body's parts, a pool of black blood spreading out from him.

Corphish, ever the curious lobster, crawled over to the phoenix man. "Is he really dead this time?" He poked Grave with a claw.

To everyone's surprise, Grave suddenly backflipped off the ground, landing on the altar, drawing a dagger out of his coat. "Ha! I may not have Heart of Light to give to Lord Necros anymore to enable him to stabley enter the world, but even my life's blood will be enough to enable him to come! I may not gain ultimate power, but his presence will destroy this land, this tower, and all of you!" Grave raised the dagger above himself, to plunge it into his own heart, but he never got the chance.

The last remaining window high above him shattered, and a figure screaming in terror fell through, impaling Grave on a giant spear. "KIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLL!" the figure screamed.

Grave stared at the spear sticking through him in disbelief. "Well, fuck." He slumped over on the spear's barbed end, quite dead. The dagger hit the ground and shattered into pieces that dissolved a moment later. There was a sound of anger and frustration from everywhere and nowhere that while frightening at first, swiftly faded into nothing. Sweet, slowly, rather refreshing music started to play. A new FMV began. Starting with the grim reaper altar, it transformed into a nymph-figured angel, and like a downpour on dirt-covered ivory, the blackness of Necros Spire was washed away, revealing beautiful white marble. The undead ran and tried to escape, but were caught by the purifying light, and transformed into cheerful and bright living beings that quickly began to cheer and dance. The camera panned away and upward, showing the tower restored to its former glory. The FMV ended.

"Necros' presence here, is gone." Kasumi smiled, managing to look pretty in spite of her cuts and bruises. "And I don't think he'll be happy with the faker Grave when he sees him."

"Why do you keep calling him faker?" Asked Pikachu of the NPC girl.

Kasumi slowly shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "He was never the Pope, he murdered him and took his face, thinking he could rule that way. He never understood it was the Pope's wisdom and love that made him the man everyone respected. We saw through his farce in a day. So he tried to make a deal with the enemy, and was able to partially allow the god of undeath into the world, corrupting Phoenix Tower. I tried to take him on myself, but as you saw, he hardly played fair."

"You're more Zena than Maid Mary Anne." Mewtwo said, looking the AI up and down intensely, something not quite on key about her for a computer program inside a game.

"Please," Kasumi laughed. "Nobody likes the totally helpless princess stereotype anymore anyway."

"So what exactly saved us?" Bayleef wondered looking at the transformed altar against the pretty blue sky. She gasped at what she saw. "Grovyle!"

Indeed it was. Transformed by the game world, Grovyle was now wearing a tunic with a kilt, armor plates on his tail leaves, high socks and sandals, armored sleeves and shoulders and a draconic helm that covered all of his face and upper body except for a hole in the back for his long leaf and eyeholes revealing terrified yellow orbs. And you already know he's got a spear.

"Another NPC clone like her?" Charizard said, gesturing to Kasumi who flushed with Togetic orbiting loyally around her.

"He isn't like that bird man." Mewtwo said, his eyes narrowed all the more. "He's a Shadow Pokemon!"

"Yeah, he's my Pokemon. Team Cipher captured him and transformed him and tried to use him against us. But we stole him back and started trying to purify him," said Ash. "I wish I knew how he got here."

Mewtwo nodded. "I see. Well, once we are back in our own world, I will see what I can do to fix him up for you."

Ash grinned. "Thanks! We'd really appreciate that."

They started to come over to the lizard, but the Wood Gecko backed into the altar, eyes wide with panic and fright, brandishing his spear at them, which still had Grave at the end of it. "KILL! KILL KILL KILL KILL!" he yelled.

Bayleef clucked sympathetically. "Oh, poor thing. He must have gotten himself all worked up after we left him all alone in the real world. That, and the shock of coming here. He really hasn't been having a good day, has he?"

Suddenly, Grovyle stiffened and stood up straight as a rod. Grovyle spoke in perfect english, surprising everyone. "Great heroes, you have done well this day, the impostor Grave is no more and Necros will not plague this land ever again. And Phoenix Tower is restored, we are in your debt forever."

"Grovyle!" Pikachu said, shocked at this performance.

"Oh don't worry about it." Said Mewgle, appearing out of nowhere. "I just turned him into an NPC."

"WHAT!" Everyone shouted, getting ready for a fight. Mewtwo already knew from the summary his friends had given him who this was.

"Calm down!" Mewgle defended. "He'll return to what passes for normal with him as soon as he returns to his body in the real world. He accidentally logged in here, and he wasn't exactly sane enough to partake in the game, so I just hacked into the programming already installed in his mind and did some creative rewriting. Besides, you needed his help just then and you know it."

"You wanted us to lose," pointed out Ash. "Why help us?"

Mewgle shrugged. "It's part of my programming, I _have_ to assimilate everyone who enters the game world into a proper role. However, since he couldn't do for a player character seeing as how his heart is locked, I had to make do. It was either that or leave him to reek havoc in my world and I wasn't about to do that."

"Well." Said Pikachu resting his tail-sword on his shoulders. "I think it's pretty clear at this point we win. So how about we all get to go home now?"

"Yeah, so can we go back to our world now? I love the cool look, but I'm starting to get tired of lugging this big wheel on my back," said Charizard.

Mewgle smiled. "Of course you can go back! Right after-" There was a distant but powerful explosion that turned the heads of everyone, they saw a mushroom cloud go up and eight familiar figures getting launched into the sky. "Well, it looks like they managed to defeat that boss after all, but you guys did beat them to the win by several minutes so yes you are the winners, and you're all free to go just as soon as Ash kisses Princess Kasumi."

All laughter and joviality in the room ceased abruptly. "Wait, he has to what?" asked Pikachu.

"Kiss the princess, of course," said Mewgle. "He's the leader of the heroes. It's customary for him to get the girl."

"I already have the girl in real life! I don't need to do it here too!" Ash resolved, still not wanting to kiss another girl now that he finally was with Misty.

Mewgle looked ready to say something but instead giggled. "You really _don't_ know much about girls do you?"

"Wha-" Was all Ash had a chance to say before Kasumi with the reflexes of a ninja turned him and planted him one right on the lips. Ash felt electricity go through him and a second later she broke the kiss, looking very pleased. "Whoa . . ." Ash was stunned silent as was everyone else.

Kasumi smiled. "I was supposed to be the virtual equal to your girlfriend in the real world, I just wanted to know what it felt like. Thanks for playing, and for saving me. I couldn't have done it without you."

" . . . You're welcome…Okay Mewgle, we're ready to leave!"

Mewgle blinked. "Huh! But-but-but-aren't you madly in love with her and-Hey! What's that lipstick doing on your arm and not on his face?"

Kasumi blinked at the smear on her arm having completely forgotten about it and looked back at Mewgle. "I wasn't exactly about to bother looking pretty while saving the world so I took it off."

Mewgle exploded. "Agh! You over-independent sub-AI! You're worse than that boatman! I knew I should have made you meeker! And after all the trouble I went through of writing that love potion program into that lipstick!"

"Love potion!" Ash snapped.

Mewgle ignored him and continued to stare down Kasumi. "You're in need of some serious personality readjustment and there's no time like the present."

"You leave her alone!" Ash stood between them.

Mewgle perked up. "Does this mean you're now in love with her?"

"No. But she's a friend and she helped us and just because you made her is no reason to bully her around! Now let us go like you promised!"

Mewgle seethed. "Fine. Go. I'll transfer her program into a grunt monster for the next bunch of power players to hack into bits a million times over to teach her some manners!"

Kasumi's hands shook but she showed no other signs of fear. Mewtwo feeling like he was back at TRHQ listening to Giovanni's talking down of him and concluding something about Kasumi said, "No, I don't think you will be doing that at all." Mewtwo struck his powerful gaze right at Kasumi who suddenly felt confused and small. "Sweet dreams," Mewtwo said simply and Kasumi along with Togetic vanished.

"Wha-wha . . . what did you do?" Mewgle said confused.

"Merely sent her out of your reach."

"What'sthatsupposedto-" Mewgle caught himself. "Oh whatever, it doesn't matter, I still have those half-wits to play with after all, go! All of you! Come again sometime! I promise the game will be much more interesting next time!" Everything went white.

…

A little while later…

"Thanks again for purifying me, Mewtwo!" said Grovyle, who happily was no longer a Shadow Pokemon.

"Don't mention it. I couldn't very well leave you as a mindless beast, now could I?" said the Psychic. He turned to Latias. "And my student…you are looking well. I trust that Ash and his friends are taking care of you? I already sense that you are a little stronger than you were when we parted, more in control of your powers."

She blushed. "Well, I'm sure a lot of that is because we got to level up a bit here in the game world. Though I have been training a lot. I'm still having a bit of trouble attacking, but I can pull off a Recover, Steel Wing or Dragonbreath with almost certain success," she said. "And I'm getting better at Mist Ball."

He nodded. "Very good." A small smile came to his face. He turned to Ash. "I mean no offense, but I must be honest when I tell you that when I first learned Latias was to go off with you and your friends I was somewhat uncertain of her safety. I see now my fear was unwarranted. I underestimated you yet again, Ash Ketchum. My apologies."

Ash looked slightly confused. "Uh, thanks."

Mewtwo looked away, his thoughts taking a different turn. "Remember what I said to you before? About how there is no such thing as a Pokemon Master? Perhaps I was wrong…in a manner, that is. I do not believe it is possible for a person to be an absolute master of Pokemon, regarded the world over as the most powerful trainer of them all, but maybe that's not what being a master actually is. Perhaps it means bonding with your Pokemon, becoming so close to them they are practically-no, _actually_-members of your family. If that is the case, you may very well already be a Master."

Ash blushed. "Oh…come on, I'm not that close to them."

The corner of Mewtwo's mouth turned up. "We shall see." He sighed. "Now, I fear that you and I must depart, Grovyle."

Grovyle blinked. "Depart? But I just got back to normal, can't I stay with my friends?" he asked, gesturing to the others.

"I'm afraid not. It is the will of the Unown," said Mewtwo unhappily.

"The who?" asked Grovyle.

"A bunch of weird other-dimensional guys who recruited us to save the world," said Ash. "Why don't they want us to keep Grovyle?"

"Yeah, why not?" asked Bayleef, who had been hoping they could keep Grovyle around now that he was back to normal and she could get to know him better.

"For the same reasons we agreed that we couldn't keep him before, I'll bet," said Charizard. "He's another mouth to feed, another Pokemon to shelter, and it's against League regulations to walk around with more than six Pokemon per person anyway."

"But that's not fair!" protested Corphish. "Can't he just stay for a little while before he goes? I really wanted to hang out…"

"Or couldn't we work out something like they did between you and Gardevoir?" asked Latias, noticing the heartbroken expression on her friend's face at the prospect of being parted with her crush.

Mewtwo looked distinctly unhappier at this. "Gardevoir and I are both Chosen so the Unown allowed it. Grovyle is not, and for that reason and the ones Charizard stated they will not let him stay. And…" He sighed. "They won't let me see Gardevoir anymore."

"What! Why not!" asked Latias, shocked.

"They said she was distracting me from my studies," he said bitterly. "So they cut us off. I tried to fight it, but they rendered me helpless. In their world, my powers are as of nothing." He shook his head angrily. "Even now, they are calling to me. It has been good to see you all, but I am afraid that we must depart posthaste. Come, Grovyle. I will drop you off at Professor Oak's laboratory before I head back."

Grovyle looked at his friends sadly. They looked back. "Can't I say goodbye first?"

He nodded. "They won't like it, but go ahead."

"Um…right." He looked at Ash first. "Okay…Ash. Thanks for everything, as always. For trying to help me save my tree, for training me, helping me evolve, trying to save me from being a Shadow Pokemon…thanks."

Ash shrugged. "Hey, you're my friend Grovyle. I would have done the same for anyone else."

"And that's why you're such a good trainer, and a good friend." He turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu. I'm glad you survived Seviper's poison. It wouldn't be the same without you around, you know?"

"Well, I'm still here in part because you sacrificed yourself for me. I would have done the same for you, like Ash said," said Pikachu.

"Yeah." Grovyle shook hands-er, paws, with Pikachu. "We'll fight side-by-side again soon. Someday."

"Someday," Pikachu agreed sadly.

Grovyle then turned to Corphish. "Heh. Still haven't evolved, have you?"

"I'm trying," the lobster grumbled. "But not all of us can be Mr. Cool Green Grovyle."

"Yeah, too bad," the Gecko joked. "But you're already looking stronger. I think you'll evolve sometime soon. Just keep on training."

"I never intended to do otherwise. Heh. I'll look forward to fighting alongside you again too." He paused. "I'd shake your hand, but, you know…" He waved his pincers.

"Say no more." Grovyle turned to Charizard, Latias and Phanphy. "I don't really know any of you very well, or at all, but I'd have liked to get the chance to."

"We'll see each other again, I think," said Latias confidently. "And we can get to know each other then."

"And besides, we can always talk to you whenever Daddy calls the lab," Phanphy pointed out.

"Yeah, but it won't be the same as talking with you guys in person. But that'll just have to wait until another time, won't it?"

Charizard smirked. "Guess so. Anytime you want another Flamethrower or Charicific Valley-style massage, you know who to ask!"

Grovyle gulped. "Uh, yeah…" Finally, Grovyle turned to Bayleef, and here he seemed a little lost for words. "Er…Bayleef…"

"Y-yeah?" she said, trying not to blush.

"Um…thanks for the massage. I really liked it."

"Well…maybe I'll give you another one sometime," she said.

He grinned. "I'd like that."

Mewtwo put a hand on the lizard's shoulder. "I would like to stay as well, but we really should be going."

"Okay…wait. Something doesn't feel right." The gecko's eyes scanned the ground. "Ah. There we go." He plucked a weed out of the dirt and stuck it in his mouth. "Much better. Okay, we can go."

"All right." Mewtwo put his hand on Grovyle's shoulder. "Latias, Ash, everyone, I hope to see you again, though hopefully not too soon because that would mean your lives were all in grave danger." He nodded to them. "For now, farewell." He teleported away, taking Grovyle with him.

Saddened by the departure of their two friends, the heroes finished the lunch they had started earlier and then debated on what to do with a very important matter. "What do we do about these guys?" asked Latias, pointing to Team Cipher, who were still sitting around the RPGenerator, their consciousness' trapped inside.

"We could leave them like that. It would mean we could spend a few days without them. Could be nice for a change," suggested Charizard.

Corphish shook his head. "Nah, that's too mean. Let's just send them blasting off like always!"

Ash nodded. "Sounds good to me. Pikachu, you know what to do!"

"Right!" Pikachu tensed his electric sacs and discharged a surprisingly large bolt of electricity at the RPGenerator. The resulting explosion filled the clearing with smoke, blackening them all, and launched Team Cipher into the air, dazed from being jolted so suddenly out of the game world.

"Huh? What's happening?" asked James.

"Weren't we just at the Torchocobo races?" asked a confused Jessie.

"Yeah, and winning too, thanks to the spiked food we fed all the other Torchocobo but the one we bet our money on," said Meowth.

"I guess we're back in the real world now. Ho hum," said James unhappily. He had actually started to enjoy the game world.

"I'm finally free from that-" Cacnea twitched, her brief moment of freedom granted by the hole the virtual Celebi punched through her programming ending. "MURDER!" She pounced on James and started to beat him up for no reason other than that she hated him more than anything else in the real world.

"Ahhhh! Somebody help me!" he cried.

"Chimecho!" said Chimecho, wrapping his tail around James' head and not seeming to notice Cacnea's spiked fists pummeling him as well as his master.

Wobbuffet sighed. "Looks like we're blasting off again," he said as they vanished in a twinkle.

…

A large piece of the RPG-G sailed through the air, until it hit some innocent telephone lines, that just happened to be connected to the Eternal Quest main game servers. As a result: Mewgle looked confused at the flashy and deep graphics around him. "This isn't the RPG-G's main OS . . . this is . . . hahaha! This is too perfect! Alright! _Now_ this is where the fun starts! And I'll never be lonely again!"

While some might think this was going to lead to absolute havoc on the game scene, in reality, now that Mewgle's program no longer had absolute control of the system, the events he secretly set up kept so many players from getting bored with the game, the de-bug team got slipped an order to overlook Mewgle's existence. As long as CircleHard didn't find out about the copyrighted Mew rip-offs existence in their server, that is.

…

Back at the clearing, everyone blinked. "Pikachu, did you mean for that Thundershock to be so powerful?" asked Ash.

Pikachu started rubbing the soot off his face. "No. I don't know what happened!"

Bayleef suddenly remembered something. "Hey, didn't Mewgle say that the leveling up we did in his world would still affect us in the real world too? So now all of us are stronger and stuff?"

"Hey yeah, I forgot about that!" exclaimed Corphish.

"That explains what Mewtwo was talking about earlier," Latias realized.

Ash looked as if he had been struck with a sudden realization. "Hey, I wonder if this means I can smash rocks and stuff like those martial arts guys in movies!" He pulled back his fist to punch a nearby boulder and see for himself.

"Ash, wait-" Pikachu started.

Too late. "OW!" Ash jumped back, cradling his hand in pain. "Okay, I guess I didn't get that much stronger," he said, wincing.

Latias sighed. "Oh, Ash…" She placed a claw on his hand and started to heal it using Recover.

Ash looked embarrassed. "Guess I should leave the fighting to you guys, huh?"

…

Elsewhere…

"No Ash," said Molly, her voice echoing the Unown as she looked at Ash through what might have been a window in the Crystal Unown's world. "I've already seen there are other ways a human can stand toe-to-toe with a Pokemon, even the likes of Mewtwo. The only question is, what path will you choose, and what will be waiting for you at the end of it?" Molly suddenly smiled and turned. "Oh! You're here!"

Her voice totally her own, Molly landed squarely on ground that hadn't been there before her guest had arrived. It was Kasumi, still in her red mage armor. She looked around, uncertain and confused. She took a few steps forward, slightly scared. "Whe-where am I? This isn't part of the RPG-G's OS."

Molly placed two hands on Kasumi's shoulders, the redhead gasped realizing she was now no older than Molly! "Neither CircleHard's programmers, nor Mewgle, had any idea how deep into the collective subconscious the immersion system went . . . You were born of a dream Kasumi."

"A-A dream?" asked the child, her hair now in a sideways pigtail.

"The girl Ash loves, Misty Waterflower, you are like a personification of her innermost Self, you were pulled away from her sleeping mind to play the role of the Princess, even Mewgle didn't know." Molly hugged her, Kasumi suddenly felt very sleepy. "Go back to her, she's waiting for you." Kasumi's form sparkled, and vanished.

Togetic stirred from a dream, a rather weird and strange one, but a rather nice one all the same, it had almost been like he had really been there with Misty and the rest.

Misty groaned and got up from her bed, looked around to see her room and muttered, "Rats. Well, even if it was only a dream, it was good to be with him again…" She smiled and went back to sleep.

…

Back with Ash and friends…

"Yeah, unless you want to become one of those muscle-bound fighter guys like Bruno or Blackbelt," said Pikachu, in response to Ash's previous comment.

An interested look came onto Ash's face. "Hey, I wonder…do you think Misty'd like it if I got all buff and stuff?"

Pikachu groaned and smacked himself. "What have I done? It's not enough for him to want to be the world's greatest Pokemon Master, but a strongman too? Make up your mind, Ash!" The others laughed.

And so another adventure ends for our heroes. What new challenges await them on their journey to the Hoenn League Championships? Like the answer to the mystery of the source of the coming great cataclysm, only time will tell…

…

And that's the end of that story arc. Hope you all enjoyed it! See you next time!


	26. The best Luvdisc Day ever

Okay guys, this chapter is in honor of Valentine's Day. Admittedly, it won't be Valentine's Day by the time you read this, but I started writing it then so that's all that counts, right?

Sir Pudding, you hate Trefoils? DIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE! You mean ALL final bosses only award 1 EXP! What the hell's up with that! That's so unfair! The strange parts, I am sad to say, were written by Alex. I personally liked them (even if they are not what I had planned originally). And you're right, it is spelled Phanpy. But I like my spelling better. J

HVK, is your cooking really that bad?

Lord Karkon, Pi2 stood for my Yahoo screen name, Pikachuband2. Somebody gave me a Thunder Stone in an E-mail, so I evolved to Raichuband 2, or Ri2. Simple as that.

This chapter is the last one my friend Alex Warlorn edited and helped me with. Alex gave me lots of suggestions and typo corrections and stuff, and one or two paragraphs, which I put to use. Alex, thanks for helping me with everything, and I hope you can focus on your own writing career now.

Disclaimer: I own the festival and sculpture in this chapter, as well as some new characters, but nothing else.

…

"Help me master! Protect your loyal servant!" a voice screamed throughout the Realm of Mists.

The Ghost King looked away from his dimensional viewer, in which he had been observing Latias and her companions traveling, as always, an occupation some might consider stalking (but not us). _"Hmm? What's that?"_

A tan blur shot out of the mists and cowered behind the King. "Don't let her find me, lord! Don't let her know I'm here!"

The Ghost King was confused. _"Shedinja? What has frightened _you_ of all creatures so?"_

"Oh Shedinjaaaaa…where are you?" called Misdreavus' voice. She floated out of the mists, looking around for the insect.

Confused, the King decided to ask Misdreavus what's going on. _"Misdreavus, why are you looking for Shedinja?"_ he asked.

Misdreavus looked surprised. "You mean you don't know? I thought you of all people would know what day it is today, my King!"

The King blinked. _"…It can't possibly be Cacturneween, and I know for certain Latias' birthday is not for several months. There are no other holidays that come to mind. What is so special about today?"_

"My lord, 'tis Luvdisc Day, the last day of the Luvdisc mating season, the yearly celebration of love in all its forms!" she explained.

The King's eyes widened. His dimensional viewer took the form of a calendar, and he quickly looked at it. _"Why, so it is! I cannot believe I had forgotten!"_ He looked thoughtful. _"Hmm…this gives me an idea. Misdreavus, have my mediums and craftsmen completed the present?"_

"I believe they have," she recalled.

"Excellent. I want it to be taken to the Ninjask clans with instructions for them to deliver it to Latias before midnight and this day is over," the King ordered.

Misdreavus bowed. "Thy will be done, my lord. But I think Shedinja would be better at dealing with the Ninjask than your other servants."

The King nodded. _"So he would be. Very well, I shall have him deliver the present when he is done with you. He's right behind me. Have fun."_

"MY LORD!" screamed Shedinja in horror as the King flew away, revealing him to the amorous Misdreavus.

"Thank you, your Majesty!" said Misdreavus happily. She giggled and started floating towards the terrified insect. "Come here Shedinja, I just want to give you a kiss…" Shedinja screamed bloody murder and flew away. Misdreavus pursued him. Agh! Why did his vow have to include not harming any of the master's servants unless they had betrayed his will!

The King chuckled to himself as he watched the chase. _"Ah, those two…"_ He turned back to the viewer, which had reoriented itself on Latias. It automatically zoomed in as he looked at her. _"Latias…"_ he murmured. _"Soon, my dear…soon all this pain will end…the anguish and suffering we both feel within our hearts…when the fear and the distrust and the hurt fade away, and we may finally, finally be together…" _His eyes dimmed. _"But that will not happen just yet, I think…not until this Chosen business is finished. But I think there is something I can do to begin the process of healing the wound in your heart…a message to you from the other side…" _He looked away, smiling at the sight of Misdreavus tackling the wailing Shedinja and smothering him with kisses before dragging him away to her private chambers, or what they counted for in this vast space of nothingness devoid of walls, floors, or ceilings. _"Then perhaps the wounds in my own heart and mind may heal, and I can truly begin to live again…"_

… 

Ash and friends had stopped in an average town while continuing their journey to the Hoenn League and had stumbled into a yearly event famous within the Hoenn region. There were heart-shaped decorations everywhere, and pink, red, and white banners and streamers hung from walls and over streets. People walked around in clothing of the same colors, and there were papier-mâché statues and decorations of heart-shaped fish everywhere, on walls, on clothes, on flags waving from buildings. Another interesting thing to point out were the number of couples walking about the streets, holding hands, hugging, making out, all showing expressions of their love in public. And humans weren't the only ones caught up in this, there were numerous Pokemon doing the same thing, except their shows of passion were a bit more…well, playful than that of humans. It was very peculiar.

"Daddy, why is everyone kissing?" Phanphy whined, still in the 'cootie' stage of his childhood.

"Well, uh, I don't know," Ash admitted.

Phanphy noticed a Delcatty couple that was getting a little _too_ intimate. "And what are those kitties doing?"

Pikachu winced and protectively covered Phanphy's eyes. "Little brother, I don't think you're old enough for that kind of thing yet."

"Why?"

"You just aren't."

"Maybe we should just ask what's going on?" Bayleef suggested.

"Yeah, I guess we could do that." Ash walked up to one random couple walking nearby. "Excuse me, could you please tell me what's going on here?"

The male of the couple looked at him in surprise. "You're not from around here?"

"Oh, no!" said Ash. "I'm just travelling with my…sister," he said quickly, remembering that Latias had taken her human form so as not to draw attention when they were around lots of people. "And our Pokemon," he added.

"Why aren't they in their Pokeballs?" asked the female.

"Oh, we don't believe in Pokeballs. We think they're too confining and unfair for the Pokemon," Ash lied.

"Isn't that inconvenient, though?" asked the female. "What do you do if one of them is injured and you're nowhere near a Pokemon Center?"

"One of them can use Recover," Ash said truthfully. "And yeah, I guess it is inconvenient at times, but that's part of training isn't it? Taking the good along with the bad? We just do it a little differently than some others, I guess."

"You don't say," she said thoughtfully.

"So anyway, could you tell me what's going on around here?" Ash did his best to get off the unwanted subject.

"Sure," stepped in the male. "Its Luvdisc Day, the tail end of the Luvdisc mating season. Every year, the Luvdisc from the seas migrate inland to choose who they will mate with and produce eggs. The ceremony is performed at a special lake several miles north of here, passing through a river our town and several others are built around. Luvdisc are traditionally seen as symbols of romance, and it's said that any couple who sees a Luvdisc swimming by is guaranteed a long and lasting relationship. So we celebrate their annual passing through with a festival dedicated to the miracle of life and of love. They chose their mates at the lake a couple of days ago, and should be passing through town sometime at noon on their way back to the ocean. In fact, me and Melissa here were going to go watch them as they swim by, so we should probably get going."

"Okay," waved Ash as the couple set off at a slight higher pace than before. "Thanks for the explanation."

"You know Ash, you should probably get something for Misty, since those two said this is the last day of the Luvdisc Festival," said Pikachu, hopping onto his trainer's head.

"You think?"

"Yeah, as a Water Pokemon enthusiast she probably knows all about this holiday. She'd probably love it if you gave her something special to commemorate it and your own relationship," suggested Charizard. "Take it from a guy with experience, getting your girlfriend something on a romantic holiday can go a long way towards a big reward later on, heh heh," he said with a wink that went over Ash's head.

"Er, okay," said Ash, seeing more the logic in what Pikachu said and switching into trainer mode. "Okay, I know what I'll do! I'll catch her a Luvdisc!"

"She has one, daddy!" Phanphy cut short. "She brought him over one day to be looked at by Mr. Oak. She thought he was sick, Mr. Oak said it was called lovesickness."

"Oh…then I'll get her a second Luvdisc to keep hers company!" Ash restarted.

"He already has a friend, she's part of one of the auntie's teams," continued the elephant.

Ash nearly lost half his weight as he slumped. "Well, then what am I supposed to get her!" he asked in frustration. "I don't know what girls like!" He turned to Latias and Bayleef. "You two are girls, what do you think she'd like?" Ash asking females of a different species to the interests of Misty should be a clear sign of Ash's own ignorance on the subject, and still not quite understanding the difference between humans and pocket monsters. Poor boy.

Latias pointed at a nearby poster. "Maybe that?" she suggested telepathically.

Ash looked. The poster showed the biggest pair of water stones ever seen, carved into the shape of two kissing Luvdisc. "'Enter the Annual Lover's Competition,'" Ash read out loud. "'Be the only boyfriend to bring your ladylove something to make her smile. First prize is the one-of-a-kind 'Discs in Love' sculpture by Wallace Waters the Great'. Wow! It's perfect!" said Ash.

"Whoa," said Pikachu. "Whoever is holding this contest must be loaded, Stones are pricey as it is, the statue looks like you could buy Pallet with it!"

"Mommy would love those!" Phanphy trumpeted, reaffirming Ash's decision.

"Okay, then it looks like I'm entering that competition!" Ash declared.

Latias and Bayleef examined the rules and fine print listed on the poster. "It says each contestant can take only one Pokemon with them," said Bayleef. "I guess the choice there is obvious, right?"

"Yeah, I'd like to take Pikachu…if that's okay with you guys?" Ash asked uncertainly.

"It's okay, I'm sure the rest of us can find something to do…" Charizard shrugged. "For one thing, I should probably get Charla a present too. Something to make her happy…"

"Speaking of making girls happy, I think I'd better be off then," blurted Corphish, starting to scurry away from the group.

"What do you mean? Where are you going?" asked Ash.

Corphish quickly checked to see if Phanphy was listening, noticed he was focusing all his limited attention span on some especially colorful Luvdisc banners dancing in the breeze, then chuckled and started to explain. "Didn't you hear that guy? The Luvdisc are swimming by soon. It stands to reason that not all of the ladies will have gotten laid during the big mating thing, so good ol' Samaritan Corphish is gonna help em' out while they're still too pumped with hormones to say no. I should remember to thank that guy for telling us it's Luvdisc Day, if it weren't for that I would have totally forgotten!"

Ash was appalled. "Corphish! How could you do such a thing? Not even Brock would stoop that low! Well, maybe Brock, if he were really desperate…" he admitted.

Corphish looked offended. "What? You say it like I'm doing a bad thing! Do you know what'll happen to those poor girls if they don't have eggs? They'll be banished from their schools due to their inability to produce offspring! They'll be captured by trainers if they're lucky, but more likely they'll be caught by fishermen or eaten by Sharpedo. And with the number of wild Luvdisc constantly decreasing due to overzealous fishermen, trainers, and predators, they need all the baby-capable females they can get!" He rapped a claw on his chest. "By mating with the Luvdisc, I'm doing them a favor! I'm providing them with eggs so that they can continue living with their schools and keep the number of wild Luvdisc reasonably high. My family's been doing it for generations! Why, if my Craw-daddy hadn't helped out a poor Luvdisc as she passed by his hermitage one day, I might never have been born!"

Ash looked stunned by this proclamation. The others looked dubious. "But when Pokemon crossbreed, there's always a chance that the baby will be either one or the other of the parents species. What happens if they lay Corphish eggs along with Luvdisc?" asked Pikachu.

Corphish laughed. "No problem! My Craw-Daddy told me about this when I had the same concerns as you. Luvdisc lay eggs in bunches of fifty or sixty at a time. Corphish and Luvdisc eggs are the same size at the start, and only become distinguishable as they develop. Most fish eggs either die or are lost before they can hatch, so it's relatively easy for the mother Luvdisc to arrange an 'accident' that causes the eggs she recognizes as Corphish eggs to get scattered to the currents, where most of them will end up on islands or in other Pokemon's bellies."

"That's horrible!" Ash interrupted. "How could they do something like that?"

Corphish shrugged. "Fish Pokemon are less attached to their eggs than mammal or lizard Pokemon are. They lay so many at a time they don't really care if they lose a few to accidents or hunger. My egg got swept up in the current and landed on Dewford Island, where my Craw-Daddy found and raised me to be the upstanding Corphish I am now, helping Luvdisc in need to continue both our species. The fact that I get free sex is just a side benefit of my selfless acts."

"What's sex?" Phanphy asked innocently, having lost interest in the banners in time to hear Corphish's last sentence.

"We'll tell you when you're older," Bayleef said quickly.

Ash looked doubtful. "I don't know, Corphish…this doesn't seem right to me."

Corphish decided to play on Ash's sentimental side. "But Ash, if I don't help them out, they'll probably die! Can't you just picture it? Dozens of poor, miserable Luvdisc, blameless in everything but their inability to get a mate, cruelly exiled from their schools and families and forced to wander the cold, dark ocean. Some of them will get caught by fishermen and sold for food in restaurants. Sharpedo, Gorebyss, or other predators of the deep will eat most of them. And each of them will die without getting the chance to further their species' numbers, which means the Luvdisc population will get smaller and smaller each year, until finally there are none left. And what'll we have to celebrate on the Luvdisc mating season then, Ash? I'll tell you what: nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Ash still looked uncertain, but the story of all those poor unloved Luvdisc struck a chord in Bayleef's heart, reminding her of her own brushes with loneliness, and she burst into tears. "All right, all right! Go already!" she wailed.

Corphish grinned. "Thank you Bayleef. And the Luvdisc will thank you too, I think." He skittered off before anyone could stop him, laughing to himself at how easy people were to manipulate.

"Corphish!" Ash yelled, trying to stop his horny Pokemon. But it was too late, and the lobster had vanished into a large crowd of people. He sighed. "Great, nice going Bayleef."

"Sorry, I can't resist sob stories," she said sheepishly.

Latias cleared her psychic throat, flushing along with everyone else at their teammate's shameless display. "Well, if Corphish is getting laid-ahem, helping poor virgin Luvdisc, and Ash and Pikachu are going to compete, what should Bayleef, Phanphy and I do?"

"We'll need someplace to spend the night after we're done with the contest. Do you guys think you can check us in at a Pokemon Center?" Ash asked.

"Well, that'll be a little hard, seeing as I'm mute and can only communicate telepathically with friends, not strangers," Latias pointed out. "Not to mention there's hardly anybody in the world who seems to understand sign language."

Ash sweatdropped. "Oh yeah."

"Hey, maybe they can come with me while I look for a present for Charla," suggested Charizard. "They could probably help me pick something out for her, what with being of the feminine persuasion and all that. And maybe we could find something for the kid, too," he said, patting Phanphy on the head.

"Oh boy, does this mean I get a present?" the elephant asked hopefully.

"If Ash'll lend me the money," said Charizard, holding a claw out to the boy.

Ash raised an eyebrow, then handed his wallet to Latias. "Here, if you're going with them then I trust you with this more than Charizard. At least you won't spend all our money getting your wings waxed." Charizard looked embarrassed at that. "Besides, Latias, er, Bianca looks human, you don't," he corrected. As a group decision they had chosen that Latias should use an alias while wearing her human face so as not to raise too many eyebrows. Latias was the one who suggested the name.

"Actually, my wings _could_ use a good waxing…" Latias mused.

"Latias!"

"Just kidding!" she said. "Actually, I wouldn't mind going window shopping. It's something Bianca and I used to do…" She seemed sad for a moment, but quickly brightened up, or at least hid the bitter feelings that were trying to well up. "And now maybe it's something I can do with my new friends," she said, half-forcing a smile.

"I've never gone shopping before," said Bayleef. "Do you think I'll like it?"

"You might," said Latias. "You just have to find out for yourself."

Pikachu glanced at the poster. "Hey Ash, we'd better get moving. The contest starts in only a couple of minutes!"

"Yikes! Gotta go guys, meet you later at the Pokemon Center!" Ash ran off so fast Pikachu almost fell off and had to grab on to the back of his hat to stay on.

"Hey, watch out, you've got a passenger remember?" the mouse cried as they left the rest of the group in the dust.

…

Ash and Pikachu followed a series of conveniently placed signs to the front of a large mansion, where an even larger group of anxious male humans of all different ages were waiting. "Wow, I didn't think there would be quite so many other trainers," said Ash, surprised.

"Well, I guess there's a lot of boyfriends whose girls would love to have a Water Stone sculpture," Pikachu pointed out.

They were out of range of Latias' telepathy, but Ash knew Pikachu well enough to get the gist of what he was saying. "I guess so. I hope we don't have to go against _all _of them to get the statue," he said.

"Me too," said James glumly, who had been next to Ash this whole time but had been too insignificant to notice before.

Ash and Pikachu blinked. Not only was it rare to see James without Jessie, it was even rarer for them not to be in one of their disguises (perhaps their only true talent, other than making holes). "What are you doing here!"

"Oh, hello twerp," said James unhappily without a trace of his usual overconfident arrogant self. He had forsaken his usual Team Cipher uniform for an ugly Hawaiian shirt and short shorts. He was still wearing his Snag Device, though, along with the left sleeve of his uniform. Chimecho was happily wrapped around his forehead like a giant living headband. "Sorry, but there's no brilliant evil plan today," automatically defended James, his voice totally monotone. "Jessie sent me here to win the sculpture for her while she and Meowth and Wobbuffet went on a shoplifting spree. Ho-hum. I wish I were with them."

Ash of course didn't believe this for a second. "You're actually going to try and win a prize honestly instead of stealing for once? Don't make me laugh!"

James shrugged. "Eh, I'll steal it when I lose, then you blast me off. You can skip right to the end if you want to that badly. Then again, seeing you're here I think I'll take Jessie's beating over another zap from your Pikachu. I'm still recovering from the shock you gave us yesterday." Right on cue, James' hair suddenly shot straight up, sparkling with static. Chimecho of course didn't notice. "So I think I'll just try, lose, and walk away for once."

"Oh…uh…" Ash wasn't sure how to deal with his enemy not really planning on doing any evil for once. "Well…good luck, I guess," he said awkwardly.

James made a faint smile. "Thanks, I'll need it."

"Can I ask a question, though?" Ash pointed, despite what his mom had told him about not doing it.

James moaned to his own fate. "Go ahead."

Ash's voice turned slightly dark. "Why are you wearing your Snagger if you're not going to try and steal any Pokemon?"

James looked at the gadget on his arm. He got an angry look on his face. "Oh, this? I couldn't get it off this morning. Jessie had to cut off the left sleeve from the rest of my uniform just so she could pull it off. I think that electroshock your Pikachu gave us yesterday fused it to my arm. This is all your fault! Now I'm stuck with this thing forever!" His earlier reluctance and unhappiness forgotten in this sudden unexpected and uncharacteristic rage, James continued to rant. "I paid good money for that custom-designed uniform and this hunk of junk! And now they're both ruined, thanks to your stupid rat!" Furious and obviously not thinking clearly, he pulled back a fist. "Maybe I should ruin that precious hat and handkerchief of yours as payback!" He giggled with a crazed look in his eyes.

Now, Ash and Pikachu weren't in the least bit afraid, although they were slightly concerned for their annoying enemy's sanity. In his rage, James seemed to have conveniently forgotten that Pikachu still remained on Ash's hat, and would have no problem electrocuting James if he so much as breathed on his roost which just happened to be Ash's prized hat or the even more precious love note inside. So the mouse rolled his eyes, sighed, and started charging up his electric sacs to send James blasting off again when a black-clad hand placed itself on James' shoulder feeling like a vice grip, combined with an unknown voice that was slow, calm, cold, and rather frightening. James' body froze in its tracks from the sheer presence. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

James yelped and turned around and saw a young man a little younger than James walking towards them. He wore a long blue trenchcoat with red pockets and lining. His skinny body was clad in a seamless set of black clothing underneath his long jacket. His messy white hair was held back from his face by a mirrored visor pushed back over his forehead, revealing a pair of intense yellow eyes over a nose coated with a stripe of white paint. A lean, dangerous-looking Umbreon strolled next to him, looking like a weapon on a hair-trigger.

James was intimidated by the man's fierce aura and instantly backed down. "I-I wasn't going to hurt him, honest!"

The man narrowed his eyes and spat at James' feet. "Yeah, like I'd believe the word of anyone wearing a Snag Device. Where'd you get it?"

James looked nervous. Nobody but the twerp was supposed to know what the device was. "Get what?"

Umbreon hissed, and Wes looked like he was going to do the same. "The thing on your arm, dipshit!"

James gulped and his eyes darted around, looking for a way out. Ash and Pikachu stood on the sidelines in the meantime, totally bewildered and confused. "Er, this? It's just an armband my mother-in-law gave me! She hates my guts, you know."

The man and the Umbreon weren't buying it. The black night fox hissed and pounced at James without hesitation, knocking him to the ground wailing. The blue-haired man screamed as the Umbreon attacked pure melee style, clawing and biting at the helpless screaming opponent while Chimecho laughed gleefully. Responding to James' screams, even if he was an enemy, Ash stepped forward. "What are you doing! He may be a member of Team Cipher, but that doesn't mean you can attack him for no reason!"

The man blinked in surprise. "Did you say…he's a member of Cipher?"

"That's TEAM Cipher!" James yelled in between vicious attacks.

The man ignored James, giving Ash the full glare behind his deadly yellow eyes. "Does he have Shadow Pokemon, too?"

Ash took a step back, startled by this person's intensity. "Uh, yeah, he has a weird-acting Cacnea and his partner has a Dustox and a Seviper. They call them Shadow Pokemon because the doors to their hearts have been closed or something."

The man's frown turned to alarm. "Umbreon! Get off him!" The midnight fox obeyed. The man bent over and grabbed James by the collar before he could scurry away. "Talk. What are you doing with a Snag Device and Shadow Pokemon? What do you have to do with Cipher?"

Terrified, James sang like a Swablu, talking a mile a minute. "Two days, three weeks and two months ago, our old boss, bless his soul, was killed by his new science aid Ein, he renamed our Team Rocket Team Cipher. Then he gave us the new snazzy uniforms and cool Snag Devices and promised we could make our Pokemon stronger through some 'Shadow' process. Pleasedonthurtme-Pleasedonthurtme-Pleasedonthurtme!"

The man snarled at the name. "Ein! Dammit! I though that pig was still-Agh!"

Wes dropped the pathetic villain back on the ground in frustration. "Hold on!" Pushed in Ash. "Who's Ein?"

The man glared at him. "He's the mad scientist who may have invented the Snag Device and decidedly the one who created the Shadow Process, I guess I shouldn't be surprised with a rep like that he found a new job!"

"Er, yes." James looked up apologetically. "But he just stepped down and let someone _else_ take charge. A really creepy guy called Nascour is the Boss now! He's right out of a nightmare! He makes Chimecho cry! And his hair _moves_!" squealed James.

"Nascour! Whatever happened to maximum security-alright, just tell me a man named Evice and three colorful but psychotic clowns are now part of your gang's pecking order too and get it over with."

"Who?" James blinked stupidly on his back.

The man let out a sigh of relief. "So Nascour left the rest of his gang to rot, well that's one good thing . . . " He looked concerned for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a man named Gonzap, would you? Bald, big, ugly, zigzag moustache?"

"N-never seen the guy," defended James.

"Looks like the coward hasn't gotten around to that promise of revenge yet, not that he kept promises in the first place." The man now actually looked somewhat cheered by the information. "Thanks for the info, if you want to make it easy on yourself you'll just give me what Shadow Pokemon you have along with your Snagger and I'll let you run along."

James gulped. "I-I can't!"

The man raised an eyebrow. "No?" He snapped his fingers, and his Umbreon started growling. "I think you might want to reconsider that real quickly."

"No, I really mean I can't!" James cried. "I could only choose one Pokemon to bring to this contest, so I chose Chimecho! My Shadow Pokemon is violent and wants to kill me, so I left her with my partner Jessie who's also violent and wants to kill me, while I won the statue for her!"

"Ah." The man called his Umbreon off, his face showing no sympathy. "In that case, give me the Snag Device."

"I can't do that either!" Umbreon started growling louder. "No really, I can't!" He tugged on the shoulder pad and gauntlet, demonstrating that they couldn't come off. "You see? That twerp's Pikachu's electric attacks fused it to my sleeve, and almost to my skin! You'd need to amputate to get it off!"

The man frowned. "Great. Too bad Rui made me release all my purified Pokemon, Sneasel'd be able to handle that problem easily…"

"Purified?" James asked ignorantly.

"When a Pokemon is freed from its shadow Pokemon programming," The man said simply.

"You mean-" James said meekly at first then grabbed onto the man's coat with stars in his eyes, this seriously creeped the yellow eyed youth out.

"You mean there's a _way_! Please tell me! Pleasepleaseplease! I'll be your slave forever! Just turn Cacnea back to normal!" James begged.

The man shoved James away and looked him up and down. "Hmmph. I know thieves and you don't look like you'd be able to steal candy from a baby. Even with that Snag Device, you're hardly a threat. Heh, if Cipher's relying on grunts as pathetic as you, they're nothing to worry about." He growled. "The contest's about to start, and Rui wouldn't be happy if I let a little 'fun' get in the way of winning her a prize. Get lost for now, but don't try getting away after this contest is over, I'll want you to lead me to your teammates so I can get those Shadow Pokemon of yours and see about fixing that Cacnea. And I have a few other questions for you regarding Cipher..." James willingly got up and ran for his life. He would have ran away from the contest itself, but from long experience he feared Jessie's wrath more than whatever threats this man held. The man allowed himself a brief smile and patted his Umbreon on the head. He turned to face Ash. "Well, it was good luck running into you, I haven't had the chance to frighten any punks all week."

Ash blinked. "Um…sorry if I'm being rude, but…who are you?"

The man grunted. "That's none of your business." His sour look vanished when he noticed Ash's Pokemon. "So, you've got a Pikachu…"

"Yeah, what of it?" Ash said, getting defensive, there was something about this guy he just didn't like!

The man held up his hands. "Hey, relax! My girlfriend's grandpa has a Pikachu. He's a strong one too, about level 50."

"Ha! I can beat that!" Pikachu boasted.

Ash smirked. "My Pikachu seems to think he can beat him. Where's this grandpa live?"

The man chuckled. "In the Orre region. And trust me kid, that place is way too tough for a squirt like you. It was almost too tough for me, so it's way out of your league and your class."

Ash's anger rose. He hated being called a squirt and getting talked down to. "Oh yeah? Well I've fought in the championships for three leagues and intend to take the title in this one. Is that tough enough for you?" Ash asked.

The man shrugged. "This is only the second region I've ever been in, but I'm champion of all four Coliseums back in Orre, as well as the only person to ever complete the 100-floor Mt. Battle Challenge. And I intend to win this league, too. I originally came here with my girlfriend, that's Rui by the way, to see the sights, but if you're a trainer kid-"

"My _name_ is Ash."

"Well, _Ash_, if you're a trainer then you know what it's like when you see a competition, and I intend to enter the Championships and win."

"Well, I only actually won in one League…" Ash admitted, then started right back up. "But I've taken on and beaten the worst and best of three (well, four counting the newly renamed Team Cipher) different gangs of thugs!"

The man smirked. "I've totally DISMANTLED two criminal organizations, beat that!"

Ash blinked. "Uh…well, I've captured…" He did a quick count. "At least 52 Pokemon! Although 30 are Tauros and I let most of the others go," he admitted.

"Heh. I've captured almost a hundred…although most of them I captured when I was still working for…er…my old job, so I didn't get to keep them, and about forty were Shadow Pokemon which Rui wouldn't let me keep once they were purified." He scowled at that.

"Oh yeah? Well…" Ash thought for a moment. "I've met at least sixteen legendary Pokemon!"

At this, the man looked impressed. "Wow. Really? You captured all of them?"

Ash sweatdropped. "Well, only one of them, technically…" he said, thinking of Latias. "But I became good friends with some of the others!"

"Well, I've only seen four legendaries, but I captured all of them!" boasted the man, this time in a lower voice to keep anyone but Ash from hearing him.

Now it was Ash's turn to be impressed. "Wow, really? Which ones?"

"Entei, Suicune, Raikou, and Ho-Oh," he said. "But Rui made me let the three beasts go because they had been Shadow Pokemon, but I kept Ho-Oh. He chose me as his worthy trainer after I saved his land from Cipher's Shadow Pokemon Plan."

"Wow…" said Ash, awed. Then he frowned, suddenly remembering that he had seen Ho-Oh in the Unown's world, and not only did she sound female, but she also was granted immunity to Pokeballs like the other Chosen. How could this guy have one that was male, then? "That can't be right…I saw a Ho-Oh a few weeks ago, and it didn't look like it had a trainer, and I think it might have been female."

The man looked suspicious. "Where was this?"

"Oh, uh…I can't remember," he said quickly.

Wes grunted. "Well, my Ho-Oh complains from time to time about some other Ho-Oh he used to know whenever he sees me and Rui getting 'affectionate'…shuts himself up in his Pokeball, muttering about a bitch and how he hates women. Maybe that was the one you saw…if you saw one at all, which I kinda doubt."

Ash nodded. "That must be it…Do you think I could see yours, then?"

The man winced. "He doesn't like being showboated around to fanboy trainers. Actually, he's not much help in battle either. He's too arrogant to listen to me and just does whatever he wants. Most of the times when I call him out he outright refuses to fight. He says that it's just not his purpose with me to fight regular battles. He's promised he'll fight with me on the battles he says we're 'destined' to fight together. Whatever that means. I think all that prophecy stuff is a bunch of baloney." Ash decided _not_ brag about how Lugia had chosen _him_ centuries before he was even born. The man put his hands in his pockets. "What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town!" Ash said proudly and defiantly.

"Ash, huh? My name's Wes. I don't have a hometown or a last name that I know of, heck, half my life everyone around me just called me _you_." The only real exception to that Wes thought had been Gonzap, who always called Wes 'Boy.' "But hey, it's not like I need one." He smirked. "I'm not exactly what you'd call social, and I don't particularly like kids, but…there's something about you…" He chuckled. "Well, I wish you luck in this contest Ash Ketchum, you'll need it if you're going to fight me for that rock. And you'll need a lot more than that in the Hoenn championships, when we both face each other."

"I'll look forward to it," said Ash, a smirk much like Wes' on his face.

Wes nodded. "Well, see ya kid." He walked off, followed by his Umbreon.

Pikachu groaned and shook his head. "Great, looks like we've found our Richie or Harrison for this League. I hope we don't lose to him in the championships only for him to lose to someone else, indicating we need still more training and causing us to set off to yet another new region and start all over again, _again_." Of course, that was too much of a mouthful for Ash to understand, but he still felt he had to say it, ever since Ash had beaten Gary, it was like there was something missing inside Ash, some drive he had always had before.

It was then that the front door to the big mansion opened up, catching the whole crowd of boyfriends' attention. A man wearing a typical white wig stepped out into the sunlight, his curly moustache bristling in the breeze. "Ladies, gentlemen, Pokemon, and little gray aliens who like to stick things into people's holes, lend me your ears! Not seriously, though, that would be disgusting." Everyone stared at him in confusion. "I am Horatio Nimsy-Porpington De-Mented XXIII, and I am proud to welcome you all to this year's Lover's Competition." He paused for a moment, then continued. "As contestants from previous years will remember, the competition consists of weaving your way through a complex and booby-trapped maze inside of my mansion, relying on the abilities of your Pokemon and your fairy godparents to make your way to the grand prize. However," he said, a deep-set scowl on his face. "A horde of Gulpin burst out from a pipeline underneath the maze and have currently infested it. Normally I would ignore them and send you into the maze anyway with the Gulpin gulpin' as they gulped down on you contestants, but the voices in my head said otherwise…So I'm afraid that this year we will be doing the competition differently than usual." He grinned impishly. "The voices in my head will select four of you brave young men to fight against each other in a short Pokemon tournament right here on the lawn. Good thing I had each of you bring one Pokemon, eh?" He grinned and stepped aside to reveal the beautiful sculpted water stones. "Whoever wins the tournament will receive this sculpture. Second place nets them fifty bucks, fourth place a hunk of charcoal, and third place my favorite brassiere."

Ash stared at the clearly insane man in disbelief. "This guy's crazier than the guy who ran that Trick House!" Pikachu nodded in agreement, at least _that_ crazy guy had pizzazz!

Horatio held up a hand to silence the onslaught of angry shouts and protests at how stupid this was from all the hopeful competitors. "Now, now, I will need absolute silence to hear the voices!" He closed his eyes, stuck a finger on his forehead, and spun around three times on his right foot. When he stopped, his eyes flew open and he pointed at someone in the crowd. "You! The man with the cyborg arm, blue hair, and Chimecho hat! Come up here!"

"Who, me?" asked James in disbelief.

"Yes you, get up here!" James swiftly complied, shoving his way past the angry, _angry_ men to reach the foot of the stairs leading up to the mansion's front door. "You're one of the four contestants who will compete for the grand prize!"

"I am?" James asked in disbelief. "Did you hear that, Chimecho? We may have a chance after all!"

"Chiiiii!" agreed his faithful Pokemon.

"Now let's see, our second contestant will be…you, the vampire in the blue cape, with your dark familiar next to you!" said Horatio, pointing at Wes.

Wes rolled his eyes. "I'm not _that_ pale, am I?" Umbreon gave no reply as the two started for the stairs.

"Now, for our third contestant…you, the handsome young pharaoh, wearing the red and black crown signifying dominion over Upper and Lower Egypt, with your golden uraeus!" cried Horatio, pointing to Ash. "Lu-Gi-Oh!"

Ash sweatdropped. "Is he talking about us?" Pikachu made a crazy sign saying "Uhc-ak-ip," as they headed up for the steps. James glared at Ash as he came up, while Wes just smirked. James secretly knew his chances for victory had just went out the window.

"And for our final contestant…" Horatio's eyes rolled up in his sockets and he spoke in tongues for several seconds. "You! You glorious, beautiful thing, you golden example of masculinity and beauty, with your majestic black dragon! Come up here, O great Adonis!"

James looked at the others. "How come we didn't get that appraising an introduction?"

The crowd parted like the Red Sea before Moses or a bachelorette party before Brock, revealing two people of such exquisite beauty that they could not possibly be human, and yet they seemed to be. Like someone had taken humanity's best features, and exaggerated them to the point of absurdity. One was male, one was female, and it was to the male that the madman Horatio had referred to. He was seven feet tall, his body bulging outward with chiseled, toned muscles that looked like they had been sculpted from stone rather than formed from exercise. His perfect chest was covered in a very tight red T-shirt that did nothing to hide his bulging muscles. His baggy blue jeans were not loose enough to conceal his enormous groin, the envy of all other men in the world. His feet were covered in hiking boots that looked like they had just been purchased from the store, which was odd since the thirty or fifty Pokeballs hanging from his belt indicated he was a trainer, and trainer's clothes were usually worn out or dirty in some way from their lengthy travels. Not to mention of course it was completely illegal for any trainer in existence to carry more than six Pokemon at once. His face was so handsome that any woman who looked upon it would fall instantly and madly in love with him and probably many men would too, if it weren't for the fact that every part of his face was so beautiful it actually clashed with the rest of his face, making it seem garish and ugly. It was hard not to be nauseated by his sapphire blue eyes and hair that seemed to be made of spun gold, because it was so cliché if anything else. There was just something so non-human about it. Standing next to him was a shiny black Salamence with silver horns, white wings, glassy blank yellow eyes, and a crimson belly. A shining Pokemon. The rarest of the rare. Most trainers lived and died without ever even seeing one, believing them to be myths.

The female was so perfect and beautiful she could easily have been mistaken for a goddess. She wore a beautiful silk dress with sequins, pearls, and diamonds sewn into its fabric, along with colorful images of flowers, trees, butterflies, unicorns, etc. Her feet were in excessively high heels that not even a supermodel would be caught dead in wearing, because their ankles would probably break from trying to walk around in them, yet the woman seemed to be perfectly all right. Though one must wonder how she could possible go on the road training with shoes and a dress like that. Her skin was so pale that she looked almost like an albino, but she was in broad daylight and didn't seem to be suffering, so there had to be something else going on. Her dainty pink nails were filed to exquisite points, and each finger was clad in sparkling jeweled rings. When Wes and Ash looked her hair was red, when James looked her hair was yellow, it seemed to change to be the ideal of the man looking. The same could be said of her eyes, which switched colors in the same manner. This flawed her otherwise perfect face, so although at first and probably the next several glances she looked beautiful, the eyes and hair were just too weird. That didn't stop lots of guys from drooling all over her very large bosom, though…or maybe they were admiring the solid gold brooch with a tiny jagged chip of some strange purple crystal framed in it. It was probably just the sunlight or the girl's skin, which oddly enough seemed to glow, but it almost looked like the crystal itself was being illuminated from within. Oh, and she had both wolf and cat ears, three fox tails, and angelic wings, but only our heroes seemed to think there was anything wrong with that. But since nobody else was saying anything, none of them thought of speaking out.

On her shoulder was a Vulpix. Or was it an Eevee? No, wait it was actually a Pikachu…a red-brown shiny female Pikachu, in fact. Silly me, how could I mistake a mouse for a fox? Unlike the Salamence however, this Pokemon's eyes were full of emotion. Pikachu was startled as he looked into them from Ash's hat. Even from a great distance, he somehow felt like she was in deepest and uttermost misery and sorrow.

Such sorrow…not even Latias, who still occasionally regressed into bouts of depression when something reminded her very painfully of how much she had lost, had that much misery in her eyes. After a moment, the shiny Pikachu looked away, leaving our hero Pikachu feeling confused. _What the heck was that? She doesn't look abused, I'm far off but I don't see any scars or anything…what's wrong with her?_

"cum demondeathkillr!" said the handsome man. "letz winn mi butifull angel fromm heavn her treazur."

James looked dumbstruck (more so than normal). "That had to be the worst english I have ever heard." Ash and Wes nodded in mute agreement.

The girl caressed the man's arm, looking up at him with love in her eyes…or was it just lust? "Oh darling, win me that sculpture and I promise you a hot night of torrid lovemaking." She only looked about fourteen. What was she doing having sex at that age?

"Nything for u, mi angel," said the man, heading up to the steps with his weird Salamence. He stopped at the bottom and looked up at Horatio with the kind of arrogance that almost isn't arrogance, where you believe you are so far above everyone else you don't even need to act superior to them because you know you already are. "I iz Berry Stoo, end thiz r demondeathkillr. We iz goeng too winn!"

Horatio smiled. "I don't doubt you will at that, Mr. Stoo. Now, everybody else, get lost, you are not wanted here. Except for you, my gorgeous Aphrodite," he said to the garishly beautiful woman. "Leave now or I will unleash my Houndoom with Beedrill in their mouths so that when they bark they spit flaming Beedrill and show on my giant outside screen TV Miror B's latest music video direct from prison!"

A giant TV popped up from nowhere behind him and clicked on to show a man in a dance pose with a huge afro and sun glasses dressed in a sparkling black and white striped prison uniform. "Yow!" Said Miror B on the TV, and the mad man quickly hit pause on the VCR. Growling and hurling numerous death threats at Horatio, yet not wanting to subject themselves to such artistic horror, the crowd reluctantly went away, leaving Ash, Pikachu, James, Chimecho, Wes, Umbreon, Berry, demondeathkillr, Horatio, and the woman and her Pikachu behind. Horatio tossed costumes to the four contestants. "Now, quickly, get into these costumes!"

"Why?" asked Ash, looking at his costume dubiously.

"Because if you don't, I'll hit play on the VCR!"

Wes was already pulling off his coat. "I'd do what he says if I were you, kid. You don't want anything to do with anything associated with Miror B." He shuddered. "I still have nightmares about his dancing Ludicolo."

"I always thought it was kind of catchy," Umbreon muttered.

Wes rolled his eyes. "Of course you would, you're a Dark-type."

Umbreon frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" Wes didn't answer.

A few minutes later, the four contestants were in their respective costumes. James was wearing a very frilly pink ballerina outfit and tutu. He looked comfortable in it. Almost too comfortable. Wes had used face paint to make himself very pale, put red contacts in his eyes, fangs in his mouth, a black wig on his hair, and a flowing red cape. He had no expression on his face at all. Ash had been forced to take off his shirt and vest, and replace his shoes and pants with sandals and a kilt. He had managed to keep his hat, but he had to put an Egyptian headdress over it. He also had a white cape with a big gold eye symbol on it. Ash glowed red, praying nobody ever found out about this. Berry had stripped off all his cloths and was wearing a Speedo, revealing a body covered in scars that was still somehow extremely attractive. The pig couldn't have looked more confident. Horatio, the woman, and James all ogled at him.

"I'm glad we didn't have to put anything on," Pikachu muttered to Umbreon.

The fox glared. "Do NOT give the crazy human ideas!"

"As if he can understand us."

"Ah-ha! The voices tell me next year to include costumes for the Pokemon!" cried Horatio.

The fox growled. "There's no way!" Pikachu defended.

Horatio clapped his hands. "Now, let's begin the tournament!" he said, grinning gleefully. "Adonis, Pharaoh, send forth your familiars to battle in your name!"

"Uh, I guess that means you, Pikachu," said Ash, feeling slightly chilly without his shirt. He shivered and wrapped his cape around himself as a breeze blew past.

"U go two, demondeathkillr!" commanded Berry.

The woman sighed, causing her ample bosom to heave. "Oh, Berry, you're so assertive, just like in bed!" Ash and Wes shuddered.

"Okay Pikachu, we've handled tough Dragon Pokemon before. They're strong against electricity, but they can still be worn down by it anyway. Try to do what we did to Dragonite back in the Orange Islands!" Ash instructed.

Pikachu grinned, knowing exactly what Ash was telling him. He started dashing towards the colored Salamence with Agility, planning to chain a series of quick moves together to get behind the dragon, run up its tail, and secure a position between the beast's horns, where he'd be able to shock the helpless opponent into submission.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance. "Demondeathkillr, use super l33t awwsum attak that alwayz wins the fight!" commanded Berry.

The Salamence opened its mouth and spewed an incredibly flashy beam of light at the startled Pikachu, striking him before he could dash out of the way, causing a huge explosion that ripped a crater too deep to see the bottom of into Horatio's front lawn yet somehow sent Pikachu flying into Ash's arms burnt and bruised, yet not even remotely dead or even bleeding as one might expect. "Oh no, Pikachu!" cried Ash. "Are you okay, buddy?"

Pikachu moaned. "Ow…that move…how'd he get so strong?"

Horatio raised a hand. "This match goes to the great Adonis!"

"Yes, I iz winner!" said Berry, not even bothering to give credit to his Salamence. "I R0XX0RS, you SUXX0R, l00zr!"

The woman clapped, causing her breasts to bob up and down. "Oh, I knew you could do it my love! That weak trainer and his no doubt abused Pikachu are no match for special people like us! If all the trainers in Hoenn are like this, it'll be easy to win the Championships and claim our seventh regional victory!" The sad-eyed shiny Pikachu on the woman's shoulder shook her head and looked away.

The cruel words stung Ash deeply. They thought they were weak? He and Pikachu and the others had been spending every free hour they could training for the championships, and they thought they were weak? The handsome man's Salamence had taken out Pikachu in one shot. Had his years of traveling, training, and badge collecting all been for nothing? His heart sinking, he started to walk away. How could he possibly compete against this trainer if he fought him again in the Hoenn League? "Oh pharaoh!" cried Horatio. Ash looked up. "You forgot your prize! Since you lost the first match, that puts you in fourth place!" The crazy man tossed Ash a large hunk of charcoal. He caught it by reflex and looked at it sadly. He was in fourth place. James would lose the next match, that was a given, but it meant everyone already knew he would actually get further than Ash. That stung too. And what's worse, he had nothing to give to Misty…

"Ash…" Pikachu whispered, not liking the look on his trainer's face.

James felt himself feeling oddly divided for the twerp. On the one hand, now the twerp knew what it was like to lose so horribly and easily, but on the other hand he felt sad for Ash. The poor boy looked absolutely heartbroken at his failure. James felt he had to do something. He turned to Wes. "Hey," he hissed.

Wes, who also couldn't help feeling somewhat bad about Ash's dismal loss, looked over. "Yeah?"

James hesitated, realizing what he was about to do, yet continued anyway. "…Look, I know I'm a bad guy, and I hate the twerp and all, but I don't think he deserved this to happen to him. He's really a good kid. I know I don't stand a chance against you in the next match, so I want you to do your best to try and take that jerk out, for the twerp's sake."

Wes looked surprised at James' request. "…Huh. Maybe there's hope for you yet, Cipher." He smirked. "Umbreon and I will do our best, won't we old friend?" His partner nodded.

"Thanks," replied James, meaning it.

"Prince of Darkness! Ballerina man! You two are up!" called Horatio.

The two trainers and their Pokemon walked away from each other then turned to face their opponent. "I'll go first!" said James. "Chimecho, use Astonish!"

"Chiiii!" Chimecho started glowing blue.

James groaned. "No, Astonish, not Safeguard!"

Wes smirked and shook his head. "All too easy. Umbreon, break through that force field with Faint Attack!" The dark fox vanished in the blink of an eye, reappearing behind Chimecho and smashing into the Wind Chime, shattering the force field and sending Chimecho flying.

James panicked. "Oh no! Dark attacks do double damage against Psychic types! Chimecho, quick, use Heal Bell!"

"Chimecho!" Chimecho's eyes started glowing blue and a blue aura surrounded Umbreon, doing absolutely no damage because he was immune to psychic attacks.

"No, Heal Bell, not Psychic!" James cried in dismay.

Wes shook his head. "Umbreon, finish this off with Bite attack."

Umbreon crouched down, coiling he leg muscles, and sprung into the air, fangs bared. "Chimecho, get out of the way!" cried James.

The Wind Chime smiled stupidly and didn't budge as Umbreon's jaws slammed shut on him, biting into him. Umbreon landed on the ground, shook Chimecho around in his mouth like a chew toy, then spat him out at James' feet. The Wind Chime was, naturally enough, out cold, but he still had a happy smile on his face. James sighed. "I knew this was going to happen, but it still hurts."

Wes himself felt a tiny bit guilty. (Hours later) "That didn't feel as good as it should have."

"The Prince of Darkness is the winner!" shouted Horatio. "Now he and Adonis shall advance to the final bout! Oh, and Ballerina Man…" He tossed James a very large and frilly bra. "This is yours now."

James smiled faintly. "Well, at least it's my size." Cradling Chimecho, he walked over to the depressed Ash. "Hey twerp?"

"Yeah?" asked Ash, not in the mood for insults.

"I'm sorry." Ash blinked and looked at the thief in surprise. "Don't think we're not still enemies or anything, but I actually felt bad about you losing. You shouldn't have gone down so easily. You and Pikachu are too tough." He smiled, almost. "I can attest to that. I'm sure you'll do better when you take on that loud mouth in the Hoenn League!" James became himself again. "If you ever actually face him since we shall have captured your Pikachu by then!" Pikachu may have been down and out, but he still managed to give off some sparks and a dark look. "Maybe I'll just take up knitting like I wanted to in the first place," James corrected, really not wanting to be blasted off on his own. "You and your Pikachu are just too tough."

"…Thanks." Ash couldn't understand why, but he actually felt a little better. Who would have thought that one of his not-so-mortal enemies would be the one to help him regain some of his confidence?

"Let's watch this next fight," returned James. "Your friend there will set that arrogant handsome dreamboat right on his rear end."

Wes and Berry had prepared their Pokemon for battle and were ready to start. "Umbreon, you saw what that attack did to the kid's Pikachu, so let's not let it happen to us! Use Double Team to confuse that thing first and avoid the attack!"

Obeying, Umbreon started moving sideways in a circle around the Salamence so fast that he left after-images of himself behind, all of which were designed to confuse demondeathkillr and keep him from figuring out which was the real thing.

Berry was unfazed. "Demondeathkillr, use super l33t awwsum attak that alwayz wins the fight!"

Demondeathkillr opened its mouth and fired an intense white beam at one of the Umbreon surrounding it, causing a huge explosion and another mile-deep crater. Wes smirked. "Ha! You mi-" To his horror, a beaten and defeated Umbreon was flung out of the smoke. "What! But…but that was just an after-image!" Wes knew from years with Umbreon how to tell the Double Team fakes from the original. "How did you hit him!"

"Becoz I is l33t and u iz not! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!" laughed Berry.

Wes was shaking from rage. "What _are_ you!" The Swinub didn't even notice him. "You _or_ your fighter can't possible be human or pocket monster!"

"Oh, Berry!" cried the woman, running over and hugging him. "You did it!" She smothered him with kisses.

"Adonis is the winner!" cried Horatio. "Here is his prize!" He tossed the small but heavy statue to Berry, who caught it easily.

"4 U, mi belovd Maria Susanson," he said, handing her the statue.

"Oh, thank you!" The woman, now known as Maria Susanson, hugged it to her chest and glanced at the red-brown Pikachu with the infinitely sad eyes on her shoulder. "Isn't it almost as pretty as me, Pika Pika?" The Pikachu sighed deeply and miserably.

"They don't deserve that thing," growled James.

"Yeah, but what're you gonna do? Steal it?" asked Wes as he came over with the limping Umbreon.

James shook his head. "No, I suck at stealing things. Why don't you do it? You have the look of a former thief to me."

Wes sighed. "I would, but Rui gets angry when I steal things. Even if I don't tell her, she always knows when I've stolen something, which results in a long, boring moralistic lecture about how I'm reformed now and stealing things is wrong and I'm so sick of it I actually keep from stealing things so she'll just keep her mouth shut." He looked at the fifty bucks he had just received from Horatio. "Oh well, at least I got something out of this. Not a lot, but something."

James nodded. "Me too, though I doubt Jessie will be happy that I come back empty-handed."

"But you got that bra," Ash pointed out in confusion.

James blinked and held up the bra. "Oh, this? No, I'm keeping it for myself." Ash and Wes stared at him for several seconds, then backed away slowly.

"Oh, Ballerina Man!" cried Horatio, attracting their attention. "You wouldn't happen to have a lady friend who likes Pokemon contests, would you?"

James looked at the crazy man in surprise. "Why yes, how did you know?"

"The voices told me," Horatio said. He tossed James a Pokeball. "Here, I found this lying around. The Pokemon inside may not seem like much, but given the right care and training it can become a beautiful contest winner!"

James squealed with joy. "Thank you, Mr. Nimsy-Porpington De-Mented XXIII!"

"Don't mention it. Now give me back my costumes and get off my property before I release the Houndoom with Beedrill in their mouths and the dancing Miror B. video!" Horatio barked. Frightened, they all complied.

"Ohhh . . . can't we stay?" Asked Umbreon, Wes didn't bother to recall him, he just pulled the black fox away by the tail with a yelp.

…

The automatic glass doors to the Pokemon Center slid open, letting Ash, Wes, Pikachu and Umbreon in. Both Pokemon were already looking much better, it seemed as if Demondeathkillr's attack was mostly flash in the end, despite its supposed power. "You gonna be okay, kid?" asked Wes.

Ash nodded. "Yeah…you didn't have to escort me back here, you know."

Wes shrugged. "Eh, I felt like it. It's on my way back to where Rui and I camped out outside of town anyway." He paused. "You still look a little down, though. What's wrong?"

Ash sighed. "Well…it's just that I was entering the contest to win that sculpture for my girlfriend, just like you were. But not only did I get in last place, I got this!" he said, holding up the lump of charcoal. "How'm I supposed to give her this as a Luvdisc Day present!"

Wes shrugged. "You could just call her up and say you love her a hundred times. That always gets Rui happy with me again whenever I do something that sets her off."

"I guess I could do that…" Ash said reluctantly. "But it doesn't feel like it's enough, somehow. We just got together a couple of months ago, you know, and I feel like…well, like I should do something special for her. Something to show her how much I care about her and all that. She's all the way in another region, and it's like talking to her every time I get to a Pokemon Center isn't enough. I wanna do something bigger than that, something that'll make her smile and be all happy and stuff."

Wes shrugged. "Well kid, I'm afraid I can't help you there. That's something you'll have to handle on your own. Every girl is different. Me, I'm gonna use that money I won and buy Rui something. She said she'd like a Pokemon of her own." He glanced at Pikachu and smirked. "Maybe a Pichu…although they are kinda expensive. Maybe I'll get her a charm bracelet or something instead." He nodded to Ash and headed for the doors, trailed by his faithful Umbreon. "But first I should see if I can't find that little rat James, I lost track of him while we were running from those crazy Houndoom. If I run into him or his buddies, you can be sure they'll regret ever joining Cipher. But if I don't find em'…well, I have other sources that I'd trust more than a bunch of low-life crooks." He made a twisted grin. "But if they think that being here can derail my plans to win in this League, they're dead wrong. Hope I'll be seeing you at the Hoenn Championships, kid."

Ash smirked. "I said don't call me kid…and yeah, I'll beat you too!"

Wes chuckled. "Heh. We'll see about that." The man and his Umbreon went back out the sliding doors, leaving Ash and Pikachu by themselves.

Ash smiled. "That Wes…he might a bit full of himself, but I don't think he's all bad, right?" Pikachu nodded in agreement.

The doors slid open again, and the rest of Ash's team walked in, save for Corphish. "Hey Ash!" said Latias telepathically, waving to him.

"Hey guys," he said, walking over to them. "How was your shopping thing?"

Phanphy walked over, licking an ice cream cone and wearing a cute orange scarf. "It went great, daddy! Brother Charizard got me some ice cream, and Aunt Latias got me this scarf! She says it brings out the color of my skin."

Bayleef held out a pair of sunglasses on a vine. "I found some shades for Grovyle-kun. I remember how cool Squirtle looked with his shades, so I thought Grovyle might appreciate them."

"I didn't get anything," said Charizard unhappily. "Everything I saw was either too expensive, or touristy cr-junk." Charizard was quick to correct himself when the girls glared at him. "Nothing Charla would like. How about you?"

Pikachu sighed. "We got beat. Badly. I went down in one attack, but I feel better already."

"I met a new friend and a guy I'll look forward to beating in the championships, but this was all I got," said Ash, holding up the lump of charcoal.

Charizard gasped. His eyes widened. "Th-that's Grade-A carbogenated charcoal! The stuff fire Pokemon die to get their hands on!"

"Really?" blinked Ash in surprise.

Charizard nodded energetically. "Yes! Just a little of that stuff can make our fires burn brighter, our skin shinier, our teeth whiter and our claws sharper! Charla'd love it! Do…do you think I could…"

"Have it? Sure," said Ash, handing the dragon the coal. "I won't be needing it. I'm sure Charla'll like it."

Charizard's eyes looked like they were tearing up. "Thanks Ash, you don't know how much this means to me. This'll go a long way towards patching things up between Charla and me. You're such a good trainer. Much better than Damian ever was." He sniffed and rubbed at his face. "Think I got something in my eye…"

Ash sighed. "Well, I'm glad you guys had fun, but I still don't have anything for Misty! What am I gonna do?"

The glass doors slid open as someone new came in. "Never fear, my friend! I'm here to save the day!"

They stared in disbelief at the newcomer. Phanphy dropped his ice cream cone in shock. "Uncle Corphish, is that you!"

Corphish, who had grown quite a lot bigger, gotten blue stripes on his mouth, had his eyes sunken in, and obtained a golden star on his forehead, chortled in a deeper voice than the one they had become accustomed to. "Ho ho, I'm Uncle Corphish no longer! You can call me Uncle Crawdaunt now!"

"I . . I . . " Latias gasped silently and said mentally. "I can't hear what he's thinking at all!" Latias had always been told how Dark Types were mostly immune to the abilities of Psy-Pokemon, and had seen it first hand before. But, for it to be someone personally she knew was a shock. It was like he had become a machine, no different from a store dummy. She did her best to stay quiet about this fact however. She could still understand what he was _saying_, thankfully, but she couldn't hear the thought behind it.

Ash was amazed. One of his Pokemon had evolved! "Wow, Cor-I mean, Crawdaunt! When did this happen?"

"Right in the middle of my climax with one of the little lady Luvdisc. I guess that conquest gave me enough experience to evolve, heh heh. The ladies were all over me after it was done."

Bayleef looked at him, very unconvinced. "Uh huh, and you got those dents and cracks in your new armor in a moment of passion right?"

"What armor?" Crawdaunt asked, thrown off balance.

"The one you're covered in that's full of dents which are shaped like the fins of angry male Luvdisc."

"Well, ya know how it gets and-"

"All the girls were taken, you tried to enter claimed territory, and learned the meaning of the word 'No.'"

Crawdaunt had to get off this subject. "Anyway, I heard your plight, and you'll be pleased to know I found something on the river bottom as I was finishing my business with the Luvdisc school-"

"He was hiding in the mud from the angry mob," Bayleef injected.

"-that'll make the little missus Ketchum happy!" He opened one of his giant claws, dropping a marvelous perfectly shaped pink pearl on the ground. "Ta-da!"

"It's so pretty!" described Phanphy's wonder, his awe at its shininess reflecting in his black eyes.

"What is it?" inquired Bayleef as Ash picked it up.

"I think it's called a Big Pearl, Lisa had one," recalled Charizard. "I hear those things sell for quite the pretty penny. They're also very popular among the ladies. It's not a pair of giant Water Stones, but its pretty damn-I mean, darn good anyway!" he said as Latias glared at him.

Ash grinned and bent down to hug Corphish. "Wow, and just a little while ago I felt like this was the worst day ever! But now Corphish has evolved, I found a new friend and a present for Misty, and we all generally did well for ourselves! This Luvdisc Day is the best!"

…

Meanwhile in Petalburg…

"May!" Max snapped. "Stop looking at that picture already and help me get the decorations up! Mom and dad will be home soon!"

"In a minute," the coordinator replied, her hair out of her bandanna. She was looking at a picture of herself, Ash, Max and Brock after he had beaten her father. She had lied to Max that day, she said she was upset too that dad had lost. In fact she had been happy more than anything that Ash had won. _I thought for sure that he'd call today. Maybe I should have called him first after all…oh I have no idea where he is!_ The problem with Ash still being on the road was that she had no idea where he'd go next, which made it difficult to keep in touch with him. He typically called her (along with his other friends) whenever he got to a Pokemon Center, but she hadn't heard from him yet, or in the last couple of days either. _We became friends on the day we met. Am I really no different from those we, you met on the road?_ A strong wind blew the picture out of her hands, strange since there were no windows in the room. She was quick to follow, its flight didn't last long. It had gotten impaled on a piece of equipment left out from the other day. It had gone right between herself and Ash "…No…he emotionally idealistic child whispered.

…

Back in town…

"Hey, speak for yourself Pikapi. All that happened to me was I got beaten by a crazy attack from an even crazier Pokemon," complained Pikachu. "And saw the weirdest colored Pikachu with the strangest eyes…"

As if on cue, the Center doors slid open yet again and the aforementioned red-brown Pikachu ran in, gasping for breath. Noticing Ash and friends, she ran up to them, looking desperate. "Hide me," she breathed.

Pikachu blinked. "What's going-"

The doors slid open once more as Mariah Susanson came in. The shiny Pikachu's heart sank. "Too late," she whispered.

"Oh, there you are!" Mariah cooed, swooping down and picking the Pikachu back up, ignorant of the miserable expression on her face. "I've been looking all over the place for you, Pika Pika! Why'd you run off?" The Pikachu moaned but said nothing. "I was so worried! I hope she wasn't a bother," she said to Ash. "It's as much my fault as hers for not keeping an eye on her, she's always running off for one reason or another, silly thing. But you must know all about that, having a Pikachu of your own," she said, noticing Pikachu.

"Uh, actually-" started Ash.

"Well, we must be going now, we have to head for the next gym. We'll see you at the Hoenn championships, I suppose." She smiled and addressed her unhappy Pikachu. "Come on Pika Pika, let's give you a good long rest." She started for the exit. Pika Pika looked back at the heroes pleadingly before the glass doors slammed shut, blocking their view of her.

The heroes looked at the door awkwardly for a moment, uncertain what had just happened. Pikachu had the vaguest feeling he should have done something, but wasn't sure what. _She was so dead inside,_ Pikachu thought. In a flash Pikachu ran outside, but when he got there, the female Pikachu, and her master, were gone.

"Pikachu?" Ash asked, confused by his friend's actions.

"She wanted me to help, Ash. Forget Damian and the other abusive trainers we've seen, that woman, there was something that screamed _wrong_ about her." Looking around and seeing no one, Ash picked up his friend and went back inside, feeling compelled to just forget what had happened.

"That was strange…" muttered Crawdaunt.

"So…uh, Latias," said Ash, changing the subject and feeling like he was being _pushed_ away from it rather than wanting to stop thinking about it. "Did you find anything today?"

"Me?" she asked, looking startled. "Oh…no, I was fine window-shopping," she lied. She had actually felt very distressed and unhappy, because she had been reminded so much of her shopping trips with Bianca and the fun they had used to have, and that just opened a whole other kettle of fish from there: feelings of longing for Bianca and Lorenzo, for Vincentio and Marcella, pretty much everyone in Alto Mare, and for her brother, whom she thought she had gotten over months ago.

Ash shrugged. "Okay then…so, other than Pikachu, I guess we all had a pretty good Luvdisc Day."

"And I'm not so sure it was that bad anymore," Pikachu muttered, thinking of the shiny Pikachu with the sad eyes. _Or maybe I can turn it into something good. I'll see her at the tournament…_

"Yeah, I guess we did," Latias said, forcing a smile. She didn't think it had been that good. All of them had found something good for themselves or their loved ones. Ash had a new friend, new rivals, and a gift for Misty. Bayleef had a gift for Grovyle. Charizard had something for Charla. Phanphy had gotten a nice scarf. And Pikachu had something strange going on with that horribly named 'Pika Pika', she was sure of it. But what did she have to show for this day dedicated to the celebration of love? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Or so she thought…

…

Jessie glared at James. James cowered, sweating in fear. Instead of patiently waiting for Wes to come after him, he had run away at the first chance he had gotten. He was thrilled at the possibility of getting Cacnea to stop trying to kill him, but he realized that if he allowed some stranger to have all their Pokemon Jessie would kill him far more thoroughly than a bloodthirsty cactus ever could. Of course, at the moment it looked like she would kill him anyway. "James…" she growled.

"Yes Jessie?" he asked meekly.

"You call _this_ a Luvdisc Day present!" she snarled, pointing at a nearby pond.

"This" was a small, oval-shaped somewhat flat brown fish with shedding skin, blue fins, and sunken eyes. It was a very ugly Feebas, the Pokemon Horatio had given James. Meowth thought it looked disgusting, and he usually ate fish. Another certain ugly Pokemon didn't think she looked that bad.

The Feebas it turned out had been originally -another- catch for -another- lady's Luvdisc present only to be dumped over the side of the mansion's walls.

"Well," said James weakly. "I didn't know it was a Feebas at the time. The crazy man who gave it to me just said it was good in Pokemon contests. And it is, Jessie, honest it is!" he said desperately as he saw veins starting to bulge out of her forehead. "According to the Cipher handbook, all we have to do is feed it lots of Beauty Pokeblock and it will evolve into a gorgeous Milotic! That'll surely win Pokemon contests!"

Jessie's veins grew larger. "Pokeblock! POKEBLOCK! Where are we supposed to get that!"

"Well, maybe we could steal it or make it legitimately from berries?" he suggested timidly.

"Maybe we could…" Jessie said slowly. "BUT IT ALSO DOESN'T HELP THAT WE HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER OF HOW TO RECOGNIZE OR MAKE BEAUTY POKEBLOCK AND YOUR STUPID CHIMECHO ATE ALL YOUR NOTES ON THE SUBJECT!"

"Oh," said James, fearing for his life.

"What were you thinking, bringing that, that…HIDEOUS…thing anywhere near me!" Jessie screamed, pointing at Feebas.

The Feebas burst into tears. "She hates me! I can't help being ugly, I was born this way!"

"I know how you feel," said Wobbuffet sympathetically. "Nobody here likes me either. And if it helps, I don't think you're that bad-looking."

Feebas sniffed. "Thanks. But if they hate you, why do you stay?"

"…Because she, I'm hoping maybe I can change her…" he muttered. "Although I'm really starting to think it's not worth it."

"And not only did you get me a hideous fish instead of the Water Stones, you were near the twerp and several rare and powerful Pokemon including Pikachu and didn't even try to steal them! What were you thinking! What am I saying, you never think!" Jessie said, continuing her rant.

"Well, all I had was Chimecho, and you know he's not much good in a fight," said James weakly. "And…I kind of felt sorry for the twerp."

This was the worst thing he could possibly say. "Sorry! SORRY!" she screamed, pulling out a giant paper fan.

James sweatdropped. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

The following beating was so gruesome and violent that it had to be censored from this story for its graphic content. Meowth nearly choked to death from laughter.

On the plus side, James finally got his Snag Device off.

…

A couple of days later…

Misty frowned at her reflection in the mirror on her closet door. "Hmmm…" She was trying on a new outfit. It wasn't much, just a lovely deep red sleeveless shirt and shorts, but they reminded her of the very nice dream she had had recently where she had beaten up a hideous phoenix monster and kissed Ash. She now looked _sort of_ like she was wearing red armor, but it still felt like something was missing. She sighed and turned around to Togetic, who was sitting on her bed. "What do you think?"

Togetic rubbed her chin for a moment, then flew past Misty into the closet, rummaged through the junk there for a moment, and pulled out a large Gyarados-patterned mallet and a belt strap. "How's this?"

"Hey, thanks!" Enthused, Misty took the mallet and strapped it to her back, looping the belt over her shoulder. "Perfect! It's not a sword, but it's the perfect weapon for the modern Amazon warrior!" she said, admiring herself in the mirror. It was then that the Gym's front doorbell rang.

She had to make a detour on the way down because, as Corsola frantically told her when they bumped into each other, Psyduck was drowning himself in the pool _again_, so the yellow duck tagged along with her when she opened the front door. A large Pidgeot was standing on the doorstep, with a banner on its side proclaiming it was working for the Hoenn Post Office. The giant bird nudged a package towards her with its beak and held out a clipboard for her to sign to indicate she had received the package. "I don't remember ordering anything…" she muttered. She signed the clipboard. The Pidgeot tucked it under its wing and held out its other claw, standing like that for several seconds before Misty understood what it wanted. "You want a tip!" The Pidgeot nodded. "Oh, all right…" She paid the post-bird, and it flew away.

She picked up the package and carried it into the kitchen, where she borrowed Staryu's sharp-edged arms to cut open the box. (She had thrown out all the sharp utensils to keep Psyduck from poking his eyes out with them and because Togepi kept playing with them before she evolved.) Sifting through the generic packing material inside, she found a small piece of paper, with the writing "From Ash, to Misty: Love you lots! Happy Luvdisc Day!" Pleasantly surprised, and realizing this must have been the 'gift' Ash had not-so-subtly hinted at in his call just a couple of days ago when it was indeed Luvdisc Day, she reached deeper into the package and gasped in disbelief when she pulled out a fabulous pink pearl.

Togetic stared at in awe, her eyes glistening with wonder. "It's so shiny…"

Misty was speechless for several seconds. When she finally said something, it was in a very quiet, yet very happy voice. "Togetic…remind me to kiss your father the next time I see him, okay?"

"Pretty…" It was then that Psyduck, mesmerized by the beauty of the pearl, jumped up and enclosed the startled Misty's entire hand in his beak, sucking the pearl out and down his throat.

Misty looked shocked at her moronic Pokemon for several seconds before exploding. "YOU LITTLE…GIVE ME BACK THAT PEARL!" She picked up the duck, slammed him on the counter, and started pounding on his stomach in an attempt to get him to cough up the pearl.

Togetic sighed happily as Psyduck spat up the pearl, along with a tube of lipstick, a comb, a signed autograph from Dragon Master Lance, an entire chapter from Misty's favorite novel _Gone with the Suicune, _and Ash's original hat, which Misty had been looking for frantically for the last week. "I'm really glad to be home! It's a lot more interesting than Togepi's Paradise ever was!"

…

The night of Luvdisc Day…

Latias' eyes opened.

Her still-human head slowly rose off the pillow of her bed in one of the Pokemon Center's many rooms, her golden eyes scanning the chamber for the source of the noise that had woken her up. Her other friends were sleeping peacefully in their beds or cots, their slumber untroubled by bitter memories of the past. She immediately saw a discrepancy; the window was open, letting the breeze in. That must have been what had made the noise. How odd, she could have sworn it was closed when she had gone to bed.

She floated over to the windowsill to close it and paused, seeing something hanging from a branch on the tree right outside the window. It looked like an envelope, with something bulging in the center to show it contained more than a letter. In the dim light from the moon, she saw to her surprise that it was addressed to her.

Moving quietly so as not to disturb her friends, she reached out to the branch and pulled off the envelope. She cut it open with one of her claws and drew out the letter inside. The handwriting on it was instantly recognizable to her, and filled her heart with dread and a strange kind of joy.

_My Dearest Latias,_

_I am sure you will remember, not so fondly, the last time I sent you a letter. As I have said, I am truly sorry for what I did before. But although I do not seek forgiveness, I still feel I must do something to make amends for my horrible actions in the past. Something to show you just how much I truly care for you, and perhaps awaken the feelings you conceal from yourself._

_Open the locket enclosed within this envelope. Inside it is my gift to you. I think you will be very happy with it. Remember that I truly do love you, no matter what happens._

_Happy Luvdisc Day._

_Signed, the Ghost King._

Latias' fingers trembled and turned back into claws as she read the letter, resuming her true form. She wanted to tear it to pieces and throw it outside, along with whatever purported 'gift' he had sent her. She wanted nothing to do with the King of the Ghosts.

And yet she put down the letter, reached into the open envelope, and pulled out a small, simple gold heart-shaped locket. Knowing she probably shouldn't, yet dying to know what was inside, she opened the locket.

There was a burst of wondrous, golden light, more beautiful than anything she had ever seen, blinding her to the Pokemon Center room, to her friends, to anything but the light itself. And then something started to form in the light, a shape most familiar and beloved, causing Latias to gasp and shake her head, unable to believe that she was actually seeing this.

It was her brother. Latios had returned to her. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. "B-brother?" she whispered.

The larger blue and white dragon smiled at her, his red eyes gleaming. "Hey, sis-"

"Brother!" Latias charged at Latios, intending to hug him…and passed right through him. "Huh?" she was, needless to say, confused.

"-if you're watching this, then I guess I figured out how that ethereal recorder thing those mediums sent me works. Heh. Sorry I couldn't come visit you in person, I really wanted to, but…" he shrugged. "Well, I'm dead, you know? That's sort of a one-way thing. I didn't have any unfinished business or fears when I died, so I just came here. Didn't leave a ghost or anything. Sorry…" He smirked. "Bet you're wondering where 'here' is, aren't you?"

"Yeah, kind of," she muttered, even though she knew it was just a recording. Her heart sank a little. She had really thought for a moment that it had really been Latios. Even so, this was still an incredible gift, she realized after a moment. After all, how many people got to hear a message from their brother from beyond the grave?

"Well, as far as I can tell, I'm somewhere outside of time. Where that is in relation to our world, I couldn't begin to tell you. It's hard to calculate trajectory at right angles to infinity, after a few minutes of trying it makes your head explode. 'Course, since I'm already dead, it doesn't really do much…" he shrugged again. "Since this is outside of time, there's no time itself here, or something like that anyway, there aren't words in the language or symbols in telepathy to express it. So sometimes it feels like I just died a second ago, others like a million years. I'm still clinging to a sense of keeping track of time, so eternity confuses me. I'm sure it'll pass after a few aeons, though."

His expression turned serious. "I can see a lot of things from here, you know. Being outside of time lets you see quite a lot of it. I've seen what's been happening to you. I saw Alto Mare destroyed, Professor Oak's lab getting attacked, the bloodbath on Route 1, you getting captured and tortured in another dimension…if there's one regret I have about dying, it's that I wasn't there to protect you when you really needed it. I'm sorry, Latias."

"It's okay," she whispered, though she knew he couldn't hear it. Then again, maybe he could.

"So imagine my surprise when I get a message from mediums working for the very same guy who destroyed our hometown, killed our family, and practically sent you into exile asking me to help him make a gift for you to show how much he cares." He laughed. "I didn't believe him of course. At first anyway. But like I said before, being outside of time has its advantages. I looked up stuff on the Ghost King for myself. And all I can say is, wow. Really, wow. You'd never believe who he is, who he used to be. I'd tell you…" He grinned. "But we here on the other side have a tradition where we're all cryptic and stuff regarding really important things when we get contacted by people in the living world. It's a pain in the rear, but it's actually a loophole since we're not supposed to tell the living anything at all. You'll see for yourself when you give it a try sometime."

Latias couldn't help laughing. She had at first wondered if maybe this was just a fake, an illusion created by the Ghost King to fool her, but she didn't think so anymore. The way the figure in the message spoke, moved, smiled, looked at her with those eyes, she knew this Latios was no fake or forgery. He was the real thing. He was her brother, her Latios, She knew she could trust anything he had to say. And that's why she believed him completely when he continued his message.

"In any case, the King's legit. Really. He's honestly sorry about ruining your life somewhat, and he really does love you, with all his heart. I still wasn't quite sure about him even then, until I saw that kiss you two had. And even as you're overprotective big brother, I find there's nothing hurtful I can say about it to dissuade you from seeing the guy again. That kiss, it was just…" He looked at a loss for words. "_Right._ It looked so _right_, as if both of you had existed only to meet each other and kiss in that one, astonishing union of two souls." He shook his head. "I'm not telling you to get together with him though, that's still your choice. I just want you to do whatever makes you happy, Latias. I want to see you smile and laugh again like you did in the old days, and stop mourning me and the rest of us who died. Me, Bianca, Lorenzo, Vincentio and Marcella and so many others we've met in our lives, and some you haven't even met…we just want you to be happy, Latias. We want you to be happy, and free of your sorrows. We want you to move on, into whatever strange and exciting future is waiting for you. And at the very end, when you've had your run of life and are lying down for the final sleep, we'll be waiting for you in eternity, Latias. We'll be waiting for you.

"And remember, no matter what…we love you, Latias." Latios gave her one last smile…

And the golden light vanished back into the locket, closing itself up, and leaving Latias back in the room at the Pokemon Center, which she had never left. Tears, so many tears, tears of joy and sorrow, rolled down her cheeks. Quivering, a smile, a genuinely happy smile, came to her lips. "Thank you," she whispered, clutching the locket to her chest, brushing against the Dragon Flute

She looked out the window and up at the stars, where she now knew her brother and her family…as well as someone else, someone who she was only now starting to realize was more dear to her than she could have imagined…were watching over her. "_Thank you,"_ she whispered again, overwhelmed by joy, by longing, and most importantly, by love.

…

In two separate worlds, two males, one with red eyes and the other with yellow, who cared for Latias very much, just in different ways, smiled. "Happy Luvdisc Day, Latias."

…

Now, wasn't that sweet?


	27. Dark Tides pt 1: Into the Darkness

Blueberry Takahashi, I cried when I saw that scene in the movie too. 

Sir Pudding, tell me honestly, which sounds better, Ra2 or Ri2? Wes became Rui's boyfriend to shut her up. Well, maybe there's a _little_ more than that… Berry and Mariah will be explained in time.

Mimic, why were you thinking before you read the last chapter there would be Houndoom with Beedrill in their mouths!

Dannichu, glad you liked it so much. We'll see Wes again, I assure you.

HVK, you're not obsessive-compulsive, just insane. 

Lord Karkon, I wrote this chapter on the week of Valentine's Day, but it took my editor until now to finish it. He's been sick, but he's fine now. The Band part comes from my last name, and that's all I'm saying on that subject.

Ring of fire, are you a Matrix fan? Crawdaunt didn't actually get laid, he got beaten up by all the angry boyfriends of the girls he was trying to get laid with, making him evolve. Congratulations on being my 200th reviewer! I'd give you a cookie, but this is totally online and I don't even know who you are.

EagleFox, I'm glad I made you cry so much. (That sounds wrong.) Here's the update you asked for!

Disclaimer: The only things I own here are the messed-up Lilycove (unfortunately) and the new villain.

…

She held the medallion up to her eye, fixing her gaze on the large purple sliver of crystal inside of it. "She's coming?"

It may have been a trick of the light, but the jewel seemed to glimmer. "Good."

There was a growling hiss next to her. She smiled and absent-mindedly rubbed a creature's head, its yellow eyes blank and staring at nothing in particular. "Shh, don't worry my pets. She will be here soon. And then we can all be together again, won't that be nice?" The creature said nothing, but she didn't expect it to. "Now let's get going, we need to collect some more souls before she gets here."

…

"Are we there yet?" whined Phanphy.

Ash sighed and rolled his eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. "No Phanphy, not yet."

"Well, are we going to get there soon? I'm hungry!" the elephant complained.

"We all are, Phanphy," said Latias patiently. "Except for Bayleef, who's absorbing sunlight through photosynthesis."

"Actually, I'm kind of hungry too," said the plant Pokemon. "It's hard to do photosynthesis when you're moving around all day."

"Well, don't worry," said Pikachu, looking at the map. "According to the map, Lilycove City should be just over this next hill."

"Great! Normally I'd lead us in running to the top to see it, but I'm exhausted and my knees are tired from that chase Team Cipher gave us in that giant barrel robot," said Ash, wiping some sweat off his brow.

Our heroes were tired from a long day of traveling and fighting Team Cipher. Their spirits were high though, because they were finally on the verge of reaching Lilycove City, and from there it was only a hop, skip, and boat ride to Mossdeep Island and Ash's seventh Gym Battle.

Charizard's stomach growled. "Man, I can't wait until we reach that Pokemon Center. I could use a rest and a good meal after that stupid barrel thing those idiots chased us in and the giant acid-spitting Venusaur we had to fight after that." He licked his lips. "Mmmm, some of Nurse Joy's cooking would go down real well right about now."

"And I could use a few trays of cheeseburgers and well-done Miltank steak with some fries and pancakes on the side!" said Crawdaunt, also licking his lips. (Not that he had any.) "And I wouldn't mind a little attention from Nurse Chansey either," he said under his breath so no one could hear him.

"Guys, stop!" cried Ash. "You're going to make me forget I'm a vegetarian now!" The group's two main meat-eaters laughed.

The party crested the hill and stared down at the city of Lilycove, nestled in the heart of the large cove for which it was named. And stared again in disbelief.

The town was, pardon my French, a shithole. Buildings were either demolished, falling apart, or covered in extremely vulgar graffiti. Plumes of smoke, alarms, sirens, and screams rose from it. Every now and then there were small explosions or fires sprouting up all over the place. The harbor and port that had once housed the city's fishing, pleasure, and transport ships had been butchered, with jagged splinters of wood sticking out of the water here and there surrounding the worn corpse of a jetty. Gutted and broken boats of all sizes and builds littered the bay.

Two cliffs forming the sides of the cove extended out to sea, each with an ominous and terrible structure on it. Perched atop the edge of one cliff, gazing out to the glittering expanse of the ocean, was a large fortress, with spotlights and cannons mounted on the walls. A flame-shaped flag with the emblem of Team Magma waved in the air from the top of the fortress keep, telling all who gazed upon it who it belonged to.

At the base of the second cliff was a large cave that had been dug into the rock, with mines, spotlights, and patrol boats circling the entrance. The symbol of Team Aqua had been carved into the rock wall above the gaping mouth of the cave.

Two large groups of Wailmer and Wailord, one with bands of red and the other with bands of blue encircling their bodies, clashed again and again in the waters between the two bases, roiling the sea and preventing anyone from passing through by boat. No doubt they had destroyed the town's harbor.

To shatter any hope that this was the wrong town and that they had simply made an error in navigation, a miserable sign stood nearby the heroes, the words WELCOME TO LILYCOVE barely visible underneath layer upon layer of graffiti.

They could not take their eyes off the spectacle. "This is Lilycove?" Ash asked faintly.

"I'm afraid so," said Pikachu, just as faintly.

"Daddy," moaned Phanphy, cuddling up next to Ash's leg. "I don't like this place!"

"None of us do, Phanphy," said Latias as she gazed out at the desolate town. "None of us do."

"Actually, I think it looks kind of fun," said Crawdaunt. They all stared at him. "What? I'm a Ruffian Pokemon, what do you expect?"

…

Team Cipher had a similar reaction to the town. "This is just like the place where I grew up!" cried Jessie as they walked down streets covered in excrement and filthy, malnourished hobos killing each other over crumbs of bread or pennies. "The violence, the smell and decay, the criminals and perverts lurking everywhere…" She paused to kick a pickpocket who was trying to steal her empty wallet in the groin while James struggled to escape from the clutches of an aroused and possibly drunk cross-dresser. "This brings back so many memories of how much I hated my childhood and the world I was born in!"

Meowth snorted. "You think this is bad? I grew up in Hollywood! I couldn't go ten feet without getting molested by someone! Movie stars, homeless folk, tourists, little kids, criminals, other Meowth, dogs…although there wasn't as much graffiti, I'll give you that much."

"I don't like this place," whined James as he rejoined the group. Even Chimecho, who was usually a fountain of joy even when he was being pummeled or electrocuted, was huddled close to his master's head in fright. "Why did we come here?"

"Because there's a Pokemon Contest here, you dolt!" Jessie said, smacking him with a fan. "Since Second Girl Twerp is gone, we can finally compete and nobody will stop us from cheating our way to victory!"

"What about the other contestants?" asked James.

"What about them?" she said as they came upon the Contest Hall.

Or what used to be the Contest Hall. It was a large rectangular building with a domed roof in the shape of a Pokeball on it. It had once been pink, but there was too much graffiti on it now to be certain. A canopy hung over the entrance, but it was on the verge of breaking under the weight of a large neon sign that looked suspiciously like an unclothed Jinx placed just above it.

James got even more nervous. "Jessie, are you sure this is the right place?"

"Of course it is, that map we stole from that tourist said so!" she said, marching towards the entrance.

"It could have been out of date," he said hopefully as he followed her.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" muttered Wobbuffet, reluctantly following his teammates.

The inside of the building's entrance hall was slightly less filthy than the outside, but the lighting was comprised of a flickering light bulb hanging above a heavyset greasy-haired person of indiscernible gender covered in vulgar tattoos sitting behind what may have once been a receptionist's desk. "What'dya want?" it grunted, showing decaying teeth.

If the person's appearance or body odor offset Jessie, she didn't show it. "Yes, I'd like to register for the next Pokemon Contest, if you please?" she asked haughtily.

The hermaphrodite leaned back in its seat. "Sorry babe, there ain't no more Pokemon Contests here, by the orders of High Lord Archie, servant of Lady Kyogre." It kissed a blue ring with the insignia of Team Aqua on it in blessing. "This here's a strip club now, servicing the human and Pokemon members of Team Aqua. We could always use more strippers though, if you're interested, the pay ain't bad." It examined all five of the Cipher agents, who were starting to get frightened. "Got any female Pokemon?"

"Er, I have a Cacnea…" said James nervously.

The hermaphrodite scowled. "No good, they're too prickly. You'd be good though, with a little makeup and a dress," it said, nodding at James. "With a little alcohol in em' I doubt my customers would notice or care you're not a woman." James looked oddly interested at this. The hermaphrodite looked at Jessie and shook its head. "You, on the other hand, are no good. No amount of alcohol would make a man of any species interested in you. Unless you wore a mask," it mused.

Jessie's face turned as red as her hair. "HOW…DARE YOU!" she screamed.

James grabbed her by the waist before she could attack the extremely muscular person, who would no doubt beat her to a pulp. "Eh heh, please ignore her. Sorry, but I'm already part of another team, I can't be caught servicing another."

"That's too bad," said the disappointed hermaphrodite. "You could do really good here, you've got a pretty face. I could probably pay you a lot better than your current employer."

"You probably could," James admitted. "But I'm sort of committed at the moment. Perhaps if I get fired, I'll come back here."

The person behind the desk grinned. "I'd like that."

"Come on Meowth, Wobbuffet, let's go!" said James, dragging the struggling Jessie towards the exit. "Meowth, what are you doing?" he cried, noticing Meowth was peeking behind a nearby curtain and looking into the wonders of the club. His tail was wagging energetically.

"Jimmy boy, you gotta take a look at this! You wouldn't believe the size of the gams on this one Clefairy!" said the cat.

"Not now, Meowth! Wobbuffet, get Meowth!" ordered James.

"Yes Mr. James." Wobbuffet grabbed Meowth by the tail and started pulling him towards the exit.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!" cried the cat, latching onto the curtain desperately. "I don't wanna go! I wanna stay here!"

"Sorry Meowth, but orders are orders!" said the blob, pulling Meowth off the curtain. The Scratchcat took a sizable portion of it with him.

"Noooooooo!" Moaned Meowth as he futilely tried to dig his claws into the ground in an attempt to slow the blob's drag. It didn't work, and they were soon out in the smoggy and polluted air.

"LET ME GO! LET ME AT HIM…OR HER, OR IT!" Jessie screamed, struggling against James.

"Jessie, that…person could easily have killed you," said James. "We've already had one beating at the twerp's hands today. Isn't that enough?"

"No!" she cried, ripping free from him. "I'm going back in there to show that thing what's for!"

"And I'll go with you, so I can see more women!" said Meowth, pulling his tail from Wobbuffet's arm flaps.

They heard a laugh, and someone clapping their hands. "What fun, what fun! It's good to see women have developed more power and independence in this day and age!" The criminals turned around and saw a woman standing only a few yards away.

She looked about thirtyish, with elegant short brown hair except for two high ponytails encircled by gold bands on the back of her head. She had a mature, almost motherly face…except that the smile on her red lips and the look in her yellow eyes was anything but motherly. She wore a black dress of silk with the patterns of blue and white waves sewn into them, seemingly untouched by the filth around her. Her low cleavage was hidden by a gold medallion with a sliver of faintly glowing purple crystal in it. She smirked at Jessie's confused look. "If I were you, I'd keep that man of yours on a tight leash. Otherwise he'll be nothing but trouble."

Jessie scowled at James and smacked him for restraining her, immediately feeling an odd kinsmanship with this woman. "Yes, I know what you mean." She frowned and turned to the woman. "Who are you, anyway?"

The woman chuckled. "My name's not important. Someone I've been waiting for just got in town, but there are a few things I need to get done before I meet up with her. What do you say to a Pokemon battle? I'll even let you and the stupid male team up on me, if you like."

"I like those odds!" said James, pulling out a Pokeball. "Do we get any money if we win?" he asked hopefully.

The woman shook her head. "No, you'll get something even more precious."

"Like what?" asked Jessie, eyeing the woman's medallion and trying to picture it on herself.

The woman smiled like a hunter springing its trap. "Your souls."

…

Lilycove seen close up was no better than Lilycove seen from afar. Bayleef had to keep her vines over Phanphy's eyes at all times to keep him from being corrupted by the horrific events around him. Everywhere the heroes looked, it looked as if some crime or horrible catastrophe was taking place. People were being mugged or beaten up in the streets, stores were robbed, houses were set on fire, and extremely violent Pokemon battles were being fought everywhere. Being the good, kind-hearted heroes they were, they naturally attempted to stop these crimes.

The people they saved responded by trying to steal, sexually assault, and/or kill them. After several frightening encounters culminating in one event where a brute simultaneously stuck his hands down Latias' fake shirt and pants (She had thought it would be a good idea to pretend to be human so as not to give any thugs a reason to steal a rare, legendary Pokemon. Obviously it was a mistake. The pervert who tried to molest her was incinerated, electrocuted, cut, crushed, punched, and flung into a wall by her psychic powers.) they decided to let these ungrateful punks screw themselves and just keep going to the Pokemon Center. For if there's one thing Ash and the others knew from all their traveling, no matter how awful a place was, you could usually find a Pokemon Center nearby, a safe and welcome beacon in a stormy sea.

Imagine their shock and horror when they saw that the Pokemon Center's windows had been boarded up, walls had been blown out, scorch marks and graffiti were everywhere, a CONDEMNED sign hung over the door, and the resident Nurse Joy and Chansey were walking away from it, carrying luggage and escorted by a couple of burly Machamp. "Nurse Joy, what are you doing? Why are you leaving!" Ash cried, shocked that this town could really be so bad that the almost eternally cheerful and helpful Nurse Joy was departing.

"I'm leaving!" she snapped viciously. Her tone changed when she saw the hurt expression on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're just another traveling trainer, aren't you? On your way to Mossdeep, perhaps?"

"Uh, yeah…" said Ash, looking confused.

Joy sighed. "The League should really block off this entire area. Then again, they're probably scared of what Team Aqua or Magma might do if they're provoked enough. We're leaving," she explained. "We've had enough of this town. In the last week alone, thieves have tried to steal supplies and equipment fifteen times, six attempts have been made on my life, and Team Aqua and Magma have wrecked the place four times with their constant territorial fights and their attempts to persuade me to join either side. We've had enough. Chansey and I are leaving. We've finally gotten permission to transfer to a different city from headquarters, so we're leaving this place forever. That means this town won't have anywhere to go when they need their Pokemon to be healed, and all the homeless Pokemon will have nowhere to go…" Her bitterness wavered for a moment. "But we've had enough. This place is far too dangerous for nurses, Hippocratic Oath or no Hippocratic Oath. I could care less what those zealous idiots in their fortresses do, or the louts and punks running around town, they could kill themselves and make the world a better place before I help them anymore. But the only regret I have is that I can't help the stray Pokemon whose parents or trainers were killed in all this fighting. I've left behind some food for them, hopefully that'll keep them alive for a little longer…" She looked on the verge of tears.

"What happened here?" Ash asked in a gentler tone, seeing that the nurse seemed on the verge of a breakdown. "The guidebook said Lilycove was a nice place to visit. What happened to make it like this?" he asked, gesturing at the hellhole around them.

Joy sniffed. "Those guidebooks are always out of date, that's another thing the League needs to fix. Lilycove _was_ a nice place once," she said sadly. "We had a wonderful department store, a fantastic Pokemon contest hall, an art museum, a resident Pokeblock master, a man who could use hypnosis to make Pokemon forget certain techniques, and the headquarters of the Pokemon fan club. But then those awful, _awful_ criminals came and ruined everything!" she spat venomously.

"One terrible night, Team Aqua and Magma both snuck into town, intending to set up their headquarters here. Neither realized the other had also set up claim in the town until it was too late and they both had established bases; Team Magma in the ancient fortress on the cliffs and Team Aqua in the old pirate caves. They immediately started fighting for territorial rights, using our town as their battleground. Most of the sensible folk left right after the first battle. I stayed along with the others, who were too attached to their homes to let them go without a fight. Most of those people either died or ended up joining Team Aqua or Magma. Ever since then, this town's been a magnet for every lowlife and criminal in the region, ever since the city's police force was overloaded and shut down in a massive joint assault. After a while, the only decent souls left were me, Chansey, the strays, and the poor uninformed trainers trying to get to Mossdeep or beyond through here.

"Team Aqua, Magma, and all the other little gangs that sprouted up constantly had fights here and threatened me because I helped to heal their rival's Pokemon. I ignored them and hired these Machamp here," she said, gesturing to her bodyguards. "To protect Chansey and I. And for a time it seemed to work, we managed to survive despite all the crime, sin, and chaos happening around us. And then came the last straw.

Chansey's eyes started watering up as Joy continued. "Chansey had just laid an egg. Not an explosive egg or one used for healing, but an honest-to-goodness baby Chansey egg. We thought it was a miracle, that even in the middle of this wasteland, she could still give birth to a child. I had renewed hope that we could survive in this town, for the birth seemed to be a sign that we could make it. Looking back, now I realize it was probably a sign that we should have gotten out of here all the sooner.

"It was a few days ago. The Machamp were out getting a shipment of food, so they couldn't protect us. We were healing a wounded Mightyena from Team Magma when an Aqua agent came in with an injured Walrein. The Aqua agent and the Mightyena's trainer immediately got into a fight, as did the Walrein and Mightyena. We tried to stop the fight, because some of the younger strays happened to be with us at the time and could have gotten seriously hurt by the fighting, as could both of the injured Pokemon. But they didn't stop. Their emotions reached a fevered pitch and they fired Hyper Beams at each other at point-blank range. The explosion blew them to pieces, killed their trainers, and caused the main lobby to cave in. In the calamity, several of the younger strays were killed, and Chansey's egg was broken. It was then I realized that I had had enough. It would mean going against my Hippocratic Oath and my family honor, but I absolutely had to get out of this town. I've seen too much fighting, too much death, too much pointless violence and hatred. And so I made arrangements to resign, and I'm getting out of here as fast as I can."

Ash said nothing as he stared at Nurse Joy in disbelief, stunned by her tragic story. His Pokemon were silent as well, respecting this nurse's earnest desire for freedom and safety. After a moment, Joy said, "If you still wish to go to Mossdeep City, you're in the wrong place. The Teams have destroyed the harbor and blockaded the bay to keep any boats or water Pokemon from passing through, and they have cannons and aerial guards to stop anyone from getting in or out by sky. The majority of both teams left recently in submarines to go hunt for their sleeping ancient Pokemon masters. I hope they drown," she said venomously. "They left skeleton crews behind, but it's enough to keep anyone from traveling any further east. If you're to reach Mossdeep at all, you'll need to travel a couple of miles up the coast to the next town. It's been untouched by the corruption down here, and they still run a ferry line. You should be able to make the crossing safely from there."

"…Thanks," said Ash, unsure what else to say to the nurse who had suffered so much. He glanced over at Latias and the others for a second, enough for her to send him a quick telepathic message. "My Pokemon and I are pretty tired. If we don't get a little rest first, I don't think we can make the trip. I don't suppose you can recommend somewhere safe we can relax for a couple of hours until we're feeling better?"

"Nowhere's safe," said Joy sadly. "But if you must…" she looked back at her abandoned hospital. "You can use the Center to rest up. But you had better get out of town before sunset. That's when the _really _dangerous crooks come out."

Ash gulped. It could actually get worse than it was now? "Um, thanks Nurse Joy."

"Just don't stay too long or eat everything, the strays need to eat too. Come on Chansey, boys." The Nurse and her escorts started off. Joy turned her head to give Ash one last warning before leaving. "You should watch yourself. There are rumors going around about a trainer with a pair of weird Pokemon causing other trainers and their Pokemon to disappear."

"Y-you mean he kills them?" asked Ash, remembering an old gangster film he once saw.

"I didn't say _killed_, though I suppose they might be. They're never seen again. And I think the trainer's a girl," muttered Nurse Joy.

"What Pokemon are they?" asked Ash.

"A Kabutops and an Aerodactyl." Latias gasped, while Ash and Pikachu couldn't help feeling the vaguest sense of familiarity.

"Aren't those extinct?" he asked.

"Obviously someone didn't tell them that. Hope you don't run into her. Good luck," said the Nurse, giving one last farewell before she and her party left the center's vicinity, not bothering to look back.

"A Kabutops and an Aerodactyl, huh? Haven't seen either of those since Grandpa Canyon. I never did get to finish my fight with one thanks to that stupid Jigglypuff. Maybe now I'll get the chance!" said Charizard cheerfully.

"Daddy, what's 'extinct' mean?" asked Phanphy.

"It means something's been dead for a very, very long time," explained Ash.

"If they've been dead for a long time, then how can they be alive now?" asked Bayleef in confusion.

"Because they're zombies," said Latias quietly, a terrified look in her eyes.

Crawdaunt blinked. "You mean like the ones in the RPGenerator? Well that's easy, we'll just spray a potion on em' and-"

"No, not that kind of zombie! _Real_ zombies!" Latias said angrily. "The kind that eat people's brains and have glowing yellow eyes!"

Pikachu frowned, lost in memories. "Yellow…wait, are you talking about the ones back in Alto Mare?"

"Yes!" she cried. "They're the only zombie Aerodactyl and Kabutops I can think of!"

"But they were fossilized and put in the museum floor!" protested Ash. "And they should be buried under the sea by now!"

"Fossilization didn't stop them from being brought to half-life when the DMA was activated. And they were fossils before they were resurrected the first time, anyway," Latias pointed out. "When their evil trainer unleashed them upon Alto Mare."

"Uh…what are you guys talking about?" asked a confused Bayleef.

"Almost a hundred years ago, an evil trainer with a zombie Aerodactyl and Kabutops came to Alto Mare to wreak havoc for unknown reasons," Latias explained. "But my father Latios sacrificed himself to call the waters of the ocean into the city streets, flooding the lower parts of the city and drowning the zombies. Their trainer got crushed beneath a giant slab of stone, causing the zombies to become fossils again. The people of the town rebuilt Alto Mare to accommodate for the water, making the streets into canals. They left the trainer's body beneath the slab untouched, fearing that she might still somehow be alive."

Charizard raised an eyebrow. "And you think it's this trainer who's running around Lilycove making people 'disappear'?"

"It's the only explanation I can think of," she said.

"Eh, a couple of problems with that. One, humans can't survive being buried beneath a slab of stone at the bottom of a canal for almost a century and come out all right. I mean, they can barely survive a little electricity or fire breath!" he said, glancing at Ash. "Two, if this were the same trainer, what's she doing here in Lilycove?"

"…I don't know," Latias admitted. "But I know one thing. Humans can't survive being buried for a hundred years, but they're also not supposed to be able to raise the dead."

"Good point," Charizard conceded. "Still sounds like you're leaping to conclusions, though."

Latias scowled. "I've grown up on horror stories about the evil trainer and the things she did to Alto Mare. The Kabutops and Aerodactyl she used also happen to be the only ones of their species I've ever seen. Who else am I supposed to suspect is behind this?" Charizard shrugged, having no response for this.

Ash grunted. "Well, zombies and evil trainer or no zombies and evil trainer, right now all I know is I think I'm going to keel over if we don't sit down and take a break for at least a few hours. Whether or not this trainer exists, we're still going to need as much strength as we can get if we're going to get out of this town before sunset."

"That's true," Latias admitted.

"Then I guess we should get inside before some gangster notices us all standing here and decides to do something about it," suggested Bayleef. The others nodded and headed inside the abandoned Pokemon Center.

Latias lingered for a moment, glancing out at the horizon. She didn't know why, but she had a very bad feeling that something dark and dangerous was nearby. She shuddered as she turned and headed inside. She hoped that they wouldn't run into it.

…

Unsurprisingly, the Ciphers lost. "Well, I could have seen that outcome coming from a mile away," muttered Wobbuffet.

The woman grinned. "I have defeated you in a Pokemon battle, and, per our agreement, now I can claim the souls of you and your Pokemon!" She held up her medallion, which started to radiate beams of blinding purple light towards the terrified misfits…that fizzled and vanished before they could touch them. She blinked. "What the…" She shook her medallion, calling more beams, which similarly fizzled. She tapped it to make sure it wasn't broken and frowned. "That's odd. It's almost like you don't have any souls."

James snapped his fingers in realization. "That's right, we don't!"

"We don't?" asked Jessie in confusion.

"Yes, we gave up the rights to our souls and the souls of any Pokemon who would ever be on our team years ago for Team Rocket stock options, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Guess you can't take our souls now, lady!" taunted Meowth.

The trainer shrugged. "Oh well, guess I'll just kill you then." She snapped her fingers. Her horrific zombie monsters started towards the Ciphers.

"Wait-wait! M-maybe we could help you with whatever you're doing!" begged James, desperately not wanting to be killed and have his brains eaten. (Not that he had many to begin with.)

The woman raised an eyebrow. "And how do you expect to do that?"

"Well, um, you mentioned you had to meet up with someone who just got into town. Maybe we could help you find her?" Jessie offered nervously.

The woman snorted. "I can find her on my own, thank you very much." Her monsters moved closer.

"W-well, maybe we could help you find her faster!" Meowth screeched, his voice high with fear.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Oh all right. I don't suppose you know of any one-of-a-kind red and white dragon Pokemon with yellow eyes named Latias, do you?"

"Latias?" James blinked. A grin broke onto his face. "We know Latias!"

The woman stared at them in disbelief. "You _do!"_

"Yes, we try to capture her all the time!" Jessie said quickly. "She's traveling with a twerp who we've been fighting for years."

"Really?" asked the evil trainer, interested. "Then I don't suppose you could tell me where I could find them now?"

"Well, they usually head for a Pokemon Center first thing. I think we tired them out when we chased them around in our giant barrel robot earlier," said Meowth.

"Pokemon Center. Got it. Thank you for your assistance." Her monsters stood down, looking appeased, before they faded away. "As a reward, I won't kill you, as long as you do me one favor."

"What's that?" asked James, relieved he wasn't going to die that day.

She turned and started to walk away. "Spread the word that the master of darkness is returning." They vanished down the street.

"The who of the what?" asked Jessie, confused.

"I've never heard of no master of darkness. How 'bout you, Wobbuffet?" asked Meowth.

Surprised that his opinion was actually being asked, the blob thought a moment then said, "Back when I lived with Benny and the island where I grew up I heard stories about masters of martial arts, psychic defense, and the kitchen, but nothing about darkness."

"Darn." The cat frowned, thinking hard. "Hey, I just got an idea!"

"What is it?" asked Jessie.

"Let's follow her! If she wants that Latias, she'll have to go through the twerp, right? Tired or not, his Pikachu and the others should still be strong enough to put up a fight and tire her zombies. Then we'll swoop in and steal em' all and give em' to the boss!" said the Scratch cat eagerly.

"But Meowth, what would the boss want with zombie Pokemon?" asked James sensibly.

Meowth frowned and thought about that for a minute. "Well…if you get bitten by a zombie, you turn into a zombie, right?"

"If horror movies are accurate, yes," said James.

"Okay then, picture this;" said Meowth, launching into a typical demented reverie. "Let's say some poor, idiotic Grunt has done something especially foolish and embarrassing, like accidentally deleting the entire Team budget report because he was trying to play computer games like James did that one time. Now, the boss _could_ have him executed, but money's tight these days and it'd cost too much to hire and train a new peon! But he also can't afford to let the fool get away unpunished. So he has his zombie Kabutops or Aerodactyl bite the sap and turn him into a zombie! That'll give him an eternally loyal minion who won't need to get paid, saving money and recruitment funds!"

His partners were dubious. "But Meowth, what if we're the ones who screw up and he sics the zombies on us?" asked Jessie.

Meowth sweatdropped. "Oh yeah, I never thought of that."

"Why don't we just go capture them now and come up with some half-brained reason that the boss would like them later?" James suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Jessie agreed.

And so the team set off to follow the evil zombie trainer and no doubt get blasted off in yet another humiliating defeat.

…

The heroes had spent the last couple of hours relaxing-or trying to relax-in the broken remains of the Pokemon Center. Pikachu was doing his best to keep Phanphy away from all the pretty broken glass, while Ash had tried to keep the hungry Corphish and Charizard from devouring all of the food Nurse Joy left behind for the strays before going to call his friends and Professor Oak on the Center's telephone. Latias and Bayleef were resting on a couch in the lobby (or what was left of it) that didn't have too many springs sticking out of its cushions.

Latias fingered her locket nervously. "Still anxious, Latias?" asked Bayleef, who was sitting next to her.

The dragon in human form nodded. "I can't help feeling something really bad is going to happen."

"You're probably just picking up hostile vibes from all the crooks in this town. Being psychic would make you receptive to that kind of thing, wouldn't it?" the plant Pokemon suggested.

"I guess…" she said doubtfully. She toyed with her locket some more.

Bayleef frowned. "You know, I don't remember seeing you buy that thing on Luvdisc Day, even though you said you did. Where'd you get it, really?"

"At the festival, like I said," Latias lied quickly. "It was in that store with all the jewelry, remember? We were looking for a piece of quartz to get for Charla and Phanphy knocked over that stand of watches? I was buying it while you made Phanphy clean it up."

"Oh…okay," said Bayleef, buying the fib. "Why didn't you show it to me when you got it, then?"

Latias shrugged. "It was actually going to be a gift for you, but later I realized it really wasn't your thing."

Bayleef examined the locket and nodded. "Yeah, I prefer seed-shapes myself."

Latias sighed inwardly in relief, glad Bayleef had believed her. She hadn't told anybody about her new liaison with the Ghost King. For one, she hadn't mentioned that he had given up killing Ash all the way back in the desert because she thought that he had been lying then. If she admitted that she had been keeping both that and her newfound romance a secret, she'd probably have to bring up some the other things she was hiding; like her intimate knowledge of Pidgeot's death, something she really didn't want to remember. Also, even if she believed the Ghost King was good now, it didn't mean the others would. After all, from what they knew he had tried to kill Ash and also destroyed Latias' family and city. They probably wouldn't be quite so forgiving as she was, because they hadn't seen or experienced that kiss…that wonderful kiss…for themselves, and would no doubt believe the message from Latios was a dud. They had never known Latios as intimately as she did, so they wouldn't understand how she knew without a doubt that the recording really was sent by her brother.

There was also the little matter of the last shred of her innocence being giddy at the idea of a secret romance. She didn't want to give that up, even if it meant lying to one of her best friends. She had already lost so much, could she really be faulted for wanting to cling onto this one last fantasy?

Ash came into the lobby, looking cheerful and holding his Pokedex. "Hey guys, look what Professor Oak gave me!" He waved the electronic device.

"Ash, isn't that the same Pokedex you've had since you got to Hoenn?" asked Bayleef.

"Well, yeah, on the surface…" he admitted. "But I just got an upgrade from the professor that he wants me to test for him. Listen to this!" He pointed the Pokedex at Latias.

A blue laser light shot out from a sensor on the side of the machine, running over Latias. "Detecting Pokemon. Searching database…" The device beeped and a picture of Latias in her true form appeared on the Pokedex's screen. "Latias, the Eon Pokemon. Latias is believed to have the ability to become invisible as well as change its appearance to protect itself from predators. It is also rumored to have fairly advanced telepathic abilities."

"You see?" said Ash, closing up the Pokedex. "It's a new Sensor device that can be used to analyze Pokemon and just about anything else! It can recognize Latias even through her transformation, thanks to this new sensor! It can also tell me how healthy she is, if she's sick, needs food or rest, and lots of other stuff, like what she's weak or even allergic to! And there's a ton of other features I haven't even tried out yet, it's so cool!"

"That's nice Ash," interjected Bayleef. "But isn't that a little dangerous? Couldn't somebody unscrupulous use it to tell Latias or any other disguised Pokemon isn't really human or use it to learn a Pokemon's weaknesses so they can steal them?"

Ash paused. "Huh. Didn't think of that," he said. "Good thing this is the beta version. I'll tell the professor to tone it down a bit when it gets released to the public."

Phanphy ran into the room and nuzzled against Ash's leg. "Hi daddy!"

Ash bent down to rub his surrogate child's head. "Hi Phanphy. Did you have a good nap?"

"Uncle Crawdaunt says naps are for wimps!" the elephant said cheerfully. "So I ran all over the place instead!"

"He's even harder to keep safe than Togepi was," Pikachu groaned as he came into the lobby. "Remind me to have a talk with 'Uncle' Crawdaunt when Phanphy collapses from exhaustion on our way to the next town."

"Not if Aunt Bayleef gives me a ride!" said Phanphy, running up to the Grass-type.

Bayleef sighed. "Okay Phanphy, but just for a little while." She extended a pair of vines to pick up her 'nephew' and placed him on her back. "There you go. So are we leaving now?"

"Yep," said Charizard as he and Crawdaunt came in. "I had a good meal, rested a bit, and I'm ready to get out of this place. Let's go!"

Somewhat rested and refreshed, the party exited the Pokemon Center. As Latias passed through the threshold, her blood suddenly went cold.

An oddly familiar-looking brown-haired woman in a black dress with cold eyes was waiting for them. Something about her medallion attracted the dragon's attention. "Hello there young man," the woman said.

Having had enough bad experiences in this town already, all seven of them tensed their muscles, in preparation for a fight. "Hello, ma'am. Is there something you want from me?" Ash asked cautiously.

A cold smile crested her lips. "There is something I want from you, yes. Something I want from all of you. Especially _you!_" she cried, stabbing a finger in Latias' direction.

A bolt of energy shot from the crystal in the center of the woman's medallion, striking Latias and throwing her into the wall of the Pokemon Center. Her human form vanished, revealing her true self as a spherical cage of purple lightning formed around her. "I've found you at last, Latias!" the woman cried to the astonished party. "Now you are finally mine!"

"That's her!" Latias screamed from inside the cage. "I recognize her now, I saw photographs of her in the Alto Mare museum! She's the evil trainer!"

"If you want Latias, you'll have to go through us!" said Charizard fiercely. They all put themselves between the woman and Latias. Tired they may have been, but they would not let her go without a fight!

The evil trainer smirked. "Is that so? Hmm…I sense power within you. You may be more of an interesting challenge than the rest of the lowlifes in this town. Very well! If you seek to protect her, then you shall share the fate of all who came before you!" The crystal in her medallion crackled and released a blinding flash of light, forcing the heroes to shield their eyes.

"What's…going…on?" Ash asked through gritted teeth. He felt so strange, as if something was pulling at him, trying to take him away from the world he knew. Hidden underneath his shirt, the talisman the Unown had given him glowed in protest.

"This doesn't feel right!" cried Pikachu, the hairs on his back standing up.

Bayleef, Phanphy, and Crawdaunt cried out as they found themselves lifted into the air and hurled away from the rest of the group by unseen hands. "Guys!" yelled Charizard in worry.

The cage Latias was in rose up and floated over to the woman. Bayleef gasped. "Latias!" She shot her vines out in an attempt to grapple onto the bars of the cage.

But it was not to be. As the cage containing the dragon passed over Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard, a wall of invisible force sprang up, repelling Bayleef's vines. The shadows from the buildings around them seemed to lengthen, attracted to the light emitted from the mysterious medallion. They encircled the heroes and the strange woman, rising up from the ground and forming an impenetrable dome of darkness, one which no light could pass through. Their friends vanished inside.

"Daddy!" Phanphy cried, bursting into tears.

Crawdaunt just ogled the dome in disbelief. "What is this, some stupid anime rip-off!"

Bayleef rammed into the side of the dome, trying to break it open. She was blasted back, barely managing to dig her heels into the ground to keep from falling over. "I don't know…" she said. "But Ash, Latias, Pikachu and Charizard are trapped inside…and I have no idea how we can help them!"

…

The inside of the dome was bigger than it had appeared on the outside. A _lot_ bigger.

"Where are we?" Pikachu whispered, unable to believe the spectacle before them.

"That's odd…" Muttered Charizard. "I didn't think I'd come here until I died. And I didn't think there'd be all these people in chains or weird things floating around either," he added.

Latias' pupils had dilated in fear. "No…not here…not again!" she moaned, trying to shrink away inside her cage.

They were in a huge, seemingly endless cavern, standing atop an island of bones rising from a lake of fire. Hanging from the ceiling above them were numerous humans and Pokemon, possibly dead, wrapped in burning chains. Shadows flew about, cackling at the newcomers to their realm, although for some reason they gave Ash a wide berth. Constant screams rose from the fires

"Wh-what did you do to us?" Ash asked, rendered almost speechless by the gruesome scene around him.

The woman grinned and spread her arms. "Welcome to the Dark World, your final resting place! Here we shall battle, and the losers shall join the other corpses hanging from the ceiling, their souls cast into the fires below us!"

"No way!" said Ash, his anger rising. "We're not gonna let you take our souls! Latias, play the Dragon Flute!"

Latias blinked, snapping out of her fear-induced paralysis. "R-right." She reached for the flute around her neck.

"What are you doing?" asked the trainer, a hint of concern on her face.

"When Latias blows that flute, she'll summon a badass super Pokemon who'll come down here and kick your ass all the way to Hell!" said Charizard gleefully, free to profane due to Phanphy's absence.

"Is that so?" asked the woman, her voice quivering slightly with worry. "Well, I wouldn't do that if I were you, Latias."

Latias hesitated, her mouth millimeters away from the mouth of the flute. "Why not?"

"Because…" Her form began to glow and shimmer, losing its humanoid curves and figure. The head and neck elongated, while the legs were pulled mostly into the body, which grew rather plump at the bottom as large wings sprouted from it. Her arms shrunk as well and grew claws in place of fingers. The only thing that stayed constant were her cold yellow eyes and the glowing medallion around her neck.

The heroes' jaws dropped in disbelief as they saw who their foe was. The flute slipped from Latias's claws, which had grown numb. "No…it can't be…" she whispered, shocked.

The older, larger Latias that was now before them smiled cruelly. "Would you really do something like that to your own mother?"

…

TO BE CONTINUED…

…

How many of you saw this coming? No, really, I want to know.


	28. Dark Tides pt 2: Rulers of the Darkness

Sir Pudding, in the end nobody saw this coming. Lash (as you call her) is one of the possible causes for the cataclysm, and also the claw from beneath Alto Mare.

Ring of fire, why would Mewtwo or Molly be behind this?

Lord Karkon, to be totally honest I got the idea for this little saga after seeing the Yu-Gi-Oh movie. Heheh. Lash's reasons will be explained soon enough.

Disclaimer: The Pokemon companies own all normal Pokemon in this chapter. The zombies, Dark World, crystal, and Latias' mom all belong to me.

…

"This can't be…you can't be…" Latias stammered incoherently.

The elder Latias not in a cage snorted. "What? Not a Latias? Not your mother? I'm afraid I am."

"Well, how's this for a plot twist?" said Pikachu. "Latias' mom turns out to be an evil zombie Pokemon trainer who attacked her home town like a hundred years ago and has the power to take people to this freaky other dimension. And I thought my mom was bad."

"Why, what's wrong with your mom?" asked Charizard.

Pikachu shrugged. "Eh, she tried to eat me."

"What!" asked Ash, appalled. "No way! Why would she do that!"

Pikachu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Pikachu family ties aren't quite as strong as they are with humans or certain other species of Pokemon. In any case, she was hungry. I don't really blame her though…it was winter, there was nothing else to eat, and I was the fattest Pichu of the litter. It was either my dad or me, and he would've put up too much of a fight. Good thing I did too."

Ash looked like he was about to say something, but gave up and just shook his head in dismay. "You know, it's getting to the point where this stuff doesn't surprise me as much anymore. Is the world I imagine and the world that's actually out there really so different?"

"Yes," Pikachu and Charizard said bluntly.

Latias, in the meantime, was still more than pleasantly surprised. "But…but I don't understand!" she cried, understandably confused by how the fiend that had cost her father his life was in fact her mother. "Why did you…how did…why did you attack Alto Mare? Why were you and father fighting?" she finally asked, desperate to hang onto what little she had left of her heritage.

The elder laughed harshly. "Father? You mean Latios? He was my _brother_!"

A very disgusted look came to Latias' face. "Then…then you and him…"

The elder blinked. "What do you-" A shocked look appeared on her face. "That's _disgusting_! You honestly think I'd…with him! No, he's your uncle. Your _father_ wasn't half the male my brother was…and yet both betrayed me anyway…" she said bitterly.

"But then…who is my father!" Latias asked, confused.

"_Lord_ Ho-Oh of Orre," she sneered, sarcasm and disgust dripping off the title.

"That's impossible, I'm not a Ho-Oh!" Latias protested desperately.

"Funny how cross-breeding works, isn't it?" grumbled the elder. "Two Pokemon of entirely different species can get together and actually have perfectly normal babies. It's the miracle of life," she said sarcastically.

Latias realized that this was unfortunately true. That did not mean she had to accept it, though. "But why…why would you two get together? Why did you have me and my brother? And…and why did you try to kill Latios and destroy Alto Mare, then?" So many questions were whirling around in her head, she barely knew which ones to ask.

The older Latias sighed. "I was young, naïve, innocent…just like you." She paused, examining Latias more closely. "Well, perhaps you were more innocent once. I actually believed him when he said he loved me. Imagine my surprise when he booted me out of Orre for laying a couple of eggs that didn't have baby Ho-Oh in them. You and your brother weren't 'suitable' to be his heirs," she growled.

Latias realized this actually made an uncomfortable amount of sense. She had seen the female Ho-Oh in Mt. Cena, and heard secondhand from Ash, who had heard from Wes about the behavior of the male one. It didn't really surprise her that both phoenixes may have sunken into depravity and egotism after their failed marriage. "I was so angry that I had wasted my time and my body with that colorful bastard I nearly broke you and your brother's eggs then and there!" Latias sr. continued, shocking Latias once again. "But my brother thought it would be such a waste to break those eggs before they could hatch, to kill the next generation of Latias and Latios. He volunteered to take care of them while I went off to clear my head and figure out what I really wanted. And I did. I wanted _revenge_!" she snarled, clenching her claws. "And I found the means to do it too, in a tomb broken open by an earthquake up in the Sevii Islands," she said, clutching her medallion. "With the power within this medallion and the backing of the Dark World, I could raise an army! Take down Ho-Oh and all the other greedy parasites like him in the world! And you and your brother would have helped," she said, looking up at Latias, who couldn't believe what she was hearing from her own so-called 'mother.' "You and your brother had power in you even when you were still unhatched…power passed down from your chauvinist father Ho-Oh, and power from our ancestors, the first Latias and Latios! With that power, we could have changed the world together, as a family!"

"But it didn't turn out that way, did it?" asked Ash, seeing where this was going. "Because you didn't have the eggs…your brother did, didn't he?"

"He betrayed me!" Sr. cried angrily. "He took one look at me when I came back and flew off with the eggs! He wanted their power for himself, the pig, he didn't want a world where males didn't have power over females! He didn't see that they belonged with me, their own mother! The one who laid them in the first place!"

"It sounds more to me like he saw what you'd become a crazy power-hungry bitch with delusions of creating a utopia," growled Charizard.

"Of course you'd see it that way, wouldn't you!" Sr. spat. "Men always think alike; with their dicks, not wanting to share the power with anyone else!"

"That's not always true," said Pikachu. "Our friend Crawdaunt might, but Ash here isn't like that."

Ash grinned. "Thanks."

"Yeah, most of the time he doesn't think at all!" joked Charizard.

"Hey!"

Latias sr. snorted. "Crude and insensitive jokes, another sign of male indolence. Don't you agree that we'd be better off without them, daughter?" she asked Latias.

Latias just stared back, confused and disgusted by the behavior of the women who called herself her mother. "I-I don't know," she said, uncertain what to say. She wanted to stay with her friends very much, but…this was her mother! Even if she was weird and sexist and somewhat evil, didn't that count for something?

The elder Latias didn't look happy at this, but seemed to reassure herself. "It doesn't matter what you think now," she said. "You'll understand once we are together, far away from these corrupting influences."

"You're not taking her anywhere!" said Pikachu, sparks flying from his cheeks.

"You see? Even now, when you are virtually in my grasp, they still seek to possess you. Typical males!" said the elder to her child.

Pikachu blinked. "What? No! We don't want to possess her or anything. I just don't want her to go with you because she's our friend. She belongs with us!"

"She belongs with her family!" declared Latias sr. "And since her uncle and brother are dead, and her father won't even acknowledge her existence, that duty lies to me!"

"You may be the one who gave birth to her, but that doesn't make you her family!" said Ash. "You even wanted to kill her before she was born! The only reason you want her back now is because of this power that you and everyone else seems to think is inside of her. You're just as bad as all of the males you're generalizing about!"

The dragon's eyes flashed. "You…how dare you!" Her medallion glowed angrily. The shadows hissed and converged on Ash, trying to silence him. But a tremendous flash of light burst from under his shirt, driving them screeching away in pain. The talisman given to Ash by the Unown floated out from under his shirt, glowing brightly in the darkness, warding the evil spirits away from its master.

"Can't get me that easily," Ash taunted. "Good thing the Unown gave me this thing!" He glanced up at Latias' cage. "Latias, this has gone on long enough. Blow the Dragon Flute!"

Latias looked uncertain. "But…Ash…I-I mean…she's my mother! (I think…) You know Mewtwo's protective of me, he might not even give her a chance to explain when he sees me in this cage! You wouldn't do something like that to a member of your own family, would you?"

Ash scowled. "If it were my own mom? No. But my father? Yes!"

Latias looked shocked. "Your father? Why?"

"Because he walked out on my mom when she was pregnant with me!" said Ash angrily. Charizard and Latias gasped, for they had not been privy to this information. Pikachu had, and shook his head sadly.

Latias sr. sniffed. "Just like a male…"

"You're one to talk, lady!" Ash snapped. "You're just as bad as he was! You dumped your eggs on your brother because he convinced you not to break them and you didn't feel like being near anything to remind you of Ho-Oh. Despite all your talk about ridding the world of chauvinism, you're no better than the people you're generalizing!"

"How DARE you!" Latias sr. growled through gritted teeth.

"What's wrong, can't take the truth?" Ash taunted. He looked back up at Latias, who was stunned to learn this piece of information. "Anyway, I never heard from him for years and years. Mom tried to hide it from me, and even now she still acts like he's on a journey going to come back one day, but the kids at school heard the truth from their parents and picked on me for it. I didn't want to believe them, so like Mom I kind of…pretended he would come back someday. That's part of the reason I wanted to become a Pokemon trainer, because I was hoping I might find him on my journey or that he might see me on TV one day when I was battling in the big leagues, come to see me, and we'd get together and be a family again. Those hopes were dashed when nothing happened in the Indigo Plateau tournament, but I rationalized it was because I hadn't gotten all the way into the final round so he hadn't been watching or some other half-assed reason like that. So I was ecstatic when I wound up in the Orange League and realized I had another chance to get my dad's attention. I fought through the gyms and beat the champion, Drake, and guess what? He never called.

"At first I rationalized it was because the Orange League wasn't quite as well-known as Kanto or Johto, or he just hadn't been watching then, but at some point during my journey in Johto I finally realized that my dad, assuming he was alive, was never coming back. He hadn't wanted to be with my mom when he found out she was pregnant. He hadn't wanted me, plain and simple. And that meant he still didn't, either. I was devastated, but my friends helped me get over it and realized that nothing had really changed for me in the end. I never knew my dad before, and I still didn't now. There was no reason for me to waste time battling for his sake, because he didn't deserve it. So I decided that I would keep going and fighting for my own reasons now, without using the hope of seeing my dad as some subconscious excuse. In my mind, he isn't my dad anyway. He helped my mom have me, but he never raised me. It's the same thing here, Latias.

"Your mom doesn't want you because you're her daughter, she as much as said so herself, she just wants whatever power you have. Even if she did give birth to you, she's never done anything worthy of being called your parent, just like my dad hasn't and never will. The only people who deserve that name are the ones that raised you from childhood, made you feel better when you were down, and molded you into the person you are now. They're the only ones who deserve to be called your family, not someone who's just waltzed back into your life after years and years, insisting you belong together just because of some blood tie."

"Latias, don't listen to him!" said Sr. "He's-"

"Telling the truth," Latias said, her eyes narrowing. "I never believed your crazy ideas and justifications to begin with. Even if you are my mother, you're trying to hurt me and my friends…and so you will receive no mercy!"

"No!" Sr. cried as Latias grabbed her flute and blew into it.

…

"Why-" CLANG! "won't-" CLANG! "this-" CLANG! "stupid-" CLANG! "thing-" CLANG! "open!" yelled Crawdaunt, whacking the ominous-looking barrier of shadows with his claw ineffectually.

Bayleef and Phanphy looked on, bored. "I don't think he's going to break that thing open anytime soon," the plant muttered.

"Aunt Bayleef, I'm hungry. Can I go inside and get something to eat?" Phanphy asked.

Bayleef shook her head. "No Phanphy, remember what Nurse Joy said; leave the food for the strays. Which, if I recall properly, you are not."

"Aww…" He suddenly perked up. "But if Daddy died, then I'd be a stray, right?"

Bayleef looked at him in horror. "You _want_ that to happen!"

Phanphy burst into tears. "No…but I'm hungryyyyyy!" he whined.

All of a sudden, a streak of blue lightning shot down from the sky, right towards the dome, lighting up the area with a cobalt glow. Crawdaunt's eyes bulged. "Ahhh! Incoming!" He scurried away as the streak slammed down onto the top of the dome…and ricocheted, smashing right into one of the boarded-up windows of the Pokemon Center. They stared at the hole in disbelief, wondering what had just happened.

After a moment, Mewtwo stuck his head out, looking perplexed. "Funny…I don't think _that _was supposed to happen…."

…

Several seconds passed. No white and purple semi-feline savior descended to rescue them. "Latias, shouldn't Mewtwo have gotten here by now?" asked Ash.

"I-I don't know!" she said, looking at her flute in confusion. "It worked, I can swear I felt something…I don't know why he isn't here!"

Latias Sr. started laughing, looking relieved. "I can't believe I was worried for a moment, I should have remembered the dimensional barrier is too strong to be broken that easily! By the time your friend makes it through, if he can at all, I'll have taken your friend's souls and claimed your power for myself!" Clearly she was through with her feeble pretenses at being a caring mother. Her medallion glowed ominously, and several bones on the island they were standing on glowed back.

Dozens of bones floated into the air, surrounded by a purple-black aura. As if guided by the hand of some unseen architect, the bones assembled themselves into two separate skeletal creatures.

One was about four feet tall standing on its twin-toed hind legs, with a pair of sickle blades like a Scyther's for arms. A rigid spike stuck out from its rear like a tail, and numerous bony ridges grew from its back. Its head was like a horseshoe with a thickened middle part for a face and elongated spurs in the back. Glowing yellow orbs peered out from its eye sockets.

The other skeleton was bigger, almost six feet tall, clearly avian from the large tattered wings extending from its shoulders like arms. It had a single spike growing from its back, and a long flexible tail with a barb at the end. It had a long face with a pair of horns growing from the back. Its mouth hung wide open, revealing yellowed and serrated fangs. Like the other one, yellow orbs peered out from the eye sockets.

The glow emanating from Latias Sr.'s medallion strengthened, and shadow things converged on the island from all corners of the Dark World, giving Ash and his talisman a wide berth as they covered the skeletons in darkness, like a writhing black skin. They solidified around the bones, forming flesh and muscles, spines and horns as they gave new life to the skeletons, making them into a zombie Kabutops and Aerodactyl. But they didn't look quite like the other Kabutops and Aerodactyl our heroes had seen.

The Kabutops' exoskeletal armor, usually brown and white, had turned pitch black and gray. Horns and spikes seemed to sprout from every inch of its body, with especially nasty ones on its knees and back. Its clawed toes had lengthened into talons, and the sickle arms had grown larger and sharper. It had also gotten a little bigger than it was before.

The Aerodactyl had gotten a little larger as well, but its transformation seemed more dramatic. Instead of its usual light gray skin, the ancient flyer was covered in dusk gray exoskeletal armor, with extra spines growing from its back and the sides of its tail. Its wings had grown in length, and a yellow membrane webbed the long 'finger' bones forming the wings. Its head had grown leaner and nastier, with longer fangs and a mouth lit from within by some biological furnace.

"Wh-what's wrong with them?" asked Latias, unnerved by the monstrous appearance of the zombies.

Latias Sr. laughed. "In this world, where its strength is greatest, my medallion can enhance my zombie soldiers with the power of darkness! It only works here, but with my daughter's help and with the souls I've been collecting while I was waiting for you to arrive, I'll be able to unleash their full power in our own world! Ho-Oh and all the other chauvinist bigots will fall before them!"

Ash pointed his Pokedex at the two monsters, running its new laser sensor over them. Pictures of a normal Aerodactyl and Kabutops popped up on the device's screen. The machine started its usual narration: "Kabutops, the Shellfish Pokemon. The Kabutops' sleek shape is perfect for swimming. It slashes prey with its claws and drains the bodies. Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokemon. A prehistoric Pokemon that goes for the enemy's throat with its saw-like fangs." There was a pause, and then the images changed into mirrors of the monsters before Ash. "Receiving new data. Subjects have been mutated by unknown energy source. Displaying stats now." The images shrunk as the screen filled with information about the two mutated Pokemon, including their attacks and weaknesses. Ash hid a smirk, certain that this would help.

Latias Sr. had never seen a Pokedex, so was perplexed by it. "What is that contraption?" she asked.

"Oh, just something that can tell me what species a Pokemon is," Ash said, not exactly lying. "So…what, are we supposed to fight them or something!"

Latias Sr. frowned. "Didn't I make that clear before?"

"Um…no, not really, you were ranting about taking us here and stealing our souls or something," said Charizard.

Sr. sweatdropped. "Oh. Well, it's been a hundred years since I've had my last real challenge in a Pokemon battle, against my fool of a brother. All the louts and thieves in this squalid place are too weak at battling for my liking, but their souls are corrupted enough to give more power to me. I could probably take your souls and Latias' power right now if I wanted to, but where's the fun in that? I sense your Pokemon are strong, and I want a good challenge! Beat my zombies and I'll let you go, fail and your souls will remain here forever!" She pointed a claw at Ash. "So, human male, which of your Pokemon will you use first? I choose Kabutops to start off with!" Aerodactyl screeched and backed away from the side of Kabutops, over to its mistress. The zombie Shellfish screeched and swiped the air with its blades.

"I choose Pikachu! Uh, if you're not too tired or anything," Ash said quickly.

Pikachu shook his head. "I wasn't as tired as the others, I spent most of the day riding on your hat after all. I can take this Scyther rip-off."

Ash looked at the Pokedex. "Actually, according to this Kabutops that survived the extinction of their species later evolved into the Scyther we have nowadays. So it's more like Scyther's a rip-off of Kabutops."

"…Oh. Well…I'll beat him anyway, even if he's not a rip-off." The electric mouse scampered out onto the bone field, standing defiantly before the zombie shellfish.

Latias Sr. smiled viciously. "Let's begin! Kabutops, Fury Cutter!" The monster lashed out at Pikachu with a blinding frenzy of swipes from its blades.

"Pikachu, block with Iron Tail!" Pikachu quickly pulled his glowing tail in front of him, catching the scythe blades on its temporary metallic surface and deflecting them, causing Kabutops to reel backwards. "Now, hit that spot between his breastplate with a Quick Attack!"

Pikachu slammed into an almost invisible seam on Kabutops' chest armor, causing a slight crack to form. Latias Sr. was shocked. "What! How did you know Kabutops had a weak spot in its armor plating there?"

"Trainer's instincts!" _That and my new Pokedex upgrade,_ he thought to himself.

"Hmph…not bad," Sr. admitted grudgingly. "But let's see your instincts help you out of this! Kabutops, Sand Attack!" The zombie kicked one of the bones on the ground into the air and shattered it with a blade, blowing dust into Pikachu's eyes.

"Aaah! Can't see!" Pikachu cried, rubbing at his eyes frantically.

"Now, get him while he's blinded!" commanded Latias Sr. The Shellfish raised a blade into the air, preparing to bring it down on the blinded rodent.

"Pikachu, we've handled guys like this before. Use your hearing to dodge him!" Pikachu perked up his ears, hearing the sound of a scythe blade swishing through the air. He hopped to the side, avoiding the blade by a hair, and sent an electric shock at where his ears told him Kabutops would be. Unfortunately, the shock seemed to have no effect on the zombie.

"Kabutops is part Rock-type, little mouse. Electric attacks don't work on it!" said Latias Sr. triumphantly.

"You'd be surprised, lady, I've beaten plenty of Rock-types before with electric attacks!" Pikachu retorted, blinking the last of the dust from his eyes.

"Don't listen to her taunts Pikachu, she's trying to make you drop your guard. Look out!" warned Ash. Pikachu got out of the way just in time as Kabutops almost decapitated him with a surprise attack from behind. "Quick, hit him with a Quick Attack!" Pikachu sped up and dashed into the air, aiming for the crack in the shellfish's chest armor.

Unfortunately, Sr. was prepared for this tactic. "Kabutops, Protect!" The monster crossed its arms over its chest and a green force shield appeared. Pikachu slammed into it and bounced off. "Hit him with Slash!" Not even giving Pikachu time to recover, Kabutops lashed out at Pikachu with a blade. The mouse managed to jump out of the way, but the slash had just managed to nick him, a small cut had opened on his side. "Next time, you won't be so lucky!" Sr. warned him.

"We'll see," said Ash, confident Pikachu would be able to handle himself. "Quick Attack!"

"Again? Protect!" Kabutops raised its shield as Pikachu rushed towards him, deflecting his charge once again. "And once more, Slash!"

"Dodge it!" Pikachu was ready for the attack this time and jumped nimbly out of the way of the slash. "And Quick Attack again!"

Latias Sr. rolled her eyes. "_Again!_ Fine. Kabutops, Protect!" Kabutops raised its shield again…and Pikachu smashed right through it, slamming into the crack in the armor and widening it some more. "WHAT! How did you do that!"

"Didn't you know? Protect loses its effectiveness every time it's used consecutively. A high-level Pikachu like mine can break through it given enough chances," Ash said smugly.

"Not bad," the dragon admitted grudgingly. "But I won't let you do that again. Kabutops, Giga Drain!"

Kabutops opened its mouth and inhaled. Globules of white energy flew out of the wound in Pikachu's side and into the zombie's mouth, causing Pikachu to feel somewhat weaker than before. The crack on the monster's armor glowed and healed over. "Oh no! Pikachu, are you all right?"

"Yeah, just a little dizzy," said the mouse, holding his head and getting his bearings back.

"You won't be dizzy for much longer. Kabutops, Rain Dance!" Kabutops crossed its arms and glowed blue. A big gray storm cloud formed over their heads and started pouring rain down on them. The sea of flames hissed as if in protest, steam rising from where water and fire met. "Kabutops' special ability increases its speed when it's raining! Let's see if your Pikachu can dodge it so quickly now…Kabutops, Double Team!"

Kabutops moved so swiftly that it left afterimages, racing around Pikachu in circles. Ash grinned. "You seem to have forgotten something. Rain Dance increases the accuracy of electric attacks! They won't do any damage, but they'll tell us where Kabutops is! Pikachu, Thundershock!"

Pikachu tensed his electric sacs and released a bolt of electricity. It swerved unerringly through the rain and struck one of the Kabutops images, knocking it back and causing the others to fade away. Sr. wasn't impressed, though. "Kabutops, Cut!" Moving at astonishing speeds thanks to the boost from the rain, Kabutops dashed towards Pikachu, scythe glowing.

"Pikachu, block with Iron Tail!" Pikachu barely got his tail up in time to deflect the attack. Kabutops came back at him with a Cut from its second blade though, knocking Pikachu back. "Use Agility to increase your speed to match Kabutops'!" Pikachu zigzagged back and forth across the bone island, moving so fast it almost looked like he was teleporting.

"Kabutops, you can do better than that rodent! Get him!" commanded Latias Sr. Moving just as fast as Pikachu, Kabutops raced towards the mouse, almost seeming to disappear. The two clashed, swinging scythe blades and Iron Tails at each other. With each deflection, they seemed to vanish and reappear somewhere else, clashing once more, before parting and speeding off.

"This is almost like an episode of Pokeball Z," muttered Ash.

"Yeah, but with 90 percent less screaming, big hair, and extremely long and drawn-out battles," Charizard pointed out.

Kabutops and Pikachu reappeared again, Kabutops trying to bring both its blades down on Pikachu and Pikachu blocking with his Iron Tail. The two seemed to be in a stalemate, as the shellfish pushed on the tail and Pikachu pushed back. "Pikachu, break that block and hit that spot on his chest with your tail!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu coiled his leg muscles and sprung backwards, causing Kabutops to slice down into the ground and get its blades caught in a rib cage without Pikachu to block them. The mouse jumped, spun once in the air and slammed into the monster's chest, driving his Iron Tail into the weak spot on the armor, cracking the new cartilage that had formed over the wound from before and piercing the zombie's body. Latias Sr. suddenly had a horrible revelation, realizing what was about to happen. "Kabutops, get him off!" she cried.

But she was too late. "Pikachu, Thunder attack!" As the Shellfish ripped its blades out of the rib cage, Pikachu let loose an extremely powerful electric attack, channeling it into the monster's body by using his Iron Tail as a lightning rod. Kabutops howled in pain as it was electrocuted from the inside, sparks and arcs of static electricity bursting out of every orifice on its body. Its glowing yellow eyes exploded in a burst of light and smoke, and the monster started to keel over. Pikachu pulled his tail out and jumped off of Kabutops as it hit the ground, shattering back into bones once more. The shadow things that had formed its skin flew away, screeching in pain as they disintegrated. The rain falling around them came to a halt, and the clouds parted, the power sustaining them gone.

"You beat my Kabutops!" shouted Latias Sr., amazed.

"Heh. Not bad for a chauvinist male, huh?" Ash asked with a smirk.

"…You got lucky," Sr. said grudgingly. "But you won't find it nearly so easy to defeat Aerodactyl!" The demonic avian screeched and stomped forward, looming over Pikachu, who was starting to breathe heavily. That last battle, plus the Giga Drain, had tired him out a little.

"Hey Pikachu, take five! I'll handle this!" said Charizard, cracking his knuckles. "I've been looking forward to finishing this fight for a long time…"

"Technically, you fought the one at Grandpa Canyon. This is a totally different Aerodactyl. How can you finish the fight with it if you've never started with this guy to begin with?" asked Ash.

"…Shut up, Ash," growled Charizard finally. He stomped towards Aerodactyl.

Ash glanced at his Pokedex. "It's got a weak spot on its chest armor, just like Kabutops, but the plating there is a lot thicker than it was on the last guy. Also, its wing membranes are combustible, so if you breathe enough fire on them, they should burn up and ground him. He'll be easier to handle after that."

"Hmmph, that's what you think…" murmured Latias Sr. "Aerodactyl, use Rock Tomb!" The pterodactyl screeched and stomped its foot on the ground.

Charizard felt the bones beneath his feet rattle and quickly took to the air, barely avoiding the large rocks that burst out from where he had been standing, smashing into each other. "A little too close there," he muttered.

"Charizard, let's see if you're training's paid off! Hit it with Blast Burn!" called Ash.

"Right!" He inhaled deeply, wings spread out, tail flame igniting into a greater and brighter blaze. He reared back his head and exhaled…and a tiny ember popped out and faded immediately. "Dammit!"

Latias Sr. was laughing at this display of incompetence. "Aerodactyl, show him what a real fire attack is! Use Fire Blast!"

The demon pterodactyl flapped its wings and took to the air, flames igniting in its mouth. It spat a huge five-pointed star of fire at Charizard. "Come on, you can catch that!" said Ash.

Charizard braced himself and held his claws out as the fire star came at him, just managing to catch it a few inches away from him. The force of the impact sent him spinning back in the air, but he used the momentum to fling the Fire Blast right back at Aerodactyl. The monster dodged it and flew towards Charizard, yellow eyes glowing.

"Aerodactyl, Scary Face!" commanded Latias Sr. Aerodactyl's face seemed to take on a nightmarish hue, resembling a mix of the most horrific and grotesque monsters imaginable.

Charizard seemed unaffected. "Hah, you think that's bad, you should see Charla before she gets her morning cup of coffee!" he joked.

"Charizard, hit it with a Dragon Rage!" Ash called.

Charizard opened his mouth, forming a golden energy ball, and spat it at Aerodactyl. The beast was too close at this point to dodge and it got struck in the chest, knocking it back in the air. Charizard flew towards the monster, intending to take advantage of its momentary stunned state.

"Yeah, go Charizard!" cheered Latias from her cage, unable to do anything else. "Send that fossil back to the Stone Age!"

_Hmmph. It doesn't matter if Aerodactyl is beaten or not, the fire dragon's soul will still be trapped here forever._

Latias blinked. She could have sworn she had heard an unfamiliar voice, oozing with the sensation of horrible things crawling in the deepest and darkest places of the world. "Wh-who said that?"

_Look at your mother's neck. I am there._

Confused, Latias looked at her mother and saw the medallion with the weird crystal in it. "You're the medallion?" she asked skeptically.

_No, I'm inside it. Well, inside the crystal inside the medallion, actually._

In the air above them, Charizard and Aerodactyl flew past each other, lashing out with their claws while in range of their hated opponent. "How'd you get there?" Latias wondered.

When the dark voice spoke again, it was filled with rage. _Your ancestor put me here! The very first Latias! She and her mate, the Dragon King, combined their powers to seal me in the object that was the source of my own power thousands of years ago. At least I got the satisfaction of taking her with me, she sacrificed herself to imprison me. I wonder how much the King cried for her…_ The voice chuckled evilly.

Latias already didn't like this thing, whatever it is. "So you're the power my mom found? The one she's using to make zombies, steal souls, transport us to this horrible place, etc.?"

_Not exactly. She's using the power of the crystal, which I found thousands of years ago when I was a simple Duskull and used it to evolve into the master of darkness. I just came along with it. It is the same power that lies within you, and others around the world, passed down from your most ancient ancestors. It dwelled inside your mother once, but fled to your egg once she made contact with me. It may have sensed your mother was about to do something terrible, and wanted no part of it._

Latias frowned as Aerodactyl bit into Charizard's neck, but the fire dragon knocked it off by searing the zombie's chest with a Flamethrower. "You make it sound almost sentient. And I'm not sure I believe you, I think I would have noticed if I could raise the dead or transport people to a hell-world like this by now."

_In a way, it has a very limited amount of sentience. It will vacate the person it occupies and go to the next person of the host's immediate bloodline if the host does something which its minimal intelligence judges as hazardous to its own well-being…like working with someone who its former host died to defeat. Your power springs from the same source as mine, but it manifests in different ways. Has nothing ever happened when you were pushed to your limit? When you passed the line between burning rage and cold anger, did nothing ever happen to those who infuriated you?_

Latias instantly flashed back to Route 1, to the murderous hench-birds of Fearow who had slaughtered the poor children within Wing Fortress, and to the crazed Fearow himself. She remembered what she had done to them and shivered. "Maybe you're right…" she murmured. "And I'm guessing you and my mom both want it, right?"

_With your power added to mine, along with the souls we have stolen, I will be able to emerge from my prison at long last. Already I can manifest myself in this world, which I created long ago, but to break free in our own I will need your power as well. And so once we are through with your friends, you will be killed and hung alongside them over the fires. Your power will be drained from you and flow into your mother, for it will have no other vessel in which it can hide. And using it through her, I shall dominate the world as I almost did over a hundred thousand years ago._

A thought occurred to her while Charizard grabbed Aerodactyl by the tail, spun it around, and flung it into the fire pit. The demonic avian evaded the flames and rose back up to face its enemy. "Are you controlling my mother, then?" she asked, half-hoping the being was._You'd like that, wouldn't you? It would mean there might still be some caring part of your mother, some part that actually loves you. But no, I am not controlling her. She made the decisions that turned her into what she is now long before she even met me. All I had to do was make suggestions and offer her my assistance. She did all the rest._ Latias' heart sank, sensing the fiend was telling the truth. It laughed again_. I didn't even have to tell her she needed to kill her brother, she knew the instant he stole the eggs that he had to die. She leaped to her own conclusions as to why he took them all by herself. I saw no reason to tell her otherwise. And so we chased him all across the world, leaving a trail of chaos and stolen souls wherever we went. It is a shame he had to sacrifice himself when we caught up to him in Alto Mare before we could kill him. I would have loved to hear his anguished screams._

"But he did sacrifice himself," Latias said, proud as she always had been of her brother's forebear, even if he hadn't turned out to be their father after all. "And you and my 'mother' were trapped beneath a canal for a hundred years. But I suppose you were used to that by now, weren't you?"

The voice hissed angrily. _We would have gotten out from under that slab a lot sooner if Latios' sacrificial explosion of power hadn't sealed it on us. That seal was broken when the last traces of him on this world were somehow destroyed, but since the seal was renewed only minutes later we never got a chance to escape. I can assume your brother must have sacrificed himself for some reason, because your mother and I both sensed his death while we were slumbering. His uncle's power had gone to him while he was still in an egg, so the sentient part of it knew it needed to renew the seal as well as stop whatever catastrophe he was sacrificing himself for. But then the seal broke again a few months ago, and, after slowly waking from the long hibernation we had set into to survive, we escaped. Which means the last traces of Latios, young or old, must finally be gone from this world forever._ _All that remains is his power, which had no choice but to flow into you, and it will soon be mine! _It laughed._ But the hundred years of imprisonment I underwent, and the hundreds of thousands before that, are nothing compared to what you and your friends will suffer. My shadow things told me you and a friend escaped them and ruined the plans they had set into effect in my absence to collect more souls to give me when I finally returned. You will not escape twice._

"Mewtwo will save us," Latias said, although there was a twinge of doubt in her voice.

_He can't even break through the barrier between our worlds! When the time comes, even he will fall before me…for I am darkness' master, and you know as well as I do that psychic power has no effect against it!_

Latias' heart sank, knowing the being was right. And yet… "Mewtwo has other powers besides his psychic abilities. He'll stop you somehow," she said.

_We shall see, little dragon. We shall see…_

In the meantime, Charizard and Aerodactyl had been fighting savagely. Charizard was panting and bleeding from numerous cuts and gashes, and his tail flame wasn't burning as brightly as before, but he still had plenty of fight left in him. The same could be said for Aerodactyl, who had a large crack running down its chest where the flaw in its armor was, and large holes had formed in its wing membranes. "Aerodactyl, attack with Aerial Ace!"

"Charizard, when it hits you, grab on!" yelled Ash. Charizard held out his claws as Aerodactyl slammed into him, wrapping his arms around the monster's body and clutching it to his chest. It screeched and tried to escape, but Charizard had it in a dead man's grip, and didn't intend to let go anytime soon. "Great! Now, use aerial Submission!"

Charizard grinned and started the first part of one of his favorite and most effective moves. Still clutching onto Aerodactyl, he swooped down towards the ground, then pulled up and flew high into the air, almost touching the soulless husks hanging from the ceiling, then dove back down towards the ground, forming a big circle. He repeated this flight pattern over and over, going faster each time. "Aerodactyl, Bite him! Break free!" commanded Latias Sr.

Dazed and confused by the constant spinning and buffeting it was getting, Aerodactyl's head lunged at thin air, snapping at it futilely. "Too late! Charizard, finish it with Seismic Toss!"

Charizard flew up to the apex of his circle and, using the momentum he had been building up all this time, flung Aerodactyl towards the ground at incredible speeds. "Aerodactyl, fire a Hyper Beam at the ground to stop your fall!" cried Latias Sr. desperately.

Snapping out of its confusion, Aerodactyl opened its jaws towards the ground, golden light forming in its maw. "Oh no you don't! Charizard, knock it out with Fire Blast!"

Charizard inhaled deeply and spat out a huge fire star, which shot down at Aerodactyl and slammed into its back, setting its wings on fire and smashing the demon pterodactyl into the bone pile. Its head, which had been pointed down towards the ground when it was hit by the Fire Blast, had been pushed underneath its chest where it accidentally released the charged Hyper Beam it had been carrying. The explosion flipped it into the air and caused it to land hard on its back several yards away, its chest armor shattered beyond recognition. The monster roared weakly, the yellow light in its eyes dimming. "No! This can't be happening!" cried Latias Sr.

"Hate to break it to you lady, but it is!" Pikachu said, grinning. "Way to go Charizard!"

The fire dragon landed on the ground, looking exhausted with blood still pouring from his wounds, but the look in his fierce blue eyes was jovial. "YEAAAAHHH!" he roared, letting loose a jet of fire into the air. "Haha, let's see all those jerks back home call me a loser now when they hear how I took down an Aerodactyl, ancient master of the skies! Who's the mon now? Hahaha!"

"You did great Charizard!" said Ash, starting to run towards his Pokemon. "I'm glad to be your trainer!"

Latias was grinning, celebrating in their victory and thinking that this had proven the evil master wrong, when she saw something that nobody else had. Her face paled. "CHARIZARD, LOOK OUT!"

"Huh?" Charizard turned around in time to see Aerodactyl, who had managed to push itself up, finish charging up a full-powered Hyper Beam in its mouth.

It fired.

Charizard was winded from his fight, and only a couple of feet away from the monster. He never stood a chance. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as the beam shot towards the fire dragon. The expression on his face metamorphosed from confusion, to shock, to uttermost horror. He held his hands over his face in a futile attempt to block the beam, which unsurprisingly failed. The resulting explosion flung him backwards, causing him to land hard on his back and slide through the bone heap, getting scratched, cut, and bruised by the skeletal remains, skidding to a halt just before the island's edge. His limbs twitched and fell limply to his sides. The flame on his tail dwindled, reduced to little more than embers.

"CHARIZARD!" cried Latias, Ash, and Pikachu. Latias Sr. and the unseen master laughed. The zombie Aerodactyl spread what was left of its wings and roared triumphantly.

Ash and Pikachu rushed over to Charizard. "Charizard! Charizard, speak to me!" begged Ash. There was no response. "Pikachu-"

Ash didn't need to say anymore. Pikachu tensed his electric sacs and sent a powerful charge into Charizard's body. The dragon twitched, then fell limp again. Pikachu gritted his teeth and sent an even stronger shock into his friend's body. Charizard convulsed at this, and his eyes flew open for a second, but then he fell limp once more. "No…" Tears started to roll down his cheeks.

Ash's fists pounded Charizard's stomach uselessly. He bent his head down, not wanting the bitch or her pet monster to get the satisfaction of seeing him cry. "Charizard…"

Latias threw herself at the side of her cage, getting a nasty shock, but ignored it. Pikachu gave them stronger ones to wake them up whenever they slept too late. "Let me out!" she cried at her mother. "Let me out! He's not dead yet, I can still heal him with Recover!"

Latias Sr. glanced over at the dying flame on Charizard's tail and actually looked like she was considering it. "Hmm…" She smiled. "No, I don't think so. Why should I let you exert yourself to save one useless male? He would have died anyway after we had won the battle."

Latias clenched her claws so tightly they almost drew blood. She had already seen one friend die in that forest months ago, and others in the city only a week before that. She didn't want another friend to die today.

A flame of anger ignited in her heart.

Ash slowly stood up, his back turned to Sr. and Aerodactyl. "This battle's not over yet."

"Oh?" asked the evil Pokemon, an eyebrow raised.

Ash turned around, all traces of tears gone from his face. "Each of us still has one Pokemon left: Pikachu and Aerodactyl. As long as both of them are standing, this battle's not over. You can't win and take our souls until Pikachu's defeated, right?"

A slow, unfriendly smile came onto Sr.'s face. "That's true. Very well then…Aerodactyl! Rock Tomb!"

Aerodactyl, who had struggled back to its feet, stomped on the ground, causing massive rocks to burst out of the ground around Pikachu and close around him. "Pikachu, you've been in Rock Tombs before. You know what to do," Ash said coldly.

The rocks exploded as Pikachu released a tremendous blast of electricity, startling Latias Sr. Long strands of static electricity arced all over his fur, causing it to stick up. The look of cold fury in his eyes showed that he would give Aerodactyl no mercy. Sr. didn't care. "Aerodactyl! Take Down!" The monster lunged forwards at Pikachu at speeds almost rivaling that of Kabutops when the rain had enhanced it.

"Pikachu, use Agility to get around Aerodactyl! Grab onto its tail!" Pikachu dashed out of the way of Aerodactyl's charge, then leaped onto its tail as the creature steamed past.

"Aerodactyl, rip that Pikachu off with your Bite attack!" Aerodactyl whipped its tail around to its front and lunged forward with open jaws at Pikachu.

"Pikachu, get off and use Iron Tail!" Pikachu jumped straight up as Aerodactyl lunged at him, causing the demon to bite its own tail. It screeched in pain, but it felt even more when Pikachu drove his Iron Tail into the monster's forehead.

The beast reared its head back, stunned by the attack, revealing the broken chest armor Charizard had rent open. "Pikachu…" Ash didn't need to say any more. The mouse gathered all of his remaining power, slammed into the open crack with a Quick Attack, and unleashed the most powerful Thunder attack he had ever generated.

The entire Dark World seemed to be filled with the light from the blast, and Aerodactyl's screams.

When Pikachu finally fell out of the armor, every inch of Aerodactyl was fried and sizzling. Little sparks and electric arcs danced upon the monster's skin. It gave one last croak and collapsed to the ground, its head resting at Pikachu's feet. Pikachu managed a weak smile. "I…I did it," he wheezed, barely managing to fill his lungs with breath. That last attack had used up everything he had left. And it had done the trick. The fearsome and terrifying Aerodactyl was finally defeated.

Latias Sr. stared at the fallen zombie in disbelief. "Impossible…" she whispered.

"It's over," said Ash. "Let us go." Sr. was too dumbstruck to answer, and she continued staring at Aerodactyl.

Pikachu glanced over at Charizard and sighed in relief when he saw the dragon's tail flame was still burning, albeit weakly. That meant they still had a chance to save him. "Sorry to steal your thunder buddy, but it had to be done…"

He didn't see Aerodactyl's yellow eyes blaze back to life. Didn't hear the monster's jaws open and neck muscles tense. By the time he heard Ash's cry of warning and turned around, he was too late to do anything but watch in horror as the demon's gaping maw rushed towards him. He clenched his eyes shut and braced himself for death…and heard the sound of an electric discharge, followed by the sound of something very sharp slicing through something very hard. After waiting several seconds and not feeling anything like serrated fangs tearing into his flesh, he opened his eyes and saw Aerodactyl's head, still with open jaws, lying on the ground, severed from its body. Latias floated next to the monster, her wing still glowing from the aftereffect of her Steel Wing attack.

The fire in her heart had turned into an inferno.

Aerodactyl's headless body twitched and dissolved, as did the head, the shadow things flying off of its bones and disintegrating harmlessly in the air. "_Now_ it's over," Latias said coldly. "Let us go. _Now._" She said, her voice resonating with echoes of power.

To their surprise, Latias Sr. laughed. "No, not just yet," she said with a sinister smile. She looked at Ash. "You see, now that Latias has entered the battlefield, she counts as your third Pokemon. And since you've gained a third Pokemon, it's only fair that I choose one too, isn't it?" She clutched her medallion, which was crackling with dark energy.

Latias gave a roar of frustration and charged at her mother, another Steel Wing charging up…only to bounce off a shield of lightning the medallion generated. "NO!" she cried angrily.

Shadow things flew to the dark dragon and the medallion she wore, surrounding her in a veritable cyclone of darkness. Her medallion glowing brighter than ever, Latias Sr. levitated into the heart of the cyclone, her arms spread out, her head thrown back in ecstasy. The shadow things condensed around her, forming a great writhing sphere of darkness. A pair of crescent-shaped horns protruded from the top of the sphere, made by shadow things just like the rest of it. A pair of long, thick tentacles extended from the sides, ending in large claws. The front of the dark sphere bulged and split apart, revealing a huge red eye. Latias Sr. could be seen within the eye through its clear surface, floating behind the monstrosity's giant iris.

Latias' anger was abruptly extinguished and replaced with icy fear. Trembling, she backed away, joining Ash and Pikachu, who were trembling as well. How could they possibly defeat something like this?

The abomination laughed, in a voice sounding like a mix of Latias Sr.'s voice as well as that of the evil spirit of the medallion, which only Latias had heard until now. "I am reborn! The master of darkness! Now all your souls belong to Missingno!"

…

To be continued…


	29. Dark Tides pt 3: Out of the Darkness

Sir Pudding, I mentioned Yu-Gi-Oh inspired this, right? Latias hasn't wasted her summons, Mewtwo will help out this chapter. And they wouldn't have managed to defeat the Phoenix King if Mewtwo hadn't reduced his health so much. And where did you get the idea for the name Lash?

Lord Karkon, this is the Master Ball Zone, and Lash really is Latias' mom.

HVK, how the heck did you know beforehand that Ho-Oh was Latias' dad!

Disclaimer: I own Latias' mom, the Dark World, this incarnation of Missingno, etc.

… 

"H-how do we fight that!" asked Ash, looking into the single dread eye of the dark master.

"Don't ask me…" moaned Pikachu, barely to stand on both feet. "I got nothing left. How about you, Latias? You took out Aerodactyl just a second ago."

"Yeah, but that thing didn't scare me like this does," she said, her voice trembling. "I don't know why, but I can't look at this thing and not feel afraid."

The monster laughed and swelled up, growing as it absorbed more shadow things. "Weaklings! Your fears shall consume you, and your souls will burn forever in the lake of fire!"

This comment spurned Ash's determination. "We'll see about that!" He whipped out his Pokedex and ran its laser sensor over the monster. The beast flinched as the laser ran over its eye. A light beeped on the device. "New Pokemon detected. Analyzing…" A picture of the monster appeared on the Pokedex's screen. "New data recorded: Missingno, the Darklord Pokemon. According to legend, this monster was sealed away thousands of years ago by the Dragon King and his queen. Its large red eye can see well in the dark, but is vulnerable to bright flashes of light."

"Flashes of light…that's it!" Ash snapped his fingers. "Latias, do that thing you do where you glow like a night light when Phanphy's scared of the dark!"

"Uh, okay." Latias concentrated, and her body started to radiate luminescence. "Like this?"

"Yeah, but brighter!"

"Okay!" Latias clenched her eyes shut and started glowing brighter. The shadow things flowing into Missingno wavered then started creeping away, not wishing to be near the light.

"Pitiful!" roared the Darklord. "Your light is nothing to me!" Missingno summoned thousands more unwilling shadow things to itself, increasing it body mass exponentially and causing it to loom over Latias, reeking darkness.

Her glow wavered as tendrils of darkness reached out to enshroud her. "Ash, he's too strong! I don't think I can hold him!" she cried.

"Pikachu, how about you?" Ash asked anxiously.

Pikachu gritted his teeth and tried to summon up enough electrical power to glow as well, but his red cheeks remained dead and inactive. "Sorry Ash, I'm all out of juice. I used it all up on Aerodactyl," he said apologetically. "There's nothing I can do this time."

Ash wrapped his arms around his friend as the tendrils crept closer, pushing back at the light Latias was generating. "Then a miracle had better occur soon, or this is it!"

…

Back in the real world, Mewtwo had spent the last several minutes after being informed by Crawdaunt, Phanphy, and Bayleef what the heck was going on trying to break through the dark dome and enter the other dimension that it was connected to. After all his numerous spectacular efforts which would have eaten up a Hollywood SFX budget in a single scene, the dome was completely untouched, while the Pokemon Center it had been in front of had vaporized, along with most of the ground, causing the dome to become a sphere hovering above a twenty-foot deep crater. Numerous louts and punks were loitering about just outside the edge of the crater, too scared to even attempt to capture the awesome Pokemon working within, but also too curious to move away. Five of these louts and punks were our least favorite recurring villains (and one reluctant villain) known as Team Cipher.

"That Pokemon is amazing!" Jessie breathed. "That's Mewtwo, isn't it?"

James nodded. "Yes, who could forget him after that whole debacle on Mount Cena? Well, aside from our old boss, Domino, and the entire Team Rocket assault force."

Meowth flipped through a TC handbook. "Our old boss may be dead, but Mewtwo's still #1 on the list of Most Wanted Pokemon! Imagine how happy the boss'll be if we bring him Mewtwo! I can see it now…" he said, launching into another demented reverie. "The boss goes out to inspect how training of the elite TC forces is doin' and finds they're all nothing but incompetent lazy grunts. 'You losers are all worthless and wastes of my money!' he says. 'If only I had some super-powerful soldier or something to take over the world with instead of these jerks!' And then he remembers the Mewtwo we captured for him just a little while ago and says, 'Wait a minute, why am I wasting time and money training you guys when I've got the world's most powerful Pokemon? You're all fired!' And so then he goes and uses Mewtwo to conquer the world, and once he does he'll say, 'Thanks to Meowth and his friends, the world is mine, plus we have a huge budget surplus thanks to the firing of all my worthless no-good troops, including Bizzatch and Cassidy! I think I'll give them a little reward by making em' co-rulers of the world!"

Jessie and James had dollar signs in their eyes. "We'll be rich! Powerful! Famous!" cried Jessie. "We'll be loved by fans all over the globe! And if they don't love us, we'll force them to!"

"I'll be able to open my own line of clothes and force everyone to wear them with a dress code so everybody will look fabulous!" said James eagerly.

"Chiiiiii!" said Chimecho happily.

Wobbuffet sweatdropped. As usual these days, he was the only one with any common sense in his head. "But Mewtwo's the most powerful Pokemon in the world. How are we gonna catch him?" he asked.

Meowth translated that to the others, and they thought for a moment. "I know! We'll dig a big hole!" cried James.

Wobbuffet sweatdropped. "World's. Most. Powerful. Pokemon," he repeated slowly, enunciating each word.

Meowth translated again. "A really, really big hole?" James suggested hopefully.

Wobbuffet smacked his forehead. "He can _fly_," he said, pointing an arm flap out to the crater, where Mewtwo was floating about the shielded portal to the Dark World.

James started to look desperate as Meowth translated that. "A really, really big hole with a cover on it?"

"Oh, forget it James, we're not digging a hole," snapped Jessie.

James pouted. "But I like digging holes."

"I thought you hated doing it," said the confused Meowth.

James shrugged. "I switch on and off."

Meanwhile, Mewtwo was performing extremely complex calculations in his head while studying the dark sphere. He reached out a finger to touch it and got a nasty jolt from the shield of shadows. Not showing any reaction, he pulled his hand back, still calculating.

"Well?" Bayleef asked anxiously from the slope of the crater. "Can you get in?"

"Oh, forget it Bayleef," snapped Crawdaunt. "He tried and failed before, what makes you think he can do it now?"

"On the contrary, Crawdaunt, I believe I can break through," said Mewtwo suddenly. "My previous attempts have failed because I am using Psychic powers against Dark-type energy. I will need to use something else if I am to gain entry." His hands started glowing. "It is fortunate psychic power is not all that I know how to manipulate. The Unown have shown me how to manipulate the walls between dimensions, and I must grudgingly thank them for that." He flew above the sphere, his hands now starting to crackle with energy as radiant as a supernova. "Stand back, I am not completely sure what the consequences of being close when I do this are!" he called to the three Pokemon on the slopes.

Back with Team Cipher, the imbeciles had been trying to think up a good way to capture Mewtwo when Jessie got a brainstorm. "I know!" she said, pointing a finger into the air. "We'll use a net!" The others facefaulted.

Wobbuffet's eye twitched. "Oh for the love of…that's it." Even after being harshly spoken to by the illusory Benny and being abandoned on a switch back in the RPGenerator, he still retained his loyalty to Miss Jessie, sticking with her through all her stupid plans. But even loyalty had its limits, in this case pissing off the world's most powerful Pokemon. He waddled over to James and swiped a Pokeball from his belt. "You idiots can go and get yourselves blown up, but I've already been blasted off once today and I think that should be enough. If you want me, Feebas and I will be making out behind that Dumpster over there."

Meowth was too stunned by the mental image of Wobbuffet and Feebas kissing to translate, so Jessie and James simply assumed that Wobbuffet was confused. It's not like they thought much of his intelligence, anyway. "Wobbuffet, come back!" cried James. "You're supposed to steal from other people, not from us!"

But before they could chase after the blob, Mewtwo slammed his fists into the top of the sphere, and the crater was filled with light.

…

Ash had positioned himself in front of Latias after her glow had finally flickered and died out and was using the talisman from the Unown to ward off the shadow thing tentacles. The shadow things were spirits, less than spirits really, and as such were destroyed utterly by the talisman's power instead of simply repelled. This worked on the tentacles, but Missingno's mass was virtually solidified from the sheer number of shadow things comprising it. They were bound too closely together to be dissipated or destroyed by the talisman's power. All Ash's talisman could do was try to keep the monster back, leaving both Missingno and the tired heroes at a stalemate.

The beast grew tired of this stalemate, and dug its claws into the pile of bones it was floating over. "I may not be able to touch you, but these can!" It ripped its claws out of the ground, flinging numerous bones, skulls, and rib cages at Ash.

The talisman could not repel them, for they were simply inert projectiles, and they slammed into the startled Ash, knocking him a few feet backwards, just enough to leave Latias outside of the talisman's bubble of protection for a moment. "Oh no!"

Frightened, Latias tried to fly back into the safe area, but Missingno grabbed her in one of his enormous claws. The fiend laughed. "Now, your powers are mine at last!"

And that's when the sky exploded.

The air above the island shattered, causing Missingno to scream in agony as pure sunlight from the real world streamed in. The shadow things making up his body squealed in pain, and the monster dropped Latias and moved back, out of the light. "Not sunlight!" the monster wailed. "I'm not strong enough to resist that yet! I haven't absorbed enough souls!" It looked like the dark master was struggling to keep its body together, as its individual components wanted desperately to get away from the light.

"What's going on?" wondered Pikachu, feebly raising an arm to shield himself from the light.

A white streak dropped onto the island, causing bone dust to go up at his intact. As the dust cleared, a pair of piercing violet eyes looked about the area with disgust. "So I'm _here_ again…" he growled.

Latias gasped. She couldn't believe it. "Mewtwo!" She startled the mutant by glomping him. "I didn't think you'd make it!"

Mewtwo blinked. "I would have been here sooner, but the barrier between dimensions was stronger than I expected." He frowned, noticing Missingno, which was recovering from the shock of sunlight entering its Dark World. "And what is this?"

"That's Missingno," said Ash, coming up to Mewtwo, still holding Pikachu. "My Pokedex says some dragon guy sealed him away a long time ago. And that thing inside its eye is apparently Latias' long-lost and really nasty mom, who wants to kill all of us and steal our souls. And use Latias' weird inner power for something."

"She found the power crystal Missingno was trapped in after being rejected by my father, the Orre Ho-Oh, and abandoning her eggs with her brother Latios (whom up until now I thought was my father, but is really my uncle) and together they conspired to steal souls and use my brother and my power to take over the world. But when she chased my uncle to Alto Mare, she and Missingno were sealed beneath the canal but released after my brother's Soul Dew was destroyed, and she's apparently been waiting here in Lilycove for me ever since," Latias added quickly.

Mewtwo stared at them blankly. Admittedly, he was very good at processing information, but this convoluted plot proved a little too confusing even for him. "…I see," he said, looking baffled. "And why is Charizard lying over there, close to death?"

Startled, they looked over to the dying fire dragon. "Oh gosh, we forgot all about him!" yelled Ash in alarm.

Missingno laughed as shadow things came to it and healed its wounds. "His life-spark is but moments from extinguishing. Once it does, his body will be mine for my servants to inhabit!" It reached an arm out towards the fallen dragon.

"I think not." Mewtwo gestured, and Charizard's body levitated into the sunlight, where Missingno's tendrils could not reach. The master of darkness cursed angrily. "He's in bad shape, but I believe I can save him." Mewtwo pressed his palm down onto Charizard's chest and concentrated, his purple eyes lighting up. Blue light washed over Charizard, causing his scratches and bruises to fade away, and all his wounds to close up. Any tears in his wings were mended, and the flame on his tail re-ignited, giving off a healthy glow.

Mewtwo removed his hand, and Charizard grunted. His eyes flickered and opened, slowly coming into focus. "Unnh…what hit me?"

"Charizard, you're all right!" cheered Pikachu in relief. He leaped out of Ash's arms and collapsed immediately, due to his extreme power drainage. Mewtwo sighed and started healing him as well.

"That Aerodactyl hit you with a Hyper Beam before you could get away," Ash explained, happy to see his Pokemon back in full health and good shape.

Charizard's eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah…" He shot up. "Where is he? I've got a score to settle with that guy!"

"I killed him," said Latias frankly.

Charizard's shoulders sagged, a crestfallen expression on his face. "Oh. Just my luck…"

Missingno was by this time enraged that its victims were standing in the light, _chatting_, and ignoring it while it was repairing itself! "Enough of this!" the fiend roared. "Shadow things!" Shadow things flocked to Missingno from all over the Dark World, forming a swirling mass of darkness above the dark master's horned head. The beast pointed a claw at the hole in the air, and the shadows flung to it, forming a circle around the light. More and more shadow things arrived, causing the circle to swell out into a great ring like a donut, and then they pressed inward into the light. Those that entered right away were killed immediately, burned into nothing by the sunlight, but more and more flocked in after the first ones, bringing their dark mass to bear and slowly gaining ground. Their momentum increased as still more shadows joined them, and together they converged inward, covering the hole of light with their mass and blocking out the sun. The shadows closest to the light were burned away instantly, but more and more came in to replace them every second. There seemed to be no end to the shadows, and so there also was no end to the seal, and the sunlight remained blotted out, leaving the heroes with no protection from Missingno other than the meager light from Ash's talisman. Missingno chuckled and advanced on them, swelling up again as more shadow things not assigned to sealing the portal added their mass to their lord and master.

"My psychic powers won't work against that thing, it's a Dark-type," murmured Mewtwo with a slight hint of concern as Missingno approached. He placed the fully healed Pikachu on the ground. "I have other abilities, but the Sealeo's share of my power is psychic."

"My Pokedex says Missingno is weak against bright flashes of light," Ash offered helpfully. "Latias was able to hold it off a little by glowing, and it doesn't like my talisman."

"That's because Missingno is a spirit, I think," said Latias. "It told me during the fight with Aerodactyl that it used to be a Duskull until it found some weird crystal-that thing my mom's wearing-and used it to become this monster and create the Dark World."

"Is that so? Hold on," said Mewtwo. He lifted a hand and formed a ball of light in his palm. He hurled it at Missingno's eye, and it exploded in an incredible flash of light. The demon roared in pain and lurched back, stunned. The shadow things around the portal and the ones around their master got agitated, and some fled, but not enough to make any significant difference in their numbers. "Hmm…my Flash attack doesn't seem to have quite the same effect as the sunlight did, no doubt because sunlight is natural in origin and thus more powerful against the darkness enshrouding Missingno. And now that you've mentioned it, I sense a connection between the shadow things and that crystal around your…mother's neck. Perhaps we could sever it…"

"Missingno said that my ancestor, the first Latias, sealed it inside the crystal itself. Even if we cut off the power it's giving to the shadow things forming its body, that won't eliminate Missingno, will it?" Latias asked anxiously as Missingno started to recover.

"Wait…the Dragon King's mate was a Latias!" Ash asked in surprise, recalling what the Pokedex had said earlier.

"Then what does that make the Dragon King? A Latios?" wondered Pikachu. "Or something else?"

"Maybe it was a Charizard," Charizard suggested, liking the thought of one of his species-maybe even a distant ancestor of his own family-having a title like 'Dragon King.'

"I don't think that matters right now. I have a plan," Mewtwo announced. "Ash, I need you to stay out of the way, where it'll be safer. I will lure Missingno over here, directly beneath the portal, and then break the layer of shadows covering it. The sunlight should stun Missingno and cause its body to disintegrate enough to allow us a direct shot at the crystal powering it. I will need your talisman then, so we can use it to exorcise Missingno's spirit from the crystal and break all ties to the power it houses, reverting it back its original form of Duskull."

"Will that work?" asked Ash doubtfully as Missingno finished recovering and calling back his shadows.

Mewtwo shrugged. "Well, I suppose I could always try a Pokeball." He gestured, and a small, almost sinister-looking black Pokeball with a yellow and red eye for a button appeared.

A faint nagging sensation appeared in the backs of Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard's skulls, telling them that they had seen Pokeballs like that before. But it had been so long ago (and so well covered over by Mewtwo's brainwashing) that the sensation quickly faded. Mewtwo threw the Hunter Ball (for that's what it was called) at Missingno, who was lurching towards them once more.

The Darklord snatched at it with a tentacle, intending to smash it. At the instant the tentacle touched the ball's surface, the sphere popped open, transforming Missingno's immense body mass into red light and sucking it into the Pokeball. The ball snapped shut and fell to the ground, where it rattled for a few seconds, the eye-button on its side flashing frantically. Then, with a refreshing tone, the eye stopped glowing and the ball held still. "Well what do you know," said Mewtwo in surprise. "It actually worked."

That's when the ball exploded in a flash of light and the humongous Missingno loomed over them. "Bwahahaha! Fool, your modern contraptions cannot contain me, not while the power of darkness flows within my veins!" boasted the fiend.

"Is that so?" asked Mewtwo, not looking too worried. "I suppose we'll have to resort to my original plan, then. Pikachu, Charizard, would you like to assist me?"

"Sure!" said Charizard, cracking his knuckles. "I didn't get to finish my fight with Aerodactyl, so this'll have to do."

"And I'll do anything it takes to help my friends," said Pikachu, charging up his electric sacs.

"I'll help too," said Latias. "That thing is my mother…well, half of it anyway. And everything that's happened is because it wants me. I'm not going to let it take me without a fight!" Now that her friends were recovered, and her mentor was here, Latias felt her confidence returning.

Missingno did not seem troubled by the team's determination to defeat him. "Darkness shall consume your souls…"

"We shall see." Without warning, Mewtwo formed a Shadow Blade and dashed at Missingno's side, slashing its right arm off with a single cut. Missingno shrieked in pain and lashed out at Mewtwo with its other arm. Latias severed that limb off with her Steel Wing before it could even touch Mewtwo, rendering the fiend armless. The arms writhed in agony on the ground, disintegrating due to their severance from the main body.

Missingno shook and called more shadow things to itself, attempting to repair the damage that the two Psychic Pokemon had inflicted. Pikachu hopped onto Charizard's head. "Hey, let's see if we can't do something about those things! If they can't get to Missingno, it won't be able to repair itself, right?"

Charizard nodded vigorously, nearly shaking Pikachu off. "Sounds good to me!" The dragon flapped his wings and took off, spitting fire at the streams of shadows flying towards their master while Pikachu assisted with bolts of lightning. Ash followed them, using his talisman to destroy any of the shadow things that slipped past his friends' blockade.

That left Latias and Mewtwo to tackle the master of darkness by themselves. Missingno saw its supply line was being cut off and angrily pointed its eye at the flying duo of dragon and mouse, glowing as it started charging up an attack. Mewtwo delivered a powerful Dynamic Punch uppercut right underneath the monster's eye, forcefully redirecting its gaze up at the ceiling, causing the attack it had been charging to go wild, firing a massive beam of dark energy upwards, razing the chained bodies hanging above and spilling bits of hot metal and body parts around the area. Missingno shook with fury. "You dare!" It shrunk a little, redirecting its mass to form a new pair of arms, along with several tentacles.

Mewtwo formed another Shadow Blade as the tentacles lashed at them. "Remember, we need to get him beneath the portal!" Mewtwo reminded Latias.

She nodded, steeling her courage. "Then I'll distract him and try to lure him over so you can do what you need to do!" She knew she was what Missingno really wanted, and also had enough faith in Mewtwo to know he would protect her if she messed up. Mewtwo started to fly off, and Missingno's eye followed him, not letting the biggest threat to its safety out of its sight. But in doing so, it allowed Latias to attack its tentacles with the white flames of her Dragonbreath attack, causing the monster to screech in pain as the tendrils burned away into nothingness. "Hey Missingno! You want my power, right? Come and get it!" She flew away from the monster that was partially her mother, heading for the area beneath the sealed portal.

Unfortunately, Missingno seemed to have an inkling of her strategy and didn't bother moving from its spot. Instead, it pumped more shadows into its arms, causing them to increase in length and stretch out towards the dragon, snatching her before she could get very far. "I've got you-"

"Wrong!" Mewtwo rammed into Missingno from behind with a Focus Punch, dislodging more shadow things and forcing the monster to let go of Latias. The force of the punch had also pushed Missingno's body mass a few feet closer to the portal, not that it had noticed.

"I almost had her!" Missingno roared as Latias quickly rejoined Mewtwo. Enraged, the master of darkness shrunk again slightly, sprouting more arms. It formed a protective shield around itself, then dug its claws into the ground and swung them up, hurling dozens of extremely sharp bones at the duo.

Mewtwo raised a hand to deflect the bones, but Latias, wanting to show her mentor she had been practicing, beat him to it by attempting a Psywave. To her relief, it worked (she had half expected it not to) and a wave of psychic force shot out, deflecting the bones back at Missingno. They bounced harmlessly off the monster's shield, but Mewtwo already had a solution to that. Cupping his hands together, he leaped over Missingno, slamming his clenched fists down on the shield with a Brick Breaker, shattering the barrier and leaving the monster temporarily defenseless. Latias flew in close and unleashed a burst of Dragonbreath right in the dark lord's eye, blinding it!

Missingno roared in pain. "My eye!" Clenching its damaged eye shut, Missingno howled, "SHADOW THINGS!" More shadow things appeared and started flying towards the monster, far too many for Pikachu and Charizard, who were already kept busy keeping the other shadows occupied, to deal with.

Fortunately, Mewtwo was ready for this. He hurled a Flash attack upwards into the midst of the incoming swarm of shadows, causing all of the little devils to be caught in its radius when it exploded in a radiant burst of light, vaporizing them all instantly. "There will be no reinforcements for you, dark one."

Missingno growled in fury and retracted its extra appendages, using the shadow things from them to heal its damaged eye. The eyelid flew open, revealing the monster's eye to be larger and more bloodshot than before. The shadow things making up the demon's body were trembling from their master's rage. "ENOUGH!" it roared. Missingno pulled back its remaining arms and contracted into itself, shrinking in mass but increasing in density, forming a writhing knot of darkness. Neither Mewtwo nor Latias had a clue what it was doing, but doubted this was a good thing. Mewtwo prepared a Flash attack, but didn't get the chance to use it.

With a roar, Missingno seemed to explode outward, scattering excess shadow things about him as their spirits were sacrificed to form a massive wave of dark energy that spread in all directions like a giant bursting bubble of evil. Mewtwo immediately formed a Barrier to shield himself, and Latias attempted a Safeguard, but neither defense was strong enough to hold back the full force of the darkness.

Latias, being less experienced and her training incomplete, was the first to succumb, the blue aura of her Safeguard dissipated and she was hit full force by the darkness. She screamed as she was flung away, carried off by the endless wave of shadows. Mewtwo's head snapped back at her cry, and that break in concentration was just what the darkness needed to break through his Barrier and fling him away as well.

Charizard and Pikachu had flown down to join Ash in the little bubble of protection formed by his talisman when they had seen the wave rushing towards them, but even it was not able to block the full effects of the tides of darkness, and they were buffeted about by the winds as they struggled to stay together. When the waves finally passed, Latias and Mewtwo were lying in the bones at separate points on the island, their skin cut and bruised by the sharp ivory around them. Missingno had shrunk significantly as a result of sacrificing most of its body for that one powerful explosion. The monster cackled to itself. "I knew you could not stand before my power…"

The constant flow of shadow things, no longer barred in their path by Charizard and Pikachu, swarmed to their master, causing it to bloat up once again, enlarging to even greater size than it had previously. Its horns bent to the sides like a Tauros' and grew longer, small vestigial legs sprouted from its underside, as well as numerous tiny wings, and its arms drooped to the ground, dragging its knuckles on the bones. The black flesh around its eye split open, revealing five or six new eyeballs, each as blood-red as the first. As Latias and Mewtwo stirred, Missingno's left arm shot out, grabbing Latias and raising her into the air as the great Psychic got to his feet. Mewtwo's eyes blazed when he saw what Missingno held in its grasp. "Put her down," he hissed, charging up a Flash attack.

Missingno laughed and tightened its grip on Latias, causing her to gasp in pain as its claws dug into her flesh. "I would not be so quick to complete that attack, if I were you. If you fire it, I will crush her before it reaches me. And then my host will get the power we need to become unstoppable, and the world shall be enshrouded in eternal darkness, as it would have been thousands of years ago."

Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. "And if I don't fire it?"

"Then I will crush her anyway, but I will rip your souls from your bodies less painfully than I would if you forced my hand. Now get rid of that attack." Mewtwo was hesitant. His eyes glanced to Latias, who was still not quite fully conscious. Missingno squeezed her harder, causing blood to spill from where its claws held Latias. "Do it!" Mewtwo gritted his teeth and lowered his arm, the Flash dissipating harmlessly. Missingno cackled. "Heroes are always so easy to manipulate," the dark master boasted. "Now you! Human! Drop that talisman to the ground! Kick it over the edge of the island, where the flames of darkness shall consume its power! Do it now, or your friend dies!"

Ash clutched his talisman, feeling frightened and uncertain. Shadow things were already hovering just outside the talisman's range of protection, waiting for him to take it off. If he threw the talisman away, they would claim him and his two Pokemon, who were huddling with him in the bubble. But if he didn't, Missingno would kill Latias. But if he gave it up, she would die anyway. What was he supposed to do?

However, there was still one variable left, one Missingno had failed to consider: Latias herself. That last squeeze had woken her up and allowed her to see her friends grudgingly acquiescing to the dark lord, fearing what would happen to her if they did not. Her blood boiled, making her forget her crushed ribs and slow constriction by the monster's claws. She glanced at Missingno's main eye, and saw her mother's face lit up by the blood-red light from within, grinning with the murderous ecstasy of a predator about to finish off a helpless victim. For a moment, Latias wondered how she could possibly be related to such a vile Pokemon.

Her eyes narrowed. How _dare_ she enjoy this! How _dare_ she torment her friends this way, using her own daughter as a hostage with their very souls at stake! And for what? For whatever so-called power hid within her, a power she had never wanted in the first place!

A flame of anger ignited in her heart.

That bitch and her pet ghoul wanted her power? Then they could have it! With a cry of anger, Latias' body lit up in an incredible burst of light, illuminating the darkest corners of this godforsaken dimension.

Missingno screamed, trying to shield its eyes from the light. Its skin roiled and quaked, the shadow things making up its body screaming in agony and trying to escape, but they had bound themselves too closely together and could only die as Latias' light peeled layer after layer of darkness off of Missingno's form, causing it to shrink and disintegrate rapidly. "Wh-what's happening? Why is my power fading!" Frightened, Missingno tried to hurl Latias away, but she remained clutched in its claw, which was closest to her light and unraveling the fastest, and no longer had enough of a connection to Missingno's spirit to respond to it's master's will. The terrified Missingno fell back on its vestigial legs, shaking its arm frantically to release Latias and get away from her awful light. But in doing so, it ended up flailing right beneath the sealed portal to the real world.

Latias, her eyes ablaze and her body formed of radiant light, glared at Mewtwo. "Now's our chance! Finish him!" Mewtwo immediately understood what she wanted him to do and pointed a hand at the writhing barrier of shadow things, trapped between the light from below and the light from outside, and fired a Hyper Beam into the heart of the quivering mass.

The beam pierced the barrier of shadow things, ripping them to pieces and allowing the sunlight to shine in, destroying the remaining shadow things who desperately tried to get away and glaring down on Missingno, who was directly beneath it and was now caught in the full force of the solar rays. "Ahh! NOOOOOOOO!" The dark lord struggled to break free from the sunlight, but it was in the heart of the rays shining in, not just near the edge like it had been before, and was still held at bay by the light emitted from its clutched and paralyzed claw. Between the two lights, there was no escape.

The shadow things making up Missingno's body wailed and fell apart, starting at the top with the horns and working their way down, exposing the confused and dazed Latias Sr., too stunned by the brilliant flash of light her daughter had released to understand what was happening. "Wh-what's going on? Why are you falling apart!" she screamed at her medallion, which was glowing ineffectually.

Mewtwo glanced at Ash. "This is it! Get that talisman around her neck!"

Ash nodded. "Got it!" He started running towards the patch of sunshine.

Charizard, with Pikachu still mounted on his head, swooped down from above and picked him up in his claws. "Allow us to help!" said Charizard.

Pikachu nodded in agreement. "Let's take this thing down once and for all!"

Ash grinned and pulled his talisman off his neck, feeling almost sorry that he was going to have to give it up, even momentarily. It had been the only reason he had been able to survive in this Dark World to begin with.

As they passed over Latias Sr., who could be clearly seen now that Missingno's sides and eye were mostly dissolved, Ash flung his hand out, dropping the talisman right on the confused dragon's neck. "Gotcha!"

"Wh-what!" Sr. looked at the talisman in confusion as it started glowing brighter than ever, and her medallion's light intensified to match it. "Wh-what's going on!"

Bolts of energy crackled between the two amulets, and force exploded out from them, snapping their cords and flinging Latias Sr. painfully out of the vaporizing remnants of Missingno's body and into the bones forming the ground.

The last remnants of Missingno's claw evaporated, allowing Latias to float freely to the ground, where her glow faded, revealing her to be fully healed. She looked silently up at the intertwined medallion and talisman, wondering what would happen next.

Cracks appeared in both the talisman and the medallion, and then with a resounding crash of power the two shattered, leaving only the sliver of purple crystal remaining. Sparking with energy, the crystal fell to the ground, bouncing off a few bones before rolling to a stop in the sunshine. Wisps of smoke emanated from the jewel, forming the small, pathetic figure of a Duskull, a little gray Pokemon who seemed to be formed mostly of solidified smoke with a skull-shaped mask concealing its single red eye. "No…my power…" Duskull sobbed. "My beautiful power…it's gone…"

A long shadow covered the weak ghost. Terrified, it looked up into the cold purple eyes of Mewtwo. "And now, so are you."

The Duskull trembled. "No, wait-" Its voice was cut off as it was sucked into one of Mewtwo's Hunter Balls, vanishing forever.

Latias Sr. stirred from her place on the bones. "Ohhhh…" She looked up, seeing the human and Pokemon she had struggled so hard to kill just a few minutes ago, including her daughter, coming together in the sunlight. "Oh…oh, Latias!" The older dragon startled her daughter by leaping forward and grabbing her in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how horrible it was for me, with Missingno constantly in my head, making me do all those awful things, and-"

Latias's eyes hardened. "Get off of me," she whispered, shoving Sr. away. "Don't bother lying to me anymore. I know the truth. Missingno told me everything. You chose to do what you did. Missingno didn't have the slightest bit of control over you, all he did was suggest. You're no different now that he's gone then you were when you were relying on his power. You're still a heartless, hypocritical bitch." She glanced at Mewtwo, who formed a Hunter Ball, understanding what Latias wanted him to do.

Sr. stammered in protest, desperately not wanting to lose her chance at freedom. "B-but Latias, I'm your _mother!_" she cried frantically.

"And because of that, I'm going to let you live instead of allowing Mewtwo to kill you," Latias said coldly. "You are my mother in name only. I already had a mother. One who raised me, fed me, disciplined me, helped me grow up. Her name was Marcella." She closed her eyes, not wishing to see her mother's last desperate attempts at convincing her to change her mind. "Mewtwo!"

"Latias-" The woman who called herself Latias' mother vanished in a flash of light, sucked inside of Mewtwo's Hunter Ball.

There was a long silence. Her friends felt uncertain and surprised at what had just happened. "…Geez, I don't think I would have done that to my own mother!" said Pikachu, looking shocked.

"That's because she raised you and loved you for at least a little while, before trying to eat you," Charizard said with a rare and uncharacteristic flash of wisdom. "Latias' mom never gave her any of that affection. She abandoned Latias and her brother, and later tried to kill us and use Latias' powers for her evil plans. She deserved no mercy, yet Latias spared her life, even if she'll be imprisoned forever now, which shows just what kind of a person Latias is. I did something like that with my old trainer Damien, after I realized he had abandoned me," the fire dragon reflected. "At one point, he really did love me, before getting too caught up in his own ego and the power of newer Pokemon to remember me, the starter and friend who had stuck with him since the beginning of his journey. It's because of that time we shared I let him live, instead of burning him to a crisp. You probably could have shocked your mom to death, but didn't for the same exact reason."

Pikachu thought about that for a moment. "…Yeah, I guess you're right."

Ash nodded, seeming to understand. "If I ever meet my dad sometime in the future, I could chew him out for never being there for me, but I think I'll just settle for punching his lights out and walking away. Even if he is a no-good abandoning bastard, he still helped me come to life, and I owe him a little for that. Just as Latias owes her mom the same." He sighed, looking down at the broken fragments of his talisman and the crystal lying nearby. "Man, this thing totally ruined my talisman…hope the Unown won't be angry about that." He bent down to pick up the crystal.

And as he did, Latias felt a sudden twinge of danger deep inside.

Just before Ash's fingers could brush the jewel, it flared to life, lit from within by an unholy glow even greater than when it had fought against Ash's talisman. It zapped Ash with a bolt of electricity, knocking him off his feet. "Oof!" he grunted as he hit the ground.

Mewtwo reflexively hurled a Shadow Ball at the crystal as it started to float into the air, crackling with an unhealthy violet light. The ball ricocheted off the crystal and struck the ground some feet away, vaporizing the nearby bones. "I can't seem to damage it…" he muttered. "And it feels so malevolent…and yet oddly familiar!"

Latias shivered, feeling the same sensation as Mewtwo a thousandfold. Now that the spirit possessing it was gone, the crystal seemed to reek of evil far worse than Missingno's, seeming so familiar and yet new to her, but undeniably deadly.

The crystal hung in the air at about eye level with Mewtwo, and fired a powerful bolt of energy into the ground, digging a shaft through the piled-up bones and penetrating the heart of the lake of fire. Abruptly, the entire Dark World started shaking. The flames around them roared up in greater intensity, licking the feet of the corpses above, which were swaying about like some grisly pendulums. Fissures appeared in the ground they were standing on, swallowing up bones and venting foul-smelling steam. The swaying corpses dangling from the chains started to disintegrate while globes of incandescent light began to rise from the fires. And above them, the portal started to shrink.

"Wh-what's going on?" cried Pikachu, trying to maintain a firm footing amidst all the shaking.

"The dimension is collapsing! I don't know how or why this is happening, but it is! We must get out at once!" cried Mewtwo.

Latias glanced up at all the tortured bodies hanging above them. "What about them?" she yelled over the roaring flames.

Mewtwo shook his head. "It's too late for them now, their souls have been separated from their bodies too long to be put back. But the interesting thing about souls is that they can be bent, they can be maimed, but they cannot be destroyed. You see?" he said, pointing to the rising balls of light. "They are already breaking free. If this dimension collapses, they will find their own way out. Just as we should now." His eyes glowed, and blue auras surrounded his companions, lifting them into the air. Calling them close to his body, Mewtwo shot into the air, making it through the portal just before it could close and trap them in a dying world.

…

As Mewtwo emerged from the portal and back in Lilycove City, the sphere of darkness that he had cracked the surface of compressed itself into a ball the size of a pin's head and imploded with the sound of a balloon popping in reverse, leaving no trace of Missingno's power behind.

Mewtwo landed on the floor of the crater he had formed in place of the old Pokemon Center, gently setting Ash and friends down. Ash was immediately tackled by a sobbing Phanphy, who was overjoyed to see his father. "Daddy! Daddy! I thought I'd never see you again!" he wailed, blowing his trumpet loudly.

"Ah, I told you good ol' Mewtwo would save them, didn't I?" Crawdaunt chortled as he scuttled over to the group. "Pikachu, Charizard, Latias, you three all right?"

"Yeah…" said Pikachu. "But that time was close. Much, much too close."

"Aw, it wasn't so bad," said Charizard.

Everyone who had been in the Dark World stared at him in disbelief. "Charizard, you almost _died,_" said Ash, his voice choked with emotion.

Charizard blinked. "Ohhhh…so _that _explains the bright light, background singing, and the visions of Great-grandpa Horace and my other dead relatives…"

"We were all worried about you guys," said Bayleef, crying from the joy at seeing her friends safe and sound. "Latias, what did that woman want with you?"

Latias shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh, she just happened to be my birth mother who wanted revenge against the world and males in general for ruining her life and wanted to kill me and take my power so she and some ancient master of darkness could rule the world."

Bayleef sweatdropped. "I…see…" she said, clearly not.

Without warning, a very large net fell upon the group, accompanied by familiar, irritating laughter. "What's going on?" asked the confused Mewtwo.

The others all groaned in unison. "Not _again_…"

Hovering above them, attached to the net by a long line extending from their latest incarnation of the standard net gun, was a giant Meowth balloon with a group of three miscreants and one idiot (well, more than one idiot) in the basket.

Jessie posed. "To protect the world from super-Pokemon causing devastation!"

"To use those Pokemon to unite the peoples within our nation," said James, sniffing from a rose.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" said Jessie, attempting a sexy pose in an attempt to make up for the blows to her ego delivered by the hermaphrodite back at the strip club but just made her look somewhat slutty.

"James!" said James, attempting a sexy pose that, eerily enough, _did_ make him look somewhat sexy. It worked well. A little _too_ well.

"Team Cipher, conquering the world with super-Pokemon at the speed of light!"

"Surrender to us now or we'll sic our super-Pokemon on you and we'll fight fight fight!"

Meowth rolled his eyes. "Even though we don't have any super-Pokemon yet…Meowth, that's right!"

"Chimecho!" Chimecho chimed in.

Mewtwo blinked. "Say, didn't I lock you up in a cell on Mount Cena?"

"Yes, and now we're going to lock you in a cell back at Team Cipher HQ!" James retorted.

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly do you expect to do that?"

"Why, we've already captured you, haven't we?" asked Jessie, gesturing to the net. "Now we just have to transport you to HQ and that's that!"

Mewtwo sweatdropped and tugged at a net string, as if to see what it was. "A net," he said blandly. "A net made out of plain rope with standard weights."

"Well, it's fireproof and shockproof," Jessie added. "But other than that, yes."

"A net," Mewtwo repeated. "Not to sound arrogant, but…you seek to capture the world's most powerful Pokemon in a _net_. Is that right?"

"Yep! And now we've got you and now we're gonna give you to the boss!" Meowth exclaimed happily.

Mewtwo stared at them in disbelief for a moment, then glanced at Ash. "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"I mean no offense when I say this, but…it never ceases to amaze me how mind-numbingly stupid your kind can be."

Ash sighed. "I know, kind of embarrassing isn't it?"

Mewtwo gestured with one hand, and the strands of the net suddenly unraveled and fell to pieces, freeing everyone and shocking the Ciphers. He gestured with his other hand, and the Meowth balloon exploded, catapulting the buffoons into the air.

"We failed again," moped James miserably.

"I knew we should have sprung for the psychic-proof net!" Jessie snapped. She whacked Meowth's head. "This is all your fault!"

Meowth rubbed his head. "Me? What did I do!"

"You're the one who suggested we buy the economical net instead of the psychic-proof one so you could spend the rest of our money on getting a manicure!" said Jessie angrily.

"And look how neat my claws are!" said Meowth, unsheathing his claws. "Aren't they all nice and shiny? I think it was well worth the bad net!"

Jessie sulked. "You could have at least let me have one too, my nails have been all raggedy and split for ages now!"

James suddenly realized they were missing one of their usual party members. "Say, whatever happened to Wobbuffet?"

Jessie blinked. "Oh yeah, I forgot about him. He ran off with your Feebas right before Mewtwo did that big flashy thing and disappeared into that dark orb, and we haven't seen him since."

"I wonder where he is?" mused Meowth.

…

"Mmm…oh, Wobbuffet…" moaned Feebas.

"Ohhhh, Feebas…" Wobbuffet purred.

They paused and looked up, hearing a high-pitched "We're blasting off again!" going through the air above them. "Say, that girly scream sounds like James and the others. They must have gotten blasted off, just as I predicted they would," Wobbuffet remarked.

"We should probably go after them," suggested Feebas.

"Yeah." Neither of them moved.

"Well…maybe in a few minutes…" The pair went back to their romancing.

…

"Well, that takes care of that," said Mewtwo, brushing net bits off his fur.

That's when a Pokeball, the first of many, flew past his head. "Hey, I'm gonna catch that thing! It's gotta be really rare and powerful!" yelled one of the goons still crowded around the crater edge. The others shouted in agreement and pulled out their own Pokeballs.

Mewtwo frowned. "Perhaps we should move to somewhere quieter…" His eyes flashed. Instantly, all eight of them vanished, leaving a confused and bewildered bunch of crooks behind.

They reappeared on a hill overlooking the ruin that was Lilycove City, halfway between the Team Magma fortress and the Team Aqua cove. "That's a bit better," the psychic said in relief.

"By the way, where were we just a second ago? I don't remember there being a giant crater in that town before," asked Pikachu.

Mewtwo looked slightly embarrassed. "That used to be the Pokemon Center. It got blown up in my numerous attempts to break through the barrier between dimensions."

Ash looked shocked. "What! But there was food and stuff in there that was supposed to be left for the stray Pokemon! Now they'll go hungry!"

"Relax," said Bayleef reassuringly. "We told Mewtwo about the food after his first couple of attempts nearly blasted off the Center's façade. He teleported it somewhere the town's thieves would never think to look."

"Where?" asked Latias.

"The town library, of course," Mewtwo said, looking proud of himself. "It is totally empty of any valuables aside from the one thing they would never touch…knowledge!"

"Hey, good going," complimented Charizard. "I'd never have thought of looking there either!"

Crawdaunt chuckled. "Heh, I'm not surprised…" he muttered under his breath.

Mewtwo held up the two Hunter Balls containing Duskull and Latias Sr. "And now that that matter is settled, what shall we do with these two?"

"I don't know about the older dragon, but I'm afraid the former master of darkness must come with me!" called a familiar voice. A tan, hard-shelled insect floated down towards the group.

Latias gasped. "Shedinja!" Pikachu growled and charged up his electric sacs, remembering that the ghost had kidnapped Ash the last time they had met. Ash reached for his talisman reflexively, only to remember to his horror that it had been destroyed in the Dark World.

The other Pokemon got in front of Ash and Latias, aware of the history the dragon had with this fiend and still thinking the Ghost King wanted Ash's head. Even if Shedinja was a Chosen like them, that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. "Shedinja, if you have come for either Ash or Latias, you will have to pass through us first," warned Mewtwo.

Shedinja looked confused. "What? Why would I be here for either of them? I thought the King made it clear when I brought you two to him that he would leave Latias alone for the time being, and I thought he told-" He hesitated, seeing Latias frantically shaking her head and waving her hands in the air while mouthing 'no' silently. Shedinja suddenly realized that she must not have told her friends that the king's vendetta was ended, probably because she hadn't believed it at the time. And if she admitted it now, she'd probably also have to explain why she hadn't told them before, along with why she believed it now, as well as admitting she was in love with the King now. This unwelcome knowledge, along with the truth that she hadn't told anyone about it sooner, might destroy her friends' trust in her. Of course, there was a chance they'd understand, but how likely was that?

Now, in any normal situation Shedinja would have gleefully gone ahead and exposed Latias' little lies, but there were two things stopping him. One was that the King would be absolutely furious if Shedinja had done anything to jeopardize Latias' happiness, after all that she had been through. And Shedinja knew what the King was like when he was furious.

There was also the matter of him being flat out exhausted. He had spent the whole day hiding from the amorous Misdreavus, and as such was too tired to make anyone's lives miserable. So, in the half-second it had taken him to deliberate all this out, he knew what he had to do. "Told me to get a message to you saying that Ash is off the hook. I must have forgotten to get around to delivering it," said Shedinja, making his voice sound ashamed. Latias sighed in relief.

"I'm off the hook?" Ash asked in surprise. "How'd that happen?"

"Oh, the King found a loophole," Shedinja said, intentionally trying to be vague.

"What kind of loophole?" Ash pushed.

"What's it matter to you, it's saved you from the eternal wrath of the Ghost King hasn't it?" Shedinja asked hotly. "Now you're free to live and get killed by somebody else. None of you have anything to fear from the kingdom of the ghosts from now on."

"Well, I wasn't really aware we should have feared the kingdom of ghosts, but thanks for the assurance," said Bayleef uncertainly.

"So if you aren't here for Latias or Ash, what are you doing here?" asked Crawdaunt.

"I am here for the renegade ghost who was Missingno," Shedinja explained. "Missingno was brought into being before my lord came to power, but he attempted to kill Latias and steal the souls of her and her friends among other things during the King's reign, so now that he has been deprived of his powers and is a ghost once more, he is under my master's jurisdiction. If you will relinquish him to me, I will see to it that the offending Duskull is properly tried and punished for his numerous crimes."

"Well, it would be proper for a ghost criminal to be tried in a ghost court," Mewtwo said, holding out the appropriate Hunter Ball. "I suppose there would be no harm in giving him to you so that he can get what's coming to him."

"Thank you." Since Shedinja had no limbs, a Dusclops retainer that materialized out of thin air handled the ball for him. "My King was tempted to ask for the ball containing the so-called mother of his beloved Latias, but believes that Latias is best suited to decide her fate, since she is the woman's daughter."

"Then you may tell him that I say thank you," said Latias gratefully. Getting a quick idea, she added, "And you may also tell him I accept his apology for…well, you know, everything. That is to say, I do not, cannot ever really forgive him for everything that has happened, but I know that if he could do it over differently, he would. And I suppose that will be enough."

Shedinja managed to bow. "I shall tell him myself, though I suspect he knows already. I think he shall be pleased. Fare thee well, for now." The two ghosts floated off, the imprisoned once-master of darkness in tow.

Latias had a faint smile on her face as she watched them fly off. "What was that about?" asked Ash in confusion, snapping her out of her private thoughts.

"Yeah, I thought you hated the Ghost King," Bayleef said quizzically. "You know, for killing your family, destroying your home, sending you on the run, etc.?"

"Oh! Well…" She looked down, hiding a blush. "…I've been thinking things over for a while, and …well, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. And maybe a little more."

Mewtwo hid a knowing smile. "Somehow I am not surprised, my student." His expression turned grave as he looked down at the remaining Hunter Ball. "Since you have been granted control over your mother's fate, what do you think we should do with her, Latias?"

Latias leaned her head back, thinking for several moments. "Well…" she said finally. "I suppose the best thing to do would be to leave her in that ball forever."

"But you can't do that!" Phanphy cried, shocked by Latias' decision. "If she's your mother, you can't do that to her! I'd never do that to my mommy!"

Latias smiled sadly. "Well of course you wouldn't Phanphy, your mother loves you. My mother never did, she only came back into my life when she thought it convenient on her, so she could feed off whatever power I have within me like a parasite. Anyway, I said the _best_ thing to do with her would be to leave her trapped, but I didn't say that was what I would do. I was raised better than that, by the people I consider to be my _real_ parents, even if they didn't lay my egg." She thought for a minute more before coming to a final decision. "I think that you should take her far away from here, Mewtwo. So far away that she will never come into my life again. But I want it to be somewhere that…somewhere that she can heal. Where she can get over her bitterness and anger at the world. I don't suppose you know of such a place?"

Mewtwo smirked. "Oh, I know a few…" he murmured, thinking of the places around the world where he himself had done exactly what Latias was suggesting. "Are you certain about this? I would not fault you for wishing her death."

Latias cocked her head. "If you were now given the opportunity to kill your father, would you?" she asked without a hint of irony.

Mewtwo was startled. He had not expected that argument. "…No. No, I suppose I would not, despite how much I hated him…" Mewtwo murmured, more to himself than to Latias. "Very well. The Firedrake Monastery should be a good place for her. It's at the top of the world, far from civilization, and the acolytes and Pokemon there revere dragons. Perhaps there she can learn whatever it is she needs to learn." He closed his hand around the Hunter Ball, causing it to vanish in a flash of blue light as he teleported it to the monastery. "Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes," said Ash he stepped forward, speaking with such uncharacteristic gravity and seriousness all of them could not help worrying at some great calamity or problem which he was about to bring to their attention. "Can you get us to Mossdeep City? What with all the excitement and near-death experiences we've had today, I don't think we can make it to the next town by tonight, and the League competition starts in a little less than a week, so I have to collect my last two badges as quickly as possible." Everyone facefaulted.

Stifling a laugh as he got back up, Mewtwo nodded. "Very well. To Mossdeep City, then!" He spread his arms, enveloping all of them in a glowing blue aura. And then they vanished, leaving the awful little town of Lilycove behind, which would hopefully choke on its own corruption and die at last at some point in the near future.

…

Some hours later…

Latias looked out the window of her room in the Mossdeep Pokemon Center, thinking to herself and gazing at the stars. "Whatcha thinking about?" Latias started, turning around to see Ash, wide awake and leaning on his bed nearby.

"Oh…just stargazing," she said quickly.

Ash didn't buy it. "You're thinking about her, aren't you?"

"…Yeah. Yeah, I was," she said, looking down at the floor.

Ash rolled over to face her. "She's not worth worrying over, you know. I think you made the right decision, sending her somewhere far away."

"Yeah, but…" She sighed. "Despite everything I said back there, how she was my mother in blood only and I already had real parents who had taken good care of me, I wish…I wish that things hadn't turned out the way they did. I would have liked to know her, as she must have been before her heart was broken and she became all bitter. I wish that in a way, she _could_ have been my true mother, one who not only birthed me but also loved me and took care of me and stuff." She shook her head. "And to make things even worse, I've found out I really do have a father out there, still alive as well. It seems very likely that he's the Ho-Oh your friend Wes is training, there can't be that many in the world. What'll I do if I run into him in the League, if I end up fighting him?"

Ash rolled back onto his back and looked up at the bottom of the bunk above him, where Bayleef was snoozing peacefully. "As for the problem of your dad, well…I guess we'll just have to handle that when and if it comes. As for your mom…you don't think I haven't had thoughts like that too? My dad ran out on me too, remember? I've never even met him."

"How do you deal with it?" she asked.

Ash contemplated the wood grain on the bunk underside for a moment before answering. "Well…you don't, not exactly. You find other people, father or mother figures to fill the void, and they're good replacements and stuff, but…a part of you will always yearn for what might have been. It's human nature. And Pokemon nature too, I guess," he admitted. "Heck, even Mewtwo is dealing with the absence of a father in his own way. But there is one good thing to come out of all of this loss."

Latias' curiosity was piqued. "What's that?"

Ash smirked. "It sets a model for the kind of parents we shouldn't be. People who run out on their promises and responsibilities, or go about them the wrong way. I already know, or like to think at the very least, that I'm a better father than my dad ever was."

Latias chuckled. "You don't even have kids yet!"

"No?" he asked, suddenly serious. "What do you call Phanphy, then? Or Togetic?"

"They've just imprinted on you as their father figure. That doesn't make you their father. You're not the same species as they are," Latias pointed out.

Ash shook his head. "You really think that matters? You don't think that, now that I can actually understand what they're saying, I don't feel a rush of pride and affection for them every time they call me 'Daddy'? That I don't hope for their successes, and catch them in their defeats? Sure, I may not be the Donphan or whatever Pokemon Phanphy's mother made him with, but I'm the guy he saw first. The guy who's trained him and raised him since the moment he hatched, just like Misty's done with Togetic. I felt just as bad as she did when Togetic left us at the Mirage Kingdom to protect Togepi's Paradise, and I was never even as close to her as Misty was!" He shrugged. "Sure, I may be a human, they may be Pokemon…but they think of me as their father, and I'm starting to see myself as one. It's not really that much of a stretch. When you look at it from the right perspective, it's like I'm the head (or at least a prominent figure) of a big family group. Some people could say I've got a 'wife' or 'mate' already, even if we're not married in the traditional sense, I've got brothers and sisters, friends, nephews and nieces, cousins, and children…that includes you too, Latias. You're the latest addition to our big family."

Latias was stunned by this revelation. She spent several seconds processing it before finally saying, "I guess…we _are_ like a family, aren't we?"

"Yeah, why not?" asked Ash. "We travel together, learn together, fight together…sure, to other people, and maybe to ourselves, the idea of so many people and Pokemon of different species being members of a giant 'family' may be ludicrous, but that doesn't stop it from being true, does it?"

Latias nodded slowly. "I guess…I guess you're right." For the first time she understood what Phanphy meant when he called her 'Aunt' Latias. It wasn't just a childish term of endearment, it was his way of welcoming her into the family. She suddenly felt a lot closer to Phanphy, and to her friends, then ever before. "Wow…Ash, no offense, but you really seem to have thought all this out. Kinda out of character for you, to be honest."

Ash shrugged. "I know I'm not the smartest guy but…when I'm lying in bed or in a sleeping bag, and my brain's not occupying itself with Pokemon or upcoming gym battles or fantasies of being the greatest Master…I get to thinking about stuff."

"What kinds of stuff?" asked Latias out of curiosity.

"Lots of stuff. Like this family thing. And a few other things I don't really feel like talking about." He looked back up at the bunk bed. "You know…we were close this time. Way too close."

Latias looked at him in confusion. "How do you mean?" she asked.

Ash sighed. "Well, it's one thing to be in life-threatening situations, but…this time, Charizard really almost died. And what's worse, there was more at stake than just our lives, our very souls were in jeopardy." He fidgeted. "This journey we've embarked on…ever since the Unown contracted us…has been a lot more dangerous than any of my others. I almost died in that desert we had to walk across. The Ghost King nearly killed me before that. Pikachu almost died of Seviper's poison and could have gotten eaten by Aerodactyl if you hadn't saved him. Charizard was very, very close to actual death. Mewgle almost trapped us in his virtual game world, and just this afternoon all of us nearly lost our souls. This time…it's just been way too close. Those, and a few other things, are helping me make up my mind on a big decision. One that'll affect all of our far-flung family."

"What is it?" she asked.

Ash smiled conspiratorially. "I haven't decided yet, but when I make up my mind I'll tell you all, okay?" He smirked and rolled over to face the wall. "Night."

Latias snorted and rolled her eyes in amusement. "Goodnight Ash." She looked out at the stars once more, clasping her locket. "And goodnight to you too, my King," she whispered. Then she closed the window, climbed into her bunk, and pulled the covers over her, passing into blissful slumber and dreams of marrying a yellow-eyed stranger who was no longer quite so strange and unfamiliar.

…

It sat in darkness, alone and undisturbed in its solitude, contemplating numerous matters. Its eyes opened as it sensed a disturbance.

There was a flash of purple light and the sound of reality tearing as a hole opened in the air and spat out a small crystalline sliver before closing again. The sliver lay on the ground, glowing brightly and illuminating the area.

Curious, and haunted by a strange sense of familiarity, the thinker reached out with one hand and picked up the crystal, bringing it closer to its face for examination. The crystal's glow intensified, and the thinker's eyes widened in recognition.

If there had been anyone close by, the sound of the entity's cold, evil laughter would have chilled them to their very souls.

…

And thus ends another story arc, and an intriguing look into Latias' origins, as well as hinting at something new and strange. What did you think? Oh, and I've named Wobbuffet/Feebas Uglyduckshipping, just so you know.


	30. Prelude to Origin

Sir Pudding, thank you for your explanations on the names.

Lord Karkon, Lash really is Latias' mom.

Disclaimer: What happened to all my beautiful reviews? Oh well, I own little this chapter…

…

Deep beneath the sea in the Sevii archipelago, so far below the surface that only a submarine or a very small number of deep-sea Pokemon could reach it, lay a mighty cavern.

The cavern was very dark, lit only by small pools of lava and the soft glow of angular lines and dots carved into the wall in seemingly haphazard formations, just as the pitch-black ocean depths just outside the cave were lit only by the spotlights of the two submarines that had traveled down to this depth, each completely and miraculously unaware of the other.

The cavern had only two visible inhabitants, each one being a Pokemon of remarkable size. Neither of them was as big as a Wailord, but together the two held more power than a whole pod of those mighty leviathans. Each of the Pokemon was still, almost to the point of death. In fact, neither of them seemed to be breathing, and yet the slow, steady beating of their hearts echoed off the cavern walls every half-hour, showing that they were in a very, very deep state of sleep or hibernation.

The longer of the two was resting in a large pool of water. It was almost fifteen feet in length and mostly blue in color, resembling a killer whale. It had two dorsal fins highlighted by red lines on either side of its back, an elegant tail fin divided into separate filaments, and a pair of long side fins that almost looked like arms. They even had four white "fingers" each, which had red lines running from them to a red circle detailed on the broad, flat side of each fin. The whale-creature's eyespots were white, as was the underside of its jaw and most of its belly. The division between the beast's upper and lower jaw was highlighted by a raised red line which went over its eyes, which had a red rim at their bottom to separate them from the mouth. The creature's two yellow eyes were closed in sleep.

Lying peacefully in a pool of bubbling lava, the second Pokemon wasn't quite as long as its companion, only a little under twelve feet tall, including the tail, but it was much more heavily built and weighed more, so the two looked to be about the same size. The monster was red instead of blue, covered in thick armored plates and looking like some kind of a cross between an Ankylosaurus and a Tyrannosaur, with large spikes growing from its sides and four sharp curved plates growing from the end of its wide, flat tail. The plates of its armor were divided by sunken black lines that looked to form some kind of pattern. On the creature's back the lines were mostly straight, only diverging to connect with other lines, while on its limbs the lines formed circles connected to the beast's fearsome claws by lone black lines. The creature's head was the most armored part, with spikes growing from the long 'cheek' plates, and sharp bony ridges growing from the cranium to the snout, separated from the cheek plates by a pair of yellow eyes, also closed in slumber.

The back wall of the cave was absent of any of the glowing carvings, and yet something glistened in the darkness…fourteen yellow baubles, split into pairs of seven and arranged in strange patterns, almost invisible if you didn't know what you were looking for.

The cave had been undisturbed for thousands of years, with no access to the surface except for small air vent tunnels that ran for miles under the sea before they could find an island that they could run up and deliver fresh air to the cave. No human or Pokemon had ever managed to find, let alone enter, this hidden place.

Until now.

Two enormous explosions disturbed the cavern's sterility, blowing away dust that had accumulated over the last several thousand years and choking the air with smoke and vaporized rock. Two groups of human and Pokemon entered the cave from where the explosions had originated, each momentarily oblivious to the other due to the dust still swirling about.

One of the groups consisted of humans in blue and white outfits with aquatic Pokemon, all members of Team Aqua. They were led by Archie, who had exchanged his jacket and bandana for priestly robes with pictures of water Pokemon sewn into them. He held a book in one hand and the Blue Orb in the other.

The other group consisted of humans in red and black outfits with fire and ground Pokemon, all members of Team Magma. They were led by Maxie, who had exchanged his bodysuit for hooded priestly robes with pictures of flames sewn into them. He held a book in one hand and the Red Orb in the other.

Both leaders had a look of sheer joy on their faces, as if they could not believe that after all these years of searching they had finally found their ancient masters, the Pokemon whom they would awaken and use to regain control of the world, just as they had in ancient times.

And that's when the dust finally settled down and the two groups became aware of each other. The Aquas and Magmas stared across the cavern at each other in disbelief, neither able to believe that their rivals had actually gotten here at the same time they did. The moment of stunned silence passed, and then both teams fell back on their ingrained hatred of each other, grabbing Pokeballs and charging up attacks. "Maxie! What're you doing here, you old coot?" snarled Archie.

"The same thing as you, Archie…" growled Maxie. "Trying to awaken my god so that he may reign supreme once more!"

Archie barked in laughter. "Ha! That ain't gonna happen, old timer…'cause we're gonna wake Lady Kyogre first, and she'll cream you and your filthy Groudon-worshippers!"

"And how do you expect to do that?" sneered Maxie.

Archie chuckled and held up the items in his hands. "I have the Blue Orb and the Book of Oceanus! Along with a virgin sacrifice," he said, pointing to a naked voluptuous woman who had a zealous gleam in her eyes and a smile on her face despite her wrists and ankles being chained together, indicating that she was doing this willingly.

"Well, _I_ have the Red Orb and the Book of Infernus!" said Maxie, holding up his items. "And I have my own virgin sacrifice!" he said, pointing to a naked forty-year old man who looked like he belonged more behind the desk of an elementary school's principal then in an undersea cavern.

Archie, and the other Aquas, didn't even try to hold back their laughter. "You call that a virgin!" exclaimed one of the females of the group.

The pathetic forty-year old virgin pouted. "You don't have to rub it in…" he mumbled, feeling insecure.

Maxie sighed and smacked the virgin. "Shut up Skinner!" To Archie he said, regretfully, "He's the best we could get on such short notice. But Groudon will still accept him!"

Archie narrowed his eyes and grabbed his team's virgin. "Not if Kyogre accepts mine first!"

The two men glared at each other. Without turning his head, Maxie gave a command to his lieutenant. "Attack those filthy water-lovers! Kill them all!"

Archie gave the same command to his own lieutenant. "Don't let those stinking earth-huggers win! Destroy them!"

Filled with the righteous fury only zealots can muster, the members of Team Aqua and Magma started attacking each other with everything at their disposal, shaking the cavern and causing pebbles and dust to crumble from the ceiling. In the meantime, Archie, Maxie, the virgins, and the two leader's main Pokemon rushed over to the pools of lava and water, each trying to beat the other there.

Archie's group arrived at a pedestal in front of Kyogre's pool a fraction of a second after Maxie's group reached a pedestal in front of Groudon's pool. Maxie shoved his sacrifice towards the pool's edge. "Get in!"

The man swallowed. "Actually, I'm having second thoughts-"

Maxie's Camerupt roared and pushed the man in. He fell into the lava pool with a splash, sending drops of magma everywhere, nearly lighting the hem of Maxie's robe on fire. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed in agony as the liquid rock consumed him. "IT BURNS! IT BUUUURRRR-" Camerupt spat a Flamethrower at him, burning what was left of the man to a cinder.

"You go in too!" Archie ordered his virgin.

She nodded and jumped in, splashing droplets of water everywhere. She floated there for a few seconds. Nothing happened. "Um, shouldn't I have died by now?" she asked. Mightyena responded by blasting her head off with a Hyper Beam. Spewing blood, her corpse sank into Kyogre's pool, turning the water red.

With the sacrifices out of the way, Maxie and Archie placed their respective Orbs on the pedestals and flipped their books open, glancing at the instructions inside. Archie sat cross-legged and started beating on a pair of drums, chanting the incantations written in the book. "Mighty Ky-O-Gre-uh! Lady of the Sea-uh! Hearken to my call-uh! Arise from your sleep-uh! So you'll rule the world-uh!" Thinking this was some kind of game, his Mightyena danced around him.

At the same time, Maxie was hopping on one foot and chanting while shaking a pair of maracas, every sentence punctuated with a snort and a burst of fire from one of his Camerupt's humps. "Oh! Great Groudon I beseech you! Your people really need you! Rise from the flames like Ho-Oh! Wake and take back your kingdom! And drive your foes to their deaths!"

The Orbs had been glowing steadily throughout this tirade, though it was doubtful (more like completely improbable and unlikely) that it was really due to the ridiculous chanting or the sacrifices. The glow extended to the pedestals the orbs were sitting on, and they started pulsing red or blue. The energy seeped into the ground, causing a line of each orb's respective color to draw out from under each pedestal and head towards Groudon and Kyogre.

Maxie grinned and stopped his dancing. "Ha! Now Groudon will awaken and bury you Aquas in the center of the earth!"

Archie sneered. "No way, old man, I finished the awakening ceremony before you did! Kyogre will wake up before Groudon and wash you Magmas away for good!" They both turned to see which line of power would reach their god first…and dropped their jaws when each line veered away just before touching the pools holding the ancient Pokemon. "Huh!"

The lines moved straight for each other, but turned 90 degrees at the last second and flowed in parallel along a strip of land between the two pools towards the back wall of the chamber. As they reached the wall, the lines of power separated again and went towards the two pairs of baubles on the wall, finally stopping and flowing right into the wall underneath them. The baubles lit up.

There was an explosion of light from the etchings on the wall, causing the battling groups of fanatic Pokemon-worshippers to scream and shield their eyes in pain. When the light faded somewhat and their eyes had adjusted to the light, the two teams forgot about killing each other for a moment and stared in awe at what had been revealed at the back of the chamber.

The wall was covered in a beautifully elaborate stone mural, describing some sort of battle or depicting Pokemon from an ancient time. In the very center of the mural was a globe with land and mountains patterned on it, symbolizing the Earth. On either side of the globe representing the world was a Pokemon, one that neither human nor Pokemon in the chamber had ever seen before.

The one on the left was a vaguely humanoid Pokemon with a long tail, fairy wings, a star-shaped hat, and four eyes, three on the face and one on the stomach. Although it was surrounded by an aura representing great power, the mural's artist had managed to convey a feeling of peace and benign goodwill from the being's eyes and body posture. In a vertical row behind the Pokemon were Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi, also surrounded in auras of power and connected to the unknown Pokemon by lines like the ones on Groudon and Kyogre's bodies. To their left were tiny carvings of almost every species of Pokemon known and unknown to man, and even a few pictures of humans of different races and lands.

The Pokemon on the right side of the globe could not even be remotely described as being peaceful. To call it some grotesque mixture of human and dragon would be an insult to both races, for while it did have a somewhat humanoid form and wings, tail and claws like a dragon, it did not possess any of the loveable homeliness of the human form nor the nobility or grace possessed by the majority of dragons. It looked, in a word, like the very incarnation of evil itself. To the right of this monstrous figure were images which mirrored the ones on the left, but they looked almost…darker somehow, twisted into some nightmarish reflection of themselves. Instead of images of humans there were figures that looked like pale shadows of the demonic being that loomed to the left of them.

In a ring surrounding the Earth were carvings of a few legendary Pokemon who had not been included in the group to the left of the benign figure. For some reason, despite being classified as only a sub-legendary, Absol was included along them at the very bottom, along with a shapeless amorphous mass with horns and a single eye. To the left of Absol was the figure of Ho-Oh, and to the right of the horned mass was Lugia, the two birds directly across from each other at the world's equator. Just above the two birds on either side of the globe were Groudon and Kyogre. Above Groudon and Kyogre, at the top of the world, was a third great Pokemon, depicted twice as large as them. It looked like a mighty serpentine dragon, resembling the _long_ dragons of Chinese lore. Flanking it were two smaller dragons, looking almost identical to each other except one was larger than the other, and the smaller of the two was positioned much closer to the great dragon than its larger counterpart.

Lines leading from the two titanic Pokemon to the ones surrounding the Earth were carved into the mural, crisscrossing the wall and showing that each of the Pokemon listed there was connected to both of the mysterious beings.

Beneath the ring of legends were three more unknown Pokemon, looking alike yet different. One was formed of rocks, one from an ice crystal, and the other with a rounded metallic body. All three of them were gifted with seven eyes, and were connected to the benign Pokemon by lines of power, but not to the evil one.

Beneath the many carvings were two statues recessed in the wall, looking like larger versions of the three mysterious Pokemon just above them. They looked just like the Pokemon made from rocks, and the other like the one made from an ice crystal. The baubles they had for eyes almost looked real.

That's when they groaned and pulled themselves out of the wall, and it suddenly became clear that the statues _were _real.

This stimulus was enough for the two teams to finally snap out of their stunned states. "ATTACK!" Archie and Maxie roared, terrified of these silicate apparitions. Mightyena and Camerupt, along with the Pokemon of the other Aquas and Magmas, simultaneously fired on the stone and ice creatures with whatever energy they hadn't exhausted fighting each other.

The stone Pokemon groaned and spoke in a vaguely masculine voice like the sound of rocky mountains slowly crumbling as the continental plates rubbed against each other. "What…is this?" It raised one of its thick, bulky arms, and a wall of stone burst out of the earth before it and its companion, shielding them as the attacks harmlessly exploded against it. The rock creature made a swinging gesture with its other arms, and the wall shattered and flew at the criminals, forcing them to shield themselves from being cut and bruised by many small and sharp pieces of stone.

The ice creature raised both arms, forming a ball of freezing energy in them. It hurled the ball over Maxie, Archie, and their Pokemon's heads, causing them to shiver from the proximity to the extremely cold object. The ball exploded over the heads of the Grunts and their Pokemon, showering them with ice shards that pierced their bodies like shrapnel from an explosion, slicing them apart and killing them most horribly, spilling blood all over the dusty cavern floor.

Archie and Maxie gaped at what had once been the most elite and highly trained members of their own organizations as the two Pokemon rose a few inches off the floor and levitated over to them. Camerupt and Mightyena stepped in front of their shell-shocked trainers, growling at the mysterious beings to inform them that they would not be allowed to come any closer. If their pathetic attempt at protection had any effect on the two silicates, they showed no reaction to it. They stared at the two humans with their fourteen yellow eyes, devoid of any visible emotion whatsoever. Maxie, who was admittedly having trouble with incontinence due to his advanced age, lost control of his bowels out of fear. Once more, the silicates showed no reaction.

"How long?" asked the ice monster finally, in a vaguely feminine voice like the inexorable slide of glaciers moving down to the sea.

"H-how long since what?" asked Archie, failing to conceal his fear.

"How long since Groudon and Kyogre have fallen from power?" the ice monster clarified.

Archie blinked. "Um…I don't really know…hey geezer, how long has it been?"

Maxie's head snapped around to glare at Archie. "Why are you asking me!"

Archie shrugged. "Hey, you've been around longer than me, you've had more time to learn stuff than I have. You must know."

Maxie gritted his teeth but said none of the numerous obscenities he wanted to bombard his younger nemesis with. Turning to face the two Pokemon, he said, "Well, off the top of my head I suppose a hundred thousand years."

The silicates glanced at each other. "Much later than we expected." Neither of the Pokemon had faces, but there was just the faintest tone of uncertainty in that gravelly voice.

"Much later," agreed the ice creature.

They looked back at the humans. "Do you wish to awaken Groudon and Kyogre?"

The two men's faces flushed with elation. "Yes! Well, Groudon anyway, Kyogre can rot for all I care," said Maxie nonchalantly.

"Screw you, old man!" shouted Archie. "Wake up Kyogre! Leave Groudon in the dust!"

"We cannot comply with that," said the ice creature. "It must be both, or neither. And neither can be awakened without the third."

The humans were baffled. "The third what?"

The rock creature shrugged. "The third Orb. The third priest. The third ancient ruler of the world."

Archie snorted. "Third ancient ruler of the world? That's ridiculous, everyone knows Groudon and Kyogre were the only Pokemon that ever had dominion over the _entire_ world!"

"I hate to say it, but he's right," said Maxie grudgingly. "There is no third orb or super-ancient Pokemon."

The Pokemon glanced at each other. "They do not know," said the icy one.

"It has been a very long time," pointed out the stony one.

"Then they must be informed of what they are not aware," The icy one agreed.

They turned back to the humans. "I am Regirock, Shaman of the Stones," said the stone monster.

"And I am Regice, Enchantress of the Ice," chorused the frozen monster.

"This is our story," they said in unison. And then they began to tell the confused Archie and Maxie the history of the world.

…

Very short, yes. But next time we'll get some answers!


	31. Origin

EagleFox, I like Rayquaza too.

Schizophrenic, how likely do you think it is for two groups that hate each other as immensely as Magma and Aqua do to just stop fighting because of some history lesson?

HVK, I love your new fic by the way.

Ratiasu, I'm blushing. My story's not _that_ good, is it? Kasumi/Misty will appear soon enough.

Lord Karkon, for the last time Lash IS Latias' mom. I only described so I wouldn't be accused of _under_-describing. Does everyone reading know what Groudon and Kyogre look like?

Sir Pudding, this chapter should answer your concerns in that matter. Is this story _really_ 500 pages long! Must be the way the site formats it…jeez, I had no idea I'd written so much! I mean, yeah, it is the longest thing I've ever written…but still…geez!

Disclaimer: I forgot to mention back in chapter 29 that Alex Warlorn came up with the name for Mewtwo's signature Pokeballs. Sorry Alex.

… 

Long, long ago, before recorded history, the world was a very different place. Humans ruled the Earth and animals were unintelligent and kept by the dominant species as pets or killed for food. In those days, the powers of the spirit were suppressed, and technology served as their god. Humans mastered the sciences, and through them the arts of war.

As humans do, they fought each other, simple conflicts escalating until the whole world engaged in war, and they destroyed themselves through the use of forbidden science, relying on the power of nuclear energy. The war ravaged the planet; blotting out the sun and covering the world in darkness and cold, so that what life was not killed by the fighting froze to death. What didn't freeze adapted, either through evolution or in reaction to the mutative plague left behind by the foul atomic weapons, twisting all that it touched and forcing it into hopeless decay. The radioactive poison spread, growing as time increased, and it seemed as if whatever humans and animals had survived the war, and the cold, and the plague, would die, and the earth would be barren and lifeless forevermore.

But then hope came from above, piercing the darkness and impacting upon the earth. It was a shooting star, bearing a celestial being beyond anything ever seen before on the humble planet. It landed on a mountain in the frozen seas that would one-day hold the isles of Sevii, nestled at a point where mountain rock and glacial ice touched, along with a vein of steel that had been uncovered in the fall from space.

It was neither male nor female yet seemed to be womanly in form and in essence, so later generations would call it the Great Mother. The Mother lay in her nest betwixt stone, steel, and ice, locked in an endless slumber that had kept her safe through the darkness of space. And as she continued to sleep on the world, she dreamed. She dreamed of tall mountains and green forests, of flowering meadows and vast oceans, of humans and creatures of fantastic natures sharing the land together, in harmony. And as she lay there dreaming, so great was her power that the world around her started to change to match the world she saw while her eyes were closed.

The clouds parted, letting the sun in. The ice melted, letting the plants and trees grow once more. The plague dissipated, and those who had survived both it and the ravages of the cold found themselves transformed, into new life of many wondrous and incredible variations. And the spot where the Mother dreamed was infused with her power, as was the entire island on which she had landed, transforming it into sacred ground. Most special of all was the spot where she dreamt, where stone, steel, and ice touched. The place where those three touched became the holiest of holies, and the earth around it itself came to life, gaining sentience and power absorbed from long proximity to the Mother. They named themselves Regirock, Regice, and Registeel, for they were the rulers of their elements, and all the strange animals that had formed from the dreaming who shared the same innate nature as the trio recognized this. The three became priests, guardians of the Mother as she slept, although nobody even thought of harming her, for she had remade the world and ended the death and destruction that had plagued it. The three formed a beautiful shrine and temple around the Mother, believing that such a great being could only be a deity, and as such deserved some token of thanks from her children, those whom she had dreamed into life. Pilgrims came from all across the world to pay their respects and to gaze at awe upon their holy Mother.

The world was in its infancy then, and such a thing as hatred or war were unknown, for all were united and, in a way, directed by the beautiful dream the Mother had formed, the one which defined their existence. But this all changed when the dream ended, and the Mother awoke, and the people of the world were forced to make their own choices.

The priests and the latest batch of pilgrims were shocked half to death when the Mother opened her eyes. Many of the elderly making a second or third pilgrimage died of heart failure. They were even more shocked when the Mother exploded in a flash of light, reforming into three new and unique creatures. Their manner held the innocence of one who was eternally young, but their eyes showed wisdom and knowledge beyond the years of any of those born from the Mother's dream. They introduced themselves as Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi, claiming to be the three main components that formed the Mother's spirit. She had been so startled at her own awakening that the Mother had subdivided into three-the three that stood before them.

The priests could not believe this at first, but the newborns showed the truth in their claims by demonstrating their amazing powers. Mew gave life to a drop of her blood, animating it and changing it into an animal never before seen by either priest or pilgrim. She gave it a mate from a second drop of blood, and the two ran off into the jungles of the island to propagate themselves. The insectile Celebi vanished in a burst of green light and reappeared less than a second later, carrying an incredible device formed and powered by means none of them could comprehend, claiming it came from far in the future. She sent the device back to whence it came, claiming that to keep it in this time period would risk destroying history. As for Jirachi, while his sisters seemed to embody the powers of life and time, he still retained the dream-power of the Mother from whence he had come, and used it to draw upon the imaginations of those gathered around the newborns, bringing to life wishes and thoughts from inside their minds. The three then combined their abilities, creating another new species of animal which they called the Unown, whom they claimed would transcend time and space itself and observe history as it took place in not only this world, but all other worlds, watching, recording, and if need be, assisting in the lives of those who lived in the worlds.

The doubts of the priests or pilgrims were dissipated. They believed that the newborns were indeed the new incarnations of the Mother awakened, and prostrated themselves before them, believing the three children should rule the world that they had created.

But the newborns refused this request. They had no interest in controlling the world, believing that if given such an outlet their power would eventually corrupt them and make them into tyrants. Such things had happened in the world before the coming of the Mother, and in many other worlds beyond this one. What truly interested them was seeing the world, interacting with their dreams made flesh. The priests felt responsible for their safety, for they had protected the Mother in her sleep so thought the same duty should extend to her 'children' as well. The pilgrims replaced them as caretakers of the island, wishing to remain in this holiest of places and await their return. The children were amused by the willingness to be served, but did not protest too strongly. If the people believed that they owed a duty to them, so be it. They did not wish to dictate the way people lived, so allowed the pilgrims and priests to choose what they wished to do. And in a way, they were flattered and slightly embarrassed by how they were loved so swiftly and without question by people whom they had never even met. Unfortunately for them, this would happen nearly everywhere they met around the world, it was almost impossible to encounter the newborns and _not _love them, so great was the life and spirit within them…well, that is somewhat of a fabrication, there were a surprising number of people who would come to loathe them. But that is not important just yet.

And so they left the island to explore the world with their priests, leaving their temple and sanctuary behind. They spent more than a year exploring the rest of the islands of the Sevii archipelago, then journeyed out to the rest of the world, crossing continents and countries, passing through cities and villages built by peoples of all races and species. And the priests were alarmed at the world that had been waiting for them outside their holy isles. They found poverty and decay in the back streets and alleys, abuse of children, murder, and a growing hatred between the myriad species of human and animal.

The priests were appalled. They had never imagined of things such as this while they had lived on the holy island, or even when they had explored the other Sevii isles. The newborns, which were still new to the world, did not look the least bit surprised at these atrocities, just saddened. They did what they could to lessen these horrors when they came across them, by finding foster parents for the orphaned or abused, feeding the hungry or encouraging children of different species and races to play together. But solving the problems was not enough, for they seemed to increase wherever they went, to the point where the newborns would ignore some in favor of solving those that were truly dire or desperate.

The priests' faith in the world had been shaken, and they asked the godlings for answers to why things were the way they were. The trio then revealed to the priests one of the darker secrets of life. While they had been sleeping in the form of the Mother, they had imposed upon the created people of the world a marvelous utopian dream, which caused them to live in harmony. But once the source of that dream was gone, people reverted to the basic tendencies of all races in the universe, namely to trust their own kind over others. While mild at first, this distrust leads to outright fear and hatred of others, which would lead to splits within the own same-kind communities, creating a widening schism between all peoples. The priests were shocked and begged the godlets to bring back the dream and make things pure again, but they could not. In splitting into three, the children who had once been the Mother did not know how to fuse again. And even if they could, all they would really be doing was imposing a form of tyranny upon the world, making people live by their own ideals and beliefs for perfection. The trio believed people had the right to make their own decisions, even if it lead to self-destruction. That was what free will was all about. And the dream would never have lasted forever anyway…it would have died eventually, as do all things in the universe. At some point, every form of life, every star, every world, would be extinguished in a great heat-death which would engulf the universe. The momentum that would propel that heat-death sprung from all the countless deaths and sorrows that had occurred throughout time before that, which were in turn fuelled by the power of entropy. It could not be stopped. In the end, all things would amount to nothing.

The priests were despondent at this, and their hope was shattered. But then Mew, who led the three, gently explained that while the end of the universe was inevitable, it could be delayed by reducing the amount of hatred, fear, and distrust in the world, in all worlds. These negative emotions hurried all the kinds of death, and made the universe's end that much sooner. By embracing the knowledge of the inevitable, but also by extinguishing the fires of hatred and destruction, people would have more time to love and appreciate the lives they had been given before returning outside of time, from whence their souls had come. And while they could enforce such things by somehow becoming the Mother again, they did not know how, and because they did not want to become tyrants they weren't sure that they would if they could. What they were doing now, the children and the priests, by traveling around the world and befriending the peoples they met there, they were slowly showing everyone another choice, a path other than racial hatred and self-destruction. Not everyone would take that path. Most of them would not. But some would, and for even one person to make that choice, to agree to help preserve life and stave off the inevitable for just a little while, it would be a victory for all. The people in the Sevii isles had long ago made that choice by staying on the islands, so close to the source of the wonderful dream that had remade the world, which was why there the rifts between peoples and species was so small that it was almost nonexistent.

The priests were stunned by this revelation, but it rekindled their faith. They dedicated themselves, as the godlings had, to doing everything they could to forestall the death of the universe. And so with renewed purpose, they continued on their endless journey, visiting places they had been to numerous times, helping those that they had befriended in the past and those whom they had never even met before. And so life, as it does, continued for some time.

And then came the intruder, the outsider, that which almost reduced the world to ruin once again.

Another star fell from the heavens, but this was a dark star, a star that foretold nothing but evil times for the future. Neither Celebi nor any other human or animal with the ability to look into the future had predicted its coming, for it held an element of Darkness, blinding the psychic sense to its approach in all forms of precognition. It crashed into a peaceful mountain village on the exact opposite side of the world from the Mother's holy isle, completely eradicating it. The star was formed from a foreign substance unknown to this world, and its impact released something new, something most foul upon the earth.

It was a plague.

A dreadful, horrible plague that creeped inexorably across the land, twisting and desecrating everything in its path. The flora either died or warped into horrific, deadly new plants. The humans were mutated into monsters, and the animals into demons. Not even the dead were spared this fate, and their bodies arose from the graves, twisting and helping to spread the plague across the population.

The oddest thing about this viral threat was that it almost seemed to be intelligent. It sought out the places where the largest populations were gathered so that it could consume them. And even more terrifying, it seemed to grow as more and more people feared it, and panic broke out in the towns and forests that were in its way. The violence and riots caused by those seeking to escape only caused it to come more quickly, and thus corrupt them into its carriers, eradicating their minds and filling them only with the desire to infect and destroy.

After numerous failed attempts to cure the plague, the divine trio and their priests returned to the Sevii Isles, where Jirachi channeled the boundless wishes, hopes and dreams of their most loyal friends and followers, and transmitted it into Mew and Celebi, amplifying their own powers as well. Shielded by their dream-power, the triad charged the viral hordes, obliterating them with their special abilities. Mew, whose blood contained the source of all living things on the planet, revoked the life she had put into the infected humans and animals as the Great Mother, killing them instantly. Celebi used her temporal powers to increase the physical decay of the virus carriers so that they would disintegrate from old age. And Jirachi used pure dream and wish power to eradicate the viral bodies themselves.

They drove the plague back to the crater from which it had spread, but found that its source was too concentrated, too vile for them to eradicate completely. So instead they sealed it behind countless barriers of psychic energy, and erected a massive temple and fortress over the crater to keep the evil bound within from escaping. In doing so, they exhausted all of the power they had been given by their followers, and collapsed then and there. But their loyal priests came for them and took them back to the island of their birth, where the dream-energy that had seeped into the earth when the Mother had lain there nurtured them and eventually restored them after three years in comas. Even with all the pain and death and sacrifices that had been caused by the plague, the godlings had succeeded in ending it, and they were renowned as heroes by those who had doubted their origins. But in no time they were back to doing what they did best, traveling the world, seeing the sights, and helping to delay the apocalypse. After all, the battle against prejudice and evil is never-ending, and so the six continued fighting.

Time passed. The world changed and stayed the same, as is its nature. Some places took the subtle message the holy ones preached to heart, and like the people of Sevii took the path of unity over fission, healing the wound between human and animal in some parts of the world. Other places rejected their beliefs and grew more violent and depraved, evolving into cities and settlements that were large, but lacked any heart. It is uncertain if this had any relevance, but the majority of those who rejected the path of unity dwelled in the vicinity of the impact crater, while those who most readily accepted the path lived somewhat closer to the Sevii Isles and the spot where the Mother had fallen from Heaven.

In any case, in one of these heartless towns a child was born to a Jynx, one of the more humanoid animals. The father was not another animal, but rather a human male who had been eager for some non-human intercourse. The majority of human-animal attempts at crossbreeding end in grotesque failure, but there is always the odd child who manages to survive the birthing process. For these children, death would probably have been preferable.

The child in question was a freak, neither human nor animal, and despised intensely by both. He was tormented and bullied by children of all species, and his slut of a mother was never any comfort to him. He didn't even have a name. In time, he grew to hate all of those who tortured him, and this resentment slowly extended to not only himself but to every other person in the world. To his jaded eyes, it seemed as if everyone else had a place, had family and friends, somewhere they belonged. But not him. Whenever the priests and godlings passed through town, he would hiss and hide from them in the shadows, for if anyone truly needed salvation and unity he did, but those who need it the most are often the last to admit it. He grew to despise the six divine beings more than anyone else, envying how almost everyone seemed to love them or at least acknowledge their presence, while he had to lurk in the darkness to avoid being seen.

At the same time of the mutant's birth, a peculiar child was born to a pack of Absol living in the hills outside the town boundaries. This Absol pup was different than the others due to a fluke in his pigmentation, causing his fur coat to be black as the darkest night. Absol folklore speaks of a super-Absol, a reaper of souls who collects the spirits of the dead, with fur as black as pitch, and the pack feared that this child was the same one spoken of in their superstitions. They abandoned the black Absol, leaving him to face the world alone and friendless, and just as the hybrid did he grew to hate the world and everything in it.

It is not unsurprising that one day the two met, and saw in each other a reflection of themselves. They could not be called friends, or brothers, for they denied the bonds those people shared, but instead could be called partners-partners united by a common loathing of the world, and especially of the holy ones whose light they thought they could never share. And so they conspired to darken the earth and make all feel the pain that they had.

To this day it is unknown how they did it, but the duo somehow penetrated the many levels of defenses that had been placed around the impact crater, making their way to the chamber where the source of the plague, the fallen star itself, had lain dormant all these years. Without any fear or panic to absorb from behind the psychic shields, the virus had only barely survived by gnawing on itself out of hunger, starved of the pain and agony on which it fed. The virus saw the pain within the two dark children, and also saw they cared nothing for themselves or anyone else, but truly sought the destruction of the world. So great was the negative emotions and darkness within their hearts that the virus was rejuvenated as it consumed them utterly, absorbing every fiber of their hate, every molecule of their anguish, until the very corpses of the children had disintegrated.

Its hunger sated, the virus condensed around the fallen star, forming a body of sorts, a vehicle that could transport the kernel of its intellect about. In doing so, the virus evolved, becoming more than just a myriad cluster of foreign bodies controlled by a central mind, but becoming an actual living thing, a person of sorts in its own right. But unlike other people, this new creature did not eat the flesh of other creatures or the produce of the flora growing around it. It had no stomach or digestive tract, so it fed on something else entirely: Negative emotions. Pain was its main course, fear the side dish, and anger and hatred its dessert. Whenever a person stubbed their toe or felt a twinge of fear, the virus beast fed on it. Whenever a couple or any group of people got angry at each other, the virus beast fed on it. And it grew stronger as it did so.

The beast was smarter now than it was before. It now had a concept of time, and knew that if it waited long enough it could feast on the combined pain and anguish of all the people in the world and grow incomprehensibly powerful. So it journeyed across the globe, hiding from sight, occasionally stopping to kill an innocent passerby in unbelievably brutal and grotesque ways. The people found the mutilated corpses of his victims, and were afraid, for they did not know what could possibly have done such a thing. And so the beast's strength grew for many years, fed by the people's fear.

It seemed fated that the paths of the beast and the godlings would eventually cross, and so it happened that one day they encountered each other in a small village at the base of a mountain and automatically recognized each other for what they were. The beast knew these three children were its natural enemies, and the children knew the monster was the source of the plague that had ravaged the world once before, and would do so again if not stopped. They had not known of the monster's existence prior to this moment for the same reason they had not been able to predict the coming of its fallen star; due to the element of Darkness in its form which rendered it all but invisible to their inner eye. They joined in battle, demonstrating enormous power on both sides as monster and children attempted to overcome the other. They seemed evenly matched, until the godlings boosted their power by drawing on the love and faith of the people around them. But the monster surprised them by doing the same, absorbing the fear all the townspeople had for him. The fear proved to outweigh the meager power that the godlings had absorbed, and they were defeated. The priests intervened and managed to ferry the children away before the monster could strike a fatal blow. Enraged, the beast ruthlessly slaughtered everyone in the village, sparing only a few who it infected with its virus, mutating them as it had before, and sent them out to infect others and supply it with the pain and fear it needed to survive.

The time for hiding was over. Now it was war.

An army of unified and peace-loving humans and animals rallied around the godlings, refusing to let their world be consumed by darkness. But the monster had constructed its own army out of the dead and mutated victims of its virus, which fed it with their fear and anguish and made it stronger yet. Even when its armies lost battles, it grew stronger, for many died on both sides and the pain served only to increase its power. Realizing this, the trio of godlings and the priests saw that they could not win this war through attrition. They retreated to the Sevii Isles and drew upon the hopes, dreams, and wishes of not just everyone in the islands, but of every last person in the entire world, even those who had fallen and joined the beast. So great was the power they collected that the three became one, fusing into the Great Mother once again!

The monster was startled (not frightened, for it was incapable of fear) when it sensed the power that had been unleashed, and violently slaughtered a thousand innocent souls, using that pain and fear, as well as the pain and fear of everyone left in the world, to raise its power levels to equal that of the Mother.

With their armies rallying for one last battle, the Mother and the beast clashed in the air above, using all the power at their fingertips to try to destroy each other. Their anger at each other was so great that it affected the weather around them, calling up a great and terrible storm. As they grappled, the storm increased in mass, throwing down bolts of lightning and razor-sharp winds, churning the tides and flooding the rivers. As the storm grew and grew unstoppably, everything in its path, be it human, animal, or monster, died. Not even the priests managed to survive. Only a few managed to weather the storm, but even if they outlasted it was doubtful they would have a world left to survive in. And still the Mother and the beast fought.

After days of pitched battle, the two fighters were exhausted and at the limits of their strength. Calling upon the deepest reserves of their power, they charged at each other for one final attack. The resulting explosion was tremendous, rivaling those used by the ancient humans in warfare, and it truly seemed as if the world would end then and there.

So great was the explosion that neither combatant left unscarred. The monster's body was all but destroyed and the fallen star, the source of its power and kernel of its intellect, was fragmented, causing its pieces to scatter about the world. The main piece, along with what was left of the body, was flung into the depths of space, never to be seen again.

As for the Mother, once more she shattered into her three requisite parts of Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi. As they had been when last they fought the plague, the trio was comatose, but it would take them a much longer time to wake up this time. They plummeted to earth, as the remaining dream-energy that they had used to form the Mother either diffused and filled the atmosphere or shot out into space as a concentrated mass, where it collided with a passing comet and left the solar system.

The very nature of their powers seemed to have backfired and drained, affecting all three godlings. Mew, from whose blood could spring every form of life on the earth, was herself dead, and she fell into a spring atop a mountain in a land called Johto. This spring, as it happened, was magical and had healing properties, and over the next several thousand years would slowly restore her to life.

Celebi, with her power to warp through time and see into possible futures, was hurtled forwards in time, crashing into a forest many thousands of years into the future, where she would one day awaken again.

And Jirachi, who had been the most in touch with the hopes and dreams of the people of the world, was now himself dreaming in an endless slumber, as he plummeted into the lifeless wasteland of Firia. There he would collect ambient dream-energy from the concentrated mass in the comet far above whenever it passed by and radiate it through the soil every thousand years and bring life to the dead region, just as the Mother had to the entire world. He would only awaken whenever the comet passed, and sleep again when it left, doomed to a seemingly endless cycle of slumber.

And as the trio plummeted to the earth, rain fell from the terrible storm above, eroding tall mountains into mounds of sand, and leaving the earth barren and empty. All that were left were a few scattered animal children that had managed to survive the storm by their own means, but were now utterly alone and without hope. Whether it was by luck or destiny, each of these children chanced upon one of the shattered fragments of the crystalline star that had carried the plague and the monster to their world. And the children looked upon the desolation and wept, wishing that the world could be put back the way it used to be.

Now, in the final collision of power between the Mother and the monster, something amazing happened as the crystal star fragmented. Both concentrated positive and negative energy were released in the blast, coating the crystal's shards in both light and dark power as they were scattered across the world, causing the fractured mind within the jewels to retreat into dormancy. The fragments that had been closest to the surface of the fallen star when the explosion occurred received the highest dosage of positive energy, while those that had come from deeper within the crystal received more negative. And then of course there were those in the middle, which were fairly neutral in both. In any case, these crystals, or most of them, found their way to the children, and were touched (literally) by the tears from the storm and from the children.

Now, if the animals had made their wishes in normal circumstances, or if they had not done them in the presence of the crystals, nothing would have happened. But the crystals were able to connect with the diffused dream-energy in the air that had been released in the massive explosion, and used all of it to grant the wish of the young ones, that the world could be restored. And the storm clouds parted and the sun shone across the land again, and as it did the world seemed to move backwards, the tide retreating back into the sea, the broken mountains and cities reassembled themselves, and the dead and broken bodies of the people were filled with life and their spirits brought back from the time outside of time. All the dead were reborn, even the priests, except for those that had been infected and twisted by the monster's dark virus.

And as one last miracle, the children who had made the wish found themselves transformed, fused with the crystals, resulting in a strange evolution to new and more powerful forms the likes of which the world had not seen before. An Absol pup evolved into an adult Absol, but with an indefinite lifespan. Jirachi had been his only friend when he was young, and he had seen the Wishmaker plummet from the heavens and wished only that he could stay with him for all time, and so he did as the godling's guardian. A Wingull and a Spearow evolved into two great and magnificent birds, Lugia and Ho-Oh, whom all the resurrected avians then called their leader. A Torkoal evolved into Groudon, the titanic master of land, and a Wailmer into Kyogre, queen of the oceans. And as for a pair of Dratini siblings and their Bagon friend, they evolved into the dragon twins Latias and Latios, while the Bagon became the mighty Rayquaza, lord of the skies.

The newly born titans were confused and uncertain at what had happened, but the people around them believed that they must have somehow saved the world and brought them back from death, and so they were proclaimed heroes and gods, and all thought of the three true deities who had come before them was lost as worship of these transformed animals began.

The priests tried to remind the people of the way they had been trying to teach them all these years, but they did not have the subtle power and persuasiveness their lost charges had possessed, and so they failed. They tried for a few years to find where the godlings had disappeared to, but failed in that as well. Finally, they just decided to make the best of what they had, and try and use this strange turn of events to lead the people of the world into peace and unity, as they believed their divine trio would have wanted.

So they went to the new leaders and offered them their services as advisors, so that they may pass on the themes of unity and peace to their subjects. Unfortunately, the priests had forgotten to take into account a few things, such as that even though these new animals-titans-were freshly evolved, that did not necessarily make them mature. Several of them were still like children, with short-lived interests and attention spans, and focused more on whatever they wanted at the moment than on what the future might require. Another troublesome factor was the nature of their power; the crystal chips infused with both the power of the beast and of the Mother. For some of the new leaders, the seductive whispers of darkness was a little more attractive than that of the light, and so were not interested in the least in unifying their kingdoms with their fellows. This became most prevalent between Groudon and Kyogre, who thoroughly loathed each other and actually thought it might be fun to go to war. Ho-Oh was rather indifferent, but Lugia, Latias, Latios and Rayquaza were somewhat more receptive to what the priests were saying. They agreed to unify their own dominions, and indeed Latias and Rayquaza soon fell in love and mated, thus ensuring the unity of the dragons and other creatures of their domain. Groudon and Kyogre still wanted a war, but the combined territories now ruled over by Rayquaza was larger than their own, and so they reluctantly had to step down, recognizing as all schoolyard bullies do the hazards of picking on someone bigger than you.

Admittedly, this was not really what the priests were hoping for, because now there were about three separate kingdoms splitting the earth, four if you counted Ho-Oh's territory, but nobody did, not even Ho-Oh. However, they admitted it was a start. Rayquaza and some of the others had put the differences they had aside and united for the good of the people, and their subjects were doing the same, even if not all of them were so eager to do so. Life in the Dragon King's domain prospered somewhat as a result. The priests decided they should take one step at a time, it was one thing to unite the peoples in one country, but it was far more difficult to unite different countries themselves. So they took it slow, traveling around Groudon and Kyogre's regions, doing their best to make the citizens at least be on better ground with their next door neighbors, no matter what species they were. And so, for a time, there was a tentative peace between the three realms. And then, as it always seemed to, something bad happened.

Racial tensions were brought to their highest all over the world. Fights between humans and humans, animals and animals, and humans and animals burst out across the globe, even in the peaceful land of the Dragon King. The priests, as well as Rayquaza and his allies, were confused at what was going on. Things had seemed to be going so well all around, and now there were riots, uprisings and public executions everywhere. To make matters worse, the tension between Groudon and Kyogre, which just a week ago had been lessening to the point where either of the titans was actually considering a truce in which neither of them would stab the other in the back, was now heightened to the point where they were screaming for each other's blood. And if that weren't bad enough, people were starting to talk of revolution, of overthrowing their semi-divine leaders and following constitutions of their own.

Suspecting foul play, those on the side of peace investigated the cause of all this recent tension, and discovered that an unknown agitator was going from town to town and settlement to settlement, playing on long-held prejudices and whipping the populace into a blood frenzy. Furious, King Rayquaza and Queen Latias tracked down the fiend themselves, discovering it to be someone much like themselves, an animal who had evolved through the power of one of the fragments of the fallen star. But the fragment that this puny Duskull had used was irradiated with more of the beast's negative energy than that of the Mother, causing it to evolve into the evil Missingno, master of darkness. When they learned the nature of the evil, the priests raced after the royal dragons to aid them, but they arrived at the battlefield too late. Latias had sacrificed her life and her power to seal Missingno in the very same fragment of crystal that gave him his power. Rayquaza was so distraught at his loss that he abandoned kingdom, subjects, and the eggs his mate had laid just the week before, fleeing to his palace retreat on the Moon to grieve in solitude. The priests tried to explain to him that the power that had made Latias Latias wasn't gone, it had simply taken one of her children for a host now that she was dead, but Rayquaza had sealed off the portal that allowed transport between earth and the moon, so they could do nothing but let him cycle through his grief.

But they soon discovered that what Missingno had started had not been stopped by his defeat. The people were still riled up against each other, as well as the monarchy and pretty much everything in general. In Rayquaza's absence, Lugia, Latios and the priests tried their best to calm down the rioters but they wouldn't listen to reason. Groudon and Kyogre didn't bother reasoning, they just flexed their muscles and wiped out everyone who protested against them with earthquakes and floods. The fools didn't even realize this was just making their subjects hate them more, they believed themselves invincible and didn't realize that sheer numbers could overwhelm even them. After months of trying for peace and with no result but more hatred towards them, the priests finally admitted defeat. The people of the world were too riled up. Perhaps the best thing they could do was wait for everyone to relieve their tensions, and step back in when things had cooled down. Unfortunately, as long as they had corrupt rulers like Groudon and Kyogre around there wasn't much chance of resentment towards them cooling off, and the same could be said of Rayquaza's followers, seeing as how he had in a very real sense abandoned them and it didn't look like he'd be coming back anytime soon.

It was then the priests struck on a solution, on a way to remove the problem of the corrupt or forlorn rulers and allow the people of the world to release their tensions on their own terms: by removing themselves, all of those who derived power from the dreaming or the crystals, from the big picture. The priests came up with a process wherein they could remove the crystal power which gave any of the titan animals their strength, sealing it in orbs that would prevent anyone but the ones to whom the power belonged from using it for their own means. This would hopefully teach those who had gotten too used to their power, such as Groudon and Kyogre, a lesson in humility. Rayquaza would unfortunately have to be included in this plan, for he had shown his own form of arrogance and corruption by placing his love for his mate over that of his kingdom, which he was responsible for. Removing the dragon's power wouldn't teach him humility, but it should get his attention and maybe open his eyes to what he was doing by spending all his time mourning. The priests would then scatter the power orbs around the world and hide the great rulers, and themselves, away from everyone else until the fires of hatred and prejudice had cooled off. Once things were better, they could retrieve the orbs and reverse the process, restoring their leaders to full power so that they could take back their places in the world once more. Hopefully by that time they would have finally learned the values of unity and peace, and the world could at last be joined in harmony.

Lugia, Ho-Oh, and Latios declined the priests' offer to let them perform the process on them as well, claiming that the people of the world would still need something to believe in if their divine rulers were gone. They would retreat to the shadows, showing themselves every now and then and instructing their young to do the same, to foster hope in the hearts of the people in the world. They would do what they could to decrease the racial tensions, but discreetly and secretly, so that there would be no reason for anyone to fear or hate them. Somebody needed to protect the world and its inhabitants if the priests and those who held the most power were gone, after all. They told the priests they would tell their descendants to bring the orbs to the hiding places of the priests and the demigods once things were back to normal.

The priests agreed, and tricked Groudon and Kyogre into coming to the same place by telling each of them the other wanted to negotiate terms of surrender. They also managed to send a message up to Rayquaza on the moon through the use of the combined mental powers of numerous psychics, telling the dragon king that Latias had been sighted and hoping that would incite him to come down and see for himself.

So, once all three rulers were in the same place, the priests sprung their trap and activated their power-separation spell. Unfortunately, the priests had underestimated just how attached to their power the three were. Not only did the spell drain the power crystals out into orbs, but it also pulled Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza's souls out of their bodies! The priests watched in horror as the three spirits, driven by the misfired spell, fused together and vanished into a portal of mist. They quickly did some scrying and discovered that the spirits of the three titans had become one, with Rayquaza as the dominant personality, and were now trapped in a place called the Realm of Mists. They would be unable to leave that place, but at least they would be safe. And on the bright side, by becoming one being they might better understand the necessity of unity once they were separated again. Even so, the priests intended to reverse the spell and bring the spirits back so they could figure out what had gone wrong and recalibrate for it, but they didn't get the chance. One aspect of the spell they had forged automatically teleported the orbs to different spots around the world after they had been formed, so that nobody would be tempted to use them before the time to reawaken the three rulers arrived. And to make matters worse, the priests and the rulers had been followed to their meeting place by a very big and not very bright angry mob intending to end the 'corrupt dictatorship' once and for all.

With no time left, the priests used the last of their powers to teleport to the sanctuaries they had made for the rulers, dug out or constructed by those still loyal to them. They already knew where the orbs would go, they had factored that into the spell, and left both the locations of the orbs and of the secret sanctuaries where they would hide out to Latios, Lugia, and Ho-Oh, as well as writing them out in code in certain places in the Sevii islands just in case something went wrong. There they went to sleep alongside the monarchs, waiting for the day when the orbs would be returned and peace and unity could finally be restored.

…

"And we have been down here, sleeping, ever since," concluded Regirock.

"We have told you our story. You now know the true nature of those whom you claim loyalty to. Will you help us find our sibling Registeel as well as Rayquaza, along with the Green Orb, so that we can awaken the three rulers after all this time?" asked Regice.

Archie, Maxie and their Pokemon stared at them for several moments before snorting. "Hell no!"

"Screw you, no way!"

The two priests had clearly not been expecting this. "Why not?" asked Regirock.

"The both of you are blasphemers and deceivers! You tricked the almighty Groudon into being incapacitated so you could deprive the world of his noble reign!" Maxie spat.

"Exactly what he said, except with Kyogre instead!" agreed Archie.

"If you really want my help, then you'll have to promise only to wake up Groudon!" proclaimed Maxie.

Archie glared at the older man. "And I'll only help if you promise only to wake up Kyogre! Fuck Rayquaza and Groudon!"

The silicates said nothing and stood motionless for several seconds. Then, in a quiet voice, Regice asked, "How exactly did you find this place anyway?"

Maxie looked confused at the sudden question and shrugged, his temper forgotten for the moment. "Some carvings in an ancient ruin in Sevii. They were encrypted, but our codebreakers were able to figure it out."

Archie nodded. "Same here, but my team must have found them in a different ruin. Good thing too, or my team would have killed your team if they were in the same place!"

Maxie snorted. "In your dreams, youngster!"

"Then neither of you were contacted by anyone descended from the original Latios, Lugia, or Ho-Oh, am I correct?" Regirock interjected quietly.

"That's right, we didn't get any help from those false gods!" said Archie proudly.

"And have the species of human and animal learned to live together in peace?" asked Regice.

Archie bent down to rub his Mightyena's back. "Yeah, and we call em' Pokemon nowadays. We capture them in the wild and they serve us obediently, don't they boy?" Mightyena barked in affirmation.

Maxie patted his Camerupt, lingering over a large and unsightly scar. "And of course not all of them want to work with us, so we have to show them the importance of listening to their trainers so they can live long and healthy lives."

The priests said nothing more for a time, contemplating. Then Regirock said to Maxie, "I can see there is no love lost between you and this man. And the groups who accompanied you also displayed similar behavior just before we were fully awake. Is this behavior unique among humans and…Pokemon nowadays, or typical?"

Maxie shrugged. "Well, not everyone wants to help us bring Lord Groudon back to power where he belongs," he said, glaring at Archie. "Some of them try to oppose us in our noble quest or worship false gods. We only demonstrate violent behavior to those who get in our way."

"And lots of trainers and Pokemon fight each other for sport or profit, so yeah I guess it's typical for some people," Archie added. "Not us, of course, we only fight heathen people who don't share our vision for a glorious future united under Lady Kyogre." Maxie sneered at him.

There was a long pause. "I see," said Regice coldly. She raised an arm and suddenly a javelin of ice was sticking through Archie's torso. Spitting up blood, he collapsed to the ground.

Maxie, Mightyena, and Camerupt gaped. Then the old man grinned. "Well, thank you for killing him for me. Now, let's go wake up Groudon and-"

Regirock raised an arm and huge slabs or rock burst out of the ground and collapsed on the human and two Pokemon, squishing them into a sticky red paste. Calmly, he turned to Regice. "It seems as if the fires of prejudice have not gone out."

"They have become stronger, or at least somewhat more varied," agreed Regice. "We have been awakened prematurely. Let us return the Orbs to where we left them and go back to sleep until the proper messenger arrives and lets us know that it's safe to come out."

"I do not think that day will ever come," said Regirock.

"No?"

"No. We have put too much faith in those granted powers by the crystal shards, and in the people of the world. They have either forgotten about us or ignore us so they may flaunt their powers unhindered by the moral path. I almost hate to say it, but I think the godlings may have been wrong all along."

Regice glared at her brother with all seven eyes. "You speak blasphemy."

"Do I? You have had the same thoughts as I, sister. Our minds are not that different." Regirock turned away, floating over to gaze up at the giant mural on the wall. "In any case, I only mean they were wrong in how they applied their doctrine, the doctrine itself is good. The time we have been waiting for will never come. The racial tensions will not go away on their own. We must do it ourselves."

"Can we?" asked Regice, joining her brother.

"We almost did it with Rayquaza's kingdom, until Missingno came. We can do it again."

"But who will follow Rayquaza now? It has been thousands of years. Those thugs had no knowledge of him. Why should we believe anyone else will?"

Regirock turned away. "Mew once said that unity can only be gained by people choosing it freely...with a little push here and there. But her method was too slow, and things were always backsliding by the time we came back to wherever we had changed things before. The Mother managed to keep everyone united while she was dreaming, yet when she woke up the unity ended. That means the only way we can unite the world in harmony is by forcing it on them, so all the peoples and nations will become one. Only then will there be a true, lasting peace."

Regice contemplated this for a while. "Your words hold logic, brother. Very well. Let us seek out Registeel. Together, we can think of a way to carry this out." She paused, then glanced up at Groudon and Kyogre. "What shall we do with these two and Rayquaza?"

Regirock shrugged. "These two can collect dust for all I care. They did nothing but disrupt our work in life. Let their spirits writhe in the Realm of Mists forever. Rayquaza will be far more useful, he always believed in the doctrine."

Regice was uncertain. "Can we bring just Rayquaza's spirit back? I thought we needed to perform the spell with all three of them for it to work properly. If we focus only on Rayquaza, his spirit may be damaged in the attempt to separate him from the mind formed in fusing with his fellows."

Regirock was unconcerned. "With Registeel's help, I am sure we can work something out. And if his mind is damaged, then he will be that much more willing to listen to us and follow our suggestions."

If Regice felt any flicker of uncertainty in her conscience, it did not show. "Very well. Let us go, brother. We have a world to save." They floated out of the cave, through the tunnels formed by Team Aqua and Magma's explosive entrance, leaving the bloody corpses of the criminals behind.

After several moments, a voice said, "I think they're gone."

A group of five Ghost Pokemon faded into view near the back of the room, where they had been hiding all throughout the priests' tale, hidden by invisibility. They were a Haunter, a Misdreavus, a Gastly, a Shuppet, and a Duskull. They were members of the Ghost King's research team, who had been sent to Sevii over a month ago to search for answers to His Majesty's past. And it just seemed that they had struck paydirt. "Well," said the Haunter, glancing at his pupils. "It is a good thing Shuppet knocked over that weakened pillar back on Five Island by accident or we never would have found that slab detailing the location of this ancient crypt." The Shuppet beamed with pride. "I believe the King will be most interested to hear of our findings."

"But Professor, what of the other information we have learned?" asked the Misdreavus, looking concerned. "Those two priests intend to find their brother and use our King's body-well, one of them-to conquer the world. Shouldn't we do something about that?"

Haunter waved off her concerns. "Worry not my dear, I have already taken that into consideration. What we must do now is split into two groups; one to inform the King of our findings and what we have learned of his origins, and another to return to the ruins on Five Island and see if we can't decipher more of that slab and find out the whereabouts of Registeel, the Green Orb, and Rayquaza's body."

The students were perplexed. "But Professor, what is the point of that?" asked the confused Duskull.

Haunter grinned. "For one thing, from what we know now the Ghost King is in essence the ancient king of dragons Rayquaza, with the ferocious personas of Groudon and Kyogre intruding now and then, which explains his occasional violent mood swings, frequent fits of depression, and unprecedented command decisions, such as the recent destruction of Alto Mare. Now that we have located the bodies-or almost all of the bodies-from which his spirit originated, we may be able to bring him back to life just as the priests intended to do when they accidentally sent him to the Realm of Mists all those years ago."

His students nodded, understanding perfectly why their teacher would want this to happen. It was public knowledge that the Ghost King had been depressed and unhappy for most of his reign, but had finally found joy in Latias. Now the only thing left to make him truly happy would be to find a way to make him live again, so he no longer had to stay forever in the dreary Mist Realm. The ghosts loved their king and wanted him to be happy, even if it meant losing him forever. "But wouldn't that also wake up Groudon and Kyogre?" asked Duskull. "From what they said in the story, that would be a bad thing, right?"

Haunter sighed. "I think it would be better for our king to be restored to full life and mental capacity, even if it means calling back two power-driven cretins back as well, then to curse him with a fractured consciousness. I don't doubt his lady would still love him, but…it would be difficult for both of them. They have suffered enough. The really tough part will be convincing Registeel to turn against his siblings and help us, I think, for we will surely need his help to reverse the spell that cast our king into his misty prison in the first place."

"Well, he'll probably be more willing to help if the first people he sees are a group of unified ghosts willing to help their king reclaim the life he once had rather then a bunch of hateful overzealous Pokemon-worshipping fanatics split by religious differences," the Gastly pointed out.

Their professor nodded vigorously. "Quite right, quite right. And do not forget that haiku we found half-buried beneath that pile of rubbish on Twenty-two Island: _Regirock's heart is hard stone, Regice one of cold, but Registeel's is soft gold._ This, as well as other scriptures and carvings we have seen on our investigation of these islands, leaves me to believe that Registeel may have possessed more compassion for the common human or Pokemon than his siblings, which may be the deciding factor in whether or not he will help us against his siblings, for the sake of the people he loved and swore to help find a better way." He clasped his hands. "Now, we must be off to tell the King and find the location of both Registeel and the Green Orb's resting place. Regirock and Regice already know where both are, but we have the advantage in numbers! The Ghost Kingdom extends all over the world, surely some of our countrymen dwell somewhere near where either the orb or the last priest and his dragon charge can be found! Come now my pupils, we must be off! The hunt is on!"

…

And so the history of the world (and a lot of backstory) is revealed. Hopefully some things from earlier in the story now make sense. Tune in next time, when we rejoin Latias and friends for Ash's seventh gym battle!


	32. StarPowered Showdown!

It's really that long, Sir Pudding? Well, I expect it will be over 700 before long. Why would Latias and Latios mate? They are traditionally siblings. I don't think I was hard on Groudon and Kyogre, I wrote them as I see them-a couple of power-drunk bullies always looking to fight each other. I see the three legendary elemental birds the same way, to be honest. And the world that was nuked…yes, that was ours. This story is a glimpse of what our future might hold.

Yamimaru, I like Registeel too.

Lord Karkon, yes Rayquaza is the King of Dragons mentioned before. (Who else could it be, really?) And the Regis acted the way they did partly because of Aqua and Magma, and partly because their thought processes work differently than ours do. (They are made of solid stone and ice, after all.) If Lash isn't Latias' mother, then can you tell me who is?

HVK, I prefer Crossovers over Crossroads for some reason, I can't explain why. I have high hopes for it. I can't wait to see what other characters and worlds you'll use! (And I wonder if Pokemon may be in the mix, for some reason. I'm already certain the Teen Titans are.)

Shaladin, yes I do watch Yu-Gi-Oh.

blushes I'm glad you liked it, Story Weaver1.

really blushes I'm glad you're so enthusiastic, Ratiasu. I'm happy everything fits for you. And I can't help agreeing with you on Satoshi and Kasumi…I always took it for granted they'd get together. Imagine my surprise when she left at the end of Johto…

Disclaimer: All Pokemon and characters in this chapter do not belong to me.

…

"A challenger approaches."

"He feels different than the others, but his mind is weak. He will be of little consequence."

"His Pokemon are strong. They may be difficult to defeat."

"Without a strong mind to command them, even the most powerful of Pokemon can be defeated."

"This is true. But his companion is interesting."

"Oh?"

"She is one like us…"

…

Mossdeep Island was a relatively nice place, a pleasant contrast to the hellhole that had been Lilycove. It had a Pokemon Center and Poke Mart that had not been ransacked or covered with graffiti. It had a Pokeblock master along with a contest hall that was not a strip club, some kid's Secret Base, numerous fishermen, the summer home of Steven Stone, and amazingly enough the headquarters for INASA, the International Aeronautics and Space Association, complete with launch pad for the newest space shuttle. All of these were tourist attractions no visitor to the island would want to miss…unless, like our heroes, they were on a tight schedule.

Ash panted as he dashed through the streets of Mossdeep City. "'Scuse me! Pardon me!" he yelled as he pushed his way past startled pedestrians. They were pushed out of the way again when four Pokemon and one seemingly human girl raced after him.

"Remind me why we're running again?" Pikachu asked, clinging to his perch on Ash's hat.

Ash's answer was spoken hurriedly, the words almost blurring together. "The Gym opens up at 9 AM on the dot. The first ferry for Sootopolis Island leaves at 10:00. If we get to the gym before any other challengers and beat the leaders really quickly, we should be able to make the ferry and get to Sootopolis. That'll take maybe a few hours to a day at most, so once we get there we can beat the gym leader there and hop onto the ferry to Ever Grande City, which will take us maybe 2 days and get us there just in time to register for the Hoenn League championships before the deadline and the tournament starts. So we have to move as fast as we can if we're gonna make it!"

"…If that's the case, then why didn't you tell Nurse Joy when we got here last night to give us a wake-up call so we'd get up early with plenty of time to have breakfast and prepare for the gym, instead of sleeping late and waking up at 8:45, giving us barely enough time to have anything more than a few bagels to eat and causing us to rush all the way down here!" Pikachu snapped.

"…Heh heh, it never occurred to me," Ash said, sounding embarrassed. Pikachu facefaulted, which resulted in him falling off of Ash's hat and forcing him to try to catch up to his trainer on foot.

He caught up to Ash easily when the boy stopped abruptly and without warning, causing Pikachu to crash into his ankles and almost knock him over. Ash regained his balance, but didn't keep it for long because his friends slammed into him from behind, pushing him over and flattening him and Pikachu beneath a pile of heavy Pokemon bodies. Pikachu did not like this one bit and reflexively released a powerful Thunderbolt, electrocuting everyone. Bayleef coughed out some smoke. "Ow…"

"What'd you do that for?" Charizard groaned as he pulled himself up.

"Because Ash stopped without warning!" Pikachu growled as the others got off of him.

Ash got to his feet. "I only stopped because we're here," he said, pointing at the building in front of them.

And so they were. Right before them was the Mossdeep Gym.

It was a large, dome-shaped building with a round base lined with arched windows that touched the ground. The dome was made of some white metal with lines crisscrossing its surface. The front entrance was a pair of sliding glass doors with a large heart-shaped symbol hanging above them.

"What do you know, we are," said Crawdaunt in surprise. "Well all right then, let's go in so I can kick some psychic rear!" It had been unanimously decided when it was discovered that the gym here used Psychic Pokemon that Crawdaunt should be their main fighter, seeing as how he had a natural advantage against psychic abilities as a Dark-type.

Ash shook his head. "We can't, it's only 8:58," he said, showing off the clock function on his Pokedex. "We'll just have to wait a couple more minutes for them to open up so we can have our match."

And so they waited.

…

"Meowth, how much further?" complained Jessie.

Meowth whipped out a flashlight and checked his map. "According to this, we're almost there. Just a bit further and to the left at the next intersection, and we'll be there!"

The Ciphers were crawling through the ventilation system of Mossdeep Gym, using some blueprints Meowth printed out online to find the Pokemon Storage room. Once they got there they would Snag all the Pokemon there and give them to the boss, who would no doubt reward them with raises, promotions, stock options, etc.

"Well, hurry it up! I think all this dust is ruining my complexion," said Jessie, whipping out a compact with a light in it and applying some powder to her face while continuing her crawl through the shaft.

James paused for a moment behind Jessie to catch his breath…and the floor beneath him buckled. He blinked. "Um… guys, did you feel something?"

"No James, what're you talking-" That's when the floor caved in and they fell, screaming into a hallway deep inside the gym.

They expected to hit the ground hard, but were relieved to find their fall cushioned by some unknown object. "Wow, good thing these lumpy old mattresses were here to catch us!" said Wobbuffet in relief.

"We're not mattresses. Get OFF!" a pair of powerful voices roared in their heads.

The Ciphers squealed and jumped off what they had assumed at first to be mattresses but were in fact the two irate leaders of the Mossdeep Gym, Tate and Liza. They looked virtually identical, with long black hair done up in buns with white bows, brown eyes, and blue jumpsuits with red Pokeball symbols on their left sleeves and breasts. Their only distinguishing features were that Liza, the girl of the two had much longer sideburns than her brother. And she had eyelashes and a larger chest, of course. The twin psychics stood up, radiating a quite visible red aura of anger. "You are intruding in our gym," said Tate.

"You intended to steal our Pokemon," added Liza.

"Unsurprising actions for the unenlightened. Such behavior must be punished," they said in unison. Their eyes started glowing.

The lowly thieves were terrified. "Y-you're not going to turn us into dolls like that psychotic Sabrina, are you?" asked James in fear.

"Of course not. We are nothing like Sabrina," said Liza.

"Yes, we think action figures are much more sophisticated," said Tate.

The two lit up with a brilliant glow. The Ciphers held up their arms to shield themselves…and in doing so, Jessie accidentally pointed the mirror on her compact right at the two gym leaders as they fired twin energy beams at the fools, causing them to be reflected right back at their startled masters before they could put up any kind of defense. The beams struck, and there was a blinding flash of light along with a pair of screams in stereo.

And when it faded, in the place of Tate and Liza were a pair of tiny action figures that looked just like the twins. They floated in the air for a few seconds, then clattered to the ground, motionless.

The Ciphers stared at the figures in disbelief, rubbed their eyes, and stared again. "I…I don't believe it," said the shocked Meowth.

"Jessie, you did it! You saved us!" cried James, hugging her.

The vain woman was too busy crying to notice, however. "My compact…my precious compact…it's ruined!" she wailed, clutching the pieces of the beauty kit, which had been destroyed in the act of deflecting Tate and Liza's attack. "Now how can I gaze upon my beautiful visage when there are no reflective surfaces nearby!"

It was then that a loud knocking sound echoed throughout the gym, followed by a loud and familiar yell. "Hello? Anybody there? Open up, it's nine already! I have a boat to catch, so I need to battle you right now!"

"Pika, pikachu pika!" yelled the equally familiar voice of a Pikachu.

James recognized the voices instantly. "It's the twerp!"

Jessie cast aside the remains of her compact. "He must be here for a gym battle. That gives me a brilliant idea!" she said with an evil grin.

…

Ash knocked on the door one last time, then stepped back, looking disgruntled. "I don't get it, they should be open by now. It's already nine fifteen! Where are they?"

"Maybe they're hiding, cause they knew I was coming!" Crawdaunt boasted brashly. "Lemme smash those doors open so I can win this battle already!"

There was no need for the lobster to do property damage, thankfully, because just then the doors slid open. "Come in!" chorused a pair of voices from deep inside.

"Finally! Let's get this over with," said Ash, jogging inside.

"Daddy, wait for me!" cried Phanphy, running after him. The others quickly followed, the door sliding shut behind them.

The interior of the gym was simply magnificent. The interior of the giant dome was painted to resemble a night sky, with thousands of stars shining down from above. Huge models of the other planets in the solar system hung from near-invisible wires, giving them the sense of levitation. The floor was modeled to look like a cratered moonscape, with white lines drawn into the ground to indicate an official Pokemon battlefield. On the sides of the field were two large boxes of stands with a big heart-shaped symbol on each of them. Standing on the other side of the battlefield were two almost identical people, both with black hair and blue jumpsuits. The man had blue eyes, while the woman had green.

"Welcome to the Mossdeep Pokemon Gym!" said the woman in an oddly high and familiar voice.

"You'll have to defeat us if you want a Mind Badge, twerp-I mean, young trainer!" said the man gruffly.

Ash ran into the outlined 'box' area where challenging trainers stood on the battlefield. "Yeah, I'm ready! Send out your Pokemon!"

"Does something seem odd about these guys?" Latias murmured telepathically to Pikachu.

He frowned. "They _do_ sound vaguely familiar…but they look pretty much like the pictures of Tate and Liza we found in the guidebook."

A very short and somewhat inhuman-looking judge jumped onto the stands on the right side of the field. "This will be a two-on-two double Pokemon battle with no time limit. The challenger can use two and only two Pokemon with no switching. The same rule applies to the gym leaders. Let's get this party started!" He blew a whistle.

"Is it just me, or does that guy have a tail?" wondered Charizard aloud. "Must be hallucinating from lack of food, I didn't get a chance to eat more than half a waffle this morning…"

"Go, Solrock!" cried out Tate as he threw a Pokeball onto the field, which opened to reveal a floating spherical creature made of orange rock with slitted red eyes and several yellow spikes growing from its sides.

"Go, Lunatone!" cried Liza, releasing a grayish crescent-shaped Pokemon with recessed red eyes and a slitted needle nose protruding from inside the curve of the crescent.

"Solrock and Lunatone, huh? They're rock and psychic Pokemon, so that means…Bayleef! Crawdaunt! Let's take em' on!" Ash commanded. Bayleef and Crawdaunt bounded into the field.

Pikachu frowned. "Aren't you going to scan them with the Pokedex?"

Ash looked confused. "Why? I've already seen Solrock and Lunatone before, at the weird town where Lotad evolved into Lombre and that mountain where that weird Pokemon Mystery Club who tried to capture that Cleffa back in Johto was sniffing around."

"But you always…oh, forget it," said Pikachu, giving up.

Crawdaunt snapped his pincers. "Come on, Bayleef! Let's smash some rocks!"

"I'm with you!" agreed Bayleef, extending some vines.

Solrock and Lunatone looked at them for a moment, then turned around to face their trainers. "You are not Tate," said Solrock.

"And you are not Liza," said Lunatone.

Everyone looked confused. "What's going on?" wondered Phanphy.

"Solrock, what are you doing? Attack them!" commanded Tate.

"Yes, get going already! Obey your masters!" ordered Liza.

"Your IQ is far too low to be either Liza or Tate," said Solrock.

"Therefore, you must be impostors," concluded Lunatone.

Their eyes glowed blue and a blue aura surrounded Liza, Tate, and the judge, causing them to float into the air and fly into the back wall of the gym, cracking it and causing their outfits to burst into shreds, revealing…"Team Cipher!" cried Ash.

The villains leapt to their feet. "Prepare for trouble, we've been found out!" said Jessie.

"Make it double, without a doubt!" agreed James.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Cipher, encrypting important communiqué at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight fight fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!" proclaimed Meowth.

Chimecho popped out of his Pokeball. "Chimecho!"

Wobbuffet poked his head out from behind Jessie's back. "Um, hi."

The two Meteorite Pokemon stared at the buffoons wordlessly for several seconds, before bursting into raucous laughter. Jessie blinked. "Are they laughing at us!" she asked in disbelief.

Bayleef rolled her eyes. "It's hard not to, what with the moronic show you guys put on all the time," she said.

"Hey!" snapped Meowth.

The two meteorites stopped laughing. "Their minds are truly puny, even for the unenlightened," said Solrock.

Lunatone nodded. "Indeed. Their psychic Pokemon are disgraces. The Chimecho's IQ level is lower than that of toast, and the Wobbuffet is just plain pathetic."

Wobbuffet flushed. "That's not very nice…" he mumbled.

"They are unworthy of our time," said Solrock.

"Indeed. Our trainers can deal with them," agreed Lunatone.

As if on cue, there was a flash of light, and Tate and Liza appeared on the battlefield. Latias was shocked. "Did they just teleport!"

Ash shrugged. "I guess so. One of the only other psychic trainers I knew, Sabrina, could do teleporting too. I guess these two can do it as well."

The Ciphers were horrified. "Wh-what are you doing here!" asked James. "I thought we turned you into action figures!"

"You are not the first who has deflected our power," said Tate calmly.

"We know from experience how to undo our own spell," said Liza.

"You fools have earned yourselves something far worse than that, now."

"How would you like a one-way trip to outer space?"

Jessie blinked in confusion. "Outer space? What do you-"

Liza and Tate's eyes glowed, and the ground exploded, hurling Team Cipher into the air and causing them to smash through the roof. "Looks like we're blasting off agaaaaaiiiiin!"

"Chiiiiiiiii!"

"I'm really getting tired of this…" moaned Wobbuffet. They vanished in a twinkle of light.

The heroes were stunned. "We have to fight them!" said Pikachu in disbelief.

"Well, at least they don't have any creepy living doll or inclination to change us into dolls," said Ash weakly.

Tate and Liza turned to face the heroes. Solrock and Lunatone floated in front of them. "We have been waiting for you, challenger Ashley Ketchum," said Tate.

Everyone stared at Ash. "Ashley!"

Ash's face flushed. "My mom was expecting a girl," he muttered.

"We foresaw your arrival," continued Liza.

"You pose no threat to us. Where Sabrina was weak, we are strong."

"She had one mind…"

"And we have two. Together, they shall crush you."

Ash didn't look too intimidated. He heard trash talk like this from other trainers all the time. "But before we battle, there is one thing we must know," said Tate.

"Yes, why is a psychic traveling with you?" asked Liza.

Ash looked nervous and tried _not_ to glance at Latias, who was starting to sweat. "Uh, what psychic?"

"Do not bother playing stupid," snapped Tate.

"It only serves to heighten your ignorance. We are talking about the girl. Why does she travel with you?" Liza demanded.

Ash was taken aback. "Well, um, because she's my friend. I wasn't aware I needed a reason to travel with somebody other than that."

The twins looked skeptical. "Impossible."

"Psychics and ordinary humans can never be friends."

Latias shuffled her feet. "Well…I'm not actually human. Does that mean anything?" she said quietly.

Tate and Liza, being psychic, picked up her telepathic message. "Elaborate," insisted Tate.

"You appear human. What do you mean by this?" asked Liza.

Latias cleared her throat, shimmered, and revealed her true form. "Latias! Why'd you do that?" asked Bayleef in alarm.

"They were being so hostile to Ash…I thought it might change their minds," she said weakly.

She appeared to have succeeded, but not in the way she would have wished. Tate and Liza looked impressed. "A Latias. Most impressive," murmured Tate.

"I did not think any of their kind existed anymore," agreed Liza.

Tate glared at Ash. "Such a rare and powerful psychic Pokemon is out of your league."

Ash bristled. "What's that supposed to mean!"

"A psychic Pokemon's full potential can only be unlocked by a trainer with psychic abilities," Liza explained. "This forms a telepathic bond between them, furthering their relationship and making them much more difficult to defeat. Ordinary trainers cannot hope to achieve such bonds on their own."

"That's not true!" Ash protested. "Latias has telepathic links with all of us, so we can talk to each other without language getting in the way! Well, except for Crawdaunt, now that he's evolved…but I've gotten to know him well enough thanks to the links that I can still understand him pretty well even without telepathy! I'd say that's a pretty strong bond, wouldn't you?"

"Friendship is strong," Tate agreed. "But it has its limits. The bond between you and your Pokemon is not as strong as it could be, as it _should_ be. You are only holding Latias back by your inability to use psychic powers."

"Only with a fellow psychic can she unlock her true potential. We are willing to help her with that. If you are willing to trade her to us, we will give you the Mind Badge without a fight," offered Liza.

Ash was shocked, along with everyone else. "What? No way! I'm not gonna give up one of my friends just to get a badge!"

"Why not let Latias speak for herself?" asked Tate coldly.

Liza nodded. "Yes, why not? Latias, would you not rather be trained by those who can fully appreciate you instead of a half-wit such as this?"

Latias glared at the twins. "If you're going to talk about my friends like that, then no! I'm happy with them, being right where am I now! Ash and the others have helped me master attacks that it would have taken me forever to do on my own, I don't care if they're 'holding me back'! I won't leave them!"

Tate frowned. "Your loyalty to your friends is admirable."

"But ultimately futile and misplaced," said Liza, shaking her head. "You have made your decision. Very well then."

"We were willing to give up the badge without a fight, but now you leave us no choice."

"We will show you no mercy."

"Solrock!"

"Lunatone!"

"ATTACK!"

…

Propelled by the momentum from the psychic explosion triggered by Tate and Liza, the Ciphers hurtled through the air and smashed through a window some distance away from the gym, slamming into the wall of a small metallic room. "Ow…" moaned James. "That hurt more than usual."

Jessie groaned and pushed James off of her, staggering to her feet. Leaning on Wobbuffet for balance, she looked around. "Where are we?"

James frowned, noticing the room's cramped interior and numerous lockers. "It looks like some kind of a locker room. But these are much smaller than the ones I always got crammed into in high school."

"Maybe there's somethin' valuable in them!" Meowth suggested, pulling open one locker. A large white bodysuit with a domed helmet and control panel on the chest fell out, along with a big white backpack. "Huh? What's this thing?"

"Looks like a spacesuit," Wobbuffet observed. "Benny's dad was an astro…astrofish…astrophysicist. Yeah. So he had pictures of guys in these things all over his office."

"What's a spacesuit doing in here?" Jessie wondered after Meowth translated Wobbuffet's analysis.

That's when the room started to shake. "It's an earthquake! Duck and cover!" screamed James, huddling on the ground with his arms over his head.

Meowth held a paw up to his ear. "Wait! I think I hear something!" The other Ciphers quieted and strained to listen.

"…5…4…3…2…1…liftoff!"

And then there was the sound of a tremendous explosion nearby, almost deafening the Ciphers. They were struck by an immense force, which pushed them all to the ground as the room's shaking increased in magnitude a thousandfold. "W-w-w-w-w-w-w-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t'-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-n-n-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-?" Jessie forced through chattering teeth.

Fighting the force that pushed them down, James pulled himself up to the sill of the window they had come in through and looked outside. His face paled. "Jessie?"

"Yes James?"

"WE'RE IN A SPACE SHUTTLE!"

Everyone instantly crowded around the window and looked outside, hoping beyond hope James was wrong.

He wasn't. They had crashed through a window in the side of a space shuttle that was slowly lifting off from a launch pad in a remote location of Mossdeep Island, supported by a towering cloud of fire and smoke, rocketing into outer space.

"LOOKS LIKE WE"RE BLASTING OFF FOR REEEEEEAAAAAAAAALLLLL!" they screamed as the shuttle flew higher and higher into the atmosphere, vanishing in a twinkle.

…

The two Meteorite Pokemon, Solrock and Lunatone, charged towards Ash's Pokemon in a powerful Tackle. "Bayleef, use Vine Whip on Lunatone! Crawdaunt, use Bubblebeam on Solrock! Solrock can use Fire attacks, so do what you can to keep it from using them on Bayleef!"

Bayleef sent her vines out at the crescent-shaped Pokemon while Crawdaunt opened his claws and fired dozens of glowing blue energy bubbles at his sun-shaped opponent. However, Tate and Liza were ready for this.

"Solrock…"

"Lunatone…"

"CONFUSION!"

The meteorite's eyes glowed blue, as did the vines and bubbles hurtling towards them. The bubbles and vines turned around in midair and started shooting back at the Pokemon who had generated them! "Crawdaunt, Harden quick! Bayleef, I know it'll hurt, but you've got to sever those vines with Razor Leaf!"

Crawdaunt crossed his claws over his face and glowed with a white sheen as his shell hardened, causing the bubbles to ricochet harmlessly off of him. Bayleef wouldn't survive quite so unharmed however, since the vines she was about to cut were living extensions of her body. They'd grow back quickly, but it would still hurt. She gritted her teeth and swung the big leaf on her head, flinging a pair of smaller bladed leaves at the whips reaching out to strike her, cutting them off at the tips and causing them to fall lifelessly to the floor. She flinched in pain and retracted the vines, awaiting her opponent's next action or her trainer's next command.

"Solrock, use Fire Spin on that Bayleef," said Tate calmly.

"Lunatone, use Rock Throw on the Crawdaunt," said Liza equally calmly.

Solrock's body started heating up, causing a fiery glow to appear around him as he fired a spiraling stream of fire at Bayleef. Lunatone used her psychic powers to pull a chunk out of the gym's floor and hurl it at Crawdaunt. "Crawdaunt, protect Bayleef with Harden! Bayleef, use Razor Leaf on Solrock and Lunatone!" ordered Ash.

The dark lobster jumped in front of his teammate and hardened his shell just in time to feel the impact of both the rock and the fire stream. He grunted as the attacks struck. "Are you okay?" Bayleef asked in concern.

"I'll be fine!" Crawdaunt insisted. "Attack already!" She nodded and fired several Razor Leaves at the Meteorites.

"Confusion," commanded Tate and Liza at once. Solrock and Lunatone's eyes lit up as they mentally deflected the attack back at Bayleef and Crawdaunt.

Ash grinned. "Okay now! Bayleef, Crawdaunt, attack those leaves with Bubblebeam and more Razor Leaves!" Trusting their trainer's judgement, the plant and the crustacean fired bubbles and leaves at the oncoming swarm of razors. The collision of bubbles and leaves caused the leaves controlled psychically by the floating rocks to be deflected right back at the Meteorites, damaging their tough stone coat along with whatever bubbles and leaves hadn't been used up blasting the controlled leaves.

Solrock and Lunatone floated back a few inches from the impact, their skin scratched by the leaves. "Not bad," admitted Tate. "Together your Pokemon are formidable. But are they so when separate? Solrock, Rock Tomb!"

"You too, Lunatone!" called Liza.

The Meteorite's eyes glowed, and a row of tall rocks burst out of the earth, forming a line that went straight down the battlefield right between Bayleef and Crawdaunt, cutting them off from each other! "Ahh! Crawdaunt!" Bayleef cried as her friend vanished behind a wall of stone.

"Ah crap, Bayleef!" Crawdaunt cursed, seeing that Solrock was on the same side of the wall as Bayleef, making her totally vulnerable to the son of the sun's fire attacks.

"You should worry more about yourself," said Lunatone as she floated over to Crawdaunt.

"Your vegetation shall wither from my flames!" Solrock taunted as he increased his body temperature again.

"Solrock, Flamethrower!"

"Lunatone, Hidden Power!"

Transforming into a swirling ball of fire, Solrock shot a stream of flames at Bayleef, while Lunatone generated a ring of white energy balls around herself and flung them at Crawdaunt. "Bayleef, dodge the flames as best you can and fire Razor Leaves! Crawdaunt, Harden and then use your spinning Crabhammer!" yelled Ash.

Bayleef frantically leaped out of the way of the Flamethrower, the flames barely licking at her heels. As she landed on the ground, she flung several leaves at Solrock. Crawdaunt hardened his shell to defend himself from the energy ball barrage, then leaned backwards, using his tail as a support, and started spinning like a top, balancing on his tail while whirling his glowing claws around him. He twirled towards Lunatone, looking to do some damage.

Bayleef's leaves, sad to say, were useless; they disintegrated on contact with Solrock's flaming aura. "Solrock, punish her for that pitiful attack with Psywave!" Solrock's eyes flashed, and a wave of solidified air rippled towards Bayleef, striking her hard and almost throwing her off the ground. She gritted her teeth and dug her heels into the ground to keep her balance. She refused to let herself be humiliated in this way by a cheap imitation of the sun!

In the meantime, Liza had her own orders for Lunatone to protect her from Crawdaunt. "Lunatone, dodge it and use Rock Throw!" Lunatone floated out of the way of Crawdaunt's spinning charge and telekinetically hurled a rock at the crustacean. This proved to be ineffective, as Crawdaunt's spinning claws smashed it to pieces as he twirled back towards the lunar Pokemon.

"Solrock, use Rock Tomb to entrap Bayleef!" commanded Tate.

Solrock's eyes glowed, and rocks shot up on either side of Bayleef, startling her. She tried to run away, but more rocks came up behind her, and the burning Solrock floated into the only open space, penning her against the rocks. She flinched, feeling the heat radiating off of Solrock's flaming body. "Now, use Overheat to finish her in one attack!" Solrock's flames grew even stronger, shooting out and scorching the rocks around him, the tongues of flame only millimeters away from Bayleef's fire-sensitive skin. She pressed herself against the rock wall, whimpering.

Meanwhile, Liza and Lunatone were about to get the upper hand against Crawdaunt. "Lunatone, use Ice Beam!" The moon-shaped Pokemon fired a beam of coldest ice at the spinning Crawdaunt. While his twirling claws could deflect solid projectiles, the same could not be said of beam weaponry, and the lobster was frozen solid in a block of ice. Liza made a cool smile. "Perfect."

Ash looked back and forth between Bayleef and Crawdaunt, both of which were in serious jeopardy. "Come on daddy, do something!" urged Phanphy.

"If you don't think of something quick, Bayleef and Crawdaunt'll be history!" Charizard said urgently.

"Hmm…" Ash suddenly got an inspiration, recalling a trick he had once used with Bulbasaur. "Bayleef, use your Vine Whips on the ground you're standing on! Use it to push yourself over Solrock and the rock wall!"

"Right!" Bayleef thrusted her vines into the ground, using them to launch herself over Solrock just as he unleashed a tremendous burst of white and red fire, which could have critically injured her if she had still been standing there.

She soared over the rock wall dividing the field and landed on top of Lunatone, who was not even remotely expecting an attack like this, sending her crashing into the ground. "Ugh!" grunted Lunatone.

Liza blinked in disbelief. "What!"

"Impressive," said Tate. "I had not known Bayleef could support their own body mass with simple vines."

__

Neither did I, Ash thought to himself. But he wasn't going to let them know that last move had been a huge gamble.

"Solrock, go over there and finish off that Bayleef!" commanded Tate.

Solrock floated over the rock wall and fired another Overheat at Bayleef.

"Bayleef, quick! Use Crawdaunt as a shield!" Ash yelled.

Bayleef grabbed the ice chunk holding Crawdaunt with her vines and pulled it in front of her, using it to block the flame blast. The fire struck the ice block and melted it, causing steam to rise up and reveal a redder than usual Crawdaunt, who was sweating from the heat of the attack. "YeeOUCH, that's HOT!" he howled.

Tate frowned. "It is too risky to use another Overheat, since it weakens each time it is used. So instead…Solrock! Use Rock Slide!"

Solrock hovered away from Ash's Pokemon and his sister, who was still pinned beneath Bayleef, and psychically levitated all the rocks on the field into the air, gathering them into a huge mass, and hurled it at Bayleef and Crawdaunt.

Ash quickly thought up a response to this attack. "Bayleef, throw Crawdaunt at the rock! Crawdaunt, use Crabhammer!"

Bayleef quickly grabbed Crawdaunt by the tail with a vine and flung him into the air, straight towards the falling rocks. He held his glowing claw forward, readying the Crabhammer, and used the momentum caused by the throw that launched him into the air to start spinning. When he intercepted the rock, his spin and powered-up claw caused him to _drill_ right through the boulder, smashing it to pieces as he erupted from the other side, to the astonishment of Solrock and Tate.

"Solrock, try to dodge and use Harden!" Tate shouted, seeing that Crawdaunt was moving too fast to be completely avoided and could not be deflected by any of Solrock's psychic defenses.

Solrock clenched his eyes shut and started moving to the side while hardening his skin as Crawdaunt struck him as he passed by with a spinning Crabhammer. There was a flash of light as the lobster's claw connected, and time seemed to stop for a split second. Then Crawdaunt flew past the meteorite Pokemon and began falling to the ground, where Bayleef caught him with her vines. Solrock floated in the air for a moment, looking shocked. Then there was a cracking sound and one of his golden spikes broke off, crumbling to dust in midair. "…GRAAAHHHH!" Solrock roared in pain.

"Brother, are you all right?" asked Lunatone in concern, floating up from where Bayleef had left her when she went to catch Crawdaunt.

"Do I _look_ all right! That darkling scum ruined my perfect body!" Solrock howled in rage. "He shall pay for this!"

"Indeed he shall," agreed Tate. "Sister?"

"Yes, brother?" asked Liza.

"I believe we should take this battle to the next level."

"I agree." They joined hands.

"Solrock…"

"Lunatone…"

"COSMIC POWER!"

Solrock and Lunatone hovered high in the air and started glowing brightly. The entire gym started shaking like Snorlax's belly when being used as a trampoline. "Wh-what's going on?" asked the startled Ash, losing his footing.

"Something's happening!" cried Charizard. "Look at the ceiling!"

They did. The planets dangling from the ceiling broke loose from their moorings, ballooned to twice their size, and started floating around high above the battlefield. The stars painted on the ceiling lit up, taking on depth and starting to look like real stars instead of white dots. The ceiling painted to look like outer space darkened to a pitch black, looking like the true void in which all worlds float in, and the sculpted moonscape they were standing on started to look more and more realistic, with gray dust covering every inch of the ground and extending to a horizon that had not been there moments ago. The hole in the ceiling from which sunlight streamed through transformed into what looked like the actual sun, burning millions of miles away. An image of the Earth as seen from orbit appeared behind Liza and Tate, framed by the void of space. It seemed more and more like they had been transported to the surface of the actual moon!

Solrock and Lunatone swelled up to enormous proportions, taking on the form of cratered planetoids looming over Ash and his team. Solrock burst into flames, while Lunatone sprouted spikes of frost.

"You shall be incinerated by the fires of the sun!" threatened Solrock to Bayleef.

"And you shall be frozen by the icy cold of the moon!" Lunatone taunted Crawdaunt.

The heroes stared at the giant meteorites in disbelief. "Wh-what's going on!" cried Bayleef in fear, trembling.

Phanphy yelped and cowered behind Ash's legs. "Daddy, I'm scared!"

Crawdaunt frowned. "What're you talking about? All they did is get a little bigger. Nothing big. What're you guys all panicking about?"

Charizard gave him a look of disbelief. "Hello? Don't you see the giant planets floating around us? How the ceiling's turned into actual sky and the ground feels all dusty and weird? And how Solrock and Lunatone got all big and nasty looking? Don't you see what's behind those freaky twins!"

Crawdaunt looked around the room in confusion. "What are you talking about! The planets are hanging from the ceiling just as they always have, and the ceiling itself is just painted to look like space. The ground feels no different than before. Solrock and Lunatone just look a little bigger than they were before. And there's nothing behind the twins but a door leading deeper into the gym. There's a door behind you guys too that we came through, can't you see it?"

Everyone turned around. All they saw was the moonscape, which seemed to continue into infinity. "I don't see a door," said the confused Phanphy.

"It's there, honest!" Crawdaunt protested.

Ash's brow furrowed. "How come Crawdaunt doesn't see what's around us? He acts like we're still in the gym!"

Latias blinked. "Wait…maybe we are!" Her teammates looked at her in confusion. "Crawdaunt's a Dark-type, right? That means he's immune to the majority of psychic abilities! If he sees the gym and we see something else, then that must mean what we're looking at is an illusion!"

Tate raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Very good," he said. "You didn't even need to use your own powers to figure it out."

"This is indeed an illusion," Liza explained. "The final test to see if you are worthy of the Mind Badge. Your Crawdaunt can see through our mirage, and it is possible that Latias can as well if she concentrates hard enough."

"But you cannot, and neither can your Bayleef," Tate pointed out. "So it will be that much harder for you to defeat us."

Bayleef pawed the ground, reassured that what she saw was just a very clever illusion. "Bring it on!" she challenged.

"Yeah, we'll take everything you've got!" agreed Ash.

Crawdaunt snapped his pincers. "I'm the only one so far who can't be fooled by this illusion, so I'll tell you if they're pulling any tricks on you guys!"

"I'll try to help too," Latias chipped in. She narrowed her eyes, focusing whatever latent powers were in her mind in an attempt to let her see through the illusion. Those powers seemed to be slightly closer to the surface than they had been before due to her multiple uses of them in the Dark World, and she started to see the lunar plane around them ripple slightly. She focused harder, willing it to disappear. It didn't, but she knew it would with a bit more effort.

In the meantime, the battle started anew. "Solrock, Fire Blast!" Tate commanded, pointing at Bayleef.

Solrock's flames blazed up, and a humongous dragon formed of fire flew out from his body and screamed towards a petrified Bayleef.

"Lunatone, Hidden Power!" ordered Liza. Lunatone formed several dozen enormous energy balls and flung them at Crawdaunt.

Without being told, Crawdaunt Hardened his shell. "Bayleef, it's just an ordinary Fire Blast! Move a few meters to the left and it'll miss you!" he snapped as the energy balls struck. Although they looked big enough to bowl him over, from the impact with his shell it was clear that there was surprisingly little force in them. Latias had been right, it was just an illusion.

Bayleef took Crawdaunt's warning to heart and leaped out of the way. The fire dragon struck the ground and exploded in a huge conflagration of flame that washed over Bayleef…and did absolutely nothing, because it was just an illusion. Letting loose the breath he had anxiously been holding in, Ash barked orders to his Pokemon. "Bayleef, use Razor Leaf! Crawdaunt, Bubble Beam!"

The two Pokemon swished their leaf and opened their claws, firing leafs and bubbles respectively at the two Meteorites. Although Solrock and Lunatone appeared to have gotten so massive the attacks would do no damage, since the size and Solrock's flaming aura was an illusion the attacks had the intended effect and struck Solrock and Lunatone for some heavy damage, causing them to float backwards, groaning in pain. Tate and Liza took action quickly.

"Solrock!"

"Lunatone!"

"ROCK TOMB!"

The sun and moon Pokemon's eyes glowed, and rocks started bursting out of the ground around Bayleef and Crawdaunt, seeming to enclose them completely! However, Crawdaunt spotted a narrowing open space concealed by illusion to look like just another rock, and dove through it quickly to avoid the trap. Bayleef, however, did not have the same luxury, and looked around frantically as the stones started collapsing on her.

Latias squinted her eyes, focusing her power, and suddenly spotted an open space as the illusion parted before her for a split second. "Bayleef, there's a gap right in front of you that you can use to escape!" she called out.

Bayleef looked up in surprise. "You heard her Bayleef, get out of there!" Ash cried. The plant Pokemon nodded and jumped through the gap right before it closed as the rocks collapsed on the spot where she had just been. "Now, both of you attack again with Razor Leaf and Bubblebeam!" Crawdaunt and Bayleef complied instantly, opening fire on the Meteorite Pokemon.

But Tate and Liza were ready for them. "Solrock…"

"Lunatone…"

"LIGHT SCREEN!" Solrock and Lunatone glowed and were surrounded by transparent force fields. The bubbles and leaves bounced off harmlessly.

Crawdaunt laughed. "Ha! That's not gonna be enough to stop us!" He fired his Bubblebeam at Lunatone again and was surprised when the bubbles bounced right off. "Huh!"

"Crawdaunt, Flannery's Slugma used Light Screen too, remember? (Or were you asleep at that point?)" Pikachu wondered. "Light Screen deflects Special attacks like Grass or Water-types, but regular attacks can penetrate them!"

Ash smirked. "Thanks for reminding me, Pikachu. Okay Bayleef, um…throw one of those rocks at Solrock! And Crawdaunt, use, let's see…I know, Taunt!"

Bayleef grabbed one of the rocks left over from the Rock Tomb attack and raised it over her head with some effort using her Vine Whips. She was about to throw it at the giant floating Solrock when Latias cried out a warning, her vision penetrating through the illusion once more. "Wait! Solrock isn't actually there, he's right behind you!"

Bayleef spun around and hurled the rock in the air, right towards the invisible Solrock. "Solrock, Confusion!" commanded Tate. A pair of eyes appeared out of thin air and glowed, causing the rock to be enveloped in a blue aura and flung back at Bayleef, transforming into a blazing meteor. Bayleef almost bolted, but realized it had to be an illusion, so lashed out at it with her Vine Whip, breaking the rock to pieces.

Crawdaunt's Taunt worked much better on Lunatone than Bayleef's rock throw. He knew quite a few zingers. "Come on, you slime-coated moldy piece of conglomerate! You think you're so tough, 'cause you're an almighty psychic Pokemon from outer space! Ha, there's more space between my butt-plates than there was wherever you came from!"

"Crawdaunt, tone it down a little! Phanphy's listening!" Ash scolded. This turned out not to be true however, for Phanphy's limited attention span was occupied in admiration of the shining illusory stars above them.

Lunatone's blood (not that she actually had blood) boiled. "Why you…!"

"Lunatone, ignore his childish insults!" cautioned Liza. Lunatone was too lost in rage to listen and started charging up a super-powered Ice Beam.

Crawdaunt laughed again. "Ha, you call that attack? You big wuss, you're hiding behind fancy energy attacks and force fields, what kind of a Pokemon are you? Come on wimp, show me a real attack! Take down those shields and let's fight, Pokemano a Pokemano!" He turned around and wagged his tail at her cheekily. "Come on! I'm waaaiiiiting!"

Enraged, Lunatone broke her Light Screen and dissipated her charging beam. The illusory form of the giant planetoid around the Meteorite faded, revealing the original Lunatone with a slight increase in size caused by the effect of Cosmic Power. "You want a real attack! Then TAKE THIS!" She charged towards Crawdaunt in a powerful Tackle, her sharp nose out with the intention of skewering the loud-mouthed crawfish like a shish kebob.

"Lunatone, stop!" cried Liza. But it was too late.

Just as it looked like Crawdaunt was going to get skewered in the rear, he spun around and punched Lunatone right in the nose with a powered-up Crabhammer. The force of the punch cracked the nose and sent Lunatone flying, crashing into the ground some distance away. The Meteorite Pokemon moaned in pain. Crawdaunt laughed. "Ha-ha! Take that, moonshine!"

The illusion around Solrock faded, and he looked at his sibling with alarm. "Sister!"

"Nice job, Crawdaunt!" complimented Ash.

"Way to go, Uncle Crawdaunt!" cheered Phanphy, hopping up and down.

Latias was the only one who noticed Lunatone's eyes glow. "Crawdaunt, look-"

It was too late. While Crawdaunt was immune to psychic attacks, the same could not be said of the ground he was standing on. It lurched and burst into the air, hurling a surprised Crawdaunt right next to Lunatone. "Oof!"

Liza made a cruel smile. "Now we shall see who is moonshine. Lunatone, Explosion!"

Crawdaunt's eyes widened as Lunatone started to flash dangerously. "Aw fu-" The Meteorite exploded, flinging a charred and smoking Crawdaunt out of the battlefield and into the stands, breaking the heart emblem and cracking his armored shell. If he hadn't done so many Hardens during the battle, the attack might have done a lot more damage.

"Crawdaunt!" cried Bayleef in alarm.

Ash ran over to him. "Crawdaunt, buddy, you okay!" he asked frantically.

Crawdaunt's eyes were swirling. "OoooOOoooOOOOggg…Craw-Daddy, I don't wanna go to school with the other fish…" he babbled in a daze.

"He'll be okay Ash," Pikachu assured the trainer. "Crawdaunt's tough. A couple of hours and a Hyper Potion or two and he'll be right as rain in no time."

Ash nodded in agreement. It was a good thing that they had managed to procure so many, last night when they had exhaustedly tromped into the Mossdeep Pokemon Center Ash had won a dozen free Hyper Potions for being the one thousandth guest. Latias had received a free loofah for being the one thousand and first. Ash reached into his backpack to pull a potion out and found himself paralyzed by a powerful psychic grip.

Liza, eyes glowing, had her hand pointed at the boy. "You may heal the darkling after the battle. You still have one Pokemon on the field. If you use a potion now, you will forfeit the match. Do you wish to forfeit or continue?"

Crawdaunt groaned, recovering some of his wits. "Ugh…Ash, go on, don't throw the match on my account. Bayleef's still in there, we got a chance to win this don't we?"

Ash looked unconvinced. "Are you sure? You look pretty bad."

Crawdaunt waved a claw, trying not to wince. "Bah, it's just a flesh wound. Now come on, win this match already! We've got a boat to catch! If we miss it, we'll never get into the Hoenn League, and you can bet those Unown guys won't be happy."

Ash nodded reluctantly. "All right. You guys take care of him, okay?" he said to his other Pokemon. They nodded, and he ran back to his space on the battlefield. "Okay Bayleef, let's do this!"

She nodded. "Right! For Crawdaunt, and the badge!"

"One other thing…" said Tate. He and Liza joined hands, and their eyes flashed.

A wall of psychic force struck Latias, knocking her several feet back and away from the battlefield. "What! What just happened!" She tried to fly back towards her friends, but found her way blocked by a force field projected by Tate and Liza which encompassed most of the room, including the stands. "I can't get in!" she cried.

"What'd you do that for!" demanded Ash.

"Her ability to see through our illusions was interfering with the match," said Tate.

"She was illegally assisting you in an official league match, which counts as cheating. We should have expelled you from our gym for that, but instead we decided to remove the troubling element from the equation and continue our fight," added Liza. "This shield is soundproof and psy-proof, so she won't be able to yell out to you what is real and what is false."

"It seems to me that using illusions at all in an official league match is cheating too!" Ash accused the twins.

Tate shrugged. "This is our gym."

"We may do as we please in any battles which occur in it. We follow league rules, but only to the point that they do not interfere with what we want," agreed Liza.

"You should be thankful we're even following league rules at all, or we would have shattered the minds of you and your Pokemon by now," said Tate arrogantly.

Liza pulled out a Pokeball and pointed it at the unconscious Lunatone. "Return!" A red beam of light shot out from the ball, striking the Meteorite and sucking her back into the container. "My part in this challenge is done, so I will maintain the shield to keep your Latias from interfering. Let us see how good you really are without using someone else's eyes." She stepped out of the gym leader's section of the battlefield, her eyes closed in concentration as she continued to send power to the shield.

Latias eventually gave up on trying to force her way through the shield in meantime. While she thought that if she tried hard enough she could get in, she was also certain that the twins would probably disqualify Ash then and there if she did so. All she could do now was watch and wait, and hope that Ash and Bayleef could win the match.

Solrock appeared to swell up into a bloated planetoid again, but that was probably due to the illusion that Tate was now maintaining all by his lonesome. "My flames shall incinerate you, vegetable!" Solrock boasted, flinging fireballs at Bayleef.

Ash was uncertain of what to do, some of the fireballs could be real while others were fake, if he told Bayleef to dodge she would still get hit by some so he would need to know beforehand which ones were actually dangerous. An idea came upon him. "Bayleef, throw Razor Leaves at the fireballs!"

Bayleef swished her leaf, flinging numerous razor leaves at the fireballs. Most of the leaves passed through the flames without a scratch, but others were burnt up instantly. "Oh, I see which ones are real now!" She quickly sidestepped out of the way of the actual fireballs, standing confidently as the illusory fireballs hit her…and screamed in pain as the fireballs exploded against her skin, leaving nasty burns.

Ash was stunned. "What! But those were the fakes!"

Tate smirked. "No, you only assumed they were because you saw the leaves pass through them. What actually happened was that I altered the illusion so that some of her leaves would appear to be burnt and others wouldn't, deceiving you into walking right into my trap." A trickle of sweat ran down his forehead, but he did not seem to notice it.

"How's Aunt Bayleef supposed to dodge attacks if they trick her into thinking that they won't hurt her?" Phanphy asked anxiously.

Pikachu frowned, noticing the sweat on Tate's forehead. He realized that all throughout the first part of the battle, while Crawdaunt had still been up and about, Tate and Liza had always been holding hands and looked relaxed without breaking a sweat. But Tate was maintaining the illusion by himself, and although he looked all right he was sweating now. Even more interesting was the fact that Tate hadn't made a single command to Solrock since he and his sister had divided their powers. "Hmm…"

Ash gritted his teeth. "Bayleef, if we can't tell what's real and what's not…then we'll just have to attack everything! Fling Razor Leaves everywhere, maybe one of them will strike Solrock, if the one before us is fake and he's hiding in the illusion! If we can hear where the real one is from the impact, we can damage him!" Bayleef nodded and hurled Razor Leaves everywhere. They passed through the giant planetoid Solrock without doing any damage, and most of the others appeared to fly endlessly into the depths of space, but everyone saw a couple of leaves ricochet off an area of what looked like empty space, followed by a grunt. "That's it! Hit him!"

Bayleef quickly lashed out with her Vine Whip at where her leaves had struck…and passed straight through thin air. "What! But he was right there!"

"Incorrect," said Solrock as he appeared out of thin air behind her. "The ricochet and grunt you heard were simply another illusion. As am I for that matter," he said as Bayleef frantically swung a vine at him and passed right through his spherical form. She screamed as invisible flames struck her from behind, burning her flanks.

"WHERE ARE YOU!" she yelled.

"I'm over here," said Solrock, appearing before her. "Or am I here?" said another Solrock that manifested to her right. "Or here? Or here, or here or her or here or here or here…" Bayleef was surrounded by dozens of Solrocks.

Ash swallowed. "Wh-which is the real one?"

Pikachu glanced at Tate. He was now sweating in cascades, but a calm, forced look remained on his face. The sweat was no doubt from the strain of having to maintain all these illusions at once. And if there were this many that it would cause him to sweat so openly, that must mean… "Pikapi! I think _none_ of them are real!"

Ash quickly understood. "Bayleef! Fire a Vine Whip upwards!" Bayleef quickly lashed upward with her whips with all her remaining might…and felt the impact of hard rock through her vines!

There was a groan of pain, and Solrock, the _real_ Solrock this time, finally appeared, too damaged from the attack to maintain his levitation and fell to the ground. "Wh-what? How did you know!"

Tate grimaced and almost fell to his knees. The illusion of space and the fake Solrocks around Bayleef flickered and vanished, revealing they were all still in the gym, right where they had been before. "Impressive…your Pikachu figured out that I was overexerting myself by generating all these illusions by Solrock, and managed to alert you in time…Solrock, return!" A beam shot out from his Pokeball, recalling the damaged Meteorite.

"Congratulations. You win," said Liza unhappily, letting down the force field. Relieved that this whole mess was finally over, Latias flew in to join her friends.

Ash leaped up and thrust his fist into the air. "Yeah, we did it!"

"Woohoo!" cheered Crawdaunt, the act of doing so causing him to faint from his injuries.

"Nice job!" complimented Charizard.

"Yay Aunt Bayleef!" cried Phanphy, hopping up and down.

Bayleef took in a deep breath and reared on her hind legs. "Yeah, I did-ow!" She fell back down, gritting her teeth. "Burns…ow, won't do that again in the future."

"Here, let me fix those-" Latias came over and started using Recover on Bayleef's burns. The plant Pokemon sighed in relief as the pain started to ease.

And as Latias opened her mind fully to the task of healing her friend, Tate and Liza grabbed each other's hands and thrust a spear of psychic force into the dragon's mind.

Latias convulsed, her unprepared mind reeling as Tate and Liza sunk their tentacles into her brain, suppressing her screaming inner self and seizing control of all her motor functions and psychic powers. Her will was crushed before it could fight back, and replaced with one maxim: obey Tate and Liza.

Her body floated in the air, yellow eyes blank and staring. "What did you to do to her!" demanded Bayleef angrily.

"Your trainer managed to defeat us only with the help of his Pikachu," said Tate coldly.

"He was suppose to rely only on his own talents to guide you through our illusions," Liza agreed.

"Instead, he got help from his friends, just as he did while the darkling was on the field."

"He has not yet proven himself worthy of our badge or our respect."

"So we offer you one last test: break the Latias free from our hold on her mind. If you cannot, you must leave this place forever…as well as the dragon."

"This is ridiculous!" Ash protested. "This has got to be breaking like a million League rules! When I get out of here, I'm reporting you two to whatever board or whatever has power over gym leaders!"

Tate and Liza laughed. "Your protests will go unheard," said Liza.

"The League fears us. They fear the power we possess. They will not lift a finger to prevent us from doing as we please."

"It was the same when Sabrina of your own Kanto League was at the peak of her power, was she not?"

Tate smirked. "In any case, this is it, Ashley Ketchum. One last test. Free the Latias, and you will have your Mind Badge."

"Fail, and lose your precious friend forever. She will go to the trainers whom she truly deserves."

Ash gritted his teeth, wanting to yell at the unfairness of this all. None of the gym leaders he had met had been as despicable of these two, not even Sabrina, and she had turned him and his friends into dolls! At least she had some semblance of a heart that could be touched, unlike these two! "How'm I supposed to save her?" he muttered to himself.

Phanphy gasped, getting a sudden idea. He trumpeted and started bouncing up and down. "Daddy, daddy, I know what to do!"

"You do?" everyone asked in surprise.

"Yes!" Phanphy proclaimed happily. "I saw this happen all the time on TV at Grandma's house! When somebody's been brainwashed, their loved ones bring up all the happy memories they had together to make the brainwashed person remember who they are!"

Pikachu looked doubtful. "I don't know…the last time we listened to your advice based on something you saw on TV, it didn't work."

"Yes, but that was Monty Seviper!" Phanphy protested. "I've seen this in countless soap operas and cartoons, so it must be true!"

Charizard sweatdropped. "Uh, Phanphy, you do realize that not everything you see on television is actually true, don't you?"

"It's NOT!" asked a shocked Phanphy and, worryingly enough, Ash. "Th-then that means there's no such thing as Berney the purple Tyranitar?" The little elephant asked, tearing up.

"And there's no such thing as Poke' Rangers?" Ash asked in uttermost disappointment. "Well, I guess that explains why the cities they fought giant monsters in always looked so fake…and why the transformation sequences looked they were taped beforehand and played over and over again."

Bayleef sighed. "Let's just try it already, it might work!" She turned to Latias. "Latias, remember when you first showed up at Oak's lab, how you came to talk to me instead of watching the baseball game with your other new friends? We identified with each other instantly because we both at one point fell in love with our trainer. Remember that?" There was a brief flash of uncertainty on Latias' face and one of uncomfortability on Ash's at this little reminder. "And how when the two of us met up again thanks to the Unown, we were happy to see each other and we've become such good friends ever since, traveling along with everyone and fighting Team Cipher? Haven't we had a lot of fun, doing that, Latias?" The look on Latias' face wavered for a moment, looking as if she was trying to remember. Tate and Liza clamped down harder on her mind to keep her from regaining control as a result.

It was Pikachu's turn now. "Latias, remember that time when we first met in Alto Mare, where I was thirsty and couldn't get a drink, so you helped operate the fountain? I was so thirsty then I thought you were one of the nicest humans I had ever met, so imagine how pleased I was to find out you were a Pokemon. Remember that incredible day the three of us had, you, me and Ash, playing around the garden, along with your brother?"

Latias blinked. "Bro…ther…?"

Seeing this had gotten a reaction, Pikachu continued. "Yeah, your brother Latios, remember him? You two were so close you actually had a link that let you see what the other saw. You were best friends. I wished that I had such a close relationship with the siblings in my litter growing up…but in the end I realized I didn't need to, because I had almost as close a friendship with my buddy Ash over there." Ash flushed at this. "Come on Latias, you've gotta remember how that day went! Even the bad part…the part where we tried to save Latios, but in the end he died saving the city you both loved…" His ears drooped at this, and he suddenly regretted mentioning it. But he took it back in an instant when he noticed that Latias was once more having a reaction to his speech, looking like she was trying to blink back tears. Tate and Liza frowned and quickly held on tighter to her mind, which was starting to slip away from them.

Phanphy only knew vaguely of Latios from the few times he had ever been mentioned in conversation, since Latias was still a little touchy about his death. (Although she was actually feeling better now since she received the message from him, but none of them knew that.) So he didn't understand why Latias was crying, so just ignored it and spoke of his best memories of her. "You're my favorite Aunt, Aunt Latias!" he said cheerfully.

"What about me?" Bayleef asked, chagrined.

"You don't glow in the dark like a nightlight to make me feel better at night," Phanphy pointed out. "And she sings better lullabies than you do."

Bayleef grumbled to herself. "I keep him from getting into trouble, let him ride on my back when he's too tired to keep going, and he's known me longer, but I'm still not his favorite! Grr…"

"So like I was saying, you're my favorite Aunt!" Phanphy said happily. "You and Daddy help make me feel better when I have night terrors, help me fall asleep at night, and it's lots of fun to ride on your back when we're flying! You're the bestest aunt ever!" Phanphy's innocent and sincere statement elicited a feeling of happiness and acceptance deep in Latias' heart, and Tate and Liza had to work even harder to quash it down.

"Guess it's up to me now, since Crawdaunt overexerted himself, right?" asked Charizard, picking up the knocked out lobster. "Well, I think the best time we've had together was when you and Charla and Pidgeot and Bayleef and some other female Pokemon I can't remember all got up on your hind feet and started line dancing-"

"That never happened," said the confused Bayleef. "I think I'd remember something like that."

Charizard blinked. "…Oh yeah, that was a dream I had, stupid me." Everyone facefaulted, even the twins and the brainwashed Latias. This seemed to work on the dragon however, as her lips quivered into a smile, which was quickly erased by Tate and Liza pressing more force into her mind.

"I think we're getting through to her, but she's still not able to break free," Ash commented. "Maybe I can do something." He licked his lips. "Well, I think we've had lots of great times together, haven't we? Aside from that day in Alto Mare, which Pikachu already talked about. I had lots of fun with you that day (like when I almost won that race in the canal thanks to you, but your brother had to interfere and ruin it!) and I thought of you as one of the better friends that I'd met on my journeys. One of the things that especially stood out was riding on your back as you flew around, like Phanphy said its lots of fun. Wish I could fly," he murmured to himself. "And I was worried that something had happened to you when I heard Alto Mare had been destroyed, but I was glad to see you were okay when those Unown guys reunited us. Though I was a little apprehensive at first when I found out you had a crush on me…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "But nothing came of that, so without any actual evidence to prove or disprove it I'll just assume you're over me. Anyway, I've…well, really been glad to have you on the team. Your flying abilities along with Charizard's helped us make good time while traveling. You're pretty strong, even if it's not exactly easy to train you, but I've relished the challenge. I was…touched I guess, when we were out in the desert and I was dying of dehydration, and you tried to meditate and find some water for me. You never did, but it was still a really nice thing to do. And without your healing and holy spells, I doubt we would have survived in the RPGenerator and Team Cipher would have reclaimed Grovyle, so that's another thing I have to thank you for. And you saved Pikachu's life yesterday-geez, was it yesterday?-before he could get eaten by Aerodactyl. We'll never forget that, will we Pikachu?" The electric mouse nodded at this. "Yeah. And…well, over all I'm just…glad to have you on the team. I like having you as a friend and a Pokemon. Yeah," he said, feeling slightly awkward as he finished up. He could have mentioned the talk they had had last night, but words that had come to him so clearly in the night, when his brain had been less occupied, seemed somewhat sillier in the daylight and harder to come by.

But in the end, what he said was enough to dredge up memories of that same talk in the night from the depths of Latias' mind, as well as all the other times and adventures she had had with her friends since she joined them. And these memories were, at last, enough to break Tate and Liza's hold over her. "Oh Ash," she said, eyes brimming with tears as she became herself once more. She rushed forward and hugged him, startling the boy. "I like having you for a friend too!"

"Heheh, ain't that sweet?" Charizard chuckled.

Phanphy was bouncing around with joy. "Yay, Aunt Latias is back to normal! I told you it would work!"

"I guess you did," Pikachu agreed. "Nice job, Phanphy."

Tate and Liza walked over to Ash and Latias, and oddly enough they looked…happy? "Well done!" Tate congratulated.

"You passed our final test!" Liza continued.

"You have proved yourself to be as we secretly hoped; a trainer with a strong enough bond with his Pokemon to bring them back from the depths of mindlessness without the use of psychic powers."

"We had begun to think no such trainer existed, but you have proved us wrong."

"You passed all of our tests and saw through our tricks and illusions, with the help of your Pokemon."

"And by doing so, you have earned this!" said Liza, holding out a pink heart-shaped piece of metal.

Ash looked confused, understandably. "I don't understand. You guys were all mean and nasty a second ago, and now you're giving me compliments and a badge?"

"And you took control of my mind!" Latias accused. "Why did you do that? Weren't you going on a second ago about how I was better off with you than with Ash? And now you're just letting me go?"

Tate laughed. "We were never going to take you from Ash."

Liza nodded. "It was all a test. The cruel behavior, the illusions, the mind control…all a test to see just how good a trainer you were."

"After all, the best trainer is not the one who can win the most battles, but the one who connects the most with his Pokemon."

"The memories you spoke of today show how close you are as friends and as a team. Your hearts and minds are unified, much like this badge here."

"The Mind Badge is shaped like a heart because it is symbolic of how a trainer's emotional heart and their logical mind must be perfectly in tune for the optimal success in battle and in life."

"And now it is yours," concluded Liza as she handed Ash the badge.

He grinned and spun around, thrusting his arm out with the badge held between his index and middle finger. "Yeah! I got…the Mind Badge!"

Latias sweatdropped. "Does he do that often?"

Bayleef shrugged. "Only every time he gets a badge. Now do you think you could do something about finishing healing my burns? They're _really_ starting to hurt," she said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, right!" She quickly flew over and went back to the task that had been interrupted earlier by the twins' final test.

"By the way," said Ash as he fastened the badge to the inside of his vest. "If your nasty act and everything was all just a big test, why didn't you say so beforehand?"

Tate shrugged. "The best way to pass a test is by not knowing you're taking it to begin with."

"Plus, it's fun to pretend to be evil!" Liza said cheerfully. Everyone, even Tate, facefaulted at that.

"Hey Ash, what time is it?" Pikachu asked as they all recovered.

Ash checked his Pokedex. "It's…gah! 9:50! We've gotta go right now, or we'll miss the boat! Come on!" Without taking the time to thank or say goodbye to Tate and Liza, he dashed out of the gym's doors.

Pikachu sweatdropped. "Ash, don't forget about us! Ugh, that boy…" He quickly ran after his trainer.

"Daddy, don't forget about me!" Phanphy cried, running after the mouse.

"And don't forget we still have an injured lobster here!" yelled Charizard, chasing after them while slinging Crawdaunt over his shoulder.

"Uh, we should probably get going," said Latias, breaking off her healing once again.

"Yeah, or we'll get left behind in their hurry. You can finish on the boat. Come on!" They quickly headed out the doors after their friends.

Tate and Liza sweatdropped. "Such poor manners," muttered Tate.

"They could have at least thanked us," Liza agreed, pouting and crossing her arms over her chest.

…

It descended from the sky, a giant spinning disk made of silver, flashing lights dancing along its sides. It floated silently over the slope of a giant extinct volcano rising from the sea, unnoticed by any save a few Rock Pokemon, who convinced themselves they were seeing things. The bottom of the disk opened, and green light seeped out onto the slopes. Two humans and three Pokemon gently floated to the ground from inside the disk. Once they were safely on land, the bottom of the disk closed and it flew off at astonishing speeds, vanishing in seconds.

"Goodbye!" James cried, waving at where the disk had disappeared. "Well, it sure was convenient for those nice aliens to pass by the Earth just as we got sucked out the shuttle window before we could die of explosive decompression, wasn't it?"

Meowth scowled and rubbed his rear end. "I guess, but why'd they have to go and shove things where the sun don't shine? That hurt more than my last check-up!"

"I know," grumbled Jessie, rubbing her own rear. "But at least they were kind enough to drop us off here at Sootopolis Island!"

"Why'd you ask them to do that, anyway? The twerp's back on Mossdeep!" James pointed out.

Jessie cackled with glee. "Yes, but we know he'll come here next because this is the last Hoenn League gym! We'll ambush him during the battle and steal all of his Pokemon, plus the gym's!"

James smiled happily. "That's brilliant Jess, there's no way it won't work!"

"Chiiiiii!" Chimecho agreed.

Wobbuffet sighed. "Why do I get the feeling this'll end up the way it always does? Oh well. Looks like we're closing up again!" he said, waving to everyone reading this chapter.

…

How was that battle? Tune in next time as Ash reaches Sootopolis and prepares to win his final badge!


	33. Sootopolis, City on the Sea

Super Hurricane, the Regis didn't need to take the Orbs. They were fine where they were. And if they had let Aqua and Magma live, they would have opposed their plans to wake up Rayquaza and whichever ancient Pokemon they didn't support at every turn. Not to mention that to Regice and Regirock, they were criminals who didn't deserve to live. And what makes you think the organizations will ever find out who did it? Submarines are expensive, what are the odds either of them will be able to outfit new ones and go find out what happened to their leaders? And even if they do, all they'll find are bodies frozen in ice or crushed by rocks. Tons of Pokemon can do that. How will they ever find out who it really was? The attitude from the psychics is mostly made by me. And no, the aliens weren't Clefairy, Deoxys killed them a while ago. These are bona fide anal-probing aliens.

Mimic12355, I'm in no position to make a guide for good writing. There are authors much better than I, and I don't even understand my own technique. It's just something that evolved from years of experience.

Ratiasu, Misty's shown watching the tournament? That's a relief. Though I was hoping she'd show up in person. I like May too, but you're right, she isn't the same. Sigh…anyway, I'm trying to characterize Wobbuffet because I think he deserves better. Future chapters will reveal more of his character, and hopefully he'll finally turn away from evil once and for all. As for the birds and ancients not being power-hungry, well, we all know the anime's idealistic at best. I'm trying to be slightly more realistic here. And as to your last comment…I think your wish will finally be granted.

Sir Pudding, I don't like TA or TM. They're TR rip-offs who lack the Rocket's style and sense of class. (Excluding J&J) And their leaders aren't nearly as cool or insidiously evil as Giovanni. They arrived at Mossdeep in the late afternoon/early evening, and were so tired from their battles then went to the Pokemon Center and from there straight to bed. Wobbuffet left with Feebas, then went to go catch up with his partners. His loyalty will come back to bite his rear in the end…

HVK, what Monty Python things did I use, other than the brief mention from Phanphy?

Disclaimer: The history of Sootopolis, the gym layout, any new character outfits, and the secrets of Pokemon mating belong to me. A book written by someone else inspired one of the statues in this chapter. All else…does not belong to me.

…

The sun was shining brightly on our heroes as they rode on the large, luxurious ferryboat to Sootopolis City. They had spent most of the day on the boat relaxing after their intense gym battle in Mossdeep City, and were very relieved that Team Cipher hadn't attacked them even once since Tate and Liza had blasted them off.

Ash stood at the prow of the ship, his arms spread out. "I'm Pokemon Master of the wooooorld!" he shouted jokingly.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "I thought you hated that movie."

Ash chuckled. "I did, but this one scene stuck out in my head, and I've been dying to do it ever since."

"Well, now you have. And you'll never do it again, I hope," Pikachu joked.

"I think you already ARE the Pokemon Master of the world, Daddy!" said Phanphy happily from Ash's feet.

"Don't tell him that too often or he'll get a big head," Pikachu warned his adopted little brother.

"Hey!"

"What? It's true," Bayleef commented from where she was lying stretched out on one of the ferry's deck chairs, soaking in the sunlight for her photosynthesis. "And we'll have to pop it to keep it from getting too big."

"I'll do the honors!" Crawdaunt offered, clicking his claws. They would surely do the trick of popping Ash's ego…if it were a physical object, that is. After getting sprayed by a couple of Hyper Potions, Crawdaunt was back on his feet and right as rain, his armor as good as new…technically it was new, since the potion's regenerative powers caused it to grow back quicker.

Charizard was unable to comment, because he was hiding somewhere inside the boat, where he wouldn't have to look out and see the ocean and be reminded that if something happened to the ship, he'd probably be extinguished for certain. In the old days when they had traveled in the Orange Islands, Charizard had no reason to fear the sea, since he could always return to his nice snug Pokeball if he got tired of flying over the big waters. But now that he was Chosen, he had no such luxury. There were no islands nearby, so if he went flying off (assuming something bad happened to the ship) and got tired, he wouldn't be able to make it to dry land and would probably die. And so he was in hiding.

Latias on the other hand, was lying on the chair next to Bayleef in her human guise, but she had no jokes to make at her trainer's expense and, like the others, was simply relaxing under the warm, bright sun. Seeing something on the horizon, she sat up in her chair. "Is that it?" she asked telepathically, pointing to a large conical shape not too far off in the distance.

Her friends turned to see where she was pointing. Their boat was approaching what appeared to be a large extinct volcano rising from the sea. A huge archway had been carved into its face, making a massive tunnel that led into the island's interior. A relief of a large whale-shaped Pokemon was carved into the cliffs above the archway.

"Is that where we're going?" asked Pikachu.

Ash pulled out his guidebook and flipped it to the page about Sootopolis. "Let's see…according to this, Sootopolis is a city carved into the interior of an extinct volcano, open to the sea. So yeah, that must be it." He read some more. "Also, Sootopolis was once part of a far-flung empire dedicated to the worship of the ancient sea Pokemon, Kyogre. But that was thousands of years ago, and now it's just another town that happens to have a gym in it. And something called the Cave of Origin."

"What's that?" asked Latias, getting out of her seat.

"'The islanders believe it's a magical cave where all life on earth originated from. However," Ash quoted, reading verbatim from the book. "Archaeologists and numerous scientists, including Professors Oak, Birch, Ivy, Hale, Palm, Pine, Redwood, and Willow (Hey, I know some of these guys!) claim otherwise, saying it's nothing but a glorified tourist trap. They say that life actually originated from some place in the Sevii Archipelago called 'Birth Island,' also known as the 'World Navel'. However, such a place has yet to be discovered. Even so, researchers and enthusiasts have great belief in its existence, since ruins all over the Sevii chain and scriptures in numerous other ruins around the world mention this island in great detail, speaking of a magnificent tree growing in a temple near the top of a tall mountain, and forests filled with Pokemon seen nowhere else in the world.' Wow, that sounds cool!" Ash exclaimed.

Pikachu nodded, his interest aroused. "I agree. Maybe we should go there after we're done in the Hoenn League."

"But nobody's ever found this island before," Latias pointed out.

Ash shrugged and waved her concerns off. "That's never stopped us before. We've seen plenty of things nobody's ever found before, haven't we Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded. "It happens so often sometimes it seem more like they find us."

Bayleef agreed with that sentiment. "You did, didn't you?" she directed at Latias.

"…Good point," the dragon-turned-human admitted. "All right, sounds like fun!"

"Yeah, though I doubt Charizard will think so, seeing as it's a place with lots of water," said Crawdaunt. "Speaking of which…somebody should go get the big baby, we're almost to that archway." And it was true, the opening into the island's interior was already starting to loom over them.

"I'll go!" Phanphy volunteered cheerfully, running off before anyone could stop him.

Bayleef sighed. "I'll go after him. I doubt any of us want a repeat of the noodle incident a few hours ago, do we?" Everyone shuddered at the thought as the grass Pokemon chased after her nephew.

Ash smirked turned around, and paced back to the prow, staring into the depths of the oncoming tunnel and the town waiting inside. "Yeah…Sootopolis Gym, here I come!"

…

A few hours ago…

"Okay, here's the plan," said Jessie, handing James, Meowth, Wobbuffet, Cacnea, and Seviper shovels. Cacnea stared at hers for a moment, then grinned evilly and started beating James over the head with it. Jessie ignored his screams for help and continued speaking. "We're going to dig a tunnel underneath the big basin and come out right beneath the gym, which is positioned on an island in the middle of the city! With all of us digging, we'll be able to have it done in no time! And once it's completed, we'll wait under the battlefield until the fighting Pokemon are tired, then jump out and grab Pikachu, Latias, and the gym leader's Pokemon! It's brilliant!"

Meowth sweatdropped. "This plan sounds kinda familiar. Haven't we done this before like a million times?"

"Yes," admitted Jessie. "But this time, it'll work!" she said determinedly.

Meowth raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"BECAUSE IF IT DOESN'T I'LL SMASH ALL YOUR HEADS IN!" she exploded, terrifying all of them, even the Shadow Pokemon. Cacnea was so frightened she actually stopped beating James up.

"Uh, Jessie," said James, rubbing his sore head and spitting out a loose tooth. "I've heard this gym uses water-type Pokemon. Doesn't that mean the battlefield will be a pool of water like in Cerulean City? Not to mention we'll be digging underneath a huge basin of water. What'll we do to keep from getting drowned if the tunnel leaks?"

"I'm glad you asked!" said Jessie, holding up scuba tanks and goggles. "If the tunnel floods, we'll wear these and keep digging anyway!"

Wobbuffet sweatdropped. "This plan has a hole in it bigger than the tunnel we're about to dig," he muttered. "Those things aren't going to protect us from the pressure of the water coming in, we'll be washed right out just like every other time we've accidentally tunneled under a body of water." Nobody paid attention to his concerns. This did not surprise him in the least. He sighed, knowing that, as always, this would result in them blasting off again.

…

Now

The town of Sootopolis was an amazing sight to see after entering a large dark tunnel carved into the side of an extinct volcano. The volcano's shaft had been hollowed out and widened to allow the tide and visitors in. The town itself was built along the slopes of the shaft, which had been landscaped and terraformed into a series of ledges of descending size, going down to the large sea basin that filled the shaft's center. The ledges were occupied by houses, buildings, parks, the usual fare for a town. On an island perched in the middle of the saltwater lake was a magnificent rectangular building crafted from white and blue marble, with fluted columns supporting beautiful sculptures of different species of human and Pokemon surrounding it. A small dome rose from the top of the building, with a small pillar rising from it that was topped with a statue of a female angel. It looked like a palace or mansion, but the large Pokeball symbol hanging above the structure's elegant front door (made from red and white stained glass) indicated that it was a Pokemon Gym. The people on the ferry stared in awe at the gym and took pictures of it as they started to pass it on their way to the town's main port.

"Wow! Is that where we're going?" asked the amazed Latias, who had seen only two other gyms in her lifetime.

"I guess so," said Ash, checking the guidebook. "It didn't look _that_ nice in the pictures…"

"Dang, whoever runs that place must be loaded to afford all that stuff!" commented Charizard, who Phanphy and Bayleef had finally managed to drag up onto the deck.

Ash closed the guidebook and slipped in his backpack. "Well, whoever it is, we're gonna fight him, right Pikachu?"

"Right!" Pikachu affirmed, giving off sparks. "The book says the guy here uses Water Pokemon, so I'm your number one partner here, Pikapi!"

Ash smirked. "Just don't wimp out like you did in Cerulean."

"Hey!" Pikachu cried. "I didn't wimp out, I stayed out of the fight because I thought you both were being idiots!"

"Who was being an idiot? Other than Ash I mean," asked the confused Bayleef, eliciting an angry "Hey!" from Ash.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "This was all the way back in Kanto, before any of you guys joined. Ash and me got to Cerulean City only to find the gym leader-or should I say leaders-were a bunch of hot but vapid teenagers who liked putting on a show more than battling. They were willing to just give him the badge without a fight, but our companion and Ash's future lovebird Misty just so happened to be the sister of these three beauties, and refused to let Ash have the badge so easily. So they fought, I stayed out of it, and Team Rocket interrupted the battle and tried to steal everyone's Pokemon (as usual). Ash got the badge, and they never did decide who would have won the match."

Ash huffed. "I proved who would have won when I was fighting for custody over Totodile! It wouldn't have been so close if you hadn't refused to fight Togepi."

Pikachu scowled. "How was I supposed to hurt my baby sister/niece? And I seem to recall that Misty turned the tables on you in the Whirl Cup competition, so that makes you two even now."

Ash grunted. "Well, I'll settle the score someday…"

Latias raised an eyebrow. "Interesting relationship you two have. I thought they were a couple?" she asked, feeling somewhat confused.

Charizard crossed his arms. "Aw, they've always been somewhat competitive from what I remember."

"Yep, Mommy and Daddy fight all the time, then make up later!" said Phanphy happily.

Latias frowned. "And that's a good thing?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Phanphy, looking confused.

Crawdaunt snorted, after Bayleef had told him what Latias just said. (He hated being left out of part of the group conversations now that he was a Dark-type and immune to Latias' telepathy, so the otherstranslated for him) "'Course it is, it's the sign of a healthy relationship…well, for my species, anyway. My Craw-daddy and Craw-mommy fought all the time too."

"Why?" asked Latias, still confused.

Crawdaunt blinked (After once more being told what had just been said). "You need a reason? I personally think it was just their way of flirting or having fun. Or relieving stress. Or something like that."

Ash's brow furrowed in confusion. "Wait…I thought your mom was a Luvdisc."

"That's right!" said Crawdaunt proudly.

"So…who's your Craw-mommy?" asked Ash.

Crawdaunt gave Ash a look. "Why, my Craw-daddy's mate, of course."

Ash now looked downright bewildered. "And…she was a Luvdisc?"

Crawdaunt barked a laugh. "What! No, she was a Corphish!"

"But…your mother was a Luvdisc!" Ash protested, unable to understand.

Crawdaunt raised an eyebrow. "Yeaaahhh…"

"And your dad's mate was a Corphish!" Ash said, now looking desperate.

"Well of course," said Crawdaunt, who couldn't see where this was going. "If she was anything else she'd be my mommy, not Craw-mommy."

"Then…then your dad cheated on your mom!" Ash said in shock, horrified that he had been forced to make this conclusion about one of his own Pokemon.

Crawdaunt was puzzled. "Cheated? No, my Craw-daddy never cheated when he was playing games with Craw-mommy, 'cause he knew she'd beat him up."

"No!" Ash cried frantically. "He cheated on her! He slept with other Pokemon!"

Crawdaunt was still confused. "Um…yes, yes he did if by 'slept' you mean mating. How is that cheating?"

"Well…I mean…did your mom know!" Ash asked, unable to make sense of anything Crawdaunt was telling him.

"Yes. Of course. Why wouldn't she?" asked Crawdaunt, who was finding it as hard to understand Ash as his trainer was to understand him.

"And she was okay with this!" Ash asked in disbelief.

Crawdaunt shrugged. "Sure, why wouldn't she be?"

"I…but…they were _married!_" Ash protested.

"Married? What's a married?" Crawdaunt asked, befuddled.

"It's a human thing," Latias explained. "A man and a woman…or a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, depending on the couple…have this big party and ceremony where they officially declare they'll spend the rest of their lives together, then eat cake, and dance, and several years down the line (or even sooner) may for one reason or another get sick of each other, break up, and marry someone else."

After another explanation from one of the other party members about what Latias had just said, Crawdaunt was shocked. "They go through all that crap, and then just…what, break up, like it was an average meeting on mating season?" Latias nodded. The lobster snorted. "Well that's stupid! Pokemon don't go through any of that fuss, if we want to sleep with someone we have courting rituals then do it, and if we want to go further…well, that's a whole other thing altogether," he said abruptly, realizing he was probably saying too much in front of Phanphy. However, the little elephant had been distracted by some pretty fish leaping out of the water next to the ferry to pay attention, so it was okay.

"Yeah, Pokemon don't go through all that stuff…" agreed Charizard. He paused, thinking a moment. "Unless…does having a little speech delivered by an elderly Charizard followed by jumping into a lava pit with your mate count as marriage?"

"I think so," said Latias.

Charizard looked surprised. "Really? Huh, guess I am married then." A disturbed look appeared on his face. "I hope this doesn't mean we're gonna 'break up' at some point in the future…she'd have plenty of reasons to want to, what with my losing streak and the whole 'accidentally killing our baby' thing…" he muttered to himself.

Ash scratched his head. "So…Pokemon don't get married? Well, most of them that is?" he asked, correcting himself.

"Nope!" Bayleef announced.

"Then…what do they do when they want to…you know…" Ash's face flushed, too embarrassed to say anymore.

"Ah, glad you asked, my boy!" said Crawdaunt, patting Ash on the leg. "It's about time you were informed of the facts of life!"

Ash's face went pale. "I-I already know the facts of life, Brock explained them to me…in great detail." He shuddered at the memory.

Crawdaunt scowled. "Not _those_ facts, these are for Pokemon, not humans! There's a difference!" He tugged on Phanphy's tail, getting the youngest team member's attention. "You should listen too, kid."

"Okay," said Phanphy, turning away from the fishes to listen to his uncle.

Pikachu looked apprehensive. "Uh, I don't know Crawdaunt…isn't he a little young for this?"

"P'shaw!" said Crawdaunt, waving off Pikachu's concerns without a care. "Craw-daddy explained it to me after my first molting, the kid's far past that point by now. If I could listen and understand then, he can listen and understand now!"

"But Phanphy and Corphish mature at different rates," Bayleef pointed out. Crawdaunt ignored her and started his explanation.

"Now, among Pokemon we have two kinds of relationships with the opposite sex-or occasionally the same sex-other than friendship. They are called mating and Mating," said the lobster, enunciating the capital on the second word to show there was a difference.

"What's the difference?" asked Ash, sitting on a deck chair. Latias joined him. She knew how Pokemon mated, peripherally, but she had never really heard it from their own point of view. That was what she got for being brought up by humans, she supposed. It would also explain why she had wedding dreams instead of more…intimate fantasies about her beloved, like most Pokemon probably did.

Charizard interjected here. "Mating-the lowercase one, not the capitalized one-is what happens when mating season occurs. That's a time of the year when female Pokemon, depending on the species, start emitting these…I think they're fumes or something…called 'pheromones.'"

"Like perfume?" Phanphy asked.

"Yeah, like perfume," agreed Bayleef. "Except it actually smells good and causes…strange hormonal reactions in the bodies of male Pokemon of the same species as the female. Although sometimes Pokemon of other species can be affected by them too, it depends a lot on the individual."

"What kind of reactions?" asked the perplexed Ash.

"Er…" Bayleef wasn't sure how to answer, having never actually been on the receiving ends of pheromones herself.

"It makes you feel all…tingly and aroused inside," Charizard said after a moment, having experience in these matters. "And you look at someone, like a female, who you once thought of as a good friend…and then you're like, 'Wow! How did I not notice how…beautiful she was before now?' And you start looking at her all…different all of a sudden. And then you just know you've gotta have her." Ash blinked in surprise. This sounded oddly familiar…not that he had heard these words before, but what Charizard was expressing struck very close to his heart. He felt like he had experienced the same feelings. Charizard then grunted and said, "Only problem is pretty much every other guy around is thinking the exact same thing as you are, and you can't _all_ have her, right?"

"Nope!" Crawdaunt agreed. "A male Pokemon may only mate with one female Pokemon during mating season, and vice versa. (For most species anyway, it sometimes differs) So the female's gotta make the choice herself of who's gonna be the lucky guy."

Charizard growled. "You'd think at first that if you happened to be her best friend, you'd naturally be the one to get picked…but nooooo, around mating season female's brains get possessed by hormones and they start having all these crazy cravings and demands that the prospective mate needs to satisfy."

"How come this never happened to you Bayleef?" Ash asked.

"Um…it did," Bayleef said, blushing. "A couple of times already. Remember that one week, back when I was a Chikorita, when I wouldn't stay in my Pokeball and kept trying to get you to pay attention to me? And that time when I was a Bayleef and you sent me to Professor Oak's lab during the Whirl Cup, and how I wrecked the place out of panic and tackled you when you took me back?"

Ash blinked, remembering those moments now that she had mentioned it. "And you smelled kind of nice both those times too…" A disturbed look appeared on his face. "Wait, you mean-"

"Yeah, it was my mating season and I was coming on to you," she said, looking embarrassed. Ash's disturbed look deepened itself on his face.

Latias blinked, suddenly understanding why Vincentio, and Lorenzo after him, had made sure to keep her occupied either in the garden or around the house for one week every five years when she entered her own mating heat, when she started feeling all woozy and got especially gushy and affectionate around males. And that might explain why Latios and any other male Pokemon (or human) had stayed away during those times, as well. She shuddered at the thought of what could have happened.

"So anyway, we desirous males have to satisfy the females," Crawdaunt picked up from where Charizard had left off. "We have to perform certain courting rituals depending on which species we are. I, for instance, would scour about the beach, looking for interesting shells and rocks, and attach them to my shell with bits of seaweed and barnacles. Whichever Corphish or Crawdaunt had the most decorative shell which appeals to the female would get to mate."

"I would grapple against the other males on a narrow beam over a pit of lava," Charizard volunteered. "Once no other contenders were left, I would get to mate."

"And I'd have to show that I could make more powerful electric shocks than anyone else," Pikachu explained. He smirked. "We all know I'd win every time."

"And so once the male has been chosen by whatever means, he and the female…um…" Crawdaunt paused, seeing Phanphy's innocent overeager expression. He suddenly wondered if perhaps the little elephant wasn't too young after all. He found himself at a loss for words. "They…uh…"

"Summon the Pelipper," Bayleef said urgently.

"Yes, summon the Pelipper so he can bring eggs!" Crawdaunt said quickly, wiping away some sweat in relief. "And then they go their separate ways. That's it."

Ash blinked. "What do you mean that's it?"

Crawdaunt shrugged. "Mating season ends. The pheromones stop and the males start acting normally again."

"But-but what about that stuff Charizard was saying earlier? About them looking at the females differently?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Oh, that?" asked Charizard. "Most of that is hormones stirred up by the scent of the pheromones. After mating season's over, their relationships with the females go pretty much back to the exact same way they had been before...unless the female lays an egg, which is always a possibility."

Ash blinked. For some reason, that sounded oddly depressing. "Oh…so it's just hormones?" he asked in disappointment.

"No," said Charizard. "_Most_ of the time it's hormones acting up during mating season. If it's not mating season and your feelings are the same as they had been (or would have been) during the season, then there's only one conclusion: you're ready to move on to the next stage, Mating! (With a capital, not a lowercase M)" the dragon explained. "That, or your hormones are just plain overactive, like Crawdaunt and our friend Brock." The lobster grunted, but said nothing.

"Mating, like Charizard said, is different from regular mating in which you still feel some attraction even when the female isn't emitting pheromones," Pikachu said, hopping off his perch on Ash's shoulder and into the boy's lap. "At least, that's what I hear, I haven't experienced it yet."

Charizard, who did have experience, took over from there. "The only reason a guy would be feeling like this when there aren't hormones and pheromones flying about is because he and she are without a doubt made for each other. Same for the female. They somehow just know, instantly and absolutely, that they're destined to be together. They talk this over, um...summon the Pelipper again, have kids, and then happily spend the rest of their lives together. Well, it varies a little depending on the species, (some guys die right after mating, like poor Butterfree, and others keep harems. Others, like Crawdaunt, are allowed to, uh, summon the Pelipper with people who aren't their mates and it's perfectly all right) but for the most part that's how it works."

"Then why'd my mom think of eating my dad?" asked Pikachu.

Charizard shrugged. "Well, love only goes so far over practicality…and besides, in the end she didn't try to eat him did she? She tried to eat one of her kids, who weren't nearly as important to her."

"…Should I feel insulted or relieved for my future prospects as a mate?" Pikachu wondered.

"Then what about Latias' mommy and daddy? They 'broke up'," the confused Phanphy pointed out.

Crawdaunt and Charizard looked at Latias uncomfortably. She had been wondering that herself, and raised an eyebrow to show she wanted an answer. Crawdaunt sighed. "Well…you see-and I mean no offense towards you or your parents when I say this, Latias-the reason they didn't stick together is mainly because they were of different species." Latias looked at them in confusion.

Ash frowned. "That can't be right. I've seen lots of Pokemon of different species as…uh, couples. Bayleef and Grovyle are practically one now, right?" The plant blushed at this.

Charizard scratched his head, looking even more uncomfortable. "Well, yeah, but…you see, although relationships between Pokemon of different species are common, they don't often last very long. The female's pheromones usually don't work properly on the male, so whatever attracted him to her in the first place may eventually fade away, like it sometimes does among human couples. Or something else, like some little trivial problem, gets blown out of proportion and tears them apart. Their relationships don't usually have the feeling of…of _rightness_ that you get when a couple realizes they're perfect for each other and Mate for life. They don't usually have the _spark_ that comes with finding your soulmate. Which isn't to say Pokemon of different species can never be true Mates," he said quickly. "It's just…well, to be honest, Mating couples aren't as common as one-time mating couples, and Mating couples of different species are even rarer. They can still happen, but…not often." He looked ashamed to say this.

Bayleef was appalled. "Then…then Grovyle-kun and I…?"

Charizard sighed and sat down heavily on the deck. "Don't let what I said get to you, Bayleef. I said they're rare, not impossible."

"Yeah, and inter-species mating couples can sometimes last for years and years," Crawdaunt added quickly, trying to assuage Bayleef's hurt feelings.

But the damage had been done. Bayleef now looked troubled, as did Ash and Latias, though the latter hid it well. Pikachu glared at the reddish duo angrily, promising them without words that they were in for an electroshock later. Phanphy just stood around, looking confused and not understanding the full significance of what his big brother and uncle had been saying.

Ash was new to relationships in general, and knew little if anything about how to handle them or how they lasted. Most of what he knew came from Brock, who was a dubious source at best, or Misty or May's sappy romantic babble, or from people he saw around him…and that wasn't the same as experiencing it himself. He knew things hadn't worked out between his parents. And stuff like that probably happened a lot to other people too. Humans, unlike Pokemon, didn't usually have the benefit of instantly knowing they had found their soulmate. Which meant there was a very real chance that at some point in the future, whatever he had going on with Misty might not work out. And he didn't want that.

Bayleef suddenly felt apprehensive about her relationship with Grovyle. She admitted freely that the main reason she had found him so attractive in the first place was…well, because he looked hot. Other than that, and his innate aura of coolness, she knew little to nothing about what he was really like. Relationships built mainly on physical attraction rarely lasted long, she had seen plenty of couplings like that back at Oak's lab fall apart.

Latias for a moment felt doubtful of her own private romance with the Ghost King. She hadn't heard anything from him directly since she had gotten the present on Luvdisc Day. Well, unless you counted being informed she could decide her mother's fate by Shedinja. For a second, she had a rush of fear that maybe she wasn't the only girl the Ghost King had seduced…but a second later, that fear went away. She somehow doubted that he would have gone to the trouble of ordering her hometown destroyed if she weren't the only girl he cared about enough to be furious at for rejecting him…unless he was really, really possessive…but somehow, she didn't think so. For one thing, Latios himself had said the King was legit, and she trusted her brother's word completely and utterly. And then there was the matter of how she seemed to have a direct spiritual link to the King, as her meditations in the desert and the Cleft had shown. And then there was the kiss…She flushed thinking about it, wishing fervently she hadn't broken away at the time, still having doubts and feeling she was betraying her family's memory. She wondered how things would have gone if she hadn't broken away, and flushed deeper at the things her imagination came up with.

She and her friends were broken out of their thoughts when the ship's captain made an announcement over the ferry intercom. "Attention all passengers, we are moments away from docking at the Sootopolis port. Gather up your luggage and prepare to disembark immediately once docking preparations are complete. That will be all."

Waking up from his momentary funk, Ash stood up. "Guess that's us, guys. Come on, we'd better get ready!"

A little later…

The septet stepped off the boarding ramp amidst all the other tourists and trainers who had come along with them on the ferry. "Sootopolis City! Our last step on the road to the Hoenn League!" said Ash confidently.

"This place is so neat! I've never been to a city inside a mountain before!" said Phanphy, looking around in wonder. "It's just like a regular city…but it's inside a mountain, which makes it neater-looking!"

"At least it's open to the sunlight," said Bayleef, swishing her leaf. "I wouldn't like it if we spent the night here and didn't have a sunrise to look forward to."

"Or a sunset," Latias added. "Those look real pretty against the backdrop of the ocean…" She frowned. "Too bad we probably won't be able to see that from in here. And come to think of it, since the city's enclosed in high stone walls, will we even be able to see the sun rise?"

Bayleef looked shocked at the thought. "No sunrise! Oh…well, at least we have _some_ sun right now, that's better than nothing."

"And we have dry land too," said Charizard, tapping his foot on the concrete pier. "Yep, good solid dry land. Land that won't sink into the ocean and drag you into a horrible freezing extinguishing death if an engine fails or your wings get tired."

"You know, a good earthquake could probably cause this whole place to collapse into the water," Crawdaunt said with an evil grin.

Charizard's face paled. "Eh heh…thank you for giving me that lovely thought."

Ash shook his head at his teammate's antics. "Well, Pikachu, you ready?"

"You bet!" cheered the electric mouse.

Ash stuck a fist in the air. "Then let's get us an eighth badge!"

They then heard the sound of feminine laughter. "Ah, some things don't change. You still have a one-track mind as always, don't you Ash?"

The group started. That voice sounded familiar. Phanphy reacted first. "Mommy!" he cried enthusiastically, turning around and leaping at a surprised teenaged girl, knocking her over and happily whacking her on the head repeatedly with his trunk. "Mommymommymommymommymommy…"

A little plump white creature with wings and red and white triangles on its body floated down. "Little Brother, please stop pummeling our mother," she begged.

Phanphy immediately stopped his joyful beatings. "Big Sister Togetic!" he squealed, leaping at her…only for her to move out of the way and cause Phanphy to slam into a barrel behind her. He slid down and landed on the ground, not looking as if he had noticed the impact. "I missed you!" he said happily.

"I missed you too!" she replied, flying down and pulling him into a hug.

The girl grunted and sat up. "Ow…Phanphy, I thought I told you the last time I visited at the lab not to greet me like that!" she lectured the baby elephant, brushing dirt off her red shorts and sleeveless shirt, picking up the Gyarados-patterned mallet that had fallen off her back.

Phanphy's nose and ears drooped. "I'm sorry!" he apologized heartfully.

Ash was stunned. He couldn't believe it. "Misty?" he said after a long silence.

She rolled her eyes. "About time you noticed me."

"What're you doing here?" he asked, still looking stunned.

She smiled and shrugged. "What's it look like? I came to see you, silly." Without warning, she leaned over and kissed him on the lips. Phanphy squealed and covered his eyes, still in his 'cooties' phase. Togetic merely flushed, for she had long gotten past that stage.

"Haha, go Ash!" cheered Crawdaunt. "About time he got some loving!"

"What about that princess Kasumi girl?" asked Latias.

"Eh, she was virtual, didn't count," said Charizard. "Lucky boy, our Ash." He went quiet, wishing he could get a kiss from his own mate right then.

"Hm," agreed Bayleef. She shifted, feeling the slightest twinge of jealousy. She wanted a kiss too…from Grovyle, if not Ash.

After several seconds, Misty pulled away, smiling again. "That was for the very nice Luvdisc Day gift you got me," she said happily, pulling the Big Pearl he had given her out of her shirt, where it was attached to a cord around her neck.

Ash blinked at her dumbly. The only thing that was cycling through his mind was that Misty's kiss tasted exactly the same (if not better) than Kasumi's. "…It's good to see you again," he said finally, a smile slowly coming to his face.

"So this is Misty in person," Latias murmured half to herself. "Looks almost like that Princess Kasumi."

"More like Kasumi looked almost like Misty," Bayleef corrected. "Mewgle created her from Ash's memories of Misty or something, remember?"

Latias vaguely remembered seeing the girl in Alto Mare but had never paid much attention to her. And the glimpses she had seen of Misty on the telephone had been far and few, since Ash had for reasons of his own tried to keep those moments private. "Did she always have that mallet or those clothes? They make her look even more like the princess."

"No, looks like a new wardrobe," said Charizard, shaking his head. "But I like it, it looks good on her."

"Hmm…" Crawdaunt's gaze was fixed on the blue and pink Corsola that had appeared out of the crowd to come to Misty's side, just before she got tackled and greeted Phanphy-style. "I prefer pink myself…"

Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder and into Misty's arms. "Pikachupi! I missed you!" he said, happily nuzzling her.

"I missed you too, Pikachu!" she said, petting him. He squealed happily. "And you too, Ash."

"Yeah…" He blushed, still thinking about the kiss. "But what are you doing here? Really?"

She put Pikachu down and pulled a piece of embroidered stationary out of her ever-present red bag. "I got a letter just yesterday from the Sootopolis Gym Leader, asking if I'd like to come over and visit him. Since I've heard he's a Water Pokemon trainer and I figured I might run into you, I packed up and took the next flight to Hoenn yesterday afternoon. Corsola and Gyarados insisted they come for _some_ reason…" She rolled her eyes and Ash flinched. When she had discovered some of her Pokemon wouldn't fit in their Pokeballs, for some reason she instantly drew a conclusion that Ash had something to do with it (since everything weird that had ever happened to her was _always_ indirectly his fault) and demanded an explanation the next time he had called. This lead to the reluctant explanation of this whole Chosen business and how their Pokemon were supposed to help save the world. Misty wasn't happy about this, mainly because she didn't want her little girl, whom she had just been reunited with, to get in any more danger after hearing her tearful recitation of events in the Mirage Kingdom. Even so, she was all set to pack up and join Ash for this new adventure when, inconveniently enough, she found herself barraged with an unusually high number of trainers wanting a badge every time she was setting out, which led her to being stuck in Cerulean for the last month. It's almost as if someone _arranged_ it that way… She sighed. "You wouldn't believe how much effort it took to get Gyarados on the plane. We had to stuff him into one of those Pokemon carriers the airline makes people use."

Ash looked confused. "But I thought those things were really small. How'd you make him fit in one?"

Misty flinched, as did Togetic and Corsola. "Togetic was able to temporarily shrink him with Minimize, but it didn't last as long as we had hoped. Halfway through the flight, Gyarados exploded back to normal and almost caused the plane to crash with the sudden amount of weight gained." She groaned and rubbed her temples. "You wouldn't _believe_ the amount of paperwork I had to fill out when we landed…" She cheered up quite quickly. "But I managed to get here, so that's all that matters, right?"

Pikachu scratched his head. "If Misty's here, who's taking care of the gym?" he wondered.

"We got a replacement," said Togetic, looking embarrassed.

…

Back in Cerulean City…

The mighty Machamp collapsed, its bulging muscles totally useless against its foe. The Fighting Pokemon's trainer moaned. "Nooooo! How could I lose to you!"

At the other end of the battlefield, the Cerulean City Nurse Joy smirked. "That'll show you not to underestimate me just because I'm a health care professional!" She high-fived her Chansey, who had just taken out Machamp. "That makes our fiftieth win in a row, and we've only been here one day!"

"We rock!" agreed the Chansey, pumping her arm up and down.

…

"Well, I guess that explains why I got your answering machine when I called last night and this morning…you must have already left for here," Ash speculated. "In any case, it's great to have you here Mist! It'll be just like old times!"

"Why do you think I came down here in the first place?" she asked with a grin. "If I hadn't known you'd show up, I'd probably have stayed at the gym…even if the Sootopolis gym leader _is_ the gorgeous, wonderful Wallace…" she said, getting stars in her eyes.

Ash blinked. He was her boyfriend, why was she acting this way at the thought of some other guy? "So…the Sootopolis gym leader's name is Wallace?" He vaguely remembered that an artist of the same name had made the Luvdisc Water Stone sculpture he had competed for on Luvdisc Day.

Misty nodded vigorously. "Yeah! But he's a lot of other things, too. He's also a master coordinator, designed several of his own lines of clothing, single handedly discovered three new species of Water Pokemon, and has made over a hundred paintings and sculptures acclaimed throughout the world-"

As Misty babbled on about Wallace's many claims to fame, Ash slowly discovered he was experiencing two emotions that, while he had felt them before, had never been in this large a quantity.

The first was envy. _He_ was supposed to be Misty's boyfriend, not Wallace. Why was she talking so passionately about some person she'd probably never met before, then?

The second was hatred. For no reason in particular, Ash found that he hated this Wallace more than he had ever hated Team Rocket/Cipher, Gary, his no-good father, or anyone else he had ever met on his long journey all rolled up into one little bundle of loathing.

A scowl formed on his face as ages-old instincts of protection and desire passed down through humankind's genetics ever since the days of the cavemen millions of years ago began to awaken within him. They stopped awakening when he heard Misty abruptly stop her tirade on Wallace and say, "Aren't you gonna introduce me to your Pokemon, Ash?"

He blinked, snapping out of his temporary state of primordial regression. "Huh? Oh…uh, sure," he said, turning back to his teammates.

"About time, I thought he'd forgotten us," grumped Charizard.

"Well, uh, you already know Charizard and Bayleef," Ash said, gesturing to his two more experienced teammates.

Misty came over to them. "Hey Charizard. Wow, you look like you've gotten a lot stronger! I guess working out in Charicific Valley really helped out, huh?"

Charizard grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, among other things…"

"And Bayleef! Nice to see you again!" Misty continued, stroking the plant Pokemon's leaf.

Bayleef smiled happily. "Same here. Glad to hear you're traveling with us again, I got a little lonesome with Latias and me being the only girls here."

Ash bent over and rubbed Crawdaunt's horns. "And this is my Water Pokemon, Crawdaunt. I've told you about him, haven't I?"

"Yeah, I seem to remember you saying he hadn't had much luck with Luvdisc on Luvdisc Day. And I believe I have you to thank for giving Ash my Big Pearl, don't I? Let's take a look at you…" Misty got down on her knees and examined the lobster, putting her hands all over parts of his exoskeleton, checking joints and other places. Crawdaunt for the first time in his life felt a little embarrassed about being inspected and touched by a female. She tapped on his armor with a knuckle. "I think he's in pretty good shape, you've taken great care of him. This is one of the fittest Crawdaunt I've ever seen! (Not that I've seen many)" she admitted.

Crawdaunt smiled. "I like this girl. Ash, when are you gonna mate with her?"

Ash's face flushed and he stammered incoherently, unable to come up with a response to that. Pikachu, Charizard, and Bayleef snickered, Togetic looked embarrassed, and Phanphy was oblivious, like his father usually was.

Misty didn't notice and got up, freezing in her tracks when she saw Latias. The disguised dragon suddenly felt very nervous. "And this is…"

"Uh, Bianca," Ash said quickly. Misty had been made aware that Ash was traveling with the homeless dragon Pokemon, and had had an odd look on her face when she had been told this over the phone. That same odd look was on her face now. Latias began to feel very uncomfortable as Misty just stared at her. "You remember her, of course."

"Of course," said Misty distantly. A trifle too slowly, she shook Latias' hand. "It's nice to see you again…Bianca." Had her eyes flashed with anger for a second, or was that just Latias being overly paranoid?

Ash was totally oblivious to the tension between the two girls. "Great, now that we're acquainted we can all go to the Sootopolis Gym!" _And I'll see what's so hot about this Wallace!_ He thought, blood boiling in primeval anger. "So, now we just need a boat to get there and-"

"No need," said Misty, her expression returning to a smile as she glanced at Ash. She stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled piercingly.

The water just off the pier bubbled, and the fearsome figure of a great blue and white draconian fish Pokemon emerged, bellowing loudly. Any fishermen and tourists nearby screamed and ran away. Misty sweatdropped. "Gyarados!" she yelled at her Pokemon. "I told you not to do that, sooner or later the people you scare will panic and call the police, and then we'll be in real trouble!"

Gyarados sweatdropped and laughed nervously. "Eh heh, sorry." He started swimming over to them.

Corsola sighed and shook her head. "Always trying to scare people, that one…just because he's classified as an Atrocious Pokemon doesn't mean he has to act like one."

Crawdaunt sidled over to her. "Well, they classify us lobster Pokemon as Ruffians, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's true, does it?" The Coral Pokemon stared at him in confusion.

The aforementioned Atrocious Pokemon gently lowered his head to the level of the pier. Misty grabbed on to one of the spikes from the crest growing from the serpentine fish's forehead and pulled herself up and over, planting herself down in a comfortable position on the monster's head. "We can ride Gyarados to the Gym together! That way we won't have to waste any money on a ferry!"

"Cool! I don't think I've ever ridden a Gyarados before!" He paused. "Have I Pikachu?" he muttered to his ever-present companion.

The mouse strained his memory. "Not that I can recall. We've ridden lots of other Pokemon, but no Gyarados that I can recall."

"Even cooler!" Ash grabbed onto Gyarados' horn and started pulling himself up. He slipped, but Misty grabbed his hand before he could fall into the water. They both flushed at the contact. With Misty's support, Ash climbed up onto Gyarados' head and took a seat behind his girlfriend. At the thought of the person they were going to meet, Ash frowned and instinctively pushed himself a few inches closer to Misty, keeping them less than a millimeter apart.

"A-Ash, what're you doing?" she asked, trying to hide her blush.

"Um…uh…" Ash himself wasn't certain why he had moved so close. "Can't…a guy sidle up to his girlfriend without needing a reason?" he asked lamely in a pathetic attempt to sound romantic.

Misty rolled her eyes, although she did find his attempt sweet. "Ash, if you're scared of falling off and want to hold onto something, you could have just said so."

Ash sputtered, as his friends couldn't resist giggling at the shade his face had turned. "I-I'm not scared!" he said truthfully. But he couldn't think of any other reason why he was so close.

Misty rolled her eyes again. "Whatever." She believed him, but that didn't mean she'd let him off easy. "Scaredy-Meowth."

Ash crossed his arms angrily and huffed. "I am not scared!" Misty laughed.

Latias sweatdropped. "Are they usually like this?"

"Yes," said Bayleef and Charizard flatly.

Phanphy hopped up and down in excitement. "I wanna ride too!" He tried to jump up onto Gyarados' upper lip, but the sea monster was too big for him to reach. Togetic shook her head, swooped down, picked up her little brother and carried him up to the top of Gyarados' head. Phanphy wiggled his trunk and legs eagerly. "I'm flying! I'm flying! Just like Jumbo the Circus Phanphy, but with smaller ears!"

Togetic laughed at Phanphy's antics, and thought sadly to herself that she had long ago lost her brother's childish innocence in the fires that Hanson had brought to Togepi's Paradise. The pair of Pokemon children gracefully descended right into their surrogate mother's lap.

Latias climbed on after that. Unlike Ash, she didn't slip…but instead of offering her a hand up anyway, Misty just gave her that strange look from before, which did nothing but make the dragon-girl feel more uncomfortable as she slipped onto the back of the Gyarados. She scooted a teensy bit back from her two human companions, thinking they might benefit from such close proximity to each other. And maybe it would make Misty feel better towards her.

Bayleef frowned. "I don't think I can fit on there."

Charizard sighed and arced his back, causing some bones to snap. "Then I'll have to carry you across, as usual, since there's no way I'm getting on that thing."

Bayleef's head drooped. "Ugh, I'm getting tired of being airlifted. Grass Pokemon were not meant to fly!"

"What about Jumpluff, Hoppip, and Skiploom?" Charizard asked, cracking his knuckles.

Bayleef sweatdropped. "Er…"

"And Celebi can fly too, can't she? And so can Tropius…"

"Oh, shut up," she snapped.

Crawdaunt sidled up to Corsola. "Well, then I guess you and I'll be swimming alongside each other, eh?"

Corsola looked at him in confusion. "…I'm riding Gyarados."

Crawdaunt sweatdropped. "Oh! Then…I'll just ride with you!"

Corsola glanced up at her bigger friend's head. "I don't think you'll fit up there too, not with everyone else. I guess you'll be swimming by yourself, sorry."

Crawdaunt's eye twitched. "…Yeah, I guess I will."

"I can ask Misty to send out one of her other Pokemon to keep you company, if you want," Corsola offered.

Crawdaunt shook his head. "No, no, I don't need your pity. I'll be okay." Making a big show of looking sad and lonely, he hopped into the water next to the waiting Gyarados. Corsola looked at him in confusion, then shrugged and hopped up onto the Atrocious Pokemon's head.

Gyarados slowly raised his body up from its lowered position, causing him to loom over the pier with his passengers on his back. If he had done it any quicker or too suddenly, they might have fallen off. Careful not to move too swiftly and knock his passengers off, Gyarados swished his long tail and started propelling himself away from the pier, heading towards the island gym in the middle of the city's basin. Charizard picked up Bayleef, as he had so many times before, and took flight after them. And poor, lonesome Crawdaunt had to paddle after Gyarados in last place.

…

The trip across the basin had been fairly uneventful and nothing of any particular note happened, other than the two humans constantly flushing from being so close to each other, to the amusement of their companions. They reached the shore of the gym leader's island soon enough. Gyarados didn't want to leave the water, so he tilted his neck down until his chin rested in the shallows and allowed the group on his back to disembark. Crawdaunt came scurrying up after them soon enough, panting slightly from the exertion of swimming after Gyarados. Charizard, not wanting to get his feet (or his vital tail flame) wet, landed on the nice, dry, sandy beach and dropped Bayleef. Misty patted her big blue Pokemon on the nose. "Thanks for the ride, Gyarados. You go enjoy yourself until we come back, okay?"

"'Kay. Seeya!" The Gyarados lifted his head out of the sand, turned away, and dove into the water, vanishing with nary a trace.

"How'll he know when we're ready to leave?" Ash asked as they started trekking up onto the island proper, their footsteps displacing sand and water.

Misty smiled. "I've been training with him-and my other Pokemon-a lot lately. I've managed to find a whistle blow that he can hear from pretty much anywhere within half a mile, even under water. He'll know to stick close by so he can come if I need him."

Ash was impressed. "Wow, that's pretty cool!" He glanced at Charizard. "Think I could work something out like that with you?"

"Huh? Wasn't listening," said the dragon, cleaning out his ear-holes with a claw.

Ash sweatdropped. "Guess not."

Misty smiled conspiratorially. "Of course, responding to whistle blows aren't _all_ Gyarados and I and the others have been working on," she said slyly.

Pikachu and Ash blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?" the yellow mouse muttered to himself.

Ash didn't have a chance to ask Misty the same question as the Water Trainer gasped and ran off the beach and onto the island proper. "Wow, look at all this!" she said in awe.

The island was rather small, maybe half a square kilometer. Most of the space was taken up by the large mansion/gym, but the rest was covered in well cared for lawns displaying numerous exquisite marble sculptures. Ash whipped out his guidebook to see if it said anything about this place. "'The Sootopolis Gym is both the home, battlefield and base of operations for the city's gym leader, top coordinator, and resident artist extraordinaire, Wallace. His manor house is home to numerous famous art masterpieces from around the world, including several sculptures and paintings made by Wallace himself.' Hmmph," Ash said, trying to hide an envious expression. "Guy has too much free time on his hands."

"So do you, technically, if you can go traipsing all over Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn without bothering with school or a job," Bayleef pointed out, coming up next to him.

"…" Ash couldn't think of a response to that. Instead, he grumped and trod over to where Misty, Phanphy, Togetic and Corsola were admiring a statue of a reclining mermaid clutching an adorable Clamperl to her chest.

"Isn't it beautiful, Togetic?" Misty gushed, looking at it. Her surrogate daughter nodded.

Ash glanced at it, grunted, and kept walking. "You're much prettier," he grumbled, continuing on his way towards the front door of the gym.

Misty's face flushed. "A-Ash! What did you mean by that!" she yelled, running after him.

Charizard rolled his eyes. "Those two. Come on, let's follow em'."

"Yeah," said Crawdaunt, clacking his pincers. "I can't wait to rough up some of this Wallace guy's Pokemon!"

"But you already fought this morning," Bayleef pointed out. "And Wallace uses Water Pokemon too, so you won't have an advantage. Why do you want to battle?"

Crawdaunt puffed out his chest. "To prove just how tough I am, of course!"

"You just want to show off to Corsola, don't you?" Bayleef said flatly.

"…Yes. Yes I do. And speaking of which, I should catch up with her! Hey, coral babe! Wait up!" He scurried after Corsola, who had gone to follow Misty to the front door.

Charizard, Bayleef, and Latias sweatdropped. "That lobster…" Charizard muttered, shaking his head. "Come on, let's go."

They headed up the neatly trimmed path their friends had advance on, glancing briefly at the marvelous statues on either side of them. Latias stopped in her tracks when an especially interesting one on her right caught her eye. "Oh my!" she gasped.

Set on a plinth, the statue depicted a humongous (and clearly male) Pokemon of draconian origin, perhaps some gruesome mix of Dragonite and Salamence, with a bit of Flygon thrown in. Its teeth were bared in a snarl of anger and fury. One claw was braced on the plinth next to the head of a small sleeping Dratini, while the other was raised in the air, as if it was about to slash downward and crush the Dratini. A label at its base simply said, "Beauty and Beast."

Bayleef looked saddened at the sculpture. "This Wallace human decided to immortalize a moment of typical predatory savagery that is so common for Pokemon living in the wild. Why would he want to make something like this? I thought human artists liked to make things reflecting nature's surface beauty, not its darker side."

"Actually, that's not always true," said Latias, who had learned about art history alongside Bianca and thus knew quite a bit about the subject. "Lots of artists do that kind of thing to express their conflicting views of the world and their inner turmoil and hopelessness. But I don't think that's what this statue is trying to express."

"No?" asked the confused Bayleef, who knew little to anything about art.

Latias nodded. "Look closer at the sculpture. Look at the finer details. Look at how the Dratini's tail is reaching out, how the tip is just brushing the claws near her head. Look at the contented expression on her face. Do you see how the beast's body is sheltering her? How the eyes are filled not with thirst for destruction, but with love? The snarl comes from rage, but not at the little dragon…it's directed towards anyone who would threaten her, it's an expression of his desire, his _need_ to protect her." She felt a kinship with the smaller dragon, having her own relationship with a powerful, yet somewhat protective and possessive male individual.

Bayleef blinked and examined the statue again. "You think?"

"Yeah, I know exactly how the big guy feels," Charizard said suddenly. "It's male instincts. Protect what's yours. Don't let anybody even _think_ of harming it without getting ripped to shreds. I've felt that way every time I couldn't sleep because I was thinking too much about how much of a failure I was…and then I look over at Charla, sleeping next to me, and think that I'm not gonna mess her up. I'm not gonna let anything happen to her, the one thing left that I didn't feel like I'd ruined." He paused. "It was tearing me up inside, when she was in the cave birthing our egg, and those bitches guardin' it wouldn't let me in, on account of some stupid old tradition…and because I was a failure. I didn't want her to be alone at that moment when she was most vulnerable, when something really bad could happen to her. I wanted to protect her." His whole body seemed to slump. "And I did a fair job of that, didn't I?" he said sarcastically. "First I break our one and only egg, and then I get pulled into this stupid Chosen business. Sure, I love traveling with Ash and Pikachu like old times, but…I got other responsibilities now. I got a mate back in the valley, and I'm banished from there now, until we can get the time stream rewritten." He looked away. "If…if something bad happened to her because I wasn't around, or if it was my fault, I'd never be able to forgive myself."

Bayleef and Latias looked at their normally brash and hotheaded friend, startled by this new facet of his personality. "Charla's a tough girl," Latias said reassuringly, putting her hand on the dragon's shoulder. "She can take care of herself."

Charizard grunted. "Yeah, I know that," he said, pointing to his head. "But I don't _know_ that," he said, putting a claw over his heart. "It's instincts. No matter how much we evolve as a species or individually, these things seem to stick with us. They're good in a fight, but do we need them for everything else? All they seem to do is make us worry and fear…which is okay some of the time I guess, but to feel that way _all_ the time?" He shook his head. "No matter how much I know from experience how tough Charla is, that doesn't stop this little voice from screaming at me that something bad's gonna happen to her cause I wasn't there to protect her, and it'll be my fault."

Bayleef and Latias were silent, uncertain how to help their suffering friend. They didn't suffer from these protective and restrictive male instincts Charizard spoke of, so were at a loss as to what to do. The melancholy moment was broken when Crawdaunt scurried over. "Hey, what are you guys doing hanging around here? Come on, you gotta see this! I think Ash's gonna explode any minute now!"

Charizard perked up, looking like the same old dragon he had always been. "This I gotta see! Come on girls, let's take a look!"

They followed Crawdaunt to the gym's front door, where Ash did indeed look like he was gonna explode. Fuming, he pressed the doorbell several times in a row, causing a loud gong-like sound to echo across the island. "Ash!" scolded Misty. "You've already rung the doorbell twenty times now! Have some patience!"

Ash just growled under his breath, finding yet another thing to add to his long list of why he hated Wallace: he didn't answer the door on time.

As he thought this, they heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching. The door clicked and was pulled open from within, revealing the irritated personage of a fiftyish year-old man with graying black hair and white sideburns and bangs, a neatly trimmed mustache, and a blue petticoat with white trim over a black shirt and purple shorts. "Yes?" he asked through gritted teeth, eye twitching.

Togetic and Latias frowned, both sensing something strange about this man. They seemed to be the only ones.

Misty gasped, but Ash stepped forward without listening. "I'm Ash Ketchum, and I'm challenging you to a Pokemon Battle, Wallace!"

The man raised an eyebrow. "I'm not Wallace."

Everyone behind Ash facefaulted. "Oh," said the boy, feeling embarrassed. "Um, are you his butler then or something?"

"Ash!" Misty said angrily as she stood up. "That's not a butler, that's Ardan Mariani, world-famous painter, coordinator, and Wallace's teacher!" Stars appeared in her eyes. "I can't believe I'm meeting him in person!"

Ash's eye twitched, and he started making a second hate list for Ardan to put alongside Wallace. Latias noticed this. "Hey Charizard, I don't think you're the only one suffering from protective male instincts."

Charizard had noticed it too, and shook his head sadly. "Poor Ash…"

Ardan brushed past Ash, shoving him out of the way, and took Misty's hand and kissed it. Ash's growling and eye twitching grew significantly more noticeable. "Ah, Miss Waterflower! I have been expecting you!"

"Y-you have?" she asked, blushing.

The artist nodded fervently. "Indeed I have! I worried that my letter had not reached you!"

Misty blinked in surprise. "_You_ sent it? But…the signature said it was from the gym leader of Sootopolis!"

Ardan laughed. "My dear, I _am_ the Sootopolis gym leader! Well, for the moment anyway. Wallace took off a few days ago to his hidden resort in the Sevii Islands to get away from his rabid fan club, and asked me to take over in the interim. How could I refuse my star pupil such a request?"

"I-I guess that makes sense," said Misty, slowly pulling her hand away. "So, Mr. Mariani, what was it you invited me down here for?"

"Oh nothing, just a little trifle," said the artist airily. He got on one knee, took Misty's hand again, and pulled out a sapphire ring. "Miss Waterflower, will you marry me?"

…

Hahahaha! Cliffhanger! Didn't see that coming, did you? Please review!


	34. Love Battle! Ash vs Misty!

TA and TM are Rocket rip-offs. They stink, even if they are more organized. TA and TM do evil because they foolishly believe it will make the world a better place. Team Rocket does evil for the sake of evil. They're hard-core, and so is Cipher! And where else could Charizard go? If he went on the boat's roof, he'd be surrounded by water and constantly reminded of how if the ship sinks, he'll fly forever and then fall to his death when he gets tired. In the hold he can at least _pretend_ he's somewhere else. I did not know Ardan's name was Juan until you told me, but I prefer Ardan anyway.

Mimic, did you literally fall off your seat?

Story Weaver1, what was random about this?

EagleFox, Rayquaza will appear eventually.

Lord Karkon, this is my opinion of Wallace based on some other fics I read. And Ash was saying Misty was prettier than the mermaid statue. I'm glad you've finally realized the erroneousness of claiming Lash isn't Latias' mom.

Hey HVK. You know, I got the weird idea that you could use Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy for Halloweentown in your story.

Ratiasu, are you sure May doesn't like Ash _at all_? I think a few other authors would disagree with you. I personally see nothing between them, but…eh, one of my editors is very persuasive. I think you will enjoy this chapter immensely, in any case. Feebas will reappear, though I don't think she'll evolve. The point I'm trying to make with her and with the masked Gardevoir is that beauty is only skin-deep. You don't need to be very attractive to get a partner of the opposite sex…though admittedly, it is often helpful. And I'm sure Latias and Rayquaza will work out, it worked with their ancestors didn't it? And I chose the statue specifically to represent Latias and Rayquaza's relationship.

Disclaimer: None of the characters or Pokemon in this chapter belong to me.

…

From the expression on Ash's face when he heard Wallace's proposal, it was clear that, had he been a Pokemon, he would have lunged at Ardan and ripped the man's throat out with his teeth. Phanphy didn't look too far off, although he would probably just beat the human to death with his trunk since his teeth were too tiny to do any harmful damage. Charizard, for some reason, looked positively livid, and everyone else was confused and startled. Well, except for Crawdaunt, who hadn't been paying attention because he'd been trying to hit on the oblivious Corsola, and Togetic, who had too much of a pacifistic nature to kill anyone. She'd just beat him to the brink of death, if she had the opportunity to grab her mother's mallet.

Startled, Misty stepped back. "Wh-what! You want to marry me!"

Ardan nodded. "Indeed. I would very much appreciate having you at my side as my wife." This comment elicited quiet growls from Ash, Phanphy, Charizard and Togetic, and left everyone else even more confused. Except for Crawdaunt, who was still hitting on Corsola.

"But…but…why me!" Misty stammered. "Why not one of my sisters? Everyone loves them! They're the Sensational Waterflower Sisters, and I'm just the runt of the litter!"

Ardan didn't budge from his position of offering the ring. "Ah, but Miss Waterflower, your sisters, though beautiful, have very little brain or prowess at Pokemon battles. Everyone knows that were it not for your recent obtainment of the title of Gym Leader due to your sisters' negligence, the gym would have been shut down months ago for being too easy and a completely unfit challenge for trainers." He grabbed her hand with his free hand and kissed it, eliciting more growls. Pikachu had to give Ash a mild jolt to keep him from lunging at Ardan. "And besides, I have seen enough beautiful things in the world to appreciate _true _beauty, the kind of the heart, other than the short-lived masks people like your sisters wear. In that respect, you are far more attractive than they."

Misty flushed at the comment, causing Ash to grind his teeth angrily. "W-well thank you, but…aren't I, well, a little young?" she asked anxiously, trying and failing to pull her hand away from Ardan's grip. "I mean, I'm just in my teens and you…well, you're in the prime of your life!" she said quickly, not wishing to offend the artist.

Ardan laughed. "Miss Waterflower, I know I'm not as young as I used to be. But that does not mean my capacity to love has lessened any than it has when I was younger."

Now looking truly creeped out, Misty finally pulled her hand away from Ardan and took a step back, slowly reaching for the mallet on her back. "Well, th-that may be so, but…there are laws against that sort of thing, aren't there?"

Ardan smiled. "Perhaps for regular trainers, but you and I are Gym Leaders! The age restriction laws for marriage are annulled in our case, so leaders of any age may be wed! We can marry civilians or regular trainers of any age as well!"

Misty looked disturbed. "…There's actually a rule allowing gym leaders to do that!"

Ardan nodded. "Yes, for some reason. Its on page 29 of the Gym Leader's handbook, a quarter-way down the page."

Looking doubtful, Misty pulled a small handbook out of her red bag, flipped it open to the proper page, and skimmed it. Her eyes widened. A peeved expression on her face, she slammed the book shut and stuffed it back into her bag. "I must remember to bring that up at the next Gym Leader Summit…" she grumbled. As she had been trained to do ever since she returned to her mother, Togetic whipped out a notepad and scribbled down that exact reminder, right beneath the crossed-out 'Kiss Ash for gift of Big Pearl.'

Ardan smirked. "So, now that all your legal and moral qualms are satisfied…will you marry me, Miss Waterflower?" Once more, this elicited growls.

Misty laughed nervously. "Eh heh…well, I can't say I'm not flattered, but…" She sidestepped to Ash, put an arm around his shoulder, and pulled him very close to her. Ash's look of feral outrage changed into that of confusion, which was much too familiar on his face. "I'm already taken."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah!" said Ash. He grinned, feeling a sense of perverse pleasure at the look of anger that was forming on Ardan's face. "She's _my_ girlfriend." Charizard and Phanphy seemed to relax somewhat at this, and the feeling of tension that had been building up dissipated. Togetic didn't look very relieved, though. She was still glaring at Ardan, her anxieties about the man increasing. And Latias somehow didn't feel that this had truly resolved the matter. She frowned, sensing that the conflict was about to worsen.

Ardan's face darkened. "I…see…" he drew out between gritted teeth. Ash's feeling of perverse pleasure swelled. "How…unfortunate to hear. You can do much better, Miss Waterflower."

"Hey!" cried Ash, along with pretty much his entire Pokemon team, all of whom thought of Ash was one of the best guys around.

Misty glared. "And you think you would be better for me?"

Ardan slowly got up, putting the ring away. "I do indeed," he said, glaring at Ash. "After all, I can offer you much more-wealth beyond your wildest dreams, marvelous pieces of art done in your honor, beautiful manor houses in the Seafoam, Orange, Whirl and Sevii Islands, the opportunity to travel the world and interact with Water Pokemon in ways you could never have imagined…what can he offer you?" There had been one other thing Ardan could have added to his list of offers but did not, although Latias had a good idea what it was from the look in his eyes. It disgusted her. Togetic seemed to share the same sentiment, and the desire for her to beat the man half to death increased.

"He," said Misty, clutching Ash tighter and making him feel all warm and tingly, causing a goofy smile to form on his face. "Can, and already has, offered me more riches than your material wealth ever could. Love, companionship, adventure, tons of experiences with Water Pokemon and other types, making me feel like someone more than just the Cerulean gym leader and last and least of the Sensational Waterflower sisters…" _Plus he's not at least three times my age,_ she thought to herself. "Although he still hasn't repaid me for the bike he owes me."

Ash blinked, snapping out of his 'happy place'. "Hey, Nurse Joy fixed that bike for you! I don't owe you anything!"

"You broke it in the first place, even if it got fixed you still owe me _something_ for it!" Misty snapped in retaliation.

"I don't owe you nothing!" Ash retorted, not caring that he had just used a double negative.

"If a bike is what you desire, I can get you one most easily…" Ardan crooned smoothly and seductively.

"It's not about the bike!" Misty snapped at him.

Ardan looked puzzled. "It's…not? But I thought you just said-"

"It's the principle of the matter!" Misty explained, which didn't really explain anything and caused Ardan to look as baffled as Ash was a lot of the time.

Latias sweatdropped. "…I'm confused," she moaned.

"So am I," agreed Bayleef. "And I actually know what the bike thing means."

"Keep it down!" Crawdaunt hissed. "I'm this close to winning her over!" He turned back to Corsola, who was constantly shifting about to try to look past him, since the lobster had planted himself in her line of sight. "Now, where were we?"

"Could you please get out of the way?" the Coral Pokemon asked, distracted by the arguing about bicycles going on between the humans. "I'm missing all the drama!" Crawdaunt sweatdropped.

Ardan, finally realizing he wasn't getting anywhere with the bike thing, gave up. "Fine, I see you're too stubborn and blind to see a truly deserving man when he's standing right in front of you. I'm sorry I dragged you all the way down here for nothing, Miss Waterflower."

Misty sniffed and turned her head away. "I don't accept your apology," she said, hugging Ash close again and causing him to go all goofy again.

"Well, I feel I must make up to you in some way for inconveniencing you," Ardan said through clenched teeth. "How about dinner, seeing as how it's getting late? We could eat out on the terrace, where we can observe the passing fish and Water Pokemon while we dine. It'll be nice…peaceful…_private…_" At the last one, he lunged forward, grabbed Misty by the arm, tore her off Ash and ran back into the gym before anyone could react, pulling the door shut behind him.

"Oh no you don't!" cried Ash and, for some reason, Charizard, and they leaped at the door as it started to close, grabbing the edge with fingers and claws and using all of their might to try and hold it open. Bayleef lent a hand-or should I say, a couple of vines-to their effort, and the trio easily wrenched the door out of Ardan's hands, startling him enough to let go of Misty for a moment.

The moment was all she needed, as she pulled out her mallet and slammed it hard into the back of his head, knocking him to the ground. "PERVERT!" she yelled, a blood vein popping out of her forehead.

Ardan moaned in pain and looked up to see himself surrounded by six angry Pokemon, two angry humans, one Pokemon who was hitting on one of the other six, and one somewhat confused but sort of angry human who was actually a dragon Pokemon in disguise who just went with the flow. "What do you think you're doing!" Ash demanded.

Charizard snarled, snorting out embers. "Punks like this are all the same, no matter what the species. I'll toast him to ashes!"

"I think I agree with that sentiment," said Pikachu coldly, charging up his electric sacs.

Everyone was surprised when Ardan suddenly burst into laughter. "Ahahaha, very good, very good!" He got up and shook Ash's hand first, then Misty's. They stared at him in confusion. "Excellent, you are truly strong trainers!"

"…Huh?" said Misty, dazed.

"Don't listen to him Mom," Togetic muttered, floating down low to her mother's ear. "I don't trust this."

"You'd better start explaining!" said Ash, pointing a finger at Ardan.

"Of course, of course," he said calmly, trying to reassure the enraged Ketchum. "You see, when I saw you accompanying Miss Waterflower, I knew at once you had to be her paramour."

Ash looked at him in confusion. "Para-what? I'm her boyfriend, not something you wear when you jump out of a plane." Everyone facefaulted.

"Ash, paramour means lover, or in your case boyfriend!" Latias hissed telepathically.

He blinked. "Oh…Ohhhh! Ah hah, I was just kidding, I know what a paramour is!" he said a little too loudly.

Ardan rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you do…anyway, being somewhat of a romantic, I wanted to see if your love was strong enough to survive a marriage proposal from a handsomer and wealthier individual, such as myself."

"Hey, are you calling me ugly!" Ash snapped.

"No," Ardan said blandly. "Just not as handsome as me." Ash growled at that.

"Wait, so this was all a test!" Misty cried in disbelief. "What kind of sicko tests a couple's relationship like that!"

"I dunno," said Ash suddenly, remembering what Tate and Liza had told him that morning. "Sometimes the best way to pass a test is to not know you're taking one at all."

"…" Misty stared at him blankly.

Ardan put a hand on Misty's shoulder. (Triggering growls from all around again) "I really am sorry for causing all this trouble…I just wanted to see how strong your love was! Out of curiosity, you understand," he said quickly. "Come on, how about I make it up to you by giving you that dinner I mentioned earlier?"

Misty shook his hand off, looking uncertain. She wasn't really thinking of forgiving Ardan for his cruel test just because he was offering some food. She was about to tell him as much, when her stomach growled loudly. Ardan raised an eyebrow, and Misty blushed and laughed in embarrassment. Then Togetic's stomach started growling, and so did Corsola's. "Eh heh…I suppose we could use something to eat, it's not like the food on the ride over here was very appetizing…"

"Excellent!" said Ardan, looking pleased. He took Misty's arm and turned her towards the door. "Come, let's sup, the two of us and your Pokemon! I'm sure we'll get along nicely."

"Hey, what about me!" Ash demanded.

Ardan looked back. "Eh? Oh, I suppose you can come too," He grumbled. "Just try not to get my floor dirty, it was waxed this morning." He led Misty away before anyone could protest. Corsola quickly scurried after them, leaving Crawdaunt heartbroken and alone, but Togetic lingered.

"I don't trust him, Dad," she said, alighting on top of his hat. "I think he was lying about the test."

"So do I," agreed Bayleef, her eyes narrowed. "If he did that marriage routine as a test just to see how strong Misty's love was, then why did he invite her here in the first place?"

"This sounds like the plot of one of Grandma's soap operas!" said Phanphy energetically. "The evil Count Dooky attempted to seduce the heroine and take her away from the main character! But they saw through his lies and threw him off a cliff to his death!"

Latias sweatdropped. "I'm not sure this situation is quite as dramatic as it is on television, Phanphy."

"I don't know," said Ash with a dark smile. "I wouldn't mind throwing that guy off a cliff."

"And I'd stomp his toes if he managed to get a grip on the edge, just to make sure he dies for sure," said Charizard with an equally dark smile.

The others stared at their friends in shock. "Uh…Ash, are you feeling all right?"

"I'm feeling fine," Ash growled. "As long as that guy keeps his claws off MY girlfriend…" He stormed into the mansion.

Bayleef and Latias sweatdropped. "Well…this is rather out of character for Ash…" Bayleef muttered.

Charizard chuckled. "Heh…you might say this is actually more in character than he's ever been…" He stomped in after Ash, leaving the others even more confused.

"Daddy, Brother Charizard, wait up!" cried Phanphy, running after them.

"What's the deal with Ash and Charizard?" wondered Latias. "Could this be more of that 'instincts' stuff Charizard was talking about earlier?"

"I guess so," Bayleef agreed. "If so, then I'm glad I'm not a guy."

Crawdaunt huffed. "You say that like it's a bad thing! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish what I've started with the lovely Miss Corsola." He scurried into the mansion.

Latias sweatdropped again. "I agree with you wholeheartedly, Bayleef."

…

Dinner was awkward.

The whole group was seated around a small rectangular table placed on a terrace supported on columns that extended out from the back of the gym, off the edge of the island and over the large volcanic basin. Dozens of fish and Water Pokemon teemed in the waters below. The terrace was, like the rest of the manor, done in marble with statues of beauty and grace standing atop pillars at every corner of the terrace, with a single towering sculpture of a merman and mermaid in the middle of making love standing at the center, just a few yards away from the table, which was made of white oak inlaid with gold filigree.

Ardan sat at one end of the table, with Misty in the chair at his right hand. Ash was placed at the other end of the table, a significant distance from Misty or Ardan, with Latias sitting at his right hand. He kept his eyes locked on Ardan as he chatted with Misty, so focused that he didn't seem to notice-or care-that the food he was wolfing down haphazardly and without looking was made from meat.

Misty had been uncomfortable sitting so close to Ardan at first, after what he had pretended to do earlier, but had relaxed when he started talking enthusiastically about art and water Pokemon, leading to an excited discussion between the two. One that Ash was not included in. The boy sawed a piece of Miltank steak off of the hunk on his plate, stabbed it hard with his knife, and stuck it in his mouth, slowly chewing on it. He did not take his eyes off Ardan for one second while doing so.

Latias just poked her food with a fork, feeling like the fourth wheel on a tricycle. Ash was the only person at the table she could talk too, but the intense look on his face warned of dire consequences to any fool who broke his concentration. So she turned her attention to the Pokemon, whom were eating Pokemon food out of gold bowls set out by the mansion's servitors, who were working for Ardan in their true master's absence.

For Ash's Pokemon, who had gotten used to eating whatever they could find (or kill) on the road, eating Pokemon food felt sort of demeaning to them. But they didn't really have a choice, because Ardan hadn't deigned to set out places or seats for them at the table. And it's not like the food tasted _bad_ or anything…in any case, they seemed to be getting along pretty well with Misty's Pokemon, who had been let out to eat too. There was a Politoed, a Luvdisc, and an immensely stupid Psyduck who had attempted to stuff the entire bowl of Pokemon food down his beak. (Misty had meant to bring Staryu, but was in such a rush to make it to her flight to Hoenn that she had grabbed the wrong Pokeball) Since the bowl was made of gold, that hadn't worked too well and he ran around choking for several seconds until they had managed to catch him and make him spit it up. After the bowl was dislodged from his throat, he had attempted to do the same thing again, blissfully unaware of what he had just done only a few moments ago.

Psyduck was choking on his food again, which forced Corsola to leave her food alone for the fifth time and go Tackle the duck's stomach until he spat up the bowl and whatever junk he had eaten recently. In the coral's absence, Crawdaunt did an incredibly chivalrous act by secretly putting some of his own food in Corsola's food dish in an attempt to impress her with his generosity. But since he always got hungry and ate the food he had just added, by the time Corsola returned to her bowl there was still the same amount of food there had been when she left. Pikachu had left Ash's shoulder when he saw that his Pikapi wasn't going to give him any of his own food, so was eating from the bowls like everyone else, glancing at his friend now and then to see if he had snapped out of his weird mood. Ash never did. Bayleef and Politoed were chatting about their old travels back in Johto, the Luvdisc (Latias recalled his name was Kasurin) kept glancing at Crawdaunt for some reason, and Phanphy was talking to Togetic. Or trying to, since his big sister's attention kept drifting back to the strange man who her mother was talking to. Latias couldn't help but agree with the little angel's feelings on the man, something didn't feel right about him. Charizard evidently agreed, because he had moved his food bowl closer to the table and was now sitting almost right between Latias and Ardan. Like his trainer, the dragon ate without looking, fixing his gaze on the gym leader. What was going on with Charizard? She wondered.

Her attention was drawn back to the group of dining Pokemon when she noticed Kasurin tremble, working up his courage, and hop over to Crawdaunt, who was once more trying and failing to get Corsola's attention. The Discfish cleared his throat after Crawdaunt still had not noticed him after several seconds. "Er, excuse me…"

The lobster glanced up. "Yeah, what do you want, kid?" he asked, frustrated that he wasn't getting anywhere with Corsola.

"Um…you are a Crawdaunt, are you not?" Kasurin asked nervously. "Which means you evolved from a Corphish?"

"Yeah, last time I checked," Crawdaunt grunted.

"Oh…um, is it true, what they say about Luvdisc and Corphish? That they…um…" he trailed off nervously.

Crawdaunt rolled his eyes. "If you're asking me whether or not it's true that the males of my species impregnate the females of your species who were unlucky at mating season, then yes. Gotta problem with that?"

"Oh no! No!" Kasurin said. "It's just…on my mother's deathbed, she told me my father was a Corphish. This shocked me, because I had always thought my father was one of the older members of my school. Ever since, I've been wondering who my real father was. I'd like to know, for curiosity's sake."

Crawdaunt raised an eyebrow. "And you thought I'd be able to tell you who your dad is?"

"Well…" Kasurin started, trying not to look too hopeful.

Crawdaunt sighed. "Kid, there are thousands of Corphish around the world who impregnate dozens of Luvdisc every year. Your father could be any one of those. Or even one who's dead or evolved. I'm just one lobster. Do you honestly think I'd know which Corphish or Crawdaunt was your father, out of all those thousands?"

Kasurin's hopes fell. "Oh. I just thought…" He hid a tear. "I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll go now." He started to turn away.

Crawdaunt grimaced. "Wait!" Kasurin turned around. The lobster sighed. "…What school did your mother belong to? Where did their migration take her whenever they headed to their mating grounds?"

Kasurin perked up a little. "Well, my school spends most of its time in the Gorizo Archipelago to the south, but we head north to the West Coast of Hoenn, up around Cape Panic, at mating season."

Crawdaunt frowned and did some calculations in his head, based on what he had seen on maps during his travels with Ash and what he had learned of Luvdisc migration patterns from his father. "Gorizo to Cape Panic…that'd take you right by Dewford Island, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, our school takes stops there both to and from the mating grounds, to rest up for the long trip either way," Kasurin confirmed.

Crawdaunt rubbed his claws together, his frown still on his face. "Dewford Island…which side do you stop on, North or South? 'Cause I think there are a couple of other schools that pass through Dewford on their way to their usual mating grounds."

"South side. Why?" asked Kasurin. "Do…do you know any of the Corphish that live there!" the Luvdisc asked hopefully. "D-do you think you know who my father is?"

"Not just yet…my family's lived on the south side of Dewford for the last three generations, so we'd be the only Corphish down there…that might mean you could be related to my family!" Kasurin gasped. "Then again, almost a thousand other Luvdisc throughout history can probably make that claim too, so it doesn't mean much."

"Oh," said Kasurin, looking disappointed.

"But…" Crawdaunt continued. "I might be able to figure out who your dad is, to give you peace of mind. How long ago was it that your mom and dad sired you?"

"It happened precisely…three years ago," Kasurin estimated.

Crawdaunt frowned. "Three years ago…three years ago…" He paused. "Four years ago, my parents died…then any of my siblings who washed up on Dewford like I did got caught by fishermen and were sold to a restaurant…so I was the only one left…" His eyes widened. "Hell, this is a twist."

"What?" asked Kasurin anxiously.

Crawdaunt stared at him, eyes wide. "I think I'm your father."

"…Father?" whispered Kasurin, his eyes tearing up.

"Son!" Crawdaunt grabbed Kasurin and held him to his chest in a crushing hug with his claws. "I have a son! I have a son!" he cried for everyone to hear. He paused. "Well, technically I have at least two hundred sons and daughters of different species and mothers…but I've never met any of them before now, so this is the only offspring I have who really matters! Hahaha, I have a son!"

Corsola sweatdropped and moved away from the crazed lobster. "Uh, that's very nice…"

"Congratulations, Crawdaunt," complimented Bayleef. "Now our family has gotten a little closer together, I guess."

"Yay Emotional Brother Kasurin!" Phanphy trumpeted. "Now Uncle Crawdaunt is your Daddy!"

"I think that would make him our Cousin," Togetic said absently, not taking her eyes off of the chatting Misty and Ardan.

"Cousin…" Phanphy pondered that for a moment. "Cousin…Brother…Emotional Brother Cousin Kasurin!" Phanphy said happily, completing his new nickname for the Luvdisc.

From Crawdaunt's clutches, Kasurin sweatdropped "Brother Cousin? I'm confused."

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "You get used to it. Welcome to the family, Kasurin."

Kasurin started sniffing. "I…I have a family…THIS IS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE! WAAAAAHHHH!"

Frightened by the sudden outburst, Crawdaunt held Kasurin away at arm's length. "What! What's wrong with him!" he cried in alarm.

"Oh, he always does that whenever he gets emotional," Phanphy explained cheerfully. "That's why we call him Emotional Brother…I mean, Brother Cousin Kasurin!"

Crawdaunt eyed Kasurin dubiously and slowly put the crying fish to the ground. "I can tell you for certain that being a crybaby did not come from my side of the family!"

Stifling a laugh at the antics of her friends, and proud of Crawdaunt for discovering he was a father, Latias turned back around to the table to see if things had changed.

They had not. Ardan and Misty were still talking and enjoying themselves, all but ignoring Ash. This act of seclusion was like a beacon to Ash and Charizard, causing their intense observations of Ardan to grow more heightened and intense, the ferocity they were harboring clear in their eyes. Ash had long since finished his meal, but continued stabbing and sawing at his plate because he was so used to it by now it had become automatic. Latias understood why Ash was acting the way he was, because of the protective male instincts Charizard had talked about, but she had no idea why Charizard was reacting the same way. Deciding to take a risk, she quietly cleared her mental throat. "Charizard?" The fire dragon did not respond. "Charizard, what are you doing?"

"…Watching this guy," he finally growled.

"Why?"

"Gotta protect her," he muttered. "If that guy touches her the wrong way again, I'll incinerate him six ways from Sunday."

She put a hand on the dragon's claw. "While that's very sweet of you…I think… Misty isn't just your responsibility. She's Ash's. She's her Pokemon's, and I suppose ours too. If Ardan touches her, all of us will stop him. Ash might even beat us to it, at the moment I think that if Ardan actually did touch Misty again Ash would throw that fork of his right at his forehead."

Charizard chuckled darkly. "Heh heh, I bet he would. I know I would, were I him."

"Which is what I don't understand. All of us are a little anxious about what's going on here, I think. I for one can feel the tension, and I think some of the others can too. But you're taking this almost as hard as Ash is. While that's sweet, like I said, Misty isn't your girlfriend. So why are you acting like you're her boyfriend? Why are your own protective male instincts acting up when she's not Charla?" Latias pressed.

Charizard froze. "…" He looked down. "…She's not, but…she reminds me of Charla in some ways. Her eyes, her temperament…the way she makes the guy who flat-out loves her and would do anything to protect her feel…" He sighed. "I'm empathizing with Ash right now because this little scenario here, with some other guy hitting on a girl and her boyfriend feeling pissed about it, has happened to me more times than I can care to recall."

Latias was surprised. "Really?"

Charizard nodded sadly. "Charla's one hot lady. The hottest in the valley. Smartest, strongest, fastest, prettiest…normally it wouldn't matter so much that she and I have ended up mated for life (or thereabouts), those kinds of couplings happen all the time between the best and the least, but…a couple years back, in my first mating season around other Charizard, she picked me for her partner. Not any of the stronger, worthier Charizard, but me, a newbie runt who couldn't even beat an illusory Entei. The other Charizard were pissed at that. They were even more pissed when, after mating season was over, she and I hooked up permanently. They didn't think it was fair that they, who had known Charla for longer and trained much harder than me, got diddly-squat while I got everything attached to her." He shook his head. "Remember how I said earlier that the only time a Pokemon feels lusty towards a female outside mating season is because they're a destined match or have overactive hormones?" Latias nodded. "Well, you'd be surprised by just how many Pokemon can get overactive hormones when they're denied attention by a particularly attractive female." He groaned. "Charla got tons of guys like this Ekans in the grass Ardan, smooth operators all of them, who thought they deserved her more than I did and believed they could convince her of that. They couldn't of course, and she ended up beating them black and blue."

"Well that's good, right?" Latias asked.

Charizard shook his head. "No, it's not. According to Charizard custom, _I'm_ the guy who's supposed to do that to all the jerks trying to take my mate away from me. But…whenever I told them in no good terms to shove off, they'd beat me to a pulp. I've been in the valley for a couple of years now, and I'm _still_ just about the weakest guy there. Charla always has to stand up for me when the others are trying to push me down and show me up. And while I'm glad she's so dedicated to me, it…it makes me feel bad."

"Why?" asked Latias in confusion.

"Because it makes me feel worthless!" he spat out. "Here she is, the best girl in the valley, loving and defending the weakest Charizard around, me! And what can I do to pay her back for all the things she's done for me? Nothing! I get her pregnant, then smash our egg! What kind of a mate and partner am I, huh? I'll tell you! The worst in Charizard history!" Miserably, he set his bowl down. "Among my kind, strength and pride are extremely important. The fact that I'm weaker than all the Charizard who hate me, and I can't do a thing myself to make them shut up, is a double blow to me. The male ego is a very sensitive thing, Latias, and I know it's stupid and isn't worth much in reality…but sometimes it's all a guy's got to keep himself from falling into despair in the worst of times. It's what's kept me from giving up after everything that happened after I lost to Blaziken in the Johto finals, when I got stuck in a losing streak and the other Charizard started acting worse towards me. Without that ego…without it, there's nothing to keep a guy from feeling totally helpless in the face of extreme adversity." Charizard grimaced. "It's one thing to have your ego deflated now and then. It's healthy, keeps you from biting off more than you can chew. But to have it stepped on, chopped up, chewed up, spat out, shitted on, and lit on fire…that hurts. A lot. I don't want Ash to have to go through that kind of pain. The pain of feeling worthless and weak as some bastard tries to steal his mate and he can't do a damned thing about it."

Latias was surprised that she had discovered yet another facet of Charizard's personality. "And you think that could happen to Ash right now?"

Charizard shook his head. "No. Ash is stronger than I am, or was, in that respect. If Ardan tries something, Ash can handle it, I don't doubt that. But he won't have to do it alone." He made a fierce smile, showing his fangs. "While Ardan reminds me of all those jerks back at the valley, he's not a ten-foot tall, muscle-bound and over-aggressive Charizard tanked up on hormones and ego. He's just a human. And from all the times I've set Ash on fire, I think I know by now just how much heat a human can take."

Latias was shocked. "But Charizard, you can't! There are rules against that sort of thing! You'd be a murderer!"

Charizard shrugged. "So? I'm a predator, I already am. I murder Pokemon for food all the time."

"Yes, but this is different!" Latias protested. "You're not going to kill him because you're hungry, you're talking about killing him because he reminds you of the Charizard who picked on you back in the valley! Ardan may be slimy, but that doesn't mean you can treat him like you would a Pokemon! Humans have laws against Pokemon killing other humans, if you murder Ardan you'll either be euthanised or locked up in a Prison Ball for the rest of your life! Not to mention Ash would never forgive you, once his instincts geared down. And how will you ever be able to fulfill your duty as a Chosen then and fix things so you can get your child back and prove all those other Charizard wrong?" she demanded.

Charizard blinked, lost for words. "…Well what do you suggest we do, huh? We can't let Ardan get away with this, he's walking all over Ash here."

Latias smiled. "Charizard, there's more than one way to end a conflict than just killing somebody or at the minimum beating them up. I know how we can show Ardan up and get out of here before he does anything to Misty." She then started trying to get Ash's attention telepathically, which was not an easy thing to do since he was so focused on what was going on at the other end of the table.

Speaking of which…Misty had gotten much more relaxed around Ardan after he spoke so passionately of how he loved Water Pokemon, something she could relate to immensely. She had all but forgotten about what Ardan had done earlier, she was so caught up in listening and talking with one of her childhood idols. And as such, Ardan thought it was the perfect time to finish up. Slowly, so as not to attract the attention of Misty, Ash, or the Pokemon observing him, he tightened his grip on the knife he was using to cut at his steak.

It was then that Ash, prompted by Latias and full of righteous anger, shoved his seat back, stood up, and yelled, "Ardan, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

Misty frowned and turned away from Ardan, who was cursing this twist of fate and loss of an opportunity. Clenching his teeth, he put his knife down. "I'm afraid I can't, my Pokemon got injured in a battle earlier today and all of them had to go to the Pokemon Center to get healed." That was half-true, at least.

Ash's shoulders slumped. "Oh," he said, feeling more disappointed than angry now. So did Latias, realizing her plan had been foiled. "How am I gonna get a badge in time to get to the Hoenn League now?"

Misty rolled her eyes. "You could just wait until tomorrow, when they'll be healed and everything, Ash. You can fight Ardan then."

"I can't wait until tomorrow," Ash protested. "If I do that, I'll never get to the Hoenn League in time! I'll miss the sign-up deadline!"

Misty smirked. "Well, maybe if you act pathetic enough, you can guilt him into giving you a badge like you did all the others."

"Hey!" Ash snapped. "I won all my badges fair and square!"

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" she said sarcastically. "Let's see…you guilted Brock and my sisters into giving you their badges, Sabrina gave you hers since you restored her sanity, Erika gave you hers because you saved her Gloom, Team Rocket took over the Viridian Gym temporarily so you didn't end up losing to the _real_ gym leader there, Pryce gave you his badge because he felt sorry for Pikachu getting trounced endlessly by his Piloswine, and I remember hearing that you only got the Dynamo Badge because Pikachu was super-charged. And let's not forget how you managed to convince several gym leaders to give you second chances after losing to them on previous occasions?" she pointed out.

Ash sulked. Latias sweatdropped, she had no idea that Ash had gotten so many badges out of luck or generosity. "Well…" Ash started, trying to think of a good comeback.

However, Ardan, who had just come up with a clever idea, and was very glad that he had thought up a plan B prior to dinner, interrupted Ash. "Say, I have an idea! Why don't you two battle each _other_ for the Rain Badge?" he suggested.

The humans looked at Ardan in surprise. "Each other?" they asked in unison. Latias and Charizard frowned, not trusting this. With the other Pokemon, Togetic had a similar feeling.

Ardan grinned. "Yes! Let's see which of you is the stronger trainer! You know, to prove who's the dominant figure in your little relationship? I will award the winner with a Rain Badge."

Ash looked interested. "That sounds cool! I was just saying a few hours ago how much I'd love to break our tie, Misty."

She smirked in reply. "Yeah, and we both know who's gonna get that Rain Badge…me!"

"Ha!" Ash laughed. "You? You're already a Gym Leader! What would you do with it?"

"Well…" she said with an evil grin. "I _was_ planning to give it to you if I won (I would still have proved I was the better trainer) but if you're going to be so mean about it, maybe I'll just give it to Togetic to play with." Togetic perked up at the thought of a new shiny toy. "Or maybe…maybe I'll feed it to Psyduck!" she cried, pointing to her brainless Pokemon, who had decided to wear his bowl on his head like a hat, spilling Pokemon food everywhere.

"Huh?" he asked stupidly, hearing his name called.

Ash gaped. "You wouldn't!" he cried.

She smirked. "Oh wouldn't I?"

Latias sweatdropped. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, these two have a very strange relationship."

"You'll get used to it," Pikachu reassured her as he walked over to hear the argument better.

Ardan grinned, pleased his evil plan B was working. "And to make it even more interesting, why don't the both of you use only Water Pokemon? Since Misty is a specialist in that area, a victory over her using her own type would be a true mark of superiority!"

Ash grinned. "I like the sound of that! Crawdaunt, think you can handle it?"

Crawdaunt clacked his pincers. "Ha! Heck yeah, I'm always up for a challenge!" _Especially when there's a hot babe watching!_ He thought, glancing at Corsola.

Misty didn't seem perturbed. "My Pokemon have gained a lot of experience from their battles in the last few months, Ash. Even with a type equality, I think we can still pull off a win! And since you're using the strongest (and only) Water Pokemon on your team, it's only fair I use my strongest too!" She stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

The water off the terrace bubbled as a dark figure rose from the depths. Gyarados erupted out of the basin, splashing everyone with water and bellowing monstrously. Phanphy squealed and hid behind Togetic, who was rather used to her Monster Brother's antics by now, and Ardan, oddly enough, looked startled and frightened for a moment. His eyes narrowed at the Gyarados. And Togetic's eyes narrowed at him, unnoticed by the others. "Yes…that does seem fitting…" he murmured.

Crawdaunt sweatdropped, his ego deflating slightly at the sight of his opponent. "I've gotta fight him!" He paused, noticing Corsola was glancing at him. "Er, no problem! Yeah, I'll take this sucker down with no problem!"

Corsola sweatdropped. "Your funeral," she muttered, walking away. Crawdaunt sweatdropped, seeing his attempt to impress her had failed, and he was now going to have to fight a large and ferocious sea serpent.

Ash also seemed momentarily worried, but rallied his courage. "Is that the best you've got? Just yesterday, I beat the ancient master of darkness, and he was much scarier than your Gyarados!"

"Ash, technically Latias and Mewtwo defeated Missingno. All you did was put the talisman on Latias' mom that banished the evil and turned him back into a weak little Duskull," Bayleef pointed out.

Ash sweatdropped. "I know that, but I'm trying to impress Ardan and Misty!" he hissed.

"Enough bragging! Let's get this over with!" Misty challenged.

Ardan snickered to himself, happy that his evil plan was falling into place so easily. He did not notice or care that Togetic and Latias were glaring at him suspiciously.

…

They had all moved inside to battle. Ardan's gym battlefield was a cavernous room with a large rectangular pool set into the marble floor, with small platforms floating in it. One of the room's long walls was filled by marble steps to form stadium seating, with a large block platform sticking out from the middle with a railing at the top for an observation deck. The front of the block showed three large blue raindrops arranged in a triangular formation, the symbol of the gym. On the top of the observation deck was a small platform with a regal chair on it. Ardan was seated in that chair, with a small end table on his right holding a wine glass which he occasionally took a sip from. At either end of the big pool were two platforms shaped like diving boards but much shorter, only edging a foot or so out over the water. Ash and Misty were each standing on one of these platforms. Crawdaunt was standing on one of the small floating platforms in front of Ash, and Gyarados (who had been let into the pool through a waterway going out into the basin) rose from the waters before Misty.

Both trainers' Pokemon teammates were seated on the marble steps, and some of them had somehow acquired the type of attire you'd expect insane fans to wear at sporting events. Phanphy had put a large foam hand with ASH #1 written on it over his trunk, Charizard had somehow gained a T-shirt and baseball cap with Ash's face on it and was chowing down on some hot dogs, Latias found herself holding a pair of pennants (she had no idea where they had come from), Politoed had donned a cheerleading outfit and was waving pom-poms on his webbed hands, and Psyduck was facing in the totally wrong direction with MISSTEE'Z HALVING MI BAYBEE painted in blue upside-down on his bare chest. Everyone stayed far away from him. Kasurin had a large hat with blue and red colors split down the middle. The red side had a picture of Crawdaunt, the blue of Gyarados. He looked confused. Togetic had a small T-shirt with her mother's name on it, but was too focused in glaring at Ardan suspiciously to notice what would go on in the match. Pikachu, Bayleef and Corsola, the only ones not looking ridiculous, sweatdropped. "Where did they get this attire in the five minutes it took us to get over here?" wondered the Coral Pokemon.

"You're asking me?" grunted Bayleef.

"Why am I holding pennants?" Latias wondered aloud. She put them down and scooted over to the other two girls. "This is strange. And I think Ardan is up to something."

Bayleef rolled her eyes. "You think?"

Ardan raised his wineglass. "This will be a one-on-one match with no time limit. To the winner goes the Rain Badge, the final badge necessary for qualification in the Hoenn League. Both trainers may begin now!"

And so they did.

"Crawdaunt, hit Gyarados with your Bubblebeam!" commanded Ash.

"Gotcha! Hope you're watching, Coral Babe!" Crawdaunt fired dozens of energy bubbles at the sea serpent.

"Gyarados, dive underwater to avoid the bubbles and charge Crawdaunt!" ordered Misty. The giant fish quickly dove into the pool, avoiding the bubbles. A dark figure appeared beneath the surface and started rushing towards Crawdaunt, creating a white surge of foam as it came towards the lobster.

"Crawdaunt, get off that platform quick! Fire Bubblebeams right at Gyarados as he passes!" yelled Ash.

Crawdaunt made a stunning leap off the platform right before Gyarados smashed into it, destroying it, and fired dozens of bubbles from both claws at the serpent's shadow. "Yeah, take that!"

Gyarados burst out of the water, reacting angrily to the bubbles, and roared at the lobster as he landed in the pool. "Little punk!"

Misty pointed at the lobster. "Gyarados, get Crawdaunt with Bite attack!"

Gyarados lunged at Crawdaunt, jaws gaping wide open. Crawdaunt sweatdropped at the size of the monster's teeth. "Hoo boy."

"Crawdaunt, dive underwater to avoid the Bite and hit him with Crabhammer as he passes by!" shouted Ash from his platform.

With milliseconds to spare, Crawdaunt dove into the water and swam to the side, barely avoiding Gyarados' jaws. The shockwave caused by Gyarados' head penetrating the water where he had just been nearly tossed him away, but with a flip of his tail he propelled himself towards Gyarados and drove a glowing Crabhammer into the gills on the side of the serpent's head.

Gyarados writhed in pain, twisted about, and lunged at Crawdaunt with open jaws. Gyarados was much faster in the water than Crawdaunt, so there was no way he could dodge in time. Fortunately, he didn't have to. "Crawdaunt, Harden!" Ash's command, though distorted by passing through the water, was received by his Pokemon's ears, and the lobster crossed his claws and hardened his shell, hoping that it would be enough to protect him from Gyarados' bite.

It was, but just barely. Gyarados burst out of the water, jaws clamped around Crawdaunt's shell, struggling to bite down on it. They seemed to be at an impasse, Crawdaunt's hardening from the match that morning had not totally worn off yet, but Gyarados' fangs were very strong and did not look like they would break anytime soon. "Ha! Looks like my Crawdaunt's shell is too strong for your Gyarados to crack!" Ash taunted.

"Way to go Crawdaunt, you're the hardest of us all!" Phanphy cheered. The more mature Pokemon stared at him awkwardly, wondering if he had realized the double entendre in that sentence.

"Go father!" cried Kasurin. "Which is not to say I don't support you too, Gyarados," he stammered as Misty's other Pokemon glared at him. "But…er, he is my father, so…you understand!"

"Gyarados' teeth may not be strong enough…but what about being flung at a wall at 20 miles per hour?" Misty asked with a smirk.

Ash blinked. "Uh…"

"Gyarados! Hurl Crawdaunt at the wall as hard as you can!" Misty cried.

The sea serpent leaned his head back, then lunged forward, releasing Crawdaunt from his jaws as he did so. The momentum flung the lobster towards the arena wall at very high speeds. "Ah crap, not agaaaaaiiiiin!" he yelled, remembering how this had happened just that morning as well.

However, Ash was prepared this time. "Crawdaunt, fire Bubblebeam at the wall quickly!" Only moments before he could hit, Crawdaunt opened his claws and blasted bubbles at the wall. Since he was so close to the impact, the ricochet and kickback flung him away at twice the speed he had been going in the first place, heading right back towards Gyarados!

The serpent's eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

"Quick, dive!" Misty commanded.

"Too late! Crawdaunt, Crabhammer!" yelled Ash.

Crawdaunt, hurtling towards Gyarados like a crimson missile, pulled back his claw, which started glowing. Gyarados was starting to submerge, but Crawdaunt was moving too fast for him to dodge. "Take this, you overgrown worm! Yaaahhhhh!" Crawdaunt's powered-up claw punch smashed into Gyarados' forehead with such force that as the serpent's head flung backwards, it pulled almost half of his body length out of the water, smashing his head into the block Ardan was sitting on top of as he was all but thrown out of the pool and lay on the ground at the base of the block, looking all but dead.

The shake from the impact between Gyarados' head and Ardan's block startled the artist and caused him to drop his wine glass, which shattered all over the floor. He growled at the loss, clenched his fist, and muttered something under his breath.

Togetic's eyes narrowed. Although she was classified as a Normal/Flying Pokemon, she seemed to have several traits and abilities that were usually characteristic of a Psychic Pokemon. She had recently discovered the ability to "read" a person's feelings, or auras, and use them to determine what kind of person she was looking at. Something about Ardan's feelings seemed…familiar. He put on a good show, hiding his emotions, but now and then he had slipped a little, releasing a veritable spike of concealed anger or hatred that she had picked up very clearly. Even Latias, who was very untrained in this ability, could probably have detected it…were she not in her human form, which severely blunted her psychic powers. As such, all she got was a vague sense of wrongness about Ardan. Togetic was also fairly untrained in this respect, so only had a little more beyond that sense of wrongness, but it was enough for her to know that something was very wrong with Ardan. He had showed it when Ash had kept ringing the doorbell, when Misty had declared Ash to be her boyfriend, when Ash had challenged him at dinner, and when Gyarados burst out of the water at the terrace. And he had showed it just now, when his wineglass had broken. She didn't know what Ardan's deal was just yet…

But she intended to find out.

Latias was too distracted by the battle to pay attention to Ardan, so had for the moment forgotten her own misgivings about him. "What perfect timing and style! A brilliant move!" Charizard complimented from next to her, squirting some mustard on one of his hot dogs.

"It was pretty good," Bayleef agreed.

"Ha! Don't count Gyarados out yet!" Politoed declared, brandishing a pom-pom at the Grass type.

"What are you talking about? He's lying knocked-out on the ground! It's over!" Charizard shot back, shaking his hot dog at the frog.

Phanphy nodded. "Yeah, Uncle Crawdaunt totally won! Didn't he, Emotional Brother Cousin Kasurin?"

Kasurin was about to reply yes, but Politoed and Corsola glared at him. "Er…no…I mean yes…I mean…I DON'T KNOW!" he cried, torn between loyalty to his teammate and to his newfound parent.

Crawdaunt was oblivious to his son's dilemma and was shaking his tail in a victory dance on one of the floating platforms. "Yeah, who's the toughest lobster of them all? Go Crawdaunt! Go Crawdaunt! Hahaha! Didja see that, coral babe?" Corsola had gotten caught up in the argument with the other Pokemon on who had won the match, and so hadn't been paying attention. He sweatdropped. "Aw man…"

Ash smirked at Misty, pushing his hat back with a carefree move. "Heh, sorry Misty, guess I win!"

Misty chuckled. "Oh, you think so, do you?" Pikachu frowned. From the look on his Pikachupi's face, this battle wasn't over yet. "Gyarados, enough Resting! Let's finish the match!"

The serpent's eyes flew open. "Right!" To the shock of all Ash's Pokemon, and Ash himself, Gyarados rose from his position on the ground, looking like he hadn't just gotten punched by a glowing claw or smashed into a thick marble block.

"What…how…no way! He was out cold!" Ash stammered.

Misty laughed. "What? From smashing his head on a wall? He's had _much _harder impacts from whenever he accidentally gives Psyduck a headache and gets telekinetically thrown through the air."

Psyduck looked around, hearing his name called. "Huh?" he quacked stupidly.

"But then why did it look like he was unconscious?" wondered Bayleef.

"Oh, Misty worked out a strategy for that ages ago for whenever Gyarados got thrown out of the water by an opponent. He feigns unconsciousness so he can use Rest to heal himself somewhat and frighten the opponent when he gets back up," explained Corsola.

Pikachu nodded, understanding the strategy. "Very clever. And psychologically speaking, very damaging to the opponent. They'll believe Gyarados can't be defeated or is stronger than he actually is, and their battle performance will drop as a result." Everyone stared at him. He sighed. "I watch the Psychology Channel. Last night they had a special on how psychology can be used in Pokemon battles."

"Ah…" said Politoed, somewhat getting it. "And that means it's gonna be another win for our team, right Kasurin?"

"Right!" affirmed the Luvdisc. "Wait…but Gyarados winning would be bad, because Father would lose…but Gyarados is my friend, and I don't want _him_ to lose…oh, I'm so _confused_!" he wailed, bursting into tears and hopping away.

The others sweatdropped "Is he always like this?" Latias asked Corsola.

Bayleef had to translate since Corsola and Latias had not yet become true 'friends', and as such were not telepathically bonded. The coral Pokemon sighed. "Why do you think Phanphy and Togetic call him _Emotional_ Brother…or Brother Cousin now…Kasurin?"

"Heh, whatever," said Charizard diffidently. "It doesn't matter whether or not Kasurin can decide who to root for, what does matter is that Crawdaunt isn't gonna let himself get psyched out by Gyarados! Isn't that right, Crawdaunt?"

"Uh, right. Right!" Crawdaunt called back, regaining some of his confidence as the sea serpent slid back into the pool. "I'm not gonna lose to a giant sea worm!"

"Actually, the correct pronunciation is _wyrm_," Latias corrected, Bayleef relaying her words to the lobster. "Since he has draconian features, that's the proper term for Gyarados."

Crawdaunt's eye twitched. "…Do you think I _care_!"

"You should," growled Gyarados. "Because this _wyrm_ is about to keelhaul you like a shrimp on a skewer!"

"Gyarados, use Twister and Dragon Dance!" commanded Misty.

Gyarados lowered his head into the water and started swimming in a circle around the platform Crawdaunt was on, churning the water up and causing the platform to wobble. "What's he doing?" Latias wondered.

"It's a Twister attack. Ash, watch out, you've seen this move before!" Pikachu called.

"Yeah, I know! Crawdaunt, stop Gyarados with Bubblebeam!" Ash commanded.

Crawdaunt pointed his claw at the circling Gyarados, no easy feat since the platform's wobbling movements were getting more chaotic due to the churning water and especially since the serpent was a moving target. He still managed to fire off a successful shot, striking Gyarados in the side. The wyrm flinched, but continued his circling, moving faster. Gyarados was starting to glow, and the water was getting worse.

"Why's he glowing?" wondered Phanphy.

"It's Gyarados' Dragon Dance," explained Politoed. "He uses it to boost his speed and attack power."

"Hey Latias, weren't you trying Dragon Dance the other day?" Pikachu asked.

The disguised dragon scowled and crossed her arms. "Yes, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of it without looking like a buffoon. Yet."

Crawdaunt fired some more bubbles at Gyarados, but they were ineffectual at best. As the circular current increased, a wave slammed into the side of the platform, nearly overturning it and flinging Crawdaunt into the water, where he would be at the mercy of the currents. "It's not working!" he yelled at Ash.

"Then…try a more physical attack! Grab onto his body with Vicegrip so when the Twister forms, you can ride it out!" Ash called to the lobster, getting an idea.

"Okay!" He lunged at Gyarados, nearly missing the wyrm due to the speed he was moving at, but just managed to latch onto the serpent's tail with one of his pincers. He did it at just the right time, for nary a millisecond later the water Gyarados had been churning up exploded upward in a huge waterspout, spraying water everywhere and flinging the platform Crawdaunt had stood on up at the ceiling, where it caromed off and crashed into the wall just behind Ardan. He started at the near miss, and an expression of anger twisted on his face, causing Togetic to flinch at the sensation of such a sharp spike of hatred emitting from the man.

Gyarados was riding the waterspout, swimming up its circumference with Crawdaunt in tow. The lobster nearly lost his grip when the Twister had started, and the currents pushing at him almost knocked him off, but if there was one good thing about crustacean Pokemon it was that they had strong claws, and he did not intend to let go anytime soon. If Gyarados, who was now glowing even more brightly, noticed the pain of having part of his tail fin crushed by Crawdaunt's pincer, he didn't notice as he kept swimming up the length of the waterspout.

When he reached the top, Gyarados burst out of the shimmering, spinning column of water that formed the Twister, roaring spectacularly as he arced through the air, plummeting towards the pool below. As he dove, his tail flipped up and smacked Crawdaunt into the ceiling, almost knocking the lobster off. Dazed, Crawdaunt still retained his grip on the fin as Gyarados landed in the pool, causing a tremendous splash that, coinciding with the collapse of the Twister attack, sent water all over the room, soaking everyone.

Charizard yelped and covered his tail flame with a wing to keep it from going out. "Hey, watch it!" he yelled at Gyarados.

"My foam hand's dissolving!" Phanphy cried miserably as the giant decorative hand on his snout disintegrated.

"And my pom-poms are too damp to be of any use!" complained Politoed, shaking one of his drenched pom-poms. What looked like half a gallon of water spilled off of it.

Latias frowned, noticing that her illusory clothes had shrunken in response to the water, showing her figure. "It's a good thing that under these clothes my human body is completely smooth and lacks any feminine features whatsoever," she muttered as she wrung some of the water out of her hair.

Bayleef's leaf was so laden with water it was hanging in front of her face, and refused to budge. "Get off!" she cried, blowing it frantically with her nostrils and mouth. It flopped a little, but remained in front of her face, blocking her view.

Corsola was perfectly fine with the water, and Psyduck was totally oblivious and hadn't even noticed it had gotten all over the place. Togetic hadn't noticed either, because when Gyarados had splashed down and soaked everyone, Ardan had given off an even more withering spike of hate than before. It looked like he could barely restrain himself from doing something now. His right hand quivered over a decorative knob on his chair, but he grabbed it with his other hand and forced it down, trembling and gritting his teeth. "Uncle Brother Pikachu," she said softly, not taking her eyes off of Ardan.

"Yeah?" asked Pikachu, shaking himself and splattering everyone with water droplets as he dried himself off.

"Watch it!" bellowed Charizard, whose flame has gotten struck by a drop and fizzled.

"I think-" Togetic started.

"I hafta go to the bathroom!" Phanphy blurted out suddenly, crossing his back legs and hopping up and down anxiously.

"What, _now_!" asked the annoyed Bayleef, who still couldn't get her leaf off her face.

"All that water reminded my bladder it has to go! Oooohhhh, I hafta go potty real bad!" he moaned, biting his lip.

Bayleef sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Charizard, you go and find him a bathroom."

"What! Why me?" the dragon protested.

"Because if you stay here, there's a chance you'll get wet and your flame will go out," Latias pointed out.

"…Good point. Bah, after we're done with this place I never want to be near water again," he grumbled.

"Actually, we're going to spend the next two days on a ferry going to Ever Grande City, which is on an island," stated Pikachu, shaking his fur to get the last droplets of water out.

"…Oh," said Charizard unhappily. He sighed. "Come on kid, let's go."

"Yay!" cried Phanphy, jumping for joy and almost losing what little control he had left of his bladder. He followed Charizard out of the chamber as they went to find a bathroom.

As for the battlers, the pool had been drained quite a bit when Gyarados had splashed down. It was now only holding half as much water as it was before, so Gyarados could not submerge himself and swim around as quickly or freely as he had before as a result. Crawdaunt had recovered from the big splashdown and was staring down Gyarados. They were both using Leer in an attempt to decrease the other's defense, but Gyarados' size and ferocity was just barely matched by Crawdaunt's determination and orneriness, so neither of them were weakening.

Ash, oddly enough, had a smile on his face, even though he was dripping wet and his hat seemed to sag from all the water it had absorbed. "That was a pretty neat technique you pulled off back there. You've gotten a lot stronger than I remember."

Misty laughed and rolled her eyes. Despite getting seriously wet, causing her ponytail to hang down, her clothes hadn't shrunken at all from the moisture. Non-shrinking clothes were a must for any truly dedicated Water Pokemon trainer, especially if you were female. "Fighting dozens of overeager trainers day in and out will do that for a girl and her Pokemon."

"Heck, if your other Pokemon had been this tough before, I doubt I would have ever beaten you in the fight for Totodile!" he complimented.

Misty blushed gracefully. "And if your Pokemon had been as durable as your Crawdaunt is now, I doubt you would have lost to me in the Whirl Cup."

"Can you two stop flirting and fight already!" called a frustrated Ardan from the sidelines. Togetic's brow furrowed, sensing another unusual spike of frustration and anger from the man. "Finish the match already!" His fingers reached unconsciously for the knob on his seat.

Togetic turned to try and get her brother uncle's attention. "Brother Uncle Pikachu, I think Ardan's going to do something to Mom and Dad."

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we kind of guessed that when Latias told us her own suspicions on the way over here. You didn't hear?"

Togetic blinked in surprise. She had been too focused on watching Ardan to pay attention. And it was uncertain that she would have heard anyway, because she and Latias weren't 'friends' yet, but with Togetic's unusual abilities that bordered on Psychic, perhaps she could have. Had she been paying attention, that is. "Um…I guess not." Togetic frowned. "So, shouldn't we all be on alert, then?"

Pikachu shrugged. "Well, we were at first, but…somehow on the way here, at the point where the others must have gotten their cheering uniforms, it slipped my mind. That and the intense match kept me from thinking about it." He frowned. "But thank you for reminding me. I'll tell the others to keep a close eye on Ardan, too. If he tries anything, we'll blast him to smithereens with our combined power." Feeling slightly reassured, Togetic nodded and went back to observing the person who, more and more, she believed to be an evil man.

At Ardan's prompting, the trainers and their Pokemon resumed the battle. "Okay Crawdaunt, Gyarados won't be able to move as much as before because the water level's lowered! Attack him with Bubblebeam!" Crawdaunt nodded, opened his claws, and fired high-powered bubbles at the sea serpent. Since the platform he had mounted after recovering happened to be fairly close to Gyarados, that made the odds of the bubbles hitting significantly higher.

"Gyarados, our movement may have been limited, but we can compensate with the power and speed boost we got from the Dragon Dance you did earlier! Dodge, then attack with Tackle!" Misty shouted. In a surprising burst of speed, Gyarados swung his head out of the way of the bubbles, then lunged forward once they were gone, smashing his nose into the edge of Crawdaunt's platform and flipping it over, catapulting Crawdaunt over his body. The serpent's tail swung up, intending to knock the lobster into the ceiling.

"Crawdaunt, hold on to the tail like before with Vicegrip!" ordered Ash. As the tail swung up, Crawdaunt dodged in mid-air and latched onto the fin with a claw, keeping himself from falling. His weight pulled the tail down, causing him to dangle over the water. Gyarados turned his head to face the irritating crustacean with a frustrated look. "Now, blast him in the face with Bubblebeam!"

Crawdaunt opened fire, even with his speed boost Gyarados' face had been only a couple of feet away and so got pelted by a number of bubbles, stinging his eyes. He clenched them shut and hissed in pain, writhing his serpentine body and managing to fling Crawdaunt off. He hit the water with a splash, but was unharmed and surfaced a few feet away, spluttering and spitting out water. "Oh, I think you made Gyarados angry, Ash! I would have thought you knew by now never to anger a Gyarados!" Misty taunted. "Show them how angry you are with Dragon Rage!" Gyarados' eyes flew open, revealing swollen blood vessels. He roared, opening his mouth widely and forming a glowing energy ball. He spat the ball at Crawdaunt, whose eyes bulged as he dove to avoid the orb.

The ball passed over him and exploded as it hit the water, splashing droplets everywhere. "Crawdaunt, stay underwater and attack from there, Gyarados can't use Dragon Rage down there!"

Misty smirked. "Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Ash. Gyarados, you know what to do!" The sea serpent submerged his head and most of his body, although some of his fins and back ridges stuck out as a result of the slightly cramped conditions caused by the pool being half-drained. The serpent opened his mouth and formed another energy ball, causing the water around it to sizzle and heat up. Crawdaunt's eyes bulged when he saw Gyarados had followed him down into the water and barely managed to swim out of the way as Gyarados spat the Dragon Rage at him. The ball shot past him, a bit slower than it would in the air, throwing him back with the current of displaced water formed by its passage. He was sent tumbling end-over-end when the ball exploded, creating a shockwave that splashed water out of the pool and sprinkling the spectators, who were just starting to get dry.

"I'm _really_ glad I have nothing to hide," Latias muttered as she pulled off her shirt without any modesty and started wringing it out, so used to the action due to the number of times she had done it when she had gotten soaked in the canals of Alto Mare and from doing it in Ash's presence she had forgotten there were people who had never seen her do it present. Where normal woman would have breasts, she just had a curved chest. It was like her body was made from clay or something without true features, which was half-true. Thankfully, everyone was too busy watching the fight to notice.

In the meantime, Gyarados continued firing Dragon Rages at Crawdaunt. Crawdaunt was able to dodge the first few, but swam right into one of the energy balls by accident in the act of dodging another one. The ball exploded, hurling him out of the water and causing him to land hard on a platform, making it wobble. He groaned and shook, trying to push himself off. Gyarados rose from the water, charging another Dragon Rage. "Okay Gyarados, finish him!" commanded Misty. The serpent spat the energy ball at Crawdaunt…

…Only for Ash to yell, "Crawdaunt, Crabhammer!"

To the astonishment of all, Crawdaunt suddenly leapt up and punched the energy ball with a glowing claw, sending it right back at Gyarados! The sea serpent was too startled by this surprise attack to dodge in time, and the ball exploded in his face, causing him to reel back, roaring in pain. "No way!" cried the surprised Misty. "I thought he was done for! How'd he manage to get up so quickly?"

Ash smirked. "Crawdaunt used Harden right before that Dragon Rage hit him in the water, so its effect was lessened and he was able to play dead until he had the right opportunity to attack, just like Gyarados did when he was using Rest. Good thing both my Pokemon and I can learn certain things on the fly, right?"

Misty rolled her eyes. "You always do think best under pressure," she admitted. She smirked. "One of the most admirable things about you."

Down in the pool, Gyarados had recovered from being attacked by his own energy ball. "Damn…that was a pretty slick move!" he commented, actually impressed.

Crawdaunt chuckled. "Yeah, and I wasn't even trying to show off that time either!"

"Heh. You're not bad for a giant shrimp."

"And you're not bad for an overgrown worm."

They both smiled. In their own way, the two tough-guy Pokemon had earned respect for each other. But that newfound respect didn't mean they'd go easy on each other, for the fight wasn't over yet!

…

"Are we lost, Brother Charizard?" Phanphy asked his big brother.

"No, we're not lost…I'm just not sure where we are," Charizard responded.

The duo was wandering around the halls of the mansion. They had been unable to find a bathroom, so Phanphy ended up relieving himself on the floor. Charizard didn't really care, figuring it would be the servants' problem now. However, now they could not seem to find a way back to the arena where they had started.

Charizard opened a random door, hoping it would lead back to the arena. Instead, it was an opulent guest bedroom, quite nice but not what they were looking for. "Nope." He closed it and moved onto the next door. Opening it, he saw an exquisite bathroom, worthless to them since Phanphy had already gone. "Nope." He closed the door and opened the next one, which appeared to be a broom closet with a tied-up and gagged man with blue-green hair and a suit that under other circumstances would have looked quite stylish shoved into one corner. "Nope." He closed the door and moved on to the next one before freezing in his tracks as his brain registered what he had just seen. "Hey, wait a minute…"

…

"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!" commanded Misty. Powering up his most powerful attack, Gyarados fired a tremendous golden energy beam from his mouth, aiming for Crawdaunt.

"Ash, Crawdaunt's shell isn't hard enough to survive the Beam! If he gets hit, you'll lose the match!" Pikachu cried from the sidelines.

"Hey, no backseat training!" Corsola complained, smacking Pikachu with her horns.

"What! Ash has always gotten advice from his friends on the sidelines when he's battling!" Pikachu protested.

Corsola blinked. "…He has? Oh. Forgot about that. Sorry."

In the meantime, Ash and Crawdaunt had heard Pikachu's advice. "Crawdaunt, get out of the way!" cried Ash.

Crawdaunt gathered all the power in his legs and leaped off the platform just as the Hyper Beam smashed into it, causing it to explode. The shockwave from the blast caught Crawdaunt in mid-jump, flinging him through the air and causing him to smash face-first into the pool wall and crack it. He slid down the wall and fell into the water, where he floated in a daze. "Craw-daddy, when will I be old enough to mate?" he asked in a babyish tone.

"Ha! Your Crawdaunt's got nowhere to go Ash! It's all over!" Misty crowed triumphantly. "Gyarados, finish him with Bite!" Gyarados lunged towards Crawdaunt, jaws wide open.

Ash clutched his hair in panic. "No, it can't end like this! Crawdaunt, get up!"

"Wuzzat, Craw-mommy? You need help pulling your molted shell off? Sure, I'll help…" the lobster babbled, oblivious to the gaping jaws of doom approaching him.

Politoed started hopping and waving his limp pom-poms in a cheer. "Yeah, Gyarados, toughest of the tough, anyone who fights him will find the going really rough!" he sang.

"It's over? Aw man…" complained Bayleef.

Up in his seat, Ardan smirked and held his hand over the knob on his chair. Togetic's eyes narrowed. She sensed that whatever was going to happen, was going to happen right then. She rose into the air, preparing an attack if Ardan's hand got any closer to the knob.

But all was not lost yet. Just before Gyarados' fangs could make contact with Crawdaunt, Psyduck, whom nobody had been paying attention to in the last several minutes, jumped into the pool and landed on top of Crawdaunt, pushing the lobster under water. "Help drowning! Help drowning!" he screamed, flailing about in a panic and not noticing Gyarados' jaws.

Both Gyarados and Misty's eyes widened in horror. "Ahhh! Gyarados, stop!"

Gyarados tried to pull back, but his momentum from the lunge was too great and he accidentally closed his mouth on Psyduck's head.

The faces of all of Misty's Pokemon and most of Ash's went pale. Latias looked at her friends in confusion. "What? What's wrong?" Ardan also looked puzzled, taking his hand off the knob in confusion.

They would soon find out for themselves. Psyduck blinked, as if he had _just_ noticed his head was stuck in Gyarados' mouth. His eyes rolled up to meet Gyarados', that were bulging in fear, and said, after some deliberation, "Ouch." Then his eyes turned blue, and a blue glow surrounded both him and Gyarados. As Psyduck's ludicrously powerful Confusion attack took hold, Gyarados' jaw opened involuntarily, releasing the duck from his mouth. Gyarados then levitated out of the water, and rammed his face over and over again into the wall of the pool, cracking it with each impact. Then, after about a dozen face-plants into the wall, the blue aura around Gyarados faded and he fell into the water, causing a big splash as he vanished into the depths then came bobbing back up, unconscious. Psyduck's eyes stopped glowing and he remembered he couldn't swim. "HELP DROWNING HELP DROWNING HELP DROWNING!" he screamed, thrashing about like a madman as Crawdaunt bobbed up next to him, as unconscious as Gyarados.

Latias stared at what had just happened in disbelief. "…"

"THAT," said Bayleef solemnly, "Is why we all fear Psyduck."

Misty watched helplessly as her strongest Pokemon was once again laid low by her most incompetent and pathetic Pokemon, and groaned, falling to her knees. "PSYDUCK!" she screamed.

"Huh?" said Psyduck, stopping his thrashing and looking up cluelessly at his trainer.

Misty was so ashamed she couldn't even look at the brainless wonder. Sighing, her face looking down at the platform she was standing on, she pulled out a Pokeball and pointed it at the duck. "Return," she said with a voice dripping with misery and utter defeat. A red beam lanced out of the Pokeball, touching Psyduck and converting him into energy which was then sucked back into the red and white sphere. Listlessly, Misty stuck the ball back into her bag.

Ash sweatdropped, feeling sorry for Misty. "Geez, that's embarrassing…" He felt disappointed that the match had ended this way. If Gyarados had simply managed to connect his Bite, that would have been one thing, but for both Pokemon to be accidentally defeated by Psyduck? Who would have seen that coming? "Sorry…" he called across to her. If she heard, she didn't reply.

Ardan sneered then, and Togetic, who had been distracted momentarily from the gym leader's plotting by the antics of her most embarrassing sibling, gasped at the feelings radiating from the man. "Well, look like this match ends in a draw. I guess both of you lose!" Then, before Togetic or anyone else could do anything, he slammed his hand down on the knob, pressing it down into the chair arm.

The platforms Ash and Misty were standing on suddenly collapsed on hidden hinges, dropping both of them into the pool. "WAAAHHH-" Ash's cry was cut off with a splash as he hit the water. He went under, but came up a second later, gasping for air, just in time to see a huge metal grille slam shut over the top of the pool and then crackle as a million gigawatts of electricity were conducted through it. "Gah! Wh-what's going on!" he cried.

Ardan cackled as holes opened in the pool's sides and water started pouring out of them by the gallon, causing the water level to rise. "Wahahaha! At last, I will finally have my revenge!" he crowed.

Pikachu gasped. "Pikapi! Pikachupi!…oh, and Crawdaunt and Gyarados too, I guess."

Latias moaned and leapt to her feet. "I forgot all about Ardan, I was too caught up in the match…come on, we have to stop him!"

"Yeah, if the pool fills up and they hit the grille, the water will conduct the electricity into their bodies and kill them!" Pikachu agreed. "Trust me, I'm an Electric-type. I know these things."

The two of them raced up the stairs towards Ardan, followed by the other Pokemon. The dark artist stopped his maniacal laughter, noticing them coming. "Eh? What's this? You think to challenge me, fools? Go, Ninjask!" He tossed out a Pokeball, which popped open and released a black insect Pokemon with a gold face and red eyes.

Togetic gasped for some reason, but the others didn't notice. "I thought all of his Pokemon were in the Center!" said Bayleef angrily.

Pikachu growled, charging up an electric charge. "Obviously, he lied. We're not going to let this one little bug stand in our way, are we?"

Politoed nodded, tossing away his pom-poms. "Misty always has hated insects. Let's squash this one for her!" He spat a Water Gun at Ninjask.

Ardan was at this point rushing down the stairs on the other side of the platform, and called an order back at his Pokemon. "Ninjask, dodge and use Shadow Ball!" Togetic, Bayleef and Latias ran after him, letting their friends fight the Ninjask.

The ninja Pokemon phased away from the waterspout, and hurled a Shadow Ball at Politoed, who it calculated would be too slow to dodge. This was true…however, Corsola was not too slow! She jumped in front of Politoed and deflected the ball back at Ninjask with her Mirror Coat, causing the dark sphere to explode on contact with the bug, stunning it. She then fired a Spike Cannon at the Ninjask, followed up with a Water Gun from Politoed and a Thunderbolt from Pikachu, and the insect was down for the count.

Ardan was almost to the exit doors, pressing a stud on one of his cufflinks as he went which signalled his escape vehicle, when he was tackled from behind by an enraged Togetic. "Huh? What hit me!" he cried out, looking around in bewilderment.

"YOU…FUCKING…BASTARD!" Togetic screamed, using language totally out of character for her as she charged at the artist again, who for some reason did not seem to be able to see her. She rammed him in the chest, causing him to gasp in pain as his ribs cracked and he fell to the ground. The furious angel flew about, ready to make another pass at the artist when Bayleef and Latias caught up her.

"Togetic, stop, we've got him!" cried Bayleef, encircling the man with her vine whips and holding him in place.

"No! He has to pay for what he's done!" the angel screamed, flying towards Ardan's face.

Latias snatched her out of the air and held her tightly. "That's enough! We have to get him to stop that deathtrap first!"

"Yeah, we'd really appreciate it if you could do that!" Ash called from inside the pool, in which the water level was rising higher and higher. Crawdaunt and Gyarados were still unconscious, and Misty was holding onto Ash out of fright.

"Right!" agreed Pikachu, running down the stairs ahead of everyone else. "How do we stop that thing!" he demanded of Ardan.

Ardan had no clue what he was saying, since he didn't understand Pikachu. "What?" he asked, looking confused.

Pikachu growled. "TELL ME!" he yelled, zapping Ardan with a Thundershock.

Ardan howled in pain, as did Bayleef because she was holding him. "HEY! I'm on your side, remember!" the plant cried.

"PIKACHU!" Ash yelled. "He can't understand you, he hasn't been around you as long as our friends or I have!"

Pikachu sweatdropped. "Eh heh, oops."

Ardan, despite being frazzled by the electric shock, started laughing again. "Hahahaha! Fools! I bet you little animals are wondering how to save your trainers, aren't you? Well, you're too late! Once it's been started, it can't be stopped! You see?" he said, pointing with a bound hand to the prone Gyarados, whose horns were inches away from the electric grille. "That monster fish's body will serve as the lightning rod for my electric grille! When his horns make contact with the grille, the electricity will be conducted into the water, where it will fry your lovebird trainers and their nasty fish Pokemon alive! They're doomed!" He laughed madly.

They gasped, shocked at the audacity of Ardan's mad scheme. "You MURDERER!" Togetic screamed, ripping free from Latias' hands and slamming into Ardan's face, breaking his nose.

"Aaahh! Who did that!" he cried, looking frightened.

"ME! The last Togetic!" cried Togetic, savagely attacking the artist's face with punches and kicks while Latias wondered why Ardan did not seem to be able to see Togetic. The other Pokemon, enraged that this insane man had doomed their trainers, started beating him up as well while crying for their imminent loss.

Pikachu ran over to the grille and stuck his tail onto the grille in an attempt to channel some of his own electricity into it and overload its system, but only received a nasty shock that sent his hair standing on end and launched him several feet away from the pool. "Aaaahhh! Pikapi, Pikachupi, I'm sorry, but I couldn't do it!" he cried, tears of pain and sorrow welling up from his clenched eyes.

Latias had ran up to Ardan's chair and was frantically pressing at the knobs and other carvings on it in an attempt to stop the water from flooding the pool. Nothing worked. "I'm sorry too!" she cried out. "I couldn't do it Ash!"

Ash clenched his teeth and looked up at the grille, seeing that there was only half an inch left between it and Gyarados' tallest horn. "Ash?" Misty asked quietly, getting his attention. "What are we going to do?"

Ash said nothing for a moment, staring at the wet and bedraggled figure that was the love of his life and to him, the most beautiful woman in the world. And then, with all hope gone, Ash Ketchum took the initiative and kissed Misty Waterflower.

And it was then that they were all saved by the unlikeliest of heroes.

…

Jessie wiped some sweat away from her forehead and stuck her portable drill into the ground. "Meowth, are we there yet?"

Meowth focused the light from his helmet-mounted lantern onto a map scrawled on a piece of paper. "Yep, this is the spot. We're right under the Sootopolis Gym's pool battle arena!"

"Excellent! Everybody!" Jessie shouted, getting the attention of James and the other Pokemon who had aided them in digging the long, dark, damp tunnel beneath the Sootopolis basin. "We've made it! All Pokemon personnel return to their Pokeballs, and everyone else equip their oxygen tanks at once!"

James pulled a pair of Pokeballs off his belt and recalled Chimecho and Cacnea before the latter could drill a hole in him with her digging tool, while Jessie called back Dustox and Seviper. Wobbuffet and Meowth dropped their drills and put on their air masks and scuba tanks, followed by Jessie and James after they were done with their Pokemon. "Right!" said Jessie, brandishing her drill. "It's time to finally win one for Team Cipher!"

"This'll never work," Wobbuffet grumbled.

James seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Jessie, wait. I know with these air tanks we can breathe while the water floods the tunnel, but what'll we do to keep from being swept away by the current?"

Wobbuffet was amazed that James had had the same idea as himself. "I don't believe it. Did he read my mind or something! No way, he's too stupid! Unless some of Chimecho's psychic ability rubbed off on him to compensate for his own stupidity…"

Jessie grinned and strapped on a pair of very heavy-looking boots. "That's why I got these! These weighted shoes will keep us anchored to the bottom of the tunnel and keep us from being swept away!"

She handed James and Meowth their own sets, but didn't even spare a glance at Wobbuffet, who was left empty-handed. "…Why don't I get a pair?" he mumbled sadly.

"Okay! Here we go!" cried James, driving his drill into the ceiling and cracking into the cement bottom of the pool. A trickle of water started seeping in. The amount of water increased as the crack widened, and suddenly the ceiling caved in as a humongous torrent of water gushed into the tunnel.

The sheer force of the water forced the boot-wearing Ciphers out of their shoes, skinning their feet and ankles, and sent poor Wobbuffet hurtling downstream before the others, who followed after him as the water flooded the tunnel. "Looks like we're all washed up again!" The Ciphers wailed as they were carried away.

…

Just before Gyarados' spike could touch the grille, there was a cracking sound and the water level started dropping dramatically, causing a whirlpool to form in the pool, which started to suck Ash, Misty, Gyarados and Crawdaunt into its current as it went down the makeshift drain the Ciphers had made for it. "Misty, hold on, I'm not gonna let you go!" cried Ash, clutching her tightly.

"Ash, I've been in whirlpools before. I'm all right," she commented, not looking too worried.

"…Oh. Right. So, uh, how do we get out of it?" he asked.

Misty glanced at Crawdaunt as he drifted by. "We can use Crawdaunt as a kickboard and swim out of the current," she explained, pulling away from Ash and fighting the current as she swam towards the unconscious lobster. Ash quickly followed and grabbed onto Crawdaunt's side next to Misty. Together, they started kicking as hard as they could, their combined power slowly increasing the distance between them and the edge of the whirlpool, until they made it to a corner of the pool, where the current was lessened, and watched as the water level continued to drop until it stopped at about waist-height, because Gyarados' body had gotten sucked into the whirlpool and plugged up the drain with his body mass. The pipes that had been flooding the pool had emptied their reservoirs, so they were in no danger of being electrocuted anytime soon.

"It's a miracle! They're alive!" cried Pikachu in disbelief. The other Pokemon, who had stopped beating up Ardan when they had heard the sound of water being drained away, cheered.

Politoed started rocking on his feet, clapping his hands rhythmically while Corsola hummed along. "Oh, let's all give a hurrah for life and hope! Hurrah! Hurrah! Let's give a cheer for miracles and wishes! Hurrah! Hurrah!"

Crawdaunt twitched and opened his eyes when he heard the cheer. "Eh? That humming…what a beautiful voice! It must be Corsola!"

Ash sweatdropped. "Oh Crawdaunt…"

"What? What did he say?" asked Misty, whom Politoed's cheering had distracted.

"You don't want to know."

Togetic hovered over the grille. "Mom, Dad, don't worry, we'll get you out right away!" She turned back to the others. "How do we get them out? The grille's still electrified."

"Maybe you could Teleport them out?" suggested Corsola.

"You've mastered Teleport?" Pikachu asked in surprise.

Corsola rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I've been practicing…"

"No need for that! I'll handle this!" said Charizard, walking up.

"Charizard! Where've you been?" yelled Ash from the pool.

Charizard shrugged. "Sorry we took so long, after Phanphy and I…found a bathroom, we decided to take a look around."

"We got totally lost!" said Phanphy happily as he trotted up to join the group.

Charizard sweatdropped. "Er…yeah…anyway, look who we found!" He stepped away, revealing the man whom he had found and freed from the closet.

Misty gasped. "It's Wallace! Oh my gosh!" Ash's eye twitched.

"Hello down there!" the man, now known as Wallace called. "We'll get you out in a jiffy!"

Charizard took a deep breath, and let out an immolating blast of fire breath, melting a hole in the electrified grille and breaking the circuit regulating the electricity, causing it to shut down. Bayleef carefully lowered her vines into the hole and one at a time pulled up Ash, Misty, and finally Crawdaunt. "Ugh, you're smaller than the other two so why are you so heavy?" she grunted as she struggled to lift the lobster up.

"I suspect it's because of all this armor," Crawdaunt said proudly, rapping a claw on his plated torso.

"More likely it's all that junk you eat. You need to go on a diet!"

"If I went on a diet, how'd I be able to fuel my massive strength?" Crawdaunt retorted as Bayleef dropped him with a thud on the marble floor, cracking it slightly while she waved her vines in pain. The lobster scurried over to Corsola. "So, were you worried about me?"

She nodded. "Yes, I was worried that you, Ash, Misty and Gyarados would all get electrocuted!"

He blinked, then shrugged. "Works for me!"

"I thought you were supposed to be at a retreat," Ash said to Wallace in the meantime, keeping his loathing of the guy suppressed because he had showed up with Charizard to save them.

Wallace frowned. "That's a lie. I've spent the last three days locked up and starved in a closet."

"And yet you look fabulous, if a bit ruffled," Misty said, pointing to his slightly soiled clothes.

Wallace sighed unhappily. "It's a curse. Part of what attracts the fangirls to me."

"Is that why Ardan stuffed you in a closet, then? Because he was jealous of that?" Ash asked, feeling something along the same lines.

Wallace looked at him in confusion. "What? No! That's not Ardan!" he said, pointing to the severely beaten-up man groaning in pain on the floor where the Pokemon had left him.

"It's not?" asked Misty in surprise.

"No!" Wallace strode over to the beaten man, grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up to face the group, grabbed Ardan's face and _ripped_ it off…revealing it was nothing but a latex mask. "The man you thought to be Ardan was in fact…"

Misty gasped. "Colonel Hanson!"

And so it was. Revealed for them all to see was the gruesome, green-mustachioed visage of the evil Hanson. "That's _Generalissimo_ Hanson to you, wench!" he corrected. "Ruler, Tyrant, and Dictator of the Mirage Kingdom! Not to mention Supreme Egghead and the Togepi Eggs-terminator!"

"Wow, what terrible puns," muttered Charizard.

"I KNEW IT!" screamed Togetic. "I KNEW IT WAS HIM!"

Ash was confused. "Wait, weren't you a colonel last time I saw you?"

Hanson rolled his eyes. "I promoted myself, dolt."

"You can do that?" asked Ash, looking amazed. Everyone groaned at his naivete.

Hanson snorted. "Of course I can! You can do anything you want when you're the leader of an entire country!"

"Wow!" said Ash, amazed. "Maybe I should get a country of my own then, then!"

"ASH!" Misty snapped. "Concentrate! This is the psycho who recently conquered the Mirage Kingdom in a violent revolution, butchered the Royal Family we met there, and _slaughtered_ all the helpless Togepi in Togepi's Paradise, nearly killing Togetic!"

Ash was stunned. So were the group members like Latias, Crawdaunt, Charizard, Phanphy and Bayleef who had never heard of Hanson before. "How could anyone do something like that?" Bayleef whispered, shocked. "Okay, Latias, I admit your mom was bad, but this…!"

Latias shook her head, horrified. "Murdering innocent children…" A tear ran down her cheek as she remembered the cries of all the innocents who had been slain in the attack on Alto Mare, or the infanticide at Wing Fortress. But at least the fiend that had ordered the attack on her city had had a heart, and could eventually be forgiven and even loved. But this man, who had no hint of sadness or regret in his mad eyes, this man deserved no mercy, just as Fearow and Skarmory had not!

"Geez…and I killed _one_ baby, and it was an accident!" whispered Charizard. "And I thought I had sinned…"

Crawdaunt could only stare and say, "Dude…that's just not kosher!"

Phanphy couldn't believe it. "But…but why would anyone do something like that!" he asked in disbelief.

Latias shook her head sadly, again recalling the vile Fearow of Route 01 and his minions. "Some people are just that evil, Phanphy," she said softly.

Hanson laughed. "Yes, that's right! I killed all those innocent Togepi! I even boiled some of them up and had their yolks for breakfast!"

"BASTARD!" Ash punched Hanson in the chest where Togetic had damaged his ribs, causing him to cough up blood. "How could you!"

"I can do whatever I want!" Hanson declared, spitting blood in Ash's face. "I'm ruler of the Mirage Kingdom! Those who live in it can die at my whim!"

"What are you even doing here?" Misty whispered angrily. "It's bad enough that you nearly killed my little girl-"

"NEARLY!" Hanson bellowed. "I blew that Togetic brat into a million bloody pieces!"

"Then explain why she's still here!" Misty snapped, pointing at Togetic, who was enraged to come face-to-face with the madman once again.

Hanson looked at where Misty was pointing in confusion. "What are you talking about? There's nothing there!"

"What do you mean! How can you not see her? She's right there!" Misty yelled, jabbing a finger at Togetic.

"I see nothing but air, woman!" Hanson bellowed.

"Air THIS!" Togetic yelled angrily, punching his nose and breaking it again.

"OW!" Hanson cried. "Call off your Ghost Pokemon, it's hurting me!"

Even Wallace looked confused. "What Ghost Pokemon? There's a Togetic right there, the last one in all the world if I'm correct!"

"I see nothing but air, fools! Stop this ruse, it won't work!" Hanson roared.

Togetic was getting upset. "Stop pretending I don't exist!" she yelled at the madman.

"Wait, Togetic I don't think he is!" cried Pikachu. "Hanson's clearly insane, you can tell that just by looking at him. Like most megalomaniacal despots, he may suffer from schizophrenia, splitting him off from reality. He believed he killed the last Togetic and Togepi in the Togepi's Paradise dimension, so any evidence contradicting that is automatically ignored by his subconscious, because that would force him to admit he's _not_ the all-powerful ruler he thinks he is, which could result in him delving into deeper madness! He can see you, but he's convinced himself into believing that where you float is nothing but thin air in an attempt to keep together what precious little is left of his sanity!"

Everyone stared at him. "More of that Psychology Channel stuff?" asked Latias.

Pikachu looked sheepish. "They had a special on dictators and the psychological disorders they suffer from last week."

"You mean he's so insane he doesn't see me!" protested Togetic. "But…but I want him to see me! Want him to know he failed! Want him to realize he didn't kill every last one of them…" She burst into tears. Misty held the heartbroken child to her chest sadly.

"So why _did_ you come up here, anyway?" Ash asked Hanson, resuming the previous thread of conversation.

"He came for this," said Wallace, fishing into one of Hanson's coat pockets and pulling out a thin metal circlet with strange writing on it. "The Mirage Crown!"

Togetic frowned, blinking through her tears. "Strange…that looks almost familiar…" she muttered.

"What is that?" asked Misty.

"It's the Mirage Crown, a treasure of the Royal Family of Mirage Kingdom for thousands of years," explained Wallace. "When Hanson started to plot his original coup a few months ago, Princess Sarah sent it to me for safekeeping. I had met her years ago while traveling with my mentor Ardan and painting Pokemon of the world, and…we hit it off rather well," he said with a pained expression on his face, hinting at a deeper relationship between him and the late monarch. "She had kept in touch with me, heard I had become the eighth and most challenging gym leader of the Hoenn region next to Norman, and believed the crown would be safe with me. She felt that if Hanson ever found it, it might ignite his mad ambitions and cause him to try to expand his reach beyond the kingdom!"

"And while I was here, I figured I might as well try and avenge myself on the whore who foiled my last attempt to ascend the throne," Hanson spat at Misty. "So I took Wallace by surprise, assumed the role of his mentor to fool trainers and servants, and sent a letter to you so that I could lure you down here and have my revenge!"

"But it backfired, because we were here to stop you, right?" Ash asked, feeling very glad indeed that he had been there to protect Misty.

Hanson growled. "I had no idea she was in love with you! It ruined my original scheme to seduce her! (Misty and pretty much everyone else gagged at this) "I even put a small communicator in my ear so my minions could feed me information about art and Water Pokemon to convince you I was the real Ardan, but it turned out to be for nothing, thanks again to you, boy! But fortunately I had devised a backup plan wherein if my seduction attempts failed on her, I'd invite her to battle me in the pool arena and kill her in the deathtrap I rigged up to eliminate meddling trainers! And it would have killed you, that blasted Gyarados of yours, and that brat you've gotten attached to!"

"Hey!" snapped Ash.

"It would have worked," continued Hanson. "If that hole in the floor hadn't opened. What caused that anyway?" he asked Wallace.

Wallace shrugged. "You're asking me? Maybe the floor was weak or some subterranean Pokemon dug underneath the gym, I really have no idea."

"Whatever the case, your plan failed," stated Ash. "And now you're gonna pay for all the things you've done!"

Hanson sneered. "You think so, do you? Well, I think otherwise!"

And that's when a portion of the ceiling exploded, filling the room with dust and smoke.

As the humans and Pokemon hacked and coughed on the smoke, Hanson struggled out of Wallace's grasp, snatched the Mirage Crown, and grabbed hold of a rope ladder dangling through the new opening in the ceiling. "Ta-ta, I'm off to rule the world!" he called as the ladder retracted through the ceiling and up into a massive military blimp hovering over the gym, taking Hanson inside its metallic bowels.

"He's getting away!" Wallace cried, wiping his eyes as the dust cleared and the blimp started ascending out of the volcanic shaft that formed Sootopolis City.

"No way, he won't get away with this!" Ash declared firmly. "We're going after him!"

Latias nodded and swiftly resumed her true form, startling Wallace and the rest of Misty's non-Chosen Pokemon, who had never seen her as a Pokemon before. Ash and Pikachu quickly hopped on, and she soared through the roof after the blimp. "Amazing!" whispered Wallace, getting inspiration for his next masterpiece.

"Ash, wait!" cried Misty. "You could have ridden with me!" She glared angrily at the receding figure of the dragon. Shoulders shaking with frustration, she stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled. In the drained pool, Gyarados' eyes shot open. "Huh? What's going on?" he yawned groggily.

"Gyarados, get up here! We've got work to do!" Misty commanded.

Gyarados shook the sleep out of his eyes and yawned again. "Yeah, yeah, all right…" He smashed through the weakened grille and slithered onto the marble floor, causing what was left of the pool water to swirl down the drain. He lowered his head for Misty and Togetic to hop on, and then, to the amazement of all but Wallace and Misty's Pokemon, _levitated_ into the air and flew through the hole in the ceiling after Ash, Latias and the blimp!

Charizard's jaw dropped. "He can fly!"

"Well of course," said Corsola. "Gyarados are Water/Flying Pokemon, aren't they?"

"Well yeah, but…they're fish! Fish don't fly!" Crawdaunt protested.

"And neither do Grass Pokemon, according to Bayleef," said Charizard.

Her eye twitched. "Just let that go, will you!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Charizard grunted. "Suppose I should go up there too, and help, huh? Okay, here I go!" With a few flaps of his wings, the fire dragon had taken off through the hole in the ceiling.

"Good luck, Brother Charizard!" Phanphy cried.

It was then that Kasurin, toilet paper trailing from one of his fins, hopped back into the room. "Hello everyone, sorry I was gone so long, but after I went to the bathroom to cry I fell into the toilet and-" He stopped, noticing the gaping hole in the ceiling, the drained and covered pool, and the disheveled yet still handsome Wallace. He sweatdropped. "Did I miss anything?"

…

As they gained on the bulbous military blimp, Pikachu heard a familiar roar and looked over his shoulder. "Pikapi, look!" he cried.

Ash turned around, and was stunned speechless as he saw Gyarados fly up beside them, carrying Misty on his head. "You could have waited for me!" she yelled to him from atop her perch on the serpent's head. "We could have rode on Gyarados together!" She glared at Latias for half a second, making the dragon feel uncomfortable.

Ash stared at the flying Gyarados, blinked, and finally said, "I guess this is what you meant when you said you've been doing more with Gyarados then just practicing whistle blows, huh? How'd you figure out how to get him off the ground?"

Misty flinched. Her eyes glanced to the red bag hanging from her shoulder. "Let's just say that, like everything else, it was Psyduck's fault and leave it at that."

Charizard caught up to them at that point, sweating slightly from the exertion of flying the distance to them so quickly. "Hey guys, hope you didn't start the fight without me!" he quipped.

It was at that point that Hanson noticed he was being followed. "They think they can stop me, do they!" he bellowed from his seat on the bridge of his airship. "All cannons, open fire! Blast them out of the sky!"

Hatches on the sides of the blimp slid open, and dozens of guns stuck out, aiming at the trio of flying Pokemon. Ash sweatdropped. "Uh, Latias, I don't suppose you can block all those?"

"I hope so," she said anxiously. "Otherwise…well, I think we'll be dead."

"Togetic!" Misty commanded. Her surrogate daughter concentrated and started glowing as the guns opened fire, shooting hundreds of bullets and cannonballs at the heroes.

Before the projectiles could strike them, Togetic released an incredible burst of power, forming a huge blue Safeguard shield around the group, causing the gunshots to ricochet harmlessly off. "Whoa!" cried Charizard. "Did I know she could do that?"

Latias was amazed. Now that she was in her true form and her psychic abilities were working better, she was able to notice the power within Togetic. "Amazing! She has a lot of power for such a little Pokemon!"

"Yeah, the cute ones usually are some of the strongest," said Pikachu proudly.

The guns fired repeatedly, but did no damage to the heroes thanks to Togetic's force field. "Impossible!" cried Hanson. "How can this be! "

"Because the last Togetic still lives!" cried Togetic angrily.

"Let's get him!" shouted Ash. "Latias, Dragonbreath! Pikachu, Thunder! Charizard, Fire Blast!"

"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!" Misty added.

With Togetic powering their defenses and repelling the bullets and cannonballs, the four Pokemon started charging up their strongest attacks, which, when combined together, would surely down the blimp.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't get the chance.

A Chimecho-shaped balloon with rocket engines on the sides and several cannons on the front appeared from around the corner of a building they were flying past. "Prepare for trouble, this time we're really cheesed!" Jessie yelled through a megaphone.

"Make it double, we really aren't pleased!" added James.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within-"

"LOOK OUT, YOU FOOLS!" Hanson roared.

Jessie and James blinked. "Huh?" They suddenly realized their balloon was on a collision course with the blimp. "WAAAAAHHHHH!"

The two airships crashed into each other, resulting in a tremendous explosion that utterly destroyed the blimp and balloon and flung the crews of both into the air. Wobbuffet groaned. "Great, we're blasting off a _third_ time."

"Hey look guys, isn't that that Hanson jerk?" Meowth asked, pointing to Hanson, who was flying parallel to them along with his dazed crew of highly trained Ninjask.

"Hey yeah, it is! What's he doing out of prison?" asked the surprised Jessie.

"I escaped and took over the Mirage Kingdom," Hanson growled, not in the least bit happy to see his ex-cohorts.

"Really?" asked the impressed James. "Whenever we break out of prison, we either get caught right away, or…well, go right back to chasing the twerp around." He sighed. "Not much to be proud of, I suppose…"

"No, it's not. And thanks to your idiocy, I lost the Mirage Crown!" Hanson said angrily. He pulled out a Pokeball and released the creature inside. "Shedinja! Solar Beam!"

"Sheeeedinja!" The Shed Pokemon fired a golden energy beam from between the prongs of its crescent halo, striking Team Cipher and sending them flying off in a completely different direction.

"Waaahhhh! Looks like we're blasting off agaaaaiiiiin!" they wailed.

"Why is my life so pointless and painful!" cried Wobbuffet as they vanished in a twinkle of light into the distance.

Back with the heroes…

Ash sweatdropped, as did everyone else. "Well, that was anticlimactic."

Togetic burst into frenzied tears. "NO!" she cried. "He got away! He got away…" She sobbed. "He didn't pay for killing all my friends…"

Misty tried to comfort her child. "Togetic…although Hanson got away this time, someday he'll be forced to pay for the things he's done. What goes around comes around." Togetic said nothing, but cried silently in her mother's arms.

Latias felt another moment of empathy for her adoptive 'niece', which was interrupted when the Mirage Crown, flung from the blimp in the explosion, neatly landed on Ash's head, fitting perfectly over his hat. Blinking in surprise, he pulled it off. "Hey, the Mirage Crown! At least we got something out of this, right? And as long as Hanson doesn't have it, that's a good thing!"

Misty nodded, holding Togetic to her chest. "Then let's get it back to Wallace and find out what the big deal with it is."

…

"Ahh, the Crown! You got it back," said Wallace with evident relief as he took it from Ash's outstretched hands. "I can sleep easier, knowing that this item is out of Hanson's hands."

"What's so important about it, anyway?" wondered Ash. "It just looks like a metal ring to me."

Wallace held up the crown, running his finger over the ancient inscriptions on its surface. "This artifact has been passed down through the royal family of the Mirage Kingdom since its inception, almost ten thousand years ago. And the crown itself is even more ancient, an archaeologist friend carbon dated it and discovered it's almost one hundred thousand years old!"

This elicited gasps and surprised reactions from the whole group. "And I thought Scyther or Professor Oak were old!" Bayleef joked.

"But that thing looks as fresh and rust-free as if it had just come out of a smithy! How could it possibly be that old?" Misty wondered.

Wallace shrugged. "There are many things the peoples and Pokemon of ancient times knew which are lost to us today. The ability to produce metal that can last for over a hundred thousand years without wear and tear is not so hard to imagine as being one of them."

Crawdaunt grunted. "So it's an old piece of metal. What's the big deal?"

Wallace was proficient enough in the language of Water Pokemon to understand Crawdaunt, and went on to explain what indeed the 'big deal' was. "The same friend who dated the crown also managed to translate the writing on the side. According to legend in the Mirage Kingdom, this crown is a guide that can lead someone to the gates of Paradise. It was always believed that it was referring to Togepi's Paradise, but according to my friend it's talking about another place altogether!" He paused. "I wouldn't suppose any of you have heard of Birth Island, have you?"

Ash blinked. "Yeah, isn't that the place with a temple and tree on top of a mountain or something? I read about it in my guidebook this afternoon."

"And I heard a few stories about it when my family went on a vacation to the Sevii Isles a long time ago," Misty said, a look of nostalgic longing on her face. "Wow, that was the best trip I ever went on…"

"Good, then I don't have to explain too much more," Wallace said in relief. "According to myth, Birth Island is the spot from which life on Earth sprung after it was totally devastated by an ancient war. Some stories say the secret to eternal life itself can be found there! But since the island had so many valuable treasures and secrets on it, when the rest of the world's hearts started to be consumed with greed the people of Sevii used some form of magic or illusion to erase the island from any maps and keep sailors or anyone else from finding it unless they knew exactly where it was, had some sort of destiny intertwined with the island's own, or managed to find one of the old artifacts that told of the island's location from the time when it was open to the world. This crown is one of those artifacts, I believe."

"Paradise…eternal life…so that's why Hanson wanted that thing? Because he thought it could help him become immortal or something?" Ash asked.

Wallace nodded. "A foolish venture, of course. Who really wants to live forever? But it would be catastrophic if Hanson somehow found a way to Birth Island using this crown or any other ancient artifact. He's already destroyed one paradise, the world cannot afford to lose another, especially when it was the place where our lives all originated from in the first place!" Latias and Togetic understood Wallace at once. They had both lived in places that could be considered paradises, and both places were now gone forever. The world did not need to lose another place like that. "I was intending to set out on my own to find the island after my friend translated the directions on the crown for me-I've heard there are magnificent species of Water Pokemon living in the island's coasts, ones seen nowhere else in all the world-but Hanson must have found out of my discovery from a letter I had sent to Queen Sarah detailing my findings before he had succeeded in his coup. He invaded my home and imprisoned me just as I was about to leave for my journey."

"But now that you have the crown back, Hanson can't get to that island, right?" Misty asked hopefully.

Wallace nodded fervently. "Yes, and because of that he may find his reign on the throne of the Mirage Kingdom to be much shorter than he had hoped. From one of his typical megalomaniacal monologues as he was shoving me in the closet, I surmised that one of the important elements that allowed him to maintain power after the coup was by promising the people the fruit of eternal life from Birth Island. If he is unable to back up that promise, the people will become restless and may overthrow him. Such things have happened to past rulers of kingdoms around the world, and the Mirage Kingdom is no such exception."

"So you think the problem of Hanson will resolve itself?" Ash asked doubtfully.

Wallace shrugged. "I believe so. There is already a rebellion underway, and this failure to back up an important promise may be just the kind of thing they can use to overthrow Hanson and restore order to the kingdom. In any case, now that I'm free I may continue planning my trip to Sevii to find Birth Island for my own reasons. I wonder what masterpieces that land will inspire?" he mused. "Only problem is that I'm not sure who I can get to take care of the gym for me while I was gone. I was thinking of asking Ardan, but he was on the other side of the world last time I called him, in the middle of a festival that won't end for another week at least, and no flights will leave from the country he's in until it's over. But the longer I wait to leave, the greater the risk that Hanson or someone else may try to get their hands on this crown again…" Wallace pondered.

"Why don't you ask Nurse Joy?" suggested Misty. "I got the one in my city to take care of my gym while I came down here."

"Your gym?" Wallace stared at her for a second before a look of recognition showed on his face. "Ahhhh…I thought you looked familiar! You're Misty Waterflower, aren't you? The new Cerulean City Gym leader?"

"You know who I am?" Misty asked, surprised.

Wallace nodded. "Of course…I make it a habit to know about other gym leaders specializing in the same type of Pokemon as myself. I know all about how you single-handedly turned the gym's reputation upside-down! That, and I've been receiving fan-mail from you and your sisters for the last three years."

Misty flushed in embarrassment, and Ash found himself starting to loath Wallace again. That is, until the Sootopolis gym leader turned to him. "And I'm guessing you must be her boyfriend! How could a handsome young lad like yourself not be, though?"

Pikachu rolled his eyes as Ash's ego and respect for Wallace inflated. "Oh, come on…"

"So, you think I should ask Nurse Joy?" Wallace asked Misty. "Yes, I believe she will do a good job…very well! As soon as I get my affairs in order, I will be off for the Sevii Islands!" He smiled. "I owe all of you quite a debt, for saving me and thwarting Hanson, and showing me a beautiful Pokemon I have never seen before," he said to Latias, causing her to blush. "Is there anything I can do for you in return?"

A grin appeared on Ash's face. "Well…there is _one_ thing…"

…

Ash held up a badge formed from three raindrops in a triangular formation. "Yeah, I got the Rain Badge!"

Misty rolled her eyes. "I know Ash, you've only showed it to us a hundred times now."

It was the next day, and the heroes had boarded the ferry to Ever Grande City after a long rest in the Pokemon Center. The trip would take approximately two days, with a stopover in Pacifidlog Town that Misty and Corsola were both looking forward to, since the town was built on top of coral shed from huge numbers of Corsola over the years.

They had all spread out across the ferry to do their own thing. Crawdaunt had at first tried to attract Corsola's attentions, but she seemed more interested in swimming alongside the boat next to Gyarados, so he decided that he'd spend quality time with his newfound son Kasurin, teaching him everything he knew about how to get laid. Heaven knows Kasurin needed it, with his tumultuous relationship with Rabufin. Psyduck was locked in his Pokeball (for now) and Politoed was swimming in the boat's deck pool while Bayleef lounged in the sun nearby, absorbing light through photosynthesis. Charizard was hiding in the ship's hold where he could pretend he wasn't surrounded on all sides by water, but the others were planning to drag him up to the surface later. Togetic was still depressed and upset after their encounter with Hanson yesterday, so Phanphy had taken it upon himself to cheer her up. So far, he was doing a pretty good job.

Ash and Misty were spending some much-needed catch up time together, with Pikachu 'chaperoning'. And as for Latias…

The dragon girl stepped up to the couple, holding a notepad, and looking somewhat nervous. Misty hid an unhappy expression. "Oh, hi. What do you want?"

Latias turned to Ash and asked politely if she could have a moment alone with Misty. Ash didn't understand what this was about, being oblivious as always, but Pikachu caught on and convinced his trainer to go check out the buffet in the ferry's dining hall and leave the two girls alone. Misty didn't look happy that Ash had left after only being looked at by Latias (she was still not 'plugged in' to Latias' little psychic network of friends) and frowned at the girl. "What do you want?" she asked curtly.

Latias scribbled something on the notepad and held it up for Misty to see, surprising the redhead. "Why don't you like me?" it read.

Misty blinked. "…Why do you think I don't like you?" she asked after a moment.

Latias wrote a new message. "Whenever I'm around Ash, you give me this look that makes me feel uncomfortable. I just want to be your friend. What am I doing that's making you so unhappy with me?"

"…You want to be my friend?" Misty asked in surprise. Latias nodded. Misty suddenly felt bad for her prior behavior around Latias. "I didn't know…I'm sorry. I've just been…well, jealous of you."

Now Latias was the one to be surprised. "Jealous?" she wrote in confusion. What reason did Misty have to be jealous of her?

"Well…" Misty grimaced. "Ever since my stupid sisters left on their world trip, all I wanted to do was travel with Ash again. When they came back, I thought I had my chance, but they still relied on me to do everything for them because they're such incompetent trainers. I spent some time with him when Hanson tricked Togepi and I into coming to the Mirage Kingdom, but they needed me back at the gym so I couldn't stay. A couple of months after that, he up and told me I love him, which is something I've been waiting to hear for _years_. I _still_ couldn't go to him though, because my idiot sisters left AGAIN and the number of trainers wanting to fight me increased dramatically, and then this Chosen business popped up, and you of all people joined him."

Latias was still confused. "What's wrong with that?" she wrote timidly.

"Because…because you kissed him before I could!" Misty finally cried unhappily. Latias stared at her in disbelief and then, because to her that just seemed so ridiculous, she started laughing. She made no noise due to her human form's lack of vocal chords, but Misty could tell from the way the dragon's body was trembling that that was what Latias was doing and it made her very upset. "It's not funny!" she said angrily. "Look at it from my point of view! I've been madly in love with him for years now! I've had dreams at night of him kissing me or me kissing him or whatever! And then, out of the blue, a total stranger gets Ash Ketchum's first kiss before I ever could!" She leaned against a bulkhead wall unhappily. "And then, to make matters worse, that same stranger ends up traveling with Ash after he gets roped into saving the world again, while I'm stuck in the gym fighting idiot trainers endlessly! If you were in my place, how would that make you feel about that girl traveling with him?"

Latias now understood. A sad smile on her face, she wrote, "It was only on the cheek."

"But it was more than I ever got…until yesterday, anyway," Misty said sadly.

"You could have kissed him at any point before then," Latias pointed out.

"I know," Misty admitted. "But…I was scared. You know, because…well, I didn't know how he'd take it. Typical cowardice, huh?"

Latias nodded and wrote another message. "You know, I actually envied you when I heard about you from some friends of mine at Professor Oak's lab."

"You were?" Misty asked in surprise.

"Yes. For a while, I was in love with Ash too. But at some point, I realized I could never have him, both because of the difference between our species…and because you already had his heart," the dragon confessed. "Even if he didn't realize it. Don't you think what I felt then, was as bad if not worse than how you must have felt at hearing he would be traveling with me, the girl who gave him his first kiss, instead of the girl he loved?"

"You were jealous of _me_?" Misty said in disbelief. "…I'm sorry. I had no idea."

Latias put a hand on the girl's shoulder and showed her the next message. "I bear no animosity towards you. My heart found someone else not too long ago. Whatever feelings I had for Ash in the past are meaningless today. Now, he is only my friend. A very good friend, but that is all." Latias smiled. "And I would like to be your friend as well."

Misty stared at Latias for a moment, and then she smiled too. "I think I'd like that too, Latias." The two girls shook hands, sealing the bond of friendship between them.

…

James sighed. "Why couldn't we take the Magikarp submarine as usual?"

"Because Doctor Robotnik said he was all out of them, and we'd have to make due with what we had," Jessie grumbled.

"Oh well, at least this is something we're used to by now," said Meowth sadly.

Wobbuffet nodded but said nothing, while Chimecho chimed happily and wrapped his tail around James' head.

The Ciphers were sitting in a small rubber dinghy being towed along by the ferry Ash and friends were on. They were intending to either ambush him on the boat, or wait until they had gotten to the next port and ambush him there, as usual. And they would no doubt be blasted off when they got there, as usual.

Wobbuffet sighed, then looked out into the distance. He smiled faintly when he saw a group of Feebas swim past the boat. _My life may suck royally, but at least there's _one_ thing that I have going for me,_ he thought to himself, glancing at the Pokeball on James' belt that contained Feebas. Maybe after their next blast-off, he could convince James to let Feebas out so they could have some time together. That might be nice.

And so, listlessly floating in their dinghy, the Ciphers were gently tugged by the ferry to their next destination, wherever that might be.

…

DAMN. That was the longest single chapter I've ever written.

Was it worth the effort?


	35. Troubled Waters

Wow, it looks like the last chapter got welcome responses from everyone! I don't know if I'll have on nearly as long as that at any point in the future, but I hope to keep up the quality all of you readers have come to expect by now.

Commander Bacara, I was not thinking of Star Wars when Pikachu tried and failed to short-circuit the grille, I was just giving him something to do.

Yamimaru, what'd you do to piss all those people off? Oh well, take this beacon. It'll summon the elite Mary Sue and Gary Stu Hunters, an organization formed from the coolest, toughest, and most important male and female characters from pretty much every fandom in existence. They're dedicated to destroying the Sue and Stu in all its forms! But likeable and original fancharacters are okay with them. As for the Sorato and Michi fans…I have no idea how to stop them. Perhaps you should use the bloodbath caused by the Hunters mopping up the Sues and Stus to make a getaway.

Ninetalesuk, I've considered having Charla added to the story. Maybe I should make that consideration a reality.

Sir Pudding, TR also has a larger organization than TA and TM. Those two are limited to the Hoenn region, whereas Team Rocket has agents all over the WORLD, not to mention that they're firmly entrenched in both the Johto and Kanto regions. Not to mention that unlike Cipher, Magma, or Aqua, who pretty much dedicate all their resources to one master plan (Shadow Pokemon, waking Groudon or Kyogre) the Rockets have numerous scientists and plenty of backup schemes, plots, and machines they can use in multiple different attempts on global domination, all based on different themes. The Rockets are more diverse and branched, unlike Aqua, Magma, or Cipher, whose single-minded plans will run them into a rut. The problem with Rayquaza and Latias being related has occurred to me too. I think I can work around it, but I don't suppose you or anyone else has suggestions on how to deal with this? I like the way I made Wallace. He's based off of a couple of other stories I've read. And Wallace's Pokemon were never at the mansion. Don't you remember how Ardan/Hanson said they were at a Pokemon Center? They were. He had his Ninjask beat and injure Wallace's Pokemon, then sent them to the Center to get healed. He blamed the damage on abusive trainers wanting a Rain Badge. When they were healed, he'd beat them again and send them right back. The poor things never got a chance to fight back, because Hanson would have killed Wallace if they had resisted. The other Chosen will show up at various points in the next major part of the story, which focuses on the Hoenn League championship. As for Birth Island…that will be an important place later on, you're correct in guessing that.

Super Hurricane, what's a Timmy? Why would he team up with Drew? I have plans for our master coordinator, anyway.

HVK, I'm glad you liked all the characterization. I was struggling to make those parts good. You can reference Zim Fandango all you want, and use Rana too if you need her. I'm curious about what Zim and Dib think of ZADR fics, though. XD

Ratiasu, I was hoping you'd enjoy the last chapter. Yes, Ash mentions Misty in the sixth movie (though not by name). I like May, but not as much as some other characters. I honestly think Ash and May are just friends too, but the way things are going in this story she may have a crush on him. (unfortunately) I'm thinking of somehow reuniting Charla and Charizard too, now. Any ideas on how that would go? Misty, Latias, and May will all hopefully become friends in the near future. I think Milotic is pretty, too. Do you think I could see some of your fanart sometime? And are you really French? Your English reads well to me. Are you reading this story all the way from another continent?

Disclaimer: I own the personalities of the characters in this chapter, as well as other things that will make themselves evident by the end.

Note: This chapter is probably worth an "R" rating, but does that mean I have to change the rate of the whole story because of it? I don't think there'll be another "R" chapter in the near future.

…

The sun was shining brightly over the verdant forest as the hiker walked through the woods, admiring the green leaves on the trees around him, the silent symphony of forest sounds caused by the mixture of wind, crunching leaves underfoot, and the chirping of bird Pokemon in the branches overhead. A smile came to his face as he saw a clearing on the path ahead of him, hearing the telltale sound of a roaring river, with white-foamed water rushing over rocks and making a loud, yet oddly soothing sound.

He stepped out through the gap in the trees and to the rocky shore of the river, admiring the cascades of foam-flecked waters rushing down a series of jagged ledges from higher up the mountainside. He gasped in wonder as a group of Magikarp hopped in and out of the river, heading upstream to their annual mating grounds. The hiker quickly pulled out a camera and snapped several shots of the fish as they jumped up the ledges, water droplets shining in the sunbeams and refracting the light into many colorful formations as they sprinkled off the fish's scaled hides. The hiker smiled again, already envisioning how good the shots would look in his albums along with the other ones he had taken during the hike.

His knees and shoulders suddenly twinged in complaint, reminding him that he needed to take a break after his long walk, he had been moving since daybreak with very few stops for rest. He slung off his heavy backpack and dropped it on the riverbank, grimacing at the pain that caused in his shoulders. Rolling them around to try and get circulation back into them, he walked to the edge of the water, looked to make sure there were no Magikarp or other Water Pokemon heading up or down towards him, and undid his pants, relieving himself in the calm, peaceful setting of the mountain stream.

Sighing in relief as his bladder was finally emptied, he zipped and buttoned his pants back up, took a few steps back towards his backpack so he could sit down and rest for a few minutes, when an Aurora Beam shot out of nowhere and froze him in a block of ice, killing him instantly.

The graceful and beautiful blue and white-furred form of Suicune leaped down to where the hiker was frozen in death from where she had been perched on one of the higher ledges from which the river cascaded down from, her gorgeous purple mane flowing behind her. She scowled in disgust at the dead hiker, baring her fangs. "Filthy human," she growled. "That is what I will do to all of your kind who will pollute MY waters."

She crushed the human's camera with a stomp, tore the backpack and its contents to shreds with her teeth, and urinated on the hiker's corpse to further show her disdain for him. Then she trotted over to the river and stuck a paw in it. A wave of blue light slowly spread out from the paw she had dipped into the stream, spreading both up and down the river, eradicating every impurity, foreign body, or irregularity its mistress detected from her close connection to the water, cleaning and purifying it of all forms of pollution. The fact that doing so had a high chance of lowering the fertility rates of any creatures who happened to be swimming or bathing in the river at the moment mattered little to her, her job was to cleanse the waters of the world of pollution, the welfare of those who lived in the water was none of her concern or interest. Frankly, she thought the water would be better off with a little less humans and Pokemon to clutter it up with their sweat and bacteria and toxic waste. And the urine. Always the urine. It was fine for Water Pokemon to do it, she supposed, but why couldn't everyone else do it against a rock or tree like sensible folk?

When she was satisfied that her job was completed, Suicune removed her paw from the water, causing the beautiful blue glow to fade away. "There. As pristine and perfect as it was before. As it should _always_ be, without people contaminating it with their filth." She gazed into the clear waters, admiring her reflection.

"Can't get enough of your own face, can you?" growled a familiar gruff voice from behind her.

Suicune reluctantly looked away from her reflection and watched with disinterest as a great beast as large as she was emerged from the woods, his fur brown and white with spikes and a gray smoke cloud of sorts growing from his back and shoulders. A fierce red and yellow mask covered his face. There was a look of peculiar hunger in his eyes as the beast looked at her, but Suicune was used to this; she knew well that Entei had lusted for her for centuries. How could he not, when she was one of the most beautiful of all legendaries, second only to Lady Ho-Oh? He had never openly asked for or attempted to force a mating with her, partly because of his stubborn pride which kept him from _asking_ for anything as well as a slight fear that she might overpower him if he forced himself on her. Water extinguished fire, after all. She admitted, however, that the look of hunger seemed more desperate and overwhelming than before, and the fire-beast's body was practically trembling with pent-up emotions. She smile inwardly, her vanity flattered, and concluded that her morning grooming must have made herself more beauteous than usual. "Hello, Entei," she said in a bored tone of voice. "What brings you here? There are no volcanoes or lava deposits within miles of this area. Nothing to satisfy your brutish pyromania."

Oddly enough, Entei grinned. It was not a friendly grin, and Suicune was momentarily startled by how much he looked like a carnivore preparing to eat his prey, before reminding herself that she could easily beat him if he tried to attack or rape her. Water beat Fire, after all. "I'd like to show you something," he growled.

She rolled her eyes. "I've already seen it, as well as half the Fire Pokemon in the world of either gender, and I'm not interested."

Entei bristled with anger, but miraculously managed to keep from exploding. "Something else. Something that I think would interest you. NOT," he said firmly and quickly, "anything involving you and I mating."

Suicune didn't believe him, but her curiosity was piqued anyway. "What could a stupid, brutish, ugly pyromaniac like yourself have that could interest me?"

Entei didn't seem to notice the insult. "You are widely thought of as the second most beautiful Pokemon in the world."

"Mmhmm."

"How would you like to be the first?"

Suicune blinked. Surely she hadn't heard him correctly. "What did you say?"

Entei grinned, which once again made Suicune feel oddly uncomfortable. "How would you like to be the most beautiful Pokemon in the world?"

Suicune stared at him for a moment, vanity and hope clashing with disbelief and loyalty. "That is impossible. Lady Ho-Oh is the most beautiful Pokemon in the world. How could I possibly outdo her? Not to mention to do so would be treason," she added quickly.

Entei chuckled. "That is what I thought at first, when Raikou came to me a few days ago with the offer to make me so powerful that no water attack could ever harm me again."

Suicune laughed mockingly. "That is pure Tauros shit. No such thing can be done."

Entei raised an eyebrow, giving her a piercing hungry glare, making her feel more uncomfortable. "Oh?" He grinned. "Hit me with your strongest attack."

Suicune scoffed. "I knew you to be lacking of brain capacity, but I can't believe even you are this foolish, Entei!" She laughed. "But I would never give up a chance to humiliate you. Very well." She glanced at the river, eyes glowing blue.

The waters flowing swiftly past them quivered, and suddenly rose out of its riverbed as Suicune used her mastery over the aquatic element to change the river's flow, causing it to arc over her head in a powerful Surf attack which would surely sweep Entei away. She would enjoy laughing at him as he was sent rushing down the mountain in a sodden mass, the most humiliating thing that would ever happen to him in recent times. Even more humiliating because he had asked for it.

Imagine her surprise when Entei smiled and gently exhaled at the wave rushing towards him. The Surf attack froze in its tracks and evaporated instantly, washing over Entei in the form of steam. Suicune gaped, losing her mental hold on the river and causing it to continue flowing back down the mountain in its usual timeworn path. "N-no. No. That is impossible."

Entei chuckled and shook his head at his companion's naivete. "My dear Suicune, nothing is impossible." He suddenly burst into a tremendous conflagration of flame, causing the rocks he stood on to melt into slag, the trees nearby to catch fire, and the river only a few feet away to begin steaming. Suicune staggered backwards in shock, actually feeling burnt from the flame. How was this possible? How could Entei have become so powerful?

The legendary beast of fire advanced towards her, leaving a trail of melted rock in his path. Suicune could have easily bounded away, for she was much faster than Entei, but she was so terrified of this new and strange incarnation of her longtime acquaintance that she could barely muster the energy to stagger back a few steps, to the wall of the rock ledge behind her. Entei loomed in closely, causing the hairs on her snout to singe. Frightened, she whimpered, cowering against the rock. Entei grinned, his fangs reflecting the light from his fire and making them look almost nightmarish. "I have been made immune to all waters of the world. Now my flame can never be extinguished!" He chuckled. "I could take you right here and now if I wished, and there wouldn't be a thing you could do to stop me."

"P-please-" Suicune whimpered.

Entei grimaced, and his flames went out. Suicune blinked in surprise. Glaring at her, his eyes hungrier than ever, Entei reluctantly turned away. "But I am not here to mount you. I have been sent to make you the same offer I have been given. You can have power, Suicune. Power beyond any you have ever dreamed of. You could be the most beautiful Pokemon in this or any other world. Even Ho-Oh would be forced to look upon you with bitter envy. And," he added, "whenever you and Raikou cross paths, as occasionally happens…you could walk away unscathed."

"…How did you get this power? Who sent you?" asked Suicune. "Surely not Ho-Oh!"

Entei barked a laugh. "I no longer serve Ho-Oh. Neither does Raikou. We now obey someone far greater than she. And he could be your master, too," Entei added. "If you remain with Ho-Oh, you will never be stronger than you are now. You will always be rushing around the world, cleaning this river here, and that pool there, and mopping up an oil spill somewhere out in the middle of nowhere…and you'll always have to go back and purify it again, because people are always making it dirty again." Suicune frowned, Entei's words were all too true. "But with the power my new master is offering, you could keep it clean permanently. You could make sure no human or Pokemon ever pollutes the water with their toxic materials or bodily waste ever again. And then the waters of the world will be as pristine and perfect as you, perfectly reflecting everything above its surface. You could run over every ocean on Earth, and your reflection would always be there with you, so you would never have to stop looking at yourself again." Entei rolled his eyes, disgusted as always by Suicune's narcissism. Suicune saw it more as an appreciation for true beauty, but she was the only one.

Suicune tried not to look too interested, although the offer was extremely tempting. "I do not think Lady Ho-Oh would be pleased if I betrayed her. I daresay when she finds out about what you and Raikou have already done, she will kill us as swiftly as possible."

Entei grinned nastily, and the hunger in his eyes increased. "Let her try. My flames can overpower her own, now."

Suicune was unsure whether or not he was boasting, but the demonstration he had made earlier made his brag eerily close to sounding truthful. "Let me meet your master for myself and decide then," Suicune said finally, trying not to sound like she was caving in, which she was. She badly wanted the beauty and power she was being offered. Badly enough not to care about what such a gift might cost, which could prove to be her downfall.

Entei gave her a smug, and once more hungry, look. "I thought that was what you would say," he said with a hint of triumph in his voice. "Come. I will take you to him." He dashed away from her at speeds surprising for one of his size and build, into the woods. Holding herself up proudly, she loped after him gracefully, both to satisfy her vanity and to show off for anyone who might be watching.

She chased the beast of fire through tree and brush, the cool aura her body excreted putting out any small sparks or embers Entei left in his trail, keeping them from burning down the woods. She easily caught up to the male as he came to a halt before a large, dead tree in the midst of a bunch of other dead trees. Suicune strode beside Entei, looking around. "There is nobody here."

Entei smirked. "None that you see, anyway." His eyes flicked upward, locking them with those of a humanoid figure perched in the branches of the tree above them. The figure had no true eyes, just spots where eyes could be, but it seemed to be able to see anyway, and stood up in response to Entei's signal, spreading its arms out.

Suicune felt a sudden sense of alarm as a blue aura surrounded her and Entei. "What! Who's-" The two legendary beasts vanished. Its task completed, the humanoid figure disintegrated, its particles spreading across the forest and wilting the leaves and flowers it passed over, and causing all the indigenous Pokemon to feel somewhat ill. It passed however, and soon things were back to normal, save for the absence of Suicune and Entei…

…

Suicune and Entei rematerialized somewhere else, somewhere far, far away. Suicune's knees trembled for a moment, shocked by the sudden jolt of long-distance teleportation. As she caught her breath, she ferociously turned on Entei, snarling. "YOU-" she started.

And stopped, awestruck at the sight of where she had been transported to.

They were in an immense chamber formed completely of crystals of every color and shade Suicune had ever seen, and several that she had not, so she was surrounded by glorious color in all its unimaginable beauty and splendor. Tall crystal pillars and columns rose from the floor to support the ceiling, linked by crystal tubes and arches. Strange, viscous blue fluid flowed through the pillars, and Suicune assumed it to be some kind of water. The crystals forming the floors, walls and ceiling had somehow been arranged to form magnificent patterns and angles that boggled the mind but seemed to express figures of unimaginable beauty, even if Suicune wasn't quite able to stare at them for more than a few seconds before she got a headache. Crystalline spheres of all sizes and colors hovered in place around the chamber, resonating with light and sound and combining to create a wondrous symphony that brought tears to the beast of water's eyes. The walls, floor and ceiling were also semitransparent, allowing Suicune to see countless rooms and levels beside, above and below their own, extending in every direction.

But the truly amazing sight was the back wall of the chamber, where they had materialized, which was made of much clearer and thinner crystal than the others, but was no less dense or magical to look at. Through it, Suicune could see the planet Earth from high above its surface, several hundred miles outside its atmosphere, close enough to be caught in its orbit without being drawn in too much by the planet's gravity. Suicune's breath was taken away by the sight of the world, her home, laid out before her, backlit by the distant sun and stars, which did not twinkle but burned a steady flame from their requisite systems, hundreds of thousands of light-years away. She could see her home region of Johto and the adjacent Kanto, recognizing them by the familiar landmarks such as Mt. Cena and Silver, and the famous Indigo Plateau. She saw the other regions of the world as well, Hoenn, Silica, war-torn Metaba, and others, all ranging from states of lifeless desolation to glorious explosions of arboreal and civilized life, coloring the surface in brownish-red, gray, green, and all possible shades of those colors. The regions and continents seemed to be floating in a vast and deep blue ocean which covered most of the planet, and, seeing it from so high up, Suicune grudgingly had to admit the Earth from afar was much more beautiful than herself. Well, maybe not _much_ more…

"I see you agree with the view," said a calm, quiet voice from behind Suicune. She turned around and saw what she had not noticed before, at the other end of the room was a throne that looked as if it were carved from a single giant diamond. It sat atop a tall set of crystal stairs, each one glowing with a color of the rainbow. A clear path wound its way from the foot of the stairs to where Suicune and Entei were standing, lined with small crystalline lights. Raikou sat to the side of the throne, a hungry look in his eyes that was all too similar to Entei's. The fire beast bounded down the path, the crystals on the side lighting up and dimming down as he approached and passed them, and sat down on the other side of the throne. Although Suicune tried, she could not quite make out the figure sitting in the exquisite diamond throne, it was not for lack of light for the chamber was full of it, but her eyes seemed to slide off the seated individual so that whenever she looked directly at it, she found her gaze redirected to the side. She had no idea who he was or what he looked like, but with his ability to control Entei and Raikou as well as live in such a magnificent structure so high above the planet, he could not possibly be a normal human or Pokemon. And he was certainly more powerful than Ho-Oh.

"It is…quite amazing," she said, glancing at the Earth again.

The figure nodded. "Indeed. On the surface it has changed much from the last time I was here…but from up here, it barely looks different at all, even if it has been so many millennia. Incredible, isn't it, how things can change and yet remain so much the same…" He gestured with an indiscernible hand. "Come. My emissary told you of my offer, I suppose?"

"He did," Suicune said, glancing at Entei as she slowly approached the throne. "You are offering me the power to be immune to electricity, like how Entei is now immune to water, as well as making me strong enough to permanently eliminate pollution from the planet and becoming the most beautiful Pokemon in the world?"

The figure shrugged. "If that is what you wish, that is what I will give you. All I ask in return is that you leave Ho-Oh and serve me."

Suicune was so dazzled by the impressive displays she had seen so far as proof of this being's power that she almost agreed immediately, but the canny part of her stilled her tongue a moment. After a moment's thought, she asked, "If I join you, can you make me stronger than Entei and Raikou? So even if we are all immune to each other's elements now, I can still overpower them?"

Entei and Raikou snarled angrily at her audacity, but the figure quieted them with a gesture. "I can indeed."

Suicune smirked, thinking she had gotten the better part of the deal. This being was clearly a much more generous and trusting master than Ho-Oh. "Very well. I will serve you in exchange for the power and beauty you have offered me."

The figure nodded. "Very well." And then, without warning, Entei and Raikou stood up and spat a tremendous Zap Cannon and Fire Blast at her. Suicune was so startled by this sudden act of betrayal that she could not move in time, and even if she had the blasts were too massive to dodge. The thunderbolt and firebolt collided with her and exploded, hurling her several feet backward and slamming her hard into one of the crystal pillars.

Suicune was so shocked that she just lay there for a full second before she became aware of how much her body hurt. The explosion had burned much of the fur off her front, and burnt her treasured purple mane, as well as momentarily blinded her with the bright flash from its ignition. She had skidded several feet along the floor before hitting the column, and her right side and back had been torn open by the beautiful but very sharp crystals there, causing blood to flow freely down her body. The crystals had also torn out huge hunks of her mane, and she stared at dismay at the ruined and bloody masses of purple hair caught on the crystal formations, lamenting its loss. Something wet ran down her face, and she realized her head must have been damaged by the collision with the pillar and was now bleeding. Trembling in pain, she staggered to her feet. "Wh-what treachery is this?" she stammered.

"Treachery that you brought upon yourself by coming here," said the figure, rising from his throne. And as he did so, the entire room transformed. The radiant and iridescent colors faded away, causing the crystals to dull down to a mostly uniform dark purple. The crystal formations that had at first looked so beautiful and ornate had grown twisted and ugly, with sharp, jagged spires jutting out in every direction. The floor, which had at first seemed like a smooth sheet of glass for the most part, had become broken and jagged, with sharp crests emerging all over the place so one could not step anywhere without cutting open their feet. The floating musical spheres transformed into irregular and uncut gems which resonated with a sound not unlike a scream every time they lit up, filling the room with a chorus of agony, as if there was a hellish torture chamber just adjacent to the room. The blue fluid in the pillars had turned red, and Suicune realized to her horror and disgust that it was blood. This hypothesis was proven correct as the blood she had shed all over the floor was soaked up by the crystals all around her, flowing through veins visible in the semi-transparent structure and into the columns.

As the figure descended the now-jagged steps from his throne, which had grown horns and spikes and claws, and had spines growing from its seat and back so that they would pierce the body of whoever sat in it, Entei and Raikou changed as well. Their fur fell out in great clumps while their bodies swelled up, muscles and blood veins breaking out of their too-thin skin and spraying fluids everywhere. Their faces melted halfway, causing their grinning skulls to poke out of their heads while still surrounded by sagging skin that made them look like some grotesque and deformed wax sculpture. Their brains were exposed as well, and crystal spikes grew out of them. Their ribs poked out of their chest, along with what had to be their hearts, which dangled from cords, still beating. The clouds and smoky manes along their backs vanished, and in their place heavy iron collars formed around their necks with long chains dangling behind them and down their backs. The collars had spikes both on the exterior and interior, so that they penetrated the necks of the legendary beasts. Suicune was even more sickened by this gross transformation when she realized that the chains dangling from the collars were not chains, but _spinal cords_.

Horrified, she did not resist as her breakfast rose in her throat and she regurgitated it out onto the floor, where it was absorbed by the hungry crystals. "What…what is going on? You have deceived me!" she cried. "You lured me here with your Entei facsimile and false promises of power and beauty! You tricked me!"

The figure laughed and shook his head. "No Suicune, you tricked yourself." Whatever illusion had kept her from perceiving him directly before was somewhat diminished, and now she could make out his eyes and a little of his body and see he was somewhat humanoid, but not much else. Even though she could still not quite make out his form, what she did see was more horrific than the gross beasts flanking him. It was not his features (since almost all of them were still cloaked in some kind of illusion) that frightened her, but it was the manner he carried himself in, how he showed no pain when he stepped on the sharp, jagged edges of the floor, and the boundless malice and evil in his eyes that made him the most terrifying thing in the twisted room. "I never once lied to you, only offered. These are no facsimiles, but the real Entei or Raikou, transformed after taking what I offered them. The same fate awaits you."

"No!" Suicune cried, trying to regain control of her shaking legs and run away. "I changed my mind, I won't serve you!"

The figure shook his head as he approached. "It is too late. You already agreed, there is no going back now."

A mound of crystal erupted from the floor beneath Suicune, knocking her off her feet. As she landed with a groan on her back, cushioned somewhat by what was left of her once-beautiful mane, one of the horrific crystal structures on the ceiling unfolded, growing multi-jointed crystal arms much like an Ariados', ending in very, very sharp points and claws. The crystal arms descended on her, four clawed ones grabbing her by the ankles and pulling her legs apart from her body with such force that her bones cracked at the unnatural angles they were forced into, causing her to howl in pain. Four arms ending in points stabbed their incredibly sharp ends into her paws, driving through the other side and fusing with the floor, pinning her down. The crystal edges she was lying on shifted and buckled upward, piercing her back and forcing her to arc her chest upward as they kept pushing their way into her body, slicing apart her hair and siphoning the copious amounts of blood gushing from her into the living bowels of this monstrous crystalline structure. More arms descended, the pointed ones driving themselves into the nerve clusters and pressure points scattered all over her body and heightening her pain to unimaginable proportions, while a clawed arm grabbed her neck tightly and pulled her head up, holding her with just enough force to constrict her yet still let her get a miniscule amount of air. More clawed arms grabbed her eyelids and held them open, so she could not clench them shut from the endless pain she was suffering.

Not minding her deafening screams of pain, the figure came closer, standing over her body. "I promised you beauty and you will get it…what I consider to be beautiful at least, not many other people seem to share the same opinion of beauty as I. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all." He paced around her, seeming to take pleasure in her suffering. "I will grant you the power to purify waters permanently…so that they will be rid of all the loathsome bacteria and lifeforms that rely on it for life, so that nobody will ever be able to bathe or drink in them without dying, and their corpses will crumble and poison the land around them. And I'll throw in immunity to electricity and strength greater than Raikou's and Entei's, since you asked." He chuckled. "But it comes at a cost. As always, those who are consumed with greed and lust for power never remember that everything comes with a price. And sometimes, that price is too high to ever pay off."

The figure stroked Suicune's chest, his fingers turning into claws as he gently raked at her fur, leaving trails of blood on her skin. Entei and Raikou approached Suicune, grinning madly. "Don't worry Suicune," said Entei. "It'll hurt worse than the most unimaginably painful and excruciating thing you could ever dream of multiplied by a trillionfold, but the everlasting pain and suffering you will feel after it's done will feel like a gentle massage in comparison! And the power…the power, Suicune, it's incredible!"

"Well worth the sacrifice of our souls," Raikou agreed, nodding and causing his loose eyeballs to rattle in his melted face. "And the eternal thirst to mutilate and cause horrible suffering to all living things to ease our own pain and fill the empty void where our soul once was with the only semblance of joy we can ever feel again." Suicune now realized to her horror that the hunger in the two beast's eyes were not for her body, but for her pain…they longed to torture her so that their own agony would be lessened momentarily.

"Quite right, my children," the figure affirmed. He walked down around the beast of water until he was positioned between Suicune's hind legs. He spread his arms. "And now…" The flesh between his own legs bulged and ruptured as a small black segmented tentacle burst out of his body, its surface slick with some slimy substance which fizzled as it dropped off and hit the crystals on the floor. Serrated spines lined the sides of the tentacle, flexing open and closed as the tendril writhed about. At its tip was a large pod, which split open like a blossoming flower to reveal a kind of mouth lined with tiny sharp teeth dripping with the same slime that oozed off of the tentacle's sides. "…Prepare to become immortal." The tentacle stiffened, the pod closing up, the spines folding to its sides. It shot forward and downward, penetrating Suicune, opening its spines and mouth once it was inside, lodging itself firmly inside of her.

And then the pain truly began.

…

Ho-Oh woke with a gasp and a squawk of fright, her feathers damp with sweat. She glanced around frantically, expecting herself to be in a chamber of crystalline horrors, but saw that, just like every other time she had woken up that month, she was in a nest she had made on top of the tallest mountain on Shamouti Island, which gave her an unobstructed view of the Fire, Ice, and Lightning Islands, so that if any of the three birds left to pick a fight with each other, she would know about it.

Calming down somewhat at the familiar sight, she preened her feathers, trying to get rid of the anxiety and fear that gnawed at her relentlessly. _It was just a dream,_ she told herself. _One triggered by eating too many of those Mai Tais the islanders give me as offerings._ She loved the taste of the drinks on her tongue, even if they did make her feel strange later. The fact that she had had this same dream every night for the last week was completely disregarded in her frenzied state. The fact that she had not been able to sense any of her three servants in the last week either she also disregarded, explaining it away as a coincidence, or telling herself that they were on the other side of the world and too far for her to detect.

Deep down, she knew this was absolute Tauros shit, but to admit that a being such as the one she had seen in her vision-_nightmare_, she corrected herself-actually existed was too much for her pride and her insecurities to admit.

And so the fact that she had no idea where Entei, Raikou, or Suicune were, and that she had this same horrible dream every night for the last week, every time she closed her eyes, was just a coincidence. Or so she told herself.

She did not get much sleep that night, or for several more after.

…

That was a bit of a divergence from the usual. What do you think?


	36. Wobbuffet's Revelation

All of you were shocked and disturbed by the graphic torture in the last chapter. Good! That's exactly what I was aiming for! This chapter will be much less horrific, but not quite as light-hearted as you might hope for. We'll see.

Yamimaru, I feel slightly disappointed in you. I'm not the biggest fan of couples like Sorato or Michi, but you don't see me attacking Advanceshipping conventions, do you? Dislike of a couple isn't a good enough reason to bash it. Just avoid it in the future.

Ratiasu, that sounds like a reasonable reason for Charla to come after Charizard. That, and she misses him of course. And you live in Canada? I've been there a few times. Does anyone deserve the fate Suicune and the others got? No, I don't think so either. And no, it wasn't a dream. It was a hundred percent real. Ho-Oh had nightmares about it because she has a bond of sort with her minions, so the severing of such bond caused trauma in the form of those nightmares of how it happened. Beauty and power is definitely not worth that much. Thanks for the idea for Latias and Rayquaza, but didn't Sr. say they were descended right from the first Latias? And if they came from Latios' line, what happened to the eggs Latias the First and Rayquaza had? And in the dub, they never talked about an old couple and Latias and Latios or a bunch of their friends, sorry. And in this story, there's only two Latias left, our heroine and her evil mother. I never understood why there were two new Latios at the end of the fifth movie (unless they were the ghosts of her dad and brother), so I disregarded it. I looked at DA and liked your artwork. Ho-Oh has no choice but to team up with the good guys eventually, she is Chosen after all. Feebas and Wobbuffet's babies would probably be perfectly normal Feebas and Wynaut. People think Misty and May would fight because of their mutual "feelings" over Ash, leading to a natural rivalry AKA cat fight. I think otherwise, but that's because I believe May doesn't love Ash at all. And Misty probably would like Skitty, you're right. Now that you have an account, will you write any stories?

Sir Pudding, the human servitors were either paid off by Hanson or were completely unaware of what had happened to their rightful master. Yes, Suicune was a hypocrite of sorts, but then despots usually are. Was Bloodbath really more warped that this?

Eaglefox, all three legendary dogs/cats/hamsters/mutant biting things all serve the true evil now. May and the rest will appear over a length of time once the gang reaches Ever Grande City. Brendan will show up, but not for long. I have no idea how many more chapters there are to go, but I'm sure there will be more than twenty. I might even write over fifty total chapters, I think it's very probable.

Alex, yes that was the evil being who was banished from earth thousands of years ago, if everyone hasn't already guessed. (Which they have) And sorry, Alex, but all that horrible stuff really happened. Every graphic moment of it. Including the spined, living penis (which is what it was, just in case nobody understood). Three legendaries are indeed dead, and more will follow. And no, Wes didn't teach them humility. It's not always that easy. And who's to say Celebi even saw this coming? She didn't see the meteor carrying the original virus or the virus' evolution into a sentient being, did she? Two of the golems are too focused on waking up their brother and establishing a new world order to notice the legendary beasts (whom they didn't know of, since they existed before Ho-Oh created the trio) and Registeel's still asleep, so he knows nothing.

Lord Karkon, in a very real sense this villain is the Devil. What was unimaginative about the corruption of wishes?

HVK, I enjoyed the third chapter immensely, as my review stated. And yes, I think Zim is nuts enough to take this guy's offer. The beasts aren't like this on the show, I made up their personalities on my own. Damn, Zim has a lot of enemies…are the Tallest and Control Brains on that list too?

Inukagfan159, the legends will reappear later on.

Oh, and just so you know, if Suicune _had_ refused to serve the evil one, he would have done all that to her anyway. He only presented her with an offer so she would think that all the horrible things that happened to her were caused by her foolish vanity and greed, making her feel worse. He's just that evil. J

…

A tear rolled down the little girl's cheek. "Why?" she asked mournfully. "Why did that happen?"

__

Because the evil one is consolidating his power, explained the letter-shaped eyeball creatures floating around her. _Suicune and her fellow beasts will serve him quite adequately as minions and generals of his army of evil. They will poison water supplies, disrupt communications and electrical systems, and burn down cities and forests. They will serve him well indeed._

"But why didn't we do something!" the girl protested. "We could have teleported them away, like Mewtwo did with Princess Kasumi, so we could put her where she belonged!"

Kasumi's presence in Misty's mind, where she belongs, is vital to the girl's survival. She would be incomplete and defective without her. That would have a negative impact on the future, and so we intervened to ensure the timeline would flow the way we wished it to. Suicune, Entei, and Raikou's perversion operates in the same vein. If we saved them, it would impact negatively on the future. Letting them be corrupted will, in its small way, guide the future we want into place. 

"But how can that be!' she cried. "How can saving three lives have a negative impact? If we could have saved even one of them, wouldn't that have been a good thing?"

__

Saving a life is meaningful only if that life is the right one, her friends replied. _What would happen if you saved a baby from a burning building, and that baby grew up to become the most feared tyrant the world has ever known? Wouldn't letting the baby die in that case be justified as a 'good' thing?_

"But how would you know that baby would become a tyrant? It might not!" the girl pointed out. "People can choose what they want to become, or they're influenced by events around them. Who's to say that the baby's life would be so bad that it would want to destroy the world?"

__

The baby's life might not be bad. But it might be born with a defect in its brain leading to schizophrenia and untreatable delusions of grandeur. Such things have happened many times in the past. The mothers of those people always wish they had strangled the children when they were still young, before they could have grown up into the monsters they became. But then again, you would not know that the baby would be born with schizophrenia. You cannot peer into the future and see what it might become. But we _can. And because we can, we know that if Entei, Suicune, and Raikou had been allowed to live, the future we have plotted out, the one we have been working for all this time, will be ruined._

"But how?" she asked. "How can that be?"

__

If we had saved any of the three beasts, the evil one would have realized we were actively interfering with his plans (which we are trying not_ to do) and would have changed his plans so that the future we are planning would not come to pass. He would also hunt down the three beasts and take them by himself, laying waste to everything in his path. Even if we had kept the three here so that the evil one couldn't get them, his plans would still have been changed, and Ho-Oh would not be as paranoid and on edge as she is now due to the visions she has been having of Suicune's nightmarish demise. That mental state is necessary if she is to show up at the destined battlefield at exactly the right time based on her fears and insecurities concerning the Chosen business to begin with. Too early, or too late, and all would be lost. So the death and corruption of the three beasts, and countless others, is necessary so that countless more can be born._

"…It still doesn't seem right," she whispered, wiping a tear away.

__

You are still young and naive. You hold on too tightly to the emotions that cloud your logic. They obscure your eyes from seeing the truth and prevent you from perceiving the future beyond what you believe should be done and what is, by your definition, 'right.' We evolved past such concerns and feelings long ago. We lost our hearts, but gained the ability to see so much more. Without that sight, the world would not have the chance it has now for survival. Without that chance, Earth, and the entire universe, would be utterly and hopelessly doomed. If Entei, Raikou, and Suicune lived, that chance would without a doubt be lost forever.

Isn't the loss of three lives worth the salvation of all?

She said nothing, trying to halt her tears. _You have much to learn, young Molly._

…

"Pikachu, Latias, use Thunderbolt!" cried Ash.

"Togetic, Gyarados, use Hyper Beam!" ordered Misty.

The electric mouse and psychic dragon fired powerful bolts of electricity at their target. Latias still hadn't quite mastered the technique yet, so her bolt fizzled out before it could strike to her embarrassment, but Pikachu's hit dead on. Togetic and Gyarados were both a bit more skilled in their attacks and fired differently sized golden lasers at the same target Pikachu had hit. Togetic's was considerably weaker than Gyarados' since she was still working on the technique, but it still did the job.

The giant robot Corsola the three Pokemon blasted was flung backwards in the water by the ensuing explosion, smashing through hundreds of year's worth of shed Corsola shells as they crashed down. "How DARE they treat the great and beautiful Corsola Queen like that!" Jessie ranted in the robot's command center, pushing her lovely pink coral crown back up on her forehead. She was decked out in tons of jewelry: rings, necklaces, bracelets, bangles, anklets, earrings, nose drops; all made from coral shed by Corsola and carved up by jewelers. "Return fire at once! Your queen commands you!"

James sighed, fed up with Jessie's megalomania but too much of a wimp to stand up to her. "Yes Jessie." The robot's horns swiveled to face the two trainers and their Pokemon and fired several dozen giant spikes at them.

"SAFEGUARD!" Ash and Misty commanded simultaneously. Togetic and Latias joined hands, combining their powers and surrounding the group in a giant blue bubble of energy, which deflected all the spikes harmlessly.

"Now, let's hit em' again!" shouted Ash, pointing at the mecha. "Charizard, Dragon Rage! Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Latias, Dragonbreath! Bayleef, Razor Leaf! Phanphy…oh, wait, Phanphy doesn't have any projectile attacks. Sorry Phanphy."

"Aw man," complained Phanphy, kicking away some dirt unhappily.

"Let's hit them too, guys! Togetic, Gyarados, another double Hyper Beam! Politoed, Kasurin, Water Gun! Corsola, Spike Cannon! Psyduck…wait, when did I let you out of your Pokeball!" Misty cried.

Psyduck, who was thrashing around in the water, screamed. "Help drowning! Help drowning! Help drowning!"

Everyone facefaulted. "PSYDUCK!" Misty yelled angrily. "Return!" She called the idiot duck back to his Pokeball. "Now, attack already!"

The Pokemon fired an energy ball, a lightning bolt, a stream of white flame, razor leaves, twin lasers, twin water streams, and dozens of glowing spikes at the robot with enough force to blast it out of the water and send it arcing several feet through the air, causing it to crash down in the water with a tremendous splash, sending a large wave out in all directions.

Charizard panicked and took to the air before the wave could hit them, fearing it would snuff out his flame, but Togetic and Latias already seemed to have his welfare in mind (as well as wanting to keep dry) and set up a Safeguard to deflect the wave away from their party and keep everyone from getting wet. He sighed in relief and landed back on the wooden pier they were standing on.

In the Corsola robot, lots of lights flashed a glaring red and warning sirens were wooping, letting the evil Ciphers know their vehicle was severely damaged. Chimecho was the only one not distressed by the robot's imminent destruction and was flying about the cockpit, dazzled by the flashing lights. Well, Wobbuffet wasn't distressed either, he was already resigned to their inevitable blasting-off. It was only a matter of time, really.

Jessie angrily pounded a control panel. "Stupid machine! Why didn't we get the one with the Mirror Coating that deflected attacks?"

"Because then we couldn't have afforded the Corsola Capture Claw," said James, referring to the large attack-proof crane attached to the back of the robot with several dozen helpless Corsola (and Crawdaunt, who had been hitting on them when the Ciphers had attacked) dangling from it in a strong net.

The heroes and would-be villains were in Pacifidlog Town, on the evening of the first day of the cruise to Ever Grande City. Corsola had been especially happy to come here, because of all the other Corsola hereabouts. She had, astonishingly, run into the group she had lived with before going off on her own to the Whirl Islands where she had met Misty, and spent her afternoon catching up with them. Smitten by all the pink beauties, Crawdaunt had started hitting on several of the Corsola, and many of them were much more receptive than Misty's and so our favorite lobster was very busy that day. Misty had been dazzled by the coral jewelry, which was finer than the ones made in the Whirl islands, and wanted Ash to get some for her. But Jessie was even more so fascinated and she and her teammates stole all the coral jewelry in town for themselves, and captured the Corsola (and the unlucky Crawdaunt) who they planned to give to the boss so he could have his own coral jewelry factory.

"Well, we need to do something to fend off their attacks, a few more hits like that and we're bottoms up!" cried Meowth, frantically glancing at all the flashing displays and alarms.

Jessie suddenly got a wonderfully evil idea. "Wobbuffet! Go out there and use your own Mirror Coat and Counter attacks to protect the Corsola Crusher!"

Wobbuffet looked at her in surprise, hoping she wasn't serious. She was. He sagged and sighed unhappily. "Okay." With his by-now-usual expression of depression and hopelessness, he headed up the ladder in the back of the cockpit, which lead up to the robot's exit hatch.

The group of heroes tensed when they saw a hatch open atop the Corsola robot. "Hey, someone's coming out!" observed Pikachu.

"Don't suppose they're going to surrender?" joked Bayleef.

"Or maybe they're out of ammo and are going to attack us by reciting their god-awful motto until we beg for mercy!" Latias suggested with a straight face.

They all laughed at that. "Good one, Latias!" remarked Charizard, slapping her on the back.

A blue blob climbed out of the hatch and stood atop the large pink machine, waving a flipper at the heroes. "Hey!"

"Oh, it's just Wobbuffet," said the disinterested Politoed.

"Why'd they send him up?" wondered Misty.

Wobbuffet looked out at the heroes and sighed, knowing any minute now they were going to start flinging attacks at him. Poor old Wobbuffet, who just wanted to please his bitch of a trainer and make her like him. His bitch of a trainer who treated him badly, left him alone in a dungeon to hold down a pressure switch, didn't bother giving him weights to keep him from getting swept away in a strong current, and had on several occasions ever since he had learned Destiny Bond tried to beat him up so that Pikachu or Latias would be weakened and more susceptible to capture and now wanted him to act as a shield since she had been too cheap to get better coating for the robot. Not to mention he got blasted into the air every damn day, which hurt quite a lot.

He gritted his teeth. For days now, he had been pushed closer and closer to the breaking point. This was the last straw.

Wobbuffet snapped. "I'm supposed to be deflecting any attacks you shoot at the robot," he yelled at them impulsively. "But instead of letting myself get needlessly hurt, I'm gonna make this quick and tell you how to destroy the Corsola Crusher as fast as possible!"

Ash sweatdropped. "Is he for real?"

"He must be lying," Misty said, hearing Wobbuffet through Latias' telepathic net.

Pikachu shrugged. "Well, he's on the other side, but he _is_ Chosen, and he's seemed kind of resentful and unhappy about being a Cipher for a while now…maybe he's finally decided to help us out?"

"What you gotta do is-" Wobbuffet started.

"SHUT UP!" Meowth tackled Wobbuffet from behind and clamped his paws over the blob's mouth. "You'll ruin everything!"

James' head, with Chimecho wrapped around it, popped up from the hatch. "Meowth, what's going on?"

While keeping Wobbuffet pinned to the ground, Meowth looked back at his partner. "He's trying to cheat! He was about to tell them about the you-know-what!"

James looked confused. "The what?"

"You know, THAT!" Meowth said, gesturing with his head towards the back of the robot.

Perplexed, James turned his head around to see what Meowth was indicating. "Oh, you mean the giant button labeled SELF-DESTRUCT on the backside of the Corsola Crusher, right underneath the Corsola Capture Claw?"

Meowth howled in rage and leaped off of Wobbuffet, lashing out at James with his claws. "You IDIOT!"

The heroes sweatdropped. "They can't be serious," said Charizard in disbelief.

"They don't really have a giant self-destruct button on the back, do they?" asked Corsola. "I'd think we'd have noticed by now."

Crawdaunt had heard James' thoughtless proclamation and wriggled his way through the mass of Corsola surrounding him and peered out through the holes of the net. "Yes, there really is a giant self-destruct button!" he said in amazement. "What kind of idiot installs a self-destruct button right in plain sight!"

…

Dr. Robotnik sneezed. "Ah-choo! Was someone just talking about me?"

…

"James, why does our robot have a giant self-destruct switch on the back?" Jessie asked in a very quiet and calm voice that conveyed the sense that she was about to explode.

"If we got the model without the giant self-destruct button, it wouldn't have had air-conditioning!" James called back down to her. "And you know how hot it can get inside a cockpit! Besides, since it's so big, that means Chimecho can't accidentally press it and blow us up because his body mass is too light. Isn't that right, Chimecho?"

"Chi!" chimed Chimecho, who was stupidly ramming his head repeatedly into the giant switch in an ineffectual attempt to push it in.

"…This is just sad," said Togetic, shaking her head in disgust.

Ash sighed. "Well, I suppose now that we know it's there we should push it in. Charizard, go push that button in!"

Charizard's face paled. "Uh, I don't think so."

Ash blinked. "What do you mean, you don't think so?"

Charizard swallowed. "Well, uh, the waves out there are getting pretty high, and the explosion might splash water all over the place, and since the switch is on the back it must be pretty close to the water so…I'd probably be safer right here," he said meekly.

"…Charizard, the robot's only a few dozen yards away!" Ash snapped. "You can fly there and back easily!"

"But there's so much water!" he cried, bursting into frightened tears.

Ash's eye twitched. "You were never this scared of water back in the Orange Islands!"

"That's because I had a nice dry Pokeball to be called back into if something caused me to lose control of my wings and fall towards the water. Here I've got nothing!" He started trembling and sweating as all sorts of horrible scenarios ran through his head. "Wh-what if I get a wing cramp on the way over there? I had a big meal at lunch, I don't think I've fully digested it yet…or what about those Wingull and Pelipper over there?" he asked, pointing to some birds flying in their direction. "Wingull are pretty stupid. They might mistake me for a winged hamburger. That actually happened to me once before…"

Everyone sweatdropped. "O..kaayyyy…" Pikachu said slowly. "Latias, why don't you go push the button instead. I'll stay here and use everything I've learned from the Psychology channel to try and treat Charizard's severe aquaphobia before it can get any worse."

"Um…okay." Latias flew away from the pier and towards the robot.

"James, they're going for the switch! Do something!" Jessie cried.

"Jessie, you're at the controls. The spike cannon button's right in front of you," James pointed out.

She sweatdropped. "…Oh." She activated the cannons, which started firing spikes at Latias.

"Latias, Safeguard!" commanded Ash.

Latias surrounded herself with a blue force field that caused the large spikes fired at her to bounce off harmlessly as she flew around to the back of the Corsola Crusher, where Chimecho was still stupidly ramming his head into the self-destruct button. "Nooo! Don't push that button! Chimecho, Shadow Ball!" James begged.

Chimecho stared at him blankly, then smiled happily. "Chiiii!" he squealed, exploding.

James blinked. "…Not only was that the completely wrong attack, Chimecho aren't capable of learning Explosion!" he protested in disbelief.

"He's so stupid, I guess it don't matter," said Meowth, pulling off his charm. "Pay Day Attack!" He threw the charm at Latias, which harmlessly bounced off her Safeguard force field and fell into the water. He gasped. "Nooooo! My charm!" He dove into the water after it.

James sweatdropped and looked up at Latias. "Er, I'd use one of my other Pokemon against you, but Feebas is virtually useless and Cacnea will just beat me up. I don't suppose you'd just go away if I asked you nicely?"

Latias stared at him blankly. "…No, no I don't think I would." She backed up, then rammed into the self-destruct button, pushing it forward with all her might. The button slowly ground into its slot on the back of the robot until it was flush with the mecha's hull, and clicked. Then the entire robot exploded, flinging the Ciphers and everything on board the destroyed machine into the air.

"Nooooo, my jewelry!" Jessie cried as all her accoutrements as well as the other pieces of coral jewelry they had stolen fell away from her, splashing down in the water or landing on the pier, where the heroes collected them as they fell from the sky

"Try this on, Mom!" suggested Togetic, offering the crown Jessie had been wearing to her mother.

Misty put it on her head. "Hey Ash, how do I look?" she asked.

He shrugged. "You look like yourself wearing a crown."

She sweatdropped. "That's not really what I was looking for."

"What? I was being honest," he said, looking confused.

She sighed. "Oh, never mind," she said, taking the crown off.

The net the robot had been carrying fell into the water and burst open as dozens of frantic Corsola shoved their way out of it and into the nice, refreshing water and coral reefs, where they instinctively knew they would be safe. A dazed and extremely happy Crawdaunt crawled on top of a piece of coral jutting out of the water and waved a hickey-covered claw at the retreating Coral Pokemon. "So long, ladies! It was a pleasure servicing you!"

In the meantime, Pikachu was writing in a notepad with a fake pair of glasses and a Freudian beard on his face. "Zo tell me, when did you firzt become zo zcared of water?" he asked in a cheesy accent.

Charizard, who was lying on his back beside Pikachu, said, "Well doctor, it all started when my no-good deadbeat trainer Damien abandoned me in a clearing and it started to rain very heavily…"

"This is so unfair! I'm the Corsola Queen! That crown should be mine, not hers!" screamed Jessie as she saw Misty try on the coral crown while being flung away at high speeds.

"I don't know, I think she looks better in it than you…" Meowth murmured to himself.

"I wonder how Chimecho learned Explosion? Surely just because he's incredibly stupid doesn't mean he can perform attacks Chimecho aren't capable of learning…" James pondered to himself. Cacnea spontaneously popped out of her Pokeball and started beating James up mercilessly, because she had been denied a chance to do so yet this chapter.

Wobbuffet, oddly enough, felt a smile creep onto his face. What was this strange feeling? He had recently found happiness again in James' Feebas, but this felt like a different happiness, something he had not felt in ages and ages…something that made him feel full of joy, like he was flying through the air on his own power instead of being propelled away by a terrific explosion.

It felt like…freedom. Yes, that was it, freedom. All of the put-downs and cruel things Miss Jessie had done to him had built up to that one moment, that final breaking point atop the robot, where he could take no more. And so he deliberately defied her, not by running away from her as he had so many times before, but indirectly leading to the defeat of her evil plan. (Admittedly, in another few moments it would have been defeated anyway, but the fact that he had helped it end quicker by finally growing a spine, unlike poor James, felt like a significant achievement to the blue blob.) He no longer craved Miss Jessie's attention, he knew, had always known really, that she could never be the kind of trainer he could find acceptance from. Not like Benny had been.

He also realized at last what had driven him to stick with Miss Jessie, what had kept him from breaking and running so many times in the past: his stubborn desire for acceptance from those around him. He had found it in Feebas, who like him was disliked for many reasons, but he had still sought it in Jessie as well, and he realized now he had been asking for too much. You can't be accepted by everybody, there will always be people who will dislike you. A person has to treasure the people that care about them, and if they can't make those who hate them think otherwise, then who needs them anyway? You should be thankful for the people who love you already, and cherish them in return.

He smiled then, thinking of the other two people who had truly cared about him, and for the first time in years truly felt guilty for leaving them. He should never have let the pressure from Benny's parents get to him and lead to his asking to be traded away, or how he had so thoughtlessly abandoned-

WHAM! His train of thought was halted when the Ciphers slammed into something. But it wasn't the ground. From Wobbuffet's perspective, which felt like a bug squished against a windshield, they had hit some big, curved invisible wall in the air. "Ow," he moaned.

Jessie groaned and with some difficulty, peeled her face off from where she had hit the barrier. "Ohhh…what happened? What did we hit?"

James pushed the stunned Cacnea off of him and pressed his hands and face in various positions on whatever surface they had landed on. "It seems to be some kind of invisible force field," he deduced.

Wobbuffet blinked. Something about that sounded oddly familiar. "Force field? What would a force field be doing all the way out here in the middle of no-" Meowth stated before suddenly the hard, invisible barrier became penetrable and they fell through it, vanishing from the sight of any who might have been watching them.

As they were once more falling the villains (and one blob who intended to finally leave them with his fishy soul-mate the instant they got back to dry land) they saw what the force field had been hiding from them: a small island, covered in hills and trees, completely untouched by civilization. "Hey, what's this?" screamed James as they hurtled towards the island.

"It looks like an island!" Jessie yelled.

"I didn't see no island beneath us a second ago!" Meowth cried.

"Murder!" cried Cacnea, so startled by this aberration that she had forgotten about beating up James.

"Chiiii!" cried Chimecho for no reason.

Wobbuffet's face paled. He knew this place. He had hoped and prayed this wasn't it, but it was. After all, how many islands hidden by invisible force fields could there be? (There were actually three others around the world, but Wobbuffet didn't know that.)

They crashed down into a forested area midway between the center of the island and the beach, their fall slowed by the numerous thick and very painful branches they smashed through on the way down, collecting leaves and vines around their bodies as they finally broke through the tree canopy and crashed down on the forest floor, leaving a small crater.

They lay there for a few moments, recovering. They were Team Cipher after all, and they crashed somewhere every day, so they were used to this by now. Jessie groaned, getting up first. "Well, at least it hurt a little less than usual," she commented. "Usually the fall's a lot harder, but that force field and the tree branches helped slow us down a little."

"A very little," James moaned, staggering to his feet. He sighed. "Well, I guess you won, Wobbuffet."

Jessie and Wobbuffet looked at James in confusion, while Meowth sulked. "What do you mean he won? We got blasted off!" the bewildered Jessie pointed out.

"Yes, but he won the bet Meowth, myself, Wobbuffet, Cacnea, and Chimecho, all set up earlier today while we were drifting behind the ferry," James explained. "We would have included you too, but your hair was being eaten by that hungry Sharpedo and we really didn't want to bother you while you were in a mood to kill someone."

Jessie blinked. "What did you bet on?"

"How long it would take for the twerps to beat us," James said cheerfully. "I bet five minutes, Meowth seven, Wobbuffet guessed three minutes, Cacnea tried to beat me to death, and Chimecho guessed Kitty. A poorly drawn crayon picture of a kitty anyway. It wasn't really a good bet, but it was so adorable we accepted it anyway."

Jessie exploded. "JAMES! You mean you actually bet on how quickly we'd lose to the twerps!"

James shrugged. "Well sure Jessie, I mean it was inevitable wasn't it?"

Jessie blinked. "…Do you really have that little faith in our own abilities?"

"Yes," he said flatly. "Jessie, we suck. You know that. I know that. Chimecho knows that, and he doesn't know anything."

"Chiii!" Chimecho squeaked, licking his eyeballs clean.

Jessie sagged. "How depressing…"

James nodded. "Yes. Anyway, Wobbuffet, you won the bet!"

Wobbuffet sweatdropped. He had actually forgotten all about the bet. "Uh, thanks."

"He only won because he cheated!" Meowth snapped. "He told the twerps where our weak spot was so that we'd lose!"

"Well, technically Meowth, _I_ told them," James corrected sheepishly. "And you prevented Wobbuffet from telling, which led to me telling, so in a way it's both of our faults for letting it slip."

"But even if he didn't tell it, he meant to!" Meowth protested. "And that's dirty rotten cheating!"

"Which is exactly what a good villain is expected to do," James pointed out proudly. "He's at long last gotten that inner meanness and lack of respect for fairness and rules he needs to be evil. Congratulations, Wobbuffet! You're finally one of us!"

Jessie blinked in surprise, and then smiled. "Hey, that is good! Nice job, Wobbuffet! Very well done!" Wobbuffet sweatdropped. Not too long ago, he would have been ecstatic to receive this morsel of praise from her. Now, it sickened him. He was ashamed at himself for wanting acceptance from such a vile woman.

"And to commemorate your transition from semi-annoying neutral evil to full-blown chaotic evil, here's what you've won from the bet!" James handed Wobbuffet a half-cube so dirty its color was indistinguishable. "I think this is a piece of a Pokeblock. I found it on the ground back in Sootopolis. I bet it because I didn't want to lose any of my precious bottlecaps."

"A Pokeblock? Quick, give me that! I could use it on Dustox or your Feebas to improve them for Pokemon Contests!" Jessie cried desperately, reaching for the Pokeblock.

James held it away from her. "Jessie, it's just half a Pokeblock! And dirty, too! It's probably expired! Do you really want Dustox to eat it? And I seriously doubt half a Pokeblock will do anything to make Feebas less ugly, there's too little of it!"

Jessie sighed unhappily. "You're right. Never mind, Wobbuffet, you can keep it."

Wobbuffet rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks." He took the proffered piece of Pokeblock. He considered eating it (he had not had lunch or breakfast that day) but decided he would offer it to Feebas later. Who knows? He might be able to prove James wrong, and that would make him feel even better when the two of them ran away!

"I ain't giving you nothing!" Meowth snapped angrily, turning away.

Wobbuffet shrugged. "That's okay, I don't want your tarnished old charm anyway."

"It is not tarnished!" Meowth declared. "I spend hours polishing this thing every day, carefully cleaning it with tongue and handkerchief!"

"All the more reason for you to keep it," Wobbuffet muttered under his breath.

"Now it's your turn, Chimecho, give Wobbuffet what he's won!" James ordered his idiot Pokemon.

Chimecho stared at him blankly. "Chiii?"

"Come on Chimecho, you owe Wobbuffet a crayon! Give it to me!" James commanded, holding out an outstretched palm.

Chimecho stared at him, then smiled and squealed, "Chimecho!" belching out what looked like red-colored dust.

James put his hands on his hips. "Chimecho! You ate the crayon?" Chimecho nodded happily. James scowled. "How many times have I told you, if you're going to eat a crayon, eat the blue ones! They taste like strawberries, and I know how much you like strawberries!"

Jessie gave him a confused look. "Wait, shouldn't blue crayons taste like blueberries?"

James scoffed. "Don't be silly, Jessie! If blue crayons tasted like blueberries, then what would the _red_ ones taste like?"

Jessie stared at him, as did everyone else. Wobbuffet sighed, thinking to himself how glad he'd be to get away from their moronic antics once and for all. "Anyway," said James, breaking the awkward silence. "Cacnea, please give Wobbuffet what you bet!" Cacnea glared at him, but, since he had asked politely, had no choice but to comply. Grumbling, she waddled over to Wobbuffet. James grinned evilly. _Heehee, this'll teach her a lesson! Let's see if she likes getting a fist full of needles in her face!_

Cacnea stood in front of Wobbuffet, reeled back her glowing arm in preparation for a Needle Arm…and paused. Something flashed through her mind, something that was not a part of her defective Shadow Pokemon programming. Something that had been broken loose when she had gotten struck by the illusory Celebi in Mewgle's dungeon, and had been slowly growing in strength ever since. It was the element of free will. She blinked, narrowed her eyes, and drove her fist forward at Wobbuffet.

He automatically Countered the attack, but when the spiky fist came right back at it's owner's face, Cacnea made use of the recoil to spin around and drive the reflected punch right into James' crotch!

The blue-haired man howled in agony and fell to the ground, clutching his private parts while Cacnea loomed over him, laughing malevolently. "Mur-hur-hur-der! Mur-hur-hur-hur-der!"

Jessie sweatdropped and decided they should finally get back on track. "So, um…where are we anyway? I didn't see this island when we hit that barrier. Is it invisible?" Wobbuffet swallowed, for he too had just remembered where they were.

Meowth whipped out a GPS system (standard for all agents of Team Rocket who joined Team Cipher) and checked their location. He blinked. "That's funny. According to satellite, we're floating somewhere in the middle of the ocean."

Jessie frowned. "That's impossible, we're on an island. Give me that!" She snatched the GPS from Meowth and fiddled around with it for a moment, thinking Meowth must have been mistaken. He wasn't.

"This is amazing!" cried James ecstatically when Jessie conceded defeat and he had recovered from Cacnea's surprisingly innovative attack which no Shadow Pokemon should have been able to conceive on their own. "We've found a completely uncharted and undiscovered island! We may be the first humans who've ever been here before, thanks to that force field! It'll be a perfect place to build the secret base for the Hoenn branch of Team Rocket!"

They all sweatdropped. "James, Team Rocket's kaput. We're part of Team Cipher now, and we don't need no Hoenn base," Meowth corrected.

James blinked. "Oh, right. I got a little caught up in the excitement of finding a new island."

"Murder!" screamed Cacnea, tired of this chatter. She pounced on James and started beating him to a pulp again.

Jessie ignored James' cries for help and got a sparkly look in her eyes. "This island is still a perfect place for us! Since nobody's discovered it, that means nobody owns it! We can turn it into our own private retreat and secret hideout! Not even the boss will need to know about it! I can just see it now…we'll have a mansion facing the north side of the island, with hot spring in the south and a luxurious spa maintained by loyal and burly slave boys…" she fantasized.

"Uh, Jessie, I think you'll have to reconsider that plan," said Meowth, looking wide-eyed to the edge of the small clearing they had made by smashing through the leafy canopy above them. Wobbuffet had seen the same thing as him, and had gone ramrod straight, looking stiffer than a board of petrified wood.

"What do you mean?" Jessie asked, snapping out of her fantasies.

"I mean that you'll have to ask the people who already live here if it's all right to build on their property," Meowth clarified, pointing to the large group of Pokemon that had surrounded them.

They were small and blue, with long ear flaps that doubled as arms, two short legs, a black paddle-like tail, a large bump growing from their forehead, and a pair of up-turned eyes and a smile, in contrast to Wobbuffet's usual default clenched eyes and borderline frown. They were Wynaut, Wobbuffet's pre-evolved form, and there were a lot of them, and they did not look happy to see the Ciphers and soon-to-drop out Wobbuffet. "Crap," Wobbuffet muttered under his breath.

Jesse blinked. "Um…you don't suppose they're friendly, do you?" she whispered.

"Well, it's not like they can attack us," James pointed out. "The only techniques Wynaut can use are defensive ones. Except for Splash, but everyone knows that attack is completely and totally useless. So as long as we don't attack them, we should be fine."

"Great!" said Jessie brightly, flexing her left arm, which held her Snag Device. "Then let's capture them and give them to the boss!"

"We can't, we're all outta Pokeballs. Again," Meowth reminded her.

Jessie sweatdropped. "Oh yeah…"

An elderly dark blue Wynaut, with blue whiskers and a long stick held in one earflap, stepped forward, glaring at Wobbuffet. "So, after all these years you have returned…we believed and hoped you had died out in the great open seas as your father did…but it seems you were more resilient than we thought." He snorted. "You are not as you were when you left this place, but even a blind Wynaut can recognize you for who you are, son of the Runaway!"

Wobbuffet growled. "It's good to see you too, Elder," he said with gritted teeth.

The old Wynaut smirked. "And tell me boy, did you find what you were looking for? Did you find your father, as you had hoped? I can see from the looks of your hideous and foreign companions the answer is no." He shook his head. "How disappointing! You leave the island, the only safe haven in all the world, ABANDONING your dearest sister behind," he said, gesturing with one flap to a downcast Wynaut who shuffled out of the crowd. A little red bow was tied around her bump, and she looked both ecstatic and at the same time upset to see Wobbuffet. The blue blob felt a sharp pang of guilt in his heart for leaving her behind. "And now you come back with outsiders, breaking all of our oldest laws and traditions! You shame us all, son of the Runaway!"

"Like that's anything new," Wobbuffet grumbled. "I'm always a shame to you jerks." He paused, then gave a brief nod to the ribboned Wynaut, an anxious and uncertain smile on his face. "Except…to you, sis. I'm sorry I left without you. Sorry I left you here."

The Wynaut sniffed. "B-brother…" Her body trembled and her eyes started tearing, and it looked as if she wanted to run to the larger yet still familiar form of her older brother.

But the elder pushed himself in front of her before she could move. "And now look! You've made your dearest sister, whom you left all alone here, cry! What kind of brother are you?"

"A better one to her than you were a grandfather to us!" Wobbuffet retaliated angrily as years of bad childhood memories rose from where he had buried them in the depths of his subconscious, raising a gasp of shock from the other Wynaut, who could not believe he had the audacity to talk to their leader in this manner.

"How DARE you-" the elder started.

Wobbuffet laughed bitterly. "What are you gonna do, banish me? I've been to the outside world and back! But if you want to send me back there with these losers, go ahead. I'll be glad to leave. I never wanted to come back here anyway! As soon as I can, I'm leaving!"

"Good! Because we don't want you here anyway!" the elder yelled furiously, riling up the other Wynaut, who seemed to agree with him. Behind him, Wobbuffet's sister cowered in fear. "You are officially banished from this island forever! Take your outsider friends and never come back here, understand!"

"FINE! I WILL!" Wobbuffet shouted.

The Ciphers were completely and totally confused. "What's going on?" asked the bewildered James.

"From what those two are shouting about," said an amazed Meowth, "I think that old Wynaut is Wobbuffet's grandpa! I guess he musta lived on this island long ago…we never did ask about his past, come to think about it."

"We've never cared before now. And I still don't," Jessie said. "I want to get off this island so we can tell everyone about it and come back with Snag Balls and capture all these Wynaut!" she said quietly, so that Wobbuffet or the Wynaut wouldn't hear her.

"Why?" James asked.

"Because they're rare Pokemon!" Jessie whispered back. "And the boss would love them! They're the perfect defense Pokemon, he could use them as bodyguards or something!"

James was alarmed. "But Jessie, we can't! This is where Wobbuffet came from! These Wynaut are his pre-evolved forms!"

Jessie stared at him blankly. "So?"

"Well…don't you remember that bunch of Koffing and Ekans we saved from that poacher a while back? We let them go, even though we could have made a lot of money by selling them! Why can't we do the same thing here?" James begged.

Jessie thought about that for a moment. "Well for one thing, Ekans and Koffing are rather common so wouldn't sell for very much. Wynaut, on the other hand, are much rarer and would be worth a lot more on the black market. And in any case, we also helped those Ekans and Koffing because they reminded us of our dearest friends and partners, Arbok and Weezing, and we knew we owed it to them to help their fellows out. I feel no such attachment to Wobbuffet."

James looked appalled. "I don't know Jessie, that seems awfully cold-hearted, even for us!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, grow up! We need to make a profit here, we're much deeper in debt now than we were when we let Arbok and Weezing go. And besides, from all the yelling he's doing I doubt he'd really care so much for these Wynaut's well being, he hates them. He might even be glad to see them captured and sold. You said it yourself, he's officially become evil now." James still looked doubtful, but nodded, agreeing with his partner.

In the meantime, the elder Wynaut was about to respond to a particularly scathing insult about his whiskers from Wobbuffet when the sound of a gong being rung echoed throughout the forests. Almost all of the Wynaut automatically started filing out of the clearing, and Wobbuffet almost went with them before catching himself. The elder blinked. "Oh, is it dinner time already? And we go to sleep right after that…hmmph, in that case we'll finish this tomorrow! You and your friends must leave this place in the morning, and never return!"

"I don't plan to!" Wobbuffet spat at the elder. "I never wanted to come back here anyway! This place holds nothing but bad memories! There's nothing here for me, never has been!"

This elicited a hurt sob from the ribboned Wynaut, startling Wobbuffet. "B-brother!" she cried, before bursting into tears and running off into the woods.

"NOW look what you've done!" the elder accused.

Wobbuffet was shocked. He had gotten so caught up in his hatred for the old Pokemon that he had forgotten that there had indeed been one bright spot to his existence on this miserable island, the only person here who had ever cared about him: his sister. "W-wait, that's not what I meant! I-I didn't mean I hated you, sis! Come back!" He ran off into the forest after her.

Meowth blinked. "Well, how's that for drama?"

A second later Wobbuffet burst back into the clearing, grabbed Feebas' Pokeball from James' belt, mumbled a quick apology, and ran off again. James frowned. "Why does he keep _doing_ that!"

"Oh, he's welcome to her," said Jessie uncaringly. "The both of them are so ugly they're practically made for each other. Meowth, why did those Wynaut all head off?"

"Because it's their dinner time, I think," recalled the cat Pokemon. His stomach rumbled. "Hey, I could use something in my belly too! Let's go join em'!"

This sounded good to the other two founding members of the infamous trio and they headed in the direction the other Wynaut had left in, Chimecho happily trailing behind. None of them noticed that Cacnea had stayed behind in the clearing, feeling strange.

Watching Wobbuffet and his grandfather yell at each other, and Wobbuffet's sister in tears, made her feel strange. Something other than the very small list of sensations she was programmed to feel, which basically boiled down to hunger, pain, and anger. It felt like…like her heart had been chained to a rock and dropped into the ocean, where it sank to the bottom of the deepest sea trench and drowned there, in darkness so thick no light or hope could penetrate it.

She furrowed her brow in confusion. The emotion she had felt just a moment ago was similar to that feeling, but maybe not _that_ extreme. And yet it still felt oddly familiar…like she had felt that…"sad" recently. She suddenly recalled her last clear memory from before she had become a Shadow Pokemon. She could remember everything that had happened before and after that, but all her past memories had seemed like scenes viewed from a distance to her after her transformation. But this memory felt more vivid, much closer.

She had been released from her Pokeball and eagerly leapt forward to tackle her trainer in a hug…only to find he wasn't there, and she was in a place with blinding lights and cold floors and harsh, staring faces all glaring at her in scorn. They had done…things to her, she couldn't quite remember what, but they had made her feel this "sadness", this deep and truthful knowledge that her trainer whom she loved had willingly sent her off to this place of harsh people and blinding lights without concern for her own feelings. It had hurt in a manner she did not now understand, for she had not been really wounded in any way, but it was a deeper hurt…something inside of her that she could not see…and then they had put her in this strange machine with a glowing purple eye…

And then all she felt after that was pain, and then she was as she was now.

Cacnea blinked in confusion. She did not like this feeling of "sadness". But it felt good to her in some strange way. It was different from the endless anger she felt every moment of her existence, boiling through her blood, tensing her muscles, tearing her apart from the inside. The "sadness" hurt, but it was not the burning, painful anger she was used to. It spoke of something different, something she had forgotten. It seemed to her Wobbuffet had somehow triggered this feeling in her, though the tiny portion of her original mind that had been freed in the game world whispered that perhaps the virtual Celebi she had encountered had unlocked a door, and now she was pushing it open bit by bit all by herself.

Ignoring her own grumbling stomach, she trod off after Wobbuffet, feeling that if he had managed to make her feel "sad" he could make her feel other things too. And she wanted to feel something else, something other than this burning anger and hatred, more than anything else, even the prospect of beating her trainer who had betrayed her to death.

…

Wobbuffet burst out of the brush and trees and found himself on a rocky beach that felt eerily familiar. The sound of the waves washing over the stones and moving back out to sea calmed the feeling of panic and fear he had felt when his sister had ran from him a little, and he recalled that he too had come to this place many times in his childhood to cry. It seemed fitting that his sister would come here for the same reason.

He found his sister sitting on a large pile of rocks that he too had once sat on, crying her eyes out just as he too had once done. "Hey…" he said quietly, trying to put an arm around her.

She shoved his arm off and turned her back to him. "Go away!" she sobbed. "You're not my brother anymore!"

He pulled his arm back. "I'm not?" he asked sadly.

"No!" she cried. "My brother wouldn't have done that! He wouldn't have said so many mean things, or been such a jerk!"

Sighing, the blue blob sat down next to his sister. "In a way, you're right. I'm not the brother you remember. I've changed. I've had to change, out in the real world…the world outside this stagnant place…" He smiled faintly. "You've changed, too…" he said softly. "The sister I remember wouldn't have run off crying just because her brother said some cruel things without taking his precious little sister into consideration."

She sniffed and reluctantly looked up at him, trying to wipe away her tears. "It's been hard without you," she said quietly. "There was nobody to stand up to the bullies for me, or protect me from grandpa and the other's mean words and insults…" She sobbed and hugged the big blob. "Why'd you leave me behind, brother? Why didn't you take me with you?"

Wobbuffet shuddered, thinking back to that day long ago, when he had still been Wynaut, when he had snapped, just as he had only a short while ago. Fed up with the disparaging words and jeers from his grandfather and peers, he had made good on his promise to leave this rotten island behind and make something of himself in the real world. He sailed out to sea on a raft constructed from designs left behind by his father before the older Wynaut had himself left the island for places unknown, never to return. "I thought you'd be better off without me," he explained. "I figured that with me gone, everyone would stop using our father's name as a curse and use us as scapegoats. I figured that you could finally be the happy little girl dad always wanted you to be, and everybody'd like you again without dad or my shadow hanging over you. Besides," he added. "I thought you didn't want to leave the island. I thought you were happier here."

From the edge of the beach, hidden behind a bush, Cacnea observed the exchange between brother and sister, the feeling of "sadness" swelling in her heart as she listened to the two siblings.

The little Wynaut shook her head. "No, brother. I hated it here. I've always hated it, just like you and father did. But I was terrified even more of the outside world. It took dad and I thought if you went, it would take your life too. That's what I thought happened for all these years, that you were dead just like him." She looked away. "The only thing that made life bearable here was you, big brother. If you had asked me to come with you, I would have. Not because I wasn't scared of the outside, but because you were the only thing I have left that feels like 'home.'"

Wobbuffet bit his lip, trying to hold back his own tears. "Sis…I had no idea you felt that way. If I had know you wanted to come so badly, I would have asked you, I swear!"

"It's too late to matter now though, isn't it?" she said bitterly. "I even built my own raft, just like yours and dad's, thinking I'd sail after you…but I couldn't!" she cried. "I was too afraid! I was so scared that I stayed where I was lonely and miserable instead of going out where I might find something wonderful, like you! I'm such a coward!"

"No!" Wobbuffet protested. "You're no coward! A real coward would have killed herself long ago! You stayed alive even when everyone else wanted you dead…that's not what a coward does!" He shook his head. "Sis, the real world isn't so different from in here. Sure, it's bigger and more beautiful and there's tons of things to see that you'd never imagine on this place…but just like here, there are people who'll hate you. But there are also people who'll care about you." The images of Benny and Feebas flashed through his mind. "In my own quest to find acceptance from the world, I've neglected and taken for granted the people who already accepted me…the only people who really mattered! I left you here without thinking! I convinced my trainer to give me away because I couldn't get his parents to like me, and I could see that was causing familial strife! And when I finally found someone to love, I stuck with my heartless bitch of a new trainer in the hopes I could make her love me too instead of heading for the hills with my love like I should have! Oh sis!" Finally breaking open a dam of walled-up sorrows, Wobbuffet hugged his little sister as tears streamed down his face.

In the bushes where she was hiding, Cacnea plopped down on her rear, feeling more strange sensations flowing through her. Memories that had seemed so distant flashed right before her eyes as the door to her heart widened a little more, releasing some of what was trapped inside. She recalled how she too had left her home in the deserts to find acceptance. Her exuberant and enthusiastic nature had been too much for the other Pokemon of the Cacnea Nation to handle, and they had kicked her out so they could continue their dull, almost motionless lives of standing around and absorbing sunlight in peace. She had found her path crossing that of James, and had instantly fallen in love with the blue-haired human, who did not seem to mind her nature at all (other than her constant spiky hugs). And then he turned around and betrayed her, sending her away to be transformed into a monster without thinking about what the consequences might be! All so he could try yet again to capture that one Pikachu, who had a truly understanding and accepting trainer, one she would be proud to be the Pokemon of!

Cacnea felt her face dampen, and rubbed at it with her arm, her thick green skin too strong to be scratched by her own spikes. She lightly touched her eyeholes, and found to her amazement that they were the source of the dampness. Water was leaking from her eyes. It took her a moment, even with her newly recovered emotions and closer memories, to recall that these were called 'tears', and were the result of sadness. And as she cried from the deep, heartfelt sadness of being cast out by her family and having her heart broken, the growing free-thinking part of her also rejoiced…for if she could experience sadness of such magnitude, she could feel other emotions too! She was coming alive again, becoming more than a wrathful puppet, more than just a Shadow of a Pokemon!

The three cried, and in doing so they became more whole, healing or patching up the cracks in their hearts as they purged it of the waters of misery that had been dammed up inside for all this time.

…

There were approximately a total of fifty Wynaut on the island, and all of them gathered together as the moon began to rise over the horizon and the stars started coming out one by one, meeting in a large clearing with a very long table formed of rocks that had been piled together ages ago. The table was covered with succulent fruits, which the Wynaut freely gorged on to sate their voracious appetites. Atop a hill at the foot of the table was a ten-foot statue of a Wobbuffet in its usual saluting pose, with a sagely beard and a pair of what looked like spectacles. It was set on a wide stone base with glowing sigils carved into it. The gong that had sounded to signal dinner sat just in front of the base, lit from behind by the glowing sigils.

Although Jessie, James, and Meowth were starving, they were cruelly excluded from the gathering of Wynaut on the grounds that they were dangerous invaders, which in fact they were. They would have tried to steal the food, but the prospect of having their attacks bounced back at them by fifty little blue defense Pokemon did not appeal to them. Chimecho was the only one who was happy, because he was munching on bark he licked off the trees. The fact that Chimechos don't eat bark did not seem to cause a problem for the brainless one.

"Jessie, I'm hungry," whined James.

"Then why don't you go out there and get some!" she snapped at him, her usual bitchiness increased by her hunger.

"If I try to steal it, all my attempts will get launched back at me!" he pointed out. "And Chimecho's the only Pokemon I have since Cacnea vanished and Wobbuffet ran off with Feebas, and you know how unreliable he is!"

"Chiiiii!" Chimecho chimed, spitting out splinters of wood.

"Then just walk over there and grab some! They can't deflect attacks if you don't fire any in the first place!" Meowth said in frustration.

"Just because they don't attack normally doesn't mean they can't overwhelm me in sheer numbers," James defended. "They hate us. If I walk over there, they'll all probably jump on me, force me to the ground with their weight, and slap me around with those ear flaps of theirs until I beg for mercy."

"All you're doing is putting roadblocks in front of yourself!" Jessie growled. "Either shut up or do something, just quit your whining!"

The gong rang suddenly, getting their attention. They looked back at the dining Wynaut and saw they had all stopped eating and were gazing up at the hilltop, where the elder had just rung the gong with his staff to get everyone's eyes on him. "My friends, our island has entered dark times! Foul invaders, including one of our very own who turned his back on everything we stand for, have infiltrated our paradise! But fear not, for soon enough the outsiders will be cast back into the heartless winds that brought them here, where hopefully they shall drown in the sea of nothingness that awaits them!"

"Here, here!" chorused the Wynaut.

"Wow, he really doesn't want us here," muttered Meowth, translating what the elder had said to his teammates.

"We don't smell _that _bad, do we?" asked James, sniffing his armpits. He made a face of disgust.

"We shall pray to Lord Wobbaku for the strength to survive these trespasses!" the elder announced, pounding his staff's butt on the ground. He turned to face the Wobbuffet statue, as did all the Wynaut.

"This looks interesting…" Meowth muttered.

"Lord Wobbaku!" cried the elder to the statue. "Ages ago, you saw the world was on the brink of war! You gathered your people and brought them here to this island, so that they could be kept out of the coming struggle! To keep us safe, you erected this magnificent statue of yourself, and infused it and the base it stood on with your powers! As long as the statue is set in its base, our paradise will be protected by an impenetrable shield that also hides our island from the greedy eyes of those who dwell in the outside world, who feed on the shattered remnants of civilization left by the war!"

"Hey, that must be how come we didn't see the island when he got here!" James exclaimed. "And why it doesn't show up on any maps or even using GPS!"

"Hmm…" Jessie pondered, deep in thought.

"Only those of our lineage, who share the blood of the Wynaut and Wobbuffet, can pass through the shield! But only fools would wish to do so, for nothing lies outside but death and desolation!" the elder continued.

"Brother, does this guy need to get a clue," Meowth muttered. "But that explains how we got in here. Wobbuffet could pass through the shield, and since we were with him we must have too."

"But fear not, my friends! For no matter how many fools we have in our midst who wish to leave our sacred paradise, we shall always be safe here, as long as the statue is set in its base! For if it were somehow removed, the shield of protection and invisibility protecting our island would dissipate, leaving us completely wide-open to the dangers of the outside world! And the statue will then be much like any other Wobbuffet, repelling attacks with the same impenetrable field it surrounds our island with, only it won't make anything invisible and will have a much shorter radius of protection. Only if the statue is returned to its base would our island be saved! But all this is purely hypothetical conjecture, for your statue, my great lord, is far too heavy to be lifted by any of us Wynaut, and those invaders look far too weak to be able to lift the statue, so there's absolutely nothing to worry about at all. Yep, not like they could somehow get some magic device capable of lifting heavy objects that could move the statue from its base and somehow carry it away. Ha, as if something like that could ever happen." He smiled and nodded vacantly for a minute before stopping. "…Where was I?" A Wynaut ran up and whispered something into his ear. "Huh? Oh, yeah, that's right. Ahem. All praise Lord Wobbaku!"

"Wobbaku! Wobbaku! Wobbaku!" cheered the Wynaut fervently. And in the bushes, cogs were turning in the heads of two of the Ciphers. The third was too busy feeling hungry to make his cogs turn, and the fourth didn't have cogs in his head at all, but a windup toy Aipom that was constantly clapping a pair of cymbals together.

…

Wobbuffet and his sister sat side by side on the beach, gazing up at the stars. Their cheeks were still damp from tears, but the crying had stopped for now. The sadness and bitter feelings remained, but they had lessened now that they had been brought to the surface. For the moment, there was now just a brother and his sister, enjoying the night air and each other's company, happy to be reunited after so many years apart. "Big brother?" the little Wynaut asked.

"Yes?"

"You mentioned other people like me, who cared about you. People you neglected," she said. "Tell me about them."

Wobbuffet sighed, looking back into his past, filtering through memories that he had not truly forgotten, simply neglected for too long a time. "When I left to find a place where I felt I belonged, I had no idea how big the world was. I got lost at sea and drifted about, baked by the sun and held at mercy by the waves. I washed up on the shore of a distant land called Johto, where a young boy named Benny was on vacation with his parents. He found me, took me to a Pokemon Center (that's a place where creatures like us, called Pokemon by other people in the outside world go to get healed) and officially adopted me as his very first Pokemon. I wasn't pleased by this, and neither were his parents.

"I had never met a human before that point, so I was scared of them. Grandpa always told us stories of how nasty the people outside the island were, but Benny was nice and kind and gentle. I was scared of his pink skin and brown hair at first, and 'cause he was bigger than me, but I quickly realized I could trust him. He reminded me a little of you sis, he was someone who I knew could generally care about me," Wobbuffet said, rubbing his sister's head affectionately. "He used me in Pokemon battles (that's something where humans and Pokemon on the outside work together to fight other humans and Pokemon for fun and profit…well, for the most part anyway) to fend off all the kids who picked on him, just like all the bullies who picked on us when we were younger. I gained enough experience to evolve into Wobbuffet. But his parents, for some reason or another, hated me. They didn't want their son to keep relying on a Pokemon who couldn't even attack properly. They didn't think that going through life defensively was any way to grow up, and they kept pressuring him to get rid of me.

"But Benny said no. He loved me. I was his best friend, almost a brother. We played games together, went to school together, fought together…we were great. But…I saw the stress that I was causing between him and his folks. I didn't want him to have a relationship like our dad did with grandpa, with both of them hating each other because they couldn't agree on what was important. So, I figured to make things better between Benny and his parents, I had to take the fall. When the chance came up for humans to swap Pokemon with each other, I told Benny I wanted to get traded. It meant I'd end up with a different human friend and he'd end up with a different Pokemon, but hopefully we'd all be able to get stronger and become better friends and all.

He didn't want me to go. He cried, we argued for hours. But eventually, I managed to convince him to let me go. I wasn't worth him estranging his parents. And so, reluctantly, he agreed he'd trade me with somebody else." Wobbuffet shook his head. "Looking back, that was one of the stupidest things I've ever done. Then again…if I hadn't, would I have ever found you again?" He shrugged. "Who knows?"

"If it allowed you to come back here, was it really so stupid?" she questioned.

"Like I said, who knows? If I had found another trainer, I still might have found another way back here. Then again, the events leading up to this moment would have been completely different and I doubt I would have met the love of my life," he pondered, glancing at the Pokeball he was still holding. "Wondering what might have been is confusing, makes your head hurt, and is in the end a big waste of time. What happened happened, and there's no changing it." He paused. "Where was I? Ah, yes. I was hoping for a kind, loving trainer with whom I could have a relationship like I had with Benny. At the very least, I was hoping for a trainer who at least respected their Pokemon and didn't think of them as tools or abuse them. What I got…was Jessie." He sighed. "You saw her back in the clearing. Tall, pale, ugly thing with way too much red hair? That's her."

"What's so bad about her?" asked the Wynaut. "Did she hurt you?"

"Physically? Well, maybe a little," he said, thinking of the few times she had hit him with a fan or mallet out of frustration. "Most of it was emotional. I wanted to make a good impression on her, so I was always popping out of my…um, not sure how to explain a Pokeball…it's this little thing that Pokemon like us are kept in by humans in the outside world."

"That sounds awful!" she cried in shock. "Stuffed up into such a little ball!"

"Yeah, that's what the annoying Pokemon rights activists say. It's not that bad actually, kind of nice and warm and cozy…but that's not important. I kept popping out of my Pokeball so I could get her attention and try to bond with her, but she kept putting me back in it. The only times she seemed to want me around were when she was fighting, so she could use me as a shield…and that wasn't really as often as I would have liked. It didn't help that most of the times we were fighting someone, it was because we were trying to steal from them. Yes," he explained to the look of horror on his sister's face. "I had joined a band of thieves without knowing it. I could have run away, but I doubted I'd last long on my own in the wild. And besides…I kind of liked Ms. Jessie. She's bad, but she's had her good moments now and then. I wanted her to like me back, to bring out that tiny scrap of good in her. To treat me with the same kind of respect and caring she had for her favorite Pokemon, Arbok. But she didn't. Even after she let Arbok go, she still didn't care about me as any more than just that annoying blob Pokemon who keeps popping out of his Pokeball and never did anything useful." He sighed.

"I can't believe you're a thief," Wynaut said, amazed.

"Ah, I never really stole anything, I was just there," he said quickly to her. "And besides, Miss Jessie and James and Meowth are so incompetent they inevitably bungle every robbery or scam they're trying to pull off by getting overconfident or running into this group of heroes we're always chasing. (They're pretty nice guys actually, I don't hold it against them at all for always beating us up for trying to do stuff, it's just the kind of thing they're supposed to do.) But in any case…no matter how hard I tried, no matter what I did, I couldn't make Miss Jessie like me like Benny had. I was always just Wobbuffet, the annoying blob who either was supposed to stay in his Pokeball where he couldn't bother anyone or just stay out of the way because I really wasn't much help at all to the team. They never really liked me…" He sighed. "But I stuck with them anyway, because I didn't know what I 'd do without them, and I desperately wanted Miss Jessie to like me. And that's pretty much how it's been for me for the last couple of years…until I met Feebas," he said, holding up the Pokeball. "James-he's the wimpy guy with blue hair you saw earlier-won her in a contest I won't go into details for. He wanted to give it to Miss Jessie, but she thought Feebas was too ugly and didn't want anything to do with her. She and I hit it off right away, we were both somewhat disliked and thought of as ugly by our human trainers. We had nobody else, really, except each other to befriend, so we did. And…well, things took off from there." He flushed and shook his head. "It never occurred to me then that now that I had found another someone to love who loved me, we could have taken off on our own and maybe found another trainer…but I was too attached to Miss Jessie, even with all the mean things she'd done to me in recent times, so I stuck with her. And I ended up here."

Wynaut took the Pokeball from her brother and held it in her flaps. "She's really inside this little thing? How does she fit?" she asked, turning the sphere over in her hands.

"…I'm not sure," Wobbuffet said in surprise. The question had never really occurred to him. "It just…does. I've been in one plenty of times, so I know you can fit, somehow."

"Can I see her?" Wynaut asked. "I'd like to meet the person who can make my big brother feel happy."

Wobbuffet smiled, his somewhat melancholy feeling residing at the thought of talking to Feebas. "Sure. To open the ball, you have to press that white round thing on the sides."

"You mean this?" she asked, pressing the button. She gasped and dropped the ball in shock as it split open and a beam of energy shot out of it, solidifying when it hit the ground and forming the familiar oblong brown shape of Feebas. "Amazing!" she said in awe.

"I guess it is, isn't it?" Wobbuffet agreed. "Hello, Feebas."

The brown fish blinked and looked around. "Huh? Wobbuffet? Where are we? Who's that cute little girl?"

The Wynaut blushed and Wobbuffet smiled, seeing the two girls were already off to a good start. He quickly explained how they had been blasted off to this island, secluded from the rest of the world, that had once been the place he had reluctantly called home. He then introduced Feebas to his sister. "Feebas, this is my sister. Sis, this is Feebas, who I've been telling you about."

"Oh! I didn't know you had a sister!" cried the surprised fish. "It's nice to meet you, Wynaut!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Miss Feebas!" said the little Wynaut happily. "My brother told me about you! I'm glad he could find somebody who could make him happy, he was always depressed when he lived here!"

"Really?" asked Feebas in surprise. "Wobbuffet, you never told me about any of this island stuff!" She frowned. "You never told me you had a sister, either!"

Wobbuffet grunted. "I left this place a long time ago. I thought my sister would be better off without me here. I didn't see any reason to bring it up…didn't want to dig up painful memories," he said bitterly. "Heh. Guess it's too late for that, huh?"

The fish's eyes softened. "Tell me what happened. If it doesn't hurt too much, that is."

Wobbuffet said nothing. He looked into the distance, up at the stars, for what seemed like hours. Eventually, Feebas thought she had hurt his feelings and felt guilty, but then he surprised her by starting his story. "This island has been removed from the rest of the world for thousands of years, supposedly to protect the Wynaut here from a big global war. I have no idea if the war ever happened or not, but fear of it and what it may have done to the outside world has kept us all trapped here ever since.

"This place is stagnant, unchanging. The things every Wynaut does on the island are the same exact things their ancestors have done for thousands of years. They've never imagined what the world outside was like. Never looked up at the stars and wondered what was out there.

"My dad did.

"His dad, who's the elder and leader of our tribe, was disgusted about how his son was always thinking about things instead of helping out around the island like he was supposed to, and was wasting his time dreaming and asking questions about the world around him. The other Wynaut ridiculed him for his different ideals, but he stayed true to them, and eventually found a female Wynaut who agreed with him and they fell in love. Soon he had a son-me-and a daughter, but mom died laying the egg containing my sister. Dad was never the same after that…

"He started neglecting us a little. The other kids started teasing us because our dad was crazy, and we started to believe them, because what dad was planning to do was unthinkable. He wanted to escape the island, see the world outside our barrier! He claimed that what everyone said was wrong, that the world couldn't possibly be as desolate as they believed it was, and it had to be better than being stuck here forever. I think what he was really trying to do was find my mom. I think he thought that her soul, wherever it was, had gone somewhere outside the island…and he wanted to find wherever that somewhere was.

"One day, we woke up and he was gone. The raft he had spent years designing was gone too. Grampa openly ridiculed his son for his foolish actions, saying he had most certainly died because he hadn't listened to him or heeded the warnings of Wobbaku, who made the barrier protecting us on this island. We had a funeral for him without a body. Barely anyone came to pay respects to his spirit, saying he'd gone to Hell for his wanderlust and wasn't worth mourning, except my sister and me.

"The elder took us in then, but it was clear he disliked us as much as everyone else did, thinking that we would wind up being as crazy as our dad. Sis didn't get quite as much flack since she was a girl and would never rise to any important position in the tribe, but it was unlikely she'd ever be courted for fear the child would be crazy too. I got the worst of it, because I was supposed to be the leader once gramps died. He was always lecturing me about what a good leader did, and how important it was to ignore your dreams and stay on this damn island where it's nice and _safe_ and _STAGNANT_ and nothing ever changes! He was always yelling about how horrible dad had been, and saying how I'd wind up dead like him if I did what he had done and questioned our beliefs and left the island. And he's not the only one who told me that-all the other kids my age, even the adults, were always lecturing me and telling me I'd better not do what my father did or I'd go to Hell just like him.

"That didn't bother me. For me, the island already was hell. Everyone hated me and thought I should die. How could the outside possibly be worse?" He smiled ruefully. "If only I had known then what it felt like to be blown up and hurtled through the air at a minimum of once a day…" He chuckled. "Anyway, after one day where grampa got so worked up he actually _hit_ me with his stick…I couldn't take it anymore. I built a raft from the designs dad had left behind before he vanished and sailed away, figuring it had to better on the outside than it was here."

"And you left me behind," said Wynaut sadly.

"…I said I was sorry," Wobbuffet said with a wince. "I thought-"

She nodded. "I know, you thought I would be better off because they always treated me a little better than you because nothing was ever expected of me. But with you gone, there was nobody for me to turn to. I was all alone."

Wobbuffet put his arm around her. "I'm sorry, sis. If it's any consolation…when we leave in the morning, would you like to come with us?"

Wynaut looked up at him in surprise. "Y-you'd take me?"

He nodded. "Of course! Now that I've finally got you back, I'm not going to leave you here where you're unhappy! You can come with us! That would be okay, wouldn't it, Feebas?"

"Uh…" Feebas looked uncertain. "Do you think Jessie and James would approve?"

"Screw them!" he cried with a grin. "I'm done with trying to make them like me! I already have the people I need with me…you and my sister! You're all I ever really needed!"

"Then…then we're finally leaving them?" Feebas asked hopefully.

"Yes!" Wobbuffet cried, thrusting an arm in the air. The half-Pokeblock, which he had forgotten he was still holding on to, was flung above them by this act. "I hereby tender my resignation from Team Cipher! From now on, I'm flying free, with my friends beside me!"

Wynaut stood up. "Yeah, big brother!" she cheered.

"Freedom at last!" Feebas cried happily, hopping into the air…where the half-Pokeblock fell into her open mouth and slid down her throat. She fell back to the ground and started coughing and choking.

"Feebas, what's wrong?" Wobbuffet cried out in alarm.

"cough Something in my throat-" the brown fish wheezed, flopping about.

"Hang on, I know the Heimlich maneuver!" Wobbuffet cried, hopping off the rock.

But as he reached her side, Feebas started glowing with a radiant white light, causing the beach around them to go dark in comparison. Wobbuffet gaped at the sight as the oblong form in the light started lengthening and growing, her body going through a series of radical changes. "Big brother, what's happening to her!" Wynaut screamed.

"She's…she's evolving!" Wobbuffet said in disbelief.

"Evolving?" Wynaut asked in confusion.

"Like how I changed from a Wynaut into a Wobbuffet! That's called evolution!" Wobbuffet explained. "And Feebas is evolving into…"

The light faded as Feebas finished her transformation, revealing her new form for the brother and sister to gaze upon with awe. She had changed from a large brown fish with blue fins into a gorgeous serpentine figure, with half of her body starting from her head and going to her midpoint a pale yellow in color, with the rest covered in large scale plates that glistened like sapphires and rubies, ending in a tail formed from a fan of four blue fins with red ovals on them. A tall horn grew from the top of her head and from either side of that horn beautiful long pink tresses fell down to the ground. Her eyes opened, revealing a pair of elegant crimson and black orbs with a pair of delicate pink antenna curling out from her eyebrows, curving as they extended and would have formed a heart shape if their ends touched. She arced her head back and cried to the moon, "Miloooootiiiiic!"

"Milotic," Wobbuffet repeated, stunned.

"…She's beautiful, big brother," Wynaut whispered in amazement.

"She was always beautiful, little sister," Wobbuffet corrected. "Her evolution changed nothing. Her exterior changed, but inside she is still the fish that I fell in love with."

"Wobby…oh, Wobby…" Milotic crooned, her voice a melodious tune carrying the echoes of the tender feelings she held for the blob in her gentle soul, swaying her head from side to side as she got accustomed to her much larger new form.

"Fee-Milotic," he corrected himself as he said her name. "How do you…how do you feel?"

"I feel…wonderful!" she cried, her voice conveying such a sense of joy that even the hardest heart could not help but be touched by it. "My impurities, my insecurities, every little thing that made me feel inferior and disgusting and filled my heart with self-loathing…are all gone! I am Myself now! I am truly, once and for all, Me! Milotic!"

"That's…that's great, Milotic," Wobbuffet said, unable to express with clumsy, incommunicable words just how happy he was that she was truly happy now. A tear of joy ran down his cheek.

"Big brother?" Wynaut asked hopefully. "When I evolve, will I be as pretty as she is?"

Wobbuffet blinked. "Uh…actually, you'll look pretty much just like me."

"…" Wynaut scowled and slapped him. "You didn't have to be honest!"

"Sorry," Wobbuffet apologized. Milotic laughed, the sound ringing like the clear crystal bells atop the majestic Tin Tower. And the two blobs soon joined in with chuckles of their own.

In the bushes, Cacnea felt a new emotion welling up from the opening door in her heart. It was the opposite of sadness, like…like she was being lifted upwards by soft, shiny tingling bubbles that didn't pop when pricked by her spines, as laughter that had nothing to do with being cruel to James burst from her dry lips, marveling at the sheer novelty of being alive.

Well…okay, maybe it wasn't quite _that_ extreme, and it didn't bring forth any memories of ever being at that extreme, but she felt somewhat close to that giddy high now. It was…"happiness", she recalled. Yes, that was the word for this sensation. Happiness. She had felt it many times in the past, but not since she had become a Shadow Pokemon. Not until this very moment. She realized how incomplete and empty she had felt without that happiness, without that joy and laughter rising up from her heart of hearts.

She looked out at the unlikely trio of Wobbuffet, Wynaut, and Milotic, and realized all of a sudden that she wanted to be like them. She wanted to be able to laugh as freely and happily as they were now, and be a part of the camaraderie they all shared. She wanted to join them on their upcoming journey, and be free of Team Cipher too.

Less than an hour ago, this idea would never have occurred to her. It went against all of her Shadow Pokemon programming. But less than an hour ago, she was still an angry, twisted soul, filled with hate for everything, especially a particular blue-haired man. That hate was still there, but lessened now as more emotions and memories started slipping through the widening crack in her sealed heart. On an impulse, she stood up, intending to go out there and join the three in their happiness.

Before she could take a step though, the sound of a gong ringing several times echoed across the island. Wobbuffet blinked. "That's odd. They usually don't ring the gong more than once at a time, do they?" he asked, looking confused.

A distressed look appeared on Wynaut's face. "No, they don't! I think something's wrong!"

"What? What could possibly be-" Wobbuffet stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing that he had left Jessie, James and Meowth by themselves on an island that happened to have a magic statue capable of generating unbreakable force fields on it. "Oh CRAP! Come on, we gotta get to the Wobbaku statue, I think it's being stolen!"

"What! Who would want to do that?" cried Wynaut in disbelief.

"The very team we have just severed our ties with," Milotic said gravely. "We must not allow them to succeed in their endeavors!"

All of one mind, the trio rushed towards the forest, where Cacnea happened to be hiding. Startled, she dived out of the way as they pushed their way through the bushes, leaving a trail of dislodged leaves and broken branches as they headed for the middle of the island. Cacnea got up from where she was hiding and ran after them. If these three were making a stand against Team Cipher, then so would she! She would prove herself to be evil no more!

…

Only minutes ago, the island's population of Wynaut had been gathered around their stone table, happily eating dinner from the big heap of fruit laid out before them. Now, all of them were fast asleep, snoring loudly and drooling all over the ground. The sound of the gong had been made by the frantic elder when he had noticed what the outsiders were doing to his people, and he was desperately trying to signal for help, any help at all, before he too had succumbed to deep slumber.

The Meowth balloon was hovering above the statue of Lord Wobbaku, and had been outfitted with a metal frame attached to several rocket engines that gave the balloon extra speed and lifting power. This power would be needed to move the heavy stone masterpiece off its base.

Jessie laughed. "Wahahaha! I can't believe we're actually doing it! We're pulling off a heist, and the twerp's nowhere near here, so nobody will stop us!"

"Don't count your Torchic before they hatch, Jess, we haven't gotten the statue off the ground yet," James pointed out.

"Not to worry! We won't have a problem, thanks to you and your Chimecho," Meowth said, pointing to the tired-looking Wind Chime Pokemon. "It's a good thing it got sleepy and started using Yawn attack, otherwise we might not have been able to put all those Wynaut to sleep so they wouldn't get in the way!"

"Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Chimecho yawned, opening his mouth wide. A large pink bubble floated out of his mouth and popped in Meowth's face, causing the pale feline to instantly fall asleep.

"All right! James, activate the grappler claw!" Jessie commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" James pulled a lever. The bottom of the balloon opened up and a large metal claw attached to a long metallic cable lowered from it. The claw closed over the dome-shaped head of Wobbaku, using pneumatics to get a firm grip on the statue. "The statue is secured!"

"All right, time to take off!" Jessie pulled a cord dangling from the balloon's igniter, increasing the amount of flame it expelled into the balloon's canvas as well as increasing the output of the rocket engines, causing them to move steadily upward, unreeling the cable attached to the claw below them…

Until they stopped with a jerk in the air, throwing the humans off balance. "What happened? Why'd we stop moving?" Jessie cried.

James looked over the side of the basket and saw that the cable attached to the statue was stretched taught, and the statue itself was still stuck in its base. "Jessie, we don't have enough lifting power to pull that statue out of its base!"

"Then we'll get more power!" She pulled the cord again, causing the flames streaming out of the engines to grow in size exponentially. The statue below them trembled as they continued pulling on it. Small cracks started to appear in its base as ever so slowly, it started to move.

Wobbuffet, Wynaut, and Milotic ran into the clearing at that point, just in time to see the Ciphers increase their rocket outputs. "What is that?" Wynaut cried.

"It's a flying machine that they use all the time. They're trying to use it to pull the statue up!" Wobbuffet explained.

Wynaut gasped. "But if they do that, the barrier will drop! And our island will be visible to the outside world!"

"That would be a most awful thing," agreed Milotic. "Wobbuffet, your people have lived here without contact from outsiders for thousands of years. If people were to find this island out of the blue, the consequences would be terrible!"

Wobbuffet nodded reluctantly. "I hate to say it, but you're right. People would come from all over and try to capture the Wynaut here, because they're pretty rare Pokemon. I hate all the people here, but that doesn't mean I want them to get captured by jerks like Team Cipher! We've gotta stop them!" He started running up the hill toward the statue, which was beginning to rise out of its base.

As Jessie laughed triumphantly in anticipation of their victory, James blinked and rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. "Jessie, look! It's Wobbuffet and one of those Wynaut from before, coming right towards us! And…omigosh! Is that a Milotic I see?"

"Milotic? Where!" Jessie glanced around anxiously before spotting the trio of Pokemon. She gasped. "It's _beautiful_!…Not as beautiful as me, of course. But where did that Milotic come from?"

"It must be mine!" James deduced. "Wobbuffet must have fed it that Pokeblock piece and it must have maxxed out its Beauty stats and made it evolve! Great job, Wobbuffet!" James called.

"Yes, thank you!" Jessie added. "Now I'll win those Pokemon contests for sure!"

"I refuse to aid a villain like you in any contest!" Milotic cried, spitting a powerful Water Gun at Jessie.

Jessie yelped and quickly dodged the water jet. "Wh-what do you think you're doing!"

"Milotic, fire a stronger Water Gun at the base of the claw, where it connects to the cable! A strong enough burst should break it!" Wobbuffet suggested to the Tender Pokemon.

Milotic nodded and fired a much stronger Water Gun at the claw's base, causing the cable to tremble. "Hey, I think they're trying to stop us from taking the statue!" James realized all of a sudden.

"What! How could they!" Jessie shrieked in disbelief.

"Well, this _is_ Wobbuffet's home," James pointed out. "And by stealing the statue we are leaving it vulnerable to the outside world, so I sort of see why he would…"

"Oh shut up!" she snapped. "Wobbuffet, how could you! After all the love and care I gave you, how could you turn on me?"

Wobbuffet's blood boiled. "Love and care! You were cruel to me and hated my guts! Milotic, forget Water Gun, use Hydro Pump!"

"Right!" Milotic stopped her stream, inhaled, then spat an even more powerful water jet at the claw, causing it to shake and spark as water seeped into its joints, making the Wobbaku statue wobble in its grasp. The grip the claw had on the statue started loosening as its joints malfunctioned and flexed slightly.

"Ahhh! Jessie, we're losing our grip on the statue!" James cried. "Quick, Chimecho, Yawn at them!" Nothing happened. "Chimecho?" James rolled his eyes up and saw Chimecho was curled up on his head, sleeping like a baby.

"Never mind Chimecho, I'll take care of this!" Jessie declared. "Dustox, Seviper, go and stop them!" she cried, hurling out two Pokeballs.

They popped open in midair, releasing the poisonous moth and the dark serpent. "Blood!" Dustox shrieked.

"DEATH!" hissed Seviper.

Wynaut cried and hid behind Wobbuffet. "Big Brother, what are they?"

"Shadow Pokemon," he explained. "Pokemon whose hearts have been closed. Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you!"

"Attack the traitors! And James," Jessie said, tossing her partner a hair dryer. "Go down there and dry off the claw so it doesn't lose its grip!"

"Why do I have to do it!" James cried.

"Because Meowth's asleep," she said, pointing to the snoozing feline.

James sweatdropped. "Oh." He sighed, carefully removed Chimecho from his head, then climbed out of the basket so he could go dry off the claw.

"Now…Dustox! Seviper! Shadow Rush that Milotic!"

"Blood!"

"Death!"

The two Shadow Pokemon were surrounded with a blue-black aura as they lunged forward at the serpentine Milotic. Wobbuffet leaped in front of them. "I won't let you hurt her!" he cried, surrounding himself with the red aura of a Counter attack. The two Pokemon slammed into it, their Shadow aura clashing with the Counter aura. The double Shadow Rush, sad to say, proved to be too much for Wobbuffet's shield to take, and they smashed through it, striking the blue blob and hurling him back into Milotic, knocking both of them over. "Ugh…"

"Big brother!" cried Wynaut in horror.

Jessie cackled. "Haha! That's how Team Cipher deals with traitors! Now, use Shadow Rush again! Finish them off!"

The moth and serpent lunged forward in another double Shadow Rush at the blob. He clenched his eyes shut (well, technically they were already clenched shut) in preparation for the crushing blow, but it never came.

"Murderrrrrr!" A green blur surrounded by a blue-black aura slammed into Seviper, causing him to collide into Dustox with his Shadow Rush, instantly knocking out the moth.

"Blooood…" Dustox moaned as he fainted.

"What! Who did that!" Jessie cried.

Wobbuffet grunted and got to his feet, staring in disbelief at their savior. "No way…"

Milotic gathered her strength and looked up. "Well, this is an unexpected twist!"

"Cacnea, what are you doing!" cried James, who had climbed down to the claw and was blow-drying it with the hair dryer. "You're betraying us too!"

"Don't-murder-talk to-murder-me about-murder-betrayal!" Cacnea screamed, pointing at James with a spiked fist.

Wobbuffet's jaw dropped. "She's talking! Sort of."

"The door to her heart is opening…" Milotic observed. "Her thoughts and feelings are rushing out! Cacnea is breaking free from her Shadow Pokemon programming!"

Wynaut sweatdropped. "Huh? Hang on, I'm so confused."

"The door to her heart was closed, but it's opening! And she's on our side!" Wobbuffet explained. "She's actually helping us out! That's awesome!"

"YOU be-murder-trayed me!" Cacnea shouted, pointing at James. "I-mur-love-der-ed you! And-murder-you sent me away-murder-to be transformed into-murder-_THIS!_" she screamed, pounding her chest.

"Seviper, get her!" cried Jessie.

"Death!" the serpent roared, lunging at the cactus from behind.

"Cacnea, watch out!" warned Wobbuffet.

Milotic quickly fired a Water Gun at the Fang Snake, knocking his attack off course and causing him to drive his snout into the ground next to Cacnea. The cactus hopped out of the way as the dazed snake's barbed tail fell towards her, charged up a Needle Arm, and delivered a crushing uppercut to the snake's jaw, knocking Seviper's head upwards, carrying most of his body with him as he flew back through the air and smashed into a tree, knocking him out. "Now-murder-I'm gonna fucking MURDER YOOOUUU!" Bellowing, she surrounded herself with the aura of a Shadow Rush and leaped at James, who was so terrified that he almost slipped and fell off the statue and only managed to save himself by grabbing onto one of the fingers of the claw.

"C-Cacnea, return!" he cried in fear, whipping out his Pokeball and firing a red beam of light at her.

"What? Nooo-murder-ooooo!" She screamed as the beam broke through her aura and touched her, causing her to dissolve into a cloud of red energy and get sucked back into the Pokeball. He trembled, glancing at it with fear, and wondered what he had done wrong.

"Cacnea!" Wobbuffet cried. "No! She was helping us out!"

"Dustox, Seviper, return!" Jessie called out, returning her fallen Pokemon to their Pokeballs. "We'll deal with her later!" Jessie decided. "James, are you done?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," he shouted up to her. "It's done! The claw's dry, it should work now!"

"Excellent!" Jessie pulled the lever that controlled the claw, causing it to tighten its grip again around the statue. "Hahahaha! Nice try, Wobbuffet, but what can a pair of blobs and a helpless beauty do against the mighty Team Cipher!" She yanked on the engine control cord, causing the rocket engines to increase their power to maximum, giving the balloon the power to rip the statue right out of the ground, cracking the base and sending little chips of stone flying everywhere!

"Oh no!" cried Wynaut as the sigils on the base died out. "The shield's down! The island is visible to all the world!"

James had almost lost his grip on the claw when Jessie had activated the rockets so suddenly. "Jessie, you could have waited for me to climb up before blasting off!" he cried.

"If I had, they would have gotten the opportunity to make it malfunction again," she pointed out as the balloon continued to rise into the air, supported by the flames belched from the numerous rocket engines attached to the basket. "But now they're too late! If they make the claw let go now, the statue will break when it hits the ground and it'll be useless to everyone!" She laughed as the balloon started drifting away from the clearing, hampered somewhat by the weight of the statue it carried, but still moving at a brisk pace.

"She's right," Milotic said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I couldn't attack. If I did, your people will be left with no defense."

"Yeah…" said Wobbuffet sadly. "But if the Ciphers use it, then the Wynaut will still be left with no defense!"

"Then why don't we go after them and get it back?" Wynaut suggested.

"Ohhh…how are we gonna do that? There's no way we'll catch up to it on foot, and it'll be gone for good once they make it out to sea!" he asked anxiously as the balloon retreated from them, disappearing from view as it passed behind some tall trees in the distance.

…

"THIS is how!" Wynaut said proudly, gesturing to a large square raft fashioned from well-trimmed logs, tied together by sturdy vines. It had a rudder attached to the raft by a pole driven through one of the logs on its back end, and had a sail made from trimmed palm leaves held together by vines and a mast sprouting from its center. It sat in a secret grotto dug into a cliff on the side of the island that was invisible from above, and could only be accessed through a secret tunnel concealed beneath a rock. Wobbuffet had constructed a raft and escaped the island from it in this very same grotto years ago, as had his father before him.

"Wow!" said Wobbuffet in amazement. "It looks just like the one I made! And the one Dad designed before he left!"

Wynaut nodded. "Yeah, I used the same plans you guys did. It's a good thing you hid them where gramps couldn't find them, or I'd never have been able to make it!" She glanced at the raft. "Do you think we can use it to chase that balloon thing?"

Wobbuffet glanced out through the hole in the cliff wall that opened onto the sea. The balloon could be seen moving away from the island several dozen yards away, heading to the east. "I think we can at least follow it, as long as the wind and tide hold out."

"I can handle the tide part," Milotic offered, sliding gracefully into the water. Her head poked out a second later. "Get on the raft and hold on tight!"

Wobbuffet and Wynaut hopped onto the raft and grabbed onto the mast. "What's she gonna do?" Wynaut asked.

"I'm not sure…but she said to hold on tight, so that's what we're gonna do!" Wobbuffet said firmly.

Milotic's eyes started glowing blue as she dove back into the water. The water around the raft started to ripple and swell up, pushing the raft out of the grotto atop a large wave! The siblings cried out as the raft rocked on top of the wave before being flung into the air, crashing down into the water some distance away as the wave subsided. The raft kept going for several feet before slowing down, propelled from the momentum by the wave. "Wh-what was that?" gasped the frightened Wynaut.

Wobbuffet started to answer but stopped, seeing the silhouette of a long and elegant serpentine figure swim by them in the water. Then the sea started to bulge up beneath them again. "I think this is a Surf attack!" he cried. "Hang on, we're going flying again!"

They held on tightly to the mast as the water swelled beneath them, forming another, larger wave which carried them quite a distance before collapsing again, sending the raft flying and causing it to skip over the water a few times before it started to slow again. But then Milotic swam past them again, creating another Surf attack. The resulting wave was bigger by far than the last two, and it rose from the sea, towering at least fifteen feet into the air as the raft bobbed dangerously atop its crest.

Even though they were in a pretty dangerous position at the moment, Wobbuffet couldn't help laughing from the rush of adrenaline he felt. This was what he had wanted! This was freedom! Flying without having to be sent through the air by a horrible explosion! It was wonderful! "Big brother, this is kind of fuuuuun!" Wynaut cried as the wave collapsed and the raft was launched through the air.

"This is what being alive is all about!" Wobbuffet yelled as they splashed down, skipping forward violently, the water craft bouncing a few inches off the water with each skid, but they were moving faster than ever! "Action! Excitement! Freedom! We were dead back on that island, little sister," he said as the sail inflated, catching an easterly wind. "But now that we're leaving…now we are truly born into the world!"

Milotic's head surfaced from the water to their side as the wind and the momentum from the Surf attacks propelled them through the ocean, racing after the balloon, cutting a white V of foam through the water. "At this rate, there's no way we'll lose them!" she cried happily.

"But what will we do when we catch up to them?" Wynaut asked.

Wobbuffet grinned and shrugged. "I don't have a clue! But we'll deal with it when it happens! That's how life works, you know, there's no telling what the future holds, so the best thing you can do is sit back and enjoy the ride!"

Wynaut laughed. "If that's how life works, then I think I'll enjoy it!"

"So do I!" agreed Wobbuffet with a laugh. "So do I!"

The first hints of dawn appeared as the sun started to rise over the horizon, its rays surrounding the silhouetted Meowth balloon and the captive statue in the distance and making it look wreathed in glorious, glorious light as it shone. To the side of the raft, a group of Wailmer arced through the air as they leaped out of the water to greet the dawn, the droplets of water thrown up by the passage sparkling like diamonds as the rising sun shone on them. The Wailmer were soon followed by an enormous Wailord, which elicited a gasp of awe from Wynaut as it flew over their little raft and splashed down behind them, the ripples from its submergence carrying their raft for a distance just as Milotic's Surfs had. A group of Wingull flew overhead, squawking happily at the travelers below them.

There was no telling what lay in store for the trio as they pursued the statue thieves, but in all three of their minds they shared a single thought: it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

…

Wow, I didn't expect this chapter to be this long. I hope that not all of my future chapters will be this long, otherwise it's going to take forever to finish this story! (And my hands will hurt like hell.) Please review!


	37. Arrival at the Island of Fate

Sir Pudding, even I'm not one hundred percent sure what the Unown are planning. How sad is that? And Wobbuffet's father is dead. Yep. Dead dead dead. Eaten by Sharpedo only a few minutes after passing the barrier.

L.C. Techno, how James knows Chimecho's worst fear is totally unimportant and unnecessary to know. That and I don't know myself. I personally pronounce Chimecho Chee-Mee-Cho, but I think your brother's pronunciation may be the 'official' way to say his name. I like my version better. Are the Philippines nice, incidentally?

Ninetalesuk, I'm not sure I want to make Charla evil…I like her too much!

Ratiasu, I don't know why they changed the movie storyline either. Dubbers are annoying, aren't they? Oh well. And I like Latias and Latios' voices in this version. Llamas? I'm glad you like the characterization for Wobbuffet and friends. I worked hard to make it sound good. No, Cacnea doesn't know James didn't know this would happen as a result of her transformation. She may find out before this is over…but even so, can she still forgive him? Negligent abandonment is almost as bad as willing abandonment, if not worse. And your English sounds good to me!

Gladdecease, I'm glad I could (finally) convince you to take a look at this. Welcome to the fold.

EagleFox, do you really think after all this Chosen stuff is done, things can go back to normal? And no, the beasts will not be returning to their original forms in the foreseeable future.

Story Weaver1, glad you liked it.

HVK, I was referring to the 'true' Zim, not the one in your story. He'd gladly and foolishly sell his soul to rule the world. I liked the self-destruct button scene too. When will your next chapter be done?

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this chapter but the Tyranitron and all the superheroes. And my version of Ever Grande City. Thanks to Alex Warlorn, who helped out a lot with the development of this chapter.

…

Pikachu stood up from where he had been perched on top of Ash's hat. "Look! There it is!" he chirped, pointing straight ahead, off the bow of the ferry.

His friends all looked in the indicated direction. "Wow! It's beautiful!" Misty gushed.

"And so shiny!" squealed Phanphy happily.

Ash grinned. "We're here at last…Ever Grande City!"

And so they were. Only a couple of miles in the distance, rising from the sea, was the magnificent sight of Ever Grande City.

It was a spectacular view, a giant metropolis of concrete and steel floating on the sea, completely built around what had originally been a massive oil platform just a few decades ago. When the oil ran dry, the Hoenn League purchased the platform for use as a setting for their annual tournaments. But this attracted so many tourists and battlers, all wanting to watch and take part in the fights to determine who the greatest human/Pokemon teams in the land were, that the platform itself became too small to host all the participants and viewers. So numerous construction firms were contracted to erect a city around the old platform, utilizing help from both aquatic and Ground-type Pokemon as well as terraforming skills to create an artificial landmass to serve as the base for this magnificent marvel of modern engineering. The city was constantly growing upwards and outwards due to all the people and companies that wanted a piece of it, and now what had originally been planned as a village of sorts for trainers and visitors who had come for the tournament to stay in had become the most famous city of the Hoenn region, as well as headquarters of the Hoenn League. The small skyscrapers that sprouted all over the place were eclipsed by the inert towering old pipes and smokestacks of the oil platform, casting a shadow over them. Even so, each building shone beautifully as the sunlight reflected off their glass panels and metallic finishes. When environmentalists and Pokemon rights activists complained that the city was too artificial and unfit for Pokemon to live in, an entire forest was constructed on the city's south side, along with mountain and desert terrain, and a small glacial area as well as a lava pool, to suit Pokemon of all types and temperaments. The city was a shining testament to what humans and Pokemon could do when their powers are put together. (As well as showing just how far some people will go to make a profit, the annual revenue the place drags in more than makes up for the cost of constructing and maintaining the city.)

"And thank goodness," said Charizard, who was up on deck and not down below like he had been just the day before, thanks in part to Pikachu's attempts to help him get over his aquaphobia. (He wasn't _scared_ so much of water anymore, but still knew to avoid large amounts of it.) "It'll be nice to get on dry land that's bigger than a village built on top of a mass of Corsola cast-offs."

"Yeah, and I can finally get the kind of fighting I've been raring for for ages!" Crawdaunt agreed, snapping his pincers eagerly. "The best trainers and Pokemon in the Hoenn league against yours truly…what a battle that'll be!"

"Hey, don't get too swelled a head about it," Bayleef warned. "We get enough of that from Ash, we don't need two over-inflated egos. Unless," she said with a mocking grin,  
"You're acting tougher than usual to attract Miss Corsola over there."

Crawdaunt flushed, glancing at the pink and white Coral Pokemon, who was riding on top of Gyarados' head just off the port side of the ferry, right next to them. "…Shut up, Bayleef."

"Don't listen to her, father," Kasurin interjected, hopping between Bayleef and Crawdaunt. "I have faith in your abilities! You'll show those other Pokemon what a true creature of the sea can do! I'll be rooting for you all the way!"

Crawdaunt chuckled and whapped his son on the back with a claw, inadvertently bruising him. "Boy, as long as you don't get all weepy if I lose, that's fine with me."

"I'll have to think of a new personalized cheer for you," commented Politoed absent-mindedly, his amphibian mind running several possibilities through his head. "Maybe the old standby, 'Crawdaunt, Crawdaunt, he's our lobster, if he can't do it, neither can…a mobster?' No, no, that won't work…"

"What do you think it'll be like in the city, Aunt Latias?" Togetic asked, fluttering over the dragon girl's shoulder.

Latias shrugged. "I don't know. At first I thought it might make me feel sad and remind me of Alto Mare…but looking at this place, I can already tell that Ever Grande and my old home have nothing in common, save that they are both island cities. And they are both beautiful," she admitted. "Alto Mare is-was-ancient and made from warm old stone. This place is newer and made from steel and concrete. I can't honestly make a guess as to what it'll be like, it's not like any place I've ever been to before. We'll have to see for ourselves what it's like once we get there, I suppose." Togetic nodded in agreement.

"I can't believe this is it, guys," Ash said, his grin fading from his face. "After all this traveling and hard work, we're finally here…this is where it's all going down."

"The Chosen thing, you mean?" Misty asked apprehensively.

Ash nodded. "All of us are supposed to meet here at some point or another. One way or another, this is where it'll happen. There's more than just a tournament going on…this could be where the fate of the world is decided."

The enthusiasm drained from the group then, as they realized the importance of whatever momentous task awaited them here. This was where the Unown and Molly had told them to go. This was where their destinies would be revealed…would they be strong enough to shoulder them when that moment of revelation came?

Only time would tell…

…

A few miles to the south of Ever Grande City, a large ship was floating on the ocean, its anchors deployed in the water to hold it in place. The vessel was a huge aircraft carrier, left over from a recent war and fixed up for new uses by its owners. The legend on its side read _Shadow Cruiser. _No aircraft, bombers, or flying Pokemon were on the deck, waiting to take off and attack their enemy. Instead, the long runway on the carrier was taken up by an enormous machine, towering twenty stories into the sky. At first glance one would think it was a Tyranitar grown to immense proportions, and indeed it did look much like a Tyranitar, save for the way the sun shone off its dull green hide, which made one think it was made of metal, which it was. Instead of eyes it had polarized windows, for the head was hollowed out and would serve as the command center for the gargantuan mecha. The giant blue diamond plate on its belly was split open, revealing a vast hollow chamber inside. Scaffolding and elevators towers were in place all over the monstrosity, and technicians and mechanics were running here and there, making last minute adjustments and modifications to the giant robot, for its first run would be that very day.

A peculiar sight, a Meowth-shaped balloon, carrying a large stone Wobbuffet in a claw dangling from the underside of its basket, floated over the aircraft carrier, casting a shadow over the workers below and causing them to look up in surprise at the bizarre vehicle and its cargo as it sailed over to a large wheeled metal platform with the X over a blue circle that was the insignia of Team Cipher on its surface. A Cipher Grunt released her Volbeat and Illumise, and they waved their lit rumps at the balloon's operators, signaling them to drop the statue here. Feeling slightly offended that they were receiving a neon mooning, the operators gently lowered the statue onto the platform, releasing the claw holding it once they heard the dull thud that marked it had landed safely and retracting it back into the basket.

Plant Pokemon climbed onto the top of the platform and secured the statue from all sides with Vine Whip attacks. A worker hopped into a small cockpit attached to the front of the platform and inserted a key into the ignition, starting up the machine's motor. Taking the steering wheel, she started driving the platform forward in the direction of the giant robot, moving slowly due to its great mass as well as the weight of the object it carried.

Guided once more by the mooning Volbeat and Illumise, the balloon landed at a spot nearby, where they found themselves greeted by four familiar faces. As Jessie, James, Meowth, and Chimecho disembarked their vehicle, they recognized them at once.

First and foremost to them was the man who had always supplied them with their gadgets and giant robots, and who had almost single-handedly designed the fearsome mecha only a few hundred meters away. Clad in a snazzy red jacket with gold trim and white lining, along with a solid black pair of pants that covered his feet, was the egg-shaped figure of Doctor Robotnik AKA the Eggman. Next to him were Professors Sebastian and Ein. Sebastian's usually calm and stoic expression was marred by the lines on his face and bags under his eyes, and his hair and lab coat were disheveled, showing he hadn't gotten much sleep recently. However, he looked like Adonis in comparison to the haggard Ein, who was rocking on his heels while constantly fighting with the straightjacket he was wrapped up in. His shades were gone, revealing bloodshot, unfocused eyes that were rolling about madly while he babbled in incessant gibberish, drool dribbling down his chin. For those who had known the man for a long time, it was shocking to see him in this state.

But it was the man who walked past the scientists and towards the group of misfits that really caught their attention. He was wearing a tight and revealing purple jumpsuit. His skin was extremely pale and sallow. His eyes were red, bloodshot, and sunken into his face, which, along with his long gray locks which writhed in the air without any apparent influence from the wind, made him look very frightening. Chimecho squealed in fright and hid behind James' head, trembling in fear.

Meowth gasped. "It's the boss!" The stooges quickly stood to attention and saluted.

The scary man nodded. "That is correct. I am Nascour, leader of Team Cipher." He cocked his head. "I have heard much about you three."

"Really?" asked James excitedly. Grins appeared on all their faces.

Nascour nodded. "Yes. You're the most incompetent disgraces to ever be employed under Team Rocket, and continued to be disgraces even after executive power was transferred to Ein, and from him to me. If it weren't for the fact that your moronic antics are recorded by hidden cameras in all the gadgets you use and used as training footage to show our new recruits what NOT to do, and your usefulness to Doctor Robotnik's robot testing, you would have been fired, humiliated, and/or executed ages ago due to your colossal debts and wastes of resources."

The grins were frozen. "Well…at least we contribute something helpful, then…" Jessie said uneasily.

Nascour smiled. "Yes, and because you managed to deliver this magnificent sculpture to us," he said, gesturing to the Wobbaku statue which had just reached the feet of the enormous Tyranitron robot. The platform it was mounted on braked, and then the platform itself began to rise, lifted into the air by a large elevator set into the deck floor. "Which, Doctor Robotnik assures me, will fill in the gaping defense problems caused because we lost all the budget we would have used on making the robot's armor completely invincible due in part to your own bungling and also in part to Ein's frantic and expensive hiring of Ghostbusters to get rid of Giovanni's spirit (which he claims haunts him) not long after I took power, as well as Professor Namba's attempts at embezzlement when he realized he couldn't complete his end of the project in time and tried to make a run for it to prevent himself from suffering my wrath, you three will be spared the fate I gave to Namba."

Meowth swallowed. Sweat was rolling down his face. "Y-you killed him, and were planning to do it to us!"

Nascour looked surprised. "What? No! We need his brain, he's too important to kill. I dressed him up in a Torchic costume, gave him a giant bucket of KFC chicken legs, and sent him to a convention for Meat-Eaters Anonymous."

The trio gasped. "That would be a death sentence!" James cried in terror.

"No, I told you he's too important to kill! The suit's made of rubber and really difficult to break, all that happened to Namba was a simple hospitalization and severe mental scarring. A shame we never got back the money he stole, he'd already wasted all of it on gambling and playing the stock market. _Ein,_ on the other hand," said Nascour, pointing to the raving lunatic. "I would have killed him for wasting all that money on ghost busting and for going insane due to stress, lack of sleep, and fear that the spirit of Giovanni was going to get him, but he's the only person who really understands how to transform Pokemon into Shadow Pokemon so he's too valuable to kill. We thought we knew enough about the process to do it ourselves, but all our test subjects keep dying so there must be some step or vital element we're missing that isn't mentioned in Ein's notes. We're hoping this is only temporary insanity and with time and care he'll go back to normal, and then I can punish him and maybe kill him if he tells me exactly how the Shadow Pokemon process works and what we're doing wrong. We only brought him down here today because we needed to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't kill himself by accident or design before we can retrieve the information from him. That, and his insanity amuses me," he said with a wicked smile. "And of course there's the off chance that somewhere among his incomprehensible word salad is the key to understanding what we're doing wrong in the Shadow Pokemon process. So far he hasn't said anything useful, but you never know. We have a tape recorder attached to his neck to record everything he says so it can be analyzed later, just in case."

"Ah," said Jessie, white in the face and looking terrified of her boss.

James pouted. "Darn, I was hoping he could figure out what was wrong with Cacnea." He pulled her Pokeball off his belt and glanced at it sadly. "She's been trying to hurt me for ages, but last night for some reason or another she tried to kill me!"

"What a pity." Nascour smiled and looked back at the trio. "Anyway, as a reward for bringing us this valuable statue, I'll grant all of you and your Pokemon a berth onboard the Tyranitron!"

The trio gasped. "Really?" James asked in disbelief. "You're going to let us pilot the most powerful weapon that's ever been constructed by our organization?"

"Eh, not exactly _pilot_…" Nascour drawled. "We have more skilled agents who will do that."

"But we have more experience piloting giant robots than anyone else in Team Cipher!" Jessie protested.

"And the most experience at blowing them to smithereens," Robotnik pointed out, glaring at the buffoons.

They sweatdropped. "He's got a point," Meowth said unhappily.

"But never fear," Nascour reassured them. "You will still be an important and essential part of the Tyranitron's crew. Come, follow me and I will introduce you to your fellow teammates and get you in position, we're expecting to launch in about an hour."

He started to turn towards the Tyranitron when a Cipher Peon ran up to him. "Master Nascour! Master Nascour!"

"Yes, what is it?" Nascour snapped, irritated at being interrupted.

"Sir! We've spotted a small wooden raft just a few meters away from the ship! It drifted here on the wind and the tide!" the Peon reported, giving a smart salute.

Nascour frowned. "And you've let it get that close?"

"There's nobody on board, sir, so we didn't regard it as a threat. We only thought it should be brought to your attention because it's getting awfully close to one of the maintenance hatches on the side, sir."

Nascour frowned. "Hmm. This reeks of espionage. Blow that raft out of the water! Just because you don't see anyone on board doesn't mean there isn't anyone there! Use excessive and unnecessary force!"

"Yes sir!" The peon saluted and ran off.

"All right, now that that's over with-" He stopped, noticing James had raised his hand. "Yes, what is it?" he asked, looking annoyed.

"Um…" James fidgeted nervously. He started to open his mouth to say something, but shut it, obviously thinking it was too stupid.

Nascour frowned. "Well man? Out with it!" he barked.

James yelped, and trembling, managed to say, "Y-your hair…"

Nascour blinked. Everyone else cringed, certain that James had just doomed himself. "My hair? What about it?"

"How does it _do_ that?" James blurted. "How does it…_move on its own_!"

Jessie slapped him on the back of his head. "James! You'll kill us, you idiot!" she whispered.

"Yeah, shut up!" Meowth hissed.

However, Nascour didn't seem to be too angered by James' question. "Oh, that's simple," he said. His hair lengthened, grew snake heads, and lunged at James' face, snarling, hissing, and wiggling their forked tongues. He screamed and fell backwards, accidentally plastering Chimecho against the back of his head. "My mother was a Gorgon," Nascour explained as his hair turned back to normal. He smiled and turned away.

Meowth blinked. "Then how come we ain't stone? And aren't Gorgons some old Geek myth?"

Nascour rolled his eyes. "Technically, Gorgons are mythical creatures from GREEK lore (not geek), but my father happened to be a geneticist with an unhealthy obsession with mythology and my mother was a woman with an unhealthy obsession with snakes. You do the math. I also have a harpy for a sister, a centaur for a brother, and a pet miniature sphinx back home." He frowned. "And as to your other question, father never did figure out how to get the 'stone stare' gene to work in me. Oh well." He continued on his way.

Robotnik glanced at James and the petrified (not literally) Meowth and Jessie as he walked past them. "That scared the bejeezus out of me when I asked, but at least I didn't wet myself! Hahahaha!"

Sebastian snickered at them as well as he followed Robotnik, and Ein stopped in front of the Ciphers, stared at them eerily for several seconds and creeping them out, then abruptly lurched forward and yelled, "SWITZERLAND!" randomly, causing the three of them to jump and scream. Laughing brokenly and maniacally, the truly mad scientist shambled after his fellows towards the Tyranitron.

Scared stiff, the wide-eyed pale-faced trio stared after Ein, Nascour and the rest in mute terror. "Jessie, I'm scared!" James cried, bursting into tears. "The old boss was mean, but never this scary!"

"I know James, I know," Jessie agreed in a quivering voice. "But what can we do? We can't quit! Normal life's too boring for us! Besides, we've finally hit the big time! We're going to help operate the most powerful robot in history! We're going to take over the world, James! We're going to beat the twerp and his Pikachu once and for all!" she said, trying to encourage her teammates.

"I guess she's right…" Meowth said uneasily. "And besides, I don't think we can go anyway. The balloon's gone."

"Huh?" They whirled around just in time to see a group of Cipher Peons carry the deflated balloon through a hatch in the deck and disappear. James sagged, feeling like he had signed his own death warrant. "Guess we don't have a choice then."

"That's the spirit!" Jessie said cheerfully, helping James up. "Now get on your feet, and let's go use that giant robot to crush our enemies and take over the world!"

"I don't mind crushing our enemies or taking over the world," James muttered as they headed towards the giant robot. "It's the boss that really scares me."

"I hear that, Jimmy," Meowth agreed.

"Chiiii…" squealed Chimecho, quivering against the back of James' head.

…

The large party of two humans and twelve Pokemon either disembarked the ferry or slithered onto the pier from the water, terrifying the other people who happened to be leaving other ferries and causing them to run screaming. Our heroes were oblivious. "We're finally here! Ever Grande City!" Ash declared.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's kind of obvious that we're here Ash."

Ash shrugged. "It had to be said." Everyone sweatdropped. "Hey, weren't Brock, May, and Max supposed to meet us here?" Before they had left Pacifidlog Town the day before, they had gotten in touch with their friends and were delighted to hear that they would be able to meet them at Ever Grande City on the next day, just in time for Ash to enter the tournament.

"Hey guys!" As if on cue, the tall, dark-skinned eyeless guy ran up to them followed by the brown-haired girl and younger, glasses-wearing brother, along with Jirachi, Absol, Onix and Geodude.

"Uncle Brock!" Phanphy squealed, tackling Brock without warning, knocking him to the ground, and then started whacking him on the forehead crying, "Uncleuncleuncleuncleuncleuncleuncleuncleuncle…"

"Phanphy, get off!" Misty scolded, pulling Phanphy off their friend.

"Sorry Mommy," Phanphy apologized. Then he noticed Geodude and Onix. "Uncles Geodude and Onix!" he cried happily, trying to leap at them, only for Misty to hold onto him before he could get away, so his legs pedaled away at nothing in the air.

Brock groaned and got to his feet. "Ouch…I had hoped I wouldn't have to go through that again."

"At least he's not trying to beat up my Skitty," May pointed out.

"Brock, May, Max, great to see you all again!" Ash said with a grin, looking pleased to see his friends. "I missed you!"

"We missed you too, Ash!" May said, hiding a flush of pleasure at hearing that she had indeed been missed. "We would have joined up with you again after Dad got better, but then Mom got all weepy and said she didn't want Max and me running off again because she was afraid that Dad might relapse or something just as bad could happen to us while we were out adventuring, so we had to stay a while until she stopped being all clingy." She looked saddened and depressed. "Because of mom's insistence on us being 'together', I missed any chance I had at entering the Grand Festival this year. I was really looking forward to it. I even considered running away to rejoin you or enter the Festival, but I couldn't because I was too worried about what would happen to Mom if I did. She almost had a real heart attack when dad went into the hospital, I didn't want to be the cause of her getting hurt…or worse."

"That, and you didn't want to disappoint all your super-attractive _fanboys_, did you May?" Max asked with an evil look on his face.

"MAX!" May screamed, grabbing her brother and strangling him. "You didn't need to tell him about that!"

Ash looked at them in confusion. "Fanboys?" he asked blankly.

"Yeah, fanboys!" Max blurted, pulling free from May's grasping hands. "Everyone back home loves our dad insanely, and since we happen to be his kids some of that love rubs off on us. You shoulda seen em'! There were more than a dozen guys lined up outside May's window one night, beating the heck out of each other because all of them had come up with the same bright idea to serenade her by moonlight. Only it was a cloudy night, and raining, and none of them or their Pokemon could carry a tune, so all they did was make each other angry, get lots of bruises, and keep us up all night. Jirachi was willing to teleport them away when I wished him to, but Dad stopped us because we still hadn't found the Pokeball containing his Slakoth that Jirachi was supposed to have teleported from the gym straight to the Pokemon Center a couple of weeks ago. (It wasn't until several days later that we found out the Slakoth had been transported to a Pokemon Center all the way on the other side of the globe, in the really cold town of Ice Edge.) Dad finally had to send his Vigoroth out to beat up all the suitors and toss em' out."

May laughed nervously and sweatdropped, vowing to murder her little brother later. Ash blinked. "…Wow, that must suck."

"Yeah, but I'm sure the same thing will happen to you when you become a Pokemon Master," said Brock.

Ash stared at him in confusion. "…Lots of guys will come to my house and serenade me by moonlight!" he asked, looking horrified.

"No!" Brock said quickly. "Well…maybe a few. I dunno. Could happen. What I meant was, once you become a Pokemon Master, the women will be all over you. They can't get enough of a celebrity. All of them will want to be Mrs. Ash Ketchum." His lip trembled, and he suddenly burst into tears. "Why can't that ever happen to ME-HE-HE-HE!" he sobbed. Everyone stared and backed away from him.

Ash looked somewhat worried and uncomfortable at the thought. Misty was glowering. "Really? But…I don't want the girls to be all over me!" he protested frantically. "I already have the only girl I'll ever want, I don't want lots of others coming and trying to marry me!"

May's heart leapt into her throat, and for a wild moment she imagined that Ash was going to come over to her and hold her and kiss her and- "Well, in the unlikely event that you _do_ become a Pokemon Master," Misty joked, pulling her mallet off her back. "I'll make sure they all stay away from you! I've already staked my claim, if anyone marries you it's gonna be me!" she declared, swiping her mallet through the air for effect. Ash blushed and laughed anxiously; although it was clear he appreciated and reciprocated the affection.

It took a few seconds for Misty's statement to sink in, but when they did the effects were devastating. "Wait…you mean you two finally hooked up!" Brock asked in disbelief. He fell to his knees. "Nooooo! On the one hand I'm happy it finally happened, but on the other I'm shocked and depressed because I'm STILL single!" He burst into tears.

Max looked somewhat disgusted. "Ash has a girlfriend? Ewww!"

"Girls are icky!" Jirachi agreed. "Although she is kinda pretty," he said in an aside to Max, to which the boy privately agreed.

May, on the other hand, was completely rigid, jaw hanging open. _Him…her…together?_ Her world seemed to collapse around her and all her hopes and dreams shattered, and she plummeted into a bottomless abyss while the words _Staked my claim_ and _If anyone marries you, it's gonna be me!_ Repeated over and over again as she feel into the depths of despair.

Max waved his hand in front of May's glazed eyes. "May? May?" He glanced at the others. "Uh, she's kind of out of it."

"Your sister is weird, Max," Jirachi complained.

"You're telling me?"

They all sweatdropped, looking at May's comatose, slack-jawed form. "Uh…will she be okay?" Latias asked Ash quietly.

Ash shrugged. "I dunno, this has never happened to her before. Uh, Pikachu, do you suppose…"

"Yeah, okay." Pikachu tensed up and fired a weak lightning bolt at May, zapping her and causing her to wail and convulse as a little less than a hundred volts of electricity coursed through her body, causing her hair to stand up and setting the ends of her bandana on fire. Pikachu sweatdropped and laughed nervously as everyone frowned at him. "Eh heh, oops…still haven't quite gotten used to the power boost from the RPGenerator, I meant for that to be a lot weaker…"

Latias sighed and rolled her eyes. "And we're the people who are supposed to save the world?"

"Oh come on, we're not that bad…" Bayleef protested.

It was at that point that both Psyduck and Skitty popped out of their trainer's Pokeballs, startling everyone. Psyduck stared blankly at the group and blinked, one eye after the other. "Huh?" he asked stupidly.

Skitty looked around, was alarmed for half a second to notice her dazed and slightly smoking trainer lying on the ground, but forgot about her when she saw Psyduck, instantly feeling attracted to his bright yellow hue. "YELLOW!" she screamed, rushing exuberantly towards the vapid duck.

Psyduck stared at her blankly, not comprehending the fact that the kitten was racing towards him. "Huh?"

"Psyduck, get out of the way-" Misty started, holding out her Pokeball.

But she was too late. Skitty pounced into the air, opened her mouth wide and somehow closed it over the top of Psyduck's head. Psyduck blinked in surprise, rolling his eyes upward to stare at Skitty, who was now licking his head happily. A tense moment paused, followed by another tense moment, as everyone acquainted with the duck that had no brain expected him to get a headache and do some crazy psychic voodoo. They were all surprised when, after a moment, Psyduck said, "Pink."

Skitty released her hold on Psyduck's head with the sound of a suction cup being pulled off a windowpane, hugged his cranium tightly between her paws and wrapped her tail underneath his beak so she couldn't fall off, and purred, "Yellow!"

"Pink."

An eternity passed between the two Pokemon as they stared at each other from what felt like an endless expanse, one with eyes showing nothing but stupidity and emptiness, the other's as tightly shut as Brock's yet somehow still allowing for sight. And even though one's eyes were empty and the other's were squinty, somehow, on some level, they Saw each other and were connected on a level far beyond clumsy words and physical actions.

But to everyone else, it looked like they were just staring blankly at each other. "I guess Psyduck's finally met his match," Misty said in amazement.

"Well, I guess its about time for him," Ash suggested. "Seems like couples are sprouting all over the place these days."

Brock burst into tears. "It's not faaaiiiir! First Ash and Misty get together, and now Psyduck and Skitty! Why can't I get a girlfriend!"

Crawdaunt grunted. "Darn! And she was such a nice shade of pink, too…oh well, I've still got Corsola," he muttered to himself, glancing at the oblivious object of his affections.

May groaned and finally started to come too. Ash bent down and helped her up. "May, are you all right?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," she said, patting out the embers collected on her bandana. "My heart's just broken, that's all. Nothing important."

She had said the last part so quietly that neither Ash or anybody else could hear more than an incoherent mumble, so they all assumed she was fine. "Great! Sorry for having Pikachu shock you too much." He glared at Pikachu, who winced and shuffled his feet dejectedly.

"That's all right, Pikachu," May said quietly, still brooding over the realization that she had lost any hope of having Ash forever. "You were just trying to help." She mechanically reached out a hand and ruffled his fur in a manner not very comfortable to the little rodent. Pikachu cringed, but restrained himself from zapping her.

Brock sighed and then, for the first time, noticed Latias. Getting over his depression about Psyduck and Skitty, he was at her side so quickly that he left a trail of flames and caused eardrums to rattle from the sonic boom. "And who is this lovely yet oddly familiar individual?" Brock said, face very red as he grabbed Latias' hands and peered into her eyes, filling her with fear. "Is she a friend of yours, Ash? Is she single? Does she have a phone number or E-mail address I could-"

Brock yelped as two different people suddenly yanked his ears, one on each side of his head. Max had grabbed the left ear and Misty the right, and since Max was shorter he had to pull Brock down to his level, causing the pain induced by Misty's ear-yanking to double as his head was tugged from both ends. "Down, Romeo," Max said in a bored tone of voice. He had done this far too many times.

"She doesn't have a phone number or E-mail address because she doesn't have a home, because-she's-actually–Latias-disguised-in-human-form!" Misty hissed through gritted teeth. "Plus I believe she's taken," she added more quietly, glancing at Latias to determine the verity of her statement. Latias nodded quickly to let her know she was right.

Brock's face fell. "Oh." Then, realizing the first part of what Misty had said, he yelled and reeled backwards, painfully pulling his ears from Max and Misty's grasp. "Yaaah! I was hitting on a Pokemon!" he said a little too loudly, attracting stares from the passersby who wisely decided it would be best to let these clearly insane individuals deal with themselves and not get caught up in their madness. The human group members frantically signaled for him to _keep it down_. The Pokemon of the group were glaring at him, and Brock quickly amended his statement. "Uh, not that there's anything _wrong_ with that…which is not to say that I am in fact attracted to Pokemon in a sexual way, but…oh, I'll just shut up." Thankfully, he did.

"Is she really a Pokemon?" May asked, curiosity drawing her from her depression for a moment to examine Latias, who was starting to feel uncomfortable to be under so much scrutiny. Max had taken out a magnifying glass and was running it up and down her body while Jirachi watched with interest, and Absol was sniffing her to make sure she wasn't a threat to his charges. "But she looks so human…" May slowly leaned forward and touched Latias' nose, as if to see that it was real. Latias flinched and stepped backwards, causing Max, who had been leaning over to carefully look at her legs, to fall over. "I mean, you told us about her over the phone but still…"

"Yeah, she's really a Pokemon," Misty said quietly. "And maybe you can see what she really looks like later. But right now, there's something else we have to do."

"There is?" Ash asked in confusion.

She stared blankly at him. "…Yeah, you have to register for the Hoenn League before the deadline, remember?"

Ash blinked. It took a full second for those words to register in his mind, and the expression on his face when that happened was priceless. "Gaaahhh! I forgot!" He looked around frantically. "Quick, where's the Pokemon Center!"

Rolling his eyes (somehow) Brock pointed down a street. "At the base of the old oil platform in the center of town. All roads lead to it, you can't miss it."

"Thanksgottagobye!" Ash ran off so fast that he caused a wind to stir up in his passing, blowing back hair and loose pieces of paper.

Ash's friends sweatdropped. "That boy…" Misty said deadpan.

"He's supposed to become a Pokemon Master?" Brock asked doubtfully.

May sighed, hating herself. Stupid May. If he couldn't even remember he had to sign up for one of the biggest tournaments of his life, how could she possibly have expected him to love her? What had she been thinking? She pouted, downcast. And how could she have ever have thought she could match up to someone like Misty in Ash's heart?

Latias might have noticed May's depression and recognized it as being similar to the stage she had once gone through when she realized Ash didn't love her, if she weren't under the scrutiny of Max and Jirachi again. Her eye twitched. "You know, I think I'm starting to agree with you," said Bayleef. "We are doomed."

…

The platform carrying Wobbaku's statue had elevated to the height of the open cavity in the robot's chest, and a pair of conveyor belts (one inside the robot, one out) moved the statue into a cylindrical fixture inside the cavity. This had originally been intended for the Tyranitron's nuclear generator, but they had been unable to obtain one due to budget cuts and the surprising lack of them on the black market, so an alternate source of power had been decided upon. The cavity intended for the power generator had been left in the designs anyway, and it was a good thing too, because it was a perfect place to install the statue, which would serve as the titanic machine's shield generator.

As the statue moved into the center of the cylindrical fixture, metal clamps locked down on the pseudopodia extending from its base, while cables lowered from the ceiling and attached to the dome of Wobbaku's head. These cables had been quickly rigged up the night before after Jessie and James had phoned in and reported what they were about to steal, and were intended to harness and amplify the statue's hidden powers and project it in a shield around the robot, which could be raised or lowered at the flip of a switch from the mecha's control room.

In the meantime, Nascour and his band of scientists and nearly useless lackeys reached an elevator built into the base of one of the scaffoldings that surrounded the immense robot. A pair of Cipher peons (one of which was oddly short and blue) flanked the door, but they weren't what grabbed Jessie, James and Meowth's attention. It was the group of very familiar agents waiting in front of the doors.

"I don't believe it!" James gasped. "It's the Iron Masked Marauder, Anny and Oakley!" The three old members of the TR elite nodded in recognition at their lower-leveled compatriots. Their outfits were virtually unchanged despite the change in administration, aside from the replacing of the old R for Rocket with the X of Cipher and the additions of scarves.

"And…omigosh! Look! It's Bashou and Buson!" Meowth cried in wonderment, pointing to an imposing and dangerous-looking couple. Bashou was a lean, muscular woman with a cold smirk and light gray-blue hair with long sideburns, two tufts growing from the tops of her head, and a spiky bush growing down to her shoulder blades. She wore what looked at first like a standard Peon uniform, but it was a very light gray and had a short-sleeved shirt with the Cipher X over a dark blue undershirt. Buson was a big, extremely muscular man with spiky blonde hair that was parted down over the left side of his head, and a pair of semi-transparent sunglasses. He wore a light gray vest with the Cipher X on it, split by the two sides of the vest over his chest, and a blue tank top, blue wristbands, and gray pants. Both of them wore orange scarves, and held their helmets under their arms. They had been the two top regular agents back in their Team Rocket days, infamous for their nastiness and dedication to crime, and had managed to earn Elite status. They had not been present at the assault on Professor Oak's lab because they were on vacation after managing to swipe the entire Pokemon population of a large town in Johto, and Butch and Cassidy had just happened to be there when Giovanni was organizing agents in his helicopter, so he had ended up taking them along as "fill-ins". They had quickly resumed Elite status as Ciphers after Ein, and later Nascour, took over due to their sheer excellence. They merely smirked at the trio, feeling no need to acknowledge their existence.

Jessie, in contrast to James' shock and Meowth's awe, was livid at the last two Ciphers who had been waiting for them. "It's YOU!" she screamed, pointing at the orange-haired woman wearing a solid black variation of the Cipher uniform (really more of an adaptation of her old Rocket uniform, and a much better job than Jessie and James'), with the visor pushed back over the top of her helmet so her eyes could peer out with scorn at the world around her, and one woman in general. "CASSIDY!"

Cassidy sneered. "Well, if it isn't little Miss Jessica and her band of misfits. How's life at the bottom treating you, Jessie?"

"It would be a lot better if I didn't have to look up and see your ass in front of me! And by ass, I was referring to your face," Jessie said snidely.

Steam flew from Cassidy's ears. "Why you little bitch!" She started to step forward, but her green-haired partner, attired like herself, grabbed her shoulder.

"Cass, not in front of the boss!" he warned in his awful, rasping frog voice, causing everyone who heard him to cringe in pain.

"Agent Betch, how many times have I told you that you are to keep your mouth shut at all times?" Nascour growled. His hair-serpents showed their faces, hissing angrily at Butch.

"It's Bu-" he started to correct, but faltered when the serpents lunged forward, snapping their fangs inches short of his nose. He yelped and ran his fingers over his mouth, pantomiming that he was zipping it shut.

"Very good. In any case," Nascour addressed the trio. "These are your fellow crew members. Together, you will operate the most dangerous robotic super-weapon the world has ever known. Let's take a tour, shall we?" He nodded to one of the two peons, who pressed a button that opened the elevator doors. Nascour led his group into the elevator, and the elite Ciphers, as well as Butch and Cassidy and the small, blue, unassuming peon followed him.

Once inside, the blue peon took a key out of his uniform, stood on tiptoe to reach the slot it went into, and turned it, causing the elevator to jerk and rise up its shaft. The trip up was silent, save for the angry words Cassidy and Jessie were thinking at each other. James and Meowth were staring in awe at Bashou and Buson, which amused the two elite greatly, and Chimecho was hiding from Nascour, whom really scared him.

They soon reached their destination, the top of the scaffolding. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, revealing a long catwalk extending from the scaffolding to an open hatch on the side of the Tyranitron's head. "Walk with me," Nascour said, heading towards the hatch. "The tour starts inside." His subordinates followed in awed, indifferent, or just bored silence, leaving the blue peon behind. He stood patiently by the elevator and watched as the group entered the hatch. Then he glanced around to make sure nobody was looking in his direction and quickly ran across the span of the catwalk, pulling himself through the hatch after them. The key remained where he had left it, in the control slot inside the elevator.

After passing through a small, narrow hallway the group of villains entered a large, typical control room similar to most of the ones Jessie, James and Meowth had piloted in the past, except the controls looked somewhat more complicated and there were five seats instead of their usual three. Nascour nodded at Dr. Robotnik, who proudly began to explain his masterpiece. "This is the nerve center for the entire robot. This control room will be where the pilots control all the robot's motile and attack functions."

"And who will be piloting the robot?" Cassidy asked. "I'm not sure you ever made that clear."

Glaring at her for interrupting, Robotnik elaborated on that point. "The Iron Masked Marauder, Bashou, Buson, Anny, and Oakley have spent the last few weeks in training simulations for controlling this very robot, so they are the most readily equipped to pilot the real thing."

"That, and we slept with the boss so we could get in on the project," Anny whispered to Oakley. Her friend giggled, and Nascour grimaced at them, although he did recall that night quite well.

"Then what are we going to do, if they're piloting?" Jessie asked uncertainly.

"I'll get to that later," Robotnik said quickly, evading her question. "In any case, allow me to explain a few things about this wondrous vehicle I've designed." He walked over to one of the control panels and typed in a few commands. The large view screen that filled the front wall of the control room and showed a live video feed from the Tyranitron's two eyes cleared and showed blueprints for the giant robot. "Due to budget cuts, embezzlement, lack of time and resources, and sheer incompetence in some cases, the robot's hull is nowhere near as strong as I would have hoped," he said, pointing to the Tyranitron's "skin" on the blueprints. "Instead of being made from various solvents and alloys designed to repel virtually any type of Pokemon attack as well as mirror plating to deflect beam or psychic attacks, all we could use was plain old Titanium with asbestos coating, rubber lining, and some antifreeze. So it's pretty much immune to fire, electric, and ice attacks, and the titanium can blunt the other types to some extent, but it's thanks to Jessie and James'-" Meowth coughed. "Oh yes, and Meowth's miraculous and one-in-a-million discovery of that statue which now resides here-" he said, pointing to the diamond-shaped cavity on the Tyranitron's lower abdomen. "Where we originally planned to put the robot's power generator, that this robot will become as truly powerful as I had envisioned from the beginning."

"What's the big deal about this statue, anyway?" the Marauder asked suddenly. "Just looks like a big stone Wobbuffet to me."

Robotnik shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure how, but from my readings and Jessie and James' reports (which I usually discredit as being either gross exaggeration or outright lies due to their ridiculousness) I've determined that it is somehow capable of generating a nigh-impenetrable force field that only Wobbuffet and Wynaut-or those accompanying them-can pass through. I'm not exactly sure how this works, but hopefully I'll have time to figure out why later. We're on a tight schedule, and need to get this robot launched as soon as possible so it can disrupt the proceedings of the Hoenn Championships and cause the desired amount of pandemonium and mayhem in the region."

_Not to mention kill Wes before he gets away,_ Nascour thought to himself with a cold smile. _My spies report that even now he's in Ever Grande, led there by a trail of clues I left for him. When the Tyranitron crushes Wes once and for all, I will finally have my revenge for my defeat in Orre!_

"Hey wait, if Wobbuffet and Wynaut can pass through the force field, couldn't a trainer who has one or both of those get through the shield and attack the robot?" Cassidy asked.

Robotnik shrugged. "It's a possibility…but Wobbuffet and Wynaut are fairly rare Pokemon. I've checked the registered Pokemon in Ever Grande City, and there are only a few there, all belonging to trainers of no consequence. And while it is possible some of the trainers coming here to compete in the tournament may have the requisite Pokemon to pass through the shield and attack the robot directly…" He turned and pointed to a device concealed in a compartment on the robot's left arm. "_This_ little number will take care of them, if the robot's other weapons or just stepping on them doesn't! It's called the Snag Cannon, and is a modified version of the Snag Devices all of you have become accustomed to. It launches approximately ten Snag Balls a second, more than enough to beat any Pokemon into submission and Snag it. We were originally intending to have the Snag Balls feed into a Shadow Pokemon transformation chamber, but Ein went insane before that could happen so we had to scrap that idea."

"Gibble gabble oonha wanga wanga!" Ein babbled, spitting saliva everywhere. The Ciphers flinched.

"Er…right, speaking of the Snag Cannon," Professor Sebastian said, stepping away from his crazed colleague. "While we weren't able to get the robot's defenses up one hundred percent, we have almost all the weapon system the original design called for, including a variation of my old Pokemon Induced Evolution Wave which fires at attacking Pokemon and stuns them long enough for them to be Snagged. It's very painful to Pokemon, but totally nonlethal."

Bashou snickered. "That's a shame." Nobody but her partner, who remained silent but cracked a grin, could tell if she was joking or not, so nothing was said, save for Ein's gibberish, which they were all automatically tuning out by now.

"Aside from the Snag Cannon and Induced Evolution Wave emitter, in the form of more dangerous weapons the Tyranitron is more than adequately equipped," explained Robotnik, pointing to a diagram that showed the Tyranitron with numerous hatches opening up all over its hull with various gun barrels and missiles poking out of them. "I was only able to program seventy-five percent of the Pokemon attacks I wanted the robot to simulate into its computer, but I think they'll be more than adequate for your purposes."

"What kind of attacks are they?" the Marauder queried.

Robotnik shrugged. "Mostly simple Fighting-type techniques, but we've also installed numerous flamethrowers for Fire attacks, high-pressure hoses for Water attacks, conductors in the claws (which can be launched like grappling cables) for Electric attacks, and other such things running in that vein." He paused. "The Tyranitron is also capable of performing certain Ground-type attacks like Earthquake, Fissure, and Magnitude, but I strongly recommend that you do not use them on its maiden voyage."

"Why not?" asked Anny.

Robotnik rubbed the back of his head. "Well…you see, Ever Grande is an artificial island, made through terraforming masses of land transported from the mainland or risen from the bottom of the ocean and molded together by the combined efforts of humans and various Pokemon, anchored in place by various extremely strong cables and pillars built around the old oil platform that is the heart of the city. Very little of its mass extends very far below sea level, only a few thousand feet down. If you cause a strong enough seismic shock to the land mass, there's a chance it will break apart. While it would effectively demonstrate the destructive power Team Cipher possesses…er, we're not a hundred percent sure that the Tyranitron is water proof."

The group that would be crewing the Tyranitron sweatdropped. "Geez, you really ran out on the budget, didn't you?" grunted Buson.

Robotnik sighed. "Yes. It's rather embarrassing…but in any case, you should still be able to use something I'm especially proud of, the Tyranitron's ultimate weapon…the HYPER BEAM CANNON!" He gestured gleefully to a diagram showing a large cannon barrel protruding from the robot's open mouth. "This baby takes a full minute to charge, but once it has, the result is incredible! The surrounding area for about a mile will be vaporized! But that's only at full power. Since the main point of this first run for the Tyranitron is to terrify and intimidate, you should only fire the cannon on a very low charge, just enough to blow up maybe…half the city, three-quarters at most. Like I said, we're not positive that the Tyranitron will be waterproof, but if you fire the Cannon at full power you'll be finding out the hard way."

Jessie had stars in his eyes. "What a weapon…if we had had that thing before, the twerp and his friends would've been toast by now!"

"Yeah…I wish we could be the ones to operate this thing instead of those guys!" James complained.

Buson grinned and slapped James on the back, causing him to slam face first into the edge of one of the control panels and break his nose. "Ah, cheer up kid, you have just as important a job on this rig as we do! You'll see!"

"If you say so…" James moaned, trying to staunch the bleeding.

"Wow!" Meowth said in awe and clear envy. "Buson broke your nose! You're so lucky! Can you break my nose, Buson?"

Buson shrugged apologetically. "I'd love to, but you don't have a nose. But," he said, seeing Meowth's downcast expression. "I could punch out a tooth or two for you later if you want."

"Yeah, that'd be great!" Meowth said happily.

Jessie tapped James on the shoulder. "Hey James, where'd your Chimecho go?"

James looked at her in confusion. "Huh?" He paused, feeling the back of his head. "Chimecho? Where'd you go?"

"CHIIIIIII!" came a very happy and familiar chime from the other side of the room.

James' face paled. Chimecho only chimed like that when he had seen a big shiny button and was about to press it. He whirled around and saw Chimecho was flying towards a large red button with SELF DESTRUCT. DO NOT PRESS! Written in big glowing letters above it, in a dark corner on the far side of the room. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried, his scream lengthened dramatically as he leaped towards his Pokemon, arms stretched out in an ineffectual attempt to grab him and stop him from blowing them all to kingdom come.

"CHIIIIMMMMMEEEEECHOOOOOOO!" Chimecho boomed, his voice lengthened and deepened by several octaves as he moved towards the button in slow motion.

"Whyyyyyy aaaaarrrreee weeeeee taaaaaalllllllkiiiiiiiinnnnnngggg lllliiiiiiikkkkeeeee thhhhiiiiissss?" a confused Nascour asked, his hair writhing very slowly and his hands barely moving at all as he tried to gesture to show his confusion.

"Iiiiiiitttttt mmmmmmuuuuuusssssstttt beeeeeee aaaaaa diiiissssstooooorrrrrttttiiiiiooooonnnnn iiiiinnnnnn thhhheeeee spaaaaccceeee tiiiiiiimmmmmeeeee ccccooooonnnnnttttiiiiinnnnnnuuuummmmm ccccaaaauuuuuussssseeeeedddd bbbbyyyyyy aaaaaa paaaaasssssiiiiiinnnnngggg blaaaaccckkkk hooooolllllleeeee ooooorrrrrr ssssssooooommmmmeeeeee ooooootttttthhhhheeeeerrrr ssssuuuucccchhhhh pppppphhhhheeeennnnoooooommmmmeeeeennnnnoooooonnnnn," Sebastian slowly hypothesized. "Iiiiiiiitttttt sssshhhhhooooouuuuuulllllldddd pppppaaaaasssss sssshhhhhoooooorrrrrrrtttllllllyyyyyyy."

And so it did. The instant Chimecho rammed into the button-and bounced off of it, for some reason having failed to push it in, time went back to normal and James collapsed in mid-leap on the ground, his grasping hands accidentally closing around Nascour's ankles. The Cipher boss looked down in surprise, and James broke out in a cold sweat, realizing he had done the unthinkable: touched the boss! Jessie and Meowth immediately started praying that James' transition to Hell wouldn't be _too_ painful, while the other Ciphers were grinning and eagerly looking forward to the horrible demise of the blue-haired wimp. Nascour blinked at James' pale, sweaty face and said, "Mr. Morgan, I had no idea you were that desperate to get ahead that you'd give me foot massages. Come by my office after this mission and we'll…get to know each other better." Smiling, he shook James off and walked over to Robotnik. James lay there for several seconds, not believing his luck (but also not understanding what exactly had just happened) and all the Ciphers who had looked forward to him dying grumbled in disappointment.

"Um…how come we didn't blow up just now?" Jessie asked after a moment.

Robotnik laughed and cupped Chimecho, who had not seemed to notice that he couldn't hit the button and had continued ramming into it with a smile on his face, in his hands. "Since the prototype of this robot was destroyed by someone accidentally pressing the Self-destruct button, I installed a Plexiglas shield over this one so it can't be pushed unless somebody inserts a key into that slot," he said, pointing to a keyhole next to the nearly invisible glass case over the button. "Which will open it and allow the button to be pressed. And only one of the pilots will have that key. Here, Bashou, you hold onto it," he said, handing a small silver key to the blue-haired woman, inadvertently releasing Chimecho, who happily went back to ramming his head on the Plexiglas.

"Whatever you say, Doc Eggman," she said, slipping it down her shirt. Not that it would keep any of the more perverted members of the team from trying to get it, but she would rip the arms off of any who tried.

"Now that that's settled," Sebastian said loudly, trying to get everyone's attention. "Aside from the protected self-destruct button, there's one other new thing this cockpit possesses that those of you who either rode in the simulator or piloted the original model have never seen." He pressed a button on the wall, and metal helmets attached to the ceiling by spiraling cords lowered from the ceiling, one for each seat in the control room. "Professor Namba was supposed to come up with a version of his Rage Power Enhancers that worked on humans, but he couldn't figure out how and tried to run out on us with a considerable chunk of money to avoid getting in trouble. We caught him and he was punished for his foolishness, but we still had nothing we could use to really get the pilots for the Tyranitron's blood boiling and make them angry enough to operate at the peak of their power. So instead we made these caps which will give you an electroshock every time the robot is hit by an attack that the shields can't deflect. This in theory will make you angry, and you'll try to operate better to avoid future electroshocks in the future."

The Marauder blinked. "Wait, that wasn't in my contract."

Buson frowned and nodded. "Yeah, I think I'd remember having agreed to do something as stupid as operating a machine that would electrocute me if I messed up."

Nascour cackled and held up a document with five signatures on it. "Wrong! It said right here, in the fine print, (which nobody ever reads) that taking on the job of piloting the Tyranitron meant a slight risk of getting electrocuted, but none of you read that part and simply signed anyway! And if any of you back out now, the contract also says you've all agreed to perform a strip dance at the next Homosexual Convention in Viridian City! Although I for one wouldn't mind seeing you there," he purred seductively.

As one, the Ciphers backed away, shuddering. "Eh heh, maybe electrocution isn't so bad after all," Bashou said quickly.

"Y-yeah, can't be as bad as getting trapped with your partner inside the tiny cockpit of an ancient super-weapon for twelve hours without food, water or a nice shower," Oakley agreed nervously.

"Yes, you get used to the shocks after a while," Jessie said kindly, patting Cassidy's back and not trying very hard to hide the evil grin on her face. "After the first couple of hundred times, your muscles stop paralyzing and it hurts a teensy tiny bit less." Cassidy growled and shoved her away.

"Uh, Mr. Nascour, since we aren't working in the control room, we don't have to wear those electric helmets, do we?" James asked nervously.

Nascour laughed and put his arm around James' shoulder. James trembled, frightened by how close the writhing hair snakes were to touching him. "Don't worry Mr. Morgan, we have something far less barbaric in mind to motivate you and your teammates to work more efficiently."

"Yes…" Robotnik agreed with an evil grin. "MUCH more efficiently…mmhmmhmmhmmhmm…heheheheheh…BWAHAHAHAHA!"

Nascour joined in, his snake-hair hissing in tune with his laughter. "Fufufufufufufu! Fufufufufufufufu!"

"Ahahahahahahaha!" Sebastian cackled.

"Gweeheehehehehehehahohehohahahehohohoho!" Ein giggled madly, his eyes rolling in their sockets.

The Ciphers sweatdropped as their leader and his scientists continued to laugh maniacally. "Uh…Jessie, is that a good evil laugh or a bad evil laugh?"

"I…have no idea James," Jessie said slowly. "None at all."

"Chiiiii!" squealed Chimecho, continuing to ram himself into the Plexiglas around the self-destruct switch.

Buson shook his head in disgust. _Things were never this zany when Mr. Giovanni was in charge. What's become of this fine evil organization!_

From the entry hatch, unnoticed by all, the blue Cipher peon observed the events inside the control room, sweatdropped, and took notes on everything important that was discussed inside.

…

This chapter has a second part. I was originally going to upload it as one big document, but apparently the site won't take that much data. So the chapter after this one is part two of this event. (I wouldn't mind reviews for both parts, though!


	38. Rise of the Tyranitron

Okay, here's the second part of the aforementioned chapter. Enjoy!

…

The Ever Grande City Pokemon Center was in the center of the city, in a large open square free of skyscrapers that had become a park encircling the giant, looming remnants of the old oil platform, which had been converted into a museum, office building, movie theater, shopping center, and gambling casino/hotel. The Center itself was tucked into a corner of the park and was a towering structure almost as high as one of the support pillars for the old oil rig itself, shaped like a cylinder lined with large glass windows covering the sides. The top was capped with a dome that had a recessed hollow in it with a giant red P sculpture standing in it. From the sides of the dome extended six silvery metal legs that touched the ground, forming very tall arches almost as high as the building itself.

The center lobby was bright and well-lit from the sunshine streaming in through the giant windows, with a well-polished floor and high benches lined with shrubbery and potted palm trees. There were several trainers and their Pokemon milling about, all of them looking tense and very excited, no doubt looking forward to the Hoenn League Championships, which would officially open that very evening and start early the next day. Many of them were registered competitors for the tournament, and were ready to give their all to win it all.

The Center's front desk was, as always, manned by Nurse Joy, who was looking terrified from the attention she was receiving from the dark skinned, squinty-eyed young man who was tightly clutching her hands and babbling some lame and clichéd pick-up lines. "Oh Nurse Joy, I'm afraid I don't have any Hoenn League badges, but I'm sure I don't need any to enter the tournament to win your heart!"

He yelped as Misty and Max grabbed him by both ears, stretching them out and causing him to feel excruciating (but richly deserved) pain. "Even if there were a tournament, you'd lose the first match," Misty said, dragging him away.

"Wouldn't even make it through the preliminaries," Max agreed sagely. Togetic and Jirachi, who were already hitting it off nicely, giggled at that.

Joy blinked and let out a sigh of relief, glad that the obsessed stalker was gone. Then she noticed the earnest young man with the Pikachu on his hat. "You aren't going to try to date me too, are you?" Joy asked anxiously. "Because I'm already in a relationship-"

"So am I," Ash said quickly. Pikachu nodded his head in confirmation. "I just wanted you to register me for the Hoenn Championships!"

Nurse Joy sighed in relief. "Thank goodness! Your friend's the eleventh person today who's tried to seduce me in an attempt to illegally enter the tournament! As if I would dare do something so foolish and career jeopardizing! So you have at least eight badges, right? I'll need your trainer's license too."

Ash flinched. "Only eight…and boy, were they hard to get!" He opened his vest, pulled the badges off from where he had pinned them, and handed them to Joy along with his Pokedex.

The Nurse laid the badges on top of a plastic panel set into her desk and stuck the Pokedex into a slot right beside it. She typed a command into her computer, causing the machine under the panel to scan the badges and verify their authenticity. (She had had twenty trainers trying to get by with forged badges as well) At the same time, her computer connected with the one inside the Pokedex and read the personal information recorded inside to make sure it wasn't stolen or falsified (FIFTY trainers had tried that).

Moments later, her screen lit up, showing a picture of Ash with the eight Hoenn badges next to his head with little check marks next to each of them. That filled the left half of the screen. The right half showed all of Ash's personal information, with pictures of other badges, victories, and Pokemon he's captured. "Ash Ketchum, born in Pallet Town," Nurse Joy read from the information on her screen. "Fourteen (approximately) years old, winner of twenty-eight gym battles, Champion of the Orange League, one of the Top Sixteen in the Indigo Championship a few years back, made it to the Victory Round in the Johto League finals, has captured about fifty-three Pokemon, eight of which have been released or traded away…" She continued reading for a moment. "Well Mr. Ketchum, it looks like everything's in order with your badges and ID. And I see you've already competed in three different Leagues, so you must be pretty used to this by now, huh?"

Ash laughed in embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, there's one thing we do differently in this League that they don't do in the other tournaments you've participated in," Joy said, surprising him. "In those tournaments, you were allowed to swap any Pokemon on your team with those that you had left in the care of other Pokemon Centers or Pokemon laboratories around the region. Here, you must register which Pokemon you intend to use in the tournament, and once they are registered, those are the only ones you can use. No switching out or adding a new one in at the last moment, what you choose now will be what you use until you are either eliminated or win the championships. You can have as little as one Pokemon and as many as six, but that's all." She smiled. "So, which Pokemon do you intend to use, Mr. Ketchum."

Ash frowned. He wondered if this had been part of the reason why the Unown had given him a team of all Chosen Pokemon, so that he would have no choice but to use them in the tournament. He glanced uncertainly at Latias, who was once again being uncomfortably examined by Max, Jirachi and Absol. The Unown had mentioned she would have to fight in the tournament…but he couldn't ask her to change to her true form here and now, could she? Not to mention he was uncertain of how other trainers would react to her…

Pikachu seemed to catch the gist of his trainer's thoughts. "I think we should register her too, Pikapi. She could use the experience. And I think we're supposed to…those Unown guys wanted her here, right?"

"I guess…" Ash muttered. "Uh, Nurse Joy, can I have a minute to talk this over with my friends?" He forced a smile. "I mean, it's a big decision after all, choosing which Pokemon I'm gonna use for the entire tournament. And if I make the wrong choice, that could mean I'm out for good, right?"

She smiled and nodded. "I understand. But make up your mind quickly, the registration period ends in about ten minutes, and if you haven't selected your team by then, then I'm afraid you will be unable to enter the tournament."

Ash gaped. "That little time! Aw, man…uh, back in a minute!" He quickly ran the short distance from the front desk to where his friends were loosely gathered, most of them doing their own thing. Brock was hitting on poor, innocent female trainers (with Misty keeping a watchful eye on him) May was sitting off by herself, absent-mindedly stroking the fur of Skitty, who was still surgically fused to the oddly happy Psyduck's head. May looked oddly dejected and miserable, but Ash had no time to figure out why because a matter of minutes was all that separated him from qualifying for the Hoenn League championship and being excluded. Crawdaunt was demonstrating more of his technique on getting the babes to his son Kasurin by seducing a Miltank that oddly enough looked like one Ash's friend/rival Harrison had used at one point back at the Silver Conference. Corsola was talking to Gyarados (whom everyone else in the Center stayed far away from) and Politoed had gone back to his Pokeball to keep from drying out. (He was amphibious, after all.) Togetic and Phanphy were playing around, Charizard was just…well, not doing much, and Bayleef kept having to push Max away from Latias with her Vine Whips, which several times had almost caused the fierce Absol to viciously attack her. Onix and Geodude had been kicked out of the Center because of the horrible sound they caused when they practiced singing for their rock band and were outside, irritating passerby and tourists, who flung money at them hoping that it would make them shut up.

Ash ran up to Latias, pushing Max away. "Latias, we have to find somewhere out of the way for you to transform!" he whispered.

"Why?" she asked, looking confused.

"Ash needs all his Pokemon registered so he can enter the Hoenn League Championships," Pikachu explained. "And I think those Unown guys wanted you to enter too, they told Mewtwo as much, didn't they?"

"Yeah…" Latias recalled. She felt somewhat uncomfortable herself about entering the tournament, she'd have to fight very tough opponents while being watched by strangers. It didn't help that she was a rare Pokemon and as such would undergo even more scrutiny from strangers, and she still wasn't very confident in her combat abilities…then again, if extradimensional beings who could foresee the future thought there was a chance of the world ending if she didn't compete in the tournament, who was she to argue? She looked around. The lobby was full of trainers and their Pokemon. "There's nowhere for me to hide. I can't do it out in the open, it'd be bad enough for everyone to see me, a super-rare Pokemon, but a super-rare _shape shifting_ Pokemon?"

"I believe I can solve this dilemma," Misty said as she dragged Brock away from yet another traumatized victim. She let go of Brock's ear and grabbed the confused Latias' hand, then dragged her over to May and grabbed her wrist too, snapping her out of her melancholy state. "Come on, girls!" she said somewhat loudly. "Let's go powder our noses!" She headed off for the women's room, dragging the two dazed girls behind them.

Brock was gaping. "The legends are true! They really do go to the bathroom in groups!"

Max sweatdropped. "Uh, I don't think that's what they're doing Brock."

"It's not?" Jirachi asked in confusion.

"Pikapi, I think they're going to use girl's room so Latias can transform without anyone noticing!" Pikachu explained to his trainer.

Ash blinked. "Ohhhh…that makes sense!"

"You should probably start registering the rest of us in the meantime. Come on, we've only got a few minutes left before the deadline!" Pikachu urged.

"Gah, that's right!" Ash quickly gathered up his Pokemon (And Crawdaunt, with some difficulty-he was making a lot of headway with the Miltank.) and brought them over to Nurse Joy. He then had to quickly come up with some cockamamie reason for why they weren't in Pokeballs which the Nurse would buy (I don't believe in Pokeballs, they're like my family, a group of extradimensional beings made them immune to Pokeballs, etc.) so she had to get finger or claw or paw-prints from them all.

By the time that was done, there were only two minutes left to the deadline. "Sir, are these all the Pokemon you're going to register?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Uh…hold on, my friends went to get the last one…" He glanced over in the direction of the girl's restroom, thinking for a moment that he might have to exclude Latias from the tournament after all, and was relieved to see Misty and May coming back, with a nervous Latias in between them. He sighed in relief as they approached.

Unfortunately, the trio of girls found their path blocked by a large group of trainers who had noticed Latias and were extremely fascinated to see her, a species of Pokemon none of them had ever encountered before. Max, sadly enough, had also joined this group along with Jirachi, both of whom thought Latias was rather pretty. This did not make Latias' nerves feel any better.

"Wow! What kind of Pokemon is that?"

"I've never seen anything like it…such vibrant red and white down!"

"I bet it'd do great in Pokemon Contests!"

"Is it a bird? A dragon? What type is it?"

"It's so cuuuuuute!"

Latias cringed, on the one hand flattered by the positive attention but on the other hand feeling rather frightened and claustrophobic. May was rather used to this attention, being Norman's daughter, and didn't understand why Latias looked so unhappy from it. She had yet to reach the inevitable point where the constant attention and lack of privacy from her loyal fans would start to tire and eventually disgust her, making her wish they'd leave her alone or that her father weren't so famous so that she could get out from under his shadow and find success her own way. Misty automatically reached for her mallet, thinking to whack these leeches away from her new friend if they got too close, but she needn't have bothered.

A pair of vines reached down from above, wrapping around Latias and pulling her out from the middle of the crowd and over to Nurse Joy's desk, where Bayleef released her. "Th-thanks," Latias stuttered, recovering from the shock.

"You're welcome. Quick, give Nurse Joy your claw-print already!" Bayleef urged.

"Huh? Oh, right." She held her claw out to Nurse Joy, who in return provided a pad of ink and a piece of paper upon which the paw prints of the rest of Ash's Pokemon were displayed. She dipped her claw in the ink, then placed it firmly on the piece of paper, leaving a print of it behind.

Joy took the paper and shoved it into a slot on her desk, feeding the data to her computer. She typed for a few seconds, then smiled and looked at Ash. "Just in the nick of time, Mr. Ketchum! You and all six of your Pokemon are registered for the Hoenn League!"

Ash pumped his fist. "Yeah! All right!"

"Finally…" agreed Charizard. "We can do what we came here to do."

"Kick some a-er, hiney!" Crawdaunt amended, remembering Phanphy was next to him.

"And save the world too," Bayleef pointed out. "Though I suppose it would be fun to fight as well."

"Yeah…I suppose…" Latias said uncertainly.

"Ah, relax Aunt Latias!" Phanphy comforted her. "It's fun fighting in the arena, where all those people are watching your every move and if you mess up, it could mean we're permanently out of the tournament!"

"Uh, Phanphy, I don't think that's helping her nerves," Pikachu said with a sweatdrop.

"N-no, it's not," Latias agreed faintly.

Charizard put a hand on the dragon's shoulder. "Don't worry Latias, it won't be that bad. Just focus on your opponent, and block out all noises but your trainer's commands (and any audio cues that may help you fight your enemy) and you'll forget the crowd's even there! And then, when you finally win, you'll remember that you had an audience the whole time…and they'll be cheering your name!" He got a wistful look in his eyes. "It's…a pretty great feeling…" It was clearly one he hoped to experience again.

"You know," Joy said, catching Ash's attention. "You're the second person today who's registered a Pokemon as unique as that one," she said, pointing to Latias.

Ash blinked in surprise. "The second? Then who's the first?"

"He's right over there," said Nurse Joy, pointing to a figure leaning against a wall on the far side of the room. "Goes by the name of Wes. He said to keep it quiet, but...he has a Ho-Oh!""

Ash and Pikachu gaped. "It's…Wes!"

"Who?" Bayleef asked.

"You know, Wes! That guy I met on Luvdisc Day, who I was hoping to fight but never got the chance to thanks to that weird Berry Stoo guy!"

Charizard rolled his eyes. "Oh, you mean your new rival/friend."

"I'm gonna go talk to him!" Ash decided.

"You do that," said Crawdaunt, scuttling off. "Me, I'm going to go find that Miltank I was talking to earlier. I was just getting somewhere with her…"

Minus one lobster Pokemon, Ash and the others approached the white-haired teen. "Hey, Wes!" Ash called out.

Wes' yellow eyes glanced over to him. A slight smile grew on his face. "Hey, if it isn't the kid. Almost thought you weren't gonna make it, you cut it pretty close there."

Ash laughed in embarrassment. "Yeah, I know…that mean you're in the tournament too?"

Wes stood up straight. "Yep, registered this morning when I got into the city."

"Then what are you still doing here?" Ash asked.

Wes pointed to the crowd of trainers, most of who had gone back to their Pokemon after Latias was snatched away, but some were still hanging around, observing the dragon from a distance. "Keeping an eye on the competition. The majority of these trainers are nothing to worry about, they wouldn't last a second in Orre. You could probably handle them…with some difficulty."

"Hey!" But Ash chuckled, knowing it was a joke. Sort of.

Wes smirked. "I've only seen a couple who look like they'll be much of a challenge. I thought this fat guy named Masamune with a Beldum and some other kid named Tetsuya with a Meowth dressed up in boots and cape-"

Ash interrupted. "A Meowth in boots and cape!"

Wes nodded. "Yeah, he might be a fan of that old fairy tale. They're only marginally challenging though, in my opinion. Then there's this kid named Harrison-"

"Harrison!" Ash, Pikachu and Charizard cried.

Wes frowned. "Are you going to interrupt every time I mention someone's name?"

Ash's face flushed. "Sorry, it's just that he's the guy Charizard and I lost to in the Silver Conference." Charizard nodded.

Wes smirked. "Then this is your chance for some payback, huh? And if it's payback you're interested in, you'll be pleased to know someone else we've both lost to is in the tournament as well."

It took Ash a moment to understand who Wes was talking about, but when he did the look of realization was clear in the narrowing of his eyes and hardening of his mouth. "Berry Stoo," he spat out. Pikachu growled at the name.

Wes nodded. "Yep. He's in. His freaky-looking girlfriend Mariah Susanson too. With the way she looks, I wouldn't be surprised if she could cruise through the tournament by distracting opponents with her physical appeal…I know the type." He grimaced, recalling one of his old foes, Lady Venus of Cipher. "But to make matters worse, I managed to catch a glimpse of Joy's computer monitor as they were registering their Pokemon. All of them have ridiculously high stats in many different areas, and they're all Shiny Pokemon too."

Ash was stunned, as were his Pokemon. "Wait, aren't Shiny Pokemon, like, really, really rare?" Latias asked in confusion.

"Like Aunt Noctowl!" Phanphy agreed.

Ash asked Wes the same question, and the antihero shrugged. "It's another piece of the puzzle that makes up those two…there's something about them that just isn't right. And there's also the matter of what the deal with that girl's Pikachu was…"

"You noticed it too?" Ash asked in surprise. Pikachu's ears perked up, remembering the very strange, very sad female.

"Yeah…" Wes said, rubbing his chin. "Something with her eyes…but she doesn't look physically abused, and trust me when I say I know how to tell the signs of that. I don't know what's up with her…but I'll look into it. Something doesn't smell right about those two…" He grunted. "Anyway, while their Pokemon look pretty strong, here's a bit of advice if-and when-you go up against either of them, if I haven't already wiped them out of the tournament." He grinned. "Blind, unthinking power is no match against good strategy and a little luck. With those on your side, you can take down the toughest Pokemon."

"That's good advice Ash," Bayleef lectured. "You should write it down somewhere before you forget it."

"Hey, I won't forget it!" Ash protested. "Besides, I know that! I've used it plenty of times!"

"I don't seem to remember you using it in your fight with Gary during the Silver Conference," Charizard muttered.

"…Well, we WON, didn't we?"

"Barely."

Wes raised an eyebrow. "Uhhh…okay, I see you and your team are having discussions, that's good, being able to communicate well with your Pokemon shows you have a strong bond with them, makes them react quicker in battles, etc." He glanced at a clock. "I gotta go. I'm supposed to meet Rui in a few minutes. By the way, how did things go with you and your girlfriend?"

Ash blinked. "Huh? Oh, I managed to get her a gift after all. My Crawdaunt found a Big Pearl at the bottom of the riverbed when he was trying to hide from a bunch of angry male Luvdisc because he was hitting on their mating partners."

Wes looked amused and jealous all at once. "A Big Pearl! Awww…all I could get with my lousy fifty bucks was some cheap Pikachu earrings! Lucky kid…"

"She's here, if you want to meet her and the rest of my friends," Ash invited.

"Nah, I have to meet up with Rui, don't want to leave her alone for too long. This town seems nice enough, but I've been enough places that I don't quite trust what you see on the surface…then again, that might just be my paranoia talking." He paused as he turned to leave. "One thing I thing you should be aware of."

"What's that?"

Wes glanced around to make sure nobody was within hearing range, then leaned over and whispered, "I heard from some of my…contacts back in Orre and in other places that Team Cipher's planning a massive assault on this city. That's one of the reasons I came here, other than to enter the tournament."

Ash and the others were stunned. "A massive assault!"

"Don't shout it out!" Wes hissed. "If word gets out, there'd be a panic, and that'd fulfill the Cipher's needs just as much as if they WEREN'T planning an assault…which, come to think of it, might be what they're trying to pull after all." He glanced around. "I sent Rui to the police station with an anonymous tip about the attack, so hopefully they'll be prepared for it. But my faith in the law establishment everywhere is minimal at best…especially after I saw what they let happen to Lilycove." He smirked at the memory of that awful place. "My kind of town…anyway, even if the cops are on top of this, I think I'll stick around and see what goes down too…" He pulled a Pokeball out of his belt and spun it on top one of his fingers, then tossed it up in the air and caught it. "Who knows? Maybe Ho-Oh and I can lend a hand…" He smirked.

Latias felt a sudden wave of apprehension. She knew, or at least suspected, that Wes' Ho-Oh was her father. If that was the case, she might have to fight him in the tournament. What would she do? What would she say? What would be the result of the reunion between father and daughter? She moaned quietly, and wondered if maybe it was a bad idea to enter after all. "Why'd you tell me about this?" Ash asked quietly.

Wes hesitated. "I don't know, actually," he admitted. "There's something about you…something that says you're dependable. I dunno. But I feel like I can trust you. Huh." He looked surprised. "Not many people I can say that to with a straight face…"

"Well then, I'm proud to be one of them!" Ash said, feeling touched.

"You should be." Wes smirked. "I've dallied long enough, Rui'll be pissed if I keep her waiting too long."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I know how that is," he said sympathetically.

"Well then…" Wes started walking away. "I'll be seeing you in the tournament, kid. Maybe even sooner." He gave Ash a half-wave without looking as he pushed past the other trainers in the lobby and left the Pokemon Center.

"Strange guy…" muttered Bayleef.

"I like his hair!" Phanphy squeaked.

They stared at him. "Why?" Ash finally asked.

"It's a very nice shade of white!" Phanphy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And his eyes are a nice color, too!"

They sweatdropped. "If you say so…" Pikachu muttered.

"Hey, Ash!" Brock and the others came over. "Who was that guy you were talking to?"

Ash blinked. "Huh? Oh, that was just Wes."

"Wes?" May asked, not recognizing the name.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, some guy I met on Luvdisc Day…he's pretty cool, actually! I look forward to fighting him in the Hoenn League!"

Brock and Misty sighed in unison. "Oh no…" groaned Brock.

"Not another one…" chorused Misty.

Max looked at them in confusion. "What? What do you mean?" he asked. "Another what?"

"Well," Misty explained. "Every League we seem to go to (aside from the Orange League, which doesn't have a tournament) Ash runs into some other trainer who he really befriends and connects with, then has to fight really hard in the tournament. And both times that's happened, he's lost to that same trainer."

"In Kanto, it was Richie," Brock listed. "In Johto, it was Harrison. And now, it's some guy named Wes?"

"Actually, Harrison's here too," Ash pointed out.

Brock sweatdropped. "He is? Great, that makes two friends you're going to fight really hard."

"And this jerk I met on Luvdisc Day who I'm really looking forward to fighting!" Ash also added.

Brock almost collapsed. "Gah! Two friends, plus a person he really loathes, fulfilling the necessary role of arch-enemy/rival! I never thought you'd find a replacement for Gary!"

"Oh, well, Gary and I are friends now," Ash explained. "So I guess I've found my new arch-enemy/rival!"

They sweatdropped. May sighed. "Most people don't go out of their way to find new arch-enemies/rivals, Ash."

Ash laughed. "Most people aren't me!"

"How fortunate," Misty muttered under her breath. _I wouldn't mind if people were a little more like Ash, though…well maybe less dense. A little._

"Hey! I heard that!" Pikachu and the other Pokemon snickered.

"Max, I don't understand. Why is Ash going to fight people who he's friends with?" Jirachi asked in confusion.

"Because Ash is a weird person, Jirachi," Max explained.

"Hey!"

"Actually, it's not that improbable," Absol butted in. "Out in the wild, many Pokemon who are friends compete with each other. Part of it is due to testosterone, part of it is due to the desire to be the best, but deep down it's really because they're such good friends that they want the best for each other, and by fighting they can bring each other to their fullest potential."

"Ohhhh…" Jirachi thought about this for a moment, then smacked Max on the head.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for!" Max complained.

"I wanna fight you so you can reach your fullest potential!" Jirachi explained, slapping him.

"Oh, I get it…well, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" Max cried, slapping Jirachi in the face.

Absol sweatdropped as they started fighting each other in extremely pathetic fashion. "No, wait, that's not what I…oh, forget it." He sagged to the ground. "It's so hard being the guardian of two children. Is this what being a father feels like?"

Togetic glanced at Misty, who glanced back at her warily, but the Happiness Pokemon shook her head. "I'd fight you Mom, but…well, you have a very big hammer. I'll fight Phanphy instead!"

"Okay!" Phanphy agreed cheerfully as Togetic tackled him and they started rolling around on the floor, hitting each other with trunk and limb.

Ash sweatdropped. "I can say for certain I was never like that when I was his age."

"Yes you were," Brock corrected him. "You used to tell us all about your little scuffles and schoolyard fights you used to have with Gary. And this was before you two became rivals!"

Ash sweatdropped again. "Eh heh, you're right. Forgot about that."

"This is very sad, watching two pairs of children beat the crap out of each other," said the bored Crawdaunt. "And they're not even actually hurting each other like me and my sibs did when we were about that age emotionally. This is the second time I've been needlessly dragged away from something more important. Come on boy, let's go find that Miltank again."

"Uh, all right father," Kasurin said warily, hopping after Crawdaunt as the lobster scurried away

"Shouldn't you try to stop them or something?" Misty asked May quietly as Max and Jirachi's play-fighting got a little more violent, with Jirachi pulling at Max's hair while Max tried to rip off the blank wish tags on Jirachi's hat.

May sighed unhappily, not really wanting to face Misty at that very moment. Not until she got her hurt and confused feelings sorted out. "I'm not in the mood right now."

Bayleef looked at Latias. The dragon sweatdropped, looking back. "You're not going to fight me too, are you?"

"Huh? Oh, no," Bayleef said, shaking her head. "I was just thinking, how right you might be. We're the Pokemon who are supposed to save the world? We can't even stop a bunch of kids from beating each other up."

"Kinda makes you wonder if the Unown made the wrong choice in choosing us," Charizard said with a sigh, thinking of his own reasons for believing he didn't really fit the mold for a 'hero.'

"Or maybe the right choice," Pikachu guessed speculatively. "Psychologically speaking, we could all be perceived as collectively nuts. What self-respecting world-destroying threat would possibly take us seriously? Thus our mass insanity lures him into a state of false security, allowing us to surprise attack him and save the Earth!"

Phanphy and Togetic rolled by just then, still beating each other up. As did Max and Jirachi, who were now resorting to punches and kicks. A second later, Skitty decided to fight Psyduck and bit him in the head, giving him a headache and causing her to be telekinetically flung off of the duck's head and right into Nurse Joy's face, causing her to fall backwards and smack her head into the back of the desk counter, knocking herself out. Everyone gasped. "NURSE JOY! I'LL SAVE YOU!" Brock cried, rushing over to help her, as did several other opportunistic trainers.

Everyone sweatdropped. "That, or the Unown are crazy too," Latias said in a deadpan voice.

Pikachu winced. "That's a possibility," he agreed weakly.

…

The scaffolding and catwalks surrounding the Tyranitron had been removed. The diamond panel on the robot's chest had closed up, hiding the Wobbaku statue from view. The Marauder, Anny, Oakley, Bashou and Buson had strapped themselves into their seats in the cockpit and reluctantly lowered the electroshock helmets onto their heads. Jessie, James, Butch, Cassidy, Meowth, and the Pokemon belonging to them and the other Cipher agents onboard were in their places as well. The blue Cipher peon was carefully climbing down the central utility shaft that extended from top to bottom through the entire robot, connecting all its levels and chambers. One of his peculiarly flat hands slipped on one of the ladder rings, and he almost lost his grip, but fear caused him to tighten his other handhold, and, with a bit of swaying, he managed to regain control and continue his climb.

On the bridge of the Shadow Liner, Nascour, Robotnik, Sebastian, Ein, a bunch of scientists and technicians along with a few peons, and Domino were all assembled. Domino had been demoted from her lofty position as Gio's number two to a secretary when Ein took over, and had been demoted even further to "Boss's Personal Slave" now that the Gorgon man was in charge and had to wear a scanty outfit at all times that made her feel chilly and increased her loathing for Nascour. She stood next to the boss, who was seated in the extremely comfortable captain's chair, while everyone else either stood or sat in their own less-comfortable chairs. "All agents have cleared the deck, sir. The wind's blowing in the right direction, and we're all clear for takeoff," a Peon informed Nascour.

Nascour nodded. "Very good! Tell the crew of the Tyranitron that they'll be lifting off for Ever Grande City in just a few moments!"

"Yes sir!"

Robotnik cackled and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "At last! My creation will awaken and DESTROY THE WORLD! BWAHAHAHA!"

"And Team Rocket-I mean Cipher-will finally achieve its goal of global domination!" Sebastian agreed.

"Begin ignition sequence!" Nascour commanded. "Prepare for launch!"

The technicians quickly worked and typed at their stations. Sirens whooped all over the ship, and an intercom bellowed, "TYRANITRON LAUNCH SEQUENCE ENGAGED. LIFTOFF IN 20…19…18…"

Just then, there was a knock on the door to the bridge. "Halt the launch sequence! Someone (meaning you, personal slave) go see who that is!" Nascour ordered.

Domino clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she stomped over to the door, unintentionally giving all the technicians a view to die for if they hadn't been so busy putting the launch sequence on pause. The peons were not quite as occupied, and enjoyed the view immensely. Domino opened the door, and her sour expression broke into a grin. "Oh look, pizza's here!" she said, moving aside to reveal an unassuming pizza delivery man carrying a stack of about a couple dozen pizza boxes.

Ein took one look at the deliveryman and started screaming and gibbering like a deranged Mankey, hopping up and down and yelling "GEEEEOOOO! GEEEEOOO! GEEEEEOOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone on the bridge, already used to his ramblings by now, automatically tuned him out. "What!" Nascour cried. "What's he doing here?"

"I have an order of twenty pizzas for one Doctor Robotnik," the deliveryman read off a sheet of paper. "Something about celebrating ultimate victory or something."

"For me?" Robotnik asked in surprise. "I guess I must have ordered pizza to commemorate this momentous occasion; the successful testing sequence of the Tyranitron and the dawn of our new world order! Can't believe I would forget something so important as that!"

Nascour fumed, causing his hair to hiss and writhe agitatedly. He started to open his mouth to berate Robotnik for inviting a pizza delivery boy of all people to their secret robot-carrying ship when the smell of what was in the boxes caught his nose. "That…that smell!" he gasped. "So familiar…is that the smell of…of EVIL toppings!"

Robotnik took one of the boxes off the stack and opened it. Wailing spirits flew through the air, shrieking and moaning and terrifying the technicians. "Yep, smells like evil to me!" He stuck a finger into the sauce and licked it. "Tastes like it too! And there's a hint of something extra…some new spice or whatnot! I like it!"

Nascour's stomach rumbled, and he realized he hadn't had lunch. And the pizza smelled so deliciously EVIL… "Well…I'll forgive it this once…but don't order pizza and risk revealing the whereabouts of any of our secret hideouts again! Is that clear?"

"Yes, yes, perfectly clear," Robotnik said, stuffing pizza slices down his throat.

Moments later, pizza slices had been distributed to all the peons, techies, and scientists, save for Ein, who was too crazy to digest anything as solid as pizza without spitting it up, and Domino, who was too low on the ranking chain to deserve any. And Sebastian, who had said he was on a diet and wasn't interested. The pizza boy was taken away by Peons, who would escort him back to shore (i.e., kill him quietly so he doesn't reveal their evil plans to anyone). With the presence of the unfamiliar deliveryman gone, Ein calmed down and went back to his usual depraved mumbling, secretions, and pacing erratically around the room. "Reftart vhhe ignifun fequenff!" Nascour mumbled through a mouthful of sticky pizza.

With a few button presses, the countdown started over from where it had left off. "LIFTOFF IN 17…16…"

"How exactly are we lifting off, anyway?" Anny asked her companions in the cockpit of the Tyranitron. "Do they have some rocket engine or super catapult or whatever that's going to get us there?"

"They were originally, but from what I hear they ran out on the budget for that too, so they had to find an alternate method," the Marauder informed her.

Oakley laughed. "More budget cuts. What are they going to do, cause the deck we're standing on to shoot up from a giant compressed spring, launching us into the air?"

Buson laughed. "No, nothing _that_ expensive!"

A huge section of deck behind the giant robot opened up, and a tall pole extended from the catacombs below, a pivot at its top attached to another long pole ending in an enormous boot with a rocket in its heel.

Anny and Oakley sweatdropped. "You're kidding."

Bashou sighed. "Unfortunately, we're not."

The pole attached to the boot cranked backwards, as if preparing to kick with it. The intercom voice continued counting down. "5…4…3…2…1…LIFTOFF!"

The rocket in the heel of the boot ignited, and it swung forward at incredible speeds, catching the Tyranitron right beneath its tail and _kicking _it off the Shadow Cruiser!

"I reeeeaaalllyyy haaaattee buudget cuuuuuuutssss!" Anny and Oakley screamed in unison as the G-force from being launched in such an unconventional manner crushed them into their seats.

The blue peon, in the utility shaft, was jolted from his position on the ladder by the takeoff and fell, screaming, down the shaft.

"WAAAHHHHH!" screamed the less-than-elite Cipher agents from their positions deep inside the giant robot. "Looks like we're blasting off agaaaaiiiiiiiiiin!" they wailed as the robot flew off into the distance and vanished in a twinkle of light.

…

After Joy had come to and kicked them all out of the Pokemon Center for their roughhousing and idiocy, our heroes were wandering aimlessly through the city. It might have been the sight of such a large group of humans and Pokemon traveling together which caused the other pedestrians to stop and stare as they passed by, or it might have been the sight of Latias (who had decided (or been made to decide) to stay a Pokemon so she could get used to people looking at her all the time), a rare one-(well, two, counting her mother)-of a kind of Pokemon that most likely none of them had ever seen before. Or maybe it was Onix and Gyarados, since they were pretty big and nasty-looking and allowed free rein around town without any sort of restraints. In any case, if the odd looks they were getting from everyone else in the city bothered the heroes, they didn't seem to notice or care.

"Now that I'm registered in the tournament, let's go to the Championships!" Ash declared.

"But where are the Championships being held?" Pikachu asked.

"…I have no idea," Ash admitted. "I forgot to ask where it is." Everyone facefaulted.

"Actually, I may have an idea," Brock said, holding up a brochure. "I found this in the Pokemon Center, when I was administering first-aid to Nurse Joy."

"You mean trying to kiss her, along with half the other guys in the room," Misty corrected.

Brock sweatdropped. "Uh, yeah…anyway, it talks all about the history of the Hoenn League Championships and all of the other trainers in there had one, so I guess you must have forgotten to grab yours, Ash. Anyway, according to this for the last few decades the tournament was held on the old oil platform."

"We were just there! We'd better go back then!" Ash said, starting to turn around.

"Hold on," Brock said, grabbing Ash's shoulder. "I said WAS held. After the tournament's popularity grew in the last few years and the city being built around the rig continued to expand, the Hoenn League officials realized that the platform would be too small to host the tournament on, what with the growing number of trainers competing in it. That, and it cost too much to repair all the damage caused by the intense battles held there. They considered having a 'Battle City' tournament, in which trainers wandered around the city, fighting whoever they ran into and gathering pieces of a map that would lead them to where the tournament finals and semi-finals were being held, but that idea was scrapped too for the same reason as they stopped using the rig, too expensive to repair."

"So what did they do in the end?" Misty asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, the League was originally going to build a new stadium, but that would have meant adding even MORE land to the island, which was expensive enough as it was to maintain, so they were kind of stuck for a solution. Fortunately, it just so happens that adjacent to Ever Grande City is another small island, owned by business tycoon J.R.S. Ford, founder and president of Ford Industries, which actually used to own the oil rig this city's built around and is one of the leading contributors and shareholders in the city. This island happens to house an amusement park called 'Battle Frontier.'"

"Battle Frontier?" Latias suddenly had a mental image of covered wagons shooting at each other with giant guns.

Max gasped, as did Jirachi. "Oh! Ohhhh, I know what that is!" Jirachi cried happily with stars in all four of his four eyes.

"Yeah! It's like the best amusement park ever! Well, for Pokemon trainers," Max admitted. "The best amusement park for kids would be Pokeland (owned by the Devon Corporation after it was sold by its anonymous owner (Team Rocket/Cipher) due to budget cuts), but Battle Frontier is the perfect place for trainers and their Pokemon to go when they want to have fun!"

May groaned. "Great, now they've gotten started…I wish that stupid commercial wasn't on five times a day!"

The boy and the Wishmaker were babbling about all the wondrous things that could be found on the frontier, quoting verbatim from the commercial. "'Just off the shores of the eternal Ever Grande City lies Battle Frontier, the new and undiscovered territory for trainers of all ages!'" Max recited.

"'Home to seven different and varied Pokemon battle arenas, including shops, an on-site Pokemon Center and hospital, a seaside restaurant and food court, and even a real cave filled with wild Pokemon for all you trainers who just can't get enough of Smeargle!'" Jirachi joined in.

"'Each arena has different rules and restrictions, and different challenges to surprise even the trainer who thinks he or she has done it all!'" Max continued.

"'And, for those who are truly dedicated battlers, you'll get a chance to take on our seven Frontier Brains and win badges which can be exchanged for fabulous prizes in the awesome gift shop inside of the Battle Tower, which is almost as tall (if not taller) as the famous oil rig in nearby Ever Grande City, which can be accessed at any time through our advanced tramway system!'" Jirachi stated. Absol blinked, amazed that Jirachi had been able to memorize all that. Then again, Max and Jirachi had made sure to catch the commercial every time it came on so they could watch it over and over and over and _over_ and _over_ and OVER again, so maybe it wasn't that surprising.

"And then the park's owner, J.R.S. Ford, and his Blaziken appear with a bunch of smiling kids and says, 'Come to Battle Frontier today! Stake a claim in this undiscovered country before someone beats you to it! And if they do…then beat em' up in the arena! That's what they're there for! Hahaha!'" Max concluded.

The group stared at the duo, who had somehow managed to waste enough time to perfectly memorize not only the lines, but the _background music_ of their favorite commercial and were now humming it while doing a little dance. This resulted in sweatdrops for all. "Uh…right," Ash said slowly, backing away from Max and Jirachi when Phanphy, attracted by the tune, joined in their little dance. "Brock, you were saying?"

Brock blinked. "Huh? Oh, uh…right, so anyway Ford owns Battle Frontier and when he heard the League needed a place to host the tournament, he said they could rent his island out every year for their uses as long as he got half of the profits. And ever since then, that's where the Hoenn Championships have been held."

"So, the tournament's going to be at Battle Frontier," Ash concluded.

Brock nodded. "Yup."

"Battle Frontier…I don't understand why it's called 'Frontier', but I kinda like the name," Bayleef mused idly.

"Sounds perfect to me," Crawdaunt grumped. "Seven arenas to fight in, plenty of battles…heck, 'Battle' is even in the name! Sounds like just the place for me!" He quickly glanced at Corsola, who was mesmerized by Jirachi, Max, and Phanphy's dancing. _Just the place to show off for the ladies, too!_

"It's also just the place for redemption," Charizard said, mostly to himself. If Harrison was here, then so was Blaziken. If they fought in the arena…he narrowed his eyes. He didn't intend to lose to the overgrown chicken again.

"Um…okay then, let's go pioneer this new Frontier or something," Latias said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Yeah, let's go to Battle Frontier!" Ash agreed. He paused. "Uh, where is it again?"

Brock started to look at the brochure to find out, when there was the familiar high-pitched whine of something falling from a very great height, followed by the sound of a tremendous crash that shook the ground beneath their feet. "Wh-what was that!" May cried.

"An earthquake?" Max guessed, shaken out of his dance and trying to keep his balance.

"I hope not, this island's artificial! Too much seismic activity and it could break apart!" Brock explained, looking worried.

"I think it came from…over there!" Ash guessed, pointing down the street they were walking.

"Down that way is the city's Pokemon natural habitat. What could be going on down there?" Brock wondered.

"I don't know…but I think we should find out! Let's go take a look!" Ash suggested.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Like you couldn't guess he was going to say that…all right, let's go!" Although not all of them were very eager to head towards something that could shake the earth like that, in the end the whole group ran towards the source of the disturbance.

…

The Tyranitron had crashed face-first into the dirt making up the wildlife preserve of sorts on the south side of Ever Grande City and had skidded quite a distance, leaving a trail of devastation and destruction in its wake, killing a few dozen Pokemon and totally obliterating many habitats as well. The giant robot now lay immobile on its belly in the ground, the twisted and broken bodies of trees (and a Sudowoodo or two) lying all around it. Cautiously, the indigenous Pokemon approached the prone mecha, shocked that their homes had been destroyed so swiftly and callously, and wondering what sort of monster would do such a thing.

The blue peon had managed to grab onto one of the rungs on the ladder as he was falling and had held on tightly throughout the tumultuous flight. Now that the robot had stopped moving, and was somewhat horizontal, the act of going downwards was much easier. But he knew that the robot may become upright again at any moment, so he had to hurry. He had missed his original stopping point by quite a ways in the fall, so had some way to go before he could reach his secondary destination instead, now that he was much closer to it.

Inside the robot's cockpit, the five pilots were throwing up in the conveniently placed airsick bags Doctor Robotnik had thoughtfully placed underneath each of their consoles. "Ugh…I never want to do that again…" Bashou moaned. Chimecho, whom had been mistakenly left behind in the control room, continued stupidly ramming into the shield over the self-destruct button, unnoticed by all.

"Let's hope that once we take over the world, we have a bigger budget, so we never have to go through that again," Anny groaned.

"I hear that, sister," agreed Oakley.

The Marauder finished vomiting, wiped his mouth, and put his mask back on. "Okay, enough of that! We're here now, aren't we? Let's get to work!"

"Right." Buson grabbed a microphone, switched it on, and started speaking into it. "Hey, you guys down in the engine room! Get to work already!"

The 'engine room' was a long chamber built into the chest of the Tyranitron, just about below the arms, in which Jessie, James, Butch, Cassidy, Meowth, and the combined Pokemon of all the Ciphers onboard were gathered.

When I say 'gathered' I mean they were chained to exercise bicycles and treadmills with power cables hooked up to them.

"You know Jessie, I'm starting to get the strangest impression that the boss doesn't like us," James said, getting an unusual and surprising idea.

"No! What makes you think that?" Cassidy asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, why do you say that?" Jessie asked, missing her rival's sarcasm.

"Well…I don't know exactly," James said after a moment's thought. "But I think it has something to do with how we're locked down here, chained to machines that, when operated by us, will generate power for the Tyranitron's batteries and make it work. I can't quite put my finger on why, but…I don't know, it doesn't seem quite proper for some reason."

"James, dear, stop trying to use your head," Jessie said sweetly. "You'll only hurt yourself. Look at it this way: the Tyranitron is such a massive weapon it needs every bit of power it can dredge up. Due to budget problems, Team Cipher couldn't afford a proper power generator, so they had to rely on what was available to them. In this case, all that was available to them was us."

"Wait…didn't Doctor R mention something about a Crystal System or whatever that Prof. Sebastian made? Can't we just use that instead of manual labor?" Cassidy complained.

"I'm sure we could, Cassidy," Meowth said. "But since it seems you weren't listening to the doc's explanation of the Crystal System, allow me to elaborate: it siphons energy from Electric-type Pokemon and other electronic devices to fuel its batteries. But since the Tyranitron is so big and so powerful, it would take every last watt in Ever Grande to keep the batteries running autonomously for more than a few hours, unless there is another power supply to be found. And that's what we're here for! We'll generate a constant feed of electricity to the batteries to keep this thing from running down while it totally flattens and devastates the city and everything in it, showing the Hoenn government and the rest of the world what kind of power Team Cipher is packing!"

"Oh, that makes sense now!" James said, understanding. "But one thing I don't get. If it would take the power from an entire city to keep this robot running for more than a few hours, how can we possibly match that?"

As if on cue, Buson's voice rang throughout the room. "Hey, you guys down in the engine room! Get to work already!"

Panels opened in the ceilings in front of each exercise machine, and small robot arms lowered, each holding an item that drew the attention of the prisoners. For the majority of the Pokemon in the room, it was a nice, juicy hunk of meat, dripping with mouth-watering juices that instantly got their attention and made the cries of their empty stomachs resonate with hunger. The Marauder's Tyranitar, as well as Bashou and Buson's Skarmory and Muk, Anny and Oakley's Ariados and Espeon, Butch and Cassidy's Mightyena and Sableye, and Jessie and James' Seviper and Dustox were all Shadow Pokemon and lacked the intelligence to realize they couldn't get the food dangled before them no matter how fast they ran, so strained at their chains while running frantically on their treadmills, generating electricity while futilely striving to fill their bellies. The remaining Pokemon, which included a Sneasel, a Scizor, a Tentacruel, a Cloyster, a Raticate, a Houndoom, a Primeape, and a Hitmontop, were all brutally trained and had not eaten recently, so were too hungry to realize they couldn't get the dangling food and just started running for it.

Cacnea was the only one among them who was able to resist the hunger, partly because she had found some fruit to eat while trailing Wobbuffet on the Mirage Island, and partly because she was not quite so cruelly trained or as far gone mentally as the others, not to mention her heart was opening up again. Instead of futilely running on the treadmill towards the food, she instead tried to break her chains, smashing at them with her Needle Arms and trying to rip them away by pulling on them with the force from a Shadow Rush, but the designers of the chains had evidently made them to be nigh-unbreakable, and so she was, for the moment, stuck.

As for the humans and Meowth, each of them had a different enticement. "Ohhhh!" James cried, pointing at his object. "Look! Look Jessie, look! It's a Limited Edition Solid Gold-colored Yoohoo Bottlecap! The rarest bottlecap in all the world! With that in my collection, I'll be the greatest of all bottlecap collectors! Hahahaha!" He eagerly started pedaling on his bicycle, trying to make it move forward so he could reach the bottlecap. It couldn't of course, since it was an exercise cycle, but James didn't know that.

Butch rolled his eyes at James' idiocy…and halted, his orbs bulging as he saw what was being dangled in front of him. It was a doll of James himself, with a recorder attached to its chest which said, "Botch, Botch, Botch, Botch," in James' voice repeatedly. Butch would have shouted that his name was Butch, but when he had been chained to the bike, they had placed an iron muzzle over his mouth to keep him from talking, so he settled for muffled screams of rage and insane pedaling towards the offensive doll.

Meowth was staring with wide, hopeful eyes at the electronic Pikachu plushie dangling from the robot arm in front of him, with the recorded voice of a real Pikachu on it, going 'Pika pika.' "Look guys, it's Pikachu! He's completely helpless and ready to be captured! Let's get him!" He started pedaling desperately, hoping he could catch 'Pikachu' before he got away.

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, what can they possibly use to make me pedal so-oh?" She paused, noticing that the arm in front of her bicycle was holding a doll of Cassidy holding a sign which said, "Jessie, you stink! And you're ugly, too!" Jessie went livid. "WHY YOU LITTLE!" She started pedaling, intending to ride right over to that doll and rip it to shreds.

Cassidy started laughing at her rival until she saw that hanging before her was a doll that looked like Jessie saying, "Your hair looks like a Blaziken's! But a Blaziken could kick your ass!" She growled. "We'll see who's kicking whose ass when I'm through with you!" She started pedaling, soon moving just as furiously as Jessie, who was already outdoing all the Pokemon and her teammates in the amount of electricity being generated.

The kinetic energy from their cycling and running was converted into electricity and channeled through the power cables behind them and into the wall behind them, where they quickly started filling up the Tyranitron's massive XXXXXXXXXXL-size batteries.

The lights in the control room flickered and grew brighter, and all the Tyranitron's myriad displays lit up. "All systems at full power!" Bashou reported, examining a gauge on her control panel.

The Iron Masked Marauder cackled evilly and rubbed his palms together. "Excellent! Let's get this baby moving and start some Snagging and smashing!"

The curious or angry Pokemon outside panicked and ran in fright as the Tyranitron trembled and shifted, its joints creaking slightly as they started moving about. Its tail flexed as the giant robot got its forearms underneath it and pushed off the ground, getting some extra leverage from its legs so that it could raise itself from its prostrate state on the ground into its usual bipedal position, standing upright and towering over all around it. The robot wiggled its arms to make sure they worked properly, then stamped its tail on the ground and kicked one leg out, then the other, and finished up by twisting its head back and forth and looking up and down. All movement systems seemed to be working in full order. If the robot could have grinned, it would have. The five pilots managed to do so quite well in the robot's place, though.

The robot turned to face some of the retreating Pokemon and raised its right arm into the air. A small antenna extended from the machine's wrist and started emitting a high-frequency sound wave virtually inaudible to humans, but all too clear to Pokemon. They stumbled in their tracks or faltered in the air, screeching and rolling about in agony as the sound wave bombarded them with pain. The Tyranitron then extended its left arm and aimed it at the tortured Pokemon. A panel on its underside slide open, and a cannon that looked like a giant Gatling Gun emerged from it. The cannon powered up and started spinning, firing ten Snag Balls per second from each of its numerous gun barrels.

The balls pummeled and weakened the poor, helpless Pokemon, bursting open and sucking them inside with energy beams resembling grasping hands. Many of the stronger ones broke free, only to be beaten and sucked in again by the next round of Pokeballs. In less than ten seconds, over a hundred Pokemon had been snagged.

The Tyranitron activated powerful magnets in various orifices which opened around its metallic body, sucking the Pokeballs, both occupied and empty, into storage tanks deep within its bowels. The empty Pokeballs were recycled for use in the Snag Cannon again, while the full ones were stuffed into tanks, where they would be kept until emptied by workers once the robot's mission was completed. The robot roared, modulators in its 'voice' recordings causing it to rise and lower in pitch, sounding like a diabolical laugh. Continuing its laugh, the great beast stomped off to find more Pokemon to capture.

…

"Did you see what that thing just did?" Max cried in amazement. "It just raised its arm, and all those Pokemon fell down and stopped running!"

Jirachi held his head in pain. "It made this weird noise that made me feel bad…but it's stopped now. Ooohhh, it's started again…"

The humans looked around and saw their Pokemon were all in similar expressions of discomfort. "This feels kinda familiar…" Togetic said, wincing.

"Yeah, but I can't remember why," Pikachu agreed, gritting his teeth.

"So big and so powerful…we saw something like that once, didn't we Ash?" May remembered. "But the Ciphers blew it up before they could use it on us. This thing looks a lot bigger and stronger than that one, though."

"Yeah, I remember that one too," Ash recalled. "I mean, how many giant robot Tyranitars can a guy run into? Still, it's not as big as that giant Groudon we ran into in Firia. I think we can beat it!"

"Yeah, when it stops making that irritating noise," Crawdaunt agreed, rubbing his eardrums. "Then I'll be glad to smash it to pieces!"

"I don't see what you guys are all whining about," Geodude complained. "Sounds fine to me." Onix nodded in agreement.

"That's because you've permanently damaged whatever you and Onix have that passes for ears with all the rock music you two listen to," Togetic said sardonically.

"You sure we can take that thing down, Ash?" Misty asked doubtfully. "It does look pretty big."

Ash shrugged. "So did the giant evil Groudon. And Lawrence III's airship. And the giant Gengar and Alazkazam at Pokemopolis. And the giant monster-thing the Iron Masked Marauder used Celebi to make. And the three-headed undead Phoenix King guy," he added. Misty frowned, thinking that sounded vaguely familiar. "And tons of other stuff we've beaten. No matter how big and bad it looks, it's still just another giant robot…and we've beaten so many of those by now that it's not like any of them really seem like a threat now, do they?"

"I guess…" she said reluctantly. She sighed. "It just gets a little, I don't know, repetitive. It seems like we can't go a day without fighting some giant robot, or aggressive Pokemon or trainer, or Team Cipher/Rocket, or just some other bad guy. Kinda makes you wonder why we can't just do what regular trainers do, instead of always getting caught up in some evil scheme to steal this thing or that Pokemon or take over the world."

Brock shrugged. "Well, we are far from regular. I'm the oldest in a huge family and was gym leader for quite a few years after my dad ran away, Misty's the youngest in a family of performers who don't appreciate her and also happen to be gym leaders, May and Max are the children of another gym leader, and Ash…well, he's always getting caught up in some weird destiny thing. I mean, even now some group of extradimensional weirdoes wants him to help save the world…again!"

Ash laughed. "And that's just counting the humans in our group! Our Pokemon are just as irregular as we are!" Pikachu frowned and gave Ash a nasty electric shock, causing him to dance and flail while glowing like a lightbulb. "I…meant it…in a good way…" he wheezed before collapsing.

"Rude as that sounded, he has a point," Latias realized. "A lot of us either have some messed-up past or weird psychological problem or character flaw that makes us a lot different from other Pokemon. I mean, not all Crawdaunt can possibly have the libido ours does!"

"And I'm proud of it!" Crawdaunt said smugly.

"Yeah…" Bayleef said slowly. "And really, how many Charizard have broken their eggs, suffered severe aquaphobia, and have a sort of conflicting inferiority/ego-complex caused by a year of losing battles to meaner, stronger Charizard as well as having a loving mate who's stronger than you?" she asked, glancing at Charizard.

"You say that like it's a good thing," he grunted, turning away.

"In a way, maybe it is," Pikachu said, a thoughtful look on his face. "A lot of us could be said to have some trait or quality that makes us different from other Pokemon. For instance, I'm stronger than most Pikachu and have a penchant for the psychology channel. Gyarados can fly, something most other Gyarados cannot. Onix and Geodude are addicted to rock music (although I can't imagine why). And as Latias said, some of us have had bad pasts," He glanced at Latias, then Togetic while saying this. "Or had some traumatic incident that changed them in certain ways. Perhaps these seemingly insignificant things that make us different individually are the reason the Unown chose us, because collectively these differences make us in some way more capable to handle whatever threat is going to try to destroy the world than anyone else."

"You think?" Phanphy asked, only understanding half of what half Pikachu had said.

Pikachu shrugged. "Maybe. It's a possibility isn't it?"

"Uh, excuse me?" Corsola interrupted. "Shouldn't we do something about that giant robot out there?"

The Pokemon sweatdropped. "Oh yeah, kind of forgot about that," Pikachu said, feeling embarrassed.

Ash, who had been tended to by the others, was now back on his feet. "Okay…all weirdness and attacking each other aside, something's gotta be done about that robot! I'm going to fight it!"

Pikachu hopped back into Ash's hat. "We're all with you, Pikapi! Right guys?"

"Um…yeah, sure, I guess," Latias said uncertainly.

Misty sighed. "Well, I guess I'd better go with you. I can't imagine how you managed to take care of yourself for so long without me around, Ash, what with how you're always getting into trouble."

"And I should go along to chaperone," Brock joked. "I don't trust your Pokemon to stop you from sneaking off to do whatever."

May rolled her eyes. "Not all guys have the same sex drive as you do, Brock. Ash would never think of doing something like that. Would you?" she asked with a tinge of desperation, praying he wouldn't. _At least grant me one last bit of false hope that I can still have him!_ She begged. _Or that he and she won't do anything really inappropriate!_

Ash looked confused. "Do what?"

"Exactly!" May cried, feeling relieved.

"If you're all going to take on that monster, then I can't sit back and do nothing." Their heads turned to see Wes walking over, with a girl about his age with blue eyes and red hair in pigtails and Pikachu earrings behind him. He smirked. "I took Cipher down the last time. It wouldn't seem right if I didn't help take it down again, right?"

"Wes!" Ash cried. "And…"

"Rui," said the girl with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

Brock rushed over and grabbed her hands, causing her to cry out in surprise. "It's nice to meet you too, Rui! My name is Brock, and I'd like to-"

"Ahem," Wes said coldly, his yellow eyes narrowing and fixing Brock's slitted ones with laser-like focus. "What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing. With. My. Girlfriend?"

Brock's face paled. "She's…oh. OH. Eh heh. I see." Stifling tears, he stood up and turned away. "I see. Well…if he is truly the one for you…then I will not stand in the way of your heart. I only hope that one day I, too, can find one whom I would defend as intensely as he protects you." He staggered away, sobbing.

They all stared at him. "Don't mind him," Misty reassured the confused Rui. "He's always like that around women. You get used to it."

"Oh…okay," she said, still looking confused.

Wes glanced at the large assortment of Pokemon our heroes had out and chuckled. "Quite a few friends you got here, kid. Let's see how good they really are, huh?" He pulled Ho-Oh's Pokeball off his belt and twirled it on his finger. "And let's see if you guys can beat that thing before Ho-Oh and I do!"

"Not so fast!"

Five figures leaped over the startled humans and Pokemon, flipping in midair.

"Hah!"

"Yah!"

"Huh!"

"Hyah!"

"Hyuh!"

The figures got up from where they had landed and turned around to face the group. They were five humans (at least, they looked like humans) clad completely in colored spandex from top to bottom, with belts displaying a silver buckle of the silhouette of a barking Houndour with some initials and strange-looking guns in holsters at their sides. They wore nearly identical helmets with large black visors and blank silver mouthguards covering their faces, and two red lights on the sides. The same symbol on their belt buckle was also embossed on their foreheads. The red person had a large black one covering the left side of his body, the blue person had a large black two, the green person had a large black three, the yellow person had a large black four, and the pink person had a large black five.

Ash, Phanphy, Max and Jirachi all stared at the five with gaping jaws and looks of utter disbelief on their faces, while everyone else was just confused. "Uh…who are you?" Wes asked, Ho-Oh's Pokeball falling off of his finger. He was too stunned to notice.

Brock's face flushed and he ran up to the yellow and pink ones, startling them. "And would you be willing to take off your helmets so I can gaze into your beautiful eyes?" he asked dreamily.

The two people glanced at each other, nodded, grabbed Brock by the wrists, and flung him over their shoulders. "Whoooaaahhh-oof!" he cried as he hit the ground on his head.

"How did he know they were female?" Wes wondered, amazed.

"He's Brock," Misty said flatly. "He always knows."

"We are…"

The red one bent his knees, thrust one arm out, pulled the other back to the side of his head, twirled around and held out a badge that looked identical to his belt buckle and forehead symbols. "Red Ranger 1!"

The blue one did pretty much the same thing as the red. "Blue Ranger 2!"

Each of the other three did slight variations of the same things as the first two. "Green Ranger 3!"

"Yellow Ranger 4!"

"Pink Ranger 5!"

Then, they backflipped, stood together, and froze in different action positions, then got up and held their badges out. "We are…Poke Rangers, Astro Squad Sigma! Hyah!" Spontaneously, the ground behind them exploded for no apparent reason.

"…Poke Rangers A.S.S.!" Bayleef cried in disbelief. "What is it with people and stupid acronyms these days!"

Ash burst into manic laughter. "I KNEW it!" he shouted. "I KNEW they existed! And you said they were just another thing they showed on television!" he yelled at Bayleef, who sweatdropped.

"Oh boy! Does this mean Berney the purple Tyranitar is real too?" Phanphy asked excitedly.

"No honey," Misty said gently. "He's just a man in a poorly-made costume."

Phanphy blinked. "But-but what about-"

"The Compubellies? They're just people in costumes too," Togetic answered before her little brother could finish his question.

Phanphy's trunk and ears drooped. "Awwww…"

"They're not real?" Jirachi asked in surprise. "But I loved them! How can they not be real?" he wailed, starting to cry.

"There, there," Max said, patting Jirachi on the back sadly. "I felt the same way too when I found out the truth…but at least we know the Poke Rangers are real! That is so awesome!"

Wes sweatdropped. "Uh huh…and just who exactly are you…'Poke Rangers'?"

"We're superheroes!" Red Ranger said proudly.

"We battle criminals from another galaxy on a weekly basis! We're a special branch of the police assigned to protect Ever Grande City and its citizens from the forces of evil!" Blue Ranger explained.

Brock frowned and started flipping through his guidebook. "I don't remember seeing them mentioned anywhere in here…"

"You don't need to trouble yourselves, pedestrians. We can handle this monster! That's what we're here for!" Green Ranger assured the group.

"We can handle it too!" Misty protested.

Yellow Ranger laughed kindly and a teensy bit condescendingly. "Sorry, but you don't have the training or skill needed to take on evil of that magnitude!" she said, pointing to the Tyranitron, which was continuing its vicious rampage throughout the Pokemon habitat, toying with the indigenous Pokemon by scaring them out of hiding with weapons before stunning and Snagging them.

Ash frowned, feeling slightly insulted. "And you do? What, are your Pokemon all that strong then?"

The five Rangers laughed. "Who needs Pokemon when you have super powers?" Red Ranger asked.

Pink Ranger nodded in agreement. "You all just stay here where it's safe. Don't worry, we'll handle things from here!"

"And you won't need to do it alone!" cried an oddly familiar voice from atop a nearby small building.

May blinked. "That voice…why does it sound so familiar?"

Brock looked around frantically. "And my girl-senses are going off, but I don't see anyone other than the darling Rui, and the gorgeous Pink and Yellow Rangers…" Wes growled and the two Rangers made threatening motions at him. Brock gasped and whirled around, pointing to the top of the aforementioned building. "THERE!"

The group turned around in time to see the three figures whom had been standing on top of the building leap down and somehow land on the street perfectly safe, without breaking their knees or splattering open on the sidewalk. Their jaws dropped. Now things were _really_ getting out of hand. "Okay, now this is starting to get ridiculous…" Gyarados muttered, beginning to get irritated.

Before them stood Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and Drew. As in, May's rival/semi-love-interest-aside-from-Ash-who-is-taken Drew, whom May hadn't heard from since her dad's hospitalization and her mother's 'clinginess' had kept her from leaving town to compete in other Pokemon Contests. However, they weren't attired as Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and Drew usually were.

Jenny and Joy were both wearing tight, form-fitting army fatigues and boots that somehow accentuated their figures and showed quite a lot of skin. They also had many ribbons (something you wouldn't expect to see on a soldier) and they wore tiaras as well as very flashy brooches set in large bows on their necks. Drew was wearing a tuxedo, black pants, nice shoes, a top hat, and a black cape with red interior. He held a rose in one hand and a cane in the other. On his face he wore a mask that looked like a Masquerain, with eyeholes in the wings. Each of them was also accompanied by a Pokemon, Joy and Jenny has an Espeon and an Umbreon respectively, each with a crescent shape on their foreheads, while Drew was joined by his Roselia, who had a mask similar to his.

The group was too stunned to react at first, but the Poke Rangers didn't seem nearly as shocked. "Ah, the Soldier Scouts and Tuxedo Masquerain!" Blue Ranger identified them.

"I was wondering when they'd show up!" said Pink Ranger.

"Soldier Scouts?" Ash asked in disbelief.

"Tuxedo Masquerain?" May queried, looking appalled and confused.

"Yes, it is we!" declared Joy.

"We have come to banish evil in the name of justice and the stars!" Jenny explained.

Drew swished his cape. "And look stylish doing so!" He brushed back his hair in the carefree manner that was so typical of himself. Pink and Yellow Ranger sighed admiringly.

Brock rushed over and grabbed the hands of Joy and Jenny, startling them. "I think you look most stylish! And beautiful too! I'd love to banish evil too, in the name of justice and LOVE! Can I join?"

"Ahem! Get away from them!" Drew said angrily, holding his rose to Brock's neck.

"Hey, can't you share!" Brock asked unhappily, backing off. "There's two of them! Can't I at least have one?"

"Nope," said Drew, brushing back his hair. Pink and Yellow Ranger sighed again. Joy and Jenny smiled and hooked their arms into his. "They're all MINE!"

"Drew?" May asked finally, coming up to him. "I-I don't understand. What are you doing here? What's going on?"

Drew looked startled. He looked around nervously. "Er, Drew? I don't know who you're talking about young lady-who-is-most-certainly-not-my-type, although I'm sure this Drew you speak of is a very handsome fellow."

"What are you _talking_ about?" May persisted. "That lame mask and disguise don't hide who you are. Anyone can see you're really Drew." She got angry. "Is _this _what you've been up to? I heard you disappeared after you went to Lilycove even though contest officials said it was too dangerous to go there! I was worried something terrible had happened to you! Do you mean to tell me that all this time you've been here, playing around with Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny?"

"Oh, uh, I'm not Nurse Joy," said Nurse Joy. "I'm…Soldier Heart!"

"And I'm Soldier Wisdom!" Officer Jenny said quickly.

Misty sweatdropped. "No, I'm pretty sure you're really Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny."

"Are not," both women said quickly.

"Yes you are," said Max. "You're not even wearing masks! Everyone can see your secret identity! What kind of superheroes are you?"

"Yeah! Your secret identity isn't a secret if your face can be seen by everyone around you!" Jirachi agreed.

"And my girl senses are never wrong," Brock added. "And right now they tell me that there's a Nurse Joy and an Officer Jenny standing in front of me…and I _know_ a Joy or a Jenny when I see them, no matter what kind of getup they're wearing!"

The three 'superheroes' started sweating nervously. "Curses, they're on to us!" hissed Drew. "Roselia, Amnesia Dust!"

"Right, Tuxedo Masquerain!" Roselia leaped into the air and started spinning rapidly, showering the group with thick clouds of dust, causing them to hack and wheeze for air as their lungs were clogged up by the debris. The dust wasn't actually AMNESIA dust of course, no such thing existed, but Drew, Roselia, and their partners believed it did, so that was good enough for them.

"There, that should erase their memories of our secret identities!" Drew said, looking relieved. "Come on girls, let's go stop that robot!"

"Right, Tuxedo Masquerain!" Joy and Jenny chorused.

"Don't forget about us!" Red Ranger said. The Poke Rangers held up their badges, which started flashing. "All right, it's time to use our newest weapon in the field for the first time! Arise, A.S.S. Megaloid!"

Five giant vehicles came roaring down the streets of Ever Grande, causing pedestrians to flee in terror as their giant tires crushed everything in their path, be they signs, benches, fire hydrants, cars, or even living things. There was a motorcycle, a jeep, a police car, a fire truck, and a helicopter, all of them at varying times their regular sizes. They all came to a stop in front of the group, which was still coughing on Roselia's noxious dust, and the five Poke Rangers leaped impossibly high into the air and somehow phased right into the cockpits of the vehicles, which then started to transform.

The helicopter and motorcycle flew into the air, flipped so their noses were facing the ground, and split apart and rotated chassis sections, transforming into a pair of arms. The fire truck split in two, and each half of the truck's cab rotated 90 degrees up as the truck halves stood upright, with their back ends in the air as metal extensions grew out of them, forming a pair of legs. The jeep expanded as its body shell split apart from itself, forming a chest and torso which connected to the metal growing from the legs. Bolts emerged from the two arms and connected to sockets in the rear wheels of the giant jeep. The police car floated into the air and unfolded itself as it slammed down onto the top of the newly formed body, its windshield flipping back to reveal a humanoid face as it formed the head for the new robot. A compartment on one of the legs opened up and ejected a giant gun with three barrels capped by neon lights, which the robot caught and spun in its right hand before holding it in the air and shooting it. "A.S.S. Megaloid!" The Rangers, who had joined together in a large five-person cockpit inside the robot's head cried together.

And as the dust was finally starting to clear from our poor heroes' lungs (good thing none of them had asthma) things unbelievably got weirder. "They're not the only ones with giant robots," Drew said with a smirk. "Girls! Let's show them that new technique we've been working on!"

The girls nodded. "Right, Tuxedo Masquerain!" They touched hands and raised their free hands into the air. "Wonder Soldier Powers, activate!" Joy and Jenny started glowing, until they were veritable balls of light. They leaped into the air and slammed into each other, merging into one giant ball of light which kept growing and growing and beginning to form a distinctly female shape. When the light faded, the heroes were stunned to see that there was now a giant robot about the same size as the other two (approximately twenty stories tall) but unlike the others, looked exactly like a giant metal Soldier Scout, with some weird fusion of Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy's features. It even had somehow sprouted metal hair that, inexplicably, was very long, purple, and blowing in the wind. Drew, Roselia, and the weird Espeon and Umbreon leaped into the air and somehow got into the cockpit inside the giant female robot's head. The robot did a twirl on one foot then stomped both feet down and did a split with both arms raised in the air, hair (somehow) blowing in the wind. "SUPER SEXY SOLDIER SENSHIBOT ONLINE!"

Brock's hormones went into overdrive at the sight of the robot, and he began drooling like mad before finally fainting as his brain overloaded due to the many disgusting sexual fantasies running through his mind. If the other robot could have drooled, it would have as well. The Pink and Yellow Rangers ended up having to smack the male Rangers in their robot to get them back on focus. Everyone else just stared in disbelief.

Finally, Wes broke the silence by screaming and clutching his head. "First, Pokemon and trainers use moves that are physically impossible, and now this! Does nothing in this crazy region make sense!" Overwhelmed, he sat down on the ground and got in a fetal position, rocking back and forth while whimpering. Sweatdropping, Rui bent over and tried to give him a reassuring shoulder rub while whispering encouraging messages into his ear.

"…Humans can't normally transform into giant robots, can they?" Onix asked, looking confused.

"No, Uncle Onix, they don't," Togetic assured him.

"Ah. Sooo…how did they just do that?"

"I have absolutely no idea," she confessed.

"Ash…this isn't a dream or anything, is it?" Misty asked, uncertainly.

Ash shrugged. "I dunno. Most of my dreams end up with me embarrassing myself by forgetting to wear pants." He quickly looked down. "Yep, they're still there."

"Oh," she said, looking slightly disappointed. "Because most of my dreams end with us…never mind."

"…THIS IS _SOOOOO _COOL!" Jirachi and Max yelled in unison, looking like two three-year old kids being given access to unlimited candy. Absol groaned, imagining the headache he would get from all this madness.

_I wonder if Ash would like me if I had a figure like that?_ May wondered idly to herself, glancing first at the Senshibot, then at Misty. _…Nah, it doesn't seem to affect him at all. And I'm pretty sure I've gotten her beat in that category, at least,_ she thought with a sad smile. _For what good it does me…_

"This is extremely weird and nonsensical," Bayleef said, shaking her head.

"It's like the laws of reality are being repealed or something, allowing impossible things to happen," the intelligent talking yellow rodent who had the ability to generate thunderbolts speculated.

Meanwhile…

"Molly!" Professor Hale said angrily, pointing at the image on the TV screen, a news report showing the two Scouts somehow fusing into a giant robot. The reporter talking about the event looked confused and uncertain, as if he was questioning his sanity (which he was).

"I didn't do it!" the little girl protested honestly.

Hale rolled his eyes. "That's what you said when Teddiursa and your mother somehow combined into a giant anthropomorphic teddy bear!"

"That was an accident!" Molly cried, which was half-true. "And they're back to normal now. But I didn't do anything this time! What actually happened was that the bright light the Soldier Scouts gave off concealed their giant robot teleporting in, so that their enemies would think that they had somehow gone insane (because everyone knows humans can't just combine and turn into giant robots in real life, only on weird cartoons and anime) and make them either surrender from confusion or at least fight less effectively."

The professor stared at her and blinked. "…Young lady, I'm honestly scared for you sometimes."

Back with the heroes…

"Sort of like in badly written stories with intense randomness," Pikachu concluded. "Or anime."

"Randomness, eh?" Crawdaunt asked, getting a wicked idea. "Well, then…Corsola, I don't suppose you're randomly feeling like making out with me right now, are you?"

The Coral Pokemon stared at him in confusion. "Uh, no, not particularly. Why?"

"Darn," the lobster muttered unhappily. "Well, it was worth a try."

"Okay, guys," the Red Ranger said from the cockpit inside the A.S.S. Megaloid. Somehow, not only did the operators in the other robot cockpit hear him, so did everyone else on the ground. "Let's get that monster!"

"Yeah!" the other Rangers and Drew echoed in agreement. The duo of robots started charging towards the Tyranitron, which had finished capturing every last "wild" Pokemon in the area and had finally noticed the presence of other mechas.

The Marauder chuckled. "Hey, looks like we're not the only giant robot here!"

"Good think the Doctor mentioned these guys to us and said they might have recently gotten giant robots, and programmed them into all our simulator tests, so we wouldn't be surprised if we ran into them!" Buson commented.

"The Tyranitron should be able to take anything they can dish out, even if they come at us all together!" agreed Bashou.

"Let's kick some ass, Oakley!" Anny said ferociously.

"Right on, Anny!" Oakley agreed with a grin. "And show that girly robot out there what a real woman can do!"

The Marauder pressed a few buttons. Down in the chamber containing the statue of Lord Wobbaku, strange machinery came to life, channeling the energy imbued within the statue and passing it on throughout the rest of the robot. A large energy shield flickered into view for a moment around the Tyranitron, making a bubble with a surface that extended twenty feet away from the robot in every direction and roughly mimicked the shape of its skin. If it worked correctly, this force field would ensure that the robot was truly invincible.

"Shields are at full power…let's take em'!" Bashou sneered with a predatory grin.

Armed to the teeth and protected by an invincible force field, the Tyranitar-based robot charged into battle.

…

"The Tyranitron is preparing to engage the other robots in battle," reported one of the technicians.

Robotnik grinned and rubbed his hands gleefully, before stopping, grimacing, and holding his chest. "Excellent! Now we'll see just how powerful the Tyranitron is in comparison to other robots! Those used by superheroes are often top-of-the-line, but I designed the Tyranitron to surpass them in strength!" He began to laugh but coughed and swallowed loudly, looking uneasy. "Ugh…for some reason, I don't feel well."

"You too?" Nascour asked in surprise. "I've been feeling a little odd too." His hair wasn't writhing as much as it had before, and his serpents looked a little listless and tired. "I thought it was the heat. It is awfully hot in here, isn't it?"

"Yes..." Robotnik frowned and pointed to a peon. "You there! Turn on the AC! It's much too warm in here!"

The peon looked at him in surprise. She looked slightly tired and a little haggard. "But…but Doctor, it is on! I was feeling somewhat hot, so I turned it up. Didn't seem to help much. You mean you all feel it too?"

Nascour frowned. A little "danger!" light was blinking in his mind. "Everyone!" he shouted, getting the attention of the other crewmen. "Tell me, do you feel uncharacteristically warm, too?" The response was worrying, an almost unanimous affirmative. Sweat was rolling down his cheeks, and he noticed for the first time that everyone else seemed to be sweating and looking somewhat unwell, too. Everyone save for the slavering Ein, Sebastian and Domino.

Ein, Sebastian, and Domino. Hold on a minute. Something was wrong with that thought. Why weren't any of those three feeling hot and unwell?

His eyes widened as he was struck by a horrible realization. None of them had eaten any of the pizza, which Robotnik seemed to think he had ordered but could not actually remember doing so.

He leapt to his feet and whirled around to face Domino…and stumbled and fell to the ground, his head spinning. "Ohhh…" He tried to get up, only for his head to split in pain as he tried moving his limbs, which felt heavier than lead dipped in iron and dropped into the sea. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Robotnik and the crewmen holding hands to their heads, staggering about, and collapsing where they stood or sat. Ein stopped his gibbering and erratic movements and glanced at his compatriots in confusion. Domino, on the other hand, was beaming, her face split by a grin so wide it almost reached her ears. Sebastian chuckled, finding the death throes amusing. "You…bitch…" Nascour rasped, trying to reach out at Domino with one of his trembling, shaking hands. His hair-snakes hissed weakly but angrily, glaring with hatred at the female.

"You _idiots_…" She sneered. "I can't believe you never saw this coming…" She walked over to the door and opened it.

Sebastian grinned and spat in the face of the moaning Robotnik in the meantime. "We'll see who's the most-paid scientist on the team now, Fatman. Heh, Fatman, I like that!" He snickered as Robotnik weakly swiped at him, only for his arm to collapse to the ground in mid-swing.

Nascour was shocked to see the pizza delivery boy walk in, a smug and savage expression on his face. How could he still be alive? What had happened to the two Peons who had led him away? The pizza delivery boy chuckled malevolently as Ein screamed and backed away frantically, bumping into the wall and almost tripping over one of the technicians, who was now lying on the ground, moaning in pain. "GEO! GEO! GEO!" he screamed, foaming at the mouth.

The pizza man laughed. "Yes indeed, my traitorous, mad little scientist. Geo. Or, should I say…" He twirled around, his clothes and the mask he had been wearing flying off to reveal…

A suit of black armor reminiscent of Darth Vader's but thicker, with spiked shoulders and boots, a big red R on his chest in place of a life support control panel, and a black helmet and skull mask with glowing red eyes. Chuckling, the ominous being reached up and pulled off his helmet, revealing a face gruesomely charred and deformed by massive electric trauma, his mouth all but frozen into a hideous smile like that of Death itself, with blackened eyes and burnt hair, and a tiny fragment of purple crystal imbedded in his forehead. But even with all that had been done to that face, he was still instantly recognizable to all.

"Giovanni Sakai Rocketto," said the man in the black armor in a voice that rasped from vocal chords stiffened and damaged by death and electrocution. "_Boss Rocket has returned._"

And he, and Domino, and Sebastian laughed, while Ein whimpered and soiled himself in fear, and the last thing Nascour and the rest saw as the world began to turn black around them was that ghastly, grinning face…

…

What do you think? And what ship name do we call Psyduck/Skitty?

And did you remember to review both _this_ chapter and the last one? (I'm such a whore.) If you didn't, that's fine. Any reviews at all are good enough for me.


	39. Fall of the Tyranitron

DualDimwitshipping…I like it, HVK! Thanks! I like your new story (although the randomness at times disturbs me.) But that's typical of you, right?

Yamimaru, sorry but your link didn't show up. Gio is not Ash's father. And thank you for the information.

I have been drinking water, NinetalesUK. What author do I remind you of?

My dear Gladdecease, with any luck this chapter will be much less random.

Obliviousshipping, Comrade Rath? I like it! I hereby decree that from now on, Skitty/Psyduck is to be called Obliviousshipping!

Sir Pudding, you thought the last bit was long? Get a load of this! I'm glad you like my rendition of Ever Grande. I think it's better than the one in both the show and the game.

EagleFox, this chapter will make your blood even colder.

Disclaimer: I own all the giant robots and parodies in this chapter. Just in case you were wondering. And Ford Industries. And some other stuff.

…

"You! YOU! Yoooouuuu! I knew it!" Ein screamed, his first legible words in weeks. "I knew you would come back! I knew you were still here! Death has no hold over you!"

Giovanni chuckled. "Right and wrong, my friend. After you betrayed my dear friend and myself I was very much dead. And, following tradition, my body was thrown off a cliff and into the ocean; just like every other member of the Rocketto family line has been in the past. Why, I'm not sure," he admitted. "But it's been done for over a hundred years, so we must have had a reason. Anyway, by dumb luck, my lifeless body happened to land on top of this little piece of power," he said, pointing to the glowing crystal shard on his forehead. "Its energies washed through me, restarting the electrical impulses in my brain, making blood flow through my clogged veins, letting me live again. I do not know how this can be, nor do I care. All I know is that this crystal gives me power, the power to live again, and to do so much more…" Grinning, he pointed a hand at the corpse of Robotnik. Sebastian stepped back in surprise as the body twitched and stood up, head and arms drooping and dangling lifelessly. And then, to both scientists' shock, Robotnik started to _dance_. It was a crude dance, one that the overweight, and most certainly dead doctor, was only able to manage with great difficulty, flinging his limbs out and folding them back in, shaking his head and belly about, and spinning around endlessly. Giovanni gestured with the same hand pointing at the doctor, and Robotnik was flung across the room by an invisible force, causing him to smash out the window and plummet several thousand feet to the ocean far below, where he fell in with a splash, sinking to the depths below.

Sebastian gaped. "…You know sir, all this is scientifically impossible-" Giovanni glared at him, and the scientist quickly amended his statement. "-But, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for how this crystal has reanimated you and given you some sort of power, and I will find it eventually!"

"And you sent the nightmares, didn't you!" Ein accused. "The ones where you threatened me…tortured me…the ones that made everyone think I was insane, because I told them you would be back!" he spat.

Giovanni sweatdropped. "Actually, I had nothing to do with those at all. The nightmares were caused by your paranoia and fear amplified by quite a lot of stress. You really bit off more than you could chew, taking over the team for a while and funding and trying to make a reality a project that would almost drive us into bankruptcy like the Tyranitron. I warned you that you wouldn't be able to take my place, I recall."

Ein blinked. "Oh," he said quietly. Then he started thrashing about. "You! You'll never take me alive! I'll kill myself first!" Laughing madly, he turned about and started running drunkenly towards a window, until a tulip, expertly thrown by Domino, who was amused by the proceedings, caught him in the back and knocked him to the ground.

Giovanni laughed and stomped over to the fallen madman. "Not just yet, Ein. I have much to thank you for, and much to kill you for too. You killed me and nearly drove Team Rocket (which it always was at heart, no matter what moronic name you gave it) bankrupt with this foolish Tyranitron plot. But I also must thank you, for by killing me you made me more powerful than you can imagine, and by approving construction of the Tyranitron you provided me with a weapon that I can finally use to rule the world."

"Not yours…never yours!" Ein wailed, trying to rip his arms free from their straightjacket. "The crew will never listen to you. Never! They are all loyal Ciphers!"

Giovanni burst into laughter. "You fool! Haven't you noticed that all the commanding crewmembers of the Tyranitron were high-ranking members of Team Rocket when I was in charge? I contacted all of them, as well as Domino and anyone else I thought might be willing to help me, when I was still fresh and weak from my resurrection, still trying to master the power that had grown within me. Not all of them had been loyal to me when I had been in charge, but they much preferred me at the head of the organization than a neophyte like you, Ein, or a freak like Nascour. Domino and Sebastian were able to manipulate events so that the five who would crew the Tyranitron were all members of my new little conspiracy, so that once I regained control the Tyranitron would be under my command, instead of loyal Cipher agents who might possibly go renegade! I thought for a while though, when budget cuts and deadlines drew too close and it seemed as if the Tyranitron would only be launched at a fraction of its anticipated power, that my planned coup should succeed, only for my weapon to be defeated…and then what should happen but the three most incompetent and pathetic members of the organization happened to find something that will make the Tyranitron totally invincible! It seems that fortune has smiled upon me. I must remember to thank them later, after they are finished destroying Ever Grande City. Haha, so you see, everything has worked out, if not precisely, still close or even better to how I have planned it!" He continued, laughing at Ein's horrified expression. "I am in command of the Team once more, and as we speak those who are loyal to me are defeating any who might oppose me on this ship or back at headquarters! Within the hour, the Tyranitron will destroy Ever Grande and show the world how powerful the reborn Team Rocket is! And, after I have drawn from you the knowledge of how to perfect the Shadow Pokemon Process, I will kill you and then my takeover will be complete, and all who betrayed me will pay for what they have done to me and my beloved Persian!" He shook his head, a sad expression flickering across his face for a moment. "If only he had been dumped into the sea with me…but once I was strong enough to revive him, it was too late, for his body was fed to the organization's own Pokemon. Standard custom. Oh well, I suppose I can get another one, though I doubt he will ever be replace the old Persian in my heart…" He paused. "Where was I?"

"You were about to get the info on the Shadow Pokemon process from him?" Sebastian offered.

"Huh? Oh, right," Giovanni said, snapping his fingers. "Sorry," he apologized to Ein. "My brain isn't quite as fast as is used to be. That's what you get for dying and coming back to life, I suppose."

"I'll never tell you!" Ein cried. "I'll never let you take that from me! I invented the Shadow Pokemon process, and I will take its secrets to the grave! You'll never get anything from me!"

He tried to get to his feet and run for the window again, but Giovanni pointed a hand at him, and a crushing wave of solid air slammed him back into the ground, breaking his nose and a few teeth. "You know," the reborn leader of Team Rocket said, sauntering over. "I don't even need to coerce you to tell me the secret. I could kill you, then bring you back to life and simply ask. But your brain might not be in the best condition at that point, so it may take time for it to recover enough to tell me what I want to know, and I don't have the patience to wait for information that important. So," he said, kneeling to look Ein in the eyes as he placed one hand on the deranged scientist's forehead. "I will simply reach into your fractured mind and _take_ what I want to know…with much more force than necessary!"

The gem on Giovanni's forehead started glowing as the undead lord clutched Ein's head tightly with one hand. Ein screamed and convulsed as bolts of electricity shot out of the crystal and down Giovanni's arm, into his brain. They dug through his mind, cruelly tearing through layers of madness and memories alike in their search for knowledge, doing even more severe damage to his psyche than the most warped and sadistic torture could cause. (Well, unless said torture was being caused by the Ultimate Evil. THEN the damage would be worse.) They clawed away at his inner 'vault', where his deepest secrets and innermost feelings and fears were locked away, ripping it open savagely, dragging the information Giovanni was looking for out of the scientist's mind and into his own. Ein's face contorted in an expression of uttermost agony…

And then his head exploded.

Giovanni blinked. Domino blinked. Sebastian blinked.

Domino wiped a bit of blood off her face. "Uh…sir, was that supposed to happen?"

Giovanni, who had been closest to Ein at the time, had gore covering his hand and speckling his face. He looked too stunned to notice. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I was going to kill him anyway, so I suppose it's all right."

Sebastian coughed. "Um, sir? Did you…"

Giovanni blinked. "Did I…oh! Yes. Yes, I got the information I was looking for." He chuckled darkly. "And what a surprise it was!" He tore Ein's straightjacket open and started searching the pockets of his shirt underneath it, tossing out little odds and ends like keys, loose change, a pen or two, before triumphantly holding a tiny chip of purple crystal into the air. "Hahahaha…who would have thought, the source of all Shadow Pokemon is the same power that now fuels me?"

Sebastian and Domino were startled. They came over to examine the crystal. "I don't have my tools with me now, but I could swear that piece is made of the same material as the crystal on your forehead, sir!" Sebastian exclaimed.

"That's because it is, Sebastian," Giovanni said with a grin. "They are both tiny pieces of a single crystal, one with unfathomable power…if we could gain other pieces, who knows how strong we could become?" He handed Sebastian the chip. "But that is a matter to ponder later…for now, we have the destruction of Ever Grande City to look forward to! Take that chip to the lab and use it to transform the Pokemon of my agents into Shadow Pokemon! Tell the crew that Team Rocket's reign is just beginning, and soon enough we shall be all-powerful! I have returned to rebuild my empire, and make it stronger than ever!"

Sebastian nodded anxiously. "Yes sir!" He hurried out of the room quickly, not wishing to take too long and possibly get on the bad side of a man who could do what he had just done to Ein.

"And what about me, boss?" Domino asked.

Giovanni chuckled and put his mask and helmet back on. "You will stay with me, Domino. I have missed your presence." He sat down in the chair that had only moments ago been Nascour's. Domino plopped herself down on one of the armrests. "And together," he said, pointing to the large display screen before them that showed the live video feed from the Tyranitron's eyes as it battled the other two giant robots. "We shall watch as Team Rocket's ultimate weapon claims its first conquest! The world will soon be ours!"

….

"Fire A.S.S. Blaster!" Red Ranger cried.

The Megaloid leaped sideways, rolling in midair as it fired three blasts from its gun at the Tyranitron and landed on the ground in a crouch. The three blasts bounced harmlessly off the force field and slammed back into the Megaloid at twice the power they had been fired, knocking it off its feet and causing it to land on its back with a thud.

"Soldier Senshi Super Strike!" The Senshibot twirled like a ballerina, its long hair stiffening and flinging out like the blade from a scythe as it spun towards the Tyranitron.

"You call that an attack?" the Marauder scoffed. "Hey Buson, let's give that bitch a haircut, what do you say?"

Buson chuckled. "Sounds good to me!"

The Tyranitron raised its left hand and snatched at the hair-blade as it spun by, grabbing it and holding it in place with the bit of force field that surrounded the hand, keeping it from moving and causing the Senshibot to stop its spin with a sudden and unexpected jerk, almost knocking Drew from his seat in the robot's cockpit. "What the-"

The Tyranitron raised its right knee underneath the metal hair, bending it upward, and drove its right hand down in a karate chop, smashing through the fibers that kept the oddly fluid hair in place and effectively cutting it off!

"Oh no! My robot's beautiful hair!" Drew cried, the Senshibot's hands rising up to feel its head, which was now scruffier and messier due to the unprofessional haircut it had just received.

Anny laughed. "Hey, it looks better this way, honest!"

"Yeah, just a little conditioner and gel and it'll look better than new!" Oakley agreed.

"You fiend! How dare you desecrate her like that!" Blue Ranger cried. "Let's get that monster, guys!"

"Yeah!" his partners chorused. They charged towards the Tyranitron, fists flailing.

The evil robot sidestepped the charge and swung its tail underneath the Megaloid's feet, knocking it off balance and causing it to fall on its back again with a thud. "Trying to help a lady, huh? No good deed goes unpunished! Let's give em' some Iron Tail to ruin that pretty face!" Bashou sneered.

The Tyranitron raised its tail into the air, which started glowing, and slammed it down repeatedly on the prone Megaloid's head, denting its face and causing the Rangers to rattle about their cockpit like loose change in a big pocket.

"They were trying to help me out! Stop it, you jerk!" Drew said angrily, pressing a button on his control panel shaped like a sideways 8.

The Senshibot's breasts flipped open, revealing a pair of silos filled with several dozen missile launchers with warheads that looked far too much like nipples. The missiles launched from their silos and shot towards the Tyranitron, exploding against its side and knocking it over, freeing the Megaloid from its torture.

Or that's what would have happened if the missiles hadn't hit the robot's force field and bounced off, streaking right back towards the startled Senshibot and exploding, doing serious damage to its torso and blasting the "lids" of the missile launchers off their hinges.

"You know, it kind of loses its appeal now that it's flat-chested," Buson commented jokingly. Bashou snickered and smacked him playfully, privately agreeing.

"Now they've gone too far!" Pink and Yellow Rangers cried furiously.

"Yeah, how dare they remove her breasts! Now she's totally flat and unappealing to me!" agreed Green Ranger. Yellow Ranger angrily punched him, and then the Megaloid pushed itself off the ground and tackled the Tyranitron. Of course, due to the force field this did no good, and the giant police robot was flung away with incredible force, where it smashed into one of the habitat's artificial mountains and totally destroyed it.

The Marauder laughed. "This is too easy! We barely have to do anything to beat these wimps! All we gotta do is stand here, and they beat themselves up trying to fight us!"

"Yeah, but I doubt the Boss…the _real_ Boss…would be happy with us letting this wonderful machine's destructive powers go to waste by just standing here. Let's take it up a notch!" suggested Bashou. That sounded good to her four companions.

The Senshibot was trying to come to terms with her abrupt loss. "I-I can't believe this," Drew stammered in shock. "How could they do such a thing! It's not like we even had breast cancer or anything!"

"We should repay the favor by ripping off that thing's breasts!" said the Espeon angrily.

"Now Lumis, that would be rude," lectured the Umbreon. "And it doesn't have breasts anyway. _Arms_, now…"

"Okay, arms it is!" agreed the masked Roselia, working over her controls angrily.

The Senshibot held out its arms. "Super Soldier Senshi Star Sword Sushi Strike!" A pair of giant metal fish-shaped swords appeared in the robot's hands, and it lunged towards the Tyranitron.

In the meantime, the Megaloid had gotten up and produced its own sword, which had somehow fit in a compartment on its other leg. "Okay, let's try the Special Move that Always Wins the Fight!" suggested Blue Ranger.

"Yeah, with a name like that, it can't fail!" agreed Pink Ranger.

Red Ranger nodded and pressed the button labeled "Special Move that Always Wins the Fight."

The Megaloid somehow leaped impossibly high into the air, despite its considerable weight, and fell towards the Tyranitron, sword held high over its head.

The Megaloid brought its sword down on the Tyranitron in a massive overhead strike at the same time that Senshibot dashed by, slashing at the giant robot's arms with her Sushi Swords. There was a flash of light as the two robot's weapons struck at the Tyranitron…

And then both shattered on the mecha's force field.

"No way!" cried Yellow Ranger. "The Special Move that Always Wins the Fight didn't win the fight!"

"And my Sushi Swords are ruined!" Drew cried, staring at the broken hilts his robot held in its hands.

Anny chuckled. "Heh, you call those swords? Let's show them a thing or two!"

Oakley nodded. "Like Bashou said, time to take it up a notch!"

The Tyranitron's tail detached suddenly from the rest of its body, stiffening into a rigid cone and hitting the ground with a thud. The bolt that had attached the tail to the rest of the body lengthened into a thin hilt of sorts, which the Tyranitron grabbed with both hands as it lifted the conical tail, now a sword, into the air. "Now _this_ is a sword!" cried the Marauder.

The Tyranitron charged at the stunned Senshibot, holding its giant sword ahead of it like a lance. The different segments that made it up were spinning, so it resembled a drill. The feminine robot held out its hands and grabbed onto the tip of the sword before it could impale it, being pushed back by the force of the thrust as well as the strength of the weapon. The spiked segments of the drill-sword spun and scraped at the hands holding them back, tearing at the metal that composed them. The hands started sparking and shaking as a result.

"That little move isn't enough to stop us!" declared Buson, pressing a button.

Instantly, the electrical conductors in the Tyranitron's palms activated, sending several thousand gigawatts of electricity up the length of the sword and into the gashes being cut open in the Senshibot's hands, frying it from the inside!

The robot's cockpit shook as control panels exploded and spewed sparks everywhere. "Ahhh! We're taking too much damage!" the Umbreon cried.

"I want my mommy!" wailed Lumis the Espeon.

"How can they be doing this to us!" Drew moaned. "We're the heroes!"

The heroes watched from the edge of Ever Grande City as the Megaloid got back on its feet from where it had been thrown from the recoil of breaking its sword on the Tyranitron's force field and blindly charged at the robot, bouncing harmlessly off its force field but causing the evil mecha to take its attention off the Senshibot for a moment, stopping the flow of electricity into the fem-bot's innards and pulling its sword away to deal with the minimal threat the colorful other robot provided. The Senshibot, still sparking, collapsed to its knees.

"That thing's practically invincible!" Brock exclaimed in disbelief. "Those other two robots hit it with everything they had and nothing worked!"

"It's gotta have some weakness," Ash insisted. "I wonder…" He pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the Tyranitron.

"Ash, that won't do any good," Misty lectured him. "It's not a Pokemon, the Pokedex won't-"

The Pokedex beeped and displayed an image of the Tyranitron. "Tyranitron, the Tyrant mecha. The ultimate weapon designed by leading robotics scientist Dr. Ivo Robotnik AKA 'Eggman' and constructed by Team Cipher, this mecha's primary purpose is to dominate the world. Although it is not _quite_ as powerful as it was designed to be, it is still equipped with quite a few lethal and non-lethal weapons, as well as a Crystal System which can absorb electrical energy from the area around it, a Snag Cannon which can launch ten Snag Balls a second to capture Pokemon, and a Induced Evolution Wave emitter which can be used theoretically to evolve Pokemon, but is rather more useful to stun them for Snagging. It also has a force field generated by an unknown energy source that is completely impenetrable to all attacks of any nature. It allows air in and gives the robot traction, but it is doubtful that trying to attack from underneath would have any results, as the force field's 'bubble' flattens out against whatever terrain it's pressed against, so it is immune from subterranean assault as well. It can also keep out water, but it is uncertain if it would keep the Tyranitron from sinking in water. There is a fifty percent chance of it being waterproof and being capable of flotation. Suggested strategy: N/A. Other than somehow luring it into the water and seeing if it would sink, any attempt to damage this enemy will result in failure unless its force field is somehow disabled. The force field's only noticeable flaw is that it allows those of the Wobbuffet evolutionary line and those in close proximity to Pokemon of that line through, but since the field is so close to the robot's skin and the robot's hull itself is fairly tough, it is doubtful that this would grant any tactical advantage to hopeful attackers. Rather, it would almost certainly ensure their demise, because at such close proximity to the Tyranitron probability of fatality is very, very high. The only safe course is to stay as far away from this machine as is humanly or Pokemonly possible."

They stared at the little red device in amazement. "Wow, that upgrade Professor Oak gave you is really incredible," said Latias finally.

"How come mine can't do that?" May complained.

"Have you called Professor Oak lately?" Ash asked.

"…No," she admitted.

"Well, maybe if you did, he'd give you one," Ash advised.

Brock looked at the Pokedex thoughtfully. "With that thing…maybe I could finally find the girl who's right for me!"

"Ah, no," said Misty, grabbing him by the ear and pulling him away from Ash before he could try and take the Pokedex for himself.

Max and Jirachi, in the meantime, had been only paying attention to these proceedings with half an ear, too fascinated in the incredible giant robot battle to really care. "Man, this is so cool!" Max cried happily.

"Yeah!" Jirachi agreed. "Too bad the good guys are losing!"

Max pouted. "Yeah, that's true…if only we could do something to help!"

"But we can't," Jirachi pointed out. "Its Evolution Wave Emitter thing will stun me if I go near it, or any other Pokemon for that matter. And its force field is totally impenetrable." He had been paying slightly more attention to the Pokedex's speech than Max, so knew these things.

Max frowned, realizing the truth in his friend's statement. "Good point…darn! I wish we had a giant robot of our own that could penetrate that thing's force field! Then we'd win with no problem!" he said foolishly, not realizing fully what he had just done.

Feeling a strange sensation in his tummy, Jirachi looked down and saw his true eye was glowing. "Okay!" he said cheerfully.

"Huh? No, wait-" May cried, realizing what was about to happen.

It was too late. There was a tremendous flash of light from Max and the little Wishmaker, and when it cleared they gazed is disbelief at the ten-story-high giant robot that looked just like Jirachi. Its sheet metal wish tags fluttered in the wind, and the golden wings on its back and the giant golden three-pointed hat on its head all gleamed in the sunlight. The true eye on the robot's stomach had recessed into the chest, and looked more like the focusing lens for a laser.

Wes, who had just been starting to feel a bit better thanks to Rui's encouragement, took one look at the robot which had just a second ago been Jirachi, moaned, and got back in his fetal position. Rui sighed and started working on him all over again.

Absol sweatdropped. "Wishmaker, Max, how am I supposed to protect you when you've become a giant robot!"

"Oh, not again!" May cried angrily.

The others gaped. "This has happened before!" Pikachu asked in disbelief. Ash repeated this statement to May.

"Well, not this _exactly_," May amended her earlier statement. "But ever since Jirachi's started living with us, now and then when people say things starting with 'I wish' within hearing range, he somehow grants them! And it's totally random too; one time I wished I could travel with you again and he didn't do anything! And another time when mom said she wished dad wouldn't spend so much time at work, dad suddenly appeared right in front of her, naked and soaping wet because he had been in the middle of a shower! Boy, that was embarrassing…"

"This is SO cool!" Max, who was now clad in a form-fitting spandex outfit complete with helmet and visor squealed from his seat in the incredibly shiny and futuristic cockpit inside the Jirachi robot's head.

"Yep!" A computer screen turned on, showing Jirachi's face. "Hey, how'd I get in here?"

"You must have become the robot's AI after you transformed!" Max deduced. "Even cooler!"

"Yeah! I think…" Jirachi said, looking confused.

"Okay," Max said eagerly, reaching for the controls. "Let's go kick some Tyranitron butt!"

The others watched the robot and waited for it to start up and go over to, as Max so aptly put it, 'kick some Tyranitron butt.' And waited. And waited some more.

"Well?" Togetic asked finally.

"Well what?" Jirachi called back from inside his computer.

"Aren't you going to go kick some Tyranitron butt already?"

"Um…Max?" Jirachi asked his friend anxiously.

Max was staring at the controls with a look of utter confusion on his face. "I have no idea how to operate this thing."

Everyone facefaulted.

…

The blue peon sighed in relief when his climb down the ladder brought him to a hatch on the side of the shaft, labeled NUCLEAR CORE, which had been crossed out and SHIELD GENERATOR had been hastily scribbled underneath it. "Finally!" he cried. "I feel like I've been climbing this thing forever!"

Pulling an arm flap away from the ladder rungs, he pressed a button on the side of the door, causing it to rise up with an aesthetically soothing swoosh. Taking a breath to ready himself, he let go of the rung and flung himself at the open hatchway, tumbling inside with a painful thud. "Ugh…"

He struggled back to his feet as the doorway soothingly swooshed shut behind him, and looked around the room he had entered. It was very large, but fairly empty, comprising mostly of various enormous inactive pieces of electronics and cables that seemed to serve no visible purpose. What really grabbed the peon's attention was what was in the center of the room, a large cylindrical fixture of some semi-transparent material that was comprised of two half-cylinder parts, one larger than the other so that it could swivel around the smaller half and allow an opening into the cylinder's interior, which held a large Wobbuffet statue attached to the ceiling by various parasitic cables and held to the floor by clamps. The statue and cables all pulsed with some strange, yet somewhat familiar energy to the peon.

"I made it," he whispered almost reverently. He pulled off his helmet, ill-fitting gray uniform and orange sweater to reveal that he was, in fact, Wobbuffet. (Like you didn't see that coming.)

When they had seen the balloon going towards the large and ominous-looking carrier and the even more ominous-looking robot on it, Wobbuffet had known at once they had to find some way on board both the ship and the dreadful machine it was carrying. It stuck out like an eyesore, it had to be what Jessie, James and Meowth were intending to use the Wobbaku statue for, for whatever reason that might be. Deciding the raft was too conspicuous, he and Wynaut had slipped into the water and held onto Milotic as she used a gentle Surf to push the raft towards the cruiser, then swam for one of the anchor chains while the crew on board were distracted by eagerly destroying it with totally excessive and unnecessary force. They had climbed up the chain (Milotic was able to do it easily by slithering up, Wobbuffet and Wynaut had a considerably harder time) and, in a series of surprising stealth maneuvers that would have made Sam Fisher and Solid Snake green with envy, made it over to the elevator leading up to the robot and knocked out one of the guards. Wobbuffet had put on the guard's uniform so nobody would recognize him, and, after making certain she wanted to do this, used one of the peon's spare Pokeballs on Wynaut so that nobody would see her. He still had the Pokeball for Milotic back when she was Feebas, and returned her to it as well. He had left the peon's other Pokemon with the knocked-out guard, not sure he could command them if he somehow ended up in a fight. He didn't doubt that at least one of them would be a Shadow Pokemon.

After taking the guard's place, he had snuck onto the Tyranitron behind Nascour and his group and listened to Sebastian and Robotnik's description of the robot's internal workings, taking careful notes on anything he thought might be useful. He had hidden behind a doorframe when the scientists and Nascour had left and Jessie, James, Butch, Cassidy, Meowth, and their Pokemon were sent down to the 'engine room', and had started climbing down after them when the robot was 'launched.'

His original plan had been to free (whether they wanted it or not) the Ciphers and their Pokemon from the machines that hooked them up to the Tyranitron's batteries, so they would stop generating power. The batteries would quickly run out, and the robot would then have to rely on its Crystal System for more power, while Wobbuffet would then be able to continue down to the Tyranitron's shield generator with any allies he could find (he had hoped he could convince some of the non-Shadow Pokemon to help him. He knew for certain Cacnea would be of some assistance) and shut it down, leaving the robot open to attack. While he thought the good guys _might_ be able to destroy the robot on their own, he wasn't going to rely solely on the skills they had demonstrated in past battles as evidence that they could defeat this monstrosity. From everything Robotnik had described, even if it wasn't quite as tough as he had wanted it to be, it was still pretty damn powerful. What Wobbuffet planned to do after deactivating the shield was to climb back up to the cockpit, somehow overpower the Cipher agents there (with Cacnea's help, that should be easy) and take control of the robot and set off for Mirage Island, where he could drop the statue of Wobbaku back off to his ungrateful people and then either blow the Tyranitron up or keep it to use against whatever evil he was obligated to fight as a Chosen. That second option appealed to him, for some reason.

Of course, he hadn't accounted for losing his grip when the Tyranitron had been kicked off the ship, and had fallen quite a ways past the 'engine room' before he had managed to grab onto the ladder again. Rather than climb all the way back up, he decided to revise his plan a little and take out the shields first, since he was closer to them. He doubted it would be that hard to do. He had gotten a glimpse at this room from the outside on the Shadow Cruiser when the diamond-shaped hatch which made up the chamber's far wall was open, and figured all he needed to do was disengage those clamps and disconnect the cables leeching the statue's power to shut it down. Of course, he had no intention of doing it all by himself…

He picked up the two Pokeballs lying on the ground along with the uniform of the peon he had replaced and pressed the buttons on their sides, releasing his two companions. Wynaut was the first to appear, and she looked startled, dazed, and shaken. "What…where was I? Where am I now? I feel…strange…"

Milotic, far more used to being inside a Pokeball, had no such reaction as she emerged, instead looking as graceful as ever as she reared her head up grandly, causing a shiver of pleasure to run down Wobbuffet's spine. "Mmm…" she groaned, shutting her eyes after glancing around the room. "This place is so cold…"

Wobbuffet glanced at a handy temperature gauge on one of the inert machines around the room. "Actually, it's about seventy degrees in here, though I admit the floor is pretty chilly."

"No, I meant this place lacks the warmth of the heart," Milotic corrected. "It was constructed for evil means by evil hands. It reeks of greed and desire for power. It feels almost as cold as a frozen night in winter to me."

Wobbuffet was amazed. He had had no idea that Milotic was so…what was the word? Empathic? The Tender Pokemon shuddered and slithered over to him, wrapping her coils around the blue blob, relaxing visibly at the touch of his skin. "It feels warmer now," she commented.

Wobbuffet's blue body was starting to change to a solid red from the size of his blush. Still confused, Wynaut wandered over. "Big Brother…what happened? We were on that cold gray boat, near the giant monster, and then…we're in here?" She blinked and scrunched up her face in concentration. "And…something happened between then and now, I was someplace…else…" She looked up. "I liked it there."

Wobbuffet shrugged, which was a little difficult to do with Milotic tightly wrapped around him. "Yeah, it's nice inside there," he said, nodding at the Pokeball Wynaut had come out of. "But I prefer the real world more. Fantasies only hold so much for you. You can find far more wonderful and terrible things in reality."

Wynaut glanced around and shuddered. "Are we…inside the evil monster? Did it swallow you?"

"Eh…more like I climbed into its ear," Wobbuffet explained, simplifying details for Wynaut. Acclimatizing her to the things and details of the outside world abruptly could result in a very bad case of culture shock, so he thought it would be best to have her understand things a bit at a time to make it easier for her. She still did not have much of an understanding of things like 'science' or 'technology' (then again, neither did Wobbuffet, he only vaguely understood how such things worked). And it's not like she was wrong, the Tyranitron was a monster, and in a way they were in its belly.

Wynaut glanced around again, and for the first time noticed Wobbaku's statue. She gasped. "It's the statue!" She ran over to the cylindrical shield around it. "What's happening to it!"

"Uh…how do I put this?" Wobbuffet pondered, slipping out of Milotic's coils to join his sister. The serpent didn't want to leave his presence, so slithered alongside him, brushing her skin against his periodically to feel less cold. "Uh…the bad people who control the monster put the statue down here so the monster could feed off its power and make itself stronger. Invincible, even. They've unleashed it on an innocent city-that's what people here in the outside world live in, they're like villages but much, _much_ bigger-and intend to destroy it and capture all the Pokemon there."

Wynaut gasped. "That's awful! We have to do something!"

"I intend to," Wobbuffet assured her. He then outlined his plan, simplifying things as he went so Wynaut could understand what they were going to do.

Wynaut seemed to accept her brother's plan without question, but Milotic looked a little doubtful. "Wobby, I think it's a good plan…but are you sure it'll work?"

He blinked. "Why wouldn't it?"

She sighed. "I don't know, it just seems a little…risky. You think it will be easy to disable the shield, and I don't disagree with you there. But then there's the matter of stopping the Pokemon who are charging up the batteries. Many of them will be Shadow Pokemon, and will the ones who aren't really be amenable to disobeying their masters?"

Wobbuffet looked confused. "Why wouldn't they be? Because they're more loyal to their trainers or something?"

"That…and they may just not believe you. What will you do then?"

He frowned. "Cacnea I'm sure of. But I suppose you're right about the others. I doubt Miss Jessie will listen to me since I 'betrayed' her, and I doubt Meowth or James are brave enough to stand up to her. And they're probably too loyal to Cipher to do so, anyway. And Butch and Cassidy definitely won't help." He sighed. "Still, if we can get at least one Pokemon on our side, we'll have a better chance of overpowering the guys in the control room and taking over, right?"

"That's the other thing," Milotic pointed out. "I'm sure we could overpower them. But would we be able to operate the robot after they were defeated?" She waved her tail for visual effect. "I have no opposable thumbs to press buttons, and I don't think Wynaut has the first idea about how to use a control panel."

"I don't even know what a control panel is," the little Pokemon added.

Wobbuffet frowned. "Well…I've seen Miss Jessie, James and Meowth pilot dozens of giant robots…I guess I could try doing it by myself."

"Could you though?" asked Mitotic. "If this robot is so complex that it requires five humans in its control room, do you really think you can operate it all by yourself? Even if Cacnea, Wynaut or myself were somehow able to overcome our own difficulties with the controls and if we could somehow convince someone else to serve as the fifth operator, would we be able to effectively pilot the robot back to Mirage Island? Not to mention," she added. "That the notes you took mentioned that the robot may or may not be waterproof. Nobody's certain. If it's not waterproof, how will we even get across the ocean to the island in this thing?"

Wobbuffet sweatdropped. "Uh…good point."

Wynaut looked worried. "But if we can't command this giant monster, how can we get the statue back to the island? It's much too heavy for us to carry out of here!"

"Give me a sec!" Wobbuffet said in frustration. He cogitated for several moments. "Okay, new plan. We shut down the shield generator, go up to the 'engine' room and retrieve Cacnea as well as anyone else willing to help, sabotage the place as well as the backup Crystal System generator, then get to the cockpit, knock out the pilots, and get on the horn to the heroes (because they're _always_ around when things like this happen) say we surrender, explain what's going on, and ask if they can help us get the statue back home. How's that?"

Milotic and Wynaut thought about it for a minute. "I think it has a higher chance of success than your original plan," Milotic said finally.

Wynaut nodded. "I'm with you all the way, Big Brother!"

Wobbuffet broke into a grin. "Great!" He paused, and glanced at the statue. "So…now we need to find a way to deactivate the shields. To do that, I think the first thing we need to do is get through that cylinder."

"How do we do that?" Wynaut asked, walking over to the cylinder and tentatively touching it with an ear/arm flap, as if she feared it might hurt her. "It looks very thick!"

"Well…" Wobbuffet glanced the room. He noticed that some of the machinery lying about was active with blinking lights and sounds, while others weren't. "This place was originally designed to hold the Tyranitron's nuclear generator-it's 'heart'," he explained to Wynaut when he saw her look of confusion. "But they couldn't get a heart, so they had to have some other guys power the robot manually. Since they couldn't get the heart they wanted, they decided to use this place to house the statue." He pointed at one of the active machines. "Since the majority of this junk was probably intended to control the nuclear generator, the stuff that's active must _not_ relate to the generator (since there isn't one) and must have something to do with the shields. One of them may open the cylinder around the statue, or shut down the cables attached to it altogether. Once the statue's off the hook, we can proceed to the next phase of our plan." He started for one of the machines. "You two check out those machines over there, while I look at this one here. Press all the buttons that you think may help."

"How will we know which ones will help?" asked Wynaut.

Wobbuffet shrugged. "They're the ones that open the glass."

"What's glass?" Wynaut asked in confusion.

"That clear stuff."

"Oh."

Milotic nodded and turned to Wynaut. "A word of caution: if a button is big, red, and flashing, stay away from it unless either of us tells you its all right to push. Call us over if you see something like that, okay?"

Wynaut nodded. "Okay! But why?"

"Because in my experience, those buttons usually make something explode," explained Wobbuffet. "And take it from me when I say that it hurts quite a lot."

…

In the meantime, the Tyranitron's operating crew was enjoying themselves immensely pummeling the Megaloid and Senshibot. They had launched the robot's fists off like rockets at their opponents, giving them nasty right hooks, then recalled the fists with magnets in the Tyranitron's wrists. They were surprised when the fists rebounded off the force field and slammed right back into the faces of the Megaloid and Senshibot with twice the force of the first punch. The magnets hadn't been shut off, so the fists flew back at the Tyranitron, bounced off the shield again, and punched the two lamer bots with FOUR times the original force. They deduced that since the fists had been fired outside the force field, it no longer extended around or protected them (the fists) so they couldn't attach back to the Tyranitron unless the shield were turned off. However, they realized it was much more fun to keep the magnets on and attract and repel the fists repeatedly into the faces of the Megaloid and Senshibot, each punch getting stronger and stronger until inevitably they would smash the faces in and crush the crews inside to death.

"Man, I could do this all day!" The Marauder laughed, leaning back in his seat. "Just sit back, relax, and watch as a couple of losers get pummeled to death, and we don't have to do a thing!" His comrades agreed, all of them laid back and relaxed as they watched the increasingly powerful punches continue to strike the poor defenseless robots.

All of them were rightfully startled when the grim and foreboding mask of Giovanni replaced the amusing image of the Megaloid and Senshibot getting beaten up. Buson yelped and fell out of his seat in surprise, while Anny and Oakley went rigid in their seats. "What's going on down there!" he bellowed, eyes glowing.

The five gulped and quickly stood up, saluting their leader. "Boss! Did the coup go according to plan, then?" asked Bashou.

Giovanni blinked. "What? Oh, yes, that. It worked perfectly. The traitors to our organization are dead, and I am back in control. Team Rocket is reborn!"

"Yeah! All right!" Anny cheered.

"But that's not why I called! What's going on down there!"

The five looked at the boss in confusion. "Er, what do you mean sir? We're just handing those two lame-o's asses to them. Uh, we can stop playing around and finish them if you want-" the Marauder started.

"No, that's not it! For the last five minutes, one of the screens over here has been flashing and saying that there are intruders poking about in the shield generator room! I haven't said anything about it until now, because I thought you idiots were competent enough to take care of it by yourselves!" Giovanni said angrily.

They were still confused. "Uh, sorry sir, but I don't know what you're talking about," Buson confessed. "There must be some mistake, I've got the displays for the shield room right here and they say-" He froze mid-sentence, seeing WARNING! INTRUDERS DETECTED IN SHIELD CHAMBER! IMMEDIATE ACTION RECOMMENDED IMMEDIATELY! Flashing repeatedly on a small screen on his control panel. He sweatdropped. "Can't believe I didn't notice that…" he muttered.

"Get down there and do something about it already!" Giovanni commanded angrily.

"Y-yes sir, right away." Buson got up. "Uh, you guys will be okay without me, right?"

Bashou waved a hand nonchalantly. "Yeah, we'll just keep the punch thing going on until you get back."

Buson nodded. "Okay, I shouldn't be gone too long." He paused, then an evil grin came onto his face. "Say, you don't think it would cause too much of a drain on our batteries if I took Skarmory down with me, would it?"

The Marauder shrugged. "You'd have to ask the doc about that, but since he's dead you'll have to make your own judgment."

Buson glanced at the screen. "Sir?"

Giovanni rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmmm…the Skarmory. It's a Shadow Pokemon, right?"

"Yes sir!" Buson reported.

"As long as you use it quickly and effectively to get rid of these stowaways, I don't believe it will cause too much of a power drain. There's plenty of others to make up for its loss as long as you get it back to the engine room quickly after you're done."

Buson nodded. "Right away, sir!"

Giovanni nodded. "Very good. Get to it, Rocket!" He cut off his communication, causing the screen to switch back to its original display of the pathetic beating of the Megaloid and Senshibot.

"Don't take too long!" Oakley yelled after Buson as he exited the cockpit and started climbing down the vertical maintenance shaft. "You wouldn't want to miss a minute of this, would you?" she asked, indicating the repetitive punching going on onscreen.

…

The heroes were still where we left them, watching in horror from the sidelines as the Tyranitron ruthlessly pummeled the Megaloid and Senshibot. Max had stubbornly refused to turn on the autopilot and let Jirachi take control, claiming, "What's the fun of riding in a giant robot if you can't drive it?" He had found an owner's manual after rummaging through the glove compartment and was flipping through it in hopes of findings instructions for how to pilot the thing, so absorbed in his reading that he had tuned out everything around him.

Wes, who had regained most of his sanity again thanks to Rui, was confused. "Why don't we attack the thing while it's distracted fighting them?"

"Because it's invincible," said Ash.

"Says who?"

Ash held up his Pokedex. It beeped and said, "The Tyranitron is completely and totally invincible as long as its force field is up (which it currently is). Any attempts to attack it in the meantime are foolish and huge wastes of time and life. The recommended course of action is to stay far, far away from this robot until its force field drops for some reason then get in and attack the weak points in its titanium hull. Only rush towards it while the shields are still up if you have a death wish or have lost all reason to live. In layman's terms, stay the HELL away from that thing unless you want to die."

Wes blinked. "Wow. Is it supposed to have a personality?"

Ash frowned and experimentally poked a few buttons. "I don't think so. Maybe it's just a bug in the upgrade. I did get the beta version."

Wes nodded and thought for a moment. "Well, why don't we just try and lure it into the water or something? Looks pretty heavy, I bet it'd sink."

"It might," agreed Ash. "But the Pokedex also says there's a fifty percent chance that it's waterproof. So, it might be able to float."

"But that also means there's a fifty percent chance it _won't_ float," Wes pointed out.

"Yeah, and normally I'd agree with you that we still had a chance," Ash agreed. "But I tend to trust my Pokedex. It's never let me down. If it says it's suicide to fight that thing, no matter how much I want to go down there and help those guys, then it's suicide. Like I said, the Pokedex had never let me down."

"That, and I think I've finally pounded at least a little bit of caution and common sense into his thick skull," Misty joked, rapping her knuckles on Ash's head.

Rui giggled. "I know how that is. You won't believe how long it took me to convince Wes that he didn't need to run into _every_ Cipher base back in Orre or gym here in Hoenn with Espeon and Umbreon out firing their strongest attacks to startle and knock out whoever's waiting for him inside."

Wes flushed. "Rui! You don't need to tell them that!" he whined.

Misty laughed. "Oh, you think that's bad? I _still_ can't get Ash to comb his hair, and both his mother and I have been nagging about it for years!"

Ash blushed. "Mistyyyy…" he moaned.

Rui smiled. "Ha, there's another thing that makes the two of them so totally different. Wes _loves_ his hair. He spends like an hour every morning carefully applying shampoo and hair gel to it so that it looks _just_ right before he goes anywhere, and he bawls like a baby whenever I try to use any of it for myself."

"RUI!" Wes cried, totally embarrassed. _Oh well, at least she hasn't told anyone that the white's actually dye,_ he thought to himself with a hint of relief.

Misty shook her head. "I bet he changes his underwear regularly, instead of having to be reminded to do it every single time after he takes a bath despite being told to repeatedly both by me, Brock, _and_ his mother just about every single time she talks to him on the phone or in person."

"MISTY!" Ash cried, totally embarrassed. _Oh well, at least she hasn't told anyone about the PATTERNS I wear on my undies,_ he thought to himself with a hint of relief.

The two red-heads started playfully gossiping about the embarrassing secrets of their boyfriends while the two males in question listened in growing horror and misery. Brock had whipped out a notebook and was scribbling down everything he heard to use as blackmail material later, until Charizard "accidentally" sneezed on his notebook and completely incinerated it. "Whoops. Sorry," he said to the frustrated Brock, not looking the least bit apologetic.

Pikachu sweatdropped. "I hope not all Pokemon females are like that either. I'd find it very embarrassing if my mate blabbed all my little idiosyncrasies to her friends."

"Eh, some girls do, some girls don't," Bayleef said with a shrug. "Depends on the lady, right Latias?"

"Huh? Oh, right," she said. She had been distracted by wondering if the Ghost King had any humorous and embarrassing secrets locked in his closet. But what could a giant amorphous yellow-eyed cloud of smoke have to be embarrassed about? That was something she would have to find out for herself, she supposed.

"Hey, why don't you use that flute thing?" Crawdaunt suggested suddenly.

"Huh?" Latias asked, looking confused.

"You know, the Dragon Flute whatsit! That thing you use to summon Mewtwo!" the lobster said, gesturing to the flute around her neck. "Why don't you use it to call him already?"

Latias stared at him in disbelief. "…I can't believe I didn't think of that!" she cried. "Mewtwo broke the barrier between this world and the Dark World, maybe he can break through the force field too!" She grabbed her flute and held it up to her mouth to blow into…

When out of the blue, a Murkrow swooped down from the skies, wrapped its filthy claws around the flute, wrenched it out of Latias' grasp, and flew away with it.

She blinked. "…What just happened?"

"A Murkrow just stole your flute," Bayleef said in amazement.

"Talk about a cheap plot device," Crawdaunt muttered, losing interest and going back to what he had been doing before, namely hitting on Corsola.

"Wow, out of all the shiny things in the city, who'd have thought he'd take yours?" Charizard said, shaking his head in amazement.

"You should probably go after it," Pikachu suggested.

Latias rolled her eyes. "You think?" She sighed. "Great, I'd better go catch him."

"I'll come too," Togetic offered. "You're part Psychic and he's a Dark-type, you could use some backup."

"I'd come to help too, but I need to stay here and keep an eye on things. Keep everyone from getting too out of control," Pikachu said apologetically.

Almost as if on cue, Phanphy ran by screaming as Crawdaunt chased after him. "Why you little! I'll teach you to stay out of my romantic life when I catch up to you!"

"Father, wait! All he did was kiss his dear Auntie Corsola on the cheek, that's no need for you to kill him!" Kasurin cried, hopping after the lobster.

They sweatdropped. "I should probably do something about that. Crawdaunt, leave Phanphy alone!" Pikachu cried, running after the procession of elephant, lobster, and fish.

Latias and Togetic stared blankly after them for several seconds. "…Shouldn't we be chasing that Murkrow now?" Togetic asked.

Latias blinked. "Huh? Oh yeah, you're right! Come on, we've gotta catch him before he gets away!" Togetic held on to her neck as the dragon took to the air rapidly, causing a backdraft that washed over the heroes, ruffling hair and nearly knocking Ash's cap off.

"Hey, watch it!" Ash yelled once he had snatched his hat back, shaking a fist at Latias as she vanished into the sky. "What was that about?" he muttered, putting it back on.

"I don't know…but why did Togetic go with her?" Misty wondered anxiously. "I hope everything's all right…"

"Ov corz 3vr33th1ng 1z n0t all write! Th31r 1z a j1ant r0b0t atacking th0z p00rr 0th3r r0b0ts!" cried a horribly familiar voice.

The hairs on the backs of Ash, Wes, and Pikachu's neck rose, while everyone else just blinked in confusion, wondering how it was possible for someone's English to sound so broken and so similar to the speech used by some of those mindless l33t fools who lurked the Internet rendered in audible sound.

The group turned around (aside from Max, who was oblivious to everything due to his deep immersion in the robot owner's manual) and saw two hideously beautiful people who could not possibly be normal humans. One was a ludicrously handsome and muscular blond man over-proportioned in all the right places, and the other was a ludicrously (but also nauseatingly) beautiful woman whose eye color and hair color and style were in constant flux. She had both angelic and demonic wings, fox and cat tails, and cat and wolf ears sticking out of her hair. She had changed a little since Wes, Ash, or Pikachu had last seen her, but they still recognized her and the deeply miserable and despondent Pikachu and her shoulder. Mariah Susanson and her partner/boyfriend Berry Stoo had returned.

The heroes did not understand why, but to them something seemed completely and utterly…_strange_ about the duo. Brock, for reasons he did not understand, actually felt _repelled_ by the extremely beautiful woman before him, which confused him to no end. Misty, May, Rui, and the other soft-hearted Pokemon's hearts leapt out to Pika Pika. They could almost _see_ the raw sorrow pouring out of her eyes as easily as if she had been crying, and they instantly felt anger at the Pikachu's trainer, knowing from the Pikachu's occasional fearful glances at Mariah that she was the cause of the poor creature's sadness. The more aggressive Pokemons hackles rose, and they all started growling quietly at the two seeming humans, recognizing them as a threat. Absol was the most open in his reaction, stepping forward from the rest of the group to snarl at Mariah Susanson and Berry Stoo. If either of them noticed, they didn't show it.

"H33110!" Berry said cordially, waving at the group. He didn't seem to notice the raw waves of dislike rising from some of the Pokemon surrounding him.

"Ash, who are they?" Misty asked.

Ash growled, fist and teeth clenched. "These are the ones I told you guys about…Mariah Susanson and Berry Stoo!"

"That's us!" Mariah giggled in a voice so sugary sweet that it made all who heard it want to rip out her vocal chords and stab her to death with a thousand blunt and rusty knives just to shut the noise off. Except for Onix and Geodude, whose brains and eardrums were too damaged by rock music to care and thought she was hot, for a human. And Psyduck and Skitty, whom could not be proven to have brains without the use of powerful electron microscopes. "We're in town to enter the tournament, and we happened to see that awful robot crash down, and we thought we should help do something about it since there's no way that those poor other two robots or any of you could do anything about it without needlessly throwing your lives away!"

"I think you're underestimating us a little," May said coldly, although privately she was wondering if perhaps this strange woman wasn't right about her Pokemon at least. "We've all fought powerful threats before. What's to say we can't handle this one too? I mean, yeah, it's invincible right now, but it might not always be that way. Why can't we fight it when it's become vulnerable?"

Mariah and Berry laughed, the two sounds resonating together and making a sound not unlike that of the crystal bells atop Tin Tower ringing to signify the great (and crazy) firebird had returned. "Because you're all too weak!" Mariah explained kindly. "You rely too much on your Pokemon and the power of friendship and believe that it can get you through any hardship, when of course it can't!"

"R3ly1ng s0133 0n 0th3rs f0r str3ngth sh0wz h0w w33k y00 r3311y ar3. 1 b3t n0n3 0f y0u haz 3v3r w0n a s1ngl f1ht 1n y0ur l1vz w1th0ut y0ur P0kaym0n," Berry agreed, nodding his head sagely and causing his golden mane to sway in the wind.

This struck chords in many of our dear trainer's hearts, for this statement was not even remotely true for some and all too true for others. The Pokemon were angry and insulted that these jerks dared to call their trainers, who loved them, trained them, and in many, many occasions had risked their lives to protect them, were in any way weak. Brock, Wes and Ash had all had a number of physical scuffles in the past (Wes more than any of the others) and had won those on their own, as had Misty thanks to the use of her super mallet. Rui wasn't a trainer so she didn't feel those words affected her, but May once more felt startled and worried. She HADN'T won any fights in her life without her Pokemon. Was she weak after all?

Berry continued. "R331 p0wrr c0m3z fr0m w1th1n! By sp3nd1ng y33rz tra1n1ng 1n th3 w1ldz, y00 kan tapp 1nt0 k1w1, that universl f0rs that runz thr00 all th1ngz. W1th th1z f0rs, y0u cann d0 t0ta1133 1mp0zz1bl th1ngz, l1k fly1ng 0r sh00t1ng 3n3rg33 ballz! W1th th1z p0wrr, th3r 1z n0 f0 that can0t b3 c0nkered! Watch!"

He stepped forward, and although the Pokemon dearly wanted to rip him to pieces, they were so repelled by the awful aura that started emanating from him that they backed far away, leaving him a clear avenue that extended to the ravaged lands outside the city, where the Megaloid and Senshibot were _still_ being beaten to a pulp. Rui backed away as well, her meager psychic senses screaming at her to stay away from Berry. He took a deep breath, and then dramatically pulled his T-shirt off, flinging it over his head behind him. To the amazement of our heroes, it cracked the pavement it fell on; causing it to buckle and dip a few inches into the ground. "…The heck? How can a T-shirt be that heavy?" Ash asked in confusion.

Charizard snorted and rolled his eyes. "Oh, weighted clothes. Like _that_ hasn't been done before." Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"How do you even make a T-shirt like that weighted anyway?" Bayleef asked reasonably. "Do you use really heavy thread in it or something?"

Berry Stoo stretched his arms out, revealing his incredibly muscular torso and biceps, which were glistening with sweat even though it wasn't that hot out. Was it from the exertion of carrying around a weighted T-shirt or something? In any case, he clenched his fists, tensing his muscles and causing all of them to bulge, and he started screaming. "Yaaahhhhhhh…"

To the amazement of the heroes, the air around Berry burst into golden flame, causing his long blond hair to get blown upwards as the power around him surged into the sky.

"Whaaaat? What's happening!" Brock cried in confusion.

"YAAAAHHHHHH…" The pavement Berry was standing on buckled and collapsed into little potholes, leaving his feet hovering somehow in the air.

"YAAAAAHHHHH…" The glass in the buildings around them cracked.

"YAAAAHHHHHH…" His muscles bulged and got swollen, growing bigger and bigger and bigger, until it seemed like his entire body mass had grown by one and a half times! Veins and nerves were clearly visible against his skin, which had now grown extremely tight to cover all the enormous muscles encased within his body.

"YAAAAAHHHHH…" His irises grew, swallowing up his pupils so that his eyes were white areas surrounding solid blue dots.

"YAAAAAAHHHHH…" His hair stiffened, formed spikes, and started growing, somehow getting longer and longer as it fell down his back even as the blazing golden fire around him caused it to flutter about, until it touched the ground and pooled out on the pavement.

"YAAAAAHHHHH…"

Wes screamed and clutched his head. "WHAT…IS…THE MATTER WITH THIS GODDAMN REGION! AAAARGGHHH!" He fell to the ground and got in another fetal position.

Rui sighed. "Not _again_!" For the third time, she knelt down and tried to help Wes regain his sanity.

"YAAAAAHHHHH…"

"This is IMPOSSIBLE!" Misty protested. "Humans can't do this! Not even psychics!"

"This is more like that crap you see on television all the time!" May agreed. "Pokeball Z or something!"

"None of this makes any sense!" Pikachu cried in frustration. "What's going on here? How is any of this possible! Is the fabric of reality unraveling or something, causing our world to transform into some completely insane madhouse where ludicrous and impossible things like they show on cartoons occur frequently, where not even the _slightest_ laws of reason and physics applies anymore!"

Elsewhere…

"Molly!"

"I TOLD YOU, I DIDN'T DO IT!"

Back with our heroes…

"YAAAAHHHHHH..."

"I think it's cool!" claimed Phanphy. "I want to get bulging muscles, long golden hair, and powers that let me scream all the time!"

"No Phanphy. You do not," Bayleef said sternly. "And if you ever suggest or even _think_ something like that again, I will spank you, and your mother will spank you, and maybe even your aunts Corsola and Latias will spank you."

"But Aunt Corsola's legs are too small to spank me," Phanphy pointed out.

"Then I'll just fire Spike Cannons at your rear," Corsola said, coming over, leaving a frustrated and heartbroken Crawdaunt behind. "That's how my mother always disciplined me. Or tried to."

Phanphy whimpered at the thought. "I'll be good."

"YAAAAAHHHHH…"

"Think he'd be good in our band, Onix?" Geodude asked.

The rock snake thought about it for a moment. "Well, he does have the good looks. He'd be a definite babe magnet."

"And that's what we want, right? To get babes?" Geodude asked, wanting to make sure.

"Yeah…only problem is, he's _too_ attractive. He'd draw attention away from us, the real stars," Onix pointed out.

"And we can't have that!" Geodude exclaimed.

"No, we most certainly can't," Onix agreed. "Then how would we get the babes?"

"YAAAAAAHHHHH…"

Brock glanced at his watch. "Is this going to take much longer? He's been screaming and glowing and stuff for ten minutes now. Even on TV, transformations or power-ups don't take this long."

"His screaming is starting to hurt my ears," May complained, holding her head.

Misty gasped in horror. "Oh no, if it's giving you a headache, what about Psyduck!"

Shocked at the implications, they all glanced at Psyduck…and sighed in relief at the contented expression on his face, caused by Skitty licking his head with her big tongue. "Never mind, he's okay," Ash said in relief.

"YAAAAAAHHHHH…"

Pikachu came over to Mariah Susanson, who was too focused in watching her boyfriend transform to notice him. "I don't suppose you could shed any insight on to how he'd able to do this, and why your trainer is so…I don't know, inhuman?" he quietly asked the infinitely sad red-brown Pikachu on her shoulder.

The Pikachu blinked, surprised that he had actually approached her, and started opening her mouth to speak. Unfortunately, Mariah's numerous ears had apparently been keen enough to hear Pikachu's quiet whisper and she grabbed her own Pikachu and held her away from him, scowling at the yellow mouse. "Stay away from Pika Pika! She's a shiny and too high for a weak, abused and unloved Pokemon like yourself to breathe the same air as her!" she snarled viciously.

Pikachu growled and started charging up an electric attack, but Pika Pika's quiet voice, dripping with sadness, cut through his rage. "Please," she whispered. "Don't do it. It won't do anything to her, and she'll destroy you and your trainer like she's destroyed so many others. And then I'll feel even worse, because she'll have done it because you were trying to help me out." Pikachu was appalled to see she was crying, making her look even more pitiful. "Please, just walk away. Don't destroy your future because of me. I'm not worth it."

"…" Pikachu gritted his teeth and powered down. "I swear, I'll find out what's going on and rescue you from her."

Pika Pika looked away. "Please don't. That's what the last five who tried to save me said. They're all gone now."

Pikachu shook his head in frustration, cast an angry glare at Mariah, and reluctantly ran back to Ash.

"YAAAAHHHHHH…"

"I think I got it!" Max declared, slamming the owner's manual shut.

"Finally!" Jirachi cried in relief. "I thought you'd never figure it out! Let's get moving already!"

"Right!" Max pressed a few buttons and grabbed some levers on the control panel.

The giant Jirachi robot came to life and raised one foot into the air, trying to take a step forward.

And that's when the laws of gravity kicked in, for the hat-wearing head of the robot was the heaviest part of its body, and raising the foot off the ground caused the robot to unbalance as the head started falling backwards towards the pavement behind it.

"Whooaaa!" Max cried, frantically pressing buttons and pulling levers, causing the robot to try and flail its arms for balance while stumbling wildly about, bumping into the buildings on the sides of the street while desperately trying to keep his heavy cockpit in the air, but only managed to keep it from falling to the ground either in front of him or behind him as he stumbled about.

The robot blindly staggered towards the heroes, who quickly got out of the way in fright as Max finally lost his balance and the Jirachi mecha toppled over, plummeting straight for Berry Stoo, who noticed the growing shadow over him and the enormous head of the robot falling towards him too late to do anything. "OMGWTF-" he started before the head slammed into the ground, crushing him beneath its titanic weight and extinguishing the golden light radiating from it.

Everyone stared in disbelief at the fallen giant lying spread-eagle on the ground. "No way…" muttered Ash.

Gyarados blinked. "Well, that was anticlimactic."

"...BEEEEERRRYYYY!" Mariah cried, bursting into tears. Pika Pika looked stunned, as if she couldn't believe Berry was actually dead.

In the cockpit, Max groaned and fell out of his seat. "Ow…I think I hit my head on the controls when we fell…I give up, Jirachi I'm giving you control. You know this body better than I do."

"Yay!" Jirachi cried happily, clapping his hands on the computer screen as Max hit the large button labeled AUTO-PILOT.

The robot hummed and whirred back to life. Phanphy, who had curiously gone closer to the robot to see if it was still active, squealed in fright as it slowly pushed itself back off the ground and rose to its feet, teetering slightly due to the weight of its enormous head, but still managing to keep it balanced more than Max had.

"Wishmaker, look what you and your friend's foolish wishes have done now!" Absol cried angrily, gesturing to the place where the robot had fell and impacted the ground, leaving a large pothole with a surprisingly small amount of blood in it. "Your antics have killed someone!" _Although I admit it's questionable if that's such a bad thing, in this person's case,_ Absol admitted to himself.

"This time you've gone too far, Max!" May agreed, although secretly her own thoughts were in the same vein as Absol's, and that killing Berry might not really be such a bad thing. In fact, all the other members of their little group were thinking the same exact thing, aside from Psyduck, who had no brain and as such could not think. But still, Max had done a bad thing, right? Even if he had killed someone none of them minded being dead, he was still a murderer, right?

Unfortunately, neither Max nor Jirachi could hear their sister and guardian's half-hearted scolding because when Max had hit his head on the control panel he had accidentally hit a button that shut off audio receptors, effectively pressing a 'Mute' button on the outside world so they couldn't hear anything anyone said. "Are they trying to tell us something?" Max asked in confusion.

"I think they're telling us there's something on my face, we hit something squishy when we fell. Maybe some gum?" Jirachi raised his robot arm to his face and wiped off the small amounts of blood and skin stuck to it. "Eewww, it's gross!" he cried, shaking the human remains off his arm. "But I think it's gone now."

"Good. Now, let's go kick some Tyranitron butt!" Max said eagerly.

"Okay!" A pair of rockets sprouted from Jirachi's back. He raised a fist to the air and cried "Up, up, and away!" as the rockets ignited, lifting him skyward, and sending him crashing headfirst into a building.

"Ow!" He rubbed his head in pain as he extricated it from the gaping hole he had smashed into the skyscraper. "Uh, I'm okay!" he yelled, waving down to his friends below. "Bye now, I'm off to stop the giant robot!" He flew away wobbly and slowly, still trying to get the hang of his rockets.

"Wishmaker, wait!" Absol cried, running after his now-immense charge. "Why are you two always getting yourselves into trouble! Arrgh!"

Mariah Susanson had broken down and had grabbed Berry's T-shirt from where it had fallen and was clutching it to her chest, sobbing. "Wait, isn't that thing weighted or something? How's she holding it so easily?" Charizard wondered, scratching his head.

"So Berry Stoo's dead," said Wes, who had once more regained his sanity, thanks to Rui. "Oh well, good riddance. Too bad I never got to settle the score, though."

"Wes!" Rui said angrily. "That's a terrible thing to say!" The others nodded in agreement.

"What!" Wes cried. "All of you are thinking the same exact thing! I can see it on your faces! All of us are glad he's dead, aren't we?"

"…Yeah," Ash admitted, looking down. "But I don't understand why. I mean, a person just _died_, but I don't feel shocked or upset or horrified or anything, just a little disappointed I never got my rematch and…actually _relieved_ that he's dead." He shook his head, horrified. "What's _wrong _with me?"

"Nothing," Pikachu concluded. "Absolutely nothing. The two of them, Berry and Mariah, are not in the least bit normal and natural. Things like them shouldn't exist. I felt it, as did you, Pikapi. He smelled _wrong_, all of us picked it up. It's a good thing he's dead. The world's a better place for it, I think." _And maybe Pika Pika too, _he hoped.

"I guess so," Ash said uncertainly. Deep down, he agreed wholeheartedly with Wes and Pikachu's statements, but years of morals pounded into him by his mother and the people around him made him feel like he _should _be sorry for Berry's death. But he wasn't, and that conflict made him feel confused and upset.

"I think I get it," Misty said suddenly, glancing at Mariah, who was still sobbing into Berry's shirt which should have been too heavy for him to lift. "It doesn't feel like an actual _person's_ died, you know? He never felt really, well, real. He was like something that was there, larger than life, too handsome and at the same time too ugly to be human. It's like he was just some overdone and clichéd character you read about in a story or see in a play who dies, and you can't really feel bad about his death because there was so little to his character that you couldn't even remotely connect any emotion to him other than hatred. I don't feel bad about his death, because…I dunno, it felt like he was never really there in the first place. After all, no human can do what he tried to do. It's like he was some ill-planned and made-up character."

"Oh, BERRY!" Mariah screamed shrilly. "HOW CAN I GO ON WITHOUT YOU? I LOVED YOU WITH EVERY LAST BIT OF MY HEART AND MIND AND HEART AND SOUL AND HEART AND BODY AND HEART! YOU WERE MY LIFE AND MY LOVE AND THE ONLY REASON I HAD FOR LIVING! YOU WERE EVERYTHING TO ME! HOW CAN I GO ON WITHOUT YOU BESIDE ME? WITHOUT YOU, I'M NOTHING BUT AN EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE AND SKILLED TRAINER WITH NUMEROUS LEAGUE VICTORIES UNDER HER BELT AND A BROKEN HEART AND BROKEN DREAMS AND NOBODY IN THE WORLD BUT MY HUNDREDS OF LOYAL AND LOVING POKEMON, BUT THEY'RE NO REPLACEMENT FOR YOOOOUUUUUU!"

"Yeah, I see what you mean," May commented. "Looking at her, crying her heart out over the loss of her lover, I can't really feel sorry for her. It just feels so…lame and melodramatic and, like Misty said, clichéd. People don't really say stuff like than when their loved ones die, do they? It's so much of a shock that you _can't_ say anything. All this drama, this screaming, it just feels…like an act. Something scripted. Like from a cheesy soap opera or play. Like Misty said, it doesn't feel real. So I don't feel bad for her or for him at all." May idly wondered how she would react if Ash died. It may have been vain and selfish, but she hoped she didn't sound as lame as Mariah did.

"The only person I really feel for is that Pikachu," Rui admitted. "She's the only one among them who feels like she even could be considered an individual at all, instead of some strange thing that looks vaguely human but is too bizarre and abnormal to really be one. I hope maybe that Pikachu can find someone else now. I don't know," she said reluctantly. "I guess you're right, Wes. I don't feel bad about Berry dying at all. So weird. Wonder what my grandparents would say about this…"

Wes grunted. "There's nothing wrong, in my mind, with not feeling remorse for the death of someone you hated…unless the guy was sort of like your friend, in that classic rival/worst enemy/best friend thing, or he was the only reason you had for living so you could kill him and now that he's gone you don't know what to do…but this guy? He's nothing. Literally. Nothing at all. Just a strange guy who didn't make sense, talked impossibly, and could not and should not have existed. And now he doesn't. I'm not one to spout about mysticism or cosmic crap like destiny or fate, but it almost feels like some kind of balance has returned to the universe now that he's dead." He paused. "Or maybe I'm still feeling a little out of it. Three shocks to my system like those last ones would do something like that. Don't suppose I could have another back rub, Miss Rui?" he joked.

"Wes!" she laughed. "Maybe later. I don't think now's the time for that."

"Oh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why not?"

Rui pointed out into the wrecked habitat, where the Tyranitron was _still_ pummeling the Megaloid and Senshibot. "Because we're still under attack by a giant robot?"

Wes sweatdropped. "Eh heh, forgot about that…got so caught up in the philosophical discussion of why none of us feel bad about Berry Stoo dying (which could be summed up easily by the statement: we just hated him that much) that I forgot all about that! Uh, should we go over and fight it then?"

"Not just yet," Ash decided. "The robot Max and Jirachi wished for is supposed to be able to penetrate the Tyranitron's force field (he said so in his wish), so maybe it'll be able to knock it down for us so we can go in and finish the job!"

"Great," said Wes, looking relieved. "I could use a good warm-up for the tournament tomorrow."

"I know exactly what this guy means," Charizard quipped, cracking his knuckles.

"You know, that's actually bad for your joints," Bayleef warned him. "Cracking your knuckles frequently increases the chances of you getting arthritis when you grow older, according to Professor Oak."

He stared at her blankly. "…Shut up, Bayleef."

…

Wynaut stared at the control panel on the machine she was standing in front of, deep in thought.

Before her was a big, flashing blue button. Her new big sister-in-law Milotic had told her to avoid big red buttons unless she or Wobbuffet said otherwise, but they never said anything about _blue_ buttons…

Making up her mind, she pressed it.

She gasped and jumped half an inch off the ground when the chamber shuddered and the larger section of the cylinder slid away from where it was placed in front of the smaller half, creating a large opening through which access to the Wobbaku statue was now available. "Big Brother! Big Brother! I found the button!"

"Great going, sis!" Wobbuffet said, full of pride for his little sister as he rushed over. "Now we can disable the shield, right Milotic?" There was no response. Wobbuffet glanced up at his mate, who was looking away. "Milotic?"

She was staring at the hatch they had entered the room through. "Someone's coming."

As the door slid open and the huge and menacing figure of Buson stepped in, her observation was proven correct. The blond thug was taken aback by the three intruders. "You gotta be kidding me! The stowaways are a Wobbuffet, a Wynaut, and a Milotic? Ha! Can't believe I got dragged all the way down here for a bunch of wimps! Good thing I brought my Snag Device," he said evilly, patting the gauntlet on his left arm. "Guess I could make some money off of em…or feed em' to my own Pokemon! Haha!"

"B-big brother, who's that?" Wynaut asked, trembling in fear.

"Buson!" growled Wobbuffet. "A very bad man, one of the people who are controlling the Tyranitron!"

Milotic slithered in front of Wynaut, trying to protect her from Buson's greedy eyes. "Stay back Wynaut, we'll protect you from him."

"Heh, isn't that sweet!" Buson said, amused. "You two think you can protect the little baby from me, huh? Well, I came prepared for a lot worse, but I've still got the perfect thing to take care of you two! Go, Skarmory!"

He threw out a Pokeball, which burst open to reveal the steel-plated, hard-edged, blade-winged figure of a Skarmory. "ANNIHILATE!" it screeched.

Wynaut yelped in terror. Buson laughed. "Yeah, that's right you little brat, you should be scared! My friend here'll cut you to pieces with his Steel Wing!" He pointed at Wobbuffet and Milotic. "Show em' what you got, Skarmory! Shadow Rush!"

Skarmory screeched and surrounded itself with a blue-black aura before flying at Wobbuffet faster than Dustox, Seviper, or even Cacnea had ever moved with their own Shadow Rushes.

Wobbuffet leaped forward and activated his Counter aura, hoping that if it couldn't totally repel the Armor Bird's attack, it could at least halt it in its tracks long enough for Milotic to attack it. Unfortunately, he had underestimated Skarmory's strength, when the bird slammed into him his Counter didn't even phase the vulture for a second, he smashed right through it and struck Wobbuffet, flinging him away and causing him to crash into one of the inactive consoles littering the room. It collapsed as he smashed into it, causing him to get buried beneath the debris.

Milotic and Wynaut gasped. "WOBBY!" Milotic screamed. She turned to the vile bird, dark eyes ablaze. She took a deep breath and spat an extremely powerful Hydro Pump at the Skarmory.

"Skarmory, evade with Agility and hit her with a Steel Wing!" Buson commanded.

"Annihilate!" The vulture easily dodged the waterspout with a burst of speed and flew right towards Milotic, wings extended and glowing brightly. There was a flash of light as Skarmory struck and flew past, screeching triumphantly, and time seemed to stop for a second as Wobbuffet managed to pull himself out of the destroyed console and watch in horror as Milotic collapsed, blood oozing from a long gash that had opened on her side.

"NO!" he cried, pulling himself out of the rubble.

"Heh, that's one down!" Buson declared, grabbing an empty Pokeball and charging it up in his Snag Device. "Okay Skarmory, good work! Maybe if you're good, I'll let you get a taste of this one later, eh? Snag Ball go!" He hurled the powered-up Pokeball at the defenseless Milotic. Wobbuffet tried to close the distance between him and Milotic so he could deflect the ball, being a Chosen it wouldn't be able to capture him, but he knew in his heart he wouldn't be able to make it in time.

However, it wasn't Milotic he needed to worry about, for it was not her that the ball hit. "Leave my sister-in-law alone!" Wynaut cried, leaping into the ball's path.

Wobbuffet gasped. "Wynaut, no!"

It was too late. The ball struck Wynaut's chest and opened up, a hand of yellow energy lashing out and grabbing the Bright Pokemon. "Unnhh…goodbye…Big Brother…" she whispered as the hand sucked her into the ball and it snapped shut, sealing her inside.

"NOOOOO!" Wobbuffet cried as the Snag Ball, now occupied with his little sister, flew back into Buson's waiting hand.

"Well, not who I was aiming for, but that's another down, and only one to-eh?" He stopped, looking surprised as Milotic rose up from where she had been lying on the ground, the gash on her side closing up while her eyes glowed. "Oh, I see…you know Recover, huh?" the Rocket agent realized. "Well, that doesn't change a thing, does it Skarmory? When I'm through with you, you'll be hurt so bad that that little healing technique won't be enough to save you!"

"Annihilate!" Skarmory agreed, snapping at the air with his beak.

Wobbuffet made it to Milotic's side, huffing and puffing. "You okay?"

"I've been better," she said.

"Wynaut took the ball that was meant for you," Wobbuffet told her.

"I know," Milotic said sadly. "But we'll get her back."

Wobbuffet nodded. "Right…because together we fight!"

Buson snorted. "Enough chit-chat! Prepare for…what was it, Skarmory?"

"Annihilate!" Skarmory squawked.

"Heh, what he said! Take em' out!" Skarmory screeched and flew towards Milotic and Wobbuffet in a Shadow Rush.

"Milotic, hit with him with Hydro Pump!" Wobbuffet commanded.

Milotic took a deep breath and spat a powerful stream of water at Skarmory. The bird didn't even change course, it plowed right into the pump with its Shadow Rush, pushing its way through the stream and still heading towards them, albeit at a slower pace due to the pressure pushing it back downstream.

Wobbuffet then jumped into the pump, allowing the stream to send him flowing towards Skarmory while surrounding himself in the red glow of a Counter attack. He collided with Skarmory, who was still moving upstream using Shadow Rush, and the power of Counter, combined with the force that was propelling Wobbuffet forward from behind as well as Skarmory's reduced speed due to the water pressure, caused the Shadow Rush to backfire and explode, flinging Skarmory away and causing it to crash into one of the active consoles, smashing it open and exposing his metallic skin to the live wires inside. The metal vulture screeched and writhed in agony as electricity convulsed through his body before finally passing out from the pain.

Buson gaped in disbelief. "Wha…no way! Y-you beat Skarmory!"

"Yeah, we did it!" Wobbuffet slapped the 'palm' of his arm flap against Milotic's extended tail. "So this is what winning feels like! Amazing!"

"Indeed! We made a good team!" Milotic agreed. "And now, to retrieve your sister!" She spat another Hydro Pump at Buson, who was dumbstruck by the fact that his strongest Pokemon had been beaten by a blue blob and a Tender Pokemon, and drove him backwards and into the wall, causing him to drop Wynaut's Snag Ball and collapse to the floor in pain.

"Damn…who'da thought I'd lose like this?" he groaned before he blacked out.

The Snag Ball rolled across the ground and came to a stop at Wobbuffet's feet. He popped it open and smiled in relief when his sister materialized before him. "Huh? What just happened?" she asked, looking slightly confused.

"Sis!" Wobbuffet bent down and hugged her. "I almost thought I lost you there! Never do a crazy stunt like that again, you hear me?" he told her, starting to shed tears.

"I just didn't want to lose my new sister-in-law," Wynaut explained, glancing over her brother's domed head at the flattered Milotic. "You would have done the same for her or for me, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would. But that's because I'm immune to Pokeballs!" Wobbuffet exclaimed.

"You are?" Wynaut asked in surprise. "How come?"

Wobbuffet sweatdropped. "Uh, long story. Not important now. Look, I just…I just got you back you know, and I don't want to lose you again. Try and stay out of trouble okay?"

"How can I stay out of trouble when you're always getting into it?" Wynaut questioned.

Wobbuffet sweatdropped. "Eh, good point."

"Wobbuffet, I know your 'big brother' instincts may be screaming at you, but…I don't think Wynaut's as fragile or in need of care as you believe her to be," Milotic told him, slithering in front of the siblings. "She does need to be protected, yes, and you and I will both do the best we can to keep her safe…but you must also remember that she managed to remain safe on an island where everyone hated her for the last few years. In some instances…"

"She can take care of herself," Wobbuffet finished. "Yeah. I know that. Doesn't mean I can't stop caring about my baby sister, right?" he asked, rubbing her head affectionately.

"Not at all. You can care about her as much as you wish. As will I," Milotic promised, tenderly curling the end of her tail around Wynaut's forehead bump.

The little blue Pokemon was blushing. "G-guys…thanks. I care about you two too."

"That's good," Wobbuffet said in a feeble joke. "I'd hate for you to dislike me."

"Aww…I could never dislike you, big bro…" Wynaut told him, rubbing his cheek. "Even if you did abandon me on that island for so many years, I could never dislike you."

Wobbuffet smiled. "Thanks." Almost reluctantly, he put her down. "So, uh…" He glanced at the statue. "Looks like the statue's vulnerable and waiting for us, right?"

"Right," agreed Milotic and Wynatu.

"Then…let's shut it down!" Wobbuffet cried, smacking a curled-up flap into his palm. "Time to finish what we came here to do!"

…

The dirty thieving Murkrow happily deposited his latest find amongst the rest of his treasures. "There you go, my precious," he crooned. "Have fun with all your little brothers and sisters. Daddy will be back soon, he saw some more of your siblings begging to be liberated from beneath that cold glass in the awful awful music store. I'll be back shortly, sweetlings!" He affectionately kissed his find and buried it in the pile of treasures so it could feel comfort by being surrounded by all his other 'children'.

He hopped off the treasure mound and flapped over to the open window to the abandoned apartment that he used as his hideout. He poked his head out the window, glanced in all directions to make sure that nobody was around, then emerged when he felt it was safe, flapping off in the direction of the town's shopping district.

A small, spikey white head poked up from where it had been hidden on the rooftop just above the window. "He's gone," Togetic reported. "We can go in now."

"Great!" Latias floated up from where she had been lying flat on the roof to join her niece. She had made herself invisible while tracking the Murkrow, but wasn't certain that he wouldn't be able to see her, due to his Dark-type innate nature. "Let's find that flute so we can summon Mewtwo and stop that monster!"

They quickly flew down to the level of the apartment. Togetic easily fit in through the window. Latias had a bit more difficulty, her wings got caught on the sides and she couldn't fit through no matter how hard she tugged at them, so she took her human guise just long enough to slip through the window, then changed back and looked around the dirty crow's hideout. And was appalled.

It wasn't the odor of bird feces that came from the far corner of the room, where the Murkrow evidently relieved himself whenever he was full, nor was it the rancid smell of the remains of some_thing_ on the bed, clearly the Murkrow's last meal. And it wasn't the unclean, dishevled appearance of the room either, with broken glass lying everywhere and furniture practically whittled down into toothpicks from the number of times the Murkrow had scratched his claws on them.

No, it was the tremendous pile of flutes that covered most of the floor and towered to the ceiling. There were flutes of all kinds and makes; wind flutes, wood flutes, grass flutes, piccolos, silver flutes, ivory flutes, stone flutes, ocarinas, harmonicas, whistles, even a tuba, for some reason.

"Wow," Togetic said after they had stared at the enormous pile of flutes for several seconds. "Guess he really likes flutes, huh?"

Latias groaned. "Great, how am I going to find the Dragon Flute now?"

Togetic flew over to the pile, picked one up, examined it, and tossed it away. "We'll just have to look through all of them until we can find it," she said, grabbing another. "Hopefully the others can somehow keep the Tyranitron distracted long enough for us to find it."

Latias sighed. "I hope so. Guess we don't have any other choice." Resigned, Latias flew over and started sifting through the many flutes alongside her niece. She hoped the apartment's resident wouldn't be back anytime soon.

…

The Megaloid and Senshibot were teetering back and forth on their feet, the constant bouncing back and forth of the fists punching their faces the only things that kept them standing instead of collapsing long ago. The cockpits in the two robots were messes, and the forward walls were all but caved in from the constant blows to the face.

"We can't…ugh…take much more of this!" Red Ranger moaned as sparks fell from the ceiling.

"We're already at critical damage. A few more punches, and we're history!" Green Ranger informed the others.

In the Senshibot, Drew was bawling and hugging Roselia (not noticing or caring about the thorns) from fright as the cockpit shook and control panels exploded all around them. "WAAAAHHH! I don't wanna die! I'm too handsome to go! The ladies of the world need a guy like me around, it can't end like this!"

Lumis, in the meantime, had tried to convince Umbra that since they were about to die, she should have sex with him, because he wanted to go happily into the hereafter. Her reply was to lunge at him and try to tear his throat out, and they had been rolling around the cockpit ever since.

In the cockpit of the Tyranitron however, the Rockets-turned-Ciphers-turned-Rockets again were getting bored.

"They're _still_ not beaten?" the Marauder asked in disbelief.

"Pretty durable robots, even if their attacks suck," Anny said grudgingly, running her fingers through her blond hair.

Bashou scowled and glanced at a clock. "What's taking Buson so long? He should have been done with those intruders by now!"

"Ooh, is big strong Bashou _worried_ about her partner?" Oakley crooned jokingly.

"Of course not!" Bashou protested. "But if he's dead, then I'll need a new warm body for a sex toy, it's no fun making love to a corpse, let me tell you. I know from experience, sad to say." She glanced at the Marauder. "Eh, I guess you'll do," she said doubtfully. "If you stopped wearing that mask all the time."

The Marauder blinked in surprise. "But…I like my mask," he whined.

"Why do you wear it all the time, anyway?" Oakley asked. "We've seen you without it, it's not like you're hideously deformed or anything."

"Yeah…" the Marauder admitted. "But it looks cool. And everyone is scared of something unknown."

Bashou snorted. "Fine, wimp. Then I'll just have to satisfy myself with you two ladies," she said, leering at Anny and Oakley.

The two swallowed and sweatdropped. "Oh no, that's okay Bashou," Anny said quickly, grabbing Oakley's hand.

"Yes, um, we've taken each other," Oakley agreed, resisting the urge to lop Anny's hand off for saying that in public.

Bashou shrugged. "That's okay, I've been in threesomes before." The two girls exchanged nervous looks.

"Hey, uh, what about those dweebs down in the engine room?" the Marauder asked, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "You know, Jessie, James, Meowth, Butch and Cassidy?"

Bashou rolled her eyes. "First of all, I have _some_ sense of class and don't dive to low beneath my station. I don't like sleeping with losers, they're too weak in bed. And besides…Jessie's too ugly, Cassidy would try to get on top, James is self-explanatory, and I don't want to hear Butch's awful voice screaming my name when he reaches his climax."

"You could keep the muzzle on him," Anny suggested.

"Eh, bondage isn't my thing," Bashou disagreed. "I got some standards, you know? I'm not interested in Meowth for the same reason. Pokemon hold no interest for me." She paused. "Well, unless they're especially attractive. Which they can be sometimes. My Steelix, for example-"

The Marauder was feeling even more uncomfortable. "Uh, let's change the subject," he said, sweating underneath his mask. "So, Buson's still gone. Should we go down after him?"

"Nah, he's probably just playing with them," Bashou concluded, waving off her companion's concerns. "He does that a lot. I think it's annoying and time-consuming, but when you're partnered to a guy for ten or so years you get used to it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Oakley agreed, thinking of Anny's irritating habit of snoring loudly.

"Me too," Anny chorused, thinking of Oakley's annoying occasional bouts of megalomania.

"Well, I hope he comes back soon, since we kind of need him, seeing as how he operates the left arm and…what, a fifth of our weapons? A fourth? Some fraction, anyway," said the Marauder.

"What, like we need them to fight these losers?" Oakley asked with a snort.

"No…but we may need them to fight that guy," the Marauder said, pointing towards the view screen.

The other three villains turned to look at the screen and were surprised to see yet another giant robot had appeared on the playing field, looking down upon them from atop a nearby ridge, his gold metal wings rustling in the wind as the sun shone magnificently down on him from behind, creating a neat silhouette effect as well as shining off his giant three-pointed hat.

It didn't hide the fact that he was only half the size of the Tyranitron, though.

"What, that thing?" Bashou scoffed. "It's so scrawny! It's no threat to us!"

"I don't know…" growled the Marauder. "Big things can come in small packages." His world-domination attempt using Celebi had taught him this, as did the unassuming boy and Pikachu who thwarted him.

"Even if it is stronger than it looks, what's it gonna do to us? We're in an invincible force field, remember?" Anny pointed out.

"I guess…" the Marauder admitted.

"So what harm can it possibly do? It's just another lame robot, like these two!" said Oakley, pointing to the two which were at the brink of total destruction just outside their window. "Nothing to worry about!" Of course, they were wrong.

"Jirachi, we have to save those other guys!" Max said, furious at how the other robots were cruelly being beaten to a pulp in so casual and relaxed a manner.

"Right!" Jirachi's voice, amplified by turning into a giant robot, agreed. The true eye in his chest lit up as motes of light from all around got drawn to it, causing it to glow. "Doom Desire Cannon, fire!" A blue-white laser beam three hundred and eighty five inches in diameter blasted out of the eye, streaking towards the Tyranitron.

The supposedly impenetrable force field did absolutely _nothing_ as the laser peeled right through it and drilled a hole through the robot's body, going straight into the robot's left side, somewhere between the stomach and the armpit, and bursting out the other side at a lower part of the body, just above the right leg, passing through the shield generator room inside the robot's belly. A small internal explosion shook the Tyranitron as the beam attack ended, and the shield around the robot flickered and dissipated.

At that moment, the rebounding fists had just hit the Megaloid and Senshibot in the faces again and were now drawn back to the Tyranitron by the wrist magnets, but since there was no force field to stop them this time, their momentum carried them right into the robot's face, hitting it with an extremely powerful one-two punch that knocked the Tyranitron off its feet and sent it falling to the ground with a resounding crash as the fists then resumed their places on the mecha's arms.

Freed from the infinite progression of punches, the Senshibot and Megaloid fell to their knees from exhaustion. "I-I don't believe it," Drew whispered in shock. "We're alive?" A smile grew on his face and he hugged Roselia to his chest, choking her and driving her thorns into his sides and drawing blood, but he didn't notice. "WE'RE ALIVE!"

"Amazing!" commented the amazed Blue Ranger. "That little guy's attack cut right through that monster's force field like a knife through butter!"

"Who are you, our mysterious gold and white friend?" Green Ranger asked.

Max had accidentally hit his head on the control panel again when Jirachi had crashed into the building before leaving town and had reactivated the auditory sensors, so Jirachi was able to hear the question. "I…" He pointed a finger in the air while striking a pose on one crouched knee and one extended leg in profile which would have looked pretty cool against the backdrop of the sun if he had been more humanoid instead of a child-looking thing with a tail and an enormous three-pointed hat on his head. "Am JUSTICE JIRACHI!"

Max sweatdropped. "Justice Jirachi?"

"What? There are worse superhero names!" Jirachi argued. "Anyway, I have come to smite the evil Tyranitron! I shall not let it hurt this fair city!" he declared, adapting lines he had heard on Saturday morning television.

"Justice Jirachi…how fitting…" Drew mused.

"Why is that fitting?" Roselia asked in confusion.

"Justice Jirachi…we have failed to do our duty…it's your turn now! Save Ever Grande City!" the Red Ranger begged the Pokemon. "That is all we ask!"

The two superhero robots collapsed then and exploded, flinging the Rangers and Drew and his Pokemon out, safe but unconscious, where they lay on the ground trying to recover. Soldiers Heart and Wisdom were there too (they had been inside the Senshibot all along, pedaling a pair of exercise bicycles to give the thing power.).

In the cockpit of the Tyranitron, the four pilots were rigid in their seats, hair on end and sizzling slightly, with wide eyes and nearly paralyzed muscles. "Ow," Oakley whimpered.

"My hair…" Anny whispered, patting it with her hands and getting a jolt from residual static electricity. "It's…RUINED!" She burst into tears.

"Nothing to worry about, she said," the Marauder growled, wincing in pain. "What harm could it possibly do, she said. Look at us now, bitch. Good thing my mask is actually plastic instead of iron, or I could be dead now."

"Goddamn motherfucking electric helmets…" Bashou moaned, trying and failing to pull hers off. "How'd Buson get out of his so easily?"

"I think the boss has a switch back on the Shadow Cruiser that can activate or deactivate the helmets to let people take them off whenever he wants," Oakley said, after fiddling with her helmet for a second. "What just happened, anyway?"

"Well," Bashou said, glancing at a control panel. "Apparently we've lost all power to our shields, and now have a small hole tunneling right through one end and out the other. On the plus side, other than the shield generator no vital areas were hit, so the damage is almost totally superficial. And blast shields have already sealed off the holes from either end, so our opponents can't exploit them. Gotta hand it to Doctor R, that was a good idea, just in case the shields dropped."

"And weapons?" the Marauder growled.

"At full capacity," Bashou reported.

"Good." The Marauder made a wicked grin. "Let's go teach that punk a lesson he'll never forget."

…

Milotic, Wobbuffet, and Wynaut stood in disbelief, jaws hanging open, at the pile of rubble and dust that was all that was left of the statue of Wobbaku after the giant laser had blasted right through the room, almost frightening Wynaut to death and burning Milotic's tail. "It's…gone…" Wobbuffet said finally.

"All gone," Wynaut echoed. She took a few steps towards the pile of debris before falling to her knees. "It's gone. Wobbaku's statue, the one thing that kept our island safe from the outside world, is gone." Tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Now everyone back home will be thrust into this strange new world, where things called humans roam about the earth and can construct giant monsters out of metal, and force innocent people into little balls and use them for their pleasure. We…" She sobbed. "We failed."

"It…it's not that bad," Wobbuffet said weakly. "I mean…sure, they may get caught by jerks like these, but…Wynaut are a rare species of Pokemon. There may be a chance that the Hoenn League or whatever will declare the island off-limits, name it a wildlife preserve or something…" His voice trailed off. He knew that realistically, the chances of that were minimal at best. He sagged. They really had failed.

"Wait," Milotic said suddenly. "In the rubble. Something remains. Something strange."

The two blue blobs looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" Wobbuffet asked.

"I'm not certain. But there is something that's still there," Milotic said cryptically.

Frowning, Wobbuffet walked over to the pile of debris, not knowing what she was talking about. But when he reached the edge of what had once been the protective cylinder which encased the statue but was now melted Plexiglas and metal, he saw what Milotic was talking about.

There, gleaming faintly and half-buried beneath a mound of gray pebbles and dust, was a tiny hint of purple. "What's this?" Wobbuffet murmured. He brushed away some of the dust away and saw more purple. It was a crystal. A very, very small piece of it, but a crystal nonetheless. "What's this doing here?" he wondered, picking it out of the rubble.

They all gasped as suddenly, the crystal lit up, illuminating the dark chamber and filling every corner of the room with warm light.

"Wh-what's happening!" Wynaut cried.

"Wait," Milotic said calmly. "We have nothing to fear here."

She was right. Wobbuffet stared into the depths of the jewel, almost oblivious to the light it was radiating, and he could swear that someone else was looking back at him from across the gulf of time. "This crystal…" he said in awe. "This crystal…it belonged to Wobbaku!"

Wynaut blinked in surprise. "Huh? It did?"

"Yes!" Wobbuffet cried. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. It was like just staring into the small piece of crystal filled his head with knowledge, things he couldn't possibly know. "He-he found it thousands of years ago. Him and his friend…a human! A sculptor!" He blinked in surprise at that revelation. "When they caught word of a coming war, Wobbaku wanted to make sure his clan would be safe. So he and his sculptor friend returned to the island of Wobbaku's birth and…and they built the statue! And put the little crystal piece inside! The power this thing holds…it infused the statue and its base with the power of protection, generating an invisible shield dome to protect the Wynaut inside until the war had ended and they could venture out into the world again."

Milotic slithered over, gazing into the crystal as well. "So why didn't they? We do not even know for sure that the war ever took place."

"It may not have," Wobbuffet admitted. "The crystal…I know this sounds weird, but it's got some kind of a mind in there. Not much of one, but it's still a mind. And…it couldn't see much past the island. So it didn't know when the war ended or if it even started. But the Wynaut…they grew complacent, they were so at peace on the island that the idea never occurred to them to leave. Anyone who thought differently and wanted to leave was eventually rejected, and they ended up leaving on their own. I guess that's how other Wynaut and Wobbuffet ended up being introduced to the outside world."

"So this crystal is what's been making the shield over the island all this time?" Wynaut asked in disbelief.

"I believe so," Milotic said.

"So…what do we do with it?" Wynaut asked.

"We take it back," Wobbuffet said instantly. "I'm not sure Wobbaku would have wanted his people to grow stagnant and complacent on the island…but with their current mindset, they wouldn't last a second out in the real world. Not without help. And personally, I don't care enough about them to offer that help. But I suppose I do care a little," he admitted. "Enough to want them to be somewhat safe. And that's why we're taking this back. So the island will be secluded from the outside world once again. But first…" He walked over to the unconscious Skarmory and held the crystal shard over it. The small gemstone glowed, bathing the Armor Bird in its light. A sort of webbing of darkness appeared over the Skarmory for a moment, shifting and writhing, trying to escape from the light. But it could not. The knotted shadows burst apart at the seams, disintegrating in the crystal's light. Skarmory stirred, groaned, but remained unconscious.

"What did you just do?" Wynaut asked, coming over.

"He opened the door to Skarmory's heart somehow," Milotic guessed.

"That's right," Wobbuffet said, confirming her statement. "This crystal here was once part of a bigger crystal eons ago. It got shattered in a terrific battle, and the pieces were scattered around the globe. The Shadow Pokemon were created by using another piece of this crystal, one with more evil and negative energy in it. This is one of the more positive crystals, so it had the power to re-open the doors to the heart."

"With that thing, we could cure Cacnea and all the other Shadow Pokemon!" Milotic realized.

Wobbuffet nodded excitedly. "Exactly! Then we can shut down the engine and get that much closer to stopping this monster!"

"Will they help us then, once we un-shadowize them?" Wynaut asked hopefully.

Wobbuffet paused, looking uncertain. "Well…I'm not actually sure," he admitted. "Cacnea I'm certain will help us. But the others…" He frowned. "I don't think Ms. Jessie and James honestly knew that getting transformed into a Shadow Pokemon is extremely painful and torturous, so I'm not positive that Dustox or Seviper will hold it against them. Besides, Dustox loves Jessie because she pampers him constantly, and Seviper regards her as some kind of goddess since she managed to defeat him with her bare hands after he bit off her hair. Their trust in Ms. Jessie might have been shaken by her sending them away, but…I don't know if that'll be enough to turn them against her." He sighed. "And I know next to nothing about the Pokemon used by the other trainers. I don't know if they were really cared for in the way Ms. Jessie and James sort of adored their Pokemon. To them, this transformation might not have been a betrayal, just another thing in a long series of unfortunate events that's happened to them since they were captured. I don't know if it'll be the straw that broke the Numel's back. And most of the Pokemon in the engine room aren't even Shadow Pokemon, so I can't say for certain they'll help us."

"Even so, we should at least try," Milotic suggested.

"Yeah, I mean, sure we beat that Skarmory and the meanie over there," Wynaut said, gesturing to the unconscious Buson. "But could we beat those other four at once by themselves?"

Wobbuffet shrugged. "Dunno. Not sure I want to try, I've heard very bad things about those four agents…what they do to those who've affronted them. Yeah, you guys are right. We should at least try and convince those other guys to help us. And if they don't listen, at least we'll have Cacnea, right?"

"Right," Milotic and Wynaut agreed.

Wobbuffet nodded. "Okay." He walked over to where he had dumped his peon disguise and picked up the two Pokeballs. "I hate to ask you guys this, but I'm gonna need to call you back. It's a long climb back up this thing, and only one of us should have to do it."

"Are you certain?" Milotic asked in concern.

"Well, yeah, no offense Milotic but how could you climb the ladder?" Wobbuffet asked. "And sis, no offense either, but you're too small, I doubt you could move from rung to rung."

"I suppose you're right," Milotic admitted, looking unhappy.

"Yeah," Wynaut agreed, also looking unhappy.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I made it down here in one piece, right?" he asked. He hadn't told them that a good portion of the trip down the shaft had been made in freefall. "I'll be okay. Return!" Red beams of light shot out from the Pokeballs, struck Milotic and Wynaut, causing them to dissolve and get sucked back into the red and white spheres. He slipped the uniform back on so that he had a place to put the Pokeballs, added the helmet and scarf for fun (and maybe to fool the other agents onboard) before opening the hatchway out of the room and glancing up at the very, very long ladder just next to him. He sighed. "A really long climb indeed." He got started.

Back in the empty and wrecked shield generator room, Buson groaned and opened his eyes.

…

The Tyranitron and Justice Jirachi were now clashing in a truly epic duel between giant robots. The Tyranitron was somewhat hindered in that its left arm and some of its other weapons were inoperable due to Buson's absence, so Bashou had to lean over and press a few buttons now and then to keep them from falling behind the roboticized legendary Pokemon. Jirachi on the other hand was making up all of his attacks as he went, and all of them amazingly worked, so as long as he could think up new techniques he wouldn't fall behind either. As such, the two titans (well, one titan and one half-titan) were, for the moment, evenly matched.

Jirachi raised his arms over his head. "Celestial Halo!" Lightning crackled from his fingertips and formed a spinning ring of light in the air, which he hurled at the Tyranitron. It hovered over the robot's head, then dropped down, encircling it and starting to shrink around the robot's arms, binding them to its sides and holding them in place.

"Strength!" By flexing its powerful arms, the Tyranitron shattered the halo ringing it, ripped out a chunk of the landscape, and hurled it at Jirachi.

The oversized Wishmaker pulled off his hat, revealing his small and hairless white domed head. The hole at the bottom of his hat shimmered and sprouted a fourth point, making the hat look like a throwing star. "Shooting Star Shuriken!" He threw the giant ninja star at the incoming chunk of land.

The shuriken smashed through the missile, destroying it, and continued onward towards the Tyranitron, which simply lifted its tail, which had started to glow. "Iron Tail!" The tail lashed out as the Tyranitron spun on its heels, striking the giant shuriken and flinging it back at Jirachi, who caught it, turned it back into a hat, and replaced it on his head. Compartments all over the Tyranitron's body opened up, revealing gun barrels and missile warheads. All the weapons fired simultaneously, releasing a storm of bullets and rockets all aimed at Jirachi.

The Wishmaker folded his wings around him and spun like a top, deflecting the bullets and missiles as they struck him and sending them careening off all over the habitat, devastating more of it. A few even rebounded back at the Tyranitron, striking it and causing it to stagger back a few steps. "My turn!" Jirachi reached up and tore the wish tags off his hat. They stiffened in his hand as he spread them out like a hand of cards. "Wishing Star Spell Strike!" He hurled the tags at the Tyranitron, and incredibly they split from three big tags into about a thousand smaller razor-edged ones, which pelted the evil robot, scratching or bouncing off its titanium hull.

"What's he trying to do, give us a paper cut?" scoffed the Marauder. The electric shock they received from this weak attack was mild, just enough to make the skin tingle.

"Let's show him something REALLY cutting!" suggested Oakley, fingers racing around the devices on her control panel.

Anny nodded, typing fervently at her console. "Right, Oakley! Let's see if he likes a Spiky Rollout!"

The robot crouched and bent over, then managed to hop a few feet off the ground long enough to curl its body into a huge ball, the spikes on its back and tail pointing outwards as it bounced off the ground and flew through the air, spinning its blades at the Wishmaker.

Panicking, Jirachi held out his hands as the ball as was about to crash into him in a feeble attempt to protect himself…and to his amazement, the ball stopped in midair, spinning wildly but unable to move any closer. He blinked in surprise, then smiled. "Oh yeah, I forgot that I'm psychic!" He made a sharp wave with his arm, and the balled-up Tyranitron was flung away, crashing into and demolishing an artificial mountain, where it uncurled and lay on its back for a second.

In the cockpit, the pilots wailed and convulsed as they were cruelly punished for this failed attack. "Ow…dammit, that little bastard is going to pay!" Bashou roared.

A small picture-in-picture window appeared in the corner of their viewscreen, showing the angry masked visage of the Boss. "What's going on over there! That thing destroyed your shields and is wiping the floor with you! What are you four morons doing?"

"Sir, Buson's still gone! He hasn't reported back from when you sent him down to deal with the intruders in the engine room!" the Marauder reported.

"And we can't operate at one hundred percent efficiency with only four pilots," Bashou added.

"Hmmm…that's true," Giovanni agreed, rubbing his chin. Looking away from the screen from his seat on the bridge of the Shadow Cruiser, he glanced at his aide and companion. "Domino, you've had some rudimentary training in piloting giant robots, haven't you?"

Domino blinked. "Well, yes sir, I did take some to get extra credit back when I was in Rocket training, what does that have to do with-" Giovanni gestured, and Domino vanished in a flash of purple light.

The four Tyranitron operators were surprised when there was a flash of purple light over Buson's seat in the cockpit and a startled and confused Domino appeared. "Wha-what? What am I doing here!" she cried, shocked.

"And do you plan on staying?" Bashou asked, running her eyes up and down Domino's revealing uniform, as did the other crew members.

"Domino, I'm counting on you to temporarily take Buson's place on the Tyranitron's command crew until he returns," Giovanni ordered from his communication screen. "Do the best you can to help your teammates destroy that blasted Justice whatshisname!"

"B-but sir, I've never participated in any of the training simulations for this robot!" Domino protested. "I have no idea how to control it! Not to mention that I haven't even gotten in the cockpit of a mecha since my days as a trainee agent!"

"Aw, it's nothing to worry about," the Marauder assured Domino. "Sure, there are a lot more buttons and switches, but other than that it isn't much different from your average mecha controls. In some ways it's easier, cause you're just controlling one arm and numerous other secondary weapons and systems instead of the entire robot. That's our job."

"Operating a giant robot is just like riding a bicycle, you never forget how," Anny said helpfully.

"Yeah, so pedal and get this thing working already!" Oakley snapped.

"O-okay," Domino said nervously, sitting down. "Can I at least not wear the electric helmets?"

Giovanni shrugged. "Alright."

"Hey!" Bashou yelled angrily. "How come we have to wear these things and she doesn't!"

"Because I like Domino more than all of you," the Boss stated. "So there."

"Nyah!" Domino nyahed, sticking out her tongue and pulling down on her bottom eyelid. The other Rockets started angrily muttering and plotting mutiny. Not that they'd actually dare rebel against a boss who had already managed to come back from the dead once, it was just to make their egos feel better.

…

"Did we beat it?" Max asked from inside Jirachi's somewhat useless cockpit.

"I dunno." He started poking the Tyranitron where it lay in the rubble of the collapsed fake mountain.

"I'm not sure you should do that."

"Why not? It's fun! Poke poke poke poke."

"Jirachi!" Max scolded. "You know mom says not to poke people!"

"She's not here now," Jirachi pointed out, continuing to poke the Tyranitron.

"Well…yeah," Max admitted. "But an event like this, a real live robot battle, must be being recorded and broadcast by news channels all over the place. Mom could be watching us right now!"

"You think?" Jirachi stopped poking and looked around. "I don't see any cameras. Who would report us?"

"I dunno," Max admitted. "But word on the net these days says the governments and Pokemon Leagues are using advanced spy satellite technology to see what everyone in the world is doing at anytime, so they can control every aspect of our lives!"

"Really?" Jirachi asked in surprise and a little fear.

"Well, I don't know, it sounds fishy to me. But you never know," Max warned his friend.

Jirachi started getting nervous. "I hope your mom isn't watching us now. I don't wanna get in trouble with her after the last time I disobeyed her!"

Max nodded, shuddering at the memory. The "last time" Jirachi had been referring to had been when Max had gotten bored and wished that something exciting would happen. Unfortunately, Jirachi was in hearing range and his mysterious powers randomly decided to grant Max's extremely vague wish, and so May's Combusken was transformed into a giant fire-breathing monster that rampaged through the town and damaged lots of property before it was stopped. Combusken had no memory of the incident now, but Norman had been billed for the damage and the punishment Max and Jirachi had received was truly cruel and unusual, although richly deserved: very excessive spanking, followed by a ban on all television and Internet access in the house, and Max was forbidden to go out and play with any of his friends. And Jirachi had to sit in the corner all by his lonesome for several hours until he had learned his lesson and been allowed to leave. Absol was punished as well by being locked out in the backyard all night without any dinner, for not keeping a better eye on the boys and stopping them from doing anything stupid/dangerous, but he got off much lighter in comparison to Max, because Mom had felt sorry for poor, hungry Absol and had let him in early to have some food. She pampered that Disaster Pokemon too much…

Jirachi suddenly remembered that they were in the middle of doing something much more important than looking for spy satellites. "Weren't we making sure that robot is dead?" he asked Max.

"Oh yeah. We weren't done checking," Max realized.

Jirachi turned around…and got hit in the face by the Tyranitron's left fist, which was blazing with a purple-black fire signifying a Shadow Punch, which was hazardous to the poor psychic Wishmaker. He screamed as the powerful punch flung him backwards, causing him to crash into a smaller artificial mountain and destroy it. "Ow…meanie!" he yelled at the Tyranitron as it stood up. He got back up and held his arms out before him. "Starburst Saber!" Light coalesced before him and formed a blade that looked to be made from the night sky made solid, a deep, deep black dotted with luminescent stars and swirling galaxies.

In response to this new weapon, the Tyranitron disconnected its tail and grabbed it with both hands, changing it into its drill-sword formation. The robot held the sword at an angle pointing towards Jirachi, indicating it wanted a showdown.

Jirachi cried and dashed forward, sword held out in a stabbing position. It was a shame Jirachi knew absolutely nothing about swordplay, or he would have realized this was a foolish idea.

The Tyranitron lowered its sword so the tip was pointing at the ground, then flicked it upward just as Jirachi's sword was over it, knocking the blade from the startled Jirachi's hand and flinging it into the air. The Tyranitron let go of its own sword with its left hand and grabbed Jirachi's blade as it fell. "Th-that's mine!" Jirachi cried in protest. "No fair!"

"Of course it wasn't fair, they're bad guys!" Max yelled.

The Tyranitron crossed the two swords together, then lashed out at the unprepared Jirachi, hacking and slashing at the robotic legend with fanatical glee, tearing deep gouges and scars in his white skin. Frightened and panicked, Jirachi tried to deflect the swords with strikes from his wings, which worked some of the time, but eventually the Tyranitron twirled both swords in its hands and _chopped_ the wings off, following this up by slashing Jirachi's right arm off at the shoulder.

The golden feathers and severed limb fell to the ground, spewing sparks before fading away. Jirachi howled in pain and staggered backwards. "M-meanies!" he screamed, charging up the weapon in his true eye. "Doom Desire-"

The Tyranitron's mouth opened and spewed out a huge cloud of smog, blocking out the sun, and obscuring the evil robot from view as the foul pollution covered the battlefield. Startled, Jirachi misfired his cannon, shooting its awesome laser out to sea, where it would eventually strike and sink a whaling ship that happened to be hunting one of the last few humpbacked Wailord in the world, saving the poor Water Pokemon and allowing it to later breed and bring new life into its dying subspecies while at the same time making several wives and children cry and morn over the deaths of their husbands/fathers. But none of that really mattered to Jirachi, who was confused, blinded, hurt, and scared. "Wh-where did it go?" he stammered, a tremor in his voice as he clutched the stump of his right arm.

"I don't know. Jirachi, will you be all right?" Max asked anxiously.

Jirachi blinked. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I-I think I'll be okay. If I get too damaged, I'll just revert back to normal. I'll be extremely tired, but I don't _think_ any of the damage I received as a robot will carry over. I hope…"

Due to the smoke screen around them, and his nervous panic, Jirachi didn't see the Tyranitron looming up behind him. Didn't see the monster draw the twin swords back. Didn't see anything until the Tyranitron drove the tail sword and the Starburst Sabre through his back, causing them to rip through his chest and tear him in half.

He looked down at the two swords emerging from his belly, as if he was surprised to see him there. And then his head, left shoulder, and the upper half of his torso slid off the protruding blades and fell to the ground.

Both the severed halves of his body, along with the Starburst Saber, faded away before Jirachi's head hit the ground, leaving Max, back in his usual clothes, along with a tired and beaten Jirachi, who was back to normal, to fall the remaining few feet to the ground.

Max groaned and managed to push himself up as the smoke around them dissipated, letting the sun back in. He gasped when he saw Jirachi lying only a couple of feet away, his wings spread out listlessly, staring blankly up at the sky. "J-Jirachi! Are you okay!" he cried.

Jirachi groaned and clenched his eyes shut. "Max…so…tired…" His wings twitched, then started to fold up around him. "Need…sleep…" The wings curled up gently around his small, frail body, forming a golden cocoon. The wish tags on his hat pressed themselves flat to the hat's surface as Jirachi's eyes closed and he went to sleep.

Max crawled over and picked up his friend. "Don't worry," he said weakly. "I won't let them get you."

The Tyranitron casually rested its sword on its right shoulder. "Well, that wasn't so bad, now was it Domino?" the Marauder asked knowingly.

"I guess not," Domino admitted, amazed at herself. "You guys were right, it is like riding a bicycle."

"Yeah, one with a sword and tons of armor and high-tech weaponry!" Anny joked. "Though it could look a bit prettier, I guess."

Oakley rolled her eyes. "It's a twenty-story mechanical Tyranitar. It's not supposed to look pretty."

"I know, I know…" Anny grumbled.

"You know, the Pokemon that kid's holding down there-the one that looks like the robot we just killed-looks like none I've ever seen. Think the boss would like it?" Oakley asked.

"I'm sure he would. Domino! Fire up the Snag Cannon!" the Marauder commanded.

"Uh, right. How do I do that?" Domino asked, examining the controls.

"It's the button labeled, 'Snag'," Bashou told her helpfully.

"Ah, right, thanks." Domino pressed the button.

A compartment on the underside of the left arm opened up, and a large Gatling-gun lowered from it. Max looked up at it, gasped, and clutched Jirachi to his chest. "I'm not gonna let them get you," he repeated, getting a little frantic. "I'm not gonna let them get you…"

"What about the kid?" Anny asked.

Bashou shrugged. "What about him?" None of them could think of a good answer to that, so they decided to just go ahead and fire the damn cannon already. If the boy wanted to be beaten to death by Snag Balls launched at high speeds that was his problem.

Domino lowered her finger to press the Snag button again, firing the cannon, when a series of rocks, spikes, energy bullets, bubbles, snowballs, lightning bolts, Hyper Beams, fireballs, psychic blasts, and all other sorts of attacks struck the Tyranitron in the side, knocking it off balance and causing Domino to press the button too late, causing the Cannon to fire a couple of dozen Snag Balls in the wrong direction, missing Max and Jirachi completely.

The four helmeted pilots of the Tyranitron screamed as they get electrocuted. "AaAAaaaAAAhhhHH!"

"Who did that!" Domino asked, shocked. She looked out through the view screen while her teammates recuperated and was amazed to see a large group of six humans and about twenty three assorted Pokemon.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" May yelled angrily. Her entire team, consisting of Combusken, Bulbasaur, Beautifly, Jigglypuff, and a Munchlax she had found rummaging through the garbage cans behind her house were assembled before her. Skitty was still on top of Psyduck's head, which was why she wasn't with the rest of her team.

"AND THE WISHMAKER TOO!" Absol added from beside her.

Max's eyes started watering up. "You guys came…you really came!"

Wes snorted as his signature Pokemon, Espeon and Umbreon growled at the giant robot. "Picking on a little kid and his Pokemon? That's low." He pulled a Pokeball off his belt and twirled it on his index finger. "We'll see how you guys like being picked on by the likes of Ho-Oh!"

"Uh, Wes, that's Plusle's Pokeball," Rui pointed out.

He fumbled the ball at this statement and dropped it in surprise. It hit the ground right on its button and popped open, releasing a small Pikachu look-alike with yellow skin, plus-shaped cheek markings, and red patches tipping its ears, paws, and it's plus-shaped tail. He blinked and looked around. "Huh? Hey Espeon, Umbreon, what's going-" He trailed off, noticing the Tyranitron. "WAAAAHHH! Monster!" Frightened, he ran back over to his ball, opened it, and jumped back inside.

Wes blinked. "Huh? But…where's Ho-Oh?"

Rui shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't you have it earlier?"

Wes frowned, trying to remember when he last had it.

…

_"Uh…who are you?" Wes asked, Ho-Oh's Pokeball falling off of his finger. He was too stunned to notice._

…

"Ah, dammit!" he cursed. "I dropped it when those Poke Rangers showed up, and got so caught up in the craziness that I forgot to pick the ball back up! It's probably still back at the city border. That bitch Mariah Susanson _better_ not have touched it!" he ranted.

"Don't worry, we'll get it back," Ash reassured his friend/rival. "Right after we're done with this guy! Now that the force field's down, with our combined power I know we can take it out!"

"Don't get too overconfident, Ash…although I can't help agreeing with you," Pikachu admitted.

"Hey, doesn't that kid look familiar?" Anny asked Oakley suddenly.

"Which one?" Oakley asked in confusion.

"That one down there. The kid with the hat and the Pikachu on his shoulder," Anny said, pointing to Ash.

"Yeah…he does look kind of familiar…didn't that kid who trounced us in Alto Mare have a Pikachu too?" Oakley asked, trying to remember.

"And come to think of it, he looks a lot like the kid who thwarted my attempt to use Celebi to conquer the world!" said the Marauder angrily.

"And I've never seen him before, but he reminds me of some other trainer brat and his friends who stopped Buson and my attempt to capture Raikou!" Bashou said, her temper rising.

Domino sweatdropped. "Wow, you guys lose to a lot of teenaged trainers these days…yeah, I can't explain why, but something about him seems oddly familiar…"

"Let's stomp him and his friends into the ground!" Oakley said angrily, grabbing her controls.

"Hey, not so fast, look at the crowd he's got out there. We're not invincible anymore, and we've taken a bit of damage thanks to that other punk. I think we should subtract a few of those Pokemon from the picture first," Bashou suggested with a grin. She pressed a button.

Back outside, Ash glanced up from his Pokedex, which had just finished scanning the damaged Tyranitron for weak spots. "Okay, the left knee joint, the part where the lower jaw connects to the upper jaw, and the right armpit are all vulnerable spots!"

Charizard flexed his wings. "Okay, I've got the jaw! Coming with me, Gyarados?"

"Nah, I think I'll be better off with the armpit," the Atrocious Pokemon decided.

"Maybe I could go with you?" May's Beautifly suggested, floating over.

Charizard sweatdropped. Beautifly didn't look like she'd be any help. Still… "Uh, sure, I guess you can come if you want…"

Wes produced another Pokeball. "It may not be Ho-Oh, but I still have a Flying Pokemon that should help!"

Ash smirked. "Great! Okay everyone, let's-"

He was interrupted mid-sentence when the Tyranitron abruptly drove its tail-sword into the ground, shaking the earth slightly and almost knocking them off their feet. It then raised its right arm into the air. "Hey, what are they doing?" May wondered.

An antenna extended from the robot's outstretched wrist. Before anyone could do anything, the antenna started emitting an incredibly painful sonic wave on a frequency too high for humans to hear, but all too close to the range that Pokemon used. It was Professor Sebastian's dreaded Induced Evolution Wave, the same weapon that had stunned the countless Pokemon the Tyranitron had chased earlier before capturing them.

Pikachu cried in pain and fell off of Ash's shoulder. "Ahhh! It's like Sneasel claws on a chalkboard! My entire body hurts!"

"Oh man, this really bites!" Gyarados roared, thrashing about in agony.

Skitty squealed in pain and dug her claws into Psyduck's head. The poor duck's head was already hurting too much to notice. He clenched his eyes shut and trembled. "Ow…really, really big ow!"

"Espeon, Umbreon, what's wrong!" Wes cried, worried by how his two Pokemon were cringing and seemed to be paralyzed with pain. "What is it!"

"It's that thing from before!" Brock deduced. "The thing the robot must have used to stun the wild Pokemon before capturing them! It's using them on us!"

"I don't see what all the big fuss is," Geodude complained. "I don't hear anything. Just a little ringing in my ears, but I'm used to that."

"I am feeling fine too," Lombre reported.

"My head hurts a little," Mudkip confessed. "But that's probably because of my radar. And that's been sore ever since I started hanging out with you guys," she said to Onix and Geodude.

Brock gasped. "Of course! I can't believe it!"

"What!" the others cried, worried something else was wrong now.

"My Pokemon are immune to this thing! Well, except for Crobat," Brock admitted, looking at the purple bat, who was screaming and writhing in pain on the ground. "But my other Pokemon have damaged their eardrums from listening to all that rock music that they must not be able to hear on the frequency that this sound wave's being carried on!" He shook his head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually thankful for their rock and roll dream now!"

"Then that means they're the only ones who can attack, since everyone else is in a bad condition!" Ash realized.

"In that case…Espeon, Umbreon, return!" Wes called, sending his Pokemon back to the relaxing quiet of their Pokeballs. "If there's nothing they can do, I don't want them suffering!"

"You all return too!" May called, returning her Pokemon. Skitty, despite having a pained expression on her face, looked sad as she was summoned back from her perch on Psyduck's head.

"You guys too!" Misty returned Politoed, Kasurin, and Psyduck. "Sorry there's nothing I can do for you guys," she said sadly to Corsola and Gyarados.

"It's…okay…we'll manage," Corsola rasped out through gritted teeth as her coral horns rattled.

Ash looked worriedly at his own Pokemon. "Brock, hurry up and smash that thing, I don't know if my own Pokemon can take much more of this!"

"Right!" Brock called back Crobat and shouted commands to his own Pokemon.

"Forretress, Geodude, get up there and destroy that antenna with Explosion! Onix, smash that weak knee area Ash mentioned! Mudkip, Lombre, help Onix out!"

"Right!" his Pokemon chorused. Mudkip and Lombre hopped on Onix's head as the stone snake started slithering towards the Tyranitron's leg, while Geodude and Forretress flew up towards the antenna on their kamikaze mission.

Of course, the crew of the Tyranitron had no intention of letting them get away with this. "How come those guys don't seem to be as affected by our wave as the other Pokemon?" the Marauder wondered.

"Who cares? They're actually trying to attack us! Let's show them the price of that foolishness!" Domino said, typing at her controls.

As Geodude and Forretress were about to reach the antenna, the left arm turned and pointed at them. The left hand opened up and fired an extremely powerful water jet at the startled rock and barnacle Pokemon, blasting them away from the antenna and sending them flying through the air. "Ahhhh! Looks like we're blasting oooofffff!"

Then the robot looked down at Onix, Lombre, and Mudkip, and the trio realized they were in very deep trouble. "Ah, crap," the Mud Fish, Jolly, and Rock Snake Pokemon said simultaneously. The robot reared back its left leg and swung it forward, catching Onix on its toe as it came back and kicking him and his passengers far away from the group. "Ahhhh! Looks like we're blasting off tooooo!" they cried as they vanished.

"Oh no!" Brock cried. "My Pokemon!"

Max groaned. "Oh well, there goes our last bit of hope."

And so it seemed that way. The villains laughed maniacally in their cockpit. "That was fun! Nice Hydro Pump, Domino!" Bashou complimented the boss's aide.

"Why thank you Bashou. And that was some nice legwork there, Oakley," Domino complimented the blue-haired woman.

Oakley smirked and brushed back her hair. "Well, I try!"

The Marauder sweatdropped. "Uh, okay ladies, enough with the complimenting and the flirting. We've got those twerps right where we want them! Let's snag their Pokemon, annihilate em', then finish what we came here for and destroy Ever Grande City!"

"Right!" the females agreed.

The Tyranitron aimed its left hand at the group and lowered the Snag Cannon from it. "Oh no!" Ash cried. "That's the thing it used to capture all those wild Pokemon!"

"But Ash, all of the Pokemon we have out are Chosen or something…so they can't be captured, right!" Misty realized.

Ash shook his head. "No! The impact from all those useless Snag Balls over and over could pummel them to death or something then! I can't let that happen!"

"But what can we do? Our Pokemon can't fight that thing as long as its antenna is up, and none of our Pokemon can stand up to it at all!" May pointed out.

"Then I'll just have to do what I can!" He paused, then grabbed the trembling Pikachu and Phanphy and held them to his chest. "The others are too big to shield…but if I can save any of them, then I at least want my best friend and Phanphy to be okay!"

"Oh, isn't that sweet?" sneered the Marauder. "The brat's trying to protect his little pets with his life. Okay, he can waste it if he wants. Domino! Fire er' up! Blast that kid to smithereens with our Snag Balls!"

"You got it!" The blond agent moved the cannon so it pointed directly at Ash.

"Ash, no!" Misty cried, running towards him.

"Ready…aim…" Domino lowered her finger towards the button.

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam!"

A gold laser shot out of nowhere and struck the antenna, causing it to explode into a million pieces, shutting off the evolution wave. The feedback from the explosion shook through the Tyranitron, giving the pilots a less-than-mild shock, and causing the mecha to take a step or two backwards.

Pikachu blinked a few times, the pain going away as abruptly as it had come. "Hey, I feel better now!"

"Me too!" Phanphy realized.

"Guys, you're okay!" Ash cried in relief.

Misty stopped in her tracks and sighed. "Thank goodness."

"Yeah…" May agreed.

Absol, no longer hindered by the wave, rushed over to Max and Jirachi. "Boy, is the Wishmaker all right!"

"Huh? Oh, he doesn't look so good…" Uneasy, Max showed Absol the sleeping Jirachi.

Absol growled, but managed to curb his temper. "This was a very dangerous thing you two did. You're lucky this foolishness didn't kill you, or worse, the Wishmaker! I hope you've learned your lesson!"

"Yeah, yeah," Max said idly, already dreaming of his and Jirachi's next jaunt as Justice Jirachi.

May ran over and grabbed Max from behind, pulling him off the ground and causing him to drop Jirachi. Absol quickly grabbed the sleeper in his teeth before he could hit the ground. "I'm so glad you're all right! I was so worried!" she sobbed. Then she started strangling him. "IF YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN…"

"Ack! Good to see you too, May!" Max choked.

Wes was looking around in confusion. "Uh…what just happened? What happened to the antenna?"

"I think…that guy did!" Rui realized, pointing up into the sky at a Dragonite circling overhead.

On the dragon's back was a young man in a black outfit with red cuffs and a red square shape going down his front. A long cape flowed out from behind him, and his hair was spiky and, oddly enough, bubblegum pink.

"Hey, it's Lance!" Ash cried.

"Who?" Wes asked in confusion.

"Lance? Really! Wow!" Max shouted in excitement. "Lance is one of the super-coolest trainers ever! He's one of the Elite 4 in Johto and a member of the Pokemon G-Men, this special police force or something that goes around fighting criminal organizations like Team Rocket!"

Brock frowned. "But what's he doing here? Logically, his jurisdiction should be in Johto."

Misty rubbed her chin. "You know, I vaguely remember hearing about some scandal or something he was involved in a few months back…"

Wes huffed. "If he's so cool, why does he have bubblegum pink hair?"

"You're just jealous that you don't have a cape or a personal dragon to ride around on," Rui accused him.

"…I have Ho-Oh. And a really cool jacket," Wes pointed out.

"But it's not a cape!" Rui said triumphantly. Wes grumbled and rolled his eyes.

"Dragonite, descend!" Lance commanded. His Pokemon stared at him blankly. "I said, descend!" Dragonite blinked in confusion. "Oh for the love of-take off those earmuffs!" he said, gesturing to the large industrial-strength earmuffs he had put on Dragonite when he had seen the antenna from a distance and recognized it as the same device he saw being used at Lake Rage by Team Rocket. Dragonite continued to stare at him in confusion. Lance sighed in frustration and mimicked taking off a pair of headphones.

"Ohhh…" Realizing what was wanted of him, the Dragonite pulled off the earmuffs. "Okay, what did you want?"

"DESCEND ALREADY!" Lance yelled.

Dragonite flinched. "You don't have to shout." The Dragonite descended in a loose, quick spiral, landing near the group, which was feeling much better now that the evil sound wave was gone.

"Hey, Lance! What are you doing here?" Ash asked, running over, still holding onto Pikachu and Phanphy.

Lance frowned. "You look familiar. Have we met before?"

"Yeah, I helped you stop that red Gyarados Team Rocket was experimenting on from destroying Mahogany Town, remember?" Ash reminded him.

"Oh yes," Lance said in surprise. "Who could forget that? Ash, was it?"

"Yeah!" Ash confirmed.

"Well then, get your friends out of here, Ash. This is no place for civilians, only professionals" Lance ordered.

"Uh, that's what the last bunch of 'professionals' who went up against that thing told us, and look what happened to them," Brock said, pointing to the smoking wreckage of the Megaloid and Senshibot.

"And besides, do you really think you can take that thing on all by yourself?" Wes asked, pointing to the massive Tyranitron. "If I were you, I'd take all the help I could get." _Bubblegum hair._

Lance sweatdropped. "Er…perhaps you're right. Some assistance would be nice. And we might have better odds with more Pokemon, now that the antenna's disabled we can use all our Pokemon and spread them out to distract the robot while our heavy hitters move in and strike it where it hurts."

"Sounds good to me!" Ash said eagerly. "Okay guys, you all ready?"

"Now that that awful noise is gone, I'll do anything I can to help!" Bayleef vowed.

"Same here! Though I'm sure you already knew that," said Charizard.

"The only Pokemon I have left is Crobat," Brock said sadly, looking at his last Pokeball. "Because the others were sent blasting off. I hope they'll be okay."

"If your Pokemon are an Onix, a Geodude, a Lombre, a Forretress, and a Mudkip, they're fine. I saw them heading back over here while I was flying overhead," Lance told the breeder.

Brock sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. Go, Crobat! Let's take this thing down!" he cried, releasing Crobat.

"Time to use the full team. Shame Ho-Oh isn't here, I'd like to see how these Ciphers reacted on the other end of his Sacred Fire. All right, game on!" Wes tossed five Pokeballs, releasing Espeon, Umbreon, Plusle, a Minun (who looked like Plusle's twin only with blue markings and a minus-shaped tail and cheek marks) and a Skarmory. "Time to dismantle this Tyranitar rip-off!"

"I don't know if my Pokemon are the strongest, but they'll help too! It's showtime!" May threw out her Pokemon once again releasing Combusken, Beautifly, Jigglypuff, Munchlax, Bulbasaur, and Skitty.

"You too, guys! Misty calls…everyone!" Misty called, releasing Politoed and Kasurin. There was a burst of light in her bag, and Psyduck materialized on the ground. "No, not you, Psyduck!" she cried in alarm.

"YELLOW!" Skitty yelled happily. She rushed over to Psyduck, glomped his head, and started licking it.

"Pink," Psyduck said blandly. If he was happy, they couldn't tell.

Misty sweatdropped. "Well, I guess you can stay out…"

"Hey Lance, what about your Pokemon?" Ash asked.

Lance blinked. "Huh? Oh, uh…I left them at the Pokemon Center. Dragonite's the only one I have on me," he said quickly.

Ash shrugged. "Okay then. Guess you really need our help then, huh? Pikachu! Everyone else! Let's get them!"

"Yeah!" they chorused.

"What's Lance doing here?" Anny wondered out loud.

Domino sneered. "Maybe he's trying to redeem himself. Heh, like that's possible!"

"Hmmph, they look pretty confident now that they've destroyed our Induced Evolution Wave Emitter, huh?" Bashou asked.

The Marauder snickered. "Good thing we have a backup." He pressed a button on his control panel.

The Tyranitron visibly gave the group the finger, startling them and confusing Phanphy. "Why is it sticking its middle claw up at us?" he asked in confusion.

"Aw, never mind that dear, just never do that to anyone else, ever," Misty said quickly.

A horn on top of the Tyranitron's head split open and an antenna rose out of it. Corsola gasped. "Oh no! Is that-"

"It is! It's another antenna!" Pikachu cried.

Lance whirled to face his dragon. "Dragonite, quick! Put on-"

It was too late. The antenna activated, once again bombarding the Pokemon with the incredibly painful sound wave. The Rockets weren't playing around this time, and had cranked it up to maximum power. Even the humans in the group were starting to get headaches from the wave!

Dragonite groaned and accidentally crushed the earmuffs in his claws when the wave first hit, reacting badly to the sudden pain. The other Pokemon cringed and shivered and fell to the ground, their muscles paralyzed and weakened and unable to stand against the super wave.

"Oh man! Even I'm starting to feel it!" Brock complained.

May pulled out her Pokeballs. "Quick, everyone retur-" She gasped and dropped the Pokeballs, her hand shaking too much to use them. "Ahhh, stop it! Get out of my head!"

The other humans held their hands to their ears in an attempt to block out the noise, but it was no good, the splitting pain in their heads wasn't stopping. It wasn't as intense to them as it was to the Pokemon, but it was still too much for them to handle!

Wes staggered around in a pain-filled daze. "Agh…goddamn motherfucking Ciphers!" he ranted.

Psyduck was shaking so hard that Skitty, who was shaking as well, almost got dislodged. But her claws were dug deep enough in his head from her pain to draw blood, and she wasn't going to let go anytime soon. "Head…hurts…" she whined, ears pressed flat against her head.

"Everything…hurts…" Psyduck moaned.

They continued shaking for a few moments, and then, to everyone's surprise, they started to glow!

"Huh? What's happening?" Misty cried. "What else can go wrong now!"

"Wait, it's not something bad!" Ash realized. "They're evolving!"

"So that's why this sounds familiar!" Pikachu managed to force out even as his brain was being ravaged by the sound wave. "This is just like the thing at Lake Rage! That evolution frequency whatsis that made the red Gyarados! That's why it hurts so much! I guess it must have been too much for Psyduck and Skitty, and now they're evolving!"

And so they were. When the light faded, Psyduck had gotten taller and sleeker, covered in slick amphibious skin instead of dull feathers, with webbed claws on his hand and feet, a longer, sharper beak, red eyes, and spikes growing from the sides of his head. And, for some reason, he was still yellow instead of the usual blue of a Golduck.

Skitty, on the other hand, had become a much larger feline (who was still perched on Golduck's head) with light tan fur for most of her body, small black eyes and a slightly larger (and cuter) nose, a furry collar around her neck with small spheres growing from the sides, a tuft of hair on her tail, and large pointy ears. For some reason, instead of being purple, her ears, collar, and tail tuft were still pink, like they had been when she was Skitty.

And that's when the new Delcatty's weight proved to be too much for the new Golduck's head and he collapsed, with her on top of him. He blinked and stared at her. "Pink?"

"Yellow!" she purred happily, not seeming to have noticed they had changed at all.

They smiled…and then started rolling around in pain, because they suddenly remembered there was a very agonizing sound wave echoing around them.

"I thought Skitty could only evolve with a Moon Stone!" Max yelled, holding his ears.

"I guess this evolution wave thing makes it happen anyway!" Ash yelled in reply.

"I'm very happy Psyduck's finally evolved," Misty cried, clutching her head in pain. "And I don't mean to complain, but why is he still yellow!"

"Why is that Golduck still yellow? And why is the Delcatty still pink?" Domino asked the Marauder in confusion.

He grunted and shrugged. "You're asking me?"

On the bridge of the Shadow Cruiser, Giovanni groaned and put his masked face in his hands. "That idiot Sebastian! I thought he said he worked out all the kinks in the damn thing! Then again, maybe it was the budget cuts again…" He sighed. "I'm really going to have to do something about that."

"Well, even if they're a different color now, they're still rare Pokemon," Anny pointed out. "So we should probably catch them!"

"Yeah, I'd love to have that pink Delcatty for myself!" agreed Oakley.

"Okay. Firing up Snag Cannon (again.)" Domino said, reaching for the fire button.

The Marauder laughed. "Hahaha! This time, nothing's going to stop us!"

That's when the lights flickered and dimmed considerably. There was the dull whir of an engine slowing down and coming to a stop. Outside, the antenna quivered and started decreasing its evolution wave's intensity, until it finally shut down completely and retracted back into the robot's head, leaving the heroes confused but unharmed, other than having sore heads. The Tyranitron seemed to be frozen stiff, still pointing the Snag Cannon at the heroes, but the robot wasn't moving or making any act that indicated it was going to do anything.

"Uh…what just happened?" Brock asked, confused. "They had us right where they wanted. Why'd they shut the thing off?"

"Maybe its part of some tactic to confuse us, lull us into a false sense of security, and hit us when we don't expect it?" Lance suggested.

"No, that seems needlessly pointless and complex," Wes argued. "Like the perverted eyeless guy said, ("Hey!" Brock yelled) they had us right where they wanted us. Why'd they stop?"

"Why'd the robot stop? What's going on!" Domino cried, starting to panic.

Bashou glanced at a gauge on her console and gasped. "The hell! Our power levels are dropping! The batteries are running out of juice at an alarming rate!"

The Marauder growled, grabbed a microphone, and started shouting into it. "Engine room! What the fuck is going on down there!"

"Uh…it's a funny story, really," Jessie's voice weakly replied.

"Uh, yeah," Cassidy said, laughing nervously. "A few minutes ago the weird short peon with blue skin came into the room, flashed this weird glowing thing in front of the eyes of all our Shadow Pokemon, and this weird black stuff appeared on them for a second before dissolving. Then he tried to talk to them in some kind of Pokemon language-Meowth, tell them what he said!"

"Uh, well," Meowth started. "He said some stuff about them being free now, and how they didn't have to listen to their mean trainers anymore and could come with him and find happiness and stuff, but they were too hungry to pay attention to him and kept on running on the treadmills. He kept trying for a few more minutes to convince them to listen, but finally he just gave up, grabbed the shackle keys from the walls, and undid everyone's chains. All of the Pokemon jumped off the treadmills and devoured the hunks of meat that were hanging out for them, then went to sleep, except for Seviper and Dustox who were acting nicer than they've been in the last month but were kinda awkward around Jessie for some reason. They and the peon guy argued for a little while, but he admitted in the end that Jessie probably didn't mean to send them off to get tortured and stuff to become Shadow Pokemon (Is that true? Does becoming a Shadow Pokemon hurt a lot or something?) and they got all happy and started hugging and licking Jessie until she got fed up and recalled them to their Pokeballs. Then the peon guy released Cacnea, who evolved into Cacturne after he waved the glowy thing in her face, and she beat Jimmy boy to a pulp, then wrecked all the bicycles and treadmills and stuff in the room. Then he started saying some stuff I didn't understand to Jessie, like how even though she had shown her good side now and then, in his mind she was too rotten to ever be any better than she was now…something like that. He insulted her a bit, then left with Cacturne and closed the door behind him. Oh, and he also unlocked Bitch's muzzle, so now we're forced to listen to his awful voice."

"MY NAME'S BUTCH! AND MY VOICE IS NOT THAT BAD!" Butch's god-awful voice rang through the cockpit, causing the agents to wince in pain.

"SHUT UP, BATCH! I DON'T WANT YOU OPENING THAT MOUTH OF YOURS UNLESS I SAY SO, GOT IT!" the Marauder yelled into the microphone.

"Y-yes sir," Butch whimpered before shutting up.

Bashou grabbed the microphone from the Marauder. "Why didn't you idiots stop him!"

"Well, all our other Pokemon were either asleep or acting strange, so Meowth tried to attack him, but he was repelled by some kind of invisible force field," Cassidy explained. "And we were too scared of his Cacturne friend to try anything."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that the language he spoke and his ability to repel attacks would make him a Wobbuffet! But that's impossible, no Wobbuffet would be a member of Team Cipher, as his uniform indicated!" Meowth added.

The five operators stared at the microphone for several seconds, processing that statement, and finally they sweatdropped. "You _idiots_…" Domino growled, leaving a whine in the comm. system. "Why didn't you tell us about this sooner!"

"We…uh, couldn't figure out how to turn on the intercom," Jessie said in embarrassment. "Or open the door." The elite agents facefaulted.

"And I have a complaint!" James' angry voice came on the line. "This Limited Edition Solid Gold-colored Yoohoo bottlecap is a fake! It's just a regular bottlecap that was painted to look like a Limited Edition Solid Gold –colored Yoohoo bottlecap! This is an outrage!"

"Oh yeah, and what about this here fake Pikachu!" Meowth asked angrily. "What's the deal with that! Why'd you go and trick me with this stupid-"

"Shut up," the Marauder said curtly, slamming the microphone back into its place and turning it off.

As if that was a predetermined signal, the view screen changed to display the angry Giovanni. "What's going on over there! Why have you idiots lost power!"

"The real idiots were infiltrated and released by a Wobbuffet disguised as a Cipher Peon," Domino reported. "I believe he is the saboteur who we detected in the shield generator room. It's possible he may have somehow overpowered Buson, and was able to make his way to the 'engine room' so he could cripple us further."

"Well, you still have the Crystal System, don't you?" Giovanni asked. "There's plenty of Pokemon who can learn electric attacks out there! Turn the damn thing on and drain them dry!"

"Yes sir!" the Marauder pressed the button to activate the Crystal System. Nothing happened. He blinked. "Huh?" He pressed the button several times before he noticed the flashing message displayed over the button, which had been blinking on and off for the last five minutes: CRYSTAL SYSTEM CRITICALLY DAMAGED. UNABLE TO OPERATE." And above that was _another _blinking message that said CRYSTAL ROOM INFILTRATED. DISPATCH INTRUDERS AT ONCE that had been blinking for the last _six_ minutes.

The Marauder sweatdropped. "How did I not notice those!"

"For that matter, how did the boss not notice them?" Anny accused. "He knew that the shield room was broken into earlier! Why didn't he tell us about this either? A power failure is much more important than someone getting into the shield generator!"

Giovanni sweatdropped. "Well, uh, you see…I haven't been paying much attention to the displays around here for the last several minutes because I was getting a foot massage."

The agents blinked. "A foot massage?"

Giovanni nodded. "Yes. You see, since I'm now essentially one of the living dead, as well as having been electrocuted to death, many of my muscles are still stuck in a paralyzed rigor mortis, which is rather painful. I had one of the loyal peons give me a massage to make my stiffened foot muscles feel better."

The image of Giovanni's naked, decayed zombie foot rushed through their minds and they screamed and clutched their heads. "Aaaahhh! TMI! TMI!"

"How'd they break the Crystal, anyway?" Bashou wondered, remembering her own use of the device's previous incarnation during the Raikou incident. "I seem to remember it being pretty tough."

A few minutes ago…

"That was some nice punching there, Miss Cacturne," Wynaut said, looking very impressed at the broken crystal shards littering the floor of the Crystal System's housing chamber.

The tall, scarecrow-shaped cactus gave a little bow to the Bright Pokemon. "Why thank you, Miss Wynaut."

"Okay, enough of the Miss this and Miss that," Wobbuffet said, feeling slightly embarrassed by the politeness. "We should get out of here before they send anyone down to investigate."

Cacturne gave the blue blob a dry (like she could give him anything but, being a cactus) smile. "Whatever you say, Sir Wobbuffet."

He flushed. "Oh…don't call me that. Makes me sound like a knight."

"A what?" Wynaut asked in confusion.

"A knight," Milotic explained, slithering around Wobbuffet and wrapping her coils around him. "According to old stories, they were noble humans who fought bravely against evil and had rigid codes of honor that they upheld with their lives. While in reality they were far from noble and honorable, the image the word 'knight' conjures is something that many aspire to." She rubbed her cheek against Wobbuffet's, causing him to go red all over. "Hmm, I don't think you'd look so bad in a suit of armor. If you were a knight, then I suppose I'd be your lady, wouldn't I?"

Wobbuffet's blush impossibly deepened while Cacturne snickered and Wynaut just looked confused. "R-r-r-r-right, you guys," he stammered, whipping out Pokeballs, one of which (Cacturne's) he had swiped from James. "Back you go, got a long climb and a fight ahead of us, dontcha know," he said quickly, sending out the red recall beams.

"Awww…" the three girls whined as they dematerialized and returned to their Pokeballs.

Once they were all back in their spheres, Wobbuffet panted and wiped away some sweat. "G-geez, those three ladies are gonna be the death of me…"

Back in the present…

"Great, so we have no Crystal System and no labor-generated power. We're sitting Psyducks!" the Marauder complained. "What do we do now?"

"Nothing. Sit tight," the boss ordered. "I'm coming over."

They looked at the masked man in surprise. "You are?" Bashou asked, startled. "But what good will that do?"

"You'll see. Just tell me where the batteries are," Giovanni ordered.

Anny and Oakley called up a map on their consoles with what little power was still remaining in them. "Uh, in a long shaft of sorts lining the back of the Tyranitron, a couple of meters in from the spikes and away from the maintenance shaft, though it can be accessed from there."

Giovanni confirmed this on a set of blueprints Robotnik had left behind. "I see. The robot's power will be returned shortly…and in greater amounts than you could have imagined." He switched off his communicator.

The five agents looked at each other in confusion. "What do you think he meant by that?" the Marauder asked.

"Well, he managed to come back from the dead and teleport me over here, among other things," Domino pointed out. "Who knows what else he can do?"

…

What else could he do, indeed. Moments after signing off, Giovanni appeared in the battery shaft in a burst of purple light. He almost lost balance for a moment, feeling dizzy and weak for a second due to the power he had exerted to transport himself the great distance between his ship and the Tyranitron, but quickly recovered. He looked around and saw he was standing on a small ledge next to a hatch leading into the maintenance shaft (where, unknown to him, Buson was climbing past at that very moment, furious that he had been beaten by Wobbuffet and Milotic, and desiring vengeance). Just before him, extending upward and downward for quite some distance, were dozens of gigantic batteries (much like the ones used in flashlights, only much, much larger) lined in a crooked column that matched the contours of the Tyranitron's back, attached by cables to the various engines and systems throughout the giant robot, sending and receiving power as the electricity already stored within the batteries was rapidly depleted.

The batteries were all but dead and out of juice now, but Giovanni intended to rectify that. He marched to the edge of the platform he was on, pulling off his mask and helmet as he did so and dropping them to the ground, revealing his grisly face and the glowing crystal on his forehead. He reached his hands out, clutching the pair of metal diodes that connected the giant battery in front of him to the one above it. He took a deep breath, mustering the power that was inside him. He had used it plenty of times before, but never in such quantities as he would now. There was no telling what it would do to him. But then, such were the sacrifices he was willing to make for Team Rocket's ultimate victory. With a roar of pain and fury, he released the power, lighting up the battery shaft with purple light as electricity crackled around Giovanni and the battery he was holding, jumping from battery to battery up and down the column. The power radiated around Giovanni, bolts leaping out and striking and charring the metal around him. The painted hulls of the batteries sizzled and melted from the energies pumped through them. His cape caught on fire and his costume cracked and melted in places, and the decayed, electrified flesh composing his body was consumed by the power, eating away at his skin and what little hair he had left, making him look more and more like a corpse as the crystal's energy corrosively flowed through him.

And still he called forth the power, for he was Giovanni Sakai Rocketto, and not even death could stop him!

Or so he thought…

…

Golduck stared dully at the immense claw-toe of the Tyranitron that he stood before. It didn't move. Neither did the rest of the giant robot. It had been motionless for the last several minutes.

He continued to stare at it until his trainer, from several yards away, yelled at him and reminded him of his purpose. "Touch it already!" she shouted. She frowned and glanced at Lance, who seemed to be all too calm about this. "Why exactly are we using my Pokemon to check the Tyranitron again?"

He shrugged. "He volunteered."

"He raised his hands because your Dragonite whacked him in the rear with its tail," she said in a deadpan voice.

Lance shrugged. "We always have to make some sacrifices in the battle against evil."

"Bet you wouldn't say that if that were your own Pokemon out there," she muttered.

Obeying his trainer, Golduck touched the robot's toe. Nothing happened. He blinked at it. Still nothing happened.

"Well, guess it's safe after all!" Ash said. "Just like my Pokedex said over and over…" he added, glancing at Lance.

The dragon master frowned. "What? I just wanted to make sure!"

"Whatever," said Wes, not interested in any squabbles. "Now that we _finally_ now it's okay to attack, let's-"

Abruptly, there was the sound of a tremendous scream of rage and pain reverberating around the Tyranitron as the entire mecha started shaking. Then, there was an explosion of some kind as a dark purple aura formed around the robot's skin, causing the air around it to ripple and shudder. Golduck, who had been inside the aura when it was formed, was flung out violently, causing him to plow into the ground beak-first and skid through the dirt for several feet before slamming into a rock. "Ow…" he moaned. "Headache…" The evolution hadn't cured his stupidity, but at least he wasn't exhibiting freaky psychic powers every time his head hurt.

"Ah hah!" Lance cried triumphantly. "See? I told you it was still dangerous!"

"It probably wouldn't have been if we had just attacked it after my Pokedex verified all its weapons were deactivated due to power loss instead of going along and wasting time with your safety check," Ash pointed out.

Lance sweatdropped. "Uh, oh well, too late now, guess we'll never know for sure."

Up in the cockpit, the pilots grinned gleefully as all their consoles lit up again. "Power going to 100…150…220…300 percent! Wow! Whatever the boss did, it's working!" Bashou cried in amazement. "We're more powerful than we've ever been!"

The Tyranitron's recorded voice laughed malevolently as it stepped forward, grabbing its sword from the ground. "Quick, everyone attack!" Lance ordered. All the Pokemon quickly fired whatever long-range attack they had in the arsenal, pelting the giant robot with Hyper Beams, Blizzards, Thunderbolts, Flamethrowers, Razor Leaves, Bubblebeams, Ice Beams, and a lot of other beams and attacks too.

The combined attacks formed a blast powerful enough to punch through the dark aura and strike the robot's hull underneath, shaking it slightly…but the monster barely even noticed it, continuing its advance as the hole made in the aura quickly repaired itself. "Oh no! Our attacks didn't do anything!" Bayleef gasped in shock.

"How'd it get so tough!" Crawdaunt wondered.

The Tyranitron cackled and raised its antenna again. "Oh no, it's using the Evolution Wave thing again!" Pikachu realized. "Run for it!"

The group started running, but they were too late. Once more, the robot's monstrous sonic weapon activated, pelting their eardrums and brains with its extremely painful catalytic abilities. Thanks to the power boost from Giovanni, it was even stronger from before, and the whole group was paralyzed on the ground, unable to think or move, barely even capable of breathing.

"Oh yeah! This rocks!" the Marauder said gleefully. "Thank you, boss!"

"Okay, bringing up the Snag Cannon-" Domino started.

"Screw that!" countermanded Bashou. "We've wasted enough time with these losers, no matter how rare their Pokemon may or may not be. We can always find other specimens somewhere else."

"Yeah, we've been waiting too long for our revenge against that stupid kid, anyway!" Oakley pointed out. "Let's just use our unstoppable robot to crush them into the dust!"

Domino considered for a moment, then shrugged. "Eh, sounds good to me."

The Tyranitron opened its mouth and started collecting golden energy in a monstrous gun barrel that appeared in it, charging up its ultimate weapon, the Hyper Beam Cannon, with which it would wipe the heroes off the face of the earth. At that moment it truly did seem that all hope was lost, for Mewtwo, one of the few Pokemon who might have been able to pierce the aura and do some real damage, was unavailable because Latias was still frantically searching for the flute that could summon him in Murkrow's hovel.

And then, in that darkest hour, a miracle occurred, as they so often do at times like this. As the Tyranitron prepared to fire its golden light of judgment, a humongous figure abruptly dropped from the sky and delivered a mighty uppercut to the metal beast's jaw, punching through the aura for a moment and causing the Tyranitron to misfire its cannon, sending a huge golden laser blast through the atmosphere and out into space, where it was refracted by the crystal material making up the orbiting fortress of the true evil (currently vacant, he was out on business) and redirected to the steps of a courthouse in a region far, far away, where a hideously pale musical star had just been acquitted of numerous charges of molesting human and Pokemon children alike (even though he was in fact totally, totally guilty) and was walking with his retinue of equally disgusting sycophants and perverts out to his waiting limo when the Hyper Beam shot down from orbit, striking them and obliterating them completely with an earth-shaking explosion. Fans of the star wailed and grieved, but all his victims cheered for joy, believing there was a benevolent higher power after all.

"What! What the heck!" the Marauder cried in disbelief as he recovered from the painful electric jolt that he received as punishment for the uppercut.

Standing in front of the heroes, blocking the Tyranitron's line of fire was a giant robot Exploud. It was about the same size as Jirachi's robot form, made of purple metal with gold caps on each of the numerous air tubes/sound amplifiers extending from the unsightly creature's body. Its mouth was gaping wide open, as it always is among Exploud, with great ivory teeth that shone as the sun reflected off them.

The heroes found to their considerable relief that the dreadful Evolution Wave's power was blunted by the presence of the Exploud mecha, for the robot was built as a sonic weapon and as such was designed to be soundproof for the most part, so by standing before them the Exploud served as a kind of shield. The robot could not block all of the wave, but it stopped enough of it for the agonizing brain-splitting pain to be reduced to a slight ache, a welcome respite for the suffering humans and Pokemon.

"Ohh…what…what happened?" Pikachu asked, pulling himself from the ground.

Bayleef gasped when she saw the giant Exploud. "Whoa! Does that bring back any memories, guys?"

"Yeah, it's like the Loudrethingy that Team Cipher attacked us with in the desert!" Crawdaunt recalled. "Only it's…well, an Exploud now. Did it evolve or something?"

"Can robots evolve?" Charizard echoed, wondering himself.

"No, but they can be upgraded," explained Phanphy, remembering what he himself had seen on TV about giant robots.

"This is a twist, though slightly confusing…" said Lance. "Yet another giant robot? Who's piloting this one?"

Who indeed? The answer was revealed when the giant Exploud's tongue extended from its mouth. Standing on the tip of the tongue, in front of a microphone lowered to her height, was Jigglypuff, with a pair of heavy-duty earmuffs strapped over her ears!

Wes sweatdropped. "…You know Rui, I'm starting to think we should never have left Orre. It may have been desolate and crime-infested, but at least we didn't have crazy giant robots running about wherever you looked."

"Ahhh! Jigglypuff's back!" Brock cried in horror. He had thought they had lost her for good after she inexplicably showed up in the Trick House.

"No way! Jigglypuff?" Misty asked in disbelief. "How'd she get that thing!"

The answer was simple, although none of the heroes knew this. After using the Loudrematic to put everyone in the desert to sleep, Jigglypuff had jacked it and tromped around Hoenn in it, using it to sing to people and crushing their towns if they fell asleep while listening. It just so happened that while doing so she ran into a group of insomniac mechanics. Her singing put them to sleep, and she was angry enough to vandalize their shop, but she was startled by how gracious they were that she had managed to give them respite from their insomnia. As a reward, they had upgraded her Loudrematic, giving it powered-up speakers, better soundproofing, and other enhanced abilities! This also gave her the idea to go around Hoenn and give concerts to those who had sleeping problems, for if these nice mechanics had given her a suped-up robot for curing their insomnia, who knew what other goodies she could get from the sleepless? She traveled around Hoenn, singing to those in need of sleep (although she continued to long to find someone who _wouldn't_ fall asleep when she sang). She sang to businessmen, engineers, drug addicts and alcoholics, workaholics, scientists, inmates at jails and insane asylums, people from all walks of life who had problems that a good night of sleep managed to cure. She was rewarded with food, shelter, and in most cases, great loads of money. She also ran into other groups of mechanics that further upgraded her mecha, eventually turning it into the Exploudrematic, with even more power. She also received a giant robot Yanma who could transport her across the Region at higher speeds, so she wouldn't have to walk everywhere. It had the ability to transform into an electric guitar for use in her concerts, (She had never found a use for that function, since she didn't know how to play the guitar, nor did she want to) as well as fusing with the Exploudrematic to form a whole new robot. She affectionately named it Garuda, which everyone thought strange because that was a name typically given to bird Pokemon. But who wanted to argue with a semi-psychotic cream puff that could control a giant sonic weapon?

Anyway, J.R.S. Ford had heard of her and thought she'd be a great addition to Battle Frontier. He had already funded the construction of the robots used by the Poke Rangers and the Soldier Scouts in their quest to protect Ever Grande City, but he thought setting up an eighth arena to Battle Frontier, where trainers could embark in a death match against Jigglypuff and her Exploudrematic, would be great for opening up a whole new business venue in Hoenn using giant robots against Pokemon trainers! He was sure gym leaders, tired of dealing with annoying and obnoxious prepubescent trainers, would cash in big for a couple of robots based on the Pokemon they themselves trained to surprise the brats who kept pestering them. And when the tournament season was over, he could convert the arena into a monster truck rally. Those always went over well. When she heard how much money she could get for this job, Jigglypuff eagerly agreed to come to Battle Frontier and negotiate terms with Mr. Ford, and had been on her way there when she had seen the Tyranitron picking on her old 'friends' whom she had used to follow around everywhere, and decided she should do something about it. And that's where we are now.

"Wow, she's just like me…" May's Jigglypuff observed. "Well, older and more mature, plus with a giant robot…May, can I have one of those?"

"You absolutely cannot!" May said firmly. "We already had enough trouble when Max and Jirachi turned Combusken into a giant monster, and Jirachi seems to be able to do that too now! We don't need any more things like that running around Petalburg!"

"Wait, I was a giant monster?" Combusken asked in confusion. "When was this?"

May and her team sweatdropped. "Uh, never mind," she said quickly. "It's not important."

"I don't believe this!" the Marauder roared. "We were stopped…_again_…by a Jigglypuff!"

"Crush her!" roared Bashou furiously.

The Tyranitron drew its sword and took a few steps back, pulling its weapon back for a deadly thrust at the exposed Balloon Pokemon.

Jigglypuff, however, was undaunted. She took a deep breath. All the nozzles on the Exploudrematic's body rotated to face the Tyranitron, including the ones on the robot's two tails. And then, as the heroes and villains alike realized to their horror what was about to happen…

Jigglypuff began to sing.

_"Just 'cause I'm small, can't hurt you at all, I'm only a girl watchin' you, let me sing my song for you, now that I can possess my command, I know just how to get __to you, let me sing my song for yooouuuu…"_ she began.

The sound of her song, amplified a thousandfold, was blasted at the Tyranitron through the nozzles pointed at it, causing it to shake and step back. The Exploudrematic's soundproofing prevented the heroes from being struck by the full force of Jigglypuff's extremely loud song, but they could still hear enough of it to get drowsy.

"Aw man…this always happens…"Brock moaned, before falling to the ground and starting to snore.

"No…gotta stay awake," Wes protested, staggering on his feet. "Can't let-zzzzzzzzzzzz…" He fell asleep. Rui collapsed on top of him and unconsciously hugged him in her sleep. Wes' Pokemon joined them in slumber soon after.

_"When you lay down late at night, I'm the siren you can't fight, I know you don't stand a chance, there is nothing you can do once I put my spell on you when I sing my lullaby, lullaby, lullaby, lullaby, when I sing for you my lullabyyyyy…"_

"At least it's not as loud as it was last time," Pikachu yawned, passing into slumberland, followed by the rest of Ash's team, strange and alluring visions passing through their minds as they started to dream; Crawdaunt of Corsola, Chansey, Skitty/Delcatty, several Luvdisc, Miltank, and countless other female pink Pokemon, Phanphy of an endless land of chocolate, Bayleef of Grovyle, Charizard of Charla, and Pikachu of a red-brown female with very sad eyes…

"Why does listening to a song make someone fall asleep anyway? I've never understood-zzzz…" May fell face-forward to the ground. Fortunately, her head landed on the soft skin of her own Jigglypuff, who had promptly fallen asleep just seconds ago, and she curled up and used the Balloon Pokemon as a pillow. Beautifly fell on her, her wings serving as a blanket as Bulbasaur and Combusken huddled up next to her. Munchlax started nibbling on her toes in his sleep. Delcatty had climbed on Golduck's head and fallen asleep there, keeping the duck Pokemon's head in the ground, but he didn't care because he was sleeping too.

_"Ooh, now that you've seen it wasn't a dream, now that I've got the best of you, told you boy, I will come after you, now it's too late, can't hesitate, can't hide from me, it's déjà vu!_

Watch out boy, I'm comin' for yooouuuu…"

Gyarados had curled up protectively around Misty and her Pokemon as they all started to snooze as well. But from the uncomfortable expression on Misty's sleeping face, something didn't seem right. She got up and sleepwalked over to where Ash and his Pokemon were lying on the ground in deep sleep, grabbed the young trainer by the collar, dragged him back over to the small enclosure formed by Gyarados' body and lay back down, hugging him tightly. The unhappy expression on her face turned into a smile of contented bliss and joy, while Ash had the same weird tingly feeling and goofy smile he had had when he had gotten hugged back in Sootopolis. Both of their dreams were sweet.

_"When you lay down late at night, I'm the siren you can't fight, I know you don't stand a chance, there is nothing you can do once I put my spell on you when I sing my lullaby, lullaby, lullaby, lullaby, when I sing for you my lullabyyyyy…"_

Those in the Tyranitron did not have such a sweet time. For them, the song was being played at them at a volume and frequency high enough to shake and buffet the giant robot like a helpless leaf in a windstorm. The aura surrounding the Tyranitron had been blasted away by the Exploudrematic's sonic waves, and things were even worse inside. The agents in the cockpit were shaking and screaming as they were both electrocuted by their helmets and bombarded with the sound waves, getting a taste of the same torture they had inflicted on the heroes just moments ago. Domino was spared half the pain since she wasn't wearing a helmet, but like the others she had no protection from Jigglypuff's super song. The panels and consoles around them crackled with electricity and exploded, showering sparks everywhere. Glass covers on gauges and screens cracked and shattered. The Tyranitron's large glass eyes shattered as well. So did the red eye lenses in the Marauder's mask. He clenched his eyes shut at the last second and barely avoided getting them cut to ribbons by the sharp glass shards. It wasn't long after that they fell into a torturous sleep, their dreams disturbing and nightmarish.

_"In your sleep, got you so deep, in a sweet melody has captured you, ah, oh, foreeeeever moooore…"_

Wobbuffet, who had been climbing up the utility shaft, fell asleep from the song's musical effect while hanging onto the rungs for his life while the robot was buffeted by the sound waves. His grip wasn't lessened by slumber in the least, so he continued hanging on the rungs, as did Buson, who was only a few meters downwind of Wobbuffet and had been sneaking up quietly from below to grab the blue blob and throw him down the shaft to his doom.

_"When you lay down late at night, I'm the siren you can't fight, I know you don't stand a chance, there is nothing you can do once I put my spell on you when I sing my lullaby, lullaby, lullaby, lullaby, when I sing for you my lullabyyyyy…"_

Deep in the engine room, the imprisoned Cipher agents who didn't know they were now part of Team Rocket again also started feeling the effects of the song. They felt the shaking, but due to all the reinforced metal around them the full volume of the song was blocked out so only a muffled version got in, but it was enough to affect them.

"I don't know why, but I feel sleepy all of a sudden," James yawned before falling to the ground in a heap, snoring.

"Me too," agreed Jessie, falling on top of him.

"Me three," Meowth concurred, falling on top of her.

"Now's not the time to sleep, we have to find a way out of here!" Cassidy yelled at them, struggling to stay awake. "Back me up here, Butch! Butch?" Looking for her partner, she sweatdropped when she saw that he was lying on the ground as well, his snoring every bit as awful as his speaking voice. She sighed. "Why do I even bother?" before joining him.

_"When you lay down late at night, I'm the siren you can't fight, I know you don't stand a chance, there is nothing you can do once I put my spell on you when I sing my lullaby, lullaby, lullaby, lullaby, when I sing for you my lullabyyyyy…"_

Giovanni clutched the melted remnants of his ears as the power crackling around him faded away. "No! Nooooo…" he moaned as the song took hold of his half-dead, zombified mind, causing him to fall to his knees and succumb to Morpheus' dark embrace despite how hard he fought. Without his energy supplying them, the power he had pumped into the batteries quickly fizzled and died out. The Tyranitron slumped in its place outside, once again totally lifeless and devoid of energy, no longer a threat to anyone.

_"Sing my lullaby!"_ Jigglypuff concluded, before taking a theatrical bow. As always, her heart stung when she remembered that there was nobody for her to bow to, because everyone had fallen asleep. She sighed, feeling a little disappointed, even though she had known this would happen.

She was over the blind, almost insane rage she had felt at those who slept from her singing, and was now more or less just depressed about the whole thing. Sure, she made lives better and profited immensely from making people sleep now, but that's not what she wanted. While helping people through the power of music was one thing she felt good about doing, deep down she wanted what every other wannabe star or singer wanted: fame, popularity, the works. She had some of that, just not the way she wanted. She wanted to be able to sing a song and not have people fall asleep after the first few notes, she wanted to be on a stage with all the lights and music playing and an adoring audience watching and listening to her every word…heck, she wouldn't even mind having a stalker or two, at least it would mean she was a star!

Well, at least she'd be somewhat famous by signing on with that Battle Frontier guy…maybe that would make her feel better.

She whistled. "Hey, Garuda!" she yelled at the sky. Far above her, something twinkled. She walked back inside her robot as a giant mechanical Yanma flew down from the skies, its dragonfly wings spinning like the blades of a helicopter instead of beating like a real Yanma's. Its blades slowed and came to a stop as it landed on the ground, bringing them together and pivoting them forward so they formed a V shape with the green and red dragonfly head in the vertex. The Exploudrematic, now with Jigglypuff at its helm, grabbed Garuda by its long tail with both hands, held it up vertically, and popped the end segment off of its tail, revealing the large felt tip of a giant marker.

Just because she wasn't angry anymore with people falling asleep from her singing didn't mean she still didn't scribble all over them. It was her trademark, after all.

After covering the Tyranitron in graffiti, she turned to leave and was startled to hear the unfamiliar sound of applause! "Huh? Who's clapping?"

The Exploudrematic scanned the horizon and saw a small group of Pokemon approaching the feet of her massive robot. They were the ones who were clapping and cheering her name. Confused, she left her cockpit and a minute later, emerged from the robot on the Exploudrematic's tongue, looking down at the Onix, Geodude, Lombre, Mudkip, and Forretress who were calling for her. "Yes? What is it?"

"Hey, that was a great you sang back there!" Onix yelled up at her.

"Yeah, sweet, soft, and beautiful! The perfect singing voice!" agreed Geodude.

Jigglypuff's heart stopped. "You…you heard my song?" she asked in disbelief. "And…and you didn't fall asleep!"

"Yep!" answered Mudkip.

"Not a wink, gracious senorita!" Lombre agreed.

"But…but how can that be!" she asked in disbelief. "Everyone falls asleep when they hear my song! Even Pokemon that are supposed to be Soundproof, like Whismur!"

"Oh, well, due to all the rock music we've listened to in our quest to become rock stars," Forretress explained. "Our eardrums have been damaged to the point where sonic attacks like Sing, Roar, Screech, Howl, etc., have absolutely no effect whatsoever other than sounding loud and obnoxious to us. And since we like rock and roll, we're totally used to that."

This couldn't be true, Jigglypuff thought to herself. Surely this had to be a dream. It couldn't be possible that she had finally found someone who could hear her voice and not fall asleep, could it? "The only thing I have to complain about," Onix said, "Is the song. The voice was excellent. But why were you singing a lullaby?"

Jigglypuff blinked. "Lullaby? I wasn't singing a lullaby. That's just the song I always sing. The only one I know, really."

The five sweatdropped. "Not a lullaby? But you said the word 'lullaby' several times during the song, and were talking about putting people to sleep."

"Oh, that doesn't mean anything," Jigglypuff argued. "It's just a song. The song my mother always sang to me before…I…went…to sleep…" She trailed off. "Wait…you mean to tell me…all this time…all these years…I've been singing a lullaby?"

"Well, yeah," said Geodude. "Why do you think everyone falls asleep when they hear it?"

"Duh!" Mudkip added.

For a long, long time, Jigglypuff stood there, staring at them. Her eye twitched. "Excuse me for a moment." She calmly walked back inside the Exploudred. They waited patiently as the muffled sounds of screams, shouts, curses, and things being smashed wafted out from the robot's mouth. A few minutes later, she came back out as calmly as before. "Thank you for telling me the problem with what I've been singing. Is there anyway I may repay you for this favor?" she asked.

"Well, yeah…actually, we were wondering if you could join our band!" Onix said.

Jigglypuff blinked. "A band? You have a band?" This had to be a dream for sure. There was no way she could be this lucky.

"Well…we are having the makings of a band!" Lombre corrected. He bowed. "Myself, I am being coordinator and manager!"

"I'm on drums. Forretress _is_ the drum," Onix said, gesturing to the barnacle with his tail.

"Good thing I have such a hard shell," Forretress joked.

"I'm the lead (and only) guitar!" Geodude said proudly. "Unfortunately, the only guitar I've been able to practice on is this old piece of junk Brock's dad has lying around."

"I'm songwriter," Mudkip told Jigglypuff. "I've already thought up plenty of great lyrics and tunes! Only problem is, the rest of the group can't sing crap. We tried Crobat, but his ears are too sensitive for our kind of music and his voice is too shrill, and Brock? Well…" All five shook their heads sadly. "No singing talent, that boy."

Jigglypuff gasped. "I can sing! And I have a guitar right here!" she said, pointing to Garuda, who was still held in the Exploudrematic's hands. "You'd have to use the robot's controls to play it, but they're very intuitive. I had no training operating it whatsoever but I've been able to drive this thing for the last several weeks."

"Really? Great!" Geodude said excitedly.

"And that mech of yours would probably make a good portable stage too," Onix said thoughtfully. "We just need to rig some lights in there, maybe some smoke machines, lasers, you know, the works!"

Jigglypuff gasped again. "Omigod! The robot's teeth can glow in the dark as bright as spotlights! And one of my last upgrades to the Exploudrematic was a smoke bomb launcher and some laser cannons, so all we need to do is move them into the mouth, fiddle with them a bit, and we have a legitimate rock copncert stage!"

"That would be _perfect!_" Mudkip chirped happily.

The newly completed band talked energetically for the next few moments, coming up with and rejecting ideas for everything from costumes to time spent on stage per band member and a myriad other things, before Jigglypuff suddenly realized something. "Ahh! I forgot!" she cried. "I have an appointment to meet Mr. Ford and see about getting a job at Battle Frontier!"

"What!" her new bandmates cried.

"You cannot be doing that, senorita! We are needing you most urgently!" Lombre begged.

"Yeah, where else are we gonna find a voice as nice as yours?" Onix asked.

"Well, we could try that Misty girl-" Forretress started.

"We can't do that! Then we'd be betraying our dream of forming the first-ever all-Pokemon rock band!" Mudkip pointed out.

"Guys, relax!" Jigglypuff interceded. "I was going to take the job at first because I figured I'd never find a way to stop people from sleeping through my songs, but thanks to you all I now have a shot at fulfilling my dream! I'm going to turn down his offer, so I can be a part of…uh, what are we calling ourselves?"

"Uh…" The five Pokemon of Brock quickly huddled and whispered among themselves. When they turned to face her again, Geodude proudly said, "The Rolling Boulders!"

Jigglypuff frowned. "That's stupid. Why don't we just call it the Pokerockers?"

The five glanced at each other, and then shrugged. "Eh, works for us."

"Great! Oh, but how will I get in touch with you guys when I'm done with my interview?" Jigglypuff wondered. "Um…does your trainer have a Pokegear?"

"No, I don't think so," Onix admitted. "And I'm not sure where we'll be staying during the upcoming tournament."

"I think Brock arranged for some rooms in a hotel…" Mudkip said, trying to strain her memory.

"Or was it the Pokemon Center?" Lombre asked.

"No, he probably ruined all chances of us getting rooms there by flirting with Nurse Joy," Geodude said, shaking his head sadly at his trainer's foolishness. "Uh, I don't really know…"

"Never mind that then," Jigglypuff said. "The Exploudrematic has its own built-in phone. I'll give you my number so you can call me and leave a message once you get set up wherever, and we can meet and start our first practice."

"Sounds good. What's the number?" asked Forretress.

Jigglypuff scribbled the number on Forretress' shell with her marker since she had no paper handy. "Make sure not to smudge that or anything, I have no idea how we'll meet again without it!"

"Ah, I'm sure our paths will cross again even if we lose the number," Geodude said confidently. "Our trainers always seemed to run into you back in Kanto and Johto, didn't they?"

Jigglypuff laughed. "Haha! Good point! Okay, I'd better go now. Like I said, I have an appointment to make. Remember to call me, I can't wait to get this band thing started!"

The band said their goodbyes. Jigglypuff reentered her robot and left for Battle Frontier, flying away by hanging onto Garuda's insectile legs. And the rest of the Pokerockers sat down near their trainer to wait for him to wake up.

…

Brock yawned, stretched his arms, and smacked his lips, slowly coming out of his song-induced sleep. "Mm, that was a good dream…" he moaned, coming back to the land of the wakeful. Visions of himself, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and Rui all making hot sex together ran through his mind, and he drooled at the memory. Then he noticed the six Pokemon gathered around him, looking relieved that he was awake. He was relieved too. "Guys!" he cried, grabbing Geodude, Mudkip, Lombre, and Forretress and hugging them all. Onix managed to join in by curling his tail around Brock's feet. "I was so worried about you! I'm so glad you're all…huh?" He stopped, noticing the phone number written on Forretress' shell. "Whaaaa! You got a phone number while you were out there!" He flung Forretress away in anger and collapsed to his knees, bursting into tears. "How could you betray me like this, Forretress! You managed to get a girl's phone number while I'm still alone and dateless! Oh well," he said, wiping away his tears. "At least I still have you guys…you're all single too, right?" he asked, grinning slightly insanely at his other Pokemon.

Lombre sweatdropped. "Er, actually…senorita Mudkip and I are…how you say? An…object?"

"You mean item," corrected Mudkip, hopping into Lombre's lily pad hat.

Lombre nodded, almost shaking her out of his hat. "Ah, si. That is being the correct word. Muchas gracias, mia bella."

"NOOOOO!" Brock pounded the ground with his fists. "It's not fair! Why is everyone getting together but me-he-he-he-he!"

Geodude sweatdropped. "Poor Brock."

"Yeah," agreed Onix.

"We probably shouldn't tell him that once the band kicks off, we'll be swarming with babes, and he'll still probably be all alone," Geodude said sadly.

"Yeah," Onix agreed.

Absol, Max, and Jirachi woke up soon after. "Ohhhh…that song was quite lovely," Absol said dreamily. He blinked, waking up fully. "Oh! Wishmaker! Are you all right?"

Jirachi yawned and opened up his protective cocoon. "Yeah, I'm all right Absol. I almost thought I was a goner too, after that mean robot ripped me in half! But I'm fine now!"

"That's good," Max said happily. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Jirachi."

"Awww…" Jirachi hugged Max. "Neither do I, Max!"

Wes and Rui woke up to find they were lying on each other. "Well, this isn't in the least bit awkward," Wes said sarcastically.

"Uh, no," Rui said, blushing.

"Mind getting off me?" the white-haired teen asked.

"…I'm not sure I want to," she admitted sheepishly. He rolled his eyes. Wes' five Pokemon snickered at his 'misfortune'.

Ash's Pokemon woke up soon as well. Pikachu yawned and noticed Ash was nowhere nearby. "Huh? Pikapi? Where'd you go?"

"Daddy's gone? Oh no! Where is he!" Phanphy asked anxiously.

"Relax, he's over there," Bayleef said, pointing with a vine to where Misty had dragged him, in the warm pile formed by her other Water Pokemon and Gyarados' coils.

Crawdaunt clacked his claws angrily. "Darn! Why couldn't I have gotten dragged over there?" he wondered angrily, noticing how comfortable Corsola seemed pushed up against Gyarados' head.

Charizard chuckled. "Lucky boy, our Ash. Heh…" He trailed off, a sad expression on his face. "Charla…" he muttered under his breath, remembering some of the details of his dream.

It was at that point that Ash woke up and found himself held very tightly in Misty's grasp, as she and her Pokemon had not yet awakened. He blinked, looked around, and tried to get up. Misty responded by grunting and pulling him back down, holding him tighter than ever. He blushed. Well, maybe he wasn't ready to leave just yet.

May looked over at where Ash was, then glanced at Delcatty and Golduck. Delcatty was curled up on Golduck's head again, and refused to let him up. He did not seem too anxious to get up either. May sighed. "Delcatty, return. You too Munchlax, stop eating my foot." The cat and…fat thing with cat ears gave her sour expressions as she forced them back into their Pokeballs.

Lance looked around at the numerous semi-romantic events and sweatdropped. "Am I the only one who seems to remember there's still a giant robot over there?" he asked, pointing at the severely damaged Tyranitron.

This seemed to be the catalyst needed to wake everyone else up or snap them out of whatever was cycling through their heads. Misty awakened, realized she was holding Ash, blushed, and let him go…a full three and a half seconds after realizing she was holding him. Gyarados uncurled himself and yawned. "Oh great, that thing's still there," he growled, glaring at the Tyranitron.

"Should we attack? It doesn't look like it can defend itself," Ash asked, walking over. Pikachu had already climbed back onto his hat, and Phanphy had glomped his leg in hopes of a ride so Ash was now carrying the little elephant in his arms.

"Well, we could test it…but since it took too long the last time, why don't you just use that fancy gadget of yours?" Lance asked. If there was any sarcasm or anger in that statement, Ash completely failed to notice it as he took out his Pokedex and scanned the robot.

Meanwhile, up in the Tyranitron's cockpit, the crew had already woken up to the glum realization that they had most certainly lost the battle. "Great, the power's out again, that sonic blast fried our controls, and that other robot destroyed our shields, so we're completely and totally defenseless. What else could go wrong?" Anny complained.

At that moment, the five heard a noise. A noise that caused their blood to freeze, their hearts to leap into their throats and the hairs on their back to stand up, for they realized it meant that they were utterly and completely screwed.

It was a squealing, high-pitched "Chiiiiiiiiii!"

They turned around as one in time to see Chimecho staring in awe at the self-destruct button, which had been freed from its protective shield by the glass-shattering frequency of the Exploudrematic's song blast. The Chime Pokemon drooled and floated over to the button.

The Marauder leaped out of his seat, hands outstretched to grab Chimecho. "NOOOOOOOO!" he cried, grabbing Chimecho before he could press the button and crashing into the ground, slamming Chimecho into the edge of the console that held the self-destruct switch and knocking the idiot Pokemon out.

The other pilots sighed in relief. "That was close," commented Bashou, wiping away some sweat.

Suddenly a ceiling panel, dislodged by all the shaking and sonic vibrations, fell down and hit the Marauder on the head, causing him to yell and accidentally fling Chimecho through the air. The unconscious Pokemon slammed headfirst into the glowing red button, pushing it in. All five pilot's faces went pale.

All throughout the Tyranitron, the lighting turned red and klaxons started blaring. "WARNING! WARNING! SELF-DESTRUCT HAS BEEN ACTIVATED! THE TYRANITRON WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN FIVE MINUTES! ALL PERSONELL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!" a digitalized recording of the late Dr. Robotnik's voice blared throughout every inch of the robot.

The pilots glanced at each other. "Oh FUCK!" Ripping off the electric helmets (the fasteners connecting them to their heads had disengaged when the power shut down permanently while they were sleeping) the Rockets rushed out of the room.

"Where's the escape pod!" Domino cried.

"Just down this hallway!" Oakley said, as they turned a corner in the hall leading to the Tyranitron's ear airlock...

And found themselves face-to-face with Wobbuffet, who had just climbed out of the maintenance ladder on the right side of the hallway. The blue blob and the five Rockets' eyes locked. Then, Wobbuffet glanced away, down at the end of the corridor, where a large metal door labeled ESCAPE POD was placed. Wobbuffet glanced back at the five humans, then turned and ran for the door.

"GET HIM!" the Marauder roared. The Rockets charged for the blob, certain they'd be able to catch up to him before he reached the door.

Wobbuffet tossed two Pokeballs behind him. "Go, Milotic, Cacturne!"

The forms of the beautiful Tender serpent and the scarecrow-shaped cactus appeared. The flashing lights, loud recorded warning, and the gang of Rocket agents bearing down on them startled Cacturne. "What-"

"Hold them off with Hydro Pump and Pin Missile while I get the escape pod opened!" Wobbuffet yelled, continuing down the corridor.

"Uh, right!" Cacturne pointed her arms at the Rockets and fired glowing white needles from her spiky fists as Milotic spat a high-powered stream of water at the agents.

The water burst struck them and forced the five back down the hallway, while the needles pricked them and drove them further back. "Ahhh! No! We can't let them reach the escape pod!" Anny cried, shielding herself from the water and needles.

"Let me handle this!" bellowed Bashou. She slid between the legs of the Marauder, whom had been trying to block the brunt of the Hydro Pump with his body mass, and dashed out from under it, running down the dry section of the corridor, out of the way of Milotic's pump. Cacturne noticed and jumped over Milotic's body, landing right in Bashou's path. She pulled back her fist and launched a glowing Needle Arm at the woman.

Bashou caught the punch in one hand and kicked Cacturne in the chest hard, causing the cactus to double over in pain. She was about to follow that up with an overhead chop when Milotic lashed out with her tail, catching Bashou in the stomach and forcing her back. "You stinking little-" Bashou started.

Cacturne interrupted her by delivering a Needle Arm uppercut to Bashou's jaw, throwing the woman up into the ceiling where she broke her nose and knocked herself out, falling to the ground unconscious.

Wobbuffet, in the meantime, had reached the labeled door and quickly gotten it open. "Milotic, Cacturne, return!" he called, using their Pokeballs as the other four Rocket goons closed in on the ladies, no longer held back by needles or water pumps. The red lasers struck Milotic and Cacturne, dematerializing them and sucking them into the safety of the Pokeballs. Wobbuffet gritted his teeth and pulled the door shut behind him, twirling a dial on the door and locking it from inside just as the Rockets caught up to him.

The Rockets pounded on the door, seeing to their horror that he had locked it. "Let us in!" yelled the Marauder. "Let us in, you little piece of shit!"

"If you don't open this door right now, you'll be in a whole world of pain, mister!" threatened Bashou.

"Actually…" mused Anny. "Since he's in there and locked the door, we can't get in there. So how could we put him in a world of pain? Not to mention he's a Wobbuffet, so he can probably deflect all our blows."

"SHUT UP, ANNY!" they all yelled.

Unfortunately, Wobbuffet had heard them. He looked around the small room he was in and saw it was a corridor leading to another door, this one made of thicker metal and coming out of the wall with a round, curved bulge. That was the escape pod.

He glanced back at the Rockets, who were now desperately pounding on the door and had switched from threats to pleas for mercy. He considered. If he got in the escape pod now and left, he'd be leaving all of them, including Miss Jessie and the other incompetents and their Pokemon, to die in a horrible explosion. On the other hand, if he let them in, they would probably try to kill him at the next chance they got, and he wasn't sure if the crystal's protective powers or his own would save him if he didn't think about it. They might be able to kill him if he was asleep. And he'd also be helping five very dangerous criminals from escaping the justice they deserved. On the other hand, could he really just leave them all here to die?

Robotnik's digitalized voice rang out. "TWO MINUTES LEFT TO SELF-DESTRUCT! EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"

At that moment, Wobbuffet made up his mind and headed for the escape pod door. They were all ex-members of Team Rocket, he reasoned. Surely all of them were capable of surviving a giant explosion. It was practically a prerequisite for employment. Ignoring the screams of panic behind him, he opened the hatchway to the escape pod, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

Seconds later, the back side of the Tyranitron's head flipped open, and a small, spherical metal ball was launched out of it at high speeds, spinning rapidly as it flew away and vanished into the horizon. "Looks like I'm blasting oooooffffff!" he yelled as his pod vanished in a twinkle of light.

…

Down in the engine room, the desperate Rocket members had tried everything they could to get the door open, from scratching it with Meowth's claws to smashing it with Seviper's tail. Butch and Cassidy had tried using their Pokemon to blast the door open (They knew at least one or two of them knew Acid or Hyper Beam) but all the Pokemon that had been in the treadmills were still in a food-induced stupor, and nothing, not even Butch's horrible singing voice or the ringing self-destruct klaxons, could wake them up. The five had finally given up, and were sitting on the floor dejectedly, waiting to die.

"You know, I always thought we'd die in a horrible explosion," Meowth said finally. "Everything else we do ends with a bang, makes sense that our lives would too."

James nodded. Then he hesitated, a contemplative look on his face. Finally, he nodded to himself. He turned to face Jessie and grabbed her hands. "Jessie?" he said.

"Yes James?" she asked in confusion.

"I have a confession to make," he said, looking her in the eye. "I…love…"

Jessie gasped and blushed. "James! You mean you-"

"Meowth!" James finished proudly.

Everyone stared at him in shock. "MEOWTH!" Jessie, Butch, and Cassidy shouted in disbelief.

"R-really?" Meowth asked hopefully.

"Yes! Yes it is!" James declared.

Meowth's eyes teared up. "Oh Jimmy boy…you have no idea how long I've waited to hear those words!" Crying with joy, he glomped James, who hugged him back.

"No…" stared Cassidy.

"Way," Butch croaked, feeling disappointed. _He_ had been hoping he could get James.

"But-but-but this can't be right!" Jessie protested. "I thought you loved me!"

James gave her a confused look. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, we've known each other for like, forever! And there've been all those hints in virtually every season!" she said frantically. "And the Japanese name for the flashback episode which shows how we became a trio is even called 'Team Rocket Special-Love and the Origin of Youth!'"

"Oh. Yes. Well…" James paused for thought. "I think I _did_ like you at one point, but then I lost interest because of your constant bitchiness and how much you looked exactly like my psychotic fiancé, so I decided to try another species and gender instead. Weezing and I were pretty close for a while, you know…"

Jessie gagged. "But the main twerp and twerpette are a couple, and she's a bitch too!"

"Not as big a bitch as you are," Meowth said cheerfully. "And she's genuinely helped us out bunches of times, whereas most of our efforts to help the twerps usually end with us stabbing them in the back and trying to steal Pikachu. Like that one time in the Orange Islands when you were paralyzed from Vileplume Stun Spore and she gave us some of that weed we needed to cure you, even after we tried to steal it from her! Remember that, Jimmy?"

"Oh yes, quite well," James reminisced. "And then after you were cured, you tried to steal Pikachu again. That wasn't very nice of you, Jessie."

Jessie pouted and sagged against the wall. "I can't believe this…"

Cassidy patted her shoulder. "Oh well Jessie, at least it won't matter in a few seconds because we're all about to die in a horrible explosion. And since it won't matter, I guess I should mention that I've actually been in love with you for years and covered it up all this time with extreme loathing and bitchiness."

Jessie stared at Cassidy for several seconds, then shuddered and scurried away. "Eewww!"

"It's not fair!" Butch cried, bursting into tears. "Why can't I have somebody too!"

"It's your voice, Butch. It drives everyone away," Cassidy said flatly.

He blinked. "Oh. Good point. DAMN PUBERTY! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

…

"WARNING! THIRTY SECONDS LEFT UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT! EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"

Giovanni, whose body had been ravaged and desiccated by the power he had unleashed, finally stirred from where he had fallen in the battery shaft. "Self…destruct?" He grunted, clutching his chest in pain as he tried to stand up, grabbing a railing for support. "No…have to…get out of here…" Groaning, he gestured a hand out to his mask and helmet. They trembled, but didn't move. Narrowing his eyes, he concentrated harder on them, trying to use his power; in spite of how much he had been depleted charging up the batteries. The helmet and mask wobbled violently, but slowly floated off the ground and made their way over to Giovanni, who grabbed them and put them on, the action almost draining all the energy he had left. "Ugh…" He grabbed onto the railing before he could collapse. "Have to…get out…raaahhhhh!" Gathering the power in the crystal, no matter what the consequences to his damaged body might be, Giovanni teleported in a flash of light.

…

"Waaahhh! I'm too young and pretty to die!" Domino wailed as the recorded voice informed them they only had twenty seconds left.

"Us too!" sobbed Anny and Oakley, holding each other.

"I can't believe this is really it," the Marauder said, stunned. "I always thought I'd go out in a dramatic Pokemon battle with the cops for some reason…oh well, guess you can't really choose the way you die, can you?"

Bashou sighed, gingerly touching her nose, which the Marauder had snapped back into place when she had woken up. "If there's one thing I regret, it's that I couldn't see Buson again before I died."

"Somebody say my name?" Buson asked, climbing out of the maintenance shaft.

"Buson!" Bashou cried, running over, grabbing him by the neck, and beginning to strangle him. "You idiot! This is all your fault! If you had been able to stop that intruder in the shield generator, we wouldn't have lost power so many times and ended up in this mess!"

"Gak…not the welcome I was hoping for!" Buson rasped as the other Rocket agents came over, all of them wanting a piece of him before they died.

They were all startled when there was a flash of purple light, and Giovanni appeared in the hallway with them. Before anyone could say a word, he grabbed Domino by the wrist and vanished in another flash of light, taking her with him.

"…Hey, what about us!" cried Anny.

"That favoring pig! He chose Domino over us, some of his best and most loyal agents!" Oakley spat.

"Well, he always did like her more," the Marauder admitted. "But I agree, he could have taken all of us instead of just her!"

"That fucking bastard!" Bashou agreed angrily, dropping Buson. "I hope he dies! Again!"

And it was then that the Tyranitron exploded.

…

"I found it!" Latias cried, triumphantly holding the Dragon Flute in the air.

"Finally!" Togetic said in relief. "Now, play so we can-"

KABOOM! The sound of a not-too-distant explosion washed over the city, rattling glass and shaking the ground slightly.

Latias and Togetic looked out the window to see a pillar of fire rising from the Pokemon habitat, and several small dots being flung far, far away from the explosion and vanishing in a twinkle of light. "Huh. Guess we took too long," Togetic said in disappointment. "They must have beaten it without us." Latias' eye twitched. "Latias?"

Latias said numerous foul and uncharacteristic words that caused Togetic to gasp and cover her ears. "I don't think Mom or Dad would be happy with you saying those words around me!"

There was the sound of feathery wings flapping nearby, and the thieving Murkrow landed on the windowsill, carrying several flutes in his claws and beak. When he saw Latias and Togetic in his apartment, he squawked in surprise, accidentally dropping his booty. "Whaaaat! What are you doing here?" He gasped, seeing Latias was holding the Dragon Flute. "Noooo! Let go of her! Let go of my precious! Give it to-"

He was interrupted when a frustrated and angry Latias spat a stream of Dragonbreath at him, lighting him on fire. "AAAAHHHH!" he screamed as he fell off the sill, tumbling to the ground far below and leaving a trail of white flames behind him.

Togetic stared at her aunt Latias in disbelief. The dragon seemed not to notice. Growling, she hung the flute back where it belonged on her neck, glaring at the explosion in the difference. "Let's go, Togetic." A sullen expression on her face, she smashed her way out the window when she couldn't fit through instead of transforming into "Bianca" and flew towards the burning column in the distance. Hesitant, Togetic followed.

…

The heroes watched in awe, from a safe distance, as the Tyranitron blew up in a spectacular display of pyrotechnics, creating a humongous mushroom cloud that towered to the heavens, spraying plumes of fire everywhere that exploded like fireworks. "Wow," many of them said all at once.

"It's so pretty!" Phanphy squealed, his eyes sparkling.

All the hundred of Pokeballs the Tyranitron had been carrying flew out of the explosion and broke open on the ground, releasing the numerous wild Pokemon that had been captured. They looked around at the shattered and desolated land that had been their home before the evil robot came and wept bitterly and openly, even the most stoic and hard-hearted of them.

"Those poor Pokemon," Misty said sadly. "They're free again, but to what? Their home has been destroyed in all the fighting."

"How awful," agreed Corsola. "Just like what happened to Togetic."

Politoed shook his head sadly. "I had a cheer all thought up for when we beat that monster…but now, it doesn't feel all that much like we've won. What a shame."

"Not to worry," Lance said reassuringly. "Mr. Ford gets a lot of harassment from Pokemon right activists on the treatment of the Pokemon in this city. He'll fix this place up right away, good as new, to avoid getting tagged by angry lawsuits. All these Pokemon will be fine."

"That's good to know," Max said in relief.

"Yeah, we kinda helped tear this place up when we were Justice Jirachi," Jirachi admitted sorrowfully. "I'm glad to hear there won't be any permanent damage."

Lance frowned, really noticing Jirachi for the first time. "I've never seen that species of Pokemon before. What is it? He?" he quickly corrected.

"Oh, this is-" Max started.

"Wow, what beautiful fireworks this explosion makes!" cried a familiar all-too sweet voice.

The heroes turned around to see Mariah Susanson approach them, Pika Pika on her shoulder. The Pikachu looked as sad as ever. It didn't seem as if Berry Stoo's death had made her much happier, and Mariah looked oddly happy too. How had she gotten over his death so quickly?

Brock was immune to her strange charm due to time spent with his Pokemon, who just happened to be Chosen, and May and Max were affected in the same way, thanks to Jirachi and Absol. Lance, on the other hand, had no such protection. "Who is that vision of loveliness?" he asked, awed.

The others glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "Lovely? Her?" May asked.

"I guess it's all depending on your own definition of loveliness," Pikachu guessed. "Although personally, how anyone can find that combination of shifting hair, eye color, and animal parts lovely is beyond me."

"Yeah, you're more interested in what's riding on her shoulder," Crawdaunt joked.

Pikachu flushed. "Sh-shut up, Crawdaunt."

Mariah glanced at Lance in disgust. "Sorry, but I'm taken. And I'd never go out with a traitor, anyway."

Lance stiffened visibly, and both her statements confused the group. "Wait…traitor? That sounds familiar…" Misty reflected, straining her memory.

"Yeah, I think I heard something about that," Bayleef agreed, brow furrowed in thought.

"Lance, what's she talking about?" Max asked.

"…Nothing. It's not important," he said a little too quickly.

"Not important!" Mariah yelled angrily. "Six months ago, you sold out to Team Rocket! You let them plunder the Dragon's Holy Land near Blackthorne City! Gym Leader Claire was seriously injured in the attack, and visiting Elite 4 member from Kanto Lorelei was put in a coma! All the Pokemon that lived there were taken away!"

There was a resounding gasp from the heroes. "What! Lance, you didn't do that, did you!" Ash asked.

"…" Lance looked away. "Dragonite, let's go." He jumped on his dragon's back and they took off before anymore questions could be asked of him.

"I can't believe this!" Max cried. "Lance, a traitor?"

"Now I remember! I did hear about that on television!" Misty recalled. "It was all over the news. Lorelei is still in the hospital. The circumstances of the incident aren't clear, but Lance freely admitted to letting Team Rocket into the Holy Land. He was expelled from the Johto League and banished from both Johto and Kanto. I guess he came here to avoid persecution or something."

Brock shook his head, distraught. "Amazing…who would have thought? I thought Lance was a good guy…I guess you really can't depend on anyone to be incorruptible."

"It's got to be a mistake!" Ash protested. "We met Lance before, remember? He fought against Team Rocket! Why would he help them out now? And if he were a bad guy, why would he have helped us against the Tyranitron?"

"Well…" May started. "He did seem adamant on waiting to make sure the Tyranitron was disabled before attacking, even though your Pokedex said it was safe. He could have been stalling on purpose so they could have time to finish repairs or whatever."

"And," Brock pointed out. "We don't even know what he's doing here in the first place. He never said. We all assumed he was on our side because of his reputation as a Pokemon G-Man. That, and because most of us have been on the road for a while we haven't exactly kept the best track of current events, so we might not have known he was a traitor."

"I still don't believe it!" Ash said stubbornly. Pikachu nodded in agreement. "Even if he did do it, there had to be a reason why!"

"I'll tell you why! Lance was always a member of Team Rocket!" Mariah snarled, startling the group. "He fought against them to convince the world of his goodness, while the team continued their illicit operations in secret! But this time, he got caught, and confessed everything so he'd get thrown out and could find some haven where the Rockets didn't already have a foothold!"

"That seems rather far-fetched," Misty said doubtfully. "And my friends and I have had plenty of run-ins with members of Team Rocket. I don't think they've gotten so powerful that they can do something like that; having a high-ranking member of the League really be working for them and distracting the public by taking down operations on the surface while they continue their own plans in secret."

"That's what they want you to think!" Mariah insisted. "The entire government is infested with Rockets!"

"That's stupid. If that were true, they'd have already ruled the world by now," Wes interjected. "So they wouldn't need to go to all the trouble of crap like giant robots or stealing Pokemon from trainers or whatever other dumb ideas they have for global domination if they already ruled." He shook his head. "She's just a crazy conspiracy nut. Ignore everything she says."

"And what would you know about Team Rocket!" Mariah said angrily. "They destroyed my life! They killed all five sets of either loving or abusive foster parents I had (along with my perfect real parents) and experimented on me to give me super powers and Pokemon parts so I can speak their language and do things no other person would do! You have no idea how strong they are! They even have a foothold in the Hoenn League too! Team Aqua and Magma have no idea about it!"

"Shut up," Wes said frankly. "You don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about. You're right, I don't know much about Team Rocket. But I know more about crooks and criminals then you ever could. And I know that if one of them really did rule the world, or even a part of it, they wouldn't tolerate having other crime rings in existence. The fact that so many gangs and teams do exist is proof that the criminals don't have all the power. And I almost can't believe I'm saying this, but that's a good thing. And in any case…why the hell would any gang experiment with giving humans Pokemon powers! Oh sure, I know it's been done by tons of organizations in an attempt to create perfect super-soldiers, all of which have failed horrifically…but the entire thing is just stupid and reeks of something you'd read about in one of those lame-brained 'Pokemorph' stories! Not to mention it's impossible to give a human that kind of power without serious consequences, such as insanity, extremely shortened life spans, or in most cases, flat-out spontaneous combustion. Humans aren't capable of handling the kind of power a Pokemon can. Our cellular and genetic makeup is too fragile to hold together with those kinds of energies coursing through our veins."

"What about human psychics?" Ash asked, recalling Sabrina, her father, and the Mossdeep twins.

"And isn't there a psychic in the Johto Elite 4? Will or something?" Max asked.

"Who wears a blindfold or a mask or something?" Jirachi asked.

"Kid, let me ask you something. Would you say the majority of the psychic humans you've met were completely all right in their head?" Wes asked. Ash thought back to Sabrina's psychosis and obsession with turning people into dolls, and Tate and Liza's habits of finishing each other's sentences and all too convincing acts of heartlessness and shook his head. Sabrina's dad was possibly the only totally sane psychic he had ever met.

Rui crossed her arms and glared at Wes. "Wes, I have psychic characteristics too," she hissed quietly.

"Only marginally," he said quickly to stave her wrath. "Not enough to do anything major. All you can do is read auras and stuff. Nothing like seeing the future, or teleportation or telekinesis or telepathy or tele-whatever. Not like some of those other psychics. Fifty percent of those guys inevitably go mad with power. Seventy-five percent explode from using too much of their power, or by losing control of it. The remaining twenty-five percent are constantly balancing on the edge of madness, and will probably have a shorter life span than the average human. The oldest has lived to be about sixty or sixty-five, but most of them die much sooner. Those guys get the easy deaths though…their brain just goes kaput and they turn into vegetables."

"Why?" May asked.

Wes shrugged. "I dunno. The power eats them up from within or something. Kills their brain cells, maybe. Erodes their arteries, stops their heart…could be any number of reasons. At least it's not quite as painful as blowing up or imploding, which happens to most of them." He shuddered. "Back in…back in Orre, there was this one guy I knew who everyone thought was psychic. He could do little tricks with bending spoons, guess people's cards, you know, typical magician stuff. Even a little mind reading and fortune telling. I never bought any of it. Figured he was a hoax. Then, when I got conned into having my fortune read, he took my palm and peered into my eyes. There was some weird vibe in the air and it got chilly all of a sudden, even though it was really hot because that cheapass Gonz…the guy who was my boss never paid for air-conditioning, and we were too deep in…the place we lived to have windows. He actually started _glowing_ and his eyes turned black and looked like a starry night sky, and my skepticism and doubts started to fade away as I realized I was being confronted with the real deal. An actual, honest-to-god psychic.

And that's when his head exploded and the rest of his body just collapsed on itself, and there was all this freaky colored electricity and fire crackling and burning about everywhere, and the earth seemed to shake beneath my feet…and then he was gone. Like he had never been there, save for this ugly bloody blast mark scorched into the floor. No matter how hard we scrubbed at it, it never came off." He shook his head. "Humans are not meant to have that kind of power, in my opinion."

The group stared at him in silent shock, stunned by his tale. "C-could that happen to me?" Jirachi asked, horrified.

Wes blinked. "Huh? Um…no, I don't think so. I asked my Espeon about it, and he said that Psychic Pokemon, for some reason or another, are able to handle their powers from birth and continue to do so all their lives. Less than one percent suffers from spontaneous combustion or implosion or sudden vegetablization."

While this mollified Jirachi, the same could not be said for Max. "Then…then why do some humans get born with that kind of power?" Max asked finally.

Wes shrugged. "For the same reason some people are born with cancer, or mental illnesses, or a genetic predisposition to smoke or drink or get addicted to something. Semi-random collisions of genes when we're being formed in our mother's wombs. As far as I know or care, there's no big plan where what and who we are is decided beforehand, it's all just determined by how the organs and fluids and matter that makes us up was put together. It just happens. There are plenty of egghead scientists who could probably explain it better, but as far as I know it all boils down to that: it just happens." He shrugged. "And you have to live with it. That's all you can do."

"That won't happen to me," Mariah claimed, reminding everyone she was there. "I have full control over my abilities!"

Wes snorted. "That's what the guy I knew back in Orre said. And every other psychic who's gone insane or spontaneously combusted. All of them thought they could handle it, and that blinded them to the danger they had just by existing, so they died. That's the thing with pride and arrogance, so it often ends up destroying your life."

She sneered at him, but it was someone else entirely who responded to Wes' taunt. "That 1z n0 wai t0 sp33k t0 my g1rlfr13nd, l00sr!"

The blood of the heroes ran cold as the unmistakable figure of Berry Stoo walked up at Mariah's side. "No," Wes gasped. "No! You're dead! We saw you die!"

"We did?" Max whispered to Jirachi.

The Wishmaker shrugged. "I don't remember seeing that. In fact, I don't even know who these people are, do you?"

"The two of you were occupied playing with your giant robot," Absol explained quickly, uncertain that they needed to know that they had killed someone. And it seemed even more unnecessary, seeing as how that same someone was standing there before them.

Berry laughed. "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! F00lz! N0 n00b can d3f33t B33r3 St00!"

"But we _saw_ you die!" Ash protested, not sure what to believe anymore.

Pikachu nodded. "Yeah, he was crushed beneath that giant weight and splattered into a surprisingly small amount of blood and skin. Why was that, anyway?" His friend shrugged.

"He did die," Mariah admitted. "And I was lonely and sad. But then a miracle occurred, and my tears brought him back to life!"

"That's impossible," Misty argued. "There's an old story about something like that, yeah, but it has to be Pokemon tears that bring someone back, not human tears…and even then, I kind of doubt crying can really revive someone." She had no idea how wrong she was. Then again, it's not like she could remember the first time Ash had died. Or was it the second? Did the time in Pokemon Tower count? Bah, the boy's adventures were too out-of-this-world.

"And besides, how could he be brought back if he was splattered to pieces? No body to reanimate!" Brock pointed out.

Mariah scowled. "Myself _and_ all of my and Berry's Pokemon mourned and cried for him, because we all loved him and he was the best and kindest and most wonderful trainer and master they could ever have!"

"That's not true!" Phanphy argued with childish faith and pride. "My daddy is!" Ash blushed at that.

Mariah glared at him for interrupting and continued. "And then a light shone down from above, and God's voice spoke to me and said he would grant me my wish, and then Berry appeared before me, good as new!"

Max gestured to May, and she bent down as he whispered into her ear, "Which god is she talking about here? I didn't think any existed anymore."

She shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Is that really true?" Rui asked skeptically.

"0v c0rs 1t 1z, l00srs!" Berry snorted. "Hau 31s w00d 1 g3t h33r?"

"Maybe you were never here at all," Wes guessed, suddenly suspicious. "The way you died, there should have been a lot more blood and gore. But there wasn't. Maybe you're not an actual human. You could be some golem or puppet Mariah made to be her sex toy and 'friend', I wouldn't put it past her. I've read about that kind of thing. I hear Sabrina of Saffron made one, a doll that represented her repressed childhood or something."

Both Mariah and Berry scoffed at his accusations. "That's ridiculous!" the woman snapped.

"Yah, r1d1cy00lus!" Berry agreed. "1'm az much a hy00man as y00!"

"Most humans don't speak the way you do," Rui pointed out. "Though I suppose it could be some foreign accent." She didn't look like she believed it.

"Can people actually make someone like that?" Ash wondered, frightened by the notion. "Just imagine them into existence or something?"

Charizard shrugged. "I don't see why not," he said. "It's not like we haven't seen things just as weird on our adventures. That Molly girl had the power to do it when the Unown controlled her a couple of years ago. She still might be able to, actually…"

"My mother once told me that all the people and Pokemon of the world came into existence because someone dreamed them," Corsola mused. "Or something like that. I wasn't paying attention."

"Baby, I wouldn't mind being one of your dreams," Crawdaunt said smoothly.

She looked at him in confusion. "Huh?" He sighed and shook his head, giving up.

"Berry's not my puppet," Mariah said, holding the blonde man's arm. "And together, we'll crush you in the Hoenn League! You thought he was tough on Luvdisc Day? He was holding back! His Pokemon are so much stronger than yours that they'll be completely annihilated! And mine are even STRONGER, so they might actually die fighting me! It's happened in past tourneys," she added. She tugged on Berry's arm. "Come on Berry, let's leave them."

"0kay, m1 b3y00t1ful w11df10w3r," Berry said, letting himself be gently tugged away.

As they walked away, Pika Pika glanced over her shoulder at Pikachu. Their eyes met for a moment as the roar of helicopters began to surround the heroes, as reporters eager to interview the heroes who, from their perspective, had somehow destroyed the Tyranitron started appearing apparently from thin air around them. She shook her head and looked away as the gathering throng of reporters blocked the sight of her from Pikachu. And as camera flash bulbs started going off and questions were frantically asked of the startled group, Pikachu suddenly wondered if maybe he hadn't been too rash after all when he had promised to do whatever he could to help her.

…

The metal sphere bobbed gently in the sea, pushed and carried by the tide and the current. A Milotic swam happily in the water around the sphere, while a Wobbuffet, a Wynaut, and a Cacturne sat on the top, basking in the sun.

"The sun…" whispered Cacturne, absorbing the burning sphere's light through her skin. "Ahhh…it feels so long since I've been able to feel it on my bare skin. That is, I've felt it but…I haven't _felt_ it, you know what I mean? Because I was a Shadow Pokemon."

"Well you're not anymore," Wynaut chirped. "You're a real Pokemon again, just like us."

"I know. And I owe your brother dearly for giving me back my heart. Thank you Wobbuffet," she said, bowing to the blue blob. "I can never repay you for this."

Wobbuffet shrugged. "You don't have to," he said. "I'd rather have you as my friend."

"Then I'll be your friend," Cacturne said, holding out a spiked hand. Bemused, Wobbuffet shook it. "So where to now?"

"Mirage Island! We have to return the crystal so it'll be safe from the world again!" Wynaut explained.

"But how will we get there?" Cacturne asked. "We're out in the middle of the ocean. We have no idea where it is from here!"

Wobbuffet smiled and held the crystal shard up to the sunlight. The light did not shine off of it, rather it seemed to be absorbed, like the jewel was some kind of hole in space. "That won't be a problem," he said as the gem's knowledge filled his mind. He glanced down at the water. "Milotic!" he called. "We're heading south by south-west! Can you get us started?"

"Of course!" she sang, her eyes glowing.

The water around the escape pod started to bubble and swell. "We should probably get inside," Wobbuffet recommended, sliding down the side of the sphere to the open hatch. "And buckle our seatbelts. I imagine this will be a bumpy ride."

His words proved to be true as they all got inside, shut the door, and quickly strapped themselves into the seats inside the pod, for right then Milotic's Surf kicked in, and a humongous wave rose out of the water, precariously carrying the pod on its crest like a pea balancing on the edge of a knife. The wave reached its peak and flung the pod into the air before collapsing back into the sea.

The three Pokemon inside the pod wailed as their ride span over and over in the air, with seemingly no regard whatsoever to the laws of gravity. They would have emptied their stomachs, had they any food in them.

The pod plummeted towards the sea, but before it could impact, another wave conjured by Milotic rose from the waters, catching the sphere and carrying it for a while before launching it in the air a second time, as the Tender serpent darted through the water underneath so that she might catch it again with a third Surf.

The four travelers continued in this violent, jarring, and definitely unpleasant ride as they continued bearing towards Mirage Island, but, once all was said and done and they drunkenly staggered out of the pod or slithered out of the water and collapsed exhaustively on the island's shores, one thing ran through all their minds before they blacked out: it had been worth it.

…

The ceiling caved in as the scorched and blackened bodies of Anny, Oakley, Bashou, Buson, the Iron Masked Marauder, Jessie, James, Meowth, Chimecho, Butch, and Cassidy all crashed into it and fell to the hard cement floor below, hitting it with a loud and very painful crack. They lay there in a heap for a moment, moaning in pain…and then the Pokemon that had fallen asleep after Wobbuffet had released them from the treadmills fell through the hole the group of criminals made coming through the ceiling and landed on top of them, crushing them. Amazingly, they were _still _asleep. There were more moans of pain.

"Well," Jessie started weakly. "I can safely say that was without a doubt the absolute worst blast-off and landing we've ever had."

"Indeed," James concurred.

"Chiii!" Chimecho squealed weakly.

James gasped. "Chimecho! Where are you? I've been so worried about you!"

"I think he's under my left armpit," Bashou grunted.

"No, that's my…never mind," Buson said quickly.

"This really sucks," groaned Oakley.

"Yeah, this Pokemon on top of me is drooling all over my hair," Anny whined.

"Oh, that's not drool, that's…never mind," Meowth said quietly.

"I can safely say without a doubt this is the worst day of my life," the Marauder said miserably, squished under the weight of his snoring Tyranitrar.

That's when an Officer Jenny and several heavily armed and armored guards and Pokemon came out of the darkness. The Jenny smirked sadistically, tapping a nightstick on her hand. "Welcome to the Hoenn Region Maximum Security Penitentiary, ladies, gentlemen, Pokemon, and indiscernible others. I hope you will enjoy your very, _very_ long stay here."

"It just got worse," the Marauder whimpered.

"Um, I have a question!" James said, freeing a hand from where it was pinned beneath Buson's chest and waved it in the air, not noticing everyone's hisses to shut up. "If this is maximum security, then why was our impact strong enough to cave in the ceiling?'

Jenny nodded at an extremely burly Raichu, and he zapped the whole group of criminals with a ludicrously powerful Thunderbolt that almost rivaled one of Pikachu's at his strongest, shocking the sleeping Pokemon awake and causing them to roll and scramble about in terror as they found themselves in an unfamiliar environment, crushing the poor humans and breaking bones as they panicked. "That's why."

"That doesn't make any sense!" James protested, ignoring common sense that should have told him to shut up and take his beating in silence. "That didn't answer the question at all, that was just a typical act of brutality used by corrupt prison guards to show who's the 'boss'!"

"You're absolutely right," agreed Jenny, signaling the Raichu and an enormous Torkoal, hitting the crooks with another enormous Thunderbolt as well as a blazing hot Overheat. "I hope that answers all your questions?"

"Actually," James persisted. "No it did-" He was thankfully shut up when a frightened and agitated Tentacruel wrapped its tentacles around the idiot human's neck, constricting him and stopping him from making things worse. The rest of the crooks sighed in relief, which ended quickly due to the pummeling they were getting from their frantic stampeding Pokemon.

It all goes to show you: crime pays handsomely at first, but ends up with you either dying or getting blown up and thrown into jail, dogpiled underneath an extremely heavy heap of abused and slightly deranged Pokemon agitated by very high pressure while sadistic guards just watch and laugh. Yes, crime really isn't worth the effort in this world, is it?

…

Two tall figures watched from a short distance as medical personnel loaded the five Poke Rangers, Drew, Soldiers Heart and Wisdom, along with Lumis, Umbra, and Roselia, into ambulances, where they would be transported to a hospital and treated as quickly and carefully as possible. One of the figures sighed and gazed at the still-smoking remnants of the Senshibot and Megaloid, which would later be recovered and transported back to home base, where they would be lovingly fixed up and repaired by crews of mechanics and technicians. "There goes almost a million dollars down the drain," he said sadly. "What a waste of time."

The figure was a man in his late forties, seven feet tall and ramrod-straight, with blue eyes and severely cut dirty-blond hair and a goatee, wearing a pinstriped business suit and tie. And a cowboy hat, because he thought it appealed to the kids. He was J.R.S. Ford, president of Ford Industries, a major investor and shareholder in Ever Grande City, and owner of Battle Frontier, which that very evening would be hosting the opening ceremonies of the Hoenn Championships, as well as the tournament itself for the next several days. His companion, a tall, dark red Blaziken with eyes hidden behind stylish sunglasses, simply crossed his arms and grunted.

"It wasn't a total waste," said a teenaged young man, approaching Ford. He looked much like the older man, only with messier hair and was a bit shorter in height. And more loosely dressed, he preferred a T-shirt and slacks to the older man's suit. "At least we know now that our roboticists are nowhere near as competent as they claim to be."

Ford nodded. "Yes, I suppose that's true, Harrison. Guess this finally gives me the excuse I've been looking for to fire them. Hmm, I must ask that Jigglypuff when I interview her today whom she got to construct her own magnificent robot. You saw it on the news, her contraption managed to stop that giant monster in its tracks! If we could get designers and mechanics like them at Ford Industries, our products would have an even higher rate of success! Not to mention the gadgetry used by our special 'Hero project' squad would be more effective and maybe a little less…eh, lame."

"That would be an improvement," Harrison agreed.

Ford nodded vigorously. "Yes, but what really impressed me was the courage those kids and their Pokemon had, facing down that monster even when it seemed like they had no chance of success! They even had a giant robot of their own somehow, one which might be even more powerful than the one used by that Jigglypuff! You saw how it was able to penetrate that monster's shield so easily and do some real damage! A shame it was destroyed so callously, though, I would have loved to get my hands on it…" He shrugged. "In any case, I liked the looks of that one fellow, the boy with the hat and the Pikachu on his shoulder. Wasn't he a friend of yours? You fought him in the Silver Conference, right?" Harrison nodded. "What was his name again?"

"Ash. Ash Ketchum," the son informed his father.

"Yes, that's the one. Did you see how he willingly threw himself in harm's way to protect those two Pokemon, the Pikachu and the Phanphy?" Ford asked. "Reminds me of you and your Blaziken-hell, reminds me of me and _my_ Blaziken," he said, nodding to his silent Pokemon, "Back when I was younger. I think he'd be a perfect candidate for the Hero project, don't you?"

Harrison didn't look so sure. "Dad…Ash already is a hero, sort of. He doesn't need to be another one of your superheroes."

"Why not?" Ford persisted. "All the kids in the project are heroes too. Giving them the power to fight crime on a different level is just the next step up the ladder. I think that Ash boy would be perfect as the sixth Ranger on A.S.S., don't you?"

"I don't know, Dad," Harrison said uneasily. "You'd have to ask Ash about that."

"That I do, that I do," Ford agreed. "Say, both of you will be in the tournament, won't you?"

"If I know Ash, then yeah, probably," Harrison agreed.

"Do you think you could talk to him about it?" Ford asked. "I'd do it myself, but I'll be busy running the tournament and a whole other mess of things."

"…I guess I could," Harrison said finally. "I don't know why he'd go for it, though."

"Simple," said Ford, turning away from the wreckage of the giant robots, which had finally stopped smoking. "Everyone wants to be a hero at some point of their lives. Some people grow out of it, others don't. Is there anything wrong with helping those that do fulfill their desires?"

Harrison shrugged. "I guess not…"

"Good!" Ford said with a grin, clapping Harrison on the shoulder. "Now come on, we have to get back to the penthouse where we're staying, I've already arranged for dinner to be waiting for us and our cute little Jigglypuff guest for her interview. Wouldn't want to miss dinner with your old man, would you son?"

Harrison laughed. "Nah, I wouldn't miss it for the world!" He followed his father as they headed back to Ford's personal helicopter.

Ford's Blaziken remained where he had been standing for a few moments, staring out at the wrecked robots and the desolation around them, his eyes unreadable beneath his dark sunglasses. After a moment, he grunted, and turned to join his partner and his son in the copter. He didn't want to miss dinner, either.

…

The bridge on the Shadow Cruiser was empty, almost abandoned. The corpses left by those who had been poisoned by the pizzas, as well as the decapitated body of Ein, had all been dragged out by loyal Rockets, so that when their boss returned he'd have a clean workplace and command center.

The command center was empty no longer as a flash of purple light shone through the windows and suddenly, Domino and Giovanni appeared in the middle of the room. Domino gasped, startled by the sudden transition from flashing hallway of the Tyranitron to the bridge of the Shadow Cruiser. Behind her, Giovanni groaned and collapsed to the ground.

Domino gasped and knelt down beside her master. "Boss! Are you all right?"

He coughed, trying to summon the strength to look up at her. "I'm fine…just…a little drained…used too much power in the battery shaft, and teleporting us here…just give me a minute to…" He broke off with a gasp of pain, he had tried to push himself up, but the exertion was too much for his tired body, and he fell back down to the ground.

"Boss!" Worried, Domino pulled the boss up, carefully setting him down in the captain's chair. "Wait right here boss, I'll get Sebastian and any other doctor I can find! Back in a sec!" She raced out of the room.

Giovanni groaned in pain, but inwardly felt pleased that he had done such a good job picking Domino as his aide. She was the best agent he had ever known. If there was anyone he could count on for certain, it was she.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, relaxing his decaying body. She would be back soon. He was certain of it. Sebastian and the doctors would figure out what was wrong with him and get him back to feeling a hundred percent (well, maybe seventy-five percent, he was dead after all) and then he would work up a plot to steal some money to put Team Rocket back in business. The loss of the Tyranitron was a major setback, but in the end it was just that, a setback. All it did was delay the inevitable. Once they had regained some funding and rebuilt their foundation, Team Rocket would once again be the most notorious organization in the world. And then-

His musings were interrupted when the most blood-curdling, gut-wrenching, agonizing scream of torment and pain he had ever heard resounded across the Shadow Cruiser. And it sounded like Domino. His eyes shot open. "D-Domino?" he whispered in a throaty rasp. There was a long silence. "Domino!" Giovanni yelled louder.

The action almost disintegrated what was left of his vocal cords, but it got him an answer. It was not, however, the one he had hoped for. "I'm sorry, but Domino is not here anymore. Not completely."

What little fluid in his body that could still be called blood froze. Although he had not seen the speaker, the power of the voice alone was enough to make him tremble in fear. "Wh-who are you?" he whispered, unable to utter any louder noises than that.

"Who am I? What a presumptuous question. But I suppose all victims desire to know who their killer is." He heard the sound of claws, or something like them, clacking against the metal floor of the bridge. They didn't sound like the usual amount of claws though, more like just two claws period, one per foot, instead of the usual two or higher claw per foot that most Pokemon had. But somehow, Giovanni did not think this was a Pokemon.

The speaker rounded the chair Giovanni was sitting in and stood before the undead crime lord in all its glory. And Giovanni sank deeper into the icy grip of fear as he met the eyes-the terrible, awful, _evil_ eyes-of the speaker. Unable to gaze into them long without feeling panic and terror unlike any he had ever felt in his long and powerful life, he glanced away-and saw that the figure was holding Domino's head by the hair in one of its hands. And the head wasn't attached to Domino's body. The body itself was nowhere to be seen. But if there was no body, then how could Domino's eyes which shed blood like tears roll down to stare at her boss, and how could her mouth open and say, while gore dripped out, "Run boss, run, teleport, escape, get out of-"

The head exploded abruptly as a mild needle of psychic force was lanced into its brain, causing blood to spatter everywhere. "I really am surprised by how fortune is smiling on me today," the figure said conversationally, as if he hadn't just crushed the disembodied head of Giovanni's favorite Rocket. "I came to this ship thinking to find only one piece of myself, and what happens but a second one falls right into my lap just as I finish mopping up everyone on this little boat of yours."

"Y-you can't have it," Giovanni rasped, instinctively knowing the monster was talking about his crystal. "It's mine! I found it! It gave me life again! It's not yours anymore!"

The figure laughed. "Oh, but it is Giovanni Sakai Rocketto. That crystal is more than just a fragment of power, it's a fragment of myself. A part of me I have been missing for more than a hundred thousand years. And it is not as if it is doing you any good," the figure added. "The power animated your corpse, yes, but you've been using too much of it. Your frail human bodies are too weak to handle this level of power for long without being consumed by it. And that is what is happening to your body now, isn't it? You used too much of it, arrogantly believing you could control it…but in the end, it controlled you." The figure caressed Giovanni's mask, and the zombie recoiled, the very touch of the demon's fingertips igniting what was left of his nervous system with pain, pain, pain, and he wasn't even touching his skin! "The power used you, Giovanni. It was never yours, you were its. It used you as a vessel through which it could eventually return to me and become whole. And you were truly the perfect vessel," the monster said approvingly.

"What do you mean?" Giovanni whispered in fear.

"Because in truth, you are no more than just that: a vessel. You are a body without life or a soul. That departed you when you died. What is left in you, what you would still call your 'self' is nothing but the recorded persona engraved on your brain. You are not the real Giovanni Rocketto. You are his body. His _shell_."

"I…" Giovanni blinked. "I…am not Giovanni?" Somehow, despite how much he denied it, he knew the evil one spoke truth.

"You are and you are not Giovanni. You act as he did, speak as he did, if you were allowed to continue existing you would no doubt do everything exactly as he would have were he still here. But you are only Giovanni in body and mind. His heart, his soul, the truest and innermost sense of his self, vacated you when you and he died.

You are nothing but a puppet, hollow and filled with my power. It manipulated you, pulling your strings to make you do what you would have done if you had never died, if in fact Giovanni Rocketto had somehow returned from that eternity which lies outside of time. But when you presumed too much, when you tried to pull on the strings that commanded you, the power consumed you. It ravaged you, sensing that I was near, and so no longer had need of you as its transport."

The monster pulled off Giovanni's mask, causing him to whimper in pain, and then the creature formed a sheet of crystal glass out of air molecules and held it to the hollow man's face so he could see his reflection.

If he still had any tear glands, Giovanni would have wept. Just a little while ago his face, which had admittedly not looked the best due to his death by electrocution and semi-decomposition in water, had at least been recognizable as his own. The same could not be said now.

He whimpered at the sight of his face. The skin had all but disintegrated, exposing a good deal of his skull to the open air. A few hairs still clung to the top of his head, as did a couple of patches of skin. His nose had collapsed, leaving a cavity. Many of his teeth had disintegrated as well, along with much of his tongue and jaw muscles, which would help explain why he had trouble speaking. His eyelids had disintegrated as well, revealing his eyeballs in all their glory, along with the nerves connecting them. The purple crystal sliver still glowed on his forehead, more brightly than ever before. "N-no…" he moaned.

"Yes," the villain corrected. "This is what you have become. And in a moment, you will be even less. The crystal is all that holds you together now. Without it, you would not even be dust." The demon chuckled. "You will receive a fate that is both much more merciful and at the same time infinitely worse than any of my other victims. Since you are nothing but a soulless husk, when you die you will cease to exist. No heaven or hell or whatever afterlives mortals conceive of, you will sink into the numbing depths of oblivion, never to exist again. But," he said brightly. "On the plus side, your soul and body won't writhe in endless, horrific pain like all my other servants and victims do. Your essence will not be held within mine until it becomes so broken and twisted it is almost as vile as my own. Your true essence was spared that fate by dying before I realized who I truly was. A pity." The figure slowly reached out, its fingers touching the crystal in Giovanni's forehead. Once more, what was left of his nerve clusters ignited with pain. "You asked me who I was, and before you cease to exist, I will tell you. I have had many names throughout history, and expect to have many more in the future. The name I currently use is one of my favorites, but to you it will mean nothing. So instead, I will tell you this:

I am the Devil, and I have come to reap the souls of every living thing on this world."

And then he pulled the crystal out of Giovanni's skull, and the empty shell knew no more.

…

And that ends that arc. What do you think? Got any names for the weird couples revealed or hinted at this chapter?


	40. Ignition of the Torch of Victory!

Last chapter was amazingly long. I hope I don't have to do anything that big again in the near future. Jesus! Anyway, here's chapter 40. Enjoy!

Yamimaru, we will see the fusion of the Exploudrematic and Garuda in the future, that I can promise you. And as for Mariah Susanson and Berry Stoo…we're not done with them just yet, sad to say.

Ring of Fire, Weirdvoiceshipping sounds more like anything involving Butch in a couple, no offense. I think MJ (Jackson, not Jordan) should have been convicted too. And your assumption is correct. But what's cheap about my Tyranitron! Do you think Garuda and the Exploudrematic are cheap too? And surely I'm not as good as JK Rowling…am I?

Ninetalesuk, just who is stronger than Berry and Mariah, anyway? And yes, I intend Charizard and Charla's reunion to be very emotional and sappy-ish, so hopefully it won't have you gagging out of disgust or anything.

Sir Pudding, I had no idea I had written so much. It all depends on the format you're reading with, I suppose. I fixed the sentence in question, thanks for pointing it out. If you still say Bloodbath was more violent, then I intend to make future chapters much more graphic to compensate! And I'm glad you enjoyed Berry's 'death', it was meant to be entertaining. And torturing people with a deadly sound wave isn't a reason to hate TR? Most of the stuff I threw in for them was just for comic relief. Buson's jerk-ass attitude down in the shield room was serious, though. And I apologize for Giovanni's lack of coolness. I considered having him duel Wobbuffet with lightsabers, but then I decided that would be too over the top. And while Latias and Togetic did need the flute back from Murkrow, the whole thing was in a sense a waste of time because it kept them from helping their friends fight the Tyranitron. What's wrong with lots of exclamation marks in my narrative? Is it unprofessional? And I'm agnostic myself, so I do believe in God (sort of) just not religiously. And who says you need a religion to have a devil? Anything you take as religious talk in this story is…well, I don't know how to explain it. It's the usual, myths evolving around facts. That kind of thing. If it's religious at all, anyway.

Yes HVK, you can be very absurd at times. Much more than me, this is part of what makes your stories humorous. What about the evil one were you proved right about? And disintegrating Gio isn't too gross, is it? I've seen much worse…I think. The Meowth/James thing was meant to be totally spontaneous, just like most humor, so it'd hit you and you'd be amazed that I came up with something this insane to begin with. Nagus? Who's that? Oh, and regarding your KH Crossover fic, I just had a horrible thought. If Nicktown or whatever is gone does that mean the land of Avatar: The Last Airbender is destroyed too?

Disclaimer: I own Ford and his company and him being Harrison's dad, as well as Battle Frontier hosting the Hoenn Championships, along with the torch ceremony for this region, and many other things. All else is owned by the Pokemon corporation people.

…

Some hours after managing to escape from the reporters by unleashing Wes' occasionally ferocious Pokemon on them, and reclaiming his truant Ho-Oh, our heroes were finally on their way to Battle Frontier for the opening ceremonies of the tournament.

The sun, now a dim yet vivid yellow-orange hue, was descending past the horizon. Already half of its spherical mass was out of sight from the window of Ash's car on the Battle Tram (the only way to reach Battle Frontier, other than by flying in or taking a boat) and it cast a golden silhouette which shimmered on the sea as it was distorted by waves and the wakes of oceanic Pokemon swimming or leaping in and out of the water. The sky had turned a gorgeous purple-red hue, and the clouds were tinged with gold from the diminishing light of the sun.

The tram running from Ever Grande City to Battle Frontier was your typical monorail train system, with a long, very sturdy and safe rail extending from the station on one island to the station on the other, supported by very strong support pillars that went down to the bottom of the sea. The monorail train itself was composed of a couple of dozen sleek, curved cars without corners or edges covered in shining chrome to give them a futuristic look. From a distance, it looked like nothing less than a gleaming chain of sausages. Each car was packed with trainers eager to get to the Frontier island and take part in the opening ceremonies for this, what could be called one of-if not the first-of the most defining moments of their lives. Because Ash had, despite being put under extreme pressure by the monorail officials, been unable to recall his Pokemon into their Pokeballs, seeing as how they had none and would not fit into any, he had grudgingly been given a car to himself and his friends. Several trainers were displaced and had to wait for the next train, which made them very pissed and they all vowed to kick Ash's rear in the tournament. Whether he would actually face any of them in the tournament was questionable, but not an important matter at the moment. All of the group's Chosen Pokemon had been able to cram into the car, along with their trainers, save for Onix and Gyarados, who were just too big. Gyarados was able to get around this problem by diving into the water and swimming alongside the monorail, but poor Onix couldn't swim and had to stay behind all by his lonesome at the train station. He originally thought of digging his way there, but then he was informed that both islands were artificial and connected to the sea floor not by massive towers of earth and stone, but by metal columns and supports. If he tried to dig to Battle Frontier, he'd drown. Geodude had elected to stay behind and keep him company, and Brock would have stayed behind too if he wasn't so curious to see the opening ceremony (which, he hoped, would be performed by hot babes who would be willing to get a room with him at whichever hotel they were staying at). Latias had changed into 'Bianca' so as to give the others more room on the train, and they were all now somewhat comfortable instead of being claustrophobically packed into the car.

Phanphy, Max and Jirachi were looking eagerly out the windows like the overenthusiastic kids they were, watched over by the tired Absol. May sat next to them, looking apprehensive and uncertain, but she didn't voice whatever internal dilemmas were plaguing her. Misty had tried to strike up a conversation with her fellow heroine a few times, but May's half-hearted and unemotional responses eventually convinced Misty, although somewhat reluctantly, to leave her alone. Ash was listening greedily to all the tidbits of info Brock could feed him from the brochure on Battle Frontier, hoping it would give him some clue as to what he was getting into. Togetic was snoozing in her mother's lap, tired from the exhausting search for Latias' stolen flute, which was now thankfully back around its owner's neck, where it belonged. Corsola was being hit on by Crawdaunt, and was as always blind to his intentions and poorly concealed entendres. Charizard, almost completely free of his aquaphobia, was relaxing against a wall and making sure not to look too carefully at the ocean that surrounded the moving train outside the window. Pikachu, like Togetic, was also sleeping in his trainer's lap, worn out from the day's events and the attacks inflicted by the Tyranitron. Bayleef was snoozing on one of the comfortable couches lining the walls of the car, warmed by the rays of the setting sun as they passed through the windows. Latias was having idle chats with Misty in May's place, mostly little gossip and embarrassing things about Ash (always amusing), when the dragon girl gasped and went rigid in her seat, staring out the window. "What? What is it?" Misty asked, turning to look. She gasped too, when she saw what Latias had observed before the rest of them. Their gasps in turn grabbed the attention of the others, as well as waking up the sleeping Pokemon, causing all of them to wonder what the fuss was about just before they too looked out the window and saw the amazing spectacle before them.

The architects who had constructed the monorail had built it to take an almost unnoticeable sharp turn to the left as it approached the island, so all the tourists and trainers coming to Battle Frontier would be given an unobstructed view of just what they were getting themselves into before coming in for the final approach at the island's tram station. Battle Frontier was a large rectangular island, much smaller than Ever Grande, but no less amazing. The majority of the island was covered in fine white pavement and was shaped into a kind of plateau, with all the buildings and landmarks on a mostly level plane which rose several hundred feet from the sea on a steep slope covered in greenery and rocks. The edges of the plateau were lined with railings and vibrant yellow flags on tall poles, which alternated between showing the symbol of Battle Frontier (a blue and white Pokeball with three interlocked rings behind it) and the logo for Ford Industries (a slanted F emblazoned on a gear). Extending from the lower-left end of the island was a backwards L-shaped pier, with a station where the monorail line terminated at its end and stairs going down to a maze of smaller docks and piers, where numerous ships of varying sizes were docked. The inside of the L formation, between the pier and the island itself, was inhabited by a large cruise ship, which was docked and anchored firmly. People were streaming off the ships and onto the pier, eager to enter the Frontier. The stretch of pier leading onto the island proper was almost totally blocked from where the L angled by a small building which served as security and ticket station for the island, where people could get their hands or Pokedexes stamped to allow them access to the island throughout the duration of their visit either at the Frontier or at whichever hotel they were staying at back at Ever Grande. For the tournament, admissions cost extra, but were free to all participating trainers and their companions. (Luckily for Ash's friends.) Three elaborate marble arches decorated the pier behind the admissions building, serving as a gateway into the world of Battle Frontier. From the entrance, there was a broad intersection going left, right, and straight ahead. To the left, decorated by large arboreal and floral centerpieces, the wide path led to a peninsula of sorts that took up the lower-left edge of the island, on which stood a tall metal building with chrome and yellow stripes coloring its structure. Two smaller buildings sprouted from either side of the central building, sharing the same coloration. This was Battle Factory, one of the seven special arenas unique to the Frontier.

To the right at the intersection, the path opened into a small "town" of sorts with gift shops, a Pokemon Center and Poke' Mart, an expensive inn for the truly wealthy customers, a small state-of-the-art hospital for humans, a Breeding Center (Brock would be sure to like that) and a "Psychic" who could tell fortunes and the like. (She wasn't actually psychic, just very close to her Xatu and Alakazam. They helped her out.) The north side of town ended in a small lake with an island in the middle hosting a building shaped like a giant Seviper with its mouth wide open, its tongue unfurled and forming a bridge to the edge of the lake. This was Battle Pike, another one of the seven arenas. The town continued a ways down the long side of the island, ending in another intersection with two paths, one going north and the other east. The east road was bordered on both the north and south sides by a pair of small tree-lined lakes, each of which had islands holding another one of the Frontier's special arenas on it. To the north, across a tree-lined bridge and through a wooden gate, was a tall traditional Japanese pagoda, with white walls and blue shingles on the many layers of its roof. This arena was called the Battle Pavilion. To the south, sitting in the middle of a lake that occupied the lower-right corner of the island and emptied into the sea in a magnificent waterfall, was a large building which looked like the castles which ancient African monarchs lived in, with red walls and dark brown pyramidal roofs on the numerous sections of the castle. This was the Battle Palace. It was connected to both the 'town' and the path by a pair of bridges lined with beautiful jungle plants.

The path continued onward and terminated at the eastern edge of the island, where it promptly turned north, passing a small lounge where wealthy gamblers could bet on the outcomes of Pokemon battles here in the Frontier, and went up a short set of stairs to a large area that occupied the upper-right corner of the island and was elevated on a short plateau a few dozen feet taller than the rest of the plane that made up the Frontier. This area was absent of the familiar white pavement which covered most of the ground, and was instead filled with sand to give it the look of a desert, with a row of six Egyptian-style columns covered in hieroglyphs which led up to an enormous pyramid made of yellowish blocks of stone (Or what looked like stone. It was probably just Sheetrock.). This was Battle Pyramid, one of the most popular of the island's seven wonders due to its labyrinthine interior and…_interesting_ dress code.

The northern end of the island, going from the upper-left corner through the middle, was a plateau twice as high as that of the Battle Pyramid, which elevated both of the arenas there above all the others. One of them, which occupied the upper-left corner of the island and was accessible by the aforementioned pathway leading straight from the intersection at the island's entrance, was a grand white and pink dome-shaped stadium, much like the ones used by star football players. The dome roof could open and close just like those other sports stadiums to let the sunlight or moonlight in, depending on the time of day and weather conditions in which the stadium was being used. This was the Battle Dome, second-to-last of the seven arenas. A broad path went east from the Dome, past a small Pokemon Trading Center and a Move Tutor, where it reached a large square with beautifully sculpted fountains which held the final arena, where the white pavement was turned into green tiles of varying shades to form a simple pattern. This arena could also be reached by following the northern path at the intersection between the 'town' and the Battle Pavilion and Palace, which would terminate at a set of stairs leading up to the arena, flanked by a large retail shop for some of the Ford company's finest products, and a Hall of Fame where the rankings of all the top trainers in Battle Frontier, as well as the trophies and photos of the Hoenn Tournament's Champions and Pokemon teams, were listed. Also nearby was a small artificial cave in which lurked the majority of the island's 'wild' Pokemon, a large tribe of Smeargle. They were docile and not at all averse to being caught by interested trainers, but most visitors were too fascinated by the seven arenas to bother with the cave.

The final arena was truly glorious, as it should be. It was the incredible Battle Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the Hoenn Region, almost as tall as the old Oil Rig centerpiece of Ever Grande City (though mainly because it was elevated on two sets of plateaus on the Frontier island). It was a magnificent sight to behold, thousands and thousands of feet of blue glass and red and white metal on the corners rising to the sky in the shape of a towering skyscraper, with a 'pinched' front and back that made the building look slightly like an hourglass or barbell from overhead, culminating in a massive round dome lined with windows and antenna, with a great hollow dish sitting on the very top. The Tower was not only one of the headquarters for Ford Industries, it also had over one hundred indoor battlefields for trainers to practice in, as well as the Grand Aerie at the top, which was a coliseum used only for the final matches of the Hoenn Championship, and closed for the rest of the year.

The island seemed to be illuminated from above by some shining, golden radiance, but since the sun was already setting it was probably just some trick of the light caused by air pollution. Even so, it made the Frontier stand out from the sea around it, which now seemed drab in comparison. It almost looked holy, like some promised land to which our heroes had embarked on an arduous pilgrimage to reach, and here they would be privy to enlightenment and the awakening of the spiritual life. Oddly enough, this analogy wasn't too far off…aside from the spiritual part. Mostly.

The sight of the shining undiscovered country was cut off from our heroes as the monorail track straightened out and continued heading directly towards the tram station, forcing the heroes to look back out at the sea, which even Misty now thought looked dull and boring against that wondrous Frontier they had just saw. For a few seconds they just sat there, stunned by what they had just seen.

"The commercials don't do it justice," Max said finally, breaking the ice.

"Yeah," Jirachi said, slowly nodding his head in agreement.

…

The rest of the train ride passed quickly and uneventfully, and soon the group found themselves disembarking the tram and were carried along in a veritable river of awed and eager trainers, all pushing and shoving to reach the admissions building so that they could enter this magnificent land. Latias thought she saw Wes and Rui at one point somewhere ahead of them, but her mind was still somewhat unfocused by the almost rapturous sensation she had felt upon seeing the Battle Frontier for the first time. This was the place where her journey had ultimately taken her, she realized. From the moment she had fled the ruins of Alto Mare in tears to when she was acknowledged as a Chosen, her path had seemed aimless and unclear, her destiny uncertain. But here…here was where it would all happen. Here the meager skills she had built up training under first Mewtwo, then Ash, would be put to the test. And it was also here that the event she was Chosen to stop in the first place, the rising storm that would threaten the world, might unveil itself. Would she be strong enough to break the storm? And if she was not, would her friends? And also, she wondered as her hand was stamped by one of the admissions agents after security personnel had searched her to make sure she wasn't carrying anything illegal, what role would her beloved Ghost King have to play in all this? She dearly hoped he would not be behind the catastrophe after all.

She was broken out of her cycle of thoughts when May came up to get her hand stamped, and the agent glanced at her, and then checked her Pokedex and trainer ID in a nearby computer. "May Maple, daughter of Norman of the Petalburg City Gym, age 11, 3-time Pokemon contest winner and entry-level trainer in the Hoenn Championships. You're in," said the agent, stamping her hand.

"Wait…what was that!" Ash cried in disbelief.

"May, did he say you're entered in the Championships!" Brock asked in shock.

May turned pale, and she cursed the admissions agent, wishing he had been quieter so her friends hadn't needed to know. "Y-yeah, I'm in the tournament too guys, just like Ash," she said anxiously.

"But-but how!" Max cried, dumbstruck. "You never fought for any badges! How did you get entered?"

"Well…" May started fidgeting. "Um, remember how I started spending so much time training in private with dad and on the Internet after he got better? Well, I asked dad, and he pulled a few strings so I could take an online qualifying exam to enter the tournament, and trained me extra-hard so I'd be ready for it."

"Is THAT why you asked me all those questions about League history and Pokemon statistics and stuff?" Max asked in a sudden, painful burst of realization.

"Um…yeah," May said sheepishly.

Max looked hurt. "And I thought you actually wanted to spend time with me! You used me! How could you, May!" he asked angrily.

"B-but Max, I HAD to!" May protested. "I needed to enter the tournament!"

"Why?" Ash asked in confusion. "If you wanted to enter so badly, why didn't you just collect badges with me?"

May froze. She couldn't tell them the real reason she had wanted to enter the tournament, which was to impress Ash and make him fall for her. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time! Looking back, she couldn't believe what a stupid plan it had been. How could she have possibly thought she could impress Ash through battling! Especially when he had a powerful gym leader like Misty for a girlfriend! She didn't and never had stood a chance! "Um…I just felt like it," she lied. "You know, I was getting a little tired of Contests, so I thought it might be nice to try something new."

"Oh. That makes sense," Brock said, accepting the answer. "I know how that is. I actually strived to be a pop star for a while before I met you guys (thought it would attract the ladies), but I got bored of it so decided to take up Pokemon training instead."

Max sulked. "You still could have told me you were taking a test in the first place, instead of lying and saying you wanted to bond with me."

May bent over and hugged him. "Mom said what I was doing might be frowned upon by a lot of trainers. They don't think earning badges online is the same as getting them in the field, they think it's like cheating. And that could cause them to discredit Dad for doing this for me and ruin his reputation. You wouldn't want Dad to get in trouble for helping me, do you?"

"…I guess not," Max admitted after a moment.

Misty was fuming, but not at May. "I can't believe this! You mean all this time I could have taken an online test and gotten entered in a tournament that easily! If I had known that, I wouldn't have run off on my own all those years ago to try and become a Water Pokemon Master!"

"Actually, I don't think the Kanto region was using online tests at that point," Brock speculated. "And besides, while taking a test instead of going out and fighting for badges is perfectly legitimate and much easier, many people agree that it's not the best way to get into tournaments. Filling out questions on an exam isn't the same as beating overwhelming odds by fighting gym leaders and strengthening your own bond with your Pokemon. In fact, the majority of trainers who use online tests as a shortcut to tournaments often lose in the first few rounds, because of the serious lack of training they never took part in. I suppose that's why May had to train with her dad in private, right May?"

"Right," May said quickly. That and she hadn't thought her Pokemon would be able to stand up to Ash's team, or anyone else's, without some serious beefing up. And she had figured her dad was just the one to do that beefing. Looking back, she wondered if the training she had done with her dad had been enough. Could her Pokemon possibly beat Ash's now? She glanced at Charizard, who was stretching his arms out of boredom and inadvertently showing off his toned muscles, and Crawdaunt who was clacking his claws in impatience, and even Pikachu, who looked sleepy now but she knew from experience how strong he could be. And then there was his newest Pokemon, Latias, to consider. May glanced at the dragon girl, who was looking at her oddly. Latias had the power to turn into a human. Who knew what other abilities she possessed?

_What had she been thinking!_

While May was in her reverie of self-pity, conversation among the others continued. "Besides," Brock said, "If you had never set off on your own you'd never have met Ash."

"And I might have drowned in the river and died if you hadn't fished me out," Ash added. "And then the world would have ended several times over!"

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Egotistical as that sounds, he's got a point."

"The whole world revolves around daddy!" Phanphy said cheerfully.

"No it doesn't," Bayleef corrected. "And you should be glad of that."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Ash snapped.

"I suppose that is a good thing then," Misty reflected. "Me fishing you out of the river,. We'd never be where we are now if I hadn't, and the world might be a totally different place…like a place where you NEVER BROKE MY BIKE!"

Everyone facefaulted. "It got fixed!" Ash yelled at her.

"YOU STILL OWE ME MONEY FOR IT!" she shouted back. "AND I'LL FOLLOW YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH UNTIL YOU PAY ME BACK, ASH KETCHUM!"

Ash blinked, and then smiled. "Uh…good, then I guess I'll never pay you back, so you never leave!" This resulted in getting his head pounded in by Misty's mallet…although she was flattered and trying to hold in a blush, and thus had given him less of a pounding and more of a 'tap'. A love tap, that is.

Max sweatdropped. "Oh brother. Jirachi, remind me never to get involved with girls or bicycles."

"Okay," Jirachi said with a nod. "But what's a bicycle?"

"It sounds dangerous if the mentioning of it can cause such a reaction in one's mate," Absol observed.

May sighed, her heart sinking deeper. Latias was the only one who noticed, and she found the girl's expression odd, the sentiments on her face somewhat familiar…where had she seen that look on someone's face before?

May stood up, deciding the best thing to do was to step out of the tournament immediately and spare herself the humiliation she'd surely face from competing and getting beaten in front of her friends, and Ash. Until Ash said, "Well, I guess it doesn't matter how or why you've entered if you're definitely in, May. But in any case, I look forward to battling you!"

She blinked. She hadn't been expecting Ash to say that. "What? Why?"

He shrugged. "Well, you know, it's the whole 'bringing out the best in each other' thing. Whenever I fight one of my friends in a Pokemon battle, I get a really tough challenge, and I know I give them a tough time too. No matter who wins or loses, we both walk away with a stronger team than before and a stronger friendship. For that reason, I'm looking forward to battling you in the tournament, May." He grinned. "And your dad's a tough trainer! If he helped you prepare for this, then I bet you've gotten a lot stronger, right?"

"Um…yeah…" May said uncertainly. She hadn't gotten _that _stronger, had she? "You…really look forward to fighting me?"

Ash shrugged. "Well…yeah, I think that'd be kind of cool!"

May smiled, all thoughts of quitting swept out of her mind. "Well then…I look forward to fighting you too!" She was now successfully cheered up. But Latias was still puzzling over the familiarity of May's expression.

Brock leaned over and whispered into Ash's ear. "Uh, Ash, are you sure about this?"

Ash gave him a confused look. "Sure about what?"

"You know…sure about fighting May?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Ash asked, still confused.

Brock cleared his throat. "Well, uh…there's over a hundred, if not more, trainers in this tournament. A lot of them will be eliminated with each round. What are the odds that you'll run into her during the competition?"

"I ran into Gary, Richie, Harrison, and any other rivals I had during the Kanto and Johto league tournaments," Ash pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Brock admitted. "But they were all very strong trainers so it was almost a given that they'd make it into the later rounds of the tournament, where the number of competitors would be smaller and so the odds of fighting them would be higher."

"Yeah…what's your point?" Ash asked, still not getting it. Pikachu winced, he had already perceived Brock's point, and he didn't think May would be happy if she heard it.

Brock sighed and gave up, not wanting to come out and say what he suspected, that May might not be strong enough to make it through the first couple of rounds. "Oh, never mind Ash, I hope you two have a good match."

"Ahem." The group turned around and saw the vexed and frustrated face of the admissions agent. "May I remind you, that you aren't the only ones who want to enter the park?" he said, gesturing to the extremely long line of trainers behind the group, all of them looking extremely angry that they were being held up this long and looking like they were just a few moments away from pulling out their Pokeballs and attacking.

The heroes' sweatdropped. "Oh…uh…kinda forgot we were in a line," Misty said in embarrassment.  
"Yeah…we should probably finish this conversation some other time," Brock agreed quickly.

They swiftly moved through the door behind the admissions agent and into the magical world of Battle Frontier before the angry trainers behind them could rip them to shreds.

…

As the final vestiges of the sun started to slip below the horizon, J.R.S. Ford, with a bemused smile on his face, stood on a stage which had been erected in front of the entrance to the Battle Tower, spotlights focused on him, and a large banner with the symbol of Battle Frontier displayed behind him. If he was disappointed that his interview with Jigglypuff just half an hour ago had gone poorly, he didn't show it. His trusty Blaziken stood at his side, as always. Behind him were eleven very important people. The first seven were the Brains of Battle Frontier, sort of like gym leaders, each in charge of one of the seven battle arenas. Trainers could challenge them after winning a certain number of fights in any of the arenas and win symbols like badges which could be exchanged for prizes, but they were very tough so it wasn't easy to beat them. The Tower Maiden, Anabel, was a young woman with short purple hair and eyes, and a fancy and stylish purple and white uniform. The Ace in charge of Battle Dome, Tucker, was an extremely effeminate man with long purple hair styled into two long ponytails sticking out from the sides of his head, with curling sideburns, a gold tiara, and a revealing purple and white outfit with what looked like six fairy wings growing from the back. The Maven of Battle Palace, Spenser, was an old, dark-skinned man with a completely bald head, a very long white beard, a blue tunic with the right side of his chest showing, blue tattoos on his arms, and a gnarled staff. Greta, Tycoon of Battle Pavilion, was an energetic-looking young woman with short, curly blond hair, blue tights, and a short black kimono with red trim and a big white bow tied in the back. Noland, Head of Battle Factory, was a tough-looking man with a white sleeveless jacket, a black tank top, short, spiky brown hair, and a red cap. Lucy, ruler and Queen of the serpentine Battle Pike, was a woman with knee-length dark green hair, a somewhat sinister expression on her face, a red and black vest, a short purple sleeveless top, purple gloves, and black pants. And finally, Brandon, King of the Battle Pyramid, was a man almost as old as Ford, with short brown hair, an unshaven chin, and a green shirt and pants that made him look sort of like an explorer. The other five were even more skilled trainers than the Brains, for they were the Elite members of the Hoenn League. There was Sidney, a man with a dark smile on his face, a short pink Mohawk, a red and black jacket and khaki pants. He specialized in Dark Pokemon. Next to him was Phoebe, a lovely young woman with two pink flowers in her short brown-gray hair and a blue Hawaiian skirt and bikini with white flowers. She liked Ghost-types. Glacia was next to her, an older and more refined woman with short curly blond hair, pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, a couple of diamond rings, and a long purple sleeveless dress with a lavender undershirt. She liked Ice Pokemon. Then there was Drake, a man in his early seventies with a white mustache and a long black seaman's coat with a bare chest, showing his sailor's tattoos and scars. He was a lover of Dragon Pokemon. Finally, there was Steven Stone, son of the president of the Devon Corporation. He had short platinum blue hair, and a fancy purple and black business suit with the sleeves rolled up that looked both fashionable and practical. They were all here to officiate the opening ceremony and the tournament itself.

Before the large group of elite trainers, stretched out all across the square surrounding Battle Tower and a ways down the path leading to Battle Dome and the stairs going to the main section of Battle Frontier were crammed with trainers of all ages, genders, and temperaments, all jostling about and practically bursting with excitement for the upcoming tournament. Ford felt a swell of pride in his chest, pleased that so many trainers had made it this year. And his son, and that Ash boy, were somewhere down there, he was certain of it.

He tapped the microphone in front of him, making a loud ringing sound and drawing the attention of the excited crowd, causing them to quiet in anticipation of the businessman's speech. "Ladies and gentlemen, trainers of all ages, allow me to give you a warm welcome to Battle Frontier!"

The crowd cheered wildly. Our heroes, located somewhere near the back of the throng, were pushed about and also had their view obstructed by all the waving hands and dancing about. "I can't see what's going on!" Max complained. "May, hold me up on your shoulders so I can see better!"

"No way, I'm not your personal chair!" May said, crossing her arms.

"Fine. Brock, hold me up on your shoulders! Brock?"

Brock was absent. He was worming his way through the crowd, trying to get numbers from hot girls without success.

Ford waved his arms, signaling for silence. "My friends, all of us are gathered here for one reason. Some of you have been here before. Others have not. Many of you are here for the first time. But no matter what, you've all come for the same purpose: to fight in the Hoenn League Championships!" There were more cheers at this, and poor Brock got tossed about and squished by the energetic crowd. On the plus side, he slammed face-first into a woman's breasts. On the down side, they were Misty's, and this resulted in him getting beaten to a pulp by a very large mallet. Ford waved his arms for silence. "All of you trainers are the best of the best. You've spent the last year struggling (or bribing, or cheating through the use of online exams) through the gyms of our fair Hoenn, collecting badges and growing closer (hopefully) to your Pokemon partners!" He gestured at Blaziken as he said this, and the shaded fighter grunted. "And that's what it's all about in the end, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically, scanning the crowd before him. "Despite the commercialization, beyond the lust for power and battles and victory, past the urge for money, that's what the heart of Pokemon training is about! Friendship! Working together to form a better and more perfect union between our two species, through battling alongside each other! Protecting each other! Respecting and caring about each other!" He smiled ruefully and shook his head. "All of you who've come here today got here by respecting and caring for your Pokemon! (Or working them like beaten, malnourished dogs) The bonds you've formed with them will be tested to their limits here in the Battle Frontier, the undiscovered country! All of you who don't think you can handle what we have in store for you, then I suggest you leave now, so as not to demean and humiliate yourselves by losing miserably!" He cupped a hand to his ear. "Well? How many of you don't think you can handle it? Any who do, speak now or forever hold your peace!"

Nobody spoke up. The crowd of rowdy and enthusiastic trainers was silent as the grave. May nervously considered speaking up, but fought down the urge. Ash had said he looked forward to fighting her. She did not want to let him down!

Ford grinned. "That's what I thought! None of you got here by being quitters, am I right? All of you are dedicated to bringing home the prize, aren't you? Well, I'm sorry to say that in the end; only ONE of you will triumph and win the Hoenn Cup, as well as an eternal place of honor in Battle Frontier's Hall of Fame! Everyone else will simply get cash prizes of varying sizes depending on how far you make it into the tournament, as well as numerous prizes and some of the Ford Industry's finest products." He smiled, but his grin soon turned into a grave and serious expression. "And now that I have measured your mettle-now that I know you are all serious and dedicated trainers, all of you seeking to show to the world the strength of the bond you share with your Pokemon, and hoping for a piece of eternal fame and glory-it is time to conclude our opening ceremony, and light the traditional Victory Flame of the Hoenn Region." He spread his arms and looked upward. Everyone else followed his example, peering up and wondering what he was doing. "If you look up, up, up to the top of the tower, you just might see the unlit torch itself, perched atop the Grand Aerie where we will host the final battles of the championship. In the Kanto region, they light their Victory Flame with a torch carrying the fires of Moltres. In Johto, they light the flame with a torch carrying the fires of Ho-Oh. But we in Hoenn have no such sacred torch, no brazier that burns with the fires of a legendary Pokemon. We are not as similarly blessed as they are. So we make do with what we have…and what do we have, my friends? Look in the mirror!" He pointed a finger out and panned it over the crowd. "You, you, and you there, and you over there…yes, all of you! You are the face of Hoenn! You and your Pokemon represent the best this region has to offer to the world! Who better to lend the flames which will ignite the great torch than you yourselves?"

He gestured towards a pair of gutters on either side of the platform, which were fastened to the angled walls of Battle Tower and went all the way up to the edge of and down into the giant torch, and ran horizontally across the platform until meeting in a small bowl in front of Ford. The gutters and bowl were filled with oil. "All of you who have Pokemon with Fire attacks, let them out!"

There were numerous flashes of light as the multitudinous trainers released their Pokemon. There were Numel and Magcargot, Charizard and Combusken, Cyndaquil, Seviper, Torkoal, Houndour, Dusclops, Magmar, Vulpix, Flareon, Arcanine, and many more Pokemon of various types and species, all of which had the ability to project fire in some fashion. There were even one or two strange but beautiful Pokemon hovering over Berry and Mariah that no one had ever seen before. The only fire Pokemon who hadn't been released was Ho-Oh, and Wes was saving him for the tournament to surprise his opponents.

"Wow, there are some other Charizard here," Charizard said in surprise.

"Maybe some of the trainers here are from other regions," speculated Bayleef. "Or they traded Pokemon or had them purchased or imported, or even found Charmanders wandering around Hoenn. There's any number of ways for them to get here."

Charizard nodded. "They don't look as tough as the ones back in the valley. They shouldn't give me too much trouble, I think."

"That Blaziken on stage is kinda handsome," May's Combusken said timidly, a blush on her yellow cheeks.

Ford looked impressed by the number of Pokemon that were out. Even his stoic Blaziken cracked a small grin. "Excellent! What fine specimens of Fire Pokemon we have here!" He pointed to the bowl at his feet and stepped back. "This bowl here is what will light the torch. All of you have your Pokemon use their attacks on it! Ignite the oil in these gutters! But, uh, do make sure to have them use their flames on low power, I don't want to get burnt up. I just had a haircut this morning!" There were a few laughs at his weak joke, and then the trainers did as he asked.

Their Pokemon launched Fire Punches, Embers, Flamethrowers, Fire Spins, Will-O-Wisps, even a few Fire Blasts, Heat Waves, Overheats, Eruptions, and Blast Burns (which made Charizard feel sad when he saw some of the other Charizard performing it, for he had still not mastered the technique) from those who wanted to show off. The fire attacks converged on the bowl of oil on the platform and, despite Mr. Ford's plea, were quite strong in their blazing intensity indeed. The businessman jumped back and almost fell off the back of the platform as the bowl exploded, leaving a big black scorch mark in the ground, and sent twin trails of fire streaming up the gutters as they melted and collapsed from the force of the heat they generated. They raced up the sides of the building, shooting off sparks and embers as it went up, and the spent gutters collapsed in the fire's wake. They reached the tower's top and curved up the sides of the domed Aerie, converging at the base of the giant torch, running up its side, and going into its innards. And then…

There was a tremendous roar, and a pillar of fire erupted from the bowl-shaped torch, rising fifty feet into the air and lighting up the park, causing all to stop what they were doing and stare at it in awe. The giant tongue of flame was visible from Ever Grande City a few miles away, and even from airplanes and ferries passing by in the distance. And all knew at once what it meant, and smiled, for they knew that the Hoenn tournament had begun.

Blaziken helped Ford back to his feet as the flame shrunk from a towering pillar to a crackling blaze, still rising high in its torch and illuminating the park, although not as brightly as it had a moment ago. The CEO brushed his clothes off, and managed a grin. "Well, that was one heck of a conflagration!" There were some laughs from the crowd at this. "My fellow trainers, the torch has been lit!" he said once he had regained his composure. "Thanks to the flames of your Pokemon! It burns brightly from the strength of the friendship you share with your Pokemon. And it will continue to burn throughout the duration of the tournament, as testament to the fact that that friendship is unbreakable and deathless, an eternal light in the darkness! That friendship will light your paths to wherever the future may take you, and will lead some of you to victory in this tournament. I wish you all the best of luck in the coming trials." He grinned and spread his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"My friends, the Hoenn League Championships have begun!"

…

Some music started to play as a popular band hired to perform at the ceremonies filed on stage and started strumming their instruments, and many of the trainers gathered in the living mass of humanity and Pokemanity, hyped up by all the excitement and sugary refreshments they had found waiting for them when they had arrived, started dancing.

As the crowd went wild with applause and dance, and the Brains and Elite 4 nodded at Ford, pleased with his speech, and her friends were dazzled by the speech and the flame created by their Pokemon, Latias stared into the bonfire atop the Tower as well and thought about her situation, and her life.

Whatever path she had followed since she had left Alto Mare, alone and heartbroken, had lead her here, to this place, to this moment in time. Along the way her perceptions of the world had been changed. She had made new friends, discovered her true parents, found the love of her life, had many tragedies and triumphs and times both wonderful and sad, and somehow she didn't think she was done yet. (After all, she still had the prospect of a possible reunion with her true father in the near future, not to mention a fight to stop the end of the world!)

As Vincentio had told her on his deathbed, "There are no endings in life, Latias. Or beginnings, for that matter. Only transitions. One thing becomes something else. The change can be abrupt, or it can occur over a long period of time. It matters not at what rate it changes, what is important is that, inevitably, in some way or another, it DOES change. And that, Latias, is one of the truly marvelous things about life: the only thing that endures is change."

She understood this now as she stared into the flames of the Victory Torch. She was not the person she had been before her journey had started, before the disaster at Alto Mare. She was less naïve, a little tougher and slightly more confident than she once was, more knowledgeable about the ways of the world and how to survive in them. She had more friends than she had ever had on Alto Mare, even if she had been happy there, and a new family that was different and yet just as good as her old family.

As she had traveled the path of the Chosen, Latias had become a different dragon than she had once been. And while some people look back on their past and wish they could return to the times they had ignored and taken for granted, when they were happier and things were simpler and less harsh. But she did not. Admittedly, she did look back on her times on Alto Mare with fondness and an occasional longing…but the experiences she had had since then, no matter how desperate, painful, or utterly hopeless they had occasionally been, were to her too precious to ever turn her back on. For all but the worst of those moments, when she had been lost and alone, had been shared with her family. And she did not want to lose them, even for a chance to return to the Alto Mare she had known before its destruction. They meant too much to her. As did the one who had given her the locket that now hung around her neck, even if he had personally been the cause of much of her suffering and sadness.

Was he watching her now, she wondered. Were his ghostly servants spying on her from a distance, concealed from her view? Once that thought would have troubled her, but now she felt flattered and gained a degree of security, as if she had a guardian angel watching over her. One with yellow eyes…

"If you _are_ watching me," she said softly, so softly not even Pikachu's big ears could hear her and take his attention away from the majestic crimson and gold flame that crackled atop Battle Tower or the catchy music playing. "Then I want you to know that this fire burns not only like the friendship I share with my companions, but it is also lit by the flame in my heart, which burns only for you, my King. And that light will _never_ go out." She smiled as little tears trickled down her cheek. "I hope that someday…someday soon, when all this ends…you and I will be together again, and then our love will no longer be a secret. I…" She shut her eyes, her voice trembling. She caught her breath and continued. "I hope…I hope that day will be soon."

Latias was not the only one whose heart was touched by the light of the flame burning atop Battle Tower. Just next to her, the hands of her trainer and her trainer's 'mate' slowly found themselves touching as each of them looked at the torch and contemplated their own lives and destinies and the paths they had taken to get here, which led to the firm and inevitable interlocking of the two appendages and a pair of soft smiles as they concluded that in the end it didn't matter what the future held, as long as they had each other. From just a few inches away, May noticed, and looked away sadly. Jirachi was hugging Max's head and giggling happily, filled with a giddy euphoria. Absol had to fight to hide his smile.

Delcatty and Golduck burst out of their Pokeballs almost simultaneously, which led to Delcatty happily jumping on the duck's head and pinning him to the ground. Crawdaunt glanced at Corsola and sighed, already resigned to a failure if he tried courting her again…and was surprised when he found the pink Coral Pokemon rubbing up against him. He blinked in surprise, and slowly started to smile.

In the crowd, Brock tried to hit on the girls, thinking the oddly dreamlike air that had settled as the torch was lit and the crowd's excitement heightened from the music would make them more susceptible to his seduction. He got slapped several times, but he wasn't giving up yet.

Rui tried to kiss Wes…but he wasn't in the mood, so all she got was his cheek, which made her sulk. He smirked to himself.

Charizard sighed and tore his eyes from the torch, thinking that it looked far too much like Charla's tail flame.

For a second as the crowd danced and shifted about, Pikachu got an eyeful of Mariah and Berry making out while tearing at each other's clothes. Pika Pika looked away in disgust…

And her eyes met his. For a moment, it seemed as if the two of them were the only ones on the entire island, and the enthusiastic trainers and Pokemon were naught but faint illusory images flitting about them. And then a very large Snorlax, hugging its trainer to its chest, twirled between their line of sight, cutting them off from each other and returning them to reality. Pikachu blinked and looked around frantically, but could not find her again. He sighed and sagged on Ash's cap, feeling oddly depressed.

Gyarados smiled from the lake around Battle Palace, which he had swum up the waterfall into when he had arrived at the island, and thought that this was going to be a great tournament. Onix and Geodude, back on Ever Grande, thought the same thing…but wished they could have gone to see the torch-lighting themselves instead of waiting here all by themselves! They might have felt better if they had known that Jigglypuff was nearby, sitting in her Exploudrematic and watching the ceremonies on her built-in television, but how could they possibly know that?

…

Our Chosen friends were not the only ones watching the opening ceremonies.

Atop the Battle Dome, Lance and his Dragonite looked down at the group of elite trainers assembled on the platform who were now shaking hands with Mr. Ford. Specifically, at Drake. If the old man knew he was being watched, he didn't show it.

In Pallet Town, with family friends and many of Ash's Pokemon, some of whom were Chosen, Mrs. Ketchum obsessively scanned the televised ceremony to see if she could spot her baby anywhere in the crowd.

In a seedy bar somewhere between Ever Grande and the desert Cleft, Gardevoir, disguised by cloak and mask and feeling totally lost and out of her depth in this strange world, watched the broadcast beside her companion Sadic, who had recently evolved into a strange and new Pokemon.

In jail, Team Rocket sadly watched the guard's grainy television through the bars of their cell and wished they could be at the ceremony, to either steal Pikachu and Latias from the twerp or to at least sell commemorative badges like they had at the Silver Conference.

In Greenfield, Molly watched the ceremonies between her parents, and wondered what would occur there which the Unown had prophesized.

In their world beyond time and space, the Unown themselves watched, along with Mewtwo. So far, everything was going as they had arranged it. But only time would tell if it would all work out as they had planned.

From the Realm of Mists, the Ghost King watched Latias on his dimensional viewer while his servants began the preparations for the return of his soul to his body. His heart tinged with sorrow as he saw Latias' tears, and he swore he would see her again sooner than she expected.

And above earth, in his orbiting crystal fortress, the evil one sat in his twisted throne while his virus ravaged and mutated the corpse of Giovanni, turning it into another one of his loyal pawns. He had at first thought the body was useless but had reconsidered, for there were many things one could do with a soulless husk, and he knew all of them.

He smiled inwardly as he watched the ceremony through the sightless eyes of one of his minions, who was watching them from a distance, invisible to all. There were Chosen there, he knew. Among them those who had pieces of his power. If he struck now, when they least expected it, there was a strong chance he could slay them all and take back the power stolen from him.

And yet he did nothing, other than staying in his throne and watching the proceedings with amusement. Some would call his inaction laziness, or a sign of overconfidence, that the evil one believed he was powerful enough to beat the Chosen and their allies when they were at the peak of their power.

Those who would say such things had no understanding of the complex and mysterious workings of the being's dark mind. He knew there was indeed a chance of failure if he dallied and let the Chosen unite against him. But there was also a chance of failure if he struck now. If he attacked, they would summon Mewtwo. And he knew that Mewtwo was growing stronger in that other world, trained by the Unown. He was not certain of victory if he and the clone engaged in battle. He had not yet recovered enough of his broken pieces to ensure his triumph if he and Mewtwo fought, and so he was waiting for his slaves to seek out more of those pieces to empower him, as well as other generals to serve in his army. As odd as it sounded, he probably _did_ have a better chance of winning when both he and they were at the peak of their powers, then if he attacked now while his forces were as of yet incomplete.

There was also the matter of his not truly minding if he won or lost the coming battle. If he won, he won, if he lost, he lost. He had won some battles and lost others throughout his long life. He had always bounced back from defeat, no matter how certain it seemed or how confident his foes were that he was gone. That made it all the easier for him to come back and destroy them.

Such was the nature of evil. Such was what made it, in the long run, the inevitable winner of any drawn-out battle or struggle, even if defeat at first seemed to be certain. Evil always came back in some other form, no matter how many times it was defeated. That was what made it, in the end, ultimately unstoppable. If he lost this time, he would win some other time down the line. He was infinitely patient, a quality many other evildoers lacked, and he had no problem with sacrificing one victory for another try further down the line if he saw that success in the present was impossible.

And there was also one other reason he stayed his hand from attacking now. His secret weapon, the failsafe he had planned to ensure absolute victory, even if his oldest foe showed her face again, was not yet completed yet. But once it was…

Once it was, not even the Unown and their Chosen pawns would be able to stop him.

This was not hubris, or arrogance, or overconfidence.

It was fact.

…

And with this chapter, I end the second 'book' of Latias' Journey. The next 'book' will most likely be the final leg of this story, and hopefully the most enjoyable, with battles virtually every chapter in the Hoenn League!

On one final note before I draw this chapter to a close, I want to remind you all of my shipping challenge. I was wondering if you could come up with names for the following couples, which were mentioned or hinted at for the last few chapters:

Corsola/Crawdaunt

Bashou/Buson

Anny/Oakley

Bashou/Anny/Oakley

Bashou/Masked Marauder

Jessie/Cassidy

Butch/James

James/Meowth

James/Weezing

Drew/Joy/Jenny (or whatever they call themselves now)

Lombre/Mudkip

Berry/Mariah

Pikachu/Pika Pika

Wobbuffet/Milotic (If it counts as a separate ship from UglyDuckshipping)

And any others I've forgotten or failed to mention here. Any takers?

Please review, and thank you for sticking with me to this point. We still have a ways to go before this tale is done, people! The best is yet to come!


	41. Mayday! The Preliminaries begin!

Okay, here's the first round of the Hoenn tournament!

I'm afraid you can't, Yamimaru. I don't do SIs. Not anymore, anyway.

I'm glad the description was that good, Gladdecease, I was trying to make it good enough for people to see in their minds. I like the name you've come up with for Lombre and Mudkip (Lostintranslationshipping) but could you explain it, please?

Sir Pudding, Hannibal Lector was called a 'devil', or 'the devil' wasn't he? And I'm sure Adolf Hitler and other tyrants and psychopaths were too. Calling someone a 'demon' doesn't always mean they're actually from hell, but it indicates they're so evil it's as if they had come from Hell. Calling someone a or the devil shows that that person is the evilest of all. And for someone to call himself the devil means he is either the greatest evil of all, or actually IS the literal ruler of Hell. More will be explained later. And I wasn't sure everyone knew what Battle Frontier looked like, so I wanted to do a good job of describing it.

Alex, I intend to explain his reasoning and mindset in a later chapter. Then tell me if you still feel the same way. And if good is just as stubborn, then how can torture destroy every last speck of hope or individuality in a person and reduce them to a hollow shell of a person?

Lord Karkon, you mean to say you hate Lance? Well, I guess anything's possible. I'm not good at randomness? I think so too. But the cameos have a purpose, honest. They're not just total insanity. And I'm glad you saw a way out of the Devil thing that's not religious, although I had my own idea as you saw above. And I agree with you about arrogance, I'm trying to show him as something most villains aren't: patient, confident in his abilities but not to the point of arrogance, and with a sense of reality. Not to mention for him, it does not matter if he wins or loses. As I said to Alex, more on his perspective later.

Crimson King, HVK? I like that name…let's just say the villain is more than he seems. At least, I like to think so. Which writer came up with that name? Thank you for reminding me of my goblin's name, I forgot it. And I'm sad now that Avatar's gone! The Heartless would have loved it there. And Zim could have gotten the Airbender keychain or something! Oh well. May's clearly in love with Ash, and is full of self-pity and self-hate at the moment at the realization that he loved someone else, someone she knew, all along, and she never even noticed and thought she had a chance. What's true about soliloquies? Which show do you mean? I'm confused. Thank you for the shipping names, though.

Story Weaver1, Domino/Giovanni pairings aren't so unheard of, and are referred to as Commandshipping. My creativity comes from within, and from ripping off lots of pop culture, movies, books, and other fanfics. And my editors, Alex Warlorn and DiamondLatias3000.

Super Hurricane, Wobbuffet became immune to Pokeballs when he became Chosen, remember? And Nascour doesn't have thousands of grunts. There had to be a lot of layoffs to afford construction of that mecha. Giovanni had the armor in his assault on Professor Oak's lab in chapter 3, if you recall. It got tossed in the trash when Ein took over, but Domino kept it as a memento of her boss, and gave it to him when he returned. And why would Drew be in the competition? He's a superhero now! No time for that kind of thing! And the Ford Industries made the robots, if you didn't figure that out already. What was short about the battle in chapter 39? And which one? I'm sure there are many shorter. And Megas XLR was where I got inspiration for much of the fighting. I loved that show…and Wobbuffet was able to do those things because he could. Simple as that. Do you really want to look too closely into this? And no, Berry and Mariah would not last ten seconds against the "Devil". Who made them artificially? What did I do that makes you think I'm very clever? I'm confused. And Golduck and Delcatty are too stupid to…ahem be in heat. And the Devil won't need to fight the robots…hehe…Everything I wrote for Battle Frontier I got from looking at official art and an overhead map of the place. Plus a little extra from yours truly. And you're thinking of LaRousse City, this is Battle Frontier. It's totally different. It never even occurred to me to use Giselle…don't think I will anyway, though. Why would Ash want to trade his Pokemon? He loves them all too much. And Mr. Ford's deal with Jigglypuff didn't work because she was more interested in her new band. Chimecho is confiscated and in rehabilitation, along with all the other Rocket Pokemon, including Meowth, so that they can be "de-criminalized". And you actually helped me flesh out an idea I've been working on for the "Devil"…thank you. And remember, he is more than he seems.

Uh, EagleFox, the story's not over. I was just referring to that "part" of it. Thank you for reminding me of Brendan.

Okay, here is what I've decided so far on the challenge of shipping:

Meowth/James is Pussyshipping. (Diamondragon3000)

Lombre/Mudkip is Lostintranslationshipping. (Gladdecease)

Crawdaunt/Corsola is Polypstershipping. (HVK)

Pikachu/Pika Pika is Bipolarshipping. (Story Weaver1)

Berry/Mariah is Weirdoshipping. (STEELIXLOVER)

And I guess Wobbuffet/Milotic still counts as UglyDuckshipping, but thanks anyway HVK.

Disclaimer: I own Ford and his company, as well as the modified rules for Battle Frontier, and any other made-up characters in this chapter. Nothing else. Thanks to Alex Warlorn for the help and ideas he gave me for this chapter and upcoming ones. And DiamondLatias3000 for editing.

…

It seemed to be a wonderful morning in Ever Grande City. The sun had risen at its usual time and was shining warmly down on the steel and glass buildings in the city, illuminating the lives of its citizens. Tourists were visiting the city's museums and the giant oil rig. Construction workers from Ford Industries were already hard at work repairing the Pokemon habitat, which had been badly damaged in the giant robot battle the day before. The Murkrow Latias had torched had recovered and was back to his flute larceny. And our heroes, in their suite on the seventh floor of Emerald Towers, one of the city's numerous hotels, were just starting to wake up.

It had been a fairly peaceful and uneventful slumber for all of them, save for Ash, who woke up to find himself lying in Misty's bed with her arms wrapped around him when he distinctly remembered going to sleep on the fold-out bed in the couch the night before. Apparently she had gotten up in the middle of the night, sleep-walked over to him and dragged him back to her bed, just as she had done when they had been put to sleep by Jigglypuff during the battle with the Tyranitron. This was a source of endless amusement to his Pokemon and Max, a bit of jealousy from Brock, and a sad look from May, which once more gave Latias a strange feeling of familiarity. They had of course stopped their laughing when Misty threatened to smash their heads in, saying there was nothing wrong with what had happened between her and Ash in their sleep. Not wanting to argue with her giant mallet, they unanimously agreed.

The hotel was being rented by Ford and the League to house the trainers who had come to compete in the tournament, and so all of the competitors were given luxurious rooms with satellite television, an Internet hook-up, several beds, and a small kitchen to feed themselves if they weren't interested in eating down in the hotel's indoor restaurant. Brock would have cooked breakfast for them, but because eating indoors instead of out in the wilderness for a change was such a novelty for Ash and his Pokemon after all the traveling they had done to get here, they all went downstairs to join the other trainers in eating breakfast. Ash only kept half an eye on what he was eating, because he was scoping out the other trainers and trying to determine how tough they might be (he was also looking for any of the rivals he had sworn to fight during this tournament) and Charizard managed to slip in a few pieces of steak onto Ash's plate while the boy wasn't looking, claiming that he was a growing human and needed his protein and vitamins. Misty had gone outside to personally feed Gyarados, who had taken up residence in the hotel's swimming pool, and was so fearsome-looking none of the personnel even thought of asking him to leave. As for the other Pokemon, they were given the choice of food from the buffet or grade-A Pokemon food. Ash's Pokemon were by far too used to eating human food or whatever they could catch in the wild now to depend on the brown nuggets anymore and had heaped their own plates or feeding bowls with whatever foodstuffs caught their fancy, ignoring the protests or complaints of any of the servers at the buffet. The other Pokemon weren't quite so picky, and were fine eating the Pokemon food graciously provided for them by the hotel staff. Conversation at the heroes' table was at a minimum, since Ash was too busy examining the competition, May kept glancing at Ash (which made Latias feel as if something was going on, something familiar, but she just couldn't place it) Max and Jirachi were whispering about some secret matter that only they understood while Absol fussed over them and reminded them to eat their breakfast, and Brock was constantly looking for any beautiful woman dining nearby.

Just as Misty came back in, wiping herself off with a towel (she had decided to swim with Gyarados and her other Pokemon for a few minutes, she hadn't gotten the chance yesterday) a man with an easily forgettable face and easily forgettable clothes walked out on the stage that was used by the restaurant to put musicians on during dinner in the evening. "Ahem. May I have your attention please?" he asked, tapping on a microphone. The numerous trainers around the room stopped what they were doing and glanced up at him. Several TV cameras in the corners of the room swiveled to face him, recording his statement for when the day's tournament proceedings would be aired on television around the world. "Thank you. I'm a League representative, and I'm here to explain what will be happening today at Battle Frontier. All of you who are still in your hotel rooms, you can't turn off the television or change the channel, the hotel has absolute control over your TVs and no matter what you do you can't avoid listening to me, save for deafening yourself. And even then, we have subtitles." There were a few small laughs at this. "Today we have the first round of the Hoenn Championships: the preliminaries." A large TV screen on the wall behind him lit up, showing a map of Battle Frontier. The representative walked to the side of the screen so everyone could get a better view. "As I'm sure you are all aware, Battle Frontier is equipped with seven state-of-the-art facilities dedicated to Pokemon battling. All seven will be used in the tournament." Green flashing circles appeared around each of the arenas. "However, Battle Tower-" The circle around the tower was replaced with a red X. "Will not be open to any competitors or to the public until the last day of the tournament, in which we will house the final matches. The other six arenas will be free to you, however. Free to be used within the tournament rules, that is." Images of little trainers and Pokemon appeared around each of the six arenas. "You have all been divided into six random 'blocks' of trainers. Each block will go to a specific arena. There, you will compete in a series of Pokemon battles following the specific and unique rules of each arena, which have been modified for the purpose of the tournament. For example," he said, pointing to the Battle Palace on the map. It enlarged to show the palace in greater detail. "Throughout most of the year, the rules of Battle Palace forbid trainers from commanding their Pokemon. Instead, the Pokemon choose to do as they wish in battle. It is a test of just how well they are trained. However, during the tournament, the rules have been reversed. Instead of Pokemon competing against Pokemon, it will be human against _human_, with their Pokemon giving them commands from the sidelines! An even greater test, to see how close the bond between trainer and Pokemon is!"

Ash stared at the man in disbelief. "No way! Is he serious?"

"I think so…" May said, trying to recall everything Norman had taught her. "I think dad may have mentioned it."

"That sounds kind of dangerous Ash," Misty said, looking worried. "Some of these trainers look pretty buff. You could get hurt."

"Nah!" Ash said, not looking very worried himself. "I got some physical training of my own done on the way here. Didn't I, Pikachu?"

"If you count being turned into a fighter in Mewgle's RPG world, then yes," Pikachu admitted.

"And besides, I trust my Pokemon," Ash continued. "They've never let me down on the field, so now it's my turn. And I'm sure I've set a good enough example as their trainer that they can do the same for me, right?"

"I suppose," Bayleef muttered as she chewed on some asparagus leaves.

"But that almost sounds illegal! Making trainers fight each other physically! They could get seriously hurt!" Misty protested.

Brock shrugged. "Pokemon training itself is a way to get seriously hurt. As is boxing, or football, or any contact sport or form of thrill-seeking. Doesn't stop people from doing them anyway. And besides, according to the rules, by agreeing to compete in this tournament Ash has agreed to forfeit any right to sue the Hoenn League or Ford Industries for any injuries sustained during the competition."

"Yeah, but…" Misty paused, and then sighed. "I just don't want him to get hurt."

"Hey, I'll be fine! You know me!" Ash said, trying to reassure her. "I've gotten into lots of tough scrapes, and I've never even come close to dying yet, have I?" The poor boy. If only he could remember New Island, maybe he'd be less overconfident. Then again, he wouldn't be nearly as fun a guy if he became too cautious, would he?

"And besides, if he breaks his spine or loses too much blood, Battle Frontier's on-site hospital will be able to patch him up without a problem," Max said.

"Yep, the commercial said it's one of the best in the Hoenn region!" Jirachi agreed.

"Max, you can't believe everything you see on TV," May said anxiously. Like Misty, she was worried about the health of the boy she loved.

Max stuck out his tongue. "That's what you said about the Poke Rangers."

"And the Compubellies!" Jirachi added.

"And Berney the purple Tyranitar!" Phanphy chimed in.

May sweatdropped. "The Compubellies still don't exist; they're just underpaid actors in ugly costumes."

"As is Berney," Latias explained to Phanphy.

The elephant's ears drooped, as did the Wishmaker's wish tags. "Awww, I was hoping they'd have existed by now."

While they were debating Ash's safety and the existence of fictional characters, the League representative continued. "The trainers composing each block will fight each other in a series of matches based on the rules of each arena. A predetermined number of the trainers of each block will be eliminated, while the remaining quarter will go on to the next round and start fighting each other individually. The starting matches will be determined randomly, as will the block groupings, and all will be set into a standard 'bracket' system." The screen behind him changed to show a tree-like diagram, with a crown at the top followed by a 'trunk' that branched in two periodically, each horizontal group of branches representing one day or round of the tournament, as well as the diminishing number of trainers who would participate in each round as they got closer to the crown. "Starting now, the tournament will last for about a week, with matches almost every day starting with the preliminaries and ending with the finals and semi-finals, which will be on the last day of the tournament. As each trainer proceeds through the brackets, they will battle through all seven of the arenas, starting with whichever one you are blocked into and finishing with Battle Tower. Assuming you make it that far, that is. You will use each of the arenas once, so if you make it to the finals you will have gone through all seven." The tournament tree vanished and was replaced by the symbol of Battle Frontier, the Ford Industries logo, and the crest of the Hoenn League, which was a pentagonal shield with a Pokeball forming the connecting bridge of a stylized letter H, with a tiny Groudon and Kyogre crammed onto the sides. "The preliminaries will start in one hour, so finish any preparations you must make and head over to Battle Frontier as soon as possible. If you will all examine the napkins you have been provided with, you will see the name of the arena each of you will be fighting in today." Startled, Ash and May unfolded their napkins and saw that there was a name on each, written in marker. "To make things more challenging, we will not be announcing the members making up each block until after the preliminaries, so you will be unable to prepare yourself beforehand to take advantage of any type disadvantage in your opponent's Pokemon which you could learn by studying the registration list. You will not know your fellow block members until you get there, and even then there's a chance you will be sequestered from them at the beginning of the preliminaries, so every trainer you fight may be a complete surprise. This will be a true test of your skills as trainers, and will judge your worthiness to continue participation in this year's tournament. And if you should happen to lose, don't fret, just train harder and come back next year. Any trainers who fail the preliminaries will receive fifty Pokebucks as well as a deluxe new portable washing/drying machine developed by Ford Industries, so the trainer on the go can always have a pair of clean underwear every morning."

Everyone at the heroes' table, human and Pokemon alike, glanced at Ash. He looked at them in confusion. "What?"

The representative gave the trainers a slight bow. "Thank you for your time, and I wish you all the best of luck in the Championships. But remember…today, a fraction of you will proceed, while the rest will be forced to leave. Only the lucky or the truly strong trainers will get far in this tournament, so you had better be at the peak of your training prowess for the trials that lie ahead of you! Battle on!" He pounded a fist to his chest, and left the stage. In the vacuum caused by his absence, many of the trainers in the room started anxiously talking to each other or getting up to head back to their rooms

"Which block are you going to be in, Ash?" Brock asked, leaning towards the boy.

"And how about you, sis?" Max asked.

"Battle Dome," Ash read from his napkin.

May's heart sank. "Really? Mine is Battle Pike." She had hoped she would fight Ash in the preliminaries. She doubted she would be able to make it into the next round of the tournament, so she thought her best chance to battle Ash and make him or herself happy would be if they were in the same block. And even then it would still have probably been a long shot, she realized sadly.

"Battle Pike…that's the place that looks like a giant Seviper, right?" Misty asked, recalling what they had seen at the Frontier island the night before. "I wonder what kind of conditions the fighting in there will be like."

Brock pulled out his guidebook and looked up Battle Pike. "According to this, the Pike is sort of like a maze," he said after a moment.

"A maze?" May asked, looking even more worried.

"Yeah, to mirror the labyrinthine intestines of a real Seviper. You start in a room with three doors, go through one 'challenge' room with three more doors, and find another empty room with three doors. You may run into other trainers in the maze, or even some 'wild' Pokemon. Apparently you can spend hours wandering through the maze, but the tournament officials will probably change it in some way. I wonder how," he pondered.

May looked absolutely terrified now. "Hey, don't worry," Ash said, trying to reassure her. "It's just a little maze. No big deal. Can't be as bad as the Trick House, right?"

"In the Trick House, we didn't have to fight other trainers or wild Pokemon," May said, rigid in her seat.

"Hmm. Looks like someone is getting a case of the nerves," Pikachu observed.

"Yeah, but it's not like we haven't fought other trainers or wild Pokemon before," Ash pointed out. "I mean, sure, they may be tougher than the ones we've fought in the past, that's to be expected, but that's what you spent all that time training with your dad for, right?"

"Yeah May, with all the time you spent with Dad, I'm sure you can do it!" Max told May encouragingly.

"Yeah, your daddy is really strong!" Jirachi agreed. "Remember how that one Level 70 Loudred that one trainer had kept yelling and yelling and yelling at his Slaking, and Slaking just yawned and keeled over, crushing the Loudred as he went to sleep? He didn't even need to lift a finger!"

"Well, none of my Pokemon can use that kind of technique…" May said. "But…yeah, I guess I've gotten a little better."

"And I'll come in with you!" Max said determinedly. "To cheer you on!"

"What? You will?" May asked in surprise. "But…um…they'll only let trainers who are entered in the competition into the maze, won't they?"

Brock checked his guidebook. "Yes, but there's an observation area where tourists or trainers who are just taking a look at the Pike can watch people's progress in the maze on closed-circuit television. So Max and Jirachi can watch you and cheer you on! Uh, not that you'll hear it, of course."

"Yeah, we'll be right there beside you sis! Well, not _beside_ beside, since we'll be in an observation room and you'll be wandering through a maze…but you know what I mean!" Max said.

"I'd be there too," Ash added. "But I'll be a little busy with my own preliminary challenge, you know? But if you can make it through the Pike, then there's a chance that we'll meet up further on in the tournament! And then I can see how much you've improved from your dad's training! I'm really looking forward to that!"

May hid a blush. "Ash…okay then, if I'm going into the belly of the beast, then I'll go! At least I know for sure now that my friends will be there with me, in spirit if not in person, right?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure," said Brock, who had been distracted by a passing voluptuous waitress.

"Good, then you can come with me too Brock," May said with an evil grin.

Brock blinked. (Somehow). "Wha? What do you mean?"

"Well, somebody has to watch Max and Jirachi while I'm in the Pike," May said coolly. "They're just a couple of kids. It wouldn't be safe to leave them alone."

"Hey, I resent that!" Max snapped.

"As do I!" agreed Absol. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of young Max and the Wishmaker! It's been my responsibility for ages!"

"Hey Absol, look! I can juggle!" Jirachi cried, telekinetically twirling dozens of very sharp knives and forks in the air above him. "Hey, what's that?" he asked, noticing a waiter wheeling a large chocolate cake that would be served at brunch in just a few hours by their table. His concentration lost, the silverware stopped floating in the air and started falling towards the oblivious Jirachi.

"Ahhh! Wishmaker!" Absol tackled Jirachi, knocking him out of the way of the sharp utensils and pushing him to the ground. The knives and forks imbedded themselves in the ground where Jirachi had just been floating, one of them burying itself in the large black blade of Absol's tail. He winced in pain.

"Owww, Absol, that hurt! I think you gave me a bruise!" Jirachi whined, rubbing his arm. "You're my guardian, you're supposed to protect me, not hurt me!" Absol simply groaned in response.

Everyone sweatdropped. "I see your point," Brock said with a sigh. "Okay, I'll take care of them. Who knows?" he asked, getting a gleeful expression on his face and a serious blush. "Maybe I'll meet some pretty girls while taking care of Max and Jirachi who'll be attracted to my caring personality, air of responsibility, and love of children and they'll totally dig me!"

"The only girl who would ever dig you would be the person who's making your grave," Misty said, rolling your eyes. "Assuming she's a woman. Because at the rate you're going, you'll die before ever getting a date." Brock slumped, crestfallen.

Latias shook her head. "He's even worse than you, Crawdaunt," she relayed through Bayleef. There was no response. "Crawdaunt?"

Crawdaunt's big claw waved out from under the tablecloth of the table they were sitting around. "Not right now, I'm busy!" he yelled in a muffled voice.

"Oh, Crawdaunt…" Corsola's voice purred from under the table as well.

Ash, Latias, and anyone else who had heard that and understood it shuddered and pushed their chairs a few inches away from the table.

"I'm glad my kid's not that danger-prone," Ash said, glancing at Absol, who was pulling the knife out of his tail while Jirachi started to juggle again. "Right, Phanphy? Phanphy?"

"Wee, look at me daddy!" Phanphy cried as a giant Electrode rolled past the table, Phanphy running on top of it and causing it to move around. "I'm having a ball!"

Ash yelped and jumped out of his chair as Phanphy and the Electrode rolled away. "Ahhh, Phanphy, look out, you're about to crash into that-" There was a blinding flash of light and the sound of an explosion. "Wall," Ash finished lamely.

Phanphy, with swirly eyes and a body covered in soot, wobbled back towards the table. "Wow, lookit all the stars!" He said in a daze. "There's one, two, three spinning about my head!" He twirled on his hind legs and passed out.

Ash sighed and picked the little elephant up. "Oh, Phanphy…"

"Mom, was I that bad when I was a kid?" Togetic asked.

"Yes," Pikachu and Misty said flatly.

The little angel blushed. "Strange, I don't remember my little antics being so dangerous…"

"That's the benefit of age, dear," said Bayleef kindly. "All your memories of events are surprisingly different from what actually happened."

"Isn't that a bad thing?" Latias asked, confused.

Charizard shrugged. "Depends on the event. Hopefully, one day the little incident where I dropped Charla's egg, broke it, and got myself banished from the valley on pain of death will seem like nothing more than an amusing little anecdote. I hope," he said, wings drooping.

"Shouldn't we get going already?" Misty asked, glancing at a clock. "We're running out of time."

"Aaahh, you're right!" Brock cried, startled. "I was so distracted looking at the waitresses I forgot! Come on, we have to get to the Frontier!"

They paid for breakfast then quickly headed back up to their room. "Are you going to leave Onix back at the train station again?" May asked as they rode up in the elevator.

"Huh? Actually, I don't know where he is," Brock suddenly realized. "Come to think of it…Misty, was Onix out near the pool when you were there? I left him down there last night."

"Um…no, I don't think so," said the red-head.

Brock frowned. "And come to think of it, I haven't seen any of my Pokemon either this morning! Where could they have gone?"

…

"A uno…" started Lombre.

"A what?" asked the confused Jigglypuff.

"Eh, it is, how you say…won?"

"One, honey," Mudkip corrected from atop Lombre's lily pad hat.

"Ah, si, that is correct," Lombre said while nodding vigorously, almost knocking Mudkip off.

"Let's keep going. A two," said Geodude from the Exploudrematic's control room, his arms sheathed in the metal and latex gloves that gave him real-time control over the robot's hands. He flexed his digits, gripping them around an air guitar, causing the robot's real hands to hold the transformed Garuda in the proper playing position.

"A three," continued Forretress, sitting still on the mecha's tongue.

"A one, two, three, four!" bellowed Onix, drumming his tail on Forretress' shell.

And then the Pokerockers, unhindered by any besotted trainers or other annoyances, started their very first band practice.

…

The heroes got delayed considerably because Ash had to change his underwear before leaving (amazingly, nobody had to prompt him this time) and they missed the first tram out to the Frontier, so they had to wait with the rest of the anxious battle-ready trainers to catch the next train. Due to time constraints, what with having only half an hour left at this point before the preliminaries, they couldn't give Ash and friends a car to themselves and their Pokemon and so were crammed with the other competing trainers into a regular car. They then were delayed further at the security station because Jirachi was still carrying some of the silverware from the restaurant, which set off the metal detectors and caused all of them to be searched again, but finally, FINALLY, they were inside the park. Since they were now running very low on time, they only took a moment to say quick goodbyes, which were made a little longer by Ash wishing May good luck, and May blushing and waving goodbye until Brock dragged her away by the ear in the direction of the Seviper-shaped Battle Pike.

Brock, May, Max, Jirachi, and Absol made it to the gaping jaws of the Pike's entrance just in time. Gathered on the tongue-shaped bridge were the numerous other trainers making up May's block. Perched on top of one of the entrance's fangs was a sneering, dark green-haired woman, one of the Brains who had been present at last night's ceremony. "Heads up, half-pints! Name's Lucy, Queen of the Battle Pike!" She smirked and brushed some hair out of her face. "Heh, so you losers are the Pike's next victims? You punks won't last a minute in the tough bowels of my domain here!" Lucy said, patting her fang perch affectionately. "And if you do…maybe, _just_ maybe you'll have a chance in this tournament."

Brock dashed through the crowd, shoving trainers out of the way and flinging them aside, shimmied up the fang quicker than a Mankey, and grabbed the startled Lucy's hand, blushing furiously. "Oh dear sweet Lucy, I would willingly throw myself into the bowels of a REAL Seviper and come out unscathed if it would mean I could win a chance with you!"

"Get away from me!" Lucy kicked Brock in the face, causing him to lose his balance and fall screaming off of her fang. He hit the ground below with a thud. "You wouldn't survive for even half a minute inside a real Seviper, you'd get chewed up and dissolved by venom! And if you somehow DID make it out…you'd be so rancid, nobody'd ever want you, not even your mom!" She started laughing nastily.

Brock burst into tears. "So cruel…yet so beautiful…why did my foolish heart have to be conquered by you, oh evil Queen Lucy?"

"Ah, shut up!" Lucy leaped off of her fang, landing on Brock's back and driving the spikes on the soles of her boots into the poor breeder's body. He cried out in pain, and many of the trainers, including May, gasped in disbelief. A few (like childish Max and Jirachi) found Brock's pain amusing and laughed. "This's what I do to any pervert who thinks all it takes to open me up is a cheesy pick-up line! I save my Pokemon for the REAL bastards, though. Heheh."

"Ahhh…please, forgive me…your spikes are digging into my back…" Brock moaned.

"They're supposed to, idjit," Lucy said, thwacking him on the head. "If I get up, will you promise to piss off and stop your womanizing ways?"

"Since you're cutting off all the feeling in my spine, I don't think I have a choice," Brock wheezed.

"Good!" Lucy hopped off Brock's back, grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and bodily threw him into the lake surrounding Battle Pike, where he landed with a large splash and attracted the attention of some curious Sharpedo. Brock saw them, screamed, and frantically started swimming for dry land. This only attracted attention from more Water Pokemon, which in turn made Brock paddle faster, thinking they were going to eat him. This was not the case, they were actually just curious. They had in fact been fed copiously that morning just in case someone fell into the water, but Brock had no way of knowing that.

There were more gasps of shock this time, and only a few laughs. May was horrified. "How could she do that!" she cried.

"How horrible!" sounded someone else.

"That poor man!"

"How did someone like her become a Frontier Brain?"

"I bet she abuses her Pokemon too!" said a disgustingly familiar melodious voice.

Lucy looked unfazed by their comments. "Heh. Say all the bad things you want about me, I ain't listening. Right now all of ya are thinking I'm a cruel, heartless bitch who doesn't care about anything or anyone, and for the heck of it may abuse my Pokemon. And why not? Plenty of other mean people do, so why shouldn't I? Morons," she spat. "Life and Pokemon training isn't always sunshine and lollipops. Things can get hard out there. Hard enough to destroy you and everything you've worked for. Everything you've loved. And what'll you do when that happens? Curl up and die?" She sneered at the block of trainers, and May couldn't help feeling that Lucy was speaking directly to her. "All of you think just because you won eight gym badges, or got here by passing some test, makes you tough enough to take care of yourself when things get bad. Maybe some of you are. But most of you aren't, I wager. It takes more than badges or good grades to keep you safe when the odds are against you! It takes guts, inner and outer strength, good instincts, and all sorts of crap most people have forgotten or sloughed off due to weakness or laziness! When things get tough, you don't just give up and admit defeat, you get tougher! Nobody gets anywhere by giving up hope when everything seems hopeless! Even if it is, you never stop fighting! Everyone has the right to live; even you couch potatoes, and don't let anyone take that away from you without a fight!" She smirked and brushed back some hair. "But I'm wasting all your time, aren't I? We've got some prelims to go through, don't we? Heh. The majority of you will lose today, and go home because you weren't tough enough when you needed to be. The rest of you will pass, probably because you're just damn lucky, or maybe-just maybe-because you've got what it takes. Though I doubt it." She turned around, gazing into the dark gullet of the giant Seviper. "The intestines of Battle Pike are not for the weak or those who try to take shortcuts through life. It's a vast labyrinth of identical chambers, so you can wander around in circles for hours as you and your Pokemon are worn down by your opponents. You will each be released into the maze, three at a time-since the first chamber of the labyrinth has three entrances, as will every other chamber after that, that's part of what makes it such a big maze-and will wander about, going through doors as you find them, and sooner or later you'll run into each other. When that happens, you'll fight, and win, or lose. When that happens, the loser will be shown the way out of the maze, while the winner continues on until he or she runs into their next challenger. This will continue until a predetermined number of you are eliminated, then the prelims will end. The winners will advance to the next round in tomorrow's competition. Got that? Good, cause I ain't repeating myself. Oh, and one more thing: in this preliminary, anything goes. There are no limits to how far you can go to win a match, save for killing your opponent's Pokemon. Do that and you're out, plus your license will be torn up, your Pokemon taken away, and you'll get some serious jail time." She grinned nastily. "Now, which of you will be the first ones to enter the belly of the beast?" She scanned the trainers in the block with her hard eyes. "Okay…you, you, and you!" she snapped, pointing at three surprised trainers in succession. "You'll be the first ones to be fed to the Pike! Get over here!" The three trainers stepped forward. Two of them were just an average eleven year-old boy and a sixteen-year old girl, but the third was, to May's astonishment, Mariah Susanson! _I suppose that explains the sickening voice I heard earlier,_ she thought to herself.

"Okay you three, I don't know what your names are and I don't give a shit. But follow me, and I'll take you in to the start of the course. The rest of you," she said, addressing the rest of the block. "Wait here, this'll only take a sec, and then I'll be back to escort the next three to their doom."

"Before we go," Mariah Susanson interjected, a cold expression on her face. "I want to tell you that I think you're a sadistic, horrible woman, with many complex issues who may have been abused in her childhood and takes out her pain on all of us innocent trainers, and no doubt on her Pokemon too."

Lucy smirked. "Dearie, you don't know the first thing about me or my life, so I can safely say you're full of shit. And it looks to me like you're the one who abuses their Pokemon, not me."

Mariah gasped, as did many other trainers, shocked that this cruel woman could talk that way to the beautiful goddess (gag) that was Mariah Susanson. "How dare you!" Mariah cried shrilly. "I love and care for all my Pokemon!"

"Oh really? So do I, but none of them look like they're the most miserable and pathetic wretches in existence, like the Pikachu on your shoulder!" Lucy retorted.

"How dare you!" Mariah said angrily, grabbing the indeed miserable Pika Pika off her shoulder and squeezing her tightly. "I love Pika Pika, and she loves me! Isn't that right, Pika Pika?" The Pikachu said nothing. Mariah squeezed harder. "Isn't that _right,_ Pika Pika!"

"…Yes, Mariah," Pika Pika said quietly.

"So there!" Mariah crowed triumphantly.

"Hmmph. Whatever you say, bitch," Lucy said diffidently. "I sincerely hope you get lost forever in the Pike. It's no skin off my nose. Now come on," she said to the three. "You've got to get started. The prelims have begun, and we've wasted enough time out here jawing away." She started walking into the mouth of the giant Seviper. The angry Mariah, and the other two trainers, followed her. All four of them vanished into the serpent's gullet.

"What a woman!" Brock gasped, staggering up to May, his clothes drenched and slightly torn by rocks and Water Pokemon jaws.

"But Brock, she kicked you, stomped on you, and threw you into a lake!" May cried in alarm.

"And threatened to do worse if you bother her again!" Max added.

"I know…but I can't stop feeling this way! I have to speak to her again!" he said, hearts fluttering over his head.

"Does he have a death wish or something? Has he lost the will to live?" Absol wondered.

"Maybe he just has very high health insurance," Jirachi suggested.

"All right, time for my next three victims!" Lucy said, coming back out. "You, you, and…YOU! Next to the pervert womanizer! Get over here!"

May gasped. "M-me?"

"Yes you! Get over here already! Or do you want to drop out of the tournament?" Lucy snarled.

May was so intimidated of the woman that for a second she considered it, but remembered what Ash had said earlier. _"I'm really looking forward to that!"_ She steadied her emotions. Ash himself had said he wanted to fight her in the tournament! Even if doing so wouldn't have the reaction she had hoped for, i.e. making him love for, she at least would do what she could to gain his respect as a friend! She was not going to run away from that! "I'm coming!" she said, pushing her way through the rest of the block.

"Good luck, May!" Max cried as she walked away.

"And could you try and get Lucy's number?" Brock asked hopefully.

The aforementioned Pike Queen pulled off one of her boots and hurled it at Brock. It spun through the air, smacked him in the face, knocking him over, and spun back into Lucy's hand like a boomerang as he fell to the ground with indentations from the boot spikes on his face as May and the other two trainers came before her. "You three ready? Even you?" she asked, glaring at May. She nodded nervously. "Good! Follow me then!" She led the trio into the Seviper's mouth. May glanced back and waved to her friends as she vanished into the darkness.

"I hope she'll be okay," Jirachi said anxiously. "It would really suck if she lost!"

"Ah, there's nothing to worry about!" Max said confidently. "May was trained by dad! There's no way she can lose!"

"Hmm…overconfidence often results in failure," Absol cautioned sagely. "Knowing truthfully the limits of your abilities and also knowing there may be others who can surpass them help a warrior to grow stronger and prevent yourself from making a fatal mistake, or at the very least a fool of yourself."

"You mean like when I tried drinking that case of soda because I thought I could take it and burped so loud all the glass in the house shattered and Max's Mom put me in time-out for six hours?" Jirachi asked.

"…Yes Wishmaker, something like that," Absol said. "Although I was thinking more of Brock's misconception that he is actually knowledgeable in how to attract women, leading to his continuous chain of failures in love."

"I love you with every fiber of my being," Brock said dreamily to a random female trainer. "Will you marry me?" She screamed and slapped him, causing him to stumble backwards and fall off the tongue bridge and into the lake, where he panicked and quickly swam for shore, chased once again by curious Water Pokemon.

"Whoa," Max and Jirachi whispered in awe.

"I believe I've made my point," Absol said proudly as Brock floundered onto dry land, saw a shocked female security guard, and immediately started hitting on her, which resulted in him getting thrown back into the water and starting all over again.

…

Meanwhile, at Battle Dome…

The rules for the Dome seemed simple enough. Ash had to defeat four pre-arranged opponents to move on to the next round of the tournament, using only three of his six Pokemon. However, he was only allowed to use two of those three for any given battle. Fortunately, his opponents were too, and he was allowed to take a look at who they were and what Pokemon they had chosen to bring into the Dome before each match started. Of course, that meant they could see which of his Pokemon he was planning to use as well.

After some deliberation, Ash had decided to use Bayleef, Charizard, and Latias to use in the Dome. Latias had been startled that he had enough faith in her to use her in the very first round of the tournament, but much like May she shoved her uncertainties aside and vowed to do what she could to make her trainer proud. After all, she thought to herself, remembering her reflections the night before, she had changed since starting out on this journey. She was stronger and better trained than she had once been, and could not afford to be queasy or scared in the face of a strong opponent. She had faced down Missingno, the Phoenix King, Team Cipher (like that meant anything) and the evil General Hanson with the help of her friends, and the coming battles would be no different. She would not be alone, and so she had nothing to fear.

It was time for Ash's first preliminary match, and after checking who his opponent would be, Ash had decided to use Latias and Charizard for this battle, since all the Pokemon on his foe's team were capable of using ground-shaking techniques, so he thought it would be a good idea to use Pokemon who were immune to Ground-type attacks. He, Bayleef, Charizard, and Latias, were heading down a corridor from the locker room where they had been waiting to an elevator which would take them up to the Battle Dome's arena floor, where they would begin their fight. Ash pressed the 'up' button and waited for the elevator to come down to them.

"You nervous?" Bayleef asked Latias.

"…A little, yeah." Latias confessed.  
"I was too, when I entered the stadium for the first time," Bayleef said. "But despite the crowds, and the bright lights and the cheering, it's just like any other Pokemon battle. Focus on your opponent and block out anything else but the fight."

"I haven't been in many Pokemon battles though," Latias said. "Unless you count Team Cipher, the fights we had in the RPGenerator, and our training battles."

"Ah, it's nothing to worry about," Charizard said reassuringly. "Remember, you've got Ash backing me, and you've got me waiting in the wings. Nothing to be afraid of."

"I'm not afraid," Latias explained. "Just…I dunno, slightly apprehensive. This is our first battle in the tournament. All of our adventures so far have been leading up to this moment, and the even bigger event after where we'll have to save the world. It's a lot to think about."

Ash shrugged. "I'm not that apprehensive. This'll be my fourth or fifth big tournament (not counting all the smaller ones I had while traveling around) and I've saved the world more times than that. Yeah, I guess it's bigger this time around than it has before, tournament and world-wise, but I'm not too worried. All of our training, and like you said, all our adventures, have helped to prepare us for this. It's like destiny or something."

"With those freaking Unown calling the shots, it very well may be," Charizard muttered.

The light above the elevator doors blinked on then, and the doors opened to reveal a shaft open to the sun, and a platform sitting in front of them, waiting to be boarded. "Great, it's here. Okay guys, let's-"

"Ash, wait!"

They turned around to see Misty running towards them. "Misty? What is it?" Ash asked, concerned. Since trainers weren't allowed to have "coaches" during the prelims, Misty ended up getting a seat in the stands that she and the other Pokemon could watch Ash's fights from. Politoed, Pikachu, Phanphy, Kasurin, and Togetic had already been putting on their cheerleader outfits and fans as they had headed off to the seats. But what was she doing down here now, only a couple of minutes away from the start of the match?

"Um…before you went up…there's something I wanted to give you," she said, rummaging through her red bag. "Hold on…here it is!" She pulled out a red and white baseball cap with a black swoosh of sorts emblazoned on the main white stripe on the front.

Ash's breath caught in his throat at the sight of the cap. "It's…my hat…"

"Hey, it's his old hat!" Charizard said in surprise. "Never thought I'd see that thing again!"

Ash slowly, almost reverently, took the hat from Misty's outstretched palm, cradling it gently in his hands. "Why's he acting like that? It's just a hat, isn't it?" Bayleef asked in confusion.

Charizard scoffed. "Just a hat? JUST A HAT! The boy spent months collecting boxtops to send away to get that thing! It's an official Pokemon League hat! Other than when he started this new journey and got those new clothes, he's always worn it! When a stupid Mankey stole it, we did everything we could to get it back, even after it evolved into a Primeape and tried to pulverize us! It's like, one of his most prized possessions or something! It's almost sacred!"

Latias blinked. "But then why did Misty have…ohhhhh…" She blushed, understanding the implication. "Did he…give it to her, then?"

"I think so," Charizard said with a nod. "And I think he got something in return. We made fun of him for it recently, as I recall. What was it again…" he murmured, straining his memory.

"You…kept it all this time?" Ash asked.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Well, what did you think I was going to do with it? Throw it away? Give it to Salvation Army? Sell it on P-Bay? Keep it at the bottom of my dresser drawer like you do with your dirty underwear? Of course I kept it!" She fidgeted. "I…I had to keep it. I needed it. It…reminded me of you. Even _smelled_ like you. I didn't want to forget that scent, as weird as that sounds." She looked slightly embarrassed.

Without a word, Ash pulled off his new hat, the one his mom had made him, and tried his good old lucky cap on. He frowned, shifting it around on his head. "Hold on, something doesn't feel right…wait!" He pulled off the hat, and ran his hand through the interior of the hat his mom had made. "Ah, here it is!" He quickly pulled out a piece of cloth and stuffed it in his old cap, then put it back on his head. "There! Perfect!"

Misty blushed. "W-was that-"

She was interrupted when a klaxon blared abruptly. "The next set of matches will begin in thirty seconds. All trainers report to their assigned battlefields immediately!" a voice echoed throughout the dome.

Ash stammered. "Aaahh, gotta go, match is about to start, thankyouverymuchbye!" He gave her a quick hug and peck on the cheek, then dashed into the elevator. "Come on, we gotta go!" Bayleef, Charizard, and Latias quickly hopped in and the doors closed. The platform they were standing on started moving upward.

Misty blinked and touched her cheek. "…He still has my handkerchief." Smiling, she turned around and quickly headed back to her seat.

"What do you think? How do I look with it?" Ash asked, adjusting his cap.

"Not bad. Not sure it totally matches your outfit, but it looks good on you," Latias told him.

"Heh. It should. He wore that thing so often it's amazing it's not lice-infested or something," Charizard joked.

"I did wash my hair, you know," Ash said in frustration.

"Not often enough!"

It grew brighter as their platform reached the top of the shaft. Light streamed in as the platform emerged from the floor of a large, circular dirt-floored Pokemon arena, one of several held within Battle Dome. Stands had been set up at a safe distance around the battlefield, and through gaps between them Ash and his Pokemon could see other battlefields nearby, also surrounded by stands. Some of them were filled with interested tourists and friends of the battling trainers, others were not. Large walls rose up at the edges of the large field of sorts that they were placed in, and empty stadium seats were placed at the top of this wall. During special matches the smaller battlefields and stands were cleared out of the way, and opposing trainers had the entire dome (aside from the seats) to use as their playing field. This would no doubt be done later in the tournament, when there were much fewer competing trainers, and the numerous smaller stands and battlefields would not be needed.

The domed roof above them had retracted, letting the sunshine in. A small breeze cut through the area, blowing back some of Ash's hair and causing the brim of his cap to flap up a little.

Latias looked around. The people in the stands were far fewer than she had expected. There were also a couple of cameras taping her, but those didn't bother her quite so much. "I thought there'd be more people here," she said, surprised and oddly enough, slightly disappointed.

"Eh, these are just the preliminaries," Charizard explained. "There are so many trainers fighting at once now that it's nearly impossible for people to decide who they want to watch fighting, unless they know specific trainers who are battling it out. Most of the people fighting at the moment are veritable nobodies who no one will take interest in unless they make it further into the tournament. I doubt many people here have heard of Ash until now, despite all the stuff he's done, so he won't attract a bigger crowd unless he proves he's worth watching. But the match will probably be shown on the TV airing of the prelims later tonight, that's how they usually do it. More and more people these days watch big events on TV instead of coming in person, which makes big bucks for the League from pay-per-view as well as cable bills and the payment TV stations have to make to air the tournament proceedings. I bet all our friends back at the lab…and maybe in the valley…will watch us. And maybe some other people too. Most of those people aren't here, so they're not in the stands. If there were, they'd be much fuller."

"You my first opponent?" asked the spiky-haired brunette at the other end of the field.

"Yeah, who's asking?" Ash called back. He already knew who the guy was, actually, but it was still common courtesy when it came to trash talking to ask.

"I'm Akira of Katsubara Town, and I intend to wipe the floor with you!"

"Well, I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, and we'll see who wipes the floor with who when we're done!" Ash retorted.

"Daddy, Aunt Latias, Brother Charizard, Aunt Bayleef! You can do it!" squealed Phanphy from one of the seats on the side with the others.

"Pikapi, guys, go get them!" Pikachu cried, waving a fan.

"I hereby declare this match started! Both trainers, choose their Pokemon!" the referee announced from his pedestal next to the battlefield, waving a red flag and a green flag.

"Go, Whiscash!" Akira cried, throwing out a Pokeball which released an enormous dark blue catfish with big light blue lips, long whiskers, and a pale yellow underbelly.

"A Whiscash, huh?" said Ash.

"That's a fish. Why is he using it on dry land?" Latias asked in confusion.

"Whiscash can use Ground-type attacks, so it must be able to move about both on land and on water," Ash guessed, checking the fish in his Pokedex.

"Maybe it's amphibious, like Politoed?" Bayleef suggested.

Charizard grunted. "Looks more like a fish than a frog to me."

"Akira, do you wish to convert the battlefield to water to aid your Pokemon?" asked the referee.

Akira shook his head. "No, he'll be fine on land. Won't you, Whiscash?"

"Whatever you say, trainer!" Whiscash lowed.

"Looks like he's planning on using Ground-type attacks, then," Bayleef decided.

Ash quickly deliberated which Pokemon he should use. "It's weak against Grass, but Bayleef can't dodge Earthquake attacks…and it's resistant to Fire…so that leaves only one choice! Latias, I choose you!"

Latias blinked. "Me?"

"Yeah, you're immune to Ground attacks because you levitate, and you lack Charizard's type disadvantage, so you're my best bet!" Ash explained.

"Um…" She nodded. "Okay!" She floated off the platform and hovered in place in front of Ash, staring down the giant catfish on the opposite side of the field.

"Akira has chosen to use Whiscash, and Ash has chosen to use-what was it called again? Latias?-Latias for their first Pokemon." A digital scoreboard rising above one of the stands displayed Ash and Akira's faces, as well as icons representing Latias and Whiscash beneath each of them. There was space for two more icons, but since neither Ash nor Akira had chosen their second Pokemon yet it was blank. "Let the battle begin!"

"Never seen that Pokemon before…" Akira mused. "But it looks like a Dragon Pokemon, so use Hail!"

"Gotcha!" Whiscash took a deep breath, then exhaled, spitting out a large cloud of cold gas which solidified in the air above the battlefield, then started raining down large balls of ice at Latias.

"Latias, protect yourself with Safeguard, then fly over the cloud! Hail only falls downward, you'll be safe up there!" Ash commanded.

Getting over a momentary chill of fright from the large ice balls, Latias quickly surrounded herself in her blue aura of protection and flew right towards the cloud, smashing through and deflecting any hail that struck her shield. She burst through one end of the cloud and out the other, hovering high above the battlefield and out of the way of the ice storm. She sighed, relieved to be safe for the moment.

Akira laughed. "Ha, nowhere is safe when Whiscash is on the field! Hit her through the Hail cloud with Water Gun!"

The Whiscash took a deep breath and spat a stream of water at Latias through the icy storm cloud. The water was super cooled by the hail and came out the other side almost a hundred degrees below freezing. It splashed onto Latias' Safeguard force field and crystallized, trapping her in a solid block of ice. The cold seeped in through her skin-tight shield and she fell from the sky, passing through the hail cloud, getting even colder and hitting the ground with a thud.

"Oh no! Aunt Latias hates ice! Even if it's just something only a little cold like ice cream!" Phanphy cried, horrified.

"Well, that's because she's a Dragon Pokemon," Togetic explained. "Dragons are very weak against ice."

"What happened? What did I miss?" Misty asked, climbing into the stands, breathing heavily from her run back to the seats from the underground corridors.

"Ash chose Latias to fight that Whiscash," Corsola explained. "And she seemed to be doing okay at first, but then she got frozen in a block of ice!"

"That isn't good," Misty said, realizing like Phanphy had the dangers of being a dragon among ice. "I hope Ash can figure a way out of this."

"Ha! Not bad, huh?" Akira bragged.

"…Why didn't you just use Ice Beam? That would have had the same effect!" Ash asked angrily.

Akira blinked. "Uh…I thought it would look more impressive," he explained sheepishly.

Everyone sweatdropped. "This is a Pokemon battle, not a contest! Showing off isn't as important as winning in this match!" Bayleef yelled angrily.

"Is that why you chose to keep the battlefield dry instead of giving your Whiscash the advantage of being able to avoid attacks by diving underwater? To show off?" Ash asked, just as angry.

"Well…yeah, but so are you! You're using a Pokemon nobody here has ever seen before in your very first match! Isn't that showing off?" Akira accused.

"I'm using Latias because I trust in her abilities, plus she's immune to ground-type attacks, which most of the Pokemon you chose to use seem to be focused on! I picked her because she's my friend and for strategic reasons, not just to show off!" Ash explained.

Akira sweatdropped. "Oh. Uh…great, now I feel bad. Sorry."

"Hey, quit talking and keep fighting!" yelled one of the audience members.

"Yeah, we didn't pay for tickets to a debate on the finer points of Pokemon battling, we came to see a brawl!" shouted another.

"Is Latias able to continue?" The referee asked Ash.

"Um…Latias, are you okay in there? Try using Psychic!" Ash commanded.

A few seconds passed. Ash started worrying that the ice was too thick for her to hear him, or that her Safeguard had given out and she had already succumbed to the cold. The referee shrugged. "It seems that Latias is unable to battle. This round goes to-"  
He was interrupted when the ice block exploded, flinging crystalline shards everywhere and kicking up dust. The Hail cloud, which had been fading anyway, was swept away completely by the brief gust of wind that erupted from the explosion. Latias was in the epicenter of the burst, surrounded by a blue aura which faded away in the aftershock, as did the white glow in her eyes. "Unh…" She clutched herself, shivering. "Very cold!"

"No way…" said Akira, shocked. "It survived?"

"Are you okay, Latias? Can you still battle?" Ash asked.

"Um…I'm cold…but yeah, I think I can keep going!" she replied.

Ash grinned, looking relieved. "Great! Hit Whiscash with Dragonbreath!"

Latias nodded and breathed a jet of white flame at the Whisker Pokemon.

"Whiscash, Amnesia!" Akira countered.

A baffled expression appeared on Whiscash's face as the flames (Dragon-type, not fire-type) washed over him. When they passed, the big fish looked a little burnt, but not as badly as he might have been. "Huh? Shouldn't that have done more damage?" Ash asked, looking confused.

"Amnesia raises a Pokemon's defense against special attacks. Whiscash used it to make himself more resistant to Latias' Dragonbreath," Charizard explained.

Ash gave Charizard a baffled expression that mirrored the one the other, fishier Ash had on his face moments ago. "Huh? How does making yourself forget stuff make you more resistant to special attacks?"

"…I have no idea," Charizard admitted after a moment's thought.

"Oh, whatever," Ash said, exasperated. "Latias! Use Mist Ball!" Latias nodded and started forming a ball of swirling mist in her claws.

Akira snorted. "Mist Ball's a Psychic attack, Whiscash's Amnesia will make him stronger against the attack! What do you think you're doing?"

"You'll see. Latias, throw it at the ground!"

Latias tossed the sphere not at Whiscash, but at the ground right in front of him. It exploded and engulfed the field in a large cloud of mist, reducing the vision of the trainers and the Pokemon inside to almost zero. "Hey, where'd she go?" Whiscash asked in confusion, looking blindly through the mist.

"Latias, now! Hit him!" Ash called.

Latias appeared out of the fog to Whiscash's right, slamming into his side with a powerful tackle and sending him rolling a few feet away, causing him to lie flat on his back. "Hey! No fair! I never saw that coming!" Whiscash protested, flopping about helplessly, shaking the earth with every slap of his tail fin against the ground.

"Wow, that was a pretty good strategy!" Bayleef said, impressed. "Using Latias' Mist Ball to reduce Whiscash's vision and make him vulnerable to an attack!"

Ash sweatdropped. "Actually, I was expecting the ball to explode and fling Whiscash out of the battle from the resulting shockwave. I guess Latias still hasn't quite mastered the technique." Bayleef and Charizard facefaulted.

"Whiscash, stop flopping around!" Akira ordered, trying to regain his footing from the catfish's latest small quake. "Use your tail muscles to flip yourself over!" Whiscash attempted to, but only succeeded in arching his back somewhat before collapsing back to the ground, panting.

"Are you sure you don't want to convert the field?" the referee asked.

"No, no, we're fine!" Akira said quickly. "Um…quick, use Mud Slap!"

Whiscash spat some water on the ground, turning it into mud, then scooped it up with one fin and flung it at Latias. It splattered in her face, covering it with mud. "Ahh! My eyes!" she cried, holding her claws to her face. "I can't see!"

"I thought Latias was immune to Ground-type attacks. How'd that hit her?" asked the confused Corsola.

"Even if she's technically immune to Earthquakes and the like because she can fly, that doesn't mean she can't get blinded from a mud shot to the eye," Misty explained.

"Hey, that rhymed!" Politoed realized. "Wonder if I could work that into a cheer…"

"Now, follow it up with Ice Beam!" ordered Akira.

Whiscash took a deep breath and spat out a white energy beam at Latias which froze particles of water in the air as it passed.

"Quick Latias, use Safeguard!" Ash yelled.

Latias couldn't see, but there was nothing wrong with her ears, and she quickly activated her blue shield as the beam hit her, protecting her as it froze the air around her into a solid chunk of ice like it had before.

"Now, use Psychic!"

Like before, Latias exploded out of the ice chunk in a flash of brilliant light, eyes blazing as the mud over them dried up and disintegrated. But as the aura of power faded, she gasped for breath and shivered, looking weary from the fight and the cold.

"You may have broken her out of the ice, but it doesn't look like she can take much more! This round is almost done!" boasted Akira. "Whiscash, let's really put her into deep freeze this time! Use Blizzard!" The catfish started inhaling.

Thinking quickly, Ash got a brilliant idea. "Latias, fly onto Whiscash's belly!"

Akira blinked in confusion, as did much of the crowd. "Huh?"

Latias mustered her strength and quickly flew over Whiscash's body before the fish could spit out his lethal ice storm and landed on his large stomach, out of reach of his mouth or the Blizzard attack! "Ha, that won't help you!" Whiscash tried to lift his head enough to spit the Blizzard at Latias, straining and pushing his fins against the ground…and collapsed pathetically back to the ground. He wasn't flexible enough to do a sit-up, and his large gut wasn't helping. "Oof! Shouldn't have eaten all that curry last night! But it tasted so good, how could I refuse?" he moaned.

"Okay Latias, now that you're on his blind spot, heal yourself with Recover!" Ash commanded.

Latias closed her eyes and started glowing faintly. Her fatigue and shivering diminished as she healed her wounds from the fight.

"Well, we'll take this opportunity to heal as well! Use Rest!" Akira decided.

Whiscash closed his eyes and started snoring, a snot bubble appearing from his nose as he went to sleep to regain health, surrounded by a faint glow.

"We can't let him heal, Latias! Pop that bubble with Dragonclaw to wake him up!" Ash told the dragon.

Latias opened her eyes, recovered from the catfish's Ice attacks, and pulled back her right claw, which started glowing. She thrust it forward at Whiscash's snout, popping the bubble and scratching his face. The catfish started and trembled, waking up and looking startled. "Huh? What? I was having such a nice dream…"

"Hey, he wasn't finished healing!" Akira said angrily.

"You would have attacked Latias while she was healing if Whiscash had been able to move himself up enough, wouldn't you?" Ash pointed out. "Latias, finish it off with a Dragonbreath to the face!"

Latias took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of white fire at Whiscash's face. It engulfed the catfish, causing him to flail about in pain and panic for a few seconds before falling limp, his eyes X'ed out.

The referee raised his flag. "Whiscash is unable to battle! First round goes to Ash and Latias!" There was some applause from the crowd as the icon of Whiscash on the scoreboard faded to a black silhouette.

"Yeah! Great job!" Crawdaunt called from the stands, snapping his claws happily.

"Good work, Latias!" Misty cried. "And you too, Ash!" The boy flushed at this and pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes to conceal it.

Politoed was leading Pikachu, Phanphy, Togetic, and Kasurin in a cheer. "Akira thought he had Latias on ice, but she broke free with a psychic slice, and won with a strategy that was really nice! Gooooo Latias!" they cheered, dancing and flapping their fans about.

"You did a good job, Whiscash. Return!" Akira called, returning the fainted catfish to his Pokeball. "Not bad…your dragon's tougher than I thought."

Latias blushed, feeling somewhat embarrassed and proud that she had managed to win her first fight in the tournament. Ash smirked. "I think the same can be said for all my Pokemon, Akira! Latias, do you want to come back and take a rest?"

"Um…sure, okay," she said. She had, in the end, surprisingly enjoyed the match, but even with the Recover was a little tired from the fight. A quick rest sounded good at the moment. She floated back over to Ash's platform, where she got caught in a bone-crushing hug from Charizard and Bayleef.

"Nice job out there! You weren't scared of the crowd at all!" Bayleef complimented, squeezing Latias with her vines.

"Well, like you guys have been saying, I focused on the Whiscash," she said with a shrug, or as much of a shrug as she could get while caught in Bayleef's vines and Charizard's strong arms. "That, and there aren't too many people watching us."

"Sad, but true," Charizard lamented. "Ah, it doesn't matter. We'll get more attention eventually."

"Let the next round begin!" called the referee. "Both trainers, choose your Pokemon!"

"I choose you, Camerupt!" Akira threw out a Pokeball which released a big red camel with blue rings on its sides and two small volcanoes for humps. "None of your Pokemon has an advantage over my Camerupt!"

Ash smirked. "Type advantage doesn't always make the difference. I choose you, Charizard!"

"Great! Here I go! Back into the ring!" Charizard stomped forward, spitting out an arc of flame and roaring as he made his entrance.

"Heh, think that impresses me? I've got molten lava for blood! I'm hotter than you could ever be lizard-boy!" Camerupt said with a fiery snort.

Charizard rolled his eyes. "Ooh, lava. Here's a newsflash, Sir Humps-a-lot: Charizards take BATHS in lava pools! Show me what you got!"

"Looks like this fight's already off to a good start," commented Crawdaunt with a chuckle. "The two of them are already trash-talking each other!"

The referee swung his flags. "I declare this next round begun! Charizard against Camerupt! BATTLE!"

And, in a burst of flame, they did.

…

"…And that's the end of the stock report. Hopefully, the economy will stabilize soon; otherwise we may all be in for a Great Depression. And now for international news. John, what's the news from the other regions of the world?"

"Not too much to report. The Kanto area is relatively peaceful at the moment, and the recent outbreak of Team-related crime in this region and other locations around the world seems to have dramatically come to a halt in the last couple of days. Reasons for this are unclear, but one operative captured just last night reported in an interrogation that they were bankrupt now and the board of directors had torn itself apart in the fight to decide who would take over in a power vacuum caused by the mysterious death of the 'Boss' and all his successors, and the organization itself seemed to be crumbling to pieces, so it was every man for himself. Or woman. The captured operative was female. It is unknown if yesterday's assassination of singer Michael Johnson and his retinue in the Quennce region, who had just been acquitted of numerous charges of child molestation, is related to this collapse in organized crime in any way. Authorities are still investigating.

"In the Johto region, the river flowing in Purity Canyon in the area around Mt. Cena, long thought to be the purest and healthiest water in the world, has for no yet discernible reason become deadly. The plant life in the valley has already withered and died, Pokemon and humans drop dead seconds after drinking the water, and even the rocks and ground seem to be deteriorating due to the level of toxicity present in the river. The entire valley has been dammed off to prevent the poison from flowing into the ocean and further contaminating water around the world. Scientists are anxiously studying the water to determine what sort of pollution has contaminated it so, but no conclusive findings have been made yet. Hopefully this is just a local disturbance, and will not occur in other water supplies around the world.

"The high-tech nation of Silica has been struck by that most terrible of all things electronic, a mass power outage, leaving the entire region in the dark. Riots and violent fighting has already broken out in the streets, and many have died already while trying to adapt from their decadent, cushy lives reliant on technology to living off the land like many of the rest of us. The other regions are already working on a plan to transport food and relief to Silica however, to keep the death toll at a minimum.

"Also, in the wild and rowdy Orre region, there have been reports of seismic upheavals and some scientists are worried there may be a massive volcanic eruption in the near future. Mt. Battle, one of Orre's most prominent landmarks, has not erupted for over five hundred years, and has been long thought extinct. Hopefully, it will remain that way, or the entire region could be devastated in the ensuing blast from its fiery awakening.

"While Johto and Orre are suffering from natural disasters, the decades-long war that has been going on in the robot-driven nation of Metaba seems to finally be winding down to a close, as the leaders of all the factions have finally agreed on a settlement that will satisfy everyone. This proposed peace accord is planned to be signed later this week in the ever-peaceful Sevii Islands, with United Region representatives at the proceedings to make it official in the eyes of the world.

"And we have more good news as well, the queen and king of New Switzasia have agreed to-"

"Brock, what are you doing?" Max's whining voice cut in, piercing the fascinated stupor Brock had been in while watching the news and the extremely hot reporter sitting next to John, the international correspondent.

Brock blinked. "Huh? What?" Why was someone trying to bother him while he was watching TV?

Hands on hips, Max stepped into Brock's line of sight, blocking out the TV monitor. "Hey! Listen to me!"

Brock ignored him and peered around the boy, still focused on the reporter. "He's acting just like you do when you're watching television back at Max's house, Wishmaker," Absol observed.

"I do not act like that!" Jirachi protested. "…Do I?"

Max sighed and turned the television off. "Hey!" Brock said angrily. "I was watching that!"

"You're supposed to be watching May with me!" Max said, looking annoyed.

Brock frowned. "What? It's not like she's fighting anyone at the moment, is she?"

Max folded his arms and gave Brock a frustrated look. "No, but she's still your friend and my sister, and we should be supporting her, instead of watching some news anchor! Were you even paying attention to anything she was saying, or were you too busy looking at her?"

Brock hung his head in sorrow. "I was just looking at her."

Max nodded. "I thought so. So come over here and watch May instead of someone on television."

"But May's on television too right now," Brock said weakly, hoping he could get back to watching the news anchor.

"Not working, mister. Come on!" Max grabbed Brock's ear and yanked him off the couch, dragging him over to the television screen focused on May despite Brock's protests and cries of pain.

Young Max and his companions were in the viewing lounge of Battle Pike. There were at least fifty televisions of varying sizes around the room, each focused on a different competitor, thanks to hidden security cameras in every room of the maze. When a competitor was knocked out of the tournament, their TV went blank and those waiting in the lounge could change the channel to something else if they didn't feel like watching the other trainer battles.

The lounge was fairly opulent, with gold-tiled floors (gold color, not the real thing) with tall red decorative pillars supporting the ceiling with gold Pokeballs at their top. The wallpaper was elegant and showed detailed patterns that made one think of an endless field of wildflowers. There were plush red couches, cute little leg rests, and even a small bar. This lounge was meant to be comfortable for those who were watching their favorite trainers fight in the Pike, or for the trainers who had lost and didn't feel like leaving just yet. Brock and Max sat down in front of one of the televisions; this one focused on May, and watched to see what she would do next. They did not know they were not the only ones watching their friend, as they tuned out everything else to watch May they did notice Lucy walk over and look at the screen over their hunched shoulders.

May had so far been surprisingly lucky in the last hour or so since the preliminaries had started. So far, she had only fought two actual competitors, the rest of the time she had either been bumping into helpful workers who gave her some tips on how to survive tough battles, found a machine or two which partially healed her Pokemon, and ran into several 'wild' Pokemon that had been trained to attack those who trespassed through the maze, including one or two which simply afflicted her Pokemon with random status effects and then vanished. To May, the Pike wasn't nearly as heinous as Lucy had made it out to be. She had no idea how often she had come close to running into very powerful wild Pokemon or other trainers who would have given her a true challenge at continuing.

She exited the small winding pillar-filled room she had just been in after defeating a 'wild' Seviper, and found herself in a 'junction' room. There was one of these every other room, where she could select one of three passages to take that would lead her deeper into the bowel of the Pike. The room, like the other chambers of Battle Pike she had seen so far, had a soft, almost spongy red floor, with pillars shaped like ribs lining the walls and a very humid atmosphere to further the illusion that she was inside the stomach of some giant monster. There was also the recorded sound of a giant heartbeat in the background. It even had a funky smell one got used to after a while.

The room was small, with three doors at the far end facing her. Each was made of some weird, filmy substance, like some kind of gauze or membrane which could be pushed aside as she entered, but sealed shut behind her. She glanced at the doors, wondering which one she should go through this time. _Well, to get here I went through the middle door in the last room, and before that I took the door on the left…so I guess I'll just take the right, then_, she decided. This strategy had served her well so far and kept her out of the way of the more dangerous areas of the maze. What she didn't realize was that inevitably, all luck runs out, and hers had just reached its limit.

She reached for her Pokeballs, so she could grab them quickly if she needed to, and passed through the door on the right, flinching as she always did at the weird sensation she felt as it touched her skin and parted for her. It moved back into its original position as she passed through and went rigid, preventing her from turning back even if she wanted to.

She found herself in a room almost identical to the last one, albeit slightly larger, and the three doors were split up on the walls of the room instead of all lined up next to each other.

And the last room hadn't had Mariah Susanson in it.

Back in the lounge, Max was screaming, "No way! May is facing Mariah? The chances would be two hundred to one!"

"I'm not so sure of that," said Lucy from behind them, startling the heck out of them and causing Brock to cringe while trying to curb his sexual urges, remembering all too well what had happened the last time he had hit on her. "Let's see how this goes, shall we?" The expression on her face was unreadable as she shoved Brock out of his seat and took his place in front of the television. The horny teen whimpered and peered anxiously over her shoulder, trying desperately not to think about how nice her hair smelled.

"Oh, hello! Are you my next opponent?" Mariah asked cheerfully.

May suddenly lost the confidence she had been building up. Mariah was a very strange and worrying person. She had somehow brought her boyfriend back to life after Max and Jirachi had accidentally squished them. There was no telling what else she could do. "Um, I guess so," May said uncertainly. "Unless you could just let me pass?"

Mariah laughed sweetly. "I'm afraid not, I want to get further in this tournament just as much as you do. I can't do that if I let someone go, now can I?" She patted the miserable Pika Pika on the head and pulled out a Pokeball, which looked like it was made from solid gold encrusted with diamonds and other gemstones. "I'll let you fight if she's too tough for the others, okay Pika Pika?"

"Okay," the mouse said sadly.

"All right!" She hugged her Pokeball to her chest and cradled it. "My dear friend, I need you to win this battle. Will you please help me win? You will? Great!" She threw the ball. "Go!"

May sweatdropped, wondering why Mariah had made such a big show of asking permission before throwing the ball. It wasn't like the Pokemon could answer back through the ball. The gaudy sphere popped open, releasing a large black fox with blue eyes and nine tails. It was, of course, a shiny Ninetales. "Niiiine!" the fox crooned.

"Wow," said May, shocked. "It's beautiful! It would probably great in contests…"

Mariah nodded happily. "I know! She's won fifty contests! But that's less than a tenth of the contests my other Pokemon have won."

May paled at this, but convinced herself Mariah was just trying to freak her out and pulled out one of her Pokeballs. "I don't have any Water-types, but I think this'll do! Go, Munchlax!" May threw out the ball, and it burst open to reveal the small, pudgy black cat-eared Pokemon. May smirked, recalling this strategy that she had worked on with her father. It would be the first time they put it into practice. Munchlax could eat almost anything, so they had Combusken's Ember or Beautifly's Silver Wind. It took a little work, but Munchlax had quickly adapted to eating energy as well as normal food, and in doing so they taught him both Stockpile and Spit Up, powerful techniques very few Pokemon knew. So if Ninetales used fire attacks, Munchlax could eat them and spit them right back at the fox Pokemon. Munchlax moaned and rubbed his tummy, which growled. He was clearly hungry. Good, that would make it easier for him to ingest and regurgitate the attacks if his stomach was empty.

Mariah gasped. "Oh, how could you! Look at the poor thing! What kind of trainer are you?"

May blinked in confusion. "Huh?" What was she talking about?

"Just look at him! The poor thing is famished! When's the last time you fed him?" Mariah asked angrily, pointing a finger at the hungry Munchlax.

"Well, I-" May paused. When _had_ the last time she fed Munchlax been? She had recalled feeding him before putting him in his Pokeball the night before she and Max left for Ever Grande City, and after that…

She gasped, realizing she _hadn't_ fed Munchlax recently, not since two nights ago. Was that why he had tried to eat her foot when Jigglypuff had put them all to sleep? And afterwards, she had just returned him to his Pokeball and didn't think to take him down to breakfast the next morning, because she knew from experience that if not watched carefully, Munchlax would eat everything in sight, including tablecloths, silverware, and in a few very desperate occasions, people.

"What kind of trainer are you? Starving the poor thing before making him fight? Do you even care about him?" Mariah accused.

"O-of course I care about him!" May protested. "I just haven't fed him recently because…I guess…I forgot…" she finished lamely, looking in horror at Munchlax. Was Mariah right? Did she not care enough?

As if to answer, Munchlax looked at her soulfully and mouthed, 'I'm hungry' while pointing to his open mouth and rubbing his belly.

"Oh…I'm sorry Munchlax!" May cried. "I didn't mean to forget to feed you! Please forgive me!" She got an idea. "Tell you what, help me out now and I promise you can eat as much as you want when we get back to the hotel, okay?" Munchlax nodded happily at the thought and stared down the Ninetales, eager to earn May's promised meal. Ninetales didn't really stare back; it just…looked at him. Like it didn't have any intelligence or anything.

"Kitsune, use Super Flash Flame Flare attack!"

The kitsune, unimaginatively named Kitsune, inhaled, and then breathed out an incredible rainbow-hued tongue of flame with dazzling sparks shaped like stars and moons dancing in it which totally engulfed Munchlax before he could even open his mouth. He didn't even have time to cry out as the flames consumed him. The attack only lasted for a second, barely a blink of an eye, and then it was done and Munchlax was standing where he had been attacked, looking oddly stiff. May stared in confusion. "Huh?" she asked stupidly. What had just happened?

Munchlax, his black fur burnt off and his bare skin charred black, collapsed, causing the ashes that had been his fur to sift on the ground. May gasped. "Munchlax!"

"He was too weak to defend because you didn't feed him," Mariah lectured angrily. "Your neglect has left him in very bad shape." She didn't seem to remember or care that her own ludicrously powerful attack had been what had damaged Munchlax so badly.

Shocked that the match had been lost so suddenly, and with so much damage to poor Munchlax, May quickly recalled her plump little garbage-eating Pokemon and threw out another Pokeball. It burst open, revealing her pink Delcatty. Delcatty looked around in confusion. "Yellow?" she asked, looking perplexed.

"No Delcatty, Golduck isn't here, we're in the middle of a battle!" May explained to her cat.

Delcatty's eyes watered when she understood that her beloved brainless yellow Golduck was nowhere nearby, and she burst into tears. "Your Delcatty is poorly trained," said Mariah in disgust. "You never trained her as hard as you did your other Pokemon, so she had no chance of growing out of her mindlessness and frivolousness, so when the time comes for her to get serious, all she can do is cry when things don't go her way!"

"No, that's not true!" May protested. "She's just in love, and she's unhappy the object of her affections isn't here!"

"The time for love is not on the battlefield! Because of your poor training, she doesn't realize when to fight and when to play! That kind of distinction can get her killed in battles!" Mariah accused.

"No, I've trained her-" May paused. Actually, she _hadn't_ trained Skitty quite so much as the others while she was with her dad. She could never manage to catch the kitty's attention long enough to teach her anything, because she kept chasing anything that moved abruptly, be it Norman's Vigoroth or her own tail. Skitty had been easier to train to do contest moves because she had found those fun, but she had gotten bored of plain old fighting techniques and her short attention span soon lost interest. May had eventually given up on trying to get Skitty to become a serious battler and focused more intensively on her other Pokemon. She felt a flash of guilt and wondered if maybe Mariah wasn't right after all.

She shook her head, clearing such thoughts from her mind. Now was not the time to think such things, she was in the middle of a battle! "Delcatty, we'll see Golduck later. Right now we need to concentrate on winning this fight!" Perked up by the possibility of seeing her lover later, Delcatty narrowed her eyes and hissed at Kitsune. Kitsune did not seem to notice. "Right, the faster we get done here the sooner you can see Golduck! Use Water Pulse!" Delcatty opened her mouth and a blue-white ring of liquid started forming in it.

"Kitsune, Shadow Blast attack!" Kitsune's mouth opened wide and she spat a huge black energy ball which seemed to absorb all light around it at Delcatty, leaving a trail of darkness behind it in the air. It exploded and flung Delcatty across the room and caused her to smash into one of the ribs, knocking her out and breaking some of her own ribs along with all four of her legs, plus her tail.

May was stunned. "Wait…wasn't that some sort of Ghost attack?"

Mariah nodded. "Yes."

"But Delcatty's a Normal-type! She's immune to Ghost-type techniques!"

"Not if I don't want her to be."

May's blood went cold. Who _was _this girl! "D-Delcatty, return!" Starting to get scared, May quickly called back her Pokemon.

"I think I'll do that too, so my other Pokemon can have some fun. Kitsune, return!" The black Ninetales went back into its Pokeball. "Now, go Alleon!" She threw out another gaudy gold jewel-encrusted Pokeball while May wondered why Mariah hadn't bothered doing her act of asking her Pokemon permission to use it as the ball opened and released the creature inside.

It was a Pokemon May had never seen before. Its long, beautiful fur rippled with all the colors of the rainbow as its silver eyes shone. It had a long prehensile tail that was both spiky and soft, and elegant, thin legs ending in vulpine paws. Its ears looked like a cross between those of a cat's and a foxes, and it had a brilliant sapphire placed in its forehead. It also had a white mane around its neck, a fin on its back, stripes on its legs, and a golden tuft of fur on top of its head. All in all, it looked like some strange mix of all the Eevee evolutions, which glowed very brightly. "Allll!" it called.

"What is that?" May wondered, pointing her Pokedex at it.

It beeped and showed a blank screen. "No data available."

May frowned. "Hmm…I really have to get the same upgrade Ash did! My Pokedex seems so outdated in comparison now!"

"I'll be happy to explain," Mariah said cheerfully. "That's Alleon, the ultimate evolution of Eevee which only a truly loving and capable trainer can obtain. It's an Omni-type Pokemon, which means it's stronger than all other types and is weak to none!"

May was confused. "What? That doesn't make sense! I've never heard of such a type existing before! And all types have to have some weakness; it defies everything known about Pokemon for it to be stronger than all others!"

"Yeah, exactly!" Max agreed from the lounge.

"But if it's impossible, then what is the Pokemon you see before you?" Mariah asked. May hesitated, unable to come up with a logical explanation. "You see? Since you see it here, it must exist, and that must mean there is an Omni type. Just because you didn't know there was one didn't mean that it never could or never has existed. Believing only what you have been taught is a sign of ignorance and a lack of imagination, which is bad for a Pokemon trainer. If you are incapable of accepting that there is more to reality than what you have been told, how can you ever expect to grow as an individual?"

"But…I…I'm just…" May stammered, trying to explain herself, and finding she lacked the words to do such a thing. "Just…just…argh! Shut up!" She pulled out a Pokeball. "Let's see how strong this Omni-type is! Go, Bulbasaur!"

Her Pokeball popped open and released the bluish frog-like Pokemon with the bulb on her back. But the second Bulbasaur was exposed to the air, her entire body seemed to transform into a mass of white light. Mariah gasped. "Oh! It's evolving!"

And so it was. The body of light which Bulbasaur had become expanded in size, the bulb on its back splitting open. When the light solidified and became physical matter again, Bulbasaur was a bit larger than before, with sharper teeth, a leaner, more muscular look to her, and her bulb had opened up to reveal a large pink flower, its petals still wrapped up to show it was not yet in bloom. Bulbasaur, now Ivysaur, blinked in surprise. "Huh? What happened?"

"Wow, Bulbasaur evolved into Ivysaur!" May cried in amazement.

"I did? Cool!" Ivysaur said happily. "Now if I can just stay this way forever instead of evolving into fugly old Venusaur, things'll be great!"

"Just because it evolved doesn't mean it can defeat Alleon. He's at level 500!" Mariah bragged.

"That's impossible!" Max cried, looking close to tearing his hair out. "A Pokemon's body caps out at level 100! It's like how a human being can only run so many miles an hour!"

"Yeah, yeah." May, her confidence boosted by her Pokemon's spontaneous evolution, paid no attention to Mariah's boasts, certain she was just trying to unsettle her. "Ivysaur, Solar Beam!"

"You can't use that," Mariah pointed out. "There's no sunlight in here!"

"No," May agreed. "But the glow coming off of your Alleon is a good substitute!"

And so it was. The tip of Ivysaur's flower was glowing a brilliant white as it collected light from the glow surrounding the strange Eevee evolution. When the light had compacted itself into a bright sphere of luminous energy, Ivysaur roared and fired it towards Alleon in a beam of solar power. Alleon didn't move, waiting for Mariah to give it a command. She simply smiled and stood there as the beam struck Alleon and lit the room with a blinding explosion.

"Yeah! Great shot, Ivysaur! You got it!" May cheered.

"No you didn't," Mariah corrected as the light faded and there stood Alleon, completely untouched by the beam.

May and Ivysaur's jaws dropped.

"But…but how!" May cried. "I saw it hit!"

"Actually, Alleon is so fast that it was able to move out of the way and go right back into place in the split second it took for the beam to strike and miss," Mariah explained with a smile.

"That's not possible!" May protested in disbelief. "No Pokemon can be that fast! And if it did do that, then the beam should have hit you!"

"Mine is that fast," Mariah said happily, and completely diverting attention away from the perfectly logical point May had just made. "I'll show you. Alleon, Quick Attack." Alleon tensed its muscles…and suddenly Ivysaur collapsed to the floor, left forelimb barely attached to its body by a fraying string of muscle, her skin scarred and cut up on practically every square inch of her body, one of her eyes was almost gouged out, and the flower on her back had been severed and was now lying on the ground, petals wilted. Alleon didn't look as if it had moved an inch.

"Ivysaur!" May quickly kneeled down to hold her Pokemon. "What happened! Alleon didn't even move!"

"Yes it did. It just moved so quickly you couldn't see it," Mariah said. "You never stood a chance because of your inability to admit that there are things in the world beyond what you already know."

"I don't believe this!" Brock protested back in the lounge. "I've never heard of an Omni-type!"

"Neither am I and I'm a Frontier Brain," Lucy said absent-mindedly. "So they shouldn't and don't exist."

"But there's one right there," Jirachi pointed out, referring to Alleon.

"Yes…so there seems to be…" Lucy muttered in agreement.

Frightened by the condition her Pokemon had been reduced to, May quickly called back Ivysaur. "One by one, you're coming close to killing my team! Why!"

"Well, you're the one who challenged me," Mariah accused.

"No I didn't! I asked politely if I could pass, and you said no! You insisted on battling me!" May protested.

Mariah shrugged. "Your abusive treatment of your Pokemon and your very existence are a challenge to me. Choose your next Pokemon!"

May's anger rose, infuriated that not only did Mariah refuse to take any blame for her actions, she was also insulting everything about her! "Okay then, you asked for it!" she snapped, pulling out another Pokeball. "This one is my starter, and one of my closest friends! Go, Combusken!"

She tossed the ball, and released a large bipedal chicken with yellow and red down and fearsome talons on its arms and feet. "I'm ready for action!" Combusken stated, punching at the air.

May was especially confident in her Combusken's abilities, because the Young Fowl Pokemon had, through intensive training, managed to defeat her father's Vigoroth, who was almost unstoppable at hand-to-hand combat. "Okay Combusken, this…this _bitch _may have fatally injured our friends and she calls you weak, and me a bad trainer! We can't let her get away with that, right?"

"No way!" agreed Combusken with an angry nod.

"Okay then! Hit Alleon with Blaze Kick!"

Combusken took a step back, and then lunged forward in a flying kick as her outstretched foot burst into flame. "Raaaa-"

Halfway to Alleon, Combusken seemed to slam into an invisible wall, then flew up into the ceiling, smashed back into the floor, and was bounced back and forth between the walls for several seconds before being lifted back into the air again and slamming into the ground hard enough to crack it. May gasped. "Wh-what happened?"

Mariah smiled. "Alleon's Omni-type powers are especially strong against Fighting Pokemon, who are almost never cute or worth having (well, with the exception of Blaziken, who's totally cool, and maybe one or two others) and he didn't even need to attack to defeat Combusken, he just had to stand there and Combusken defeated herself!"

"Wh-what? That doesn't make any sense!" May protested.

"Of course it does. You're just too ignorant to see it," Mariah said kindly. "Combusken may have had a better chance if you had trained it enough to evolve into Blaziken, but since you were too negligent to do that it lost instantly."

"But I asked Combusken if she wanted to evolve! She didn't want to!" May protested.

"That's no excuse," Mariah claimed. The strange girl's eyes widened in surprise, and May looked down to see Combusken, teeth clenched, struggling back to her feet. "Oh my! She's still conscious!"

"That's…right," Combusken wheezed through her cracked beak. "I'm not…down yet!" She got into a shaky fighting stance.

"Combusken, no! Stop! You can't win!" May cried, frightened for her partner.

"Maybe not…but I'd rather lose fair and square than because I gave up!" Combusken retorted. She spat a Flamethrower at Alleon.

"No, wait! I forfeit, I forfeit!" May cried desperately, fearing what the repercussions of this attack would be. But it was too late.

Just like when it had evaded Ivysaur's Solar Beam, Alleon did not appear to budge, but when the flame attack was over, it was clear that the Pokemon had not taken a scratch. Once more, it had moved so fast that neither May or Combusken had seen its dodge. Mariah shook her head pityingly. "It's too late. You can't escape your fate. Alleon, Super Psychic Holy Shock attack!"

Alleon's eyes glowed, and the radiance around its body increased. Every one of its vibrant hairs stiffened, and all of Battle Pike seemed to tremble as Alleon howled and a ludicrously large bolt of white light burst through the ceiling, striking Combusken dead on and engulfing her as the Young Fowl unleashed an unearthly scream of pain.

May gasped. "Combusken!"

"Ahhh! How'd it do that!" Max and Brock cried back in the lounge.

Lucy scowled. "That'll cost to fix. That bitch had better pay for that hole in my roof…"

The light faded away, revealing a ten-foot wide circular section of floor that had been burnt an indelible black by the beam of light. Curled up in pain in the center of the circle was Combusken. Every feather on her body had been burnt off, and the skin underneath looked as if it had been in the process of being baked in an oven for too long. If it weren't for the extremely faint rise and fall of the chicken's chest, anyone would have thought she was dead.

"NO!" May screamed. She ran into the scorched circle and wrapped her arms around Combusken's torso, flinching at how unnaturally cold she seemed despite clearly being baked alive. "Combusken! Combusken!" Tears in her eyes, she glared at Mariah. "How could you…how could you do this! All she was doing was refusing to give up a fight!"

Mariah shrugged while Pika Pika shook her head sadly and looked away, clenching her eyes shut in misery. "It's as much your fault as it is mine, I'm afraid."

"MY fault!"

"Yes. If Combusken had been trained better, she wouldn't have tried to pick a fight that she clearly couldn't win," Mariah explained, recalling Alleon to its Pokeball. "Combusken's training is your responsibility, so the fact that she did not stand down when you begged her to is even more demonstrative of how poor your skills are. If Combusken truly respected you as her trainer, she would have stood down right away when you asked her, instead of continuing anyway. She did it because you failed to expiate her stubbornness and pride, so was too foolhardy and courageous to obey you. That is your fault, because you were too inadequate a trainer to truly earn her respect. Just as Berry said yesterday, you rely too much on them instead of fighting your own battles. And there is nothing worth respecting in that."

May was speechless. "I…that-that's not true!"

"Yes it is. In fact, you've thought that you weren't good enough many times recently, haven't you?" Mariah accused, walking into the circle formed by the horrific attack as the sun shone through the hole made in the ceiling. "Not good enough to fight in the tournament, not good enough to win contests, not good enough to win the heart of the boy you loved…"

Shocked, May fell backwards, letting go of Combusken. "Wh-what? How do you know-"

"Because I am Mariah Susanson," Mariah stated, as if that explained everything. And it just might. She started slowly walking towards May. "Just look at you. You are the eldest child of the esteemed Norman Maple, one of the most famous trainers in the Hoenn Region…and that is your only claim to fame. The only reason all those boys back home tried to go out with you was because you were Norman's daughter, they don't care about you or what you do. They only believe you are such a great trainer because you're related to Norman, and they're so blinded by hero-worship that they think you must be as good as he is. You are in reality nothing compared to him, no matter how hard you train or strive to prove yourself. You are forever trapped in his shadow."

And suddenly they were not in a chamber of Battle Pike, but in an open field, and May was standing on a pedestal while people of all ages cheered her name. She looked around in confusion, wondering how she had gotten there, and where Mariah had gone. Suddenly, the ground trembled, and the world seemed to darken significantly as something huge blotted out the sun, casting a shadow over the field. May turned around to see it was an enormous statue of her father, at least a mile high, which towered over everything in sight. At the sight of the Norman idol, the cheering fans eagerly cried the gym leader's name and ran over to worship at the statue's base, leaving May all alone.

"You may be somewhat appealing to the eye on the outside, but your inner self is weak and helpless, due to misconceptions of yourself, an ego swollen from being the daughter of the famous Norman, and at the same time so many doubts about your abilities. You don't even like to battle, but you tried to take it up so you could impress a boy, how pathetic and cowardly is that? You never even liked Pokemon in the first place, but you used the desire to train as an excuse to leave home so you could go traveling! For one such as he whom you care for, one who inevitably ends up discovering the true person beneath paltry, concealing flesh and words, you never had a chance at his heart. You hold nothing that would ever make him love you."

May was now standing in a chapel in a beautiful white wedding dress, standing before a priest with Ash at her side, and all their friends and family in the aisles behind them. But then suddenly a red-headed girl with blue eyes, who seemed to be lit up from within by some inner radiance ran up, and Ash abruptly turned away from the kiss that would have sealed a marriage with May and kissed the girl. May looked down at her own chest, and was appalled at how sickly the light that it emitted seemed to be in comparison to that which was now blossoming from not only the heart of the red-headed girl and from Ash, but from everyone else in the chapel. And then they all vanished, even the priest, and May found herself all alone in a ruined, worn-out old temple, with threadbare rags which did little to warm her from the cold, bitter winds.

"Your weakness will drive everyone away. They will have no wish to associate with someone as pathetic as you. Even your faithful Pokemon will abandon you."

May desperately reached for her Pokeballs, hoping Mariah's cruel words were lies, only to find that each and every one she opened was completely empty. "No…"

She was back in Battle Pike, back in the belly of the beast. Mariah loomed over her now. "If you continue as you are now, as a weakling, you will end up all alone and miserable. You will die in a gutter, drowning in filth and your own bile, sick of life and the world. Nobody would mourn your passing. Not even your family." And May saw herself as Mariah described her, a disgusting, putrid waste of humanity, dying in the darkness alone and unseen, where her corpse wouldn't get in the way of anyone important. "But it doesn't have to be that way."

"No?" May asked desperately.

"No. I was once like you, nothing. But I became somebody. I became beautiful and perfect. You can too. You can be happy and successful and have everything you want."

And May suddenly saw herself as Mariah was offering to make her. She was _beautiful_ beyond words, her dirty brown hair bleached into a golden hue and her normal blue eyes sparkling. Her Pokemon were all powerful and graceful, capable of winning any battle or contest easily, and they all loved her completely and would never, ever leave her. And her brother was so in awe of her he never acted like a jerk or called her names anymore, and she was so popular she had her own world-wide fan club and now _Norman_ was in her shadow. And she was a master at contests, and had lots of ribbons, and Drew of all people was coming to her for advice! And Ash was by her side all along, helping her, holding her, loving her…

The beautiful vision dispersed, and May was once more back in Battle Pike. Mariah held out her hand. "It's so easy. All you have to do is take my hand…and relinquish your soul. You won't even miss it," she said quickly when an apprehensive look grew on May's face. "It's not like you ever used it anyway. Almost nobody does. Isn't giving up something small and worthless a miniscule price to pay for everlasting happiness?" She held the hand closer. "All you have to do is take my hand." The little gem in her necklace glowed softly, as did her ever-shifting eyes.

"May, no! Don't do it!" Brock cried helplessly in the lounge. "It's not worth it! Although you probably would look more attractive-" he mused before Lucy, without looking, grabbed his nose, twisted it, and lifted him up in the air-still by the nose-and tossed him across the length of the lounge, where he smashed headfirst into a television screen and was knocked unconscious. The other guests of the lounge stared at poor Brock in horror and edged as far away as possible from Lucy.

"We cannot let this happen!" Absol said angrily. "We cannot let your sister be twisted like this! That Mariah distorts and befouls everything she touches, we cannot allow it to happen to May!"

Max nodded. "Right! Jirachi…" The Wishmaker gritted his teeth and concentrated, trying to get a grip on his out-of-control powers to grant whatever wish Max was about to concoct and save May. "I wish-"

"Stop." The boy and the Pokemon looked at Lucy in surprise. "This is something May has to do on her own. We can't interfere."

"But-" Max started.

Lucy gave him a look that would curdle milk. "You arguing with me, kid?" Max cowered and quickly shook his head. "Good." Lucy turned around and continued watching the television.

"Max, she's even scarier than your mom," Jirachi whimpered.  
"I know, I know!" Max agreed, shivering in fright.

"Well?" Mariah asked, her hand still outstretched. "What will it be?"

May stared at the impossible girl's immaculately manicured fingers. The offer was tempting. Very tempting. And Mariah was right, she didn't need her soul anyway. What good was it really, in the long run?

_Your inner self is weak and helpless._

_You hold nothing that would ever make him love you._

_Your weakness will drive everyone away…even your faithful Pokemon will abandon you._

_You will end up all alone and miserable. You will die in a gutter…nobody would mourn your passing._

_Isn't giving up something small and worthless a miniscule price to pay for everlasting happiness?_

Those words, along with other things Mariah had said to her, echoed through her mind. Slowly, she returned Combusken to her Pokeball, then started lifting her hand toward Mariah's.

_I've already staked my claim…if anyone marries you, it's gonna be me!_

_Then I guess I'll never pay you back, so you never leave!_

_I really look forward to battling you, May._

_I'm really looking forward to that._

She paused.

_Max, your sister's weird!_

_May, can you sing that lullaby of yours? I really like it._

_May, you suck._

_May, you're the best sister a brother could ever have._

_Contests, huh? Well, I can't exactly say it's what I was expecting…but I'm proud of you nonetheless, young lady. Show me what you've got!_

_Ouch…poor Vigoroth, that's going to take a while to shake off. Not bad, May. You've improved quite a lot. I think you're ready for the tournament!_

She blinked, recalling the words of Jirachi, Max, and even Norman.

_You and me, trainer. We'll stick together, like true nestmates should!_

_Evolve? You're…you're actually asking me if I want to evolve? That's…I didn't know you cared enough to ask. sniff Thank you…_

_I'm hungry. Feed me._

_Feed me!_

_FEED ME!_

_All my life I was told all humans were evil. I didn't even KNOW what you were, I wanted to know what else was different from what I was told, and you were my gateway. You _are _my gateway._

_I want to sing, will you sing with me?_

_Pretty!_

_Beauty on the inside always comes out…stop thinking you're less because some other girl has bigger bumps than you._

The words of her Pokemon joined the other echoes in her memory. And then…

_Life and Pokemon training isn't always sunshine and lollipops. Things can get hard out there. Hard enough to destroy you and everything you've worked for. Everything you've loved. And what'll you do when that happens? Curl up and die?_

_When things get tough, you don't just give up and admit defeat, you get tougher! Nobody gets anywhere by giving up hope when everything seems hopeless!_

_Everyone has the right to live; even you couch potatoes, and don't let anyone take that away from you without a fight!_

May's expression hardened as she understood the truth of Lucy's words. She smacked Mariah's hand away. "No!"

"What?" Mariah blinked, looking confused. "What are you saying?" Pika Pika stared at May in equal astonishment, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"I said no! You can take your offer and…and shove it! I don't need or want it!" May spat.

"But why!" Mariah asked, unable to comprehend why anyone would possibly want to turn down an offer as good as this. "You could be perfect, like me! Your life could be happy and full of joy, like me! Why would anyone want to take being regular and having to suffer over something like this?"

"Because that's what life, REAL life is!" May snapped. "Life can't always be about happiness and getting what you want, that's not how it works! Things get hard, but surviving them and learning from is the true test of any person!" she said, paraphrasing something her father once told her which she had failed to understand before now. "If everything in your life is happy and perfect, then you can never learn from your mistakes or become a better person! What you're offering me isn't a life at all, it's a fantasy! Some hollow, empty dream without any anchors or basis in reality, no chance for improvement, no personal evolution…its stagnant! Almost as bad as death!"

"But surely it's better than what you have going for you now, isn't it?" Mariah argued. "Stuck in your father's shadow, virtually no skill in Pokemon training, no boyfriend, full of doubts and insecurities-"

"Shut up! Now that I'm thinking clearly, I can see it's not nearly as bad as you're trying to convince me it is!" May said angrily. "I'm not the best trainer, you're right, but I'm a lot better than I once was and I can keep getting better too! Just because I wasn't able to have absolute control over my Pokemon or save them from almost being killed by yours doesn't mean I'm a bad trainer, it means I love them enough to let them do what they want and have more respect for their lives than you do, if you would have just killed them and not blinked an eye at it!

"I may be in my father's shadow, but I'm proud to be his daughter! I may always be thought of as 'May, daughter of Norman', but I can build up a reputation of my own so my claim to fame won't always just be my relation to him!

"And yeah, I have insecurities and doubts, but so does everyone else, except for you as far as I can tell! Everyone is perfectly imperfect, that's what makes us humans or Pokemon! Being imperfect means we can improve ourselves and get better, but if you're already perfect what do you have? No chance for advancement, nowhere to go, you're already at the top! What else is left for you? I can get rid of my problems in other ways than just pretending they don't exist or by turning into someone else, in that way I can find my own way of becoming a better person!

"And as for my lack of a love life…how I failed to see that the boy I cared for had been taken long before I ever knew him…" She flushed, and her voice got quieter. "Well…I'm only eleven…plenty of time to find someone else…right? I might not be the one meant for him, but that doesn't mean I still can't find someone who I AM meant for."

Lucy smirked and leaned back in her seat. "Thatta girl."

"Max, who is May talking about?" Jirachi asked in confusion.

"The boy she cared for? Um…" Max frowned in thought. "Well, we read her diary recently…but she kept switching from talking about an 'ebony-haired hero with a giant heart' to an 'emerald-haired prince of grace and style' so we could never figure out for sure who she meant." Not that he didn't have his suspicions, of course.

"Perhaps that fellow who kept calling on her who seemed to have trouble breathing?" Absol suggested.

"What, Wally the asthmatic?" Max shrugged. "Eh, I guess anything's possible."

"And so that is why you will not accept my offer?" Mariah asked, looking doubtful. "Because it disagrees with your definition of 'life'?"

"That, and I don't want to give up my soul," May admitted. "It may not seem like a lot to you, who's empty and has none, but it means something to me! I'd rather have it and all my little problems and insecurities than give it up and become a perfectly happy but hollow person! Someone like you, who seems to be able to distort the laws of reality whenever you feel like it!"

…

In Greenfield, Molly sneezed. "Gesundheit," said her father, without looking up from his newspaper.

…

Mariah looked at May with a skeptical raised eyebrow, while Pika Pika actually had a glimmer of something in her eyes, something other than sadness. Could it be respect? And maybe, just maybe, a bit of hope?  
Mariah shrugged. "Well, if that's your decision. I guess I'll go now…back to my life of beauty, magic, ludicrously strong Pokemon who love me so much they'd die or even kill to protect me, hundreds of contest ribbons and badges and quite a few tournaments under my belt, and an incredibly hot boyfriend who makes passionate love to me every night. I guess that's not the kind of life for everyone." She headed for one of the doors out of the room.

"Mariah!" May called suddenly. The unreal girl turned back, wondering what May could possibly have to say now. "Sooner or later, you or Berry will run into Ash Ketchum. And when he fights you, he and his Pokemon will destroy you."

Mariah stared at her blankly for a few seconds, and then burst into hysterical giggles. "You have no idea how many people have told me that." A smile on her face, she left the room, and May was alone again.

Or not really alone, because she knew she still had her friends and her Pokemon, injured as they were. And, although she had lost the match, she had also gained something just as important: clarity.

…

"Champ-T, finish that fool off with a quadruple Mega Punch!" The black-skinned, bearded, muscular man with a vest, gold chains, and a Mohawk commanded his four-armed fighting Pokemon.

The Machamp nodded and lunged forward, all four of his impressive fists glowing.

"Charizard, now's your chance!" Ash called. "Use the new variation we've been working on!"

Charizard nodded and lunged forward at the Machamp, ramming through the punches with his horns, and headbutting the Superpower Pokemon's chest. Champ-T grunted and took a step backwards, which was all Charizard needed to continue with his forward momentum and smash into the Machamp, knocking him to the ground. They rolled several feet away, Charizard holding on tightly to Champ-T and ignoring the muscle-bound Pokemon's attempts to break free. After a few revolutions, Charizard came out of his roll and used the momentum from the spin to fling the Machamp up into the air, where he flailed his arms helplessly as he flew up into the sky. Charizard smirked and waited a few seconds for gravity to take hold and start dragging the Superpower Pokemon back down to earth, then leaped into the air, flapped his wings to keep himself in the air, and swung his thick tail at the Machamp when he fell down to his level. Struck with all the force of a professional baseball player hitting a home run, Champ-T was sent hurtling away, where he flew up, up and up over the stands and the stadium seats, smashing into one of the large groups of spotlights ringing the top of the Battle Dome, where he got a jolt of electricity as his hard head shattered the lightbulb and understandably passed out amidst a shower of sparks.

The referee waved his flags. "The victim of an impressive technique, Champ-T is unable to battle. I declare Ash Ketchum and his Charizard the winner of the match! Congratulations Mr. Ketchum, you have passed the preliminaries! You are now in the tournament for real!" On the electronic score board, Champ-T's icon darkened into a silhouette, and the icon of its knocked-out partner and portrait of its trainer vanished as Ash's picture expanded to fill the screen as digital confetti showered on his face, and the icons of all three Pokemon whom he had used flashed on the lower half of the screen.

Ash whooped and leaped into the air as the audience, who had gotten rather attached to the energetic young lad, applauded enthusiastically. "Yeah! We did it, guys!"

"Heheh, not bad, huh?" Charizard said proudly, swooping down to land next to his trainer. "I like that technique! Think I'll copyright it, along with my Submission/Seismic Toss combo…"

"It was a pretty good move," agreed Bayleef. "It worked better than the last time you tried it, and threw poor Phanphy into a lake."

Charizard sweatdropped. "Hey, the kid _asked_ me to try it out on him…and it's not like he hates the water…"

"Charizard, Phanphy's a Ground-type Pokemon," Bayleef pointed out.

Charizard shrugged. "Doesn't mean he can't learn to swim, does it?" Bayleef and Latias sighed.

Ash's opponent, an enigmatic man known only as trainer T, shook his head as he recalled Champ-T to his Pokeball. "Man, I pitied that fool, thinking he didn't stand a chance…and it turned out I was the fool! You did pretty good, kid!"

"So did you!" Ash replied. "Well, other than the overwhelming arrogance and constantly calling me a 'fool'. You need to work on that."

"Yeah, I know…" T grunted. "My therapist says that too, damn fool. But I'll do better next time, I promise you that! I'll be looking forward to a rematch, kid!"

"Me too!" Ash agreed. "Though you'll have to wait in line, I think there are a lot of other people who wouldn't mind a rematch too…"

"Charizard, Latias, Bayleef, Ash, Trainer T thought he could beat them and win the match! But with a Solar Beam from Bayleef and Charizard's new technique, they sent him packing, he couldn't take the heat! Goooo Ketchums!" Politoed led the others in a victory cheer.

"I didn't even know Aunt Bayleef could use Solar Beam before now," Togetic commented.

"Neither did I," agreed Pikachu. "I think she just happened to learn it then and there. That's why she looked surprised after she had used it and the T guy's Pokemon was knocked out."

"Hmmph. I doubt he'd have won so easily if I hadn't given him his hat back," Misty said with a smirk. "That thing always did bring him good luck."

"As does what's in the hat's _lining,_ right?" Crawdaunt joked with a wink as Misty blushed. "Heheh."

Ash, reunited with a memento of his days in Kanto and Johto, had with the help of his friends managed to win the preliminaries and ensure his place in the Hoenn Championships. But the battles waiting for our heroes may be tougher than any they have ever had to go through. Ash had plenty of rivals he's clamoring to fight: Harrison, Wes, Berry and Mariah. Latias has a first meeting with her true father to look forward to, maybe even on the battlefield. And Charizard is itching for his rematch with Blaziken, so he can redeem himself for his failure at the Silver Conference.

And even after the tournament, their battles will still not be over, for the bringer of the prophesized storm of disaster is waiting for them in his fortress high above the world, plotting his conquest and utter annihilation of the earth. Would the Chosen be strong enough to defeat him and the forces he was gathering when the time of destiny finally came?

…

May stretched her arms as she exited the jaws of Battle Pike, feeling the welcome touch of the sun on her skin after being in the dark intestines for so long. She patted her Pokeballs, reminding herself she had to get them to the Pokemon Center quickly and get them healed before it was too late.

"Hey May!" Hearing the familiar voice of Brock, May turned around to see her friends, followed by Lucy, exit the Pike behind her.

"Hey guys. What is it? I kind of have to get to the Pokemon Center," she said, patting her Pokeballs again.

"It's just…we were wondering…" Brock hesitated, not sure what to say.

"May, are you all right?" Max asked finally.

She blinked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Better than I have been in a while, actually. But Combusken and the others aren't, so I have to get to the Center fast so I can save them."

"I think that can wait a moment," said Lucy, grabbing Brock by the ear and throwing him into the lake. The water Pokemon had missed their noontime feeding and were now hungrier than they had been that morning, so eagerly chased after Brock, who screamed and started swimming for his life.

"HELP MEEEE!" he cried as a Sharpedo almost bit off his foot.

"Oh no! Jirachi, quick, get him out of the water!" Max cried.

"Okay!" Jirachi concentrated, and teleported Brock out of the water…and ten feet above it, where he fell straight into the jaws of another Sharpedo.

"AAAHHH!" He managed to brace himself in the monster's jaws, stretching his limbs out to keep the mouth from closing on him. "THIS IS NOT HELPING!"

Absol and Max glared at Jirachi, who sweatdropped and laughed nervously. "Uh, oops? Let me try again…"

In the meantime, Lucy had grabbed May by the arm and pulled her to the side of the bridge. "You did a good job back there, kid."

May blinked. "Huh? What, you mean with Mariah? You were watching that?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, we all were. It took guts to do what you did, standing up to that bitch and turning down her offer. I'm glad that some of what I said before got pounded into somebody's head."

May smiled. "Yeah, that advice you gave really helped…although I still wish I could have won, a little."

"Ah, it doesn't matter," Lucy said with a shrug. "You win some, you lose some. That's life."

"And you learn from your defeats, right?" May guessed.

"Yep. And you've learned something from this one, haven't you?" Lucy asked.

May nodded. "Yeah…for one thing, I'm going to go back to contests instead of battles. I'm sure I could become a great battler someday, but Pokemon contests are what I want to be good at. And I'm going to stop trying to be something I'm not to impress my friends. You know, the usual lessons you learn from these kinds of situations, as corny as it sounds."

Lucy nodded. "Good, good. And the boy?"

May blinked. "What boy?"

"You know…the one you like? The one who's taken and you supposedly didn't have a chance at?"

May flushed. "Oh…right. Him. What about him?"

"Are you certain he's a lost cause to you?" Lucy asked.

May nodded. "Yeah, absolutely and completely. And I don't really feel too envious of the girl who got him…I like her a lot, and I think they deserve each other."

"Not holding a grudge…very mature of you," Lucy said, sounding mildly impressed. "You should probably tell him, though."

"Tell him what?" May asked, confused.

"How you feel."

"Why?" She was bewildered. "I've already admitted and accepted that I lost the battle for his heart before it began. Why should I make him feel bad or guilty for choosing who he did by letting him know how I feel?"

"It's part of the healing process," Lucy explained. "It's something you've gotta get off your chest if you ever want to move on with your life. It's your choice, you don't have to do it, but I think it might be a good idea."

"…Maybe I will," May said doubtfully. "For the sake of closure, if nothing else." _And maybe then I can try and figure out what Drew's deal is,_ she thought to herself.

"Closure's good," agreed Lucy. "It's the end of one phase and the beginning of another. Life progresses, regardless of whether or not we want it too." She looked into the distance for a moment as behind them, Max and Absol pulled the terrified Brock out of the water while Jirachi held off the water Pokemon by wildly firing laser beams from his true eye. "Hey, I know you said battling isn't your thing, but…learning how to fight well can be a big help in those contests of yours, I think. Have you been training under someone?"

May blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah, my dad Norman. Why?"

"It shows. Hmm…Norman's a good trainer, but I don't think his style quite matches your technique. How'd you like me to teach you a few things?" Lucy offered.

May was stunned. "You'd do that?"

Lucy shrugged. "Sure, why not? I think I'm free this afternoon. After you get your Pokemon fixed up, how'd you like to meet me in the central square of Ever Grande City? Say, four-ish?"

"I think I'd have to check with my friends, but that sounds good," May said, a smile coming to her face.

Lucy smirked. "I thought it might. Come on, I'll take you to the Center. We can discuss details on the way." They headed off together for the Center in the nearby village.

"Hey, what about us?" asked Max, huffing and crossing his arms.

"She totally ditched us!" Jirachi said angrily.

"Oh well," said Brock with a shrug. "At least Lucy's going with her, so she won't be around to beat me up…although a part of me wants her to come back." He leaned on the railing of the bridge, which abruptly broke under his weight and caused him to fall back into the lake. "WAAAHHH! NOT AGAAAIIIINN!" he cried as he splashed down.

Absol sweatdropped. "After we rescue Brock…_again_…I suggest we report this to whatever authorities run this Frontier land."

"I agree," Max said with a nod of his head. "It's really not good for safety reasons."

"Imagine if someone who couldn't swim leaned on the railing and got dumped into the water," Jirachi agreed.

"WILL YOU THREE STOP TALKING AND HELP ME OUT!" Brock screamed as a group of hungry Sharpedo, Carvahna, Remoraid, and a confused Wailmer bore down on him.

The trio sighed. "Here we go again," they said in unison as once more they stooped down to rescue Brock from a possible death.

…

_"Hmmm…"_ the Ghost King growled, watching a replay of the fight between Mariah Susanson and May. _"I do not like this Mariah Susanson."_

"She seems to be able to bend the rules of the world to her liking. A truly dangerous foe," Shedinja agreed from his master's side.

"Do you believe we should do something about her, my lord?" asked Misdreavus from the King's other side.

The King thought for a moment. _"The chances of her, or her weaker partner, fighting against Latias and Ash in the tournament seem high." _He narrowed his eyes. _"I do not wish what happened to May's Pokemon…or worse…to befall Latias."_ He turned to glare at his second-in-command. _"Shedinja. I want you to find everything you can about this Mariah Susanson and Berry Stoo. Who they are, where they came from, how they possess such strange powers. And find a way to counter them. If, during their match, it seems as if Latias is about to suffer a cruel and nearly fatal injury like the ones Ivysaur and Combusken received…"_ He paused. _"Do what is necessary. Under no circumstances is Latias to suffer such a fate."_

Shedinja's slitted eyes glistened with concealed glee at the unspoken order he had just been given. "As you wish it my lord, so it shall be."

If Mariah Susanson or Berry Stoo or their Pokemon were to harm Latias, he would greatly enjoy carrying out their execution.

…

And that ends the first round of the championships! What do you think?


	42. Intensive Dragon Training! Enter Drake!

Okay, now begins the second chapter of the Hoenn League Championships. What exciting battles will Ash participate in today?

I couldn't agree more, Yamimaru.

Schizophrenic, if and when Mariah dies, I can assure you it will hurt quite a lot.

Starfighter364, why would the Charizards and Gyaradoses only be fed enough to keep them alive for months? That's Pokemon cruelty! And yes, the Ghost King is Rayquaza. I flat-out said it several chapters ago.

Eaglefox, I think you will be satisfied soon. But not just yet. Hold on a little longer.

I am glad you've enjoyed it so much, HVK. I was actually trying to pay homage to Mr. T, not insult him. Is the Dark Tower series something I should check out? And I think I see where you're going with Avatar…yes, writer's block is a drag, I almost had it for this chapter. And in anime, those speeches you're talking about are called 'soliloquies'. They are meant to be unnoticed. By the way, what do you think of current events on Teen Titans? How will they affect your plans for Kingdom Crossovers?

Sir Pudding, the Ghost King didn't know he had an old body until the end of the chapter titled Origins, remember? His ghost researchers listened in on Regirock and Regice's story and set off to report their findings, then locate Rayquaza's body and Registeel so they could give the King life again. The reason Ivysaur was lacerated by Quick Attack is because Alleon is just that powerful, laws of physics or nature be damned. The explanation for Mariah was originally that simple, yes, but…thanks to one of my editors, I have a much more disturbing plan in mind. And which trait do you think Lucy personifies more, luck or perseverance? And besides, while luck chooses which room you go into in the Pike, you need perseverance to last long enough to win the big rewards, right?

Story Weaver1, I think everyone looks forward to that report.

Gladdecease, thank you for explaining the ship name. By the way, do you know what's happened to Water Spirit?

Disclaimer: None of the characters in this chapter are mine, although I do own training elements and an island and maybe a few other things. Credit to Alex Warlorn and DiamondLatias3000 for their help in editing this chapter.

…

"Sandshrew, Rollout attack!" commanded a brawny trainer with a red and black shirt and dark green hair. The thick-skinned yellow sand mouse curled into a ball and rolled at its opponent.

"Pikachu, get out of the way with Agility!" commanded Ash. Pikachu quickly dodged as Sandshrew crashed into the ground where he had been standing, cracking it. "Now, hit it with Quick Attack!"

Leaving a trail of white light, Pikachu charged into the curled-up hard ball, slamming into it and knocking it across the room, where it smashed into one of the walls and dented it. "Ha! It'll take more than that to beat us!" boasted the Sandshrew's trainer. "Sandshrew, Dig Attack!"

Sandslash uncurled from its ball, leaped into the air, and smashed into the floor claws-first, digging into the ground and quickly vanishing beneath the surface, leaving a hole behind. Pikachu glanced around, uncertain where the digging Pokemon would pop up. "Pikachu, wait until you think the time's right, then use Iron Tail!" Ash suggested.

Pikachu nodded and closed his eyes, focusing his hearing and touch to compensate for the lack of sight.

After a moment, he felt the ground beneath his feet vibrate just the tiniest amount. He instantly leaped into the air as Sandshrew erupted from where he had just been standing, claws swinging in vain to strike the golden Thunder mouse. Pikachu curled up, twisted in the air, and came down on Sandshrew with a glowing Iron Tail, smashing it into the shrew's forehead!

For a moment, as Pikachu bounced away from the impact and landed on his feet on the ground nearby, it looked as if Sandshrew was still all right, as if the attack hadn't affected him at all.

Then he fell over on his back, eyes X'ed out, quite beaten. "Ah, no!" cried his trainer.

"Sandshrew is unable to battle!" declared the referee from the sidelines. "Ash Ketchum and Pikachu are the winners and may continue to the next round of the tournament!"  
"Yeah! We did it Pikachu!" Ash cried, grabbing his Pokemon and giving him a big congratulatory hug, but not big enough to trigger a painful electric shock.

"We certainly did, Pikapi!" Pikachu agreed.

"Sandshrew, you did a good job, buddy," said the other trainer. "Return!" The Sandshrew dematerialized into a cloud of red light and was sucked into its Pokeball. The trainer replaced the ball on his belt and walked over to Ash. "You surprised me, Ash. Thought I had you beat, to be honest."

Ash smirked. "Well, I've improved a lot since the last time we met, A.J. And you have, too! You did a number on my Pokemon," he said, pointing off to the sides, where his other five Pokemon were resting after a very tough match. "I almost lost!"

"Yeah, if your Pikachu hadn't learned Iron Tail," A.J. agreed. "Wasn't expecting that at all. I'll have to look out for that next time."

Ash blinked. "Next time?"

A.J. shrugged and grinned "Well sure, you're gonna let me rematch you sometime aren't you?"

"Well of course!" Ash insisted at once. "I just hope it won't be another four years until we do it, these days I seem to be accumulating a long line of people who want the same thing you do!"

…

That morning, Ash had entered the second round of the Hoenn League Championships and fought an old friend he had met ages ago in Kanto, the trainer known only as A.J., in the Battle Pike. It had been a tough match, and at times it seemed as if he would lose for certain, but Ash and Pikachu managed to pull through and win the day.

After letting his Pokemon rest up some more, Ash and Pikachu exited the Pike and reunited with his friends, who had been watching in the observation lounge, and actually received congratulatory words from Lucy herself: "You're a damn lucky sonuvabitch, kid." (This almost resulted in him trying to attack Lucy for insulting his mom, but May calmed him down by explaining this was Lucy's way of complimenting someone and saying they did really well.)

They were then planning to go get some lunch at the Frontier Village's seaside restaurant, when out of nowhere the caped figure of Lance dropped out of a nearby tree in front of their path, startling them. He landed in perfect form on his feet instead of falling flat on his face, indicating this was a maneuver he had performed many times before. "Ash, I would like you to come with me. There is something I must discuss with you in private."

Ash blinked in confusion. "What is it you have to say to me you can't say in front of my friends?"

"I would rather not say," Lance explained (or intentionally did not explain) cryptically. "But I believe it may help you in future battles in the tournament."

Ash frowned. "I don't know…" he said dubiously.

"Ash, maybe you should check it out," Pikachu suggested. "Maybe he just wants to give you some training tips or something, like Lucy did for May."

Ash frowned. "You think I need them?"

Pikachu shrugged. "I wouldn't be one to spurn advice, whether it's needed or not, Ash."

Ash grunted. "Um…guys, is this okay with you?" he asked with his friends.

Misty hid a disappointed look, since she had been hoping to have a nice lunch with Ash. "Sure, if it'll help you out you should definitely go."

"Yeah," agreed Brock, unhappily thinking to himself that with Ash gone Misty wouldn't be distracted enough by her boyfriend to keep from pulling him away from girls he was about to score with (i.e., scare half to death).

"And I can imagine you can learn all kinds of useful things from a trainer as experienced as Lance," May told him. Lance smiled and nodded at her appreciatively.

"And maybe you can find out for sure about this whole scandal thing!" Max whispered in Ash's ear. "There's no way he could have willingly sold out to Team Rocket! He's just too cool!"

"Yeah!" Jirachi agreed, whispering into Ash's other ear, not that it did anything since he was vocally mute and communicated via telepathy.

Ash nodded and turned to Lance. "Okay then, I guess I'll come with you."

Lance nodded. "Good. Leave all your Pokemon behind but Latias." He paused, then added, "Well, perhaps your Charizard too."

This startled all of them. "What? Why only those two?" Crawdaunt asked angrily. "If he's gonna give us training tips or something, why can't all of us listen?"

"Well, he is a _Dragon_ master," Bayleef reasoned. "And Charizard and Latias fit that description, so I suppose that would explain it."

"Uh, technically I'm not a Dragon Pokemon, I just happen to look like one and have the ability to use some of their attacks…" Charizard said uneasily, hoping to get out of this so he could go have lunch with the others. He had heard they served massive Miltank steaks at the restaurant. His belly was already growling for one, or two, or a dozen.

"Altaria and Kingdra don't look anything like dragons, yet they're classified as them," Pikachu pointed out. "So there's no reason why a Pokemon who _isn't_ classified as a dragon can be thought of as one, in my mind."

"…Darn, there goes lunch," Charizard grumbled. "Fine, fine, let's go."

Ash looked unsure about leaving everyone else behind, but stepped forward, along with Charizard and an uncertain Latias. He turned back to the others, Pikachu hopping off his head as he did so. "Okay guys, sorry about lunch, guess I'll catch up with you later. Take care of them while I'm gone, okay Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded. "Okay."

Jirachi giggled. "Like we need to be taken care of…ooh, that animatronic Nidoking over there in the bushes looks so lifelike!" He floated over to take a look.

Absol panicked. "Wishmaker, no, that's a _real_ Nidoking, don't provoke it or-"

Jirachi yelped. "Ow, these horns are sharp!"

"…You could get hit by one of their poisonous spurs," Absol finished lamely.

Jirachi floated back to the group, wobbling in his levitation. "Oohhh, I feel dizzy…" he moaned as the Nidoking's poison started taking effect. "Weeee, look at all the pretty colors…" He fell out of the air and smacked the ground face-first, then started giggling drunkenly.

Everyone sweatdropped. "We should probably get that treated," Brock said.

"Yeah, as quickly as possible," agreed Max as Jirachi crawled over to him, grabbed his leg, and started drooling on his shoe while twitching occasionally.

Pikachu sweatdropped. "Oy. Kids. Hey, where'd Phanphy go?"

The little elephant had somehow climbed up to the top of one of the flagpoles lining the island's cliffs while nobody was looking and was teetering on the edge. "Wow, I can see lots from up here! Like those ships in the docks, and that tram coming in, and all those pretty fish in the water," he said, referring to the numerous flesh-eating Carvahna at the bottom of the cliff, waiting for him to fall.

"Ahhh! Phanphy, get down from there!" Misty cried, frightened for the elephant.

"It's okay mommy, I'm all right-whoa!" he cried as he slipped and almost fell off the pole and into the mouths of the hungry piranhas below. "I'm okay!" he yelled, regaining his grip. Not dissuaded, his close 'family' quickly gathered at the bottom of the pole and tried to get him down.

Ash winced and turned to face Lance. "Uh, you sure I should go with you? It kind of looks like I'm needed here…"

"I'm sure they'll manage on their own," Lance said, grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him away.

"If you say so…" Ash said dubiously. Charizard and Latias exchanged uneasy glances, but followed their trainer and the exiled dragon master.

Meanwhile, Bayleef had managed to grab Phanphy with her vines and was carefully lowering him to the ground below, while Togetic hovered above him anxiously so she could catch him if her foolish little brother wriggled out of their aunt's grip and fell. "All right…just a little more…almost there…" Bayleef had retracted her vines until Phanphy was at a manageable level, and prepared to drop him into the waiting hands of his friends below him. "Okay…here he comes!" She let him go.

Just before Misty could reach up and grab her adoptive 'son', a Pelipper swooped down out of nowhere, grabbed Phanphy in its enormous bill, and flew away. "AHHH! PHANPHY, NOOOO!" they screamed.

Phanphy pushed on the upper beak and peeked out at the ground below through the crack between the two bills. "Wow, we're really high up!" he exclaimed needlessly. "Where are we going, Mr. Pelipper?"

"It's Mrs.," the pelican corrected kindly. "And I'm going to take you back to my nest, where I will peck your eyes out and feed your innards to my children."

"Oh, okay." Phanphy smiled vapidly and looked at the vivid Frontier landscape passing beneath him for the thirty seconds it took for the Pelipper's words to register in his brain. "Wait a minute…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! I DON'T WANT TO BE EATEN!" he screamed, thrashing about.

"Too bad," said the Pelipper, closing her mouth shut and trapping him firmly in her enormous beak. "My children need to eat, and you look perfect and plump enough to feed them for a few days."

"But if they eat me, then my mommy and daddy will be sad!" Phanphy protested.

"And I'll be sad if my children die of starvation," Pelipper said. "Your mother will have other children, I'm sure." She continued flying then, ignoring Phanphy's sobs and cries of protest as she headed for her nest.

As Phanphy's friends frantically chased after the Pelipper on foot and with flying Pokemon, Ash had the nagging feeling that he was really needed somewhere else right then. But Lance's hand had a firm grip on his shoulder, and he was very insistent, so any arguments Ash might have concocted just wilted before they could leave his mouth.

…

Lance took the trio of trainer, dragon, and Pokemon which looked like a dragon, to the maze of piers on the south side of the island, where the ex-G-man led them expertly through the myriad docked ships until they reached a large motor sailboat, with a grizzled old man in a sailor outfit polishing its gray metallic hull. He looked up as they approached, and Ash realized to his astonishment that it was Elite 4 member Drake. "Arr, so this be the boy?" Drake asked Lance, sounding like a pirate.

Lance nodded. "Yes. You can see he has Latias," he said, gesturing to the red and white dragon.

Drake rubbed his hairy chin and walked over. Latias recoiled as the seaman leaned towards her, running over her downy body with an experienced eye. She blushed uncomfortably, she had gotten enough of this from Max a couple of days ago. "I-I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that," she said weakly.

Drake had an odd expression on his face as he straightened up and turned to Lance. "Yep, she's a Latias all right. Didn't think I'd ever see one…heh, and I thought at this end of life, this old sailor had seen everything there is to see!"

"Dad, don't talk like that," Lance said gently, startling Ash. Drake was Lance's father!

"You've still got plenty of life ahead of you."

Drake sighed. "Not as much as ye think, boy…" He didn't elaborate on this, though, he just turned his attention to Ash and now examined the boy with the same intensity he had just focused on Latias a moment ago. "Hmm, not much to look at on the surface…but there be something about him…" He looked at Ash a moment longer, creeping the boy out a little, then turned and headed over to Charizard. "And what do we have here? A fine flying fire-breather? Dragon in all but type ye be, friend Charizard." Charizard smiled at this. Drake grabbed Charizard's arm, pressing his fingers against the fire Pokemon's muscles. "Hmm, well-developed forearms…" He grabbed a wing next and flapped it back and forth a little, causing Charizard to snort and pull it away from him. "Good wing strength…" He stooped down and looked at the flame on Charizard's tail. "Strong, burning fire…yep, I'd say this be Lisa's work."

"Lisa? You think?" Lance asked in surprise.

"You know Lisa?" Ash asked, also surprised.

"Yeah, she's sort of a cousin…I think…" Lance furrowed his brows in confusion. "Uh, dad, how's Lisa-"

"She be an honorary member of the family, her parents were friends of ours and she shares our love of dragons," Drake said without looking at Lance. He grabbed Charizard's cheeks, pulling his face closer and examined the dragon's eyes. "Hmm, healthy, strong, fit, a little hungry…but there's something off here. Hey boy!" he said, glancing over at Ash. "Can this Charizard of yours use Blast Burn?"

"Uh, he's tried, but he's never really been able to perform it," Ash said sheepishly. Charizard's head bowed in shame.

"Hmm…" Drake glanced at Charizard again. "He's got the ability, the spirit, the drive…eh, but something still be off. Might be something in his head…" Drake spat out of the side of his mouth. "Ah, but what do I know? I be an ex-pirate/sailor and one of Hoenn's elite trainers, not some crazy Pokemon shrink doctor!"

"So you don't know what's keeping him from using Blast Burn?" Ash asked in disappointment.

"Not a clue!" Drake said cheerfully. "Ah, but I be sure he'll figure it out on his own! Probably. Maybe. Might not. I don't know. No skin off my nose." He scratched his nose. "Now, weren't we about to be going somewheres?"

Lance nodded. "I believe we were."

"Right then…all aboard!" He hopped over the railing of the sailboat and onto the deck. "We be casting off!"

"Where are we going?" Ash asked as he climbed onboard, followed by Latias and, after a moment, the reluctant Charizard.

"You'll see when we get there," Lance said enigmatically as he untied the rope which moored the boat to one of the poles making up the pier.

Charizard's stomach growled fiercely as Drake unfurled the boat's sail and started up the motor. He moaned. "I hope there's something to eat when we get there, I never had lunch!"

…

Charizard was relieved once they got out to sea and Drake pulled out an ice chest full of food, which the orange dragon gleefully begun to gobble down. Latias had felt oddly invigorated to be out at sea in a small craft, and was reminded of how when she was much younger she and Latios had gone out in the waters around Alto Mare with Vincentio in his small ship all the time...before cruise ships has been built and tourism really started to pick up in the island town. She had left the dry interior of the boat to go fly about the ship, dipping her wings in the water and looking at the water Pokemon swimming about from up close. Drake and Lance had looked oddly anxious and fearful when she had left the boat, but seemed relieved when she did not wander too far away. Ash tried to pry information out of the two dragon trainers, but Drake was too busy driving the boat to answer any questions, and Lance remained as tight-lipped as ever about their destination. Feeling frustrated, and wanting to get a response from Lance, any response at all, Ash finally asked, "Is it true what I heard? About the scandal, and that you sold out to Team Rocket? I mean, _I_ don't believe you did-"

Lance blinked. "You don't?" He sounded surprised.

"Well, I…" Ash hesitated. "I just…you know…wanted to hear it from your mouth. What happened?"

Lance blinked again at Ash, then looked away, and was silent for several seconds. "I think you hurt his feelings or somethin'," Charizard mumbled through the steak juice oozing out of his mouth as he chewed on one of the slabs of meat Drake had been keeping in his ice box.

Ash's face flushed, and he realized Charizard was right, it probably wasn't something Lance really felt like talking about. He opened his mouth to apologize for bringing it up, when Lance started talking. "It was Tyson."

Ash blinked. "Huh?"

"Tyson. You remember him, don't you? He was the Team Rocket operative in charge of the facility at Lake Rage," Lance said.

"Oh yeah…" Ash said, recalling the man. "Big guy, right?"

Lance nodded. "Yes. He was." There was a pause. "He had gotten out of prison. No doubt the enigmatic 'Boss Rocket' bailed him somehow, I never did manage to find out who he was…he came to me with news that he had an entire colony of Dratini hostage. He showed me live video footage of them in a tank at some facility, being held at gunpoint. He threatened to kill them if I didn't help him get into the Dragon's Holy Land, past the Dragonite guardian, and steal the sacred flame."

Ash frowned. "Why'd he want it?" He recalled Jessie, James, and Meowth had tried taking it, but he never really figured out why.

Lance shrugged. "Who knows? The flame isn't much really, but it's what it symbolizes that's important, the unity between humans and Pokemon. He could have planned to extinguish it, he could have intended to sell it to the highest bidder, but the symbolic impact of his actions could have had global repercussions. A lot of people believe in the power of that flame, real or not. The fact that it was allowed to go missing could be seen as proof that the world is at an end, or that a war between the two species is inevitable. There would be panic, riots…who knows how far it could spiral out of control? It might even cause a real war."

Ash frowned in thought. "But…if you knew it would cause so much damage if it were taken…then why did you help him?"

Lance sighed and closed his eyes. "Two reasons. One: Dratini are very, very rare Pokemon. There are only a few hundred specimens left in the wild, and that number dwindles almost constantly due to pollution, predation, and a constant demand for them among rich trainers or people who want to show off Pokemon to their snooty friends. It doesn't help that all of their evolutions lay eggs very rarely, maybe once every two, sometimes five, years, and the clutches aren't so big either. And two:…they're dragon Pokemon. I…my family…we've always worked to protect dragon Pokemon. It's been something we've done for thousands and thousands of years, even before Pokemon training truly started."

"Why?" Ash asked. "I mean, dedicating your life, maybe even that of your entire family, to protecting Pokemon and stuff is noble and all, but…why dragons in particular?"

Lance smiled wistfully. "There are many explanations I could give for that…but to someone who doesn't truly understand the beauty and majesty Dragon-types can possess, they'd all sound strange and even crazy."

Ash frowned and glanced out at sea, where Latias was dipping her wing in the water and cutting a wake in it alongside a group of playful dolphin-like Delfino. (Bing! Delfino, the Porpoise Pokemon. This aquatic Pokemon is actually a mammal rather than a fish, unlike most Water Pokemon. They have surprisingly high intelligence and love to play tricks on unsuspecting humans. (While Ash was hearing this from his upgraded Pokedex, a Delfino popped up on the other side of the boat and spat a Water Gun at him, almost knocking his hat into the water. He didn't find it funny, yet Drake, Lance, Charizard, Latias, and all the other Delfino couldn't stop laughing.)) He thought she looked kind of graceful and all, but he didn't really understand what Lance was talking about when he mentioned beauty or majesty. Maybe it was a Dragon trainer thing, Ash didn't get it.

Lance continued while Ash was looking out to sea. "But let's just say that an insatiable need to love and protect dragons is something that runs in the family and leave it at that."

Ash shrugged. "Okay."

"In any case, I felt I had no choice but to help Tyson out…" He smirked. "Of course, I _did_ plan to double-cross him and steal the sacred flame back, as well as rescuing the Dratini. But…things didn't work out the way I had planned…" He seemed to almost sag into his seat. "It was easy enough to sneak into the Dragon's Holy Land in Blackthorne with Tyson and a bunch of Rockets…as a G-Man, high-ranking member of the Pokemon League, and a member of a wide-spread family which protects and cares for dragons around the world, I had free permission to enter whenever I wanted."

Ash had a thought. "Hey…does that mean you're related to Claire, too?"

Lance smirked. "She's my sister, actually."

"And what about the other Drake? The one on Pummelo Island?" Ash pressed.

"He's my uncle." Lance frowned. "I think…dad-"

"He be your mother's sister's youngest brother-in-law by a different parent," Drake said without taking his eyes off their course.

Lance nodded. "Right. We're a big family spread all over the place. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd met some of my distant relatives on your journeying. I'd be even less surprised if you were actually related to me in some obscure way! Our genealogy is very, very confusing…" He smiled momentarily, then got a sad and serious expression on his face. "Anyway, I was able to convince the flame guardian that the Rockets weren't here to steal the flame-which, of course, was a lie, but I intended to make it up to him later-and we got into the shrine and Tyson grabbed the flame. And that, unsurprisingly, is where everything went wrong.

"Tyson then ordered his cronies to start capturing all the other Pokemon in the area. This shouldn't have surprised me, but it did, and I protested, reminding him that this had not been part of the deal. He informed me that he was changing the deal, and if I didn't like it then the Dratini would pay. And it was then I remembered something my old master had told me again and again: you can never, ever negotiate with evil. If you give them any form of lenience, they'll walk all over you."

"Damn straight," said Drake, spitting off the side of the boat. "Thought I taught you better than that, son. Arrrhhh…"

Lance flinched, but continued. "So I realized now that Dratini or no Dratini, Tyson and his goons had to be stopped. I let out Dragonite and my other Pokemon, and even recruited the shrine guardian to help. But Tyson had upgraded his team since the last time we fought, so I was in for a surprisingly tough battle. To make matters worse, Lorelei…" His face twisted in pain as he mentioned her name. "…Was visiting Claire that day and they were walking through the Holy Land when they saw the Rockets snatching Pokemon and me and my dragons fighting Tyson, who had come prepared with a few of his own dragons along with powerful Ice Pokemon. Both of them stepped in to help, Claire took on the Rocket goons while Lorelei and I teamed up to fight Tyson. With our combined powers, it seemed we had him beat. But in the end, I underestimated Tyson.

Seeing he was going to lose, and not wishing to return to prison or face the wrath of 'Boss Rocket', he triggered explosives he had wired all over his body, and had even planted on his own Pokemon, the bastard! The resulting explosion…it was horrible…"

Lance clenched his eyes shut. "Lorelei and her Pokemon took the brunt of the blast. Both Dragonite managed to shield me sufficiently from the explosion, but the shrine guardian took the most damage. Claire got struck on the head by the torch holding the sacred flame as it got flung away from the explosion, and she got knocked out, getting serious burns in the process due to the flames. Her Pokemon panicked and tried to help her, and the Rockets got away in the process, taking away the rest of the holy land's Pokemon with them.

"When I finally came to, I saw the holy land, this place which was one of the many my family was sworn to protect, gutted and burnt. Lorelei…I could barely recognize her under the burned skin. When the medics arrived, they didn't give her much of a chance for survival…but Lorelei was always tough, and she proved them wrong by staying alive, even if she was comatose…it's been months and she still hasn't woken up…" He gritted his teeth and shook his head. "I turned myself in. All this had resulted because I had foolishly thought I could handle Tyson, keep the flame safe, keep the Dratini safe…I had already done so many heroics and good in my line of work I guess my head just swelled up too much. The thought that I could save everyone and strike another victory against evil blinded me to what I should have done in the first place; turn Tyson down so he wouldn't have any leverage over me or anyone else. It also blinded me to the realization that they would probably never have killed the Dratini, they're too rare and have too much potential as powerful Pokemon to dispose of. My pride kept me from seeing what should have been obvious right from the start. I was such a fool…" He sighed. "I confessed to what I had done, willingly letting Team Rocket into a restricted and practically sacred area and allowing them to not only cause extreme damage to it, but also stealing the protected Pokemon there, almost putting out the sacred flame, and severely endangering the lives of Lorelei, Claire, and their Pokemon. Lorelei may make it out, but…her Pokemon won't. As Ice-types, they're much more susceptible to flaming explosions…" He closed his eyes again. "I was allowed to choose my punishment, in light of my services. I chose exile. I had done so much good in Johto and Kanto, and right there I did something so horrible that it eclipsed everything else I'd done. I couldn't bear to stay there."

"Ye should have taken jail time," Drake growled. "Ye can't solve yer problems by running from them."

"But if I hadn't come here, then I wouldn't have been in Ever Grande City when the giant robot attacked so that I could help stop it, and the city might have been destroyed and Latias might not be able to join us today," Lance pointed out.

Latias floated back into the boat. "Did I hear my name?"

"Yeah, they were just talking about how good it is for you to be here," Charizard said, licking a bone clean.

"Oh." Latias blushed. "Um…why?"

Charizard shrugged. "Dunno."

Drake growled. "Arrgh, ye silver-tongued devil! Bah…" He spat over the side of the boat. "Okay, ye made yer point. Maybe yer dear old dad isn't so wise and all-knowing after all, eh?"

Lance made a faint smile. "That wasn't the only reason I left, anyway…" he continued. "Lorelei…I got her into the state she's in now. If she never wakes up…it'll be all my fault. I can't stand knowing that."

"She might pull through," Ash said weakly. "You said she's tough."

Lance shrugged. "Tough can only take you too far." He closed his eyes, sighed and leaned back. "I lost my job, my reputation, my Pokemon, the place I called my home…and maybe even Lorelei."

"Yer wrong on two counts, me boy," Drake corrected, glancing over his shoulder. "Ye still got the Pokemon I gave ye when ye were old enough to start learning the family trade." Lance glanced at the single Pokeball on his belt, the one holding Dragonite. "And two…ye still got me. I know a lot of the family is angry for what ye did…but we also understand ye did it out o' love of dragons. Yes, ye probably could have done better if ye had thought things through properly…but all of us've lost our heads at some point or another out of our desire to do right by dragons. Ye gotta learn from yer mistakes and try not to make them again. And what have ye learned from this lesson, me boy?"

Lance's eyes hardened. "Never negotiate with evil. Even if others might be hurt by it."

Drake nodded. "Because if ye do what they want, then people most certainly _will_ get hurt no matter what. When there's lives at stake, there can be no compromise. You either give in to evil, or you refuse it. There can be no middle ground. Trying to make a compromise will only give them a foothold in you, and from there it's hard to get em' out, the scurvy dogs."

Ash frowned in thought. "That sounds kind of…I dunno, hard-headed? Maybe a little selfish or egotistical?" How strange to hear such a thing from the lips of our very own super-dense hero!

Lance shrugged. "If they have something you want, do you really think they'll give it to you or do what they say they will just because they agreed to? They know you want it. They'll use that to hold it over your head and make you do what they want. You can never let that happen, Ash."

"…I'll try not to," Ash said after a moment of thought.

Latias frowned and sat down on the boat's deck, thinking about Lance's words. Oddly enough, they seemed to resonate with a kernel of truth. How strange. She wondered what they had been talking about, though, that had led into this moral reasoning. "What were they talking about?" Latias asked Charizard.

"Oh, the reason Lance was exiled or whatever. Got manipulated by Team Rocket jerks and he blames himself for not seeing through their scheme. Poor guy," Charizard grunted, gnawing on another piece of steak.

Ash pondered Lance's words and Lance's story, and wondered what he would have done in the Dragon master's place. If it were his friends on the line…what would he do? Would he even be able to stand against evil in such a scenario, like Lance and Drake insisted a person should, and risk his friend's lives for the sake of preventing an enemy from gaining some form of control over him? Doing such a thing, practically sentencing them to death just to resist evil, seemed extremely cruel, stubborn, and selfish. Or maybe he wasn't looking at this in the right way…the result of Lance's actions seemed to be a very telling example of why _not_ to surrender to evil.

His somewhat out-of-character musing was interrupted by a holler from Drake. "Land ho!" he cried, pointing to a speck of land on the horizon. "We're almost there, me hearties!"

"Where is 'there' anyway?" Ash asked. "Where are we going?"

Lance stood up. His cape fluttered in the wind as he glared at the growing speck. "Dragon Rock."

…

Ash stared in amazement. "This is Dragon Rock?"

Drake nodded. "Yep. Thar she be."

Latias and Charizard stared at the sight before them, exchanged disbelieving glances, then looked to Ash. "Um, Ash…" Charizard started.

"Yeah?" the boy replied.

"Uh…that doesn't really look-" Latias began.

"I noticed," Ash said flatly. He cleared his throat. "Uh, Lance, Drake?"

"Yes?" the two dragon trainers replied.

"Um…why is it called Dragon Rock if it's not shaped like a dragon?" Ash asked, pointing to the stony island before them with a mountainous mass of rock rising from its center that had an uncanny resemblance to the head of a Psyduck in profile, with hollow caves for eyes leading deep into the rock's interior.

Drake and Lance sweatdropped. "Uh…well…you're looking at it wrong. If you turn your head and squint a little, doesn't it look like a dragon?" Lance asked.

Ash, Latias, and Charizard turned their heads and did as they were told. "I don't see it," complained Charizard.

"Neither can I," Latias agreed.

"All I see is a bunny head," Ash confessed.

"…Look, there only be so many atolls in the world shaped like a specific object or creature, and all the others were either owned by somebody else or shaped all wrong for our causes, so we had to be taking the best choice we could get!" Drake exclaimed in frustration, leathery old face reddening in embarrassment and frustration. "And Dragon Rock be sounding much more ominous and meaningful than Psyduck Rock or Bunny Rock, now don't it! Especially if it's being used by an extended family of dragon trainers!"

Ash backed away, frightened by the old man's outburst. "I-I guess that makes sense," he stammered. "So what do you use it for?"

"A training ground, for both dragon and trainer," Lance said, hopping off the boat and onto the rocky shore as they reached shallow waters and anchored the ship. "Where both human and Pokemon can become stronger and strengthen the ties that bind them."

Ash blinked. "Ah. Is that why we're here then? To improve me and my Pokemon?"

Drake nodded. "Arrh, Lance here's been watching yer matches so far lad, and he says ye and yer Latias be having potential, but…eh, you both could use some work."

"So I got in touch with my dad and convinced him to take us here so you and Latias…and maybe your Charizard, I suppose…could get some specialized training so she can better understand her abilities, and you can get in better shape. Not that you're in bad shape or anything," Lance said quickly when Ash frowned at him. "But you could be a little better. After all, you'll need to be a bit stronger when you fight another human trainer one-on-one in Battle Palace, right?"

"…I guess you have a point," Ash admitted. "I could use some more fighting experience other than the stuff I did in the RPGenerator."

"The what?" Lance asked in confusion.

"What be an RPGenerator?" Drake asked, scratching his head.

"Oh, nothing important," Ash said quickly, not seeing a need to go into detail on his virtual adventures.

"Sounds like fun," Charizard grunted, cracking his knuckles. "When do we start?"

Latias glared at him. "Bayleef told you not to do that."

"Bayleef isn't here now, now is she?" Charizard replied snidely. Latias grumbled and rolled her eyes.

"Ash, Drake will handle your physical training while I see what I can do for Latias," Lance explained as the seaman stepped over to Ash's side.

Ash glanced at Latias in confusion, who shrugged, also confused. "Why can't I train with her and you?"

"Normally we would be doing something like that, if ye were another member of the family," Drake explained. "But we don't have two years to toughen ye up, just one afternoon, so we'll have to be speeding up yer training and hope ye survive in the ring. And anyway, after I'm done with you and me boy Lance is done with Latias, we'll be having one last quick thing both of ye can be doing together to increase your training bond and whatnot."

Ash frowned. "Wait, what do you mean one afternoon?"

"Because tomorrow you're fighting in the Battle Palace," Lance explained. "And Drake has an important meeting with the rest of the Elite 4 this evening so we can't train further into the night."

Latias blinked. "How do you know that? That I'm fighting in the Palace, I mean," Ash asked. He certainly hadn't been aware of this.

"He knows because I told him," Drake said, pointing to himself. "As a member of the Elite 4, I know beforehand what the brainiacs in charge have decided all the trainers are going to be doing for every round of the tournament a day in advance, provided they win the current day's round, of course. Tomorrow ye be fighting in Battle Palace, and the day after that…well, that all depends on if ye can win tomorrow, don't it?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess it does," Ash agreed. "So, what'll you and I be doing?"

Drake clapped a hand on Ash's back and started leading the boy towards the looming giant duck head. "Ye'll be seeing for yerself, me boy. Hehehehe…" Ash got a dubious expression on his face, not liking the sound of that semi-evil chuckle. Latias tensed, feeling anxious as her trainer left her alone (well, with Charizard too) and this man who was practically a stranger to her.

Lance smirked as his father walked away with Ash, then pulled his sole Pokeball off his belt. "Okay Latias, Dragonite and I will be putting you through your paces to see if we can't get a few of the skills you're having trouble with sorted out. You could use another good, reliable Dragon-type attack or two in your arsenal. And Charizard…" Lance paused, glancing at the orange fire dragon. "Well, I suppose you could either watch, participate, or you could eat some more of the steaks Dad had in storage back in the boat. I had a Charizard of my own once, but I was never able to train him as well as Lisa could with hers, so I'm not too positive what I can do to help you with attacks like Blast Burn. But I suppose you could benefit from a little exercise…" He rubbed his chin. "I know, perhaps working on your strength and endurance. Grab some of those rocks over there and try flying with him," He said, pointing to a bunch of very, very heavy-looking stones. "Take enough so that it weighs just about the same as the usual load you carry when you fly, fly a few times around the island, then slowly increase the weight after you've finished each couple of circuits until you can't lift anymore. That should help build up your muscles and allow you to carry heavier loads when flying in battle or out of it."

Charizard frowned at the pile of rocks, and then glanced longingly at the boat, but finally he sighed and sagged his shoulders. "Well, I guess I could stand to be a little stronger, I had trouble pushing over that Snorlax I fought yesterday…could come in handy…especially if Bayleef eats anymore or evolves into Meganium, and I just KNOW I'd have to carry her around since nobody else can, well, maybe Gyarados…" Muttering under his breath, the resigned Charizard headed over to the stones.

"Okay Latias, let's get started." Lance said, popping open his Pokeball and releasing the large, slightly goofy-looking figure of Dragonite.

The large dragon smiled at Latias. "Hello."

Latias' unease and tension at training by herself with this unfamiliar person evaporated. She was charmed by Dragonite's calm and peaceful smile. "Hello," she replied.

Lance smiled too. "Dragonite, Dragon Rage."

Still smiling, Dragonite opened his mouth and spat a fireball right at Latias' face.

…

Drake rummaged through the old, dusty cabinet, pushing several green glass bottles aside and causing them to clink against each other, their liquid contents sloshing inside. "Let's see…where did I put that…ah, here it is!" The old seaman pulled out a bottle with an old, faded label on it, glancing at the seal on the cork. "1001. A good year!" Cradling the bottle in one hand and a pair of glasses in the other, he walked over to the old worn round stone table in the middle of the small cave that he had taken Ash to.

Ash, who had been seated in a worn old wooden chair and glancing around at all the portraits of Lance and Drake's ancestors, along with numerous certificates, trophies, and other doodads hanging on the walls, started as Drake slammed the glasses down onto the table. "What's that for?" Ash asked as Drake uncorked the bottle and poured a strange, viscous liquid into both glasses.

"It's for ye and I to drink," Drake explained, shoving Ash's full glass over to the boy and pulling his own glass closer to himself as he sat down in a chair opposite Ash.

Ash sniffed the glass dubiously and recoiled. "What's in this!"

"Grog," Drake said shortly, chugging some of it down.

"What's grog?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Long story, ye don't want to be knowing. Short story, it's an alcoholic beverage. Although calling it a 'beverage' is a bit of a stretch," Drake grunted, wincing and squinting an eye shut as the grog went down his throat. "Ah, that's some good grog…not that anything associated with grog can actually be called 'good', but it be better than most, it be. Arrrhhh."

Ash gasped and pushed the dirty glass away. "Alcohol? I-I can't drink that! Not only would my mom kill me, I'm way too young!"

"On shore maybe," Drake said, gargling down some more grog. "But out here on Dragon Rock we be on international waters so the age limit don't apply. This island has been the family's for ages, and so our rules be the law of the land. Here, the minimum drinking age be about…oh, ten or eleven. Why, young Lance was only a couple o' years younger than you when he had his first sip o' grog, and he still turned out an okay lad, despite what all those anti-alcohol landlubbers say about exposing little children to liquor." He paused, and frowned. "Then again, grog _is_ so vile that it be almost impossible for anyone to willingly drink enough to get addicted to it, so few really suffer the negative side effects of drinking too much grog at a young age."

"Then why are you drinking so much?" Ash asked as Drake guzzled down the rest in his glass.

Drake chuckled and shook a finger at Ash. "Because I just so happen to be one of those poor souls who be addicted to it. And it's a pirate thing. Ye can't be a pirate without drinking grog, boy, it's a requisite!"

Ash gulped. "But I don't want to get addicted or be a pirate! Although it would be kind of fun to dress up as one," Ash admitted. "But I don't want to be one full-time!"

Drake laughed raucously. "Ye don't have to be, boy! I just want ye to be drinking a little, tis' part of the training we be doing! After today, ye never have to drink grog again…well, unless ye come back here, that is."

Ash stared at the glass. He noted that the bottom of it was sizzling, as if the grog was eating away at it from the inside. He shuddered. "Well, even if it's for training, I'm not sure I should drink this. My mom would kill me if she found out about this."

"Then don't tell her," Drake suggested. "I never told me wife-Rayquaza rest her soul-that I gave Lance and me other kids grog, and they never told either. And if ye don't drink it," Drake said with a cheerful smile, grabbing a rusty cutlass leaning on the wall and pointing it so that its tip was right at Ash's Adam's apple. "Then I'll slit your throat right now."

Eyes wide with fear, Ash grabbed the glass. Drake chuckled and pulled the sword away. "Good lad."

Ash sipped the grog. His eyes bulged and started watering, and he dropped the glass back on the table and fell out of his chair, sputtering, gasping for breath and clutching his chest in pain as he experienced very intense dry heaves. Drake smiled, recalling fondly how he had done the exact same thing when his father had held him at swordpoint and made him take his first drink of grog. After a few minutes of trying to catch his breath and not throw up, Ash staggered to his feet and flopped right down back in his chair, groaning and holding his stomach in pain. "Thatta boy," Drake said proudly. Then he lunged from his seat and punched Ash in the nose, knocking the boy's chair over and sending him sprawling out on the floor again. "Now finish your glass."

Ash stared at him in disbelief, wondering why Drake had just hit him and why his nose wasn't stinging quite as much as he thought it would. Drinking that horrible liquid had hurt much more. "Wh-why?" he asked in a hoarse, raspy voice, his vocal cords feeling strangled from the grog. "What was that for?"

Drake grinned. "Because, me boy, if you can get used to grog, getting punched, kicked, or even hit in the family jewels won't seem quite so bad anymore. If by the time ye finish yer glass ye can at least keep from choking, and ye don't fall out of your seat when I punch ye, I think ye'll be able to handle anything your opponent tomorrow hurls at you."

"Who is my opponent anyway?" Ash wheezed.

Drake wagged a finger. "Boy, I may have told you what kind of competition yer next round will be, and at my estranged son's insistence I may have agreed to help train you personally, (which would be frowned upon if the League or the presses knew) but even I have my limits. Ye'll have to find out who you're fighting tomorrow morning, just like everybody else."

Ash sighed. "Okay," he relented as his stomach stopped quaking.

Drake gave Ash a broad smile. "Good. Now drink some more grog, tis' bad for you but it'll make you tougher in the long run." Ash groaned and, unwillingly, reached out for the glass again.

…

Latias gasped and barely dodged the fireball. It streamed past her, singeing the tip of her wing. "Wh-what do you think-" she started.

Dragonite spat another fireball at her. She squealed and dropped to the ground so it shot over her head. "What are you doing!" she shouted angrily.

"Training you," Dragonite said peacefully as he spat another fireball.

This time, Latias put up her Safeguard force field in an attempt to deflect the attack. When it struck and exploded, pushing her several feet back, she was astonished at its force. It almost broke through her aura! Lance's Dragonite was clearly extremely well-trained! Dragonite spat another fireball while she was assessing this, and didn't make it out of the way in time. This Dragon Rage blast smashed through her aura and exploded against her left wing, burning the down on it and charring it black. She cried and bit her tongue, wincing in pain. She didn't have much time to recover though, as Dragonite formed a still more powerful Dragon Rage and fired it at her.

She flew to the left, tilting on her side as the enormous fireball passed, almost scorching her belly. Before it had even passed her completely, she was flying towards Dragonite at full speed, eyes burning with anger. If this was how Lance intended to train her, then fine, but she'd see if she couldn't give his Dragonite a taste of its own medicine!

Before she could slam into the dragon, Dragonite held out his claws and pressed them against her shoulders, trying to exert enough force to halt her. He skidded back a few feet from her momentum even as he pushed against her, churning up gravel and leaving bits of pebbles in his wake.

Even though she had been stopped in her tracks, Latias angrily continued pushing forward at the Dragonite, not caring how strong the damn dragon was, it didn't excuse him from using an unprovoked attack as excuse for training! Although, she admitted to herself, Mewtwo had in fact done the same thing to her a few times…

Dragonite opened his mouth as flames started gathering it, powering up for a Dragon Rage. Latias matched that by opening her mouth and charging the white flames of a Dragonbreath.

The two spat flames at the same time. The twin fires collided and exploded only inches from their faces, causing them to flinch and clench their eyes shut as they were flung away from each other by the blast, faces scorched by the explosion. As Latias shook her head, trying to clear her vision, Dragonite recovered first, flapped his wings a couple of times to rise into the air, and flew towards Latias at ramming speed.

She dodged out of the way just in time as her eyes cleared up from the dazzle, allowing her to see the charging dragon. Dragonite flew past her, and Latias managed to grab the beast's tail, hanging on as he continued his flight, trying to pull on it and slow him down by flying backwards. Dragonite looked back at her in surprise, not expecting her to try that. He swung his tail towards the ground, smashing Latias' body into the rocks, expecting her to get knocked off. To his surprise, she hung on all the harder as she was dragged through the rocks, digging into his tail by powering her claws up with Dragon Claw and bracing herself against the ground with the little appendages on the lower end of her body that could be called 'feet'. Dragonite flinched as the claws drew blood, and marveled that he was actually slowing down marginally as a result of Latias' braking technique.

However, it was time she learned her place.

Dragonite fired a Hyper Beam over his shoulder, intentionally avoiding Latias, knowing he didn't have a good angle to shoot at her, but he had not been trying to hit the dragon in the first place. Startled by the explosion as the beam struck just a few feet behind her, Latias accidentally let go of the tail and fell behind, her momentum sending her rolling and bumping over the rocks as Dragonite flew onward. Latias groaned and looked up, bruised and bleeding from her impact with the rocks, as Dragonite looped into the air and flew back towards her, charging up a super-cold Blizzard to finish her off.

Frustrated and starting to lose her temper from the beating she had been getting so far, a small flame ignited inside the psy-dragon's heart, and Latias used Psychic just as Dragonite unleashed his own attack.

A wall of invisible force erupted from Latias, pushing the icy blast which was expelled from Dragonite's maw right back into the dragon's face, causing him to cry in pain as the air around his head hardened and froze into a solid block of ice, right before he got hit by the full force of the Psychic attack. The surprisingly powerful blast knocked him out of the air and sent him in a tailspin down towards the ground as he tried to break off the ice on his face with his claws while trying to get his wings, which seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to work, to flap again.

As Dragonite spiraled downwards, Latias inhaled, feeling power well up within her, and exhaled her Dragonbreath. Just as it had when, in a mad rage, she had slaughtered the Murkrow horde on Route 01, the white flame took on the form of a dragon as it shot towards the surprised Dragonite, who managed to twist out of the way in midair just before the fire dragon could hit him. Even so, it brushed against his belly, causing him to cry out in pain as the surprisingly intense heat of the flames not only melted the ice off his face but also burnt a few layers of his skin off as it shot past him and exploded against a large boulder. He spun about and crashed into the ground, bouncing a few times from the impact as he skidded through the rocks, but his hide was tougher than Latias' so he did not suffer quite as many bruises or scrapes. He quickly got to his feet, shocked but also angry that she had been able to use such an attack, and started to charge up a Dragon Rage.

It was then that Lance intervened. "That's enough!" he yelled to Dragonite, standing in the way of the dragon's line of fire. "Stand down!" Dragonite shut his mouth, feeling embarrassed that he had let his temper get away with him like that. The caped trainer turned around and got on his knees to look at Latias. "Are you all right?"

She glared at him, nodded, and closed her eyes. She glowed softly as she used Recover, causing the bruises and cuts she had gained from the battle to seal up and vanish.

From the skies above them, Charizard shook his head. "Dang…didn't know she could do that," he muttered, referring to the dragon-shaped projectile flame. "Gotta learn that trick…whoop!" He fumbled with the rocks he was carrying in his claws, almost dropping one. "Gotta be more careful, don't want to accidentally hit someone down there with one of these!"

"I had Dragonite attack you to see how you handled an unexpected threat," Lance explained to Latias. "You can never tell when you are going to be thrust into a battle without warning, and I wanted to see if you were capable of transiting into a fight quickly. You were a little slow at first, but then you surprised me with how intense and focused you were in battle. No offense to Ash, or to you, but I had not expected you to be trained this well."

Latias frowned, she was a teensy bit insulted, although she admitted part of the 'skill' she had shown off was partly due to the additional training she had received from Mewtwo, and partly from the power increase she seemed to have gained after fighting Missingno. She hadn't really thought about forming her Dragonbreath into an actual figure the way it had, it just…happened. Almost on instinct.

"Now that that's out of the way," Lance said as Latias floated back up into the air. "We can move on to the actual training. Let's see how strong you really are…"

Latias raised an eyebrow, already not liking the sound of this.

…

Ash stared at the giant, solid, extremely dense and hard-looking boulder before him (even denser than his head). "And you want me to punch that?"

Drake nodded. "Aye."

Ash blinked. "Uh…why, exactly?"

"To see how strong ye are. And also to see if smashing yer knuckles against a mass of solid rock still hurts more than the grog I made ye drink," Drake said with a chuckle. "Come on then, let's see what ye got."

Ash hesitated and glanced at the boulder again. "You know I can't break it, right?"

Drake shrugged. "Neither can I. The point isn't to _smash_ the boulder, lad, the point be to try and see how tough ye are. It be a test of manhood. Ye want to be a manly man, do ye not?"

"Well, I guess…" Ash said uncertainly. "But what does splitting your knuckles open on a rock have to do with manliness?"

"…Just punch the damn boulder, boy!" Drake snapped, reaching for his cutlass.

Ash swallowed, clenched his eyes shut, and punched the boulder with all his might. He yelped and hopped backward, shaking his hand in pain. "Ah! Ow, ow, ow!" He blinked. "Hey, shouldn't that have hurt more? I mean, it did hurt, but it doesn't feel as bad as it did the last time I punched a rock."

"That be because yer pain threshold has increased, thanks to the grog I poured down yer throat!" Drake said cheerfully. He peered at the spot where Ash had punched and whistled. "Whoo-ee, boy, you actually cracked it!"

"I did!" Ash asked in disbelief. He looked at the spot he had hit and, to his amazement, saw that there was indeed a lattice of very thin cracks in the boulder which just seconds ago had seemed to be impossibly solid. "Wow! Guess I don't know my own strength!"

Drake nodded. "Indeed! This boulder's been used as fist-training in my family for over two hundred years, and nobody has managed to so much as dent it! And here you go and crack it!"

Ash's face flushed. "I'm sure all those other guys softened it up for me," he said in embarrassment.

Drake nodded. "Aye, that may be, but nevertheless, you punched and cracked it, and that be all that matters me boy!"  
They heard the sound of flapping wings and Charizard landed a few feet away, panting and sweating. He dropped the heap of rocks he had been carrying and wiped sweat from his brow. "Phew! This is a workout…just need a quick break…" He paused and blinked, noticing the boulder Ash and Drake were standing next to. "Hey, you guys doing boulder training? Cool!" He cracked his knuckles. "I could use a little of that myself…" Before anyone could stop him, he walked over and punched the boulder with all his considerable strength, causing it to shake. He flinched and shook his claws slightly. "Phew, that's one tough rock! Heh, guess I should keep training. See you guys later!" He walked back to the rocks he had dumped on the ground, gathered them back up, and, with a few strenuous flaps of his wings and a hop into the air, started his next circuit around the island.

Drake and Ash heard a cracking noise, and they turned back to the boulder just in time to see it virtually disintegrate into a pile of dust and pebbles. Drake stared at in disbelief. Ash put a hand behind his head and laughed nervously. "Uh, I must have softened it up for him too…"

…

Latias raised an eyebrow. "So I'm supposed to break this boulder?" Dragonite nodded. Latias shrugged. "Okay, no problem. I've done this before."

Dragonite blinked. "You have?" he started to ask, but Latias had already charged up a Steel Wing and smashed the boulder into rubble with it before he could get the words out of his mouth.

Lance frowned and nodded. "Hmm. Not bad. But try using something other than your wing." He pointed to another boulder.

Latias shrugged, not seeing a problem with that. She charged up a Dragon Claw and drove it into the boulder, smashing it to pieces. "There! How's that?"

Lance sighed and shook his head. "No, what I mean is…can you break a boulder without using a special attack to enhance your body?"

Latias blinked. She glanced from Lance, to a third boulder, back to Lance. "That's ridiculous. I can't break a boulder with my bare claws."

"I can!" Dragonite said cheerfully, punching a boulder without using any of the various Punch-type techniques and causing it to crumble to pieces.

Latias sweatdropped. "Yes, well, that's because you're a big, really strong dragon, with thick forearms bulging with muscles. Me?" She waved her short, thin arms feebly. "How am I supposed to smash a boulder with these things?"

Dragonite crossed his arms. "Training is about more than enhancing your body, it also opens your mind. Think, and perhaps you will find a way."

Sweatdropping at the dragon's somewhat clichéd platitude, Latias resigned herself to doing just that. After a few moments of thought, she got an idea. Smiling, she concentrated, causing her eyes to glow as she looked at the boulder. It exploded from within as she applied a Psychic attack to it. "There. Done!"

Both Lance and Dragonite sweatdropped. "That wasn't exactly what I was thinking of…" Lance muttered.

"Oh, just go along with it," Dragonite muttered back to his trainer. "We don't have all day, and there are only so many boulders she can smash. Maybe we can come back to this later if we have time."

Lance sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. Okay Latias, let's move on to our next lesson…"

…

Drake had taken Ash to a small subterranean river, where a waterfall cascaded down from a crack in the wall to a pool which emptied out into a stream which ran deeper into the cave system beneath Dragon Rock.

"Okay boy, strip down and get in," Drake said, pointing to the water.

"You want me to go swimming?" Ash asked in confusion.

"No, I want ye to sit under that there waterfall," Drake explained, pointing to the falls.  
"Oh." There was a pause. "Why?"

"It builds inner endurance and relaxes ye," Drake explained.

Ash looked confused. "Inner endurance?"

Drake struggled to find the right words to explain. "Eh, ye know, like…patience or being able to put up with all the pressure of the water coming down on ye or something." He grunted. "I don't really get it meself, but I always feel better after spending an hour or two sitting underneath a waterfall to recover from a grog hangover. Don't do it as often as I used to though, makes me joints ache…" He sighed unhappily, lamenting his advanced years and loss of youth.

Ash looked dubious. "And you want me to do it naked?"

"Sure." Drake grinned slyly. "Come on boy, we're both men! And I like women!" He winked and elbowed Ash.

"So do I, but that doesn't mean I like to see my male friends naked!" Ash pointed out.

Drake rolled his eyes and pulled out the cutlass from before. "Do it or-"

"Okay, okay!" Getting the point, Ash quickly undressed, making sure to leave all his clothes, especially his precious cap and the even more precious cargo inside, were as far away from the wet pool as possible.

Once he was free from the self-inflicted confinement of his body in clothing, Ash dipped a toe in the pool, shuddering slightly at its coolness. But a steel-eyed glare from Drake and a brandished cutlass at his back sent him further into the pool, and he waded over to the waterfall as the water deepened. He flinched slightly as the cascading water splashed in his face, waving away some of the fine mist caused by the falling water as he approached the falls. He felt the floor of the pool slope up towards the falls, and found that at the point where it joined with the wall the water was flowing down; it flattened out and formed a ledge just a few inches beneath the surface for anyone to sit on. How convenient!

Holding an arm over his face to keep the water streaming everywhere out of his eyes, Ash rose up the pool's sloping floor, turned about, and plopped right down on the ledge, directly beneath the falls, so that the water flowed down all over him.

He flinched slightly, for like the pool it was cold, and combined with his bare flesh and exposure to the elements it caused quite a chill. Also, the pressure caused by the heavy streams of water striking his body and flowing over him as if he were a mere rock stuck in the path of a raging river caused him to flinch and screw up his eyes at first. He soon understood what Drake meant about inner endurance, the pressure didn't actually hurt, but it was irritating and mildly strenuous, and over time it could develop to be intolerable if he could not find a way to ignore or live with it. With the heightened pain threshold he seemed to have obtained from surviving drinking the seaman's rancid grog, it might take a little longer for him to give in, but succumb he would eventually, and that was not something he wished to do just yet as the pressure from the falling water on his body slowly increased. There had to be something he could do to get used to this.

He tried thinking of this exercise as taking a shower. A cold shower, yes, but still a shower. He was getting clean and ridding himself of all the sweat and bodily odor he had developed throughout the day during his strenuous rematch with AJ, his drinking of grog, and the dirt and dust he picked up wandering through the caves along Drake. If only he had brought the portable washer/dryer he had won at the preliminaries the day before so his clothes could undergo the same treatment.

This was working. Already the pressure from the falls seemed to vanish as Ash's mind was diverted, but the minute he recalled he was not in a shower but underneath a waterfall it rushed back. Frowning, he tried to think of something else. He realized that the pressure actually did seem to be doing something good for him other than causing mild irritation. Some of his muscles, which had been cramped from hiking through Battle Pike and from struggling to keep down Drake's grog, were relaxed as the water pounded on them. It felt much like Bayleef's back massages, which she had started doing more often for her friends after her success at using them to loosen up Grovyle a bit. He wondered if this is what Drake meant about the falls being relaxing. Surely there must be more to that than simple muscle relief!

As he considered this, his thoughts wandered and the pressure receded further, and he did not realize that the falls were working their magic on him as he relaxed more and more without noticing. His thoughts of Bayleef's back massages reminded him of how Rui had helped Wes regain his sanity during the numerous shocks he had had during the Tyranitron's attack on Ever Grande City, and he found himself wondering if Misty would give him a shoulder rub if he asked, and if it felt as good as the waterfall or Bayleef's vine whips. The idea of her fingers running over his bare flesh gave him goosebumps which had nothing to do with the temperature of the water, which he was already getting used to.

He continued his contemplating and relaxing as the roar of the falls echoed in his ears, sounding like the lullabies his mother had sang to put him to sleep when he was younger. He smiled at the thought, and wondered if it had really been that long since the last time he had been seduced to slumber by his mother's song. Where had the time gone? Had he really grown up so much since those days? How strange…he hadn't even noticed until now how different he was now than he was then, and marveled that he did not truly mind how much he had matured, despite what his friends sometimes said jokingly regarding that subject. He was not the person he once was, not quite as foolishly naïve, and although a part of him still wished the world was as he had once believed it was, in a sense he preferred his newfound knowledge and experiences than going back to that blind innocence.

He also didn't seem to find it odd that he was thinking these strange and oddly intelligent thoughts when most of the time he had to strain to remember his multiplication tables. Well, he never was very good at math…

This led him to wonder what nine hundred and ninety-nine trillion, nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine times itself was. He soon gave up and started thinking about other things which are completely irrelevant to you readers.

After some time, Drake glanced at his watch, then at Ash, who was sitting with a perfectly serene expression on his face as the water cascaded over his head and shoulders, then back at his watch. "Well, lay me out and blow me down, the lad's been there for an hour and a half without complaining! Incredible! I don't think anybody's lasted that long on their first try, have they?" he muttered to himself. "Hey boy! Boy! You can come out now!" the seaman yelled to Ash. Ash showed no sign of hearing the old man's cries. "Boy? Boy? Ash! You can come out now!"

There was still no response. Ash continued sitting. Drake frowned and edged towards where the waterfall cascaded down into the pool, following the line where water met cavern floor, a puzzled expression on his face. He stopped when he reached the cave wall, just a few feet away from Ash. He threw an arm up over his face to shield himself from the spray of the falls. "Ash! You can stop now!" Drake roared over the crashing noise of the water cascading down.

From the sitting boy, a very hard-to-hear noise was being emitted. Frowning, Drake cupped a hand to one ear and leaned over to listen, trying to filter out the sound of the falls to hear what Ash was doing. When he heard it and recognized it, he couldn't believe his ears.

Ash was _snoring_.

"He's _asleep!_" Drake howled in disbelief. He shook his head in amazement. He wasn't sure whether to be furious at the boy for falling asleep during training, or proud that he had gotten so relaxed and focused on building up his inner endurance that he had actually fallen asleep_ underneath a goddamn waterfall!_ "You're some boy, Ash," Drake said finally with a chuckle, pulling off his seaman's cap and tipping it at the young trainer. Then he picked up a rock from the ground and hurled it at Ash's head.

To his amazement, it struck Ash and bounced off, falling into the pool, making a small splash. Drake sweatdropped. "Long John Silver, did I increase his pain threshold that much? Or is he just exceptionally hard-headed?" he wondered. He had no way of knowing how thick an immunity Ash's skull had erected around itself in response to frequent mallet attacks from Misty, to protect the trainer's brain from getting damaged beyond repair from repeated concussions.

Drake sighed and left to look for a stick to poke Ash with to wake him up, since his cutlass wasn't long enough. He really didn't want to go under the falls to shake the boy awake, for as he had told Ash; the water was bad for his joints…

…

Latias, like Ash, had managed to find a way to take her mind off the pressure from the falls. But rather than lose herself in a chain of endless thoughts leading to slumber, she found meditation to be a more effective method. She had learned how to meditate in the crater of an extinct volcano in the middle of the desert, with the blazing sun beating down on her, so putting herself into a trance beneath a nice, cool waterfall was not too difficult in comparison.

Lance and Dragonite had taken her to this small area on the backside of Dragon Rock where water welled up from an underground spring, out through a crack in the wall, and down to the pool she was sitting in as a beautiful waterfall (which then flowed back underground and was actually the source of the falls Ash was sitting under, though she had no way of knowing that) to test and improve Latias' inner endurance or something like that. At least it wasn't as painful as trying to break a boulder with your bare claws or wings or fighting Dragonite, she reasoned.

When she had entered the depths of her own subconscious, she had half-expected to hear the voice of her King calling her, but was sadly disappointed. He had told her he would stay out of her mind from now on, and as far as she knew he always kept a promise. Even so, she had pressed onward into her heart of hearts and once more found herself facing the warm, inviting light that seemed to comprise both her link to the Ghost King, and the source of her powers. This was the light which kindled the fire in her heart whenever her anger reached its limit, unlocking and increasing her abilities on more than one occasion now.

But what was this light? How did it connect her and the Ghost King, and why? In what way were her powers connected to it? All the chemicals and parts of her brain that, when mixed together, generated her psychic abilities were located on another level of her subconscious, one much closer to her conscious mind so that she could invoke them whenever she wished. And yet this light was deeper down, at the heart of her spirit. It seemed to serve no visible purpose, and was not connected to the rest of her mind in any other way she could see for certain. And it was surrounded by primal, genetic memories, passed down in her DNA by her most ancient ancestors, even the very first Latias.

That thought reminded her of how Missingno had said her power was that which the first Latias had had, passed down through her family. For one reason or another it had skipped her mother and came to her. And she also recalled how that Latias long ago had been mated with a being called the Dragon King.

And this light within her connected her to a being called the Ghost King. Was there a connection, she wondered?

The King had told her he had no memory of his past, but felt that he and she belonged together. And they were connected on a spiritual level, by this light. Why was that, exactly? Could there be a connection between the two kings? Could they be one and the same, somehow?

The ghostlike representation of Latias' self frowned in determination. Well, perhaps it was about time she found out.

Just as she was about to touch the light and call upon its power, attempting to solve its mysteries and maybe even journey into the mind of her beloved to give him a happy surprise, she felt a distant pain on her head, something happening to her physical body, and she abruptly blacked out, ending the meditative trance before she could learn anything useful about the source of her powers.

"Charizard!" Lance yelled angrily, shaking his fist at the flying fire dragon.

"Sorry!" the flame Pokemon cried in apology as he circled overhead. "I lost my grip!"

Dragonite poked Latias, who was lying unconscious in the pool as the current from the falls slowly carried her downstream. "Hope that rock to the head didn't do too much damage…" he murmured, glancing at the stone Charizard had dropped.

…

For the next few hours, Latias and Ash trained diligently under the two dragon masters. Latias learned how to master some of the techniques which were still giving her difficulty thanks to Lance and Dragonite's expert experience, including the elusive Dragon Dance, while Drake managed to show Ash several fighting moves, nothing too complicated since Ash was going to need to be able to use them as soon as possible, but good enough for the boy to at least stand a chance. He even taught Ash one or two secret family techniques which were almost guaranteed to bring a fight to a quick end, but recommended Ash not to use them unless absolutely necessary, because…well, because he said so.

After a while, the sun was going down, and the two dragon trainers knew that this session was coming to an end. They reunited their pupils in the bowels of Dragon Rock, at the gaping entrance to a very dark tunnel. A cold wind blew out from the cave, and Latias shivered at the sensation on her skin.

"This will be your final task for the day," Lance explained to Ash as he guided the boy to the cave mouth. "You and Latias must travel through the ice tunnel to the shrine at the back. We'll be waiting for you there."

"You're not coming with us?" Ash asked anxiously.

Drake laughed. "Ha, ye kidding me boy? That place is way too danger-" Lance glared at him. "Er, this is a road ye must walk yourself. With Latias beside ye, that is. We'll take the shortcut."

"Why can't we go that way too?" Latias wondered, crossing her arms over her chest and shuddering from the icy breeze.

"Because there is no challenge that way," Dragonite explained. "This is something you and your trainer must do on your own, to strengthen the bond between you."

Latias glanced at the entrance and moaned. "I guess so…but I really, really don't like it when it's super cold."

"Neither do I," Dragonite admitted. "But you can build up a tolerance of sorts to it."

"Okay then, enough stalling," growled Drake. He grabbed Ash by the collar and the seat of his pants, hefted him into the air, and flung him into the tunnel. "In ye go!"

"WAAAHHHH!" Ash cried as he vanished into the darkness.

Lance sweatdropped. "Was that necessary?"

"No," said Drake with a smile.

"You must go after him," Dragonite told Latias. "It won't be safe for him in there alone."

Latias swallowed. "Can't we at least take Charizard with us?" she asked meekly, pointing to the fire dragon, who was doing more exercise by walking around with a big rock strapped to his back.

"No," Dragonite said curtly.

"But he'd keep us warm-"

"No," Dragonite repeated. "Now go already."

Latias sighed, bowed her head in resignation, and floated into the cave.

The glow from the torches which lit the passageway they had used to reach this point faded as she passed into the deep darkness of the tunnel. Her entire body trembled as the temperature dropped at least twenty degrees in the few short meters she had flown to get here. "Ash?" she cried out.

"Latias?" the trainer's voice called back. "Where are you? I can't see anything!"

Latias started glowing, like she had done to try and stave off Missingno's dark tendrils or to help Phanphy sleep better at night. The light she emitted drove away a measure of the darkness, revealing that the tunnel, which back in the torchlight was made of solid stone, here was covered in layers of ice. Stalactites hung down from the ceiling as icicles, and icy stalagmites rose from the ground and walls and branched out into elaborate crystalline formations. Fossils of ancient Pokemon, some still clothed in flesh, were frozen in the walls, visible in patches of clearer ice.

Ash was only just a few feet away, his location revealed by Latias' light. He quickly hurried over. "Thanks. Are you okay?"

A cold wind blew past them, raising goosebumps on Ash's skin and causing Latias to shudder. "I-I'll be fine," she claimed, her breath forming a cloud in front of her face. "We shouldn't stand still, we'll feel warmer if we keep moving."

Ash nodded. "Sounds good to me." He pointed to a depression of sorts in the floor, which looked worn and oft-used and led further into the tunnel. "We should probably follow that trail. It must lead to that shrine we have to reach."

"That makes sense," Latias agreed, shivering.

Ash noticed and moved closer to her, putting an arm over her. "Here, if we stick together we can share body heat. My Pokemon did it once for me this one time I was trapped on an ice mountain during a nasty blizzard."

She made a small smile. "Th-thank you Ash, I already feel a little warmer."

They moved along the path, the way lit by Latias' glow. Time passed as they proceeded down the tunnel, which seemed to be far longer than they had expected, and it only got colder as they continued spiraling downward into the depths of Dragon Rock.

Both of them were shivering now. Ash had checked his Pokedex and had discovered that the temperature was close to zero degrees Fahrenheit, which was not good for either trainer or Pokemon. Ash's body, even if it was strengthened somewhat by training and grog, could probably not handle such low temperatures for long without winter clothes, of which he had none. Latias had it worse though due to her severe weakness to Ice, and she was shaking so violently from cold that Ash's arms had trouble holding on to her to keep her warm. They had tried using the fire from her Dragonbreath to keep warm, but the flames were of a different type than that which Charizard or other Fire Pokemon used, and while they did give off heat and could burn, it was not enough to sustain them in this frigid cave. Indeed, the cave itself seemed to suppress her efforts to warm them with Dragonbreath, since her flame was Dragon-type it made sense that a tunnel of ice could weaken its power to warm or even burn. If only they could have brought Charizard along…

They tried to talk to keep their minds off the cold, off the inky blackness which closed in on them as Latias' ambient glow dimmed due to the strength the ice sapped from her, but it was so hard to stay focused now. They were getting tired; the cold was draining their energy and making them sleepy, enticing them with whispers of slumber and rest. If they stopped for even a moment to catch their breath, they might succumb to those whispers…and they might never get back up again.

And it got colder still.

"Wh-wh-when we g-g-g-get to the sh-sh-shrine, I-I'm giving th-those two a p-piece of my mind," Ash chattered, his lips turning blue. "M-m-making us go through here…e-even if it's t-t-to train us or wh-whatever…we c-could get k-killed here!"

"They're just trying to help us," Latias said, struggling to keep her eyes open. She had long ago stopped shivering from the cold. Now she felt more numb than anything else. Normally that would have worried her, but her mind was too weary to care.

"Helping us b-by freezing us t-t-to death!" Ash shot back. "I c-can't believe this…a-are you ok-k-kay?"

"Yes," she said weakly, nodding her head. "I'm fine…" She trailed off as she stopped levitating and fell to the floor, skidding a few feet on the icy ground. She blinked, taking several seconds to react to the sensation of the extremely cold ice on her belly. _That's strange_, she thought in a detached manner. _Why did I fall? Why is it getting darker?_ The glow she was emitting flickered and dimmed considerably.

"L-Latias!" His frozen muscles spurned into action by the clearly dire condition his friend was in, Ash ran over, almost slipping on the ice, and got down on his knees next to her. "Latias! G-get up!"

She tried. Her wings twitched, but she found herself unable to levitate. "Mmm…I can't, Ash," she said weakly. "Just…give me a minute…" Her eyelids started drooping.

"NO!" Ash cried. "I-if you fall asleep, you could die! L-Latias, don't d-d-do this!"

She groaned in reply. She tried to care that Ash was worried about her, but she found she was too tired. Maybe after a nice nap she would feel better.

"Heh heh heh, what's this?" a voice even colder than the air around them called from the darkness. A strange Pokemon floated from the depths of the tunnel into the diminishing area revealed by Latias' light. It was shaped like a roughly ovular sphere made of ice, with a pair of black horns growing from the sides, two eyes recessed into holes in the icy shell, as well as a grinning mouth and several other holes on the face, revealing the creature's black flesh and making it look sort of like a demonic soccer ball. "A dragon who wandered too far into the caves?"

If his fingers weren't shaking so much, Ash would have whipped out his Pokedex and learned that the creature was called a Glalie. "P-p-please, help us!" Ash cried. "W-we need t-t-to get to the sh-shrine at the end. Is it m-m-much further? I have to get her warm or she c-could die!"

"No, it's not much farther," said the Glalie. "But you won't be going there." Over a dozen other Glalie emerged from the darkness. "We haven't had dragon for dinner in a long time, have we boys?"

"No boss, not in a while!" agreed one of the other Glalies.

"Heh heh. Never seen one like her before, though." The head Glalie licked its frozen lips, saliva hardening and forming little icicles around its mouth. "Bet she'll taste reeeaaaal good, after she's frozen solid!"

A pang of alarm rose in Latias' cold-numbed mind. She couldn't just lie here and let them kill her! But it was so cold, and she couldn't seem to muster the energy to get up…maybe it would just be better to give in and die already, it was such a struggle to stay alive as it was right now. She wondered what would happen to her spirit once her body was eaten by the Glalie. Would it float outside of time where she would be reunited with Bianca, Lorenzo, Latios, the other friends whom she had lost, and her mysterious ancestors and all the others who wished to meet her? Or would she turn into a ghost and find her way to her beloved King in his misty realm, and they would live happily together? Either scenario sounded good to her.

"N-no! I won't let you have her!" Ash cried, seeing that Latias was making no move to defend herself. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he grabbed Latias and managed to sling her on his back, her head and claws drooping over his shoulders and wingtips dragging on the ground. She wasn't exactly light, the dragon weighed close to a hundred pounds, but at the moment Ash was too desperate to care or notice.

"Ha! What do you think you can do to stop us?" one of the Glalie laughed.

"I can do THIS!" Ash ran towards the Glalie, Latias bouncing on his back.

Startled by the human's sudden charge, the Glalie scattered out of Ash's way, allowing him to run by and continue down the tunnel with Latias in tow. "Hey! He's getting away with our dinner!" a Glalie cried.

"After him!" roared the chief. Bellowing, the Ice Pokemon chased after Ash.

The tunnel shook as the Glalie combined their glacial powers in an attempt to stop Ash from getting away with Latias. Icicles dropped from the ceiling and ice spears shot up from the floor. Gusts of frozen wind and clouds of mist blew through the cave. Ice Beams were fired, Blizzards were blown, Hail and Ice Balls were hurled.

Ash noticed none of this, just as he did not notice the heavy weight of Latias pressing down on him and slowing him as he kept running. He blocked it out the way he had blocked out the pressure from the waterfall, by focusing only on the path ahead of him, illuminated by the dying light from Latias' glow.

Latias did not understand why Ash was trying so hard to protect her. It was an effort for her to stay alive, and she did not mind dying here. And yet Ash was doing everything he could to protect her and keep her living. Why? Normally the answer would be self-evident, but her brains were so addled by the cold she could not perceive the obvious. All she knew was that he was keeping her from going to sleep and dying, and that frustrated her. She was tired. Couldn't he let her rest?

Ash's heart leaped into his throat with joy when he saw light off in the distance, one not generated by Latias' glow. Realizing this had to be the end, he ran towards it. "Latias! We're almost there!" he panted. "Just hang on a little longer!"

"But I don't want to…" she groaned.

"I don't care! Hang on!" Latias frowned, irritated by his insistence on living. He should just put her down and keep running toward the light if he wanted to live so badly, she'd be fine dying down here.

Ash was closing in on the final stretch. He was only a few yards away from the light, and safety. "Hang on…we're almost there!" Ash yelled to Latias, shaking his back to jolt her and keep her from going to sleep.

And that's when one of the Ice Balls being constantly flung by the Glalie behind him finally struck.

It hit his ankle and shattered, freezing his foot in a block of ice and causing him to trip and fall to the floor, slamming his face into the ice. Latias flew off his back, hit the ground, and rolled a few feet away before coming to a stop, lying motionless on her side. _Finally_, she thought with what little emotion she could muster as the Glalie closed in on their prey, swarming over Ash and Latias and forming a ring around them to keep them from escaping. _Now I can rest._

"We got you now, kid!" cried the head Glalie. "Give up the dragon and we'll let you live!"

"No!" Ash cried. He managed to get to his feet and started limping over to Latias, dragging the iced-over foot. "I…won't…let you hurt her!" he informed them, gritting his teeth from the exertion of dragging the block on his foot.

"Ash, just go," Latias said, exhausted. "I don't mind dying. Go on to the shrine already, let me rest."

"No!" Ash protested. "I'm not going to let you die!"

"Why?" she asked, faintly annoyed. "I'm tired. Let me rest. What kind of friend are you, keeping me up when I want to sleep?"

"The kind of friend who cares about you and wants you to live!" Ash retorted. "Imagine what everyone else will say if I told them you gave up and let yourself die! Togetic and Phanphy will be crestfallen that they lost their aunt! Bayleef will be upset that she lost her best friend! All of your other friends will be angry at you for just giving up and dying on them! Are you really so tired that you don't care about them anymore, Latias? That you don't care how much they'll hurt if you let yourself die?"

Latias blinked in surprise as Ash's sharp words penetrated the icy fog permeating through her brain. What was she doing? Was she really this selfish? Choosing sleep and death over her friends? She felt a moment of disgust at herself. What would Lorenzo or Bianca think of that? Or Pidgeot? Or Latios, Mewtwo, and maybe even the Ghost King? What would they think of her, for giving up the life they had fought to protect, the life many of them had lost their own lives because of? The Ghost King himself had once told her he was looking for a way to come back to life, because he despised his existence as a formless shadow. How would he feel if he went to all the effort of coming back to life only to find that she was already dead and gone, because she had just given up? And what would Mewtwo, who had always said that where there was life there was hope, think of her giving up on life because she was tired and cold? He would be disappointed in her, and rightly so!

She could not do this. She could not give in. Her friends needed her. The world did as well. No matter how exhausted she was, she did not want to die!

Ash crouched down over Latias, shielding her body with his own. "If you want her so badly, then you'll have to go through me!"

The Glalie boss snorted. "Who do you think you are, kid? Some hero?"

"My name is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" Ash informed the ice Pokemon. "And I'm going to be the greatest Pokemon Master in the world! Someday I'm going to come back and capture every last one of you!" He blinked, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu as these words left his mouth.

The Glalie sneered. "Well, Ass Ketchup of Pellet Town, you wanna waste your life, go ahead. I don't think I'd mind a little human meat for dessert!" He opened his mouth and started inhaling, as did the other Glalie. The temperature impossibly dropped even lower as layers of ice began to form around their bodies and horns. Icicles grew from the ceiling and floor, and formed on Ash's eyebrows and nose, causing him to shiver, his adrenaline all but used up and reminding him just how cold it was in this cave. But as the Glalie began powering up that most awful of all Ice attacks, Sheer Cold, one which in this frigid cave would kill both him and Latias and freeze their corpses solid with a single hit, Ash did not move. Just as he had not abandoned his wounded Pikachu on that tumultuous first day as a Pokemon trainer when they were chased by murderous Spearow, and as he had protected many of his other hurt Pokemon throughout his years and adventures, he did not budge from Latias' side. He refused to let his friend die.

Latias' heart was warmed by Ash's kindness, and her fatigue receded for a moment. But it saddened her to realize that he himself did not seem to be aware of how many people would miss him if _he_ were to sacrifice himself. And now that she could think clearly again, she did not intend to let either of them die this day.

As the Glalie exhaled blasts of cold frost that caused the very air around them to harden and crystallize, Latias called up the power within her. Her eyes glowed, and the light emitted by her body grew, startling Ash. "Wha-"

Latias opened her mouth and spat her Dragonbreath attack out at the head Glalie. Like it had when she had been fighting Dragonite a few hours ago, the white flame took the form of a dragon, but it was much bigger than it had been before. The Sheer Cold attack evaporated as the fire dragon burned and warmed up the cave around, illuminating it and causing the darkness to recede. The Glalie screamed in fright and pain as the temperature rose exponentially, broke their ring formation and tried to flee back down the tunnel to safety, but Latias did not intend to show them mercy. Her flame dragon flew down the cave after them, melting the ice along the tunnel walls as it went, and engulfed the Glalie in a blast of white fire, consuming them utterly and reducing them to naught but water vapor as the Dragonbreath dwindled and extinguished.

A little Snorunt who had been hiding in the shadows further up the tunnel gasped as he saw the Glalie horde evaporate. "N-no…daddy…" He sniffed. "N-now I'm all alone and hungry! Curse you dragons! CURSE YOU!" Sobbing tears which quickly froze and dropped to the floor as frozen gems, the Snorunt ran away, vanishing into the darkness.

Ash stared around him in disbelief, mouth hanging open. "Wow." He was now knee-deep in water, as a result of the ice which had melted when it came into contact with Latias' spectacular Dragonbreath. It was now much warmer, a welcome relief from the bitter cold that he had felt just moments ago. He stood there for a moment, eyes closed as he basked in the warmth radiating from the walls and the water in the aftershock of the Dragonbreath, until his skin returned to its normal shade and he felt his joints loosen up again. "Ahhh…Latias, that was magnificent…" There was no response. Ash felt a stab of fear, and noticed that the light from her glow had vanished. "Latias?"

He whirled around and, in the light from the cave's exit up ahead, saw her bobbing in the water beside him, passed out from the exertion of the force she had unleashed.

…

When Latias woke up sometime later, she noticed right away that it was much warmer and brighter than it had been in the tunnel, which was the last place she remembered being before unleashing her absolving Dragonbreath attack.

She blinked, noticing she was lying on a soft cushion, a blanket draped over her and some damp towels beside her. Wincing slightly as she used her stiff joints, she pushed the blanket off of her and saw she was in what most certainly had to be the shrine of which Drake and Lance had spoken.

The room was a large chamber cut from the living rock, with numerous torches lining the walls, held in the mouths of various sculptures of draconic Pokemon. There were two doors, a large rough opening which led into the dark, now wet, interior of the tunnel that had been frozen until Latias had blasted it, and a smaller door on the side of one wall which led into a brighter tunnel. The center of the room was occupied by a dais that extended to the back wall, and mounted on it were more statues, depicting every species of dragon Pokemon in the world. In the center of the dais, elevated on a large pedestal, were statues of three more dragons, two which she knew, and one she did not but felt that, somehow, she did.

There was a Latios, and a Latias, and in between them was a beast that Latias could only describe as absolutely the handsomest Pokemon she had ever seen. It was large and rose from its pedestal in serpentine coils, with fins growing from its sides, two small but muscular forelimbs growing from the upper regions of its body, leading up to an elongated head with four horns rimming it, two on the top and two on the bottom. The dragon's jaws were open in a triumphant roar, and even though his eyes were only chiseled marks in stone, there was something about them, and about the dragon in general, that was all too familiar to Latias. Something that made her heart flutter just looking at it.

"Who _is_ that?" she whispered in awe.

"That is Rayquaza," said a voice next to her. Startled, Latias turned to see Dragonite sitting next to her. The dragon smiled. "It is good to see you are all right."

Latias glanced around and noticed that they seemed to be the only ones here. "Where's Ash?" she asked anxiously.

"He went off with Drake and Lance after he dragged you in here and made sure you were all right. He looked very angry, I think my trainer and his father will be in for some harsh words from the boy. As for your other companion…" He pointed to one of the statues lining the walls, one that looked like a Charizard, and Latias saw that Charizard himself was standing before it, rubbing his chin and looking at the sculpture in contemplation. She wondered how she had missed noticing him on her previous glance around the room. "He is looking to see if there is any family resemblance," Dragonite joked. "Charizard, Latias is awake," he called to the fire dragon.

"Huh?" Charizard whirled around. "Oh! Latias! You're all right!" He jogged over to her. "Great, Ash'll be relieved to see you up and about when he's done chewing out those jerks Lance and Drake. They made you go in that cave without a thing to keep you warm, not even me! The two of you could have frozen to death! What were they thinking, willfully endangering the two of you?"

Dragonite shrugged. "The same thing was done to Lance and I when I was but a young Dratini. We barely survived too, and Lance was furious with his father at first, but he became a stronger person for the trial, as did I."

Charizard grunted. "No offense, but it seems to me that building character by letting them almost get killed seems like a damn stupid and careless thing to do."

"That it may be," Dragonite admitted. "But it has been done for ages, and may continue to be done for ages more."

"Who is that dragon?" Latias asked, pointing to the attractive sculpture. "You said his name is Rayquaza. Who is that?" And why did the name sound so familiar, as if it resonated with her very soul?

Dragonite smiled and began telling the story behind the sculpted Pokemon. "A long time ago, the world was ruled by three extremely powerful Pokemon following a catastrophic storm which almost destroyed all life on Earth. There was Groudon; master of land, Kyogre; queen of the sea, and Rayquaza; lord of the skies. You may have heard of them."

Charizard nodded. "Yeah, I think that Team Magma wants to revive Groudon, and their rivals Team Aqua want to revive Kyogre. But who exactly is Rayquaza?"

"A Dragon Pokemon. And not just any dragon, but the _King_ of all dragons!" Dragonite said reverently, pointing at the statue.

Charizard blinked. "King of…hey Latias, doesn't that sound kinda familiar?"

Latias frowned and nodded, recalling that both Missingno and Ash's Pokedex had mentioned that the master of darkness had been fought ages ago by some Dragon King and the first Latias. She flashed back to her contemplations under the waterfall, and wondered if Rayquaza and the Ghost King were the same person. Would that explain why looking at the statue evoked the same feelings of longing and the ache of missing a piece of her heart that thoughts of the Ghost King did?

Dragonite continued. "I don't know for certain, but the stories say living under the rule of either Groudon or Kyogre was chaotic and tumultuous at best since the two were always warring against each other, although I'm not sure that the majority of people back then would have agreed with that assessment. Rayquaza was reputedly more mature than the other two and frequently had to intervene to break up their fights. His territory was larger than that of Groudon or Kyogre, and it never occurred to either of the two that if they teamed up they could probably defeat him.

In any case, while Groudon's territory suffered from frequent earthquakes and droughts, and Kyogre's had frequent floods and hurricanes, all of which claimed hundreds of lives every year, Rayquaza's land was calm and peaceful. Rayquaza had an ability called Sky Lock which negated the effects of weather-changing techniques as well as kept the weather in his land at almost ideal conditions year-wide. The summers were always hot but not too hot, the winters were cool but never too cold, and the rain almost always came in gentle showers bringing life to the land instead of dangerous and destructive thunderstorms. Or something like that, I don't know if it was _really_ that nice, the description may have changed over time to make it sound better…in any case, what I'm almost certain of is that it was generally more peaceful and livable than the other two territories. And as a result, less people died year-round due to bad weather or from their ruler being a power-hungry despot who had little respect for life and thought nothing of eating a dozen human and Pokemon babies for breakfast every morning.

But then a mysterious creature called Missingno appeared and played off the repressed fears of the people in all the regions, turning them against their leaders as well as each other. Rayquaza and his queen, the first Latias…" He paused, and glanced meaningfully at Latias, who thought this part sounded very familiar. "…discovered Missingno was behind all this and attempted to defeat him. They managed to do so, but only at the cost of Latias' life. Rayquaza, stricken by grief, abandoned his land and its people when they needed him most, for Missingno's defeat had not undone the evil and dissension he had spread. Groudon, Kyogre, and even Rayquaza himself all vanished soon after (the tales do not know how or why) and the civilizations the three had worked so hard to construct collapsed and the races of human and Pokemon had to fend for themselves. I think there may have even been the first of many wars soon after…but aren't wars always a constant? It seems as if there is always one occurring somewhere in the world, no matter how peaceful it may be elsewhere…" He shrugged. "In any case, the first Latios, who had been the brother of the queen, found Lance's great-to the nth power grandfather, who had been among Rayquaza's most trusted human followers. He gave the ancestor the eggs which Latias had laid before going off to her doomed battle, and asked him to protect the eggs and the other Dragon Pokemon of the world, who were confused and angry with the abandonment and disappearance of their leader. He said he had had a premonition of some sort that Rayquaza would return someday, and he would need to have a Latias waiting for him. The ancestor agreed, and with his partner, who was himself a Dragon Pokemon, settled down to do as Latios had ordained, raising his family to love and care for dragons of all kinds.

Eventually the two eggs hatched, and Latias and Latios were born. It was unknown what had happened to the elder Latios, but the family was overjoyed with the birth of the twins, and even hoped that perhaps King Rayquaza would return very soon.

But, he did not. As a few generations passed in the family and they started to spread out across the world, Latias and Latios aged too and eventually died. Latias had laid a pair of eggs before her time came, and Latios had tried mating but for some reason or another no progeny came forth from his loins. It was discovered a little later that, possibly due to some birth or genetic defect, all Latios were born infertile, while all Latias were only able to lay two eggs before remaining barren for the rest of their lives, and the eggs were always a new Latias and Latios. Why this was was never really understood, so it was simply accepted as one of the miracles of life. In any case, it made for effective bookkeeping and made the genealogy of the Dragon King far less cluttered than the family tree of the dragon protectors was starting to be.

Centuries passed, and generations of humans, Pokemon, and Latios and Latias came and went. Then one day about five hundred years ago, on a stormy night at sea, a ship which was transporting the newest Latios and Latias eggs to the home of one of the family's foremost members sank and the eggs were lost, thought destroyed. Many held out hope that the eggs might have survived and would hatch yet again into Latios and Latias, but as the world was combed repeatedly no trace of the dragon twins were found and finally, after a few decades, all but a few gave up hope of their survival.

For ages afterwards, sighting of Latias and Latios were occasionally reported, but few believed them save for the truly passionate or hopeful, but those few never did manage to track down the latest incarnation of the twins no matter how many times they looked.

And then came a curious incident over a hundred years ago where a Latios was spotted in the city of Alto Mare," Dragonite said, and Latias gasped, realizing it must have been her uncle. "He battled a nefarious witch of a trainer who somehow controlled fossil Pokemon and stole souls, but managed to defeat her at the cost of his life and turned the city into a town of canals and boundless beauty. Statues were erected in his honor, as well as of a Latias, which surprised the dragon protectors, because they had not heard of a Latias being around at the time of Latios' death. They scoured and investigated Alto Mare, and actually happened to have several sightings over the years of what were most definitely a Latios and a Latias. The investigators anxiously tried to get in contact with the twins, but could never seem to run into them for more than a moment, and had difficulty finding them again. At one point it was suspected that one of the town's inhabitants was housing the twins, and every person in the city was discreetly interrogated and their homes searched under the guise of pest control, but nothing was found. So eventually they gave up and posted a permanent lookout in the city to try and find Latios and Latias. The lookouts never did, though…" Dragonite smacked his lips. "I don't suppose you were that Latias, were you?"

Latias flushed and nodded. She had no idea all of these people had been looking for her for all these years right under her nose! She was glad Vincentio and Lorenzo's measures to protect her and her brother had been as good as they were, even if these dragon protectors were nice folk she was sure she would have been happier living out her childhood in Alto Mare than with these people, who seemed to have no problem with making human and dragon children travel through very cold ice tunnels with murderous Glalie. She wondered why she had never noticed these people looking for her before, and concluded that she must have but simply assumed they were tourists like everyone else who occasionally saw her, whether by accident or her own playful design. "Vincentio always believed there might be people who would look for me and my brother," Latias said. "I never thought he might be so correct."

"It wouldn't have been a bad thing if we had found you," Dragonite insisted. "We could have trained you. You would have been happy with us."

"I doubt it," Charizard grumbled. "Seems to me the main reason you want her is because of that hokey legend about Rayquaza or whoever returning. It doesn't do for someone just to be wanted because of some prophecy; it means nobody actually cares about them as a person."

Dragonite frowned at him, then continued as if the fire Pokemon hadn't spoken, although Latias found herself agreeing with Charizard about being wanted, yet also wondered if perhaps the first Latios' premonition might not be correct. The possibility that Rayquaza and the Ghost King might be one and the same rang truer and truer the more she thought about it. "Lance and I even went to the city a few times to look for you and Latios. You never saw us?"

She shrugged. "No, not that I noticed."

"Hmm. Well, it was a big city…" Dragonite murmured. "I suppose it's possible that we just missed you all those times." Latias decided not to tell Dragonite that she also could shape-shift into a human and had the power to become invisible. If these people really had taken care of her ancestors for a while, they probably knew, but since they never found her, perhaps they didn't, or they would have thought of a way to counter her ability to hide from them. Perhaps they had known of such things once, but had forgotten over the many centuries since they lost the eggs of one of her ancestors. "You have no idea how shocked my trainer was when he heard that Alto Mare had been destroyed. This, on top of everything else that had been happening! He thought for a while that the world was truly coming to an end, and there was no hope for humanity or Pokemonkind. Imagine his relief when he found out you were not only alive and well, but traveling with Ash Ketchum!"

"If he was so relieved to see her, then why'd he try to kill her by sending her into that tunnel?" Charizard asked in frustration.

"I told you, everyone has to do that," Dragonite said, looking annoyed. "We were seeing if she could use her powers under duress, as well as testing just how far Ash would go to protect her. She was never in any real danger."

Latias glared at Dragonite. "It seemed like we were in a lot of danger to me."

"Lance and I would have rushed down the instant we saw you two were about to get killed," Dragonite claimed.

"And yet we saw no sign of you when the Glalie were going to use Sheer Cold on us," Latias pointed out.

"Because we could tell that you were going to use an attack that would save you!" Dragonite protested. "We knew you would be fine!"  
"You have ways of telling that sort of thing?" Charizard asked skeptically.

"Yes!" Dragonite insisted. And yet he did not elaborate on how.

They were interrupted by the sound of footsteps, and Latias and Charizard turned their heads to see Ash, looking disgruntled and a little angry, walk into the chamber through the small passage on the side wall. Lance, also looking somewhat disgruntled, stood behind him. Ash's face broke into a smile when he saw Latias was okay. "Latias, you're up! Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, just listening to the history of Lance's family and how they've been looking for me for a while." She shot a glance at Lance as she said this.

"I heard that too," Ash said with a nod, also glancing at Lance. "Come on, Drake's getting the ship ready, we're going back to Ever Grande. I'll be glad to get off this island and back to the others."

"You are welcome back here any time you wish," Lance said, although he sounded a trifle forced.

"Thank you but no thank you," Ash said coldly but politely. "I appreciate the training I have received here and the strength I have gained from it, but I do not think I can trust you anymore. Not after willingly sending us into that tunnel where we could have died."

"You came here of your own free will," Lance argued. "If you suffered because you decided to train with us, it is partly your responsibility as well."

"My own free will!" Ash asked angrily. "You were intentionally vague when you asked us to come with you, and didn't say one word about what we were doing until we were on this rock and had no choice but to do it! You didn't lie to me directly, but you as good as did! Whenever I had doubts about what I was doing, Drake bullied me into continuing and left me without a choice, and I have no idea whether or not you did the same to Latias!" He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't know whether you brought us here because you honestly thought we needed training or because you wanted to help fulfill some prophecy your family has been following for ages. It might even have been both. But that's not what matters, the point is that we're leaving and want nothing more to do with you or Drake."

Lance looked pained. "Ash, don't you think that's a little harsh?"

"No," Ash said. "Harsh is what I would have done if you had come outright and just asked the question that I can see is eating you up inside; will I let Latias into your custody so you can take _proper_ care with her?"

"I never asked that," Lance protested.

"I know. But I saw that both you and your father wanted to. The fact that neither of you did ask is something that I am grateful for. It shows me that in the end, you aren't total jerks." He nodded to his two Pokemon. "Latias. Charizard. Come on; let's go back to the others."

The two dragons muttered a quick goodbye to Dragonite, then walked or floated over to their trainer, who gave a nod of farewell to Lance and then started leading the way back up the passageway to the surface. "Ash!" Lance called out.

Ash paused. "Yes, Lance?"

"I still don't understand…what exactly is it that we've done to offend you? We were just trying to make you and Latias and the bond you've shared stronger! It's been done this way in our family for ages, and it's almost always worked! What do you have to be angry about? I told you, we were watching the whole time! You were never in any danger!" Lance said anxiously.

Ash stared at Lance, and then shook his head pityingly. "If you need to ask, Lance, then you'll never understand."

Lance furrowed his brow in confusion, an expression so often seen on Ash's face that it was weird seeing it on Lance. "I don't understand."

"Exactly," said Ash, continuing on his way.

"Ash!" Lance called again.

Frustrated, Ash looked back. "What?"

"If you won't listen to anything else I'm saying then at least hear this: here's a lesson Ash, death is a part of life and thus is all around us. If what I did was cruel then so be it! This is a cruel world! It's only the people in it that can be gentle! But unless you realize that the cruelty is out there, you'll never recognize it when it comes, and it WILL come!" Lance said desperately, as if to convince Ash of his words.

"You think I don't know that! After what happened to Latias' home? What's happened to all my other friends!" Ash asked, getting angrier.

"Do you? Or do you just think that's that and nothing else bad will happen to you?" Lance retorted.

"No, I don't think that's that!" Ash said, getting really tired of Lance talking down to him. "The world is going to be put through some very tough times in the near future, and some of my friends might die. I've come far too close to that happening way too many times in the last couple of months, and just a little while ago today. I'm going to do everything I can to keep that possibility from happening!

"If the world's cruel, is it because it's that way by nature or because people refuse to do anything to make it less cruel? Do they just give up and go with the flow of people who don't care or just don't do anything, thinking nothing they do matters and the world will always be bad, or _is_ the world just plain bad and nothing can be done no matter how hard you try?

"Would those Glalie have attacked us out of hunger if they had been given something else to eat beforehand? They've probably lived on this rock for years and you or your father or anyone else who comes here regularly could have fed them any of the times they've been in the area, but do you?"

Lance hesitated. "Well, um-"

"No, you don't, do you? Because it serves your purposes more to starve them so they attack kids you send in so they can be 'toughened up', right? Does the need to make people stronger justify being cruel not only to them, but to those who test the people's strength? If the world is a cruel place, it's because people don't try hard enough to change it and just focus on 'preparing' others for its cruelty by themselves being cruel! It's an endless cycle! If people aren't willing to try and change, then things CAN'T change!"

"It's not that simple!" Lance protested. "You're just being a naive idealist! It takes more than wanting to stop cruelty and fighting it to change the world!"

"Maybe so, but at least I'll actually TRY to change it instead of just letting it be!" Ash snapped before turning away. "Or waiting for some big all-powerful entity to come by and change it for you! It's an attitude like that that's one of the reasons the world IS cruel, because people want it to change but think it'll be better waiting for someone else to do it than by getting off their rears and doing it themselves!" With that final word, Ash stormed up the passageway. Charizard and Latias glanced at each other, startled by Ash's lengthy speech, and then quickly followed, leaving a shocked Lance and Dragonite behind to consider the boy's words.

…

"Aunt Bayleef?"

Bayleef glanced down to see her nephew, safe and sound from his adventure with the Pelipper, and joined with the rest of his family at the docks in Ever Grande waiting for Ash's boat to come back in. "Yes, Phanphy?" The little elephant looked troubled and uncertain.

"Aunt Bayleef…when you all rescued me from the mama Pelipper, and Gyarados and Mommy were flying me back to the ground…I looked back and saw the Pelipper pecking bits of her own legs off and tossing them to her children." He trembled. "Wh-why did she do that?"

Bayleef sighed, knowing sadly that this had been a long time coming. "Because her children were starving, Phanphy. With you gone, the only thing she could give them to eat was her own flesh. She loved them enough to sacrifice her own body to keep them from dying."

"B-but why did she have to give them body parts!" Phanphy asked, on the verge of tears. "W-why didn't she give them hot dogs, or Pokemon food, or-"

"Because wild Pokemon don't always have access to those food sources," Bayleef told him. "If they can't get anything else, then they eat each other. Why do you think she grabbed you in the first place? She couldn't find anything else to feed her children with."

"B-but why couldn't she have access to other food? Why did she have to take me to feed her children and feed them with her own body? Why couldn't she get something else?" Phanphy persisted.

"Because there's never enough for everybody," Bayleef said sadly. "That's the way the world is. Bad things happen to people. They do what they can to survive, even if it means doing bad things themselves. No matter what justifications they make up for doing those actions, in the end it's to fulfill the desire all living things have, to continue existing. We want to live so badly, or for those we love to live in some cases, we'll do anything to keep it that way. Even if it means killing someone else or mutilating your own body."

"But why?" Phanphy asked desperately. "Why is the world like that?"

Bayleef sighed. "I don't know, Phanphy. It just is."

"…" Phanphy stared out to sea for a long moment. "Aunt Bayleef?"

"Yes, Phanphy?"

"When we save the world, do you think we can make it so nobody has to be like that anymore? So nobody has to kill somebody else to stay alive?"

Bayleef said nothing for a moment, uncertain what to say. The little elephant had already had enough of his illusions shattered that day. Did he really need anymore shocks right now? "Sure, Phanphy. Why not?" The lie tasted bitter on her tongue as she said it, but she did not take it back.

…

The Ghost King growled. "I am displeased with Drake and Lance's actions."

"Do you wish me to deal with them?" Shedinja offered.  
The King considered. "No…in some warped way, they were doing what they thought might be best for Latias and for Ash. And they may be useful on our side in the coming battle; I do not doubt they will aid me once I am returned to my physical form. Leave them be…for now, anyway." He wondered how Latias would react when she saw him in the flesh for the first time. If the expression of rapture he had seen on her face as she had seen the statue of him on Dragon Rock was any indication, she would be very happy indeed.

His thoughts were interrupted when Misdreavus flew up to him. "Uh sir?"

"Yes, Misdreavus?"

"While excavating at the ruins where we will perform your restoration, an inscription was found on a wall. We weren't sure at first, but the Professor believes it's a message for you, one almost a hundred thousand years old!"

The King was perplexed. "What? A message, for me? What is it?"

"The message reads, 'Dear Brother in Law, if my instructions have been followed then you should know who you are by the time this is read to you. Sorry if what happened to _Her_ was a tad on the inpokemon side. To make up for it, if she still dies during The Final Battle, you can scream at me for putting her through unnecessary pain for all eternity when you get here. Lovingly, your brother in law, Latios the First,'" Misdreavus recited. "Oh, and 'P.S., Don't get angry at Lance, he's just doing what he hopes is right. P.P.S. and you still owe me ten bucks.'"

The Ghost King sweatdropped. "How strange, I can't even remember him and yet I get the strangest feeling that he's always been this irritating…" he muttered. He decided to change the subject and turned back to Shedinja. "How goes your research on the other major threat to Latias' health?"

Shedinja bowed. "I have yet to discover anything useful, but I have found a lead which looks to be most promising. I will investigate it as soon as possible and report my findings to you posthaste."

The King nodded, pleased. "Excellent…soon we will know once and for all the nature of this strange being, Mariah Susanson." He growled. "And if she dares to so much as _breathe_ on Latias, I swear I will rend her to pieces with own my claws if I have to!"

"But you don't have any claws," Misdreavus pointed out. "You're an amorphous figure made of fog with yellow eyes."

The King sweatdropped. "…It was a figure of speech. And if the preparations the freshly awakened Registeel and my shamans are working on are completed quickly enough, I may indeed be able to do just as I have just promised; to tear Mariah Susanson apart myself!" He roared angrily. "Now that I am so close to reuniting with her, I will allow _nothing_ to harm my Queen!"

…

Howzat?


	43. RPG Redux

This is the first of my special 'evil' chapters which describes something else going on in the world at the same time as Ash's tournament matches. This one takes place at about the same time as Ash and Latias' training on Dragon Rock. Enjoy!

The King didn't know he had a physical body to go into until recently, and since Registeel is one of the guys who separated him from it in the first place, he's one of the only ones who can put him back. And describing him as a cloud with yellow eyes is simpler in conversation that adding all the other stuff too. And the reason the Pelipper didn't find any other food…is a plothole, done so Phanphy could be allowed to experience a different side of life. The Battle Palace opponent will be revealed next chapter.

Anonymous one-off-er, surprisingly, the answer is no.

STEELIXLOVER, yes, Mariah and Berry are rip-offs of that name. I did that on purpose.

Gladdecease, I mentioned it was Rayquaza several chapters ago, back in 'Origins', didn't I?

HVK, I must remember to check that series out. You've missed a ton on Teen Titans, Raven opened the portal and let her big bad dad out, and he ended the world. Then the Titans teamed up with Slade (who had become a zombie after Terra dumped him into a pit of lava and Trigon fished him out) to fight him and failed, but Raven transformed into the White Raven and totally whupped his ass. It was totally cool, especially the part where Trigon summoned the dark sides of Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire to fight them while Robin and Slade went to find Raven. Dragon Rock was inspired by Skull Island of the Monkey Island game series. What point did the heroes miss, exactly?

Novalae, Drake and Lance are FATHER AND SON. The concept of the two as a ship disgusts me beyond belief. Ew. Facefaulting is when someone says something really stupid and everyone nearby spontaneously falls flat on their face from the sheer idiocy of whatever was said.

Ani-Blast, sorry to say that I've already made up my mind on most of those couples…but thank you for suggesting Frogtoprinceshipping for James and Butch, I couldn't think of any good names for that.

Eaglefox, Latias/Rayquaza would be Dracoshipping.

Disclaimer: I kind of wish I didn't own some of the things in this chapter, but I do. Everything else belongs to someone else.

…

"Wakey wakey, my little players…the game is about to begin! Mweeheeheeheehee!"

…

James woke with a start, falling out of the cot in his cell and hitting the hard, filthy floor, the echoes of maniacal laughter fading away in the corners of his mind. "Oof!"

His cellmate, Buson, stirred, opened his eyes a crack, and glared at James, growling angrily. "What did I tell you about waking me up, pussy?"

James paled. "Um…n-not to do it, s-sir?"

"Exactly." Buson rubbed his eyes, sat up, yawned, and slid out of his own cot. "And now you know what I must do, don't you?"

James gasped and backed away, trembling in fear. "No, not a swirly! Anything but that!" he screamed, glancing at the perpetually backed-up toilet in the corner of their cell, its repugnant stench surrounding it like an aura of unspeakable malice.

Buson shrugged. "Sorry cellmate, but I've warned you and I've warned you, and now you must pay the price for-" He stopped in mid-sentence, looking at something over James' shoulder. "The door's open."

"What?" James turned around and saw that the door to their cell was indeed open. "It's open!" He glanced at a dingy old clock on the wall. "But it's so early! They don't open the doors at this hour!"

"Who cares? It's open now! Let's make a break for it!" Buson grabbed his shades from where he had placed them on the rim of the sink and dashed out the door.

"Wait up!" James dug underneath his rock-hard mattress with one hand and pulled out a small, rectangular gold object with rounded ends. It was Meowth's charm, which James had managed to grab from the cat before Meowth was taken away to be rehabilitated like the other Rocket-owned Pokemon. He stuffed the charm down his shirt before following Buson outside.

The big man's orange prison garb made it easy to see him in the oddly dark cell block. The lights all seemed to be out, save for the one in the cell they had just exited and a few others alongside it. Their cell was located on the third level of a massive five-story room, which was crisscrossed by catwalks, ladders, and bridges to connect all the levels of the chamber and allow guards easy access to any level if there should be any kind of disturbance among the prisoners. Strangely enough, there were no visible guards patrolling about. There were security cameras in every corner of the room as well, but they all seemed to be shut off. And even at nighttime, when all the prisoners were made to go to sleep, there was always some noise, be it snoring or cursing or one prisoner slitting his cellmate's throat. But now, there was no sound at all. It was far too quiet.

"What's going on?" Buson wondered, glancing about. And then he started, seeing he and James were not the only ones out of their cell.

Standing in front of each of the cells which still had lights on were their fellow ex-Rocket teammates; Butch, Cassidy, Bashou, Jessie, the Iron Masked Marauder (sans his mask, which had been confiscated), Anny, and Oakley, all still wearing orange prison uniforms.

"Buson?" Bashou's mouth hung open. "What're you doing in the woman's side of the prison?"

"What're you talking about?" Buson growled in confusion. "This is the men's side! Right, James?"

"Er, I thought so," said the confused wimp. "But if this is the men's side, what are all the women doing here?" he asked, gesturing to the female operatives.

"Maybe this _is_ the women's section," Anny reasoned. "And the guards moved you here while you were sleeping as a cruel joke. That would be just like them." Everyone nodded in agreement, although they secretly thought it would be crueler for the poor few men than the multitudinous sex-starved women.

"Well, joke or not, we're here now and together again," said the Marauder, putting an arm around both Anny and Oakley's shoulder.

"Shove it, Marauder," Oakley said, shaking him off. "We're not interested."

"Darn," the unmasked man said unhappily. "I coulda used some action."

"Oh, don't worry," said a squeaky, high-pitched voice that echoed all over the cell block. "You'll have plenty of action now that I'm in charge of this prison!"

"Huh? Who said that?" wondered Jessie.

"And why does it sound familiar?" wondered James.

"Well, I should sound familiar, Mr. Morgan. Has it really been so long since we parted ways? Well, allow me to refresh your memory as to who I am…" Searchlights lining the top of the room switched on one by one, their beams intersecting at a point in the air a few yards away from the level the ex-Rockets were on, far from any of the bridges or catwalks.

The lights revealed a small, white, Mew look-alike with purple bat wings, an antenna with a ball at the end, and a red clown nose. "Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Mewgle!"

They stared at the creature in disbelief. "What…the…fuck!" Cassidy asked finally.

"Hey, it's Mewgle!" James cried in recognition. "Remember him, Jessie?"

Jessie rolled her eyes. "Who could forget him?"

"You two know this guy?" Buson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, I'm an androgonous sexless creature, but you can call me a 'guy' if you want. I don't mind!" Mewgle said with a giggle, teleporting over to their side of the room and startling them. The searchlights swung to keep focusing on the creature, causing the Rockets to flinch and shield their eyes. "Me, Jessie and James go way back! Don't we guys?"

"Well, if by 'way back' you mean you tried to trap us in a video game, then yes," Jessie said blandly.

"Well, at least it was a fun game, wasn't it Jessie?" James asked.

Jessie rolled her eyes, seeing no need to reply to her idiot teammate's comment. "Didn't you blow up? What are you still doing alive?" She paused. "For that matter, what are you doing here? You're a digital Pokemon; you can't exist in the real world!"

"Oh, I can and I do now!" Mewgle said happily. "Although that ungrateful Pikachu blew up my 'body' the chip containing my personality and AI survived and crashed into the server for a massively popular online RPG, which I immediately took control of and altered to my liking to give players a real challenge." He paused, his cheerful air gone. "But then…_he_ found me. My chip contained a fragment of crystal instead of the piece of silicon usually used (it must have gotten mixed up in the usual batch by mistake) which he needed for his evil plots, and he found himself intrigued by my charm, potential, and ability to engineer virtual worlds. So he removed me from the servers and took me back to his lair, where he transformed me into one of his many new generals of evil with which he will conquer the Earth!" He got happy again. "And he altered an RPGenerator so that instead of taking people into a virtual game world, I can take my gaming powers to the _real_ world! But only within a limited radius," he admitted. "Depending on the power of the generator…and one of the first things I wanted to do was find you two," he said, pointing to Jessie and James. "Because we never finished our game! But since the old RPGenerator was destroyed, the data for that game was lost. No worries though, I have a new game thought up that _all_ you can play, not just these two!"

"Oh boy!" James said eagerly. "Another foray into the world of RPGs?"

Jessie gave him a look. "James, the last time we played Mewgle's game we got blown up fighting Terminus Est."

"Yes, but after that we got into Torchocobo racing," James reminded her. "Which was pretty fun!"

"I have no idea what you idiots are talking about," Cassidy complained. Butch, whose mouth was still held shut by a metal muzzle because the guards hated his voice, nodded in agreement. "But why the hell would we want to play some stupid game anyway? Sounds dumb to me."

Mewgle clapped his hands happily. "Ooh, so many questions! Well first off, this isn't exactly the same as the RPG game we played last time. I've decided to branch out and try the dungeon-hack style of game, with a few of my own twists, of course. As to why you should play…well, why would anyone want to skip out on their chance to ESCAPE from prison?"

The keyword ESCAPE caught all their attentions. "Escape!" Anny and Oakley cried simultaneously.

Mewgle nodded. "Yesirreebob! All you have to do is climb up through ten levels to reach the exit, fighting monsters, mazes, and traps along the way. When you reach the end of the last level, you will be free to leave the game, and the prison, behind you forever."

"But what about all the guards? And security?" the Marauder asked doubtfully.

"All are under my control. If you run into a guard or obstacle, you're not sent back to your cell…instead, you get the chance to beat the shit out of them! Pay them back for locking you down here!" Mewgle said, winking at the unmasked man.

Bashou smirked and cracked her knuckles. "I like the sound of this…"

"However, there is one other reason you should play my little game, other than the incentive of freedom," Mewgle said with the smile of one who was about to reveal a juicy secret.

He teleported off the level of cells the villains were on and reappeared in the center of the room. The searchlights swung over to him, and the prisoners, who had just started getting used to the light, flinched as darkness returned to them. Mewgle grinned, winked, and in a flash of light transformed into a horrific monster.

Looking at it long enough, it was clear to see that it looked very much like Mewgle, albeit changed quite a bit. His short legs and comically long feet were still short and still long, but the giant toes were replaced with extremely long and sharp talons stained with blood. And the legs were larger than before. His long, ropy tail had thickened and the bulb at the end was replaced with a scorpion sting. Also, spikes lined the length of the tail. His fur was still white, but filthy, matted, and stained with copious amounts of blood. His tiny torso had swelled up into an enormous and extremely well-muscled chest with spines growing out of his front. His arms had elongated considerably and were bulging with muscles and spikes sprouting from the shoulders, elbows, and knuckles, which were now hairy and five fingers ending in jagged black claws. His purple wings had swollen out to form enormous demonic wings that were lit on fire, yet caused their owner no pain. Row upon row of crystal spikes grew out from his back in between the wings. His face was no longer cute and somewhat adorable, but had twisted into a gruesome, bestial mask of savagery, with a huge hanging lower jaw packed with seven rows of serrated teeth, nostrils which snorted flame, horns growing from the side of his head, and eyes that had become bulging bloodshot orbs with smoldering hatred and madness staring out through them. And the ball at the end of his antenna had become a pod-shaped mouth that kept snapping open and closed, spitting acidic saliva everywhere. The antenna itself had thickened into a black tentacle with spines growing from the sides.

There were numerous girly shrieks of fright from Jessie, Anny, Oakley, Cassidy, and James, while the rest just gaped in shock or had their screams muffled by a muzzle, in Butch's case. The monster Mewgle had become lunged forward, claws extended, and grabbed Cassidy from among her companions. "Mmhmmhmm!" Butch mumbled in horror.

Mewgle flapped his wings, sending gusts of hot air at the group of criminals as he resumed his position in the center of the room, clutching Cassidy tightly in his talons, her terror-stricken face and his nightmarish features illuminated by the spotlights. The blond cried herself hoarse begging and pleading to be let go unharmed as she scratched and clawed at the iron grip she was held in while befouling her prison suit in fright. Mewgle took no notice of her terror or pleas or even her new rank odor, simply cackling madly as he held her above his head and gently grabbed the upper half of her body while his other hand shifting its grip to hold onto the legs. He leaned his head back and opened his toothy jaws wide as he pulled on both ends of Cassidy, ripping her in two and showering her blood and innards around the room. Mewgle gleefully guzzled down the blood which poured right down his throat as Cassidy was split apart, and snapped at any organs which fell around him, catching them in his mouth and swallowing them as well, as if Cassidy had been some sort of macabre piñata and breaking her open had released a wealth of delicious and sugary candy for him to feast on. But what was really scary was that even though she had been ripped in two, Cassidy was still somehow alive. Her screams echoed throughout the cell block as her upper body spasmed in pain and her legs kept kicking and twitching, even though the two halves were separated. Mewgle shoved her upper half into his mouth and bit down on her neck, ripping her head off and silencing Cassidy's screams. He chewed, blood and drool dripping out of his mouth, a look of joyful bliss on his face as he finished the head and threw everything that was left down after it. "AHHHHHH…" he sighed happily, his voice distorted by the numerous teeth in his mouth and his larger, thicker throat.

Jessie had gone stock-still, her mouth opening and closing rapidly. "C-Cassidy?" she whispered in disbelief.

James whimpered. "I think I just soiled myself."

"Wimp," growled Buson, whacking James on the head and hiding how much he had been frightened by that spectacle as well.

"IF YOU REFUSE TO PLAY WITH ME, I WILL DO WORSE TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU," Mewgle growled, licking the fresh blood off his lips and other parts of his body with a ridiculously long tongue. "YOUR SOULS WILL BE TORN FROM YOUR BODIES AS MY MONSTERS, MADE FROM TRANSFORMED PRISONERS AND POKEMON IN REHABILITATION, REND YOU LIMB FROM LIMB, BUT YOUR SPIRITS WILL MAINTAIN JUST ENOUGH CONTACT WITH YOUR BODIES TO FEEL THE AGONY OF BEING TORN APART. THEN THE SEX OFFENDERS OF THIS DUNGEON, WHOM I HAVE MUTATED INTO SUCCUBI AND INCUBI, WILL VIOLATE YOUR CORPSES IN WAYS NONE OF YOU COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE, ONCE MORE WHILE YOUR SOULS ARE STILL CONNECTED. THEN I WILL EAT WHAT'S LEFT AND LET YOUR SPIRITS FEEL THE PAIN OF DIGESTION AS YOUR BODIES PASS THROUGH MY BOWELS. AND THEN, WHEN NOTHING REMAINS OF YOUR CORPOREAL FORMS BUT OFFAL, I WILL LOCK YOUR SOULS IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD OF TIME. ALL ALONE IN THE DARKNESS, IT WILL ONLY BE A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOU ARE DRIVEN TO COMPLETE AND TOTAL MADNESS!" He purred, a savage grin on his hideous face. "AND THEN…WHEN I AM THROUGH WITH YOU…I WILL GIVE YOU TO MY MASTER. AND THEN YOU WILL KNOW THE _TRUE _MEANING OF PAIN." He grinned. "SO, ANYBODY ELSE FEEL LIKE NOT PLAYING?"

Nobody answered. They were all too terrified to speak. Mewgle suddenly transformed back to his original self. "Good!" he squealed happily. "Now, let me get you into your costumes!" He snapped his fingers, and suddenly the eight found themselves transformed.

Anny's hair, which she had managed to keep in its usual buns despite the harsh conditions of prison, had been let down so it hung to her waist. She was clad in a scanty green outfit with knee-high leather boots, a small bracer on her left arm, and a crossbow on her right. Her ears had also become long and pointed somehow.

Oakley now wore a pointed yellow witch's hat, a large heavy-looking blue coat with a very high collar and a bottom that spread out like a skirt, with elbow-high leather gloves, boots, and a gnarled wooden staff.

Butch had gotten huge, and his skin was now a dull shade of green which matched his hair. His nose had flattened to give it a more reptilian look, and his ears were pointed, but not quite as long as Anny's. His lower jaw had elongated to give him an underbite, but his muzzle had grown along with his mouth so he still couldn't speak. He wore a tiny horned helmet on top of his head, a flimsy brown vest, and a loincloth, both pieces of clothing made from animal hide. He had nothing on his feet, which had big, hairy toes. He also carried a large club.

Buson had lost his shirt and sunglasses, and his hair had grown out so it went down to the middle of his back. He wore a spiked belt and thick boots, but other than that looked no different than usual. Aside from the giant battleaxe he was holding, that was.

Bashou also hadn't changed much physically, other than her clothes. She wore a horned blue tiara of sorts which went across her brow and over her ears, a revealing suit of blue leather armor with metal studs, metallic blue bracers on her arms, and a long naked sword in one hand. And her boots had spiked soles, much like Lucy's.

The Marauder was wearing a blue and gray suit of armor, the style your average medieval knight would wear, with a mace and a shield and a feathered plume growing from the back of the helmet. And sadly, his helmet had no visor or face mask, so his face was still plain to all. (Not like that was a bad thing, it wasn't as if he were deformed or anything.)

Jessie had gained a full-body black suit with hood and facemask, as well as a stylish red scarf. The many shuriken lining the bandoliers wrapped across her chest seemed to indicate that she was a ninja.

As for James…his body had been shrunken so all his limbs were shorter, he had a simple and plain brown cloth cap on his head, his feet were large, bare, and surprisingly hairy, and his clothes resembled those of your typical peasants only much cleaner. And he had a butter knife hooked into the small belt around his tunic. Oh, and his mouth had grown buck teeth too. He looked at himself in confusion, and then looked at his companions, who all seemed pleased for the most part with their outfits. "Hey! How come they get to be cool characters, but I'm stuck as a Hobbit?"

"Because you SUCK!" Mewgle yelled loudly and happily.

"Ha! Ain't that the truth!" said Buson with a laugh. "I've only been bunking with the guy for a couple days now, and I'm sure of it!" He paused while everyone else laughed at James' misfortune. "So, uh, what's the deal with these getups?"

"They represent your characters and abilities in this dungeon," Mewgle explained. "Anny, you are an Elf Archer!"

"Aren't elves short, annoyingly cute, and involved in stuff like making presents, cookies, or growing flowers?" Anny asked doubtfully, her face wrinkled up in disgust at the thought of herself as one of those elves.

"No honey, you're thinking of stupid cartoon elves," Oakley corrected. "You're one of those long-lived super-beautiful humanoid elves who are by nature great archers and often dislike normal people."

Anny blinked. "Oh, you mean like in the Lord of the Circles movie?" Oakley nodded, and Anny got a smitten expression on her face. "Orlando Boom is _so_ hot…not as hot as you, of course," she said quickly. Oakley only rolled her eyes, although she agreed with that assessment.

"Yes, like Oakley said, you are by nature a great archer," Mewgle agreed. "Swift, evasive, and able to shoot things from a distance. But just to be mean, I'm giving you limited ammo so you'll have to pick up arrows from the bodies of your enemies."

"Why would they have arrows on them?" Anny asked in confusion. "Are they archers too?"

Mewgle paused. "No, they just…um…actually, that's a good question. Why do defeated enemies drop the items they do?" He thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "It's just one of those things, I guess. Okay, Oakley, you're a human witch."

"I'm a WHAT!" Oakley asked angrily, face turning red.

"No, not that kind of witch, you're a magic witch!" Mewgle explained. "You cast spells and stuff. But you're slower and have lower defense than the rest of the party."

"Why?" Oakley asked angrily.

"Because you're a magician," James spoke up. "Every video game player knows magicians have low physical defense and attack. All their skill is in magic."

"Shut up, hobbit!" Oakley snapped, thrusting her staff at him. To her surprise, a fireball shot out of it and streaked right for James. He yelped and jumped back, just missing the fiery blast of the ball exploding. Oakley blinked, impressed. "Okay, that was cool."

"That's the only spell you know now, but you can learn more in time," Mewgle told her. "Okay, Butch?" Butch, who was picking his nose, looked up. "I'm explaining this more for the benefit of the rest of the team then yourself, because as of now you're really, really stupid. Because you're an ogre berserker!"

Jessie rolled her eyes. "As if the skin color, bulging muscles, and lack of brains didn't tell us that already."

"Actually, I thought he was the Incredible Bulk," Buson confessed. Bashou whacked him on the head with the flat side of her sword.

"As an ogre, Butch is super strong, but not very fast, and I meant that both physically and mentally." Butch demonstrated this by accidentally poking himself in the eye as he missed his nostril. He gave off a muffled howl of pain and stomped on the ground in pain, shaking the walkway they were all standing on. "Not much different than he used to be as a human actually, save for the super strength. And since his voice is even more awful now, I strengthened his muzzle so he can't pull it off with his ogre strength."

"Well, thank goodness for small miracles," said the Marauder with a smirk. "Can I change into something with a mask?"

"No," Mewgle said shortly. "I considered making you a Berserker too at first, but then changed my mind because you might be able to fashion a mask out of your animal-hide clothing."

"Darn," the Marauder said unhappily.

"Why do you want a mask anyway?" Oakley asked. "We've all seen your face, so there's nothing unknown about it to scare us with."

The Marauder flinched. "I'm a little self-conscious, okay? Don't like the sight of my own face."

"Which is exactly why I'm forcing you to show it to the world!" Mewgle said with an evil laugh. "You are a human knight, Marauder! You have decent strength, very good defense, and your speed is good but could be better, your armor weighs you down a little. Try not to jump into any streams or deep bodies of water."

The Marauder shrugged. "We're in a prison. Where is there any body of water here other than the swimming pool that's deep enough for me to sink in?"

Mewgle cackled. "You have no idea…Bashou, you are a human Valkyrie, a warrior maiden!"

"I have to correct you there," Bashou interrupted. "I ain't no maiden."

"You certainly aren't," Mewgle agreed. "You're fast, strong, but your armor isn't that tough because of the lightness needed to make you speedy."

"Hey, no problem. I've got enough defense for the both of us!" Buson said, flexing his muscles.

"Actually Buson, you don't," Mewgle corrected. "If you may noticed, you aren't wearing a shirt or any kind of armor. You also lack the tough skin Butch has as an ogre. You are a human Barbarian, very strong, okay with speed, but your defense could be better." He snickered. "A lot better."

Buson growled. "I oughta put this axe of mine through your head."

Mewgle smiled and transformed into his horrific monster form. "WANT TO TRY IT?" he roared, his fangs gleaming in the searchlights.

Buson cowered. "No."

"GOOD." Mewgle reverted to normal and turned to Jessie. "You are a human Ninja! Very fast, but not too strong or defensive."

"Why is that?" Jessie complained.

"Because you're a ninja," Mewgle repeated as if he were explaining it to a two-year old. "You're big on stealth, not power. _Duh_. You don't need to hit hard, you can move quickly enough to make your strikes add up. Like Anny, you also need to replenish ammo from fallen enemies."

"Which still sucks," Anny grumbled.

Jessie shrugged. "Oh well, at least this bodysuit highlights my natural curves and beauty." Everyone had to stifle their laughter to avoid suffering the wrath of her 'ninja power'.

"And James, you are a hobbit burglar," Mewgle said, turning to the last member of the team.

"Can't I be a human burglar?" James pleaded. "Hobbits stink!"

"No, you can't, because I don't like you," Mewgle said. "And there's no stealing in this game anyway, so there." He stuck out his tongue.

"Then why is my class called 'Burglar'?" James asked.

"Because I'm a jerk. Anyway, because you're so wimpy and pathetic, chances are most of the monsters will ignore you in favor of meatier prey like Buson or Butch. This will allow you to stab them in the back!"

James raised an eyebrow. "With a butter knife?" he asked doubtfully.

"Yes," said Mewgle. He transformed into a monster once again. "WANNA MAKE SOMETHING OF IT?"

"No! No!" James cried, trembling.

"Okay!" said the insane Dungeon Master, reverting to his original form. "All of you will automatically know how to use your attacks and abilities, which allows me to skip a good chunk of tutorial. So let me get down to the more important details. Slain enemies will drop gold coins, which can be used at the shops you will find at the end of each level to purchase items and upgrades to increase your powers and make you more capable of fighting through the levels. Of course, before each shop you will find a powerful monster called a 'boss', which you must defeat. They can be found through the doors labeled 'exit'." Mewgle pointed at a door on the bottom floor of the cell block, lit up by a green neon sign saying EXIT. "Bosses are tougher than regular monsters, so you had better be careful, or else you'll be killed." A wicked grin appeared on his face, seeming out of place on the cute creature's features. "And as you saw with Cassidy, in this game killing is no joke. You have no hit points. No extra lives or 1-ups. No save points. Each of you only has a single life, just like in the real world, and you are much more fragile than the average video game character (save the ones who die if they are hit even once, even if they so much as _touch_ an enemy, unless they have some form of protection, which never lasts long). If you are cut, you will bleed. If someone swings a sword or really big blade thing at you, there's a pretty good chance it'll cut something off and kill you. In fact, a lot of things here could kill you, and probably will. I expect a lot of you to die before you reach the end of this game. In fact, I expect none of you to reach the end at all!" He started cackling madly and he morphed into his monster form again. "YOU WILL DIE DOWN HERE, YOUR SCREAMS FOREVER LOST IN THE DARKNESS!" One by one, the lights in the darkened cells in the room came on. "YOUR HEARTS WILL BE DEVOURED BY THE FOUL CREATURES OF THE DEPTHS, AND YOUR BLOOD DRUNK BY THE DEVILS OF THE NIGHT!" Within every cell was a monster, or pair of monsters. All of them wore orange prison uniforms to indicate they were prisoners, but most were torn or bloodied by the hideous transformations their wearers had undergone. There were zombies of all shapes and sizes, werewolves, insectoid things, pale fanged vampires, lizardmen, skeletons, even a few who looked as if they had been crossed together with Pokemon by some half-blind seamstress who was bad at sewing, with body parts of the wrong species placed in the wrong parts of the body and looking like they would fall off at any moment. There were hideous, bizarre, and downright disturbing horrors in the cells, all slavering and clawing at the bars, wanting out. "YOUR VERY SOULS WILL BE CONSUMED BY THE SOURCE OF ALL EVIL HIMSELF! YOU WILL DROWN IN SORROW, SCREAMING YOUR LUNGS OUT AS YOU ARE DRAGGED SO FAR DOWN INTO DESPAIR THAT THE LIGHT OF HOPE WILL NEVER FIND YOU AGAIN!" One by one, every cell door opened. And the things inside started coming out. Still in his monster form, Mewgle laughed insanely as he spread his wings and flew towards the ceiling, his form converting into a mass of light which disintegrated and shot away in dozens of bolts of lightning which bounced around the room, throwing up sparks as they disappeared into the walls, leaving only the eight players and the monsters thirsting for their blood.

"Ahh! There's too many of them!" James cried.

Buson hefted his axe. "We just have to make it to that exit!" he said, pointing to the green-lit door. "And take out as many of them as we can on the way, so I can buy some armor!"

"And I can get better weapons," agreed Jessie, flinging shuriken at an advancing blob monster, which didn't seem to notice them as they got stuck in its gelatin hide.

"And get me a better body!" James chimed in, cowering behind Butch so he wouldn't get in the way. The ogre bellowed (or would have if it weren't for the muzzle), swung his club, and ran straight down the catwalk in front of him, intending to smash the horde of monsters shambling across it towards them. Unfortunately, his weight proved to be too much for the walkway, and it collapsed, sending Butch and the monsters crashing down to the catwalk below it, which collapsed as well and dropped them to another catwalk, which also collapsed and dropped them to the floor, where they smashed into the hard concrete and cracked it. Butch, as an ogre, managed to survive the fall with a minor concussion, which didn't matter since his brain wasn't worth salt anyway now, but the monsters splattered apart on impact, spewing blood and gold coins everywhere. Dazzled by the shiny coins, Butch howled, waved his club, and ran over to each and every one of them. Each of them vanished as he touched them and a counter appeared over his head, the numbers increasing on it with every coin he collected, but Butch was too confused and frustrated by how the pretty money he kept picking up disappeared as he touched it to notice, and started getting angry. Fortunately, he took his anger and frustration out on the monsters emerging from the cells, smashing them with his thick wooden club, instead of his teammates or any structural supports which could cause the room to cave in.

Anny and Oakley worked well together, as they often did. Anny was able to guard Oakley's more vulnerable back as they worked their way around the sides of the cell block, shooting arrows to stun the monsters from a distance so Oakley could power up a fireball and fling it their way to destroy them in a flaming conflagration. Anny then would rush over, pick up the arrows and gold coins left by the fallen beasts, then expertly start shooting arrows at the new monsters chasing the significantly slower Oakley in the meantime as she tried to catch back up to her friend. "Why am I so slow!" Oakley complained loudly. "I'm not fat or heavy at all! I have the same perfect figure as always! What's weighing me down!"

"Maybe it's that heavy mage's cloak or whatever it is," Anny suggested, shooting an arrow over Oakley's shoulder and piercing the side of the neck of the Cyclops coming up behind her.

Taking that suggestion literally, Oakley's fingers flew at the buttons and zippers on her big blue coat, undoing the fastenings and allowing her to cast it off. It fell on the Cyclops behind her and covered its one eye, causing it to flail about blindly, knocking several weaker monsters off the walkway before it tripped and fell over the railing after them, where they all splattered in a grotesque heap of gore and blood on the floor below, which Butch happily trundled over to to pick up the gold pieces lying in the macabre remains.

Buson and Bashou also worked very well together, which was unsurprising seeing as how they had been partners for so many years now. They stood back to back on a catwalk spanning the cell block, Buson hacking away at the enemies charging towards him on his side of the walkway, while Buson sliced the ones charging down her side to pieces. When a pair of skeletons wearing thick, spiked cages that fit around their bodies like armor trundled up, deflecting the axe and sword thrust at them and punched both partners in the stomach with their iron-clad fists, knocking them into each other and forcing them to the ground, neither of the duo had to say a word, they just looked each other in the eyes, smirked, and drove their weapons into the ground beneath their feet. Their portion of the catwalk collapsed, causing the skeletons to plummet to the floor far below, where their cages smashed apart and their bones scattered everywhere, flinging myriad gold coins which Butch joyously went to collecting.

Buson had grabbed onto a splintered piece of railing dangling from the edge of the catwalk, and Bashou had grabbed his foot as she started falling down. Buson grunted and swung his axe upward, digging its edge into a more stable section of walkway and giving him a better grip. "Climb up!" he called down to Bashou.

She bit down on the hilt of her sword to free her other hand and quickly shimmied up the Barbarian's body, running her hands over his thick muscles as she grabbed onto the axe handle and flipped up onto the walkway…where she found herself faced with another armored skeleton. She leaned back, grabbed Buson by the hand clutching to the splintered railing, and heaved. Buson flipped up onto the catwalk, ripping his axe out of the floor and bringing it down in a powerful overhead chop, shattering the armor cage and splitting the skeleton in two. He wiped away some sweat as gold coins poured out of the bones, vanishing as they hit his skin. "Whoo. That was fun."

"Yeah, maybe you should stay shirtless when we get out of here," agreed Bashou as she chopped the head off an approaching vampire with her sword.

"I'd like to get another pair of shades though," Buson reminded her, gripping his axe handle with both hands and charging in to help her out.

The Marauder was having plenty of fun with his Knight armor and weapons. He laughed as a few bat-winged monstrosities spat darts at his back, only for them to deflect off his armor. "Ha! It'll take more than that to take down the Iron Masked Marauder!" he taunted them as he grabbed one zombie by the neck and flung it at the bat-winged monsters, knocking them out of the air. He hacked away at some more of the monsters charging at him with his mace, slamming them with his shield to either stun them or knock them over the railing, when he paused, seeing a hockey-mask wearing chainsaw-wielding homicidal maniac charging towards him. He lifted his shield to deflect the maniac's chainsaw swing, and then smashed his mace over the monster's head, killing it and causing gold coins to spray out of the corpse as it fell to the floor. He glanced around to make sure nobody was looking, then bent over and reached down to grab the maniac's mask.  
It instantly vanished in a puff of smoke. "No mask for you!" Mewgle's playful voice echoed through the Marauder's skull.

"DAMMIT" the Marauder cursed, taking his anger out on an approaching Chimera.

"Urghh! I hate these things!" Jessie complained, flinging a seemingly endless stream of shuriken at a single, very bulky humanoid monstrosity lurching towards her. She had no idea what it was, nor did she care, all she knew was that it was taking far too long to die. Finally, after being hit by what seemed like twelve dozen shurikens, the monster at last succumbed and toppled off the walkway to its death, leaving Jessie almost completely out of ammunition as another of the same thick-skinned monsters came bearing down at her. "James, do something!" she cried at the hobbit, who had pressed himself against the wall in fright to make himself look less conspicuous. He stared at the approaching monster, which he recognized as a Gigas, gulped, closed his eyes, and stuck a foot out. Amazingly, the immense Gigas tripped on the outstretched hairy limb and fell on his face, shaking the walkway and cracking the length it had fallen on. Staring at the dropped Gigas in disbelief for several seconds while Jessie screamed at him to finish it already, James finally leaped into action, hopping onto the monster's back and running up its spine. He whipped out his butter knife and drove it into the beast's neck, by sheer dumb luck striking a vital artery connected to the Gigas' brain and killing it instantly.

The giant groaned and sagged on the ground, its breathing coming to a halt. As the last breath of air left the Gigas' body, dozens of replacement shuriken and at least a hundred gold coins popped out of thin air around it.

"James, you did it!" Jessie cried, scrambling to grab the coins.

"But Jessie, what about the ammunition?" James asked, pointing to the shurikens, which were already starting to blink in and out of existence to show they were about to fade away.

"Who cares about ammo when there's money to be made!" she squealed greedily, grabbing coin after coin and causing her money count to keep rising, not caring or noticing that monsters were approaching on all sides and her only defense was a puny hobbit with a butter knife.

Down on the ground floor, Butch was clearly enjoying his ogre persona, as he had gotten so caught up in the chaos of smashing heads and breaking bodies he barely noticed the gold coins scattered all over the place anymore, simply running over and absorbing them as he kept bashing and crashing and dashing. Unfortunately, this proved to be his downfall as well, for while he was gleefully whacking a group of mummies into a pile of dust and rags, a particularly sharp-toothed zombie leaped onto his back and managed to bite down on the ogre's right shoulder, cracking its teeth but just managing to penetrate Butch's thick hide.

Butch gave a muffled scream of pain and rage, obliterated the remaining mummies with a swing of his club, and then did a backwards body slam, crushing the zombie into the ground with the full weight of his immense body, squishing it all over the place and plastering his back with gore but also picking up many more sparkly coins. This satisfied him and made him forget about the painful bite, and he went back to smashing things.

It was only a few minutes later that the group of eight managed to assemble on the ground floor, fending off the surprisingly large remnants of the monster horde as they headed for the exit. "Okay, fun's fun but enough's enough!" quipped Bashou, cleaving a werewolf in two with her sword as she backed towards the glowing green door.

"Yeah, I'm actually getting bored of hacking up all these goons!" agreed the Marauder, slamming a chainsaw maniac's head with his shield to stun it and finishing it off with a stab from his sword.

"And I'm all out of ammo," Jessie added, hiding behind Butch's impassable mass with James.

Oakley spared a glance over her shoulder. "We're almost there…hold on, I think we can make it if we can distract them for a sec. Here!" She hurled an especially large fireball into the air.

It exploded, releasing several brilliant and colorful lights and embers, startling the monsters and causing them to take their attention away from their prey for the moment. The anti-heroes quickly ran for the exit…only to realize that Butch hadn't budged, because he was too distracted by the pretty lights to realize he had to vamoose. "Butch, come on!" The Marauder and Buson ran back, grabbed the ogre by the arms, and started tugging on them to get his attention, eventually making the pea-brained green-haired monster realize that they had to escape quickly. He trundled back to the rest of the group, who were waiting anxiously by the door, and they all squeezed inside, getting stuck at first because they all had tried to pass at once, but Butch rammed into them from behind, pushing them through and managing to just barely fit his own big body inside just as the monsters remembered they had party members to kill and turned around only to see Butch pull the door shut in a surprisingly delicate manner, leaving the mutated prisoners alone in the cell block.

James wiped some sweat from his brow. "Phew! Barely made it!"

"Aw, it wasn't that bad," said the Marauder dismissively.

"Perhaps not…but from here on, it only gets worse!" a voice called out from behind them.

The crooks turned around to see that they had entered a security checkpoint between the cell block and other areas of the prison. It was a long corridor with numerous security cameras and retractable gates, a metal detector in the middle of the hall, and an armored booth where the guards could sit and watch over everything. A red light flashed on top of the booth along with the sound of alarm sirens, and the gates further down the corridor slammed down onto the floor from the ceiling, blocking their path to the green exit door at the end of the room.

The door to the booth slammed open, and a hideous and bizarre creature walked out. At first, it looked to be a standard prison guard, with a blue uniform, nightstick, and cap, but as he turned his face towards the group, they realized to his horror that he couldn't possibly be human. The right side of his face had been melted away, allowing a security camera to be slammed in there in its place, held to the rest of the guard's head by sinewy membranes and cords which dripped strange bodily fluids. A cable came out of the back of his head and went back into the computers inside the security booth. The camera lens took the place of his right eye.

"Hey, who's this guy?" growled Buson, tightening his grip on his axe.

"I'm the Watchman, level boss!" said the guard, rolling up his sleeves and showing several watches wrapped around his forearms. "And who do you punks think you are? Trying to escape, huh? Well, just wait until the warden hears about this! You'll all go to solitary for five years!"

"Five years alone!" screamed Anny. "I can't do that! My hair will be ruined! Oh, and I suppose I'll have gone insane with loneliness eventually."

"Wait, there won't be anyone to tell the warden if we take this guy out now, right?" the Marauder asked, drawing his sword.

"Wrong!" said the Watchman gleefully, tapping the camera part of his head. "All of the security cameras in the cell block were active and recorded you punks breaking out of your cells and slaughtering your fellow inmates! Those cameras are hooked up directly to my brain through the cable behind me, which also connects me to the prison computer system, so all I have to do is give a mental command to E-mail the tapes of your violent acts to the warden and there'll be so many guards coming down here you'll be lucky to get out without having every bone in your body broken!"

This enraged the Rockets. "Why you-" Jessie pulled out a shuriken.

The Watchman wagged a finger. "Ah ah, remember, I'm linked to the computers! I'm recording all this as we speak, so if you attack me I can send the footage to the warden right before you disembowel me! And attacking a guard will get you an even _longer_ time in solitary!" He grinned. "And in the event that you _did_ decide to screw it and attack me anyway…" He tapped the 'play' button on his camera, and a beam of light projected from the lens and formed an image of Butch the ogre, thrashing about and swinging his club everywhere. The ogre swiped his weapon at Oakley, who backed away in fright and flung a fireball at the image, causing it to dissipate and disappear.

Butch was confused. He scratched his head, and the place where he had been bitten, wondering how he could have been there and here at the same time.

"How'd you do that?" asked Bashou.

"Ah, wait, that's not all!" The Watchman pressed 'play' again, and the image resulting this time was of Bashou, sword drawn and pointed forward. The image cried and charged at the real Bashou, startling her and barely giving her the time to bring her sword up and block the duplicate's sword swings. Buson darted around the clone and chopped into it with his axe, causing it to disappear.

"What the heck is going on!" the Marauder demanded.

The Watchman grinned and pressed 'play' again. This time, images of all eight of them materialized in battle-ready poses, except for James, of course. The guard quickly hit 'pause' to keep them from attacking just yet. "I told you, I recorded all your fighting! I gathered footage of each of your fighting styles and techniques, and my camera powers allow me to give that footage life to use it on you! I'm sure you could probably defeat me if you could get your hands on me…but can you defeat _yourselves?_" He laughed malevolently.

Jessie sweatdropped. "Um…you seem like a fairly corrupt guard, I don't suppose we can work out some kind of a deal to get out of here without you alerting the warden?"

The Watchman paused for a moment, considering. "Hmm…a deal, eh? I know…" He pointed at Anny and Oakley. "You two! If you make hot lesbian action right now, I'll let you all pass!"

"WHAT!" the two screamed.

"Oh, just do it!" the Marauder snapped. "We need to get past this guy!"

"Yeah, and it's not like you won't enjoy it," Buson pointed out with a wry grin. "And us too, of course."

"Well…yeah," Anny admitted. "But…"

"We've never done it with an audience before," finished Oakley. She glared at the Watchman. "Or a camera running."

The guard grinned. "Sorry babe, the camera stays on and running or else no deal."

"You guys gotta do it," Bashou told the girls. "We can't stay in this place. You saw what that psycho Mewgle did to Cassidy. You really want that to happen to you? Or worse?"

The girls shivered at the thought. Anny sighed. "I guess we have no choice, Oakley."

"I suppose not, Anny," Oakley agreed sadly.

Somewhat reluctantly, even if they had been separated from each other for the last few days, they slowly came together, embraced each other, and kissed. It looked clumsy at first, due to their feelings of awkwardness caused by everyone, including a perverted security guard recording everything on his camera, watching, but instinct and restrained passion quickly took over and they soon forgot that there was anyone else there. Hands scrambled over each other's body, tearing at clothing and flinging it away, while they didn't pull their lips away for even a second. Oakley pushed Anny to the ground and they continued their actions there while James looked away in embarrassment, Jessie tried not to stare, and everyone else watched with interest, while the guard whooped with glee, the little red light on the side of the camera blinking to show it was recording. "Hoho, wait until the other guards get a load of this!" he cried gleefully. "This is the best porn we've had in months! Hahaha!"

While looking away, James noticed the cable running from the back of the Watchman's head, and recalled how the guard had said it linked his brain to the prison's computer systems. Perhaps if the cable were disconnected, he wouldn't be able to carry out his threat to report them to the warden, and they'd have a better chance of fighting him without the threat of overwhelming retaliation? Congratulating himself for his cleverness, he quickly whispered his idea to Jessie, who grudgingly admitted it was good. She picked him up and, using her ninja stealth, tip-toed around Butch, who was paying more attention to what was in his ears than to the porn, and behind the distracted Watchman, where Jessie quietly put James down then got into position for her part of the plan.

James quickly pulled out his butter knife and, with a half-dozen sawing motions, managed to sever it! Unfortunately, this managed to get the attention of the Watchman as he abruptly felt his consciousness shrink down considerably, limiting him only to what he could see in front of him. "What the-" He whirled around and saw James sitting over the cut cable, his hand frozen in mid-cut as he had finished the last saw-through of the wire. "Why you little-disabling security systems! That'll be ten years in solitary for you, once I report to the warden!"

"I don't think you'll be doing that," said Jessie, shutting the door to the security booth as well as the call button in it which would have allowed the Watchman to request backup as well as call the warden. And she had locked it from inside before closing it, so now nobody was going in.

The Watchman looked livid as the crooks advanced on him, all thinking they were now free to beat him to a pulp. "Ha! You think this is over!" He jabbed the 'play' button on the side of his head, and light was projected from his camera. "I'll show you! I'll summon an entire ARMY of you eight! Let's see you deal with that! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled as the light from his camera grew brighter and brighter and brighter…

And then there was a pop and a breaking sound, and the side of the camera burst open, spitting out reels and reels of burnt, damaged film. The light shining from his lens flickered and showed a grainy and poor-quality recorded image of Anny and Oakley making out.

Oakley made a face. "Ugh. Do I really look like that when I'm doing it?"

"I didn't know it looked that bad," muttered Anny. "That does it; I'm taking porn star off my resume."

"You were a porn star?" the Marauder asked with interest.

"No, I just said I was on my resume to help get a job at Team Rocket," Anny explained.

The Marauder slumped in disappointment. "Oh."

The Watchman was panicking now. "Aaaahhh! I must have accidentally recorded over my stock footage of your fighting techniques with that make-out tape! It was too much for my camera to handle! Still, I regret nothing, save that I never upgraded to a digital camera…that was some sweet action!" He grinned blissfully as Butch, Buson, and Bashou advanced upon him, brandishing their weapons. "Even if I'm about to die now, I'm so happy after seeing that! Hehehehe! It was all worth it!" Then he was silenced as the three warriors started murdering him.

When they were done, there was nothing left of the Watchman but a big bloody smear on the floor, some remains on Butch's club and hair, and lots of broken glass from the smashed watches and camera. Oh, and a whole heap of gold coins.

Butch gave a muffled squeal of joy from under his muzzle and happily dug into the coins, adding them to his total while everyone else scrambled to pick up the rest before he could grab it all.

"That was some nice thinking, cutting the cable," Buson complimented James after collecting his share of the booty.

"Really!" James asked eagerly.

"Yeah…you still suck, though." Buson shrugged. "What can I say? You're a hobbit!"

James growled. "Curses! Darn you, Mewgle!"

The prison shook. "I HEARD THAT!" Mewgle's voice roared throughout the building.

James squealed and cowered behind Jessie. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" he wailed. Instantly, the shaking stopped.

"Better be careful what you say," the Marauder murmured. "It looks like the walls have ears."

"Really? Where?" Anny asked, looking about, as did James and Butch.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Oh, never mind," the un-masked knight grumbled. "Let's just head to that exit already!" he said, pointing to the green-lit door at the other end of the hallway. The gates had retracted and the flashing light and sirens had gone off with the Watchman's death, leaving them with a clear path to the exit.

They proceeded to do just that. They had some problem passing under the metal detector, because the Marauder's armor as well as almost everyone else's weapons kept setting it off, so finally they just smashed the sensor to bits, causing more gold coins to rain down from the broken machinery, and proceeded down the hall.

…

As they passed through the green door, ending the level, they found themselves abruptly in a new location that did not fit the usual mental image of a prison at all.

It was a medium-sized square room with lots of strange items and doodads lining the walls on shelves, with various impressive-looking weapons and different kinds of armor propped up in display cases with descriptive and explanatory labels attached. There was another green door at the end of the room, the entrance to the next level, and next to the door, behind a counter and cash register, was a large-bellied pointy-eared goblin with a definitely Latino look and build, and an unshaven beard. The word 'SHOP' written in glowing neon letters flashed on and off steadily on the wall over the goblin's head.

"Ah, customers! Come in, come in," the goblin said happily, gesturing to them. "Come in and peruse my wares! I have everything a game-playing fugitive from justice might need to escape from this prison…for a price, of course!"

"Hmm, I like the sound of that," said Buson with a grin, rubbing his chin. "Let's see what you got, shopkeep!"

"James, does that thing look familiar to you?" Jessie whispered to her short and runty partner.

"Yeeeesssss…" James drew out, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He _does_ seem familiar…I could swear I've seen him before on numerous occasions…Mr. Goblin, who are you exactly?"

"Me?" asked the shopkeeper, looking surprised. "Why, just yesterday I was exactly like you, a humble man imprisoned for doing something which the law happened to disagree with! In my case, it was selling products that were not in fact what I claimed they were to customers for exorbitant amounts of money. How about you guys?"

"Accidentally breaking into prison after getting blown up in a giant robot we were going to use to destroy a city," the Marauder told him.

"Not to mention hundreds of cases of larceny, grand theft, rape, fraud, kidnapping, theft, cheating, and more than a few charges of murder as well," Anny said, examining one of the magnificent dresses in the display cases.

The shopkeeper whistled, impressed. "Whoa, you guys are hard-core! Even you, little Halfling?"

James blinked. "Huh? Me? Er, no, none of my criminal ventures ever really bore fruit," he said sheepishly.

"Same," Jessie said sadly, looking at some ninja gear on the walls.

"Well, in any case, last night while we were all sleeping Mewgle and his dark master showed up and took over the place and reprogrammed all our brains and stuff to become what we are now. Since I was a salesman out in the real world, I'm a salesman here, too," the goblin explained.

Bashou frowned. "Wait a minute…" She pulled out her sword and held it to the goblin's throat. "You admitted a minute ago that you did fraud! Are you intending to fraud us too?"

The shopkeeper sweated and quickly reassured the Valkyrie of his intentions. "No, no, of course not! Mewgle would have my head and worse if I cheated you all! He even made me gulp lower my prices to a reasonable amount!"

"Ah. Okay then." Bashou grabbed a helmet with a spiral horn growing out of the top and wings from the sides, read the label, then placed it on the counter. "Then how much for this here Unicorn Helmet? I like the looks of it, plus it increases my speed and defense."

The shopkeeper held out a hand. "That'll be 150 gold coins, please."

"Done." Bashou dropped the coins into the greedy little goblin's hand, and he stuffed them into his cash register.

"And I think I'll take this Chain-mail tunic," said Buson, dropping a clinking mass of chains onto the counter. "The label says it'll weigh me down a little, but I'm sure it's worth it to keep anything from messing up these glorious pecs of mine."

The others quickly found items that they all took a liking to, but were not always able to get the absolute best weapons and tools due to some of the prices being out of their range. Butch had the most coins so could have bought almost anything in the shop, but he was stingy and refused to let anyone have any of his 'shinies'. It was only with great difficulty that the shopkeeper managed to persuade him to part with some of his coins to buy a crowbar, which Butch immediately started whacking his head with until the shopkeeper told him he could use it to try and pry his muzzle off so he could speak, which he then tried to do while scratching his shoulder where it had been bitten with his free hand. It still bothered him. All of the old armor and weaponry which was being replaced was given to the shopkeeper, who gave them a slight discount on whatever they were purchasing as thanks for the new merchandise.

Anny purchased a set of Wooden Armor, which was essentially wooden plates carved to fit around vulnerable parts of her body, such as her arms, legs, and head, as well as a larger quiver to hold more arrows. Oakley learned there were plenty of spells she could purchase so she could increase her arsenal, but was only able to afford Thunder, Ice, and Heal before she ran out of money. Those spells didn't come cheap.

The Marauder scoured the shelves for any masks, but, unable to find any, he instead purchased a new set of Mythril armor which was stronger than his current one, although slightly heavier, and managed to get an iron coating for his axe to increase its power.

Jessie had found poisoned shuriken, which were stronger than her current ones due to their ability to envenom whomsoever they struck, and bought them as well as a pair of kunai to give her a better close-range attack.

Poor James, however, had the least amount of cash, and wanted the most. In an ornate display case in the middle of the room, glowing with radiant gold light, stood motionless the figure of an incredibly handsome warrior with blond hair, blue eyes, and a shining white-and silver suit of armor with a white cape, a glowing magic sword and shield, and a loyal falcon familiar perched on his shoulder. James eagerly ran over to the counter and asked, with puppy dog eyes, "How much for that Paladin in the case?"

The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow. "Why would you be wanting something like that, my Halfling friend?"

"For precisely that reason," James said urgently. "I don't want to be a Halfling, a hobbit! I want to be a different character! If I buy the Paladin, I can become him, right? Isn't that how it works, since he's an unlockable character?"

The goblin nodded, looking dubious. "Yes, it is…but it is rather costly."

"How much can it be?" James asked.

The goblin chortled, holding his belly as it shook with laughter. "Ho ho! Good sir, as you yourself said, the Paladin is an _unlockable_ character! Unlockables are nearly always rather difficult and time-consuming to obtain! To purchase that fine character model, you will need no less than one million coins!"

James' jaw dropped. "_One million!_ Where am I going to get that kind of money?"

The shopkeeper shrugged. "You could kill a lot of monsters. Or ask your friends for help."

James decided on the second option and whirled around to face his teammates, who were all putting on their new gear. "Hey guys, do you think you could spot me a small million?"

"GET YOUR OWN!" they all yelled, enjoying their new weapons and armor. Butch hadn't been listening because he was too busy prying at his muzzle with his crowbar. James sulked, his misery visible on his face.

The shopkeeper leaned over the counter and patted James on the head. "There there, don't worry little one. If you can't get the Paladin now, you can always save up coins and buy him on your second playthrough."

"Second playthrough!" James screamed. "I'm barely making it through the first playthrough as it is! Why would I possibly want to do all this again when I could beat the game once and earn my freedom?"

The goblin shrugged. "To beat old records, to prove you could, to relive the glory and thrills…all sorts of reasons. But in the meantime, here, take this. I think it's just your size." He handed James an object. "That'll be 75 gold coins."

James sweatdropped. "It's a fork."

"Yes, and its 75 coins," the goblin said with a nod.

"But it's…a…_fork,_" James emphasized. "I could just grab one for free in the cafeteria if I wanted one that badly."  
"Yes, but those would be flimsy plastic forks, not like the fine tin one you've got there!" the shopkeeper corrected. "And they wouldn't cause nearly as much pain as this one will! It's perfect for you, honest, and it's a lot more effective than that crappy butter knife you've got there would be all by itself."

James' shoulders sagged. "All right, I'll take it," he said glumly.

The goblin's hand shot out. "That'll be 75 coins please."

As James handed the gold over, which was almost all the money he had been able to scrounge up, a strange thought occurred to him. "Say…have you ever been in the business of selling Magikarp, Feebas, Chimecho, or Victreebell?" James asked suspiciously.

The goblin's eyes darted about nervously. "Why, er, no, no I haven't. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering," James said cheerfully as he stuffed his new fork right into his belt alongside his knife. "Because you look a lot like a guy I know who _does_ sell them…" James frowned, a suspicious look on his face.

Laughing nervously, the shopkeeper wiped away some sweat before it could drip into his eyes. "I'm afraid I've never been in the line of selling Pokemon. I have a lot of salesman cousins who look just like me though, maybe you're thinking of one of them?"

"I suppose…" James admitted reluctantly.

Buson marched up, his new tunic clinking as the chain links bounced about, shaken by every movement of his body. "Okay runt, we're all ready to go! Come on, with these new weapons and armor getting through the rest of the game will be a breeze!"

"Good bye, Mr. Shopkeeper!" James said, waving goodbye as he followed his teammates towards the exit.

"Goodbye little Halfling! Come back anytime, which, since my shop is conveniently located at the end of every level, you will!" He kept a grin on his face as he waved until they all had gone through the exit, then his expression turned sinister. "Heheheh. Fools."

…

Some time later…

"RUN AWAAAAYYYYYYY!" Jessie screamed, flinging her broken Masamune away and fleeing for her life down the corridor. James, who had climbed onto her back, kicked her in the sides with his spiky sandals repeatedly, trying to goad her into moving faster.

"Shit! Come on!" Buson said angrily, grabbing Bashou by her armored arm and dragging her away down the corridor, leaving his severed axe head behind on the ground, broken off on the skin of the seemingly invincible monster chasing them.

"Let me go! I can take him!" she protested.

"No, you can't!" he pointed out.

Anny fired a continuous stream of arrows at the monster as she pushed Oakley forward. "Come on, keep moving!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Oakley huffed. "These damn Pegasus Boots we bought may make me faster, but they chafe so badly!"

Butch, who had been so frightened of the horrible monster that he had actually started running before everyone else, smashed blindly through everything in his path, be it spikes, guillotines, glass walls, or even stone walls, all fell before him, leaving a trail for his teammates to follow.

The Marauder tossed his adamantium tower shield at the enormous slavering monster chasing them, some sort of fusion between man, giant Feraligatr, and Graveler, hoping it might slow the beast down.

The monster's jaws automatically snapped down on the shield. It pressed its teeth down on the shield, trying to break it, only for some of its fangs to crack and break off on the super-strong Adamantium. Screeching in pain, the enraged monster spat out the shield and bore down on the knight, who was desperately trying to move faster in his heavy jet-black Dark Armor. "Ah crap, crap, CRAAAAAP!" The maskless warrior yelled as the monster snapped its jaws shut only inches from his rear.

"Look, up ahead! I see the exit sign!" Jessie cried joyfully, seeing a green light in the distance, beyond the trail of rubble the terrified Butch had left behind him. "Just a little further, and I think we can make it!"

"I don't think we can get much further!" Oakley shouted, flinging energy balls at the thick-skinned monster to accompany Anny's arrows. "It's too big and too fast! We can't make it!"

"We can," Buson said, panting. "And we will!"

And so it seemed as if they would. In his frantic attempt to get away, Butch had cleared a path going right to the exit door. The magical monster-proof portal leading to the boss of the eighth level was the only thing he couldn't smash through in his terror-filled rampage, and slamming into it had considerably dazed the ogre and he was now stumbling out, eyes rolling in his head and his jaw (which he had just managed to free a few minutes ago after prying and prying at the muzzle for hours with the crowbar he had gotten all the way back at the shop in the first level) hanging open as drool slobbered out. The area on his shoulder where he had gotten bitten had swollen and his skin all around it had become discolored. It resisted every healing spell or potion Oakley tried, and the shopkeeper had sworn it was nothing to worry about every time they asked him, so they figured it was all right.

Jessie, in the lead, ran over to the door and flung it open, accidentally slamming it into the wobbling Butch's face and dazing him further. "Get in!" she yelled, rushing inside.

Oakley, pushed forward by Anny, came through the door right after her. Buson was next, dragging the furious and battle-hungry Bashou with him. Butch and the Marauder were the only ones still out there, as the ogre staggered in front of the door dizzily, with the horrible monster snapping its jaws at the Dark Knight right behind him.

"Butch, get in!" James cried.

"Yeah, you big lummox, get in here!" Buson roared.

The ogre stared at them in confusion, the ringing in his ears too loud for him to hear the words they were saying. The Marauder ran past him, ducking under the ogre's armpit and rushing into the door. "Close the door!" he yelled.

"But Butch is still out there!" James protested.

"Who cares! CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!" The knight bellowed.

Butch turned around then and saw the monster stampeding towards him. He howled in fear (causing everyone, even the monster to flinch at his horrible voice) and rushed towards the door as the Marauder started pulling it closed.

He slammed into the doorframe, shoving the Marauder back into the room with the others, and got stuck due to his body mass, which had increased after he had been persuaded into buying Olidonphan Hide to make his skin more resistant to attacks, flailing his arms and spouting gibberish in panic.

Buson and Bashou quickly grabbed the ogre by his wrists and started pulling, trying to get him through the door before the monster got him. Their task was made infinitely harder when the monster finally caught up to them and closed its enormous jaws around Butch's legs and lower half, which were wiggling on the other side of the door. Its huge teeth dug into Butch's flesh, drawing blood and causing him to feel agonizing pain.

This was also enough stimulus to finally trigger the zombie venom which had been injected into his bloodstream by the zombie who bit him all the way back in the cell block level, causing a radical change to wrack his system as his body abruptly underwent a horrible transformation.

His skin went ashen pale and started smelling like rotten meat, which was only marginally worse than what he had smelled like before. His teeth sagged in his mouth and yellowed as his eyes rolled back in his skull and his hair fell out. He bellowed and thrust his arms out, trying to reach for the prey standing only feet away, startling the two warriors holding onto his wrists. Buson let go quickly but Bashou got knocked away by the arm thrust, and fell to the floor with an "Oof!"

Unfortunately for the ogre, transforming into a zombie had triggered the anti-monster spell on the door, causing it to propel him backwards out through the door and right down the throat of the giant stony crocodile thing. But unfortunately for the players, as he was shot out of the door like a cork from the neck of a wine bottle, his flailing arms managed to grab onto one thing which he dragged with him down the beast's gullet: the dazed form of Bashou.

The Valkyrie and the zombie ogre vanished into the creature's maw, and it slammed its jaws shut with a satisfied hiss, followed by a belch of pleasure as it swallowed Butch and Bashou. Contented, it turned and stomped back the way it came.

Buson fell to his knees in shock as the others quickly pulled the door shut. "B-Bashou…what…what just…"

"She's gone," Jessie said in disbelief. "One of the roughest, toughest women in Team Rocket gone." She swallowed. "James…if that could happen to her, what about low-level grunts like us?"

"Don't worry, Jessie!" James said reassuringly, hopping off our backs. "We've been blown up and threatened with severe bodily harm hundreds of times, but we've never yet been killed or hospitalized, have we?"

"Well, yes," Jessie admitted. "But what's to stop that from happening this time?"

"We have contracts, remember?" James asked, producing a piece of legal paper. "We're effectively immortal as long as we continue to have fans who love us! The producers of the Pokemon television show signed it themselves, so it must be true! We'll get out of this perfectly all right? The others, though…" He trailed off, not needing to say anymore.

"I can't believe…she's really gone…" Buson whispered, almost on the brink of tears. "We've been together for ages and now…now…" He couldn't say anymore.

"Don't worry…" A dark, menacing voice assured them from the shadows in the dark, lightless room they had come into. "You will soon join her."

The lights switched on, revealing they were in some sort of high-tech torture chamber with blood and bones scattered about the floor. Pneumatic racks lined the walls, with the broken bodies of prisoners dangling from them. There were numerous small garbage compactors lying about, many of them stained with blood or closed with a twisted limb or two sticking out. There were also numerous chairs along the back wall with shackles and electrodes intended to electrify those who sat in it. In the middle of the room a small chamber had been constructed with Plexiglass walls and a titanium roof. Inside the chamber was a chair with shackles on the arms, legs, and backrest, as well as three mechanical arms descending from the ceiling, one of which held a medical needle, one a taser, and the last one a large, nasty-looking blade. Also, what looked like nozzles were placed at several points on the floor of the small chamber. There was no visible entrance to the room.

Standing in front of the glass wall the chair in the small chamber faced was a gray-skinned humanoid with clawed feet and hands, a black vest and tights wrapped over a muscular chest and limbs, and a head covered beneath a black hood with a pair of eyeholes, revealing glowing red orbs. The being chuckled darkly and held out a bloodstained axe with a skull impaled on the spike at the end. "You have reached the end of Death Row, my little friends. I am the Executioner, and I will be carrying out your death sentence today!"

He stamped the butt of his long axe-handle on the ground, and a metal claw descended from the ceiling and grabbed Oakley by the neck, causing her to drop her staff. "Aaaahhh! Help me!" She screamed as it lifted her into the air and carried her over to the metal-and-glass chamber.

"Oakley!" Anny cried. She brought up her crossbow and fired her new explosive-tipped arrows at the claw. They struck the arm but exploded harmlessly, doing no damage. The top of the chamber's roof irised open, and the claw dropped Oakley in. She screamed as she fell, landing right in the chair, the shackles of which immediately closed shut around her wrists, ankles, and neck. She tried to cast a spell, but the needle arm lowered and stabbed her in the arm, injecting something into her body. Her eyes rolled back in her head, she groaned, and slumped in her seat, head propped up only by the shackle around her neck. "Oakley, no!" Anny furiously pointed her crossbow at the Executioner. "What have you done to her!"

The Executioner chuckled. "What, that?" he asked, pointing to the needle. "Oh, just a little lethal injection." He snapped his fingers, and the bladed arm lowered until it was right beneath Oakley's chin, and the clawed arm grabbed her by the hair and pulled on it, baring her throat. The nozzles on the floor hissed and started spewing some kind of gas, while the taser started glowing, but used no electricity…not yet, anyway. "Here's the deal, wimps: in five minutes, the poison I injected into her will take effect. At the same exact moment that happens, the gas will have already reached her lungs and caused her to reach the last stage of suffocation. The blade will then chop her head off, and less than a millisecond after that the taser will spark, igniting the gas and destroying the girl's body in a horribly painful explosion." He held up a small glass vial with one hand and tapped his axe against the floor with the other. "I have the antidote, and my axe controls all the gadgets in this torture chamber. You have five minutes to defeat me, stop the machines, and give your friend the antidote before she's terminated permanently."

Anny growled. "We just lost two teammates, although only one of them we actually liked and needed, and now you're going to take my partner! Bastard!" She fired explosive arrows at the Executioner.

He chuckled and spun his axe in front of him, deflecting the shots and causing them to fly about the room, exploding randomly. One almost took off the Marauder's head. "Hey, watch it!" he snapped.

Buson growled and got to his feet, hefting his mighty war hammer (a spare weapon he had bought in case his axe broke, which it had.) "Anny's right…I've already lost my partner…nobody deserves to lose another!" He charged at the torturer, hammer raised over his head.

The Executioner blocked the hammer blow with a swing of his axe and backflipped onto the top of the death chamber, which was already getting more and more full of gas. "Let's see how you like some of my toys!" he said, slamming the butt of his axe on the ground.

Various metal arms popped out of the walls as spikes grew out of the ceiling. The arms were tipped with drills, buzzsaws, and metal claws. The arms whirred, buzzed, or clicked as they shot towards the five (well, four, counting James) fighters.

Buson roared angrily and smashed a claw that came at his face with his hammer, causing it to rock back as the entire arm was disintegrated in an explosive blast. Jessie flung shuriken at a drill arm that kept lunging at her, using her ninja skills to evade the attack, but when her projectiles didn't get anywhere she just picked up James and hurled him at the drill. He screamed and clenched his eyes shut, unconsciously thrusting forward his silver knife and fork set (purchased at the last shop) which dug into a pair of sensitive spots on the side of the drill motor attaching the bit to the arm, causing it to slow and stop spinning before it could dig into his face. James sighed in relief, and then fell to the ground as the arm collapsed on him.

The buzzsaw arms lowered their blades to the floor, saw edges vertical, and lashed out along the ground, trying to sever the crooks legs at their knees. The Marauder dodged one saw thrust and slashed it with his new lance, (he had gotten rid of any axes he had three levels ago) severing the blade and rendering it helpless, but almost got cut by the saw arm that came right after it, only managing to avoid it by blocking it with his shield, which he had managed to retrieve when the monster had spat it out. He grinned, feeling confident in his victory…and then one of the arms rose off the floor and shot at his face. He barely hopped out of the way, but it still struck him, leaving a nasty cut across the side of his face. Cursing, he slashed the saw off, and once again wished he had a mask, because he wouldn't have taken this flesh wound with one on.

Anny, on the other hand, wasn't doing very well. Enraged, she launched arrow after arrow at the hooded fiend, trying to get past his defense. Unfortunately, every arrow was deflected with a swing of the Executioner's axe, sometimes blowing up a deadly arm creeping towards her, but more often than not they came dangerously close to hitting one of her teammates. "Give up, you can't win!" the Executioner taunted with a laugh, swinging his axe and flinging a razor-sharp energy blade at Anny. She used her elven agility to leap out of the way…but as the blade shot past, it sliced off a significant chunk of her hair, causing golden strands to fly willy-nilly, drifting in the air.

Anny gaped in disbelief, and reached around to the back of her head to feel the damage. The blade had cut an ugly gash in her tresses, leaving an unappealing cut that shortened it severely and ruined quite a bit of its appeal. "My-my hair," she whimpered hysterically. "First you take Oakley, now you take my hair too! You really are evil!"

"Ha!" The Executioner laughed. "You think I'm evil, you should meet my boss's boss!" He pounded his axe butt on the ground, and the clawed arms stiffened, then turned away from their opponents and rose up to the ceiling, grabbing onto the spikes and pulling on them. Entire sections of ceiling, studded with spikes, shuddered and dropped towards the ground, shattering on impact and flinging shrapnel everywhere, which cut anything unlucky enough to be in its way. Several mechanical arms were destroyed, and Jessie's ninja garb was torn as well as a little of her skin, causing blood to stain her black outfit, and Buson's chest armor, which had been upgraded to thick plates held together by chain links, was broken at the links, causing many of the plates to sag and hinder him. Furious, he flung off the armor and continued fighting bare-chested, not noticing or caring that he was now much more vulnerable.

The sections of ceiling which fell were replaced by more spiked blocks which lowered down from somewhere high above the room, giving the clawed arms more things to pull down and try to crush the anti-heroes with. "Hahahahaha! Die! Die!" The Executioner crowed madly, laughing with insane glee and zeal.

"How about _you_ die?" Anny snarled, enraged by the loss of her hair…and the potential loss of her partner too, of course. As another section of spiked ceiling fell, dragged down by another one of the claw arms, she ran towards the plummeting block and jumped at it. She flipped her legs up in midair so her feet were pointing at the block's un-spiked sides, and the instant they connected she kicked off, twisting and flipping through the air and landing on top of the death chamber, right behind a surprised Executioner. She drew a rapier (purchased a few levels ago) and thrust it at the torturer's stomach.

He twirled his axe as the blade was inches away from his skin, cutting through the metal and breaking the rapier in two. Anny stumbled back, startled, and the Executioner swung the flat side of his blade at her head, stunning her and knocking her to the ground in a daze as blood oozed from the side of her head. "No," the Executioner said, planting his stomach on the woman's chest and raising his axe high, aiming for Anny's neck. "How about you die instead?"

He started to bring the axe down…and there was a sudden flash of light as well as a metallic ting.

The Executioner stood for a moment, frozen in place, still holding his axe on high…

And then his torso separated from his legs and both fell to the ground, spewing blood and coins.  
All around the room, action came to a stop. The metal arms stiffened and collapsed in place, their weapons of torture and pain falling apart on the ground and scattering gold all over the place.

The Rockets looked up at the roof of the execution chamber, wondering what had just happened, and saw to their amazement something that simply could not, should not be possible.

Looming over the dismembered corpse of the Executioner, clad in black armor and cape with a glowing red blade of light and a skull-shaped mask and helmet, was Boss Rocket.

The Boss bent down and helped Anny up. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

Anny stared at him in disbelief, blinking a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. "B-boss?"

"Yes," the leader of Team Rocket rasped through his mask, his breathing hoarse and heavy. "I have returned."

Buson dropped his axe in amazement. "No way…"

"Jessie, it's the boss!" James cried happily. He had been informed by the other Rockets about Giovanni's return in the short period of time before they had been split into separate cell blocks, and had felt saddened and dismayed that he had not rescued them when the Tyranitron exploded.

"I think you're right, James," Jessie agreed in disbelief. "He's come to save us! I knew he cared!"

The Marauder shook his head…and noticed that the death chamber was almost completely full of gas now. "Boss!" he cried. "Oakley's about to die! We gotta save her!"

The boss glanced down at the axe, which was still clutched in the Executioner's hand. "The axe! That controls everything in here! Get it quickly!"

Anny frantically tugged at the weapon, only to find that in death the hooded torturer would not release his constant weapon. "He won't let go, he's got it in a dead man's grip!"

"Here." There was a flash as the boss swung his beam saber, and the Executioner's hand fell off his wrist. "Now, the axe!"

Anny grabbed the axe (wrinkling her nose in disgust at the severed hand still clutching it, raised it to slam the butt on the ground and shut off the deathtrap…

And at that very second, time ran out. The poison in Oakley's bloodstream became lethal and she spasmed, choking on the gas. The bladed arm swung, cutting off her head, and a millisecond later the taser arm sparked, igniting the gas and filling the death chamber with a horrible explosion, shaking it and causing the boss and Anny to nearly lose their footing on the roof.

"NO!" Anny cried, realizing they had been too late.

"Don't worry," James said reassuringly. "She's a member of Team Rocket! We always survive horrible explosions!" Then the smoke and flame in the chamber cleared, revealing the hideously burnt and twisted headless corpse of Oakley. "Or not," he said weakly, trying not to throw up at the sight of the witch's remains.

The Marauder shook his head. "And another one bites the dust…"

Buson clenched his teeth, feeling the raw pain of his loss all over again as he saw Anny collapse and sob at Oakley's demise. "Damn it…"

The boss clenched his fist. "If I had only been a moment sooner…I'm sorry Anny. I had hoped I could prevent this." Putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, he nodded, then hopped down to the floor. She followed soon after, sobbing.

"Boss, what are you doing here?" Jessie asked. "Did you come to break us out?"

"Something like that," the boss said with a nod.

"Why'd you leave us behind in the Tyranitron like that anyway?" the Marauder demanded. "We almost died there! And now we really are dying here!"

The boss hung his head. "I barely had enough power to take myself to safety. I was only able to choose one person to bring with me, and that was Domino. I am sorry that I abandoned you in your time of need…but if it makes you feel any better, things haven't been easy for me either in recent days."

"Oh?" Jessie asked, looking him up and down. "You look fine to me. Well, as fine as one of the living dead can be, anyway."

"You think so, do you?" Giovanni raised his hands and pulled his mask and helmet off his face. They all gasped at the sight before them.

The skin on Giovanni's face had been peeled away, revealing torn muscle tissue and a scarred, cracked, grisly skull. His eyeballs had been pulled from their sockets and placed elsewhere, one in his hollow nasal cavity, the other in his mouth, held in place by membranous fibers sprouting from his torn, mutilated tongue. In their original place were crystalline growths which bulged out of the sockets, pulsing and crackling with energy. Crystal horns grew curling out of his forehead, with an unblinking third eye held between them, its pupil constantly rolling around in its socket. Spectral blueish flames of darkness burned where once had grown fine, elegantly cut and styled black hair. (Well, when he had been alive anyway) And little tentacles also sprouted and writhed from his earholes.

James screamed and fainted. Jessie's face turned green and she ran around the execution chamber, pulled down her face mask, and vomited. Everyone else just went pale with shock. "B-boss…" gasped the Marauder. "What…what happened to you?"

Giovanni picked up his mask and helmet and put them back over his face, thankfully obstructing all view of his hideous visage. "I had returned to the Shadow Cruiser, where with Domino and Sebastian's help I had hoped to recover and come to rescue the rest of you from prison. Unfortunately, in the brief absence caused by my rush to the Tyranitron to re-energize it, something crept on board the ship. Something…_evil_."

"What was it?" Anny asked timidly, momentarily forgetting about Oakley's horrible demise and feeling for a moment as if she were listening to a horror story around a campfire.

"It is the source and wellspring of all evil," Giovanni explained, his armor shaking from a shudder that ran through his decrepit body. "It has come from space with the intention of bringing about the utter extinction and corruption of all life on Earth, and on all other worlds too. He is the puppet master who pulls the strings of Mewgle, who is in charge of this hellish virtual reality you have become trapped in, and he has awful plans for all of you. Death alone will not save you from his clutches, for he can grasp your soul as it flees your body and take it into his own where it can be twisted and warped into a broken, tortured thing almost as evil as he is while your body is filled with his power and turned into one of his monstrous servants." He shook his head sadly. "He killed everyone on board the ship, even Domino…he saved me for last. He took the power which had kept my body animated after my death at Ein's hands, and transformed me into the monster I am now so that I could serve him as a general of his dark armies. However, even though this body is filled with his power and my soul is somewhere far, far away from here, something…something inside me…resisted his control. Even in death I am Giovanni Sakai Rocketto, and I serve no man or beast."

"You're the man, boss !" said the impressed Buson.

Giovanni nodded. "Indeed, although I'm not certain I'm exactly a 'man' anymore. In any case, I discovered that he had horrible plans for you with Mewgle's help, and I knew I could not allow my most loyal employees to suffer at their evil hands. I escaped from the evil one's castle and with great difficulty managed to make it here to save you. If only I had made it sooner," he said sadly, glancing at what was left of Oakley. "And there are many of you who are no longer present, I see. But I swear to you that I will do what I can to protect the rest of you!" He gestured. "Come on! We don't have much time, Mewgle alone will be very displeased when he realizes I'm here and helping you out, but no power in this world or any other will be able to save us if the game master's lord finds us."

The Marauder raised his sword. "Just say the word, and we'll follow, boss! We gotta get out of here, just not for ourselves, but for the sake of the others too!"

Buson nodded, hefting his hammer. "Yeah, for Bashou!"

"And for Oakley!" Anny agreed fiercely.

Giovanni nodded. "Excellent. Follow me." He started walking towards a wall.

"But boss, the exit is that way," Jessie protested, pointing at the green-lit exit door.

The boss glanced at the exit for less than a second before continuing on his way. "That will just take us to level 9. I know a faster route." He reached for the chained arm of one of the decaying prisoners on the wall and pulled on it. The rack the prisoner was on instantly swiveled ninety degrees, revealing a secret passageway built into the wall. "This is a shortcut that can get us straight to level 10. I discovered it on my way in from the outside world. We can bypass all of 9 and a large portion of 10 and quickly make it to the final boss fight and the portal to the real world."

"If it's the final boss, and the way out, that psycho Mewgle's probably got something nasty in store for us," the Marauder realized.

Giovanni nodded. "Indeed. Level 10 was made out of the prison's psych ward. All the insane prisoners were augmented with the brains of Psychic Pokemon so that they project the madness and insanity trapped within their minds into the world around them, twisting it into a warped, nightmarish version of reality where you can never be certain of what's real and what's not. Your worst fears and nightmares can manifest to rend your mind to pieces and cast you into the depths of madness. It was nothing compared to the horrors I have already seen or suffered in the palace of the evil one, however…even so, I am relieved we will not have to endure the entirety of that labyrinth of horrors."

They swallowed simultaneously, worried about what they were about to face. "If it's that bad, what's level 9 like?" Buson asked. "Just want to know what I'm skipping here."

"It's the barracks and quarters for the guards, as well as the prison's administrative office," Giovanni explained. "There are mutated Jennies and other officers everywhere, including the warden."

"Hmm…" The Marauder rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The sex offender succubi looked pretty hot…do you suppose the mutated Jennies will be any good-looking too?"

"Well, in a video game this bloody and violent, it's almost expected," James informed the knight. "The female monsters are made to look especially attractive to draw male gamers in. That, combined with the excessive violence and bloodshed, makes up a large part of its appeal."

Jessie stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Ugh! I hate video games! They're stupid, pointless, and so male-oriented!"

"That's not true," James said, slightly worried she'd bring down Mewgle's wrath on them. "There are plenty of games with female main characters and minimal violence and blood."

"And how many of those women are designed to attract male gamers, like you just said?" Anny pointed out. "Like that chick in the Grave Robber games?"

"…Touché," James admitted.

"So boss, are the warden and Jennies hot or not?" the Marauder asked.

"Actually, they've been turned into trolls," Giovanni told them.

There was a pause. "Uh…is that bad?" asked Buson.

"Well, trolls are huge, fat, squat, smell awful, and are typically stupid and greedy," Giovanni told them. "Not to mention they have barbed vaginal regions. So I suppose it depends on your taste in women."

They all shuddered. "You know, I think we should probably just get right on down to level 10," the Marauder said quickly. "I see no reason to run into those trolls."

"They sound a lot like what Butch became, actually, only uglier," Anny said thoughtfully.

James shrugged. "Well, ogres and trolls _are_ thought by many to be related," he said. "Distant cousins or something."

"Either way, I don't want to run into them," said Jessie, stepping forward. "Let's get out of here!"

The boss nodded. "Right. Follow me." Summoning his laser blade to provide them with some light, he led them into the dark passage.

…

After a few minutes of wandering through a dark, twisting corridor, the fellowship came out into a grand, vaulted tunnel extending to the left and to the right as far as the eye could see. Running through the length of the chamber was a massive black river, its dark waters churning and steaming as the shadows of enormous forms passed beneath their surface.

The Rockets had arrived on a wide ledge with several other doors similar to the one they had just come onto lining it, and a stone dock extending onto the river, with a gong at the end of it.

"Where are we?" wondered Anny.

"This is the river Styx," Giovanni told them. "It runs through the entirety of the prison and serves as a service transport of sorts. All of the monsters you've faced who have appeared suddenly in rooms you thought were empty or cleared of enemies came through here, riding down the river and traveling through one of the many secret passages leading into whichever level you were currently in."

"So that's how respawning works!" James murmured in awe, astonished by the revelation. "Amazing!"

"And we can use this river too?" asked the Marauder.

Giovanni nodded. "Yes, we can ride up it to the level 10 dock, where we can disembark and make our way to the exit. I made it down to the execution chamber using this river, and we can retrace my route back to the end of the game." He walked down onto the dock and swung his sword at the gong; striking it and causing it to resonate with an echoing boom that ran up and down the length of the river.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the faint sound of an object splashing faintly as it moved through the water could be heard. The form of a long, black boat emerged from the mists downstream, a cloaked skeleton standing at its stern and pushing the boat forward with a long pole. James shuddered. "Is there nothing in this place that isn't somewhat creepy?"

The skeleton poled his boat up to the dock and stopped, looking somewhat surprised to see that all of the party had drawn their weapons. "Hey, is this any way to greet the ferryman?" he asked unhappily.

"Relax, he's not our enemy," Giovanni said, moving in front of the Rockets to prevent them from attacking the ferryman. "This is Charon. He transports people up and down the river. He helped me get down to you all when I stumbled upon this hidden waterway."

"Why'd you help?" Anny asked, lowering her crossbow. "You're a monster, right? Shouldn't you be doing what Mewgle says and trying to kill us?"

The ferryman shrugged. "Eh, I'm a non-combatant NPC, like the shopkeeper. Also, I'm no fan of the little guy. The jerk took my wife away again…fucking bastard," he muttered under his breath. "I wouldn't mind sticking it to him, and helping you all escape would do just that."

"We need to get to level 10, Charon," Giovanni informed the ferryman. "About where you picked me up."

Charon, nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. But…" He paused. "I may be on your side, but I still need to make a profit. 666 coins for each of you. Eh, 333 for the hobbit," he said, glancing at James. "Since he's smaller than the others."

"Should I be insulted or relieved by that?" James wondered.

Giovanni patted his pockets. "Er, I seem to be a bit short…" he said uneasily.

"No worries boss," said Buson with a wave. "We can take care of it." He pulled out some of the coins he had earned by fighting monsters throughout the last level. The others followed fit, but James was a bit short as well since he had killed barely any monsters throughout the entirety of the game, so Jessie had to reluctantly pay for his fare too. Their collective wallets were almost completely emptied to pay for the boat ride.

"Okay then," said the skeleton, stuffing the cash down a fold in his voluminous robe. "All aboard!"

The boat looked a little small to hold all of them, but the group of six stepped on board anyway. Amazingly, the inside of the boat seemed to be much larger than they had first thought, and there was plenty of room for them to comfortably sit on the benches inside. Once they were all safely secured, Charon pushed off from the dock with his pole and started propelling them upstream, towards the unknown trials of the tenth level.

Time passed in silence as the ferryman rowed them up the river, each of the criminals lost in their own thoughts about how events had unfolded so far. Buson once more lamented Bashou's gruesome death, blaming himself for not noticing there was something wrong with Butch no matter what the shopkeeper or Oakley said, and swore that if he got the chance he'd make Mewgle pay for killing her. Anny was constantly berating herself for not being fast enough to save Oakley's life and was drowning in misery. Her life only seemed half as worth living, no, even less, than it had been when Oakley was alive. Like some important part of her had just died suddenly, abruptly, and very painfully. The thought of dying didn't really frighten her anymore. She wondered for a moment if she jumped into the water, the things swimming in it would eat her quickly.

Jessie found herself worrying that she would be the next to die, as most of the group's women had already been killed off. She wondered if whatever was going to kill her would let her live if she offered to feed James to it. Clinging onto this desperate hope, she started formulating a crazy and ludicrous plan for her survival. James, on the other hand, was wondering why Mewgle had to be such a jerk and turn him into a hobbit, and why this game was so darn hard. And he also wondered why Mewgle couldn't have just done a regular RPG in the first place, so none of them would have to die…he swallowed. He really hoped he wouldn't be the next to go.

The Marauder was feeling frustrated and more than a little worried that so many of them had already died. He hoped that if there was more death, it would happen to the others but not to him, and also wished he could have a mask, for his own reasons, whatever they may be.

As for the boss…his thoughts were for his mind alone to know.

They passed the dock for level 9 and continued down the channel towards level 10. "We're almost there, you guys," Charon said brightly as he continued poling. "Just a little further and you're on your way to freedom."

"Good," said James in relief. "This seat is starting to chafe, and my feet are getting cold from all the dampness in this boat. I can't wait to get off."

"Some of you might not be getting off at all…" A sibilant hissing voice whispered, echoing off the walls..

They looked around. "Who said that?" wondered Jessie.

Charon paled. "Oh no! It's.-" The river in front of them churned and bubbled, and a tremendous figure rose from the water, the wake from his emergence thrashing the boat and spinning them tumultuously away. They barely managed to keep from falling out, as the black vessel nearly capsized. "The Watcher of the Water!"

The Watcher was a huge and hideous creature, some deformed mix of Sharpedo and Tentacruel with way too many tentacles coming out of all the wrong places in its body. Its main body mass was blue and semi-transparent, revealing numerous veins and other disgusting-looking organs contained within a nearly liquid shell. Bulbous red orbs sprouted here and there, looking much like eyes. There were bladed fins and teeth planted at random places on the body, which seemed to make no logical sense and served to make the monster look even more bizarre and unearthly. The creature chuckled, causing its gelatinous blue body to jiggle. "Well, well, what do we have here?" it hissed. "Unauthorized passengers? Tsk, tsk, Charon, I thought you knew better!"

"Charon, who is this?" Giovanni asked urgently. "We didn't see him on our first trip down!"

"Th-that's the Watcher of the Water!" Charon stammered. "It's a monster that patrols the river and keeps unauthorized monsters or people-like you-from using my boat to travel about! He must have been off feeding when I took you down to level 8, which is why we never ran into him until now!"

Buson clutched his hammer, while the Marauder drew his lance, Jessie pulled out a handful of shuriken and Anny listlessly loaded her crossbow. "Well, he's gonna wish he never ran into us!"

The Watcher chuckled. "Insolent fools! My gelatinous body is too slimy and slippery for any attack to strike! All projectiles and attacks will bounce right off of me!"

"We'll see about that!" Jessie snapped, flinging her throwing stars. They flew through the air, struck the Watcher, and bounced off without a scratch. The Watcher's mass jiggled slightly, then settled down. Jessie sweatdropped. "Well, that was useless."

"Indeed it was," agreed the Watcher. "And a waste of ammunition too." He laughed. "Oh, you are in such big trouble for this, Charon! Even more than when you let those heroes cross without paying in the last game because they saved your wife! Now your little lady is gonna pay the price for your betrayal!"

Charon gasped, as did James. The others didn't really care as much. "No! Don't hurt her! Come on, there must be some way I can convince you to let this go…"

The Watcher snorted. "What, like a bribe? What am I going to do with your fare money? I'm a freaking jellyfish-shark hybrid with a gelatinous body and way too many tentacles! What am I supposed to do with a bunch of gold coins?"

"Um…" Charon glanced at his passengers and got a brilliant idea. "What if I gave you one of them? Would you let this slide then?"

"WHAT!" The Rockets cried.

"Charon, you traitor!" Giovanni yelled angrily.

"Hey, my wife's on the line here! A guy's gotta do what he can to protect his family, right?" Charon asked helplessly.

The Watcher considered. "Hmm…I was planning on eating them anyway, but some of them do look bad for my diet, the doctor says I should stay away from canned goods…" He said, glancing at the armored Marauder and Giovanni. "And junk food," he added, glancing at Jessie and James. "Oh all right, I'll let this slide in exchange for…this one!" A tentacle lashed out and grabbed Anny.

"Waaahhh!" She screamed in surprise as she was lifted off the boat. She had wanted to die, yes, but she wasn't expecting it to happen so soon or like this!

"Anny!" Jessie, being the only Rocket left with projectile weapons, flung shuriken at the tendril. The throwing stars bounced off harmlessly.

The river monster chuckled. "It's no use, you can't save her. Mmm, she smells divinely of despair and a desire for death…we'll just have to fulfill that wish, won't we?" The Watcher of the Water then shoved Anny into one of its numerous mouths and started chewing. Due to the semitransparent state of its skin, everyone could see the monster's fangs tear into Anny and rip her into chunks as blood and bits of skin spattered everywhere, and little tendrils in the beast's mouth sucked up pieces of her as they were torn off and transported them into other parts of the body to be digested. They watched in speechless horror as the Watcher ground Anny into a bloody, broken pulp in its jaws, then swallowed and sent the remains down its digestive tract. "Hmm, not bad for a dessert treat. Goes along well with those succubi I ate for lunch. Okay, you can pass." The Watcher submerged instantly, causing the water around it to spread out in large ripples which threatened to overturn the boat and throw the passengers into the monster-infested river, but Charon's expert boatmanship allowed him to pole safely through the disturbed waters and dock at the tenth level entrance, which was just a little further upstream.

"Okay, last stop, everyone out!" Charon called. Nobody budged. They all glared at him angrily. If he had had eyelids, the skeleton would have blinked. "What? I was just doing what I had to to save my wife! And it's not like any of you wouldn't have ruthlessly sacrificed a companion just so you could stay alive!" he pointed out.

This was true, and they all knew it. But just because it was true didn't mean all of them accepted it or would just let this betrayal go easily. Buson and the Marauder rushed forward and, before Charon could protest, shoved him off the boat and into the dark water.

The skeleton screamed and thrashed about as tentacles and claws and fins wrapped around his bones and started dragging him down below the surface. "No! Noooo-" he cried before his head was completely pulled under.

"There," Buson grunted. "Jerk. Hope the fish enjoy nibbling on his bones."

"And then there were five," Giovanni muttered sadly. "Farewell, Anny. I hope you may rest in peace with Oakley, wherever she is."

"Jessie, why do we keep dieing, one by one?" James whimpered. "At this rate, there'll be nobody left by the time we reach the exit!"

"We'll just have to do the best we can, James," Jessie said uneasily. "And we have a contract, remember? So we _can't_ die!"

James blinked. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that!"

Giovanni turned away and strode towards one of the doors lining the wall. "Come. We're almost there. Just a little further."

"And then?" asked the Marauder, stepping in line with the boss.

"Then we escape…or we die," Giovanni said with terrible finality. They entered the passage.

A few minutes later, Charon, his clothes torn and his bones chewed, pulled himself out of the water and sprawled himself out on the dock. A three-eyed Carvahna/Huntail hybrid was still attached to his ankle, and he weakly kicked it back into the water. "Fuck…them…" He rasped. A ghoulish grin came to his face. "They'll get what's coming to them soon enough."

…

When they exited the secret passage, it was terribly dark. "I can't see anything!" Jessie complained.

"But you're a ninja," the Marauder pointed out. "Aren't you supposed to be good in the darkness or something?"

"I'm not _that _good a ninja!" Jessie snapped.

"Don't worry," Giovanni said, moving around to the back of the group. "I'm sure there'll be light soon enough."

And so there was. Without warning, lights snapped on, startling and almost blinding the Rockets. When they finally adjusted to the light, they looked around them, and had only one possible conclusion.

They. Were. Screwed.

They were surrounded by thousands upon thousands of monsters of all shapes and sizes, some as average as a zombie, some as hideous and nearly impossible to look at for too long like the Watcher of the Water or other deformed horrors. Looming over all of them was the horrific figure of Terminus Est, causing Jessie and James to scream in fright and hide behind the startled Marauder. Hovering above the nearly invincible monster's head was Mewgle in his demonic form. "SO YOU'VE COME AT LAST," he drawled. "I'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU! MAKE YOURSELVES AT HOME, BECAUSE THIS CHAMBER IS THE LAST YOU WILL EVER SEE!"

"Th-there's so many of them!" Jessie stammered.

"There's no way we can fight them!" agreed James. "Let's go back down the secret passage and get out of here, we can't go any further!"

Buson had a thoughtful look on his face. "I'm not so sure…this is the psych ward, isn't it? Maybe all of this is an illusion! Maybe those psychos are just trying to scare us into surrendering or something!"

"An excellent thought, Buson," complimented the boss, drawing his laser sword. "But there's a chance you may be wrong. We should make sure whether or not this is real." Without warning, he drove his laser blade into Buson's back, ripping through his stomach and piercing out through his other side. The blond Barbarian stared at the crimson light sword sticking out of his chest in disbelief, as did the rest of the group. "Tell me, did that hurt?" Buson moved his mouth, trying to form words, but spat up blood and collapsed on the blade, causing it to cut through the rest of him and split his head and upper torso in two before it hit the ground. "Hmm, so it did. I suppose this is real after all."

The Rockets were stunned. "M-Mr. Giovanni…" the Marauder stammered. "Why…why did you do that?"

"Mr. Giovanni?" The boss laughed. "I am afraid no such person exists anymore." His body bulged and writhed, causing his armor to buckle and twist about. His arms below the elbow split apart, creating two separate forearms per limb, each ending in a hand with long, skeletal fingers with spiked knuckles and joints. His legs lengthened, thinned out, and bent backwards, giving him legs much like a theropod dinosaur. His feet even ended in wicked talons and sickle claws like a Velociraptor.

Curving crystal spikes ripped out of his back, tearing through his cape and causing the long black cloth to split into two long streamers, one going down each side of his back. His helmet trembled and shifted about, the 'teeth' of his skull-like helmet lengthening and going down to his breastplate. Horns grew from the sides of his helmet, while the crystal ones on his true face burst out of the mask and curled up on themselves.

The monster flicked its wrists, and a beam saber appeared in each of its four hands. He twirled them about, slashing at the air and coming dangerously close to slicing off the Marauder's face, causing him to back away towards the crowd of monsters, pushing Jessie and James towards them as well. The monster paused in its graceful, almost dance-like swordplay, then made the blades disappear and stood up straight, his capes fluttering in a breeze. "I am the Black General Shalor, one of the leaders of my master's army of monsters. I infiltrated your ranks to gain your trust and hasten your deaths to fulfill my master's plan. Oh, and the mutant Jennies? I lied, they're incredibly hot and sexy." He chuckled at their expressions of disbelief. "You fools believed every word that came out of my mouth, so desperate were you to be rescued from this abhorrent dungeon, never taking the time to truly ponder my words and wonder if I was telling the whole truth. You played right into our hands!"

"Damn you!" the Marauder snapped, drawing his lance. Seeing his example, Jessie trembled and pulled out her kunai, while James drew his knife and fork, his face sweating and full of fright. "You fucking bastard! I'll kill you!" He charged towards the dark general, his rage blinding him.

"He's going to get killed!" Jessie gasped.

"Better him than us. Come on; let's sneak around behind that thing to reach the passageway!" James whispered, pointing towards the doorway through which they had entered this trap. Jessie nodded, picked up James, and started tip-toeing towards the exit.

Mewgle growled. "OH NO YOU DON'T! YOU'VE FALLEN INTO OUR TRAP, AND FROM HERE THERE'S NO WAY OUT!" He gestured, and the ground beneath Jessie and James' feet caved open, and they fell away, screaming in terror.

At the same time, Shalor drove his four laser blades into the ground, shaking the earth and sending a large crack in the floor towards the Marauder. He was charging too quickly to get out of the way, and his eyes widened as he ran head-on into the crack as it widened and fell into it, screaming as he vanished into its depths. The fissure sealed up behind him, leaving no sign that it had ever been there.

Mewgle grinned, showing his gruesome fangs as the illusory monsters around him flickered and disappeared. "IT IS DONE."

"And the next piece in our lord's master plan will soon be in its place," the Black General agreed.

Their mad laughter echoed throughout the dark corners of the prison, frightening the twisted and tortured denizens and driving them to hide deeper in the fortresses' depths, away from the servants of the evil one.

…

The Marauder found himself in a dark room with no visible walls, or even a floor for that matter. Before him, illuminated in a spotlight, was a full-sized mirror showing a reflection of himself. But there was something wrong with it…

He gasped, realizing what the discrepancy was. The reflection was wearing a mask, his trademark, and yet he himself was not. "What the hell?" he murmured.

"Heheheh," the reflection chuckled, startling the Marauder. "How pathetic."

"Hey, take that back!" the real Marauder snapped.

The reflection smirked. "Why not? It's true, isn't it?"

The Marauder snarled and pulled back his lance. "Let's see if I'm still pathetic after I smash you to pieces!"

The reflection shook its head. "And what'll that prove? Only that you don't listen to the voice of truth. But then, you never have, have you?" He smirked.

The Marauder blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Why else do you wear a mask in the first place?" the reflection pointed out.

"Because it looks cool and frightens people!" the Marauder snapped.

The reflection snorted. "That's not it. You're not wearing that mask to hide your face from the world and make people think you're hideously deformed or whatever, you're hiding your face from _yourself_."

The Marauder was shocked. "Wh-what do you mean? Why would I be hiding my face from myself?"

"Because it looks so much like your father's. The man you once looked up to. You can't stand looking so much like him, can you?" the man in the mirror sneered. "So you hid that face from yourself, so you wouldn't have to be reminded of him. Of how disappointed he would be in you."

"SHUT UP!" The Marauder bellowed, driving his lance into the mirror and smashing it into a million pieces. "My father was a weakling and a coward! I'm disgusted that I share the same face as him!"

"That's not it," the reflection taunted in a thousand identical voices, appearing in every fragment of glass from the broken mirror. "You're disgusted because you know he was a much better man than you will ever be. You don't want to look in the mirror and see his face staring back at you, judging you for your misdeeds, your crimes, all of the evil things you have done in your life that you know he would disapprove of."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" The Marauder started stomping on the glass, crunching it to dust and trying to silence the voice of truth echoing around him.

"You even abandoned the name he gave you, Bishasu, so you wouldn't be reminded of how far you had fallen."

"I gave up that name because it was a weak name chosen by a weak man! I wanted nothing to do with him!" the Marauder protested, continuing to crush the glass shards.

"YOU were the weak one!" the reflection argued, even as one by one the pieces of glass showing him were broken. "You couldn't stand living in your father's shadow as he contributed to charities, helped the poor and the sick, and made wildlife preserves and funded hospitals and shelters for needy humans and Pokemon alike! Everyone was always telling you how much you looked like your dad, and how you were going to be just like him when you grew up! It got to the point where you couldn't stand it anymore, where you wanted to be your own person, and thought by killing your dad and going against everything he stood for you could do just that. _And_ _so you did_." The reflection shook his head in disgust, not noticing or caring that the number of remaining shards was swiftly dwindling. "You murdered your father and turned to crime. You stripped yourself of your name, choosing the nickname 'Marauder' to be called by. But no matter what you did to forget what you had done, his face, your _father's_ face, always looked back at you in the mirror.

"You could have self-mutilated yourself or gotten plastic surgery to change that face and forget your father, but you didn't. Some tiny, infinitesimal part of you wouldn't let that happen, the last shred of the conscience and morals your father tried to pound into you. So you got a mask instead. A mask to hide your face from the world. A mask to hide your face from yourself.

"Your inability to change your face isn't what makes you pathetic though, Bishasu. It's the fact that you wish you could, that you would do anything to deny what you have become, deny what your father would have thought of all this, that is what makes…you…WEAK!"

The Marauder, or Bishasu, stomped the final glass shard to pieces, smashing his boot into it over and over again until it was ground into nothing but dust. He put his hands on his knees, panting for breath. "It's not true," he gasped. "It's not true!"

But it was.

There was a shimmering in the air, and suddenly the Marauder's infamous mask appeared, floating before him. "You want this mask so badly?" the reflection's voice sounded one last time. "You want to deceive yourself and deny your face and your heritage? Fine.

"You don't deserve them anyway."

The mask flipped around so its hollow was facing the Marauder…and Bishasu saw to his horror that it was lined with fangs, that spikes grew from where there should be eyeholes and dripping needles covered every inch of its inner surface. Bishasu screamed and tried to bring his shield up as the mask lunged at him…

But it did no good. The mask smashed through his shield as if it were wet tissue and attached itself to his face, driving its points into his skin and features and bowling him over.

And then, as he tried to scream while he writhed in pain on the ground, the living mask began to eat his head.

…

Jessie and James stood back to back in a dark room. The only light was a spotlight shining above them. There was heavy breathing all around them, as if from the lungs of many monsters, which it probably was.

James quivered. "J-Jessie, I'm scared."

Jessie swallowed. "S-so am I James, so am I." Her knuckles had gone white; she clenched her kunai so tightly.

There was a growling purr from the darkness, and a chuckle. "Good," said a familiar voice.

The light above them brightened, illuminating the blank, featureless room. And Jessie and James stared in horror at the hideous creatures that surrounded them.

Facing James were several monsters. The first was an immense serpentine figure with grimy scales of blue and silver covered in filth. Slimy fins emerged from the sides and back, and the creature's tail ended in a fin like a fish. All the fins were tattered and full of holes, and the creature's underside was absent of all skin or scales, revealing organs which dripped blood and body fluids through the exposed ribs. Its head was a gruesome, contorted mask of pain and anger, its jaw yawning open an unnatural width and kept that way by bone struts placed between the yellowed fangs. Crystal horns framed the hideous face and the mad, enraged eyes which burned deep in its skull, and a pair of tendrils flipped here and there on their own volition, growing from the nostrils and the sides of the head.

Next to the serpentine monster was a massive canine figure. Its body was a mass of fur burned black along with melted skin dripping over exposed bones and musculature, all of which had massive gashes and tears in them which dripped blood and gore. All the wounds, oddly enough, looked self-inflicted. The tail was formed from a mass of bony spines splayed out and wagging slightly, and everything else was consumed by dark flames which crackled and burned. The head was all but composed of those flames, shrouding the silhouette of the canine head and the glowing red orbs shining from the fire.

Beside the giant dog was a hideously ugly plant composed of decaying yellow matter and rotting leaves, sprouting from a mass of dead petals with thick, spiked roots which quivered and twitched occasionally. Two thorny stalks grew from the petals, wrapping around each other tightly and digging the spikes into one another's skin, causing sap and blood to ooze out as they culminated in a head-like bloom that looked as if it had once been two blooms but had been grafted crudely into one. It was large, roughly bell-shaped and yellow with rotting leaves lining it and ending in a humongous circular mouth lined with teeth all the way down its throat and dripping not only with acid but quite a lot of blood. Two pairs of meager, feeble eyes blinked from the sides of the mouth, placed around the lip.

Floating wobbly next to the plant was what looked like an enormous dusk-purple sphere made of some rough, stretchy material with a skull and crossbones painted onto its lower hemisphere. Spikes grew from the sides along with nozzles which occasionally released spurts of noxious gases, and other spikes, these made of crystal, actually _pierced_ the envelope of the gaseous sphere, causing small amounts of gas to leak out from the punctures and yet it never seemed to be enough for the creature to deflate completely. The gas ball had a 'face', if you could call it that, comprised of four eyes brimming with agony and a large toothy mouth which sagged open, gasping for breath as acids dripped off its scarred tongue and sizzled on the floor. About half a dozen of smaller spheres, these also with nozzles, spikes, and faces identical to the big one's, sprouted here and there, joined to the main sphere by some kind of tubing with punctures lining its length, all weakly releasing gas.

Hovering next to the ball of gas was a much smaller, but infinitely more malevolent creature. It was small and shaped like a sphere, with black skin and blood-red splotches here and there. Four legs sprouted from the sides of the tiny body, all tipped with extremely sharp claws like those of a spider's. A black iron bell with crystal spikes growing from it sprouted from the top of the creature's head, and its face held a pair of yellow eyes which glowed with unspeakable malice and a mouth that seemed to be permanently fixed into a grotesque fanged grin. Growing from the creature's back and writhing about was a long, flat tentacle-like banner ending in claws, its length colored black and red. The underside of the monster's body was encompassed by a horrible maw lined with teeth and claw-like appendages, constantly sucking and clawing at the air, trying to devour everything around it.

Jessie faced far fewer monsters than James, but they were no less horrifying. The first was an obese, vaguely reptilian form whose flayed pink skin was stretched almost to the point of breaking by the vast amount of fat which had been crammed into the monster. In fact, there were numerous cracks and tears all over the body, and bones actually ruptured the flesh in places, allowing blood and bodily fluids to squirt out. It looked as if it could barely move due to its immense weight, and if it did move its skin might pop, causing all the bloated organs and such in its body to tumble out and splatter everywhere. It was sweating blood, which it licked off with the only part of its body that was capable of motion, an incredibly long tongue with crystal spines driven into it which emerged from the creature's mouth. The mouth was mostly stitched shut, so it was quite difficult for the tongue to move about with its full range of motion. Its beady black eyes stared ahead glassily.

Then there was a huge insectoid, with various shades of dark purple coloring its exoskeleton. It had a small (in comparison to the rest of its body, the entire insect was twice the size of Jessie) abdomen with at least a hundred small sharp legs ending in crystal spurs which constantly lashed out at the air around it. A long, narrow thorax grew down from the abdomen, ending in a huge, incredibly swollen and bloated egg sac with countless holes drilled into it. Ooze constantly dripped from the holes, along with black maggots which either fell to the ground and died or squirmed all over the surface of their 'parent's' body. The wings were huge, green, and patterned to show extremely graphic images of unspeakable cruelty and agony in unbelievably realistic colors and shades, looking as if at any moment the tortured and twisted bodies on the wings would start writhing and flinging blood everywhere. The insect's head was a bit smaller than the abdomen, with a mouth lined with clutching, grasping little claw arms and a pair of horn-shaped antenna growing from the top of its head. The compound eyes were patterned and shaded to look like a pair of cackling skulls. Its back was lined with numerous very long and fine hairs which were actually made of very sharp crystal.

Finally, in between the cellulite wonder and the hideous insect was a truly massive beast, towering over all the others. It had a long serpentine body, with no tail but a head on either end of its body. Each head was different, as well as each body half which the head was attached to, and at the point where the two halves met were a pair of legs like a Tyrannosaurus Rex's, with crystal spurs and claws digging into the ground as bone spikes ripped out of the flesh, tearing at the skin as it moved and breathed and caused little bits of blood to squirt here and there. One half of its body was dark purple and segmented like a giant worm's, with the underside ripped open to expose the rib cage and pulsating organs dripping out through the bones. It ended in a head with a hood like that of a cobra's, with massive crystal spikes driven through the sides of the hood that had spurs sticking out which pierced the monstrous serpent's eyes and the brain between them, causing blood, eye fluid, and brain liquid to ooze out from where the spurs penetrated the head. The nostrils flared as it breathed, causing little forked tongues to slither out for a moment before being pulled back into the nose. There was a much large forked tongue emerging from the snake's mouth, which was lined with very sharp teeth dripping with venom which sizzled when it fell from the fangs and hit the floor. There were stitches on this mouth, like the ones on the obese monster's, only much more flexible. The hood had markings similar to those on the wings of the insect, only smaller because there wasn't as much room to cram them in as there had been on the wings.

The other half of the twin-headed serpent's body was much more hideous. From the point where the legs started, the serpent's flesh, which had changed from a very dark purple to a blackish hue, started thinning out. The further it ran up the body, the more torn and decayed it became, revealing muscles, tendons, and bones underneath, before it finally came apart all together three-quarters of the way up the neck, resulting in a long skeletal neck lined with very long spines coated in crystal with rib bones barely managing to hold bloated, sliming organs in place. The neck ended in a serpentine skull held together with muscles, tendons, and stitches, with a large crystal horn growing out of the exposed brain, and a pair of blood-red eyes glowing in their sockets. The teeth were red too, and dripping with blood. The eyes were rimmed with tarnished gold plates, as was a good part of the brain. In fact, gold plates were actually driven _into_ the brain, piercing the nearly dead gray matter. A tentacle masquerading as a tongue flickered in and out of the bone snake's mouth, tasting the air.

The duo quivered. "J-J-Jessie, is it just me or do they look kind of familiar?"

Jessie swallowed. "I-I'm not sure why, but…I think you're right, James. They do look strangely familiar."

"Well, they should," growled the same voice as before. A grotesque, twisted figure lunged out of the darkness and landed with a thud before them, frightening the Rockets and causing them to take a step back. "After all," the monster purred. "They are…old friends!"

The creature was eight feet tall and looked at first glance like a Persian on steroids with a bit of human DNA thrown in so it could stand on its hind legs. However, a second glance would show there was far more to it than that. Its fur had been completely removed, leaving only a pink, somewhat decayed-looking skin which was rotting in many places, pierced by crystal spikes in others, and in some places just missing, revealing bones and organs, just like the other monsters. Its entire chest cover had been removed, revealing its rib cage, stomach, lungs, intestines, kidneys, and a faintly beating black heart, all of them studded with crystalline dots connected to each other by glowing spiked strands which shredded at the muscles and blood vessels inside the monster's body as it moved about. Its legs started thick but withered and became unnaturally thin as they bent about more times than was natural, giving the monster three or four knees per limb, before ending in a pair of delicate paws. The arms, on the other hand, were extremely muscular (aside from the flayed, rotting, or missing skin and crystal spikes) and ended in a pair of enormous paws with long, jagged, uncut claws growing from them and knuckles lined with crystal spikes. Many of the claws were split and looked infected.

The monster's face and head were the most intact and normal-looking feature of the fiend's body. The skin there was perfectly preserved, if a bit scarred and flayed in parts. The ears were tattered and scarred, the whiskers growing from the snout plucked out, and its mouth had been artificially split so that it really did extend from one ear to another, giving it a freakish grin like that of the Cheshire Cat's, only with fangs that didn't look like they fit in the feline's mouth. The eye sockets were hollow, dark holes peering into the beast's skull, and where usually a red ruby sat on a Persian's forehead was a blood-red glass eye which stared unblinkingly straight at the ninja and the hobbit.

The feline beast bent down as it loomed over James. The hobbit squealed and soiled himself. The monster sniffed, but still grinned. "You have something of mine, Jimmy-boy."

It took a long moment for both James and Jessie to recognize the heavily distorted voice or the accent. "M-Meowth?" James whispered, horrified.

The cat-monster growled in pleasure and leaned back. "Yep, it's me all right. Or what's left of me, anyway."

Jessie swallowed, not putting her kunai away. "Wh-what happened to you?"

Meowth glanced down at himself. "Oh, this?" he asked, gesturing to his exposed organs. "Well, last night when that jerk Mewgle took over the prison, his boss burst into the Pokemon rehab center with a few of our other old friends and used his evilness and stuff to change us into what you see now."

"Old friends…" James blinked and did a double-take at the Pokemon surrounding them. "No…you can't mean…"

"That's right!" the hideous Meowth-thing said cheerfully. "All your old Pokemon, rounded up and brought back here to see you again! We got Chimecho, both Victreebells, the Gyarados James abandoned, Growlie, Weezing, Dustox, Likitung, Seviper, and even good old Arbok! The new boss located them when he recruited Mewgle and learned he wanted to pay you guys back, because he thinks there's something about you that can help him out big-time with his plans to wipe out all life on earth!" He shrugged. "I don't really see how that'll work, but he's the boss, and the boss is always right!"

Trembling, and unwilling to believe these monstrosities had really been their old Pokemon, Jessie glanced at the faces of the beasts. "Not all of them are here," she realized.

Meowth flinched. "Eh, for some reason or other they couldn't find the Pokemon who betrayed us…Wobbuffet, Milotic, and Cacturne!" He shrugged. "But it's no worry; our forces are hunting for them as we speak! It's only a matter of time until they're found, and then we'll all be together again! Aren't reunions great?" he purred.

"B-but I don't understand. Why did this new 'boss' go to all the trouble of gathering up our old Pokemon and…and…and making them, and you, into _these?_" James asked frantically, sweeping his hand to gesture to the monsters, who growled, feeling somewhat rejected.

"Ah, it ain't that bad Jimmy, after you get used to the eternal pain and torment…and the power is worth every bit of it!" He flexed his muscles. "Just look at me! I'm bigger and stronger than ever before! I can actually do damage with my attacks!" He demonstrated my leaping into the air and punching the surprised bony face of Seviper in the chin with his spiked knuckles, tearing at the bone and tendons of the serpent's face and knocking him over, dragging the startled Arbok down with him as he collapsed to the floor, shaking the ground. "You see? I'm going up in the world!" Without warning, he leaped forward, grabbed Jessie by the neck, and held her in the air, laughing as she screamed in fright and stabbed at his wrist with her kunai, doing no damage.

"L-let Jessie go!" James whimpered, not wanting to get hurt.

Meowth didn't seem to have heard him. "I like this!" he laughed. "I like being bigger and stronger than you guys! I like being able to stand over you while you cower in fear! Now you won't be kicking Meowth around anymore, will you?" He hurled Jessie away. Likitung's tongue lashed out and wrapped around her in midair, smothering her in mildly acidic saliva as it pulled the ninja to the obese lizard's chest, where the extreme layers of fat cushioned her impact and only restricted her breathing a little. He then turned back to James and leaned down towards him. James squealed in terror. "And look at you now, so small and cute in comparison to Meowth! I could just eat you right up, Jimmy-boy!" He extended his tongue and licked James on the cheek. The rough sand-papery surface cut the hobbit's cheek and caused it to bleed. James trembled and took a few hurried steps back.

A hurt look passed quickly on Meowth's face, but then he turned back to Jessie, who had been released by Likitung and found herself being licked gently by the fused Arbok and Seviper while Dustox flapped its wings and dried her off. "You see what kind of power we have now, Jessie? More than we ever had as lowly grunts! With this kind of power, we can crush the twerps once and for all!"

Jessie looked interested at this. "W-we could?"

"Yeah!" Meowth nodded. "Not even Pikachu could send us blasting off this time!"

Jessie looked interested for a moment, then shuddered. "But…I don't want to look anything like…" She glanced at her mutilated Pokemon, who in turn glanced away, looking slightly hurt

"Aw, not all of us gotta look like this, Jess!" Meowth assured her. "The boss'll make you look prettier if you really want to! You should see what he did to the Jennies, me-ow! You could look like that too!"

Jessie's enormous vanity was appealed by this. But still… "I-I don't know…" she said uncertainly.

"We also got your mother," Meowth added shrewdly.

Jessie stiffened. "…What?"

"We got your mother," Meowth repeated. "The boss found her because he wasn't sure your vanity and greed would be enough on their own to convince you to side with us, so he went and dug up her body from that avalanche that buried her and brought her here. He's working on fixing her up now; you can see her whenever you want."

Jessie's mouth opened and closed for a few seconds in disbelief. "But…but my mother is dead."

Meowth shrugged. "Death ain't something our new boss sees as an obstacle. It's nothing compared to his power. She'd be here right now with the rest of us, except that her body was in such a bad shape it's going to take a while for it to be regenerated to the point where it's, eh, presentable." He leveled his glass eye at Jessie. "You want to see her again, don't you Jess?"

"Yes," Jessie breathed. "Yes I do!"

James swallowed. "J-Jessie…"  
Meowth spun back to the hobbit. "We got you covered too, Jimbo," he said. "The boss brought your parents along with Growlie over there." The flaming hound barked, hearing his name. "Eh, they're also being made more presentable now, and I know you were never very close to them, but since Jessiebelle was killed in the retrieval process I thought-"

James took a step back, eyes wide. "Get away."

Meowth frowned. "James, what-"

"Get away! GetawaygetawayGETAWAY!" he screamed hysterically, shouting at not only Meowth but his own twisted Pokemon, who looked hurt by his reaction and backed away.

Meowth frowned. "Jimmy…come on, what's up with this? I thought you loved me…"

James fumbled in his little hobbit vest, pulled out Meowth's gold charm, and flung it at the feline beast. It struck Meowth in the head, causing him to rear his head back and growl in surprise and startle the mutant Pokemon, giving James the opening he needed to turn and run towards the green-lit Exit door he saw just outside the circle of monsters surrounding them. The monstrous Chimecho intercepted James and tried to wrap its tail around its master's head to calm him down like he had used to, but terrified of the gruesome fangs on the Wind Chime Pokemon's underbelly James pushed Chimecho away and kept running as his Pokemon and Meowth cried out for him to stop. Ignoring them, James slammed into the door, pushed it open, and ran through it. The door slammed shut behind them.

There was a long silence, as they all stared at the closed door. Then Chimecho wailed and burst into tears, drops of blood spouting from his eyes. Growlie howled mournfully, while the monstrous Victreebell squealed unhappily and Weezing released a great deal of gas and deflated somewhat, looking more depressed than usual as he floated to the ground. The Gyarados roared angrily. "James…" Jessie murmured. Likitung wrapped its tongue around her protectively while Dustox sheltered her with its wings. Then they both slowly started crushing her ribs, ignoring her cries of protest, while the conjoined Seviper and Arbok looked on passively.

Meowth growled and clenched his paws around the charm James had thrown, twisting and crushing it. "Jimmy-boy…" His eye was made of glass, so he could not cry, but his face was still torn with anguish. "I thought you cared about us more than that…" Roaring angrily, he crumpled the charm into a little ball and hurled it away. Then he snapped his claws. The light shut off, enveloping the room and its occupants in darkness…

…

James was blinded for a moment as he opened the door and stepped into the outside world. The sun seemed so bright compared to the darkness and artificial lighting that had been in the prison. He raised an arm to shield himself from the light…and saw to his surprise that it was clad in an orange sleeve. He looked down and saw he was back to his normal height again, still wearing his prison uniform. He was no longer a hobbit.

Sighing in relief that he was back to normal, and he had escaped from those hideous monsters, he took a few steps forward, still dazzled by the sunlight and fresh air.

And then one foot stepped forward and did not touch solid ground.

And James remembered, too late, that the prison was built on a tower of rock in the middle of the ocean.

He fell, screaming, over the edge.

He plummeted rapidly, the wind causing his poor-fitting prison uniform to flap in the breeze as he fell. Desperately, he flapped his arms like wings, as if that would somehow allow him to fly. It did nothing to slow his fall.

As he rapidly approached the water surrounding the base of the pillar, he wondered if perhaps he could survive the impact and swim safely to shore…

And then saw the monstrous shapes churning the seas below him, and the massive jaws that snapped open and closed as they noticed him, and recalled that a pack of trained Sharpedo patrolled the prison waters to keep anyone from escaping by sea and he screamed again.

He was only a few yards from the water. One of the sharks leaped from the depths, jaws open wide and preparing to swallow the poor man and tear him to bits with its serrated teeth. James screamed again…

And suddenly something grabbed him by the ankle, and he jerked to a stop. The Sharpedo's jaws slammed shut inches from James' nose, and it fell back to the water as gravity retook it. Angry, the other Sharpedo started pushing and shoving at each other, trying to get into position to make their own jumps to grab James. James screamed and flailed his arms in fright.

"Stop your thrashing, or I will drop you," said a voice which sent shivers up James' spine. He immediately stopped. "Good."

"Wh-who are you?" James asked weakly, eyeing the circling Sharpedo below.

"Do you want to live, Mr. Morgan?"

"What?" James asked in confusion.

"I said, do you want to live?"

Another Sharpedo leaped out of the water and snapped its jaws shut less than a molecule away from his nose. "I-I can't die! I have a contract!" he yelled.

The voice was silent for a moment. "A contract."

"Yes," James said as the Sharpedo circled underneath them.

"_A contract_." The being laughed coldly. "Do you really think a piece of paper can protect you from _them?_"

Half a dozen Sharpedo leaped out of the water at once, almost biting James' face off. He screamed and started flailing again as they just missed and fell back towards the water. "N-no, I suppose not," he said weakly.

"So. Tell me. Do you want to live, or do you want to die?"

"Yes! Yes, I want to live!" he cried, all of a sudden feeling terribly aware of his frail mortality, now that he realized he was not immortal and protected by his contract with the television executives.

"Are you certain? You may later wish you hadn't."

"I want to live! I want to live!" James screamed as another Sharpedo leaped from the water, exhaling fish breath in his face as it failed to bite him and fell back towards the water.

"I thought you would." The being who had grabbed his ankle lifted him up and twisted him around, until James could lock eyes with his savior.

And as he saw what lurked in the being's eyes, he suddenly wished that he had told the thing to let him drop. "Let me go! Let me go!" he screamed, more terrified of the monster holding him then the sharks below.

The figure shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that," he said with mock apology in his voice. "You chose to live, and so you will live. You will be tortured, you will be beaten, you will be driven to madness, returned to sanity and thrust back into madness again…but you will live." He chuckled as he floated back up the cliff, the whimpering James in tow. "I told you that you might wish you hadn't chosen to live."

James already did.

…

Some might see his planning as excessive and needlessly complex. He had taken control of an entire prison, mutated everyone inside, initiated a violent game which would kill almost all who participated in it, and even imported old friends and family members, simply for the purpose of making James Morgan walk off that cliff and desperately choose life, no matter what pain it would bring, than being eaten by Sharpedo.

But there was a meaning to all this. When he had heard his newest servant Mewgle's description of James, he had known the blue-haired man was perfect for his plans, because James was a coward.

He had not run from Meowth or his friends because he had seen what a terrible price their new power came with, or because he found it appalling what they had done in an attempt to convince him to join them, it had been because they had all been so grotesque and hideous he could not look beneath their twisted exteriors (and some of their innards) and see that their hearts had remained unchanged, that their souls had not been torn from them like the rest who served the source of all evil.

He had intentionally left their souls (He had access to them because Mewgle had been able to hack into Team Rocket's computers and change ownership of the souls from Giovanni to himself) intact as an experiment to see just how strong James' friendship with his Pokemon and feelings for Meowth were. They were clearly not enough to allow him to see past their surface features and see how they had only been changed on the outside. Some might say that this was unfair, that James could not possibly have known their spirits had been unchanged even if their bodies had been and that deep down they were still the same Pokemon he had cared for, if he had not been told beforehand.

And the evil one would simply reply that this was proof of just how flimsy and weak friendship and love really were, for all the tales and yarns about the power of those relationships stated that they could stand firm no matter what tried and tested them, that they were unbreakable even if one or the other was turned into a horrible monster.

And if friendship and love were not flimsy, it would still show that James' ability to express those emotions was weak, or he would not have been so terrified of the mutations that he did not even give them a chance to show they were still the same inside. And that was why he was the perfect specimen for the evil one's plans, because he was a coward, and all true cowards are weak and brittle inside.

The evil one fed on fear and suffering, and a coward was able to produce those in unbelievable amounts with only a little effort. Unfortunately, because that fear and pain came so easily, it tasted stale and flavorless, filling but not nourishing. James would work as a nearly inexhaustible food source, although not an especially tasty one, but that was only part of the reason the evil one had chosen him.

A weak heart such as James' could be easily riven and shattered. But a coward's broken heart was the most fertile soil for the evil one's seed, a seed that with proper care and nourishment could blossom into something truly dreadful.

And when that seed did come into full bloom…well, he would see if his old rival would be able to deal with that. She might. He did not doubt that. But even if the seed's fruit were destroyed, the aftereffects should prove to be beneficial to the evil one.

Very beneficial indeed.

…

Dark enough for ya?


	44. A snag in their plans

Apologies for my long absence. I've been away for a week and a half in Wyoming at Yellowstone National Park (which has way too many buffalo and incredible landscapes, I recommend it as a great vacation spot) and I've also been trying to catch up on stuff I've missed while I've been away. And writing this big chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

Gladdecease, I'm glad somebody enjoyed that gruesome mess.

Yamimaru, the majority of the TR members are dead now. Including Marauder, whose face has been chewed off by the living mask. They'll be lucky if they become zombies. The evil one may have little need for their bodies so he might just dispose of them or give them to his minions to play with while he keeps their pain-ridden souls for himself. And I did not know that fact about Incubi and Succubi, thank you. But they _are_ typically very attractive, are they not?

Ninetalesuk, this madness will not end anytime soon, I can promise you that.

HVK, thank you for the compliment. I'm fine with Zim and Dib being friends, but nothing more. And all I can say about Johnny is, well, he's a very scary person. By the way, do you think Irkens have movies?

Super Hurricane, I don't understand. How was it pointless? And if I had Jessie fall with James, that would have ruined the point I was trying to make of how Jessie's greed often overwhelms her better judgment. And it would have made James seem less like a craven coward, which was also a point I was trying to make. If I didn't have Mewgle, how could I have possibly done the prison thing? Besides, I have plans for Mewgle and his suped-up RPGenerator. In what way have I lost control of the situation? Gio is a bishounen? What's disappointing about my bad guy? In any case, there is more to him than simply being a 'blight'…speaking of which, if you're so certain you see what he's planning, would you mind telling me, his creator?

Lord Karkon, Alex Warlorn made me put Latios' note in to make Lance seem like less of a jerk. I really didn't see a point to it…Mewgle got awesomer than the others because he's a general, like Gio or the three beasts, and as such gets a bigger mutilation and power boost than the other lowly minions. And no, not all the legendaries are evil. In the explosion which fragmented the crystal, the shards were coated with differing amounts of positive and negative energy. Some of the 'darker' shards fell into the hands of people like Missingno, Giovanni, Ein (for his Shadow Pokemon experiments) while those like Latias and some of the others got more 'lighter' or at least borderline shards. More will be explained later, I think. And no, Mariah is not a general and has not met the evil one yet, even though she bears one of his crystals. Her story has yet to be told.

Story Weaver1, I am proud to claim responsibility for everything in the last chapter. I'm sure I do need help, because I have even crueler plans for the future of this story. Bwahahahahaha!

By the way, why do people disagree on what made the last chapter dark or not so dark?

Disclaimer: I own some things in this chapter, and other things I do not. Lyrics adapted from YMCA by the Village People and Blow me Away by Breaking Benjamin courtesy of Thanks to DiamondLatias3000 and Alex Warlorn for recommending these songs for this chapter. Apologies if any of the Spanish is incorrect, I'm mostly taking words out of a dictionary. I have no education in the language whatsoever.  
…

Ash hit the dirt hard, drops of blood spurting from his nose. "Ooof!" he groaned.

Pikachu gasped from his position on the rim of the trainer's box looking out over the sunken sand-covered arena floor. "Pikapi, no!"

"Oh man, that looked like a really bad blow!" Brock said from his seat in the stands, looking worried.

"Come on, Ash!" Misty yelled, standing up in her seat and drawing annoyed glances from the rest of the audience for the eighth time so far during the match. "You've taken worse than that! Get up and beat him!"

Latias' human face flushed. "You don't need to attract so much attention to us, Misty; we already have enough of that from our cheerleading squad."

The cheerleading squad, which consisted of Politoed, Kasurin, Phanphy, Togetic, and Jirachi, danced about in their miniature kimonos and waved their fans patterned with Ash's face around while singing, "Come on Ash, get on up! Show them you're a Ketchum, not Ketchup!"

"That doesn't even sound like a good cheer," Crawdaunt grumbled, feeling somewhat ashamed of his son for being a cheerleader instead of something more masculine and fitting for one of his noble and manly crustacean lineage, instead of drawing on whatever sissy Discfish genes he had gotten from his mother's bloodline.

"No," Politoed admitted, not breaking the rhythm of his cheer. "But it rhymes, and at least ninety percent of the audience will have no idea what we're saying, so it doesn't matter."

Crawdaunt rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Besides, father," Kasurin chimed in. "Most of the fun in cheering is getting to dance around and shout, what you say doesn't matter so much as long as it rhymes, gets the crowd's blood flowing, and sounds encouraging."  
Crawdaunt sighed and covered his eyes with his pincers. "My poor, effeminate son," he lamented.

"At least you have a son," Charizard grunted. "Unlike most of us. Or those of us who did have a son (possibly) and killed him by accident before he was even hatched. So you should count your blessings."

It was the third day of the Hoenn League Championships, and Ash was fighting one-on-one in the arena of the opulent Battle Palace while the Palace Maven Spenser, an audience composed of fellow trainers, tourists, his companions, and people around the world watched. (Or would watch, after the footage was compiled with the other big matches of the day and broadcast to far-flung television sets around the planet, including the big-screen Delia Ketchum had rented for the sole purpose of watching her son fight in the tournament.) Pikachu, as Ash's partner Pokemon and the one whom he was closest with, had volunteered to act as 'trainer' in this unusual match, since the altered rules for Battle Palace required the human trainers to fight in the arena instead of their Pokemon. Ash had had to take off his clothes and don a pair of loose boxing shorts as well as wrapping bandages around his knuckles to keep them from getting split or broken by the roughhousing. He had been dismayed to learn he couldn't bring his hat into the ring, and had contemplated sneaking the lucky handkerchief inside by tucking it into his shorts, but then considered that would be borderline sacrilege and decided he would do without it.

Ash's opponent, Brendan, was about the same age and build as him, also wearing boxer shorts and bandaged knuckles, but had spiky white hair which was styled to the left and kept up by a black headband with a red Pokeball symbol on it, which Ash learned was considered sporting attire and didn't count as a hat, much to his frustration when he tried to call a foul or at least get a reason to wear his hat in the ring. Brendan's partner Pokemon, a Swampert, was in the trainer's box on the opposite side of the arena from Pikachu. "Great job, Brendan!" called the Swampert. "You've got him on the ropes!"

Brendan nodded and looked down at Ash, who was starting to pull himself back up, responding to the urging of his friends and Pikachu. "You want to call it quits? You can back out now, and nobody will think the less of you for it."

Ash shook his head, causing more blood drops to spurt from his nose and making him feel dizzy and nearly fell back down again. "No way," he said, trying to figure out which of the three Brendans he saw before him was the real one. "I'm not done yet!"

Brendan sweatdropped. "You've got two black eyes, a broken nose, multiple bruises and contusions, at least one cracked rib, and I think I may have accidentally dislocated at least one knee. No offense, but I don't really see how you can win this."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu called. "He's right! There's only one way you can win this!"

Ash paled. "No…you can't mean that!"

"It's the only way!" Pikachu said desperately. "The secret technique Drake taught you! It's the only way you can win!"

Ash swallowed, swaying on his feet. "A-all right…" he said reluctantly. "It looks like I have no other choice!" He started lurching towards Brendan.

"Keep your guard up, Brendan!" advised the Swampert. "There's no telling what he's gonna try next!" Brendan nodded and raised his fists up.

As Ash staggered towards him, Brendan lashed out with a one-two punch when the dark-haired trainer got too close. However, Ash's uncontrollable swaying on his feet caused him to just barely swerve out of the way of each punch before it could connect, allowing him to get right in Brendan's face…

And kiss him on the lips.

The crowd went silent in disbelief. Even Ash's friends and cheerleaders were too stunned to speak. Pikachu sweatdropped. "Wait, _that's _the secret technique! I thought it was a kick in the groin!"

Brendan broke away from Ash, shocked. He stumbled backwards and fell over, staring up at Ash in disbelief. "Wh-why did you-"

A green-haired teen in the audience stood up, his face blood-red with anger. "You _bitch!_" he yelled furiously, before turning and running up the stairs towards one of the exits, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Brendan gaped. "W-Wally, wait! It's not like that!" He quickly got up and ran into the doors beneath his Swampert's outlook and into the locker room which would allow him to get out of the Palace quickly and hopefully cut Wally out.

May stood up in frustration. "Professor Birch's son and Wally too! Has the whole world gone homosexual!" A huge number of 'boos' echoed through the stadium as May was pelted by paper trash from all the angry homosexuals and politically correct people in the audience, as well as from Max and Jirachi, wanting to join in the fun. "Ow! Eek! Can't-ugh-somebody-ah!-speak their opinions anymore!"

"Not if they're rude and offensive to peoples of certain sexual orientation, race, or gender!" one of the audience members yelled, throwing a cup of soda at her. "You wouldn't like it if we called you a bitch without sufficient reason and cause, would we?"

The Swampert blinked. "H-hey, Brendan, wait for me!" He hopped out of his booth and into the arena, and then ran into the locker room after Brendan.

There was a long moment of silence. The referee, still not quite believing his eyes, finally shook his head. "There's nothing in the rulebook about this…" he muttered. He sighed and raised his flags. "Brendan Birch has forfeited the match by leaving the arena! Ash Ketchum is the winner!"

It took a moment for the crowd to understand this, so busy were they either pelting May with trash or still being stunned by Ash's unconventional technique, then they started clapping slowly and uncertainly.

All of Ash's friends and Pokemon sweatdropped. "I don't remember him mentioning learning that move on the way back from Dragon Rock," Latias murmured. Charizard nodded in agreement.

Misty was growling and clutching the arms of her seat. Her fingers were starting to crush the plastic covering the arms and digging deep gouges into them. "He had better have a _very_ good explanation for why he did that…"

"It could have been an accident," Brock said, not wanting to believe his friend had kissed another man on purpose. "He _was _wobbly on his feet. He may not mean to have done it."

"Well, in any case, it is an effective way to end a fight," Charizard reasoned. "I actually did that to Charla whenever she got _really_ angry, and…well…I probably shouldn't detail what happened after…" He blushed. "It isn't appropriate for young ears."

"Um…nice going, Pikapi," Pikachu said, sweatdropping and looking uncertain.

"Yeah!" Ash said, raising his arms in victory. "I won! I wo-"

He immediately passed out, the fatigue from his wounds finally overcoming him.

…

The dark-haired nurse, who was not Nurse Joy but a regular nurse for humans instead of Pokemon, sighed and rolled her eyes as she finished wrapping the bandages around Ash's chest. "This happens every year. Trainers fight one-on-one in Battle Palace; beat the shit out of each other, and I have to patch them up."

"Why can't you just use a Potion or Pokemon healing move on me to make me all better quicker?" Ash asked from his position on the bed in the Battle Frontier's clinic.

"Because if a human ingests too many potions or gets healed too many times by Pokemon, their immune systems get used to those methods of healing and your body will become dependent on them for survival. You'll become addicted to potions and healing techniques, and your body will never be able to heal on its own again. We can't have that happening, now can we?" the nurse asked, finishing up. "There, all done. You should be fine to leave by the evening, but I recommend you take things easy for the next few days. You may be competing in the Hoenn League, but that's no excuse for overworking your body when it's just trying to fix you up. Okay?"

"This evening? But my friend has a match in half an hour! I wanted to go see it!" Ash protested, trying to get out of bed. He had found out this morning that Wes was having his third round match at Battle Dome a little while after his own match, and figured that he could go see Wes fighting after he was done at Battle Palace and cheer him on/observe his technique.

The nurse pushed him back into bed. "Oh no you don't. You're not leaving this clinic until I give the say-so, and that isn't happening until you rest and let your body heal up a bit. Understand?"

"But-"

"If you don't settle down, I'll have to tranquilize you with this," said the nurse, pulling a giant three-foot long hypodermic needle out of a nearby cabinet.

Ash swallowed and nodded, not wanting to get pierced by the humongous needle. He sighed unhappily, resigning himself to his fate of missing Wes' match and having to stay in bed for the rest of the day. "Okay. But I really wanted to see the match!" he whined.

"If you want to see it that badly, then you can use that," said the nurse, pointing to a television hooked up to the ceiling opposite Ash's bed. "The remote is on your armrest. You can use it to watch both normal television and live closed-circuit camera footage of battles going on in any of the island's arenas. Will that satisfy you?"

"Yes," Ash said, relieved that he'd see the match after all. "Thank you, Nurse…"

"Call me Meddy. Nurse Meddy," said the nurse, turning around and heading for the door. "You've got some friends out in the waiting room who want to see you, but there isn't enough room in here for all of em'. So I'll only let in a few at a time."

She started to open the door, and Misty and May, who had both been anxiously standing on the other side, rushed in, almost knocking the nurse over. "Ash! Are you okay?" Misty asked anxiously as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Ash reassured her. "The nurse reset my bones, fixed my nose and ribs, and gave me some medicine and painkillers to deal with everything else. I'm okay."

"Good." Misty immediately started crushing Ash's hand in her own, causing him to gasp in pain. "Now then," she said all too sweetly. "Would you like to tell me why you kissed Brendan?"

"I didn't mean to!" Ash cried. "It was an accident! I was aiming for his crotch and lost my balance!"

"You were going to kiss him there!" Misty shouted, squeezing harder.

"Ahh! No, no! I meant-" Ash tried to explain over the pain of his hand breaking.

"Excuse me," said Nurse Meddy, grabbing Misty's wrist and pulling it off of Ash's hand. "The patient needs to rest and breaking his hand will not help the recovery process. If you wish to do him bodily harm, you should wait until he is fully healed."

"Fine." Misty pulled her arm out of the nurse's grasp, then bent over and kissed Ash on the forehead, causing him to blush. "Hope you get better soon, sweetie."

May flushed and looked away. "I can't believe the League allows this, anyway. Having two kids beat each other to a pulp just so one of them can progress further in the tournament?"

The nurse grunted. "Doesn't seem much different than having Pokemon beat each other to a pulp so their trainer can progress further in the tournament and get most of the credit."

"Yeah, well, Pokemon have higher endurance than humans!" May protested. "And fighting's something that comes sort of instinctive to them, it's in their blood!"

"It's in our blood, too," the nurse pointed out. "Otherwise, why else would we have so much wars, crime, and marital disputes? We just express it through Pokemon battling rather than actual hand-to-hand combat most of the time these days."

"But doesn't that make people want to fight more? It's an endless cycle of violence!" May pointed out.

"That it is," agreed the nurse. "And as long as people are beating each other up, I have a job. If they didn't, what else would I do with my life, eh?" Disgusted, May looked away. "Besides, when the kid entered the tournament he automatically signed an affidavit saying that neither he nor any member of his family would sue the Hoenn League or Battle Frontier for any injuries sustained during the tournament. If he gets hurt, it's his responsibility, not ours."

"But he got hurt because the tournament's rules said he had to fight by himself!" May protested.

"Yes, because people like seeing humans fight each other for a change," the nurse agreed. "It's good for ratings, publicity, and it makes Pokemon viewers feel better knowing their trainers may one day have to feel what it's like to live like they do. Why do you think so many people like seeing humans boxing, wrestling, and playing football on top of Pokemon battling? It satisfies their innate bloodlust and lets them go on with their day without beating up their friends, coworkers, or spouses. Well, most of the time anyway."

"But…oh, forget it," May finally gave up, not wanting to continue this argument.

"Hey, where's my hat?" Ash asked, suddenly realizing he wasn't wearing it.

"Right here." Pikachu scampered into the room, with the cap clutched in his mouth. He hopped onto the bed and dropped the hat on Ash's chest.

"Ah, thanks buddy!" Ash picked up the hat and put it back on his head, where it belonged. "Wish I could have worn this during the match. Then maybe I wouldn't have taken such a beating!"

Brock poked his head through the open door. "Everything okay in there? Because I happen to have some-" Brock's jaw dropped when he saw the nurse, and he completely forgot about the batch of 'Get Well' chocolate-chip cookies he had whipped up for Ash. He rushed into the room and immediately grabbed the nurse's hands, looking desperate. "Oh, Nurse-" He glanced at her nametag. "Meddy! Nurse Meddy! I need your help immediately! I've come down with some sort of sickness!"

Ash, May, and Misty groaned while the nurse frowned. "Really? How do you feel?" She put a hand on Brock's forehead to see if he had a fever.

"Well, when I look at you my heart starts beating a mile a minute, my skin feels all warm and tingly, and I have an uncontrollable urge to make out with you. Oh, and I'd like to give you these," Brock said, holding out the cookies he had made on a platter.

"Brock!" Misty snapped, getting up. "Those cookies were for Ash!"

"I need them more than he does, right now!" Brock shouted back. He quickly turned back to Meddy, a hopeful smile on his face. "Would you like these cookies, Nurse Meddy?"

"Sorry, I'm on a diet," the nurse said, gently pushing the tray away. "But I think I know what you've got, and I know what the cure is, too."

"You do!" Brock asked hopefully, believing he was about to get kissed.

"Yep." Meddy walked over to a familiar cabinet on the wall, opened it, and pulled out the enormous hypodermic needle she had used to threaten Ash. "You have the bubonic plague, and I'll have to administer this booster shot anally before it gets any worse."

Brock screamed much like James, tossed the cookie tray up in the air, and bolted from the room in fright. Meddy caught the tray with one hand as it fell, the cookies plopping back down onto it one by one. "Heh, gets them every time," she said with a smirk, placing the tray down on a small table next to Ash's bed. "Here you go."

"Thanks!" Ash grabbed a cookie and stuffed it into his mouth. "Mmm…Brock always makes the best stuff, doesn't he guys?"

"Mm-hmm," Misty and May agreed, already munching on their cookies.

Max, Jirachi, and Phanphy came into the room. Absol watched them from the door, since the room was already starting to look a little too crowded for him to enter. "Hey, is everything okay in here? I just saw Brock run by screaming," Max explained.

"Yeah, everything's fine," said Pikachu, nibbling on a cookie. "Come in and have a cookie, they're great!"  
"Okay!" Jirachi used telekinesis to levitate a couple of cookies into the air and into his and Max's mouths, where they started chewing on them.

"We came to sign Daddy's cast!" Phanphy said happily, holding a marker in his trunk.

"But Ash doesn't have a cast," Pikachu said. "None of his limbs were broken."

Jirachi swallowed his cookie and conjured a sledgehammer. "I figured that might be the case, so we decided that if we broke one of his limbs, then he'd have to wear a cast and we could sign it!"

Ash yelped and spat out cookie crumbs, scrambling over in his bed to get away from the hammer-wielding Wish Pokemon and falling over the side. "Ow!"

"No sledgehammers allowed," said Nurse Meddy, pulling the hammer out of Jirachi's hands and throwing it into a nearby closet filled with similar sledgehammers and other leg-breaking instruments. "Clinic rules."

"Awww," Jirachi complained, looking disappointed. "I wanted to sign a cast."

"Me too," agreed Max in equal disappointment.

Nurse Meddy rolled her eyes. "If you want to sign someone's cast that badly, you can try the room next door. There's a guy there with a broken leg in a cast and it doesn't look like he's going to get company anytime soon. I'm sure he'd appreciate a visit from three little kids like you."

"Thanks, Ms. Nurse!" said Max enthusiastically. "Come on guys, let's go cheer that guy up!"

"Okay. Bye daddy!" Phanphy waved farewell with his trunk as he followed his friends out of the room. Absol went with them to make sure they didn't bother the person they were going to burst in on too much.

"That poor, poor man," Meddy grunted, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it, and sticking it in her mouth.

Misty frowned. "Should you be smoking those in a hospital?"

Meddy shrugged, blowing out some smoke. "Probably not." She didn't stop her inhalation of tobacco, tar, and god knows what other nasty and fatal chemicals.

Charizard poked his head in, sniffing in the air. His face fell when he saw Meddy smoking the cigarette. "Aww, darn. Thought I smelled Charla. Knew she couldn't possibly be here." He perked up when he saw the platter of cookies still lying on the table. "Hey, cookies!" He squirmed through the door, hindered somewhat by his bulk and wings which, even when folded, didn't quite fit through the opening, but managed to squeeze through and stomp over to the table where he grabbed several cookies and started shoving them into his mouth. "Mmm…chocolatey!"

"Hey, save some for the rest of us!" Bayleef protested, running into the room and grabbing the platter with her vines before Charizard could stuff the rest of the cookies down his throat. "Who do you think you are, a Snorlax?"

"No, I'm just hungry!" Charizard protested, grabbing one end of the platter and pulling it back towards him. "Come on, let me have a few more!"

"And those hot dogs you had at the Battle Palace while we were watching Ash get beaten up weren't enough for you?" she asked angrily, yanking back with her vines.

"They were tasteless and unsatisfying! I need better food than that to fuel my fire! Come on, Bayleef, let go!" He tugged back on the platter.

Crawdaunt scuttled into the room. "Hey, don't hog those cookies all to yourself, dragon-boy! I'm hungry too!"

"Crawdaunt, you ate _ten_ hotdogs and a huge tub of popcorn, including the tub!" Bayleef snapped at the lobster. "Everyone should get a chance to eat these cookies!"

Togetic floated into the room over her aunt's head, levitated over the trembling platter which was caught betwixt Charizard's claws and Bayleef's vines, picked up one of the cookies and started munching on it. "Mmm, another thing I missed while I was away, Brock's cooking!" she said happily.

"Come on, Togetic, toss me down one or two or a dozen of those cookies, will you?" Crawdaunt pleaded.

"And you'll split them with me of course, won't you Crawdaunt?" Corsola asked as she came into the room as well. "Right?"

Crawdaunt sagged, realizing he was going to have no choice but to part with some of Brock's excellent cooking. "Yeah, of course Corsola," he said unhappily.

Togetic shook her head. "Nope, sorry," she mumbled, spitting out some crumbs. "You've had enough to eat, Crawdaunt. But…okay Aunt Corsola, here you go." She tossed a cookie at the Coral Pokemon.

Corsola tried to jump up to get it, but Crawdaunt lunged in the air, snatched the cookie with a pincer, and stuffed it into his mouth before Corsola could take it from him. "Yum!"

"Crawdaunt!" Corsola snapped.

Crawdaunt blinked. "What?" he asked, causing crumbs to dribble from his mouth.

"You said you'd share with me!" Corsola said angrily.

"Oh." Crawdaunt looked sheepish. "Well, um, I can regurgitate it if you want." Corsola made a sound of disgust and walked out of the room, grumbling under her breath.

Latias poked her head through the door. "I don't suppose I could have a cookie too?"

"Sure, Aunt Latias," said Togetic, tossing another cookie into the air.

Crawdaunt immediately lunged at the flying cookie. Latias had seen Crawdaunt snatch Corsola's cookie, and had no intention of letting the greedy lobster do the same. She also lunged, her height and long human arms allowing her to grab the cookie before Crawdaunt's claw could close around it. "Yes!"

"Noooo!" Crawdaunt cried angrily as he fell to the ground cookie-less.

Latias had gotten the cookie, but was unable to halt in mid-air as she would have if she were in her true form. Instead, her momentum carried her forward and into Bayleef's side, knocking her over and causing her to jerk on the vines holding the platter of cookies. Charizard had still been clutching onto the other end of the platter tightly with his claws, and was pulled forward by Bayleef's collapse, causing the platter to flip and throw the cookies into the air as he fell onto his face. "Oh no! The cookies!"

Crawdaunt eagerly scuttled over to where the majority of the cookies would land, mouth gaping as wide as the sea between the Hoenn and Kanto regions.

Unfortunately for Crawdaunt (and everyone else who had wanted a cookie) at that moment a Pokeball in Misty's bag popped open, releasing the yellow-colored Golduck. He materialized in the air right above Crawdaunt, falling onto the pointed star on the lobster's head. He yelped in pain as the star's point poked his soft rump, causing his beak to gape wide enough for all the cookies to fall into his mouth, clogging his throat. He gasped and fell to the ground, face turning blue (which should have been his natural color had he evolved normally) and started rolling around as he choked on the bits of chocolatey goodness.

Misty gasped. "Oh no! He's choking! Nurse Meddy, you've gotta help him?"

Meddy snorted, blowing out some smoke. "Who do you think I am, Nurse Joy? I'm a people doctor, not a Pokemon one. Help him yourself."

Nobody needed to, for then May's fanny pack burst open as Delcatty's popped out of her Pokeball, saw the choking Golduck, squealed happily and pounced on his chest. Her weight on his stomach caused enough pressure for him to spew up the cookies which had been clogged in his throat, creating a mushy mess of brown goop on the floor dotted with chocolate chips, as well as a shoe, some loose change, and Brock's completely empty Little Black Book, all of which he had swallowed that morning.

They stared at the mess that had been Brock's yummy cookies and turned away, gagging. "You know, suddenly I don't feel so hungry anymore," Charizard said faintly.

"I still am," said Crawdaunt, scuttling over to the goop and shoveling it into his mouth with his claws. He paused when he noticed the looks of disgust everyone was giving him. "What?"

…

Meddy kicked the Pokemon out of Ash's room after that. Nobody argued when she pulled out that giant hypodermic needle again. Somewhat cowed by the nurse's manner and giant needle, they, along with Brock, decided that they should perhaps leave Ash to rest and recover for the time being. They had grabbed Max, Jirachi, Phanphy, and Absol, and gotten out of there as quickly as possible, deciding to get seats at Battle Dome for Wes' upcoming match. May, Misty, and Pikachu had been allowed to remain because they hadn't caused any messes or problems, although she made them clean up what Golduck had spat up on the floor. And so they were still there, a while later, when Ash was channel surfing out of boredom because none of the arenas were in use at the moment and Wes' fight hadn't started yet.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing…" Ash droned as he kept flipping through the selection on the television.

"There's too much junk on television," Pikachu complained.

"Hey Ash, stop! Go back a channel!" Misty said suddenly, seeing something familiar flash by on the TV.

Ash shrugged and complied, having nothing better to do. The channel in question was one of the numerous global 24-hour news networks, and the reporter sitting at the desk on the screen was saying something about the Mirage Kingdom as a small screen on the upper-right corner showed the face of General Hanson with an X through it. Togetic, who had snuck back inside after getting kicked out by Nurse Meddy, started and floated in one place, staring at the screen as the anchorman kept talking.

"…after more than a month on the throne, the tyrannical reign of General Hanson is at an end. The Mirage Kingdom has been freed from his grasp by a mass rebellion made up of numerous citizens and royalists, as well as a surprising number of indigenous Egg-type Pokemon. Just last night the general's castle was invaded by a strike force composed of the rebellion's finest human and Pokemon soldiers. They defeated Hanson's corps of Ninjask as well as his powerful guardian Shedinja through the use of skives, an herb ghosts despise, provided by an anonymous contributor. With his guards out of the way, they managed to capture Hanson and remove him from the throne. He has been sentenced to a public execution, to be carried out in just a few moments. We go live to our reporter in the field, Chuck Goldman, for live coverage of this public event. Chuck?"

The screen split in half, one half the shot of the anchorman at his desk in the studio, the other of the fatigued and dirty figure of Chuck, his clothes torn and hair disheveled from lack of sleep and from being on the frontline of the civil war between Hanson's forces and the rebels. "Hello, Bob. The situation down here is fraught with anticipation." He gestured to the large crowd of people behind him, who were gathered around a wooden gallows platform in the middle of the ravaged and war-torn town square in the Kingdom's capital. There were blast marks, bits of rubble, and piles of debris everywhere. The mob of citizens, many of whom were dirty or injured from the long power struggle, were trying to make small talk with each other but all of them were really focusing most of their attention on the gallows platform. "Everyone has been waiting for this moment since Hanson overthrew the Royal Family and took control of the Mirage Kingdom. Last night Hanson was captured and sentenced to death, and that execution will be handed to him…right now!" The crowd's murmurings got louder as a bound Hanson, surrounded by a group of heavily armed soldiers and battle-scarred military Pokemon, marched into the square through one of the side streets. The townspeople, all of whom had suffered greatly from Hanson's insane decrees and whims, yelled angrily and hurled curses, garbage, and feces at the fallen dictator. The soldiers tightened their grips on their weapons and some of the Pokemon began visibly charging up attacks, warning the crowd of angry citizens to stay away. While none of them truly cared if Hanson got torn apart by a vengeful mob, he had been sentenced to death by hanging by the priestly Egg Bishop, who was now the temporary leader of the Kingdom until a new ruler could be chosen. And what the Bishop said goes.

"Everyone is furious and at the same time ecstatic to see Hanson down here," Chuck shouted over the enraged screams and curses of the people around him. "The hatred here is palpable, and rather infectious. I myself have seen the horrible things that have resulted from Hanson's reign, and I'd be with everyone else here throwing garbage at the man if I didn't need to stay here and provide a somewhat coherent report of the situation."

"Chuck, hanging is a form of execution that hasn't been used in decades with the advent of electroshock, gas, and lethal injections. Do you believe that Hanson should be subjected to such an archaic and visceral form of death, where everyone can watch him, rather than simply undergoing time in prison or on death row?" Bob asked.

"In my opinion? Yes, Bob. Yes I do," Chuck said. The crowd suddenly went silent, which seemed rather startling after all the commotion. Chuck turned around to see that Hanson and his escort had mounted the steps to the gallows platform, and the noose had been put around the general's neck. He had been stripped of his crown, cape, and any other regal accouterments he had once possessed, clad now in an unwashed and ill-fitting pair of trousers and tunic, clothes which would not be missed. "Here it is. The moment we've all been waiting for," Chuck said in a hushed voice, not wishing to disrupt the gravity of this moment.

"Ash, change the channel-" Misty started.

"No," Togetic interrupted. She landed on the armrest of Ash's bed, on top of the controls.

"But-" Misty protested.

"_No,_" Togetic repeated coldly, fixing her mother with an icy glare. "I want to see this through."

Misty opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, uncertain what to do. She glanced at Ash, who looked uncomfortable and shrugged, also uncertain what to do. Pikachu stared at his little sister/niece, but said nothing.

Satisfied that there were no more objections, Togetic looked back at the television.

The Egg Bishop, an elderly man with a large white and gold egg-shaped hat and robes with red and blue triangular shapes on them, had passed through the crowd and onto the gallows rig in Hanson's wake. The Bishop turned to Hanson, a stony expression on his face. "Hanson, you have committed unspeakable atrocities to our kingdom. You have murdered every last Togepi in Togepi's Paradise, assassinated the Royal Family, overtaxed and enslaved the people of the realm, and ruined the lives of hundreds. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Hanson's eyes rolled back in his head, and drool dribbled down his chin. "CHERRY AND LIME SOUFFLE!" he bellowed, spitting on the bishop's robes.

"It seems this final defeat was too much for Hanson's deranged mind! The general has gone completely off the deep end!" Chuck reported.

Grimacing in disgust, the Bishop made a chopping motion with his hand. "Do it!"

The soldier chosen to be executioner nodded and pulled a lever on the platform, causing a trapdoor beneath Hanson to flip open, dropping Hanson through the hole and making the noose around his neck tighten, cutting off his air supply and snapping his neck within seconds.

A resounding cheer rose up from the crowd, and the people started celebrating and dancing about as Hanson's limp body dangled on the end of its noose. A few people even sang something to the tune of, "Ding dong, the witch is dead."

"General Hanson is dead! I repeat, General Hanson is dead!" Chuck shouted over the cheering.

"Togetic…" Misty started.

"It's over," Togetic said softly. Without a word, she floated off the armrest and out the window she had snuck in through, leaving her 'parents' behind.

Pikachu shook his head sadly. "Little sister…"

"Wh-where did she go?" Ash asked, unnerved by the morbid sight of Hanson's death on public television.

"I don't know," Misty confessed helplessly. "I guess…I guess she had to do that. She had to have closure with him."

Ash looked out the window. "Do you think she's coming back?"

"…I hope so."

There was the sound of a flush, and the bathroom door opened. May came in, wiping her hands on a paper towel. "Hey guys, did I miss anything?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Misty said quickly. "Togetic just stepped out for a moment."

May shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with that. "Okay. Hey, is that the news? Anything interesting?" She walked over and sat down in one of the chairs next to Ash's bed to watch.

The report on General Hanson was over, and the anchorman was talking about something else now. "In other news, today is the third day of the annual Hoenn League championships. The footage taken so far is being reformatted for widespread broadcast this evening as we speak, but we can give you a preview of some of what's already happened today, a little sneak peek for those of you anxious for information on the tournament."

The screen then changed to show footage of the battered Ash kissing Brendan. "D'oh!" Ash cried as the recording paused right at the moment when Ash's lips had made the most contact with Brendan's.

"Why are these two boys kissing?" Chuck asked as the camera switched back to him. "This is a challenge for fighters, not lovers! Or perhaps they were having some sort of a tiff? Either way, we'll find out for sure shortly! Please stay tuned!"

Ash groaned and hid his face behind his hands. "Well, that's rather embarrassing…" Pikachu commented.

"Great, now all of Pallet Town and a bunch of other people I may or may not know are going to see me kissing that guy on TV!" Ash moaned. "I'm ruined! I can see them now, Professor Oak shaking his head in disappointment, my Mom crying, and Gary laughing and saying he knew it all along! And Tracy might get hopeful."

"Tracy's gay?" Misty asked in surprise.

Ash shrugged. "I don't know, Brock says he is."

"Who's Tracy?" May asked in confusion.

"A friend of ours. I've probably mentioned him before," Ash explained. "But back to this problem: what am I gonna do!"

"Well…I'm sure they'll just realize it was an accident and that you didn't mean to do it," Misty said weakly.

"You were there, and you thought I did it on purpose!" Ash retorted.

Misty sweatdropped. "Uh, that's true…"

Ash groaned. "What am I gonna do?"

Pikachu shrugged and patted Ash on the back. "You'll weather it out, like you've weathered out all the other humiliating events in your life that nobody will let you forget about, Pikapi, like how you still owe a certain someone a bike which you never intend to pay back."

Ash glared at his rodent best friend. "Is that supposed to be encouraging?"

Pikachu shrugged. "No, just being honest."

"Some friend you are."

"This just in!" Bob the anchorman said suddenly, drawing their attention back to the television. "I've just received information that the Emerald Towers hotel in Ever Grande City, which is currently being used to host many of the competitors in this year's Hoenn League Championships, has been taken over by a strange new criminal organization as yet unheard of by this station!"

"Emerald Towers? That's where we're staying!" May cried, aghast.

Misty groaned. "Not another crime ring! Who is it this time?"

"This organization calls itself Neo Team Snatchem…I'm sorry, that's Snagem…and their demands are as yet unknown. This team infiltrated the hotel shortly after the majority of its guests departed to compete in today's tournament matches, and have been holding the people inside hostage ever since. A negotiator has been brought in to try and find out what these people want that will convince them to release the hotel staff and other guests unharmed. We're going live to the streets outside Emerald Towers, where one of our field reporters is waiting with the city's police force."

The screen split in two again, one half dedicated to Bob and the other to a shot of a female reporter in a red suit who would definitely attract Brock's interest standing on the street in front of the familiar green-stone hotel building, with numerous members of the police force in riot armor with weapons and projectile-firing Pokemon aimed at the Towers' main entrance, which was placed underneath a green and burgundy canopy with a red carpet extending out on the sidewalk. The Pokemon members of the force included several fighting-types like Machoke and Machop, a Hitmonchan or two, some Vigoroth and a Medicham, as well as a few Marowak, several Growlithe, Poochyena, and even one or two Arcanine, along with various other Pokemon. All wore some form of riot armor. "Hi Bob, this is Sandra Simmons with the police force outside the captive building."

"Sandra, what can you tell us about this heretofore unknown gang?"

"Not much, other than that they call themselves Neo Team Snagem and wear red vests with black coveralls with the symbol of a fist grasping the Earth, which is made to look like a Pokeball, on the front of their shirts. Plus all of them are bald and wear some kind of metallic earmuffs or headphones which go around the back of their head. Their demands are still unknown, but the police have sent in a negotiator to find out what they might be."

There was a commotion behind her and Sandra turned around. "Oh! The negotiator is coming out!" The negotiator, a plain-looking police officer, was exiting the building with a couple of other cops. A pair of goons matching the descriptions Sandra had given led them out, not stepping too far away from the doors, and went back inside once the officer had walked out onto the street.

The leader of the force, the city's Officer Jenny, ran up to the negotiator. Sandra, and several other cops, followed. "What is it they want?" Jenny asked. "Money? Rare Pokemon?"

The negotiator shook his head. "No. They want some guy named Wes."

Jenny blinked. "Wes?"

"Wes?" asked the confused Sandra.

"Wes?" asked the equally confused Chuck.

"WES!" everyone in Ash's room cried in disbelief.

"Yes, Wes," the negotiator repeated. "The man inside-some weirdo with an enormous afro-said to tell Wes that if he didn't show up with the prototype within an hour, the girl would die."

"What girl?" asked the confused Jenny.

The negotiator shrugged. "No idea. That's all he said."

"What about the hostages?" Jenny demanded.

"The hostages?" The officer blinked. "Well, they seem to be unharmed, although they were terrified, miserable, and I think many of them looked to have headaches for some reason. The man with the afro said they would be released unharmed after their leader was done with the Wes fellow, albeit minus whatever Pokemon they had on them. And he said that if we try to storm the hotel, not only will the 'girl' die, but all the hostages will be subjected to fates that will make them wish they _were_ dead, whatever that means."

Jenny growled. "We don't give in to criminals."

"You don't need to, ma'am!" a familiar voice shouted.

Five colorful figures somersaulted over Jenny and the police line, landing neatly on their toes to reveal… "Poke Rangers Astro Squad Sigma, here to save the day!" Red Ranger declared, holding out his badge. The red lights on the sides of their helmets flashed.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" said Jenny in relief, while Bob and Sandra looked confused by the appearance of these bizarrely-costumed freaks. "They have hostages and-"

"We heard everything, officer!" Yellow Ranger interrupted.

"Don't worry, we'll handle it! Just leave it to us!" Pink Ranger affirmed.

"Yeah, we'll need somebody to clean up our mess when we're through," Green Ranger joked.

Blue Ranger pulled out what looked like a high-tech gun and cocked it. "All right team, let's show Neo Team Snagem what Ever Grande city thinks of criminals!"

"Right!" the other four chorused, whipping out their guns and cocking them.

They charged into the building, slamming the doors open and disappearing inside. The doors wobbled and swung open and shut, causing the sounds of laser blasts, explosions, and cries of pain to escape through the opening caused by the door's motions. Finally, after a few revolutions, the doors swung closed and stayed close, blotting out all signs or sounds of what might be happening inside.

And then…

There was a tremendous blast of noise which caused windows to rattle and police officers to clutch their ears as the doors exploded open in a shower of twisted metal and broken glass, the Poke Rangers flying out through the debris and skidding to a stop in the very hard asphalt on the street. They moaned in pain and rolled over, unconscious.

The camera zoomed in on their prostrate bodies, and then rose up as a bizarre figure appeared in the doorway, zooming in on him as well.

He was tall and very thin, with a jacket and pants covered in sparkling white glitter, with gold rings on all his fingers, a gold chain necklace holding a golden emblem of the Neo Snagem symbol, and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of opaque blue lenses held in gold frames. His hair was immense, done up in a huge spherical afro that was mostly brown with white on the sides. His shoes were white, shiny, and looked perfect for dancing. He twirled a gold-tipped cane in his right hand, and a pair of Snagem goons flanked him, snapping their fingers and holding a boom box which played some strange music that sounded kind of like a theme, possibly for the man whose appearance and sense of dress couldn't help but attract everyone's attention, or maybe just for their gang in general.

The man with the enormous 'fro pointed at the Rangers and laughed. "Ha! Ah warned you fools not to come in here! But no, you had to get down with your bad establishment selves and come and try to 'save the day', didn't you? Well, don't say ah didn't tell you what the consequences would be if ya all didn't listen to Miror B!" He pointed skyward. "Look up there! Ah told you the girl'd pay the price if you fools came bargin' into our business like you did!"

Everyone looked upward. The camera zoomed as close in as it could at a speck near the top of the building. A collective gasp rose from the throats of the police and press as they saw what it was.

It was a teenaged girl, bound and gagged, dangling over the edge of the rooftop on a very long rope. Another figure, too far away to be seen clearly, loomed above her, standing safely on the top of the building.

"Let her go, boss-man!" Miror B shouted into a walkie-talkie.

"NO!" cried Jenny in horror.

The figure at the top of the building chuckled and let go of the rope holding the girl up.

She screamed long and loud as she began to drop, down, down, to the hard unforgiving ground below.

"Quick, somebody get a Flying Pokemon!" Jenny shouted. Her subordinates quickly checked their Pokeballs…

But it wasn't necessary. The mysterious figure suddenly grabbed onto the rope again just before the last of it could go over the edge, causing the girl to stop her fall with an abrupt jerk, slamming into the side of the building with a bone-shaking jar.

Miror B cackled and clapped his hands gleefully. "Oh ho! Ah had you for a moment there, didn't ah? That girl's too valuable a hostage for us too dispose of just yet! She's bait for our main attraction after all, there's no guarantee he'll show up if she drops! Hahaha!" He twirled his cane. "Oh, and before any of you coppers get the idea to try sniping my main man or rescuing our little worm on a fishhook, ah'd seriously reconsider, seeing as she has a little ol' pressure-sensitive bomb strapped to her waist that'll go off if anyone but the boss-man, who can deactivate it, touches her! Haha!" He smirked. "Oh, and one more thing…while we may not be interested in killing the hostages, we can sure make em' suffer for your failure to comply with our demands!" He snapped his fingers. "Let the music play!" Blaring, ugly music started to play inside the hotel, drowning the tune coming from the boom box, and Miror B wiggled his hips as he grooved back through the broken doorway, grinning at the screams of terror from the hostages inside. "Seeya later, Feraligatrs!"

"We've gotta do something!" Ash said immediately.

"We? What do you mean?" May asked, startled. "Those Poke Rangers are special police agents or something. What can we do that they couldn't?"

"Maybe actually do some good?" Misty suggested. "We seemed to do better against the Tyranitron than they did, if I recall."

"I seem to remember rolling around in pain from the robot's sonic attack," May pointed out.

"Yes, but we weren't pummeled mercilessly and blown up, even if we were only saved from that through a series of unexpected coincidences," Ash reminded her. "Besides, we've been in way more dangerous situations involving criminal Teams than most trainers, I'm sure we could do some good!"

"I think Ash is right," Misty said after a moment. "Except about the 'we' part."

Ash blinked. "Huh?"

"You're right, we could probably do some good by going to help out. However, _you_," she said, poking Ash on the forehead. "Need to stay here and get some rest. Nurse's orders."

"No, I'm fine, really-ouch!" Ash yelped as he tried to get up too quickly, clutching his chest.

"You see? You're in no condition to go out and do heroics. Why don't you leave that to your friends for a change?" Misty asked him in a soothing tone of voice, gently pushing him back down and pulling up the covers.

"But I have to go!" Ash protested, starting to get back up again. "Wes is my friend; I can't let him go there by himself!"

"Wes looks like he's more than capable enough of taking care of himself," May reminded him. "He does have Ho-Oh, after all."

"And didn't you say he single-handedly dismantled Team Cipher in Orre, and defeated the 100-trainer lineup at Mt. Battle?" Misty pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Ash admitted. "But…" He looked sheepish. "I don't want him to get all the credit for saving the day. That's usually my job."

May and Pikachu facefaulted. Misty smiled sweetly and pulled out her mallet. "Now Ash, the nurse said you need to stay here and get some rest, and I will make sure you do just that, even if I have to knock you out myself to keep you from leaving."

Ash sweatdropped. "Uh, but won't that hurt me more and ruin the point of me staying here?"

"Oh don't be silly, you've built up such a thick skull over the years that a little tap on the noggin won't do any _real_ damage. And if it does, that just means you'll be staying that much longer out of any of your usual life-threatening adventures that seems to happen every other day or two." Misty raised her hammer. "Soooo? Do I have to knock you out, or will you stay here?"

Ash glanced at Pikachu. "Uh, a little help here?"

"Actually, I agree with her," Pikachu said. "It isn't good for your health, running around and saving the world right after you got into a big fight."

Ash scowled. "Traitor."

"So, Ash, will you stay of your own free will or do I have to knock you out?" Misty asked.

Ash sighed. "Fine, I'll stay," he said through gritted teeth.

"I guess that's settled then," Misty said, putting her mallet away. "And just to make absolutely sure, Pikachu, you stay here. Make sure Ash doesn't do something stupid like trying to climb out the window to catch up with us."

Ash stammered. "What-but-I-I wasn't gonna do that!" he lied.

Pikachu sighed. "Yeah, I understand. Wish I could come with you, but I see I'm needed here. Give my regards to the others, okay?"

Misty nodded. "Oh, and if Togetic comes back, tell her where we're going in case she wants to join us, okay?"

"Right," Pikachu agreed.

"Come on May." Misty grabbed her friend's hand and started pulling her out of the room.

"Um…bye Ash, see you soon," May called as she left the room, hoping he would be all right.

Ash grumbled and crossed his arms. "They don't need to treat me like this. I can take care of myself," he muttered.

Pikachu smiled. "Of course you can. Now just relax and watch television. I'm going to see if the nurse doesn't have anything for us to wait. Just wait here a moment, okay?"

"Okay," Ash said unhappily.

Pikachu hopped off the bed and scampered out the door. Ash quickly threw off the covers and started clambering out of bed. "Oh, and if you even think of getting up, I'll get the nurse in with her giant needle!" the mouse yelled back from the hallway.

Ash swallowed and swiftly crawled back into bed. He had faced the countless forms of fear and certain death in the face innumerable times, but getting a giant hypodermic needle in the rear was a whole other thing altogether.

…

"Remind me why I'm here too, instead of chatting up with that girl sitting next to us in the Battle Dome?" Brock grumbled as he walked alongside Misty, May, Max, and the numerous Pokemon of their group as they made their way through the crowd gathered around the police barricade encircling Emerald Towers.

"Because we came to the Dome to see if Wes was still there so we could tag along in case we could help, but since he must have somehow already heard what was going on and ran off we rounded you and Ash's Pokemon up so we could stand a greater chance against whoever's taken control of the hotel and help Wes out," Misty explained. "And we also managed to convince the tournament officials to delay the match long enough for us to find Wes, help him out, and get him back to the Dome in time for his battle."

"Plus, you were really getting on that one woman's nerves," May added.

"And why did we have to bring Max and Jirachi along?" Brock asked, glancing at the kids. "Isn't this a little dangerous for them?"

"It's far more dangerous to leave them by themselves," May said flatly. "Mom and Dad learned that from experience after every babysitter in town refused to come to our house anymore because they were terrified of what might happen as a result of Jirachi's wish-granting powers. One of them was a giant chocolate Seviper for a whole week." She glared at Max.

"I wished for a shake, not a snake! Blame Jirachi's inability to control his powers!" Max complained, glaring at Jirachi.

"Well…um…I blame Absol for not being a good enough guardian to stop me from using my powers!" Jirachi said quickly.

Absol stared blankly at the both of them. "And I blame both of you for not being responsible enough to actually realize when things are your fault and when they're not. Although I suppose I could set a better example…"

Brock sighed. "Oh well, maybe if we rescue that girl hanging from the side of the building she'll give me a kiss," Brock said hopefully.

Misty rolled her eyes. "And maybe Spoink will fly. I suppose anything's possible."

"I hope Ash won't feel too bad about us having a little adventure without him," commented Latias, back in her Pokemon form.

"He'll be fine," said Bayleef with a shrug. "And if he's not, too bad. He needs to rest, and coming with us is certainly no way to rest."

"Although I can't help but sympathize with him," Charizard added. "It stinks not being able to get up and go out to do stuff. Like this one time I got sick back at the valley and missed out on a whole week of training. I kept trying to get out of the cave to join in, but Charla kept pushing me back in, saying it wasn't safe for me, that I'd exhaust myself trying to train while I was sick. Eventually she had to tie me down to my bed to keep me from leaving."

Crawdaunt sweatdropped. "I hope Pikachu or the nurse won't have to go _that_ far…"

They pushed their way through the crowd and found Jenny was mobilizing her forces. "Okay people, weapons loaded? Pokemon ready?" The cops nodded, brandishing their nightsticks, clubs, hammers, and in some cases tranquilizer guns. The Pokemon flexed their muscles and powered up their attacks, ready for action. "Good! Let's move out!"

"What's going on?" Misty asked one of the other bystanders.

"Ten minutes ago some guy in a blue trench coat came through here and ran inside. Officer Jenny found out he was the Wes guy these crooks want and tried to keep him here so they could bargain with the people inside. But he fought his way free of the cops and ran inside. Now Jenny thinks that since Neo Team Snagem will be occupied dealing with that Wes guy, this might be the police's chance to free the hostages when the bad guys least expect it."

Jenny motioned with her arm for a police Koffing to fly forward. The spherical purple Pokemon floated towards the door, zigzagging slightly to stay out of sight of any goons peeking out the windows, and flattened itself (or tried to) against the wall next to the door. It took a breath, and then flipped through the broken opening in the entrance. There were a few cries of surprise, and then clouds of smog from the Pokemon's gas attacks drifted out of the door even as the ugly music continued to play. "All right!" Jenny hollered, slapping a small rebreather onto her face. "In we go! Move, move, move!" Her troops rushed towards the broken hotel doors, Jenny following behind them when she saw that no stragglers were trying to stay behind.

"Officer Jenny sure looks pretty in her riot armor," Brock said dopily.

"You know, she might get in trouble in there. I hope she'll be all right," Misty said coyly.

Brock gasped. "Oh no! I can't let her get hurt! Jenny my love, I'm coming!" He charged for the door, knocking anyone before him out of the way.

"I pity the poor Snagem who gets in his way," May said, shaking her head. "And now I suppose we go in?"

"Yes," Misty said, drawing her mallet. "Now we go in. Gyarados, watch our backs."

The giant sea serpent nodded. "Wish I could fit in there. Oh well. Just whistle when you need me, got it?"

"Oh, and Max, you stay in the rear too," May added.

Max blinked. "What? Why?"

"Because you're the youngest and most vulnerable. I'll take care of you. Wishmaker, you stay with us too!" Absol commanded.

Jirachi sulked. "Ahhh, it's no fun being in the back!"

"You don't think I should just try to fly up and rescue that girl instead of going in there?" Latias asked, glancing up at the hostage dangling on the rope. It wasn't that she was scared of going in; rather, she was just worried for the female's safety. She wondered who the poor thing was and how she had gotten tangled up in this mess. It was hard to tell from this angle, but Latias thought she caught a glimpse of red hair.

"Even if you went invisible so the guy up there didn't see you, how would you get the bomb off?" Bayleef questioned.

Latias sighed. "I was actually hoping one of you would have an answer to that."

Crawdaunt chuckled. "Nothing to it, Latias! We just have to get to the top, take out the jerk there, and pull the little ol' lady up! Then we'll force the guy to defuse the bomb. Simple!"

"But Uncle Crawdaunt, I thought it was a teenager like Mommy and Daddy, not an old lady," Phanphy said in confusion.

They all sweatdropped. "…Quiet, Phanphy," Crawdaunt grumbled, smacking him lightly with a pincer.

The front windows of the hotel rattled, and the volume of the screams and the music inside increased. "That's our cue! Let's go!" Misty ordered.

As one, they charged through the crowd and towards the doors, cramming inside the broken entryway and entering the building.

…

"What's this?" Sandra Simmons said in surprise. "A group of unidentified trainers and Pokemon has just charged into the building after the police! Who are they, and what do they think they are doing? Are they trying to help the authorities and the hostages inside?"

Ash sighed and took a sip of the chocolate milk the nurse had given him and Pikachu as incentive for staying in bed. "Good luck, guys…"

…

When they dashed into the building, the group of heroes were expecting to see a dramatic melee of epic proportions, valiant police officers and Pokemon engaged in desperate battle against the crooks of Neo Team Snagem and their criminal Pokemon while the hostages cowered against the sidelines, the gas from the Koffing's emissions dimming the lights and blotting out the sunlight filtering through cracks in the blinds lowered over all the windows.

What they actually found could not be further from the truth. The smog and gas had already been emptied from the room by the hotel's advanced air filtration system, and the Koffing, along with all the police officers and Pokemon, were cowering on the ground, wailing and clutching their ears in pain.

A huge silver disco ball hung from the ceiling, rotating and reflecting sparkling lights around the room. A huge stereo system at the back of the room pumped out some awful music while a skin-headed disc jockey worked the controls, bobbing his head to the tune.

The Neo Team Snagem goons and their Pokemon weren't brutalizing the cops or the hostages, who were cowering and screaming in the corners, instead they were _dancing._ All of them, bald male and female humans and assorted Pokemon, most of whom either had some sonic power or dancing ability (Whismur, Roselia, Yanma, Jigglypuff, Bellossom, Vileplume, Jynx, Scyther, Milotic, Spinda, etc.) were doing what looked to be a horrible yet very well-choreographed form of disco. This, combined with the music, as well as the singing coming from some chorus members of the team near the back of the room, was no doubt what was causing everyone to roll around in agony.

Miror B, along with four Ludicolo, hairy dancing pineapples with big sombreros which were the evolved form of Lombre, were in the middle of the room beneath the disco ball, dancing and jiggling around with more intensity than the rest of the Snagems combined. Miror B was without a doubt the most terrifying dancer to look at of them all, and his singing voice, which was the main source of the awful song which combined with the tune being pumped out by the disc jockey that drove the police to their knees. It was only marginally better than Meowth's attack in the Loudrematic before Jigglypuff stole it, but thankfully not as horrible as the Tyranitron's Evolution Wave assault.

The heroes were quickly driven to the ground in pain as Miror B's song and dance moves kicked up a notch, the villainous fiend noticing the newcomers and deciding he needed more power to bring them down as well. A pair of goons closed the broken doors behind them, putting a long stick over the handles to hold the doors shut.

Miror B grinned and sang "Hey now, there's no need to get up.  
I said, hey now, keep yourself on the ground.  
I said, hey now, 'cause you're in my new town  
There's no need to be so happy!"  
The Snagem goons danced over to the police, deliberately stomping on extremities and grabbing Pokeballs from waists with smooth dips that were in perfect sync with the music and rhythm.  
Miror B continued as he twirled about, shaking his head and his hips. "Hey now, there's no place you can go.  
I said, hey now, when you've got plenty of dough.  
You can stay here, and I'm sure you will find  
Many ways to have a bad time!"  
The Snagem goons continued their dance routine, snatching wallets, badges, and weapons from the helpless cops and tossing them into a pile on the side of the room.  
Miror B grinned and stopped, pointing his fingers in the air as the backup singers joined in with the chorus. "It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!  
It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!"  
Another bunch of goons started singing now, dancing in a line behind Miror B.  
"He has everything for us crooks to enjoy,  
You can get picked on by all his boys ... "  
Miror B's Ludicolos twirled about as the chorus sang again.  
"It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!  
It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!"  
Many of the dancers twirled about, shooting out recall beams from the Pokeballs they had stolen from the cops and reclaiming some of the helpless police Pokemon.  
"You can get yourself robbed, you can have a bad time,  
While we can do whatever we feel ..."  
Miror B grinned and started singing solo again as the other dancers receded into the background, his Ludicolo prancing in a circle around him.  
"Hey now, are you listening to me?  
I said, hey now, where do you want to be?  
I said, hey now, you can't escape from here.  
And you got to understand this one thing!"  
He twirled around twice, his shiny clothes reflecting the reflected light from the disco ball and making him look like a shimmering figure of dancing luminance.  
"You can't do anything to save yourselves.  
I said, hey now, just feel bad for youself,  
And stay down there, bow to Miror B!  
There's nothing to do but give in to meeeee!"  
The Snagem Pokemon danced over to our poor heroes now and started attacking them, ripping off Misty's bag and May's waist pack, while punching, kicking, and slapping at the good Pokemon. The chorus started again.  
"It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!  
It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!"  
The goons danced in a line behind Miror B again.  
"He has everything for us crooks to enjoy,  
You can get picked on by all his boys ..."  
Latias gasped as a pair of dancing Hitmonlee kicked her in the ribs while Shroomish jumped up and down on her back.  
"It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!  
It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!"  
As the music and dancing continued, some of the Roselia and other grass Pokemon released petals, which floated around the room and gave off a nice scent and added color to the refracted white light shooting off the disco ball and Miror B's suit. More goons shot out recall beams, sucking the remaining police Pokemon back into their Pokeballs.  
"You can get yourself robbed, you can have a bad time,  
While we can do whatever we feel ..."  
Charizard roared and clawed blindly as some of the crooks yanked on his wings, laughing at his pain. The music wore down his strength, and so he could not tear them to shreds like he so wished he could.

Miror B had started up again. "Hey now, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes.  
I said; you're all down in the dirt and in the blues.  
We don't care if you get out of here alive.  
This music is too tight, there's no escaping this jive ... "  
Miror B bobbed his head and snapped his fingers, and his Ludicolo clapped their hands.  
"People come up and say to me,

Young man, get with it, disco is history.  
But they don't know that I'm Miror B!  
They don't know that what others say is gone doesn't matter to me!"  
The chorus started again, and the Snagem dancers all got together and started rolling over their backs and spinning around on the floor, spin-kicking all the poor people who couldn't fight back.  
"It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!  
It's bad to run into Mi-ro-hor B!"  
Miror B continued singing, doing a handstand which was made easier because his hair was so big it touched the floor and helped hold him up.  
"I have everything for you crooks to enjoy,  
You can get picked on by all my boys..."  
Max cried out as a couple of punks picked him up, stole his glasses, and started flinging them back and forth. Light reflected off the lenses and into his weak eyes, causing him to clench them shut in pain.  
"Mi-ro-hor B ... you'll find pain with Mi-ro-hor B!" the chorus sang.  
Miror B did an incredible spin around the room, the flat soles of his shoes allowing him to easily slide along the floor.  
"All of you, all of you, there's no need to get up.  
All of you, all of you, stay down on the ground!"  
The chorus singers kept on going.  
"Mi-ro-hor B ... you'll find pain with Mi-ro-hor B!"  
Miror B stopped his spin in front of the heroes, leaned over, and picked up Misty with one hand and May by the other, holding them by the collars of their shirts.  
"All of you, all of you, there's no need to get up.  
All of you, all of you, stay down on the ground!"  
The Snagems closed in on the cops and heroes, forming an impenetrable circle around them.  
"Mi-ro-hor B... just give up to Mi-ro-hor B!"  
The afro man chuckled.  
"All of you, all of you, are you listening to me?  
All of you, all of you, what do you think we're gonna do with you?"

Suddenly, the two broken doors smashed open, falling off their hinges and hitting the floor with a slam, letting sunlight in. Miror B and the goons stopped in their tracks, startled. The disc jockey was so surprised he accidentally hit the 'Stop' button on his console. "Wh-what the hey!" Miror B asked in disbelief.

Latias groaned and looked up. "No way…"

"It can't be…" agreed Charizard.

"Looks like it to me," said Crawdaunt, pulling himself up.

May blinked. "Hey, that's my Jigglypuff!"

And indeed it was. But May's Jigglypuff was not alone.

With her, framed by the glorious light shining through the doorway, were Geodude, Onix, Forretress, Jigglypuff (the other one), Mudkip, Lombre, a Torkoal, and a Metang. And the majority of them looked totally ridiculous.

Geodude had a black metal shoulder pad on his right arm with three pronounced ridges. Black metal armbands with orange stripes in the middle wrapped around his wrists. A harness made of four belts, two orange, two black, wrapped around his main body, held together by buckles on the top of his head and his underside. His left shoulder had a black band on it, and a second one just a little bit down his upper arm's length. A pink feathery boa was wrapped around both arms and behind his back. Black makeup had been applied to his face to highlight his eyes, eyebrows, and mouth. He cradled an orange and black electric guitar in his hands.

Jigglypuff had a small golden crescent moon ornament beneath her hair curl, held on by a small chain which wrapped around her upper hemisphere. A gold star was tattooed underneath her left eye, and a pair of teardrop-shaped gold earrings jangled from her cat-shaped ears. She wore a pair of tiny boots and tiny gloves on her nub-like limbs, both hot pink with dark red diamonds surrounded in white lines printed on them, with gold cuffs. She held an actual microphone, although her marker was doubtless somewhere on her body.

May's Jigglypuff had gone for a different look, pushing up her hair curl and holding it there with gel, and ruffling up the hair around the top of her ears to make it somewhat spiky. Black eyeliner highlighted her eyes, and a fake teardrop was painted underneath her right eye. Spiked bands were wrapped around her little arms and legs, and she had, to May's horror, an earring piercing her right ear. Well, actually it was only plastic and didn't really pierce the ear, but the fact that her Pokemon would have been tempted to get an earring at all shocked her.

Forretress and the unknown Metang and Torkoal all had flames, skulls, and flaming skulls painted on their shells, along with roses, rocks, stars, hearts, and other typical rock and roll symbols. The name POKEROCKERS was painted on the front of Forretress' upper shell, in black and gold letters.

Onix could barely fit his head and the end of his tail into the room without hitting the ceiling, but all could see what he had done to himself. His serpentine face had been painted chalk-white with black eyeliner around his eyes and lips. Painted spines radiated from the underside of the eyes, and there were a few water drop symbols around Onix's mouth. His horn had been painted yellow in an attempt to make himself look blond. Spiked bands wrapped around each segment of his body all the way down to his tail, which held a small stick in it.

Lombre and Mudkip were the most normal-looking of them, which was saying something. Lombre had put on a white ruffled shirt with a fluttering red cape and black pants, while Mudkip had put plastic rings around her cheek antenna and painted her head-fin green.

Brock put his face in his hands and wept openly, certain that if any girl ever found out these were his Pokemon (well, most of them) nobody would ever want to date him again. Not that anyone dated him now, but…

Jenny and the police force, the hostages, and Miror B's crew just couldn't stop staring at the bizarre crew standing before them. "What in the name of all that is right and lawful? Is it legal for Pokemon to wear that kind of stuff?" Officer Jenny wondered.

Stunned, Miror B dropped May and Misty. "What…who…who do you think you are?" he stammered after a moment. His Ludicolo army cowered behind him, frightened by the peculiar ways the strange Pokemon had chosen to express their individuality.

"We," said Geodude with a quick riff on his guitar. "Are the Pokerockers, the world's first all-Pokemon rock band!"

"And we have come," said Onix, drumming his stick on the shells of Metang, Torkoal, and Forretress several times, each shell ringing with a different sound that combined to create an awesome tune. "To rock your world!"

Miror B had no idea of what they were saying, but still managed to catch the gist from their actions. "Oh, so it's a battle of the bands you want, huh? Well, let the music-"

He was cut off as Onix smacked Forretress' behind with his tail, causing the barnacle Pokemon to close up his shell and spin through the air, smashing into the stereo set in the back of the room and causing it to cave in. The disc jockey screamed and ran out of the way as the two speaker towers collapsed on his console, exploding in a shower of sparks and fire. Miror B's jaw dropped in disbelief.

Jigglypuff laughed. "You call that music?" She snapped her fingers (despite not actually having any) and the windows to either side of the door smashed open as a pair of Loudred, one male and one female, leaped into the room. Geodude pulled the end of a cable out from the back of his guitar, and flung it at the Loudred on the left. The cable entered a hole in the Pokemon's back, plugging in with a click. Jigglypuff pulled the end of a cable out from the bottom of her microphone and plugged it into a two-headed wire adapter which the smaller Jigglypuff had already plugged her microphone into. She then threw the end of the cable coming out of the adapter at the other Loudred, plugging it into the hole on that one's back too. "You want real music? Here we go!" she said into her microphone, which was amplified by the Loudred's speakers and echoed through the room.

Before the startled Snagems could come to their senses and attack, Onix started drumming a quick few notes on his three 'drum' Pokemon, followed immediately by Geodude jamming on his guitar. The notes were loud and powerful, and caused the crooks to clutch their ears in pain as their high-tech earphones started malfunctioning.

Jigglypuff held her microphone to her face and started singing. _"They fall in line, one at a time, ready to play!"_

_"I can't see them anyway,"_ the younger Jigglypuff chorused.

_"No time to lose, we've got to move, steady your hand!"_

_"I am losing sight again," _the young one followed up.

"Wow," said an amazed Corsola, who had been silent for most of the adventure so far. "They don't sound bad."

"No," agreed an equally amazed Misty. "No, they don't."

Geodude started rocking harder on his guitar as Jigglypuff sang, _"Fire your guns! It's time to run! Blow me away!"_

_"I will stay unless I may!"_ her backup singer joined in.

The earphones on the Snagger's heads spat sparks and, one by one, exploded, unable to take the hard-core tones of the Pokerocker's song, so used were they to Miror B's awful disco tunes. Ears ringing, they staggered about in a daze. Their Pokemon were equally confused, unsure what to do in the face of actually good music.

_"After the fall, we'll shake it off, show me the way!"_ Jigglypuff continued.

She and her smaller counterpart put their backs together and in unison sang, _"Only the strongest will survive! Lead me to heaven when we die! I have a shadow on the wall; I'll be the one to save us all!"_

"I can't believe this!" Jenny said in disbelief as she picked herself up. "All they had to do was play a song and they've virtually incapacitated Neo Team Snagem!"

May shrugged. "I guess that's the power of music for you."

"Just like the power of your beauty has incapacitated my heart!" Brock said, rushing over to Jenny.

Misty and Max grabbed Brock's ears on either side of his head and quickly dragged him away from the confused Jenny. "If you don't watch it, she'll not only incapacitate you but incarcerate you," Misty grumbled as they pulled the horny teen to a safe distance away from the cop.

Geodude finished a quick but awesome guitar solo, and Jigglypuff went back to projecting her wonderful voice across the room. _"There's nothing left, so save your breath, lying in wait!"_

_"Caught inside this tidal wave!"_

"With the crooks confused by the song, we can apprehend them easily!" Jenny realized, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. "All officers, cuffs out! Let's nab these crooks and get our things back!" The other cops pulled out their own handcuffs and went about chasing down the Snaggers.

"We should help too," Bayleef suggested. The others nodded and they got to work, tackling errant crooks and Pokemon to knock them over, catching them in a vine whip hold, knocking them unconscious with bursts of water or fire or psychic energy, or generally just beating them to a pulp to make it easier for the cops to do their job.

_"Your cover's blown, nowhere to go, holding your fate!"_ Jigglypuff sang.

_"Knowing that I will walk alone,"_ May's Balloon Pokemon added.

Miror B tore out small chunks of his afro. "Noooo! Mah music! Mah private dance club! It's all ruined!" he wailed as he saw his thugs getting handcuffed or recalled to their Pokeballs around them.

"Hey, how come you aren't confused like the others?" May asked.

Miror B patted the mass of hair atop his head. "Mah 'fro insulates mah ears from this brain-melting rock music! Same with mah little friends!" he said, gesturing to his Ludicolo.

Geodude and Onix amped up their playing as Jigglypuff howled, _"Fire your guns! It's time to run! Blow me awaaayyyy!"_

_"I will stay unless I may,"_ the younger Jigglypuff replied.

Charizard stomped up, cracking his knuckles. "Let's see if your hair insulates your heiney from some ass-whooping, music man!"

"Yeah!" agreed Crawdaunt as he scuttled up, snapping his claws.

"You're a bad man! We're taking you down!" Phanphy declared; blowing his trunk and making a trumpeting sound as his friends joined him.

Jigglypuff kept on going, all but oblivious to the action around her and her band. _"After the fall, we'll shake it off, show me the way!"_

Miror B swallowed hard as Misty, brandishing her mallet, as well as the ominous growling figure of Absol with Max and Jirachi behind him joined the party. "Uh oh…looks like it's time for Miror B to split!" He started making various somewhat lame martial arts wannabe moves with his fists and feet. "Super secret ancient Showlinn special technique!" He froze in a pose on one foot with the other held up before him, knee bent, his arms extended to either side of him. Everyone tensed, ready for whatever attack he was planning. "RUN AWAY!" He flung his cane at Charizard, bopping him in the snout, and ran screaming.

"Hey, wait for us, boss mon!" One of the Ludicolo cried. The four dancing pineapples shambled after their boss. Everyone sweatdropped.

Jigglypuff and Jigglypuff went back-to-back and began another duet. _"Only the strongest will survive! Lead me to heaven when we die! I have a shadow on the wall; I'll be the one to save us all!"_ They took a deep breath, and then screamed, _"You wanted it back!"_ Both Loudred, Onix, Geodude, and the drums grunted several times, and then Geodude moved into the fore while the two Jigglypuffs backed away and started a spine-melting guitar solo while Onix pounded hard on the drums, the floating Rock Pokemon making low, deep howls now and then.

Miror B and his Ludicolo posse ran for the elevators. But when they were only a few feet away from the metal doors, Lombre dropped down before them, a hand facing towards them, palm out. "_Alto!_ You go no further, _diabolica malacantante!_"

"Wha!" Miror B cried, startled.

Lombre pulled off his cape and hurled it at the evil quintet, blocking their view of him for a moment. Then he conjured two big handfuls of Razor Leaves and threw them forward one at a time in rapid succession.

The numerous bladed leaves punctured the cape, leaving many holes in it as they flew towards Miror B and his Ludicolo. The singer gasped and held his arms up to shield himself…only for the leaves to pass by without touching him in the slightest. After a moment of not feeling any searing pain, he opened his eyes and blinked a few times as Lombre's ruined cape fluttered to the ground. "Ha!" He laughed, pointing at the Lily Pad Pokemon.

That's when all the hair on his Ludicolo, his afro, their sombreros, and all of his clothing shredded to pieces, leaving them totally naked aside from Miror B's underpants. The Snagem admin gasped and reached upwards, clawing at the air. "M-Mah afro! _YOU DESTROYED MAH AFRO!"_ He burst into tears and fell to his knees, spreading his arms in a gesture of uttermost surrender to fate. "Ah'm ru-hu-hu-ined!" he sobbed as Officer Jenny handcuffed him.

His Ludicolo burst into tears as well. "Wh-where did you learn such masterful blade craft!" one of them cried in disbelief.

"I watch cable television and lots of old movies, _vosotros regordete pinas!_" Lombre taunted. Ashamed and embarrassed, the four Ludicolo returned to their Pokeballs, which were now lying on the ground around the remnants of Miror B's belt, too humiliated to show their faces to the rest of the world.

"That was great, Lombre!" Mudkip complimented. "Too bad about your cape, though…"

Lombre shrugged. "It is, how you say, not a problem. There are always more capes to be found, _senorita_." He bent over and pecked her lightly on the forehead. "But of you, there is only _uno._" She blushed, which caused the spikes on her cheeks to turn red.

Geodude's solo ended, and the Jigglypuffs started the last verse of their song. _"Only the strongest will survive! Lead me to heaven when we die! I have a shadow on the wall; I'll be the one to save us allllllllll!"_ The younger Jigglypuff had stopped singing on the last word, allowing the senior Puff to hit the long note as Geodude kicked up a notch on his guitar playing once again. _"Save us all!"_ Jigglypuff cried one last time as Onix beat the drums a few more times, and then Geodude finished the performance with a final strum on his guitar so powerful it caused every window in the hotel lobby to shatter, destroying the blinds and letting the light shine in on the beaten and confused members of Neo Team Snagem.

"Yeah! Peace out!" Onix roared, sticking out a stony tongue.

There was a burst of applause, and the band turned around to see that all of the anxious bystanders on the street were clapping and cheering for an encore. The Pokerockers' hearts buoyed and they looked at each other with pride and grinned, their first performance nothing less than an absolute success.

"Well, that was actually kind of cool," Latias said, impressed. "And this is from a girl who was told to stay _away_ from rock music growing up."

"They really weren't that bad, were they? Maybe I should look into forming my own band…" Crawdaunt muttered.

"Why you don't just ask to join theirs?" Corsola asked.

Crawdaunt snorted. "What, and share all the glory? No way!"

"I wanna be a rock star when I grow up!" Phanphy cried.

"Me too!" added Max, who had gotten his glasses back.

"Me three!" included Jirachi.

"Wishmaker, I don't think you can grow up. You've been a child for as long as I've known you," Absol pointed out.

Jirachi sulked. "Oh."

"But on the other hand, you'll never grow up to be a boring stuffy old adult," Max pointed out.

"Yay!" Jirachi cheered.

"What is my Jigglypuff doing with them!" May asked, fuming.

"It looked like she was singing to me," Misty said. "And not badly, either."

"Well, yes, she sang well, but what was she doing mixed up with them in the first place!"

"There's something wrong with her freely choosing to join a rock band to express her individuality?" Misty asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I…well…" May sputtered, a pained and desperate expression on her face. "She could have at least asked my permission first!"

"Since when did she _need _to ask your permission to do something?" Misty asked, getting a little frustrated.

"Well…um…" May sighed and gave up, seeing no way to win this argument. "Oh, forget it."

Brock, meanwhile, was curled up on the ground under a cloud of sadness. "sob This is so unfair!"

"What's wrong?" Misty asked. "Aren't you going over to congratulate them?"

"Congratulate them? I can't be associated with them!" Brock wailed.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Oh, not you too!"

"No, I'm proud of them for forming a rock band!" Brock protested. "But now I can't get pride from being their trainer, because nobody will believe a loser like me could possibly have Pokemon that cool! The women will lose all interest in me whatsoever!"

"They were interested in you to begin with?" May asked mildly. Brock simply sobbed and rolled over.

The aforementioned band, the Pokerockers, finished with their fans for the moment, pushed their way through the group of cops leading the captured Snagem goons outside. "Hey guys!" Jigglypuff called.

"Hey yourself! That was some nice work!" Charizard complimented. "I'm amazed that for once, you actually saved our butts, Jigglypuff!"

Jigglypuff sweatdropped. "I'm pretty sure I've saved your lives several times before."

"Yes, but usually by putting us to sleep. And more often than not you've made things worse," Bayleef pointed out. "But this time, you saved us without putting anyone to sleep! You were great!"

Glad to finally receive some of the praise she deserved, Jigglypuff beamed. "Thanks, Bayleef! But we never would have done it in the first place if we hadn't been practicing and seen you guys rush in on the news report. After we saw that awful Miror B when he first showed up, we knew you guys wouldn't have a chance against him, so we thought we'd give you a hand using the power of music! The fact that we could also make a big debut on international television in the process is purely coincidental."

"So May, what did you think of my singing?" the younger Jigglypuff asked.

May started. "Well…I…" Misty glanced at her. May sighed. "It was good. Very good. But I wish you had told me you were going to join the band beforehand! Then I wouldn't have been so shocked when I saw you like…like this!"

The Jigglypuff blinked. "But I did tell you I was joining the band."

May stared. "You did?"

"Yeah, last night at dinner. I asked if you if I could join. And you said, 'Sure, fine, whatever.' So I did."

May sweatdropped, recalling that she had indeed told that to Jigglypuff the night before. But she hadn't really been paying attention to the question, because she was too busy trying to fend Crawdaunt away from her dinner with fork and knife. "I suppose I did at that…" May muttered.

Geodude, Onix, and Forretress joined their two bandmates who hadn't performed and found Brock in his fetal position. "Hey, what's wrong with him? We just wanted to get some props from our main man!" Geodude asked.

Crawdaunt rolled his eyes. "Inferiority complex. Thinks because you guys are so cool, nobody'll believe he's your trainer so no chicks will dig him."

"Oh," the five said.

"Sad thing is, he's right," Mudkip said sadly.

Lombre nodded. "_Si_, yes, Brock is, how you say…a good trainer, but a major dork."

"So what's with these new guys?" Latias asked, coming over.

"Oh, we figured we needed to expand our group a little, so we recruited a few new band members," the older Jigglypuff explained. She pointed to the Torkoal and Metang. "These are Iron Shell and Metal Sound. They're our new drums, so Forretress doesn't have to take all the beating."

"Thank goodness for that," Forretress murmured.

"Yo," said the Torkoal.

"Whazzup, mah bizzatches?" said the Metang, pointing his index fingers at Latias and Bayleef and winking. They stared in confusion.

"And those two Loudred are our amplifiers," Jigglypuff continued. "They're named Amp and Meg." The two loud Pokemon waved. "And my younger co-singer you already know. We've also got a Machoke and a Vigoroth for bodyguards, and an Aggron who carries our heavy stuff around."

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys," Charizard said, inclining his head. "You really helped us out back there! But…" He scratched his head. "Why didn't you just use your giant robot?"

"Don't you watch TV?" Jigglypuff asked. "Nobody but bad guys use giant robots to pick on the little people! You only use giant robots for big things, like fighting humongous monsters or other giant robots! For us, we just need it for our big concerts. If we had used the Exploudrematic here for our first performance, we could have destroyed the entire building! And that would have been counter-productive, wouldn't it?"

"Would've been cool to see, but she has a point," Crawdaunt agreed.

Officer Jenny walked over, dragging the broken man that was Miror B. "On the behalf of the police force of Ever Grande City, I'd like to personally thank you for your assistance. Who would have thought a rock and roll band would actually help out the 'man' for a change?" she joked.

"But she's a woman," Phanphy observed in confusion. Everyone ignored him.

"Ah, it's no problem Officer J," Geodude said proudly. "We'll do anything to help friends!"

Close proximity to Jenny seemed to revive Brock. "And I'll do _anything_ to help you, Officer Jenny!" he said, startling her. "Although I don't suppose that anything includes kissing you, does it?"

Misty and Max grabbed him by the ears and pulled him away. "The only thing you're going to kiss that'll appreciate it is your pillow," the red-haired maiden said.

"Which you do constantly in your sleep, moaning 'Jenny', 'Joy', or some other name," Max pointed out.

Jenny frowned, seeming to truly notice the heroes for the first time. "Who _are _you people anyway?"

"Just some concerned trainers, hoping to help out," Misty told her.

"Well, I appreciate it, but this really is no place for civilians," Jenny said with a shake of her head.

"But they're civilians, and they helped subdue Miror B and his minions," May said, pointing to the Pokerockers.

"She's got you there, Officer," agreed Jigglypuff.

Jenny sweatdropped. "Well, I suppose that's true…"

"And we helped your officers capture the Snagem goons. Some of them might have escaped if we hadn't knocked them out," Misty added.

Jenny sighed. "All right, I admit that your help may have been indispensable in this instance-" Jenny started.

"And we've also had lots of experience with other criminal organizations-" Misty interrupted.

Jenny held up a hand. "Enough! I get your point. You can stay and help if you want, but I will not hold responsibility for your safety, understand? If you get hurt trying to play do-gooder, it's your own fault!"

"Yes ma'am," they chorused.

Jenny held up Miror B. "Now, I want you to talk. What are you people doing here? What do you want?"

"And what does that Wes guy have to do with anything?" Max asked.

With the loss of his afro and his dignity, Miror B had no problem with spilling everything. "Wes is an old 'friend' of ours. Ah used to be an admin of Cipher back in the old days when it operated in Orre. Then Wes shut it down, as well as our front operation Team Snagem, and all of us went to prison. Evice, Nascour, and Ein, the two leaders of Cipher and one of the chief scientists, managed to escape and infiltrate Team Rocket to resurrect Cipher while leaving the rest of us admins to rot. But Gonzap, who had led Team Snagem, restarted his gang, pulling in plenty of ex-Cipher goons who had avoided the cops, and broke us out of jail. He took us in where our old boss didn't, and we owe him for that. He promised us revenge against Wes, so we were eager to help out, naturally. We heard through the grapevine he was heading for Ever Grande City for the tournament here, so we thought we'd drop by and pay him a visit. We weren't expecting that jerk Nascour to throw that giant attack robot at the city…that scared us and pushed our plans back a day or two. But then we got our nerve back up and managed to trick his girlfriend into an ambush so we could capture her. Then we took over this hotel so we could get his attention and have him…and something else he was that we want…right where we want him!"

"Where is Wes now?" Misty asked.

"He's already headed up to see Gonzap, the boss. Heh…the boss said we could take our turn with Wes after he's through with him. Guess Ah've missed my chance, though…you can go after him if you want, but Ah'm not the only former Cipher admin Gonzap broke out of jail. The other two are upstairs, also holding hostages. You may have been able to beat me, but Ah'd like to see you get past the others!"

"We're the Ever Grande police department," Jenny said confidently. "We can handle it. And if we can't our city's superheroes can!"

Miror B snorted. "What, you mean those colorful freaks and that sissy girly-man with the mask, and the two who are obviously a disguised Nurse Joy and _you_, Officer Jenny?"

"You mean Soldier Wisdom? I admit there _is_ some slight resemblance," Jenny admitted. "But she's no relation of mine, I'm certain. And I have faith in the heroes. Mr. Ford personally backs them, they're the result of his Hero project to empower teens to take out crooks like you."

"They didn't do so well against that giant robot a few days ago," Miror B pointed out. "And mah groovy tunes beat those Ass Rangers pretty easily, wouldn't you say?"

"No comment," Jenny said. She tossed Miror B to a couple of her subordinates. "Take him away!"

"Oh well," Miror B said with a sigh as he was dragged off. "Maybe ah can see about starting mah live broadcasts from prison again. Ah've always wanted to host a fitness program…"

"The Hoenn Region maximum security prison doesn't have television, bub," grunted one of the cops.  
"Dang!" Miror B said angrily as he was taken outside.

"I thought the Hoenn region maximum security prison has been closed off and put under investigation because all the guards and inmates mysteriously vanished," Misty said, recalling something she had seen on the news last night. "Including the captured Team Cipher or Rocket or whatever they call themselves agents." She was somewhat worried about the possibility of them still being on the loose.

"Yes, but Miror B doesn't know that. So, do you still intend to help out?" Jenny asked.

"With all my heart!" Brock cried, trying to get close to her but being restrained by Max pulling on one ear.

Jenny nodded. "Good. From what Miror B has said, there are two more 'admins' in the building, and each of them is holding hostages. Recon outside has spotted criminal activity on the fifth and fifteenth floor lounges. Those must be where the hostages are."

"So let's go get them!" Jirachi said enthusiastically.

"They'll be expecting elevators, so we'll take the stairs," Jenny decided. "My men and I will take the lead. Stay behind us and don't do anything rash or foolishly courageous if it isn't necessary. Do I make myself clear?"

"Ah, but I like doing stuff that's rash and foolishly courageous!" Crawdaunt complained.

"Do what the nice police officer says," Corsola told the lobster. "She's a professional. She knows what she's doing."

"Well I'm a professional too," Crawdaunt grumbled.

"At what?" Latias asked.

"At busting heads!"

The other Pokemon rolled their eyes, but Phanphy smiled and said, "You sure are, Uncle Crawdaunt!"

"Do you guys want to come too?" Bayleef asked the Pokerockers.

Jigglypuff shook her head. "No thanks, I've done enough heroism for one day."

"Yeah, plus we've got all these new fans waiting for us outside, and I think I saw a reporter or two," Geodude explained.

"This could be just what we need to let the world know about us! Seeing us on public television will show Pokemon everywhere just what they're capable of! We'll use our music to unite the world! Or something to that extent," Forretress said.

"And, uh…" Onix sweatdropped. "I barely managed to crawl in here. I won't be able to get into that stairwell without smashing down the door and probably breaking a lot of stairs with my weight. And since we're staying here, it really wouldn't do to cause too much more property damage to the place, right? Plus I don't want to get billed for it all…"

"I'd come too, but I need to stay with the band," May's Jigglypuff explained apologetically. "You know, so everyone knows there isn't just _one_ singer in this group. Sorry May."

May sighed "No, its okay. Follow your dream…although I thought you wanted to be a contest winner."

The Jigglypuff nodded. "I did and I do. But being a rock star isn't a bad alternative, and I'm sure what I learn here can be used in contests and stuff, right?"

"Okay…" May bent down and hugged her Pokemon. "Go out and have fun in the big, bad world of rock and roll, then. Just stay away from drugs, okay?"

"We actually plan to write a song about that, don't we Mudkip?" the senior Jigglypuff asked the band's songwriter. "What was it called again?"

"It doesn't have a name yet, and I'm not done writing it. But the finished lyrics will be something along the lines of, 'Drugs, Rare Candy, Steroids and things that send you around the bend, they may make you a winner at first but you lose it all in the end.' It's a work in progress," the Mud Fish explained.

The team said their goodbyes to the Pokerockers, who then went out to meet their public. Brock would have said farewell too, but he was too busy feeling sorry for himself again for not being as cool as his Pokemon. Jenny quickly organized her remaining free officers, which were about a dozen or so. They had already reclaimed their stolen items and Pokeballs from the crooks, so they were good to go. After making sure one more time that the heroes wanted to come, Jenny led her not-quite-crack team into the stairwell and up towards the fifth floor, where the next evil administrator of Neo Team Snagem awaited their arrival.

…

May panted and stopped for a moment, holding up the rest of the line filing up the stairs behind her. "Remind me why we had to take the stairs again?"

"Because if we took the elevators, they'd know we were coming," Jenny called back down. "We managed to capture Miror B and his goons before any of them could send up a call for help so they won't expect us. This way, we can take them by surprise!"

"Oh." May had known that, but the long, slow climb up five flights had put her in a mood to complain. At least they were nice stairs though, they were covered with red carpet and the walls were painted a nice calming shade of green, with pictures of emerald-hued Pokemon lining the walls.

"Ah, quit whining sis, this isn't so bad!" Max said, not in the least bit winded.

"That's because you're riding on my back," Absol growled. "Get off." Max quickly complied.

Charizard grunted, his wings fluttering slightly. "It's too cramped in here. I'd fly up if this space weren't so tight and winding!"

"Don't worry, we're almost there," Latias assured him.

"Great! Then we can get down to some serious ass-whupping! And by that, I mean we will kick their asses, instead of us ourselves getting whupped like we did downstairs," Crawdaunt explained quickly.

Corsola rolled her eyes. "I think we all understood that, Crawdaunt. You didn't need to give that much exposition."

"I was just trying to make sure everyone understood where I'm coming from," the lobster iterated.

Jenny held a hand up, stopping the row of police and heroes behind her. "We're here," she said, pointing to a door with a big number 5 painted on it on a landing. "The fifth floor."

One of the cops moved silently past her and put his ear to the door. After a moment, he glanced at Jenny. "Nothing."

"Okay," Jenny whispered. "Evans, Johnson, take the lead. Burst into the room and get their attention and we'll come in right behind you."

"Yes ma'am," the two chosen officers said with a quick salute.

"Oh! Can I go too, Officer Jenny?" Brock asked rather loudly from behind Jenny, startling the police commander and causing her to yelp and jump half an inch off the ground.

"Wha…how did you get up…" She stammered for a moment, and then sighed, pinching her nose and trying to keep her temper under control. "You know what? Fine. Go ahead."

The officer who had been listening at the door backed away, and Brock, Evans and Johnson tensed, reaching for their Pokeballs with one hand and clutching their thick nightsticks in the other. Those who had nightsticks that is, all Brock had was his Golbat.

"Everyone ready?" Jenny quietly asked, looking back down the stairwell. All nodded. "Okay. Johnson, Evans, and the annoying horny guy, go!"

Brock, Johnson and Evans kicked the door open and ran inside, wailing…and immediately got clotheslined by a pair of thick arms from a couple of extremely buff bodybuilders standing on either side of the door on the other side. Brock was punched in the gut by another bodybuilder, causing him to double over in pain.

Jenny came in just a second behind them, with the rest of the cops following her and stopped in her tracks with a gasp, staring at all the extremely bald and muscular humans in Neo Team Snagem uniforms and their equally powerful-looking Pokemon waiting for them. "It's a trap!" She immediately reached for a Pokeball on her belt.

"Not a chance, lady!" said the largest of them all with a chuckle. "Golem, Rollout attack!"

The large spherical boulder Pokemon next to him grunted, curled into a ball, and rolled forward straight towards Jenny and the other cops standing in the doorway.

"Retreat!" the police chief cried, turning to run back down the stairs. Her fellow officers, as unwilling as she was to get crushed by a giant boulder, went before her, yelling at their teammates to run for it as they rushed back down the stairs. But before they got too far, the boulder smashed into them, flinging them against the walls and knocking them out. Jenny managed to avoid this fate by plastering herself against the wall as the Golem rolled past, but she was not out of danger yet. A burly arm grabbed her on the shoulder and pulled her back into the lounge before she could cry out for help, closing the door shut behind them.

"What's the holdup? Aren't we going in?" Charizard asked. They were too far down the line to know just yet that there was a Golem rolling down the stairs towards them.

Then they heard some of the cops further up the line shouting "Retreat! Retreat! It's a trap!" right before the Golem steamrolled them and kept on going down the stairs.

It took a second for these words to register in the minds of those who heard them and made them realize they had to run, but unfortunately that second was one moment too long. The giant rolling boulder that was Golem came down the stairs just then, knocking all the cops in its path away like so many bowling pins, flattening them against the walls or hurling them down the stairs, causing them to knock down other cops like dominos.

The humans of the group cried out as the boulder Golem was about to roll into them…until a wall of psychic force, instinctively projected by Latias and Jirachi, appeared in its path, blocking it. The boulder continued to spin, grinding against the barrier, unwilling to accept that anything could stop it. Latias and Jirachi started sweating from the strain of keeping up the shield in the face of the Golem's surprising level of strength.

"Allow me to handle this!" Charizard declared, spreading his wings. He charged up the stairs, causing everyone to quickly get out of his way and giving him a clear path to the Golem. Startled, Latias and Jirachi dropped the shield as Charizard approached, letting the boulder roll down towards him. Charizard used his momentum to spin around, striking the Golem with his tail using all his considerable strength.

The boulder rocketed back up the stairs, arcing through the air and skimming the roof, before smashing into a wall at the nearby landing, imbedding itself firmly. The Golem uncurled, its head popping out of its stony shell, eyes swirling and stars spinning around its head.

Everyone was amazed by Charizard's display of strength. "Wow! That was amazing!" Bayleef said.

"Do it again! Do it again!" Phanphy and Jirachi cheered.

"Hmmph, I could do that too," Crawdaunt grumbled. "If I really wanted to."

"Heh, piece of cake!" Charizard said, stretching his arm muscles. "We do rolling boulder training all the time back at the valley! Heck, I even did a little yesterday too on that rock that's named after a dragon but doesn't look a thing like one!"

"Too bad we weren't closer to the front," May said, shaking her head. "Or maybe we could have done that sooner and spared all these poor police officers their suffering." It really was a sorry sight, seeing some of Ever Grande City's finest lying prone all along the stair's length, moaning in pain and twitching occasionally.

"Maybe I could try healing them?" Latias offered.

"We could, but that would take a while and might tire you out," Misty pointed out. "And we need to save those hostages and get to Wes before Gonzap or whatever his name is does something like dropping that girl-could it have been Rui?- off the side of the building or blows her up!"

A scream echoed down the stairwell. "That sounded like Officer Jenny!" Bayleef gasped. "It sounded like she's in trouble, we've gotta help her!"

Charizard walked a ways up the stairs. "Stand back! I'm taking the lead! Anything else that's coming down these stairs has to go through me first! No more sneak attacks or boulders, if they want to take down the Tauros, they're gonna have to do it directly, by the horns!"

"But big Brother, you're a Charizard, not a Tauros," Phanphy pointed out. "Did you get confused and forget what kind of Pokemon you are? That happened to me one time, and I thought I was a Squirtle and tried to breathe underwater and almost drowned!"

Charizard facefaulted while almost everyone else just sweatdropped. "I wish I could breathe underwater too," Max said sadly.

"Okay!" Jirachi said brightly as the eye on his chest started glowing.

"No!" May cried.

"Wishmaker, stop!" Absol howled, pouncing at his charge.

But it was too late. There was a flash of light, and suddenly Max had gills growing out of his neck. "Wow, cool!" Max said ecstatically, touching the new slits on his throat.

Phanphy sulked. "Some people have all the luck," he said unhappily.

"Now I can breathe underwater and-" Max cut off in mid-sentence with a choke, falling to his knees and clutching his neck. His mouth opened and closed, making gasping noises as the new gills on his neck fluttered and his face turned blue.

Jirachi looked confused. "What's wrong with him?"

"You idiot!" Crawdaunt roared. "Now that he has gills, his lungs aren't capable of breathing air like the rest of us! If he's not submerged in water, he'll die!" Everyone gasped.

"Jirachi, if my brother dies because of you, I'll kill you!" May promised angrily.

"And even if I'm angry at you, I'm still your protector, so I'll have to savage and possibly kill her to stop her from harming you! Do you really want both of their lives on your conscience, Wishmaker?"

Jirachi sweatdropped. "Oooops."

Misty reached for her Pokeballs. "Crawdaunt, Corsola, train your Water attacks on his neck! Maybe if we keep up streams of water from my other Pokemon, we can keep his gills immersed long enough to breathe until we can find a fish tank or bathtub!"

"No, wait!" Jirachi said as Crawdaunt aimed his pincers and Corsola inhaled. "I can fix this!" As Max writhed on the floor, turning various interesting shades of color, Jirachi tensed, screwing up his face in concentration. He gritted his teeth and clenched two of his eyes shut, while his wings and tail stiffened. The eye on his chest flashed…

And where Max had been choking now sat a small rock with a pair of glasses perched on it and a Pokenav leaning against the side.

Everyone stared at the rock for a moment in confusion. "Where'd Max go?" Phanphy asked in bewilderment.

"Yeah Jirachi, did you teleport him somewhere and switch him with a rock?" Misty asked.

Jirachi blinked all four of his eyes. "Um…no, I think that _is_ Max. I must have turned him into a rock by mistake."

"A ROCK!" May screamed.

"Well, it could be considered an improvement," Charizard noted. "Now he won't always be getting around underfoot unless you trip on him, and he won't always be whining or blathering on about unimportant trivia nobody cares about. Or bothering Latias by examining her with a magnifying glass," he added quickly, seeing Bayleef was about to slap him with a vine whip. "You know how annoying that gets, even if he doesn't do it that often anymore!"

"…You have a point," Bayleef admitted.

"I don't know," Latias said, shaking her head. "Yeah, he was a little annoying, but…well, there were times _I_ wished my brother would turn into a rock too, and we were really close! But it would have been terrible if that had actually happened. We have to get him back to normal right away!"

"Change him back right now!" May repeated, clenching her fists and eliciting a slight growl from Absol.

"Okay, okay! Give me a sec!" Jirachi stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth and tensed up again, clenching his eyes shut, stiffening his tail and wings, and pointing his palms at the inert rock that had been his best friend. "Nnng…" He trembled all over. "Nnnnng…" Sweat rolled down his face from underneath his giant hat. The wish tags fluttered, agitated by the psychic energies Jirachi was summoning. "NNNNNGGGG…" The eye on his chest glowed. The building started to shake slightly, causing everyone to almost lose their balance from surprise. And then…

There was a 'phhhht' noise. Jirachi blushed. "Oops. Excuse me!"

There were various reactions of disgust from the group as a result of this. Charizard's tail flame flared up momentarily. Bayleef hid her nose beneath her leaf and inhaled its sweet scent. Misty gagged and waved at the air in front of her face. Absol, who had the best sense of smell of them all, glared at Jirachi and shook his face in disappointment and disgust. Only Phanphy seemed pleased, despite having such a tremendous nose of his own. "Nice one, Jirachi! That one's really stinky!"

"Blech!" Latias gagged, sticking out her tongue. "Jirachi, what have you been eating?"

"Umm…" Jirachi twiddled his thumbs. "Garbage."

"Again!" Absol asked angrily. "I forbade you to go anywhere near trash cans and dumpsters, Wishmaker!" He glared at May. "I blame you for this, human!"

"Wha-me!" May asked in disbelief.

"Yes, you! You and your Munchlax!" Absol accused. "That fat scavenger is a bad influence on the Wishmaker! You know how impressionable he is, he sees something others say is good and he wants to try it! Munchlax loves digging in trash, so the Wishmaker decides to try it too! You need to keep a stricter control over that Munchlax!"

May put her hands on her hips. "Well if you're so critical, why don't you actually lift a finger and stop Jirachi when he's doing stupid things! You're a Dark-type and his guardian!"

Absol growled. "First off, while I am his guardian, I can't fly so it's not easy for me to stop him when he's doing something while floating in midair. Second, he's so damn exuberant it's nearly impossible for me to keep up with him. Third, I may be Dark, but that doesn't seem to do a thing to dampen his powers! And finally, are you not your brother's keeper as well? I do the best I can to keep my charge safe, but how can I do that when you let your brother run around bothering people and doing whatever he wishes, influencing the Wishmaker to do the same and often grant the stupid wishes! You may accuse me of being a poor guardian for the Wishmaker since I can't stop him from using his powers, but you also could do something to keep Max from foolishly saying or doing something that triggers those unfathomable powers instead of being painfully too late to stop his idiotic wishes from being granted and wreaking havoc and chaos everywhere around them! Don't point fingers at others if you're just as guilty as they are!"

May stammered. "Well…I…" She snapped her mouth shut, unable to think of a good response to that argument

"Guys, please don't fight!" Jirachi pleaded, floating between the two of them. "Look, my powers come and go. Right now, they're gone. They'll be back later. When they do, I can change Max back to normal. Definitely. For sure. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully…"

"Well, what am I supposed to do with him until then!" May asked, frustrated.

"You could use him as a paperweight," Crawdaunt suggested. "Or a doorstop."

"Or you could throw him at people you don't like, that usually works," Charizard added. Bayleef whacked him on the head with a vine. "Ow!"

May sighed, bent over, and carefully picked up the rock, careful not to dislodge the glasses. "I'm really not looking forward to explaining this to Mom and Dad," she said sadly. She pulled the glasses off and stuffed the rock into her waist pack. She then folded the glasses and put them in a smaller pocket, along with the Pokenav. "There. You should be safe in there for now, Max." She patted the side of the pack reassuringly.

"Aunt Latias, why is she talking to the rock?" Phanphy asked Latias. "It's a rock. It can't hear her."

"She's talking more to herself than to Max," Latias explained. "She's trying to reassure herself. This way, she can continue to hope that Max is okay even if he is a rock, and that he can be changed back to normal."

"Ohhhh," Phanphy said, nodding in understanding.

They heard another scream. "Ah man, that sounds real bad!" Charizard said, starting up the stairs again. "Come on-we gotta move!" He started running up the steps three at a time, his large feet helping him find purchase as he moved quickly. His comrades followed behind him, steeling themselves for whatever they might face in the fifth-floor lounge. Crawdaunt paused on the way up to pinch one of the dazed Golem's toes, causing it to yelp in pain and hop on one foot, losing its balance and making it trip and fall down the stairs, screaming as it rolled all the way down to the bottom. Crawdaunt chuckled and caught up with the others.

They weren't ready.

They ran through the door and stared agog at the spectacle before them.

Brock was laid out on a glass coffee table, his clothes pulled off, as extremely burly Fighting Pokemon tickled him. His raucous laughter occasionally rose to such a high pitch that it sounded like a feminine scream, which had been the source of the sound they had heard in the stairwell.

The table was surrounded by sofas and cushioned chairs which had been moved over so that the occupants could watch Brock's torture. Each chair was occupied by a muscular bodybuilder wearing a tight-fitting Neo Team Snagem uniform. There weren't enough chairs for everyone, so there were several standing thugs, and their Pokemon were either standing as well or sitting on the floor. Some of them had no interest in the tickling, and were instead watching the wide-screen television against the wall, which was currently tuned to a news station reporting on how the Viridian Gym had been put under scrutiny by League investigators after the mysterious disappearance of its latest gym leader, and discovered that for years it had actually been the headquarters for first Team Rocket then Team Cipher, and the gym's leaders had been running the infamous syndicates all along. Agatha, whom the League had chosen as the new leader in Viridian, was not pleased that she had inherited a house that had been infested with criminal termites. The hostages, along with poor Evans and Johnson, had been tied up and shoved on the far side of the room, near one of the two corridors that led off to the hotel suites on this floor.

The room was well-lit both from the lights in the ceiling and from the sunlight coming in through the glass windows that took up the entire wall of the lounge opposite the elevator banks and the stairwell from which our heroes had exited. Leaning with his back against the window, his tremendous figure casting a long shadow across the floor as he watched the torture of Brock in amusement was the man who had commanded the Golem to roll down the stairs and knock out all those policemen. He was not wearing a standard Snagem uniform, so he had to be the Administrator on this level.

He was clad in a skintight black spandex bodysuit which accentuated his impressive musculature. He wore a red belt with a sash hanging down from the buckle, which had the Neo Team Snagem symbol on it. A bead necklace hung around his neck with actual Pokeballs incorporated into the design. A short red cape hung from his shoulders down his back. His hair was long, red, and stuck up in somewhat ridiculous spikes, as if he were some character on Pokeball Z. His face seemed frozen in a permanent scowl, with a long ski-jump nose and red curlicue tattoos which went over his eyes, down his cheeks, and connected on his chin. And his meaty right hand was clutched around the struggling Officer Jenny's neck, closed just tight enough to restrict her air supply a bit without outright strangling her.

His scowl broke into a somewhat creepy grin as he saw the group enter the lounge. "Well, what do we have here? A pair of young ladies and a bunch of girly Pokemon. Get a load of them, boys!"

His subordinates looked away from Brock in surprise. Even the ticklers stopped what they were doing to look up. Brock splayed his limbs out, breathing deeply as sweat trickled down his body. "I-gasp-knew you guys would make it," he panted.

"Who's this guy calling girly?" Crawdaunt growled, clacking his pincers.

Misty pulled out her mallet. "We're here to save the people you've captured. Let our friends go," she said, gesturing to Brock and Jenny.

"Oh?" The beefy admin raised an eyebrow. "What'll you do if we don't?"

Charizard stepped forward, punching one claw into an open palm. "Then we'll kick your keisters!"

The red-haired man chuckled even as his companions growled and got up from their seats, crackling their knuckles and neck bones. "Ah, you've got some fire in you. I like that. I had a couple of Fire Pokemon myself with some spirit. It was a real challenge to break it out of them."

Charizard growled. "I'd like to see you break me, tough guy!"

"I like to break other things too," the man continued. "Hearts, bones…" His hand squeezed a little tighter around Jenny's neck. "Necks…"

Charizard, who had been already to spit a fireball in the man's face and then charge into the mass of muscle and take some names, froze. So did the others, who had all been ready to charge in after him.

"Forget about me!" Jenny rasped. "Occupational hazard! Take him down!"

"No, don't listen to her, she doesn't know what she's saying!" Brock cried, catching his breath. "She's too beautiful to die, do what he says!"

Misty groaned. "Brock, now is not the time!"

"Oh, but I think this is the right time," the big man said, holding Jenny up high. "Listen to him and surrender yourselves now or she dies."

The humans hesitated, unsure what to do. May glanced at Misty for suggestions, but the red-head shrugged, uncertain.

"Uh…what do we do?" Bayleef whispered. "I think we could hit him from here, but he's right in front of the window. The impact could knock him through _and_ take Jenny with him."

"Let's do it," Crawdaunt said, already charging up a Bubblebeam. "She said it herself, occupational hazard."

"We can't do that!" Phanphy protested, shocked at the callousness of his uncle's suggestion.

"Yes, I have a better idea anyway," said Bayleef. "Jirachi, you can teleport things, can't you?"

The psychic hesitated. "Um…yeah…"

"Great. Then teleport Jenny out of that guy's grip and over here, then we'll blast him out the window," Bayleef told him.

"Won't that kill him?" Phanphy asked.

"Yeah, probably," Crawdaunt said with a nod.

"I do not think this is a good idea," Absol said, shaking his head.

Bayleef frowned. "No?"

"No. Jirachi _does_ have the ability to teleport, but like all his other powers since he woke up early from his millennial sleep, it is sporadic at best. Just the other day he tried to help Max's mother by teleporting a new couch they had bought from the driveway to the living room, and it reappeared outside the Earth's atmosphere, got drawn in by the planet's gravity, and burned up in reentry, becoming a shooting star." He paused so everyone could ponder that image. "So, I would not suggest we teleport Officer Jenny. There is no telling where she will end up."

"That's why I never offered to teleport us all the way from Battle Frontier to here when we found out the hotel was taken over," Jirachi said apologetically. "Or from the ground floor to the roof, where we could have helped that poor girl sooner."

Bayleef sighed. "Then does anyone have any better ideas?"

The man frowned. "Well? Surrender or death for the cop?"

"Uh…give us a sec…" Misty glanced at the Pokemon anxiously.

"Wait!" Latias had a sudden brainstorm. "I don't think he can see me clearly with all you guys in front of me! If I turn invisible, I think I can sneak around you and the Snagem goons without them noticing I was missing! Then I can pull Jenny out of that guy's grasp, and you can blast him!"

"Great idea!" Bayleef complimented.

"Do it then, I'm itching to shoot that guy!" Crawdaunt said, clicking his claws anxiously.

Latias took a deep breath and willed her body to become transparent…

And suddenly the bay of windows on the far wall exploded inward, startling the man and knocking him over as glass shards imbedded in his back. He howled in pain as he fell to the floor with a heavy thud, losing his grip on Jenny in the process. She was flung across the room, crashing into the floor near the hostages. She was startled, and her neck was sore and her bones jarred a bit, but other than that she was fine.

Charizard blinked. "Well, that was unexpected."

"Boss, are you all right?" cried one of the alarmed henchmen.

The big man groaned and pushed himself up. "Urk…yes, I'm fine…other than the glass daggers slicing into my back…" He growled and turned around. "Who-"

A pair of boots attached to their owner's legs shot through the window and kicked him in the chest, knocking him back over and driving the glass further into his back. He gasped in pain. "Ha!" cried the green-haired lad in tuxedo, cape, and Masquerain-shaped mask as his masked Roselia hopped through the window behind him. "Tremble with fear evildoers, because Tuxedo Masquerain has arrived to save the day!"

The heroes sweatdropped. "Drew? Again!" May asked. "He's still doing this stupid superhero thing!"

The soldier-costumed Jenny and Joy leaped through the windows to his sides. "And Soldier Heart and Wisdom are here to help too!" they chorused as their Espeon and Umbreon joined them.

Misty blinked. "Huh, so I guess this officer Jenny isn't Sailor Wisdom after all. But then, who is?"

Brock's eyes turned into hearts. "Joy and two Jennies in the same room at the same time! Oh sweet ecstasy! Oh happy day!"

Soldier Heart and Wisdom looked nervous. "Er, you must be delusional from torture, you poor thing!" Soldier Heart said quickly.

"Yes, as the champions of justice we shall avenge you!" agreed Soldier Wisdom.

The big man grunted and rolled over on his stomach, knocking the startled Drew/Tuxedo Masquerain off. "You little…GET THEM!" he roared to his minions.

The very muscular goons and very muscular Pokemon got up and started charging the trio of 'superheroes'.

"Ha!" Soldier Heart pulled out a golden staff shaped like a hypodermic needle with a big heart-shaped handle at the top. "Pretty Heart Beam!" She held up the needle. The heart-shaped space made by the handle glowed, and dozens of pink hearts shot out and struck the muscle-bound thugs charging at her, popping with showers of pink sparkles and glitter. They stopped, looking confused.

"Why are we attacking her?" asked one.

"Yeah, I don't feel like fighting at all," said a Primeape.

"In fact, I feel rather peaceful and happy," commented a Vigoroth dreamily.

"I love you guys," said a human, tearing up.

"GROUP HUG!" They all piled together, hugging each other.

Our heroes sweatdropped. "Well, I suppose that's one way to end a conflict nonviolently," Bayleef said after a moment.

In the meantime, Soldier Wisdom had pulled out what looked very much like a real gun, startling the crooks and stopping them in their tracks. Actual guns that fired bullets were a rarity, only used for the most part by the most cold-hearted criminals and mercenaries due to the strict laws against using them and the difficulty it took to get permits for them. The majority of crooks and policemen preferred to use Pokemon when fighting, or at the most tranquilizer guns, rather than resorting to a weapon that could kill you in a single hit if aimed at the right place. "Wisdom Bubble Capture Spheres!" She pulled the trigger on her gun, and dozens of _bubbles_, not bullets, shot out from her gun. They expanded as they shot towards the confused crooks, and each bubble sought out a particular criminal, swelled up, and encompassed them the instant it touched their skin, trapping them inside a shimmering, spherical prison!

One of the bodybuilders panicked and started pounding on the walls of the bubble, causing it to wobble, but not break. "Aaaahhh! Let me out! I'm claustrophobic!" he shouted.

"Is this what it's like to be inside a Pokeball?" wondered another.

"Wheeee! I'm a fairy bubble princess!" A Machamp giggled, bouncing up and down in his bubble.

The heroes sweatdropped. "And there's another nonviolent solution," Latias said incredulously.

Crawdaunt growled. "That's now way to use bubble power! Bubbles are supposed to pop and blast things, not trap em'! What a disgrace!"

Brock had managed to regain enough strength to stand up, and he was admiring the soldiers work. "Oh Soldier Heart! I think you may have accidentally hit me with that Pretty Heart Beam, because now my heart beats only for YOU! And Soldier Wisdom, I think I may have gotten hit by one of those bubbles too, because you've captured my heart as well!"

Officer Jenny grunted and got up. Brock immediately ran over to her. "Oh, but I could never forget you, Officer Jenny! I love you just as much as the others!"

Jenny stared at him blankly. "What?"

The red-haired man looked at his defeated underlings in disbelief, then looked back at the smug Tuxedo Masquerain and growled. "YOU…" He took a step forward. "I'LL KILL-"

"Roselia, Sleep Powder!" Tuxedo Masquerain commanded.

Roselia jumped in the air and spun around, spewing sparkling blue dust from her azure rose. "Magic sapphire dust of slumber!" she cried.

The dust fell over the man, who accidentally inhaled it, then started feeling very drowsy. "No!" he moaned as he fell to his knees. "How can this happen to me? I'm Dakim the terrible!" He fell on his chest, head turned to the side with his arms spread out, and his eyes started closing. "I never even got to fight Wes…" he trailed off. Soon he was snoring.

Tuxedo Masquerain smirked and twirled a rose between his fingers. "Excellent job, girls, another job well done!"

Charizard grumbled and crossed his arms. "Great, and I never got to do a thing!"

"Me neither! What a gyp!" Crawdaunt complained.

"Oh well, I'm sure you'll get a good enough workout fighting the next Admin," Corsola said reassuringly.

"Drew!" Now that all the Snagems were incapacitated, May stormed over. "You're _still_ doing this charade!"

"Uh…" Drew's eyes shifted back and forth. "I know not this 'Drew' you speak of, young lady, although I am sure he is a truly handsome and sexy individual. There is only Tuxedo Masquerain!"

"Oh quit it, I'm tired of this!" May snapped, reaching for his mask.

The superhero gasped and took a step back, over Dakim's sleeping body. Roselia hopped on May's back and pointed a rose at the back of her head. "Nobody touches Tuxedo Masquerain's mask! He needs it to protect his secret identity!"

"What secret identity? Anyone can see he's Drew!" May protested angrily.

"Oh Tuxedo Masquerain, thank you!" said Brock, walking over while tugging his pants back on. "You saved Officer Jenny's life! For that sir, I am forever in your debt!"

Latias grimaced. "I would have saved Jenny if he hadn't. Maybe. Would Brock have forever been in my debt then?"

Drew laughed casually. "No problem, pedestrian. We would have gotten here sooner, but I was having my hair done." He brushed his hair back, and Soldier Heart and Wisdom sighed happily. May fumed.

"I must thank you as well for saving me," Jenny said as she came over. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Yes we could have," Charizard growled. "Right?"

"Maybe," Misty said without certainty.

"But now we have to go and save the hostages on the fifteenth floor! Will you join us?" Jenny asked.

"Sure, we'd love to-" Heart broke off in a gasp, noticing the cops strewn about the lounge's entrance and down the stairwell. "Oh my! What happened to them?"

"Oh, they got hit by a trap these thugs set up for us," Jenny said. "Occupational hazard."

"I must help them!" Heart ran over, taking out her needle, and started shining heart-shaped light on the officers. Her Espeon helped, occasionally generating hearts from the jewel on his forehead.

Tuxedo Masquerain sighed and shook his head. "Healers. Whenever she sees an injured person in need, she drops everything she's doing and pours forth everything she can to help them. She'll be at this for at least an hour."

Jenny blinked, flummoxed. "Oh…well, at least we'll have you two to help as well, right?"

"I would," Wisdom started. "But I'll need to take these criminals somewhere where they can be locked up more securely." She gestured to the group that was still hugging, and the group that was bouncing around the room in bubbles. "My bubbles only last for maybe twenty minutes, and Soldier Heart's heart beam only works for a little less than that, than those affected revert back to their normal aggressive selves. We can't have them running about freely, now can we?"

"Don't worry though officer, I'll be glad to help," Tuxedo Masquerain started, swishing his cape…and suddenly noticed that many of the hostages were attractive women who were staring at him adoringly. "Ah…on second thought, somebody needs to get the hostages to safety. You head on up and try to distract the admin and whatever henchmen he has so we can evacuate the hostages and prisoners from the building, then we'll come right back up to join you, okay?"

Jenny sagged, disappointed, but she couldn't just come out and say that now could she? That would be insulting to the superheroes, which were backed by the powerful Ford Industries, who owned most of the city, including her apartment complex, and had contributed quite a lot of donations to her police department. "Um, sure, all right. I guess I could do that."

"Excellent!" Tuxedo Masquerain put a hand on her shoulder. "I have faith in you, officer. Have faith in yourself, and you have everything you need to be a true hero!" Behind him, May gagged. "Now go forth and do your duty!"

"Right…of course…" mumbled Jenny, nodding and moving away towards the stairwell.

Brock looked torn, glancing back and forth from Jenny to Soldier Wisdom, unable to make up his mind about which one to go with. Remembering then that Soldier Heart was still in the stairwell, he decided to continue on with his friends, if only so he could see the lovely costumed Joy one more time.

"Guess you're stuck with us, then," Misty said, falling in step next to Jenny.

"I suppose so." Jenny sighed. "How strange, both of the city's superhero groups have showed up to help as well as the best in our police forces, and yet a group of teenage trainers and their Pokemon are the only ones who are still standing and willing to follow me and help save the people trapped in this building!"

Misty shrugged. "Funny how that works, huh?"

May started to follow the others, who had already went back into the stairwell (Misty had to drag Brock away from helping Soldier Heart) and glanced back at Tuxedo Masquerain/Drew one last time. He had already started work on untying the hostages, notably the female ones, and was vigorously making out with them while his Roselia watched, completely untroubled. May clenched her fists, considered throwing her petrified brother, then furiously went after her friends, deciding it would probably be for the best to take her frustration out on the next admin.

…

Charizard, who had once more taken the lead to take care of any traps in their way, paused and sniffed the air. "Hey, do you guys smell something?"

"I didn't do it!" Jirachi cried immediately.

"No, it's not that, Wishmaker," Absol said, sniffing his own nose. "Yes, I smell it too, Charizard. It smells…sweet."

Everyone started sniffing. "Kind of reminds me of my sister's perfume," Misty commented. "But increased a thousandfold. It's almost sickening."

"I think it's heavenly," Brock said, a goofy look on his face. He looked at any moment as if he would float into the air on a happy little cloud and drift away, trailing hearts. "Whatever woman is wearing it must be the most wonderful lady alive."

Jenny frowned. "Hmm. I don't like this. Everyone, on your guard!"

They continued up the stairs. "Aunt Bayleef, are these those pheromone things you told me about?"

Bayleef blinked in surprise. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you said pheromones make males act weird, and Uncle Brock is acting weird now! Well, weirder than usual."

Latias frowned. "You know, come to think of, it _does_ smell a little like I did whenever I was in…'heat'." It felt strange referring to herself as being sexually active, since it didn't happen very often in her biological clock.

"Yeah, reminds me of how my mom smelled around mating season," Crawdaunt agreed. "But I don't feel horny or anything."

"Maybe it's some kind of pheromone for humans?" Corsola suggested. "From all the complaining Misty's done about her sister's beauty supplies, I gather that some perfumes can actually work as aphrodisiacs to arouse male humans."

"Well then, it's a good thing Brock is the only male human in our group," Absol said. "Even so, that does not mean whatever is generating this scent will not be able to cause us Pokemon any harm, either. All of us should be on our guard, as the officer said. Stick close to me, Jirachi."

"Ahhh…okay," the Wishmaker agreed.

They continued up the stairs in silence, the mysterious odor thickening until it became almost unbearable for Misty, May, and Jenny, and even a little much for the group's Pokemon. Brock was just as affected by the scent as they were, but rather than being repelled, it seemed to arouse him even further. His eyes were turned up, and drool dripped down his chin along with sweat, which started staining his clothes. The front of his pants had bulged so much that it looked as if they would split at any moment. He looked fidgety and agitated, and got more so the closer they got to the fifteenth floor. When they finally turned a corner and saw the landing with the exit to the fifteenth floor lobby on it, Brock gave a cry of relief likened to a man dying of thirst in desert finding water, or somebody who had been holding it in for hours spotting a bathroom which they didn't have to pay to use and wasn't really disgusting. He rushed forwards, pushing past Charizard, and burst through the door, causing it to slam the wall inside with a very loud bang as he yelled, "I'M COMING!"

"The idiot!" Jenny hissed. "He's ruined the element of surprise!"

Misty pulled out her mallet. "Then let's go up there and see if we can't salvage the situation anyway!"

Jenny nodded and pulled out a Pokeball. "Right."

They ran up the stairs, hoping Brock hadn't done too bad a thing by giving them away, steeling themselves for whatever awaited them in the lounge.

Once again, they weren't ready.

The same smell which had been drifting through the stairwell was so thick here it was almost enough to choke on. The lounge's layout was identical to the one downstairs, but instead of the chairs being arranged around a central table on which Brock had been laid out to be tortured, several of the chairs had been piled on top of sofas to form a sort of throne. Other chairs were strewn about, in which sat female members of Neo Team Snagem. Each of them was very shapely and luscious, with tight uniforms which accentuated their curves. And all of them were bald, like the other Snagem grunts the heroes had seen so far. All of the women were being doted on by men, presumably hostages, who had stripped down to their underwear and were doing all sorts of things for the ladies, such as hand-feeding them, massaging them, acting as seats and cushions for those who didn't have access to chairs, and in some disgusting cases serving as sex toys. The female hostages, who were tied up and tucked in a dark corner of the room, looked on with disgust and in many cases longing, wishing their men treated them like that now and then.

The high throne formed of many chairs looked precarious at first, but was kept stable by many nearly-naked male hostages whom had crawled underneath the chair legs to hold them steady or stacked up on each other's shoulders and held onto it from the back or from the sides. Sitting in a cushioned recliner atop the heap of chairs, with a pair of baby Tropius sitting on the armrests and swishing their leafy wings to fan her while a male slave drank wine from a bottle and bent over so she could kiss him and drink the liquor straight from his mouth, was a woman whom all three human members of the group, and pretty much all of the Pokemon, could not help but loathe automatically.

She was not like Mariah Susanson, she was not an abomination of nature that could not, should not exist, she was simply a complete and total bitch. That much was clear just by looking at her, at how she regarded the poor and exhausted males who supported her throne and fed her wine without the least bit of notice or appreciation for their hard labor.

She was extremely beautiful, with perfect skin, a perfect nose, and perfectly formed lips. Her golden amber eyes looked down in amusement at Brock, who had stripped as well and was now bowing prostrate to her at the base of her tall throne. A long pink transparent veil hung over the lower part of her face, partially obscuring her features when she breathed. Her long brown hair was parted in the middle and done in two long braids which hung down over her shoulders. There was a surprisingly large golden hairpiece affixed to the back of her head, with two angelic wings spreading from the top and two arms which extended around the sides of her head and curved up at the ends, joining to hold a gleaming sapphire with the symbol of Neo Team Snagem engraved on it between their tips. The arms were studded with jewels, as if it were a crown. She wore a beautiful long dress with a skirt that went past her feet and pooled out for about a foot and a half past her toes. The majority of the dress was white silk with elaborate sequined curlicues sewed into it. The shoulders of the dress were padded somewhat to swell up and let out a pair of long pink sleeves sewn into the dress just a few inches inside the shoulders. A fluffy wing, stuffed with Altaria down, sprouted from the top of each shoulder. Her delicate, dainty hands with their long pink fingernails and numerous rings poked out of the ends of the sleeves. At about where her dress reached her ankles it stopped and pink silk, sewn into the white part a few inches in like the sleeves, pooled down. Very large crystals, looking like either diamonds or zircon, were sewn into the border between the white and the pink. Latias could not help feeling a hint of resentment, the dress was more beautiful than the one she found herself wearing in all her dreams of marrying the Ghost King. On the woman's back was a thin but large golden sun disk, with long rays and a pair of golden angelic wings flush with its surface which extended across the disk's diameter, though not as long as the rays. A long pink veil hung down from the disks back.

"More visitors?" she asked in surprise. She laughed daintily, a sound which made Misty furious and made her think quite a bit of what her sisters might have become if they had been born rich. "Isn't this a pleasant surprise! A shame you aren't male, we can always use more," she said, kissing the wine slave and extracting more champagne from him. The servant's eyes rolled back in his head, a look of utmost rapture on his face. Brock, and the other slaves, glanced at him with murderous jealousy, each of them wanting to be so close to the lady. "I am the Goddess Venus," she informed the group. "Administrator of Neo Team Snagem's Femme division, as Miror B leads the Musical division and Dakim is head of the Brawny division. Bow before me, lesser females, for you are not worthy to be in my presence." Jenny, Misty, and May all bristled angrily. Jenny would have shot her with her tranquilizer gun by then, damn whatever regulations she might break, if Dakim hadn't crushed her gun into a ball of metal when he had held her hostage. May was reminded of her horrible match against Mariah, and how the condescension and arrogance the abomination had shown was not nearly as venomous as Venus', although it had been crueler and more personal. Even so, she reflected, she still believed Mariah to be the worse of the two women. Misty, however, felt reminded of how cruel and arrogant her sisters had been, always insulting her and pushing down her throat how much uglier and insignificant she was compared to them, until a certain raven-haired angel had come into her life and made her realize there was more to beauty than what was on the surface. Venus smiled and continued. "Unless you are willing to join me, that is. All the ladies under my command have access to my special perfume Love Potion No. 66-B, which causes all men who smell it to fall head-over-heels in love with whoever's wearing the potion. I'm sure you three could use it, you'd never be able to win a man with those faces alone."

This enraged the girls, as well as their non-human friends. "What a bi-I mean, witch!" Latias said angrily, correcting herself for Phanphy's sake.

"Mommy doesn't need any love potion, she already has Daddy!" Phanphy exclaimed.

"Wonder if I could get any that works on ladies…" Crawdaunt mused. Corsola glared at him. "What?"

"How dare you!" Misty snapped. "I already have the love of my life! I don't need any fancy perfume to attract him!"  
"And if I'm going to be loved, I want it to be because of me, not because he smelled something that made him love me!" May added.

"And I'm not interested in guys anyway because I'm married to my work and have no personal life, so you have nothing to offer me!" Jenny yelled.

Venus shrugged. "Oh well, if that is what you choose." She snapped her fingers. "Boys! Tear them apart!"

All her male slaves under Venus' thrall stopped what they were doing and turned towards the heroes, growling. They jumped off from their places supporting her throne, causing the structure to start teetering slightly, yet Venus did not seem worried about it. Even Brock stopped his groveling and joined the growing mass of angry, aggressive men. "I will do as you say, my queen!" he bellowed.

"Brock, snap out of it!" May cried. "She's just using you!"

"Brock, there are a lot of other woman you can treat like that who would be more appreciative of you than Venus!" Misty told him. "Like Jenny, for instance!"

Jenny blinked. "Huh? What do you-" Misty glared at her. "Uh, I mean, sure, I wouldn't mind having a loyal and loving servant to help me do paperwork now and then."

Brock wasn't fazed for a second. "Never! I only love Venus, and I shall always love only her! All other women pale in comparison to her divine beauty!"

Bayleef sweatdropped. "Great, Brock's madness has reached a new level. And I thought he was bad before."

"I hope I never get that crazy over a woman," Crawdaunt agreed. Corsola growled and smacked him with a coral horn. "What?" He asked, confused.

"Brock, buddy, I understand how you feel like you gotta protect the woman you love…but trust me! She ain't worth it!" Charizard cried, trying to appeal to Brock's common sense.

"I will obey my goddess!" Brock repeated. Venus smiled, gratified by his blind and undying worship, and snapped her delicate fingers. The males roared and attacked.

Officer Jenny immediately tossed out a Pokeball. "Go, Arcanine!" The ball popped open, releasing a massive orange hound with a long dirty white mane, tail, and black stripes. He howled at the slaves, who didn't look in the least bit daunted by the hound. "Use Flamethrower, minimal force!"

Arcanine inhaled, and then spat out a long stream of fire. Many of the slaves tried to get out of the way, but several weren't so lucky and got consumed by the fire, which washed over them for a few seconds before cutting off. The slaves who had been caught in the fire stream fell to the ground knocked out, blackened but not too badly burnt.

"You attacked them!" Misty cried in surprise. "But they're innocent people!"

"Innocent people under mind-control," Jenny corrected. "This kind of thing happens so often in this city due to the number of super-villains we have that the police force is authorized to attack brainwashed civilians as long as we use just enough nonlethal force to knock them out and hopefully snap them back to normal."

"Great!" Charizard cracked his knuckles. "Guess that means I can fight them, then!"

"But you're not a member of the police, so you're still bound by the laws which prohibit Pokemon from attacking people," Latias pointed out.

"And just to keep any of you who have reservations from backing away from this fight, I'm deputizing all of you! Now you have no choice but to use force to put them down!" Jenny ordered.

They sweatdropped. "Well, that was awfully convenient," Bayleef grumbled.

"Yeah! Finally!" Relieved that he could fight at last, Crawdaunt started pelting the love-zombie slaves with his Bubblebeam, causing them to backpedal in pain. Phanphy charged the ones who had backed up from his uncle's bubbles, ramming into them with his Takedown attack and knocking them over.

Bayleef sighed, extended her whips, and started lashing out, delivering quick strikes to the temples of the men coming towards her to knock them out quickly and hopefully with a minimum of pain. Latias remained next to her, unleashing brief psychic bursts to stun nearby slaves so Bayleef could knock them out. Latias remembered all too well how some of her other attacks could kill when she was enraged, and wasn't sure if they could be toned down enough to not cause too much harm to their targets, so she used very little amounts of power.

Charizard had joined Arcanine and they were combining their firepower to take down at least a dozen love-slaves at a time. Absol remained with Jirachi, tackling men in the chest to bowl them over and render them unable to fight, since his other fighting moves were too dangerous to use on humans. Absol had forbidden Jirachi to help out, reminding the Wishmaker of what had happened when he had tried to assist Absol in a fight against a horde of savage Nidorino they had disturbed while getting hopelessly lost searching for Max, and so the psychic floated about and did nothing, sulking unhappily.

Brock ran towards Misty, arms raised with clawed fingers. Misty tried again to snap Brock out of his hormonal trance. "Brock, come on, it's me, Misty! I'm your friend!"

"I need no friends! Only Lady Venus!" Brock cried, lunging at her.

Misty tightened her hold on her mallet, for once unwilling to use it. She tried one last attempt. "Brock, Suzie called!"

"Suzie who?" Brock asked, lunging again.

Misty sighed, giving up. "I tried." She swung her mallet, smashing it into the side of her friend's head and knocking him out. "Sorry, Brock."

May had been reluctant at first to fight, but when she saw that everyone else was battling, had caved in and brought her own Pokemon out to help. Combusken was pulling her punches and kicks on her victims, just hitting them hard enough to knock them out without clawing them up or doing too much damage. Ivysaur and Beautifly put some to sleep using their Sleep Powder attack, while Delcatty used Blizzard to freeze them in blocks of ice and Munchlax…well, Munchlax wandered over to a trash can and started eating its contents. He remained there for the entire battle.

Misty soon called out her Pokemon too and assisted them with swings from her mallet. Soon enough, all of the male slaves were out cold, even the ones who had been serving Venus' accomplices, something the ladies were furious about. However, their anger was nothing compared to the raw hatred that had turned Venus' face livid with rage. "You! How…how DARE you treat my slaves like that! They're MINE! Only _I_ can treat them any way I wish! You were supposed to fall to them!"

"Yeah? Well, none of us feel like giving up to you!" Jenny reported. "As chief of police for Ever Grande City, I'm putting you and your gang under arrest! Any attempt to resist will be noted and used against you in court!"

Venus stared at Jenny, shocked that anyone would talk to her like this. That fool Wes, who for some reason (she believed it was because he was gay, or wanted to believe he was) was immune to her love potion had acted with the same amount of disrespect for her when he had passed through on his way to Gonzap, but now these others were refusing to do what she wanted! How dare they? _HOW DARE THEY!_

"Who do you think you are!" she raged, standing up in her throne and causing the whole structure to wobble. "I am Venus! I am a goddess! You are nothing but lowly, weak mortals to be squashed under my heel!"

"If you're so powerful, then why are you just an administrator rather than the big leader of this team?" Misty asked.

Venus shrugged. "Because the amount of paperwork and physical effort required to maintain such a position is beneath someone like me. I'm more than willing to let Gonzap do all the dirty work and delude himself with the belief that he's in charge of Neo Team Snagem, while I relax and do whatever I want."

Charizard shook his head in disgust. "If anyone's deluded, it's her!"

"What a bi-witch!" Bayleef stated, automatically correcting herself, and Latias concurred wholeheartedly.

"You're a bad woman!" Phanphy said angrily, trumpeting his snout.

May nodded. "You're just an arrogant, heartless lady with a god complex! Someone needs to give you a good dose of reality!"

"The only reality is that I will crush you into the ground! Go!" She tossed out five Pokeballs, which popped open and revealed a Vileplume, a normal purple Delcatty, a Gardevoir, a Jynx, and a Banette. Latias started at the sight of the Gardevoir, reminded of the masked one who had lived at the Cleft with herself and Mewtwo and was now a Chosen like herself. "Use Attract!"

The five female Pokemon started glowing, and formed big pink hearts out of laser light in their hands or paws. Latias gasped, remembering how Giovanni's Persian had used this same attack on her, even if it had looked a bit different. "Look out!" She quickly formed a Safeguard force field around the party as Venus' Pokemon launched the hearts at them.

The hearts exploded harmlessly on the force field without any destructive force at all, releasing pink gases that dissipated quickly, leaving behind a peculiar smell not unlike the perfume Venus herself was wearing.

Absol sniffed cautiously. "How strange. That smells rather…nice…" A glassy look appeared on his face, and he walked forward, out of the force field and towards the Pokemon standing before Venus' throne.

"Absol! Where are you going?" Jirachi asked in confusion.

Absol wasn't the only Pokemon leaving the safety of Latias' shield. "Brother Charizard, Uncle Crawdaunt, what are you doing?" Phanphy asked as they followed Absol's example.

"Oh no! I couldn't stop it!" Latias cried in alarm, realizing what had happened

"I don't understand. What's going on?" May asked in confusion as Misty's Golduck, her Luvdisc Kasurin, and Politoed walked away from the group.

"Arcanine, halt!" Jenny ordered her Pokemon. The fire dog ignored her and kept going.

The males joined each other and formed a line in front of Venus' Pokemon. And then, to the horror of their friends, they started nuzzling and licking the females, who looked all too pleased with this. "Yellow!" Delcatty cried, bursting into tears as the mutant Golduck, along with Absol, started affectionately nuzzling Venus' Delcatty, who grinned evilly back at her.

"Crawdaunt, I thought you preferred pink!" Corsola yelled angrily as the lobster Pokemon began hitting on Jynx. "And Kasurin, I thought you loved Rabufin with all your heart!" she called as the Discfish started showering the Vileplume with kisses. "And Politoed, since when have you been interested in women like _her_?" she asked as Politoed started clapping his hands in a little cheer for Banette while Arcanine nuzzled the ghost.

"Arcanine, what are you doing? This is unbecoming conduct for a police Pokemon!" Jenny said angrily.

"Baby, where have you been all my life?" Charizard crooned to the Gardevoir, who fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Bayleef looked confused. "What? I thought Charizard were monogamous! And he's already with Charla! What's going on?"

Misty gasped. She had seen this attack before. In fact, she had even used it a few times when battling with Kasurin. "Attract has the power to make any Pokemon of the opposite gender of the caster fall in love with them!" she explained. "It mimics the pheromones female Pokemon give off in heat to attract males then bend their wills to do their bidding! In official battles, Attract is just used to keep your opponent's Pokemon from attacking you, but against somebody like Venus she'll probably use the pheromones to turn our own Pokemon against us!"

Venus cackled. "That's right!" she said. "Your Pokemon have realized the necessity of bowing down to me! Now you must follow their example!"

"How do we break the Attract?" May asked.

"The only way to counter it is to swap out the affected Pokemon and then knock out the ones who launched the pheromones. That'll stop the Attract's power and restore the afflicted Pokemon to normal." She held out three Pokeballs and recalled Golduck, Politoed, and Kasurin, to the relief of May's Delcatty and the anger of the 'bitch' Pokemon. Jenny followed suit, calling back Arcanine and leaving the Banette all alone, which caused the ghost's smile to dim somewhat. "Unfortunately, we can't do anything for the other three, since we don't have their Pokeballs." _Plus, they're Chosen,_ she thought.

"And the rest of my Pokemon would just have to be male, wouldn't they?" Jenny said sadly. She sighed. "Then we'll just have to make do with what we have left! I hope they're strong enough!"

"Why aren't I affected?" Jirachi wondered.

"Or me?" asked Phanphy.

"Phanphy, you're too young, your sexual drive hasn't kicked in yet so the pheromones don't affect you. Jirachi…well, I have no idea, but I assume because you're an eternal child or something you're immune," Bayleef said with a shrug.

Jirachi smiled happily. "Yay for me! Another good thing about not growing up!"

"So, are we taking them on even though they're our friends?" Corsola asked.

Bayleef nodded. "Of course, we've been deputized, remember? We fight them just hard enough to knock them out. Then we take down Venus' Pokemon. We have her outnumbered, so we shouldn't have a problem."

"Absol, Banette, use Faint Attack on that dragon!" Venus ordered.

The white beast and the puppet ghost vanished and immediately reappeared next to Latias, passing through the Safeguard, and slammed into her, filling her body with Dark-type energy. Latias cried out in pain as her mind scrambled, collapsing to the ground while her shield dissipated.

They gasped. "Aunt Latias!" Phanphy cried.

"Jynx, use Blizzard on that Beautifly! Delcatty, use Assist to get Jynx's attack and use it on the Ivysaur!" Venus then ordered.

The big-busted humanoid Pokemon inhaled and blew out a gust of cold wind and snow at Beautifly, causing frost to form on her wings as she froze into a block of ice and fell to the ground, unconscious. Then Delcatty pulled back her right forepaw, which was glowing, and fired a Blizzard just like Jynx's straight at Ivysaur, freezing her and causing her flower to wilt.

May gasped. "Beautifly! Ivysaur! Oh no!"

"Now, Charizard, use Fire Blast on the Bayleef!" Venus commanded.

"Would you?" Gardevoir asked, fluttering her eyelashes at the fire dragon.

"What, you mean totally betray my friends for a skank who's just manipulating me? Sure babe, anything for you." He spun around and spat a huge five-pointed fire cross at Bayleef before she could escape. The cross struck her and exploded, flinging her against the back wall, her leaves burnt to a crisp. She moaned in pain.

"B-Bayleef!" Latias cried, trying to shake off the aftereffects of Absol and Banette's surprisingly strong attack. Just how powerful were they?

"Now Gardevoir, Jynx, use Psychic on Combusken!" Venus ordered.

The two seductive humanoids joined hands and pointed their free hands at Combusken as their eyes glowed blue. An invisible wall of psychic force rushed forward, smashing into Combusken and flinging her painfully into the wall, knocking her out.

"And now Crawdaunt, use Crabhammer on that bratty little Phanphy!" Venus said, a predatory grin on her face.

"Yes ma'am!" said the lobster, his right pincer starting to glow as he charged forward. "Sorry kid, nothing personal," he said as he spiked Phanphy with his hammer, slamming the little elephant into the wall right next to Combusken, leaving a big dent. "But all's fair in love and war."

"No it's not!" Corsola protested. "Stop this madness at once!"

"Pink's not my favorite color anymore," Crawdaunt said coldly, returning to the feet of his mistress the Jynx, who smirked evilly at Corsola.

Misty sweatdropped as May mournfully called back her defeated Pokemon. "Well, there goes us outnumbering them."

"Wait!" May realized. "I still have one Pokemon left! Munchlax!" Hearing its name, the garbage-loving kitty poked his head out of the trash can, slurping up a noodle and pulling a piece of paper off his ear. "Munchlax! We need you! Get over here, now!"

"Okay." He hopped out of the trash can and waddled over to his trainer in no particular hurry.

Venus looked perplexed. "Why isn't he affected by the pheromones?"

May shrugged. "Either because they weren't aimed specifically at him, or because he was in the trash can at the time and the smell of garbage blocked out the smell of the Attract. Or maybe he's too young, I'm not sure of his age." She fished into her pack. "And that's not all! I have one other thing I can use!" She pulled it out.

Venus sweatdropped. "That's a rock."

"Not just any rock!" May explained. "He's my brother!"

"Your brother is a rock?" Jenny asked, looking confused.

"It's a long story." She wound up for a pitch. "Forgive me, brother!" she cried as she hurled the rock.

It struck Absol right between the eyes, causing him to flinch. "Ow!" His eyes crossed, he wobbled, and he passed out. Venus gasped in disbelief. Jirachi hovered anxiously, hoping his guardian wasn't hurt too badly.

"There, now that's one less Pokemon you have!" May said triumphantly.

"I still have you outnumbered," Venus pointed out.

"Don't be so sure. The young one's given me an idea," Jenny said, pulling out what looked like a very small gun.

"I thought you said Dakim destroyed your tranquilizer," Misty said in surprise.

"He did. But this is a special weapon only to be used in emergencies, because it uses all sorts of illegal drugs and chemicals. It's guaranteed to instantly knock out whatever Pokemon it hits, but because it's so dangerous I was only provided with one shot. The entire department only has maybe half a dozen bullets, total. It's called Poke-B-Gone!"

"Is it poisonous?" Jirachi asked, worried.

Jenny shook her head. "Not in very small doses, which is why I only have one shot. It knocks the recipient out for twelve hours and they wake up with one heck of a headache."

"Well, officer, you'd better choose wisely which of my Pokemon you use that bullet on," Venus pointed out, while her Pokemon looked somewhat startled that she was willing to sacrifice one of them. "Because you only have one shot. You wouldn't want to waste it."

"I don't intend to." Jenny pointed the gun and fired.

A dart shot out and struck Charizard. "Ow!" he cried, smacking his arm where he had gotten hit. "What the-" He immediately slumped to the floor, unconscious.

"As an experienced police officer, the Charizard looked to be the greatest threat, due to its higher level and clearly enhanced strength from special training. With him out of the way, we should have better luck against your team," Jenny said, tossing her spent weapon away.

"But I _still_ have you outnumbered!" Venus pointed out gleefully.

"Ugh…don't count me out yet…" Latias wobbled back up into the air, her head slowly clearing. "I can still fight!"

"I'd help," Jirachi said sadly. "But I'm worried I might accidentally blow up the building if I tried. But I'll still be cheering you guys on! Go get her!"

"And I have one last ace as well," Misty added, sticking her fingers in her mouth and whistling shrilly.

Venus flinched and put her hands to her ears, as did both Delcatties, Munchlax, and the other Pokemon with especially strong hearing. "Ow! What was that for, were you trying to deafen my beautiful ears?"

Misty smirked. "No. It was a signal to a friend!"

The sunlight coming into the room was blotted out as a large figure flew up the side of the building, smashing through the windows on the fifteenth floor lounge and roaring loudly as he entered; causing Venus' trainers to fall back in their seats with a scream, and Venus herself nearly lost her precarious footing on her throne.

"You called Gyarados!" Latias realized as the huge blue sea serpent slithered into the room, keeping his head low so it wouldn't bump into the ceiling.

Misty nodded. "Yep! I think this evens the odds quite a bit, don't you?" Misty asked Venus with a smirk.

Venus fumed in rage. "I still have six Pokemon to your five!" she pointed out.

"Oh yes, about that…" Misty slung her mallet off her back. "Boomerang Mallet technique!" She threw the hammer straight towards Vileplume. The mallet spun through the air and struck the flower Pokemon right between the eyes, knocking her over and causing her to slam the back of her head on the corner of Venus' sofa, knocking her out. The mallet flew back to Misty's hand, and she strapped it back on her back. "There. _Now _we're even!"

May blinked. "Wow. Where can I get one of those?"

"Perhaps the police force should consider investing in a few mallets like that," Jenny agreed.

Venus dug her nails into the arms of her chair, ripping into them and frightening off her Tropius. "You…you _defeated_ my Pokemon!" She growled in rage and returned the Vileplume. "No matter…for your insolence, that Gyarados you summoned will now take my Pokemon's place! Everyone, use Attract on him!"

Venus' four remaining female Pokemon aimed and fired their heart beams at the Atrocious Pokemon. The hearts struck Gyarados and exploded, releasing their pheromones…and nothing happened. Gyarados remained completely uninterested in any of Venus' girls. "What? How can this be?" the Gardevoir asked in disbelief.

Misty smirked. "Gyarados mate underwater! The kinds of pheromones they emit are completely different-smelling to the ones that land-based Pokemon use! They'd have to be, to keep from being diluted by the seas and rivers in which Gyarados make their homes. Since all of your Pokemon are land-based, Venus, the pheromones they send off by using Attract have no effect on Gyarados!" She sniffed the air, and then smiled. "And that's not all, too! By smashing through the window, Gyarados has also let out all the stuffy air in here made by your perfume! The wind is blowing it away as we speak! By the time this battle is over, I doubt any of these males will still be under your control!"

The female Snagems gasped, while Venus' jaw just dropped. "This-this can't be! How could you outmaneuver me like this!"

"Because you're not as good as you think you are, lady!" Corsola said proudly. "Misty's a great trainer and we're going to kick your ass and get our friends back, as Crawdaunt would say!"

"Don't you go taking my lines, woman!" Crawdaunt said angrily.

Venus' blood boiled, enraged that these fools continued to defy her. "GET THEM!" she screamed at her Pokemon.

Crawdaunt charged forward, powering up a Crabhammer to use on Corsola. She clenched her eyes shut and started glowing. The claw hammer struck Corsola and rebounded, punching Crawdaunt right in the face and causing him to stagger back in shock. "What!"

"Forgot I could use Mirror Coat, didn't you?" She pointed her horns at him and fired Spike Cannon at point-blank range.

Crawdaunt managed to Harden his shell just in time, but even so the spikes hurt. He flinched, but continued the battle, not intending to let his lady down.

Gardevoir laughed arrogantly down at her opponent, Munchlax, who seemed utterly unfazed by her height or greater power. "Obese little runt, you don't stand a chance against me!"

Munchlax blinked, looking at one of the Embrace Pokemon's arms. "Celery," he said, drooling.

Gardevoir stared at him in confusion. "Wha-"

CHOMP! Munchlax leaped up and bit down on Gardevoir's arm.

She screamed and started flailing madly. "Aaaaahhhhh! Get it off! GET IT OFF!" she screamed, running around and trying to shake Munchlax off. The hungry Pokemon held on tightly, too famished to let go.

The two Delcatty hissed at each other, their backs arching and their hair standing on end. May's Delcatty had never in her life hated anyone so much as she hated this purple cat who had _dared_ to steal her Yellow! He was _her_ Yellow, not hers! He belonged to her! She yowled and pounced at her enemy, who lunged forward, claws out. Their bodies met, and the two started rolling around on the ground, screeching as they clawed and bit at each other in a mad frenzy, all special attacks forgotten as they devolved to a primal catfight.

The Banette faded out of existence and reappeared behind Latias, launching a Shadow Ball. Latias spun about and hurled a Mist Ball. The two projectiles collided and exploded, filling the area with a cloud of smoke. Banette tried to use the cover of smog to attack Latias from behind again, but the dragon had been expecting this and spun about, driving a Dragonclaw into the ghost's stomach. The Marionette Pokemon grunted in pain and vanished again, reappearing on Latias' back. "Ha!" Before Latias could buck her off, the ghost drove her arms forward, wrapping them around Latias' neck. A ghostly transparent nail appeared out of thin air and drove itself into Banette's chest. A small black spirit appeared and sunk into Latias' skin with no visible effect. Banette recoiled as if she had been struck by a powerful blow and fell off the dragon, reeling backwards in the air.

Latias blinked. "What did you-" She suddenly felt woozy, and her body wracked with pain. "Ahhhh!" she cried as she convulsed for a moment, and then the pain was gone as quickly as it had come. "What-what was-"

"I used Curse," the Banette panted, catching her breath. "It cost me half my health, but every minute you'll lose a quarter of yours! All I have to do is outlast you, and my curse will defeat you!"

Latias smiled and glowed as she healed her body using Recover. "Sorry, but that won't work as long as I can heal-" She cried as her body was wracked with pain again.

The Banette cackled. "Healing doesn't remove the curse, it merely prolongs it! There is no escaping the curse!"

Latias charged forward with a Steel Wing. "Then I'll just have to beat you before the Curse takes me out!"

Banette faded out of the way and reappeared behind Latias, using Faint Attack to slam into the dragon and nearly knock her out of the air as dark energy charged through Latias' body. She cried out in pain, her psychic abilities faltering for a moment. Latias inhaled, preparing to use Dragonbreath…and gasped again as pain wracked through her body yet again, the Curse activating. "Uhhh…" She started to use Recover…

And Banette lunged forward, claws glowing purple, and slashed at her. Latias cried and fell back, dark energy coursing through her again, as Banette fell back laughing, glowing as her fatigue faded away. The evil ghost had just used Snatch, and Latias was now in an even worse condition. "Hahahahaha! There's no way you can win, child!" She curled up a fist, which was crackling with dark energy, and punched Latias with a Knock Off, causing the dragon's flute and locket to fly off her neck, clattering to the floor. Latias collapsed to the ground, her ability to levitate disable by the Dark attack. Her mind felt almost as numb as her body had when she was freezing to death in the ice tunnel in Dragon Rock. The numbness left her as her body convulsed with pain yet again as the Curse sapped away more of her health.

Jirachi gasped. "Latias, no!" His wish tags started glowing.

To Banette's surprise, Latias started shining with a magical golden light, causing her to float off the ground as the damage she had taken so far from the Curse and all of Banette's Dark attacks healed most of the way. Latias blinked as she regained her senses. "Jirachi, what did you do?"

"I-I don't know! I just wished I could do something, and I did!" the Wishmaker said with a shrug.

"You must have used Wish!" Banette realized. "It heals half of a Pokemon's maximum health, something that can really help out when they're on the brink of defeat!" She growled and vanished, reappearing behind Jirachi and slamming into him with a Faint Attack. The Wishmaker cried as he was knocked from the air, falling to the ground. "Let's see you try that again, brat!"

Latias gasped. "No! He was just trying to help!"

"This is between you and me, dragon. No outside interference!" Banette retorted. Latias gasped in pain as once more the Curse took effect. "And he was only delaying the inevitable, anyway! My Curse will destroy you!"

Latias healed herself with Recover, trying to think of a way out of this…and out of the corner of her eye, spotted the two items Banette had knocked off of her. Suddenly, she got an idea. "Maybe not, but I know who can…how about the King of all Ghosts?"

Banette froze. "Y-you know of the Ghost King's existence? How?"

Latias smiled, keeping her voice low so none of the others would hear. "It just so happens that I am his fiancé. And I'm sure he's watching us now. Do you think he'd be pleased with a ghost, one of his subjects, torturing his beloved Latias possibly to the brink of death?"

Banette looked terrified for a moment…then her eyes narrowed. "Impossible. The Ghost King would never take a lover among the living."

"Actually-" Latias gritted her teeth as pain shot through her again from the curse. "He's working on a way to bring himself back to life. Do you think he'd be very pleased to return to this world, only to find that I am gone or at least seriously injured from this Curse of yours? Do you think you would be safe from his wrath?"

Banette swallowed. "I-I'm no longer one of his subjects. By getting captured by Lady Venus, I forfeited my rights to citizenship in the Kingdom of Ghosts."

Latias smirked. "Do you think that'll mean anything to him? He destroyed my home town when I refused his first few advances. What do you think he'll do to you for doing this to me?"

Banette's eyes widened. The Marionette Pokemon was truly frightened now.

Latias convulsed again and floated to the ground, greatly weakened and breathing heavily. She didn't bother to heal herself. "I think it'll only take one more attack from your Curse to finish me. Are you sure you want to face the consequences of doing something like that?"

Banette trembled and swallowed, quickly running through her options. "All right!" she said finally, waving her hand. The little black spirit from before slid out of Latias' back and dissipated into miniscule particles of dust. "There I've removed the Curse. Just tell him not to hurt me!"

Latias bowed her head in thanks, using Recover. "I won't, now that you've saved me. But just to be certain you do nothing else to provoke his wrath, I suggest you return to your Pokeball immediately and stay there until his anger at you for cursing me in the first place cools off."

Banette nodded fervently. "Yes, yes of course." She floated towards Venus.

"Wow, that was a great bluff, Latias!" Jirachi exclaimed, floating around the dragon, ecstatic that she had won.

Latias glanced at the Wishmaker as she retrieved the items she had lost. "I wasn't bluffing," she told him. He blinked, looking surprised.

Venus gasped in disbelief as Banette floated over to her. "What do you think you're doing? Get back over there and fight!"

"Sorry," the Marionette mumbled. "I'm more afraid of the Ghost King than I am of you." She vanished back into her Pokeball.

Venus' anger reached new limits. Not only were her enemies still not bowing to her, not only were her Pokemon failing to win their battles, now her Pokemon themselves were disobeying her! How _dare_ they!

Her face went red with rage and she dug her nails into the arms of the sofa as Gardevoir, still frantically trying to shake off Munchlax, tripped over Charizard's sleeping body and hit her head on the back of Crawdaunt's shell as he Hardened to deflect another volley of spikes, knocking herself out. Munchlax let go of her arm and then started chewing on her hair, finding he rather liked the taste. May's Delcatty seemed to have struck a critical blow against Venus' Delcatty, and the purple cat whimpered, cringing in fear and cradling her heavily bleeding paw as the unusual pink one spat and hissed at her, telling her to stay far, far away from her beloved yellow Golduck. And Jynx, who had been managing to evade Gyarados' powerful attacks for a while now while returning a few of her own, finally slipped up, and was all but incinerated by his Flamethrower. The Ice Pokemon wilted, unconscious, and Crawdaunt froze at the peak of the next swing of his Crabhammer, returning to his senses. Unfortunately, he had done so just a moment too late, as Corsola then hit him in the face with an Ancient Power, pushing him back. "Ow! Corsola, quit it! I'm okay, I'm back to normal!"

Corsola hesitated. "You are?"

"Of course I am!" The lobster scoffed. "Would I lie to you babe? You know I prefer pink over any other color!" Corsola smiled, relieved. "Even if you do lack the gazombas on that Jynx, heh heh…"

Her face turned red. "YOU…" She slapped Crawdaunt on the face with a horn.

"Ow!"

"That's for being such an asshole!" she snapped, stalking off angrily.

Crawdaunt stared at her in confusion. "I'll never understand women," he said with a sigh.

That was the last straw. Venus snapped. "ENOUGH!" she roared, recalling her battered and beaten Pokemon. "THAT'S IT!" She stood up, causing her throne to wobble dangerously. "I still have one last Pokemon, and it will MAKE…YOU…BOW!" She tossed her final Pokeball. "Go, my level 90 Steelix!"

They gasped. "Level 90!" May exclaimed. "How can we beat that!" Even Gyarados, who had an attack which was super-effective against Steel-types, looked worried.

The ball popped open, releasing a huge serpent made of segmented nuggets of metal with four spokes sticking out from the sides, ending in a broad ugly face with a large underbite. The Steelix roared and raised its head as far as it could go without hitting the ceiling, ready to attack…

And paused when the floor started creaking.

The carpeted floor underneath the steel Pokemon started to crack, unable to handle its awesome weight along with that of Gyarados, both of whom were considered heavyweight Pokemon. Gyarados quickly levitated a few inches off the floor, but Steelix had no such luck as the ground caved in, causing him to plummet to the next level, where he struck the floor and caused it to cave in as well, and continued falling and breaking through floors all the way to the lobby, where he hit the floor with a crash which shook the building's foundation, crushing Dakim's Golem, who had just started recovering.

Back on the fifteenth floor, cracks spread from the hole in the floor, and more sections of ground broke off and plummeted into the abyss. The cracks spread over to Venus' high throne, and she gasped as the ground shook and her towering seat started to topple over. "Ahhhh! Somebody help meeeeeee!" she screamed as the ground beneath her fell apart and her throne broke into pieces, the whole unstable structure falling apart as she fell down, down, down through the hole in the floor, the numerous chairs and sofa falling down after her. She dropped to the bottom floor and impaled herself on one of Steelix's spokes, the sofa and chairs which fell after her and bounced off of or split apart on her body pushing her further down the spoke and crushing her beautiful form completely, ending her mad reign once and for all.

The Snagem goons, frightened, ran away from the growing hole in the floor, pressing themselves against the wall as the furniture they had been sitting on fell into the pit. The lip of the widening hole was starting to reach the unconscious humans and Charizard and Absol. Misty gasped. "Oh no! Everyone, hurry!"

She and the others quickly grabbed bodies and dragged or carried them away from the gaping chasm as more bits of floor collapsed and fell. Gyarados and Jirachi were the most helpful, for the serpent was able to hover slightly in the confined conditions and carry numerous humans along his length, and Jirachi was able to levitate the heavier people to safety. Absol and Phanphy woke up and helped too, but Charizard was still slumbering peacefully under the effects of Poke-B-Gone. They were able to move him just before the floor he was lying on collapsed and fell into the pit. There were times when it seemed as if they would fail and an innocent person would be lost, but the heroes moved quickly and managed to get everyone to a safe corner of the lounge, near the hostages, as the floor's collapse finally petered out and stopped, leaving a gaping shaft that went down fifteen stories right to the lobby, where the dead Golem, the wounded Steelix, the impaled Venus, and the remnants of the mad woman's throne along with numerous pieces of furniture and debris that had come down with them lay for the stunned cops and press to stare at.

Jenny panted, putting her hands on her knees. "Well, that was rather close. Excellent job, everyone!"

"Yeah, you guys did great!" cried one of the female hostages.

"You rock!" agreed another. "Now can you let us go?"

May looked over the edge, and blanched at the sight of Venus' impaled corpse. "Sh-she's dead?"

"What do you expect?" Jenny asked, brushing herself off. "She fell through a pit that goes all the way to the ground floor. What human can survive a drop like that?"

"Then-then we killed her!" Misty realized, dropping her mallet in shock.

"No," Jenny corrected, shaking her head. "She killed herself. Had she been thinking clearly, instead of being blinded by her fury and ego, she would have realized the foolishness of letting loose an 880-pound solid metal Pokemon in a building suited for humans and much smaller Pokemon. The floor can only handle a maximum of…" She cocked her head, trying to add it up mentally. "Maybe a few thousand pounds total? With all the Pokemon, unconscious males, furniture piled on top of each other, us and Venus' minions, plus Gyarados and Steelix's weight, it was just too much pressure concentrated in one spot to handle, so the floor collapsed."

"So if I hadn't called up Gyarados-" Misty started.

"If you hadn't called up Gyarados, we would have been at a disadvantage to Venus' Pokemon," Latias told her. "With him on her side, it was even on both sides, and he kept Venus' Jynx from bothering the rest of us with her powerful attacks. You also let in fresh air to dilute Venus' perfume, which made it easier to breathe in here. Doing that might have saved us, Misty."

"There is no reason to feel guilt for slaying evil," Absol said, gazing down into the pit. "For by becoming evil and trying to control the minds and bodies of the people around her, Venus forfeited her right to live. If she did not die here, she would have died somewhere else. We simply hastened her eventual and inevitable demise."

Bayleef sweatdropped. "That's kinda cold."

Absol glanced at her underneath half-lidded eyes. "I'm a Disaster Pokemon and a Guardian. You expect me to be all sunshine and lollipops?"

Tuxedo Masquerain, Soldiers Heart and Wisdom, and a large contingency of police burst into the room, pouring out of the stairwell. "Freeze, criminals-" Tuxedo Masquerain stopped and blinked, staring at the gaping hole in the floor that had no doubt caused the loud sounds and building-shaking quake they had heard and felt on the way up. "Oh my."

"Did you do this?" Soldier Wisdom called to the heroes.

"Uh, yeah, sorta." Misty sweatdropped and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

One of the policemen whistled. "I wouldn't want to be the guy who has to pay to fix this mess."

Soldier Heart gasped when she saw all the knocked-out nearly naked males, along with the burnt Bayleef. "Oh my! Did those criminals do this?"

"Uh, yes. Yes they did," Jenny said quickly. Just because police regulations allowed her to beat up mind-controlled people didn't mean it was something she was going to admit to others anywhere else but on the official police report.

The costumed nurse ran around the edge of the pit and got to work healing the hostages with her magic heart wand.

"And how about you crooks?" Soldier Wisdom asked, glaring at the remaining femme-Snagems, who were trapped on the far side of the chasm, away from any doors, with their only possible escape out through one of the broken windows behind them or through the gaping hole in front of them. "Do you surrender?"

"Yes, we surrender!" one of the goons said tearfully. "Just get us out of here!"

Wisdom used her bubble gun to snatch up all the Snagems in bubbles and float them across the pit to her side, where the police officers started taking them back downstairs and into custody one at a time. Soldier Heart continued healing the males, who woke up looking confused and remembering nothing of what they had done other than a vague recollection of a goddess-like lady whose shadow would haunt them for the rest of their days and ruin any relationship they ever had with a woman, because none of them would ever be able to measure up to the goddess in their eyes. It was thankful that by the time they got down to the bottom floor, the police had already covered up Venus' body to preserve it for forensics, otherwise they might have gone insane at the sight of her, or what was left of her.

Misty dragged Brock over to Heart right away, feeling guilty for knocking him out with her mallet and hoping he'd be okay. "Is he all right?" she asked anxiously as the disguised Joy finished shining heart rays on him.

The soldier frowned and leaned back as Brock groaned and opened his eyes. (Gasp). "Uhhh…Venus…Venus, I love you…" he said with a goofy smile on his face and an unsightly protrusion in the front of his pants.

Misty's face turned red and she smashed Brock over the head with her mallet, knocking him out again. "I think you messed up, there's still something wrong with him," she said to the appalled Soldier Heart.

Tuxedo Masquerain, in the meantime, had freed the female hostages and was greatly enjoying their attention, while May fumed at him from a distance.

Soon, Jenny got the attention of her companions. "We've taken out all the admins and freed all the hostages except for the one who's rigged to explode if anyone touches her. It's time for us to finish the job and shut down Neo Team Snagem once and for all! All the information we've obtained so far points to the team's leader being on the roof facing down this Wes fellow, and it's time we joined them! Who's with me?"

"I'd come, but I need to stay and continue helping these hostages," Heart said apologetically, shining her light on another unconscious man.

"And I need to, ah, escort these ladies out," Tuxedo Masquerain said, winking at the female hostages, who giggled at him. May clenched her fists angrily.

"I'd be honored to assist," Soldier Wisdom informed Jenny, striding up to her.

"As would we, ma'am," said one of the contingent of policemen who had stayed behind while the others took the femme-goons downstairs.

"And don't forget about us," Misty added. "We've stuck with you since the beginning of this, and we're seeing it through to the end!"

Jenny looked touched. "Thank you…you are without a doubt the best deputies I've ever had!"

"Then let's get going already!" Bayleef, whom Soldier Heart had already healed, insisted impatiently. "It's taken us long enough to reach this point! Let's go up and save Wes!"

"I'll have to leave you guys," Gyarados said sadly. "I could probably fly up and meet you, but that would probably startle that Gonzap person and make him trigger the bomb on that girl."

"Don't worry Gyarados," Misty said, patting her Pokemon on the snout. "You've helped out enough. Thanks. And could you take Charizard down with you, if it's not too much trouble?" she asked, pointing to Charizard, who was lying where they had dropped him after moving him away from the collapsing floor, still snoozing from whatever Jenny had pumped into his system.

"Sure, no problem." Gyarados leaned over, gingerly picked the dragon up in his mouth, careful not to bite down, and swam through the air over to the window, brushing his tail against Misty's cheek as he flew out and back down the side of the building.

"Okay team, let's move!" Jenny announced, addressing her force. "We have one, maybe two more hostages to rescue! Up to the roof!"

…

To get to the roof, they once more had to take the stairs up, since there weren't enough elevators for all of them and they probably wouldn't fit anyway. Since Charizard was out of commission, Jenny had taken the lead again, with Soldier Wisdom at her side, bubble gun drawn. Right behind them were the team of heroes, whom Jenny now had more than enough trust in to keep close to her, and the dozen or so remaining cops taking the rear, watching for any possible attacks from behind and readying to do whatever was necessary to protect their companions.

As they reached the twentieth floor, the red carpeting and nice wallpaper stopped on the landing with the door into the twentieth-floor lounge. On the far side of the landing was a gate made of chain links, with a door that was normally locked leading to a plain gray set of stairs that led to the roof. The door was hanging open, its padlock lying on the ground in broken pieces.

"There it is," Jenny said quietly to the superhero that looked exactly like her, and yet she did not seem to notice what was obvious to anyone else with a brain. "That's the secondary maintenance passage up to the roof. There's another one on this floor, but this one's closest."

"It may also be a trap," Wisdom said, cocking her gun. "I'll check it out." She took a few steps forward, reaching the threshold of the gate. She poked her head through the open door, glancing up the stairs and the walls on the sides. She took a step back and pointed her weapon at the passage. "I hear footsteps!"

And so did everyone else a moment later as whatever person coming down the stairs got closer. The footsteps stopped when the individual, whoever it was, saw there was a gun pointing at him. "Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing!" a familiar voice said, startled.

"Identify yourself!" Wisdom ordered, not putting the gun down.

"Relax, it's just me, Wes!" said the person, coming further down the stairs until he could be visible through the chain-links of the gate.

"Hey, it is Wes!" May said in surprise.

"The boy who went through before and all the Snagems wanted?" Jenny asked, disbelieving. "What's he doing walking about?"

"I took care of Gonzap and rescued the girl," Wes said, proceeding down the stairs and to the door as Wisdom lowered her gun and stepped out of the way. "Come on, I'll take you to them."

Misty frowned, getting a better look at the white-haired blue-coated teen through the open door. "Wait. You're not Wes."

"What do you mean? Of course I am!" Wes said, looking annoyed.

"I thought Wes had yellow eyes," May said, also frowning. "Why are yours blue?"

'Wes' started sweating. "Um…"

"And he also had that white strip of paint or whatever on his nose, not under his eyes," Misty continued.

"And his hair's the wrong shade of white," Phanphy pointed out.

"And Wes didn't have freckles, did he?" Bayleef asked.

"Or an earring," Latias agreed.

"And I think he was a little taller," Crawdaunt said.

"Oh, and the real Wes looks much cooler," Jirachi noted.

"Enough!" the person who was clearly not Wes said in frustration. "Curses, you somehow saw through my brilliant disguise! You're right, I'm not Wes, I'm Fein the expert people impersonator of Neo Team Snagem! I was going to pretend to be Wes and lure you into a trap at the top of the stairs, and you'd all think the real Wes had done it! His reputation would have been ruined, just like when I ruined it in Orre by pretending to be him!"

"Well then, you're under arrest for identity theft, conspiring against the police, and aiding and abetting known criminals," Wisdom said, pointing her gun at Fein and shooting him from behind, trapping him in a bubble.

"Wha-hey! You weren't supposed to do that!" Fein protested. "I was supposed to get a chance to make a dramatic escape or engage you all in a high-powered Pokemon battle like the girls had with Venus! No fair!"

"This is Ever Grande City, Mr. Fein," Officer Jenny said with a smirk. "We don't do 'fair' with criminals here. Take him away, boys." A couple of police came up the stairs past the heroes, grabbed hold of the bubble holding the trapped Fein, and started carrying him back down, forcing people to flatten themselves against the wall so they wouldn't get crushed against the sides of the bubble.

"This stinks!" Fein whined as he was carted off. "I'm nothing more than a cameo here! I was promised a full part in this chapter, not just a single page! I'M CALLING MY LAWYER, AUTHOR!"

"What's he talking about?" Misty asked in confusion.

Wisdom shrugged. "Sometimes the people I capture in my bubbles have hallucinations as a result of the somewhat thin air supply that passes through the bubble's outer membrane. It's probably nothing to take note of."

Jenny nodded. "All right then. I must thank you for your intervention deputies; otherwise we might have walked right into a trap."

"Oh, it was bound to happen sooner or later," May said with a laugh. "With all the times Team Rocket's fooled us with bad disguises, the Law of Averages states that it was only a matter of time before we finally recognized someone else who was disguised, right?"

"Yes. Now, I suppose we have to make a quick detour to the other stairway." Jenny paused. "Unless, of course…" she frowned.

"What?" asked Jirachi, worried.

"Unless…that Fein person disguised himself badly on _purpose _so as to trick us into thinking the stairs were booby-trapped and redirecting us to the other stairway, which really would be booby-trapped."

Bayleef gasped. "That actually makes sense!"

"Wait…" Latias frowned. "What if that's what he _wants _us to think, that the other staircase is booby-trapped so we go up this one, which is the real trap? Reverse reverse psychology or something like that?"

Crawdaunt grumbled. "Pikachu'd probably be able to puzzle something like this out, with all that Psych channel junk he watches. I'm clueless."

"Just like me!" Phanphy said happily.

Crawdaunt rolled his eyes. "Yes Phanphy, just like you."

"Perhaps that is yet another trick," Absol suggested. "Perhaps he was leading us to believe that one or the other stairway was a trap, when in fact _both_ were traps, so either way we would be walking into danger." He frowned. "Then again, there's also the possibility that _neither_ is a trap, and he just wanted us to believe they were to mess with our heads."

"How would we know for sure?" Corsola asked.

Absol's face was impassive. "There's only one way to find out." Without warning, he dashed past them, pushing Officer Jenny and Sailor Wisdom aside, and running through the gate and up the stairs.

They cried in alarm. "What's he doing!" Misty cried.

"Absol, stop!" Jirachi yelled, panicking at the thought of his oldest friend and guardian getting blown up or whatever in a trap.

They ran over to the gate, anxious to find out what was going on…and heard Absol call down, "All clear!"

Jenny blinked. "What did he say?"

"He said, 'all clear'," Latias told May, who repeated that to Jenny.

"I don't believe it!" said an impressed Wisdom. "He ran up those stairs, knowing it might be a trap, just to make sure none of us got caught in it!"

"What courage!" Jenny agreed. "We could really use more people like him on the force!" She glared at her subordinate cops as she said this, none of whom had actually been any help so far and had only come to their aid too late to be of any assistance on the last level. None of them were able to meet her eye, ashamed. "Well, in any case we know now that that Fein person was just trying to mess with our heads. Unless of course, the other staircase _is_ trapped…we'll have to check that out later. Come on!" She walked through the gate and started up the stairs towards the small landing, where Absol was waiting in front of a door which he had pushed open a bit. Light shone through the door, brightening the drab stairway somewhat as, in single file, they all started up the narrow steps.

Jirachi flew ahead and anxiously hovered around Absol. "Absol! Why did you do that? You really scared me back there!"

Absol shrugged. "I was simply doing my job: protecting you. Doing so meant running up a possibly booby-trapped staircase to see if it was safe. I would do it a hundred more times if I had to, because it would mean keeping you out of harm's way."

"But Absol…" Jirachi hesitated. "If it were trapped, you could have died."

"I know." Absol did not look too worried. "I long ago accepted the possibility that I might die protecting you, Wishmaker. As a bodyguard and guardian, it is a necessity that I be willing to give up my life for yours. My life does not matter as much as yours does."

"But it does matter, Absol!" Jirachi protested. "It can't be so much more worth my living that you need to die so I keep going!"

Absol shrugged. "That is how you see things, Wishmaker. I see the world a different way. I will do anything it takes to protect your life. Even if it means dying. Even if it means killing. Someday, you will come to terms with this." He turned and slinked through the doorway as the others approached.

Jirachi sighed. "Absol…"

They passed through the door and came out into the harsh, sunlit rooftop of Emerald Towers. It was a large rectangle, with air ventilators and cooling fans strewn about here and there along with satellite dishes, antenna, and various other arrays. Some distance away, Wes, the real Wes, stood tall and firm, the ends of his blue coat blowing in the wind as he stared ahead of him. Mounted on his arm was an object which caused May and Ash's Pokemon to gasp at the sight of it, for they had seen it enough times on the arms of Team Cipher to recognize it as a Snag Device. "What's he doing with a Snag Device?" May wondered.

"A what?" Jenny asked, confused.

"A machine which changes Pokeballs so they can capture Pokemon who already belong to trainers," May explained. "Another criminal group, Team Cipher, used them. That giant robot that attacked the city a few days ago had a giant version of one. What's Wes doing with one, though?"

Sailor Wisdom frowned as the other police exited the stairwell at the heels of Phanphy and Corsola. "That's a very good question."

On the other side of the rooftop from Wes, near the edge of the face which was the front of the building, stood a fairly tall man, not as tall as Dakim nor as heavily built, but still well-muscled. He wore the same outfit as any of the other regular grunts of Neo Team Snagem; a red vest with black coveralls and the symbol of a fist clutching an Earth-patterned Pokeball on the front of his shirt. The main difference with his vest was that the collar flared out a bit. Like the other grunts, he was bald and wore some kind of high-tech headphones. Unlike the other grunts, his eyebrows were very long and curved out from the sides of his face like Tauros horns, and a long moustache zigzagged out from under his nose, sticking out from the sides of his face and looking like twin lightning bolts. He also had purple fingerless gloves. This, surely, was Gonzap, the leader of Neo Team Snagem.

To Gonzap's side was a ventilator with a taut rope tied to it which went over the edge of the building. It was no doubt the rope from which the poor, bomb-laden Rui was dangling. In between Gonzap and Wes were four Pokemon duking it out; for Wes an Espeon and Umbreon and for Gonzap a Shiftry and a Hariyama. "Hariyama, Arm Thrust! Shiftry, Shadow Punch!"

The Hariyama lunged forward, thrusting his enormous orange palms out repeatedly at Umbreon. The Shiftry clenched its leafy fists and punched twice at the air, generating a pair of black energy fists which rocketed towards Espeon.

Wes didn't look in the least bit worried. "Umbreon, Double Team and Psychic attack. Espeon, use Helping Hand then Morning Sun!"

Espeon stood and took the blow, flinching as the Shadow Punches connected, but fired a small bolt of static from his forehead to Umbreon just as the Dark Pokemon multiplied into numerous illusory fakes which circled Hariyama. The Arm Thrust Pokemon hadn't moved quickly enough to strike the real Umbreon, and his attack passed harmlessly through one of the clones as the real Umbreon reappeared behind him and fired a Psychic attack, pumped up by his brother's aid, striking the Hariyama squarely in the back and sending it tumbling head over heels, slamming its face into one of the ventilators, denting the metal tube and knocking itself out. In the meantime, Espeon's jewel glowed as it drew in sunlight, replenishing the health that had been severely depleted by Shiftry's punches.

Gonzap actually chuckled, looking oddly proud of Wes. "Heh, not bad boy! You've improved since the last time I saw you!"

Wes smirked. "Yeah, well, that's what happens when I fight people who are actually a challenge!"

"Heheh." Gonzap shook his head as he recalled Hariyama. "I missed that sense of humor, boy. Hanging around people who never talk back to me, unless they're total bitches like Venus, idiots like Dakim, or total freakshows like Miror B, has made me kind of lonely for somebody worth holding a conversation with!"

Jenny stepped towards the battle, holding out her badge. Her subordinates assembled behind her. "Gonzap of Neo Team Snagem, you are under arrest! Come quietly or face the consequences!"

Gonzap looked annoyed. "Great, we've been interrupted. Boy, tell your little friends to stay out of this, will you?"

Wes whirled around. "Get out of here!" he yelled at them. "This is between him and me! You've got no part in this!"

"Sir, as an officer of the law I must ask you to step away! It's all fine and good for you to take the law into your own hands when the proper authorities are absent, we have enough of that around here, but when the people who are paid to do that sort of thing come in we expect to be able to do our jobs without interference! Let us pass or I will charge you with obstruction of justice!" Jenny ordered.

Wes gritted his teeth. "Idiots! He's planted bombs all around the rooftop! If you get any closer, he'll set them off and blow us sky high!"

They all gasped. "What?" asked May, shocked. "He must be kidding!"

"No, he's right," said Gonzap, pulling a remote detonator out of his vest. "If I activate this thing, all the bombs I've planted will blow up and kill us all. It'll also trigger the explosives I've locked around Miss Rui, and they'll blow her up too! But as long as I get to finish this match, I won't press the button!" He grinned at Wes. "I've come a long way for this, and I don't intend to let anyone get in the way of this match!"

"He's nuts!" commented a stunned Misty.

"Officer, I believe I could get him with my Bubble Gun from here," Wisdom whispered to Jenny. "If I aim correctly, I can encircle a bubble around that detonator of his and save us all."

Jenny shook her head. "Too risky, it's too small a target. If you miss, you'll trap Gonzap _and_ the detonator in the same bubble. I don't suppose your bubbles block radio signals?"

Wisdom shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, no."

"Wes!" May pushed her way forward. "Wes, you don't have to do this! We can help!"

Gonzap rolled his eyes. "Great, more interruptions."

Wes looked startled to see May here. "You're one of Ash's friends, aren't you?"

"Yes!" The rest of her group pushed through the throng of nervous policemen to join her. "We came here to help you! Ash would have come too, but he had to stay in the clinic to recover from his fight at Battle Palace!"

Gonzap looked bemused. "Somebody came to help you out? Heh, that doesn't happen very often, does it? Did you happen to tell these friends of yours who you really are, then?"

Wes' eyes widened. "Gonzap-"

Gonzap grinned evilly. "Oh come now, if they're really your friends, they'll understand, won't they? They'll understand that you used to work for me and were the best Pokemon thief on all of Team Snagem!"

Everyone gasped. "What! You mean we rushed all the way up here to help a criminal!" Jenny asked in disbelief.

"Ex-criminal, actually," Wes grumbled. "I grew up working for Team Snagem, spending my life under Gonzap's thumb and working as a thief. They never managed to shave my hair off or rid me of the sense of style the rest of the goons lacked, though." He tugged on his coat self-consciously.

Gonzap smirked. "Yeah, why do you think he's wearing that prototype Snag Device on his arm? It used to belong to us until he took it! I was going to give it to him as a present, but then he went and turned traitor on us and stole the damn thing!"

Misty spoke up, being the romantic idealist to Ash's social idealism. "Because you realized what your gang was doing was evil and rebelled against them?"

"No . . ." Wes shook his head sheepishly. "Actually, I figured with the proto-type Snagger, I could go for a one-way split." The others facefaulted.

Gonzap laughed out loud. "Ha, I knew it was something like that! Good old Wes, you never forgot what I taught you, did you boy? Eh, guess I taught you a little too well then…" He grimaced. "Of course, then you had to turn all goody-goody and shut us down, didn't you?"

Wes grunted. "What can I say? Rui can be a very persuasive girl when she's in one of her moods. If it makes you feel any better though, I still feel the occasional urge to snitch something."

"And do you?" Gonzap asked eagerly.

Wes shifted uncomfortably, feeling the eyes of the police and Ash's friends burning a hole through his back. "Well…occasionally, but only small stuff like wallets and little pieces of jewelry, not Pokemon. Not anymore."

"WES!" Rui's angry voice called up from the side of the building.

"Hey, it's a long hard uphill road to reformation!" he said desperately while Gonzap started laughing again. "It's only natural I trip on a few snags here and there!"

"WEEEEES!" Rui yelled again, very angry.

"D-don't use that tone of voice on me, woman!" Wes bellowed nervously as Gonzap fell to his knees, clutching his belly with uncontrollable laughter. "Y-you're embarrassing me in front of everyone!"

"I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST YOU, WES! YOU SAID YOU WERE OVER THIS!"

"Well, I thought I was too! Kinda! Sorta! Well, maybe not that much over it…" Gonzap was pounding the ground with his fists, shaking with laughter.

"I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU!"

"Come on, Rui, please!" Wes begged. Gonzap continued laughing. Everyone else just sweatdropped, even Wes' Pokemon.

"For some reason, I'm reminded of you and Ash," Bayleef muttered to Misty.

Misty blinked. "But Ash doesn't steal things." She frowned, narrowing her eyes. "He'd _better_ not…"

"Come on, I promise I won't do it again!" Wes pleaded while Gonzap went into convulsive fits of laughter. "And will you SHUT UP!" he yelled at Gonzap.

Rui gasped. "_WES!_"

"No, no, not you!" Wes said frantically. "Him! Gonzap! He won't stop laughing!" he said, pointing to the bald man who found all of this hilarious.

"You know, I could probably shoot that thing from his hand now, while he's distracted laughing," Wisdom pointed out.

"You could, but this is a little too entertaining to miss. I don't suppose anyone has a camera?" Jenny asked.

"I WANT YOU TO SAY IT, WES!" Rui continued.

Wes gaped. "Wha-no! No, I'm not saying it! Not in public!"

"SAY IT!"

"But-"

"SAY IT!"

"I-"

"SAY IT!"

Wes gritted his teeth and sighed, resigning himself to his fate. "I am a very, very naughty boy who has done a bad thing," he said quietly, hoping his voice was low enough so that nobody could hear it. Unfortunately, everyone could, as a few snickers from the police and renewed guffaws from Gonzap told him. "And I am very sorry and promise never to do it again. After we are done here, I will go stand in the time-out corner for a few hours, because I have done a bad thing and deserve to be punished. I'm sorry, Rui."

"GOOD." Rui sounded pleased.

"May I continue my match now, please?"

"AS LONG AS YOU GET AROUND TO RESCUING ME AT SOME POINT."

"Of course." Wes glared at Gonzap, who was laughing so hard he was having trouble breathing. "You can stop now."

Gonzap struggled to catch his breath, wiping a tear from his eye. "Ah-hahahaha-I'm sorry boy, that was just-haha-too much for me. I've _really_ missed you."

Wes grumbled under his breath. "Can we just finish the match? Right now, I'm really looking forward to pounding you into the ground."

Gonzap shook his head, looking disappointed. "Still as impatient as ever, huh? You really need to learn when to just relax and enjoy life now and then. An occasional break in the serious fighting to catch your breath. Didn't you pay attention to _anything_ I taught you?"

Wes rolled his eyes. "Well, excuse me for being a bit rude, but I don't really feel like I have time to chat considering you've kidnapped my girlfriend and are hanging her off the side of the building with a bomb attached to her. You've also reassembled a vast number of people whom I hate who've taken this building hostage and all want a piece of me after we're through here."

Gonzap raised his long eyebrows. "One would think you'd want to put off having to see them again as much as you could."

Wes shrugged. "Well, seeing as how all these cops and other people got up here, I think it's safe to assume that your minions are all beaten, so I've got nothing as awful as Miror B's dancing or Venus being Venus to look forward to after we're done here."

Gonzap looked thoughtful. "Hmm. You're probably right. Oh well, I never liked them anyway. Only broke them out of prison so they could help me find you."

Wes smirked. "You came all this way just for me? I'm flattered. I thought you also wanted back the Snag Device."

Gonzap shrugged. "Well, that too I suppose. I wouldn't mind having my old Skarmory back as well. How is he?"

Wes grunted. "Eh, he misses you now and then. Sometimes wishes I didn't Snag him from you."

"So do I," Gonzap said bitterly.

"Well, I didn't really have a choice. You turned him into a Shadow Pokemon."

"He _wanted_ to be a Shadow, dammit. We both know you really only Snagged him as a trophy to prove your victory over me." He recalled his Shiftry and pulled out another Pokeball. "Anyway, I managed to find someone to take his place on my team, even if he can never replace Skarmory in my heart. I think even you'll have trouble beating this one, Wes."

Wes raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What is it?"

Gonzap grinned. "Why don't we make this interesting? I'll send out my secret weapon if you send out yours. Then we can see who is truly the best Team Snagem has or ever had to offer!"

Wes stared at him for a moment, frowning. "I can't see what you're up to…but fine." He recalled Espeon and Umbreon. He pulled out another Pokeball then glanced over his shoulder to the others. "I appreciate that you all came up here to help me, but I ask you to stay out of this. This is between me and Gonzap."

"Plus, I'll activate the bombs if they come any closer," Gonzap pointed out.

"Yeah, that too. So stay back, I've got this under control," Wes told them. He started to turn around again.

"Wes!" Misty cried suddenly.

Wes glanced at her. "Yes?"

"…Be careful, okay? Ash won't be happy if your Pokemon get too beaten up fighting that you won't be able to give him a good match later in the tournament."

Wes blinked in surprise. A smile slowly grew on his face. "I'll do my best. He's not the only one looking forward to that match, after all." He turned back to Gonzap.

"You're still supporting him? Now that we know who he really is, or was?" Bayleef asked.

Misty shrugged. "He's not a crook anymore, even if, as he said, he still can't help himself. No matter what he says, he's still a good person, and Ash's friend, which makes him our friend too. I think we can give him the benefit of the doubt."

Latias nodded, thinking of the Ghost King and how he proved himself to be more than she had believed at first glance. "I agree. Let's give Wes all the support he needs, okay?" _Especially if the Pokemon he's about to summon is the one I think it is_, she thought to herself.

"Even if Wes was a bad guy once, he's not now. He's too cool to hate! I'm still with him!" Phanphy said cheerfully.

"Me too!" agreed Jirachi.

Absol shrugged. "Well, as long as we don't have to do anything but watch him fight, fine. He's all right with me as long as he does not attempt to steal the Wishmaker."

"Ready, Wes?" Gonzap asked, fingering his Pokeball.

"When have I not been?" Wes asked, gripping his ball.

"How about that time I burst into your room that one morning when we were going out on a big raid on Phenac City and found that you still hadn't gotten your underwear on?" Gonzap asked with a smirk.

Wes' face flushed as more of the cops laughed at him. "We had a big party the night before, as I recall. I was groggy from all the alcohol."

Gonzap shook his head. "Tsk tsk, boy. I thought I told you that if you couldn't handle the liquor, stop drinking it! Now," he said, winding his arm back. "Let's finish this match!"

"Fine with me!" They both tossed their Pokeballs at the same time.

Gonzap's burst open to reveal an awfully familiar Pokemon to Latias even if its color was different; a purple draconic beast with great blue wings, a long pointed tail, and a long mouth filled with sharp teeth. Bayleef gasped. "Latias, isn't that-"

"Yes, it's an Aerodactyl!" Latias confirmed. "But they're extinct! Even the one my mom used on us was a zombie! Where did Gonzap get one?"

Wes' Pokeball popped open and unleashed a truly magnificent Pokemon. It was a huge bird, at least twelve feet long and weighing over four hundred pounds, covered in red feathers on the top of the body and white on the sides and belly. The feathers growing from the wings started white, but became more greenish as they reached their tips. A sunburst of golden yellow feathers grew from its end in place of a tail. Its long, narrow neck was ringed by a green-white stripe, and its head had a long pointed beak like a stork's with red eyes rimmed with black and a curly golden crest growing from the top of its head. The air around it seemed to shimmer with the colors of the rainbow for a moment as it flapped its wings, landing on the rooftop with a thud, its claws digging into the concrete and cracking it.

All who looked upon the beast were speechless, even Gonzap seemed stunned for a moment. Latias had seen a Ho-Oh before, but that one had been mad and depraved, she had lacked the strange sort of regal bearing which this phoenix had around him. She knew without a doubt that this was the Pokemon who was her father.

Without a word, May pointed her Pokedex at Ho-Oh. It beeped and said, "Ho-Oh, the Rainbow Pokemon. Ho-Oh's feathers glow in seven colors depending on the angle at which they are struck by light. These feathers are said to bring happiness to their bearers. This Pokemon is said to live at the foot of the rainbow." As an afterthought, May pointed the 'Dex at Aerodactyl. "Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokemon. Aerodactyl is a Pokemon from the age of dinosaurs. It was regenerated from genetic material extracted from amber. It is imagined to have been king of the skies in ancient times."

"Hmm." May frowned. "The revived fossil Pokemon doesn't seem quite as incredible as the legendary rainbow bird."

"Where'd you get that thing?" Wes asked, pointing at Aerodactyl.

Gonzap blinked, snapping out of the moment of awed reverence he had felt at seeing Ho-Oh. "What, him?" he asked, gesturing to the pterodactyl. "I liberated him from a cloning facility. He figured being a criminal was better than being locked up and being poked at with needles and tubes by uncaring scientists."

"Impressive," Wes appraised with a nod. "And a shiny, too. Not quite as impressive as Ho-Oh, though?" The colorful bird screeched in acknowledgement, spreading its colorful feathers.

"You're right, it's not…but you seem to have forgotten an important lesson I taught you, Wes," Gonzap said, completely serious. "And that's that pride goes before the fall!"

From each of the four corners of the rooftop, a tall metal pole suddenly rose up. They had looked like simple ventilators, so nobody had noticed anything odd about them until now. The tops unfolded into dishes, which pointed at Ho-Oh, and fired ten bolts of lightning each, striking with the force of at least half a dozen Zap Cannons. Ho-Oh screeched in pain and collapsed to the roof, electricity crackling across his body. Latias (and everyone else) gasped in shock.

"What the hell was that for!" Wes cried in alarm.

Gonzap shrugged. "Just trying to make it a fair fight."

"Fair! How is blasting my Pokemon with intense electricity considered fair!" Wes demanded.

Gonzap scowled. "One; I'm a bad guy so my definition of fair is different from yours, although since you were bad once too I suppose our definitions can't be that different. Two, do you think it's particularly fair to sic a high-leveled legendary Pokemon who's probably had a few hundred years of experience of fighting against my Aerodactyl, who may have a type advantage but has also only been alive for a couple of months and has barely scratched the surface of his potential?"

Wes gaped. "You _wanted_ me to use Ho-Oh, just like you wanted to use Aerodactyl! I figured that your Pokemon had some power which would help defend it against mine! Sounded fair to me!"

Gonzap shrugged. "I suppose, but if your Ho-Oh fought at full power the fight would be over practically before it had even begun! I came all this way for a good fight, and that's what I want from you, boy! And I'll get that fight, even if it means knocking your strongest Pokemon down to the level of mine so they're relatively equal in power! That doesn't sound the least bit fair to you?"

Wes paused. "Well, the part about being equal in power does, I suppose…but the way you did it-"

"If I had asked you to tell your Ho-Oh to fight at less than its full power, would you have listened?" Gonzap asked. "Or would he have, for that matter?"

"…Good point," Wes admitted. "Hmmph. I suppose you're right. At least this way, it makes the fight more interesting. But don't pull anything like that again, you hear me? Only one dirty trick from you per fight."

Gonzap nodded. "Absolutely. Just don't use Recover during the match, you're supposed to be the good guy so if you did that you'd be proving you're just as bad as me."

Wes rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, let's just do this. Ho-Oh, you got it?"

The phoenix growled at Gonzap. "Cheating human, relying on cheap tricks to weaken me…I may not incinerate him?"

Wes smirked. "Tempting, but no. I hate the guy, but…eh, I could never do that to him."

"Very well. Then I shall not use Recover, so that this shall indeed be an honorable match." Ho-Oh spread his wings. "Shall we duel, Aerodactyl?"

The demon flyer squawked with pleasure. "I'd love to!"

"Aerodactyl, Double-Edge!" Gonzap ordered.

Aerodactyl lunged forward at astonishing speeds, head lowered into a ramming position and a clear aura around him as he smashed into Ho-Oh's chest underneath the neck, causing the phoenix to take a step backward, screeching in pain and surprise. Aerodactyl was pushed back from the recoil of his own attack, yet didn't look as if he had been hurt in the least. "Hey, shouldn't Double-Edge do damage to the user as well as whoever got hit by it?" Corsola asked.

May checked her Pokedex. "According to this, Aerodactyl has a Rock Head special ability which protects it from recoil."

Misty whistled. "Sounds even harder than Ash's head. Well, maybe not _that_ much harder."

"Ho-Oh, Solar Beam!" Wes ordered.

The phoenix spread its wings and gathered solar energy in its mouth. Since it was a sunny day, the beam charged up quicker and fired from the bird's maw in a burst of white and gold energy.

"Aerodactyl, dodge it and retaliate with Rock Throw!" Gonzap commanded.

Aerodactyl demonstrated his astonishing speed again by moving out of the way of the Solar Beam just a moment before it could hit, swooped down to the rooftop, ripped a chunk of the edge's lip off with its claws, and hurled it at Ho-Oh. It exploded against the bird's head, causing him to flinch and shut his eyes for a second to protect them from pebbles broken off the rock. In that brief moment of blindness, Aerodactyl dashed forward with Aerial Ace, slashing at the phoenix with its wings as it flew past. Rainbow-colored feathers flew off from where they had been severed by the pterodactyl's wing.

Wes blinked, startled by Aerodactyl's speed. It seemed even faster than the Shadow Sneasel he had once possessed. "Ho-Oh, you're a sitting Psyduck on the ground! Take to the air!" Ho-Oh nodded and flapped his wings, blowing everyone's hair back and almost knocking Jirachi and Phanphy away with great gusts of wind as he rose above the building, the sunlight shimmering off his feathers.

"Bad move, Wes! Aerodactyl is faster than your giant turkey, whether it's in the air or sitting on the ground!" Gonzap boasted.

Ho-Oh's temper flared. "Turkey!" he said angrily. His anger at Gonzap distracted him for a moment, allowing Aerodactyl to dash in again and strike him with Aerial Ace again. Ho-Oh screeched, though it was more from frustration than pain.

"I thought you agreed no more dirty tricks," Wes accused, eyebrow raised.

"What dirty tricks?" Gonzap asked innocently. "Aerodactyl's the one who's attacking before I give him orders. Come on Wes, you're softening up. You can't make all the decisions in battle; you have to leave some of it up to the Pokemon. That way your opponent has less of a chance of figuring out what's going to happen next. And speaking of which, while we've been talking Aerodactyl just used Dragonclaw followed by Iron Tail." Wes glanced up and saw this was indeed the case, but Ho-Oh had managed to catch Aerodactyl's tail in his beak and was using it to shake the pterodactyl about like a chew toy, rendering the ancient beast dazed and confused when Ho-Oh finally spat him out.

"Quick Ho-Oh, while he's stunned! Use Future Sight, then Steel Wing!" Wes called to his Pokemon.

Ho-Oh's eyes glowed for a moment as he flapped to gain some altitude, then his wings started glowing white and he shot forward, striking Aerodactyl with their edges as she swooped past. Down below, crowds who had gathered outside the hotel gasped and pointed upwards, seeing the legendary Ho-Oh in battle. This was the first time Wes had used him since he had gotten to Ever Grande City, so it wasn't hard to imagine how shocked and amazed they were to see Ho-Oh here.

The blow from the Steel Wing was powerful and sent Aerodactyl reeling, but it also snapped him out of his confusion. He regained his composure and chased after Ho-Oh as the phoenix rose higher into the air above the city, Gonzap's command carried by the wind to his ears: "Hit him with Aerial Ace!" Aerodactyl rose high into the air and swooped down at Ho-Oh as the phoenix turned about to return to their place of battle atop the Emerald Towers, diving out of the sun to blind the phoenix when Ho-Oh tried to see where he was coming from.  
"Ho-Oh, Protect!" Wes ordered.

Ho-Oh folded his wings around himself just before Aerodactyl could strike, forming a green energy shield which deflected Aerodactyl and sent him spinning away. As the pterodactyl recovered from his failed dive, there was a sudden gust of wind, and a rainbow-hued ball of psychic energy appeared out of nowhere, bearing down on Aerodactyl. Wes grinned, anticipating Aerodactyl's screech of pain as the ball exploded and knocked it out of the air…

And so he was not the only one whose jaw dropped when Aerodactyl COMPLETELY DODGED the Future Sight in midair. Even Ho-Oh was stunned. Gonzap chuckled. "What's wrong? Never seen a Future Sight miss before?"

"No, not really," Wes admitted.

"There's a lot of things in this world you haven't seen yet, boy. Like this, for example! Aerodactyl, Ancientpower!"

Aerodactyl twirled out of his graceful evasion of the Future Sight and flew back towards Ho-Oh, his body lighting up as strange, runic markings and lines appeared on his skin.

"Ancientpower? Not only have I seen that before, but Ho-Oh can use it too! Come on Ho-Oh, show him just because his DNA is older than you are doesn't mean his power's as strong!"

Ho-Oh squawked in agreement and started glowing with ancient markings as well as he rose to a higher altitude, then dove towards Aerodactyl, talons open, throwing his full weight forward to increase his speed.

The two glowing avians collided in an explosion of power which lit up the sky and kicked up fierce gusts of wind as both opponents were blown back from the force. Ho-Oh, as the larger and more durable of the two, recovered more quickly and charged straight towards Aerodactyl, beak open in a predatory shriek as his eyes flashed for a moment.

Aerodactyl recovered his balance and flipped out of the way of Ho-Oh's dash, flapping to gain some altitude on the legendary Pokemon, and spewing a golden Hyper Beam from his maw.

Ho-Oh saw the beam coming out of the corner of his eye and spun about, using Protect to shield his body and disperse the beam's energy harmlessly in the air around him. He turned with a flap of his wings and charged upwards at Aerodactyl in the split-second the pterodactyl needed to recover, firing a Solar Beam. Aerodactyl caught his breath and dodged the beam, but it seemed as if that was what Ho-Oh had wanted, for the shimmering energy ball of another Future Sight, which the phoenix had summoned the instant he had recovered from the use of Ancientpower, slammed into Aerodactyl's back, exploding and throwing the startled monster away. Ho-Oh opened his mouth and spat glowing Swift stars at Aerodactyl as the momentum from the Future Sight's explosion continued to hurl him away from the battle. Gonzap did not seem worried, however. "Aerodactyl, use Agility, Double Team, and Take Down!"

Aerodactyl used his increased speed to dodge the storm of stars hurtling towards him, leaving behind illusory doubles to distract Ho-Oh and serve as targets so he could charged forward, head down in ramming position, knocking any stars that shot towards him out of the way before finally colliding with Ho-Oh's stomach and pushing the phoenix back several feet in the air, taking them even higher above the city.

"Ho-Oh, while he's still close, use Sacred Fire!" Wes shouted, hoping his Pokemon could hear him. Fortunately, it seemed he could. As Aerodactyl started winging back from Ho-Oh, the phoenix opened its beak and spat out a blast of crimson and gold fire. Aerodactyl was able to maneuver out of the way before he could get the full brunt of the attack, but the heat from being so close to the flame seared his left wing and chest and gave him a fairly bad burn, even with his Rock-type strength against fire attacks. He screeched in pain and spiraled downward away from Ho-Oh, beating at little fires that clung to his chest with his undamaged wing.

"Aerodactyl, pull up!" Gonzap cried, looking alarmed.

Wes grinned. "We got him right where we want him, Ho-Oh! Blow him away with Whirlwind!"

Ho-Oh started flapping his wings, generating winds of incredible force which started buffeting Aerodactyl and tossing him about like a tin can in a washing machine. Clouds and bits of dust got caught up in the winds, forming a small tornado with Aerodactyl trapped inside.

"Quick, use Sandstorm!" Gonzap ordered. "Fly against the current!"

Aerodactyl flapped his weakened wings, trying to reverse the conflicting winds and generate a wind storm to counter Ho-Oh's.

"Oh no you don't! Ho-Oh, use Overheat!" Wes countered quickly.

Ho-Oh inhaled deeply, and then expelled an incredible blast of red and white fire. Due to the fact that it was a warm and sunny day, the fire's strength was especially great, and it combined with the Whirlwind Ho-Oh had already generated and created a horrific fire tornado which lit up the sky over Ever Grande City, causing people all the way on the city's streets to recoil from the heat of the explosion. Gonzap's jaw dropped in amazement, horrified at the thought that his Pokemon was trapped in that thing.

Aerodactyl shrieked in agony as, his wing membranes disintegrated and his skin either peeled off or burnt black all over his body from the fires, he fell from the storm high above as it dissipated, trailing flames and smashing into the hotel roof like a burning meteor and cracking the concrete with enough force to make everyone hop a millimeter off the ground from the aftershock. A small crater formed from the impact, and it looked like the dragon-dactyl was barely breathing as the fires on his body diminished.

Jenny shook her head. "If this keeps up, I may have to arrest both of them for unnecessary abuse of a Pokemon in battle."

Ho-Oh spread his wings out, creating a breeze as he flapped his wings to slow his descent and closed in for a landing, gently touching down on the roof beside Wes. The trainer nodded at his old master. "All right Gonzap, its over. Return that Pokemon already and give yourself and Rui up to the police, I think we've proven which of us is the stronger trainer here today."

Gonzap nodded, an odd smile on his face even as Jenny prepared her handcuffs, expecting she'd finally be able to make her arrest and close the book on Neo Team Snagem. "You're right Wes, it is over. And you have indeed proved which of us is the stronger, boy. Heh."

Wes frowned, getting a strange feeling. "Gonzap?"

He whistled. In the crater, his Pokemon stirred. "I'm proud of you, boy."

At that moment just after Gonzap whistled, several things happened all at once. It would not be until later that those present were able to sort out the details of what exactly had happened for the official police report. But essentially, what happened is this:

Aerodactyl, whom everyone had believed to be out of the fight, reared his head out of the crater and fired a Hyper Beam at point-blank range at Ho-Oh, exploding on the phoenix's chest and knocking him backwards with a screech of pain, shaking the rooftop and crushing ventilators and antenna beneath his weight.

At that same moment of distraction, Gonzap slipped a pair of sunglasses on and tossed the remote detonator to the ground, crushing it beneath his heel. That triggered a small flash bomb he had planted inside, blinding everyone but himself. He then ran towards Wes, recalling Aerodactyl to his Pokeball as he went, and punched the blinded and confused antihero in his chest, grabbing a Pokeball off the teen's belt and dropping Aerodactyl's Pokeball along with a note at his feet as Wes doubled over in pain from the slug. Gonzap then rushed to the edge of the building, jumped off, and released the Skarmory he had just taken from Wes as he fell. The steel vulture was startled only half a moment to see his old master plummeting as he emerged from his Pokeball and he immediately swooped down, closing his talons around Gonzap's shoulders and pulling him out of his descent, flapping his wings a few times as he flew away from the hotel building. People below took pictures or got shots on video cameras, but the bird and the thief paid no attention to the people under them and kept flying on and on, out to the open sea. By the time everyone back at the rooftop had recovered from the flash, they were long gone.

"What happened?" Misty asked in confusion, looking around for Gonzap.

"There was this big bright light-like the one Jirachi made that one time when he swallowed that jalapeno," Phanphy stated.

"How was I supposed to know I was allergic?" Jirachi grumbled.  
"I told you they were bad for you," Absol reminded him.

Jirachi blinked. "Oh yeah."

Jenny stamped her foot on the ground angrily. "Darn it! He must have escaped!" She turned to her subordinate officers. "Spread out and search the building! He might still be nearby!"

"Ugh…I don't think he's here anymore," Wes groaned, getting back to his feet and clutching his stomach in pain. The Pokeball and note Gonzap had dropped had vanished, stuffed into one of the pockets in Wes' stylish coat.

"Why do you say that?" Soldier Wisdom asked, holstering her bubble gun.

"Because after that flash went off, I felt a punch-Gonzap hitting me-and when I recovered, the Pokeball containing the Skarmory I Snagged from him was gone. He must have flown off on it," Wes explained.

Latias looked about. "Maybe I could find him if I flew out a bit?"

Bayleef shook her head. "No, he's probably too far off by now, and we have no idea which way he went. And what would you do if you did catch up to him?"

Latias blinked. "What do you mean?"

"If you caught up to him, he'd probably be riding on that Skarmory. There wouldn't be any way for you to get him out of the sky without attacking, and that could result in Gonzap falling off and possibly getting seriously hurt. Maybe even killed," Crawdaunt pointed out. "You sure you want that on your conscience?"

Latias frowned. "None of us seemed to have a problem before with contemplating knocking Dakim out the window, or when we sent Venus plummeting down fifteen stories to the hotel lobby and her doom."

"Well, that was because at the time Dakim was threatening Jenny and torturing Brock, and we needed the most efficient solution of getting him out of the picture; namely throwing him out the window. Which, may I remind you, we never actually needed to do, Tuxedo Masquerain and his comrades handled it for us," Absol pointed out. "As for Venus…well, she was an absolutely corrupt, self-centered, and totally evil woman who was also enslaving the minds of the men around her, as well as our own, and was all around cruel and heartless. Gonzap, on the other hand…" He shrugged. "He seemed different somehow. He was evil, yes, and kidnapped Wes' lady friend and held this entire building for hostage, and even attacked Wes when it was certain he had lost, but…" He shook his head. "I don't know. There was something about him. Something I cannot define."

Latias started, a strange thought coming into her head. "Potential," she said abruptly.

They looked at her in confusion. "Potential?" Crawdaunt asked skeptically. "For what?"

"For change," Latias told them. "To become someone better than he is now."

They looked skeptical. She didn't blame them. But then, they hadn't seen Giovanni's eyes on that night in Pallet Town when she and Professor Oak had thwarted his scheme to steal the Master Balls. They hadn't seen him willingly endanger his own life to protect his Persian. For some reason, she found herself drawing a parallel between Giovanni and Gonzap.

She realized a second later that another parallel could be drawn from Mewtwo to Wes. Mewtwo had been created at Giovanni's orders and trained under him. From what they had heard now, Wes had been found by Gonzap and spent most of his life being trained by him. Mewtwo escaped Giovanni and sought his own purpose in life, which at the time he thought had been to destroy mankind. Wes had left Gonzap, intending to strike out as a lone wolf thief. Both had found someone who changed their perspectives of life. Both were different than they were now. And both of them, despite no matter how much they claimed or seemed to hate the men who raised them, could not help caring for them in some manner.

That was why between Wes and Gonzap, conversation had come so easily. The way they seemed to almost understand each other, beneath the mutual dislike for one another. It was why even now, after getting punched in the gut and having his Skarmory stolen by Gonzap, Wes did not look too angry.

Had he seen it too? Had he seen that somehow, Gonzap had the potential for change? An interesting question. Perhaps, when things settled down somewhat, she should talk to him about that.

She glanced at Ho-Oh, who was recovering from Aerodactyl's sneak attack and had gotten back on his talons. Now might not be the best time to speak to Wes, but this had to be the perfect opportunity for her to confront her father. "Guys, can you excuse me for a moment? I want to talk to Ho-Oh."

Many of them did not understand. Only Crawdaunt, Bayleef, and Phanphy truly knew the history she shared, or might share, with the rainbow bird. And it was they who recognized what she needed right now. "Yeah, okay," Bayleef said. She nodded. "Come on guys, let's go help the police pull Rui up."

"What?" May looked confused. "But why does Latias want to talk to-"

"That's her business," Crawdaunt said gruffly, pushing her away from the dragon and towards the edge of the roof, where the police had already gathered to begin gently pulling on the rope Rui was hanging on, careful not to swing her into the side of the building, fearing too much pressure from collision could trigger the bomb and blow her up, even if Gonzap's detonator was destroyed. "If she feels like talking to us about it later, that's her decision. But for now, I think our little lady needs to be alone with Ho-Oh." He gave her an encouraging nod, and she smiled back in thanks, surprised by how understanding Crawdaunt was.

Her somewhat confused and bewildered friends were herded away, allowing her some privacy for her chat with Ho-Oh. She floated over to the Phoenix, who was resting with his eyes closed, gathering solar energy to replenish his health. "Excuse me!" she said. The phoenix's nostrils twitched, and he grunted. "Excuse me! Great Ho-Oh! I'd like to speak with you, please!" Ho-Oh groaned, and his eyes opened a crack. "Yes, what is-" He froze, seeing Latias. His eyes opened all the way. "You-" He blinked, looking startled and a bit frightened. "No…you can't be her, you're too young…w-who are you?"

Latias took a deep breath. "My name is Latias. I…" She hesitated. Ever since her mother had told her who her father was, this was something she had been waiting to do with equal parts dread and anticipation. Should she go through with this? "I believe that…I'm your daughter."

There was a long silence. The two stared at each other. Then, Ho-Oh sighed, and looked away. "I was always afraid this day would come." He shook his head. "If one of you had to find me, why couldn't it be the male?"

"He's dead," Latias said flatly, feeling mildly insulted that Ho-Oh would rather speak to her brother than to her.

"…I see." Ho-Oh looked saddened. "Somehow, I am not surprised that tragedy would befall one of my line. What kind of person was he, if I may ask?"

"A good one," Latias said automatically. The virtues of her brother were always easy for her to recall. "Kind, loyal, chivalrous…he died by exerting more power than I did, to keep me from being killed by the energies we were unleashing to protect our home."

"He sounds like a good Pokemon," Ho-Oh said regretfully. "I wish I could have met him."

"Why didn't you?" Latias asked. "Why did you throw our mother and your unborn child out of Orre?"

Ho-Oh flinched. "Your mother…how is she?" he asked quickly, changing the subject.

"The last time I saw her, she was serving an evil being called Missingno and trying to kill me so she could take my soul and my power and use it to rule the world," she said flatly. "That was also the first time I had ever seen her. It seems that both our parents abandoned my brother and I. And I want to know what drove you to toss her out in the first place."

Ho-Oh grimaced. "I…have not had the best of luck with the women in my life," he said reluctantly. "My mother was…not the best of females. To her, I was less of a son than a plaything. Something to parade around to her friends, to take her frustrations out on, to generally mold into the image of what she perceived the perfect male to be. I was glad when she passed on. Then came my first wife, Ho-Oh of Johto. I do not suppose you know her?"

"I saw her once, and I have heard plenty about her from others. She's insane," Latias told her father.

Ho-Oh could not help chuckling. "Yes, all the rumors I've heard…and the things her three beasts occasionally slipped out when she sent them to check on me and make sure I was nowhere near her land…seemed to indicate this. I suppose her madness is partly my fault, but a good deal of the blame is hers as well. Sometimes I think she was always mad, and our marriage simply worsened it, brought it to the surface. Do you know the details of what went wrong?"

"You couldn't have offspring, so she tried procreating with other males to get eggs. You were furious she did this behind your back so you slept with some other Pokemon to prove you were fertile, and that one had eggs." Latias frowned. "Whatever happened to them, anyway? Those eggs?"

Ho-Oh shrugged. "She ate them. Said the products of a legendary and a normal Pokemon should not be allowed to exist."

Latias blinked. "Oh."

"Our marriage fell apart after that, and I returned to Orre, bitter and unhappy. I was like that for, what…a century, I think? Celebi tried to help, but I wasn't interested in reliving my happier moments with my ex-wife. Those memories had become tainted and spoiled in my solitude. And then, one day, I met your mother. She was…different. From my last wife. From my mother. I will not bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that we…well, fell in love. And wed. And then…" He sighed. "Things changed. The female I thought she had been, and the female she became, seemed like two different people to me. She became infatuated with the trappings of power, not fully understanding the responsibility that came with wearing them. She started to remind me, all too much, of my mother." He shook his head. "My memories of my mother, and my last wife, began to sour any amount of time I spent with your mother. Whatever feelings I once had for her changed into something else. I…I suppose I hated her," he said sadly. "I searched anxiously for some excuse, some pretext upon which I could break up our marriage. A mating between legendary Pokemon is not quite the same simple event that the joining of two regular Pokemon is. Since legendaries have more power, more status, it demands a certain amount of ceremony and regulations. I could not…I believe the human term for it is 'divorce'…your mother unless she did something that broke the 'vows' of a kind we had made on our wedding night. But she was completely faithful to me, the perfect model of a loving mate, and still I looked for something which could get her as far away from me as possible. And then she laid her eggs. And I found what I needed to get rid of her in an old clause; I was allowed to divorce her if the children we bore displeased me. And since none of them were Ho-Oh eggs, on some level I suppose I was displeased. So…" He shrugged his wings. "I banished her. She took the eggs with her when she left. The look she gave me as she fled broke my heart and haunts me to this very day. After that, I swore never to have anything to do with females again. So I suppose that whatever became of her, whatever happened to you through her actions, is my fault."

Latias looked at the ground. Her mother had told her she had intended to smash her eggs to erase any trace of what she had had, or thought she had, with her father. The elder dragon's look of anguish and betrayal as she had told her this, and of the events which had followed that moment, flashed through her mind. "I believe it is," Latias agreed. "It's her fault too, of course, but you had a hand in making her what she became."

"I am sorry for whatever trouble that befell you as a result of my actions," Ho-Oh said, glancing at her. "I am, however, somewhat pleased to finally meet you. My child. My last living child. And I am glad to see…that you are not like your mother." He closed his eyes. "Was there anything else?"

"No." Latias shook her head. "No. I just wanted to hear your side of the story about what happened. Of the circumstances leading up to my birth. And now I have. Thank you for your time, Ho-Oh."

"Am I the father you expected me to be?" Ho-Oh asked.

Latias shook her head. "No. You are…not quite as vile or cruel as my mother described you, yet you are a long stretch away from what I would call a 'good father'. Then again, it's hard to match up to the person who raised me from birth, in my eyes at least. I have only met a few people who can do that."

"And I am not one of them." It was a statement, not a question.

"No," Latias agreed. "But that's okay." She reached out a claw and touched Ho-Oh's wing. "You're not what I had hoped you to be, you're not what I dreaded you'd be, you simply…are. Even if you are not who I might wish you had been, you are still my father, and I accept that. Thank you for taking the time the talk to me. Thank you for giving me closure."

Ho-Oh looked at her for a moment, and then a strange emotion showed in his eyes. "You know…if things had worked out differently between your mother and I…I don't think I would have minded having you as a daughter."

He turned his head away then, but Latias saw what he had been trying to conceal anyway: a solitary tear slipping down his cheek.

She smiled, and she turned away too. She had what she came for. And now it was time to move on.

Ho-Oh glanced at her as she floated away, back to her friends. His beak quivered, and the last line of an old poem he and his first wife had recited together often, back when their love was still fresh and pure, came to him. "I am the phoenix," he whispered, more tears running down his cheeks. "The only one. There has never been more." He was silent then. He could say no more.

…

Latias wasn't the only one finding some kind of closure. Wes was standing by himself near the edge of the roof, his back turned to the cops and the friends who had come up to 'help' him, all of which were anxiously milling around Rui, waiting for the bomb squad Jenny had called to show up and remove the explosives wrapped around her waist. Wes supposed he should be over there, being anxious and worried for her, reassuring her that everything would be fine…but right now, he didn't have it in him.

He stared at the scrap of paper in his hand. Gonzap's last gift to him, along with the Aerodactyl he had left behind. Once more, he reread it, almost hearing the bald man's voice in his head as he pored over the familiar rough, nearly illegible handwritten characters.

_Boy,_

_If you're reading this letter, then you must have won. And won a victory you most certainly deserved._

_Sorry for taking Skarmory, but we both know he'd be happier with me anyway. Just like I think that Aerodactyl will be happier with you._

_I suppose you're wondering what the heck just happened. What all this was about. You deserve some answers, so I'll do my best to provide them for you._

_You hate me. I hate you. That's mutually understood between us, and perfectly reasonable, right?_

_After all, I beat you, ruthlessly trained you to be a cold, brutal individual outcast by society and to do your best to disrupt the orderly world around you by stealing things and causing general chaos and havoc. Kinda like my dad raised me and the other members of his gang, before I stabbed him in the back and took over to form Team Snagem. I was always expecting you to do that to me someday, and I would have been proud if you had, I think._

_But instead, you blew up our hideout, stole the prototype Snag Device Ein gave us, and set out on your own to become a lone thief. Neither of us could imagine how hurt and surprised I was when you did that, Wes. I really felt like you had betrayed me. That feeling grew when you did a 180 and actually started stealing _back_ the Pokemon we, and you, had worked so hard to snatch in the first place-the ones Cipher turned into Shadow Pokemon. Not only that, you completely took down Cipher, and dismantled Team Snagem when I tried to pull it back together. And on top of all that, you stole Skarmory, the only real friend I've ever had. You had actually become some kind of 'hero' to the people of Orre. I felt disgusted and ashamed with both you and myself, and wondered where I had gone wrong raising you._

_And yet…_

_And yet…_

_When I heard on the news that you were attacking innocent people again, instead of feeling elated like I should have that you were still bad deep down, I felt somewhat confused. Had the whole 'turning to good' thing been an act? Had you only taken down Cipher and myself to eliminate competition?  
I was oddly relieved that it turned out to be that asshole Fein all along. Which meant that you were still a good guy. And I was still confused. Why was I happy about something like that?_

_I started thinking about things after that. Things that had never occurred to me before now._

_I saw how you and the girl were…well, pretty close. And happy. Something I've never had success with when it comes to women. And you had, well, friends. People who liked you and weren't frightened of you like the guys under me are. Like you never were. And I started wondering if maybe this work as a criminal, this thing I've spent my whole life being, that my dad and his dad before him have all done, is really what I should do with myself. With my life._

_You had been raised just like me, as a crook. But unlike me, you broke away instead of taking over leadership of Team Snagem from me like I had expected. Like I did to my dad. Like he did to his dad. You had found a way out of this endless, lonely life of crime. And I wondered if maybe I couldn't find a way out either._

_But if I was going to do something as stupid and out of character as trying to go straight for good, I had to make one last try. I would never have forgiven myself if I had just quit instead of trying one last time to beat you. To prove I was number one. That I was still the better trainer and that crime was the way I was meant to live._

_So I rounded up all the crooks I could find to start Team Snagem one last time. I broke out the ex-Cipher admins whom Nascour, Evice and Ein had abandoned when they had left to usurp control over Team Rocket. I even busted Fein out, even though I couldn't stand the guy and kept feeling like I should beat the shit out of him for impersonating you and ruining the reputation you had built up with the people of Orre. We built up our power base over the last few months, being discreet (well, more discreet than usual) using connections in the Under to find out where you had gone after you and the girl left Orre. Then we followed you here, to Hoenn._

_We kidnapped the girl and held this building hostage to get your attention. I had every intention of beating your ass, taking back Skarmory and the Snag Device, and using it to help the new Team Snagem do what it had always done best: steal Pokemon and sell them to the highest bidder on the black market._

_And yet I was also anticipating that I might lose. That once again you might prove why, after you switched sides, I was never able to beat you. Why these strange and uncharacteristic thoughts have been going through my head ever since Cipher and Snagem were destroyed. And if you're reading this, that means you must have won, and I think I've finally understood how._

_Like a Shadow Pokemon, the door to my heart has been closed, if not completely then most of the way. Yours was too, I think, from the harsh life you've had under me in Team Snagem. But your heart opened. That's why you became better than a petty crook or thief, or even the future leader of Team Snagem. That's why you were able to defeat me and Cipher. That's why you were able to purify every last Shadow Pokemon, conquer Mt. Battle, and even get Ho-Oh to acknowledge how damn good you were!_

_Now that I've lost once and for all, I think I'll go and see if I can't learn how to get my damn heart to open up, too. Not sure where I'll go, but I hear the Sevii Isles are nice this time of year…well, actually, they're nice _all_ year, but still…_

_Don't come looking for me. This is something I gotta do on my own. You understand of course, don't you boy?_

_I left you the Aerodactyl. He'll fit in well with your team. He actually reminded me of you a bit, to be honest…spent all his short life in an unfriendly place where he's treated more as a tool than an actual person, wanting freedom, rebelling against the hand that feeds him…he was more than pleased to work with me after I freed him from the research facility, but I think he'll have a better time learning about the world from you. Me, I'm old and jaded. But you? You're still young. You've still got time to change things if they don't suit you. Just like Aerodactyl. I think the two of you will get along just fine…_

_I've already said enough sappy things, so I'm not going to demean myself any further by talking about how you're the son I've never had or any Tauros shit like that, but I can't finish this without saying one more thing._

_Even if the path you've chosen in life isn't the one I had already planned for you, I'm proud of you, boy._

Wes looked up from the letter. He wasn't crying. He had outgrown tears long ago. If there was any moisture in his eyes, it was because of the piercing gust of wind which blew up all of a sudden, stinging his eyes. He released his grip on the note, and the wind tore it from his hands, carrying the scrap of paper far, far away, out to sea.

Wes smiled as he watched it fly away. He heard a sudden commotion behind him and turned around to see Rui, free from the bomb, running towards him. "Wes!" she cried, tackling him and wrapping her arms around him.

He was startled for a moment, feeling slightly embarrassed by this act of public affection in front of the police, Ash's friends, and even Ho-Oh, who just seemed too deep in thought over something else to notice. The others just smirked at him knowingly. He tuned them out and turned his attention back to the girl holding him. "Rui, you okay?"

"I am now," she said, her voice muffled against his chest.

Wes smirked and ruffled her hair. "Good. Then we'd better get going."

Rui blinked, looking up at him. "Going? Where?"

He raised an eyebrow, as if he couldn't believe she had asked such a foolish question. "Why, to Battle Frontier, of course! I have a match to attend!"

…

May glanced at the people sitting next to her on the train. At Wes, holding Rui to his side. At Latias, glancing out the window to the distance. There was something strange about them. Something she had seen in their eyes as they had headed back out of Emerald Towers, through the crowd of reporters and other bystanders.

They looked…complete. Like they had found something they had been waiting a long time for. Instinctively, she knew they had found closure.

She sighed and nodded to herself. It was time to stop putting it off. She had something to complete too.

Tomorrow, she resolved, she would do it. She would finally tell them how she felt.

…

Masamune, a stocky, somewhat fat youngster with long shaggy orange hair, tapped his foot impatiently on his platform in Battle Dome. "Come on, he's not coming!" he shouted at the referee. "Can't you disqualify him already?"

The referee glanced at his watch, as the crowd in the stands, who had diminished quite a bit over the last few hours as the other participant in this match repeatedly failed to show up, grumbled in agreement with the young trainer. "We've extended the qualification time limit to its maximum capacity because he ran off to help the people trapped in Emerald Towers. But that time is almost up. If he doesn't arrive in the next thirty seconds, he will indeed be disqualified, and you will be able to proceed to the next round of the tournament tomorrow."

"Finally!" Masamune griped.

The referee checked his watch again. "15 seconds to go…14…13…"

Feet pounded down a hallway, startling pedestrians and causing them to press themselves against the wall to get out of the way.

"12…11…"

The tail of his blue trenchcoat streamed out behind him as he ran.

"10…9…8…"

He dashed up a short set of stairs and onto a small elevator platform placed underneath the stadium. The platform started to rise up.

"7…6…"

The platform moved up the shaft. He tapped his foot anxiously, wishing the damn thing would move faster.

"5…4…"

He was almost at the top. Just a little more.

"3…2…1…time's-"

"WAIT!" a voice cried out.

A platform rose from a shaft on the other side of the battlefield, opposite Masamune, who gaped in disbelief. On the platform, sweating and panting a little for breath from his sprint all the way from the monorail station to the stadium. "No way…" the red-head whispered in shock.

"Did I-gasp-did I make it?" Wes wheezed.

The referee checked his watch. "Just in time, Mr. Wesley. You just barely made it!"

Wes managed a rueful smile as he saw Rui and his other companions file into the stands around him. Charizard, still under the influence of Poke-B-Gone, had been dropped off at a Pokemon Center to recuperate for the night. Max had spontaneously changed back to normal when Jirachi had sneezed on the monorail ride to Battle Frontier, splitting May's pack open and scattering Pokeballs and other personal items everywhere. His glasses had been miraculously untouched, but now May was demanding he pay for a replacement pack. Max was less upset that he had been changed into a rock or would have to pay for May's pack than he was at finding out he had missed almost the entire adventure due to his foolish wish to breathe underwater.  
Brock had also managed to recover somewhat from being knocked out twice by Misty and put under Venus' mind control. However, he seemed oddly fidgety, and not once on the ride back to the island had he made a single pass on Rui. His friends were worried that something was wrong with him, but Wes wasn't bothered, as long as that freak stayed away from Rui he was fine.

"I ran into a little traffic on the way here," he explained apologetically. "Lots of reporters and police trying to interview and interrogate me. But I knew I couldn't keep my competition waiting, so I broke free and got back over here as soon as possible."

"Good," Masamune shouted across the field. "Now I can finally get some action and move on in the tournament!"

Wes smirked. "Eh, we'll see about that tubby." He glanced at the referee. "One of the crooks at the hotel stole on of my registered Pokemon, and the police haven't managed to find it yet. Is it okay to swap another Pokemon in to replace its spot on my roster?"

The referee nodded. "This isn't the first time Pokemon on a tournament competitor's team have been stolen, so it is permissible. At least until the regular registered Pokemon are found and returned to their trainer."

Wes smiled in relief. "Good, good."

"What's wrong? Your legendary Ho-Oh got stolen?" Masamune taunted.

Wes chuckled. "Ho-Oh? Nah, he's fine, just a little winded. More than ready to take on a pipsqueak like you."

The referee held out his flags. "I declare this postponed match between Masamune and Wes begun! Three-on-three Pokemon with no time limit! Both trainers may switch their Pokemon whenever they wish! Trainers, choose your first Pokemon!"

"I choose you, Girafarig!" Masamune threw out a small giraffe Pokemon with a long yellow neck with brown spots, ridges on the back, and a pair of white knobby horns with a brown backside with a black tail that ended in a small, fanged head.

"Girafarig, huh? I suppose I should go with Umbreon…" Wes smirked. "But why not give my newest Pokemon the grand entrance he deserves!" He hurled out a Pokeball. "Come on out!"

Wes' Pokeball burst open, to reveal the purple-skinned blue-winged form of Aerodactyl. Masamune, the referee, and many of the audience members who knew what the heck an Aerodactyl was gasped. "That's impossible!" Masamune screamed. "Aerodactyls are extinct!"

"I must have missed the memo," Aerodactyl joked, leering at the frightened Girafarig.

"Good thing I healed all the burns Aerodactyl got on the way over here and Wes had all those Hyper Potions to help me out, right Bayleef?" Latias asked her friend, up in the stands.

Bayleef nodded. "Yeah. Although I still don't really understand why Gonzap would have left such a rare and powerful Pokemon behind…" Latias had her own thoughts on why, actually, but felt no reason to voice them just yet. She was still processing all the things she had learned from her father, in time she would think about whatever Wes and Gonzap had between them in more detail. "In any case, it's a lucky break for Wes, but an unlucky break for us, seeing as how _we're_ going to have to fight not only him, but Ho-Oh at some point! And we all saw how strong they were!"

"Ah, nothing to worry about," Crawdaunt bragged. "Charizard and Pikachu took out the Aerodactyl your mom used, and that one had the advantage of being pumped by the powers of darkness! This one'll be no problem!"

"I hope you're right," Phanphy quivered. "He looks really scary! I don't wanna have to fight him!"

"Oh, don't worry," Crawdaunt reassured Phanphy. "You'll probably have been knocked out long before that point."

"Crawdaunt!" Corsola and the others yelled angrily at the lobster.

"What?" he asked, confused as Phanphy burst into tears. "I'm just being honest!"

"How do you think Ash will handle finding out Wes was an ex-criminal?" May asked Misty. "We'll have to tell him sooner or later, won't we?"

"I suppose," Misty agreed. "But what Wes did once doesn't matter as much as whom he is now. And I'm sure Ash will recognize that just as well as we did. Crook or no crook, he's still our friend, and that's all that's really important."

"Go, Wes!" Jirachi cheered, waving a couple of colored pennants they had gotten from a concession stand.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Max agreed, also waving pennants. He had no hard feelings about being turned into a rock. He was actually somewhat disappointed that he was turned completely into a rock instead of some kind of humanoid living stone or a Rock Pokemon like Geodude. Oh well, maybe next time.

"Come on Wes!" Rui shouted out to the field, standing in her seat. "You've already done a lot today, let's finish this so we can get some rest for whatever crazy adventure tomorrow brings!"

…

"An Aerodactyl! Even though all the other ones I've run into in the past have tried to kill me, that's so cool!" Ash said excitedly, sitting up to watch the match in bed.

"I doubt he'll have the same weak spot the one in the Dark World did," Pikachu cautioned. "And I'm not sure you'll be allowed to use your advanced Pokedex scanner to find one."

Ash shrugged. "I don't see why not, the League allows trainers to use all sorts of weird gizmos during battles, like computers or other Pokedexes or even level indicators to show how strong your opponent is."

"Even so, you should check with an official before using the advanced feature for a tournament match," Pikachu recommended. "Just so it won't be considered cheating."

"Do you really think you can beat him, Dad?" Togetic, returned from her solitude to contemplate Hanson's death and remember her comrades whom he had murdered, asked her father.

Ash shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But either way, I'm sure he'll give me a match to remember!"

…

Back at the Dome, Wes pointed a finger at Girafarig, who had managed, with some coaxing from Masamune, to regain its courage. "Okay Aerodactyl, let's do this! I have no intention of losing this match, I've promised a friend to fight him in this tournament and I don't intend to let him down! Show me what you can do!"

"With pleasure!" Aerodactyl swooped down towards Girafarig, wings spread and talons bared.

Wes has confronted a powerful figure from his past and emerged unscathed (aside from some slight bruising in the chest) with a new and powerful Pokemon to add to his team. With his incredible lineup and reputation as toughest trainer in all the land of Orre, Ash and friends truly have one of their most challenging rivals yet in Wes! When the two and their Pokemon eventually butt heads, which of them will come away with the title of Hoenn League Champion? Only time will tell, as this tournament is far from over!

TO BE CONTINUED…

…

Heh, couldn't resist ending this chapter like a regular episode of Pokemon. I had no idea it would be this long! I'm getting too good at super-long chapters, huh? Oh well, hope you enjoyed it!


	45. Pater familias

Hi everyone. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter. This one is the second "evil" one, in which we see what the entities threatening to destroy the planet are up to. Enjoy!

Doom18769, glad you like the story. And I honestly don't know how these chapters get so long, it just happens that way! I have to pack in all that quality action, description, characterization, and comedy, don't I?

Ninetalesuk, what was wrong with the start? The Ash kissing Brendan thing?

Eaglefox, I like Hoenshipping too to be honest, but I thought the scene would be rather amusing. And I thought it was hair. Why would he wear a hat that looks so weird? It must be hair! Well, maybe in the manga it's a hat, but I still think it's his hair too. It gives him an injection of coolness, but not quite as cool as Wes. (Duh)

Ezna, I may have overdone Venus a bit, but she was pretty much a total bitch in the game too, hogging the television airwaves in the Under and constantly saying, 'I'm _your_ Venus!' Ugh. And Miror B is supposed to be amusing. And I was hoping people would like the Pokerockers and Wes having an Aerodactyl. What's wrong with him using Dragonclaw, though?

Sorry for the chapter ending Gladdecease, but it seemed somewhat fitting. If you like gore, well…heh. I think I'll give May her closure (finally) next chapter. And we'll just see what happens between her and Drew, won't we? ;) And Rui does indeed have a strong hold over Wes' heart, much like another red-head and hero we all know and love. I liked designing the outfits for the Pokerockers. Geodude's and Jigglypuff's are based on the costumes of Nikki and Mikki in Chrono Cross, while the rest are my own idea. Sorry if I said too much about your storyline, but I couldn't resist showing off my predictive abilities a little. The fact that you're only correcting my assumptions on the tragedy which will occur only confirms that my suspicions on the rest, for the most part, may be true. My apologies if I'm being too smug.

CrimsonEagle, if Charla had been there, I can promise she would have torn that Gardevoir limb from limb. Literally. Never try to steal the man of a furious fire-breathing female! Thank you for finally reviewing though, I can use all the comments I can get. Same to you, doom18769.

Disclaimer: All characters in this chapter are property of Game Freaks, the Pokemon Company, Nintendo, etc.

…

An awesome bolt of lightning shot down, striking its target atop a rock emerging from the surf off the coast of the island and sending almost a million watts of electricity coursing down into it. The target laughed and flexed its mane, dispersing the cloud of static around it and revealing that it had been completely unharmed by the Thunder attack. "You'll have to try better than that, guardian! I have become immune to electricity!"

The massive white form of Lugia swooped down from the sky, which had clouded over as a result of his frustration. Lightning cracked down occasionally, further helping to set the dramatic mood of this scene. "How is this possible, Suicune? What have you done to yourself?"

Suicune had undergone the same transformation as Entei and Raikou had after selling their souls to the evil one. Most of her once-beautiful blue and white fur had fallen out, much of her skin had ruptured to reveal blood, bones, and tendons, her face had melted halfway to show her grinning skull and a brain pierced by crystal spines, her rib cage, beating heart, and sloshing intestines hung from her undersides, dripping fluids, and she wore a spiked collar with a long chain trailing from it fashioned from her own spinal cord. Unlike Entei or Raikou, however, she had retained her treasured mane, even if it had become so filthy, matted, and torn by spikes which erupted in random spots on her back and went right through the mane that it was about as appealing as a sewage plant. The hexagonal crest on her head now grew out of her brain and split at the top, curving outwards and forming a pair of bony horns. Also, the white ribbons which ran around her sides had become a pair of writhing black tendrils ending in snapping heads, occasionally biting into Suicune's flesh and drawing blood. Lugia had expected her aura to be twisted beyond compare by her transformation and clear descent into insanity, but what was truly startling was how she did not seem to have _any_ aura at all.

Suicune laughed crazily, her exposed lungs heaving and spewing blood from where her ribs ruptured them. "I have chosen the winning side in the coming war! When the earth is destroyed, I shall stand by his side and reap the harvest of pain and souls he collects! I am beautiful beyond compare, and no thunder can touch me now! I have become immortal, Lugia! Isn't it wonderful!"

"Wonderful! You've mutilated yourself!" Lugia argued.

"That is the price for power…" Suicune purred before lunging upwards, filthy, diseased fangs bared, right towards Lugia's heart.

The great white bird, startled, swerved out of the way of the insane Aurora Pokemon's lunge. He was shocked by how fast she had become. Clearly her speed was another thing that had been enhanced by whatever dark force had reviled her body. He spat out star-shaped Swift, striking Suicune's body in midair and cutting gouges in her flesh, shearing off pieces of hair and fur. The mutated beast grunted but did not seem truly harmed by the attack. She landed on the surface of the roaring waves of the sea below her and took off running across the water, leaving a spreading trail of dark purple pollution behind her.

Lugia growled, eyes glowing, as he summoned the power of the elements and invoked Rain Dance, causing the storm clouds above them to burst, drenching the Whirl Islands with rain. The drops of clean water fell from the skies and landed in the sea, causing any bit of corruption they touched to dissipate. If Suicune was frustrated by this, she showed no sign; she continued running from Lugia as the rain fell around them, cleaning the disgusting trail of poison she left behind her.

Lugia had been chasing Suicune for the last hour ever since, on a patrol around the Whirl Islands to make sure there were no threats to his family, he found her poisoning the main water supply of Red Rock Island. He had attacked her, recognizing that something had gone terribly wrong with her, and did the best he could to destroy the poison before it could spread. Purifying water was supposed to be Suicune's job, so it did not come as easily to him as it did to her, but as the Beast of the Sea Lugia knew more than his fair share of the ways of manipulating water and managed to cleanse it before chasing after the corrupted beast.

Lightning flashed and thunder crashed as Lugia flew after Suicune, the beats of his wings churning the sea below him. He opened his mouth, inhaled, and fired a long stream of winds, like a cyclone in projectile form, at Suicune. The beast easily dodged the Aeroblast, spun about, and pounced at Lugia's face, spitting an Ice Beam.

Lugia twisted in the air, turning upside-down and causing the beam to graze his belly as it shot past, coating the feathers on his underside with ice. He thought to himself that perhaps his wife had been right about him needing to go on a diet, his belly had been swelling somewhat from all those shrimp he was fond of eating.

Suicune arced in the air over him, her attack failed, and Lugia twisted again, swinging his wing-arms up and striking Suicune in the side, sending her turning topsy-turvy in the air before splashing down in the water some yards away, sinking beneath the surface and causing the surface to be darkened as poison oozed from her body.

Lugia felt a moment of panic, for the rain would only be able to clean away the pollution on the surface of the ocean, if Suicune sank too deep there was a chance that the poison could still spread on the tides and kill every living thing in the Whirl Islands. He pulled his wings to his sides, the black feathers on his back folding down to make him more aerodynamic, and plunged into the sea after Suicune.

His vision was blinded for a moment by a cloud of bubbles churned up by his immersion, but Lugia was built for deep-sea dives and a pair of transparent secondary eyelids slid into place over his eyes, giving him a clear view of the undersea realm.

His heart sank as his vision cleared. He was too late. The poison from Suicune's body was already spreading underwater, a cloud of darkness and death that seemed to expand without end as the currents churned it. It had already claimed several Remoraid, a Mantine, and a Qwillfish or two. This had to stop before it was too late!  
Lugia roared, a sound which was strange and distorted underwater, and fired a ring-shaped Water Pulse at the poison cloud. The cloud rippled as the pulse passed into it, and moments later there was a small grunt and Lugia's extrasensory ears picked up the sonic 'image' of Suicune in the heart of the cloud, transmitted to him by the sonar-like pulse.

He dove downward, firing a Hyper Beam before him to burn a channel through the poison. The beam struck Suicune and sent her flailing, tumbling over and over as she was knocked out of the cloud and deeper into the sea, still trailing darkness. Lugia shot out of the cloud through the passage his beam had made before it could close up and dove after Suicune, following the discernible trail she left. He fired occasional Water Pulses at the trail, breaking it up into smaller bits which dissolved from the wake churned up by his passing as he sought the source of the corruption. He couldn't let himself get so caught up in stopping the poison's source that he forgot about the pollutants she had already spread.

He glanced around for a moment, uncertain as the trail meandered and doubled back on itself several times. That made it easier for him to destroy it, but confused him as to where his prey had gone. Where was Suicune?

There! Rising from the depths towards him, a pillar of filth spewing from her body! Suicune opened her jaws and spat an Ice Beam at Lugia. The great bird easily dodged, feeling the sharp temperature drop in the water as the beam shot past him. He fired another Water Pulse at Suicune. Underwater, the effect of the attack was amplified by the lack of any pesky air to drown it out, and the ultrasonic waves startled and stunned her senses, causing her to flail about in confusion for a moment, churning up more poison around her. That was all the opening Lugia needed as he hit her with a Shadow Ball followed by a burst of Ancientpower, finishing up with an intense blast of Psychic. Suicune howled in pain, the bubbles emerging from her mouth hissing and sizzling like acid as she flailed about angrily, releasing more poison.

Lugia spread out his wings to slow himself down as he swooped forward, grabbing Suicune's disgusting, dirty mane in his feet, mindful not to touch any of the poisonous clouds forming around her, and with a flap of his wings propelled them up towards the surface. The mutant beast screamed and struggled against his grip, and her tendrils bit again and again at his legs, drawing blood, but he ignored the minor wounds and the monster's pitiful struggles, even as he felt an intense urge to let go of her, so repulsed was he by the feel of her rancid mane writhing between his toes. Lugia had been master of the sea for more than a century before Suicune had been born. Her mistake had been in thinking that she could beat him in his own element just because she was the Legendary of Water-type Pokemon. He felt a thrill of pride at proving the upstart wrong.

He burst out of the surface, the air feeling chill against his wet down as rain washed over him and his disgusting charge. He flapped a few times to get more altitude, looked down at the water, and spat an Aeroblast into it. The burst of wind churned the ocean, dispersing the mass of pollution that had been building up and causing it to dissolve as the shifting currents tore it to pieces. Lugia fired more Aeroblasts, each at another clump of venom, destroying them one by one and making the waters once more fit for habitation, albeit a bit riled up at the moment from all the attacks Lugia was firing into it. Even after he could see no more poison trails or clouds, he fired still more Aeroblasts, followed by a few Psychic bursts, into the depths, until he was completely satisfied that the sea was clean once more. Now he had to deal with the source of the pollution.

He glided to the shore of the closest island, flinging Suicune at a very dense rock as he approached, denting it and cracking her bones. She slid down the rock's surface and onto the sands of the beach, which turned black the instant her paws touched them. She groaned and tried to stagger to her feet…but Lugia lashed out at her with an Iron Tail, smashing her through the rock and sending her skidding some distance down the beach, leaving a trail of black sand behind her. Her ribs had been broken and her organs were unraveling out on the ground, bodily fluids oozing into the ground, while her legs had been twisted into unnatural angles. She tilted her head, which should have been limp since Lugia was certain he had snapped her neck with that last attack, up at him as he approached. "What did you think you were doing?" he growled. "How did you get these powers, become this abomination? Did Ho-Oh approve of any of this?" He wouldn't put it past that insane phoenix to mutilate her own henchmen to take care of someone she thought was an enemy.

Suicune cackled. "Ho-Oh has nothing to do with this. I serve a new master now, one far greater and generous than she ever was. He sent me here to poison the water of the Whirl Islands…" She gave him a grin full of jagged and broken teeth. "But mainly to distract you."

Lugia blinked. "Distract me?"

Suicune threw back her head, despite the snap her bones made, and laughed, hacking up blood and increasing the flow of the fluids spilling out of her. "While you were occupied fighting me, you left your family unprotected. My master is with them now." She grinned maliciously, her eyes practically glowing with mad glee. "I wonder if he will let me play with their souls a little? So that I may hear their screams and think of you and what you've done to my beautiful body."

Lugia's eyes widened in horror. Without a word he spun and took off, flapping his wings as he rose into the air, kicking up a cloud of sand behind him that choked Suicune's damaged lungs. "Fly, you fool!" she screamed after him as he vanished into the rainstorm. "You'll never make it in time! They will be his _forever!_" She laughed insanely as she bit down on a crystal imbedded in her right paw, breaking it. There was a flash of light, and she was gone.

…

Lugia landed on the rocky shores of the inlet on a small island off the coast of Silver Rock Isle, glancing around anxiously for his family. "Beloved? Silver?" he cried anxiously.

There was no response. They had been here when he left. Had they gone underwater?

He thrust his head into the water and called out again, the sea carrying his voice further than it would on land. He listened anxiously. Once more, there was no response. Pulling his head out of the water, he glanced around again. Perhaps they had left to swim alongside their human friends Oliver and Luka? No, Luka's boat was still anchored in the inlet; the human woman had brought Oliver over to play with Silver earlier that morning. The small ship floated in the water, lights off in the cabin, showing there was nobody inside. That meant they had to be somewhere nearby.

Lugia's panic rose. Where could they be? "Beloved! Silver!" he cried again, this time telepathically and wide-spread so that if they were on the island or in the sea nearby and somewhere his normal voice could not reach, they might hear him. He went silent, waiting for a response.

One came, but it was not one he had expected. _Come,_ said a telepathic voice in respond to his mental call. An image of a large cave on the other side of the island appeared in Lugia's head, and he cursed himself for not thinking of that place sooner. Of course they would go there to wait out the storm! His mate and child had no problem with rain, but they wouldn't have wanted their human friends to catch cold in the storm, so would have moved them somewhere dry and safe. Yet if that was so, why had they not responded to any of his calls?

The image vanished, and the voice spoke once more. _Come_. And then all was silent yet again.

Lugia tried to contact the voice again, or get in touch with his mate and Silver, but none of their minds responded. Frustrated, and more than a little worried, he took off and circled the island.

The cave was easy to spot; it was a gaping hole in the side of the rocky cliffs which formed the island. The darkness inside was absolute, and Lugia could see no sign of his family or their human friends inside as he swooped down and entered without hesitation.

His eyes could see well in the dark from all the time he had spent in the deepest areas of the ocean, and yet he found it hard to perceive anything in the cavern as he took a few steps inward, away from the dim light coming in from outside along with the occasional lightning flash. His spine was tingling, his senses warning him of some undetected danger. Something was very wrong here. And he still couldn't see a thing!

Just as he was about to use Water Pulse to attempt to echolocate any objects in the cave just like he had done underwater, there was a burst of light, and Lugia squeezed his eyes shut in pain. He had already started to adjust to the all-encompassing darkness of the cavern; so the sudden flash was an unwelcome intrusion.

The light dimmed somewhat, enough for him to open his eyes and allow him to see the tableau waiting for him.

His heart stopped.

The light was being emitted by a small piece of crystal which had been imbedded in the floor. It illuminated Lugia's beloved, his son, and the humans Luka and Oliver.

Both Lugias were surrounded by twisted black auras which could only be perceived by those with psychic abilities, such as Lugia himself. Their skin had turned a purple so dark it was almost black, while the long fin-like feathers on their backs had turned white, as well as their bellies. Their feet had grown long, curved, and wickedly sharp talons, and their flexible tails ended in cruel barbs. The spiked crest on the backs of their heads had grown longer and sharper, and their black eye ridges had become white and also become much longer and sharper, highlighting a pair of glowing red eyes.

Luka and Oliver lay on the ground at the feet of the Lugia mother and child, their chests torn open by sharp claws and their innards spilling out on the floor. Silver bit his fangs into Oliver's intestines and sucked them out, much like a human might eat a long strand of spaghetti. Lugia's beloved nodded approvingly as she tore out Luka's heart and swallowed it.

The beast of the sea felt like he was about to vomit. "What…what has _happened_ to you!"

"I did," said another voice from further down the cave, where the crystal's light did not reach.

Lugia started, thinking for a moment that the voice had been auditory, but after a moment realized it had been telepathic. Truly accomplished psychics could project their mental voices in such a way so that those who heard it in their minds were tricked into thinking they had heard it as actual sound, complete with echoes and other sound effects. Mewtwo had mastered the technique easily (he had to, since his vocal cords were virtually nonexistent) but Lugia had never felt it necessary to do such a thing. Regular telepathy or using his voice were more than enough for him.

Lugia also realized after a moment that this was the same voice he had heard at the inlet, and he immediately leapt to yet another startling conclusion. "You!" he cried, his furious bellow resonating throughout the cave. "You are the one who mutilated Suicune!"

"Indeed. And now I have taken your family," the voice agreed.

Lugia was enraged. "How dare you! Show yourself, fiend!"

"I think not. You and I are not ready to meet, face-to-face."

Lugia fired a Shadow Ball at the direction where he thought he had heard the voice from, before remembering too late that the speaker was using telepathy, any kind of 'sound' which Lugia would have used normally to pinpoint the evil one was useless here since everything he heard was just an auditory illusion. This was proven as the Shadow Ball exploded against a wall, briefly illuminating more of the cave, and showing Lugia that there was indeed nobody here but himself, the monstrous creatures which he had once called his family, and the corpses of Luka and Oliver, which were still being devoured by Silver and his mate, who did not acknowledge his presence. "Who are you!" Lugia roared.

"There are those who say good and evil do not exist, and everything is in shades of gray. But what exactly do they mean when they say that? Are they trying to say that everyone who does 'evil' has their own reason for doing it, and may believe that they are doing good? Or that those people do not believe in good or evil at all, but do what they feel they must? Or even that those who do what is called 'evil' also have aspects which could be considered 'good', so they might not even truly be evil at all? Perhaps this is so. But if everything is gray, then they must acknowledge this: there are shades so light as to be purest white and shades so dark as to be jet black. What then, of these lightest and darkest? Are they like the others, too mired in life and the meaningless gray to see past their own insignificant existences and think that, perhaps, there may be more to reality than their lies and excuses of morality or society? Maybe. Maybe not.

"All light can dim. All colors can fade to black. All hearts can be consumed by the darkness within them. Which is not to say, of course, that darkness itself is evil no more than light is good…after all; white and black are only the most extreme shades of gray. No two shades are the same. Some contain more gray or white or black than the others. So those whose shades are deep in the abyss may yet be far more 'good' than some of those whose shades are brighter than all others.

"I am the blackest of the black. I am the one who draws all things down into death and despair as time marches endlessly on, trampling all else into dust. I am both the source and embodiment of entropy and everything which people, no matter what the species, call 'evil'."

Lugia wasn't sure how to respond to such a speech. Was this entity simply bragging, or attempting to frighten him? He growled and glanced once more at the monstrosities which had been his mate and child. "What has my family done to deserve such treatment? What have I, or they, done to anger you?"

"You believe that I changed them to get to you? How arrogant…do not think yourself so important as to merit my anger, Lugia. To me you are no more than a curiosity. You are a Chosen, one of those whom the Unown abducted and told to stop me and my plans to annihilate the earth."

"Then you are the cataclysm I am sworn to fight." It was a statement, not a fact.

"Indeed. But I have no fear of you. I have no fear of anything for that matter, not out of pride but because I am incapable of feeling fear, as well as many of the other emotions you mortals hold dear. You interest me, but not as much as some of the others. I chose your family for two reasons: one is to anger you and mess with your mind. The other is to help me in my research."

Lugia blinked in confusion. "Research?"

"Indeed. For a long time now, in past cycles of time and lives stretching back throughout infinity, I have probed the depths of the psyche and gained better understanding of the workings of the mind than most other beings. And yet, despite my intimate knowledge of what makes people tick, I always find that there is more to learn about that which I foolishly think to have gained a total understanding of. Love, for instance."

"Love?"

"Yes. While there are a surprising number of species who view love as 'evil', there are not enough of them to generate the fear and hatred of love that I would require to truly understand it when compared to the vast number of species which can and do love, and embrace it with open arms. On many occasions I have managed to weaken love or manipulate it to tear individuals apart at the seams. On other occasions, love has stood firm against my machinations and managed to not only defy, but outright defeat me. The techniques I use to destroy one family do not always work when tried again on a different family. Introducing a seductive other into a relationship sometimes severs it, and other times it only makes the bond stronger. I suppose that I could always simply destroy my opponents outright, but I find it both productive and highly pleasurable to research new methods and ways to defeat them psychologically, through the uses of the emotions and bonds which they always boast are what gives them their strength. In one of my most recent lifetimes I attempted a new experiment to understand love by actually forming a family of my own. I took the guise of an average male specimen on a world not unlike this one, and grew the hormones and chemical balances which I had so far determined had a major part in the ability for an individual to love, at least in the species which I was temporarily joining. I even engineered a sort of second consciousness complete with false memories tailored to let me act like a member of the planet's main species so that I could blend in seamlessly.

"I was, after some surprising difficulty, able to find a partner who caught the interest of the artificial part of my brain which I had rigged to give me the ability to 'love'. I was, through a lengthy and tedious process, able to make her fall in love with me, and I believed I was in love with her. We shortly wed, had children, and settled down in a neighborhood just like every other average family on the planet. And for a time, I experienced the emotion called 'happiness', completely unrelated to the other activities which I usually found joy in.

"It did not last long, though. I found myself unsatisfied, unhappy, and unfulfilled. My 'family' and 'friends' tried to cheer me up, which appealed to the artificial layer of consciousness which I had constructed to allow me to interact with them as any other member of their species would, and yet it still did nothing to make me feel better. Finally, out of frustration, I started beating my children. That made me feel better. When my wife protested, I beat her too. That made me feel even better. I was happy again. But my 'family' was not.

"I realized I was going to lose them. That did not make my artificial consciousness happy. So I erased their memory of the incident, healed the wounds I had inflicted, and acted as if nothing had happened at all. But the feeling of happiness I had found soon faded, so I started beating them again. I worked out a routine: every day I would go out and do my job like an average citizen, then when I got home I would take my family to the basement, allegedly so we could 'spend time together', and then I would torture them horribly. This would give me the happiness I needed to get through the next day without slaughtering my coworkers and superiors at my job.

"After a while I got bored simply torturing my family, so I invited neighbors over for dinner and tortured them too. I hosted big parties every week for the sole purpose of extracting pain from them. And once more I felt better.

"But then I started wondering if this was really helping me to understand love. The majority of the people on that world did not abuse their loved ones, and yet I did. I had grafted the part of my brain that mimicked that of an average citizen perfectly, and yet I was certain the average citizen did not do what I did to my family and neighbors. If I loved them, why was I hurting them so? Something must have been wrong.

"I eventually realized the problem. While the false layer of consciousness I had engineered had nearly perfectly overlapped my true mind, fooling even myself into thinking I was a perfectly normal member of the dominant species on that planet, the very nature of my soul was so foul and corrosive that it could not help but eat away at my false mind and corrupt it, just like I corrupt everything else I come into contact with. My consciousness, my soul, no matter how many times it is reborn, no matter which form it takes, is always inevitably incapable of love and always deep down takes the greatest pleasure in inflicting pain on others. That manifested in the false consciousness I had crafted and thus corrupted it. I concluded the experiment as a failure and terminated the test subjects, as well as the rest of the life-forms on the planet."

Lugia was shocked. "That's…that's horrible! You slaughtered all of them just because your experiment failed?"

"Don't look so surprised," said the voice mildly. "There are many scientists on this planet alone who would conduct such an experiment. There are scientists on other worlds that would do the same as well. I am no different in this respect, other than that I have no limitations to what I can and will do to accomplish my desires, no flimsy morals or restrictions to hold me back. In any case, a later reflection allowed me to realize something else I had done wrong with the experiment. Something that I have always known, but did not take into account for this instance.

"From birth, every brain is hardwired in a certain way depending on a number of circumstances such as the condition of the birthing parent, the environment, and countless genetic variables as well as evolution. These all combine to allow a being to 'feel' certain emotions and 'think' in a certain way. These ingrained properties in a brain are what draw souls to occupy specific bodies; a spirit who loved in a past life will gravitate towards the brain of a person who will love in this life. That is why I always am reborn as one who cannot love, because that is what my soul seeks, among other things. In my experiment, although I created an artificial consciousness, a semblance of a soul which had the capability to love, it was projected onto my own brain and true soul, which did _not_ have the capability to love, even though I grew the proper organs and hormones which would allow me to experience the sensations connected with it. Since the soul I made for the experiment was only a flimsy emulation, it was easily twisted by my true soul and hard-wired brain to become something which, like me, craved mutilating, harming, torturing, and otherwise being cruel to all living things.

"In some lifetimes, this causes others to label me evil. In other lifetimes, I am born among a species or society who embraces the same sorts of instinctive, natural urges that I have, such as hating life, craving power, and causing pain to others, be it psychological, physical, or otherwise. This is because their brains and their souls are programmed to crave such things as well. And out of all those delightfully twisted souls, mine is the oldest and most powerful. I am the one from which all those other 'evil' souls are born, from which the flaws that can corrupt and overrun a seemingly sound heart spring forth. On many worlds, this has given me the honor of being labeled as an 'evil god' or devil, while on others I am seen as a divine savior. And because most of them fear or believe in such things depending on the world I am born into, fear what I embody even if in many cases they are secretly driven to such things by their most primal instincts, believe in me if their souls and psyches are like mine and want the same things as I do, their fear only makes me that much stronger. Their belief makes me that much stronger."

"_I _do not believe," Lugia argued, furious at this creature's insane ideals.

"Perhaps you do not. Perhaps you see everything I say as nothing but lies. And maybe they are just that, lies. But you are listening to those lies, are you not? No matter how much you deny it, some part of you believes and fears me. Some part of you knows it's true. It's the part of me that's inside of you."

"There is no part of you inside of me!" Lugia protested, enraged even more by his foe's accusations.

"That statement proves that you do indeed. You do not believe it is possible for me to be part of you. You believe because you are a legendary Pokemon, because you were Chosen to save the world, because you actually have a family and happiness whereas you're rival Ho-Oh does not, there is no evil within your heart. And to a certain extent, you could be considered correct. But that belief itself is the evil, Lugia. The evil of arrogance and pride, something you yourself despise Ho-Oh for. That makes you just as much of a hypocrite as everyone else on this planet. And I cannot help but adore hypocrites, Lugia, because so many people claim to loathe them while in their innermost hearts they are exactly the same as those they despise."

Lugia was startled. "What…how do…how can you know these things?" The beliefs the voice had stated were indeed how he had always thought of himself. He now felt ashamed of himself as those self-beliefs were dragged into the harsh light of truth.

"Because it is my business to know such things, Lugia. I will admit though, if pride is the only 'sin' you are guilty of, it is a small one and most would forgive it. It can be found in far greater abundance in other parts of the planet. But the shortage of it and a severe lack of other things I am attracted to are part of what made your mate and child perfect for my experiment, Lugia. They will help me succeed in my latest attempt to understand this thing called love."

Lugia glanced at his mutated mate and child in horror, recalling what the voice had already told him of his last experiment with a family. Staring at the monsters, the _abominations_ his family had become as they finished the last of their meal and looked up at him expectantly, he knew he had no choice but to do this. He could not let them suffer the fate of the evil one's last experiment.

With a roar which startled both of the smaller Lugia, he lunged forward at his son, Silver. The child cried out in alarm and backed away, but not quickly enough. Lugia was upon him in a moment and closed his jaws on his darling son's head, crushing his skull and ripping the head off at the neck, then stomped on what was left as he swallowed the severed head until he was certain that the fiend would not be able to garner any sick pleasure from his son's body.

His beloved screeched in fury and loss and lunged at him, biting at his neck. With a mighty backhand from his left wing, he knocked her away then fired an Aeroblast. At such close range, the blast of wind exploded, smashing the adult Lugia through the cave wall, causing a good part of the ceiling to collapse and allowing the rain in. Lugia spread his wings and flapped upwards, smashing through what was left of the cave's ceiling and causing rubble to rain down, crushing and burying the remains of his son.

He gained altitude as the rain came down harder and the winds blew fiercer than ever, looking for what had once been his mate. A huge circle of purple light on the island below him, followed by a spiraling blast of purple winds and beams of blue-white lightning shooting up at him, solved that problem for him.

Lugia dodged out of the way of the powerful attack, spitting a Shadow Ball at the dark, nearly invisible figure of his mate hovering over the water bordering the island, her red eyes aflame with boundless rage. The sphere of dark energy exploded on her chest, knocking her out of the air and into the water. Lugia then spread his wings and called upon the elements, raining lightning bolts down from the cloudy skies and into the sea as the mutant female started to emerge, thrashing the water about as she tried to regain flight. She screeched and writhed in pain as electricity crashed down all around her, conducted and strengthened by the water. Static crackled around her as Lugia finally let up on his blitz, and she sunk into the water, paralyzed.

Lugia flattened his back feathers and wings, diving right down into the water after her. His secondary eyelids slid down, and he could see the dark purple form of his former mate sinking some yards beneath him, struggling to break free from her paralysis.

He slammed into her with the force and speed of a torpedo, pushing her deeper and deeper into the ocean, away from the surface and where she could harm anyone.

They crashed into the sloping rock which jutted out of the sea in the form of the island, startling away the Krabby and Magikarp swimming about down there. Lugia slammed one foot onto her neck and his other foot on her back, pinning her down. She struggled and tried to break free, her eyes glowing in preparation for a Psychic attack.

Lugia released a short burst of electricity. The water around them increased its power, and both bird Pokemon could not help but writhe in pain for a moment as the electricity coursed through them. The male recovered faster-he always had been the stronger of the two-and charged up a golden Hyper Beam in his mouth, intending to end this fight. For a moment, he thought he saw a look of hurt at the actions he had taken in her eyes…but ignored it and fired the beam.

Her head disintegrated as well with a significant portion of rock around them, releasing a bevy of bubbles and red clouds of blood which surged through the water and blinded Lugia. He flapped his wings to stir them away, pushing himself away from the ruined corpse of his mate, heading for the surface.

He emerged from the water and flopped down on the stony shoreline, gasping for breath as saltwater streamed off him, to be replaced by freshwater raining down from the clouds overhead. The storm continued to rage on in the skies above. He supposed that there would be floods in many places among the Whirl Islands, but he didn't have the emotional capacity at the moment to think about that. Nor could he think about what he had just done. Later he might reflect on his actions and mourn for the loss of his family, but right now all he could do was rest and catch his breath.

"Interesting," said the voice again.

"I did it," Lugia said, a surge of triumphant pride finding its way into his voice.

"Did what?"

"I stopped you. I ruined your experiment."

The voice laughed. "Actually Lugia…I'd say that the experiment was an unbridled success. These results were not unexpected, but I hadn't thought you'd actually go this far. Well done."

Lugia blinked. Something didn't feel right. "What do you mean? I destroyed those abominations of yours so you couldn't use them in your little experiment to understand how a family works so you can more easily tear them apart."

"I never said that's what I was using your mate and child for."

Lugia's blood froze. "But…the story you told me, you said-"

"That was only one of many experiments on love I have performed over the years. At no point did I say that I was planning to repeat the same experiment on them, Lugia. You simply assumed it was. The real experiment was to see how much _you_ loved your family. And by the inarguable results you've given me, I can safely say that your love wasn't enough."

"It's because I loved them that I destroyed them!" Lugia countered. "You had already defiled them enough by doing to them whatever you did to Suicune! I couldn't stand back and allow you to use them for your experiments too! As far as I was concerned, you had already killed them, so all I was doing was preventing what was left of them from being desecrated any further!"

"What made you think that I had done the same thing to them that I did to Suicune?"

Lugia blinked. "They…they were monsters! Just like Suicune was!"

"No Lugia. Not just like Suicune. Think back. Was there anything different about your family that my servant lacked?"

Lugia frowned, trying to recall when he had first seen Suicune, as well as his mate and child. "My mate and Silver…they had auras," he suddenly realized.

"Yes."

"And Suicune did not. Why-"

"Because they were alive."

"…What?"

"They were alive. I killed Suicune, drained her soul from her body, and replaced it with my virus. All I did to your family was close the doors to their hearts and turn them into Shadow Pokemon."

Lugia felt a growing sense of horror, but pushed it back down. "What's the difference?"

"The difference is that as Shadow Pokemon, you could have _saved_ them. You could have looked hard enough at them and seen that somewhere, deep down, they were still the wife and child you claimed to love. You could have brought up mutual memories of happy times together to reopen their hearts. You might even have tried kissing them, which works sometimes. But that's not what you did, was it?"

Lugia's heart leaped to his throat. "I killed them."

"Yes."

"But…but I had no way to know they were Shadow Pokemon!" he protested desperately. "I had just clashed with your monstrous servant; I had no way of telling that you hadn't done the same thing to them that you did to her!"

"Yes you did," the voice corrected. "You saw their auras. Only those with souls have auras, Lugia. You saw their auras. You saw their monstrous forms devouring humans you had considered trustworthy friends. And instead of trying to break through to them, you automatically assumed they were lost to you, that they had become heartless monsters. You lost hope of saving them without even _trying_ to get through to them, because it's easier to believe someone is lost forever than it is to keep hoping desperately that there is still a chance to bring them back. And so, without a thought, you _murdered_ them."

Lugia was stunned. For a moment he could marshal no arguments, give no protests, to this harsh and brutal truth. "Y-you lied to me!" he said finally. "You made me think that…that they were gone, that they were monsters like Suicune, you-"

"I did no such thing. At no point did I say that I had done anything to them. You simply leapt to the assumption that they were lost without for a second trying to pry me for information on how to make them right. You decided, then and there, that they were lost and that you had to kill them to keep me from doing anything more to them. And by doing so, you have lost them forever." The voice chuckled. "You even broke through to your mate a few times, and you didn't notice or care, did you? The furious reaction she had when you murdered Silver should have clued you in that she still had a mother's love for her child, even with her heart closed. And you saw the look of hurt in her eyes before you slaughtered and betrayed her, but you didn't spare it a second thought. Doing so would have been too much work for you. You would have had to admit that they could have been saved, and you had done a terrible thing by murdering your son. But you couldn't have that, could you? So, without a second thought, you killed her. You betrayed your family." There was a long pause as the voice let that sink in. "I suppose you must not have loved them very much after all, to do such a thing, to kill them without even trying to save their souls…I am very pleased, Lugia. You have every bit of potential that I had hoped for."

Lugia collapsed to the ground, shocked. "I…but…" He swallowed and clenched his eyes shut, trying to stifle his tears. "No…what have I done? Why did I…why? Why did I do it?"

"For the same reason Ho-Oh has become insane. Why even now she refuses to believe her three beasts have left her: pride. Ever since you learned you were chosen to help save the world, ever since the Unown actually forced Ho-Oh to let you go back to your family, your belief in your own importance swelled. Somewhere deep down, the part of me inside you started to think that maybe, just maybe, you'd be better off with nobody to hold you back. Better off without a family. Then you would be free to do everything you had never been able to do before, either because you were being blackmailed by Ho-Oh or because you had obligations to anybody else. But until now, that little bit of stubborn, murderous pride has had no outlet, no way to grow. Until now. Until I _gave_ it an outlet." The voice chuckled. "And now both of us know just how evil you can become, don't we Lugia?"

There was no reply. Lugia was crying too hard, too full of grief and guilt as the awful, awful realization of what he had done was shoved in his face again and again.

"Your grief is as nourishing to me as what you call honey…so sweet. It would be a shame to destroy such a source of sadness before I can consume every last dollop…" the voice crooned, taking pleasure in Lugia's agony. "And yet if I let you be, there is a chance, a very good chance, that that grief will become anger. Anger at me for drawing out this part of you and showing you just how much you are like those you hate. That anger could make you…well, not an enemy to fear, but certainly a dangerous variable when the moment of destiny arrives." His voice took on a crueler, more serious tone. "So, how about instead I make a little compromise?" A shadow fell over Lugia's back. The Diving Pokemon was too lost in his sorrow to notice. "I let you keep your life…" Without warning, a crystal trident drove itself into Lugia's back, causing the bird to roar in pain unlike any he had ever suffered before as every nerve and bone in his body started shaking with unbearable agony. The trident probed through Lugia's body like a hot knife, burning at everything it touched as its wielder sought out something hidden deep within him. After what seemed far, far too long, and Lugia thought, and hoped, that he would die from the pain and fall into blessed oblivion, the trident was removed from his back. "And I take back something of mine your family line has been holding onto for a long time." The place where the trident had been driven into his back was completely untouched. It was almost as if the weapon hadn't penetrated his body at all. And yet his flesh still ached, and his nerves still rattled, and he felt as if he had just had every bone in his body replaced surgically without anesthetic. And, oddly enough, he felt a great deal weaker.

The trident-holder plucked a small shard of dark purple crystal off the weapon's highest point, examining it for a moment. "Ah…just what I was looking for. Thank you Lugia, you have helped me a great deal. I am certain the souls of your ancestors, your mate, and your child, are all looking upon you now with disgust and hatred. For you have betrayed them all…and because of that, this world shall soon be mine." He paused. "You know, I feel as if I should repay you for all the help you've given me. And I think I know just how, too…pleasant dreams, oh noble beast."

He left then. Lugia did not know or care how. He was feeling too tired and weak to think about what had just transpired. Later, he could fill himself with self-loathing and self-pity. Later, he could consider killing himself for what he had allowed to transpire. Later, he could mourn the loved ones who had died at his hands and fruitlessly beg for forgiveness.

All he could do now was finally pass into what he hoped would be a blissful, dreamless slumber, so he could smother himself in blank oblivion for a time before he would eventually wake and once again face his harsh, new reality alone.

He would not be so fortunate as to see his hopes realized.

…

He woke up the next morning gasping for breath, eyes heavy, all but exhausted. His dreams had been so horrific that his mind had deleted them from his memory the instant he had woken up so as to keep them from permanently scarring his psyche, yet he could still vaguely remember the image of Silver screaming horribly as Lugia ripped open his chest and started feasting on the boy's innards.

His heart was heavy. He was a murderer. A monster. What had the Unown been thinking, letting something like him join the fight to save the world? All he had done was speed up the process which would lead to its end, which after the events last night seemed to him to be inevitable.

He had no chance of redeeming himself in the coming battle. The evil one had taken that piece of himself from which had sprung the majority of his powers. Without it, he was weak. Useless. No more than a hindrance in a fight.

There was only one course left for him to take.

With a weary groan, he spread his wings and took to the air. He flew around his domain, the Whirl Islands, searching for the proper place to do this deed.

He spotted a reef of jagged coral shed by Corsola in the waters surrounding Yellow Rock Isle. It would be perfect for this task.

He flapped his wings, soaring higher, higher, and still higher into the air, until the Whirl Islands seemed naught but specks on the shimmering blue sea beneath him. He folded his wings to his sides and the feathers to his back, and plunged downward.

He did not deviate from his course as he fell, only using his tail like a rudder occasionally to keep himself heading straight down as he picked up speed, dropping like a bomb towards his target. The wind rushed by him, stinging his eyes and skin. He ignored it, knowing he would soon feel much worse pain, if only for an instant.

He hit the coral at about seventy kilometers per hour, shattering it and impaling himself gruesomely in its mass, cutting him up on every inch of his body and killing him within seconds as one of the coral spikes rammed into his brain.

…

He woke up the next morning feeling as if he had just dropped from the skies into a bed of razor-sharp coral, but it faded and he concluded it must have been a lingering effect of his nightmares. His dreams had been so horrific that his mind had deleted them from his memory the instant he had woken up so as to keep from permanently scarring his psyche, yet he could still vaguely remember the image of Silver screaming as Lugia ripped open his chest and started feasting on the boy's innards.

His heart was heavy. He was a murderer. A monster. What had the Unown been thinking, letting something like himself join the fight to save the world? All he had done was speed up the process which would lead to its end.

He had no chance of redeeming himself in the coming battle. The evil one had taken that piece of himself from which had sprung the majority of his powers. Without it, he was weak. Useless. No more than a hindrance in a fight.

There was only one course left for him to take.

With a weary groan, he slipped into the water, automatically lowering his eyelids and folding his back feathers to make him swifter in the seas.

He dove down to the very bottom of the ocean, ignoring any marine Pokemon that tried to speak to him, searching for something he had spotted some weeks ago during a dive for food and had warned his family to avoid ever since, because it was too dangerous. It was the perfect spot for him to do what had to be done.

He spotted it quickly. It was the only source of light in this depth, other than the bioluminescent spots or body parts of the Pokemon that lived this far underwater, where few humans had gone. It was a volcanic fault, a result of the seismic activity which had formed the Whirl Islands countless years ago. A dim, almost infernal glow emitted from the fault as foul-smelling bubbles and sulfurous smoke rose from it, dissipating amongst the icy cold water as it got further away from its source. Numerous Pokemon and fish, many of them eyeless as a result of living their lives in eternal darkness, gathered around the fault, drawing heat from it. A healthy colony of fungi and other non-sentient life forms had sprung up around the fault as well, a result of the warmth it emitted in this frozen pit.

Lugia circled the bubbling chasm, steeling himself for what he was about to do. Staying around the fault could give life and warmth, but getting too close would spell certain death, due to the incredible heat it generated which caused the clouds of steam and bubbles to rise from it. After all, it was filled with magma at its bottom. Only a few Fire Pokemon would be able to survive its extreme temperatures, and certainly none of them would be anywhere near the water, let alone down here at the bottom of the sea.

Lugia took one last deep intake of water against his lungs, and plunged into the fault. He was boiled alive within seconds, his body blistering and bursting from the heat as his feathers disintegrated and his skin melted off his bones.

…

He woke up the next morning feeling as if he had just been boiled alive, but it faded and he concluded it must have been a lingering effect of his nightmares. His dreams had been so horrific that his mind had deleted them from his memory the instant he had woken up so as to keep from permanently scarring his psyche, yet he could still vaguely remember the image of Silver screaming as Lugia ripped open his chest and started feasting on the boy's innards.

His heart was heavy. He was a murderer. A monster. What had the Unown been thinking, letting something like himself join the fight to save the world? All he had done was speed up the process which would lead to its end.

He had no chance of redeeming himself in the coming battle. The evil one had taken that piece of himself from which had sprung the majority of his powers. Without it, he was weak. Useless. No more than a hindrance in a fight.

There was only one course left for him to take.

With a weary groan, he slipped into the water, automatically lowering his eyelids and folding his back feathers to make him swifter in the seas.

He stayed close to the surface, avoiding any Water Pokemon who tried to speak to him, not caring if any humans saw his silhouette from their boats.

After spending a little while searching the more commercial waters of the Whirl Islands, he found what he was looking for. A small cruise ship full of vacationing tourists, sailing around the area while the passengers took pictures of a pod of Wailord breaching nearby, accompanied by a few Delfino. It was perfect for his needs.

He swam around to the back of the boat, where the whirring propellers spun and pushed the ship through the water, and thrust his head into the revolving blades.

…

He sat and watched as Lugia's head exploded as the propellers chopped it to pieces and filled the water with clouds of blood. Lugia's headless body sank into the depths of the sea, attracting the attention of hungry Pokemon who could smell food in the water. They chased after it, all longing for a bite to eat.

And then…

Lugia woke up, confused, disoriented, and feeling as if he had just thrust his head into a ship's engine. Which, in fact, he had just done.

Lugia was trapped in a labyrinth inside his mind. An endless cyclical illusion which would cause him to wake up from what he believed was a nightmare, feed on his grief to make him commit suicide, then start over again, still feeling the final moments of pain from his last attempt to kill himself. This cycle would repeat about fifteen thousand times before finally releasing him to the real world.

By that time, the pain and the grief would have driven him completely insane, descending to depths of madness that even the twisted female Ho-Oh had not sunken to yet.

And in the meantime, his pain and his grief would feed the evil one. His guilt for killing his family, his belief that he was worthless for doing so and aiding the evil one in his plans, and his agonizing suicides made for a delectable feast of pain. A much more tasty and diverse meal than that provided by the coward huddled up in a tiny shivering ball in the corner of his cage, already driven insane from fear and torture.

The evil one watched as Lugia let himself be devoured by ravenous Sharpedo, pointlessly killing himself again, and laughed.

…

Well? What did you think of the bad guy now?


	46. The Mask of Zoro

Hey, everyone. Glad you all are reading this. Recently I have heard unconfirmed rumors about forbidding authors from answering reviews in their stories. To play it safe, from now on I think it might be best if I answered your reviews via E-mail. If you could, please leave your E-mail addresses along with your reviews for this latest chapter, and I'll see if I can't answer any questions you might have off-site. That all right with you all?

Disclaimer: The only character I own is Ash's competitor in this round of the tournament. Sort of. Even though he's inspired by someone else, and owned by some company I don't know the name of. All else belongs to Game Freaks, the Pokemon Company, and those other guys. You know who I'm talking about. And apologies if my Spanish is poor, I'm pulling it out of a dictionary.

And thank DiamondLatias3000 for the nightmare loop idea, it was his.

…

"Metagross, Meteor Mash!" commanded Tetsuya of Mauville, an unassuming teenaged boy with a usually friendly face and messy brown hair. That same face was screwed up in concentration and also covered in delicate makeup and kohl to make it look as if lines were coming out of the corners of his eyes and his lips were more accentuated. His brown hair was also hidden beneath a braided black wig with a small headdress attached. His chest was bare aside from a small golden eye necklace wrapped around his neck, and in place of pants he wore a white kilt and leather sandals. He also had some ornate bracelets and armbands. Outside of anywhere but Egypt and Battle Frontier's Battle Pyramid arena, Tetsuya's getup would have drawn strange looks from everyone around him. He was only wearing it here because the rules required him to.

Metagross, a big blue-gray Pokemon made of solid metal with an enlarged disc-shaped body with a stainless silver X on the front between the recessed red eyes and four bulky legs ending in points growing from spindly appendages attached to the central body, levitated into the air, the aforementioned legs folding up on the upper hemisphere of the body disc. His eyes glowed, and points of light appeared in the sky, enlarging as they fell and came closer to the arena. They were burning chunks of metal, all of them aimed and controlled by Metagross' psychic powers so that they would hit only the arena floor and his opponent Pokemon while missing the stands.

Neither the Metagross' foe, a Blaziken, or the fire chicken's trainer, the man known only as Zoro, were in the least bit fazed by the space junk raining down around them. Zoro, a Hispanic man hailing from the faraway land of southern California, was clad in an all-black ensemble. He wore black faux leather boots which went halfway up his lower legs, black trousers held up by a belt holding his Pokeballs and the scabbard for a long sterling steel rapier with a thin blade and a long hilt with a hand guard surrounding it. He had a tight black long-sleeved shirt and gloves with a vest embroidered in fine designs of the letter Z. The same Z, made in silver, dangled from a small chain around his neck. His long black cape billowed as the meteors hurtled closer and closer, the wind kicking it up. On his head he wore a wide-brimmed black hat with golden patterns woven around the top, and the upper half of his face was hidden by a mask formed from a piece of black cloth tied around the back of his head, with holes cut out for his piercing brown eyes. The rest of his features, a handsome nose with a thin, elegant mustache and a small goatee could not help but give him a look of nobility. The makeup artists who had done Tetsuya and any other trainer to enter the arena had refused to work their magic on Zoro, too stunned by his style and grace to ask him to disrobe for them or remove his mask, although he had offered to do so.

"Diablo," he called to the Blaziken. "_Fuego__ danza!"_

Although neither the referee, Tetsuya, or the majority of the audience knew what the heck Zoro had just said, his Pokemon apparently did. The Blaziken, also called El Pollo Diablo, hopped a step backwards just before one of the meteors collided with his head. He then leaped to the left, twirling with his hands joined over his head, dodging a row of meteors which crashed down behind him. He flipped onto his hands and did a somersault, kicking a pair of meteors which had been falling towards him out of the way and causing them to smash into another bunch of falling metal chunks, destroying them. He landed back on his feet and took a half-step to the right, dodging a meteor, then took a half-step back to the left, dodging another meteor, and twirled a few feet forward, dodging another line of meteors. It eventually dawned on all watching that the Pokemon was actually _dancing_ his way out of danger. They could not help but be impressed.

Diablo did another somersault, kicking meteors out of the way, and landed back on his feet, the flames around his wrists blazing up without warning. He ran forward and leaped into the air, straight towards a particularly large meteor! The audience, and even Tetsuya, gasped…but they need not have worried, for the Blaziken did a midair flip out of harm's way, kicking off the side of the meteor and flinging himself higher above the arena, into the midst of more meteors. As he flew up into the air, where the swarm of meteors thinned as Metagross couldn't conjure anymore, he snatched a small one in his blazing claws just as he reached the apex of his jump. Then, after hanging in the air for a moment so long the viewers expected him to float, he began to fall back towards the pyramid below.

He tucked his arms and legs around his body, still clutching the meteorite, and weathered the chunks of metal as he fell back through the swarm, smashing through them with his curled-up body mass and momentum from his high jump and the gravity pulling him back towards the ground.

"Metagross, get him now, while he's falling!" Tetsuya ordered.  
Metagross blinked in surprise, then nodded, his eyes glowing as he used Psychic. All the falling meteors froze in midair, then turned and started flying right towards El Pollo Diablo.

Zoro smirked and called, "Heads up, mi amigo!" to his Pokemon.

Diablo uncurled, landing on top of a meteor which shot up towards him. He grunted, his feet absorbing the shock, and hopped off the meteor as another one crashed into it, causing both to shatter. He landed on top of another meteor and quickly jumped off before another one shattered it, and hopped towards another one, kicking off of its side and knocking it into a whole bunch of meteors flying up from the ground, causing all of them to explode. He hopped from meteor to meteor, kicking each piece of metal out of his way and taking only minimal damage from colliding with them as he thinned the cloud out, causing them to smash into each other.

He hopped onto one of the few remaining meteors and leaped off as another meteor smashed into it, diving down towards Metagross, who was looking weary and exhausted from mentally controlling all the hunks of burning metal and smashing them into each other. Diablo tightened his grip around the meteorite he had grabbed while flying through the cloud of debris earlier, preparing to finish his elegant dance. As Tetsuya frantically called for his tired Metagross to defend itself, Diablo hurled the meteorite at the Iron Leg Pokemon, putting all the considerable strength in his arm and the momentum from his dive into the throw.

The rock hurtled through the air and smashed into Metagross' face, breaking it out of the concentration it had been mustering to use Iron Defense or whatever technique Tetsuya had in mind and stunning it. Metagross wobbled in the air, falling out of his hover and crashing into the ground.

Diablo slammed down on top of Metagross' metal body, pushing him into the ground, and backflipped off as the remaining meteors homed in on him and all smashed into Metagross' shell, exploding and weakening the metal Pokemon further. "Now, finish it with Sky Uppercut!" Zoro called.

Fist glowing, Blaziken charged forward and delivered a powerful uppercut to the lower rim of Metagross' disc-shaped body, causing it to flip out of the ground, twirl a few times in the air, and crash back down to earth upside-down. The steel and psychic Pokemon's legs unfolded, weakly flailing about before stiffening and splaying themselves out around the body. Metagross' red eyes had turned into X's, much smaller versions of the one on his face.

"Metagross is unable to battle!" the referee declared, pointing a flag at the fallen Pokemon.

"Ah, no!" Tetsuya moaned while Zoro's fans cheered on the masked swordsman and his fire chicken. "Return!" He called Metagross back to his Pokeball.

"Your Metagross is strong, but lacks the focus needed to win a true battle, amigo," Zoro called across the arena. "He tried to hard to control the meteors instead of focusing on my partner Diablo, which he should have done all along." El Pollo Diablo nodded in agreement.

Tetsuya nodded to show he understood as he put Metagross away. "My next Pokemon won't have that problem," he said, pulling out another Pokeball. _He'd better not, because he's the last one I have!_ He thought to himself. This was true, as Zoro's team had now knocked out all five of his other Pokemon. "Go, Meowth!"

Tetsuya's final Pokeball popped open, revealing a Meowth wearing boots, a scarf, and a fancy hat with a feather. Some of the audience members snickered, finding it hard to believe that Tetsuya was depending on a Meowth of all Pokemon to win the match, but both Diablo and Zoro looked surprised. "A Meowth?" Zoro mused. "Are you copying my sense of style, little _chico_?"

Tetsuya looked confused. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Zoro recalled Diablo and pulled a Pokeball off his belt. "I mean…" He tossed it out. "My last Pokemon is a Meowth too." The audience gasped at this revelation.

The red and white sphere popped open to reveal a Meowth, much like Tetsuya's, but there was a noticeable difference between the two. Zoro's Meowth also had boots and a hat, but the hat was featherless and looked more like the one of his trainer, just like the black cape which was fastened around his neck. Also, he wore a small belt around his waist with a naked rapier strapped to the side. Tetsuya's Meowth recoiled in surprise, while the one belonging to Zoro merely smirked, a look of calm indifference on his face. "_Senors_, s_enoras, senoritas, _and _chicas_, allow me to introduce my dear friend El Gato la Espada!"

El Gato took off his hat and bowed to Tetsuya's Meowth. "_Saludo_, my _adversario_"

The Meowth stared blankly. "Um, bless you?"

Tetsuya was stunned. "H-he's got a sword!" He glanced at the referee. "Is that legal?"

"Um…" The referee checked his rulebook. "Er, Mister Zoro, is that sword in any way harmful if used in a fight?"

Zoro shrugged. "No more than my _compadre's_ claws, senor referee. While both blade and claws can be lethal, my _amigo_ has more than enough control over both to keep from causing a _victima_ with them, just as any trained Pokemon can."

"Eh…" The referee glanced at his boss, Pyramid King Brandon, who shrugged. "Yeah, all right, I'll allow it."

"What!" Tetsuya protested.

"It could be considered a sort of hold item," the referee explained to the young trainer. "Nothing wrong with one of those, now is there?"

"Well, I guess not…" Tetsuya admitted.

Zoro grinned and bowed to the referee. "_Muchisimas__ gracias, _senor! El Gato and I both thank you!"

"_En efecto,_" El Gato agreed.

"Gesundheit," the other Meowth said. El Gato rolled his eyes.

"All right, let this final match begin! Meowth versus El Gato le Espeda-"

"La Espada," Zoro corrected.

"Right, whatever-for the honor of moving on to next round of the Hoenn League Championships! Begin!" the referee ordered, waving his flags.

"Meowth, Swift!" Tetsuya ordered.

The Meowth in boots leaped into the air and started flinging dozens of glowing stars at El Gato. "_Ficha_" ordered Zoro.

El Gato whipped his sword out of his belt and thrusted repeatedly at the stars shooting towards him, deflecting many with his blade and causing others to ricochet right back into Meowth, knocking him out of the air! Only a few managed to get past his guard and leave cuts on his skin or clothing, but they were mere scratches, nothing to worry about. "Oof!" Meowth grunted as he crashed to the ground.

"Now, _cortar_" Zoro commanded. El Gato ran towards Meowth, holding his sword out. He slashed once as he passed the feline, and then froze in mid-step, sword still held out. He reversed the grip on his blade…and Meowth's hat fell apart.

"Hey!" the cat cried angrily, getting on his feet. "I liked that hat!" Unsheathing his claws, he ran at his opponent.

"Meowth, no!" Tetsuya protested.

The cat didn't listen. Angered at the loss of his hat, he used Fury Swipes on El Gato, lashing out again and again with his claws. And every time he did so, El Gato simply blocked the swipe with his blade. After about a dozen failed strikes, the Meowth took a step back to catch his breath…and El Gato spun, lashing out with his blade in a circular cut.

Meowth's claws fell off. He gaped at them in disbelief. "Gah! Y-you declawed me!"

"One with such disgraceful _tecnica_as you does not deserve to use even a butter knife!" El Gato challenged, driving the point of his sword in the ground. He hopped up, grabbed the handle, and spun around in a circle, hitting Meowth in the face with a kick and knocking him back.

"Meowth! Get up, quick!" Tetsuya cried.

Zoro chuckled. "Excellent work, El Gato! Finish it off with _ciega__ lluvia tormenta!_"

El Gato whipped off his cape and threw it in Meowth's face as the cat pulled himself up again. "Wha-" El Gato lunged forward then, stabbing at his opponent a million times with his sword, and hopped back. The cape disintegrated into a billion pieces of cloth, revealing the stunned Meowth. He blinked. El Gato smirked, replaced his sword in his belt, and snapped his fingers.

All of Meowth's fur, including his whiskers, along with his boots, scarf, and charm, fell to pieces, sliding off his skin, revealing his naked flesh along with a single remaining patch of fur, which had been shaped by El Gato's masterful swordplay to look like a stylized G. The audience gasped in disbelief. The Meowth looked down at himself, horrified…and fell to the ground, sobbing for the loss of his beautiful pelt. "Nooo! Meowth, get up!" Tetsuya cried desperately.

Zoro shook his head. "He cannot possibly fight in this condition, little _chico_. His _humillacion_, his shame at the loss of his fur, is too deep! It would be a _grande_cruelty to force him to fight in this condition!"

"He's right," the referee agreed. "Meowth is too humiliated to battle. I declare Sir Zoro and El Gato de Sparda-"

"La Espada," Zoro corrected.

"Right, whatever-the winners of this match!" A large digital screen in the background lit up, showing the triumphant faces of Zoro and his team as images of Tetsuya and his team vanished. "He may proceed to the next round of the tournament!"

The crowd cheered. Women of both species screamed Zoro and El Gato's names and threw flowers and pictures of themselves at them, trying to get their attention, which embarrassed the human Zoro to no end. El Gato smiled genuinely and bowed to his admirers.

Tetsuya sighed and held out his Pokeball. "Return!" A red laser shot out and struck Meowth, breaking him down and sucking him back into his sphere. "Better luck next year, I guess…" He said unhappily.

"That is the spirit, my friend!" Zoro said amicably. "Just keep it up, and someday you will defeat me!"

…

The screen froze on Zoro speaking his last words as Brock hit the Pause button on his remote control. "And that's who you're facing today," he informed Ash, who had been gaping speechlessly at the spectacular things the masked trainer's Pokemon had performed throughout the entire recording.

After the Team Snagem invasion of the Emerald Towers the day before, the hotel was so damaged from the fighting inside that all the trainers competing in the Hoenn League had to be moved to different hotels. The heroes had gotten settled into their new set of rooms in the Royal Wailmer hotel near Ever Grande City's shoreline, with a wonderful view of the ocean, and had just finished watching a recording of Zoro's match the day before, to prepare Ash for his bout with the mysterious trainer today.

Ash opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally saying, "Wow."

"He's…pretty good," Misty admitted uneasily, not wanting to let her boyfriend know she was actually worried about his chances for success in this battle.

"That has to be the best-trained Meowth I've ever seen," Pikachu said after a moment. "And considering how the other Meowth we've spent most of our time with is totally incompetent, that's saying something."

Charizard looked pale. "Did you see the way his Blaziken handled all those meteors? Damn…how'm I supposed to beat a guy with footwork like that? He's even better trained than Harrison's Blaziken!"

"And that Roselia of his is even better than Drew's," May agreed sadly. There was a noise from the closet, but none of them noticed.

"Well Ash, you're doomed. It was nice knowing you," Max said blandly.

"H-hey!" Ash stammered. "Don't be like that!"

"Yeah, stop saying stuff like that about my daddy!" Phanphy chimed in.

Ash gave him an appreciative smile, and then continued. "There has to be some way I can beat him!" He glanced at Brock. "Brock, we're fighting at the Battle Pavilion today, right?"

Brock nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, uh, what're the rules for that arena?"

Brock checked the guidebook. "You'll have a fight that's actually a lot like a Pokemon contest."

May perked up while Ash's hopes sank. "Really?"

Brock nodded. "Yeah. The match will have three rounds, each of which is three minutes long. In each round the trainers will use a different Pokemon. Instead of simple straight-out battling however, you have to use moves and techniques with a kind of stylish twist to impress the panel of judges watching the match. You know, like say Charizard flying through the loops of his Fire Spin or pulling off his trademark Aerial Submission/Seismic Toss combo, or Latias doing that trick she does where her Dragonbreath takes the form of a giant white dragon."

Latias blushed. "I never thought of that move as stylish…"

"At the end of the three minutes, the judges confer and decide which of the Pokemon fighting had the most style in their techniques. Just like in a Pokemon contest. Whichever fighter was the most stylish wins the round for their trainer. Since there are only three rounds, either trainer needs to win two of them to qualify for entry to the next level of the tournament tomorrow."

Ash frowned in thought. "What if I manage to just knock out the other guy's Pokemon before the time is up?"

"In that case you automatically win the round," Brock explained. "Although it doesn't sit well with the judges and shows that your Pokemon lack the same kind of style and grace needed to win a Pokemon contest."

"Well, this isn't a contest," Ash pointed out. "It's the fourth day of the Hoenn League Championships. If I need to make a choice between showing off and a straight win, I'll take a straight win any day. That's _my_ way of battling."

May felt slightly offended, even though she knew Ash had not been implying that there was anything wrong with Pokemon contests, just that it wasn't the thing for him. "Are you sure you _can_ get a straight win, though? His Pokemon all looked very tough."

"Well, Charizard could beat that Roselia of his. Right, Charizard?" Ash asked.

Charizard blinked. "Eh…" He actually wasn't sure. Normally he would have said yes, but his head was still feeling a bit sore from that Poke-B-Gone Officer Jenny had used on him yesterday. Also, that Roselia looked pretty strong from the footage they had just watched. "I guess so," he said without certainty.

"And Pikachu, you can beat that Meowth, can't you?" Ash also asked.

"If it were our old friend Meowth, I'd say yes," Pikachu said slowly. "This guy looks pretty good. Still, his sword looks to be metal, so I can probably use it as a lightning rod to shock him…" He was lost in thought at the possibilities. "But that finishing technique of his looks like a killer. Not sure I could keep going after being shaved like that."

"Ash, I honestly think you should consider trying to impress the judges," Misty pressed carefully. "I think you may actually be better at it than you'd think, and you might have a better chance than just trying to beat his Pokemon outright."

Ash glared at her. "You don't think I can do it, do you?"

"No!" she said quickly. "It's just…well…did you see that Tauros of his?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah."

"Did you see how he charged right towards Tetsuya's Sceptile, took a Solar Beam right between the horns, and still kept going?" she reminded Ash.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"And then managed to catch the Sceptile with his horns, toss him into the air, _jump _above Sceptile, and pile-drive him back into the ground?"

Ash hesitated. "Yeah…"

"Can any of _your _Tauros do that?"

Ash's shoulders slumped. "No." He sighed. "Okay, you've made your point."

"I wish I hadn't needed to," she said sadly. "I don't want you to choose a way of battling that you're not too experienced with. But this guy really does look tough. Your Pokemon _might_ be able to beat them one-on-one, but they'd have an even better chance at winning the way the rules want by, as you put it, 'showing off' to the judges."

Ash blinked. "You think?"

Misty nodded. "Yeah. I've lived with a bunch of sisters who fancy themselves entertainers for most of my life, and I'd like to think I can recognize a little talent when I see it, even if I know next to nothing about Pokemon contests. I think your Pokemon might have a chance at pulling it off, with a little practice. You've trained them well enough so far."

Ash looked at his Pokemon. Phanphy had gotten his trunk stuck in an electric socket on the wall, Crawdaunt was hungrily chewing on a chair leg, Charizard had stuck his head into the refrigerator because it hurt again, Bayleef's vines had gotten caught in the fan blades spinning on the ceiling while trying to pull down Jirachi, who had somehow glued himself to the ceiling, and was now being twirled uncontrollably around the room, Latias was busy trying to catch her, and Pikachu was too busy trying to pull Phanphy out of the wall to notice that Togetic was eating the bagel he had brought up from breakfast. "You think?" he asked again, doubtfully.

"Yeah, Ash. With a little assistance from an experienced coordinator to help you guys get ready for the match, I think you might actually be able to beat him!" May agreed, hoping Ash would give in and choose her to help him with this.

The closet burst open with a slam, surprising everyone. "And I believe I can help you in that department!" Tuxedo Masquerain said proudly, stepping into the room.

Everyone blinked. "Why were you hiding in the closet?" asked Brock.

"That's not important," the costumed lad said airily. "What matters is that I just happened to overhear your conversation. As unbelievable as it sounds, I myself happen to have plenty of experience in coordinating, so I can help get you ready for the match!"

"Um, thanks but no thanks," Ash said politely.

Tuxedo Masquerain blinked. "Huh?"

"If it's all right, I'd like to ask for my friend's help." He turned to May. "May, do you think you can help me get ready for the match?" May gasped and flushed in surprise.

Tuxedo Masquerain's jaw dropped. "Whaaaat! You'd rather rely on a two-bit amateur than me, the great superhero Tuxedo Masquerain!"

"No offense, but I trust the friend I've traveled around with for months now more than a vain guy running around in a stupid mask who believes it hides his true identity," Ash said apologetically.

"You tell him, Pikapi!" Pikachu said, pleased as he pulled Phanphy out of the electric socket.

Drew's mouth opened and closed silently for a few moments. The trainer was stunned. Never in his wildest dreams had he actually thought someone would actually say _no_ to him. "FINE!" he shouted angrily, swishing his cape. "If you'd rather rely on an ugly failure like her, go ahead! Lose the match! I don't care!" He stormed over to the sliding glass doors leading to the outside balcony overlooking the beach, pushed them open, and stepped outside. "You haven't heard the last of me!" he yelled before leaping off the balcony.

"Will he be okay?" Max asked. "We're ten stories up from the ground."

Absol shrugged. "Who cares? Good riddance to bad rubbish."

"Are you sure about this, Ash?" May asked timidly. "I mean, you don't have to settle with me if you don't want to."

Ash shrugged. "Hey, you're my friend. I know I can trust you. That other guy, well, I don't know about you but I see no reason to rely on some weirdo like him. I'm sure what you know about coordinating will be more than enough to help me win my match!"

Her heart fluttered. "…Thank you, Ash."

"I think my Pokemon could help out too," Brock said, struck by a sudden brainstorm. "As rock stars, they may know a thing or two about being stylish that could really help you out." He sniffed, and his eyes started watering. "If only they could pass some of that coolness onto me…" He burst into tears. "Oh, why must I live such a pathetic, lonely existence!"

"Because you suck," Crawdaunt insulted, spitting out wood splinters.

"Why are you eating that thing anyway?" Corsola asked.

He shrugged. "You said I needed more fiber in my diet."

Ash smirked and got out of his seat. "Well, Zoro may be pretty tough and I may not have the most experience with Pokemon contests or pulling off stylish and show-offy moves, but with everyone's help, I just know we can win this match!"

Bayleef, still hanging from the fan blades, finally lost her grip and was flung by centripetal force face-first into a wall, cracking it along with some of her teeth. Latias winced and started healing her. Max shook his head. "I still say they're doomed."

…

"-and police investigators have still found no clues as to the cause of the disappearance of every living thing inside the Hoenn region maximum security prison. That's all our news on the homefront. John, anything going on in the other regions of the world?"

"Actually, Barbara, yes, quite a bit is going on. Seismic activity in Orre has increased, and Mt. Battle and the surrounding areas have been evacuated in anticipation of a massive volcanic eruption. Researchers believe the resulting explosion could decimate all of Orre and cause quite a few aftershocks in the surrounding regions. Despite this overwhelming threat, the citizens of Pyrite Town and the Under refused to leave their homes, claiming this is all some 'cheap trick' to get them to run away so someone can steal their stuff. They are in the most danger if the volcano erupts, since their towns are built over and inside a giant faultline that runs straight to Mt. Battle. If the volcano blows, the resulting quake will tear the fault open and swallow both Pyrite and the Under up completely. Let's hope that the citizens of those towns come to their senses quickly and get out before it's too late.

"Tragedy struck in the Sevii Islands just a few hours ago as the leaders of Metaba, who had gathered to sign a peace accord and finally end the years of civil war in the region, were all assassinated at once by an unknown mecha who burst into the meeting hall, killing the representatives from the UR as well. None of the factions in Metaba has claimed responsibility for the attack, but all of them claim everyone else is behind this treachery. At last report, the factions were gearing up to new and unheard-of levels of warfare. Let's hope it doesn't spread past Metaba's borders, or we could all be in trouble.

"Power still has not been restored to the land of Silica. Everyone is still in the dark down there, and reports of riots, widespread violence, and in some cases cannibalism are increasing at a startling rate. All attempts to transport supplies and bring peace to the region have failed, as mysterious lightning storms have cropped up around the borders, destroying any transports heading into the region. Experts suspect it may be caused either by a legendary Pokemon or some unknown Team, but since Zapdos is still nesting in the Orange Islands, Raikou has not been spotted for over a week, and nobody has stepped forward to claim responsibility it's uncertain just who is behind this.

"Speaking of storms, a nasty one brewed up in the Whirl Islands late last night. Weather forecasters had not anticipated this storm, and also attribute it to a powerful Pokemon. There have been numerous floods but only a few casualties, most of them surprisingly enough from what looks like poisoning similar to the kind of pollution which still chokes the Purity Canyon area and baffles researchers with its intense toxicity and inability to be dissolved by any means tried so far. What this poison was doing so far away from where the Purity River fed into the ocean is unknown.

"Also, Xatu Pokemon and several humans with unusually high psychic abilities have been suffering from strange fits and nightmares over the last couple of weeks. Some believe that these nightmares are prophetic, yet few of the psychics can remember them when they awake. All of them, however, speak of a strange sense that something very grave is going on. Elite 4 member Will said, 'A storm is brewing.' He could not elaborate further on this strange feeling, though.

"Sabrina of the Saffron Gym, however, and Liza and Tate of the Mossdeep Gym, actually managed to write down what seems to be some sort of haiku or prophecy as they woke up this morning after an unusually horrific nightmare:

_He comes, bringing death._

_His soul the color of darkness._

_All shall fall to him._

"Who 'he' is is as yet unknown. Skeptics say the so-called psychics are just trying to get everyone's attention by spouting prophecies of doom and destruction, but other experts like famed researcher Professor Oak are not so sure. In the end, the decision to believe or not to believe is all up to you. Or you could just believe whatever we tell you to believe and stop thinking altogether, which would make all of us up in the media and the big corporations much, much wealthier.

"Moving on, although the feared Team Aqua and Magma broke up recently, torn apart after the mysterious and bizarre disappearance of their leaders and commanding officers, splinter groups have holed up in the Orange Islands and it is feared that they will start their rivalry anew with the islands as their battleground. There have already been reports of widespread destruction and mayhem on one Valencia Island when a fight broke out between a large group of former Aqua and Magma grunts…"

Zoro sighed and leaned back in his seat in his hotel room, saddened by the news on the television. "_Dios__ mio,_ so much pain and suffering in the world these days, so much _malos_ and _odio_, and there is not a blasted thing this old freedom fighter can do about it."

His Roselia, Rosa, hopped onto the bed next to him. "You cannot do everything, Senor Zoro," she told him. "You are only one man."

"A man who ended the tyranny and oppression of my homeland," he pointed out. "With the aid of my Pokemon _compadres_ and my sword."

"But you are still just one man," pointed out El Gato la Espada, leaning on his sword. "And even with our help, you cannot be everywhere at once, fighting _malos_ and _injustice_ all over the world. You are no _sobrehumano_, flying around saving the day; you are just a regular man who does the best with what he is given."

"Which in your case," said Lobo the Mightyena, rolling on his back at Zoro's feet. "Are good looks, some fancy tricks with a sword, and your ever-reliable Pokemon friends. Where would you be without us?"

"Where indeed?" mused Zoro, scratching his friend's belly. "I would still be lowly Diego de la Vega, a _nadie_ among _nadies_ on the outskirts of California." He sighed. "You are right, I should not be lamenting because I could not stop such awful things from happening. I should concentrate on what I have always strived to do, change things so that such events will never happen again. And by winning the Hoenn League Championship, I can inspire people all over the world to strive for better things in life, and perhaps get the money I need to fix up my hometown so it is no longer such a heap of _abono_, eh?"

El Gato's ears twitched, and he looked up. "Someone has just landed on the balcony. They are approaching the glass door."

Zorro leapt to his feet and drew his sword in seconds, turning to face the curtain-covered glass door, through which they could see the vague silhouette of a person on the balcony outside. El Gato joined him, his sword drawn as well. Lobo and Rosa immediately retreated, not wanting to be on the wrong end of the swordsmen's blades. "Who is there?" Zoro called, taking a step forward and peeling the curtain back a bit to see who was outside.

"A friend."

…

"Okay Crawdaunt, let's try it again!" May called.

Delcatty inhaled and breathed out a Blizzard at the lobster. He pointed his claws at the ground and fired Bubblebeams straight down, the blast launching him off the ground and into the air. "Whoo yeah!" He hurtled down at Delcatty, slamming a glowing Crabhammer onto her head and knocking her to the ground. "Yeah! I nailed it!"

"Actually, it could still use work," May said, shaking her head.

He gawked at her. "What! But I dodged her attack and countered it in a really cool way!"

"Yeah…" May admitted. "But I think that if you had flipped a little when you were falling towards Delcatty, the impact from your claw would have seemed more dramatic. Let's try it again."

Delcatty groaned and staggered back to her feet, knowing this meant she'd get bonked on the noggin a few more times before they'd be through.

After Ash's decision to make May his coach for this match (unofficially, since Ash and his Pokemon would be the only ones allowed on his side of the field) they had gone out to the city's main park, in the shadow of the old oil platform, to train. Brock had been there at first, but with the proximity of the Pokemon Center so close to them, he couldn't resist going over to see Nurse Joy. Misty had gone after him to make sure he didn't frighten anyone, and Max and Jirachi had wandered off somewhere, under Absol's watchful eye. This left Ash free to train his Pokemon without interruption from anyone other than the occasional irritating bystander.

Charizard tried, and once again failed, to produce a Blast Burn. "Dang it…" he growled.

"Maybe you should try that Fire Spin trick again?" May's Combusken suggested.

Charizard grunted. "I don't see why I need to embarrass myself by trying that again. Aren't my moves stylish enough as it is?"

"No, your moves are powerful, but not particularly appealing to the eye," Combusken explained. "Like, when you use a fire attack, try to do it in a way other than just a boring old projectile or stream…like this!" She started using Fire Punches on the air, her flaming fists leaving trails of sparkling embers behind them which swirled around her as she danced about on the grassy lawn...until Charizard stuck out his tail and tripped her.

"Seems to me that those fancy moves just set you up for a fall," he grunted. "Totally useless."

"Oh yeah?" she retorted. "How about this one?" Her right fist started burning up, and she charged towards a surprised Charizard, delivering a flaming Sky Uppercut/Fire Punch combo to his chin, launching him into the air as the fireball from her punch remained under his jaw, trailing embers behind it.

He managed to flip off the ball, and it shot a few more feet upward before exploding and releasing glowing embers like a fireworks display. He blinked, actually a little amazed. "Huh…maybe I haven't been looking at this the right way…what else can you teach me?"

In the meantime, Beautifly and Bayleef were trying to work together. "That's a pretty neat trick," Bayleef admitted, as the butterfly demonstrated her Silver Wind/Silk Shot combo again.

"Combination moves always impress the judges," Beautifly told her. "Especially if you can manage to pull them off in ways that they haven't seen before."

Bayleef frowned. "Well, what can I do for a combination move?"

"Um…" Beautifly thought a moment. "Try Vine Whip and Sweet Scent."

Bayleef shrugged. "Okay." She swished her leaf, releasing sparkling clouds of yellow dust. Then she extended her vines and started waving them about in the clouds haphazardly, causing the dust to disperse and scatter about the area.

"Mmm, smells nice…" Beautifly said lazily as she inhaled the scent. "But…not very impressive visually."

Bayleef sighed. "Yeah, I thought the same." An idea suddenly occurred to her. "Hey! Sparkling stuff is always good, isn't it? Maybe if…" She swished her leaf again, releasing more Sweet Scent, and then opened her mouth, collecting solar energy into a little glowing ball in her mouth. She fired the energy as a blue and white Solar Beam, shooting it right through the dust cloud and causing the light to refract and make the cloud flash and glow with colors from all over the visible light spectrum as the beam continued up into the sky.

Beautifly gasped, taking in the colors. "Oooohhh…so pretty…prettyprettyprettyprettyprettypretty colorscolorscolorscolorscolorscolorscolors-" she babbled, body shaking faster and faster.

Bayleef blinked. "Uh, Beautifly, are you okay?"

The butterfly just twitched convulsively, her eyes rolling about in her head while she continued babbling about color as she fell to the ground and writhed about, in the midst of what looked like a seizure. Bayleef sweatdropped. "Okaayyyy…" She glanced up at the cloud, not understanding why it had elicited such a reaction in Beautifly. Her eyes bulged, and she collapsed to the ground, thrashing her legs and spouting gibberish as she also passed into a seizure due to the intense colors she had created.

May moved away from Crawdaunt, who was starting to get the hang of the trick she was teaching him, and found Ash trying to work with Latias. The dragon exhaled a stream of white Dragonbreath, the sparkling white flames of which May thought were very stylish, but it still seemed lacking. "How are you doing?" she asked them.

"We're trying to use Psychic to control the way the breath goes when it comes out," Ash told her. "We can get the sparkle effect easily, but she hasn't been able to do that thing where the fire forms the shape of a dragon."

"That would be a big point in your favor," she informed Latias. "I'm sure the judges would be impressed by it. But it's giving you trouble?"

Latias nodded. "I only seem to be able to do it when I'm really angry."

May frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm…how are we going to do that, then…"

"Ah, I can do it," Crawdaunt said as he scurried over, finished with Delcatty who now had fainted with a serious concussion. "Hey Latias! Yo momma's so fat that when she goes to swim at the beach, the water level of the entire planet rises!"

Latias blinked. "No she's not. My mother's only a bit bigger than I am."  
Crawdaunt sweatdropped. "…I'm trying to insult you by using Taunt. You know, rile you up, get you angry?"

"Well, it's not working," Latias said flatly.

"Hmm, I'll have to think of something meaner…I know! Hey Latias, you're brother's a total wimp!" Ash winced and waved his hands to Crawdaunt, trying to get him to shut up. Unfortunately, the rude lobster didn't seem to notice Ash, just as he didn't notice Latias' eyes harden. "Yeah, he goes and gets himself killed just to spare you from getting hurt, and because of that he's not there to help when your city gets destroyed and you have to wander around all by yourself in a mean, cruel world. Heh, only a _total_ jerk would do something like that. Probably did it just so he wouldn't have to stick around and take care of you-"  
_"DON'T YOU DO DARE TALK ABOUT MY BROTHER LIKE THAT!"_ Latias screamed, breathing out a tremendous burst of Dragonbreath which immediately took the form of a massive white dragon which loomed over Crawdaunt, roaring in fury.

Crawdaunt's pupils shrank. "Oh, shi-" The dragon washed over him and exploded, hurling him into the nearest tree, which happened to be almost half a mile away, his carapace cracked and burnt black.

Ash and May, along with everyone else, stared in disbelief. Latias blinked. "Uh…did I just do that?"

"Well," May said after a moment. "That's sure to wow the judges…but it could have used a little more of that 'sparkling ember' trick. Could you do that again?" Latias and Ash facefaulted.

In the meantime, Phanphy and Pikachu were looking at some items the Pokerockers had brought them in a large cardboard box.

"What _is_ all this stuff?" Pikachu asked, picking up what looked like a broken slinky.

"They're props," Geodude told him.

Pikachu blinked. "Props?"

"Yeah, props. You know, to help you put on your act, make your battle look more cool/stylish/awesome, etc," Onix detailed.

Pikachu pulled out something flimsy and made of rubber. He paled. "How is THIS supposed to make my battle look more impressive to the judges!" he screamed.

Amp blushed. "Uh, whoops, that's mine." He grabbed it away from the electric mouse.

"But Mr. Amp, you don't have a trunk. Why are you wearing a glove for one?" Phanphy asked naively, not having the slightest clue what the rubber object actually was.

All their faces turned red, and they quickly changed the subject. "Maybe this will help out," Metal Sound said, pulling a plastic mace out of the box.

Pikachu raised an eyebrow. "Why would I need something like that?"

"Well, if you go up against that El Gato guy, you'll need something to defend yourself with," Forretress pointed out. "Unless you use your Iron Tail. But I hear that rapier of his is made of Toledo steel, so I'm not sure your tail can stand up to it, even when it's metallized."

"Well in that case, a plastic mace would hardly be much use then would it?" Pikachu pointed out while Phanphy pulled himself up to the lip of the box, trying to get a look inside, and accidentally fell right in. "I'll just zap him. The metal will conduct up the blade and into his body, simple as that."

"Eh, not so simple actually," Jigglypuff interrupted. "I hear lots of opponents have tried that before without success. I think it's coated with some non-conductive material or something."

"Oh," Pikachu said. He frowned. "That makes sense, actually. I'd probably do the same to my own sword…if I had one, that is."

Lombre glanced at him. "Would you know how to use it, though?"

Pikachu shrugged. "Well, maybe. I used a sword a lot in Mewgle's RPGenerator world, I think I still remember how to use one…but I don't have one, so that's that, then."

Lombre stared at him for a moment, and then turned, gesturing to Pikachu. "Come with me, my _raton__ amigo._"

Pikachu blinked. "What did you just call me?"

"A raton. Spanish for mouse," Mudkip translated.

"Oh. Why?" Pikachu asked.

"So that you may learn the _camino__ hoja_," he said enigmatically.

"The what!" Pikachu asked, getting frustrated.

"The way of the blade," Mudkip explained. "Eh, I think I should come with you since I seem to be the only one who understands what he's saying." She glared at her fellow band members. "Although everyone could if they wanted to spend enough time and energy into learning Spanish."

"Why should we when we have you to translate everything he says?" Meg asked innocently and honestly.

Mudkip sighed in exasperation and turned away to follow Lombre, who had swished his new cape around himself and stalked off dramatically. Pikachu blinked. "I should follow them, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, probably," said May's Jigglypuff.

Pikachu followed the two water Pokemon. The rock stars watched as they slowly walked into the horizon…or at least over a small hill.

"Hey, where'd the little runt go?" asked Iron Shell.

It was then that Phanphy burst out of the box, wearing a large white bodysuit with frills on the sleeves and yellow and red polka dots. He had a pointed cone hat with the same color scheme as his outfit, and his face had somehow gotten painted white with a red circle around his mouth and a yellow star over his left eye. He held a small horn in his trunk. He was balancing precariously atop a large red ball, running in place and causing the sphere to roll away from the Pokerockers. "Wheeee! Look at me, I'm a circus clown!" He squeezed the bulb of the horn a few times, causing it to sound off as he rolled away.

The hard-core heavy metal rock stars stared blankly as Phanphy the clown wobbled away from them. "Well, you don't see that everyday," Forretress muttered.

"What the heck was that outfit doing in our box!" Geodude asked. He frowned and glared at Onix, who glanced away nervously. "Onix…"

He swallowed. "I distinctly told them I wanted the outfit to be in my size! Not little bitty kiddy size! Lousy clothing manufacturers!" Onix ranted. Geodude groaned, putting his face in his hands.

"Do you think that'll help him fight Zoro's team?" Jigglypuff asked doubtfully as Phanphy rolled away in a zigzag, bouncing off of rocks and trees.

"It'll score him points with the judges for his cuteness, but other than that, no," her younger protégé told her.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Jigglypuff said with a listless nod as Phanphy rolled by them backwards, happily honking his horn as if it were the last thing on earth.

"Uh, May, I don't think this is working," Ash said meekly as the girl put out the last of the little white fires burning on her clothes.

"No, I don't think it is either," she snapped angrily.

Latias bent her head in sorrow. "Sorry," she said. "I thought I had the flame under control." They had continued trying to combine Latias' Psychic and Dragonbreath to shape her fire breath to form the white dragon without her getting dangerously angry, but as May could testify it had backfired miserably, lighting May and a good stretch of grass on fire.

There was a sharp gasp behind them, and they turned around to see, to their surprise, Zoro. "_Madre de dios_" he whispered, looking around the park in shock.

Ash gaped. "Z-Zoro!" _Wow, he's taller than he looked on TV._

Zoro took a few steps forward, taking in the awful sight greeting him, and then turned to glare furiously at Ash. "You…when he told me of your _mala__ maneras,_ I thought him to be exaggerating! But _you_…" He stabbed Ash in the chest with his finger. "You sir, are nothing more than a miserable _canalla_a _bandito_ who deserves no mercy!"

"Wh-what do you mean!" Ash stammered, backing away in fright from the imposing masked swordsman.

"I mean _this!"_ Zoro shouted, gesturing to the Pokemon scattered about the field.

Ash and May looked. They saw Delcatty, lying unconscious with a concussion. Crawdaunt, cracked and blackened, his horns imbedded in a tree half a mile away. Charizard trying to spit a ball of fire into his palm to punch Combusken with, only for it to slip out of his claws and fall to the grass, which burst into flames. Bayleef and Beautifly, convulsing in the throes of their seizures induced by the sun-enhanced Sweet Scent. The Pokerockers, who had decided to start practicing for their next performance since they had nothing better to do, and were scaring away children, senior citizens, and Pidgey who had been carelessly frolicking about the park until that point.

Ash sweatdropped. "Eh heh…didn't notice all that…"

"Not to mention you had your Pokemon attack this innocent senorita!" he said angrily, pointing to May, whose clothes were still a bit burnt from Latias' Dragonbreath.

She flushed, as did Latias. "Well, it didn't happen _quite_ like that-" she started.

"But truly worst of all is _this!_" he said, pointing at the truly disturbing spectacle of Phanphy done up as a French clown, rolling a giant ball past them while honking his horn happily.

"Hi daddy! I'm a clown!" Phanphy squealed joyfully.

Zoro picked Phanphy off the ball and shoved him into Ash's face. "What kind of sick, heartless _bastardo_ would do something so demeaning to a poor, innocent little _bebe__ elefante!_ Something like this could scar him horribly for the rest of his life!"

"Daddy, I want to join the circus when I grow up!" Phanphy informed his father, proving Zoro's claims to be at least partially true.

Zoro used his cape to wipe the makeup off Phanphy's face, despite the little elephant's protests, grabbed the horn and tossed it away, tore off the clown costume, and set him on the ground. "Run along now, _chico_ Be free! Be safe!" He patted Phanphy on the rear to get him going.

"Okay! Goodbye Mr. Stranger!" Phanphy called as he ran away.

"It's not what you think," Ash protested. "I had no idea what they were all doing, I was just-"

"And you think that exonerates you!" Zoro asked angrily. "You think negligence makes up for the harm done to your own Pokemon! You, sir, are a disgrace to Pokemon trainers everywhere!"

He pulled off one of his gloves and slapped Ash on the face with it. "Ow!" the boy cried.

"In my homeland, that would be the challenge to a duel!" Zoro informed Ash as he replaced his glove. "But since we have already been scheduled for a Pokemon battle, that will have to suffice! My Pokemon and I, whom I treat with the respect and honor they deserve, unlike how you seem to treat your own, will see you in the arena, Senor Ketchum, and we will show you what a true trainer and Pokemon team can do!" He whistled, and out of nowhere a sleek, majestic black Rapidash galloped over to Zoro, the blue flames of its mane, tail and hooves crackling energetically. The horse Pokemon neighed and pawed at the ground, snorting out flames. May's jaw hung open, awed by the beautiful creature.

Zoro pulled himself onto the saddle laid over the horse's back, gathering the reins attached to the bit-less bridle in one hand. "And now, I must depart! I will see you this afternoon at Battle Frontier, you _sucia__ canalla!_" He glared fiercely at Ash, and then bowed his head respectfully to May. "As for you, senorita, get yourself far away from this _bandito!_" He whipped off his hat and smacked his horse on the rear, causing it to rear up on its hind legs and whinny, casting an awesome shadow over Ash, May, and Latias as it loomed over them. "_Lejos_" The horse brought its hooves crashing back to earth and galloped away, kicking up dust in Ash's face and causing him to cough to clear his lungs.

May and Latias stared after the horse and its caped rider as they galloped away over the horizon, or at least to the nearest street, causing many cars to swerve out of the way from fright. "Wow…"

"What was that all about?" Ash wheezed, wiping his eyes as the dust faded.

"I have no idea," May confessed. "I think he thought you were a bad guy."

"Me!" Ash was shocked by the very notion. "But…but I'm Ash Ketchum! I'm a hero! I've saved the world maybe a dozen times now! How can I be the bad guy?"

"Perhaps this gave him the idea?" Latias asked, gesturing to their Pokemon scattered about the field, either unconscious, accidentally starting fires, writhing in seizures, practicing rock music, or in Phanphy's case, running away in fear from the circus ball he had been riding on earlier, which now seemed to want nothing more than to flatten him like a pancake. "I mean, it's not exactly the best first impression of a trainer's Pokemon."

Ash sweatdropped. "Uh, yeah, I guess that makes sense." He sighed. "Great, so now Zoro thinks I'm a jerk and is probably going to go that much harder on me when we fight." Then surprisingly enough, he smirked and slapped his hands together. "So we'll just have to train much harder! Come on, let's get everyone back on their feet and start over again! I just know we can do this if we work at it!"

May blinked in surprise. "Y-you want to keep going? Even though we've been doing, well, really badly so far?"

Ash shrugged. "Well of course I do! Just because something's bad at first doesn't mean it can't get better if you try to fix it. That's what training's about when you get down to it, improving yourself or your Pokemon, right? And with a good trainer like me, or like you," he said, slapping a hand on May's shoulder. "Then we've got nothing to worry about!"

May was stunned. "You still have faith in me?"

Ash shrugged again. "Well, of course I do, May. You're my friend. I gotta have faith in you. More faith than I have in that green-haired weirdo who used to be your main rival."

May swallowed. There was that look in her eyes which seemed all so familiar to Latias, and the dragon once more dug through her memory, trying to recall the moment she had seen that emotion before. "Ash, I…if we're going to continue, then…then there's something I need to talk to you about first."

Ash shrugged. "Okay."

May hesitated and glanced at Latias. "Um…I'd rather we did it…alone."

Ash looked confused, as did Latias. "Why?"

"I…it's just…" May stammered. "Please, Ash."

Bewildered, Ash glanced at Latias. "Um…"

"I suppose I could go heal the others," Latias said slowly. "And maybe find Pikachu. He seems to be missing. Wonder where he went…"

"Thanks," May said in relief. "And, uh, do you think you could find Max and Jirachi while you're at it? I know Absol is with them, but…"

"Say no more," Latias said, understanding perfectly. "You two just go and talk, okay?"

"Thanks." May took Ash's hand and led him away. The boy glanced back at Latias for reassurance, still confused. She just shrugged and turned away to help her friends.

As she did, she gasped and started at a sudden epiphany. She realized at once why the look in May's eyes had been so familiar. She had seen it in Bayleef's eyes when she had first met her. She had seen it in her own eyes every time she had looked in the mirror, pining over Ash.

May was in love with the Eon Pokemon's trainer. And, just as Latias and Bayleef had been, she was doomed to heartbreak and failure.

…

Pikachu glanced about. The trees creaked softly as their leaves rustled gently in the wind. The yellow mouse trod slowly through the shadows of the woods, glancing about for his friends. Where had Lombre and Mudkip gone? "Lombre? Mudkip?" he called. "Where are you guys!"

He heard a sound and glanced up, but was disappointed to see it was just a Murkrow flying away, startled by his voice. He frowned. What was going on?

His ear twitched then, as he heard another noise from behind him. A branch creaking the tiniest bit as something landed on it, followed by the whistle of something shooting through the air.  
Pikachu backflipped as a gleaming sword shot right underneath him, barely missing his tail. The sword imbedded itself in the ground and quivered, vibrating from the impact.

Pikachu landed on his feet and glanced around for his unseen assailant, quickly spotting the caped Lombre standing on a branch of a tree nearby. Mudkip walked out from behind the trunk underneath him. "What was that for?" Pikachu asked, annoyed.

Lombre hopped down from the branch, drawing a sword of his own. Pikachu noted with surprise that, just like El Gato's, the blade was a rapier and perfectly sized for the Jolly Pokemon's use. He glanced at the sword in the ground behind him and estimated it was the right size for his own use as well. He turned back to Lombre as the Pokemon said, "A, how you say…simple test of your _reflejos_."

"My what?" Pikachu asked, confused.

"Your reflexes," Mudkip explained.

"Ah."

Lombre took a few steps forward, coming closer to Pikachu. "Take the sword," he said, gesturing to the blade which Pikachu had dodged.

Pikachu turned around to look at it, shrugged, and picked it up. "I don't suppose you have anything I could tie this to my tail with?" he asked.

"You will not be using your _cola_," Lombre told him.

Pikachu blinked, wondering what a _cola_ was. "I'm not?"

Lombre shook his head. "If you fight with your back constantly to your enemy, you will always be looking over your shoulder. That is not the _mejor_way to use a sword. Visibility is limited, so it will be _mucha__ mas dificil_ to defend yourself against an experienced swordsman like El Gato."

Pikachu frowned. "But I'm more used to using my tail with a sword…well, I did hold a broadsword or two with my paws when we found ones which were stronger than my tail blades," Pikachu admitted. "And those were heavier than this thing."

"Have you never played, how you say…bass-ball?" Lombre asked.

"Baseball," Mudkip corrected.

"Well, I've played it a few times with the gang at Oak's lab," Pikachu admitted. "But I held the bat in my mouth, not my paws." He frowned. "Wonder if that's why I was never able to hit the ball…"

Lombre sighed and massaged his temples. "This is going to be taking _mucho_ work, my _raton_friend…very well, we will try it your way." He pulled off his cape, wrapped it up and braided it into a cord, and used it to tie Pikachu's rapier to his tail. "How is that?"

Pikachu waved his tail a few times, the familiar sensation of having a weapon attached to it rushing back to him. "It's not bad. Brings back memories. It's much lighter than the other swords I've used, though."

"We will work on that. But it is _buena_ that it feels that way. Now," he said, holding his sword out. "Let us see what you can do." He darted forward, his sword reaching out to strike at Pikachu.

The yellow mouse hopped up as the blade came at him, landing on top of Lombre's rapier and bouncing off of it, landing on the Grass Pokemon's hat. He jumped off as Lombre tilted his head over to knock him off, landing behind the Jolly Pokemon and swinging his sword at Lombre's feet.

Lombre brought his sword over his back, blocking Pikachu's strike, and turned around, keeping his arms steady to maintain the block and flicked his sword upward, knocking Pikachu's tail free. The mouse darted backwards, trying to evade Lombre's sword, and somersaulted, trying to bring his sword down in a chop. Lombre blocked it horizontally and pushed Pikachu back, causing him to flip and land on all four feet and immediately swing his tail sideways at Lombre's feet.

Lombre blocked it, parried, and thrust forward as Pikachu recovered, tapping him in the rear. "Ow!" he yelped in surprise. Both blades were blunted at the tips, but it had still smarted.

Lombre shook his head as he drew his sword away. "_Desilusion_ You are good at swinging your weapon about, but it is not being enough. The thing growing from your _trasero_ is not long or flexible enough to serve as the strong sword arm you require. It cannot thrust or defend you as well as it needs to. You must learn how to use the sword with your _patas_ not your _cola._"

"My what and my what?" Pikachu asked in confusion.

"Your paws, not your tail," Mudkip translated.

"Ah. But I don't think I can hold the sword with one paw, or even both, enough to use it in a real fight. Can I?" Pikachu asked, dismayed.

Lombre rubbed his chin. "That depends. Which _pata_ is _dominante_?"

"What?" Pikachu asked, getting frustrated that he could understand so little of what Lombre said.

"Which paw do you use the most?" Mudkip asked.

Pikachu frowned. "Uh…" He glanced at his front paws. "Never thought about that before…um, the left one, I think."

Lombre nodded. "_Bueno_ Hold the sword in that _pata_."

Pikachu undid the cord on his tail and released the sword. He handed the cape back to Lombre, who shook it out to get the wrinkles out of it, and held the sword in his left paw. "Weird…the grip feels like it's perfect for me. How'd you guys manage to do that?"

"We ordered the swords along with a bunch of other props for use in our concerts," Mudkip explained. "Jigglypuff the Elder got the idea of having our muscle-mon come on stage during certain songs and perform in tune to the music, depending on the song. The swords were for use in a song from some video game. But Onix screwed up and ordered over two dozen swords of all shapes and sizes from a company which makes props for Pokemon to use, so it's not surprising we got one in Pikachu size and one in Lombre size for Lombre."

"We are also having a few swords which are Lapras-sized, Shuckle-sized, and Psyduck-sized, among others," Lombre added, donning his cape once more. He picked up his sword from where he had left it on the ground. "Now, let us see how you do using your _patas_ instead of your _cola._"

"But I've never really fought with a sword using my paws before," Pikachu pointed out. "Well, except for a couple of broadswords, but now I'm really wondering if that time in the RPGenerator was any help."

"Think of your _pata_ as being a smaller, stronger version of your _cola_," Lombre suggested. "Transfer everything you were able to do with your _cola_ to your _pata_ in your mind. Now…" He brought his sword up. "_Lucha_"

Pikachu quickly blocked and, recalling what Lombre had done earlier, attempted to parry. The move was sloppy and left him open for a moment, which Lombre quickly took advantage of with a fierce lunge. Pikachu clumsily blocked again, frightened, parried, and then tried to stab on his own, darting forward at Lombre.

The Jolly Pokemon blocked easily, knocked Pikachu's blade away, and riposted, thrusting his sword forward. Pikachu jumped to the side, dodging the strike, and wildly swung his sword at Lombre. The Pokemon managed to dodge his strike, but Pikachu's attack had struck Lombre's cape, making a slight tear. Lombre looked at it in surprise, then quickly blocked as Pikachu attempted a direct thrust. Lombre hopped back and swung his sword, and both Pokemon clashed blades a few times, neither able to get past the guard of the other, although Lombre seemed to be able to press a bit further with his sword than Pikachu could with his. Their swords were locked for a moment, pressing against each other, before Lombre flicked his sword upward, breaking the bind, and feinting a thrust before making a swipe that would catch Pikachu in the side. The mouse hadn't fallen for it though, and quickly blocked the strike, parried, and thrust it forward, his technique improving a little. Lombre blocked with the strong edge of his sword, repelled Pikachu's blow, and lashed out, nearly striking the mouse's cheek. But in doing so for a split second he was open, and Pikachu thrust his sword forward, thinking to win the fight. Unfortunately Lombre's opening had been another feint, and the Jolly Pokemon brought his sword around with astonishing speed, knocking the blade out of Pikachu's paw and sending it flying through the air, where it imbedded itself in a nearby tree, vibrating from the impact as it struck the wood. Pikachu sagged in disappointment as Lombre held the point of his sword to the mouse's neck. "It is _acabada_"

"If that means finished, so it is," Pikachu said unhappily. "You win."

Lombre frowned. "Why so sad, my friend?"

"If I can't beat you, how can I hope to beat El Gato?" Pikachu asked helplessly. "Latias is the fastest of the group in the air, but I'm the quickest on the ground. I have the best chance of beating that Meowth, especially since I've had plenty of experience fighting weaker ones and using swords. But it's not enough. I doubt my electric attacks would even faze the guy. How can I possibly defeat him if I lost to you so easily?"

Lombre chortled and removed his sword, placing its point on the ground. "So easily? Little _raton_, you were giving me a surprising amount of _problemas_ for someone who's never fought a true swordfight before!" Pikachu looked up at him in surprise. "Oh, yes, I did manage to trick you and disarm you, but these things can be _remienda_ Your technique at times is sloppy, but I believe with a little practice, you will be a fighter to reckon with!"

"Really?" Pikachu asked in disbelief.

Lombre shrugged. "Either that, or I am _loco_, seeing as I walk around in a cape and practice with swords while managing a rock band and date a Mud Fish Pokemon."

"Is there something wrong with dating me!" Mudkip asked angrily.

"_No, no, _but there are many others who would find the color of your head-fin most _fea_"

"WHAAAT!" she bellowed, going red in the face.

"You see my amigo? Only a _loco_ person would say such a comment to his _amante's_ face!" Lombre said brightly as Mudkip pounced at him and proceeded to beat the shit out of him.

Pikachu sweatdropped. "And this is my best chance at fighting El Gato on his own terms?" He sighed. "Well, it's better than nothing, I suppose."

"Indeed I am senor," said Lombre as he stood back up, dangling Mudkip an arm's length away from him by her fin. "Now, retrieve your _espada_, and we shall resume training _immediatamente_"

Pikachu nodded and headed over to the tree his sword was in while Lombre casually flicked his hand, throwing Mudkip up at another tree. Her head fin got lodged between two narrow branches, and she hung there, suspended above the training ground. "DON'T THINK THIS IS OVER!" she screamed.

Lombre bowed respectfully to her. "I would never think such _falso_ thoughts, _mia__ bella._"

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN BUTTER ME UP WITH CHEAP COMPLIMENTS EITHER!" she roared, wiggling about and trying to free herself from her woody prison.

"Whatever you are saying, my _amor_" He turned back to Pikachu, who had with some struggle forcefully pulled the sword out of the tree, falling on his back. "Are you being ready, my _aprendiz_"

"Yeah, I'm ready," Pikachu said, brandishing his sword.

"_Excelente_" Lombre said, raising his sword too. "We shall proceed, then. I will teach you everything I know. You will need it to defeat El Gato."

"Just one question that's been nagging me," Pikachu asked, lowering his sword for a moment. "Where did you learn all this stuff about swordfighting anyway?"

Lombre chuckled. "You like to watch the _Psicologia__ Canal_ I like to watch the _Espada__ Red._"

"The what?" Pikachu asked in confusion.

"The Sword Network," Mudkip called down, calmed somewhat.

"Ah."

Lombre pointed his sword. "Let us be starting. We are having only so many _horas_ before your match." A breeze blew by, ruffling the grass, causing the leaves on the trees to rustle, and the branches holding up Mudkip to creak ominously. Lombre's cape fluttered in the wind as he held his sword up vertically in front of his face. "Let the _formarse__ commenzar!_"

He rushed towards Pikachu, holding his blade diagonally over his chest to both guard and prepare for a strike. The mouse crouched back, reaffirming his footing, and lunged forward, sword in a similar position as his teacher.

The two blades collided with a marvelous clang which echoed throughout the park, causing Mudkip to start and fall out of the tree, bonking her head on a root and knocking herself out, ruining the dramatic air of the scene. Pikachu and Lombre didn't notice and clashed swords again, engrossed in training for the coming battle with the fierce warrior cat, El Gato la Espada!

…

"So, May, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Ash asked.

May sighed and leaned her back against the tall support pillar for the massive structure of the oil rig which towered above them. She watched sadly as a happy couple, holding hands, walked by them, entering the shopping center building built underneath the rig's main platform.

She knew she couldn't put this off any longer. She had been dreading this moment for ages, but she couldn't hold it in anymore. Lucy had told her she needed to do this, and she knew she had to do it too, so she could finally have some semblance of peace in her mind. She looked up at Ash Ketchum, into those russet eyes she felt that she could stare into endlessly, which were now filled with puzzlement and curiosity at her behavior.

She swallowed. "Ash?"

"Yeah," he asked, leaning next to her against the column.

"How do you…how do you think of me?" she asked him.

He looked at her, confused. "Uh…what do you mean?"

"I mean…when you hear my name…what runs through your mind? What thoughts do you associate with me?"

Ash frowned, screwing up his face in thought. "Well…when I think about you, I see a girl who cares about her Pokemon. A friend who tries her hardest to help out, even if she can be a bit whiny-"

"A bit!" she asked furiously.

"Okay, a lot whiny," he amended, blind to how she was going red with anger. "But that's okay, because I'm really dense. So we both have our own annoying flaws, and that's fine. That's who we are." He tilted his head up, his eyes thoughtfully glancing over clouds overhead. "You're a coordinator with talent, even if you haven't been able to win many ribbons-mostly because you either run into trainers better than you, or because for one reason or another you can't get to the Contest Hall in time to compete."

"We would have gotten to those halls if you hadn't gotten us lost, then gotten caught up in another stupid quest to save the world!" she snapped irritably. It was disconcerting for her to hear these words from Ash. She had assumed he thought at least a _little_ better of her.

"It's not my fault a bunch of creepy guys from another dimension chose me to help save the world!" he protested. "Though I guess I could learn how to read a map…" He shrugged. "Anyway, I guess to be honest I think of you as being like…well, a sister."

May hadn't expected this. "A sister?"

"Yeah," Ash said with a nod. "I don't suppose I told you this? No? Well, the way I saw it, we-we being all of us humans and Pokemon who are friends with each other-are like one big, slightly dysfunctional and crazy but still good, family.

"The youngest Pokemon are like, well, our kids. Sort of," he said when May gave him a strange look. "They see us trainers as being their parents. Their teammates are either siblings or aunts and uncles, if they are all on the same trainer's team, and aunts and uncles and cousins if they're of different teams. So to Phanphy, you're his aunt and your Pokemon are his relatives. Sort of. I kinda had to convince him you were family before he accepted it," he said apologetically.

That didn't do much to make May feel any better. "So we're all a big family, is that it?"

Ash nodded. "Well, sort of. I know it's a strange idea, and kinda sappy and ridiculous at times, but…yeah, I think we are."

"And I'm your sister."

"Yeah." Ash winced. "And I suppose that makes Max and Jirachi my little brothers, huh? Suppose I should be taking better care of them or something instead of leaving them to you, Brock, or Absol."

"Yeah," she said faintly. "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"If I'm your sister, then…what does that make Misty?"

Ash paused. His face flushed. "Well…uh…you know," he said weakly, looking a little embarrassed. "Like…um…like Corsola and Crawdaunt. Or Delcatty and Golduck. Or Lombre and Mudkip. Like that. But, uh, as humans instead of Pokemon. Like your mom and dad. You know what I mean."

"Yeah." Her face was downcast. "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Ash nodded. "Okay." There was a long pause. He blinked. "Wait, what?"

"I love you," she repeated dismally.

Ash blinked again. Sweat started rolling down the back of his neck. "Uh…by love do you mean like a brother, or a friend, or…"

"I mean," she said, getting frustrated again. "I love you."

"Ah." Ash winced. "That's what I was afraid of."

May sighed and turned away, unable to look at him. Ash felt frightened and completely out of his depth. Deep, heartfelt confessions were not something he was particularly good at in the light of day. He had barely managed to stumble through his own confrontation with Misty's feelings for him and the ones he had in return even with Pikachu's help. He had absolutely no idea what to do in this situation, now that May had told him something he had had absolutely no idea about, just as he had had no idea Misty or Latias or any of the other females he had run into on his long journey had been in love with him. The majority of his brain was telling him to run away screaming in panic and hide under his bed back at the hotel until this blew over, but he couldn't do that. First of all, if he did that he would miss the match with Zoro and lose the tournament, which was not something he wanted to do very badly. Second of all, if he stayed there long enough, Misty would eventually sleepwalk in and drag him into her room like she had every night so far ever since the Tyranitron attack. And since Ash shared the bed with Brock, Pikachu, and Phanphy, he didn't want his friends to get crushed by Misty flipping it over to get to him. Oh, and he supposed it would hurt May's feelings too.

This meant he had no choice but to stay and try to talk this out. Ash sighed, wishing he could just hide under the bed instead. "Um…how long have you felt this way?" he asked uneasily.

May sighed and bent over to pluck a few blades of grass from the ground. Standing back up, she started shredding them methodically into little bits. "It feels like forever," she said sadly.

Ash gulped. That didn't sound good at all. "W-well, we haven't known each other for nearly that long. And it's not like you fell in love with me the first time you saw me or anything, that's when Pikachu was confused and sick and I was dangling off a cliff! And right after that he destroyed your bike. You can't have loved me then," he pointed out, hoping that would cause her to change her mind. "After all, how can you fall in love with someone right after his Pokemon destroyed your bike?" There was a hint of desperation in his voice, and he knew it was a feeble argument. After all, from what Misty had told him whatever 'feelings' she had for him traced back to the very day he had destroyed her bike, and she had seen the worried look on his face as Pikachu was recovering in the Pokemon Center.

"It wasn't right after though," May replied. "It was more like love at second sight."

Ash blinked. "Huh?"

"After Pikachu destroyed my bike, I was going to give you a piece of my mind, then I saw you over Pikachu when he was recovering later that day, that look on your face, that was when it hit that there was something different about you…" She shrugged. "And looking back now, it feels like there wasn't a time that I _didn't_ love you."

Ash was sweating bullets now. This did not sound good in the least. "Wait, you mean you were in love with me when those insane Nido trainers Romeo and Juliet claimed we just had to be boyfriend and girlfriend, and we both adamantly refused?"

May paused. "Well, I suppose not…but I might not have realized how I felt then."

"Or how about the time when I accidentally walked in on you doing…um…that thing women do once a month, and your pants were down and I saw…you know…" He swallowed hard, blushing at the memory.

May paused. "Did I hit you then?"

"You threw bars of soap at me, as I recall," Ash reminded her. "But they were nothing compared to Misty's mallet swings."

That seemed to be the worst thing to say, unfortunately. "Maybe you'd have liked me better if I had yelled and hit you with something hard whenever you did something stupid," she said miserably.

Ash winced. This wasn't going the way he had hoped at all. "May…"

"Did I ever have a chance, Ash? If you had never met her, would you have fallen in love with me?"

Ash gulped. What kind of question was that? "Um…" What was he supposed to tell her? "To be honest, I can't really see something like that in my mind. But that's because I _did_ meet her," Ash said quickly. "And if I hadn't met her, I'd probably have been pecked to death by wild Spearow. So…if I had died, you would never have met me, so how could I have fallen in love with you?"

May put her face in her hands, and Ash knew he had screwed up again. Why did he have to be so stupid! "You know, for a while I thought you honestly did like me. You would always go to such lengths to rescue me when I was in trouble or help me when I needed it."

"Well…May…I'd do that for any of my friends," Ash told her. "You know that."

"I know," May agreed. "And I think that's part of what made me fall in love with you. That you'd do anything to help a friend out. That's probably why she fell for you too, isn't it?"

"She? Oh, uh, yeah," Ash said, covering up that for a second he hadn't been sure which she May had been talking about. It seemed like there were so many, now that he thought about it. Rather embarrassing, really. "I guess so." He hesitated. "You know, May, um…I'm sure there are lots of guys out there who'd do the same."

"No there aren't," she argued.

"Have you met any of them?" Ash asked pointedly. "I have. I'm not that unique in that respect. Sure, I may be denser than some trainers, but I know I'm not the only one who would do everything they could to protect their friends, their Pokemon, their families."

May looked thoughtful. "You think?"

"Well, yeah, sure," Ash said. "You just haven't looked hard enough because you've been so caught up on me." He shrugged. "I'm not that special, May. I'm sure you can find someone just as good, maybe better than me out there."

May nodded slightly. She didn't look totally convinced. Not that Ash noticed. "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I…can I kiss you?"

Ash's eyes bulged. "Wh-whaaa!"

"Please," she begged, eyes watering up. "I just want to know for sure…that there really is no hope. That there was no spark between us. Please? Kiss me?"

Ash's heart pounded in his ears. He felt dizzy and had trouble focusing on May. Oh fuck. Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck.

He had thought he was doing well and had even been patting himself on the back for convincing her there was someone better out there, and then she had thrown him for a loop again with this. What was he supposed to do now!

He didn't want to kiss her. Every fiber in his body was screaming at him not to kiss her. But if he didn't, it looked like May would cry, and he didn't want that. But if he kissed her, Misty would pulverize him, and rightly so for he would deserve it for kissing someone else and betraying the sacred trust he had with her. But if he didn't, May, who already looked so depressed, might fall down a deep pit of depression and do something crazy like try to kill herself, he had seen enough of that stuff on television to make him worried.

His heart beat sped up, blotting out any other sounds he could hear. He wobbled on his feet, feeling faint. He couldn't kiss her. He didn't want to. But he had to do _something_, before May burst into tears or he fainted from hyperventilation.

What was he supposed to do?

_What was he supposed to do!_

And then a sweet, heavenly voice broke through his frenzied panic, sending relief washing through his soul as thoughts of happiness, love, and bliss rose from deep within his heart. "Ahem."

He and May both turned to see Misty standing before them, looking somewhere between frustrated and amused. Latias and Bayleef flanked her, a sad yet strangely amused smile on their faces as well. At that moment, Ash didn't think he had loved Misty more than he did right then. She would sort everything out. She would make everything okay. "Ash, kiss her."

Ash blinked. Had he heard wrong? "What?"

Misty sighed, aggrieved by his cluelessness. "I said kiss her."

He gave her a terrified look, while May stared at her in confusion. Why was she asking him to do this! Why was she asking him to do this thing he could not! Jumping across crumbling platforms to rescue her Togepi, sure. Outrunning wild Pokemon to retrieve her backpack and Pokeballs which had been taken from her, sure. Rescuing her from Team Rocket or Cipher or Aqua or Magma or Snagem or whoever, sure.

But she wanted him to kiss May! Why! _WHY!_ He felt faint. Darkness seeped in around the edges of his vision.

"I don't understand. Wh-why do you want him to kiss me?" May asked, confused.

Misty rolled her eyes. "To give you closure, of course. That and to make up for all the bumbling he's already done trying to sort this mess out. Honestly, the boy's sweet but doesn't have the slightest clue how to handle an emotional situation. Trust me, I know from experience. Ash, do it already."

Ash, trembling, glanced from Misty, to May, to Misty, to May, then back to Misty. "B-b-but why? I don't want to kiss her!"

Misty growled angrily as she saw May's face turn ashen. "Ash, you moron! Just do it already! You've screwed her up enough already trying to make her feel better, do this one thing right and kiss her!"

"You'd better do it, Ash," Latias advised.

"Yeah, you're making her get really angry. And you know what she's like when she's angry better than any of us," Bayleef agreed.

Ash swallowed, seeing the vein bursting out of Misty's forehead, took a deep breath, turned and kissed May on the lips.

There was nothing. No spark, no electricity, no nothing. It was just a kiss.

Ash broke away after three seconds, fearing Misty's wrath if it were any shorter and fearing a heart attack if it were any longer, and promptly passed out.

May blinked. "Am I that bad a kisser?" she asked, hurt.

"No dear, he just didn't want to kiss you because he doesn't love you," Misty explained gently, bending over to brush some hair out of the unconscious Ketchum's eyes. "In Ash's mind, the only person he should kiss is the one he loves, namely me. By asking him to kiss you, you essentially threw a wrench into the gears that turn that adorable little mind of his. Passing out was the only way his brain could react to him doing something so ridiculously illogical, something that ran against everything programmed into it."

May blinked. "But if you knew that, then why did you make him-"

"For your sake," Latias told her. "Because it looked like your heart was going to be broken if Ash tried handling this any further on his own. We'd been watching you two since we found you, around the point where you were talking about love at second sight, and Misty finally couldn't take anymore of Ash's attempts to fix this by himself when she saw how panicked and confused he was from you asking him to kiss you. She knew it would be bad for Ash, but you needed some last assurance, something to salve whatever wound he unthinkingly ripped open in your heart."

Bayleef sighed. "The boy's heart is in the right place, but like Misty said he has no idea what he's doing in tense emotional situations."

"He looks awfully cute when he's unconscious though, doesn't he?" Misty asked, touching Ash's face.

"Oh, yes."

"Can't disagree with you there."

May blinked. "Wait…you mean you two…"

"Are in love with him?" Latias finished. "I was. Once."  
"Same here," Bayleef added.

"But…" May was stunned. "But you're…you're Pokemon!"

Latias shrugged. "Love knows no boundaries. Well, logically I guess it does, but you understand."

"How did you…how did you get over it?" May asked. "Over loving him?"

Bayleef shrugged. "Found someone else."

"Same. Sort of," Latias said quickly, brushing her claws against the locket around her neck. "That is to say, I've been contemplating someone other than Ash."

"Oh." May shook her head. "But…how? How can you get over feeling like this for him? I don't understand. How can you just…_stop_ loving him?"

"We haven't," Bayleef explained. "We just love him in different ways now."

"You may feel right now that your world revolves around him, that you'll never be happy again without him…but that will change in time," Latias assured May, putting a claw on her shoulder. "Just because Ash isn't your true love doesn't mean somebody else isn't."

"And after all," Bayleef asked, putting a vine on May's other shoulder. "If Ash could find his, and some of us can find ours, chances are you'll find yours someday."

May glanced at Ash once more, being watched over lovingly by Misty, and sighed. "With my luck, he'll be hit by a bus a year before or a second after I meet him."

"That's no way to think," Misty chided, slinging Ash over her shoulder and standing up. "You have to be more positive if you're going to move on with your life, May. Otherwise you'll be stuck like this pining for Ash forever."

"Not a pleasant state to be in, let me tell you," Bayleef agreed.

Latias patted May on the shoulder. "Now come on, we should get back. We have a lot of work to do if we're going to be ready when it's time for the match."

May blinked. "Y-you still want my help? Even now that you know how I feel and all?"

"Why should we feel any different?" Misty asked. "Just because you're in love with Ash is no reason we can't still be friends."

Latias frowned. "I seem to remember you and I having some trouble before I informed you that I had no more feelings for Ash."

Misty shrugged, nearly dislodging the boy. "It was the first time I'd seen him in person in months, rather than talking to him over the phone. It's understandable that I'd be a little possessive after seeing him for the first time in ages. I've spent enough time with him, and with all of you now, to feel confident that no woman, human or Pokemon, is going to steal his heart while I'm around."

"So you don't feel like I'm a threat to you?" May asked, somewhat downhearted.

"Now what did we tell you about being more positive?" Bayleef scolded. "It's not that you're no threat to her. It's that Misty knows Ash well enough to understand that his feelings for her are virtually unshakeable. He can't be pulled away no matter how hard you or anyone else could try."

"You're my friend, May. Not my rival," Misty said with a smile. "And right now, we need you to help Ash and the others get their act together so they can beat Zoro and move on in the tournament!"

"…Okay," May said with a nod. "Let's go."

They started off, back to where the rest of Ash's Pokemon had been left to continue practicing. "By the way, where's Brock?" May asked.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Moping. I found him in the Pokemon Center, which was hosting a Nurse Joy family reunion. There were dozens of Joys, as far as the eye could see."

May winced. "Oh no. What did Brock do?"

A puzzled expression formed on Misty's face. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He was just sitting in a corner, whimpering unhappily."

May blinked. "What? Why?"

Misty sighed. "He said, 'I can't do it. I just can't! None of them are as pretty as my goddess Venus!' Then he burst into tears and curled up into a little ball, crying, 'Venus! Where are you? Come back to me!'"

May blinked. "Wow. That Love Potion of hers really does a number on a person, doesn't it?"

"Oh yes," Misty said with a nod. "Now Brock will be scarred for the rest of his life and never find a woman more beautiful than Venus." She smiled. "On the plus side, that means less horniness from him, so he'll be much less annoying!"

"Speaking of annoying, what happened to my brother and his friends?" May asked, suddenly remembering Max.

All three of the other girls winced. "Uh…Latias?" Bayleef asked.

Latias sighed. "Absol managed to stop Jirachi from granting a stupid wish…sort of. He caused the spell to misfire, so instead of giving Max wings there's now a tree flying around the park, crashing into things and crushing people beneath its weight."

May winced. "Oh dear."

"Yes, Charizard went to destroy it last I heard. Then Misty showed up and we came to find you."

May sighed. "How many times have we told Max he is not to make any more wishes which change his body? Oh well, at least Absol was able to stop this wish from doing much harm."

"Other than creating a mindless flying tree which smashes into things and crushes people beneath its weight," Bayleef pointed out.

"Which is a lot better than Max sprouting wings, that means I won't get a lecture from my parents about being more responsible for my brother and how I should be doing more to keep him from doing something stupid like changing into a rock again or unleashing another giant monster on Petalburg," May pointed out.

"Our little family group is so weird, isn't it?" Bayleef asked suddenly.

Latias laughed. "Would you have it any other way?"

Her heart lightened by the removal of the burden of her secret and the knowledge that she could count on her friends, May smiled and said nothing as they continued on their way, back to the rest of their group.

…

The Battle Pavilion's main arena was packed. Most of those sitting in the stands for this match were either fans of Zoro, inspired by the matches he had already fought in during the tournament and wishing to see more of him (much more, among the ladies), or they were new fans of Ash who had been struck by the boy's charm and skill with Pokemon since his first match in Battle Dome, and were hoping he would not let them down this day. Or they were just random people hoping to see a good match.

The arena itself was a large, sunken square room with a square plot of sand in the middle with two boxes occupying opposite sides for the competing trainers. The third side of the square, perpendicular to the battlers, was a metal table with three seats, a timer on the side facing the battlefield, and a blank digital display on either side of the timer. Four larger video boards showing the same displays hung from the ceiling on each side of the room.

The stands surrounded the center field, looking less like seats and more like a sloping wooden staircase as it ascended from the middle of the room to the level ground at the edges. The floor was covered with wood paneling not unlike that found in a Japanese house, and the scrollwork, crossing support beams on the ceiling, decorated pillars, hanging paper lanterns, and statues of warriors in samurai armor, Magikarp, Gyarados, and ninjas heightened the feeling. Instead of walls, the arena was ringed by archways, letting in fresh air and opening onto the vista of the peaceful, tree-enshrouded lake which circled the Battle Pavilion.

Zoro and Ash already stood in their boxes, glaring at each other across the field. "I was almost expecting you not to show up, little _bandito,_" Zoro called over to Ash. "Thought you'd be quaking too hard with _temor_ to face up to your _mala_ deeds!"

"I don't know where you're getting all this, but I'm not a bad guy!" Ash retorted. "And I intend to prove it, too!"

"All rise for the honorable judges of this match!" the referee cried, raising his flags.

The audience rose from their seats as three figures entered the room and walked down the stairs in each corner of the square pit to reach the table bordering the battlefield. As each of them took their seats, the referee announced them. "First we have our own resident Pokemon nurse, Battle Frontier's Nurse Joy!"

"Hello," Joy said amiably, waving to Ash and Zoro. "I hope this will be an interesting battle today. And I hope none of your Pokemon gets too badly hurt!"

"Second is the Tycoon of Battle Pavilion, Greta!"

"Hey, what's up you two?" Greta asked, winking at both of them. "You boys look like fine, strong, handsome young men! How'd the both of you like to see me in my office after this match is done?"

Up in the stands, May glanced at Brock. "You're not going to say anything?"

Miserably, Brock shook her head. "Their beauty pales in comparison to Venus. They hold no more interest for me." He sobbed. "Oh, why did I have to fall in love with a goddess? VENUS!" He put his head in his hands and cried, while everyone stared at him, feeling awkward.

Misty sighed. "That love perfume Venus used must have been really strong. Don't suppose Pikachu could use his psychology powers to fix Brock?"

"I could do it," Jirachi offered.

"NO!" everyone shouted at him. "With your control, you'd probably give Brock a fatal heart attack!" Absol said angrily.

"Or cause him to be attracted to the wrong kind of people!" Corsola added.

"Awww…I wanted to help out!" Jirachi whined.

"After how you 'helped' stop the evil flying tree you created by transforming it into a giant Soodowoodo, I don't think anyone will accept help from you for a long time," Bayleef said, shaking her head.

Down on the battlefield, Zoro closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "My most sincerest apologies, senora, but I long ago gave my heart to the quest for _verdad_ and _justicia_I have no room left for lovers."

"And I'm taken," Ash said quickly, not wanting a repeat of his humiliating encounter with May.

Zoro looked at Ash in surprise. "Truly? And you love her?"

Ash looked confused. "Why would I have a girlfriend if I didn't love her?"

Zoro frowned but said nothing, reaffirming his thoughts on Ash in his mind.

"And our final judge, esteemed superhero Tuxedo Masquerain!" the referee announced.

"WHAT!" Ash, his friends, the Pokemon, and surprisingly enough, Zoro all cried.

"Please hold your applause," Drew said with false modesty as numerous girls in the audience screamed how much they loved him. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood hero, here to do my part for the community by representing Ford Industries in this match."

"Hey, he can't judge!" Ash yelled. "I rejected his help earlier, and he'll probably still be sore about it!"

"Is this true?" Greta asked Tuxedo Masquerain in surprise.

The hero shrugged. "I have no idea what he's talking about. I have no memory of being anywhere near that boy, his closet, or the ugly girl he chose to help prepare him for the match instead of an experienced Pokemon coordinator like…uh…some other people I know, at any point before now. He's simply afraid that I'll judge him with all the severity and impartiality he deserves."

Zoro frowned and mouthed, 'What are you doing here?' to Tuxedo Masquerain.

The green-haired lad winked and mouthed back, 'Relax, everything's under control.' Looking suspicious and uncertain, Zoro's frown deepened. He glanced at Ash again, his expression unreadable.

The referee held out his flags. "The rules for this match are as follows. The battle will consist of three rounds, each of which will feature the use of a different Pokemon by both trainers. In three minutes, the Pokemon must fight each other with enough style and grace in their moves to earn points in their favor from the judges. If the time runs out and neither Pokemon has been defeated, the judges will confer and decide which Pokemon performed the best and won the round. If either Pokemon are defeated before the timer runs out, the Pokemon still standing wins the round. If both Pokemon faint, the judges will rule which of them wins the round. Is that clear to both of you?" Ash and Zoro nodded. "Very good. Either of you must win a minimum of two rounds to win the match. Zoro, as the older trainer, the rules state that you must send out your Pokemon first!"

Zoro nodded. "Very well. Rosa, I choose you!" He tossed out a Pokeball, which opened to reveal a petite green leafy figure with three thorns sprouting from the top of her head and red and blue roses in place of hands. As she emerged from the Pokeball, she held her roses over her head and launched red and blue colored powder into the air, which sparkled as it spread across the arena and fell to the ground.

"Zoro's Roselia is in very good shape," Joy said with approval. "Healthy, fit, and very active."

"I thought she had a nice entrance. The powder was a nice touch," Greta complimented.

"As a Roselia enthusiast myself, I am more than pleased by Zoro's first choice. This proves to be an interesting match," Tuxedo Masquerain said.

Ash pointed his Pokedex at Rosa. He had checked with an official before the battle, and found that he could use a couple of its advanced features, but nothing like scanning for an opponent's weakspots or he could be disqualified. His upgraded 'Dex beeped and said, "Roselia, the Thorn Pokemon. Roselia shoots sharp thorns at any opponent that tries to steal the flowers on its arms. The relaxing fragrance of this Pokemon's flowers brings serenity to living things and can make its foes careless. The stronger the aroma, the healthier the Roselia. The thorns on its head carry a vicious poison." It beeped again. "Warning: this Roselia is at a high level, and has the special ability Poison Point, which gives its opponents a thirty percent chance of being poisoned if they make physical contact with Roselia. Avoid the thorns on its head and flowers."

Ash smirked. "So you're using your Roselia, huh? Can't say I'm not surprised. So go, Charizard!"

"Right!" Charizard bounded over Ash's head, spreading out his wings to slow his descent and land in the battlefield with a thump, snorting out jets of flame. Then he wobbled, his head feeling woozy for a second.

"This Charizard is also in good health," Joy observed. "Although it looks as if he's still recovering from the effects of some negative affliction. But he'll probably be all right, he wouldn't be allowed in the match if he weren't fit enough to battle."

"Nice entrance, like the Roselia. I actually thought he was going to land on his trainer's head with that jump," Greta said with a smirk.

Tuxedo Masquerain waved his hand boredly. "Feh. That crude beast lacks the grace and beauty of a Roselia. How disappointing." Both Ash and Charizard frowned at him, displeased by his rude judgment.

"Why is Ash using Charizard again? I mean, I know he's strong against Roselia, but Charizard's not exactly the most graceful fighter," Corsola pointed out.

"Yes," May admitted. "But he can control his flames with more skill than Latias can, even if she is a better dancer, and Bayleef's feet are a little too big and clumsy to keep up with someone as light of foot as Roselia."

"It's not my fault I have two left feet," Bayleef grumbled.

Phanphy looked at her feet. "Of course you do Aunt Bayleef; you have a left foreleg and a left rear leg, just like me! But that doesn't mean I can't dance too!" he said happily, trotting about. Bayleef sighed and rolled her eyes.

Jirachi sulked. "I'd dance, if I could walk on the ground without falling over due to my big head."

"You don't need to dance, Wishmaker," Absol reassured Jirachi. "Your innate Serene Grace more than makes up for it." Jirachi, who had been picking his nose with his flexible tail while Absol was talking, glanced down in confusion. Absol sighed and shook his head. "Never mind…"

"And Charizard's faster on his feet?" Latias asked.

"No…but he can fly, which gives him an advantage, and his power may help to overcome the Roselia's speed," May explained. "And I gave him a little something to make him look more stylish to the judges."

"What?" they asked.

May smiled secretively. "You'll see."

The referee waved his flags. The digital screens on the table lit up, one showing Ash with a smaller picture of Charizard next to him, and the other showing Zoro with a smaller picture of Rosa next to his face. The timer lit up, showing three minutes on its clock. "The timer has been set! Let the battle commence!" The timer beeped and started counting down.

"Rosa, start this fight off with _Magicos__ petalo danza!_" Zoro commanded.

"_Si_" With a smile, Rosa jumped into the air and started spinning, launching a swarm of rose-colored petals from her body which twirled about her in an expanding sphere. Silver colored leaves appeared next, shooting out from Rosa and slicing through the air, the petals, and Charizard's skin, causing him to grunt in pain. The cut-up petals gently rained down around them, littering the field as Rosa stopped spinning and landed gracefully on one foot.

"An excellent combination technique," Joy said with a nod.

"Very visually appealing," agreed Greta.

Tuxedo Masquerain grunted and folded his arms. "Why can't my Roselia do that?"

"Charizard, you okay?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, just a few scrapes," Charizard assured him.

"Good, it's our time to make a move. Use Fire Spin, like we trained!"

Charizard winced. "Yeah, yeah, okay." He spat out a stream of fire which corkscrewed in the air as it arced towards Rosa. She glided back, away from the flames, only for them to change direction in midair and encircle her, shooting down from right above her and trapping her in a flaming spiral with no escape. Charizard then stopped spewing fire and leaped into the air after the end of the flame spiral as it burned away from him. He started spinning in the air as he followed the trail of his Fire Spin, and the end of the flames got caught up in his spin and was sucked up around his body as he cut through the air, covering his body in fire and turning him into a flaming missile. He shot down towards Rosa as the trail reached its end, wreathed in absorbed fire. She managed to hop out of the way since by absorbing the fire Charizard had gotten rid of the flames trapping her, but she was caught in the flaming shockwave that was cast out from the orange dragon crashing into the ground, burning her back and sending her tumbling head over heels to the ground.

"Oh my! I don't think I've ever seen a Fire Spin done that way before. It did quite a lot of damage!" Joy said, startled.

"Excellent form and technique," appraised Greta.

"Eh, it was so-so," Tuxedo Masquerain said, waving his hand nonchalantly.

"Ha! Nice job, Charizard!" Ash complimented as the dragon rose to his feet, brushing off embers.

Zoro looked mildly impressed, but not too much so. "Rosa, _curar_"

Rosa hopped into a patch of sunlight and started glowing as small roots grew out of her feet, pointed her roses at Charizard, and fired a seed glowing with green and white energy at him. The fire dragon tried to deflect it with a swipe of his tail, but it sank into his skin, causing him to stiffen and grimace in pain, clutching his chest as he doubled over. Little green globules of energy shot out of his body, flew across the field, and into Rosa. She exhaled as the burn on her back shrunk and her roses bloomed, looking re-energized. "Ah…_gracias _senor Charizard, that feels much better!"

"I don't think I've seen so many health-stealing and energy reviving moves used at once!" Joy cried, amazed.

"Once again, an excellent combo," Greta complimented.

Tuxedo Masquerain looked even more jealous. "It's amazing, but why can't _MY_ Roselia do that!"

"What the heck was that!" Bayleef cried.

"That looked like Leech Seed, but it seemed a lot stronger than any of the other ones I've seen," Brock commented. "And it looked like she was doing something else too, when she just stood in the sunlight."

Ash checked his Pokedex, which beeped. "Energy readings indicate Roselia used a combination of Absorb, Giga Drain, and Leech Seed on Charizard while using Ingrain and Synthesis to heal itself. Seed still detected in Charizard's body, as are the Ingrain roots in the ground. Probability of Roselia using the roots and seed to re-energize herself when she needs to are very high."

"You like my _curativa_trick?" Zoro asked proudly. "It'll keep sending energy to Rosa as long as her seed remains in Charizard's body and she keeps contact with the ground!"

"Charizard, I don't suppose you can get rid of that seed?" Ash asked.

"Well I could…" Charizard said thoughtfully. "But it would probably cost me points from the judges."

It took a moment for Ash to understand what he meant. "Eww…in that case, get her off the ground! Grab her and use your special attack!"

"Got it!" Charizard jumped off the ground, flapped his wings, and swooped down on Rosa. She hopped out of the way easily.

"Rosa, let's see if your _blanco_-shooting practice has paid off! _Bala_ attack!" Zoro commanded. Rosa pointed her flowers at Charizard and fired a mixture of Pin Missiles, Poison Stings, Bullet Seeds, Sludge Bombs, and Magical Leaves at Charizard's back.

"Watch out!" Ash cried in alarm.

Charizard did a flip in midair, causing the projectiles to harmlessly pass underneath his back as he reversed directions. He reached out with his claws as the bullets kept coming, catching several of them in his hands. He dove around the stream of projectiles as Rosa kept shooting them at him, got close, and hurled them in the Roselia's face. She cried and brought her hands up to shield herself, and Charizard let loose a burst of Flamethrower, roasting her and leaving a smell of burnt flowers in the air. Rosa fell backwards out of the flame, badly burnt, but not as much as she had been when Charizard had done his Fire Spin attack.

"Hmm, that attack did a fair amount of damage, but it seemed unfocused. Charizard could have hit her harder," Joy critiqued.

"But you can't blame the way he did it! A midair dodge followed by grabbing Rosa's projectiles! Brilliant!" cheered Greta.

"Eh, he was lucky," Tuxedo Masquerain grunted.

"We're not out of this yet! Rosa, _curar_!" Green energy globules flowed into Rosa from the ground, the sunlight, and Charizard, causing him to falter in the air and almost fall. The energy healed Rosa, but not as much as it had the first time she had used it.

"Charizard, shake it off and try again! If we can pull off that special move, we might be able to beat her!" Ash called.

"Right!" Charizard swooped down towards Rosa again.

Zoro sighed. "That again? _Mia bella,_ let there be light!"

Rosa dodged Charizard's attempt to grab her, spun in midair, and released an incredible flash of light as she made a magnificent (and sexy) pose which could not help but arouse the male Pokemon watching. Corsola had to whack Crawdaunt to make him stop drooling, even as they were blinded by the light.

Charizard cried out and fell out of the air, crashing into the ground and skidding for several meters, throwing up dust and flower petals. "Ugh…my eyes…" he groaned, blinded by the Flash attack. His head throbbed painfully, and it felt like hot needles were being driven into his brain.

"Very bright!" Joy shouted, shielding her eyes.

"With a nice pose!" Greta agreed.

"Once more, why can't my Roselia do that!" Tuxedo Masquerain complained.

"Excellent work, Rosa!" Zoro complimented. "Now, give the poor creature a _cancion__ de cuna!_"

Rosa pulled out a flute made of rolled-up strands of dried grass and started blowing into it. A sweet, soothing melody flowed out of the flute, calming those who heard it. At the same time, a relaxing aroma wafted from Rosa's flowers into Charizard's nostrils, calming him further as the lovely tune resonated in his ears. "Mmm…smells nice…sounds nice, too…" he murmured as his eyelids started drooping.

Ash checked his Pokedex. "Oh no, she's using Grasswhistle and Sweet Scent!" Ash realized. "Charizard, snap out of it!"

"But it's so nice…" Charizard protested weakly. And the scent and song were doing wonders for his aching head. His eyelids drooped even further as he started sinking into slumber.

"No! Charizard, get up! Get up!" Ash yelled. He glanced at the clock. Less than a minute left. If Charizard fell asleep now, he probably wouldn't get up until it was too late!

Charizard's head settled in the dirt, dislodging some sand and bits of flower petals, which floated up around his nose. He grunted, scrunched up his snout, and sneezed.

A spurt of fire shot from his nose and struck the Grasswhistle, lighting it on fire and causing Rosa to drop it, startled. In her surprise, she stopped emitting the sweet scent, and Charizard's head started hurting again. "Ow…" He groaned and opened his eyes. "Damn headache!"

"Charizard, get up! We can still win the match!" Ash called to him.

"Huh?" Charizard blinked. "Oh, right, the fight!" He got back to his feet. "Okay, let's take her down!"

"Not so fast! Rosa, I think we could use some more light!" Zoro commanded.  
Rosa posed, preparing to use Flash. "Quick Charizard, use what May gave you!" Ash yelled as blinding light started emitting from the Thorn Pokemon.

Charizard squinted his eyes shut and reached behind his back as the light grew brighter, blotting out everything else in the arena.

"Even more magnificent than before!" Joy commented as the Flash faded and the spots in her eyes vanished.

"Although it lacked the same stylishness used to pull it off before," Greta pointed out.

"Still good though," Tuxedo Masquerain countered.

"Okay Rosa, let's try to put him to sleep for good this-eh?" Zoro stopped, startled.

Charizard was still standing on his feet, and it didn't look like he had been affected by the Flash at all! No doubt because his eyes were covered by a pair of snazzy dark sunglasses which blocked out intense light to protect the wearer's vision.

"That's what you gave him?" Bayleef asked deadpan. "A pair of sunglasses?"

May shrugged. "What? I thought they gave him a good look."

Misty sighed. "Well, if it worked for Squirtle…"

"Yay Brother Charizard! You've got her now!" Phanphy cried with the rest of the cheerleading group.

"I don't think I've ever seen a Charizard wearing sunglasses before…" Joy said, trying to recall if she had.

"Neither have I, but I like it! Makes him look more distinguished, like a gangster in one of those old movies!" Greta commented.

"Eh, they're too tacky for my liking," Tuxedo Masquerain said in disgust.

"Now Charizard is immune to your Flash attacks!" Ash said proudly to the somewhat impressed Zoro. "Okay Charizard, grab Rosa and take her to the air!"

"Right!" Charizard charged towards the Roselia, who was still surprised to see him wearing sunglasses, but quickly recovered and dodged his initial attempt to grab her. But as Charizard ran past her, he lashed out with his tail, striking her in the side and knocking her over. He turned about, scooped her up in his arms before she could move, and with a flap of his wings, took to the air, soaring towards the roof of the arena.

Rosa struggled furiously, digging her head thorns into Charizard's chest. He winced as they pierced his skin, but ignored the pain and started flying in a loop for his Submission attack. But even as he moved faster and faster, Rosa continued to fight, digging the thorns in her roses into his arms and causing his limbs to burn as venom started seeping through his veins.

Ash misinterpreted Charizard's look of pain and told him, "Use Fire Spin to make her stop fighting!"

Charizard obeyed, even as Rosa's poison started taking effect, breathing out fire as he looped over and over through the air, creating a giant circular tunnel of fire which battered at both of them, burning Rosa and causing her to gasp in pain. She called on the power of the Leech Seed she had planted in Charizard's body, draining energy to heal herself. The fire steadily burned away at her even as she healed, keeping her from getting better, but also keeping her from getting any worse either.

After Charizard had finally built up enough momentum, he broke out of his circle and dove downward, right towards the arena floor, with his Seismic Toss. He recalled Zoro mentioning that Rosa could heal as long as she was standing on the floor by using Ingrain, so he planned to fling her into the wall instead of the ground. He tightened his muscles even as the venom started to make them stiffen and they began to weaken from the energy drained from them, preparing to throw her…

And suddenly a buzzer rang. "Time's up! The round is over!" The referee called.

"What!" Startled, Charizard faltered out of his attack and slammed into the ground, flinging Rosa away and causing her to land on her head. She groaned in pain and staggered back to her feet, already starting to heal herself.

"It's over?" Ash asked in shock.

"I'm afraid so, amigo," Zoro said with a shrug. "It is up to the judges now who won this fight."

The judges conferred for a moment. "I believe Charizard pulled off some excellent damaging techniques in his time, but Rosa's ability to heal herself and drain Charizard's own energy rendered a lot of that damage meaningless. I'd say Rosa caused the most lasting damage with her stylish techniques overall," Joy said.

Greta shook her head. "I agree with you there, but Charizard did pull off some very nice moves. The sunglasses, the flaming drill attack, and that last move which might have won him the fight if time hadn't run out were all impressive, even if his landing was a bit lacking. Still, Rosa pulled off more impressive moves which succeeded more often, plus she didn't try the same routine over and over when she failed the first couple of times. But…even so, I think Charizard's guts and ability to tough it out even when it seemed Rosa had the advantage at times makes him the winner."

"Rosa won straight out," Tuxedo Masquerain said flatly. "That's all there is to it."

Greta shrugged. "Well then, the decision is clear. Rosa won the match." Zoro's fans cheered and Rosa managed to bow, despite her damaged condition. The image of Rosa brightened and a check mark appeared next to it, while the image of Charizard dimmed.

"Darn!" Ash sighed. "Oh well, it was still a good fight. Are you okay, Charizard?"

Charizard groaned. His head ached, and his muscles felt like they were on fire thanks to Rosa's venom. His sunglasses were still intact, though. "Could be better."

"Well, go on up to the others, I'm sure Latias can fix you up," Ash recommended, full of concern for his Pokemon.

Charizard grunted and got back to his feet. "Yeah, all right."

"That was a nice move back there," Rosa called to him as he climbed out of the battlefield. "It almost beat me."

"Key word being 'almost'," Charizard grumbled as he climbed the stairs to his friends, wincing each time he moved his legs.

"Well, there goes round one," Brock said.

"There are still two more rounds, though. Ash still has a chance," May said with a confidence she didn't feel. She hoped her training with Ash really had been enough.

"Rosa, return!" Zoro called back his Pokemon and enlarged a second Pokeball. "Senor _mediador_ may we start the next round?"

The referee nodded. "Go ahead."

"Very well then!" He threw the Pokeball into the arena. "Come out, El Toro Fuerte! Show us your moves!"

The sphere popped open to reveal an extremely muscular Tauros wearing a mask over his head with holes cut out for his eyes, horns, snout, and the bony nubs going down his forehead. The mask was red with yellow rimming the holes, and a gold ring hung from his nose. He pawed the ground and mooed deeply, tossing his head back to show off his thick and muscular neck.

"A marvelous specimen! What strength, what nobility in every motion he makes! I've never seen a Tauros so healthy!" Nurse Joy commented.

"Eh, I suppose, but his entrance was a little too _blah_. Could have done something a little more stylish," Greta complained.

Tuxedo Masquerain shook his head. "You're too picky. El Toro's entrance was perfect," he said.

Ash whipped out his Pokedex and pointed it at the bull. It beeped and said, "Tauros, the Wild Bull Pokemon. This Pokemon is not satisfied unless it is rampaging at all times. If there is no opponent for Tauros to battle, it will charge at thick trees and knock them down to calm itself. When it is about to tackle, it whips its body repeatedly with its three long tails. This Tauros has the special ability Intimidate, which lowers the attacks of its opponent."

"Why did Ash use his Pokedex on that Tauros? He has a whole herd of them back in Pallet Town. I've seen them," Latias asked, confused.

"He's never used his new model on one before. He wanted to see what it said," Bayleef guessed.

Charizard, panting from the poison and climbing up the stairs, collapsed in the seat next to them. "Hope it tells him something useful. Hey Latias, think you could help a guy out?"

"Sure." Latias floated around Bayleef, put her claws on Charizard's chest, and started healing him.

"I wonder which Pokemon Ash will use against a Tauros with such clear physical prowess…" Brock mused, rubbing his chin.

"Sounds like this Tauros is a hard-head, just like me," Ash joked. "So it only makes sense to put an even harder head in front of it! Go, Crawdaunt!"

Crawdaunt leaped over the side of Ash's box and into the battlefield. He pointed a pincer down as he fell, fired Bubblebeams out of it to propel him a few more feet off the ground, flipped through the air, and landed in front of El Toro, snapping his claws. "Yeah, you want some of this?"

El Toro snorted. "Hmmph. I'm not particularly fond of _langosta_"

Nurse Joy frowned. "Hmm…the sheen of its armor looks off. I'd say it hasn't been eating right. What do you feed it, young man?" she asked Ash.

Ash blinked. "Uh, well, pretty much anything he wants; cookies, meatloaf, popcorn, apples, rope, sandwiches, plates, pieces of furniture…"

Joy scowled. "You need to regulate his diet better! It's amazing he hasn't already suffered from serious stomach sickness and cramps!"

Many audience members were angered by Ash's negligence in feeding Crawdaunt and started throwing pieces of garbage at him. "Ow! Quit it!" he protested.

Crawdaunt was rather peckish, so was more than happy to gobble up whatever bounced off Ash and fell into the battlefield. Zoro and El Toro shook their heads in disgust.

Greta sighed. "Originally I was going to say how nice an entrance he made, but now I'm disgusted by his shameless behavior."

"What a pig," Tuxedo Masquerain sneered. "I'm allergic to crustaceans as it is, but this one is worse than most!"

"Stop it, Crawdaunt! You're making an idiot of yourself!" Corsola screamed angrily.

Crawdaunt looked up. "What? Just trying to get a meal. We were so busy training I didn't get to eat a proper lunch."

"You ate all of your food, half of ours, and quite a lot of tree bark!" she retorted angrily.

"Well I'm still hungry woman, so shove it!" Crawdaunt yelled back.

Kasurin sighed. "You know, I love him and all, but I must say I'm rather relieved that I got few if any of his more disagreeable genes when he and my mother conceived me."

"What does conceived mean?" Phanphy asked innocently. Jirachi, also curious, listened for the answer.

"Uh, we'll tell you when you're older," Politoed said quickly.

Phanphy scowled. "That's what you always say!"

"Yeah!" agreed Jirachi.

"That's because we're afraid you'd try it for yourselves if you knew how," Absol explained.

"But it might be fun!" Phanphy protested.

"Exactly," Absol said deadpan.

"Er, eating habits aside, we should start this round," the referee said uneasily. The timer reset itself. An image of El Toro appeared underneath Rosa on the display, and Crawdaunt appeared underneath Charizard. "Three minutes on the clock! Begin fighting!"

"El Toro, start this off with your Raging Bull signature move!" Zoro ordered.

El Toro whipped his rear with his three tails and charged forward, horns lowered towards Crawdaunt, shaking the earth with his hoof beats.

"Crawdaunt, you can take it! Just stay there!" Ash commanded.

"Right!" Crawdaunt held his ground.

"What's he doing?" Brock wondered. "If Crawdaunt doesn't move, he'll get steamrolled by that Tauros!"

"Oh, I can't look!" Kasurin screamed, bursting into tears and hopping behind Politoed.

"Maybe he's going to try Hardening?" May suggested.

"That won't stop him from getting thrown by that charge! The bull's too strong!" Brock argued.

It seemed as if this was the case, and yet Crawdaunt didn't budge at all. Just before the Tauros could slam into him with his horns, the lobster held out his claws and clamped down on the bony protrusions, digging his feet into the ground and trying to hold his place as the bull continued pushing forward. It looked as if by grabbing the horns Crawdaunt had saved himself from getting run over, but it also looked as if El Toro wasn't going to stop running until he slammed Crawdaunt into the wall!

"Crawdaunt, use Strength!" Ash yelled.

Crawdaunt started glowing with a red aura as he pressed harder into the ground with his feet and at El Toro's horns with his claws, trying to stop the bull in its tracks and keep himself from cracking open on the battlefield's wall. El Toro started to slow down as Crawdaunt continued pushing against him, but still kept driving the lobster towards the wall. Crawdaunt took a glance behind him and was startled to notice he was only a couple of feet away from the wall. However, the strength he was putting out seemed to finally be doing some good as he began moving less and less, his feet digging deeper into the ground as he reduced El Toro's speed and momentum. He was pushed a few inches forward, very slowly, and his tail tip just touched the wall. And then he stopped. El Toro strained against Crawdaunt, but the lobster wouldn't budge. He had managed to successfully stop the charge.

"Yeah! All right!" Ash cheered.

"Crawdaunt is our favorite lobster, he knocks down more enemies than a mobster! Goooo Crawdaunt!" the group's cheerleading squad chanted.

Everyone sweatdropped. "They really need to work on their lyrics," Bayleef murmured.

Kasurin hopped out from behind Brock. "He's okay? Oh, what a relief! Go, father!"

"Incredible! I've seen a Machamp and other strong Pokemon stop a charging Tauros in its tracks, but never a Crawdaunt!" said Nurse Joy.

"That lobster could have gotten out of the way, but he stood his ground and took the charge! He's got guts!" Greta said, impressed.

"Bah," Tuxedo Masquerain said, unable to think of any other degrading comments.

Zoro smirked. "Impressive, amigo! But don't think El Toro is beaten so easily! My _bovina_ friend, I think we should show them another one of your signature moves!"

El Toro flicked his head upward, flinging a startled Crawdaunt off the ground and into the air, causing him to lose his grip on the bull's horns. "Whoaaaa!" he wailed as he tumbled towards the ceiling.

El Toro crouched down, pooling his strength, and leaped upwards, jumping an incredible twenty feet off the ground, putting him right above Crawdaunt! The audience gasped at the sight of the airborne cow. Crawdaunt's eyes bulged in disbelief as the bull seemed to float for a moment in the air, suspended above him, before turning about and smashing a hoof in his face, kicking him back to earth. He fell and crashed into the floor, churning up a cloud of sand and leftover rose petals as his body impacted into the ground. He groaned and tried to get up…and El Toro fell down right on top of him, crushing him beneath his full weight of two hundred and fifty pounds.

Ash gasped, as did many of his fans and friends in the stands. "Oh no! Crawdaunt!"

"FATHER!" screamed Kasurin.

"I didn't know Tauros could leap that high! His leg muscles must be extremely well-honed!" Joy speculated in amazement.

"Damn! That's one hell of a move! Does it have a name, Zoro?" Greta asked.

Zoro nodded. "Indeed senora _juez_, we call it the Air Toro!"

Tuxedo Masquerain smirked. "Very good, Zoro. Very good." The masked swordsman frowned at him, looking suspicious.

"Well, it seems as if that's that," the referee said, raising his flags. "It looks as if Crawdaunt has been defeated. The winner of this match is-"

El Toro grunted and rolled over, grimacing in pain. Crawdaunt, his shell cracked, staggered to his feet, gasping for breath, his claw still holding tightly to the soft nipple on the bull's underbelly he was pinching. "I'm not…through…yet…" He gasped. Tuxedo Masquerain glared angrily at the lobster, cursing under his breath while his fellow judges gaped in astonishment.

"Incredible! He's still up!" said an amazed Misty.

"What do you expect? A head that hard will take more than a falling bovine to crack," Corsola said ruefully.

"Yeah Uncle Crawdaunt!" Phanphy cheered, waving a pom-pom in his trunk.

Kasurin sighed in relief. "Thank goodness! I thought he was done for for sure that time. These frail nerves of mine really can't take much more of this."

"Pokemon battles are much too stressful for you, Brother Kasurin," Togetic said sympathetically. "You should really get into something more relaxing, like rhythmic gymnastics."

"I've been meaning to for a while now, actually," Kasurin admitted.

"Crawdaunt, are you all right?" Ash asked in concern.

The lobster nodded, not releasing his pincer from the tight grip he had on El Toro's nipple. "Yeah, I used Harden right before he hit me. Absorbed most of his weight. Still hurt like hell, though."

Ash nodded. "We'll fix you up after the fight! Right now, finish him with a Crabhammer, while he's defenseless!"

"Right!" Crawdaunt raised his other claw, which started glowing white, preparing for the final blow.

But El Toro was not ready to quit yet. Lashing out with one of his hooves, he kicked Crawdaunt hard in his face, knocking him away and causing him to let go of the Taruos' chest, ripping off some skin and a significant patch of hair with him. El Toro cringed in pain but got back to his feet, ready to finish off the insolent lobster.

"El Toro, let's end this with another Raging Bull!" Zoro commanded.

El Toro bellowed and started bearing down on Crawdaunt. The lobster was weakened severely by the fall and subsequent crushing, so there was no way he'd be able to muster the strength to halt the bull in its tracks again. Kasurin gasped and wavered, looking like he was going to faint. "Crawdaunt, get out of the way!" Ash cried.

Crawdaunt pointed his claws at the ground and fired Bubblebeams, blasting himself off the floor right before El Toro could trample him. He flipped through the air and landed on the bull's back. "Yeah! Didn't think I'd let you off that easy, did you?" he asked the Tauros with a smirk as he grabbed El Toro's horns.

Angry, El Toro bellowed and started charging around the arena, bucking and kicking in an attempt to knock Crawdaunt off. He rammed into walls, rolled over on the floor in an attempt to crush the lobster, even jumped high into the air as if to perform another Air Toro, occasionally followed by slamming backwards into the ground, but nothing he did worked. Crawdaunt continued to hold on with a dead man's grip, hardening his shell to survive the impacts and collisions he suffered in El Toro's attempts to knock him off. His shell was fractured in over a dozen places, and he was trembling like a leaf, but he refused to let go.

"What a strong grip! It doesn't look like that Crawdaunt will let go no matter what El Toro does!" Joy announced. "Even unconscious, I think he'd_ still_ hold on!"

"Woo! You ride em' cowboy!" Greta cheered, enthused by Crawdaunt's performance.

"Fall! FALL! Er, I mean, his technique is amateurish at best," Tuxedo Masquerain said quickly.

Zoro shook his head, impressed. "What _espiritu_! What courage! What a grip! But still, he must be removed! Keep trying El Toro, I know you can shake him off!"

Ash glanced at the timer. Less than thirty seconds left. If Crawdaunt could hold on for the remainder of that time, the judges might be impressed enough to rule him as winner of the round! "Come on Crawdaunt, you can do it! Keep hanging on!"

"Wha-a-a-a-t do-o-o y-y-o-o-o-u th-th-i-i-ink I-I-m d-d-d-o-o-ing!" Crawdaunt yelled as he was shaken like change caught in a washing machine.

El Toro shook. El Toro thrashed. El Toro convulsed, and bucked, and kicked. And still Crawdaunt would not come off.

"I think he might actually do it!" Bayleef announced, giddy. "He may win this!"

"Go Crawdaunt!" The cheerleading squad cheered.

"YOU'RE THE BEST, FATHER!" Kasurin shouted.

Furious that he could not dislodge this pest from his back and worried that it could cost him the match if he didn't get Crawdaunt off, El Toro tried one last thing to get rid of the lobster. He turned about and charged towards one of the walls at maximum speed. Crawdaunt held on as tight as he could to the horns, expecting the resulting collision to be the worst yet.

However, he was not expecting what happened next. Only a few meters from the wall, El Toro abruptly stopped in his tracks, skidding to a halt and braking so hard that Crawdaunt was flung forward off his back and between the bull's horns, losing his grip. The lobster desperately tried to grab back on to the horns as he flipped over El Toro's head, but instead his claw caught on the bull's mask. As he flew towards the wall, he ripped the whole thing off, leaving El Toro's face naked.

The bull gasped, while Crawdaunt crashed into the wall, groaned, and hit the ground. "My…my mask! You removed my mask!" His eyes started tearing up.

Crawdaunt moaned, looking up. "Yeah…what of it?"

"You _imbecil_!" Zoro shouted, looking furious. "Don't you know? A luchador never removes his mask! You have dishonored him!"

"I am shamed and ruined!" El Toro bellowed, bursting into tears. "You soulless _bastardo_ There is no worse thing you can do to a masked wrestler!" Sobbing, he ran away from the lobster.

Crawdaunt blinked. "Uh…sorry?"

"El Toro, you have suffered enough humiliation. Return!" Zoro said angrily, calling him back to his Pokeball.

The judges, Ash, and pretty much everyone else were confused. "Uh…what just happened?" Greta asked, clueless.

Zoro folded his arms, eyes closed. "In my home land, it is customary for luchadors, special wrestlers, to don masks when they reach a certain level of training and never remove them for any reason. To do so brings them nothing but _deshonra_ and _mala__ suerte_. By pulling off El Toro's mask, he was disgraced beyond words. I did not have the heart to force him to keep fighting in such a condition, so I returned him to his Pokeball, forfeiting this round."

Tuxedo Masquerain had a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmm…wonder if I could get in on that luchador thing…sounds prestigious."

Crawdaunt blinked. "Hey wait…if he recalled his Pokemon…" He glanced at the clock, which right then hit zero. "Woohoo! Then I won!"

"Crawdaunt, you shamed and disrespected his Pokemon!" Ash scolded.

"Yeah…" Crawdaunt shrugged. "But it won the fight, didn't it?"

His friends sweatdropped. "We really have to do something about that lobster," Misty muttered.

Kasurin burst into tears. "Father, how could you? I'M SO ASHAMED!" Wailing, he fled from the stadium.

Crawdaunt sweatdropped. "Really gotta do something about that boy."

The referee shrugged, deciding to just go with it, and pointed a flag at Crawdaunt. "While the victory was rather unorthodox, as the last Pokemon standing, Crawdaunt has won the round!" The image of Crawdaunt got a check mark next to it, while the icon of El Toro dimmed. "The two contenders are tied! One more Pokemon battle will determine the winner of the match!"

"Crawdaunt, go up and get some rest. You earned it…even if you did completely humiliate and disgrace that Tauros," Ash told his lobster.

Crawdaunt grunted. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Don't see why you keep harping about it…" Grumbling to himself, he scuttled off the battlefield.

A cold, serious expression was on Zoro's face. "In the first round, when I saw how you cared for your Charizard when he was injured, I thought perhaps the things I had been told were wrong. But now, after that disgraceful creature you call a Crawdaunt cursed poor El Toro with everlasting shame, I am beginning to think those rumors were right."

Crawdaunt, who was struggling to climb up the stairs, sighed. "Is anyone going to just let that go!"

Zoro held out a Pokeball. "Let this final round reveal the truth! The worthier fighter shall win and go on to receive further glory!"

"And the loser will receive ten thousand Pokebucks and a brand new flat screen TV complete with DVD player and TiVo system," the referee added helpfully. Zoro, the judges, and Ash stared at him. "What?"

Zoro rolled his eyes and continued. "Come forth, my _companero_" He hurled the Pokeball onto the field. It popped open, and El Gato la Espada jumped out of the flash of light, curled into a ball as he spun through the air, before uncurling and landing gracefully on his feet. He stood up, drawing his sword and slashing at the air, the brim of his hat lowered over his eyes and his cape fluttering in the breeze. Many of those watching the match could swear that they could hear some kind of Spanish music playing faintly in the background.

Ash nodded; his face serious as well. "I figured you'd use him. So it's time for you to meet _my_ companyra-"

"_Companero__,"_ Zoro corrected, looking annoyed.

"Whatever. Come on, Pikachu!" There was no response. "Pikachu?" Ash looked around his box and the nearby stands, noticing for the first time that Pikachu was nowhere nearby.

"Hey, where is Pikachu anyway?" Latias wondered, glancing around.

"Wherever he is, he'd better show up soon, or Ash'll be disqualified!" Brock announced; a worried look on his face.

The referee cleared his throat. "If Mr. Ketchum cannot produce a Pokemon to compete in this final round, then he will be disqualified and Zoro will win the match."  
Ash frantically scanned the arena. "Uh…" _Come on Pikachu, where are you?_

Just as he was about to give up and choose one of his other Pokemon, he heard a cry of "PIKA!" and felt relief wash through him.

Pikachu ran through one of the arches ringing the arena, clutching his sword between his teeth. He dashed down the stairs and did a Quick Attack into the air halfway down, soaring through the air over his trainer's head and landing in the sandy field right in front of El Gato, displacing flower petals and sand. He spat out his sword, caught it before it could hit the ground, and stood up, staring El Gato in the eyes. "Sorry I took so long, I was just doing some last-minute training with Lombre."

Ash smirked. "Well it's a good thing you're here now! Without you, we couldn't have had a fight at all!"

Zoro looked astonished. "You have trained your Pokemon in the _camino__ hoja_ as well!"

"Well, not exactly…" Ash said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "He learned it from a friend."

Even with this revelation, the look of growing respect in Zoro's eyes was unmistakable. "A test of swords to decide the battle…this should prove interesting…"

"Pokemon using swords…I don't think I've ever seen such a thing," Joy confessed. "This is all very new for me, and rather incredible! I hope they don't hurt themselves too badly, though."

Greta nodded, getting excited. "Same here, Nurse Joy. But I welcome this new thing! Both fighters look like they know what they're doing with a sword, this looks like it could shape up to be a very good match!"

Tuxedo Masquerain snorted. "Please, that mouse will end up as El Gato's dinner within a minute of the fight's start, I'm sure of it."

"Hmm…" El Gato appraised Pikachu. "I haven't fought another swordsman other than Senor Zoro in ages…let's see what you can do, little _raton_."

"I'll do anything I can to beat you," Pikachu said, pointing his rapier at the elegant Meowth.

"Now it is time for us to see how much his training has done for him," Lombre said, standing in an archway, his arms crossed and his cape blowing in the wind.

"Are we going to go down and join the others? It's a little chilly up here," Mudkip complained.

Lombre shook his head. "_No_, I must stand here with my arms folded with my _capa_ blowing in the wind because it looks _dramatica_." He reached up into his lily pad hat, pulled out a lollipop, and started sucking on it. "That; and I am being loco. You are knowing this." Mudkip sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I hope all that time Pikachu's been spending with Lombre today has made him a match for El Gato," Charizard grunted. "Otherwise, we're finished in this tournament."

"That's no way to think," Bayleef scolded. "We have to trust in Pikachu! He's never let us down when we needed it!"

"I seem to remember him losing more than his fair share of matches…" Crawdaunt muttered.

Bayleef smacked him. "Oh, be quiet you!"

"Ash, leave this to me!" Pikachu told his trainer. "You don't know the first thing about swordplay; I can handle this fight on my own!"

"Uh, okay, whatever," Ash said with an easygoing shrug.

"Hmm. In that case, I too shall fight on my own, to prevent there being an unfair advantage," El Gato agreed. Zoro nodded to show this was fine with him. El Gato pointed his sword at Pikachu. "_Quieres__ bailar_?"

"What?" Pikachu asked, confused.

El Gato sighed. "Shall we dance?"

"Oh." Pikachu nodded. "Sure."

Images of Pikachu and El Gato appeared on the displays. The timer reset. The referee raised his flags. "This is the final round of this match! Pikachu vs. El Gato da Sparda-"

Zoro sighed in exasperation. "La Espada."

"Whatever. Begin!"

The clock started ticking down and the two sword-wielding Pokemon charged towards each other, blades drawn. El Gato swerved to Pikachu's left, using Quick Attack while holding his sword out to slash at Pikachu's side. But the electric mouse's reflexes were as good as ever, and he quickly blocked the strike. But El Gato continued past, turned at a 45 degree angle, and dashed past Pikachu's rear, trying to slash at his back. Pikachu couldn't turn in time, but didn't need to, as his tail shot up, hardened into an Iron Tail, and blocked the blow. El Gato turned another 45 degrees and dashed by again, slashing at Pikachu's right side, once again being blocked. The cat hadn't expected that attack to work however; he was simply gauging his foe's defenses. It was also a cool move which impressed the judges, which helped him greatly.

As the cat finished his delta attack, Pikachu lunged forward, thrusting his sword at El Gato's back. The Meowth instantly brought his sword over his back, blocking the blow. He deflected it, spun around, and started stabbing repeatedly with his sword. Pikachu brought his sword up again and again to block the myriad blows, but they were so strong that they forced him back, keeping him on the defensive.

El Gato backed away for a split second, and then leaped into the air, bringing his sword to bear on Pikachu with a downward thrust pointed at the mouse's head. Pikachu brought his sword up to block, pushing up as El Gato's blade came down to throw the Meowth off balance, causing him to tumble over Pikachu's head. Pikachu spun around and slashed out with his sword just as El Gato landed on his feet, slicing off a piece of the Meowth's cape.

El Gato was surprised Pikachu had managed to touch him, but only for a moment, as he drove his sword into the ground, grabbed onto the hilt, and spun around it, kicking out at Pikachu. The mouse blocked the kicks with his sword and slashed at the Meowth, cutting a scratch into his chest before the cat's feet connected with his face and knocked him away, nearly making him lose the grip on his sword.

El Gato pulled his sword out and landed on the ground in one smooth motion before charging towards Pikachu with a Quick Attack before he could get to his feet. Pikachu managed to hold his blade out in front of him to deflect the powerful blow, but El Gato used his momentum to somersault over Pikachu's head and strike him in the back before he could bring up his tail.

Pikachu flinched but spun around, clashing his sword with El Gato's. This time he went on the offensive, stabbing, feinting, and swinging at the cat. El Gato easily blocked, deflected, and parried each blow even as he backed away. True to his feline nature, he was playing with his prey. As Pikachu took a breath and thrust forward, El Gato pounced, jumping onto Pikachu's sword, bouncing off, jumping onto the mouse's head, and landing behind him. He spun around to strike once more at Pikachu's back, but the rodent had already swung his sword around to block it, deflecting the blow. El Gato hopped back and lunged forward in a Quick Attack, but Pikachu rolled out of the way and did a powerful jumping upward slash which sliced into El Gato's back, shaving hair off his tail and nearly cutting his cape in two.

El Gato yowled in surprised pain and did a spinning slash, trying to strike Pikachu as he landed from his jumping strike. However, Pikachu pulled the same trick the Meowth had done just a moment ago, landing on the sword as it spun past underneath him, bouncing off, landing on El Gato's hat and pushing it down over his face, causing him to stumble blind for a moment, then jumping off and trying to strike from behind. El Gato managed to block and deflect the strike even while he was pushing his hat back into place though, so the move was really more for style than anything else.

El Gato hopped a step back, tore off his cape, and flung it at Pikachu, then stabbed at it a million times before his opponent could react. The cape disintegrated, revealing…

Nothing.

El Gato blinked. Where had the rodent gone?

"Above you!" Zoro and Tuxedo Masquerain cried, earning the disguised coordinator frowns from his fellow judges.

El Gato looked up a moment too late as Pikachu came shooting down at him, slicing with his sword as he shot past and landed a meter away. The Meowth blinked in surprise…and his hat fell in two, along with the charm on his forehead and the tips f his upper whiskers. There were numerous gasps from the crowd, including Ash, who was amazed by what his Pikachu had learned so quickly being put into practice.

The cat blinked. "Can it be? Have I finally found a worthy opponent?" Amazed, El Gato turned around. "How did you dodge my Blind Rain Storm?" he asked. He had to know before he continued fighting.

Pikachu smirked. "When you threw the cape, blocking your vision of me as well as mine of you, I rolled on my back and used my tail as a springboard to jump over your sword strike and hit you from above. Not bad, huh?"

"No, not bad at all," El Gato agreed. "Thank you for doing that, it showed me there was a flaw in what I assumed to be a _perfecto_ technique…I will work on a way to remedy that after the battle." He tightened his grip on his sword, bringing it to his side. "Shall we continue?"

"Let's," Pikachu agreed, crouching down.

They both shot towards each other using Quick Attacks, clashing their swords together at high speeds before disengaging to recover. Pikachu dashed over to a wall and rebounded off of it, shooting towards the Meowth at higher speed. El Gato used Agility to get out of the way, slicing at Pikachu's side as he ran past. The mouse deflected it, skidded to a halt, and Quick Attacked towards El Gato's chest. The Meowth deflected and parried the blow, jumping above Pikachu and bringing his sword down towards his head. Like the last time the cat had tried this move, Pikachu brought his sword up to block, but at the last minute El Gato reversed the grip on his sword, landed on Pikachu's rapier, bounced off, landed in front of the mouse, and slashed him in the chest before he could guard.

Pikachu did a spinning slash, using both his sword and an Iron Tail to strike at El Gato twice per revolution. The Meowth blocked each strike with his sword, but because Pikachu was effectively using two blades he had no chance to retaliate or go on the offensive. When he saw no way to break through Pikachu's revolving guard, he hopped backward, out of the way, drove his sword into the ground, jumped on the hilt as Pikachu spun towards him, and leaped off, landing on the mouse's back and pushing him to the ground. Pikachu rolled over, knocking him off, but El Gato slashed at Pikachu's belly with his claws as he flipped off, leaving deep scratches in his chest. Pikachu grunted and swung his sword at El Gato's boots. The cat leaped over the swing, somersaulted over Pikachu, grabbed his sword by the hilt and pulled it out of the ground, all before landing back on his feet. He spun around and lashed his blade out at Pikachu, only to find the mouse wasn't there. While he had been occupied with his aerobic maneuver, Pikachu had once more used his tail as a springboard to leap over the Meowth and get behind him, allowing him to slash at El Gato's undefended back.

El Gato hissed and bounded away, skidding and turning about to face Pikachu again. Both of them glanced over at the clock ticking on the side of the field; saw that there were only ten seconds left in the match. They looked back at each other and nodded, knowing that this was it.

They charged at each other with Quick Attack, swords drawn for one final attack. They passed by each other, and time seemed to freeze for a moment as they both lashed out at each other with everything they had left. Then, the moment was over, and they continued past each other, skidding to a halt in front of their respective trainers.

Both Ash and Zoro watched, their faces tense as Pikachu and Meowth panted heavily, sweat dampening their fur. There was a long pause as they just stood there for a moment, recovering, while the clock continued to tick down.

And then…

Their swords slipped from their paws as both of them fainted at the exact same time, just as the clock hit zero.

Ash gasped. "Pikachu!" He jumped out of his box and kneeled before Pikachu, picking up and cradling his friend. "Are you all right?"

"El Gato!" cried Zoro. He jumped out of his box and grabbed his Pokemon too. "Are you all right, my little _compadre_?"

"Both Pokemon are unconscious! This final round ends in a tie!" the referee announced as the audience gasped and murmured in amazement. "The judges must now convene and decide which Pokemon deserves the title of winner and may move on to the next round of the tournament tomorrow!" The three judges leaned over and started whispering to each other fiercely, debating the results of this last battle.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this," admitted Crawdaunt.

"What were you expecting?" Bayleef asked.

"To be honest, I thought he'd lose," Crawdaunt said.

"WHAT!" everyone shouted at him.

Crawdaunt scowled. "What? It seemed like a fair assumption based on the footage we saw earlier! There's nothing wrong with believing the worst will happen, is there?"

"He's your friend! You're supposed to be praying for his victory!" Jirachi said angrily.

"I was praying! And also being realistic!" Crawdaunt protested. "I never saw him training, so I figured he'd be toast! I mean, the rest of you were all worried he'd lose too, right? So was I! But I was also being realistic! What's wrong with that!"

"If you need to ask, you'll never understand," Corsola growled. She was starting to get really tired of the crustacean.

"I don't really care who wins, that swordfight was so awesome I don't think I have enough excitement left to cheer for Pikachu if he wins," Max said, eyes wide.

"I still do! Come on, Brother Uncle Pikachu!" Phanphy cheered, waving his flag.

"Actually Phanphy, we should be cheering for the judges so they choose Pikachu," Togetic corrected. "Come on! Make the right choice!" she yelled.

"Yes, choose Pikachu! Forget that mangy cat!" Politoed agreed, hopping up and down.

"Realistically, our cheering isn't actually going to accomplish anything," Crawdaunt pointed out.

"Oh, shut up," Latias grumbled.

The judges sat up in their seats. "We've made our decision," Greta said. There was a neutral expression on Tuxedo Masquerain's face. "The winner is-"

"Wait." Zoro held up a hand, standing up. "Before any of you make it official, I have a _declaracion_ to make. I forfeit."

Everyone was stunned. "You WHAT!" Tuxedo Masquerain screamed.

"You're giving up? Why?" Ash asked, confused.

Zoro held out his Pokeball and recalled El Gato. "Your Pokemon fought his heart out even though El Gato had years more experience than he did and took less damage. And despite all that, it was still a tie. The fact that he managed to match El Gato's level despite these disadvantages proves to me he was the better Pokemon.

"I came in here believing some false accusations I had heard telling me you were nothing but a _malefico__ hombre_, a man who would rob from his own _madre_ if he wanted the money, and abused his own Pokemon cruelly. Despite lack of any true _evidencia_to this I believed it, even making a foolish leap to _conclusions_ when I first saw you training. I believed it because by thinking you were _mala_, it would make it easier for me to fight and defeat you, believing you to be just another _tirano_ for me to throw down. My pride blinded me to the truth.

"But when I saw how hard your Pokemon fought for you, how you reacted when they were hurt or defeated, I knew this could not be the case. I saw I had been lied to. And like a prideful fool, I had believed those lies. I have shamed myself and dishonored both you and myself by doing so.

"I apologize sincerely for misjudging you, senor Ketchum. The error was mine, and I must pay the price for that. You are the worthier trainer. You shall proceed to the next round of the tournament."

Ash was stunned. "Zoro…are you sure?"

He nodded. "_Positivo_ my young friend. It is the honorable thing to do, si? You deserve the victory more than I…even if your Crawdaunt is rude and disrespectful."

Crawdaunt made an exasperated noise. "Will you all please stop bringing that up!"

"Um…in that case, Ash Ketchum is the winner!" The referee said, pointing his flag at Ash. Zoro and his team's faces disappeared from the displays, and Ash's and his Pokemon's swelled to fill it up as digital confetti fell down the screen. "Congratulations, Mr. Ketchum! You will proceed to the next round of the tournament!"

Slightly confused, but quickly getting into it, the audience burst into applause. "But…I didn't want to win this way!" Ash protested.

Zoro shrugged. "You take your victories as you get them, amigo. Now if you'll excuse me, I must _marcharse_. I have been away from my _casa_ for far too long, and I think it is about time I returned." He gave Ash a deep bow. "It was a pleasure meeting you, senor Ketchum." With a swish of his cape, he turned and headed for the exit. The crowd parted for him, still fixated on Ash. Looking furious, Tuxedo Masquerain got out of his seat, loudly muttering, "All because he had to pick that weak-hearted newbie over me-"

Latias swore she heard something inside May's brain make a 'snapping' sound as the entertainer a moment later had jumped out of her seat and was running straight down towards the judges' stand, shoving people out of her way.

Someone called security but that hardly mattered to her.

May picked up Tuxedo Masquerain by his shirt collar, startling him. A flash of the young man's arrogance returned as he got the wrong idea. "What do you want, my sweet-"

May, without warning, started ranting, scaring the hell out of Tuxedo Masquerain and the confused judges. "I decide who I am! Not Mariah! Not my dad! Not Absol! Not you! I am my own person!" May kneed him where it hurt. In the bread box. May dropped him. "I'll choose who May is!" With that she marched away not looking back at him. Tuxedo Masquerain, Ash, her friends, and pretty much everyone else in the arena stared at her in confusion, wondering what the heck that was all about. Max rolled his eyes and made a circle with his finger next to his hear, mouthing 'crazy', to Jirachi, who nodded in agreement.

May didn't notice or care how everyone was staring at her. Her mind flashed briefly to a rose Drew had given her during one of her first Contests, and remembered when she felt something she hadn't identified then. She knew now that it hadn't mattered, that that Drew was no more, and the rude arrogant thing called Tuxedo Masquerain was all that was left.

As May walked away, she also left behind a shadow that been over her heart for far too long. She was free. Free. Free to choose her own destiny. Free to build her own future. And she was the one who would decide what shape it would take, no one else.

At least, that's what she told herself.

Tuxedo Masquerain stared after her, wondering what that was all about, and felt relieved his costume was equipped with a cup for his nether regions. Remembering he still had to find Zoro, he got back up and ran out of the pavilion, leaving his confused co-judges and their questions behind.

In Ash's arms, Pikachu stirred and opened his eyes, bringing Ash's attention back to his best friend. "Ash?" the mouse moaned. "Did I win?"

Ash smiled, glad Pikachu was all right. "Yeah buddy, you did great. We won."  
"…Cool." He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Ash climbed out of the battlefield and got tackle-glomped by his friends, who were overjoyed by his victory and wanted to congratulate him and Pikachu for their great battling. Unfortunately, all that body pressure hurt Pikachu, waking him up again and causing him to release a huge electric burst that shocked everybody and caused them to collapse to the ground, smoking and twitching in pain.

"Oh my!" said Joy. She stood up. "I should probably do something about that, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, you do that," agreed Greta. "Gotta admit though, even knocked out that Pikachu's got strength and guts a plenty! It's one hell of a Pokemon!"

"Shouldn't we go down and help them?" Mudkip asked Lombre, who was still standing with his arms folded while the wind blew his cape around.

"_Uno__ momento,_ I am not done being _dramatica_," he said, pulling out another lollipop and licking it. Mudkip sighed and shook her head in exasperation. _Oh well_, she thought to herself. _At least he's not Crawdaunt._

Crawdaunt sneezed; having the strange feeling someone had just spoken or thought about him.

…

Zoro strode off the bridge leading to Battle Pavilion, nodding and smiling to some of the giggling fangirls who squealed when they noticed him, thinking to himself that it would be good to go home, where the ladies who fawned on him (or his secret identity, anyway) were a little less annoying. "Hey! HEY!" A voice yelled behind him.

Zoro turned around as Tuxedo Masquerain raced towards him. He was not surprised; he had been expecting this encounter eventually. "_Si_?" he asked innocently.

Tuxedo Masquerain came to a stop before him, hands on his knees, panting for breath. "What-what was that all about!" he asked angrily, not caring that he was causing a scene which could possibly ruin his image. "You let Ketchum win! I went to all the hard work of getting myself on the judge's panel and voting in your favor every time your Pokemon did something! I did all that for you and you just went and threw it away, even after I warned you about how bad a guy Ketchum was! Why!"

Curious passerby stopped to watch. Zoro smiled and shook his head. "If you truly need to ask, _chico_ then you are no hero."

Tuxedo Masquerain blinked as the crowd around them grew. "Huh?"

"There is more to life than winning a battle," Zoro explained. "For me, winning a fight through cheating, having a judge on your side, or being lied to about your opponent is completely and totally _deshonrosa_. A fight won like that is not a fight at all, but a _burla_, a farce. I would rather lose or forfeit than win a fight in such a manner."

"But…but…" Tuxedo Masquerain stammered in disbelief.

Zoro frowned. "And now I wonder, why _did_ you help me anyway? Senor Ketchum and his friends are _bueno_ people, I see that now, but what do you, a 'hero', have against them?"

"I offered him my help to train for the match against you!" Tuxedo Masquerain said angrily. "But instead, he chose a witless, ugly bimbo over a handsome and experienced coordinator and superhero like myself! Nobody rejects Tuxedo Masquerain! He deserved to lose for choosing her instead of me!" Their unnoticed audience gasped in shock.

Zoro shook his head in disgust. "_Patetica_ You are no hero. You let your feelings of anger and pride interfere with your _deber_. You wasted your powers and influence on getting revenge, not on doing what is _bueno_."

"What, is there something wrong with a good guy feeling angry, jealous, and vengeful once in a while! Can't I be selfish now and then!" Tuxedo Masquerain asked angrily.

Zoro glared at the youth. "It is one thing to feel and desire such things, _chico_, but another to act on them! A true hero ignores such _pecados_ and traps of the dark heart, and presses onward to do what is needed of them! I forgot that, or I never would have listened to you in the first place! That is why I dropped out of the tournament, because I no longer deserve to be there! In this way, I may _compensar_ for my foolish mistake, and by doing so prove to the world and to myself that I am still the same _bueno_ person at heart I was before. But because you refuse to do that, you sir, are no hero!" Zoro pulled off a glove and slapped Tuxedo Masquerain in the face with it, then turned and started walking away. The people around them cheered and clapped at Zoro's speech, impressed and inspired by it.

Furious that someone like Zoro was telling him what he was and was not; Tuxedo Masquerain lunged at the masked swordsman. The crowd gasped. "Mister Zoro, watch out!" someone yelled.

Zoro spun around, whipped out his sword, and slashed out at Tuxedo Masquerain a dozen times, stopping him in midair. The 'hero' fell to the ground, gasping, and Zoro replaced his sword in its sheath Tuxedo Masquerain's cape, hat, mask, and pretty much all his clothes disintegrated, revealing the green-haired Drew in the flesh and boxers with his own face featured on them. The crowd gasped again, seeing Drew revealed to them in the near-nude. "Nooo! You've revealed my secret identity!" Drew cried out in horror.

"Who is that guy?" one man asked the person next to him.

"No idea," said the person with a shrug. "I've never seen his face before in my life."

"Hey, I think he's some big Pokemon guy," a woman said suddenly. "His name is…Doo? Stu? Lou? Something like that…and I think he's a Pokemon dance teacher." There several nods and murmurs of assent from the other bystanders, all of them vaguely recalling a person like the one sitting before them. Unsurprisingly, all their recollections were totally incorrect.

Drew burst into tears. "Even worse, my secret identity has been revealed, but nobody knows who the hell I am!" He curled into a fetal position and rocked back and forth on the ground, his ego and pride fatally wounded.

Zoro nodded and sheathed his sword. "Let this be a lesson to all! Such happens to all those who follow the path of _avaricia_ and _egoismo_!" Feeling his work here was done, Zoro swished his cape, preparing to leave.

Suddenly, beams of pink and blue light shot down from the heavens, materializing on either side of the pathetic figure of Drew to reveal Soldier Heart and Soldier Wisdom. "Oh dear!" Joy cried, kneeling down to Drew's level. "Is he all right?"

"He should be," Zoro said, confused at how these lovely ladies had appeared out of thin air. "I was simply teaching him a _clase_ long in the coming."

"We apologize if he caused any trouble," Wisdom said sincerely. "He's been acting very strange recently. Not like he should be. We'll take him back to headquarters to get him checked up and see if we can't fix him."

Zoro nodded. "You do that." He still had no idea who the ladies were, but figured that whatever they did with Drew was their business. "Ah! But before you go…" He reached into his cape, pulled out a strip of black cloth, and tossed it to Drew. The green-haired boy caught it reflexively and looked at it in confusion. "Here. When next you don your costume, wear this instead of that garish other mask. True strength can be found in humility, not in sporting ostentatiously colored garments." Several women in the crowd who were wearing genuine fur clothing or other things that happened to be "in" at the moment shifted uncomfortably.

Drew stared at the strip of cloth for a moment, and then looked up at Zoro, eyes starting to dry, and nodded. "Come on now," Heart said, helping him up. "Let's get you home.

"Yeah…home sounds good…" he murmured as both soldiers took an arm and started leading him through the crowd. The bystanders parted for them, making a path as the trio headed in the direction of Battle Tower.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zoro saw Ash and his companions coming down the bridge to see what all the commotion was about. He smirked, nodded to the boy as Ash skidded to a halt, surprised to see the masked man as the focus of the attention of all those people, and whistled.

There was a loud neigh, and out of nowhere a black Rapidash with blue flames galloped over, pushing its way through the crowd and halting at Zoro's side. Misty gasped in wonder at the beautiful horse. Zoro gave Ash one last smile, tilted his hat in farewell, and mounted his stallion. "And now, _buena_ people, I must bid you goodbye. _Adios!_" He pulled off his hat and waved it as his horse reared back, kicking at the air with its front legs and whinnying, before coming down and charging off down the broad lane leading through Battle Frontier's small village. The pedestrians quickly got out of the way so he could gallop off into the distance, watching in awe as he left their presence.

"Wow…that Zoro guy certainly has style," Brock said in amazement. He burst into tears. "Maybe if I was that cool, Lady Venus wouldn't have died! Oh, VENUUUUUUSSSS!"

Lombre shook his head. "Such a sad, sad, _idiota_ He shall never find _amor_ and will die heartbroken and lonely. Oh well." He licked another lollipop happily as Mudkip and most everyone else just stared at him.

"He may have said I was the worthier trainer," Ash glanced down at Pikachu, who was still in his arms. The mouse smiled up at him. "And that you were the better Pokemon…but even if he thinks so much less of himself, he's still not that bad a guy; is he?"

"Yeah, not many people would have willingly stepped down from the tournament even if they had a 50-50 chance of winning," May agreed, calmed down from her unpredictable outburst back in the Pavilion. "There aren't enough folks who do that kind of thing nowadays."

"I wish I was as cool as he is," Max said wistfully.

"Okay!" Jirachi said cheerfully as his fourth eye started glowing.

"NOOO!" Absol and May screamed, tackling Jirachi to the ground before he could turn Max into a block of ice.

"Hey, I just thought of something," Charizard said, struck by a sudden thought. "We're on an island. Where exactly is he running off to on horseback in such a hurry?"

They stopped and thought about that. That was actually a very good question.

…

Dockworkers and tourists screamed and jumped out of the way as a flaming stallion galloped down the pier, heading straight towards a dead end and a ferry that was pulling away.

Zoro, riding the horse, lashed at the reins. "Just a little bit further, my friend! _Ya_ Come on, let's do this!"

The Rapidash ran to the end of the pier and leaped off, neighing as it arced through the air in slow motion, aiming towards the open deck at the back of the boat moving away from them and the stunned tourists gaping at them from onboard…

And missed, splashing into the water a few feet away from the ferry. The boat continued on its way, its captain unmindful of what had just happened.

A moment later, the heads of Zoro and the Rapidash burst out of the water, sopping wet. Zoro's hat had fallen off and bobbed up next to him, and the Rapidash was disgruntled to find its flames had gone out.

Zoro spat out a stream of water. "Well, that was unexpected," he said. He snatched his hat out of the water and put it onto his head, causing more water to pour out from inside and drench his face. He laughed in spite of how he now looked quite a bit like a drenched Rattatta. "Well, I guess we won't be leaving Battle Frontier just yet, will we my friend? Ah well, it's a nice enough place. I suppose _casa_ can wait just a little longer."

The Rapidash snorted and shook its head, wondering as it so often did how it got itself into these situations.

…

Well? How was that? If any of you are having trouble with the Spanish, you can find a Spanish to English dictionary on just about any browser on the web. Those should help you out. Hope you enjoyed this latest installment of Latias' Journey!

And while you may be tempted to E-mail me your reviews, seeing as how I can no longer answer them in the story…please don't, as those of you who are fellow authors can attest to there are few greater joys than seeing your review counter has gone up since the last time you checked. So if you please, just leave any comments you might have by clicking on that purple button on the bottom left corner of the screen. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

Pleeeaaassse? Do it for me:D


	47. Blurring the Line

Hello, all. Hopefully you all enjoyed the last chapter's somewhat light-hearted tournament round, because in this one we go back to seeing what the bad guys are up to! Yaaayyy!

And apologies once again for any problems caused by the Spanish last chapter. I am truly sorry for any inconvenience they may have given you.

Disclaimer: All original characters owned by me. All others owned by the Pokemon companies, whoever they are. Thanks go out to Alex Warlorn and DiamondLatias3000 for all the help they gave me on this chapter.

…

He woke up the next morning feeling as if he had just been horribly electrocuted to death, but concluded it must have been a lingering effect of his nightmares. His dreams had been so horrific that his mind had deleted them from his memory the instant he had woken up so as to keep them from permanently scarring his psyche, yet he could still vaguely remember the image of Silver screaming horribly as Lugia ripped open his chest and started feasting on the boy's innards.

His heart was heavy. He was a murderer. A monster. What had the Unown been thinking, letting something like him join the fight to save the world? All he had done was speed up the process which would lead to its end, which after last night's events proved to be inevitable.

He had no chance of redeeming himself in the coming battle. The evil one had taken that piece of himself from which had sprung the majority of his powers. Without it, he was weak. Useless. No more than a hindrance in a fight.

There was only one course left for him to take.

With a weary groan, he spread his wings and took to the air. He flew around the Whirl Islands, searching for the proper place to fulfill this last task. He saw a particularly hard, sheer cliff on the side of Silver Rock Isle and decided that would be suitable enough. If ramming into it headfirst didn't split his skull open, surely falling onto the jagged rocks at the cliff's base would finish him off.

He flapped his wings, backing up in preparation for his suicidal charge-

And an all-too familiar voice rang in his ears. "STOP!"

Lugia faltered. He almost fell out of the sky in shock. It couldn't be. She was dead. He had killed her!

He turned around. And there she was. "Beloved?"

"Please," the female Lugia begged him, eyes pleading. "Don't do this."

Lugia blinked. "You're dead. I killed you. I saw your head explode myself!" he cried, a hint of desperation in his voice. Surely this was a hallucination, brought on by misery and madness. Surely she could not really be alive, after what had happened the night before.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked sadly. "Why are you trying to kill yourself?"

"I have to!" he cried, voice heavy with grief. "I murdered you and our son. This is the only way I can make up for that."

"By killing yourself?" she asked, shocked. "Before you can help those who need you? Before you can fulfill your destiny?"

"What destiny?" he asked bitterly. "I've already provided the one threatening the planet with the means to further his plans. I've proven that I am no better than Ho-Oh deep down. And even if I did fight, I'm too weak now to make a difference. What's the point?"

"What's the point?" She frowned. "The point is that even when you have no hope of winning, you shouldn't lie down in defeat. That makes your foe's victory more complete."

"I seem to recall doing exactly that, lying down in defeat, when Ho-Oh held you and our son hostage and banished me," he snarled. "I wallowed in the Orange Islands for centuries, never lifting a feather against Ho-Oh for fear of retaliation. Were I the courageous champion you seem to think I am, would I have done such a thing?"

She looked away. "I wasn't happy then, that you didn't fight back. That you left us trapped here in the Whirl Islands. But," she pointed out. "I forgave you. And welcomed you home with open wings whenever you were able to visit us. Do you know why I forgave you?"

"No. Why?" he asked, bitterly.

"Because I love you," she whispered, pecking him on the cheek. "And that is why I forgive you now."

Lugia started. "You..."

She nodded. "Yes. I forgive you. Silver I'm not so sure of, but I think in time he may feel differently. He is, after all, your son, and you are, after all, his father."

"But…" Lugia shook his head. "I do not deserve forgiveness."

"If you deserved it, then it would not be forgiveness," she returned gently. "It is not your time yet. You still have work to do."

"Do I?" he asked doubtfully. "What can I do? I'm all but powerless now."

"The same could have been said of the human, the Chosen One, who rode you in the Orange Islands and saved the world, could it not?" she reasoned. "One person can always make the difference, no matter what species they are." She leaned closer, and tenderly interlocked beaks with him for a moment, with the characteristic gentleness and passion that had always attracted him so to her.

The moment lasted shorter than Lugia had hoped, for she parted from him and backed away, as the world around them started to blur and fade. "You still have a job to do! You know what you must do!"

"Wait!" Lugia cried, frightened and heartbroken tears flowing down his cheeks. "Don't go! Don't leave me again!"

"My time is done," she sighed as her figure began to disappear. "And yours has not yet ended. Gather Ho-Oh and the elemental birds; convince them of the threat to the world, and go to Ever Grande City! It is there that the storm will break! Only you can do this, my love!" As she vanished completely, her final words floated by, caressing his cheek like one of her silver feathers and causing him to shiver with pleasure and anticipation. "I'll be waiting for you when it's over…"

And then Lugia woke up.

…

"Hmm," he muttered, interlacing his fingers as he watched Lugia shake himself from his nightmarish slumber and countless self-inflicted deaths on his crystal viewer. "This was unexpected."

"What happened?" Shalor asked, glancing to his master in confusion. "Wasn't his torture supposed to last a while longer?"

"Yes, by my calculations he had fourteen thousand, three hundred and fifty two deaths to go!" Mewgle, currently inhabiting the body of a featureless humanoid robot from Metaba, agreed. He had gotten back only a few hours ago from attacking the gathered delegates in the Sevii Islands and slaughtering them, preventing peace from ever coming to the war-torn region of mechas and machines.

The digital creature's master did not bother to look at his minion. "Someone interrupted the dream-cycle. Inserted that bit with his mate to revitalize his spirit and make him willing to continue the fight. It couldn't possibly have been a true message from beyond, because I have the souls of his mate and offspring right here, and they are cursing his name with all their might as they are tortured within my consciousness. Only a truly powerful psychic, or one skilled with the ways of dreams, could possibly have accomplished such a thing."

"But who did it, then?" Raikou asked, growling. He had greatly enjoyed watching Lugia's numerous deaths, that along with keeping the Silica region cut off from the rest of civilization and without electricity had been keeping him in a fairly good mood until now. "Mewtwo?"

"Or could it be the three Children? Jirachi, Celebi, or Mew?" Entei asked, glancing at his lord.

"Or perhaps one of those pesky psychic humans, like Sabrina?" Suicune conjectured, looking almost disgusted at the thought that a mere human could challenge her master so.

"All nice guesses, but all are wrong. I did not sense any of their psychic scents in this. No, the interloper was one Molly Hale."

"Molly Hale!" The various monsters and undead jaws would have dropped if they had them.

"Molly Hale!" Meowth lurched out of the shadows, his muscled shoulders hunched and mighty claws swinging in time with his gait. "Ain't she that human girl that the Unown played with?"

"She is indeed," agreed the master. "She is Chosen as well. She serves as the Voice for the higher Unown, allowing them to communicate with those on this plane of existence. Through her, their will is enacted. No doubt they told her to interfere with Lugia's dream so that he would not be absent at the final battle and their prophesized future would not be jeopardized."

Mewgle grimaced. Or would have, if his robot body had been able to. "Well that sucks!" he complained. "A bunch of lousy all-powerful jerks spoiled our fun! What are we gonna do now?"

The master rose from his throne. "We shall return the favor," he promised. "See if we cannot alter the fate they have set out for us. I had been meaning to attend to this eventually, but my hand has been forced prematurely. We must remove Molly Hale from this world at once by any means possible so she will not be a threat to my plans any longer."

Suicune grinned, showing her twisted and misshapen teeth. "May I play with her, master? I would love to hear how loud a soul as young as hers can scream."

"I am not so certain we will be able to obtain her soul, Suicune," the master admitted calmly. "But it does not matter if we cannot. As long as she is out of the way, I will be satisfied."

"Shall I lead an attack force on Greenfield then, sir?" Shalor inquired.

The master shook his head. "No. Molly Hale is more than just a little human girl…and at the same time, she is less than that. I will deal with this myself. Entei. Suicune. Raikou. Mewgle. You will accompany me, along with a few of our virus Pokemon. As for you, Shalor," he said, turning to the once-human general. "Take your troops and go to Mirage Island. Slaughter the Wynaut there as painfully and graphically as possible, infect as many as you wish, and claim the crystal shard there. It has quite a deal of positive energy, just what I need if my master plan is to work."

"How will I get through the barrier?" Shalor asked.

The master gestured, and a Wobbuffet, its blue body swollen and bloated with spines sticking out here and there, waddled into view. Its pseudopods had grown into tentacles which wriggled and snatched at the air even as they were cut open by the jagged crystals making up the floor of the throne room, and the black tail had grown longer and serpentine, with a gaping maw at the end. Its arm flaps had split down the middle and sharpened into claws with exposed tendons. The mouth hung open, blood and saliva dripping between the angular teeth and the writhing black worms inside. Its eyes were open, revealing a pair of bloodshot yellow orbs which constantly rolled about, making one feel nauseous just by looking into them. "This one shall give you passage through the shield. Its infection is at a minimum, so it will enable you to trick the protective wards and pass through the shield with ease. You may murder the islanders to your content once you're in. But," he added, raising a finger. "Do not kill the Chosen Wobbuffet. You may kill or at the least maim his companions if you wish, but leave him unharmed. I wish to see just how hot his anger can boil when we destroy everything dear to him."

"And if he gets to the crystal before us?" Shalor asked. "With the enhancement to his protective powers it would grant him, we may have difficulty taking it back from him."

"I trust you not to let that happen," the master said coldly. "But if he does…then incapacitate his friends and bring them to me so that I may turn them. That should be incentive enough to get him to come to the city when I set my final plans into motion, where he will find himself attacked by those who are closest to him. Let us see how we deals with that." He paused. "If, however, they _cannot_ be captured…kill them. If they cannot be killed, then make _absolutely_ sure to bring his sister here by any means at your disposal. We will still require some form of bait to lure him to Ever Grande."

Shalor nodded. "It shall be done." He turned on his heel and marched away, followed by the slithering Wobbuffet.

Meowth made to follow his old boss, when the master held up a hand. "Meowth, I want you to stay here. Someone must tend to the castle while we're gone. Preferably someone who still has a few brains left in their head."

Meowth growled. "But boss, I wanna go eviscerate some Wynaut and have fun messing with that traitor's head!" Meowth deeply resented Wobbuffet's defection and subsequent freedom, which meant he had missed out on getting turned into a loathsome monstrosity whose every breath was a living death.

"If you wish to torment someone, you may play with James," the master said, nodding to a crystal cage in a dark corner of the room adjacent to his throne. The bars were twisted and jagged, with barbs on the inside and out as they arced upward to connect with each other against the chamber wall and a floor as uneven and rough as the rest of the room's floor and just as thirsty for blood. A small, pathetic figure cowered in the cage, whimpering as he realized his captor was focusing his attention on him. "He hasn't been broken enough yet to serve his part in the plan."

Meowth grinned savagely. "Well then, I'll see if I can't do something about that." He started to stalk over to James, who squealed and clawed desperately against the walls forming the back of his cage, cutting his hands on the sharp angles as he futilely tried to climb away from the abomination approaching.

"Would you like the assistance of the Jesses?" the master asked.

"No," Meowth growled, extending his claws. "I think I can handle this by myself."

The master inclined his head. "Very well. When you are done with him, check in with the agents we've scattered around the globe. See if they are in position yet."

"You got it, boss," Meowth said with a grin as he reached the cage. The bars, which at first looked so solid that not even a nuclear missile could break them, bent out of the way at the feline's approach, leaving an iris-shaped opening which closed behind him as Meowth entered the enclosure. "Hey, Jimmy-boy," he purred, his glass eye glowing. "How'd you like a visit from your old buddy Meowth, hmm?"

James screamed and struggled harder to climb up the wall, slicing open long gashes on his arms and spilling blood everywhere, which was greedily drank up by the floor. Meowth cackled and grabbed James with a powerful swipe, smashing him into the floor and cracking several of his bones.

Mewgle shook his head sadly as he watched the feline brutally begin to have his way with James. "Such a shame we're going. I would love to stay and watch."

"The castle remembers all which happens in its bowels," the master assured as he walked down the steps from his throne. "We may review what is done to James when we return, every last agonizing moment of it. This means, of course, that if Meowth does anything other than what I ordered I shall know about it. So you had best do as you were told before we get back," he warned his feline servant.

Meowth glanced up, blood already dripping from his fangs. "Nothing to worry about, I'll finish this up real quick and get to work on that, okay boss?"

"As you like. But not _too_ quickly though," the master added as he turned away. "Otherwise it won't be as much fun to watch, now will it?" His lackeys laughed raucously as they left the room, and James' screams of pain reached an ear-splitting pitch.

…

Greenfield was especially nice this time of year, Eusine reflected as he looked out the bay window at the seemingly endless field of flowers outside while he sipped some tea from the small china cup he delicately raised to his lips. Then again, the town seemed to be nice practically every time of the year, it was just one of those places which were naturally very pretty.

Eusine was a fairly handsome young man with a fine purple suit, a short white cape, a red bow tie, and light brown hair with a lock hanging down over his face, but nowhere that obstructed his vision. His dream in life was to find and capture a legendary Pokemon. Now most trainers had dreams similar to this, but were often a bit more realistic. They didn't usually go traipsing about all over the world, risking life and limb (and even more worrying, the possible wrath aforementioned legends might have at being disturbed) just to see or even attempt to capture a legendary Pokemon, while Eusine did just that on a daily basis. He didn't plan on _keeping_ any legend he by some miracle managed to obtain, heavens no (unlike his insane, now retired and married, cousin Lawrence III), he simply wanted to prove to them that humans could prove themselves superior to Pokemon technologically and intellectually if not through sheer display of strength, for in that he was most lacking. This was why he carried around his Pokemon team, including his partner Alakazam, to keep his nice suit from getting ruined by any fistfighting or other battles.

He didn't expect to live very long after managing to capture and eventually releasing a legendary either, but the legendaries would always remember him as the one who did catch one, and that would be his ticket to becoming a legend among both humans and Pokemon. His Pokemon team had developed similar ideas in their travels; they knew their chances of capturing a legendary were slim to none, and their chances of living afterwards almost perfectly zero, but they would live on in the memory of the gods, as a group of mere mortal Pokemon who had weakened, brought down and humiliated one of the lords of the world. And isn't being remembered forever what everyone wants?

He was currently in Greenfield, sipping tea while sitting in the fabulous study of the town's showpiece mansion, with bookcases towering to the ceiling and paintings and sculptures of magnificent Pokemon hanging from the walls, and even a few models of the legendary birds dangling from the ceiling, so that he might take the next step towards fulfilling his lifelong quest. Something strange had been going on in the world recently, and he was hoping that the mansion's resident, the esteemed Professor Hale (whom he had run into several times on his journey) would be able to answer him with a solution to what was going on.

He glanced away from the window as he heard the study door open, and Professor Hale himself came in. He was an older man with long gray hair, striking stony features, and a somewhat ruffled turquoise shirt and gray jeans. Those features were set into a frown as he set his eyes on Eusine. The younger man didn't have the slightest idea why. "Professor Hale. I was just enjoying the view-" Eusine started.

"Why are you here?" Hale interjected, cutting Eusine off. He stalked across the room and sat down in a chair facing Eusine.

Eusine felt a twinge of guilt when he realized that the chair he himself was sitting in, the one behind a handsome and cluttered desk, was probably Hale's usual seat. The younger man pushed that thought away though, recalling the reason for his visit. He paused, gathering himself, and spoke. "Have you heard the news lately? There have been a number of strange things happening recently…the war in Metaba has escalated, numerous infamous crime rings have disbanded, the residents of an entire prison in the Hoenn region up and disappeared, there's seismic activity in Orre, poisoned rivers and lakes everywhere, and the region of Silica has been completely shut down. Ho-Oh has been sighted in the Orange Islands, while Lugia seems to have all but disappeared. Inversely, there haven't been any sightings of the three mystic beasts in several weeks, while sightings of Celebi and Mew on the other hand have actually _risen_, in the Sevii Islands There have been one or two reports of a pair of strange and never-before seen Pokemon, one of stone and one of ice, walking about the regions. A similar creature, made of steel, was seen departing a heretofore empty cave in the Dragon's Holy Land here in Johto with a strange vulpine Pokemon accompanied by a bevy of ghosts who were carrying something enormous. And…" He glanced pointedly at Hale. "I have also been hearing rumors that two of the Pokemon being used in the Hoenn Championships are legendaries, a Ho-Oh and a Latias, which I had thought to be only a myth. And there's something that looks like a mutated Jirachi floating around, and a giant robot that looked like one a few days ago when Team Cipher attacked Ever Grande. And the ghost Pokemon are starting to act weird too, as their proximity to the metal cave Pokemon and other seemingly unrelated events are demonstrating, such as the theft of the Emerald Star of Kazaa in the Afrikuu region…I don't suppose you would happen to have any idea as to what's going on, would you?"

There was a long pause. Hale's eyes narrowed, showing no appreciation for how amazingly well-informed Eusine was. Ninety percent of the news networks had ignored the majority of those stories. Then again, you could always trust a fanatic to sniff out the object of his desire. "What makes you think I would know?"

Eusine shrugged. "I went to the holy land, but found no clues. Nobody in Blackthorne had the slightest idea what had been in that cave, for most of them had never gone to the holy land and there were no old legends or folklore that I could find which explained anything. I was planning to investigate Ever Grande, Sevii, and the Orange Islands to see if I could find any explanations, but first I thought I should check with some of the experts I'm acquainted with. I conferred with Morty, and he's equally clueless. He's getting all emotional and questioning his religion and heritage and screaming, 'Why Ho-Oh! Why will you not come here? Why instead do you go to the land of those blasphemers? Have I been a bad servant?' and stuff like that. So other than him, you're the most knowledgeable person when it comes to legendary Pokemon than anyone else in Johto, since Elm's a relative newbie and incompetent, Ivy's a closet Nazi feminist, and I have no contacts in Hoenn or Orre. That," he said sheepishly. "And Professor Oak won't return any of my calls."

"I don't blame him," Hale muttered under his breath. "Well, I'm sorry that you've come all this way for nothing, because I can't help you."

"No?" Eusine asked, disappointed. "You don't even have the slightest clue as to what's going on? Because my Alakazam has been having weird dreams lately, and I can't help but feel that it's connected somehow."

"I know nothing," Hale said gruffly. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

Eusine was startled. "You…you wouldn't? But…why?"

Hale's gaze was cold. "Our world is coming into a time of great struggle and danger. You have no part in it. Your interference would only cause trouble, and possibly jeopardize any chance of safety for those of us on the sidelines with your meddling. Stay out of this, Eusine. You have been lucky enough with the legendaries you've encountered in the past, but continue hunting them and sooner or later they'll stop thinking of you as a minor annoyance and consider you a threat to be eliminated as swiftly as possible."

Eusine couldn't help but feel a hint of fear under his shock and anger that he was being spoken down to this way. "Wh-what makes you say such things?"

Hale glanced away, at a picture on his desk showing his family. "Experience," he said sadly. "All too much experience."

Eusine felt a thrill of excitement. "Is…is it true then, what they say? That you actually went to a whole _universe_ full of Unown?"

Hale's eyes shot back at Eusine and fixed them with the full power of their intense and now somewhat terrifying stare. "What happened to me and my family during that time is absolutely none of your business, Eusine. Persist in your probing and you'll attract the attention of something far more dangerous than myself. And I don't think you'd like that very much-"

"Papa?" a small, timid voice whispered.

Hale turned around, and Eusine blinked in surprise. Standing in the middle of the room was a little girl with dirty blond hair in a small blue dress with a blue ribbon in her hair. She was trembling, and her blue eyes were full of fright. Eusine recognized her as Hale's daughter, what was her name? Moxie, Maddy, Kali…something like that. "Molly?" Hale asked, his voice tinged with a hint of worry. "Molly, what's wrong?" Ah, yes, that was it, Molly. He wondered how she had gotten in here, he hadn't heard the door open.

"S-something's coming," she squeaked. "Something…_bad_."

Hale tensed visibly. Eusine blinked in confusion…and frowned, hearing the high-pitched whistle of something falling rapidly through the air. Then there was the sound of a terrific crash and the earth shook, causing books to fall off their shelves, pictures and paintings on the wall to drop from their hangings, Hale to lose his balance, and Eusine to plant his face right into the hard edge of Hale's desk, almost breaking his nose. "Ow! What the-"

Hale gasped. "Look outside!" He was pointing out the bay window.

Eusine grunted and pulled himself up, holding his sore nose, and glanced out the window. His jaw dropped when he saw that a large crater had appeared only a few dozen yards outside the study, marring the beautiful flower-filled landscape. As the dust and debris from the impact cleared, they could see quite visibly that in the center of the crater was a strange device, made from solid dark purple crystal. It had a tall, jagged spire rooted into the ground by numerous spindly legs digging deeply into the dirt, the transparent limbs glowing as they absorbed energy from the earth around them, causing flowers around the crater to wilt and disintegrate. "What on Earth-"

Molly stepped forward and pointed her hands at the crystal. Her eyes glowed white, and a ripple shot through the air, causing the room to vibrate and Eusine to clutch his ears in pain as the windows shattered, sending glass cascading down onto the grassy lawn, which bent under the force of the infrasonic vibration…and stopped at the crystal, which wobbled for a moment but did not crack or break. Molly's brow furrowed in confusion. "Strange," she said. "That should have worked."

"What's going on!" Eusine demanded, frightened by the strange object and wondering how the hell Molly had just emitted a sonic frequency almost too low for him to hear. He had heard strange things about Hale's daughter, but had never thought she could do anything like this!

Hale grabbed Molly around the waist and picked her up. "There's no time! We have to get out of here! I have no idea what that thing is, but it can't be anything good!"

As he shouted this, the spire of the crystal started slowly unfolding, splitting apart along the sides almost like some kind of flower made of straight, hard glass. Strange, rainbow-colored light was glowing from within. Eusine did not know why, but he felt a shiver run down his back. It didn't look like anything good. "Wh-what do we do?"

"Get out," Molly spoke, her eyes wide. "Before it's too late. Before he comes."

"If you value your life, I suggest you listen to her!" Hale yelled as he ran from the room, slamming the door open and shouting for everyone in the house to get out as quickly as possible.

Eusine glanced from the door to the crystal, frowned, and pulled a Pokeball off his belt. He was Eusine, seeker of legendary Pokemon! He wasn't going to run from a strange object just because some little girl barely out of kindergarten told him too! "Go, Alakazam!" he cried, releasing his partner Pokemon. A tall, yellow and brown humanoid figure materialized, with fox-like ears, a long mustache, and a spoon in either hand. "Attack that thing out there with Hyper Beam!"

"Alakazam!" The Psi Pokemon opened his mouth and started gathering energy in a golden ball of light. The orb grew quickly and fired a powerful laser beam at the crystalline artifact, which Eusine was sure would break under the force of the attack.

It didn't. The second the beam struck the crystal, the whole thing glowed with a blinding burst of light as it sucked up the energy from the attack, ripping the golden ball right out of Alakazam's mouth and causing him to gasp and stagger backwards from surprise as the energy was absorbed. The crystal pulsed, the light's color changing to match that of the Hyper Beam, and released the energy it had absorbed straight back at Alakazam, hitting him with enough force to send him flying back from the window and smash through the wall at the far end of the study, making an Alakazam-shaped hole in the process.

Eusine stared at the hole. He stared at the crystal, which was close to being completely unfolded. He glanced at his pants, which he now noticed were damp.

And he decided that, legend hunter or not, there was no way in hell he was going to get anywhere near that thing.

He turned and ran for the door. In hindsight he probably could have jumped through the window and gotten out faster that way, but the study was two stories up and there was now quite a lot of jagged glass littering the ground beneath it, and he didn't want to dirty his suit with blood. It was already ruined enough now as it was.

He dashed out of the study, backtracking a moment to recall Alakazam (who had gotten his head imbedded in a painting on the wall) and ran through the opulent halls of the mansion, sprinting past elaborate paintings, wall hangings, and statuary as he ran down marble staircases, jumping down three steps at a time, passed through sitting rooms, galleries, and through a water-filled courtyard before finally reaching the main hall, almost out of breath and wondering why the hell the Hales had to live in such a big house.

He saw that most of the mansion staff had the same idea as him and were trying to get out of the house as quickly as they could, stampeding over fine rugs and knocking over expensive artifacts in their fright and their urgent desire to get the hell out.

Eusine pulled off another Pokeball and released his Arcanine. "Arcanine, we have to get out of here!" Eusine ordered.

The sub-Legendary Pokemon nodded and crouched down so Eusine could climb onto his back. The fire hound stood back up and started racing down the stairs into the hall, knocking frantic servants out of the way in his charge as he ran towards a large window looking out onto the front drive of the house. Since there were less people in the way to the window than there were to the door, Eusine reasoned that his Arcanine had chosen well in finding a virtually unobstructed exit, and he bent down as close as he could to his Pokemon's fur with his eyes shut to avoid the shower of glass that ensued when Arcanine smashed through the window and leaped outside.

Fresh air whistled through the beast's mane and Eusine's hair as they landed, nearly crushing a maid who had been running down the drive away from the house, and started running down the well-mowed lawn and tree-lined paths towards the flowery fields around the mansion and to the town nearby, where they should be safe.

Eusine peeked over Arcanine's broad shoulder and mane, trying to see what was ahead of them, and paled.

Just a few yards ahead, at the edge of the estate, was not one but a whole row of the strange crystal objects, each spaced a tenth of a mile away from each other in a line curving around either side of the mansion and to the back, encircling the entire building and grounds, and all of them completely unfolded, revealing a mass of shimmering energy which was growing brighter and brighter.

"Arcanine! Hurry, we have to get past those things!" Eusine yelled frantically. Arcanine gave a bark of understanding and picked up the pace, his heavy paws kicking up divots as the adrenaline pumped through his veins, moving faster and faster towards the gap between the two crystals right in front of them. In the back of his mind, Eusine reminded himself to repay the mansion's gardener for the damage to the lawn later.

Just as they were just a few feet, a few more bounding steps away from freedom, it happened.

The light in the crystals exploded outward, sending beams of energy in purposeful direction. Rays shot from crystal to crystal, forming in seconds an unbroken circle of light around the mansion. Some of the servants who had managed to get down this far screamed in agony as the beams pierced them right as they ran between the crystals, causing them to disintegrate in a shower of blood. Arcanine gasped and tried to stop, but his momentum was too great. Eusine managed to jump off the Pokemon just as Arcanine, unable to stop himself, crashed into the light and exploded in a gut-wrenching scream of pain.

Eusine gawked at the multicolored light blocking his path which had just killed one of his Pokemon, too shocked to notice that the blood spatter had just ruined his outfit. His Pokemon was dead. Just like that. And it was as if he had never been there in the first place, without even a corpse to prove that he had existed. Trembling, he fell on his rear, unable to support himself.

The crystals pulsed again, and the light beams started expanding, going upward at an angle, all over the estate. They started to form a veritable wall of light, shimmering and shifting like an aurora as it rose higher and higher, curving inwards as it rose. Flying Pokemon who weren't fast enough to get out of the way of the wall in time crashed into it and exploded, their blood evaporating as it touched the deadly light.

A speck of light appeared in the sky and got larger as it fell down towards the estate, resolving itself into the form of a dark purple crystal spike the size of a jet plane, pointed end facing downwards as it hurtled towards the estate, the air around it still hot from entering the atmosphere from orbit over the planet. Numerous smaller spikes lining the flat bottom of the falling object, also pointing downward, were glowing brightly, and it seemed as if they were somehow slowing the spike's descent, causing its speed to drop as it fell and cooling off the hot air around it. The wall of light below continued arcing upward in the meantime, curving to form a kind of dome which was rapidly closing up, a shrinking hole at the top all that was left open in the barrier. The crystal spike sailed through the hole just before it could close up and smashed through the roof of the mansion, right between the two towers which dominated the west and east wings, shattering the glass in every window in the building and causing the ground to shake. The servants, who had stared hopelessly as the wall of light arose, trapping them in the estate, fell to the ground, their balance disrupted by the quake as the crystal nestled itself into place. The spikes on its bottom turned upwards, light emitting from their points, and illuminated the hundreds of disfigured, shadowy creatures which emerged from the spike's end, flying through the air and shrieking with dark glee.

Eusine desperately hoped he was in a nightmare, because there was no way any of this could be real. No way any of this could be happening to him. Could it?

Dazed and in shock, he got to his feet and started walking towards the mansion.

He didn't stop or shout as the monstrous creatures, looking like horrific mutilations of avian Pokemon or land-going Pokemon with wings stitched to their backs taken from the mind of some insane horror writer dove from the sky and started attacking the mansion's staff, who ran screaming in fear only to be cut down by the monsters and torn apart by claws and fangs and prehensile tails, their eyes plucked out and swallowed by the beasts. The monsters seemed to be too caught up in their violent feast to notice him as he stumbled down the drive to the manor, perfectly satisfied with feasting upon the helpless humans running about to care about one measly and scrawny one they could save for later.

He found Professor Hale and his wife, Marian, standing at the bottom of the stairs going up to the front door, looking out with bleak horror and helplessness at the carnage happening all around them. "Eusine! You're still here?" Hale cried, shocked to see the young man's usually immaculate suit spattered in blood.

Eusine shrugged, a blank look on his face. "Tried to be a hero. Stupid me. Now Arcanine's dead and we're all trapped here." His face twitched, and an insane grin formed. "We're all going to die, aren't we?" Eusine had to admit, he knew all the attacks of most of the legendaries by heart, but he hadn't expected to die like this.

"We may still have a chance," Marian hoped, her voice trembling and trying to hide an undertone of despair. "Molly still might-"

"Do nothing," a little girl's voice said sadly. Molly walked up to her parents. Eusine hadn't noticed her approach, hadn't seen her a moment ago, but by now he didn't really care that she had appeared virtually out of nowhere. He couldn't find the energy to care about anything, at the moment.

"Molly?" Marian asked, stepping forward, out of her husband's anxious grip.

Molly shook her head. "I couldn't do it," she said, a hint of confusion in her voice. "I can't touch it. The wall won't open. I can't hear them. I can't get out. _None_ of us can get out."

"Hehehehe! That's right, none of you are getting out!" an unknown high-pitched voice cried happily. "You're all gonna stay here and diediedie!"

"Who said that?" Hale asked, his hands clenching into fists. Marian held Molly in her arms protectively.

"The clown," Molly answered, her eyes dilating. "Whose mind has been so twisted by madness that he feels no desire to bring laughter to others, only himself."

"Hehe, nice analysis!" A creature which looked like a white Mew appeared above them, floating over the door into the mansion. It had small purple bat wings, an antenna ending in a ball, and a red clown nose. "My turn now! You're a spoiled little girl with the power to make the world the way she wants it who's doomed everyone she loves by interfering with my master's dream sequence and freeing Lugia!"

"What are you?" Hale asked, appalled by the monster's bizarre resemblance of Mew.

The bizarre resemblance had the opposite effect on Eusine, snapping him out of his shock. "A legendary!" He whipped out an empty Pokeball and hurled it at the creature.

The Pokeball stopped in midair before it could even touch the thing. "Sorry, those things don't work on me! Maybe you'd like to see how other Pokemon feel when they see one of these things?" The ball turned around, swelled to a dozen times its size, and split open, the ball's rims sprouting jagged teeth and the button turning into a glaring red eye. The transformed Pokeball roared and lunged at Eusine, who screamed surprisingly like James and tried to shield himself.

The ball froze before it could even touch him, turning into crystal. Then the crystal crumbled into dust, and the dust into nothing. Molly lowered her hand, eyes glowing white. "How are you here Mewgle? We're not in your digital world."

"No…" Mewgle gestured to the aurora surrounding the mansion. "But those crystals over there are my master's newest version of the RPGenerator which allows me to come and play in the real world! And the name of the game is…" He ballooned into his hideous monstrous form. "KILL EVERYONE!" A claw shot forward, snatching up Marian, Molly hitting the ground without a mark.

Hale gasped as the demon prepared to shove his screaming wife down his gullet. "MARIAN!"

Mewgle's jaws snapped shut…on air. He blinked. "HUH?"

Marian, looking frightened and confused, was back on the ground. Molly's eyes were glowing again. "Leave them alone," she said coldly.

Mewgle grinned, showing his misshapen teeth. "SORRY LITTLE MISS, CAN'T DO THAT! YOU'RE NOT GOD HERE ANYMORE! YOU AREN'T PREPROGRAMMING MY BRAIN OR PUTTING AN ERASURE ON ME! YOU BROUGHT THIS ON THEM BY WAKING UP LUGIA AND GIVING HIM FALSE HOPE AT REDEMPTION! NOW THE ONES YOU LOVE MUST PAY THE PRICE. THE BOSS WAS SO CHEESED HE CAME HERE IN PERSON TO PUNISH YOU!"

Molly's eyes faltered for a moment. "He…he's here?"

Mewgle nodded vigorously. "YEPYEPYEP! UP THERE IN YONDER TOWER!" he said, pointing a black claw at the mansion's west tower, the top of which was Molly's bedroom. "SURPRISED YOU DIDN'T SENSE HIS AURA BY NOW. YOUR POKEMON ARE UP THERE, I THINK. THE BOSS WANTED TO SEE THEM HIMSELF." He grinned, gnashing his teeth. "I WONDER WHAT HE'LL DO TO THEM. IF YOU GO NOW, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO STOP HIM…BUT THEN YOU'LL BE LEAVING YOUR MOMMY AND DADDY AND SERVANT THINGS AND THAT UGLY GUY OVER THERE ALL ALONE WITH ME."

Molly glared at him angrily. Then, without looking, she pointed a hand at the monsters mauling what was left of the mansion staff. All of them turned to crystal and vaporized instantly. The moaning bodies of the servants fell silent as small sparks of light rose out of them and vanished. Then, she turned towards her father. "Papa…"

His eyes widened in horror. "Molly, wait-" He was silenced as his entire body was transformed into crystal. Marian gasped, Eusine's eyes widened in shock, and Mewgle raised an eyebrow in interest. The crystal making up Hale was perfect, capturing every feature on his body exactly as if it were flesh and clothing, which it had been only moments ago. And those features were changing now as if the solid crystal were as fluid and formless as water, shifting and changing from the familiar form of the gray-haired human professor into a much larger four-legged beast with a long flowing mane, a masked face, and shackled feet. Then the crystal abruptly became flesh and fur, and in the place of Professor Hale now stood the imposing figure of Entei. The beast of legends roared and took a step towards Mewgle between it and Molly. Eusine's jaw dropped. Marian shook her head miserably. "No…not again…"

Mewgle snorted. "PSH. I CAN DO BETTER TRANSFORMATIONS THAN THAT ANY DAY." He pointed a claw at Eusine, and abruptly he was a giant drooling alien monster with claws and gnashing teeth and a bony exoskeleton. The beast hissed and lunged at Marian…only for Molly to scowl and he was stopped midair in his leap and transformed back into Eusine again.

Eusine blinked, startled to be human again. He patted his chest to make sure it was flesh, instead of exoskeleton. "What…how…" He stared at Molly. "What…what _are_ you!"

Molly ignored him and turned to her mother. "Mama…"

Marian gasped and backed away. "Molly, no, stop-"

It was too late. Marian turned into a crystal figure, which then morphed into a crystal Suicune, and then turned into a real Suicune, her beauty translating rather well to her new, always been self, who stepped forward next to the Entei that had been Hale, standing between Mewgle and Molly.

"Leave our daughter alone!" Entei roared in a telepathic voice which caused Eusine to jump, frightened. Since when was Entei psychic!

Molly slowly turned to face the legend hunter. "One more…"

Eusine's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what the strange girl had in mind. He backed away, terrified. "No, stop! I want to be human! HUMAN-"

It was too late. His skin tingled and he found himself paralyzed as he abruptly turned to crystal, his Pokeballs falling off his belt, crystallizing, and vanishing. He was surprised to find that it hadn't hurt nearly as much as he expected it to. Neither did the subsequent sensation of his body shifting from the familiar (and if he said so himself, rather handsome) form of a bipedal human to a much larger creature that went about on all fours. His mind underwent a similar transformation, as layers of memories, thoughts, feelings, and other such things that he had always attributed to making up himself being gently, carefully stripped away and in their place rooted strange and unfamiliar instincts, drives, and sensations, such as great strength, stronger senses, and an urge to hurl lightning bolts at 'something', which after less than a millisecond seemed less strange and more like something he'd always had, which from his perspective he had.

Beneath it all rose three stern and unyielding pieces of programming set in stone, completely unchangeable (at least until he became human again): Molly's wishes are your command. Protect Molly at all costs. Anything which threatens Molly will be destroyed.

And he was pretty sure that the ugly Mew-wannabe was a threat, and he greatly looked forward to it being destroyed.

The Raikou trotted forward to join his siblings (were they siblings? They felt that way in his mind) and growled at Mewgle, electricity crackling in the storm cloud on his back to show he was ready to fight.

Mewgle did not look in the least bit worried. He giggled and changed back to his smaller, cuter form, showing he was not afraid of them. "Hehehe! Look at all the little beasties, thinking they stand a chance against me!" He gestured, and three tremendous bolts of rainbow-colored energy shot down from the dome encircling them, striking the Entei, the Raikou, and the Suicune with incredible force. They grimaced, knees buckling in pain…but bore the pressure, pushing themselves back up, staring defiantly at the little monster even as the energy pushed down at them. Mewgle frowned. "Hmm…" The energy bolts stopped. "I see…your power derives from the little girl's faith in you, huh?"

"Correct," the Entei, Papa, growled. "As long as Molly believes in us, there is nothing we cannot do."

Mewgle rolled his eyes. "Like I haven't heard that one before. Allow me to introduce you to some friends of mine." He snapped his fingers. The second floor windows on the mansion behind him shattered as the monstrous, twisted figures of the original Entei, Raikou, and Suicune jumped through, landing with a surprising amount of brutal grace on the ground before Mewgle. The three beasts Molly had created snarled at the monstrosities, their hackles rising.

The three demons looked amused. "What's this? Someone trying to make a copy out of me?" Entei barked. "Ha! Looks nothing like the original!"

"Or so you have deluded yourself into believing," Papa growled.

"Did I really look so ugly when I was weak and mortal?" Suicune mused, looking at Mama.

Mama psychically barked angrily in response. "Perhaps you should look more closely in the mirror!"

Raikou sniffed the air and snorted. "You have a familiar scent lingering on you," he grunted to Not-Eusine. "Like a human I once met, along with some wimpy teenage trainers. How curious."

"I know not what you speak of," the new Raikou said, which was true since Molly had rewritten his brain from top to bottom to serve her. "But I know you are my enemy. And I will destroy all who are my enemies, and Molly's!"

"Ooh, how touching," Mewgle said sarcastically. "But this looks to be an interesting battle. Real vs. Fake! Original vs. Cheap Copy! Who will win this awesome match and claim the title of being a legendary beast? The immortal and nigh-invincible viral beasts of my lord and master, or a bunch of lame clones dreamed up by a bratty little girl?"

An Ice Beam shot towards him. Mewgle frowned at it, and it froze solid in its tracks before shattering. "My Molly is _not_ bratty!" Mama snarled.

Mewgle rolled her eyes. "Well yeah, of course you'd think that way, she reprogrammed your tiny mind to be her attack dog, of course you'd think she's perfect. Heh." He glanced at Molly. "You can go now," he sneered. "This should provide me with entertainment for a while."

Molly glared at him, and then glanced at her parents. "Papa, Mama, will you be all right?"

"We will be fine," Papa assured her. "Your faith sustains us."

"We cannot lose as long as you believe in us," Mama added.  
Molly's Raikou looked hurt. "Aren't you going to ask if I'll be all right, Molly?"

She blinked. "What? Oh…um, will you be all right…what's your name?"

"My name is whatever you wish it to be," he purred, feeling elated that she had asked if he would be all right. "And as Papa said, I will be all right."

Molly stared at him, looking uncomfortable. "Um, okay…Oniichan."

The newly named Raikou's chest puffed out with pride, for now he had a name! One Molly had chosen for him! He was so happy! The monster Raikou spat in disgust at his clone. "Bah! An image of me worshipping some lousy human filth…disgusting!"

"Watch what you say about her!" Papa roared angrily.

"Hey, focus on me, copycat!" Entei growled. "I'm the one who's gonna rip you to shreds, not him!"

"We will see about that," Mama replied, narrowing her eyes.

"Indeed we shall," agreed Suicune evilly.

Molly nodded and fixed Mewgle with a glare. "You're not going to win today."

Mewgle rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I haven't heard that one either…go on kid, skedaddle. Run off and save your precious toys-I mean, Pokemon."

"I am." Molly's body turned to crystal, and then vanished, her body crumbling into dust which flew on unfelt winds up to her tower.

Mewgle snickered and changed back into his behemoth monster form. "NOW, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" he roared, ringing a bell which he conjured in one hand. "FIGHT!"

And so they did.

…

The crystal dust flew through the window of the high tower and recombined into a crystal statue of Molly which then became flesh and clothing, only this Molly was taller and older, with a long white coat, a blue bow tie around her neck, longer hair, and white disc-shaped earrings with black rims, like eyes of the Unown. "Where are you?" she called angrily into the darkness which the light coming in from the window did nothing to illuminate, her voice that of a teenaged Molly. "I know you're here!" And indeed she did, she could sense his aura here in her most private sanctuary, so thick in the air that it almost made her want to cry and run for her life. But she wasn't a little girl anymore, she was a grown-up. And grown-ups weren't scared of anything!

"Ah, Molly. I was expecting you. What took you so long?" He stepped out of the shadows, his telepathic voice as smooth as silk yet on some deeper level caused her to flinch as if hearing the sound of nails were run over a chalkboard, his purple crystal trident refracting the light as it shone on it. "Your toys missed you. Come little ones, greet your negligent mistress."

More figures materialized from the shadows, and Molly had to choke back a gasp. She was a grown-up, after all. Grown-ups were not scared by this sort of thing.

Her Phanphy, usually so bouncy and full of energy, seemed rather drained now. His trunk had been torn off and fused with his mouth, and it flopped about limply, little fangs and drool sticking out of the end. His eyes had been gouged out and replaced with long tusks, like that of a Donphan's, but definitely in the wrong place and too early in the little elephant's life cycle. His ears had been torn off and sewed to his back, and they were flapping like mock butterfly wings.

Her Mareep's wool, which was sheared off whenever it got too thick and knitted by her mother into blankets and clothing, was all gone now, and the sheep Pokemon looked much skinnier and thinner without it. Its pink hide had been dyed red with blood from all the wounds, gashes, and gaping sores oozing all over its skin. The long striped tail with a blue orb at the end had become a hissing serpentine black appendage like the mutant Suicune's ribbons, and the thing's teeth constantly gnawed at the Mareep's flesh. Its mouth had been split open to make it wider and frozen in a hideous grin, as if it were happy that it had become so freakish.

And her Teddiursa, her poor, dear Teddiursa who shared her bed and played with her all the time…his eyes had been replaced with buttons, and bits of his ears had been torn out and…_stuff_ was pushing out of it. There were stitches sewn shut all over his body with bloody seams, and his left arm had been torn off and in its place a grotesque, three-elbowed arm ending in enormous claws sewn in its place, the blackened knuckles dragging on the ground. The crescent moon on his forehead had been all but destroyed by frequent blunt blows and stabs, all covered now by a mess of scar tissue. His mouth was stitched shut as well, and little gurgles bubbled out from between those tight lips now and then.

Molly fell to her knees. "Oh…" she whispered. "Oh…" Teddiursa lurched towards her. She grabbed him and hugged him to her chest sobbing. Forget being an adult, she was still the same little girl inside. "What have you done to them?" she cried, as Teddiursa tried to bite her but failed because his mouth was sewn shut. The other two monsters limped over and started trying to bite and/or stab her without much success.

"Not as much as I wanted to," he admitted apologetically. "I knew you were coming, so I had to do a bit of a rush job. Mutilate them, destroy their minds…I would have done much worse, given time. You've seen Entei, Suicune, and Raikou after all." He cocked his head. "Why do you cry? It is not as if you truly cared about them. They were toys. Stuffed animals you animated and brought to life. They only played with you because you wanted them to. They had no will of their own, other than that which you gave them."

"That's not true," Molly protested. "Mama and Papa gave them to me-"

"No they didn't," he retorted. "And you know it. You may have convinced yourself otherwise, but you know it. You felt lonely, so you brought them to life. When your parents protested, you rewrote their memories to make them think that they had purchased the Pokemon for you. So you had friends and were happy, and your parents were happy that you were happy. Until of course, you got tired of your Pokemon only being your friends because you made them that way and craved true interaction...although once or twice the thought did occur to you to try _implanting_ souls into them from your _real_ friends. Am I right?"

Molly dropped Teddiursa in shock. The bear tried to tear at her with his claw arm, but it was too big for him to move effectively. Phanphy kept poking her with his tusks and Mareep with its tail and both doing a wonderfully ineffective job of hurting her. "How do you know that?" she whispered.

He chuckled. "Because, dear Molly, I am inside of you. As I am inside everyone. And no matter how small a piece of me that may be, it is enough for me to know every selfish deed you commit, every little secret you keep. I have done things which would make your skin crawl, but you have done things that are close…if not the same…as to many of my own."

"That's not true!" Molly snapped, standing up angrily and shoving away her toys-I mean, Pokemon. "You may be inside me…I'll admit that now…but I'm not evil!"

"Who said you were evil?" he asked innocently. "'Evil' as it is most often used, is only a word, anyway. A subjective term used to label people who do things that are different from what a specific society entails as 'right' and 'wrong' and often diverts them from recognizing _true_ evil when they see it, allowing the rot of power and other desires to corrupt them from within and lead to their inevitable demise. And so a large part of that society is hypocritical, because the majority of its people do exactly what they believe to be evil or at least deviant from the expected norm every day of their lives, even if it is in minor ways and things that seem inconsequential. Or their society has corrupted to the point where what they see as 'good' is considered by virtually everyone else to be 'evil'. Or even worse, they bow to the whims of those who have already been eaten from within by power, willingly giving their freedom so they can be nothing but obedient puppets, pointlessly giving up their lives for those who don't care in the least about them in more than an abstract sense, as numbers on a piece of paper. But over time, everything adds up Molly. Including what you've done."

"I've done nothing!" she protested.

"You are lying. Haven't your parents taught you that telling fibs is wrong? And yet you do it anyway. Not just to me, or your parents, but to yourself. All the time. And when you don't lie, you simply rewrite their memories so that what you say is the truth. If nobody knows about it, and nobody blames or punishes you for it, then surely there's nothing wrong with it. That's what you've thought many times, isn't it Molly?" She went pale. "But I know, Molly. I know. I freely admit that I have done things throughout infinity that would appall you and traumatize you. But can you call what I've done evil and mean it without admitting that you too have done things that most others would see as evil either?" He gestured out the window behind her. "Take your guardian beasts, for example. You did not give them a choice when you changed them into your servants. Your mother, your father, and that man named Eusine. All were terrified as you changed them, and then they were no longer terrified because you reprogrammed their brains so that there was nothing to be scared of, that it was right they should serve you."

"I was trying to protect them from Mewgle!" she protested, it seemed all she could do.

"And so you did," he agreed. "Without their permission. By transforming them to the point where their minds and bodies were absolutely nothing like they had been before. Is that really so different from what I do to my servants, save that I allow them more free will? Our methods differ, and our ways of controlling them…but control them we both do. We manipulate those close to us to do our bidding. Can you call me doing that evil without admitting to yourself what you've done is wrong too?"

"But I love them! Well, Mama and Papa anyway!" Molly protested, _again_. "Surely that makes a difference!"

"Does it? Some of the most brutal and awful acts throughout history have been committed because of love," he countered, shaking his head. "Wars. Rapes. Murders. Torture. Does the reason one does something truly matter as much as the end result? The human saying, 'The ends do not justify the means,' seems to indicate that it does not. And yet people continue doing these things anyway, making excuses as to why they do them, constantly lying to themselves and making themselves greater and greater hypocrites until they're so used to doing these things that they ENJOY them and whatever 'innocence' or 'goodness' they once had is gone forever. The difference between me and them, other than the magnitude of the things I do and my lack of restraining emotions, is that I don't lie to myself about what I do. I cause pain and suffering wherever I go, but I enjoy it and am honest about it. That is one of the few things that make you and me truly different, Molly."

"NO!" she screamed, terrified by the possibility that he just might be correct.

"Yes." He gestured with his trident. "Come, Molly. Let me show you what you truly are." The window behind her vanished and the shadows lengthened, swallowing all.

…

Entei laughed as Papa's magenta fireballs exploded harmlessly against his body. "Ha! Is that supposed to hurt, copy? I am the beast of fire! Flame cannot hurt me!" He stomped the ground, and the floor beneath Papa exploded, sending a tower of magma shooting into the air and setting a good bit of the room on fire. Papa had barely managed to leap out of the way in time, rebounding off a wall and lunging straight towards Entei.

The two of them had smashed their way into one of the mansion's dining rooms, and were proceeding to decimate it. The wall was smashed in from where Papa had flung Entei in from the front lawn, and the long table had already been smashed from Papa landing on it when Entei had hurled him across the room. If the invaders could somehow be repelled, it would take either a lot of money or effort from Molly to fix the place up again.

Entei spat out a Fire Blast at Papa before the transformed professor could reach him, the fire cross exploding and smashing Papa into a cabinet and shattering the fine china on display in there. Grinning, Entei pounced at the prone Papa, jaws bared for the kill.

Papa grabbed some of the broken china in his teeth and rolled over right before Entei could strike him, spitting the sharp piece of plate between the monster's exposed ribs and right into his heart, rupturing it and causing blood to spill everywhere.

Entei roared in pain as he crashed headlong into the broken cabinet, causing whatever china pieces were left to bury themselves in his face, eyes, and exposed brain. Papa darted forward, grabbed the flailing end of Entei's spinal cord/chain and yanked on it, pulling on the beast's neck and tightening the spiked collar around it. Entei thrashed about in pain, the spikes of the collar digging into his flesh and causing blood to run down his neck. "You fing piece of shit! Let go of me!"

Papa only responded by pulling tighter on the chain, constricting Entei's throat. The hideous beast gasped as blood spurted from his heart, his neck, and now dribbled out of his mouth. He rasped as he collapsed to the ground, gasping and trying to draw breath into his lungs, which were inflating and deflating rapidly, trying to intake oxygen and failing. Entei looked at Papa pleadingly as he was being strangled to death, begging for release.

Papa offered him none, and tugged on the chain one last time, tightening the collar enough to snap the monster's neck. With a final wheeze, Entei's eyes rolled back in his head. His shaggy visage collapsed to the ground, jaws wide in a final, hopeless gasp. Papa spat out the chain and glared at the corpse in disgust. "That is what happens to all who threaten my daughter."

He turned away. And did not see Entei's eyes roll back into place, his wounds heal, and his teeth shape themselves into a grin. He quietly stood up as Papa walked away. "Here's a tip. The dead don't need to breathe." He lunged at the transmogrified Hale before he could react, claws spread and jaws bared.

…

The room was made of solid crystal, with a solid blue floor made of concentric rings centered around a bed with pink sheets and a back designed to look like billowing lace and flowers which towered up to the ceiling, which bathed the room in yellow and pink light, with pillows that looked like crystalline petals. Sitting on the bed, with a vapid smile on her face and a blank look in her eyes was an older woman with brown hair in a ponytail, a pink blouse and dark blue skirt, watching as Molly raced around the room on Papa the Entei's back, the girl giggling happily.

Molly, still in her teen form, was confused to see the past before her. Had she not just been in her own bedroom, confronted with her enemy? What was she doing here?

"We're inside the RPGenerator," he explained, appearing next to her and frightening her. "Here, reality is dictated by Mewgle, who is dictated by me. Therefore, I can change reality inside this dome as I wish, much like you. I've decided to show you just what kind of a person you are little Molly, so you can rid yourself of your irritating self-deceptions about yourself before you and I fight for real." He gestured to the scene before them as Molly, laughing, jumped off Papa's back and landed on the bed, where she hugged the woman, who hugged her back mechanically. "What do you see here?"

She blinked. "I see…myself. When I had first come in contact with the Unown."

"And when you kidnapped Delia Ketchum to replace your mother," he reminded her. "Brainwashing her into thinking you were her child, unmindful of the fact that she already had a family who cared about her deeply. Especially her son, Ash Ketchum, whom you played with numerous times when you were younger. When young Ketchum and his friends tried to rescue her, you did everything with the power you had been granted to stop him. You might have even killed him and his Charizard had his other friends not brought you to your 'senses' and you stopped the violence."

"I wasn't in my right mind," she argued. "The Unown warped my mind by giving me everything I wanted so that I'd stay and feed them with the imagination they needed to generate their power."

"Oh?" He sounded skeptical. "How much of it was them…and how much of it was you, little Molly?"

They looked back to the scene and saw that Molly was now looking at a laptop on a small podium next to the bed. A furious look was on her face. The screen showed bulldozers and other heavy construction machines pushing against the crystals which formed the outermost reaches of her palace's ever-expanding domain and barriers. "Why won't they go away!" she screamed angrily, her cute little face screwed up in a surprising display of hatred. "Why won't they leave my family alone? We're happy here, Mama and Papa and me! Why do they keep trying to take them away!"

"Do you wish me to remove them, Molly?" Papa growled. Magenta flames started flickering in his mouth.

"No, don't leave us!" she pleaded, looking frightened for a moment. "I just…I just want them to go away!" She stamped the ground angrily, doing a very good job of having a tantrum. "Unown!" she screamed.

Instantly, they appeared. _Yes Molly?_ Intoned the black alphabet letter-shaped eyeball creatures. _Is something the matter?_

"These people keep trying to bother me and take Mama away!" she said, angrily jabbing a finger at the computer screen. "Do something about it! Make them leave us alone!" she yelled, stomping her foot.

_We'll get right on it,_ they crooned. _Anything to make you happy, Molly._ They disappeared.

A few moments later, crystal spikes erupted from the ground underneath the bulldozers, totaling them. The drivers ran out screaming before they could be shish-kebobbed. Pleased, Molly plopped back down on the bed next to Mrs. Ketchum and smiled. "That should teach them!" she said cheerfully, her voice sounding a tad too sadistic. "Now they'll leave us alone, and we can stay together forever! Right, Mama?"

"Yes, dear," Mrs. Ketchum said robotically.

"If you wish it, then that is how it shall be," Papa promised. The scene slowed to nearly stop-motion.

"Now tell me Molly, how much of this display shows your feelings, and how much of it was influenced by the Unown?" the monster asked, tapping his trident points on the floor. "The Unown did carry out your bidding in keeping the intruders out because they wanted you to stay happy and feed them power. You wanted to keep people out because you didn't want them to take Mrs. Ketchum away from you. There was no mind control there, Molly. Simply an unselfish desire for a whole family which could only exist if you destroyed someone else's. And you didn't care. You even tricked yourself into thinking that she was your _real_ mother to keep any part of you from feeling guilty about it…which, I suppose, is why you reacted so badly when you were forced to see the truth."

"What else was I supposed to do!" she cried angrily. "I wanted a mother, and my real mother had been gone for over a year! Where else could I get one?"

"Oh, any number of places. You could have kidnapped a mother from any family in the village," he pointed out. "You could even have crafted your own mother, just as you crafted 'Papa' and your other artificial Pokemon. Tell me Molly, why didn't you do that?"

Molly started to speak…and found herself speechless. She had no answer. "I…I don't know," she admitted.

"I will tell you why," he ensnared calmly. "When you visited the Ketchums in Pallet Town, Delia was always like a second mother to you. More of a mother than your real mother, who was often helping your father or speaking with Professor Oak or walking about town. Mrs. Ketchum was nice to you and made you cookies and made you feel like you were her daughter. No other woman has ever treated you like that but her and your real mother, but since your true mother was lost, assumed dead, she was the only woman who sprung to mind. And yet, instead of simply crafting a mother who was just like Delia, as you had crafted 'Papa' to be like your father, you decided that only the real Mrs. Ketchum would do. Do you know why, Molly?" She shook her head. "Two reasons. One is that subconsciously you were getting tired of having a world made of nothing but hollow things formed by your imagination. They lacked sustenance and life. So you wanted something real, something from the outside, something that was solid and had a heart. That much is perfectly understandable. Anyone would do something like that…except that you kidnapped her without caring that you might hurt her son and friends. And that is where the second reason comes in. You kidnapped Delia because you hated Ash Ketchum."

Molly was startled. "Wh-what! That's not true! I love Ash!" she protested. "In Pallet Town, he always acted like a big brother and helped me out! He rescued me from the Unown! How could I hate him?"

"Simple." He took a step towards her. "You hated him because his mother was always there." He pointed to the memory-Molly hugging the brainwashed Delia. "You hated him because his mother was always there to play with him, and bake him cookies, or kiss his scrapes when he got hurt to make them feel better. She was never off on an archaeological expedition with your father, or busy with her ladyfriends or running an estate, or missing and presumed dead." He shook his head in mock pity. "You hated Ash Ketchum because you knew for sure his mother loved him. And you wanted that love all to yourself. What better revenge than to take that love from him and make him know what it feels like to have no mother?"

"That's not true!" she screamed. But it was. And she knew it. And he knew it too.

"This is only the beginning," doomed the evil one as he waved his trident, and the memory before them began to diffuse, the light emanating from the ceiling growing brighter and brighter, blotting out all else. "There are far worse secrets which you hide from yourself…and before I am through, you will have realized the truth about every last one of them." He laughed softly as the light engulfed them.

…

The two Suicune dashed back and forth across the surface of the water in the courtyard they had ran into after their siblings had started battling, seeking a place where their common element would be at its strongest. Wherever Suicune set foot, the water darkened with pollution. Wherever Mama stepped, the water was purified, glowing with a bright blue radiance as it wiped out the poison, only to be contaminated again the next time Suicune stepped onto it. The stepping stones and gazebos placed here and there in the courtyard were naught but minor obstacles, no true impediment in their battle.

Almost in unison, the two Aurora Pokemon lunged at each other, jaws spread in a snarl. The two beasts bit into each other's necks and fell into the water with a great splash, tearing and biting at the throat of the other. The pool bottom had been deepened recently as part of a renovation project to make room for some anticipated Water Pokemon being brought to the mansion for study, so there was more than enough space for both of the mighty beasts. A cloud of filth spread from Suicune's body as they sank into the pool, which was instantly destroyed by light radiating from Mama's body, resulting in an aura of sorts surrounding each of them, one of light and one of darkness as they remained locked in combat, biting at one another's throat and lashing out with claw and razor-sharp ribbon and black fanged tentacle. Blood rose in clouds from both of them, from the small cuts and gashes made by their pawing at each other and in great billows from their necks and mouths. And yet the wounds healed rapidly even as they were torn open again, and still more blood was released into the water, turning it red. That which was released near Mama was removed from the water, but that which mixed with Suicune's poison was turned toxic and acidic, causing bubbles to rise and boil on the surface of the pool. They didn't bother with being surprised at their opponent repairing themselves in the blink of an eye like Papa and soon after Entei had, they had more important things to focus on.

And still neither one let go, nor would they let go, for each of them felt they had something to prove. Suicune wanted to show her master how strong and good she was, and how much more beautiful and powerful she was than her loathsome copy. Mama on the other hand was battling for Molly's love, for the sake of her child and also to show the original North Wind that she was no pushover either.

And so, for the sake of those whom they obeyed without question, one with madness laced with pain, the other with endearment and faith, neither Suicune would let go of the other, and they continued to roll on the bottom of the pool, locked in mortal combat. And it didn't seem as if anything less than the end of the world would be enough to tear the two away from each other.

…

The children were playing innocently in the field, kicking balls, playing tag or catch, frying Bug types with magnifying glasses, poking bird Pokemon with sharp sticks, the usual things kids do. They were all happy and looked like they were having fun.

And then Molly came into the field, looking nervous. As if they had all heard some silent signal, every kid stopped what they were doing. They looked at her. There was a long silence. "Um…hi," Molly said weakly.

"Hi," said one of the kids, a boy with a baseball cap, slowly.

"Uh…" Molly shuffled her feet. "Can I join you guys?"

There was an even longer silence. The children glanced at each other. "Uh…sorry, but you came a bit late because…um, its lunchtime and we all have to go home."

Molly frowned, looking confused. "But it's four o' clock. Shouldn't you already have had lunch?"

The capped boy was sweating now, and the other children backed away from him, looking scared. "Uh…" His eyes shifted back and forth. "Whoops, I think I hear my mom calling. Gotta go, bye!" He turned and ran away as quickly as he could before Molly could say anything. Taking that as a cue, the other kids ran too, some of them panicking and screaming as if their lives were in danger.

Molly bit her lip and clenched her fists hard. A small tear rolled down her cheek and fell as a hard drop of crystal, shattering into a million pieces as it hit the ground. She turned on her heel and stormed out of the field.

The next day, the children were playing again. Just as they had the day before, they all looked up and went silent and saw Molly approach. "Hi," she greeted, waving to them. "Can I join you guys?"

The same kid from before swallowed. "Uh…"

Molly's eyes glowed white. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, none of the children taking a breath, their eyes for a moment becoming glassy. Then the moment was over.

The capped kid blinked and smiled. "Sure! We'd love to have you! Wouldn't we guys?"

"Yeah!"

"Of course!"

"We couldn't have fun without her!"

"We love Molly! She's the best!"

Molly smiled as they started cheering her name, stepping forward to join her 'friends'. And then the scene froze in mid-step, the smile fixed on Molly's face.

"Can you tell me what is wrong with this scene, little one?" He asked, twisting his trident in the innards of an illusory Pidgey he had plucked out of a tree as casually as if he were tying a shoe.

The real Molly fidgeted. "…I was lonely. I wanted some real friends."

He glanced up at her as he spooled the bird's intestines in his fingers, causing it to scream. "How is brainwashing them into being your fanclub any different than your animated toys?"

"The toys were toys," Molly argued. "These were people. Kids like me."

"No, Molly. NOT like you. Or should I say, you're not like them," he corrected. "That is why they feared you. Because your abilities, despite how much your father tried to conceal them, became apparent to the people of Greenfield. The children were frightened of associating with you because they were worried you would play some game with them involving life or death, or destroy them if they made you angry, or turn them into toys and discard them when you got bored of them. And it seems their fears were justified, weren't they?"

"…Yes," she admitted.

"And it wasn't the last time you'd do it either, was it?"

She shook her head. "Their parents got worried when their kids got home and all they could do was talk about how great I was. So they called my dad, and he confronted me, and I…made him think it was okay." She rubbed her arm uncomfortably.

"You could have just left it there and taken a lesson from it, that you can't control people without there being consequences," he told her. "But you didn't. They happily let you 'improve' their pet Pokemon, of course you barely let him visit your mansion, excuse me, your family's mansion, after all you couldn't keep track of what servant could have seen what. Then there were the times they ask you to improve _them._ Not afraid what would happen if you messed up, because they were programmed to see you as without failings. Of course, you found things hard to change _back_ when you were done at first didn't you? Then there was when you convinced your parents to buy you any toy you wanted, only to find they weren't like they implied on TV, so you decided to just make your own, but of course, that got old fast. So you turned your attention back to the children.

"You took advantage of them again and again, enslaving the minds of the children of Greenfield in ever-increasing numbers so that you would feel adored and have all the attention you wanted when your parents were busy. Your toys could never give you that kind of love, because while you did give them life, they lacked heart. But living humans, with easily malleable souls? They were just what you were looking for.

"You did not want friends, Molly. You wanted to be worshipped."

"I-" Molly started. She bit her lip. "I couldn't…I couldn't interact with them in any other way. There was nothing else I could have done to make them like me, was there!" she asked desperately.

He shook his head in false disappointment. "There was, and you know it. Why did they fear you, Molly?"

"Because of my powers."

"So why did you not simply eliminate those powers? Banish them from your mind?" he asked.

Molly blinked. "I-I didn't know I could-"

"Yes you did." He stood up, clutching the Pidgey's beating heart. "For a time after the Unown left you, you were a perfectly normal girl. The children of the village actually did like you. But then one day you were bored and wished for something, and it happened.

"You could have told your father. But you didn't. You hid it from him for months until he finally found out for himself, and forbade you to use them again. But you did, of course.

"You used the powers because you wanted to use them. You wanted to have power over your parents and prove that they weren't the boss of you. Even when you craved companionship, you did not want to lose that which made you, without a doubt, truly special and different from everyone else. With these powers, the world really did revolve around you. With these powers, every thoughtless, greedy little desire in your heart could be granted. And so it was." He chuckled, crushing the heart in his hands and splattering blood everywhere. "Is it any wonder why the people of Greenfield are terrified of you? Is it any surprise that your own parents are frightened that one day you'll bore of them and erase them from existence or some such thing?"

"…I don't do things like that anymore," she said finally. "Not since I met the crystal Unown."

He nodded. "I'm sure. They gave you some much-needed discipline, didn't they? They even made you restore most of your 'friends' before they could cause too much chaos on their own." She nodded in reply. "But you still _want_ to do all the things you did before, don't you?"

"…Yes," she said reluctantly. "But I don't!"

"Oh?" He chuckled, amused. "Are you so certain?" He waved his trident. The sun blazing overhead started growing brighter. "Come. You have one last thing to see."

The light engulfed all, blinding Molly. And then they were gone.

…

Light flashed and thunder crashed as the two Raikou slammed into each other, throwing up sparks and bolts of lightning as they leaped past each other, scraping their hides together. Raikou landed, spun about, and spat an awesome Zap Cannon at his foe. The newly dubbed Oniichan landed, spun about, and fired his own Zap Cannon, the coloration of the electricity blue-white rather than the standard yellow. The two blasts of electricity collided and exploded, shaking the mansion.

The two Thunder Pokemon had bounded up to the roof of the mansion, where they had more room to let loose their electric attacks without seriously damaging the house (not that they really cared, but at least they had more room). The huge, flat rear of the giant crystal spike which the beasts had arrived in was still sticking out of the roof, providing them with both obstacle and platform to battle on and around.

The two Pokemon lunged at each other before the smoke cloud could fade, using their last memory of the other's location as a target for their strike. Electricity crackled around them as they collided into each other with Volt Tackle, causing each of them to recoil in surprise as static zapped them both. They recovered quickly though and lunged at each other again as the smoke cleared, lashing out with teeth and claws, tearing at yellow fur and rotted skin. The gashes and wounds healed almost instantly, but neither beast cared, and continued to savage each other.

Raikou drove his head into the underside of Oniichan's neck as the crystal Raikou made a failed Crunch attack and caused the beast to flip upwards on his hind legs as he unbalanced, exposing his underside. Raikou charged forward and slammed into him, knocking onto his back and pinning him to the ground by planting his heavy paws over the other's legs. Oniichan roared and snapped at his enemy's face, trying to bend his neck enough so he could tear off Raikou's face. The demonic beast simply chuckled and opened his mouth, charging up another Zap Cannon.

Oniichan suddenly ceased his struggling and swung his flexible, blue lightning bolt-shaped tail between his legs and underneath Raikou's, lashing out upward and tearing out the monster's genitals.

Raikou roared in pain and leaped off, diving off the edge of the flat end of the crystal spike. Oniichan smirked and rolled over, climbing back to his feet and running over to the edge to see if the fall had crippled Raikou.

He looked over and saw nothing…and so was utterly surprised when Raikou pounced on him from behind, tearing with claw and fang, and pushing both of them over the edge. Oniichan realized too late what had happened as they started falling towards the rooftop, passing the upward-pointed spikes of the crystal which had slowed down the carrier's descent as it fell through the atmosphere: his foe had landed in the little area where small spike and big met just beneath the edge, and ran around to the other side to surprise him from behind.

_Well_, he consoled himself as they both fell. _At least he's coming down with me._

And then they smashed into the roof.

…

The moon shone through gaps in the branches as the trees of the forest rustled in the slight breeze, illuminating a small campground. A stamped-out campfire lay in the middle, with one or two faintly glowing embers slowly going out. Firelight still flickered around the small glen though, cast off by a flame burning on the tail of a large Charizard, who snorted out a fiery spark or two now and then, murmuring about a female of his species. Nearby a Corphish snored loudly, a snot bubble moving in and out on his face. On the other side of the extinguished fire was a Bayleef with a Phanphy snuggled up next to her, snoozing peacefully. On the Bayleef's other side was a white and red Dragon Pokemon of some kind.

A few feet away, a little further from the campfire than the others, was a sleeping bag holding a black-haired teen with a backpack next to his head, a red and black cap with a green Pokeball symbol on it, and a Pikachu curled up on his chest. They were all having a restful night.

The wind picked up without warning, causing the leaves to tremble, the embers to go out, and Charizard's tail flame to flicker, making him grimace. Crystalline dust blew into the campsite, congealing to form a statue which then turned into Molly.

She glanced around the camp, noting that all the Pokemon were sleeping. The dragon stirred and her yellow eye started to crack open, but Molly pointed a hand at her and the Pokemon went back to sleep. The little girl smiled to herself.

She walked over to the sleeping bag, her feet making no sound or imprint against the ground. She glanced at the Pikachu, and it levitated into the air, floated across the campsite, and landed gently in a patch of grass, still asleep. Molly nodded, pleased, and then turned her attention back to the boy.

The air around them hardened and solidified, turning into a crystalline soundproof dome so nobody would hear or disturb her. With a flash of her glowing eyes, the sleeping bag quietly unzipped, leaving the boy's body open to the air. He flinched at the sudden cold, but Molly heated up the air molecules around him, warming him up and settling him down.

She hesitated a moment, for a moment unsure she wanted to go through with this. Then her uncertainties were swept away and she decided there was nothing she wanted to do more.

She turned to crystal and grew larger, expanding into the form of a teenaged Molly. Her crystal matter transformed back to flesh…without any clothes. With a wave of her hand, the boy's clothes were gone too. Her heated molecules kept him warm, so he didn't notice.

She carefully stepped over his legs, positioning herself above him, and leaned over. "Ash," she whispered, eyes glowing white.

His eyes flew open, their blank stare the familiar one of a person under the thrall of her power. "Yes?"

She licked her lips in anticipation. "Service me."

He shrugged. "Okay," he said in a monotone voice.

Molly lay down on top of him, brushed back hair from his face, and kissed him. Mechanically, he wrapped his arms around her body and pushed himself into her. And so it began.

This wasn't the first time Molly had done it. She had reactively pulled the knowledge of how to perform this act from her parent's minds when she had accidentally walked in on them doing it. She had erased their memory later to keep from getting in trouble, and tested her new knowledge on Teddiursa, who was more than receptive. But that was to be expected since the bear didn't really have much of a mind on its own, so she tried again on a few of the villagers with results which, in her opinion, were excellent, and so she moved on to the true test of her new skill, Ash Ketchum. Ever since he had helped save her from the Unown, she couldn't get him out of her head, and seeing him being Chosen with her and the others, and then witnessing her parents express their love physically, had pushed thoughts of the boy to the forefront of her mind, ones that a girl her age shouldn't have been thinking normally. She had wondered if perhaps he might be as attracted to her teenage form as she was to his, and wanted to see if he would be a good…what was the word? Love-r? Yes, that was it.

She had been a little apprehensive about doing this. The crystal Unown had intervened and disciplined her whenever she had tried to brainwash the other kids into loving her or attempted to mind-control her parents, so wasn't certain they'd approve of her doing this. But the urge for freedom and natural rebellion that all young children felt towards restrictive authority figures took over, and she decided that if they disapproved of her doing this, then they'd stop her as they had the other times. And they weren't stopping her now, so they must not have a problem with it.

She hadn't expected it to feel this good. Teddiursa, as an artificial construct, didn't really have any real organs, and the boys from Greenfield had been too young and underdeveloped, but Ash, a few years out of puberty, was just _perfect_, even if he had never done this before. The knowledge was instinctive, engraved in his mind, a part of his genetic code. If all went well this time, and he truly did enjoy this, the next time she tried she would do it without brainwashing him and see if he still wanted more. She saw no reason why he should not.

Her eyes rolled back in her head as, somewhat mechanically, he thrust into her again. "Oh, Ash…" she gasped out.

"Oh-" He _glucked_, words catching in his throat. "Oh…oh…" He looked disoriented. His eyes started coming back into focus.

Molly felt a thrill of panic. Somehow he was breaking free. "Molly!" she hissed. "Molly!"

Ash's head shook. "MmmMm…" He looked like he was struggling to push the words out. Sweat unrelated to their activities broke out on his brow. "Mmmmm…."

"Molly!"

He clenched his teeth. "Mmm…Mmmm…" He gasped. "Mist-" He passed out, his body's distress and confusion finally leading to a blackout.

Molly's eyes widened. She pulled herself off Ash, her heart beating in her chest. Something was wrong. Something didn't feel right. What had just happened?

Frightened and confused, she waved her hand, causing all evidence of her actions tonight to vanish. Liquids evaporated, internal membranes and barriers mended themselves shut or restocked, clothes reappeared, and the sleeping bag zipped shut. She repeated the same process for herself, put Pikachu back on the bag, and vanished from the campsite as quickly as possible, wanting to get back to Greenfield, where she felt safe, where she felt secure, where she could do things and most of the time they would go exactly how she wanted them to, save when she was being disciplined. Within moments she was gone, and it was as if she had never been there at all.

Molly, the present Molly, had turned paler than chalk. Beside her, her nemesis clapped his hands lightly. "Well done, Molly," he said mockingly. "Very well done. I did not know one so young could do it so well. Your technique could have used some work, though…there is much I can teach you in that regard, if you're interested." She trembled, but said nothing. He cocked his head. "What's wrong? Surely you do not feel guilty for what you've done, have you? The fact that your teachers the Unown never reprimanded you for it seems to indicate that they were fine with it. And since you came back to try again every night for the next week until he reached Mossdeep, you clearly had no regrets. So why do you feel so uncomfortable about your actions with young Ash Ketchum?" She said nothing. She couldn't meet his gaze. There was nothing she could say or think of that could possibly justify her actions to him, she realized. Now that she thought about it, her own reasons for doing it seemed flimsy as well. "I shall tell you why," he said with a chuckle.

"You came to Ash looking for love, because your parents fear you, your household staff fears you, and all your peers fear you. Your only friends, your toy Pokemon, could never really love you. You recalled how big Ash's heart was and felt certain that there would be room in it for someone like you. But just to make sure, you brainwashed him when you came to him this night to make sure that he _could_ love you. The initial brainwashing proved he could, and the receptiveness he had to your mounting him seemed to indicate he would have no problem becoming your lover with just a few tweaks here and there in his mind, not quite as much force as you used on the other children in Greenfield, but enough to cause him to feel…some attraction to you, so that his love would come more freely and easily.

"But when you both climaxed, it was not his name he screamed with pleasure. It was _hers_. The name of his one true love. You tricked his brain into feeling attraction to you, but his brain tricked you in return by making Ash see you as Misty Waterflower, his soulmate. Doing so stimulated his sexual instincts and allowed him to make love to you with all the passion meant for her, but none of it was for you. None of it at all.

"That is why you fled in confusion. Because, even when you had brainwashed him into loving you, he _did not. _Even I cannot say why this is, though. Despite all my research, love has on many occasions still proved elusive with the answer to how it works.

"This proves to me, and hopefully to you, that ultimately _nobody_ can love you anymore. Not of their own free will, anyway. That is why you have to brainwash the children of the village into loving you. That is why you have to play with your parent's minds occasionally to make them forget you've done something for fear they will stop loving you for it. That is why Ash Ketchum cannot and never will love you. Because you are no longer the same little girl you once were. The power you received corrupted you, as insidiously and completely evil as myself. Is it any wonder that everyone who knows you, knows what you really are, fears you?" Molly fell to her knees, speechless at the truth in this. "It's really a wonder the crystal Unown chose you at all to represent them in this world…although I suppose they didn't have a choice. You were the only one they could interact with, because you have had the most intimate contact with their kind than anyone else on Earth. So they really could do nothing but accept you, a child already so comfortable with her power that in a few more months' time she might have been able to exert total control over her town, and perhaps further than that, to create a perfect world. _Your_ perfect world." He chuckled. "I wonder if they ever regret having to use you. Because even with the discipline they've given you, you are still far from being by any means a 'good little girl'. On _this_ planet, anyway, I know a few where such behavior as yours is encouraged..." He mused.

"If-" She gasped, stifling a sob. "If what I did was wrong, then wouldn't they have stopped me? They've done so before!"

"So they have," agreed, tapping his trident on the ground. "Which brings up more questions. Why _didn't _they stop you, if they had stopped you from abusing your powers in other ways? And for that matter…why have they not been doing more to stop me? They are barely able to directly influence events in the timestream without causing ripples which could disrupt the whole thing, yet they could do more in telling those who are 'destined' to fight me, or you, how to defeat me! I have polluted water supplies, crippled Silica, incited Metaba to higher levels of warfare, corrupted legendaries, abducted and turned hundred of humans and Pokemon whom nobody would miss, cleared out an entire prison to augment my army and capture James Morgan…and until I drove Lugia insane, nobody's lifted a finger. Nobody's suspected I'm behind it. Most of them are not in a position to know it's me, true, and others are not at the moment able to do anything…but surely the Children of the Mother could step in. Or you for that matter. And yet, you haven't done a thing. Nothing at all, until this morning.

"Why is that? If they gathered the Chosen to alert them to my coming and unite them against me, then why have they been silent as I put the pieces of my master plan into place? Why have they warned no one what I'm planning so that it can be stopped? What, in the end, is the _point_ of them using you if until now you haven't done a single thing to stop me? Do you know, Molly?"

She shook her head. "No."

He shrugged. "Perhaps it's part of _their_ plan too, then. If so, I'm sure they have a reason for it. Or perhaps they simply don't care and believe that everything will work out because they've planned it that way. Either possibility seems relevant to me. Which brings us once more back to our current dilemma. Why _didn't_ they discipline you for sleeping with Ash Ketchum?

"Did they see nothing wrong with it? Did it, in some way, fill out part of their own master plan? Or perhaps…" He paused, as if struck by an idea. "Perhaps they just _don't know._"

Molly glanced up. "What?"

He shrugged. "Infinity is a very big place. Watching every timeline at every moment cannot be easy, even for those with such an advanced consciousness-and as many eyes-as the Unown. Even they admitted they couldn't see everything." He glanced at the sleeping Ash. "What if…just what if…they were looking somewhere else those times you were with Ash? What if they were occupied training their other ward, Mewtwo, or watching some important event in another sheaf of reality? What if, even know, they don't know what you've done." He rubbed his chin contemplatively. "I wonder…what would happen if someone were to…inform them of what you've done? To…what is the word…_tattle_ on you?"

Molly's eyes widened. Slowly, she stood up, never taking her eyes off of her foe, who was still staring at Ash. Her eyes glowed, and a wall of force shot out at him.

He stepped to the side, and the force blew past him, striking Ash and Pikachu and causing them, Charizard, and a good chunk of the campground to harden into crystal and shatter into a billion, billion infinitesimal pieces. Molly gasped. "You need to work on your aim," the evil one advised her, turning to face her. He raised his trident, and a tremendous energy bolt shot down at her.

Molly crystallized the air in front of her into a shield. The bolt struck it hard, pushing her back, but the shield did not break. With a wave of her hand as the bolt dissipated, the shield shattered into many shards and shot towards the enemy with razor-sharp points capable of slicing molecules apart. He twirled his trident before him so rapidly that to the eye it blurred into a solid disk, which deflected all the shards of air that flew at him, causing them to pierce the other Pokemon in the campsite and kill them or cut the trees nearby to pieces. He spared a glance at the dead lying in pieces and chuckled. "It's a good thing all this is just a solid illusion, or you would have made your superiors even angrier by severely limiting the chances your compatriots have at defeating me." He raised his trident, and the light from the moon grew exponentially, causing Molly to flinch and shield her eyes. "Come. Enough of this child's play. Let's see what you can really do." The light grew brighter and brighter in its brilliance, causing Molly to cry out as it blinded her even through her raised hands and closed eyelids…

And then the light was all there was.

…

The eastern wall of the main hall, where the fallen crystal spike had driven itself through the ceiling, exploded open as Entei and Papa smashed through, locked in combat. The west wall burst open as well, accompanied by a tidal wave of water both clean and poisoned, which smashed into the two fire Pokemon and flung them away from each other, causing them to smash into large marble statues of legendary Pokemon and shatter them. Suicune and Mama floated into the room as the tide ebbed, still struggling furiously to tear out and eat the other's beating heart. Mama could feel it, sense it, what Suicune planned to do to Molly, and there were few things more wrathful than a protective mother.

Then part of the ceiling collapsed, and Raikou and Oniichan fell through, crackling with electricity. They splashed down into the ankle-deep (for them, anyway) water, causing the electricity to convulse out of control and electrocute everyone in the room, save Suicune who had been granted immunity to electric attacks. Dazed, the two Thunder Pokemon rolled over on their backs, smoking and stunned. Mama wobbled, weakened by the attack, and Suicune might have moved in to finish her off had Papa not leaped in front of her, growling protectively as her wounds healed and she recovered rather quickly.

Entei splashed over to Raikou, who was also healing rapidly, and dragged him away from Oniichan before the recovered crystal Pokemon could attack him again. Suicune darted away from her foe and her mate, quickly joining her companions on the far side of the room, leaving a trail of poison behind her, which was purified steadily by Mama's presence. Mama and Papa quickly joined Oniichan as he growled at his counterpart, and they stared down their opponents, all six of them fully recovered and not in the least bit tired from the long fight.

"I don't get it!" Entei growled. "Why haven't we beaten you fakers yet?"

"Just because we aren't the original doesn't make us fake!" Papa responded savagely. "We embody the beliefs, myths and noble ideals that Molly has about legendary Pokemon!"

"As long as Molly has faith in us, we cannot be defeated!" Mama said proudly.

Oniichan merely stood his ground and nodded, unable to think of any noble or inspiring words to say that hadn't already been said.

The three original beasts sweatdropped. "Do you have any idea how pathetically corny that sounds?" Entei asked, deadpan.

Suicune nodded. "I mean, really, not only are you overconfident in believing you're invincible, you also are putting all your trust in a little girl who's not even ten years old and whose whims and wishes can change within seconds, depending on her mood."

"A little girl who, as we're speaking, is confronting our master, who is incredibly skilled at mind games and will easily be able to make her believe that she's worthless, fighting is useless, and no matter what she does she's gonna lose," said Raikou. "And, despite all that, you're relying solely on her faith and assuming that she will manage to stand resolute against someone who's a million times smarter, wiser, and more experienced than her." He shook his head. "I mean, really, she's just a freakish little girl who was lucky enough to wind up with some reality-warping powers. You're expecting her to keep having faith and hope when her mind is being bombarded with enough truths, half-truths, and the occasional deception or two to make most people, most perfectly emotionally and mentally stable people, just commit suicide to end their suffering and pointless existences?"

There was a pause. The three crystal Pokemon looked at each other uncertainly for 0.35 seconds. "Yes!" Papa roared with finality.

The beasts snorted. "I think it's time we show them how strong faith is when faced with reality," Entei said.

"I second that," Suicune purred, grinning at her counterpart.

"Third," agreed Raikou.

"Forth!" Mewgle said cheerfully, popping into existence near the tip of the crystal spike.

"It's the little monster from before!" Mama growled.

"What do you want, Mewgle?" Entei asked.

The Mew lookalike produced a small purple crystal. "On the way here, the boss told me to give you three this upgrade crystal to help you beat these lame-o's. I forgot about it until now, but seeing as how you haven't been able to beat them yet, I think it's safe to say you could use a hand. Here, catch!" He tossed the crystal towards the beasts.

"Don't let them get that!" Papa roared, spitting a fireball at the crystalline sliver. Mama and Oniichan joined in with bubbles and a thunderbolt. The three elemental bursts struck the crystal in midair and caused it to shatter to pieces.

"There! Now we're still even!" Mama said proudly.

"Ennnnt! Wrong!" Mewgle said gleefully, pointing to the small mass of crackling multicolored energy which had appeared when the crystal had been shattered. "That's exactly what I wanted you to do, losers!"

The energy ball zipped over to Entei, Suicune, and Raikou, and exploded, bathing the three monsters in garish light and hiding them from view, causing Molly's three guardians to flinch and back away from the radiance of the upgrade.

There was a roar of pain, and a wave of heat shot out from the mass of light, evaporating the water on the floor and forcing the three crystal Pokemon back to keep from getting burnt. That was followed by another roar and a wave of cold, freezing the floor and causing frost to form on the walls. Then there was one final roar, and a wave of static shot out, jolting all of them and causing their fur to stand up. Mewgle was grinning in anticipation as the curtain of light grew brighter and dissipated, revealing a terrifying new monster.

Unlike Raikou, Suicune, or Entei, most of its flesh was still on its bones, but so thin that the bones were clearly visible underneath, giving it a starved look. And yet it still managed to stand tall on its four legs, so this weakness was probably an illusion.

The mangy fur, each hair of which was stiff and sharp as a dagger, was a filthy grayish black with bloodstains everywhere. The upper parts of its legs had strips and diamond patterns torn out of them, revealing the surprisingly thick muscle and bone underneath. The lower parts of the legs were encased in jagged, uncut purple crystalline armor with spikes sticking out of them which were put in place of flesh, so the tendons and leg bones could be seen distorted through the armor. In place of paws were pads and claws made of exposed bone, with blood vessels pumping into them. Two rows of long, jagged crystalline growths grew from its sides and sticking out and upward, throbbing and glowing slightly as blood was pumped into them. More strips and diamond-shaped patches of skin had been torn out, revealing muscle, ribs, and internal organs. Growing down the back was a long, filthy, tangled and matted mane so covered in dirt and old stains of blood and other disgusting fluids that it was colored a very ugly gray and seemed to wriggle now and then. Three tails grew from the rear, two of them black, segmented, writhing things ending in snapping mouths, the last one a long, zigzagging blue-gray thing which twitched now and then and ended in a very nasty-looking barb. But the true abnormality about the monster was that it had not one, but _three_ heads sprouting from its front, each with a neck ringed with a metal collar that had spikes on both the inside and outside and had long spiked spinal cord chains growing out the back and tangling themselves up in the twisted mane. The three heads were clearly distinguishable as those of Entei, Suciune, and Raikou, even if their faces had all been ripped off and masks in the form of their old faces made of the same rough, jagged crystal on their legs was slapped on, the inner points digging into the skulls so they exposed muscles and drained blood. Their jaws, sheathed in crystal, were hanging open and revealing long canines and fangs that were so dirty that a bite from them would probably leave a seriously infected wound. Their glowing red eyes gazed out through holes cut into the crystal masks, allowing them to stare down at Molly's three beasts, who were all gazing up in horror at the abomination, which was three times their size and whose heads grazed the ceiling. The heads chuckled, their voices a distorted and visceral combination of Entei, Suicune and Raikou's individual voices. "Well now…this is more like it!"

As Papa, Mama, and Oniichan gaped at the monstrosity in disbelief, Mewgle was rolling on his back in the air with laughter, as pleased as could be. "Hehehe! This makes things a little more interesting!" He changed into his larger form. "HAVE FUN WITH CERBERUS, LITTLE FIGMENTS! LET'S SEE YOUR FAITH SURVIVE THIS BABY! HAHAHAHAHA!"

He vanished, leaving the three copy beasts alone with the newly named Cerberus. "Well now," the three-headed beast purred, taking a step forward and causing the room to shake with a very slight tremor. "Which of you wants to die first?"

…

When Molly could see around her, the light had only dimmed to a slightly more manageable level. Around her, surrounding her in a spherical formation, were beings which filled Molly with dread. They looked like the Unown she had associated with in the past, only made of crystal instead of some black material. They were her teachers, her keepers, her masters. The crystal Unown.

_You have disappointed us, Molly,_ they said in that emotionless tone she had grown far too used to. _We had hoped that you had learned by now to use your powers responsibly. We thought we had taught you better. We thought wrong._

"I-I'm sorry!" she cried. "I won't do it again!"

_No,_ they agreed. Their eyes started glowing. _You will not have the chance to._

Simultaneously, each crystal eye fired a surprisingly large laser at her, and she was struck from all sides by searing, blinding light, a thousand times worse than the spankings her father had given her before her powers had developed and the other punishments they had given her the other times she had used her powers recklessly and thoughtlessly. (Like the time she had given a maid a vacuum for an arm thinking it would help her do her job better and clean her room faster.)

She screamed. How could anything hurt so much? How could it burn into her body, mind and soul all at once, filling her with regret and wishing she had not done what she did?

But she had. She knew she had. And this was the price she would pay for doing it.

The lasers burned into her for a few seconds which stretched into eternity (and considering the way time flowed in this realm, it very well might have been an eternity) and suddenly, she was somewhere else.

Startled and frightened, she glanced about. Dozens of pale, panic-stricken faces stared back at her. Her own face. She was in a round, exitless room with walls composed of mirrors, each one throwing her reflection back at her. And yet the images looked…different somehow. She was startled to realize that every mirror reflected her true, younger self, instead of the teenaged body she wore now. But even as a child, she was certain she had never been so small, or malnourished-looking! She had always thought her hair looked nicer than that, and her clothes fit her frame perfectly. So why, when she looked into the mirror, did she find herself so repulsed by her reflections?

She jumped when one of the mirrors shimmered and suddenly showed her father, Professor Hale. He had never looked so hard and stern in her memory, and it frightened her. "I am ashamed to be your father," he said coldly. "I thought I had raised my little girl not to be such a selfish, manipulative person. I was wrong." His image transformed into that of Papa, and the Entei roared, spitting a ball of fire at her. The flames burst out of the mirror, causing it to shatter, and struck Molly, causing her to scream and stagger back, frantically trying to extinguish the flames with her mind.

When she had, another reflection shimmered and turned into her mother, Marian. "I can't believe I spent day and night for months when I was suffering from amnesia in that hospital bed, trying to remember who the little girl in my dreams that I longed to hold in my arms again was…only to return home and find that she was dead and in her place was some inhuman thing, filled with unearthly power and enslaving everything around it. I think I was better off not remembering who you were." She transformed into Mama the Suicune and fired an Ice Beam at her, breaking the mirror. Molly managed to form a shield from the air just in time to keep herself from getting frozen solid by the blast.

The next mirror's image changed into that of Eusine, his face twisted in anger. "I have no idea who the heck you are, or how the heck you're able to do stuff like this…but you turned me into a Raikou, and I'm really pissed about that." He transformed into Oniichan the Raikou and fired a bolt of lightning at her, shattering the mirror. She expected the attack this time and quickly deflected it, but the bolts rebounded off the other intact mirrors and slipped past her guard, striking her and making her scream as the electricity coursed through her.

Three more mirrors shimmered, transforming into her Phanphy, Mareep, and Teddiursa. Their eyes glowed red and they all spoke in unison. "You made us from dolls and stuffed animals to play with you. You gave our limbs life, and our mouths speech. But you gave us no heart. When we could not feel other than what you had wanted us to feel, you tired of us and sought other friends, only coming back to us to test your new knowledge of 'sex'. And when we needed you most, you abandoned us to the enemy.

"Now we are less than puppets. Less than shells. We never had hearts, so in falling we are even less than the meanest ghost. We are nothing. Because you never made us any more." They transformed into the monstrosities the evil one had turned them into and lashed out at her, their mirrors shattering as their attacks reached past the boundary of the glass and struck Molly. Phanphy's tusks gouged at her stomach, she was shocked by Mareep's Thunderbolt, and Teddiursa's mutated claw left scratches in her face. She had been too startled by their accusations to shield herself from their attacks. The wounds healed right away, but the emotional hurt was not so easily repaired.

Several of the remaining mirrors took on the form of children from Greenfield, whose minds she had played with and whose bodies she had used. "You disgust us," they said in unison. "You're just like the witches and bad people we see on television and read about in stories. If we weren't so scared of you, we'd throw water at you or burn you at the stake. When we have children, we'll tell them all about the horrible things you did to us, and your name will be synonymous with 'evil' in Greenfield from then on." They picked up rocks and threw them at her, breaking the mirrors in the process. Molly shielded herself with the air to repel the stones, which bounced off and broke some more mirrors, but their words cut right through her.

There were only two mirrors left now. One of them shimmered and formed the figure of Ash. Molly gasped, frightened and startled by the uncharacteristic expression of raw hatred and disgust he had on his face. "You used me like one of Brock's inflatable Nurse Joys…" he growled through clenched teeth. "Not once, but every night for a week! I thought I had been having especially vivid dreams of spending time with my friends, but it was just you molesting me and violating my body and mind!

"I once thought of you sort of like a little sister, Molly. But sisters don't do that to their big brothers. If doing so wouldn't have doomed the world to being frozen in crystal, I think I should have left you in that palace of yours where everyone of your fantasies would have come true and you'd have left the rest of us the hell alone."

He did not punch her. He did not throw rocks, or Pokeballs, or order Pikachu to shock her. He simply turned and walked away from her, the mirror shattering behind him. And that was all he needed to do for Molly to collapse to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

The final mirror's reflection stayed the same…or so Molly thought at first, until she took a closer look at it. And then she realized why the reflection looked so different. It was still her, but as she had been before the Unown. Before she had gotten her power.

The other Molly stared at her, not with disgust, but with sadness. "Why?" she asked mournfully, eyes brimming with tears. "Why do I have to turn into you?"

"…I'm sorry," Molly whispered. Why did this reflection's sorrows feel worse than all the others?

The mirror-Molly shook her head, biting her lip. "All my dreams, gone. My hopes, shattered. I've driven everyone away. I'm alone and unloved.

"Because of you."

And then not only the mirror, but the entire room shattered, and Molly fell screaming into oblivion.

By the time it occurred to her that she could probably negate gravity's effect on her and stop her plummet, she had fallen from a small hole in the underside of a huge floating crystal fortress, one far more formidable and crueler than hers had been.

She stopped her descent, floating in space before the vista of the planet Earth, spread before her. The moon slowly rotated past her vision, and the sun and stars in the background provided more than enough illumination for this breathtaking view. It was enough to almost make her forget what her reflections had said for a moment, and she just floated there, gaping in awe at the sight of her planet, her Earth. How beautiful it seemed, all blue and green and brownish, with fluffy clouds floating over the landscapes! How wonderful it was!

"It is rather nice, isn't it?" the voice of her tormentor echoed through space, bemused. "Imagine what it'll be like when I'm through with it."

A gigantic crystal trident rocketed out of the fortress floating away from her, shooting at the defenseless planet before Molly at almost the speed of light, too fast for her to try and stop it. There was a gleam of light as it entered the atmosphere…and then with a deafening roar the Earth exploded, causing Molly to be thrown back screaming by the wave of nuclear fire and debris spreading out from what had once been her world.

She smashed into the Moon, which shattered as she struck it, and she was flung wobbly through the rubble, dazed, confused, and horrified by the spectacle she had just seen.

His laughter echoed all about her, and all the stars turned into eyes, the eyes of the Unown glaring down at her with disapproval. The sun bobbed up and swelled as the space around it seemed to harden and take a humanoid form, with Mercury and Venus as the hands and the sun as its head. The crystal fortress flew to the space-being's hand, unfolding into the form of a trident that was cosmic in length as the Venus-hand unfolded and clutched it in fingers of stone and gas. Molly stared speechlessly at the galactic monster as she managed to regain control of her flight.

Her foe laughed and raised his trident, causing a glowing white comet to streak out of the depths of space and hurtle right towards Molly. The comet was a hundred times the size of her mansion, tiny in size compared to the celestial giant who threatened her, but still nothing to sneeze at either. Panicking, Molly exerted her power on the comet, trying to stop it before it could hit her.

It crystallized, but slowly, very slowly, and Molly feared that it would hit her before the transmogrification process was complete. But the comet turned completely to crystal only micrometers away from her and disintegrated harmlessly.

She smiled in relief, only to get struck by a tremendous solar flare that had erupted from the surface of the sun, incinerating her and flinging her further away through space.

Her body healed itself, and she managed to regain control of her flight in time to avoid slamming into Mars, which appeared out of nowhere behind her. As it flew past her, its twin moons orbiting it, the red planet stopped and suddenly unfolded, turning into a humanoid stone giant, with the two moons as its fists. Its mouth opening in a silent battle cry, the planet-monster soared towards Molly, moon-fists forwards.

Molly swerved out of the way of the giant's charge and slammed her palms into its side as it flew past. Mars instantly turned to crystal and shattered, dissolving into countless harmless molecules around her.

But this only gave her a brief reprieve, as she had now unfortunately drifted into the asteroid belt. The countless giant rocks turned and started flying at her, each seeking to pulverize her bones to dust. Startled and getting more than a little frustrated at the unfairness of all this, Molly screamed angrily. All the asteroids nearby exploded, their dust drifting over her and catching in her hair and clothes. Not caring, she started throwing bolts of energy about her as more asteroids shot towards her, desperately trying to fight back and gain some advantage in this seemingly hopeless struggle.

One asteroid got past her volley of energy bursts, smashing into her and breaking her ribs as it flung her back through space. More asteroids came in after the first one, slamming into her again and again, pounding her body and snapping bones, tearing muscles and rupturing blood veins. She screamed as she was pummeled mercilessly by the asteroids, cast this way and that through the void, her flight uncontrolled and subject to change with every space rock that collided with her.

But finally, when one especially large planetoid slammed into her and pushed her out of the belt, she thought she could finally get a moment to catch her breath, heal, and recover.

She had no such luck. Now from the sun-head of her enemy shot forth thousands and thousands of serpents made of flame, shooting across the light-years towards her and bathing her body in fire.

She screamed as the serpents washed over her, engulfing her in flame each time her body had healed itself, pushing her further and further into the infinite depths of space. She had no space to breathe, no time to think, no moment in which she could act; it was all she could do to endure the assault and heal herself away from the brink of death.

The trident-wielder laughed as one last serpent struck Molly, burning her badly but briefly as it cast her away. Saturn appeared out of nowhere, its famous rings solidified into a single form, a massive circular saw blade spinning towards her with the intention of slicing the girl in two. Molly flew over the edge of the blade before it could cut her, and the gas planet flew past. She panted, trying to catch her breath…and almost got her head cut off by Neptune as it shot towards her, its less-prominent ring spinning like Saturn's.

She just managed to dodge it, only to find that she had flown right into the path of Jupiter, second largest body in the Solar System. The gas planet loomed over her, its incredible mass mocking her miniscule size and insignificance. Molly despaired, for how could she possibly affect something so immense and unstoppable?

The Red Spot of Jupiter glared at her like a Cyclops' eye, and a thin gash appeared along the planet's equator, lengthening and widening to reveal an enormous mouth, one in which a dozen Earths could fit. Terrified, she turned and tried to fly away, not wanting to be swallowed up by this horrible sphere as it inhaled, sucking in gases and space junk all around.

But try as she might, she could not escape. Jupiter was too big, too irresistible for her to get away from. Its mouth yawned open wider, the gas giant's gravity pulling at the empowered girl. She struggled, with all her might she struggled, but her strength was naught in comparison to the planet's pull. With a scream, she could fight no longer, and was sucked into the impenetrable darkness of Jupiter's mouth, which snapped shut behind her.

She tumbled head over heels in darkness so absolute that it made a starless night sky look as bright as the sun at high noon. The little girl in her trembled in fear, terrified by what untold horrors were hiding all around her.

She landed with a thud in something soft, wet…and _moving_. She gasped as she felt the sensation of the surface she had landed on undulating beneath her, and she nearly screamed at the thought that she might have landed in a mass of worms. Her body began emanating light so that she could see what was around her…

And when she could see, she did scream. But not because of worms. No, what she had landed in was far worse.

Everywhere, as far as her dim light allowed her to see, were bodies. Tortured, scarred, twisted bodies of every species of creature imaginable, human, Pokemon and things so alien she had no name for them. They were all moaning in pain, their toothless mouths gaping hungrily while their empty eye sockets wept blood, their broken arms thrashing weakly about, reaching up at a light that was not there, their fingers splayed and broken, drenched in blood and bodily fluids.

The bodies clutched at Molly, their twisted arms which bent at too many angles wrapping around her legs and chest, trying to drag her down beneath them. She screamed in terror and all those touching her disintegrated, but more crawled over to replace them, pulling themselves up from beneath the space left by those she had destroyed, allowing her for a brief second to see that the mass of bodies went down for miles and miles, an endless pile of pain and misery.

She released her power again and again, crystallizing her assailants to dust, but more always replaced them, infinitely many more, and they began to cover her as her strength faltered from all the energy she had unleashed thus far, and it took more and more effort to summon her power. Her light flickered and started to dim as the bodies pressed down on her, their blood soaking through her clothes as they began to bury her beneath their weight.

Three orbs appeared above the mass of flesh, three eyes so gargantuan that twenty of Earth's suns could easily fit end-to-end inside one of their unusually-shaped pupils. The evil one's laughter echoed in Molly's ears as her light went out, and she was covered completely by the lost souls, their moaning drowning out her screams.

All was dark and silent again, as it had been before, save for the cries of the tortured and the three eyes staring down from above, laughing.

And then…

And then…

Light shone from cracks, gaps in the nearly solid wall of bodies. There was a powerful explosion with the force of a small nuke that disintegrated a good percentage of the mass, lighting up the infinite expanse and causing the tortured ones to reel back in pain and anguish as a brilliant figure rose up from below, her eyes blazing with white fury.

Molly had transformed, her body growing to about what she would look like as an adult, only her entire body had transformed into liquid light-blue crystal and stayed that way, with curves that suggested she was an adult female human but now looked too…_different_ to be called anything even close to that. Howling with rage at how she had been treated, played, and deceived thus far, she rocketed upward, surrounded by a white blaze, and smashed into the middle eye above her, shattering it and causing the other eyes, the darkness, and the tortured forms beneath her to shatter as well, dispelling the illusion and revealing the familiar setting of her bedroom, and the trident-holding evil one standing before her, looking mildly surprised. The mutated toy Pokemon cowered behind him in fear. "Hmm. Interesting. Your anger seems to have agitated your powers to the point where they accelerated your evolution. Tell me, how do you feel now?"

Wordlessly, Molly pointed her hands at him.

The tower exploded in an incredible blast of blue-white light, and the evil one was flung across the roof of the mansion and through the window of the other tower, smashing into the walls of the attic room inside. "Seems like she's feeling fine. Even managed to break out of my illusion," he commented conversationally, standing up, brushing off dirt, and thrusting his trident forward to impale Molly in the chest as she rocketed into the room, smashing through the wall he had been thrown through. "Do try to control yourself, won't you?"

She screamed in incoherent rage, causing his trident to shatter as she leaped forward, driving a pair of energy-packed fists through his head, obliterating it.

His body staggered back, and the head regenerated. "That wasn't very nice," he said mildly, slamming a fist into the floor and causing crystal spears to lance out of the floor and pierce her form.

She throbbed, releasing a wave of power which splintered the floor, rattled the walls, and shattered the crystals as the holes in her mended like splashes in water. She leaped at her foe again, as he conjured another trident and spun it before him, forming a shield, which deflected her and left her stunned for a split second which he used to form an energy ball in his hand and hurl it at her.

The roof exploded and the walls disintegrated, leaving the crumbling chamber open to the air as Molly was flung out of it, towards the shimmering aurora-colored light dome covering the estate. She flipped in the air as she flew towards it, kicking off of it with her bare feet, and shooting back towards the mansion as her enemy raced towards her, crackling with energy, his trident held out before him like a jousting knight would hold a lance. Molly's arm transformed into a crystal lance of her own, which she held out before her, preparing to meet her nemesis' charge.

The two collided, and an explosion lit up the inside of the dome.

…

Papa lunged at the throat of Cerberus' Entei head, planning to tear it out with his bare teeth if he had to. The monster chuckled and headbutted him as he flew through the air, knocking him away and causing him to slam into the side of the crystal spike still coming through the ceiling. He grunted as he slid down and landed in a crouch, ready to leap back into the fray.

Mama and Oniichan dashed to Cerberus' sides and simultaneously fired a pair of Hyper Beams at it. The dark hound chuckled as the beams swerved away from the gaping holes in his sides and sank into the crystalline growths jutting out from behind his shoulders, causing them to light up and crackle with energy. "Pathetic." Cerberus reared back on its hind legs (though not very much, since it was already just touching the ceiling) and slammed its forepaws on the ground, causing the mansion to shake and the three crystal beasts to lose their footing. The ceiling above cracked, and with a creak the crystal spike slid a couple of inches lower into the room. "I can't believe you three were actually giving us trouble!" The three heads opened their mouths and spat balls of elemental energy at the crystal beasts. Oniichan dodged the huge orb of fire the Entei head spat at him, but it exploded as it hit the ground behind him and released a wave of fire which knocked him out of the air, the fur on his back burning. Papa dodged the ball of ice the Suicune head spat, but as it exploded it coated the floor in frost and caused him to slip up and fall on his face. Mama tried to dodge the thunderball launched by the Raikou head, but it homed in and struck her, exploding and shocking her system with several thousand watts of electricity. She cried in pain and fell on her belly, trembling and twitching as static crackled up now and then. Startled, Papa started to run over to help her…and one of Cerberus' front paws lashed out, kicking him away. "Stay out of the way, puppy. Wouldn't want you to get hurt more than you already are, heh."

Oniichan roared and lunged at Cerberus from behind…which proved to be a very bad mistake, as the monster's barbed tail lashed out at him in mid-leap, driving its end through the Raikou's back and out his belly, anchoring itself in the ground. Oniichan's eyes bulged, and his body stiffened. He slid down the tail, leaving blood on the sides. Cerberus sneered while the two black tendril tails eagerly started lapping at the blood. "Can't heal a wound if it isn't open, can you, you little weakling? Heheh."

"You monster!" Furious, Mama spat a Bubblebeam at the demon's Entei head.

The bubbles splashed and exploded on the fire head's crystal mask, but it did not flinch or show any sign of even feeling the attack. "Fool. I have been made immune to water."

"But can the same be said of you and thunder?" the Raikou head asked, spitting a thunderbolt at Mama.

Papa leaped into the bolt, roaring in pain as the electricity coursed through him. Mama gasped, but he seemed all right as he landed on his feet, even if he was panting and smoking a little. "I will…not let you hurt her!" he growled.

The third crystal-born beast was touched by his companion's show of camaraderie. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Oniichan unleashed a Thunder attack, which coursed up through Cerberus' tail and into the monster's body, causing two of the beast's three heads to yelp in pain. The barbed appendage reflexively tore itself out of Oniichan's back, and he rolled out of the way before the monster's other two tails could snap at him and hold him in place. The wound in his body quickly healed, and he roared and unleashed another Thunder attack at Cerberus while it was recovering, in accompaniment with a Fire Blast and Ice Beam from Mama and Papa, all aimed not at the faces, but at the sides, and the exposed innards there.

The crystals on the monster's sides glowed, and the attacks veered out of the way, flowing into the blood-riddled jewels, where they were soaked up, causing the crystals to glow brighter and brighter as they absorbed the energy of the attacks. Startled, the three beasts tried to back off but found they could not, the crystals were drawing out their own energy through their attacks, and they were unable to cut them off as Cerberus drained them of their strength to replenish its own!

They staggered, almost collapsing when the crystals finally stopped absorbing energy and the three beasts could stop firing, their strength severely depleted. But even as they started to replenish from the faith Molly had in them, Cerberus smirked and unleashed the power it had absorbed, opening its mouths in a horrendous triple howl as it stomped on the ground.

The floor beneath Papa, Mama, and Oniichan exploded as the trio was engulfed in pillars of raw elemental force; Oniichan in lava, Papa in water, and Mama in electricity. They howled in pain.

The roof crumbled to bits as the pillars of energy burst through them, and there was nothing left to support the giant crystal spike. It came toppling down, its point crashing into the hall while the rest fell over, smashing through floors and halls full of beautiful and expensive artwork. As it fell over, the side of the spike's tip slammed down on Papa's back as the tower of water died down, pinning him to the ground beneath its tremendous weight. He howled in pain as it snapped his spine in two, crushed his organs and broke his ribs, pressing him flat against the floor. Mama and Oniichan gasped, even as they dodged some of the rubble falling down all around them. "Papa!" they cried.

Cerberus cackled with glee, smashing any chunks of debris that fell towards it with strikes from its barbed tail. "Let's see you get out of that one, copy!"

Papa gasped in pain, the spike pushing harder and harder against his body. He tried to repair his muscles and shattered bones, but the weight of the damn spike was pressing so hard they broke again before they could even form. "Uhhhh…" he moaned in agony.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out!" Oniichan promised, shoving at the spike with all his might. It didn't budge a bit.

Cerberus stomped over, all three faces grinning. "Don't even bother, that thing's so heavy not even we can move it without seriously exerting ourselves. The two of you don't stand a chance!"

Mama and Oniichan ignored him and both pushed against the side of the spike, trying to move it off Papa. The broken Entei tried to help out by pushing against the floor with his leg muscles, but it hurt too much and he soon had to stop. But that didn't deter him for long, and once he had recovered slightly he tried pushing again.

The spike didn't move in the slightest. After all, this was the narrowest end and the thickest part of it was now lying quite some distance away in the remains of Hale's study, firmly lodged between the bookcases and the gaping hole Molly had made before by breaking the windows. It was indeed too heavy for them to move. That didn't stop them from trying, though.

Cerberus frowned. "They're ignoring us."

Mewgle appeared beside it. "You know, now would probably be the time to finish them off. Before by some miracle they manage to push that thing off him and they then unite using the power of love and teamwork and all that Tauros shit to actually defeat you."

"You think?"

Mewgle nodded. "Yeah, and the boss said so himself. He's luring Molly here in a couple of minutes, so you'd better time this right."

Cerberus frowned. "All I've been able to do so far though is just pin them down and keep them from attacking me, but their healing abilities keep them from dying. How're we supposed to kill them?"

Mewgle flashed his fellow general an evil grin. "Who says you have to kill them? Just…get them out of the way. Somewhere not even Little Miss Hale can find them again."

Cerberus blinked…and then, comprehension dawned on all six of its eyes. "Ahhh, I get it…" All three of their mouths twisted into grins exactly like Mewgle's. "Heheheheh."

Cerberus stomped towards the pitifully struggling trio. "Hey, copyright infringements!" it roared, getting their attention. "Get a load of this!" It reared back, inhaling deeply through all three of its mouths, causing its chest to swell up.

"Attack it, quick!" Mama yelled, spitting a Bubblebeam at the exposed chest. Oniichan nodded and started charging forward with a Volt Tackle while Papa managed to fire off a weak ball of flame.

Before any of the attacks could connect, Cerberus slammed back down on its front paws, causing the mansion to shake while the attacks harmlessly struck their face masks or the guards on their legs. Bloodied by his impact with the sharp spikes on the crystal armor, Oniichan backed away, whimpering as the wounds on his face recovered.

Cerberus unleashed the breath it had collected in a tremendous triple roar which shook the mansion to its very foundations. Sculptures, windows, pillars, and ceilings collapsed everywhere as supports weakened and caused great portions of the mansion to cave in. Dirt and bits of rumble fell through the gaping hole already made in the ceiling by the fall of the crystal spike. But the _truly_ astonishing thing was how the air in front of Cerberus seemed to ripple and invert on itself, causing the image of the three-headed beast to be severely distorted if one were looking through that spot.

With a sound like an explosion in reverse, the section of warped air shattered, the pieces getting sucked back into the huge, gaping black hole that took its place. There was a loud whooshing noise as dirt, gravel, bits of glass and debris, and even the air around it were sucked into the hole and into some sightless beyond. Cerberus, standing right behind the hole, grinned evilly, perfectly safe from the rift's vacuum effect.

"What have you done!" Mama cried, trying to keep her footing as her ribbons flapped and fluttered outwards, towards the hole where they were being attracted by the suction force.

Cerberus cackled, its three dissonant voices creating a strange harmony. "I've opened a hole to the gap between dimensions; an airless, lifeless void where people throw stuff that isn't wanted anymore! Here you may be immortal, but outside this universe, totally cut off from your precious Molly and anything else, I'd like to see how long you last before either suffocating or dying of explosive decompression!"

Mewgle twirled about and changed into his monstrous form. "WHERE'S YOUR FAITH NOW, WEAKLINGS? GWAHAHAHA!"

Oniichan's paws scrabbled frantically on the floor as he started slipping and sliding towards the portal. "Ah! I-I can't get away! It's too strong!" he screamed as he desperately tried running away from the hole, making no progress whatsoever as he was lifted off the floor by the vacuum and started hurtling towards the portal.

"NO!" Mama ran forward and bit into his paw as his tail, pulled out of its kinks by the intense suction, passed the threshold of the gateway. She pushed her paws into the ground, trying to gain some friction to stop Oniichan's imminent demise.

But it was no good. She was getting drawn closer and closer to the portal now too, her ribbons flapping everywhere and slicing little cuts into both her skin and Oniichan's as he sobbed and screamed pathetically, desperately not wanting to die.

Papa managed to grab a hold on Mama's voluminous mane in his teeth as it blew past him. "Hang on, I've got you!" he growled through his teeth, the purple hair tickling his tongue. The two beasts stopped their forward motion, though Mama yelped and almost let go of Oniichan's paw as Papa tugged on her hair. Relieved to get some anchorage, she started slowly and carefully moving backwards, slipping occasionally and losing a little ground, but bit by bit she was starting to pull Oniichan, who was now praying for mercy and murmuring gratitude every few seconds, further out of the portal.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Mewgle growled, making a chopping motion with his hand.

An energy bolt shot down through the ceiling from the RPGenerator barrier overhead, striking the floor and tearing right through Mama's mane, leaving Papa with a small piece held in his mouth and Mama and Oniichan without anything to hold them back. Mama let go of Oniichan's paw and screamed as she slid forward rapidly, unable to stop herself. The Raikou howled mournfully as he was sucked into the portal, vanishing into the darkness. Mama frantically clawed at the ground, trying to get some purchase, but it was too little, too late. With a final scream, she was wrenched off the ground and into the dark hole. Cerberus shook with laughter.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Papa howled, spitting out the piece of mane, which was immediately caught by the wind rushing into the vortex and pulled into the gap between dimensions.

Mewgle cackled gleefully. "YOU'LL BE JOINING THEM IN A MOMENT, FURBALL!" Completely unaffected by the vacuum effect caused by the hole, Mewgle flew around the portal and to the Entei trapped underneath the considerable weight of the crystal spike. He grinned and rubbed his palms together. "HAVING ULTIMATE CONTROL OVER REALITY AS LONG AS THE RPGENERATOR'S RUNNING HAS ITS ADVANTAGES, YOU KNOW!" he said conversationally to Papa. "LIKE THIS!" He grabbed the spike by its tip and hefted it up, his considerable muscles allowing him to move it with virtually no effort at all. Now Papa was the one who had no anchor, and he started sliding across the floor towards the portal as his body, tired of the failed healings it had attempted when he was crushed by the spike, slowly began to heal itself. With his weakened muscles he tried to push against the inexorable flow, but it was no use, and he rapidly came closer and closer to his doom.

Two figures, glowing with incredible power, flew overhead, their fight finally leading them back to the mansion proper. With her newly enhanced senses, Molly heard and felt the roar of the vacuum as it began to consume all the air in the estate. She glanced down through the hole in the ceiling, after knocking her foe back with a burst of reduced gravity which had sent him rocketing skywards towards the dome of light above them, and to her horror saw Papa almost into the portal. "MOLLY!" he screamed as his hind legs got sucked in. "HELP ME!"

Molly's eyes widened, and she held out a hand. The air around Papa glowed white, and he stopped his motion into the gate. Using her powers, she started pulling him back out of the portal, focusing all her concentration on fighting the vacuum.

And so she didn't see the evil one come up behind her until it was too late. He struck her in the back of her head with the flat side of his trident, breaking her focus and causing the aura around Papa to fade. With no more protection, the Entei was flung through the portal, howling in anguish as he vanished into the gap between dimensions.

Molly shrieked psychically, her natural voice one of the things that had been deleted from her by her evolution, and flew through the hole in the roof and towards the portal at lightning speed, intending to go in and pull her Papa out.

But the vortex snapped shut just as she reached it, sealing her beasts off from her forever. "Whoops, sorry, didn't know you wanted to jump in after them," Cerberus said apologetically before bursting into malevolent laughter while rolling around on the floor, his sides shaking.

"Hehe, we did good milord!" Mewgle, back to his usual self, said happily while dropping the spike back on the ground as his master flew in through the ceiling, landing near what was left of the main staircase.

The master nodded. "Indeed you did, Mewgle. Well done. You too, Cerberus." He walked over to Molly, who was floating listlessly in the air, staring at the spot where the door to the gap between dimensions had closed. "A shame, if you hadn't been so intent on killing me you might have sensed your 'family's' distress sooner and been able to save them. Not even you can breach the barriers to the gap; you don't have the power…not yet, anyway. Or the power to alter causality so everything that's been done here could be undone, and you would be able to save all those people you let down…oh well. It doesn't matter anymore, I suppose. My work here is done. There is nothing more I need do to you." Tapping his trident on the floor, he walked around her and headed for the door, stepping around Cerberus, who was still in hysterics.

Molly clenched her fists. Her eyes narrowed, she shifted and glared at the evil one's back. Sensing her, he turned around. "Yes?" he asked calmly.

The psychic scream of rage, sorrow, and loss she unleashed at him would have cowed any lesser being into a fetal position on the floor, sucking on their thumbs while whimpering in fear, much like James whenever the evil one was done stitching him up after a torture session. But he was no lesser being. To him, sorrow was fine wine he drank with his dinner, with a side dish of fear and a heaping pile of agony for the main course. To him, her grief was nothing but an amusing and tasty treat, a much different flavor from James' bland coward's fear or Lugia's bittersweet suicides. Still, he had tasted better, and told her so nonchalantly, knowing it would make her only angrier.

Shooting him a glance that would have incinerated him on the spot had he been anyone else, she started building up her power. The glow around her intensified rapidly, and the air around her started to shimmer and sizzle. Cerberus hesitated in its laughter, noticing the brilliant figure of the angry demi-god was doing something.

The house started to shake again, subtly at first but more and more violently as the glow intensified. More sections of the roof caved in, smashing down all around them, and the wall began to collapse as well. For the first time in its life feeling a little anxious, Cerberus glanced at his master, who was an island of calm in the violent storm brewing around them. Tendrils of energy and heat erupted from Molly's form, lashing out at the room around her and scorching everything they touched. Mewgle yelped and flew out of the way of one of the tendrils before it could burn his fur, startled and wondering what the heck was going on. He could feel his power waning, and a glance upward at the darkening sky showed him that, to his horror, the RPGenerator field was flickering in and out of existence. He glanced down at his paws and confirmed these awful suspicions for himself when he saw them start to unravel into little bits of data. Terrified at the prospect of being deleted, and making a sound to rival James' best cowardly scream, he quickly vanished, retreating back into the computer systems inside the RPGenerator crystals surrounding the mansion where he should be safe if the field, which seemed to be overloading from the sheer amount of energy Molly was generating, were to collapse.

Whimpering, starting to get scared, Cerberus backed away from Molly, quickly putting itself by its master's side. The evil one was smaller than Cerberus but still did not seem to be scared in the least by Molly, even as it got so hot in the room that the floor started melting. Surely if its master was not scared, there was nothing to be afraid of, right?

The fact that its master was completely incapable of feeling or expressing fear did not for a moment occur to Cerberus.

Still, the master was resolute, an immovable statue unimpressed with the light shows, the dazzling sparks, the flares and vortices appearing all around Molly as her entire crystal body became illuminated from within by light. She spread out her arms, cried out in a voice so eerie and strange that Cerberus wanted to do nothing less than find a nice rock to cower under until the big nasty girl went away…

And then, just as the light reached it's brightest and Cerberus voided itself in fear…

She was gone. Just like that.

No more lights. No more sounds. No more mansion shaking and reality warping. No more Molly. The girl was gone.

Cerberus blinked all six of its eyes in confusion. What had happened to her? "Wh-where is she?" it asked, hiding a tremor of fear in its voice. The master would detect it, of course.

"She's dead," he said simply. "Killed herself."

Cerberus blinked. "Did she now?"

"Indeed." He paused. "Well, that's really more of a simplistic, layman's way of putting it. What actually happened was that she evolved to the point where her physical body became a hindrance and so she instinctually discarded it. In one sense she is dead, in another sense she will now live forever, outside of time and space. And isn't that what death really is, in one sense?"

Cerberus blinked stupidly. "Ah. Uh…why did that happen?" it asked, confused.

The master chuckled, turning to face his minion. Cerberus flinched, as it always had back when it was Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, to have those evil eyes focused on it. "Molly's powers, to a large extent, are driven by emotion," he explained. "By pushing her to her limits, by driving her to fits of anger greater than any she had ever had before, I was able to trick her into prematurely evolving her power. She got incredibly stronger in result, but had little understanding of how to fully use the new abilities available to her. That, and the fact that she remained furious, as well as the limits on what the mind of a little girl can truly think of other than to lash out at whatever hurts her, allowed me to easily manipulate her to even _greater_ depths of rage by having you banish her 'family' from this universe, where she could never find them again. This convinced her to try calling on even greater power, so that she could either eradicate me on the spot or turn back the clock to save her creatures…or both, I suppose…and in doing so she called on energies within her she could not contain. Forces she did not know how to control. They banished her from this dimension even as they forced her to evolve to the ultimate form of all creatures, that which every living thing becomes sooner or later: dead. The final step in the evolutionary chain and in life as well. As a soul, and a very different and evolved soul at that, she has transcended mere mortal existence and can no longer exist on this plane. She'll be lucky if she can ever come back to the world of the living again, the energies she unleashed may have caused her spirit to change so drastically it may no longer be compatible with anything that is ever born again. I wonder what she will become, drifting out there in infinity, newly freed from the restricting bonds of time and released onto a form of being her infantile mind could never have dreamed of?"

Cerberus could barely fight down a wish for an existence like that. "But master, it sounds as if you did her a favor. Why would you do such a thing?"

He chuckled. "Because if I had tried to kill her outright, I would have become exhausted in the process. By being touched by the Unown in the first place, she was no longer just a human. Her ability to change her age as she wished showed that she had already evolved hundreds of thousands if not tens of millions of years up the chain of human existence, though she did not realize it. She was practically immortal, in age at least, able to traverse the scale of her life as she chose and become any age she wished and stay there as long as she wanted. Along with her reality warping powers, had she been truly aware of the full extent to which they could have been used, would have made her a formidable threat. I could have destroyed her, but the effort it would have taken would have tired me, and with the culmination of my master plan so close I cannot afford to be worn out in the least. Therefore, I knew I had to find a way to remove her from the playing field, so she would not trouble us again.

"The crystal Unown will shelter her mind, no doubt, since she evolved and died too prematurely for her to be prepared for the depths of eternity. Time does not flow there, at least not in the linear manner it does here, but suffice it to say that if and when she is finally matured and capable of making a difference, this universe and timeline will have ended, the Chosen battle long since over, no matter which side gains victory."

Cerberus nodded all three heads at once. "Ah. So…she's not going to bother us again?"

"Not _directly_, no," the master said, stroking his chin. "She may still be able to travel this realm in dreams, there are many souls who can after they have passed out of time…but due to the distortion, the complex and metaphysical clashing of realities between 'here' and 'there', any message or warning she attempts to send will be garbled or in the form of a typically vague prophecy which rarely makes sense until the event it foretells comes to pass. And even if she were to find some other way to interfere…" He shrugged. "The Unown, Celebi, and certain other psychics on this planet are not the only ones able to catch glimpses of the future. My methods are not as clear or as accurate and refined as theirs, but…anything she _does_ try will not be enough to make a sufficiently large difference in tilting the balance of victory either way. If she helps out, the Chosen may win, yet it is just as likely that I will. In any case, she is gone now, and any threat she posed to us has been significantly decreased." He walked past Cerberus and towards the broken hole in the front wall that had once been the mansion's main entrance. "Come. Let us retrieve Mewgle and lay waste to the town of Greenfield. All this fighting and careful strategizing has put me in the mood for a good, easy meal, and I'm sure you wouldn't mind picking on someone smaller than you who can't fight back, am I correct?"

Cerberus bared all three of its fanged mouths in a grin as it followed its master outside. "You are indeed, master. You are indeed."

…

Eusine's Pokeballs would be found the next day in the mansion's basement by rescue workers trying to figure what had become of the destroyed village. Sadly, the Pokemon would be able to tell little, all they knew was that something terrible had happened, and there had been an intention none too kind behind it.

…

He saw blue. And red. Lots of red. That was the predominant color now. It used to be blue and green with some black, but not anymore.

There was some green next to him, in light and dark shades, covered in heavy doses of red and looking sad.

There was also pale yellow lying before him with other pretty colors which had been splattered copiously with red, two black dots in one end of the yellow staring at him blankly like glass beads

There was one blue missing, though. One blue that wasn't there. One that should have been, but was gone, taken from him.

He looked into his flap, at the little piece of purple that all this had been about. The only thing that didn't have some bit of red on it.

He clenched his flap around the purple and wept.

…

_Molly. Molly, wake up._

She opened her eyes. Hundreds, if not thousands of others stared back at her. The crystal Unown had been waiting for her.

Startled, she woke up completely, noting as she did so that she was a little girl, and…

She blushed. Her clothes were gone, and her hair bow as well. Not that it mattered, she supposed, the Unown had long since evolved past the insignificant feelings tied in with sexual matters, so felt no perverse interest or embarrassment as they stared at a naked girl. "Wh-what happened?"

_You let him goad you into doing exactly what he wanted you to, lose control of your powers to the extent that they both transcended you and swept you away,_ they said flatly. _You died._

Molly paled, sniffing back tears. "Oh…" She bit her lip and looked down. "I-I messed up bad, didn't I?"

_Yes,_ they agreed. _But we do not blame you. He is crafty beyond words, with eons of experience at tricking and manipulating people into playing right into his hands. To be honest, we never expected you to win._

Molly was startled. "What?"

_No. As untrained, volatile, and highly emotional as you are, on the battlefield you would have been as detrimental to your own side as to your enemies. Not to mention the high probability of you simply collapsing amidst bloodstained corpses, appalled that you were too late or too busy to save them, and go into a breakdown which would turn you into an easy target. Here, at least, we can keep an eye on you and make positive that your powers could be put to good use._

Molly was not mollified. Her tears dried. "You mean you let me die because I'm safer and more useful that way than alive!"

_Yes._ She just stared at them, shocked. _We tried to teach you, Molly. We tried to make you understand the consequences of your actions. We even allowed you to get away with your violation of Ash Ketchum to see if that would teach you the lesson that you could not get everything you wanted._ She gaped as she heard this, horrified to learn that they had known of that all along. _And in the end, our attempts to make you understand failed. And because of that, _he _was easily able to manipulate you into doing exactly what he wanted: destroying yourself so that you would not be a threat to him._ Molly sagged, realizing this, and now understanding just how much of it she was to blame for. She had no right to be angry. _It is as much our fault as yours, though. Perhaps we did not try hard enough. Perhaps we expected too much of you. Perhaps we overestimated the common sense and reason we had expected you to possess. Either way, what is done is done. And now you are here._

"And now I'm here," she agreed faintly, reality crashing in. "Dead."

_But not gone. While eliminating you may have helped fulfill _his_ plans, he is not the only one planning a masterful stratagem. He now believes that you are no threat to him, and in essence this is true. There is little you can do now to help your fellow Chosen defeat them. However, now that you are here we have all of eternity to help you understand what you are and reach your full potential. The battle you were called for will have long since been over, and this cycle of time long since passed, but by then others will have started, and in those you may find yourself of great use to those who are fighting _him._ So while you have been removed from his path now, you will be waiting for him further up the road, so to speak_. _Or down, since time here really does not flow in a linear fashion…in that sense of time, he has already met and fought with you before on numerous occasions, and will fight with you again._

"And I'll be ready for him?" she asked, her spirits rising.

_Nobody can ever _truly_ be ready for him,_ they admitted. _But you will serve to distract and hinder him, if not stop him outright, so that another may finish the job. He is aware of this, and in his own ways will prepare for that day, just as we shall for you. In this way, your part in the coming struggle has ended. However…_ Their gaze turned towards a point in space not too far away. Molly gasped, recognizing the three broken, battered and unconscious forms that manifested there. _Theirs has not_.

"Mama! Papa! And…" she paused, trying to remember the last one's name. "Oniichan!"

_Yes,_ the Unown said. _We rescued them from the gap between dimensions before they could be crushed into oblivion. However, they are still badly damaged. We fear they will never be quite as they were before. The shadows of who they once were, Professor Hale, Marian, and Eusine may no longer exist. _Molly frowned, sobering at this. _Just as, in a way, you no longer exist as the human Molly Hale. You are something different. Something more. So are they._

"And what will they do, now that they too are different?" she asked, saddened by the knowledge that her parents were now gone forever. But it did not hurt nearly as bad as she had expected, it felt as if they were two people she had known in another lifetime, too long ago for her to remember with distinct clarity. Now all she had were Mama, Papa, and Oniichan, and for some reason she was gladder that they were still alive than she could ever have imagined. They were, like her, changed now, and felt more like her 'family' than they had as humans, when she had been the lonely, alienated, and admittedly selfish Molly Hale. But now she had the potential to become something more, as did they. Even the name Molly Hale was now just an outdated tag.

_They will go in your place to the final battle_, the Unown told her. _And they will confront their nemesis Cerberus once again. And then…_ If they had shoulders, the Unown would have shrugged. _That is for the flow of events to determine._

Molly nodded, feeling strangely satisfied by that answer. "Unown?" she asked. "May I ask you something?"

_You just did. But you may ask once more. Then we must get to work. There is much to do and a forever to do it in._

"Why wasn't I able to make Ash love me?" Molly pushed.

They looked at her for a moment, considering the question and the requisite answer. _The toy Pokemon could love you because they had no minds of their own, so you planted your own expectations in them. Your parents already loved you, so you built on that. The children hated you, but hate and love are truly not so far apart, and so you managed to convert their loathing to affection. The same can be said of the townspeople. As for Ash Ketchum, however…_

_Ash's mind is filled with memories of him and Misty Waterflower. She is the only woman he has ever been able to love. He is the only woman he _can_ love, not just because they are soulmates, but because that is how his mind and memories are structured, to make him recall all that they have been through together, all that they have survived and accomplished, and remind him constantly, relentlessly of how he feels for her and will always feel for her._

_To replace that love, you would have had to erase and replace almost half his memories, uprooting an enormous amount of what made Ash Ketchum Ash Ketchum, and leaving you with a confused, heavily brainwashed, and almost mindless fool with none of the experience, wisdom, and maturity (as little as those last two may be) he had gathered on his journeys. He would no longer be Ash, and you would no longer love him, and would have discarded him like a toy._

"Oh," Molly said, feeling ashamed. How petty and trivial her actions seemed now, her abuse of power which could have been used for so much good around the world. Strange how one's life looked, after it had been left behind.

_…There was also the small consideration that we strengthened his mind a tiny bit to make him a little more resistant to brainwashing,_ they admitted with a tone as close as they could come to sheepishness. _We anticipated you'd do something like this, and took actions to prepare for it._

"Oh," Molly said again, sulking. Had she _really_ been that bad?

The answer was yes, and they all knew it.

"One other thing…" She glanced at her hands. "Why do I still have these? I still look human."

_Your mind is used to being human, or at least human in form, and that is how you will remain until you learn to shape yourself differently and use your energy more efficiently. We will educate you in this, among other things,_ they explained. _And now that your quandary has been solved, we must move on to other matters,_ the Unown told her, circling slowly. _Repairing Mama, Papa, and Oniichan's bodies and essences. Beginning the process of mastering your powers so that you can exist out here in infinity without becoming lost or crushed in its ever-changing environs. And weathering out the coming storm._

_And there is one other thing._

From out of nowhere, a dozen small glowing spheres floated over to Molly's hands, each one similar to the others, but with attributes that made it unique. "These are-"

_The souls of the mansion staff whose lives you ended to spare them pain…we pulled them here to keep them from being consumed by _him_, they do not yet have the strength of mind to take shape here without a body…they need you to grow and develop here…_

Molly felt something, something new to her old and current existence. It was the feeling of responsibility. It felt strangely good, even if it was a burden.

_We have much work to do, Molly…or as we now dub you, Mie._

The newborn cherub nodded, understanding. But she was finally ready, truly ready, to get started.

…

Done! How was that?


	48. Rival Showdown! Power of the Pyramid!

Okay, here's the next round of the tournament. Hopefully it will be more lighthearted and entertaining than the last chapter, which true to fashion was morbid and evil. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Anything which is not a cheap parody is owned by companies in Japan. Aside from that, all else is stuff I rather wish I _didn't_ own. Oh well. Big thanks to Alex Warlorn and DiamondLatias3000 for all the help they gave me with this chapter, including the translator used to write Berry Stoo's words in perfect style. Thanks especially to Diamond for the song Otherworld and The Assumption song as well as giving me the use of one of his characters, who will appear at some point in this chapter and hopefully stay throughout the remainder of this story, as well as helping me come up with some of the original Pokemon you'll see here. Huge thanks to Eaglefox for inspiring Pikachu's new outfit.

…

The angry brown-haired man slapped a card onto a panel on the huge and extremely bulky device strapped to his arm. "And with this Megamorph magic card, I double my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragonite's power!" A blue box appeared somewhere near his elbow and showed a yellow 4500 rapidly rising to 9000. He then somehow leaped impossibly high into the air and landed onto the middle of one of three fearsome heads on long necks attached to the body of a giant Dragonite which was plated in silvery white armor. Its claws, tail, and wings were much larger and dangerous-looking than those of a real Dragonite's, as were the heads, which had fangs instead of the small filters real Dragonite used to eat shrimp and other microscopic organisms in the water. "Now your Ancient God Cards are toast!"

On the other side of a ruined coliseum, across from the man on top of the weird Dragonite, stood a Lugia with a spiky tri-colored wig, a blue sleeveless jacket, a similar bulky device on his wing-arm, and a gold pyramid with an eye engraved on it dangling from his neck. Behind him were three colossal monsters, each about the same size as the blue-eyed Dragonite. One was a big golden dinosaur creature with huge plate armor, metal wings, and a ring attached to its back, one was an immense blue whale of some kind with armored wings growing from its back and tail fins split into legs, and the last one was a long, coiled serpentine red dragon with small but sharp claws and a pair of large wings growing from the back of its head, which had two jaws. The wigged Lugia raised a wing-hand dramatically. "Not so fast, Saiba! By sacrificing Winged Groudon of Ra and Rayquaza the Sky Dragon to my Kyogre the Tormentor, I can make its power infinite!" The blue whale reached out with its two huge fin-hands and crushed the heads of the monsters on either side of it, causing them to shatter into thousands of little pixels and a blue screen to pop up near the whale and show a yellow 4000 change into the symbol for infinity.

The Lugia leaped into the air impossibly high without flapping its wings and landed on the horned head of his Kyogre. "Now, Kyogre the Tormentor, attack with Fins of Fury!" The giant whale growled and pointed its clenched fins at the three-headed Dragonite and fired a ludicrously powerful beam of energy from its fists.

The beam struck the immense Dragonite and caused it to shatter into pixels while Saiba was flung off, a blue screen appearing in the air and showing a yellow 4000 going down to zero. "Nooooo!" Saiba cried as his face ballooned up, filling all view with a scrolling background of dark blue and purple angst. "How could I lose!"

"Because you do not trust in the heart of the-" the Lugia began saying triumphantly.

"Shut that crap off!" Crawdaunt snapped, on his last nerve.

"Hey!" Pikachu protested. "I happen to like that show!"

Bayleef covered Phanphy's ears with her vines. "Crawdaunt, no cursing around Phanphy! You know that!"

"I'll curse all I want to, woman! It's a free region!" the lobster bellowed angrily.

Pikachu sighed and massaged his cheeks, his own nerves close to shot as well. "Look, just because you and Corsola broke up doesn't mean you have to take it out on the rest of us."

Crawdaunt blinked. "Broke…oh yeah, so we did. No you idiots, that's not why I'm pissed, I'm pissed because we're going to get creamed and most likely murdilized by that asshole Berry Stoo!"

An uneasy silence hung in the air as he spoke those dreaded words. "You shouldn't speak that way," Bayleef said quietly, lifting her vines off Phanphy's ears.

"Doesn't stop it from being true, does it?" Crawdaunt grumbled, scuttling away.

No, it did not.

The six Pokemon were in the trainer's locker room of Battle Pyramid, which had walls and floor done up to look like sandy stone blocks with hieroglyphics carved on them and Egyptian-looking statues here and there. They were sitting on a bench watching reruns of Lu-Gi-Oh (which seemed to be the only thing the arena had on television) while waiting for the makeup artists to finish preparing Ash for today's match.

His match with Berry Stoo.

They had been startled when they found out they would be fighting Ash's newest (well, other than Wes) rival today. Even so, they had felt pretty confident, despite all the rumors they had heard about how tough Berry was.

Until they saw the tears on the faces of the emotionally crushed trainers who had already lost to Berry walk up to Ash and wish him luck.

And the broken bodies of his opponent's Pokemon on all the recordings of Berry's past battles in the tournament, which for some reason the officials allowed and had no trouble with.

And Berry himself walking up and taunting Ash, calling him evil, selfish, stupid, and cruel to his Pokemon before he even got around to talking about Ash's skill with battling (which, according to Berry, was abysmal at best). And then he said Ash's mom must have been a whore to give birth to such an awful child.

That had resulted in Ash, in a blind rage, trying to stab Berry with a cheap plastic knife from the breakfast table. It had crumpled up on contact with Berry's skin, and the hideously beautiful man had simply laughed and shoved Ash lightly, which caused Ash to slam into the wall on the other side of the dining room while Mariah looked on admiringly and told Berry what a good person he was.

And the guy hadn't once spoken in anything other than that weird n00b l33t language of his. That made it even more humiliating. Ash hadn't come out of the bathroom for a whole hour after being humiliated so in front of all the other competitors. It had taken the combined efforts of Pikachu, Misty, Wes, and surprisingly enough, Zoro (who had decided to stick around a little longer and see what would happen in the tournament) to convince him to come out and face the day. (In other words they dragged him out kicking and screaming.)

They had then spent most of the day training harder than they could ever remember before, making them wonder if they were subconsciously trying to finish themselves off before falling to Berry's freaks of nature. Training for this match. Training for Berry. And it still didn't feel like it was enough.

A cloud of doom hung over their heads. A Castform outside giggled and turned into a black Dark-type cloud. Was it any surprise Crawdaunt was so irritable?

"Don't worry," Phanphy said optimistically. "As long as we trust in the heart of the cards we can't lose!"

Crawdaunt snorted loudly at the small child, not caring Phanphy was too young to realize such things. "Oh, listen to yourself. Two things: One, this isn't a card game, it's a _Pokemon battle_, with real Pokemon instead of lame holographic monsters and magic and traps. Two, THERE IS NO GODDMAN HEART OF THE CARDS! It's just blind faith and contrivance disguised as actual dueling skill! Do you know why they always seem to be able to pull out exactly the right card exactly when they need it? _Because the writers made it that way to heighten drama and tension._ In real life, most of those duelists would probably be creamed in a card fight. Or an actual fight for that matter, I could probably take any of those wimps in a match…"

In an alternate universe…

Crawdaunt stood face with face with the brown skinned man in a turban, a golden set of scales between them.

"I serve the gods for I chose to," the brown man said. The scales didn't move an inch from how they were, the left side nearly touching the ground with nothing in it while a feather was on the right side. "This will be YOUR final question. If you were wed to Corsola and met a Luvdisc who was hours away from dying and wanted to mate with you in spite of your wedding vows . . . would you agree to her request for her sake, or for your cock's?"

Crawdaunt sweatdropped. "Uh, the majority of Pokemon don't have wedding vows, even if we're mated for life. At least that's how my species works. And everyone knows that even if it's for-life mating, it's by no means exclusive (once again, at least for my species), my mom serviced a few starving men in her own time while my father was occupied during Luvdisc mating season. So…this question doesn't really hold any relevance to me. And the answer would be 'both' anyway."

The turbaned man scowled and nudged the scale with his foot. The left, empty side of the scales hit the ground with an ominous thud. "Haha! Answering with 'both' and questioning the integrity of the question is against the rules of the Shadow Game! So that means…PENALTY GAME!"

The brown man stuck a finger at Crawdaunt, and the lobster was suddenly trapped in a delusion where he was surrounded by attractive pink female Pokemon, but his manhood would vanish every time he tried to touch one or to even self-pleasure himself.

The turbaned man smirked. "And that is what you get for hitting on my cousin."

…

Phanphy looked shocked and distressed. "Th-then there's no heart of the cards?"

Charizard, who had leaning against a wall and staring blankly into space, sighed. "No, Phanphy. And even if there were, it wouldn't help us in this match. How do you beat a guy who's got a deck, well, you know what I mean, stacked against you in virtually every way imaginable?"

"Charizard!" Bayleef scolded.

"What? It's true," he said miserably. "Look, even Latias thinks so. She's so down she hasn't moved or said a thing since we got here," he said, pointing to Latias, who was sitting in the corner with her eyes closed.

"…That's because she's meditating," Bayleef corrected flatly. "To prepare for the match."

Charizard blinked. "Oh. My mistake."

"Well, at least someone seems to have a little faith," Bayleef muttered. "To meditate in search of answers rather than just moping around."

"I'd like to have faith too," Pikachu said sadly. "But then I saw what Berry's Salamence did to that one guy's Raichu. I didn't know that someone's tail could be used that way." He hugged his own tail reflexively.

"Yep. We're screwed," Crawdaunt agreed. "Completely and totally screwed."

"Latias is meditating," Bayleef argued. "I'm sure she'll come up with something."

…

"We're completely and totally screwed," Latias moaned, giving up and hovering listlessly in space.  
She had dived once more down to that light in the innermost depths of her subconscious, which connected her to the Ghost King and was the mysterious source of her power, hoping she could tap into it and become strong enough to defeat Berry. Unfortunately, due to her state of agitation and worry her astral self lacked the sense of balance and tranquility it needed to properly interact with anything in her mind, and so she couldn't seem to touch the damn thing.

And if she couldn't, what chance of victory did she have?

She sighed unhappily, giving up virtually all hope of winning. She did not particularly look forward to getting beaten as brutally and harshly as the Pokemon she had seen in the recordings of Berry's other fights, but it didn't seem like she had any other choice. Unless, of course, some miracle was to occur…

_"Latias…"_ A familiar voice whispered, almost on cue with her thoughts.

Latias' eyes widened. No. It couldn't be. Could it?

She whirled around, and thought she caught a glimpse of yellow eyes in the light. _"Latias…"_

Her heartbeat quickened. "M-my love?" she whispered in disbelief.

_"Come." _The eyes vanished back into the blinding whiteness of the light.

She flew after them, only to be repelled by an invisible force, the one that had kept her from touching it so far because of her unbalanced state, her worry and insecurity about the coming battle.

Forget her worries and insecurities. She had a soulmate to see!

She flew towards the light again. The repelling force slowed her down for less than half a second before giving way before her urgent need to see her love and allowing her to pass into the light.

She felt a familiar wrenching sensation as she was flung across space and time and countless worlds in a heartbeat before finding herself in a land comprised of mists.

And there, yellow eyes glowing beneath that cloud of smoke that seemed to encompass and embody him, was the Ghost King.

Strange, almost animalistic feelings of happiness and lust welled up from deep within her, no longer held back by self-denial or fears. Without restraint, she squealed with joy and tackled him, both startling and pleasing him and causing them both to tumble back through the endless mists, locked in each other's embrace. Had she been here physically she would not have been able to do this, but since she was currently an astral projection it only made sense that the ethereal should be solid for her, and this kind of contact was possible. "I missed you," she whispered, burying her face in his smoky chest. It felt solid underneath, and the hint of scales and armor plating seemed oddly reassuring and sensually appealing to her. A small voice inside her purred in content, and she echoed it blissfully.

_"As did I,"_ he agreed softly, nuzzling her. _"It has been far, far too long."_ He forced a smile. _"Watching you from here, from such a great distance is one thing, but…there were times I honestly did not think I'd ever be able to touch you. To interact with you again. Like we were meant to."_

She snuggled up against him. "Why didn't I do this before?" she wondered. "It feels so right…"

_"The only other opportunity you would have had was when we first met,"_ he pointed out gently, wrapping small tendrils of mist around her. _"And then you were angry at me and in denial. You really hurt my feelings when you broke off that kiss, you know."_

"I know," Latias said, feeling deep heartfelt sorrow for doing such a foolish thing. "I could make it up now, if you'd like."

He blinked startled. _"I-I'd like that," _he admitted, looking sorely tempted. "_But…perhaps we should leave that for next time."_ Reluctantly, he pushed her away.

She gave him a sad look, not wanting to break contact with him, but complied. "Then there will be a next time?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded. _"And when that time comes, as it will soon, you will be able to see me in the flesh, as I truly am."_

Latias gasped. "You mean-"

_"Yes. I will be coming back to life again."_

She couldn't stop herself from tackling him again. "When?" she asked, finding the possibility of having to wait much longer for that day almost unbearable.

_"If all goes well, I will be returned to my physical form this day," _he told her, eyes lighting up as she squealed and hugged him tighter. _"But I will not be able to see you for a few more days at the most."_

She gave him a mournful look. "Can't I see you sooner?" she asked unhappily.

He looked uneasy. _"There are…affairs I must deal with. The world is not as secure or stable now as it should be. You would know this if you have been following recent events. There are terrible things happening everywhere."_

She nodded. "Yes, we heard about how Greenfield was totally wiped out just yesterday. Was it…"

He nodded. _"Yes. It was the source of the cataclysm, as are all the other turbulent events which have befallen our fair Earth in recent days. All of them find their origins in him."_

She looked away. "Poor Molly…was there no way you could have intervened? Stopped those catastrophes from happening?"

_"If I had, I would have drawn his attention," _he said regretfully. _"And he would have taken measures to prevent my resurrection, and the threat I might pose to him. Doing such a thing could cost us victory in this war."_ A tendril of smoke brushed against her cheek. _"I am truly sorry, Latias. Were it not for my desire to see you again…to hold you beneath the starry sky in my own arms, just the two of us…and the necessity of the events we intend to set into motion, I would have sent my army to help. Even though I cannot say for certain that they would have been of any help."_

He looked so regretful. And Latias knew he wouldn't lie to her. "It's okay," she whispered, laying her head against his side. "It may sound selfish, but I would have done the same thing if it could mean I could see you again…for real, instead of this shadowy specter you're stuck as."

_"…Thank you," _he said, visibly relieved as he held her closer. _"In the end, it really may be for the best, anyway. All the components have been gathered to facilitate my resurrection, and I may have not one, but _two_ armies to aid me when I join the struggle. The ghosts still wish to serve me even when I am no longer a shade like they are, and envoys I sent out to numerous dragon clans have returned with the news that they have pledged to follow me into battle as well."_

"Dragons…" Latias blinked and looked up into his big yellow eyes. "Is it true then? I've suspected for a while that you were the legendary king of dragons and my ancestor's mate."

He nodded. _"I am indeed, although I did not know until recently. Getting torn from my body and sent here rather confused me and addled my wits, as you would expect. But soon everything will be right again, as it was then."_

"Okay." She believed and trusted him in this. She frowned as a thought struck her. "Didn't you promise you'd never come into my mind again using the link we shared?"

He chuckled. _"I did indeed. But I did not enter your mind Latias, I simply came halfway, close enough for you to see me from your end. Enough to entice you and bring you here, for there are things we must discuss. Things other than this happy reunion."_ Regretfully, he released her. _"I called you here to warn you about just what you are getting into in today's match."_

Latias frowned. "You mean Berry Stoo."

_"And Mariah Susanson."_ He glanced into the void. _"Shedinja! Come here and give your report! You can explain this better than I."_

Even though she knew he meant her no harm anymore, even though she knew he was a loyal and obedient servant of her beloved and could be trusted implicitly because of that, Latias could not prevent herself from feeling a shiver of revulsion at the sight of the tan Shed Pokemon, the monster who had callously murdered Bianca and Lorenzo.

"Lady Latias," Shedinja said emotionlessly, acknowledging her.

"Shedinja," she replied, equally emotionless.

_"Shedinja, make your report. Tell Latias what she is facing," _the King ordered.

Shedinja bowed. "At your command, my liege." He turned to face Latias. "My lady, do you recall the crystal Missingno and your mother possessed?"

"How can I not?" she muttered, remembering how much trouble that little sliver had caused.

"It is part of a larger crystal which was shattered millennia ago in the final battle between the ultimate incarnations of good and evil in our world," Shedinja explained. "In the process, the shards were coated with positive and negative energy which both changed the ways their power could be used and ensured they would find their way to souls whose spiritual makeup was compatible with them. On that stormy eve after the battle which nearly destroyed the world, two of those shards found their way to your ancestor and her brother, transforming them into the first Latias and Latios, while my lord found a shard of his own and evolved as well." Latias was startled at this revelation and glanced at the King, who nodded to show her it was true. "The crystal's power was passed down through the family lines of those who claimed the power to begin with, one in each generation or thereabouts. That is how you came to have the power you possess now, which your mother did not. But many other shards were never found and were claimed by other individuals who felt drawn to them. The Duskull who became Missingno is one of them."

Latias had a sudden epiphany. "And Mariah Susanson is another!" she guessed, realizing the jewel which hung around Mariah's neck looked an awful lot like the one her mother had worn.

"Close," Shedinja agreed. "But not exactly. The crystal Mariah possesses was actually found by a research division of Team Rocket a few years ago in a faraway region. They attempted to use it to harness the abilities of the psychic humans and Pokemon they were experimenting on in their facility to boost the powers of their troops. The experiment backfired and not only killed the troops the power was given to, but caused the energy from the psychic humans and Pokemon to explode from the feedback, killing them. The result of their anguish and psychic screams gave birth to the abomination called 'Mariah Susanson', formed from the fusion of the crystal with numerous random feelings, aspirations, and desires the prisoners had, along with a good deal of the insanity that had developed among them. Those emotions, ambitions, madness, and other psychic currents solidified into Mariah, using the crystal as an 'anchor' of sorts to stabilize her form and keep her real, the psy-energy becoming an emulation of flesh and blood. Her newly formed mind engineered memories for itself out of the bits and pieces it had from the psychics whose deaths had formed her, and she filled in the blanks with her own details. With the single-minded goal of becoming a Pokemon Master, she left the lab after burning it to the ground and killing everyone inside, screaming that Team Rocket was evil and she would destroy anyone associated with it."

Latias was stunned. "Is that…what Mariah is? An insane mixture of psychic vibes formed into one impossible individual?"

"Essentially, yes," Shedinja said with a nod. "However, even though Mariah's body was now stable and kept that way by the crystal, her mind was still in flux and in danger of tearing itself apart. This is understandable, since it was comprised from the echoes of so many other minds, many of them driven insane by torture, that it would be impossible for it not to be inherently unstable. To keep her mind from unbalancing, she extracted a significant portion of it and shaped it into a second entity, also stabilized by the crystal, so that she would not only have company like herself but keep from feeling as if there was some part of her missing."

Latias blinked. "You mean…Berry Stoo?"

Shedinja shook his head. "No, Berry Stoo is another, much sadder story altogether. I am referring to the Pokemon Mariah carries with her everywhere she goes, Pika Pika."

Latias gawked. "You mean Pika Pika, that sad Pikachu our Pikachu keeps fawning over, is actually a part of Mariah Susanson!"

"The more rational, sane part," Shedinja explained. "She was the part of Mariah who wanted to die because their 'birth' and subsequent existence felt abhorrent and wrong, worse even than being a ghost. She wanted to just die and be free of all these conflicting elements in her mind and find peace in oblivion. Mariah didn't want to die because her ego, another bloated and malformed part of her created by her abnormal 'birth' felt the world needed someone like her and removed Pika Pika from her head to keep her from causing her to commit suicide or something like that. The resulting Pokemon is even more miserable now, because she is living a half-life she cannot and does not want, and also can never die as long as the crystal Mariah wears keeps both of their existences stable. Mariah thinks of Pika Pika as her 'starter'."

"But…but why does she want to die so badly?" Latias asked, confused and somewhat horrified.

"Because death is infinitely better to being caught somewhere between being alive and being dead," Shedinja said bitterly. "That is something all ghosts learn rather quickly." He glanced at the Ghost King. "His Majesty is lucky he has a body to return to. For the rest of us spirits, there is no escape save willing oneself through the door or complete dissolution."

_"…"_ Feeling guilty, the King looked away.

"In any case, Pika Pika has tried numerous times to escape or kill herself to end the pain she feels every moment of her existence, the insanity that threatens to destroy her mind and make her like Mariah. She has watched, helplessly, as Mariah used her powers and 'charm' to seduce Pokemon into joining her, where she then burns them out and restructures them into something that fits her expectations and desires, powerful and beautiful creatures without equal or wills of their own, their souls long since crushed by the love for Mariah which is now virtually the only thing they can feel. Their spirits are gone from this world. They are little more than glorified undead."

"…That's so awful," Latias whispered, shocked.

"It is the same fate which befell the first good-looking male she encountered on her journey," Shedinja explained. "When she saw one she liked, she destroyed him and remade him completely, turning him into Berry Stoo. Like Pika Pika and Mariah, his form is held stable by the power of the crystal, but also Mariah's will. Without it, he cannot exist. He has died many times as a result whenever he has failed her enough to warrant dissolution, and Mariah has always brought him back by imprinting him over another poor human male. His Pokemon, like hers, are ones who have been destroyed from within and remade into completely empty and invincible creatures who cannot be defeated. _This_ is the enemy you fight in the arena today."

Latias was appalled. "If she uses an innocent man as raw material for Berry, and split herself to create Pika Pika, how can she still think she's real?"

_"She's insane,"_ the Ghost King pointed out. _"Things do not need to make sense to her."_

Latias shook her head. "She offered one of my friends a chance to 'become like her'. What would have happened if she had accepted?"

"There have been reports of a few such cases, where women who faced Mariah spontaneously transformed into beautiful, perfect women. Those women were all put to the stake soon after by other jealous females or just as often committed when the power Mariah gave them burned out and their minds fell to pieces. Not that there's anything left inside them, Mariah uses those souls she takes as fuel to increase how much she can warp reality around her, and how far."

Latias groaned. "How can we possibly defeat something like this! I can't just summon Mewtwo to save us, Ash has already registered six Pokemon for the tournament, it'd be against the rules!"

"I believe I have the answer to that," an unfamiliar voice echoed from the mists, like sounding like a masculine tone from inside a suit of armor. A strange new Pokemon, unlike any ghost or other creature Latias had ever seen before, appeared. It was a little over six feet tall and comprised completely of metal. Its legs were short silvery gray cylindrical blocks fixed to large hemispherical pivots on the bottom of a thick 'waist' plate of sorts, atop which was a silvery gray metal sphere cracked open a few feet to reveal a black metal ball just inside its shell. From the sides of the outer spherical shell came two more hemispherical pivots, attached to which were long, thin and flexible black metal arms ending in three long silvery gray fingers each with red triangles on the knuckles. The black sphere visible through the opening in the silvery gray shell had seven red eyes, six clustered in a circle around a single central one. The creature gracefully bowed to Latias. "My lady Queen of Dragons, it is an honor to serve you again."

Latias blinked in confusion while the Ghost King made an amused chuckle. _"Registeel, she is not my queen yet, you can wait until our marriage to use the formalities."_

The Iron Pokemon stood back up. "Quite right my liege, I apologize."

"My King, who is this?" Latias asked, puzzled by the unique Pokemon.

"I am Registeel, master of metal," the creature told her. "One of three ancient wizard-priests who long ago helped safeguard the planet and advise its rulers. In times past I served the King and your ancestor and prior incarnation, the first Latias."

Latias blinked. "Prior incarnation?"

"In a past life, you were the first Latias," Registeel explained. "You were reborn as you are now so that you could rejoin your mate and finish the life you would have had together had you not sacrificed yourself to stop Missingno. Why do you think you have such a strong connection to him? You were soulmates in your last life, and since the King did not truly die he still remains bound to your heart, and you to his."

Latias glanced at the King, who did not seem to be surprised to hear this piece of information. Clearly he already knew. Latias, after a moment of thought, did not find herself surprised by this revelation at all. Rather, it made perfect sense, as if it were something she had always known but never really noticed. How interesting. "That explains a lot," she murmured out loud.

_"Latias, Registeel is one of the people who separated me from my body and left me here. But they did it for a good reason,"_ the King said quickly. _"And didn't mean for me to be _here_ specifically, it was a miscalculation, and they would have fixed it were they not pressed for time and being threatened by an angry mob."_

"Well, as long as he promises to help you get out, he's all right with me," Latias said, glaring at the Iron Pokemon.

"That is why I was sought out," Registeel explained. "To reverse the damage I caused all those years ago. I had hoped my siblings would be able to assist me, but…" He hesitated. "Their long sleep seems to have…changed them from the brother and sister I remembered and cherished. Or perhaps they were always like this, and I was too blinded by love to really notice…" he mused sadly. "Nevertheless, if all goes well I will have the King back in his body by this eve. We will need to get him reaccustomed to his physical form, of course, and make the arrangements we need to gather our forces…but with any luck, he will be able to make it to the finals of the Hoenn League Championships the day after tomorrow so that he may see your victory against all who stand in your way."

Latias couldn't help blushing. "That's assuming I'll make it to the finals."

_"With seeing me in my physical form as your incentive, why would you possibly lose?" _the King joked. Shedinja grunted and turned away, disgusted with all this display of affection.

"I believe I can help you on that note then, my lady…to get to the next round at least, by defeating Berry Stoo," Registeel informed Latias, regaining her attention. "Berry Stoo is at his basest a simple golem constructed by Mariah Susanson to represent her desires for companionship and sexual fulfillment. As he is hollowed out from any poor human male with the misfortune to attract her interest, he is in truth little better than her Pokemon. Any soul he, or they, once possessed has vanished, gone from the world of life. If he has a mind at all, it is because she wishes him to have one so he may converse with her and scream her name when they climax in the midst of mating. And it's not even a very good mind, if his linguistics is anything to show for it…

"In any case, without Mariah consciously focusing her expectations for Berry on him, he is stripped to his basest and most simplistic programming, which is only slightly more complex than that of the Pokemon he uses so that it allows him at least a semblance of higher brain functions. He can barely think and strategize without Mariah backing him. Most of his skill is in having ludicrously high-powered and invincible Pokemon which can brutally wipe out most opponents in but a single move. On his own that would be bad enough, but since reconnaissance has shown Mariah will be attending his match today he may be fully capable of flexing all the meager brain matter he possesses, which would make him truly unbeatable.

"However, there is a way around this. First, Mariah must be distracted so she loses focus in Berry and his Pokemon. This will cause the strength and skill she perceives in him to vanish, rendering him a dim-witted, bumbling, poorly-speaking (although somewhat handsome) oaf who still has Pokemon with ridiculous endurance and strength that can still wipe you out with one move if they connect and if you follow the rules that have been programmed into him, namely fighting your opponent one-on-one in a tense, action-filled and drawn-out battle, maybe swapping out Pokemon to utilize an advantage or try out a new strategy. He is prepared for this and will crush you if you fight that way."

"So how do we fight?" Latias asked.

"Simple. You must NOT do as Berry Stoo expects. Think outside of the box. Use as unorthodox and unbelievable a strategy as possible without actually cheating," Registeel explained. "Your trainer, Ash Ketchum, has shown a remarkable ability at this. With a little help and inspiration, he may be able to come up with a strategy that will work. One of the basic keys is not to turn the fight into a drama."

Latias blinked, frowned, and thought about that for a moment. "Will that really work?" she asked.

Registeel nodded. "Since it will not be something Berry is programmed to deal with, it will tax his already underpowered thought capacity, and render him virtually unable to fight back. Oh, he can still order his Pokemon to attack and defend, but he'll lose the ability to properly strategize, and with a good (and unorthodox) strategy of your own, you should be able to take him down. As long as you keep Mariah occupied and from boosting Berry and his Pokemon's strength, you have a good chance of winning the fight."

Latias sighed in relief. "Thank you, Registeel. I'll tell everyone what you said. We should be able to come up with something."

"Of course," Shedinja added suddenly. "Chances are also high that if Ash does beat Mariah, she will choose him to become her _next_ Berry."

Latias was startled. "What!"

"Berry Stoo has been beaten in the past by trainers who have used this same technique, thinking outside of the box," Shedinja explained, glad to have a say in things again. "When they win, Mariah destroys her old Stoo since he lost and turns the trainer who won into her new Stoo so she will have an unbeatable boyfriend 'perfect' for all her needs. She even changes a majority of the poor soul's Pokemon to clones of the previous Berry's, transforming their bodies and even genders to match her preference. Those who are truly special will be made even more unique in her eyes, twisted into visions of hollow perfection for the entire world to admire. I believe that you would not wish this to happen again, correct?"

"No, I don't!" Latias agreed. "How do we stop that?"

"By destroying Mariah herself," Registeel told her. "Since Mariah Susanson is essentially a physical manifestation of psychic energy and impressions, she can be dissipated by a Dark attack, but only a very powerful one at that, she has become too deeply rooted in her crystal for anything else to harm her. The Absol in your group of friends would be perfect for this task. However, it is imperative that her crystal is removed before she is attacked, even if her body is destroyed the crystal still retains the original imprint of her distorted mind and personality and will reconstruct her from particles in the air. For that purpose, I have made this." He produced what looked at first like a small rectangular piece of paper, but on closer observation was an incredibly thin sheet of metal with various writings and symbols engraved into it. "This spell tag, when attached to Mariah's necklace, should purge the crystal of her personality and also render it neutral and perfectly useable for whoever wishes to claim its power…namely, you."

Latias was startled. "Me? But I don't want that power! I don't want to turn into Mariah or something like her!"

_"Well, something has to be done with the crystal,"_ the Ghost King pointed out. _"You can't just leave it lying about. No telling who'll find it and what will become of it."_

"You shouldn't suffer any adverse effects from absorbing the jewel," Registeel assured Latias. "At most, all it will do is increase your power somewhat and make it easier for you to use the abilities you already possess. It may even grant you new ones. It will take some experimentation, though…I would be perfectly willing to help you in this once I am free to meet you in the real world and we have the opportunity for a lesson or two."

"…Okay," Latias agreed with a bit of reluctance. Yes, being stronger sounded good, especially if the big catastrophe was coming, but…she still didn't want to end up like her mother or turn into something like Missingno or Mariah, all of whom had used crystal power.

Then again, her darling King and her ancestor had both evolved from the same power, so perhaps nothing bad would come of it. She had to believe that.

She glanced at the spell tag still in Registeel's hands, marveling at how flimsy and flexible it seemed, just like a real piece of paper or the wish tags on Jirachi's head. "Couldn't we put this on Mariah before the match?" she asked, pointing to the tag. "Why wait until after and she has a chance to change Ash?"

"Well of course you could put it on her at anytime," Shedinja agreed. "And then your trainer would have to explain to tournament officials why his opponent, his opponent's girlfriend, and all their Pokemon vanished without a trace prior to or in the middle of his match with Berry."

Latias sweatdropped. "Oh. I-I didn't think of that."

"Berry Stoo will cease to exist at the same time Mariah does," Registeel told her. "To avoid suspicion, it would be best if you wait until after the match and you are in a more private location to attach the spell tag and destroy Mariah."

"Won't that put whoever she's scheduled to fight tomorrow under suspicion?" Latias asked.

The King chuckled. _"We have already set certain…cogs in the mechanism of bureaucracy into motion. A formal resignation from the tournament will be filed tomorrow morning, before her scheduled match, and numerous witnesses will 'report' seeing Mariah and Berry returning to the city after the match, packing up their hotel rooms, and leaving Ever Grande. There will be no reason for officials to investigate further. Just in case, security tapes will show the two departing Battle Frontier, the hotel, and Ever Grande itself, to convince any who are still suspicious that there was no foul play involved."_

Shedinja chuckled darkly. "It's amazing what humans will do if you terrify them enough."

Latias felt a moment of uncertainty at being caught up in a dark conspiracy to essentially murder Mariah Susanson and lead to Berry's death, which then passed when she realized that she didn't really care about Mariah's 'life' in the slightest since she wasn't a real person and never had been. Just like how nobody had felt sorry when Jirachi had accidentally fallen on and crushed Berry Stoo during the Tyranitron's invasion. She felt a moment of sadness and guilt for a split second, realizing that the Berry who had insulted them all and they would be fighting now was no doubt just an innocent bystander Mariah had selected to become the new Berry, the poor soul. This only strengthened her resolve to make sure that Mariah didn't get the chance to do it again.

She nodded to the three of them. "Thank you, all of you, for helping me and the others out like this. I really appreciate it, and I'm sure they would too…after I convince them we can trust anything you say because you're really not an evil jerk who just wants to molest me and fulfill his erotic desires."

The Ghost King sweatdropped. _"Is that really what they think of me?"_

Latias giggled. "Some of them. Not everyone knows what to make of you, especially since you sort of helped us get rid of Missingno and I then pretty much forgave you right in front of them."

The King scowled. _"Hmmph. I will just have to see about changing their opinions then, won't I?"_

"I could go frighten them into liking you if you wish," Shedinja offered almost too eagerly.

_"…No Shedinja, I don't think it works that way,"_ the King said deadpan.

"Darn," the Shed Pokemon muttered to himself.

"I could put in a few good words for you when I tell them about all this," Latias offered. "I suppose that while I'm at it, I could tell them about…you know, you and I. Having a secret romance is nice, but…I know that sooner or later they would have found out on their own. I'd rather they hear it from me than from somewhere else and think I've been lying to them all this time."

The King nodded, looking grateful. _"If that is what you wish…I truly do not want to be held in low esteem by your friends forever, my dear Latias."_

Latias smiled at him, nodded, and reached out for Registeel's proffered spell tag…only for her claw to pass right though it. She blinked in surprise. "Wha?"

"Oh, I forgot," Registeel said sheepishly. "You're only here in astral form. There's no way you can take this back by yourself. How foolish of me." Everyone facefaulted…even though there wasn't really any ground for them to fall onto.

The King sighed. _"Shedinja?"_

"I'll deliver it to the arena in time," Shedinja promised, floating over to Registeel and taking the tag from him. "I still say we should have hired that group of assassins, though…"

_"That's your answer to everything," _the King grumbled. _"Assassins this. Assassins that. Hiring your acquaintances in the Shinobi Guild is not the best way to handle every situation."_

"They did a good job of stealing the Green Orb we need for your resurrection though," Shedinja pointed out.

_"I also seem to recall them killing the Grand Poobah of Kazaa's pet Growlithe. And having the old man swear to exorcize your spirits if you ever entered his kingdom again as a result. At what point did I tell you that you could have them do that?"_ the King growled.

"He had it coming!" Shedinja protested. "For flame-broiling me that one time! Besides, we tried to take it from the shrine it was originally at and-"

…

The ghost bug and his warriors retreated out of the old wood and paper building, some screaming for their unlives. "Mommy!" one wailed.

A man in a pink kimono with a cross scar on one side of his face charged out after them, holding a reverse-bladed sword. "Come back, cowards!"

…

"…We met with some surprise resistance."

The King sighed wearily while Latias and Registeel sweatdropped and moved slowly away from the psychotic ghost. _"Shedinja, you can't kill everyone you don't like. It's not very polite, for one thing, and reflects badly on you and on ghosts in general for another. I'd mention the moral problems, but I know you never listen to that part of the lecture so I'll just skip it."_

"Thank you lord," Shedinja said, grateful to avoid a truly boring speech. "And besides, you've never given me a better solution, other than 'ignore them' or 'try to become friends with them'. Killing them removes the problem permanently."

The King sighed. _"A permanent solution for a temporary problem…Shedinja…what am I going to do with you?"_ he muttered, shaking his head.

Registeel sweatdropped. It looked a lot like either a drop of liquid metal or a drop of oil. "You should go now," he recommended to Latias. "And tell your friends and Ash Ketchum what they must know. Shedinja should be along with the spell tag shortly…as soon as he's through enduring the King."

Latias nodded. "Okay. And do a good job of restoring my love back to life, would you?"

"I will do the best I can," Registeel assured her. "He is in the best of hands, I promise you. My word is as unbreakable as my body, and I swear to you I will have him alive and to you in time for the finals."

Latias smiled. "Thank you." She glanced at the King, who was now trying to convince Shedinja that there were other ways he could deal with his pent-up hostility for pretty much all life in general, like macramé, or knitting. "Beloved!" she called, getting his attention. "I'm going now. Can't miss the match, can I?"

_"No, of course not," _he agreed, floating over and letting Shedinja off. The Shed Pokemon quickly made his getaway before the King could remember he was there and start lecturing him again. _"It was…very good to see you, my Latias."_

"And I you, my King," she said happily, running a claw over some of his smoke.

_"I would kiss you farewell, but…well, you do have a match,"_ he said sadly. _"But…when next we meet, and I am flesh and blood…we can do all that, and more."_

"And then we'll get married, like in my dreams," she said wistfully. "Well, maybe not exactly like my dreams, so many things have changed in my life since then it feels like the people who actually show up to the wedding keep shifting about…the dream doesn't seem to be as consistent as it once was. It's rather confusing."

"I could perform the ceremony, if you wished," Registeel offered, floating over. "I did so the last time."

_"I would be honored to have you," _the King told the golem, nodding to show his approval.

"There'd be a bit of trouble with Father of the Bride though," Latias said sadly. "Not sure who I'd choose, Mewtwo or…my dad."

_"I see no reason they can't both take the job," _the King suggested. _"It seems perfectly all right to me."_

"Be that as it may, Latias should get going," Registeel reminded them. "There isn't much time left before the match starts, and they will need to strategize."

"Of course," Latias said, reluctantly moving away from the King. "I have to go now." She thought she heard a whimper of protest from somewhere inside her, but ignored it.

_"I know."_

"I don't want to go."

_"Neither do I."_

"But for now…"

He nodded. _"Yes. For now."_

She darted over and planted a kiss on his cheek…or where one would be if he had a cheek. The Ghost King shuddered visibly in pleasure. "Until next time," she whispered to him. Her astral form began to fade as she willed herself back to the waking world.

"Lady Latias!" Registeel called as she grew more and more diffuse. "If you could, tell the Wishmaker I am sorry I could not do more to help him!"

Latias paused in the midst of her waking up, which left her consciousness stretched between two dimensions, not a very comfortable position to be in. "You know Jirachi?"

The Iron Pokemon faltered. "I…yes, he and I…were close a long time ago. It saddens me that I have not had the time to come see him since my awakening. Let him know, if you please, that Registeel is here and has not forgotten about him."

Having no idea what she was talking about, Latias shrugged and resumed the process of waking up, leaving the Mist Realm and astral plane behind. "Okay, I will." She nodded to the King as she faded more and more. "Goodbye, my King! Until next time!"

_"Until next time,"_ he agreed sadly.

She was suddenly struck with a thought which shocked her and resulted in her trying futilely trying to hang on for a few more seconds. "Registeel!" she cried just before she disappeared. "Registeel! What about-"

She was gone.

"What do you think that was about?" the puzzled Registeel asked.

The King sighed mournfully. _"I don't know…and I can't find myself caring right now either. This misty old place seems drearier than ever now that she's gone." _He glanced at the Iron Pokemon. _"I don't suppose you've ever been in love, Registeel?"_

"…My lord, I'm an animate hunk of metal. What's there to love?"

_"Hmm. With that kind of self-esteem, you'll never get a girlfriend,"_ the Ghost King said with a chuckle.

Registeel sweatdropped. "We really should get to work, your majesty. It's almost time."

The King nodded. _"So it is, so it is…go and get ready. I will prepare myself in a moment."_

"As you wish." With a slight bow, Registeel vanished back into the mists.

The Ghost King sighed and glanced at the space where Latias had been just moments ago. _"Soon, my darling…soon all this separation and longing will end."_

…

Latias opened her eyes, feeling all the aches, stiffness, and limitations of her physical form thrust without warning upon her as she woke up in the real world. The question that had been on the tip of her tongue as she had left the realm of mists was forgotten, retreating back to whatever corner of her mind it had originated from.

Her friends were pretty much as they had been before she had entered her trance, dully watching Lu-Gi-Oh reruns or moping about, as if they were friends of a terminally ill patient in a hospital waiting to hear the ultimate bad news.

Charizard was the first to notice her. "Hey, Latias is up!" He slouched off the wall as the others turned to notice her. "Don't suppose you've figured a way out of this fight, have you?"

Latias smiled. "Actually, I have."

Crawdaunt blinked. "Okay, this I gotta hear…"

"You have an idea, Latias?" Bayleef asked, walking over.

She nodded. "Yeah, but we'll need to talk to Ash and get everyone else's help to pull this off. Listen, here's what I've found out…"

…

Numerous tourists disembarked from the ferry after it had docked at the pier on the south end of Battle Frontier, eager to explore the island, maybe catch a Smeargle or two, and watch some quality matches in the Hoenn League Championships.

Last to get off the boat were an unusual pair, a tall figure wrapped in a dark cloak, its face hidden by a hood except for one red eye. Walking alongside the figure was an unusual Pokemon that looked a lot like Sneasel, except it had a red disc around its neck, a pair of long red ears, a red fan-shaped crest growing from the back of its head, and a pair of long red feathers for a tail. It had long, sharp white claws and a yellowish gem embedded in its forehead.

The Pokemon grunted and put its claws on its hips, a pleased expression on its face. "So _this_ is Battle Frontier, eh? Never got here with my old trainer. Mainly because he died in the fatal cold of that icy mountain he got the fool idea of trekking up, leaving me to fend for myself and eventually eat his corpse and the corpses of my teammates. Never liked them much anyway, so no big loss, right?"

The Pokemon's companion did not reply or react in any visible manner, except to pull its cloak tighter around itself and glance around it anxiously, looking unsettled by the amount of humans and Pokemon crowding the docks, as well as all the ships and water stretching out everywhere. The immense towering cliffs of the island which loomed over them didn't help the cloaked figure's nerves much either.

The Sneasel-looking Pokemon smirked when it saw its partner's distress. "Ah, still shy of crowds, eh? Well, we'll see if we can't get that knocked outta you. Has to happen sooner or later. I conquered my fear of spiders long time ago, so something as simple as crowds should be no problem beating, right?"

The cloaked figure glared at the Pokemon with its single eye, but said nothing. The Pokemon grimaced. "Ah, don't give me that look, you know how it makes me feel! 'Sides, we got more important things to do now, like catching up with our compatriots. They should be around here somewhere, right? The TV said so…"

The figure nodded, agreeing with its companion's assessment. The Pokemon smirked. "Good! So now we just gotta find them. Shouldn't be too hard, there are only so many places to fight on this island, right? Let's get going already!"

The cloaked person nodded again and, tentatively, merged with the crowd, looking rather anxious and self-conscious. The Pokemon stuck close to the figure's side to give it a feeling of security, so the cloaked one would relax and feel safe in the knowledge that its friend would do all it could to protect it.

…

The Battle Pyramid had prepared itself for a battle most extreme. The upper third of the pyramid had unfolded into fourths, the four sides of the edifice's tip leaning out to the sides, their interiors hollowed out and riddled with seats. Those seats were quickly filled up as spectators filed into the arena.

The four unfolded faces of the tip were organized around a sunken square arena with a floor packed with sand. White lines drawn into the floor showed the designated battlefield area. The field was lined with stone obelisks, just tall enough to extend a little over the top rim of the sunken arena, so that they didn't hinder the view of the spectators. The obelisks and arena walls were covered in hieroglyphics to continue the Egyptian motif of this section of Battle Frontier.

In his VIP box on the south side of the unfolded pyramid, Pyramid King Brandon sat in a small throne, dressed as the High Priest of Ra; ready to watch what he hoped would be a very interesting fight. He had no idea just how interesting it would be…

Mariah Susanson happily plopped herself down in one of the seats on the face of the pyramid pointing westwards, right in the center of the front row and looking down into the arena. "Isn't this wonderful, Pika Pika?" she asked cheerfully. "All we had to do was tell the people at the ticket booth I was Berry's soulmate and they gave me this free seat right here directly across from the side of the field Berry will be on, so I can watch everything he does perfectly as he wins the battle without breaking a sweat!"

Pika Pika said nothing but sadly wondered what poor soul whose ticket they had deprived by getting this seat.

…

"Hey! Let me in!" Zoro protested, banging on the door.

"You got no ticket, you no go in, _comprende_ amigo?" The man in the ticket booth said in a no nonsense tone.

"But I bought a ticket in advance! No. 23-B!"

"The list here says Mariah Susanson has that seat."

Zoro growled and shook his fist in the air. "She devil! Demon queen! I curse you! From the heart of my home land! I curse you!"

…

As she always did, the false Pikachu wished Mariah would tire of her and let her die, or that both of them would die and this torment of a life full of suffering and watching others suffer and be destroyed by Mariah's hands would finally end.

"Oh, hello, are you sitting here?" a female asked.

Mariah looked up and saw Misty standing in front of the seat next to her, with Brock, May, Max, and their requisite Pokemon behind her. "Hey, aren't you the friends of the Ass kid who's fighting today?"

Misty's eye twitched and her fists clenched. "Ash."

"Right, whatever." She leaned over and noticed May. "Hello May, have you reconsidered my offer yet?"

May glared at her coldly. "No, I rather prefer being real to something like you."

Mariah shrugged. "Okay, your loss." She leaned back in her seat, showing she did not consider their presence worthwhile of her attention. This was just fine for Ash's friends, as this allowed them to occupy the seats to either side and directly behind Mariah, putting them in the perfect position to carry out "Operation Distraction", as Latias had provided the idea for and her friends had outlined and plotted.

Misty sat down on Mariah's right and Brock on her left, both feeling somewhat disgusted at having to sit so close to this wretched creature. May and Max were in the seats right behind Mariah, so May could be as far away from the horrible woman as possible without ruining the plan and so Max and Jirachi could carry out their part of the operation when they needed to. Absol sat at Max's feet, burning a hole in the back of Mariah's head with his eyes and awaiting his chance to make the fatal strike and execute the nonexistent female. He knew he was not to act until they stole her crystal after the fight in a more secure location, and if he attacked her here and now that could lead to mass confusion and a lot of uncomfortable questions for Ash and everyone involved, but if he decided that Mariah posed too much of a threat he would not hesitate to kill her.

"What are you doing?" Mariah asked in confusion as Misty released Politoed and Kasurin, who were holding the group's cheerleading outfits and fans and started passing them out to Togetic and Jirachi.

"Oh, we always cheer Ash on at his battles. It's what good friends do. You cheer Berry on, don't you?" Misty asked.

Mariah got a dreamy look on her face. "Well of course I do, I love him with every bit of my love-filled heart!" Everyone got sour expressions on their faces, and thought to themselves how good it would be when this abomination was gone from this world.

Pika Pika frowned. She didn't know why, but she got the strangest feeling that they were up to something.

She shrugged and settled down on Mariah's shoulder. If whatever they did resulted in Mariah's death and her subsequent freedom, more power to them. She would not reveal their plans…even if personally she doubted it would work. These wouldn't be the first trainers who had tried to rid the world of Mariah Susanson.

The ambient background noise from the crowd increased as two trapdoors on either side of the battlefield slid open. A pair of tall stone (or faux stone) platform arose from the revealed pit, made of sandy blocks and formed to look like an Arbok with open, hissing jaws, its hood extended and covered in hieroglyphics. Carved ladder rungs ran down the stone snake's back to the ground, so the two trainers standing atop the platforms to climb down when they were through fighting.

And what trainers they were! On the platform directly across the field from the seats where our heroes (and Mariah) had placed themselves was Berry Stoo, his skin artificially tanned with the use of makeup and clad in Egyptian (or what the makeup artists thought looked Egyptian) clothing. His chest was bare and revealed his ludicrously bulging muscles, with a small crystal pyramid resting on it which dangled from a cord around his neck. The cord was attached to a bone-gray collar with spikes curving out from the top, away from his head and magnificent golden locks, which perfectly framed his face and the small blue jewel set on his forehead. He had several golden stripes painted on his chin and the sides of his face. He wore a long black cape which fell down his back, attached to a pair of thick dull gray shoulderpads with black rims. A pair of red bands wrapped around his forearms, looking as if they would snap at any moment from his prodigious muscles, and longer armbands wrapped around his wrists and forearms. He wore a pair of dark brown trousers held up by a belt with an eye symbol for the buckle, and a pair of ornate boots on his feet. Mariah (and, sad to say, most of the women in the arena) squealed at the sight of his incredible good lucks. Misty and May made disgusted faces, as did Rui from where she was sitting with Wes on the north quadrant of seats. (This was the first time Ho-Oh had actually insisted on 'being' at any of the matches so far.)

However, several people forgot Berry altogether when they saw Ash standing on his platform right underneath where our heroes were seated. The makeup artists had brought out a whole other side of him when they had gotten him dressed up for the match. His shoes were more like metal slippers with gray socks leading up to a pair of bands wrapped around his ankles to separate them from the slight bulge of his white pants. A thick gold band went around his waist, from which dangled a leather (or something like it) piece with simple black markings on it. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with a red eye symbol sewn onto it, with a long purple cape draping over his shoulders and down his back with ornate images of Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza dazzling in the sunlight on the back. A pair of gold bands was wrapped around each arm, one on the wrist and one on the upper arm. A shining gold collar ran around his neck and helped hold the cape in place. His face, along with the rest of his exposed skin, was dyed to look tan, with little applications of kohl to accentuate his eyes, which looked more serious and confident than they ever had before.

And, since the artists had liked it so much, he was allowed to keep his red and white lucky hat. Instead of clashing with the rest of his outfit, it seemed oddly _right_, like the crown of a true pharaoh. This made Ash seem somewhat regal and un-Ash-like. And very sexy, as many of the female members of the audience could attest to.

"Whoa," Brock said, amazed.

"They look just like characters on Lu-Gi-Oh!" Max observed with some excitement. "The Reincarnated Pharaoh versus the evil overlord who uses the slain souls of innocents to feed his power!"

Absol sweatdropped. "Maybe your mother is right about that show not being for children after all."

"Mom? Mom?" Togetic waved her arms in front of Misty's face. "Mom, you're drooling. Um, it's getting on your shirt and it's kind of embarrassing."

"Huh? Oh, sorry…" Almost in a daze, Misty wiped away her saliva, not taking her eyes off Ash.

May had started drooling too, but Max and Jirachi thought it was funny so did nothing to stop it. Absol rolled his eyes and nudged May with a leg, causing her to come to her senses and wipe away the saliva dribbling down her chin.

"He's nowhere near as handsome as my Berry," Mariah said confidently. Misty restrained herself from smashing Mariah's head in with her mallet for saying such a blasphemous and untrue statement.

A third stone platform elevated on the side of the battlefield, the referee standing on it, looking rather out of place with the typical uniform instead of Egyptian costume like the two competing trainers had on. "This is a six-on-six Pokemon battle with no time limit. Both trainers are allowed to switch their Pokemon whenever they wish. Whichever trainer loses all six of their Pokemon first loses. Begin the match!" He swung his flags down, starting the battle.

Berry smirked, his gleaming white teeth flashing as the sunlight reflected off of them. "R 2 LOSE FOL!1 WTF LOL I WIL CRUSH U WIT MAH AEWSOME AND WEL-TRANE3D POKEMON WHOM I LOVE PROFUSALY!1! WTF GO OLIPHAN!1!1! WTF LOL" He threw a solid gold Luxury Ball onto the field. It popped open as it struck the sandy ground of the battlefield with a flash of light, releasing the Pokemon within before snapping shut and returning to its trainer's hand.

Oliphan was an immense ivory white Pokemon, almost thirty feet tall, a huge elephantine creature with a long trunk and six ivory tusks growing from the sides of its mouth and blossoming outward in all directions. The front of its trunk, back, forehead, sides, and shins were all encased in thick ebony black armor with small spikes jutting out of the joints. A large hump grew out of the back which was hollowed out and looked remarkably like a travel canopy, so that with a few cushions a person or even a group of persons could sit comfortably in it and ride on the Pokemon's back as it tromped unstoppably through hostile territory.

Brock gaped. "Whoa! I've never seen that Pokemon before!"

May whipped out her Pokedex and pointed it at the Oliphan. It beeped and in a feminine voice said, "No data available."

"Darn it!" she cursed angrily. "I've really got to get this hunk of junk upgraded!"

"Mom, that looks a lot like something Phanphy would evolve into!" Togetic realized, shocked.

Misty sweatdropped. "I hope your little brother doesn't evolve into that then, I don't think even Professor Oak would be able to take care of him…"

Politoed tapped her leg with a fan. "I think it's time you begin the plan," he whispered.

Misty blinked. "What? Oh…" She cringed. She really, really was not looking forward to her part in Operation Distraction. She wasn't sure if Ash even knew how much he had asked her to sacrifice when they had come up with her part of the plan. It was something that went against everything she stood for, something that felt loathsome and just plain wrong. Under normal circumstances, she would never, even for a second, contemplate doing such a thing.

But…since Ash had asked her for her help…

There was nothing else she could do. She loved him enough to do anything to help him succeed.

She took a deep breath, winced, and began one of the most awful and gut-wrenching moments of her life. "Like, ohmigod, your boyfriend is so hot!" she squealed, sounding much like one of her sisters. Togetic shivered and floated off her mother's head to join the cheerleaders, disgusted by how much she was reminded of her 'wicked' aunts. "You are like, so lucky!"

"I know!" Mariah exclaimed as she took her eyes off of Berry, looking happily at the sky as the sunlight and little sparkles fell down around her, pleased that the ugly girl had recognized how fortunate she was and how much better she was than everyone else. "And he loves me, and only me. He will never love anyone else. Isn't that beautiful?"

Misty nodded with fake enthusiasm, trying to keep from retching, even if it would have the positive effect of covering Mariah's face and color-shifting eyes in vomit. "Like, yeah, totally! I wish I could get someone as totally hot and sexy and handsome and dreamy who would love me like that!"

"Oh, you'll never find someone like that," Mariah assured her kindly. "You're too plain and flat-chested. But if you're lucky, you may be able to find someone in other ways than beginning a life of prostitution…"

Meanwhile, Ash stood resolute in the face of the enormous Oliphan, even as the great beast trumpeted loudly in his face. He calmly pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the creature. After a moment of scanning, it beeped and said, "Oliphan, the Heavy Armor Pokemon. This Pokemon was used by ancient empires as both a method of transport in the deep jungle and as a mount in war. In present times, it is used mainly for tourism purposes or left to its own devices." The device beeped again. "Unusual fluctuations in this specimen's biochemical makeup detected. Authenticity of the Pokemon is questionable, even if the proper DNA of the Phanphy evolutionary line is present."

Ash glanced over a few more things 'Dex listed, nodded, and put it away. "If you think you'll intimidate me with that thing's size, you're mistaken. I've seen bigger and nastier." His voice sounded a little deeper and more mature than usual…but maybe that was just the outfit. He pointed a finger at Oliphan. "For my first Pokemon, I choose…Phanphy the Clown!"

Since Ash had no Pokeballs, his Pokemon were brought up to the arena a different way. A trapdoor opened on Ash's side of the field and an elevator platform rose up, carrying…Phanphy in his clown costume balancing precariously on a big red rubber ball. He honked the horn in his trunk a few times as he saw all the stunned faces staring at him from the crowd. "Hi, everybody! I'm Phanphy the clown!" He gasped and almost fell off his ball as he saw Oliphan. "Wow! Daddy, am I going to be that big when I grow up?"

Ash smirked. "Hopefully not, I'd hate to get tackled by you if you grew to that size."

Berry was laughing so hard that he was pounding his fists on the rails of his platform. "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! IS TAHT LITLE CLOWN DA BST U CAN DO? OMG WTF MAH OLIPHAN CAN CRUSH HIM 3ASILY

11!11 WTF LOL"

Ash grinned. "You're right, your Oliphan could easily crush Phanphy. But…" He gestured to Phanphy, who was now running in place on top of the ball and causing it to roll around the arena, honking his horn happily. "Can it roll on a ball as well as mine can?"

Berry snorted. Had Mariah not been so occupied insulting/advising Misty, his brain would have been smart enough to realize that Oliphan couldn't. Thankfully, since she was occupied, his base programming took prominence. And that programming told him his Pokemon were the best at everything. "OF COURSE HE CAN1111! LOL OLIPHAN G3T ON TAHT BAL1111 WTF LOL"

Oliphan trumpeted and stomped towards Phanphy, shaking the earth and causing the ball to wobble and nearly knock the little elephant off. "Wh-whoa!" He hopped off quickly. "H-here you go, Mr. Oliphan! Enjoy!"

The Oliphan trumpeted in reply and put one of its huge, flat, elephantine, ginormous and really heavy feet onto the ball.

Unsurprisingly, it was squished flat. Phanphy gasped in horror. The Oliphan, confused at the ball's disappearance, pulled its foot up and looked at the ground underneath it, trying to see where the round object had gone. "Y-you killed Mr. Ball!" Tears started welling up in his eyes. "You…you…you BIG MEANIE! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" He burst into tears, sobbing as he fell right on his little elephant rear.

The crowd was instantly touched and heartbroken by the young Phanphy's misery. "You big jerk!" yelled one mother of three, getting to her feet and throwing a soda can at Oliphan's head. "How dare you break that child's prized possession!"

The can smashed into the giant elephant's head, startling it. This can was soon followed by bags of popcorn, hotdogs, paper napkins, rocks (don't ask), pieces of candy, coins, and in a few cases entire chairs wrenched from their places. The elephant Pokemon's tiny brain did not understand this. Always in its past it had been cheered on fervently by the audience. Why were they trying to hurt it now? There was nothing in its programming on how to deal with this situation. This was completely fresh territory, which terrified its puny mind in ways it could not comprehend. Frightened and confused, the Oliphan trumpeted in panic, stomping its front feet against the ground repeatedly and causing the entire pyramid to shake.

"Order! Order!" The referee blew his whistle. "Stop this at once!" The crowd ignored him and continued throwing stuff at Oliphan and agitating it more, Berry's desperate commands to calm it down going unnoticed as the elephant grew more and more frenzied, swinging its trunk around and smashing it into one of the obelisks ringing the battlefield, knocking off the tip and almost causing it to fall into the stands and crush the innocent people sitting there. They screamed and scrambled out of their seats away from the mad Pokemon, frightened it would come after them next, and this rippled across the arena, resulting in much turmoil and chaos among the crowd as they tried to move away from the Oliphan.

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" the referee shouted, blowing his whistle again. He glared at Berry Stoo. "You! Recall that Pokemon right now! It's out of control and a danger to everyone here!"

Berry stammered, utterly confused on what had just happened. This also wasn't in his programming. He had never been made to recall a Pokemon before by force, he had only done it when he wanted to, because all of them were so strong they never fainted in battle. At least, that's what Mariah had programmed him to believe. "BUT.BUT.!1!111!1!1!1 OMG LOL"

"Do it or you're out of the match! Disqualified!" threatened the referee.

This much Berry was, marginally, able to understand. Trembling with rage that he had been slighted so, insulted by the crowd and forced to recall his Pokemon for no good reason, he angrily said, "OLIPHAN RETURN111!1! OMG WTF LOL"

A red energy beam shot out of Oliphan's Pokeball and struck it, causing it to dematerialize and return to the gold sphere. The angry and frightened audience members sighed or cheered in relief.

The referee nodded. "It had better stay there for the rest of the match. And as for you," the referee snapped at Ash. "No more stunts like that or you're disqualified! Understand?"

Ash nodded quickly, his new dramatics shot down for the moment. "Y-yeah." He felt guilty; he hadn't expected Oliphan to have such a violent reaction. But he would have to hope none of Berry's other Pokemon would be so dangerous to the crowd when provoked; otherwise the plan would be ruined.

Phanphy ran over to him, sobbing. "Daddy, the mean big me killed my ball!"

"Don't worry Phanphy," Ash reassured him, crouching down to get a better look at him. "We'll get you another ball after the match. Okay?"

Phanphy sniffed, his tears drying. "Can I have some ice cream too?"

Ash smiled. "Sure."

"Yay!" Phanphy pranced about happily.

"Oliphan is not allowed to continue battling," the referee said, pointing a flag at Phanphy. "Phanphy is the winner!"

Mariah, who had been too busy either insulting or being complimented by Misty, looked up, suddenly noticing that all the screaming and bellowing she assumed had been from awe at Berry's prowess and skills had ended, and was very surprised to see that not only was Oliphan gone, but Phanphy was still around. "What? Where did Oliphan go?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, he lost," Misty said with a smile while the cheerleaders did a little chant to applaud Ash and Phanphy's clever move. "Never stood a chance."

Mariah gaped. "But-but that's impossible! Berry CAN'T lose, not even a single round in a match! He's invincible!"

Misty shrugged. "Well, you know, nobody's invincible." It was all she could do to keep from cheering and shoving it in Mariah's face. The unreal girl simply gawked in disbelief, while Pika Pika was amazed, but quickly saddened. If that nice boy Ash did manage to beat Berry, it only meant he would become the new one. Perhaps the plan to take Mariah down didn't have as much a chance of success as she thought…she sighed, berating herself for even a moment having hope. She had long ago learned that hoping did nothing but constantly let her down and cause her to sink even further into despair. For someone in her position, hope was not something she could afford. Her life was bad enough as it was without being complicated by a desperate belief that it could get any better.

Mariah frowned at Misty, getting the strangest feeling she had just been tricked. Misty smiled innocently, promising herself that she would never, ever speak like her sisters again. EVER. After a moment, Mariah sniffed and turned her attention back to the match, allowing Misty to sigh in relief. Her part of the plan was done. Mariah probably wouldn't fall for that trick again, so it was somebody else's turn to serve as a distraction.

Back on the field, Berry scowled and took out another golden Pokeball, his meager wits boosted back up since Mariah's attention was focused on him again. "U MAY HAEV CH3AETD UR WAY IN2 WINNG TAHT LAST ROUND BUT IT ENDS H3RE!11!1 LOL I CHOS3 U TANTACTHULU!1!111 OMG LOL" He hurled the ball out into the arena. It burst open and released a towering monstrosity almost as big as Oliphan. It was an immense bipedal vaguely humanoid monster with slimy gray-green skin. Its arms and legs were formed from dozens of long tentacles braided together and forced into a solid mass by giant ornate shackles. The tentacle-fingers of its right hand were wrapped around a large trident carved out of coral. It had a pair of bat-like wings growing from its back with tentacles in place of extending bones to keep the membranes in place. Its head looked like a Tentacruel, with a long beak-like nose and tentacles splaying out in every direction, with huge gleaming red globules on top of its pulsating blue upper body. There were numerous expressions of disgust from the audience.

"Ew! That's gross!" May squealed.

Max smirked. "I dunno, looks kinda cool. I'd love to have one of those, wouldn't you Jirachi?"

Misinterpreting that as a wish, Jirachi shrugged and said, "Okay!" His true eye started to glow.

"NO!" May and Absol screamed at him.

"Awwww." Disappointed, Jirachi powered down.

Misty made a face. "Hmm…I love all Water Pokemon and all, but…I dunno, I don't really feel it with this one."

"That's Tentacthulhu!" Mariah declared, pleased. "That weak ugly stupid mean loser may have somehow won the last round by cheating, but he'll never defeat this!"

"Daddy, I don't have to fight that do I?" Phanphy asked uneasily.

Ash frowned and pointed his Pokedex at it. After a few moments of scanning, it beeped and said, "Tentacthulhu, the Elder God Pokemon. This Pokemon was the mythical object of worship for cults around the world and thought to be no more than a legend until remains of a beast matching the cult's descriptions was discovered in a sunken city in the middle of the ocean." The Pokedex beeped again and said, "Unusual fluctuations in this specimen's biochemical makeup detected. Authenticity of the Pokemon is questionable, even if the proper DNA of the Tentacool evolutionary line is present."

Ash skimmed through the rest of his Pokedex's report, nodded, and put it away. "No Phanphy, you don't have to fight it." The elephant sighed in relief. "Go back down to the locker room."

"Okay!" Relieved that he didn't have to fight the big scary ugly monster, Phanphy scampered over to the platform he had used to get up to the arena, stepped on, and waved farewell to the audience with his trunk as he descended into the pyramid. "Bye-bye, everyone!" The crowd cooed in delight at the adorable elephant. Wes rolled his eyes as Rui fawned over the little guy.

"And in his place, I summon…Bayleef, the Herbalist!" The platform rose back up, carrying Bayleef, who swished her leaf and went "Bay!" as Grass Pokemon enthusiasts in the crowd cheered at the sight of her. _Stupid RPGenerator had to have been broken!_ She thought angrily.

The cheerleading squad hopped up onto the rim of the arena, right in front of Mariah, and started dancing while doing their chant, blocking her view completely. "Bayleef, Bayleef, she looks so sweet, you'll be real surprised when she knocks you off your feet! Goooo Bayleef!"

Mariah scowled. "Get out of the way!" She tried to shove them from her view, but they scrambled back onto the rim right after she knocked them off and started chanting again, frustrating her to no end. She would have blasted them into atoms, but she had just had her nails done and didn't want to ruin them until they had set properly.

Berry Stoo laughed. "LOLOLOLOLOLOL! TAHT LITL3 POKEMON CANT HURT T3NTACTHULU!1! LOL UR THROWNG H3R OUT 2 GAT SLAUGHTERAD JUST LIEK TEH EVIL CRU3L TRANEAR U AER1!11 WTF"

Ash smirked. "Am I? I think we'll see about that. Bayleef, use Sweet Scent!"

"Right!" Bayleef swished her leaf, sending a cloud of sparkling yellow dust into Tentacthulhu's face. It hovered there, engulfing the monster's head, and although it waved the tentacles sprouting from its face a little to try and get rid of the dust, it refused to move away from its head.

"LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! IS TAHT DA BST U CAN DO!" Berry taunted. "TANTACTHULU SUP3R HYDRO BLASTAR ATAK1!11 OMG WTF LOL"

Tentacthulhu made a noise that sounded stuck between a bellow, a grunt, and a moan, and drove its trident into the ground, sending a huge and extremely powerful-looking wave of high-pressure water washing across the field right towards Bayleef. The obelisks trembled as the wave rushed over them, and the platform the referee was standing on creaked ominously, but both held fast. However, there was not a doubt in the minds of all watching that Bayleef would most certainly topple if that attack hit her.

Good thing she wasn't going to be hit by it, then. "Bayleef, jump over it and collect solar energy!" Ash shouted.

Bayleef thrust her Vine Whips at the ground, pushing off and launching herself into the air, over the wave and onto the top of a nearby obelisk. The audience gasped, never having seen something like that. Even Berry looked a little startled. Tentacthulhu turned to face Bayleef, the cloud of Sweet Scent still clinging to its face, as Bayleef finished gathering solar energy into a blue and white energy ball in her mouth. She fired the beam directly into the tentacle fiend's face, doing little damage by itself since it was so big and nigh-invincible…

However, it had an interesting effect on the dust surrounding the monster's head, causing it to light up in various psychedelic colors, which dazzled and overloaded the Elder God Pokemon's puny brain. It collapsed to the ground, shaking the floor slightly, and started twitching and drooling in the thrall of a seizure.

"Wes, don't look at the lights!" Rui cried, covering her eyes.

Wes was wearing his sunglasses and staring at the pretty lights. "Cool!"

Bayleef was very lucky Mariah had been distracted by the cheerleaders at that moment. Otherwise it wouldn't have worked. Since the seizure wasn't an official status ailment the dazzling lights had affected the monster's brain, Mariah would correct that flaw in Berry's perfect Pokemon in the future...assuming she got the chance.

Berry gaped. "L3333333T?11! WTF LOL"

The referee sweatdropped. "Well, never seen a fight won that way before…" He pointed a flag at Tentacthulhu. "Tentacthulhu is unable to battle! Bayleef wins the round! And Mr. Ketchum, please don't use that move again, I'm not certain it's legal and not sure I want to find out."

"YAAAYYY! GOOOO BAYLEEF!" The cheerleaders sang, dancing out of the way and giving Mariah an unobstructed view of the unconscious Tentachtulu.

She screamed very shrilly, causing everyone nearby to wince and clutch their ears. "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!" she shrieked.

Brock smirked. "All right, two down, four to go!"

Pika Pika sighed unhappily. She knew their hope was but a delusion, beating Berry would do nothing but end one poor soul's pain and bring Ash into agony the likes of which he could not possibly imagine.

Berry was rather confused by now and didn't understand why this was happening. He had never lost before, not a single round of a single match. How could he possibly lose two Pokemon in a row? He scowled as he enlarged and readied his next Pokemon. This one, he was sure, would change his luck. "GO L3MUR3!1!11 WTF LOL"

The gold Pokeball landed on the field and popped open, releasing a small Pokemon that looked surprisingly like an Aipom, only with gray and black fur, huge orange and black eyes, sharp little claws, and a larger grasping claw on the end of its tail. Bayleef stared at it from her obelisk, raising an eyebrow at its oddness.

Ash pointed his Pokedex at it. The device scanned the Pokemon, beeped and said, "Lemure, the Tree Climbing Pokemon. Old stories say this highly intelligent evolution of Aipom lived in an island city in the North Pacific which sank some thousands of years ago, taking every last member of the species with it." There was another beep. "Unusual fluctuations in this specimen's biochemical makeup detected. Authenticity of the Pokemon is questionable, even if the proper DNA similar to an Aipom is present."

Bayleef sighed in relief, this thing was probably the placeholder of Berry's team. "Doesn't look so bad."

"According to this, it can claw off its opponent's face with that thing on its tail," Ash yelled up to her.

Bayleef sweatdropped. "Ah, on second thought, I think I'll tag out. Don't want my face to be ruined for Grovyle-kun." She hopped off the obelisk, extending her vines as she fell to absorb the impact and slow her descent, gently using them as supports to lower her to the ground. She quickly ran over to the elevator platform and hopped on before the Lemure could get orders to attack her.

As she descended into the pyramid, Ash said out loud, "I switch out my Bayleef the Herbalist and summon…" The elevator rose back up, carrying with it Crawdaunt. "Crawdaunt the Amoral!"

"Got that right!" Crawdaunt said, pleased with his title. He waved to the crowd and cameras filming him. "Pink Pokemon of the world, I'm all yours!"

Berry Stoo laughed. "LAMUR3S MUCH FAST3R AND CAN MAEK QUIK3R AND MORE PANATRATNG STRIEKS THAN UR CRAWDAUNT CAN!111 OMG WTF LOL IVE GOT THIS BATL3 IN DA BAG!1!1! OMG WTF LEMUR3 WILD LUNGE ATAK!1!1! OMG WTF" Lemure's lips curled back, revealing needle-thin fangs. With a savage howl, the lemur monster lunged at Crawdaunt.

In the stands, Brock took his cue and grabbed Mariah's hand, startling her. "Oh lovely Mariah, when I stare into your…um…kind of freaky and ever-shifting eyes, I feel…I feel…" Misty and everyone else glared at him, warning him he'd better not mess up. The horny teen, not wanting to let Ash and everyone else down, tried to finish his sentence and fall into his old groove of hitting on sexy women.

He failed horribly. "I CAN'T DO IT!" he wailed, falling onto Mariah's chest and sobbing, grabbing her in a hug. "YOU'RE NOTHING COMPARED TO HER! OH, VENUS, WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!" Sobbing, Brock held Mariah closer, cutting her view off of the battle. Mariah screamed and clawed at Brock with her perfect nails, tearing the back of his shirt and drawing blood, and shouted for Pika Pika to shock the lunatic off of her. The red-brown Pikachu complied, but Brock was inured to electric shocks after receiving so many from Pikachu, and since he was holding on to Mariah she got shocked as well and writhed and screamed in surprise as the electric jolt passed through her body. And still Brock refused to release his grip, too deep in grief to let go.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Well, I guess that way works too," May said, sweatdropping.

"Crawdaunt, time to use The Assumption!" Ash ordered.

Crawdaunt crossed his claws in front of him, deflecting the Lemure's lunge, and threw a punch at the lemur's chest, knocking it back. The monkey-like Pokemon flipped through the air and landed on its feet unharmed, but just before it could attack again Crawdaunt took a deep breath…

And burst into song.

"There was an old farmer who lived on a rock," he started, confusing Lemure, Berry, and pretty much the entire stadium audience. "He sat in the meadow just shaking his…" He lunged forward and smashed a Crabhammer into Lemure's skull, knocking it head over heels and causing it to smash its face into the dirt. Berry blinked in confusion. The referee stared. Ash smirked. Crawdaunt kept singing.  
"Fist at some boys who were down by the crick," he sang, trotting over to Lemure on all his legs. Before the Tree Climbing Pokemon could get up, Crawdaunt jumped on the creature's back and started dancing the poor thing into the ground, pounding his sharp, pointy feet into the gray and black fur. Lemure tried to lash out with his claw tail, but its sharp points merely scraped off of the lobster's hard armor. "Their feet in the water, their hands on their-" He paused a moment to drum his claws on the back of Lemure's head before hopping off. "Marbles and play things at a half passed four…" He backed away as Lemure hopped back to its feet and lunged at him, screeching. "There came a young lady who looked like a pretty, young preacher-" He smashed a punch into the beast's mouth, grabbed its tail with his other claw, and swung Lemure over his head, tapping his feet on the ground in harmony with his song.

"She sat on the grass, she pulled up her dress, and she showed them her-" He swung Lemure down while dancing on his little legs, smashing it into the ground over and over again. "Ruffles, and laces and white fluffy duck!" He released the monster's tail and backed away as Lemure got up again. "She said she was learning a new way to bring up her children, so they would not spit-" He spat in Lemure's face as it hissed at him, causing it to screech in pain and clutch its eyes. "While the boys in the barnyard were shoveling-" He spun around, kicking sand into Lemure's face with his tail and hind legs, causing the Tree Climbing Pokemon to stagger back, hacking at the dust in its lungs while clearing its eyes. Crawdaunt continued, trotting about on his legs.  
"Refuse, and litter from yesterday's hunt, while the girl in the meadow was rubbing her eyes at the fellow, down by the dock-" As Lemure cleared its eyes, Crawdaunt spat in them again and punched the creature in the chest. "He looked like a man with a sizable home in the country, with a big fence out front," He gave a one-two punch to Lemure's side as it staggered about, trying to clear its eyes. "If he asked her politely, she'd show him her-" Lemure had cleared its eyes and lunged again. Crawdaunt delivered a well-timed Crabhammer uppercut, flinging it away. He scurried over and hopped onto the lemur's chest, dancing up and down and shoving it into the ground as he continued. "Little pet dog, who was subject to fits, and maybe she'd let him grab hold of her-" He hopped off, grabbed Lemure's wrists, and flung him over his head, causing the monster to slam face-first into the dirt once more.  
"Small, tender hands with a movement so quick, and then she'd bend over and suck on his-" Abruptly he lunged, grabbed Lemure's tail in his mouth and bit down. The lemur shrieked and thrashed about in pain, trying to pull its tail out. Crawdaunt kept singing, the words somewhat muffled by the tail in his mouth as he soaked it in drool. "Candy, so tasty made of butterscotch, and then he'd spread whip cream all over her-" He let go of Lemure's tail, grabbed it with his pincer before it could be pulled away, and used it to twirl the lemur over his head again, the monkey-like Pokemon screeching furiously. And Crawdaunt just kept dancing.  
"Cookies that she had left out on her shelf, if you think this is dirty-" He slammed Lemure on its back on the ground, stunning it. "You can go fck yourself!" He finished, driving a Crabhammer into the lemur's nuts. Needless to say that Berry, Mariah, the ultimate evil, and the crystal Unown could NOT have seen that one coming.

It proved to be too much for the poor, suffering, helpless lemur. It screeched in agony one last time, and then collapsed into blissful unconsciousness. Seventy-five percent of the males in the audience winced, sympathizing with the not-real Pokemon.

Ash sweatdropped. "You really are amoral, you know that?"

"Yup!" Crawdaunt said proudly. "Sometimes it's a wonder I'm one of the good guys at all, isn't it?"

The referee sweatdropped. "Not sure that move is legal or not…hmm…don't think there's anything about it in the rulebook…" He took his old, dog-eared copy of the Pokemon League official match rulebook to make sure for himself however.

Berry was dumbstruck. "MAH1!1!1!11!111!111!1 OMG LOL POKAMON R INVINCIBLE1!111 OMG HOW IS TAHT POSIBL3!1 WTF"

Ash smirked. "Chalk one up for unconventional techniques!"

Chalk one up indeed. Berry's Pokemon were in fact invincible in a normal fight, but their programming had nothing in it to prepare them for something as unexpected and downright dirty as Crawdaunt's dancing. And because of that, the Pokemon were completely and totally vulnerable to such a strategy.

Mariah finally managed to dislodge the sobbing, emotional wreck that was Brock in time to see the referee look up from his rulebook and say, "Ah, what the hell. Lemure is unable to battle! Crawdaunt wins the match!" Her eyes bulged, her jaw dropped, and she started screaming. Again.

Crawdaunt whooped and waved his claws happily as the audience tentatively applauded, somewhat unnerved by his crude display. "Woohoo! Hear that, ladies? Haha! Bet you regret breaking up with me now, eh Corsola? Just look at what you're missing!"

Back in the hotel room…

Corsola, who had elected to stay behind so she wouldn't see Crawdaunt fighting (since she was too disgusted to be anywhere near him) growled and changed the channel from live coverage of the Battle Pyramid match to some random cartoons. Sadly it was about a lobster, next it was about shattered glass, smoke, and sparks. "Asshole," she grumbled.

Back at the pyramid…

"Wow, I think I should get me one of those Crawdaunt," Wes said thoughtfully. "I like the way this one fights."

"NO," Rui said angrily. "I refuse to have anything like that messed-up pervert anywhere near us, Wes!"

Wes blinked. "But you love Umbreon…"

"Umbreon's nothing like Crawdaunt!" Rui said angrily.

"He loves Miror B's music, woman! There's gotta be something wrong with anyone who likes that!" Wes shot back.

Berry clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He didn't understand how this was possible. He was Berry Stoo. BERRY STOO. He was the greatest. The greatest! How could he have already lost half his team, while his hideous stupid ugly mean annoying evil opponent still had all of his! "RATURN1!111!1" he yelled furiously, recalling Lemure. "NO MORA GM3S11!1!1! OMG LOL GO BL3U!111 WTF LOL"

He threw out a gold Pokeball which opened to reveal…a colossal Tyranitar, its armor a cobalt blue instead of its usual gray-green. The audience gasped in amazement at the monster's unusual hue. It roared and stomped towards Crawdaunt, who sweatdropped. "Ah…this guy looks a little out of my league…"

Ash smirked. "Not to worry. Crawdaunt, tag out!" Relieved, Crawdaunt scrambled onto the elevator platform and got the heck out of there before the enormous Tyranitar could step on him or something. "And in his place I call…" The platform rose back up carrying Charizard. But there seemed to be something different about him… "Charizard the Youthful!"

Mariah furrowed her brow in confusion. "Huh? What the-"

At that moment, May fingered the release button on one of her Pokeballs, causing it to pop open and make Delcatty materialize right on top of Mariah's head. Less than a second later, Golduck burst out of one of Misty's Pokeballs, appearing right in Mariah's lap. Mariah blinked and rolled her eyes upward to see the pink cat on her head, then down to see the yellow duck in her lap.

Golduck looked up and saw Delcatty. "Pink?"

Delcatty squealed in glee. "Yellow!" She leaped down and landed on top of Golduck, putting too much pressure on Mariah's lower body and causing her to topple out of her seat with a yelp, hitting her forehead on the rim of the arena and knocking herself out, at least for a moment. Pika Pika, who had leaped off of Mariah's shoulder just before her mistress had fallen off the chair, stared in disbelief. Nobody had ever tried anything like that before…

Mariah woke up almost immediately, but Golduck tripped on one of her wings and landed on her back, and Delcatty pounced on him and they eagerly started 'playing' with each other on Mariah's back, rolling about and crumpling her wings, magnificent hair and clothes, slamming her face into the ground too often for her to cry out for help from Pika Pika. The amazed Pikachu decided she might as well take this as a much-needed reprieve and sat down on Mariah's chair's armrest to watch the match. She couldn't resist purring as a sympathetic Brock started rubbing her fur.

Charizard glanced around him in awe and wonder, as if he had never been in a Pokemon arena before. His eyes widened, seeing all the people staring at him. Looking unnerved, he whimpered and glanced to Ash, who gave him a reassuring smile. The big, strong fire dragon chewed his jaw, then stuck his tail flame in his mouth and started sucking on it while looking at Ash with total innocence, trust, and love in his eyes. The audience could not help but go, "Awwww," even Wes, though mainly because Rui elbowed him to do it.

Berry was perplexed. "DUDE WUT WRONG WIT UR POKAMON? OMG LOL"

Ash smirked. "That's sort of a funny story…"

Ten minutes before the match…

Latias had just explained the situation and they were formulating plans for how to handle the fight. "Charizard," Ash spoke.

"Yeah?"

Ash looked at him seriously. "Well, Latias said the King of Ghosts said we need to do something besides fight dramatically the way we normally do and well . . ."

Charizard frowned. "What?"

Ash sighed. "Dramatic battling is pretty much all you can do."

Charizard frowned some more. "That's a compliment!"

"Though . . ." Ash got a very dangerous grin on his face. "It wasn't always like that."

Charizard blinked. "Huh . . . oh you mean . . . oh yeah, when I just ignored you and slept in the arena right?"

Ash shook his head. "I actually thought of that, but Berry would be able to hit you anyway so...I was thinking further."

Charizard's frown became almost a poker face. "What are you talking about?"

"Well Charizard it's like this and-GRAB HIM!"

Charizard's teammates dog piled on top of the fire dragon on the preset signal. "Wha? Agh! What is this about!"

"Alright, you know what to do?" Latias asked Wes' Espeon, borrowed with permission of course and kept out of sight by Charizard until now (otherwise why else would they have asked the dragon to get a soda?).

He nodded. "Of course I do. I did it to my brother all the time, it's great for parties."

"Okay now Charizard," Latias cooed while floating over his head, "Just relax, and look onto our eyes, our big, pretty, friendly, beautiful eyes…" Her and Espeon's eyes started glowing.

Charizard scoffed. "Ha! I don't know what you're up to, but I can tell you right now I can't be Hypno…tized…" He went silent.

"Are you Hypnotized, Charizard?" Espeon asked.

"Yes," he said in a monotone.

"Good. Now, then, imagine you're walking backwards, keep walking…" Espeon intoned.

There was a long silence. And then…

"Charmander!" It startled everyone when a full-grown Charizard said that, in a cutie voice!

"He's going to kill us for this when he snaps out of it," Bayleef pointed out.

"At least we'll die laughing!" Crawdaunt joked.

"How'd you come up with THIS idea, daddy?" Phanphy asked.

Ash blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, actually it was Pikachu's . . ."

Pikachu nodded."I got it while watching the Psychology Channel again. They had this episode on age regression to sort out childhood traumas."

"Do we have to snap him out of it?" Crawdaunt asked. "He's less of a pain in the neck this way."

"Charmander!" Espeon commanded. "When I count to three, you'll be a Charizard again. One, two, three!"

Charizard blinked and snapped out of his trance. "Ha, I told you I couldn't be…" He paused, recalling what he had done a few seconds ago. "Oh man…"

Back in the present…

Ash shrugged. "Basically, I hypnotized my Charizard into regressing to his childhood."

Berry stared in confusion. "Y? OMG"

Ash smirked. "Because he's so cute, he draws everyone's attention away from your shiny blue Tyranitar!"

Berry gaped, and looked at the people in the stands. They were indeed paying attention to Charizard, cooing as he rolled around playfully in the sand. "TAHT.TAHTS1!1!11!1!11111!11 WTF NOT FARE!1!11" he stammered in shock. How dare they pay more attention to some Charizard acting like a baby than his incredible rare blue Tyranitar! Well, he'd show them! "BL3U!1!1 OMG WTF LOL I ORDAR U 2 REGR3S 2 UR CHILDHOD 211!1!1 B CUT3R THAN TAHT CHARIZARD1!1 OMG WTF"

Tyranitar complied and tried to shift its tiny, electron-sized brain back to the way it was when it was a child. Of course, since it had never been a child and had essentially been nothing before Mariah created it for Berry out of an empty Pokeball the poor innocent bystander she had grabbed to become the new Berry had been carrying, doing so caused what little brain it had to disintegrate back into the emptiness it had once been. Brain-dead, Bleu toppled over, crashing to the ground and shaking the arena slightly. Charizard blinked, toddled over to the Tyranitar, and poked it. The monster's tongue lolled out, and Charizard fell over in surprise.

The referee waved his flag. "Um…Bleu is unable to battle, so Charizard is the winner! I guess…"

"Yeah! Go Charizard, go Charizard, it's your birthday, it's your birthday…" the cheerleaders chanted for the dragon.

Confused, Charizard burst into tears, frightened by all the people cheering for him.

Ash sweatdropped. "Come on Charizard, snap out of it! One, two, three!"

Charizard blinked, his eyes refocusing. "Wha? What happened? Was I hypnotized again?" He noticed Bleu lying unconscious near him. "Hey, did I do that?"

"Sorta…" Ash admitted.

"Wow. Didn't know I was so strong as a kid," Charizard said in amazement.

"BLEU RATURN1!1!1!1 WTF LOL" Berry called, returning his Tyranitar to his Pokeball. His imperfect mind reeled, trying (and failing) to understand how he had just lost that fight. Why hadn't Bleu obeyed him? Why had he just keeled over like that? Did his own Pokemon not respect him anymore? That was the only reason he could possibly see for them losing over and over, since his vanity, pride, arrogance, stupidity, and other stuff refused to believe there could have been a flaw in his perfect training of them. But if there was no flaw, why would they not obey him and win when he told them to? This confusing paradox ran itself over and over through his brain, and would have caused it to crash if Mariah, who had just managed to push the love-making Delcatty and Golduck off her back in time to see him recall Bleu, screamed so loudly that he could hear her all the way from this side of the arena: "BERRY! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

His heart stopped. He was letting Mariah down! His anger rose. How dare this foolish and cruel boy ruin him in Mariah's eyes? He would make it up to her, he swore, by winning the fight and then sexing her as she never had been before! (He had been going to do that after the fight anyway, but his programming wasn't complex enough to think of anything else that could be seen as truly romantic.)

"THIS ENDS HARE!111 LOL" he roared, pulling out and throwing a Pokeball with a gold top and silver bottom. "GO MEW3476!1!1!1!" The colored sphere burst open to reveal, to Ash and pretty much everyone else's surprise, something that looked a heck of a lot like Mewtwo.

A crappy version of Mewtwo drawn by a three-year old with big muscles, flimsy bat wings, horns, and spikes, that is. If it had been another Pokemon, or even the real Mewtwo, it would have looked cool, but somehow this just seemed…well…pathetic, really. Ash couldn't quite put his finger on why, but it really looked like no more than a cheap copy to him that had a few add-ons.

Charizard raised an eyebrow. "What the heck is that thing?"

Ash pointed his Pokedex at the weird creature, intending to find out. After a few moments of scanning, the device beeped and said, "Mew3476, the Rip-Off Pokemon. This creature is the result of numerous lustful thoughts of Mewtwo fans around the world trying to create their own versions or clones of one through poorly written fanfiction or fanart. The real Mewtwo would no doubt be ashamed of this copy and destroy it immediately if ever the two were to meet." It beeped again and said, "Unusual fluctuations in this specimen's biochemical makeup and power readings detected. Authenticity of the Pokemon is questionable, since it's basically a poorly cloned version of another clone controlled by a being who is in turn made up by an insane manifestation of unstable psychic energy."

Ash sweatdropped. By ye gods, he was going to have to ask Oak how the heck he programmed this thing! "Uh, okay. Charizard, I'm switching you out! I think we have somebody else better equipped to handle this!"

Charizard nodded. "Yeah, okay." He walked over to the elevator platform and got on. But as he did…

"M3W3476 USE PURSUIT1! LOL"

Surrounded by a MASSIVE aura of crackling dark energy, the Mewtwo fake shot forward and slammed into Charizard, knocking him off the platform as it began to lower and sending him flying into one of the obelisks, causing it to snap in two in a burst of dust and stone chips and collapse right on top of him!

Ash gasped. "Charizard!"

"Big Brother!" Togetic (And Phanphy, down in the locker room) shrieked, horrified. The rest of Ash's friends gasped. Mariah, who had been focusing on Berry and giving him the brainpower to think of that attack, laughed gleefully and clapped her hands.

"Yay! Berry finally knocked out one of that mean nasty disgusting stinky boy's Pokemon!" Pika Pika shook her head in despair. She was glad now that she hadn't been keeping her hopes up. While Ash and his Pokemon had been winning so far using weird strategies, she doubted there was a thing they could do against the nigh-omnipotent Mew3476.

"That's not fair!" May said angrily. "Attacking and knocking him out just when he was leaving the field! He should get penalized for that!"

"Actually May, Pursuit is a perfectly legal Dark-type attack," Max corrected her. "It inflicts double damage on a Pokemon switching out, which can be enough to KO them if it's strong enough."

Brock nodded. "Yeah, see, the ref's not doing a thing about it. Berry's allowed to use that move. I've never seen one so strong before…"

"That's because Berry's the best at everything!" Mariah said happily. "From training to wrestling to complex quantum physics to pumping me full of his seed in bed-" Everyone had to keep from throwing up as she said that.

Ash clenched his fist as a group of Chansey carried Charizard out from the rubble on a stretcher. He looked really badly hurt, with great bruises and gashes all over his skin, a huge hole torn in one of his wings by a rock, and it looked like more than one of his limbs had been dislocated. His chest was only barely moving to show he was still alive. "You'll pay for this," he said coldly to Berry. "Your fake Pokemon may be strong, but I'm not afraid of it. Allow me to introduce you to someone who's met the real thing! I summon Latias the Songstress!"

The elevator platform rose back up, carrying Latias on it. She was wearing a blue bodice with white lace around the collar that ran down her chest to a set of light blue silk skirts. Black straps were crisscrossed across her thin upper arms, and blue velvet cloths were wrapped around her lower arms. (It had been a surprise loan from May. It was ironically what she had intended to wear on her first date with Ash, which as we all know would now not happen at any point in the near or distant future.)

She glared coldly at the Rip-Off Pokemon, a small angry fire already burning in her heart. From a CCTV in the locker room she had seen Charizard get wasted, and she was determined to avenge her friend. She knew from her own training with Mewtwo that it was almost impossible to defeat the super Pokemon in a fight, even when she was able to summon up some of her hidden power…but then again, she wasn't planning on fighting this lame copy in a traditional manner anyway. "You aren't leaving this arena," she told him, her voice dripping with icicles. The emotionless, brainless, and personality-less Pokemon did not respond.

Berry laughed. "M I SUPOSED 2 B AFRADE OF A GIRLY LITL3 POK3MON IN A DRES! OMG"

"Yes," Ash said with a cool smile. "You should be."

Up in the stands, Max noticed a vendor marching up and down the stairs, giving out popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, and other junk food commonly eaten at sports events. "Hey Jirachi," he said in a demonstration of truly poor and stiff acting. "I would love some nachos. Oh boy would I love some. Can you get some?"

"Okay Max," Jirachi said in a bit of equally poor acting. "I will get some." His true eye glowed, and Max suddenly found himself holding a carton of nacho cheese and chips.

He sweatdropped and glanced at Jirachi. "Jirachi, it was supposed to appear in the air above Mariah's head."

Jirachi sweatdropped back and laughed nervously. "Oops."

Max sighed and simply overturned the carton onto Mariah, covering her beautiful constantly changing hair in sticky nacho cheese. "Oops," he said with a poorly concealed smile.

Mariah shrieked. "My hair! My beautiful hair!"

Misty made a very convincing gasp. "Oh no!" She pulled out a filthy used tissue. "Here, let me help with that-" She started attacking Mariah's face and hair with the tissue despite the girl's protests, driving the cheese deeper into her shifting locks.

"Yeah, let me help too," Brock said, taking out a piece of Ash's unwashed underwear brought just for this moment and started helping dirty Mariah's face with cheese and other unmentionables, causing her to shriek about how they were hurting her hair and ruining her complexion. But being good Samaritans (XD) they ignored her and kept trying to save her beauty from being destroyed by icky cheese. (XD) And all of this, of course, distracted her from watching Berry, which was just what the heroes had planned.

Perched on the tip of one of the unfolded sides of the pyramid, Lombre put down the pair of binoculars he had been focusing on Mariah and nodded to Mudkip, who was sitting next to him. She leaned back and spat a Water Pulse into the air, giving the signal to those waiting far above them.

The response was almost immediate. The ground shook slightly and there were a few screams as the Exploudrematic dropped from the hovering Garuda and landed next to Battle Pyramid on the northwest side, blotting out the sun and casting a large shadow over the arena. The referee, Berry, and pretty much everyone else stared at the giant robot in disbelief. Garuda transformed into its guitar form and dropped into the waiting mecha's arms. The tongue extended, revealing both Jigglypuffs, Onix, and his three drum Pokemon. There was also a new band member joining them, an Electabuzz with an electric keyboard. "Hello, Battle Frontier!" the elder Jigglypuff yelled into her microphone, which transmitted her voice to the large speaker nozzles protruding out from all over the giant robot's body. "Are you ready to rock!" A resounding cheer came from many of the spectators, who happened to be fans of the new all-Pokemon rock group. Jigglypuff put a hand to her ear. "I can't hear you!" They cheered louder. "What's that? Did you say something?" They cheered even louder than before, shaking the whole Pyramid. "That's more like it!"

"Meh, give me punk rock any day," Wes blew at the Pokerockers.

"Wes!" Rui snapped indignantly. _She_ happened to like the Pokerockers…

Jigglypuff hurled her microphone down into the arena, where it was caught by Latias. "Hit it, dragon girl!"

Latias nodded and held the microphone up to her mouth. "WATE1!1!1 LOL" a confused Berry protested. "WUT GONG ON? WTF LOL"

Ash smirked. "Prepare to get rocked. Latias, use Otherworld!"

The dragon nodded, and then she began to sing. The microphone broadcast her voice back into the Loudrematic's systems, which routed it to the speakers sprouting from the robot's purple hide and started bombarding the arena with music as Geodude started playing the guitar from the robot's control room, Onix began beating on his drum Pokemon, and the Electabuzz ran his fingers over the keys on his instrument.

"Go now, if you want it, an otherworld awaits you," she cried, eyes glowing as she struck Mew3476 with a Psychic attack, causing it to be shoved back a few feet. "Don't you give up on it; you bite the hand that feeds you."

Confused, the referee started flipping through his rulebook. "Not sure if this is allowable or not…singing and dancing are one thing, but bringing in a giant sonic weapon to amplify your voice? Does that count as illegal outside interference?"

"All alone, cold fields you wander," Latias continued, charging forward at the copy with Dragon Claw, her free claw still holding the microphone so she could sing into it. "Memories of it, cloud your sight, fills your dreams, disturbs your slumber-" Mew3476 dodged the attack and lashed out at her with its tail. She tilted on her side, and the blow breezed past her as she looped in the air and came charging back towards the fake. "Lost your way, a fallen knight!" She slammed into the clone headfirst, knocking it back. It had to flap its wings a few times to keep from crashing into the ground.

"USE UBR DARKNAS1!1! OMG" Berry shouted at Mew 3476. It didn't respond. It didn't even seem to hear him as it jerkily brought its arms up to block a Mist Ball Latias had hurled at its face. "MEW3476 US3 UBR DARKNAS!1! OMG WTF LOL" Once again, there was no response. Berry's programming glitched again in confusion, not understanding what was going on. He was shouting at his Pokemon. His Pokemon was supposed to use an all-powerful Dark-type attack which would destroy the singing dragon. Why wasn't Mew3476 obeying? His mind was too feeble now to realize that the music from Latias' song along with the guitar riffs, keyboard notes, and drumbeats were too loud for his Pokemon to hear his voice over.

"Hold now, aim be steady, an otherworld awaits you," She dodged a Shadow Ball hurled at her, flipped in the air, and threw a Mist Ball at it. The two spheres exploded, causing the fake Mewtwo to screech and shield its eyes from the ensuing light. "One thousand years, you ready? The otherworld, it takes you-" She dashed past the mindless beast twice, lashing out with a Steel Wing each time and leaving a deep gouge in the thing's malformed chest armor.

The cheerleaders were dancing up and down on the edge of the arena, singing along with her. Their voices weren't very strong or very good, but it was their thought and belief in her that counted. Pika Pika found herself amazed and intrigued by this display. She had never seen a fight play out like this before. Next to her, Mariah screamed and thrashed, trying to get Misty and Brock out of the way so she could see what was going on and why there was so much loud music, but they feigned deafness from the loud rock and roll and continued messing with her hair and face, smearing the cheese and gunk everywhere. At some point, May decided to help too, using a spare bandana that she had been keeping in a slightly unsanitary place.

Jigglypuff the younger took over singing then, allowing Latias to concentrate more on the fight. "Go into the sand, and the dust, and the sky-" Latias flew around Mew3476 in a rapid circle, kicking up dust and swirling it fast enough to create a dust storm that cut off the Mewtwo rip-off from Berry and the rest of the world. "Go now, there's no better plan, than to do or to die-" Mew3476 looked around stupidly, having no idea what to do. Had Mariah been focusing on it, it would have been more than smart enough to not only break out of this trap but possibly kill Latias. How fortunate that she was too distracted by her hair-helpers. "Free me, pray to the faith in the face of the light-" Mew3476 felt pain as something sharp slashed into it from behind, and whirled around, firing a powerful energy ball at his assailant. Of course it missed, passed through the sandstorm, and exploded harmlessly against an obelisk, causing it to topple. "Feed me, fill me with sin, and get ready to fight!" As the Jigglypuff took a moment to stop singing and allow Geodude, Electabuzz, and Onix to play their hearts out for a while on their instruments, Latias, using the sandstorm and her speed as cover, struck the monster numerous times from all sides with claw and wing, causing it to stagger about in pain and fire blindly at her shadow as she passed, sending energy balls out all over the arena which exploded and filled the sky with fireworks, helping to add to the feeling of awe and wonder of this fight. It was starting to feel more like a rock concert than an actual battle, to the spectators!

The little Jigglypuff started singing again, her voice low and hard to hear over the tunes pumped out by Onix, Electabuzz and Geodude. "You know you will. You know you will." Feeling angry and frustrated, Mew 3476 used its Psybust attack to dissipate the sandstorm and fling Latias into an obelisk. "You know it, you know it, you know it, you know it, that you will." Latias grunted in pain as she crashed into the stone pillar, and the Mewtwo copy hissed and lunged at her. Berry cheered it on eagerly. "You know it, you know it, you know it, you know it, that you will!" Latias opened her mouth and released a burst of white Dragonbreath, lighting the feline monstrosity on fire in midair. As it fell to the ground and tried to beat the flames out, not having the smarts to extinguish them psychically, she peeled herself off the obelisk and lunged at Mew3476. "You know you will..."

She stopped singing again as Geodude, Electabuzz, and Onix kicked up the intensity of their playing once again. Mew3476 fired a Shadow Ball at Latias as she charged him. She activated her Safeguard, causing the dark sphere to bounce off her and smash right into the fake's chest, exploding and knocking it back a step just in time for Latias to slam into it and knock it to the ground. She swooped over it and doubled back, dipping a glowing Steel Wing towards the ground in an attempt to connect with Mew3476's head. It rolled over and lashed out at her with its tail as she passed over, striking her wing and knocking her off-balance. She wobbled in the air and crashed to the ground, her face digging a trail in the sand.

Young Jigglypuff started up once again. "Fight, fight, fight!" Mew3476 formed a huge Shadow Ball and hurled it at Latias. She flipped onto her back, raised her head, and stared at the ball as it hurtled towards her. "Fight, fight, fight!" She hurled a Mist Ball at the Shadow Ball. The two orbs exploded as they made contact, resulting in a blinding flash and an aftereffect which enshrouded the field in mist. "Fight, fight, fight!" Mew3476 used its psychic powers to blow the mist away to keep Latias from using it to attack him unseen. "Fight, fight, fight!" It blinked and looked around stupidly, wondering where she had gone.

Latias slammed into it from behind, smashing the creature into the ground once again. She raised the microphone up to her mouth and started singing again as the younger Jigglypuff took a bow. "Hope dies, and you wander-" She lashed out at Mew3476's face with a Dragonclaw as it started to get up, leaving deep scratch marks on its already deformed features. The thing hissed in pain. "The otherworld, it makes you-" Mew3476 lunged forward suddenly, claws extending from its little mutated fingers, trying to repay Latias for the damage she had just done. She quickly flew up and away from the monster, causing it to screech and fly up after her. "Dreams, they rip asunder, the otherworld, it hates you!"

The Mewtwo copy was clumsy in the air, flapping its wings every now and then to keep it aloft. How pitiful, the true Mewtwo would have easily been able to remain in the air through the act of levitating himself. Latias reflected on this for only half a second as she dodged a Shadow Ball and continued singing. "Free now, ride up on it, up to the heights, it takes you-" She soared higher and higher above the arena as she sang this, baiting the doppelganger of her teacher and father figure to chase after her. Just what she wanted. As the three instrumentals of the Pokerockers brought their music to a spine-tingling climax, Latias brought the song to and end. "Go now, if you want it! An otherworld awaits you!" With that, she unleashed her anger at the monster for so badly hurting her friend Charizard and for being such a crude mockery of Mewtwo in the form of an immense white dragon of flame which trailed sparkling embers as it rushed over the helpless Mew3476 and exploded, lighting up the sky like fireworks.

The crowd was awed. Many of them started doing the 'wave' and cheering Ash, Latias, and the Pokerocker's names. May was very happy too, but for a different reason. "She finally pulled it off!" she cried. "She got the flames to sparkle just right!" Everyone around her sweatdropped.

Latias' white dragon technique had another bonus, though. Since neither Mew3476, Berry nor Mariah had ever seen it before; they had no idea what type it was, or how much damage it was supposed to do. Thus, the warped reality that made it and the rest of Berry's Pokemon up which prevented them from being defeated in a fight by conventional means ran into a bug. That move wasn't registered by the Pokemon League. Thus, like a ghost type who had been hit by Foresight technique, leaving it open to physical blows, when the blows hit, they hit hard!

Misty and Brock, satisfied with their work, pulled away. "All done!" the red-head said cheerfully.

Mariah, her hair now caked with dried cheese and her face somewhat orangeish from the amount of cheese rubbed into it, pushed them out of the way in time to see the burnt form of Mew3476 fall from the sky and crash into the ground, to Berry's horror. But oddly enough, she didn't scream. She didn't gape, she didn't howl, she simply…stood there. She looked at Berry. She looked at Ash.

She smiled. And Pika Pika felt a shiver run up her spine.

Latias tossed her microphone back to Jigglypuff and descended back into the arena, blushing at the applause she was getting from her performance. "I wasn't _that_ good, was I?" She knew her voice wasn't as good as Jigglypuff's at singing, but she hadn't thought the crowd would eat it up so well.

Exasperated, the referee stuffed his rulebook back in his pocket and glanced up at Brandon in his throne, looking to his boss for guidance in this situation. Was this a legal match, or not?

After a moment of thought, Brandon nodded once. The referee sighed and pointed one of his flags at Mew3476. "Mew3476 is unable to battle! Latias…and the Pokerockers, I suppose…are the winners!"

There were enthusiastic claps and shouts from all over the pyramid, and a few crazy guys were yelling, "Latias, marry me!"

"Thank you, Battle Frontier!" Jigglypuff said, bowing. Her bandmates gave bows as well. "It was a pleasure performing for you today! Be sure not to miss us at our next show right in your own Ever Grande City!"

"Uh, sir, should you have done that?" asked one of Brandon's subordinates, dressed like a tomb keeper.

"Done what?" asked the man dressed as the High Priest of Ra.

"Um…ruled the match in favor of that Ketchum kid?"

Brandon frowned. "Sure, why wouldn't I?"

The subordinate coughed. "Well, um, that robot did interfere with the match. It was playing too loudly for Mr. Stoo's Pokemon to hear any commands. And the dragon was only singing half the time, the rest of the time another Pokemon altogether was doing it. One that is _not_ registered in the tournament and is _not_ one of Ketchum's Pokemon. Shouldn't he be penalized for that?"

"Normally, yes," Brandon agreed. "But I liked that song, and so I allowed Ketchum to win with it. I am High Priest, and whatever I say goes. Besides, I hate bad fanfiction!"

The other subordinates sweatdropped. "Don't you mean Pyramid King? You're a Frontier Brain, not a Priest," the same minion from before reminded him.

Brandon glanced around nervously. "Er, yes, so I am." He pressed a button on his armrest and a trapdoor beneath the subordinate fell open, causing the poor man to fall screaming out of the stands and to the ground far below, which for no contrived reason at all had the world's second largest Jigglypuff being shown off for a surprise soft landing. "That takes care of that," Brandon said cheerfully, leaning back in his seat as the other subordinates stared at him in horror.

Berry was speechless as he recalled the failed Mew3476. How was this possible? How could he be losing? He was Berry Stoo. HE WAS BERRY STOO. He was the greatest male trainer in the world! How could he possibly be losing to this little punk? He was cheating. He had to be. There was no other possible explanation for how he had been able to defeat him. He probably gave his Pokemon steroids and bribed the referee to rule the fights in his favor. Yes, that had to be it!

He'd be sure to make them all pay after he won though, because he knew there was no way he could possibly lose with his final Pokemon. He glared across the field at Ash, determined to make this one count. He would defeat every wimpy Pokemon the stupid boy could throw at him. "UR CHEATNG STR3AK ANDS H3RA FOL!111!1 OMG WTF LOL I WIL D3F3AT U NOW AND AEVNGA MAH MISTR3AETD POK3MON IN TEH NME OF JUSTIEC AND MAH TRU3 LOVE FOR MARIAH!111! LOL"

"What?" Ash asked, confused. "That was way too much, I couldn't understand a thing you said."

Berry's eyes flashed. How dare the stupid boy mock him! "GO DAMONDETHKILR1! OMG WTF LOL" He threw out his last Pokeball, which opened to reveal a huge black Salamence, which roared loudly as it saw Latias.

Latias was not impressed. "Is that all he has left?" she asked, feeling oddly smug and confident after her last victory.

"Yeah, but I'm switching you out. This battle belongs to someone who's been waiting a long time for a rematch," he explained before she could protest.

"…Oh, I see," she said, getting it. "Right, I understand. Okay then Ash, finish this up!" With a nod, she floated over to the elevator platform, which descended into the ground.

Berry laughed. "WUT POKEMON U CAL WIL NOT SAEV U CHEATNG STUPID FOL1111111 LOL DEMONDATHKILR IS MAH STRONGEST POKEMON OF AL HE CANT B DAFEAETD1!1!1 LOL"

Ash smirked, not really sure what Berry just said but understanding the implied tone. "Oh really? Well, I wonder if you'll still be saying that when I call forth my own strongest Pokemon, someone who's been waiting a very long time for a second chance at you!" The elevator platform started rising back up, carrying a small figure on it. "Behold my ultimate Pokemon…" The platform reached the top, revealing… "Pikachu, the Masked Swordsman!"

Pikachu was wearing a black cape with jagged edges which made it look sort of like dark wings as the breeze caused it to flutter around him. He wore a black mask cut from a strip of cloth over his eyes, and held his trusty sword in his left paw.

The referee groaned. "Oh no, not _another_ sword Pokemon!"

Lombre nodded, looking pleased with Pikachu's costume. "Mmm, si, I approve! Is good fashion sense."

Pika Pika blinked in surprise at Pikachu's attire, while Mariah sneered. "Hmm, look at that poor filthy rodent, forced to dress up in a stupid costume which completely demeans it!" she ranted, completely ignoring the fact that she dressed up Pika Pika all the time. "His trainer is stupid and cruel to his Pokemon!" She paused. "And yet…" Pika Pika shuddered again and despaired, knowing that if Ash and Pikachu won they would be lost. Their only hope was to lose the battle completely, and Demondethkillr was strong enough to make them do just that. Then again…they had managed to take everything thrown at them so far…she sighed. Why did she feel so conflicted?

Ash smirked. "Don't suppose your Salamence can use a sword, can it Berry?"

"YES!11 LOL ER.UH.BUH.NO1!1!1!1!11!1! BUT.1!1111!1!1!1! WTF LOL" He realized to his horror that he should have held back Mew3476 until now, since that Pokemon could conjure a Shadow Blade. But he had wasted it on Latias, and now it was too late.

Still, he had no intention of losing this match! "UR 2AST ANYWAY!1 OMG WTF LOL DAMONDETHKILR GET TAHT STINKY RAT WIT DRAGONBRAATH!1!1! OMG WTF" Demondethkillr opened its mouth and belched out a huge stream of green fire at Pikachu. He easily got out of the way with Agility, but was startled to find that it had singed the end of his tail as he had moved.

Ash yelped and hit the deck as the Dragonbreath passed over his head, nearly incinerating him. "Hey, watch it!" he shouted angrily.

"OPS," said Berry, not sounding sorry.

The referee glared at him. "Try something like that again, and you're out of the tournament Mr. Stoo!"

"WUT!11 OMG WTF LOL DAMONDATHKILR SUPER AEWSOM3 DRAGON ATAK!1 WTF LOL" Demondethkillr roared and floated into the air, surrounded by an aura which formed into a transparent dragon. The shiny dragon lunged forward at Pikachu, moving at ridiculously high speeds for an average Salamence. Startled, Pikachu barely managed to dodge the charge…but even though it missed him completely, he still felt an extremely strong impact against his chest which sent him flying, squeaking in pain.

"What? How'd that attack hit? Pikachu got out of the way!" Jirachi protested.

May gasped. "Mariah's focused on Berry! He and his Pokemon are at full power!"

"Well, why aren't we distracting her then!" Max asked angrily.

"If any of us try something again, she might get suspicious and do something awful to us, which wouldn't help Ash at all. Wes and Zoro agreed to help for the final distraction, but neither of them seem to have shown up. Where are they?" she asked anxiously.

In the north quarter…

"Damn it woman, out of the way!" Wes growled, trying to shove his way past the extremely large woman in his way.

"Mind your manners, young man!" the lady said furiously, smacking him on the head with her extremely heavy purse. "If you want to use the restroom, you'll have to wait in line like the rest of us!"

Wes peered around the woman's extreme bulk to see the line which extended around a corner, down three flights of stairs, and stopped at one of the Pyramid's few bathrooms, which just happened to be unisex. All the others were closed for cleaning.

Wes groaned. "Great…hope that other guy can make it, cause I don't think I'll be out of here for a long time…" He groaned as his stomach gurgled violently. "Why'd I have to eat that hummus? How was I supposed to know I was allergic to it? Ohhhh…"

In the pyramid lobby…

"Madre de dios!" Zoro hissed angrily, after another anxious glance at the televisions hanging from the ceiling which showed Pikachu trying to hit Demondethkillr with a stab to the neck, only for his sword to bounce off the dragon's scales. The Salamence then hit Pikachu with a powerful headbutt, sending the mouse flying into one of the obelisks ringing the battlefield. "If I can't get up there, young Ash and his _raton_ are _muerte_" He glanced in frustration at the burly Machamp blocking his way up the stairs into the stands, the body builder Pokemon cracking all twenty of its knuckles, thinking of how many ways it could dislocate the bones of the gate crasher's _other_ five Pokemon. If only that wicked Mariah hadn't stolen his seat, his ticket would still be valid and he could go up and save the day!

He sighed in exasperation. He had already tried sneaking up through service entrances, but he had always been caught and now the pyramid's security had mobilized to keep him from getting in. If only he had brought a flying Pokemon with him to the tournament, so he could fly right over those _idota's_ heads and land right in the arena! He would have taken one out from the pyramid's PC, but it was currently under repairs, and if he went to find another one he might arrive too late to help out.

He racked his brain. There had to be something, some way he could-

He stopped, getting a sudden brainstorm as the camera feeding the televisions tracked Pikachu getting flung into another obelisk, getting a glimpse of the Exploudrematic standing just outside the Pyramid as it did so.

He smirked and toyed with his mustache, getting an idea.

…

They watched anxiously as Pikachu fired another ineffective Thunderbolt at the seemingly impervious dragon and dodged out of the way of a tail swipe. But the tail seemed to defy the laws of physics by abruptly reversing its swing without the slightest halt in momentum and slam Pikachu in the sides, knocking him into the dirt, his sword flying from his paw. He groaned and tried to get up, urged on by Ash and his cheerleader's frantic cries.

Misty looked more and more nervous. Zoro and Wes still hadn't shown up. It didn't look as if Pikachu could last much longer out there, and there was no guarantee Ash's other Pokemon would stand a chance once the mouse was down. The red-head sighed, resigning herself to whatever fate might have in store for her, knowing she had to try.

"Like, hey Mariah, like your boyfriend's really-" she started.

"Not right now," Mariah said, not even deigning to look at Misty.

"But, like, I was just trying to say how totally perfect I think-"

"I said not right now," Mariah repeated.

The cheerleaders assembled in front of her seat and once more tried to block her view. Mariah ignored them and calmly stood up out of her seat, looking over the top of the somewhat shorter Pokemon's heads. Jirachi and Togetic both flew around her head, trying to distract her, but she ignored them and continued focusing on Berry.

The friends started panicking. Absol growled and started stepping up. "No, wait!" Max hissed. "We don't have the spell tag, yet! If you attack her, you'll make a scene and get us all in trouble!"

"And I also may save Pikachu," Absol pointed out as the yellow mouse dodged a claw swipe, feinted, but then got struck from the side by another claw, knocking him over. Ignoring Max, May and Jirachi's protests, the Disaster Pokemon started charging up an attack…

Only for Mariah to say, "Pika Pika, Thunder attack." The shiny Pikachu gave the good guys an apologetic look before releasing an incredibly powerful electric shock, one which even Pikachu would have a hard time topping, which zapped the heroes with several thousand watts of electricity, overloading their systems and causing them to black out painfully, hair and clothes smoking. Mariah ignored the screams and cries from the frightened people around her. Pika Pika, who was still crackling with electricity, would handle them if anyone should try to disturb her again.

She smiled as Demondethkillr slammed Pikachu to the ground, pinning him beneath a claw. Pikachu, his cape torn and mask dirtied, desperately tried shocking him, but his electric bolts didn't seem to do a thing to the massive Salamence. The dragon Pokemon lowered its head, charging up an attack in its mouth. Berry cackled malevolently. "D3MONDATHKILR USE SUP3R L33T AEWSOME ATAK TAHT ALWAYS WINS TEH FIGHT1111!1 LOL"

Ash gasped. "No, not that one!" He remembered how it had defeated Pikachu in one hit the last time. "Pikachu, get out of there!"

Pikachu struggled and shocked with all his might, but it was no good, the claw holding him down was too strong. There was nothing he could do.

Pika Pika grimaced and looked away, unable to bear watching this torture. She had seen worse, but the way Pikachu was fighting with all his heart and losing felt…well…different, somehow. More painful than usual. Mariah smiled with glee, anticipating a victory which would lead into Berry crushing Ash's other four Pokemon and celebrating by having sex with her like wild Pokemon in their hotel room.

And so, because she was so focused on Berry and imagining on how she would lick chocolate and maple syrup and ice cream off of Berry's hot sexy body in their hotel room, she didn't see the big purple arm of the Exploudrematic extend over her head and drop Zoro right on top of her.

Pika Pika had noticed the falling man because she wasn't watching the fight, cried in alarm and jumped off of Mariah's shoulder just in time, but Mariah had no such luck. She was too confused by Pika Pika's abrupt cry and action to get out of the way as Zoro fell on top of her, knocking her to the ground and crushing her wings.

He quickly got off and looked down at her in alarm. "Oh my!" he gasped, taking her by the hand and helping her up. "I am so sorry, _senorita_! I did not look where I was falling, otherwise I wouldn't have hit you and marred such a _estupenda_ face!"

Mariah, who had been about to rage and snap for Pika Pika to annihilate the masked man, stopped, instantly understanding what he had just said for no reason other than that she was Mariah Susanson. "Did you say I was beautiful?" she asked.

He nodded vigorously. "Si! More so than any other _senora_ or _senorita _in the world!" He kissed her on the hand. "Let me count the _numero_ of ways that make you _estupenda_…"

This intervention from a handsome stranger was just what was needed to divert Mariah's attention away from Berry. Demondethkillr's ability and intelligence dropped sharply, and when Pikachu made one last desperate shock, the dragon yelped and loosened its grip, allowing Pikachu to slip out right as the black Salamence fired its super l33t awesome attack that always won the fight.

The entire arena was engulfed in a blinding explosion as the attack struck. "PIKACHU!" Ash cried in horror as the two Pokemon were blocked from his sight by a cloud of smoke.

Berry laughed. "U NEVER S2D A CHANCE FOL1111! LOL FROM THIS POINT ON I PROMIES TAHT I WIL NOT L3T U WIN THIS FIGHT!11" He leaned forward eagerly as the smoke cleared, expecting to see a deep crater caused by the explosion as well as Pikachu's prone body plastered against an obelisk or the wall.

His expression turned to horror, confusion, and disbelief as the smoke dissipated and revealed that not only was Pikachu awake and well, his sword reclaimed and held in his left paw once more, but Demondethkillr was whimpering in pain, its left claw all but disintegrated by the blast from its own attack. His jaw dropped. "WHA.BUH.DUH.GUH.NUH!1!1!1!111! OMG WTF LOL HOW! OMG WTF HOW!1111!1?1!1 WTF" His mind reeled. Demondethkillr had fired his Super l33t Awesome Attack that Always Wins the Fight. So why hadn't it ended the fight? Why was Pikachu still standing! Why was Demondethkillr injured! He screamed, his poor brain unable to process this information. He clutched his head in pain, whimpering pathetically as the incongruence of this event tried to untangle itself in his mind. He fell to his knees, too engrossed to pay attention to the fight.

"It'll take more than that to beat us, Berry!" Ash cried, his confidence restored. "Come on Pikachu, ready for one more fight?"

"Always!" He leaped into a Quick Attack, slamming into Demondethkillr's chin as the Salamence weakly licked its damaged claw in pain, throwing the dragon's head back. Pikachu drew his sword and made several slashes against the skin at the base of the Salamence's neck, leaving numerous small cuts before the dragon recovered and swung its healthy claw at him, trying to repay the rodent for the damage it had done.

Pikachu smirked and backflipped out of range of the claw swipe, landing on his tail, which contracted and bounced him upwards, sending him tumbling through the air towards Demondethkillr's head. He slammed into the monster's face with an Iron Tail and dropped to the ground, using Agility to get out of the way as the Salamence released a burst of retaliatory Dragonbreath.

"Pikachu, use your speed to confuse it!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu started dashing in circles around the Salamence, forcing the dragon to try and fail to keep track of him, turning around and around so many times as it attempted to keep its eye on Pikachu that it got dizzy and confused, causing it to wobble and nearly collapse on its feet, head lolling in a daze. Pikachu came to a screeching halt just behind the Salamence, and used a Quick Attack to launch into the air and land on top of the dragon's flailing tail. He dashed up the large black lizard's back, between its wings and up its neck, driving his sword into a point between the Salamence's horns and releasing a powerful Thunderbolt through his sword, conducting electricity right into the dragon's body.

The Salamence roared and convulsed in pain as Pikachu's electric shock fried its brain. It collapsed to the ground, spasming and twitching, and Pikachu hopped off, extricating his sword and holding it up to the sky, inciting the crowd to applaud.

However, the monstrous Salamence would not go down so easily. Whisps of smoke hissing out of its ears, the dragon got back to its feet and lunged at Pikachu, jaws wide open. "Pikachu, watch out!" Ash yelled in warning.

Pikachu sidestepped the attack as the Salamence's jaws slammed shut harmlessly on the space he had been just a moment ago, kicking up dust. As Demondethkillr opened its mouth and started retracting its head, Pikachu quickly darted his sword into the beast's jaws, striking the roof of the mouth and channeling electricity through it, shocking the monster again with another powerful jolt.

It reared back, thrashing in pain and rage. Pikachu hopped backwards, away from the Salamence's stomping feet or flailing tail. The angry dragon opened its mouth and prepared a Hyper Beam attack. "Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu charged forward, leaping into the air and smashing into the Salamence's bottom jaw before it could fire the attack, causing its teeth to slam shut just as the charged-up energy released itself, exploding in its mouth and causing it to writhe for a moment in stunned agony before collapsing to the ground, dazed. Pikachu hopped onto the dragon's head, drove his sword into the same place as before, and let loose another powerful electric shock, startling the Salamence out of its daze and damaging it once more.

Demondethkillr roared and flung its head backwards, throwing Pikachu off. Pikachu flipped in the air, preparing to land on his feet, but the Salamence's tail swung up out of nowhere and slammed him away, causing him to plow face-first into the dirt. He managed to recover and roll out of the way before he could be crushed by one of the dragon's feet, slashing at the ankle as he got back up.

Green flames licked out of the dragon's mouth as it used Dragonbreath attack. Pikachu dodged it and slashed his blade at the monster's injured paw, causing it to howl and rear up on its hind legs in pain. Without any urging from Ash, he charged forward at the armor plating coating the dragon's belly, recalling how he had beaten the mutant Aerodactyl in the Dark World. Using Quick Attack and Agility to increase his speed he jumped into the air and slammed into the armor with Iron Tail, cracking it and bouncing away before Demondethkillr could slam back down to the ground and flatten him beneath its weight.

The poor, confused, stupid dragon was hurting and angry. The stupid mouse had injured it repeatedly, causing more pain than it had ever felt before. All it wanted to do now was return the favor by any means possible. Growling, the Salamence flapped its wings, kicking up dirt and a gust which pushed Pikachu back a few steps as it started to lift off the ground and rise into the air.

"Pikachu, don't let it get any higher!" Ash shouted. "It'll have the advantage in the air!"

Pikachu nodded, then turned and ran _away_ from the dragon, confusing those watching. He dashed towards one of the few obelisks still standing after all the damage the arena had taken so far, dodging Dragon Rages spat at him by Demondethkillr and using his speed moves to boost himself as he jumped up towards the obelisk, kicked off the side, and pushed himself higher into the air, on an intercept course straight for the Salamence. The dragon opened its mouth and fired a Super l33t Awesome Attack that Always Wins the Fight at Pikachu. The electric mouse curled up and flipped vertically in the air, bringing both Iron Tail and electrically-charged sword to bear as he slashed at the very tip of the white energy beam shooting towards him, causing it to split to either side as he cut right through it with his twin blades! Even Ash, who had thought up this possible trick for Pikachu after watching him train a little with Lombre earlier, could not help but be amazed by how well the technique had been pulled off.

The Salamence Demondethkillr stared at Pikachu in disbelief as the mouse kept coming towards it, uncurling from the spinning cut he had used to counter the dragon's ultimate attack. How could this be! How could its ultimate attack fail not once, but twice! It was stunned so much by the enormity of this impossible thing that it could do nothing but gape as Pikachu landed on its head, leaped off, and slashed twice at the dragon's flapping red wings as he sailed past, falling towards the ground. He tucked his body into a ball and absorbed the brunt of the landing with a roll, uncurling and looking up as the large sections of wing he had sliced with his blade fell apart, resulting in a howl of pain as the Salamence plummeted from the sky, crashing to the ground with a heavy thud, skidding in the sand and turning over, revealing its upturned belly which was still sheathed in cracked armor.

"Pikachu, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ash asked with a smirk.

"If you're thinking of using an awesome finish for this battle, then yes I am!" Pikachu held his sword in his mouth and started dashing towards the dragon before it could recover, charging his blade up with electricity until it began to glow with a bright light.

As Demondethkillr groaned and opened its eyes, flinching at the sunlight and how much its head hurt, it saw something blot out the sun as a small form leaped in front of it, jumping high into the air above. That object was Pikachu, who flipped in the air as he came falling down towards the dazed Salamence, clutching his glowing sword in both paws. "LUMINAIRE!" he shouted, bringing down the blade with a tremendous chop on the cracked portion of armor, releasing a huge explosion of light and electricity which rocked the Pyramid.

In his throne, Brandon fumbled and dropped the wine glass he had been holding, causing it to break on the ground. He scowled angrily.

"Dude…that's one heck of a light show," said the amazed Geodude.

"We should try and get him in the band," said the equally amazed Jigglypuff. "If for no other reason than to provide excellent special effects."

Mariah, who had been oblivious to the fight due to Zoro's eloquent compliments of her beauty and kisses running up her arm, noticed the explosion peripherally and turned her head to see what was going on. Zoro quickly distracted her by sacrificing his pride and kissing her on the lips, despite how much it reviled him. Her eyes widened in amazement, and the twisted Mariah admitted that he was almost as good a kisser as Berry. Pika Pika on the other hand, was simply amazed, not with the kiss (she had seen Mariah experience too many to be impressed by that) but by Pikachu. "He's…magnificent…" she whispered. She felt a strange feeling in her chest. A…heartbeat? Could she actually be growing a heart, after all this time?

No, no, she thought in disappointment after checking her pulse and finding it was as nonexistent as ever, it was just her stomach growling because she hadn't eaten all day.

Ash simply grinned. "Great job, Pikachu."

The light from the blast finally faded to reveal Pikachu standing in front of Demondethkillr, panting for breath and clutching his rapier. The dragon's face was frozen in a look of shock and pain, the armor on its chest shattered and revealing its soft, fleshy underbelly. With a groan, the Salamence's eyes rolled back in its head and it collapsed, rolling onto its chest and displacing sand as it fell.

Pikachu smirked. "Heh." He turned around towards Ash. And didn't see the form of Demondethkillr rise up behind him for one more strike…

Or at least, that's what all the horrified viewers thought.

Before any of them could let a cry of warning slip past their lips, Pikachu spun around and lashed out with his sword in three powerful strokes, cutting into the Salamence's belly and leaving a great scar in the shape of a large P. The dragon's body stiffened. Eyes rolling back in its head, it began to topple over. Pikachu jumped out of the way as it hit the ground with a thud and stayed down, this time truly defeated.

The referee waved his flag after a stunned moment, realizing he had to finalize this. "Demondethkillr is unable to battle! Pikachu and Ash Ketchum have won the match and may proceed to the next round of the Hoenn League Championships!" The audience burst into wild applause, clapping and enthusiastically shouting the heroes' names.

Broken out of his mental reverie by this applause, Berry looked up to see the beaten form of Demondethkillr. And he realized then and there that he had truly, utterly lost. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!111111!111!111111!111!11!111!11!1!1!1!1!1!111 LOL" he cried in a long-winded scream of utter anguish and despair, which Ash ignored because Berry didn't exist anyway and as such it was hard to feel sorry for condemning him to oblivion, since that's basically what he always had been since Mariah made him.

"Yeah! You did it, Pikachu!" Ash congratulated, hopping down from his platform. Pikachu dashed over and leaped into his trainer's arms, nearly poking him with his sword as he nuzzled Ash's cheek.

Lombre, with his arms crossed and cape flowing in the wind, nodded in approval from his position on the Exploudrematic's tongue. "Hmm, si. He has truly mastered the_ camino hoja_. I am proud to have taught him."

"Are you going to come inside?" the annoyed Mudkip asked him from just inside the mouth. "We're about to have some cookies Meg baked for us."

Lombre perked up. "Ooh, cookies? _Una__ momento_, I must be _dramatia_ for a few more minutes."

Mudkip rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She walked back inside, leaving Lombre to look impressive and stuff by himself.

Mariah finally broke away from Zoro's kiss to see the prone and unconscious Demondethkillr. She gasped, as did Pika Pika, who had been utterly dumbstruck by Pikachu's skill and prowess with a sword. "Eh, my apologies _senorita diabolica_," Zoro apologized sincerely after he spat several times to clean his mouth of the taste of her lips. "But I was simply using you to give my little amigos a better chance at trouncing the dragon. No hard feelings."

"No," she said softly, an evil smile creeping into her face as she saw the utterly broken and defeated Berry sobbing and Ash and Pikachu dancing in joy at their victory. "No hard feelings at all."

…

When Ash and Pikachu stepped off the lift from the stadium down to the locker room, they got ambushed by the rest of their teammates. "Great job, you two!" Bayleef complimented, wrapping them in a tight vine whip hug. "That was an awesome fight!"

"It was great, Brother Uncle Pikachu!" Phanphy agreed, happily. "You're better than all those guys I see on television!"

Pikachu smirked and untied his mask. "Well I should hope so, since I'm real and they're not."

"They're not?" Phanphy asked in surprise. "What about all the ones in live action shows and movies?"

"Oh, those are almost all nothing more than well-coordinated fights. More like dancing really," Crawdaunt said off-handedly. "Completely fake. Just directed well enough to look real and super-dramatic."

"Oh." Phanphy's ears sagged in disappointment as another one of his naïve beliefs about the world shattered.

"And now that Berry's lost," Latias said, pulling out the spell tag which Shedinja had delivered to her when she had come down to the locker room after her match with Mew 3476. "We can take out Mariah and finish her reign of madness once and for all."

"Latias?" Pikachu asked tentatively, removing his cape. "Um…if Berry and all the Pokemon that Mariah has, ah, transformed will cease to exist when she's destroyed…what'll happen to Pika Pika?"

Latias blinked. She realized with a start that had been the thing she was going to ask Registeel back in the Realm of Mists. "I…I don't know," she admitted. "I suppose that…well, she would probably vanish too."

Pikachu's ears sank. "Oh."

"Well then, we can't do this!" Bayleef said in shock. "Not if it'll kill that poor Pikachu!"

"Oh, let it go. She wants to die anyway. And it's not like she really exists anyway," Crawdaunt pointed out. "So it's not like we're losing anything."

Frustrated, Bayleef slapped him with a vine. "How can you be so heartless! Throwing away Pikachu's chance at happiness so callously?"

"I'm being practical, woman!" Crawdaunt retorted. "If we don't get rid of Mariah, she's going to turn Ash into the next Berry Stoo! There's no way around it!"

"And I don't think any of us, including me, wants me to become Berry Stoo," Ash pointed out. "But…I don't you want to be unhappy either," Ash said, kneeling down and putting a hand on Pikachu's back.

Pikachu shook him off. "I…no, what I want doesn't matter. Whatever I might feel or think I feel for her isn't nearly as important as your remaining yourself, Pikapi. If…if getting rid of Mariah means getting rid of Pika Pika too, then that is what we must do."

"Are you sure?" Ash asked uneasily. "Maybe we could-"

"No, if it's what we have to do, it's what we have to do," Pikachu stated firmly. "No matter what the personal cost."

Ash hesitated. "If you're sure…"

"I am."

"Then that's what we'll do." He stood up. "Okay guys. Let's go find the others and get Mariah!"

"Too late," a familiar sickly sweet voice said. "Because I've got you!"

Mariah Susanson stepped out from the shadows near the exit door and flicked a hand at the heroes before they could react, her crystal piece glowing. Instantly, all of them were surrounded in a glowing blue aura and levitated into the air, where they dangled helplessly. All save Crawdaunt, that is. "Wh-what's going on!" Bayleef cried.

"Weee! I'm flying!" Phanphy squealed, kicking his legs in the air and completely failing to comprehend the seriousness of the situation.

"She's using Psychic!" Pikachu realized. "I've felt this way too many times to ever forget what it's like!"

"Ha, but it doesn't work on me, because I'm a Dark-type!" Crawdaunt said proudly. "Time for some well-needed ass-kicking, bitch!" He scuttled rapidly towards her, Crabhammer glowing.

"Pika Pika," Mariah breathed.

The shiny Pikachu appeared next to her. "Sorry," Pika Pika whispered as she released an incredibly powerful Thunderbolt which stopped Crawdaunt dead in his tracks and flung him across the room, smashing him into the wall and cracking both it and his armor severely. He groaned and collapsed on the floor, crackling with electricity.

"Waaa! Uncle Crawdaunt!" Phanphy cried.

Pikachu glanced at Pika Pika, a look of hurt betrayal in his eyes. She looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

Latias struggled mentally against the aura, but it felt as if her mind's psychic bursts weren't making a difference, no matter what she did she couldn't break free or move her limbs enough to grab her Dragon Flute and call Mewtwo. It seemed hopeless.

"Let us go!" Ash demanded.

"I will," Mariah said perkily. "After I send your soul to oblivion and transform you into my new boyfriend! The old one wasn't good enough, but you're more than perfect to take his place!"

"But I don't want to be your boyfriend!" Ash protested as the demented female walked over to him. "I already have someone I care about! I'm _her_ boyfriend, so how can I be yours?"

Mariah pouted. "What, you mean that hideous orange-haired freak? I'm much better than she is! I can offer you so much more…strong Pokemon, a perfect life, wonderful sex, and recognition as a Pokemon master! What can she do that tops that?"

"How about love?" Ash asked angrily. "I don't suppose you can give me love, can you? Seeing as how you have no heart!"

"No, I can't," Mariah admitted cheerfully, stopping in front of Ash. With a crooning of her finger he floated down to her. "But I can emulate it pretty well." She wrapped her arms around Ash, who stiffened, eyes wide in horror. "Now, just hold still and ignore the agonizing pain, it'll be over before you know it."

Pikachu glanced at Pika Pika, eyes pleading. "Please…" he whispered. "Help us."

"There's nothing I can do," Pika Pika said bitterly. "There's nothing anyone can do."

"If you keep believing that," Pikachu said in frustration. "Then that's exactly how it will always be!"

"…I'm sorry," she said finally.

"Now, pucker up!" Mariah said happily, closing her eyes and forming her lips into a kiss. Ash desperately struggled against her grip, both psychic and physical, trying to break free. Everyone else renewed their efforts, trying to free themselves from Mariah's hold and save Ash. But as none of them made any progress and Mariah's lips lowered closer and closer to Ash's terrified face, it seemed as if Pika Pika was right after all, and there was nothing anyone could do.

"PIKAPI!" Pikachu screamed.

"DADDY!" cried Phanphy.

"ASH!" Bayleef and Latias yelled.

Without warning, the door to the locker room burst open. Startled, Mariah looked away from Ash along with everyone else and saw a surprised Sneasel-looking Pokemon with red adornments and a one-eyed cloaked figure standing in the entryway. The Sneasel-like Pokemon grunted and smirked up at the cloaked one. "Told you the locker rooms were this way!"

"Pika Pika!" Mariah screamed. "Get them!"

The red-brown Pikachu started crackling with electricity. "You don't have to do this!" Pikachu cried She hesitated, looking conflicted for a moment.

"PIKA PIKA!" Mariah yelled angrily.

The Pikachu paused a fraction of a second longer…then her electricity crackled up again and she prepared to unleash it on the duo.

However, she didn't get the chance. The cloaked figure waved an arm, and a wall of psychic force rippled across the room and knocked into Pika Pika, sending her skidding a few feet away. Enraged, Mariah took things into her own hands, flinging a psychic blast at the pair…

Which the Sneasel-like Pokemon leaped into, neutralizing it. "What kinda freak of nature are you?" it wondered out loud, its raspy voice feminine…and strangely familiar.

"Hit her with a Dark-type attack!" Latias yelled. "Knock off her necklace!"

"Right!" The unknown Dark-type started dashing towards Mariah. Pika Pika got back up, preparing to unleash a Thunder attack…only for the cloaked figure to again intervene, striking the Pikachu with a Confusion attack and causing the bolt of lightning to swerve off course just as it was fired, sending it straight into a startled and unprotected Mariah! She cried in pain as the electricity convulsed through her, and her psychic hold on the group shattered, causing them to fall back to the ground, although not very softly. Bayleef hit her head on a bench coming down and almost fainted, while Phanphy landed on his thick (but mostly empty) skull, so nothing was damaged. Much.

Ash was freed too, and quickly got out of the way as the Sneasel-like Pokemon jumped towards the wall, kicked off it, and slashed at Mariah with her claws, which were crackling dark purple to show the use of a Knock Off attack. True to its name, the claw swipe Knocked Off Mariah's necklace and the magic crystal inside. The bauble spun away, skimming off the floor and coming to a bumping stop against the wall.

"Noooooooo!" Mariah cried, her perfect figure blurring and fuzzing somewhat as if she were being projected by an old movie camera. "Give that to me!" The necklace trembled and floated into the air, starting to move back towards her…

But Latias got in the way of its path, sticking the sheet metal spell tag onto the necklace. "I don't think so, Mariah. This ends now!" The characters on the paper-thin metal lit up, and the necklace shook as crackling energy formed around it, dropping to the ground as Mariah lost power over it.

The insane creature screamed in pain, clutching her chest as her form blurred ever more, now looking more like a television screen with bad reception. Pika Pika flinched in pain. The characters on the spell tag glowed as bright as the sun…and then the entire metal sheet disintegrated. The pieces of metal and jewelry that made up the necklace crumbled to pieces as the crystal shard dropped onto the floor, glowing slightly as a strange, nearly transparent crust that had formed on it shattered, causing the object to look…cleaner somehow, as if it had been purified of a great taint.

Mariah staggered back, lurching as her legs phased in and out of existence, bumping against the wall. "N-noOoooOoo," she moaned, her voice distorted. "Thissss…can-n-n-not b-b-b-be happppening!"

"I'm afraid it is," Ash said coldly. "You, uh, thing that looks like a Sneasel!"

The Pokemon glared at him. "Yes?" she asked, growling at his designation for her.

"One more Dark attack will finish her off. Can you do it?"

She snorted. "Can Grumpigs bounce?" She started crackling with Dark energy, causing Latias to flinch. Abruptly, she vanished, only to reappear just an inch away from Mariah, level with her chest, and her claw plunged through the female's torso. Mariah gasped in pain. The Pokemon smirked and extricated her claw, a few surprisingly small droplets of blood flying out with it as she flipped off the woman's chest and landed on the ground.  
There was now a gaping hole in Maria's chest, right through her breasts and where her heart might have been if she had one. Her form blurred and crackled like static, and she cried out and fell to her knees. From the toes of her shoes up, she started disintegrating, piece by piece, each part of her body cracking off from the rest and vanishing in a burst of colorful light. "GaAaaAhhHhH…cannn't endddd l-l-like thissssss…I'm Ma-Ma-Ma-riah Ssssussanssson!" Her wings trembled and exploded in a flurry of feathers, all of which faded away. "Mmmmussst f-f-find bodddy toooo stay in unt-t-til I can sssstabilize!" She reached a desperate hand out to Bayleef as her right leg disintegrated. "P-p-please! I cannnn make you evolve, make you sssstrong and b-b-beautiful-"

"I'll evolve when I want to," Bayleef said, tossing her leaf back. "I don't need to do it right away to impress anyone. My friends and Grovyle-kun like me just the way I am."

Mariah tried again, with Latias, as her left leg crumbled away to nothing. "I-I-I can h-h-hellllp yoooouuuuu underst-stand your powers…you c-c-can be strong enough to bring y-y-your King back to our worrrllld, even bring Bianca and L-l-l-lorenzo and Latiosss back to life!"

Latias narrowed her eyes. "How dare you speak their names!" she hissed. "How dare you defile their memory with your vile tongue! I am doing just fine learning the limits of my powers on my own. My King is coming back to me soon enough, and as for the others…as for Bianca, Lorenzo, and Latios…they're gone. I came to terms with that a long time ago. What is dead should stay dead. Digging it back up only causes nothing but suffering."

Bayleef sweatdropped. "Wait, isn't what they're doing with that Ghost King of yours sort of the same thing? Bringing him back from the dead?"

Latias paused. "Well, he's not really _dead_ so much as temporarily separated from his body, which I think might still be alive. And they're working on that. I suppose in one sense it _could_ be seen as resurrection, but…well, I suppose it all depends on the context."

Mariah frantically tried to appeal to the Sneasel-like Pokemon. "P-p-p-pleassse, I can f-fulfill y-y-y-your heart'ssss desssiressss!"

The Pokemon snorted and crossed her claws. "Sorry, don't have any. As long as I can have a good meal, a place to sleep, and the occasional feel of something's blood on my claws, I'm perfectly satisfied the way I am."

Panicking, Mariah glanced at her Pikachu. "Pika Pika…without me, y-y-you'lll d-d-die…"

Pika Pika, for the first time in her life, genuinely smiled, tears of joy in her eyes. "I've wanted to die for a very long time, Mariah. The only way you can grant my heart's desire is for you to do what you're doing now…just die. And I'll follow soon after." Pikachu blanched, feeling hurt and unhappy by her bitterness and evident lack of a will to live.

Mariah's chest had all but evaporated, but in spite of that she dragged herself across the floor with her now-ruined nails even as they started fading away, throwing herself at her last hope, the cloaked figure. "P-p-p-pleasssse…I c-c-can fixxx what he could n-n-n-not…mmmmake yoouuu b-b-beautiful for him!" She held a hand out for the figure to grasp.

Latias' eyes widened as she heard this offer. Could it be?

There was a pause. Mariah's body grew more and more diffuse as she stared desperately up at the cloaked one, her hand still outstretched. Then, slowly, the figure reached up with its sleeves and pulled back its hood, revealing green hair and a gold and silver sun and moon mask with a single eyehole, through which a red eye glared down at the pathetic yet unpitiable form of Mariah Susanson. Latias gasped in recognition, her suspicions confirmed, while her friends seemed perplexed by the masked figure. "Thhat is a wishh I desire with all my heart…" she slurred.

Latias' heart stopped, and for a moment she was horrified the masked woman would accept Mariah's offer. Then, to her relief, the woman smacked Mariah's hand away. "But iff it is to be granted, I wwould not want it to be by yyou."

"No…please…" Mariah sobbed as her arms vanished, and all that was left of her was her head, and even that was rapidly going away. "I doooon't d-d-d-deservve thhhhis!"

"Of course you do," Pika Pika said, her smile of happiness growing wider. "You deserve every last bit of it. You showed no mercy to anyone else as you destroyed their lives, so why should we show it to you?"

"P-p-Pika P-p-Pika…" Mariah moaned.

"I always did hate that name," the Pikachu said calmly. "Goodbye Mariah. I'll be joining you shortly."

With a last anguished scream, the nonentity known as Mariah Susanson ceased to exist. Nobody cried for her. Nobody mourned her passing. After all, in the end she had been nothing…and who can love something that is nothing?

"That was interesting," the Sneasel Pokemon commented, breaking the silence that followed Mariah's demise. "For future reference, do all humans do that when they get hit with a Dark attack?"

Startled, Ash took a few steps back from the Pokemon. Latias and Bayleef quickly got in front of him. "N-no. No, we don't."

The black Pokemon frowned at their automatic move to protect Ash. "What? I was just curious. That's all."

Pika Pika gasped, grabbing everyone's attention. The same process of disintegration that Mariah had gone through was starting to happen to her, as the tip of her tail fragmented and dissolved in little blobs of colored light and bit by bit the remainder of it began to follow suit. "It's happening!" she cried ecstatically. "I'm dying, finally I'm dying!"

"But-but I don't want you to die!" Pikachu protested. "Can't you stay with us? We could stabilize you using the crystal or something!"

She looked perplexed. "Why would I want to do something like that? Ever since I was born by being painfully split from Mariah, all I ever wanted was to die. I'm not something that's supposed to exist. I'm just a bundle of messed-up feelings of depression and pain blended together in a form that just happens to look like a somewhat attractive Pikachu. I never really existed, so I cannot really live. All I have to look forward to is oblivion, and I welcome it with open arms, so all these jumbled emotions and essences of the people I'm made up from can finally rest in peace."

"But…I…" Pikachu stammered. He just couldn't understand how she could be so accepting of utter nothingness. "I just…I don't understand! There's so much someone like you can live for, now that Mariah is gone! How can you still want to die?"

"Because it's the only way I can be free," Pika Pika explained as everything below her waistline dissolved into colorful lights. "Trapped here in life, surrounded by people who are able to think and feel and care properly, would be just as miserable an existence as I had with Mariah. I am nothing, unlike all of you. I have always been nothing, and to nothing I return in peace."

Latias nodded in understanding, recalling Shedinja's words. "Death is infinitely better to being caught somewhere between being alive and being dead," she recited.

The dissolving Pikachu nodded, gratitude at Latias' understanding in her eyes. "That's right. Thank you."

"But…" Pikachu grabbed her paw. "We can make you into something!"

"I have no interest in that," she said, pulling her paw away. "The only reason you even want me to live to begin with is because you feel sorry for me and are attracted to me. Take those away, and you would feel as little remorse for my passing as you did Mariah's. Am I right?"

Pikachu opened his mouth to protest, hesitated, and sagged despondently. "I…I don't know," he said honestly. "Maybe yes, maybe no. But even if I don't really feel anything for you now, than can change! Please don't leave!"

Pika Pika shrugged before her shoulders vanished. "If I wanted to live, it would be on my own terms, not to fulfill someone else's desires. I had enough of that from Mariah. Since I have no interest in continued existence, all I wish is to fade away, unmourned and missed by no one. That is all I have ever wanted."

She glanced at Latias. "The crystal is yours to do with as you please. Do not abuse its power as Mariah did."

Latias nodded. "I'll try not too. Thank you, Pika Pika."

The Pikachu shuddered, only her rapidly dwindling face left. "This is it…goodbye." Her remaining image disintegrating, leaving no trace of her behind except for some small particles of light, and in a moment even those were gone.

Pikachu's ears drooped. "Goodbye, Pika Pika…" he whispered.

Ash got down on his knees next to his friend and put an arm around his shoulder. "Buddy…will you be okay?"

"…I can't cry for her…try as I might, I can't cry," Pikachu said sadly. "She was right. I really did care nothing for her. As much as I want it to be otherwise, that's the truth. I only did feel anything because I pitied her and found her attractive…" He sighed. "Am I really so shallow?"

"No," Bayleef reassured him. "You just saw a pretty girl and did what any other male would do: fell for her. For a little while, anyway. And no matter what you and she both say, I for one feel a little sad to see her go, though not because I had grown to like her as a person. Had she wanted to live, she might have had the potential to become a real Pokemon instead of a facsimile. But death was all she wanted, and that's what she embraced. In the end though, her decision was her own to make and so must be respected, not lamented."

"Don't worry Brother Uncle Pikachu," Phanphy said, patting the mouse's head with his trunk and causing Pikachu to wince as the little elephant pounded his skull. "I'm sure she'll come back next season when you make a wish on a falling star (which is, of course, Jirachi) that you had a girlfriend, but she turns out to be possessed by the evil spirit of Mariah Susanson and you exorcise her with a kiss and you and Pika Pika live happily for a while, but then she sacrifices herself to save you from a bullet shot by a gun belonging to your jealous rival and evil twin brother Raichu, whom you then kill, and you mourn again. But that's okay, because the season after that she'll come back again with a whole new plot twist attached!"

Everyone stared at Phanphy. "What?" Pikachu asked, utterly confused.

"It happens on soap operas all the time!" Phanphy said cheerfully. They all facefaulted.

"Phanphy, how many times do we have to tell you television does not reflect reality, only influence it?" Latias asked with a sigh.

"Eh, doesn't matter," the Sneasel-like Pokemon said, shoving Ash out of the way and putting a claw on the startled Pikachu's shoulder. "In any event, if you're still craving a woman, I'd be more than happy to accommodate you." Pikachu blinked and looked up at her in surprise. _Well,_ he admitted. _She is kind of pretty…in a feral sense…_

Bayleef frowned. "Wait…doesn't your species eat males after you mate with them?"

Pikachu and Ash's eyes bulged in horror. The Pokemon laughed and waved Bayleef's accusation off. "Don't be silly, that's just a biased rumor! We only eat them if they're bad at it."

Pikachu swallowed and carefully pushed the Pokemon's claw off of him. "Eh heh, let me get back to you on that, okay?"

"Sure, take all the time you want," the black Pokemon said cheerfully.

"What are you, anyway?" Ash wondered, pulling out his Pokedex and pointing it at her.

It beeped and said, "Manyula, the Sharp Claw Pokemon and evolved form of Sneasel. This Pokemon is admired for its incredible speed and accuracy with its sharp claws. Its finely honed killing instinct makes it a dangerous competitor in Pokemon battles, and also a favorite among assassins or wealthy crime lords who are seeking a bodyguard less conspicuous and more deadly than your average burly Fighting Pokemon." It beeped again and said, "This specimen is in very good health. Trace DNA detected on its claws matching that of Gorebyss, Snubbul, Goldeen, and infant Mareep."

"Oh, must have missed some of my lunch," the Manyula said, licking at her claws. Everyone backed away from her in fright, other than the masked figure, which everyone finally remembered was there. "Oh! Um…sorry we forgot about you, miss!" Ash said, embarrassed.

The woman said nothing. "Ash, that's Gardevoir!" Latias hissed, elbowing him. "My friend from the Cleft! She's a Chosen like us, remember?"

Ash sweatdropped. "Oh, right." He stepped forward awkwardly. "Um, hi?" he said, extending a hand.

Gardevoir stared at him for a moment. An uncomfortable look in her eye, she backed away, leaving Ash perplexed. "What? What did I do?"

"She's not used to unfamiliar faces," the Manyula said, pushing Ash backwards. "Comes from growing up all by herself in some lonesome desert."

"Here, let me handle this. She knows me." Latias cautiously floated over to the cloaked Gardevoir. "Um…hi, Gardevoir. It's me, Latias, remember? How have you been doing since Mewtwo and I had to…leave?"

There was a pause. The masked Pokemon just looked at Latias for a moment. Then, without warning, the Gardevoir leaped forward and wrapped her arms around Latias, startling her. "Missed yyou," the Embrace Pokemon wept, holding her tight. "Noo Mewtwo…no yyou…all by myself…until Ssadic…" Blinking back tears of her own, Latias hugged her back.

"Sadic?" Pikachu asked in confusion.

"That's me!" the Manyula said, identifying herself. "I'm one of you Chosen guys too, remember? I've evolved since then though, so I can understand why you don't remember me."

"Don't suppose its short for Sadistic?" Bayleef asked sarcastically.

Sadic shook her head. "No, it means 'Beautiful Killer'."

Ash grabbed Phanphy and held him away from Sadic while backing away, along with everyone else. Sadic scowled and crossed her arms. "Why does everyone always do that? I'm not scary or anything, am I?"

"Good to see yyou again," Gardevoir said, holding Latias away to get a good look at her.

"It's good to see you too," Latias agreed, almost surprised to find that she had indeed missed the deformed psychic. She felt guilty and ashamed of herself for all the times she had wanted to avoid her in the past due to her misshapen features. She had seen enough truly awful things since then to recognize true beauty when she saw it.

"Havve yyou heard ffrom-"

"Mewtwo?" Latias winced. "Um…yes, twice actually, but not recently."

Gardevoir sagged in disappointment. "Ohh."

"If it's any consolation, he misses you," Latias said kindly.

Gardevoir nodded sadly. "I miss him too."

"How did you guys get here, anyway?" Bayleef asked, walking over.

"The Unown dudes told us to head down here before we all left their world," Sadic explained. "I trekked down from the mountains, and Gardevoir here crossed the desert. We met up along the way and stuck together for our mutual benefit; her because it was a big scary world she'd never experienced before and needed protection, me because I had some company I didn't feel like killing and eating for a change, plus by taking the guise of a trainer and making it look like I was her Pokemon she severely cut down on the numbers of trainers I disemboweled for trying to capture me." Once more, they all backed away from her. Not seeming to notice, she continued. "We caught a ride on a Wailord from some abandoned dump called Lilycove and island-hopped our way here. When we got to Ever Grande we saw your faces on some TV thingie showing the match-ups for today's round of the Hoenn Championships, so we thought we'd come over and surprise you when you were done fighting, since we didn't have tickets and I would have gotten us in trouble for attacking the security guards. Good thing we came in when we did, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," Pikachu said uneasily, wondering whether he should be running for his life before remembering Sadic was probably faster than he was and, as a predator, would probably instinctively hunt down and mate and/or kill him for doing so. He wondered for a moment what the Unown had been thinking, letting her in…until he remembered they had also let in that creepy psychopath Deoxys, and shuddered. The vibes he had gotten off of that guy were much worse than anything Sadic made him feel. He frowned, noticing Crawdaunt lying against the wall as if for the first time. "Hey, shouldn't we do something about him?" he asked.

Ash blinked. "What? Oh, yeah." He blushed. "Stupid me. Now, where did I put that Hyper Potion…" He started looking uncertainly around the locker room, trying to remember where he had deposited his clothes before getting dragged away by the makeup artists.

"I just had a thought too," Bayleef said suddenly. "Weren't we supposed to meet the others? How come they haven't gotten here by now?"

…

Misty bit her lip to keep from screaming in exasperation. "I can't believe this. I thought that after being forced to leave and come back again, joining Ash on a series of small uncluttered islands, I'd never have to do this again. But now, we're not even in a forest, Ash isn't here, and we're still COMPLETELY LOST!"

Brock sweatdropped. "Hey, it's not my fault! Blame Max, he has the map!" Max glared at Brock angrily.

"Only because when you were reading it, you accidentally led us to a lady's room. As usual," May said flatly.

"I didn't mean to! Honest!" Brock protested. "All other women pale in comparison to Venus!" Predictably, he broke into tears. "Oh Venus, why did you have to go!"

Wes rolled his eyes. "Probably to escape from your moping."

"Wes!" Rui slapped him on the arm. "That's rude! Even if it is true," she admitted.

The heroes, after waking up from Pika Pika's electric shock, had raced off to the locker rooms to save Ash. Unfortunately, Mariah had left one of her super-powerful Pokemon to guard the tunnels that wound through the pyramid and led to the lower levels, and in all the ridiculously powerful explosions it had caused from its attacks nearly all their Pokemon had been knocked out, plus the route they had been following had caved in right after the Pokemon spontaneously combusted, which led them to believe Ash must have somehow handled Mariah by himself. With the shortest and quickest path to the locker room blocked, they had been forced to take the long way around, and predictably had gotten completely and totally lost.

Zoro paused, glancing at a fresco carved onto the wall depicting a grinning someone who looked suspiciously like Brandon being worshipped by the other Brains of Battle Frontier, along with Mr. Ford. "You know, I think we've passed this place _mucho_ times now." He examined it further. "Yes, we have been here before. I can see the mark I left with my _espada_ so we would know if we came this way again."

Misty screamed and pulled on her hair. It looked as if it would take only a little more to drive her over the edge. "Mom, calm down!" Togetic said anxiously. "Losing your temper won't help us find our way!"

"Yeah Misty, calm down," May recommended. "Think of something soothing…like Ash in that pharaoh outfit."

Misty's eyes glazed over, as she released her hair. "Oh…he did look particularly hot, didn't he?"

"Yeah," May agreed wistfully.

"I hope he's still dressed like that when we find him, I can think of a few things I wouldn't mind doing with the ruler of an ancient civilization," Misty said, licking her lips with a hunger that had nothing to do with stuffing food down her throat.

"Ew!" Jirachi stuck out his tongue. "Gross, mushy stuff! Make it stop, Max!"

Max glanced at his incredibly confusing map and sighed. "Why bother? By the time I find our way, Ash'll probably have changed back to his regular clothes, so it'll be a moot point anyway."

"Maybe I could teleport us to his locker room," Jirachi suggested.

"Just like you teleported us into Brandon's harem?" Absol asked deadpan.

Jirachi sweatdropped and laughed nervously. "Eh heh…then again, there's something to be said for wandering about aimlessly, isn't there?"

Max groaned. "We'll never get out of here…"

…

"Mommy and the others will be here sooner or later, I just know it!" Phanphy said confidently.

"Well, I just hope they didn't get lost," said Pikachu, not knowing his fears had already come true. "The layout of this place can be pretty confusing. It was hard enough finding our way to the locker room to begin with, even with signs pointing the way!"

Ash was currently administering the Hyper Potion to Crawdaunt, who was already showing signs of recovering. Curious, as she had never seen a potion in use before, Gardevoir watched over his shoulder…from a few feet away. She wasn't particularly trusting of humans, seeing as how she had been abused most of her life by one and the few traders she had interacted with over the years had always acted a little…_lusty_ around her. Her time abroad in the world so far hadn't lessened that distrust and fear in the least, if anything it was greater now than it was before. Sadic was nearby, sharpening her claws against each other, while keeping an eye on Gardevoir. She didn't particularly fear or distrust humans, but then again she didn't really regard them as much of a threat. No matter what technology or powerful Pokemon they were packing, to her they were still little more than weak prey animals just begging to be eaten if they got out of line. And if Ash were to do anything to harm her new friend Gardevoir, she'd be seeing whether his statement about the effects of Dark-type attacks on humans was true after all.

As for Latias…

The dragon gently scooped the lonely and forgotten piece of crystal lying in the corner of the locker room into her claws. "Sorry I left you here by yourself," she joked, raising it to her face to observe it more closely. "We got so caught up in defeating Mariah and reuniting with Gardevoir and Sadic I forgot all about you." She turned the thing over in her claws. "Now, what do I do with-"

She stopped, blinking in surprise as the crystal started glowing softly. "What?" she wondered, bending her neck down to take a better look. She flinched as suddenly the light flared into a small supernova, causing spots to dance before her eyes. The crystal trembled, and then shot out of her hands and drove itself into her chest, causing her to gasp as it sank through her skin without the slightest feeling of pain or impact. She shuddered, feeling a strange sensation as what felt like something akin to soft, warm chocolate ran up the inside of her body, causing her bones to tingle. She grimaced as, for a split second, all her senses heightened sharply, causing her to see in painful detail the precise wood grain and dust on the bench next to her while the scraping caused by Sadic's claws intensified to an agonizing screech…

And then she felt a warm, golden glow from somewhere deep inside her, like the flame of anger which ignited when she was truly angry but gentler, more benign. With a start, she realized she had felt this way only once before.

And then she gasped as she thought she heard a proud, triumphant, and oddly familiar roar off in the distance. "My King?" she whispered, looking about.

But no, there were no glowing yellow eyes here, only her friends. But she still felt something strange and familiar. She felt as if her beloved Ghost King were somewhere nearby.

And with a start, she understood. It was all she could do to keep from bursting with joy as the sudden epiphany hit her, as she realized what had just happened.

The Ghost King was alive once more.

…

Nice point for an ending, I think. How'd I do?


	49. Awakening

Okay everyone, this is it! Fourth evil chapter! I'm sad to say it won't be quite as shocking or psychologically thrilling as the last few, but hopefully it'll be packed with enough drama and action to make up for that. Enjoy!

Oh, and since a reliable source has informed me the rumors of the review answer ban are false, I can respond to your reviews in my chapters again! Yay!

Although I suppose it does lack some of the two-way interaction E-mail did…

Ninetalesuk, another peaceful story indeed. Another peaceful story indeed.

Yamimaru, I considered making Pika Pika a real Pokemon, but that would lead to 1. Character overload (maybe) and 2. How could I pair up Pikachu and Sadic with Pika Pika in the way?

Actually Ring of Fire, Lugia's not in this chapter. Sorry. And Lugia with that bitch of a Ho-Oh? No way! Don't Lugia's Shadow-ized family count as innocent casualties of war too? Along with the people killed at Molly's house? And don't worry about falling in love with Latias…trust me, you're not the only reader who has. I name no names.

Doom18769, I have honestly never watched an episode of Inuyasha. The 'gather shards of some magical artifact' thing is a very common theme in fiction, anime and video games. Normal cartoons, too. Your questions about Groudon and Kyogre will be answered. And thanks for lending me Copernicus. Hope I used him well.

Ad (AKA DiamondLatias3000) thanks for reviewing and being a big help as usual.

I think I've answered pretty much all the other reviews via E-mail, but just in case: Eaglefox, Pika Pika is dead for good. And the reunion scene for our two favorite dragons should be nice to see. A shame you probably won't be able to draw it though…but thanks for the picture of the two of them together anyway!

And Gladdecease…eh, what needs to be said? I think we covered everything already.

Disclaimer: All characters in this chapter are owned by Nintendo, Game Freaks, etc. (Well, except maybe for one or two…). Any red Dusclops belongs to doom18769

…

It rose from the sea, a towering skyscraper of ancient carved sandstone, a monument to the ages. It stood alone on a tall, steep-sided island jutting out of the ocean, surrounded by a maze of nearly impassable rocks and narrow straits, with strong churning currents which made it virtually impossible for any boat to approach the isle.

The island itself was surprisingly lush, with verdant grass and flowers and various bushes and trees bearing all kinds of fruits and berries. The green fields around the immense tower were tromped nearly flat now, due to patrols of Trapinch, Vibrava, Bagon, Shellgon, Aggron, Mawile, and Metagross. Metang, Magneton, and Scizor buzzed about, looking agitated, and trying not to bump into each other.

The seas around the tower were filled with Dragonair and Kingdra, while higher up the skies were patrolled by Dragonite, Salamence, Flygon, Altaria, and Skarmory. Intermixed with all the dragon and steel Pokemon were numerous Ghost-types of all kinds, flitting about, phasing in and out of existence, and for once actually not trying to spook anybody.

Such a strange gathering of unrelated Pokemon would be a truly curious sight for any Pokemon researcher. They would wrack their minds to no end, trying to figure out what all these Pokemon were doing together, out here on an island in the middle of nowhere with the only prominent landmark being an ancient tower which archaeologists have never been able to gain entry into, and which the Sevii government (in whose waters this island sat) had forbade to be desecrated in any way, shape or form. As the draconian sigil above the thick stone door showed, this building, the Sky Pillar, was the property of the King of all Dragons, and only those in his favor would have permission to enter. (Needless to say, all the members of Lance's far-flung family were less than happy that they were never able to gain entry to the Pillar.)

All these Pokemon had gathered here on this day for a single purpose: to protect the tower from any who might seek to invade it to prevent the resurrection of three of the strongest Pokemon who had ever lived, the gods of land, sea, and sky themselves. The dragons were advance members of the clans whom had pledged to serve the great Rayquaza upon his reawakening. The steel Pokemon had come at the urging of the wizard Registeel, lord of all metals. And the ghosts…well, seeing as how they would be losing a spectral ruler and gaining a mortal (well, semi-mortal) ruler and a queen in the process, it was definitely in their best interest to watch over the proceedings.

The top of the Sky Pillar was a broad pavilion, open to the air, with a set of stairs leading up to it from the lower portion of the pavilion, which had a stairwell that went down into the dim (and currently haunted) interior of the tower. The pavilion was, admittedly, not much to look at, just a big mass of flat purple-gray stone floor with piles of rubble scattered about and more than a few holes. However, what sat on the pavilion, what had not been there a few days ago, was truly an amazing spectacle. An elaborate pattern comprising of three large circles linked by lines to an even larger, more ornate center circle had been laid down in liquid metal on the rooftop, now solidified and gleaming brightly in the afternoon sunlight. In each of the smaller circles sat an immense ancient Pokemon, so still that were it not for an occasional heartbeat or shallow breath they could easily be mistaken for either statues or corpses. There was the red saurian figure of Groudon, the blue whale Kyogre (who was really out of her element, on top of a tall building instead of in the water) and in the final circle, coiled up with his tail in his mouth, was a green serpentine dragon. He had yellow and black lines carved into the armor plates of his long body, with plated fins sticking out at certain points along his length, two small skinny arms, and four long wing-like fins protruding from the sides of his face. This was the legendary Rayquaza, ancient lord of the skies and king of dragons. All three of them were in soulless slumber, their spirits hopelessly intertwined and trapped in the Realm of Mists in the form of the Ghost King. That, however, was about to change…

Registeel examined the intricate metal lines he had laid onto the floor, checked the three small pillars which rose about waist high around the center of the middle circle, each of which held a glowing crystalline orb in one of three colors, and nodded, satisfied with his work. "Yes…everything appears to be in place…" The Red, Green, and Blue Orbs seemed to brighten as he passed by them. "Do not worry, my lords…you will be back with us soon enough…"

Hanging directly above the center of the big circle was a large triangular object covered by a tarp, held in place by three steel cables tautly fastened to the largest and sturdiest rocks on the rooftop, angled just so to hold the covered object level and in exactly the right place. Another figure, Registeel's assistant, tugged on one of the cables to test it, satisfying himself when he felt absolutely no give at all, and hopped down, landing on the periphery of the larger circle. "It's all secure, master!" he said.

The assistant was a Pokemon about four feet tall and somewhat humanoid. He had mostly blue fur around his tail, arms, and upper legs, fading into black to cover his feet and hands. His shoulders and waist were black as well, and contrasted nicely with the shiny white coat of fur which covered his torso, front and back. His head was vulpine in nature, with a long, pointed nose and a pair of tall ears. His head was mostly blue, but black bands wrapped around from between his ears and the sides of his face to join up and cover his nose, framing his red eyes in a mask like that of a raccoon's or a burglar's. A pair of long black pigtails grew down from the back of his head on either side, just behind the ears. Sharp white spikes grew from the backs of his hands and the middle of his chest.

Registeel nodded, pleased. "Very good, Rukario." Back in the old times, after the beloved trio of divine children had disappeared, Registeel had one day found a young Vulpix kit near death one day on a walk through his favorite forest. Feeling sadly reminded of Jirachi, whom he had always felt closest to of the divine trio, Registeel felt he had to do everything he could to save the kit, which basically resulted in the youngling becoming infused with Steel-type energy and evolving into the Wave-Guiding Pokemon Rukario, who swore lifelong loyalty to the metal golem as thanks for saving his life. When Registeel and the others had gone to sleep after sealing away Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza, Rukario insisted he join his master, not wishing to remain alone in a world suddenly turned hostile against those who had ruled it. When the Ghost King's servants had located and woken up Registeel, they had netted Rukario in the bargain as well.

Registeel glanced up at the sun, which was slowly sinking into the west. "The sun is still in the right position. Is everything ready on the King's end?"

Shedinja appeared and floated over to the golem. "Our shamans have set things up. The King has relaxed into a trance to better facilitate this procedure. He's dreaming of Latias as we speak…"

"Good, good," said the pleased wizard. "It'll be tricky enough to pull this off without my siblings as it is, even with all the power your magicians will be lending me. They are aware that this ceremony may drain them to the point where they can no longer sustain themselves and pass fully over to the other side?"

"They are aware and welcome it," Shedinja informed him. "As any ghost would."

"Very well." Registeel glanced at his assistant. "In that case…Rukario, I believe it is time we began. Unveil the prism!"

The vulpine nodded and leaped into the air over the suspended object, grabbing the edge of the tarp as he flew over it and tearing it off, unveiling a large three-sided prism. The instant the sun's rays touched the glass; it burst into light, illuminating the rooftop. Shedinja flinched from the intensity of the refracted rays of sunlight and backed away.

The white light from the sun was split by the prism into three beams of red, green, and blue light, which shot out of the faces of the prism and beamed down onto the three Orbs, causing them to ignite with an inner fire, shining in their respective colors. Rukario's eyes widened in awe. "Amazing," he whispered, the forgotten tarp falling from his hand.

One by one, ten ghosts appeared, each wearing the decorative feather necklace and beads to indicate they were members of the shamanistic caste of the Ghost Kingdom. "Is all ready, then?" asked one of them, a very old Sableye.

Registeel nodded. "We're all set. And are you-"

"There is no need to ask," said another, a Gastly.

"We knew that this day would come, and were fully aware of what we may have to sacrifice," said a Banette.

A Gengar nodded. "And for king and kingdom, we will do what must be done."

"Very well then. Let's begin." Registeel walked into the circle, placing himself in its center, right between the three Orbs and directly underneath the shining prism. The ghost shamans floated into the circle, each taking a position and hovering in place in smaller rings placed in advance for them, each with a bizarre sigil painted on it in hardened liquid metal. The sigils started glowing faintly as each ghost occupied the space above it.

Registeel raised his arms into the air, while Shedinja and Rukario stood just outside the circle, staring with reverence or mild interest…when a great roar cried out from the flight of dragons circling overhead. Instantly, all looked up…and saw the glow of several objects hurtling down towards them, crackling with the flames of reentry into Earth's atmosphere. The ghosts and Iron Pokemon gasped. "They've found us!"

Shedinja floated into the air above the prism. "This was not unexpected. We knew there was a chance they might figure out what we were doing. At least their master isn't here in person to guide them; our last scouting report placed him as searching for a crystal piece down in the South Pole. A shame we haven't had any luck finding them on our own, or we would have taken them to the Mist Realm to keep him from using them!" He glanced sharply at Registeel and the shamans. "Proceed! Grant the King life once more! I must go to lead the troops!" As he said this, the air above them shimmered as ghosts appeared in the hundreds, coming out in full force to protect this site. "We will hold them off! Hurry and get this over with!"

"…The souls who will die on this day shall not be forgotten Shedinja, be they ghost or living," Registeel promised. "I shall pray-we shall all pray-that they may find peace on the other side."

"You and I both, priest!" Shedinja snarled. He shot skyward, joining the writhing gaggle of spirits. "TO BATTLE!" His soldiers howled and cackled with glee and together flew up towards the inbound missiles, the dragons and steel Pokemon on their heels.

"Those brave souls…" murmured one of the shamans, a Misdreavus.

"They are doing their part. We must do ours," Registeel said decisively. "Rukario, guard the stairs. I have fought this enemy before, and I know that no matter how hard we fight, some will get through. The best we can do is hold them off long enough for us to revive the trio here. With any luck, Groudon and Kyogre will put their differences aside for the moment and help to fight a common enemy…although knowing them, they'd rather blow themselves to pieces, the idiots," he grumbled the last part to himself.

"None shall pass as long as I stand guard!" Rukario said faithfully, saluting before running down the stairs.

"He hasn't seen much battle, has he?" a Duskull asked.

Registeel sighed. "Does it show that much? The lad has trained a lot, but…he has little experience against a foe such as the one we face."

"Then let us hope his youthful energy will be enough to save him…for if it is not, I fear for him," commented an old Shedinja.

"As do I," Registeel said sadly. "As do I." He raised his arms. His red eyes and knuckles started glowing. "Come. We have much work to do, and little time to do it in."

…

"ATTACK!" Shedinja roared as the dozen or so giant crystal spikes fell towards them, their inertia already slowing down due to the reverse thrust from the forward-pointed spines on the missiles rears.

His army opened fire on the massive incoming projectiles. Hyper Beams, Night Shades, Dragon Rages, Flamethrowers, Shadow Balls, beams and explosives and projectiles of all sorts leapt from mouths and eyes and claws and streaked through the air at the spikes. Massive explosions ripped forth on the hull of the spikes, sending crystalline shards flying everywhere…and yet they kept coming, only marginally damaged by the attacks.

The tips and edges of the spikes glowed, and began firing needle-thin laser shots at the air force arrayed to slow them down. The ghosts and dragons and Skarmory took evasive maneuvers, dodging and swerving out of the way of the bullets. Some were not quick enough and got run right through, screeching in pain as their blood flowed out of them and they started falling towards the ground. The ghosts had managed to escape harm by phasing out of the way of the shots, and retaliating with some of their own. More chips were blasted off the sides of the missiles, but they still kept coming.

Then, by chance, one of the Hyper Beams fired from a desperate Flygon's mouth struck one of the thruster spikes right on its tip, from which the inertia-slowing force was being emitted. The spike cracked and shattered, and the rest of the missile started wobbling, its steady descent compromised abruptly by the loss of the vital engine part. With the loss of the thruster, the rest of the force pushing out was unbalanced, and the spike swerved out of control, smashing into the side of another spike and knocking it marginally off course as it started falling faster towards the ground.

Shedinja saw this, and realized a vital opportunity. "ALL UNITS, ATTACK THOSE SMALLER SPIKES! KNOCK THOSE THINGS OFF COURSE, AWAY FROM THE PILLAR!"

His soldiers quickly leaped into action. The larger units bellowed and spat fire and beams at the spikes, flying about to draw the laser fire while the ghosts and smaller fighters ducked and dodged through the swarm of lethal projectiles on their way to the thruster spines. Many of them did not make it through the storm and were crippled or killed by the laser fire, but many more made it through and lashed out at thrusters, smashing them to pieces with Steel Wings, Iron Tails, Shadow Balls, and other such attacks before either getting cut down or managing to pull out. Small explosions erupted around the bottom of the crystal spikes as one by one, the engine spines were destroyed. Their flight control and air brakes broken, the crystals started spinning out of control, shooting past the army at increasing speeds. The larger soldiers slammed into the sides of the crystals, pushing them off course and nudging them out of the way of the Sky Pillar island, which many of them were dropping straight towards. They pulled back when the missiles got closer to the surface, hoping they would shatter.

The spikes splashed down into the ocean, tossing up huge waves which would have engulfed the forces on the island if the Dragonair in the water hadn't used their weather control powers or Ice Beams to freeze the waves in place so others could break them.

The majority of the spikes sank down to the bottom of the bay surrounding the Sky Pillar's island, where the aquatic dragons started blasting them with Hyper Beams, Outrages, and other powerful attacks. Other spikes smashed into the large rocks surrounding the island, but instead of shattering, the crystals imbedded themselves in the rocks, often splitting the stones in two but barely managing to come to a halt and keep from falling into the sea. Three spikes crashed into the slopes on the sides of the island, digging themselves in deep and causing the whole tower to shake with their impact. The ground forces rushed over the spikes and began attacking them, not intending to let whatever was inside get to the Pillar.

Invisible seamless hatches on the flat ends of the spikes slid open, and hideous abominations came streaming out. Murkrow blown up to the size of Skarmory with massive talons and beaks, dragon-types with their skins stripped off to reveal their bones and muscles, fire Pokemon who had been reduced to little more than blazing skeletons, ice-types with too many limbs and eyes and frozen spikes growing from their backs, and so many more monstrosities poured out onto the slopes and rocks, taking to the skies with blood-chilling battle cries to challenge the air force, who were more than willing to oblige, or jumping into the sea, where they attacked the Kingdra and Dragonair who tried to stop them from swimming to the island.

The soldiers already on the land started ripping into the grotesqueries, countering steroid-enhanced Fighting types with ghostly power, steel-melting fire with dragon endurance, and freezing cold with equally cold metal. There were screams of pain and death on both sides, as claw tore into flesh, flames licked at hides, and fang bit into bone.

One Metagross triumphantly crushed a group of scurrying deformed Snorunt beneath its immense metallic weight, pleased at the satisfying squelch made by the deaths of the little monsters, and so did not see the dark flames rushing towards it until it was too late. It barely had a moment to scream as the fire engulfed it, melting its blue metal body into slag within seconds.

A monstrous Arcanine covered in the same dark flames barked in victory and charged forward, spewing balls of fire at anyone foolish enough to get in his way. Standing on the monster's back, cape blowing in the wind and not in the least bit seeming to notice the flames covering his steed, was the ominous figure of General Shalor, cutting his way through the forces around him with his quadruple beam sabers. Not even ghosts, who managed to phase out of the way of the flames to attack the general directly, could stand against his blade, all who tried found themselves completely dispersed instantly or repulsed by the skive juice he had been bathed in before coming down here to make him repellent to spirits. The bestial figure of Meowth bounded on all fours right behind him, happily ripping to shreds any Pokemon unlucky enough to only be maimed by the boss's swords instead of outright killed. He howled with laughter as blood splattered all over his dirty fur. Several of the other ex-Rocket Pokemon, all now grotesquely transformed into shambling horrors, followed on the feline and hound's heels, smashing and tearing and mauling their way through anything that stood in their path.

A wall of Steel Pokemon arose in front of the charging Arcanine at the base of the tower, right in front of the door, the armored animals linking arms and legs and appendages while using Iron Defense to form an almost impervious barrier to the evil seeking to defile the Sky Pillar. Shalor leaped off his mount's back as Growlie the Arcanine skidded to a halt before the wall of Steel Pokemon, flipping through the air while the hell-hound belched fire at the metal barrier, causing them to flinch and wobble as their super-hard coating started melting off from the heat. Shalor took it from there, crashing down on the Steel Pokemon with a quadruple chop in the style of a Brick Break, shattering the unity they had formed and causing them to collapse in agony on the ground, their powers failing them. They were swiftly ripped apart by the demonic beasts which pounced on their weakness and devoured them whole.

Shalor dashed forward at the door, which was comprised of a solid stone slab sealed shut over the entryway, and slashed at it four times with his blades. Half a second after his strike, the rock crumbled into four pieces and collapsed, blowing out stone dust and making the flames burning on Growlie's body flicker. The Black General charged through the entryway, swords drawn…

And felt a peculiar tingling sensation as he passed through the entryway, and noticed abruptly that he no longer smelled like skives. Had he any eyes, he would have blinked in confusion. What had happened to the juice he had been dunked in? He turned around, and noticed that over the doorway was a brand new stainless steel plaque with the words NO SKIVES ALLOWED! Engraved firmly into it, glowing with supernatural power.

Shalor sweatdropped. "Well, that's annoying…" he grumbled. For a moment he contemplated driving a sword into it, but he had no guarantee that doing so wouldn't trigger an explosion which would kill him and collapse the doorway, preventing access to the roof of the pillar other than by climbing up the sides or passing through the dogfight above it. Doing such a thing might cost his forces the battle.

He sighed. "Growlie! Meowth! Get in here!" The huge flame hound and the cat were at the moment busy torturing a group of Shellgon by peeling their armored shells off and breathing fire inside while the rest of the monster forces were engaged in battle, so did not hear him. "I SAID GET IN HERE!" he bellowed in his I-am-the-boss-and-you-must-do-as-I-say-or-else voice he had managed to retain quite well from his days as Giovanni.

They immediately panicked, got up, and raced over to Shalor, passing through the doorway as they did so and losing their skive stink due to the charm over the entrance. They frowned, puzzled by the abrupt change of scent, but did not have time to ponder it long because Chimecho, Weezing, Dustox, Likitung, the Wobbuffet who had opened the way for the invasion of Mirage Island, James' former Gyarados, the spliced-together Victreebells, and the amphisbaena that had once been Arbok and Seviper all smashed into the doorframe, trying to cram their way in at the same time. They had clearly thought Shalor had been talking to them as well.

Meowth sweatdropped, while the Black General put his face in two of his hands, while the others clenched their fists. "Idiots…" he growled. Lowering his hands, he glared sightlessly at his subordinates and sighed. "Chimecho! Wobbuffet! And…ah…" He scanned the hideous faces crammed in the doorway, praying for one with a modicum of intelligence. His prayers were not answered. How unfortunate that any of his other units with brains were occupied fighting and keeping the Pillar's defenders from regrouping around the doorway. He sighed, giving up. "Weezing, I suppose, since you're the only one left who'll fit through the door…you three, get in here!"

With a squeal, a hiss, and a diseased cough of pleasure, the three Pokemon squirmed and clawed their way out of the unhappy mass of their fellows and joined the general, Meowth, and Growlie in the plain and disappointingly bare first floor of the Sky Pillar.

Shalor grunted as he looked them over. "You lot aren't my best choice for soldiers to accompany me…" As he said this, Chimecho squealed, wrapped his tail around the general's head, and tried to suck his brains out through the clawed orifice on his underside. Shalor wordlessly plucked him off and hurled him at the wall, then started speaking again, only to be interrupted once more as Weezing vomited foul-smelling acid in all directions from his nozzles and mouths, splattering everyone and causing those who weren't quite so accustomed to the agonizing pain their very existence entailed to writhe in agony. "As I was saying," Shalor continued, trying to hold back his temper and keep from slicing the bunch of them to pieces. "You aren't my best choice, but seeing as how you're the only fighters who don't seem to be occupied fighting off the defending forces…and the only ones who could fit through the door…I suppose I'll have to make do with what I've got."

"We won't let you down, boss!" Meowth said confidently.

Chimecho tried to suck Shalor's brains out again. "I'm sure you won't," he said dully as he threw the mutated Wind Chime Pokemon away. "Everyone else!" he commanded, pointing with one arm to the monsters crammed in the doorway while wiping the rest of the acid off his armor with the other three. "Guard our backs and keep enemy reinforcements from coming in after us! We're going straight to the top to disrupt the reawakening ceremony and grab the orbs, and that's sure to attract their attention!"

The larger monsters nodded as best they could while being stuck firmly in the door and started the process of extricating themselves. Shalor turned, his cape swishing, and strode towards the door. His legions fell in formation behind him. "Hey, just had a funny idea," Meowth said, a thought striking him. "You'd think they'd post some guards here since it's the bottom level and entry to the tower, but we haven't seen anyone in here. Weird, isn't it?"

On cue, several Vibrava, Metang, Magnetons, Scizor, and Lairon dropped down from their hiding spots on the ceiling, Hyper Beams and Zap Cannons fully charged and ready to fire. Dozens of ghosts appeared out of thin air, Shadow Balls and other beam attacks ready to fire as well. Shalor glared angrily at Meowth, who gulped and wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

Before the group of evil ones could prepare themselves, the Pillar's guardians launched their attacks. It seemed for a moment as if their half-lives would end here…

Until Wobbuffet, crazy eyes bulging in their sockets, opened his mouth wide and wailed, the black tentacles in his mouth spilling out and writhing in the air. A chaotic red and black aura surrounded him which rapidly swelled up to engulf the entire group just before the energy blasts could strike. The attacks struck the red shield and rebounded back at the Pokemon who had fired them, striking each and every one of them with twice the original force.

The guards screamed as their flesh and armor melted on their bones, and spectral essences dissipated forever. Smoking and smelling repugnant from the boiled organic matter and cooked flesh, they collapsed to the ground, every one of them dead.

All stared at the Wobbuffet, who was now standing there as if nothing had happened, his left arm touching his forehead in the trademark salute of his species. "Wow," said an impressed Meowth.

"Perhaps you all have more potential than I thought…" murmured Shalor.

"Chiiii!" Chimecho chimed, trying once more to suck out the general's brains.

He sighed and plucked the idiot Pokemon off his head. "Then again, maybe not."

…

The air molecules around the spell circle were getting more and more excited by the energies the metal golem and the ghost shamans were summoning, emitting light and a pleasant warmth which Rukario basked in. The brightness of the orbs seemed to increase a little every second as they greedily drank in refracted sunlight. Slowly, lines of red, green and blue power had begun to run down the sides of the small pillars the orbs sat on, drawing closer to the ends of the metal lines which formed the intricate pattern that had been laid onto the rooftop. Registeel's arms were spread out, his eyes and knuckles glowing, as he swayed gently from side to side while slowly turning in circles, running his metal limbs through the beams of light shining on the orbs and causing each of them to flare momentarily. In their circles, the ghost shamans seemed to be doing a little dance of their own, floating a few feet into the air, twirling once, and landing back on the ground. Each time they did the circles they were in glowed for a moment, brightening more and more every time they landed from their jump.

The Wave-Guiding Pokemon's fur tingled as a gentle wave of power washed over him, causing him to feel a strange rush akin to how he usually felt after ingesting copious amounts of sugar even though it was forbidden to him after that one incident with Rayquaza's favorite sculpture. He knew he was supposed to be watching the stairs, but…how could he pay attention to his duties when something as distracting as this was going on!

The lines of power reached the bottoms of the pillars and touched the ends of the metal lines. There was a crackle of static, and Rukario's fur tingled again as the power started flowing through the metal and into the pattern, bit by bit causing it to light up with color as well.

Suddenly, he felt the sun's light blotted out for a moment as a large shadow passed over him. He was startled, how had a flying monster gotten so close to here without being caught by the aerial squadrons battling around the Pillar's airspace?

But the shadow grew larger as its owner landed with a thud on the top of the stairs just in front of Rukario, and he realized this was no flying monster. It was something much worse.

Rukario's startled gasp broke through Registeel and the ghosts' concentration. The colored light which illuminated the parts of the metal lines that the orbs' power had already entered into dimmed noticeably. "Rukario, what is-" He stopped, the words dying as his seven eyes fell upon the intruder. "No…"

It was six feet tall, and looked like two Pokemon of different compositions fused together somehow, with a jagged diagonal scar running from the left side of the head to the right hip, splitting the creature's body in two. Its left arm, part of the head, and a significant part of the central body and both legs were made of jagged dirty ice, with twisted icicles jutting out from the back, shoulder, elbow, and waist. The arm was surprisingly skinny, its jagged icy knuckles nearly grazing the ground. Its legs looked like two sharp jointed conical points of ice, a pair of short, broad icicles growing from the underside, with numerous jagged spikes lining the point where they attached to the wide base of the body. The majority of the head, right arm, and remainder of the body were made of blood-stained and fungus-encrusted stone, with numerous pores that almost looked like they were breathing. The arm was long and thick, composed of numerous bits of stone fused together and ending in a large blunt mass that would probably serve as a good bludgeon. Jagged spikes of stone grew from the rocky back and shoulder. The head was a misshapen lump, half stone, half ice, with a total of fourteen yellow dots for eyes scattered all about in no discernible pattern.

It chuckled in a voice that both grated like hard stones scraped against each other and glaciers eroding away a mountainside. "Hello brother," it said, sounding both vaguely masculine and vaguely feminine at once. "It has been far too long."

…

Shalor fell to his knees, his four arms lashing out to brace himself against the floor. "Ohhhh…curse you…"

"Hehe, that's right, keep getting angry!" said one of the dozens of Shuppet which had surrounded the group of villains as they had exited the stairway from the first floor to the second. "It'll just fill our bellies more!" The ghosts had instantly started draining the mutants of their negative emotions in an attempt to subdue them, since those feelings of anger, pain and hatred was all that kept them running. Without it, they had no strength, and no motivation to continue. They were nothing. They had managed to slaughter the other guards on the level before succumbing to weakness as the spite-hungry ghosts continued to feed.

"And you're the one who's going to be cursed!" said a Banette, emerging from the shadows with a few other Marionette Pokemon. "You're going no further! None of you are going to do anything to ruin our king's revival!" The ghost drew forth a large nail. The other Banette followed suit and in unison drove the nails into their foreheads. They gasped in pain, and little black spirits appeared over the weakened mutants and entered their bodies, causing them to shiver. Weezing barfed, but he always did, so that wasn't anything unusual. Chimecho was actually giggling, which the Shuppet found very disturbing and a little unappetizing. The Wind Chime was too stupid to have much bitterness or anger for them to feed on, so they concentrated more on the others and just left the idiot to his own devices, with only a token Shuppet or two to draw on whatever meager scraps they could scrounge from him.

"Fucking…ghosts," Meowth gasped as the first pain attack from the Curse struck him. He only shook a little, it had hurt a lot more getting transformed into what he was now, along with every time he drew breath. But the real threat here wasn't how much pain he or any of them could withstand, but how long they could last before all the negative emotions were drained out of them and they became listless, purposeless beings, empty of feeling or motivation. He desperately tried to hang on to his burning rage at these stupid ghosts for doing this to him, as well as his boundless fury at James for rejecting him, but as each second passed he found it harder and harder to get angry about _anything_. Growlie whimpered unhappily, not wanting to die like this.

Shalor panted for breath, barely stirring as the Curse activated once again and wracked his body with pain. "One…last…hope," he gasped, glancing at Chimecho, who was still floating with a blissful fanged smile on his face, while the disgruntled Shuppet around him continued trying and failing to drain him. It seemed that even when transformed into a hideous soulless monster, Chimecho was too stupid to be truly evil. "Chimecho…use Astonish! Your high-pitched scream should be powerful enough to stun the Shuppet and disrupt their feeding cycle!"

"Chi?" Chimecho stared at him stupidly.

"Astonish, Chimecho! Scream as loud as you can?"

Chimecho blinked a few times, not comprehending. "Chiiii?"

"Damn it, Chimecho!" Meowth cried weakly and with little force, unable to muster enough anger to be frustrated at the idiot Pokemon. "Use Astonish!"

Chimecho smiled, and it seemed to understand. "Chi!" He floated over to Shalor's head and tried to suck out his brain.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Wow, no wonder it feels like we're sucking on fumes," one of the Shuppet flanking Chimecho complained. "The thing's so damn stupid it doesn't even know how to get angry!"

"Grrr…stupid WIND CHIME!" Chimecho's complete and utter failure seemed to be just what Meowth needed to fuel the flames of anger for the brief seconds it took to lunge at the Wind Chime and weakly bat him on the side.

Chimecho squealed, and the bell on his head started dinging. A jarring, clanging melody echoed forth from it, causing the Shuppet and Banette to screw up their faces in discomfort and back away, while the fool monster's teammates flinched, wondering if they weren't already bad enough off.

However, Shalor was surprised to find his strength, self-loathing, and burning hatred of all life rapidly returning. "Hey! I feel better!" he said in surprise, standing up easily as the small black Curse spirit floated out of him and disintegrated.

"It's Chimecho's Heal Bell!" Meowth realized as he got up, looking fully revived as well. "He healed all our status conditions, like being cursed and drained and stuff! Way to go, buddy!"

"Chiii!" Pleased that he was useful, Chimecho wrapped his tail around Meowth's forehead and glass eye and started trying to suck out the feline's brain. "Gwah! Get off!"

Shalor flicked his wrists, and his four beam sabers sprang to life. "Now, weren't we in the middle of something?" he leered at the Marionette Pokemon.

The Banette all sweatdropped in fright. "Ah, no, not really, just remembered I left the oven on, have to go-" the leader said right before Shalor took a big step forward and lashed out multiple times with his blades. The ghosts' mouths dropped in shock right before they evaporated, leaving the mortal plane forever. The Shuppet soon joined them, squealing in agony as they were consumed by Growlie's flames and Weezing's toxic excretions. Meowth, being a Normal-type, could not damage the ghosts with the majority of his attacks, so had to be satisfied with strangling Chimecho for trying to suck his brains out. If the happy expression on the moron's face was anything to go by, the Wind Chime was having the time of his life.

Shalor willed his blades away. "That settles that. Well done, every-" He paused, suddenly noticing not all of his soldiers were up. "Wait. Why's Wobbuffet still on the floor?"

Growlie nudged the hideous blue blob with his nose. Wobbuffet wobbled and rolled over. A blank, dead expression was on his face. The massive hound barked in fright and hopped backwards, whimpering. Chimecho squealed, settled himself down on the catatonic Wobbuffet's head, and started sucking out his brains.

"Hmm. Looks like we were too late to save Wobbuffet," Shalor said, his voice free of any hint of sadness or regret. "He's useless to us now. Meowth, kill him."

The feline grinned. "Okay." And, with Chimecho still attached to the Pokemon's head, Meowth viciously savaged the Wobbuffet, violating his body with claws and teeth and any other means at his disposal, while Shalor looked on with boredom and Weezing vomited in the corner. Throughout all of it, the blue blob's blank expression did not change. Whatever sparks of intelligence or life that had been left after his transformation at the master's hands had fled when the Shuppet had drained the last of his negative feelings, leaving him completely empty. And so as Meowth ravaged him, he felt no pain or suffering, because he had already become nothing, and it was to nothing that he was going now.

…

"No…" Registeel whispered. He involuntarily took a small step forward, almost leaving his circle, not hearing the ghost shamans' cries for his attention. "S-siblings?"

"Indeed," the fused monstrosity cackled. "But we are no longer simply Regirock and Registeel. You may call us Coldstone now, dear brother."

"How could this happen?" Registeel asked in disbelief. "Even when he was at his peak the last time, we never fell to his virus!"

"There are more than one ways to infect someone than by a physical virus," Coldstone informed him. "No one is incorruptible, sibling. Why not join us and see for yourself?" They took a step forward, their icy hand outstretched. Stunned, Registeel could do nothing but stare speechlessly at what had once been his brother and sister.

"Registeel, you cannot compromise the circle!" one of the shamans, a Haunter, warned him, her voice desperate as she trembled with the exertion of trying to keep a grip on the forces they were channeling. "If you leave now once it's begun, the entire working will fall apart! We'll never bring the King back to life! Look!" The ghost pointed at the line of power from the Green Orb, which was slowly flowing back down the metal vein it had entered and back up the stone pillar it had originated from. "Even now, it's coming undone! We can't do this by ourselves, Registeel! We need you!"

"…Yes. Yes, you're right," Registeel said slowly, as if waking up from a deep trance. "I must finish what I started." He took a step back, returning to the middle of his circle.

Coldstone growled angrily, lowering their arm. "You will not rejoin us, brother? Together, we can fulfill our dream! Unite the world in eternal peace forever!"

"And what peace is that?" Registeel retorted. "Peace enforced by a tyrant and sociopath? A peace in which the bodies and souls of all life on this world are sent screaming into madness and evil? Nay, these are not the things we fought and struggled for alongside the divine children, not the wisdom and kindness we spread around the world!"

"Those ideals were foolish!" Coldstone bellowed. "Nothing we did ever lasted! All the good we did inevitably backslid into depravity, violence, and hatred! The virtues we preached were weak!"

"If you truly believe that," Registeel said with a tone of unbreakable metallic finality, turning his back on the monster that he had once called family. "Then YOU ARE NO SIBLINGS OF MINE!"

Coldstone trembled with rage, infuriated by this rejection. "If that is how you wish it…then so shall it be!" They stretched out their arms, the rock one bulking up and sprouting spikes while the icy one straightened out and fused into an icicle spear. Roaring, they charged towards the circle. Since those in it could not defend themselves without breaking the spell, there was nothing any of them could do to stop it.

Rukario, on the other hand…

The Wave-Guiding Pokemon leaped onto the monstrosity's back, mindful of the spikes, and clapped his hands over several of the beast's eyes. "No further, abomination! I will not allow you to disturb my master's work!"

Enraged that this idiotic warrior, whom Regirock and Regice had never been particularly fond of back in the old days, was impeding them now, Coldstone thrashed about blindly, their sight seriously impaired by Rukario's assault. "Get OFF us!"

"Bring back the King, master!" Rukario yelled; wincing as some of the spikes on Coldstone's back cut into his sides. "I'll keep them occupied!"

Registeel was, as always, stunned by his assistant's loyalty. "I…Rukario…"

"Registeel!" hissed the shamans. "We can't hold it much longer!"

Registeel glanced at the circle, and saw that the power lines had almost retracted all the way back up the orb's pillars. He knew he could dally no longer. "Rukario…thank you." Clearing his mind of his anxieties and fears that one of his last true friends would die, the Iron Pokemon focused on the task at hand. The metal circle started glowing again as the lines of power flowed down the sides of the pillars once more. That was all Registeel perceived, blocking out his senses to the cries and explosions from the aerial battle overhead or the shouts and yells from the battle behind him, fearing that any more distractions would prevent him from ever completing this task.

…

The third floor was very, very dark.

The previous levels had been lit by torches for the benefits of the Steel and Dragon-type guards, which the soldiers of evil had found useful in lighting their path on the way up the tower. But this level was pitch-black. Not even Meowth, who was supposed to have night vision, could see anything. (Then again, that might have been because his only actual eye was made of glass.) Growlie's flames, being dark ones, did nothing to illuminate the blackness that had swallowed them.

"I don't like this," growled Shalor, igniting his sabers. The red glow they gave off did not do much to light up the area around them, but it did cause him to be illuminated by a spooky aura which caused Chimecho to squeal in fright and fly towards what he assumed was Meowth's head, but was actually a wall, and he knocked himself out by slamming into it.

Ghoulish laughter could be heard from the darkness at Chimecho's impact. "We're not alone…" growled Shalor, glancing about, slicing his sabers through the air to try and reveal more of the room.

"You certainly aren't," a dark voice whispered right above the general's shoulder.

Shalor spun about, lashing out at where he had heard the voice-and heard a howl of pain as he cut into Growlie's snout. "Sorry," he apologized, truly meaning it. "I didn't know you were there." Looking hurt and betrayed, the mutant Arcanine whimpered and backed away, out of the range of the small amount of light emitted by the general's sabers.

They heard more chuckles, and Meowth yelped. "Ow! Something grabbed my-" He yowled in pain. "AHHHH! GET YOUR CLAWS OUT OF MY INSIDES!"

"That's the downside of having your innards exposed, I suppose," Shalor mused, right before something yanked on his cape and pulled him tumbling down to the floor on his back. He automatically drove his blades backwards over his head, trying to stab whatever had pulled him down. His sabers hit nothing but air.

He felt an impact on his chest as something landed on him, and a pair of sparkling eyes were revealed by the glow from his other two sabers. "Boo," it said, leaning close and grinning.

Shalor brought his lower set of arms up, trying to scissor the thing in half…but it had already leaped off, and he just ended up driving his swords into his wrists. He grunted in pain and opened his hands, causing the sabers to disappear. "That's rather inconvenient," he grumbled. Oh well. He still had two more. He retracted his lower set of arms so that the ruined wrists wouldn't hinder him and so they could heal inside his body. He dissipated one of his sabers, pushed himself back up to his feet, and reformed it. "I believe we are dealing with Sableye."

"Ooh, he's a smart one!" a sarcastic voice rang out from the darkness. There were numerous giggles all around.

Shalor stumbled and nearly fell again as one of the ghouls shoved him from behind. Another jumped onto his back, grabbed his helmet, and started rattling it. Others hopped onto his arms and tried to pull him down. He heard yips, howls, and barfs from his companions, indicating they were having trouble with these imps as well.

He kicked out with one of his reptilian feet, knocking away some of the Sableye clustered around him, and swiftly bent over backwards, balancing on his remaining foot and startling the Sableye on the rest of his body enough to dislodge them. He then planted his other foot on the ground and kicked off, flipping in the air and slashing at the ghosts that had fallen off him, causing them to vaporize, still laughing, as if this was the final punch line to their joke. He knew that would anger the Sableye and cause them to get more serious, so he had to act quickly. "Growlie!" he shouted, slashing out and beheading an enraged Sableye which pounced at him, angered by the deaths of its comrades. "Can you smell Weezing?"

The sub-Legendary hound barked in the affirmative, releasing an explosion of dark flames from all over his body which engulfed the Sableye clinging to him and destroying them.

"Good! Fire a Flamethrower at him!" Shalor ordered, lashing out at another group of Sableye before another group jumped him from behind and pushed him to the floor, where they started tearing into him with their claws.

Weezing could only make a startled cry of confusion before Growlie howled and spat a stream of blueish flames (all but invisible in this darkness) at the gaseous Pokemon, which Growlie could smell quite easily due to the purple monstrosity's awful smell. The instant the flames made contact with Weezing's gassy emissions, it ignited the huge reservoir of gas, toxic wastes, and other combustibles inside his multi-chambered body, causing him to explode spectacularly.

The room shook from the force of the gas Pokemon's spontaneous combustion, and for a moment Shalor worried the ceiling would cave in, but he was more focused on the two dozen or so Sableye who were now revealed thanks to the light which had been created by the enormous fireball which had once been Weezing. The evil warriors immediately shook off and pounced at the Sableye before they could recover from the shock of the sudden light and run away. The massacre was swift, but nowhere near painless for the Darkness Pokemon, as they were cut open by swords, ripped to pieces by massive claws, and burned to ash by powerful flames. By the time the gaseous fireball finally burned itself out and the room was dark once more, there were no more Sableye left.

"Good thinking, boss!" Meowth complimented. "Sacrificing a useless team member to give us an edge! I'm sure the big boss would be very pleased!"

"He'll only be pleased if we can succeed in our mission," Shalor said, igniting his beam sabers once more to give them some light. "So we must proceed before we are too late and the ancient Pokemon are revived. None of us are strong enough to combat them once they are at full power."

Growlie barked something. "What about Chimecho?" Meowth translated.

"What about him?" Shalor asked coldly.

"Chiiiiii!" Chimecho rushed out of the darkness and latched himself to Shalor's face. "Chiii! Chichichiiiii!"

"Ahhh! Get off!" the general yelled, swatting the Wind Chime Pokemon away with the back of his hand. "Hmmph, I had hoped the Sableye had eaten you or something. Oh well, you may still come in handy." Chimecho whimpered, hurt by this insult, but said nothing. "Now come on! The stairs to the next floor are this way!...I think."

…

"Insolent whelp!"

Rukario flew through the air, smashing into a boulder with a painful slam and falling to the floor. He groaned, struggling to get back to his feet.

Coldstone stomped over, their silhouette outlined against the sun and casting a shadow over the Wave-Guiding Pokemon. "We have lived since the inception of this world! What can a youngling like you possibly do to us?"

Rukario's eyes narrowed. "I may be younger…" Without warning, he planted his hands on the ground and did a handspring, bringing his feet up and kicking them right into Coldstone's face, forcing the beast to lurch back as Rukario flipped upright and unleashed a series of Mach Punches against the golem's hard chest, breaking off small but rather inconsequential chips of ice and rock. "But that doesn't make me any weaker!" He bent over backwards to avoid a swing from Coldstone's stone mace hand, but was not prepared for the leg sweep which cut his feet out from under him and caused him to hit the ground on his back. The evil golem brought their hands down in a double overhead smash, but Rukario rolled out of the way before the monster's limbs could connect with his head, causing them to smash into the ground and make it crack and buckle severely. Rukario lunged at Coldstone before they could get their arms back up and slammed both his fists into the stone side of the monster's head with a Rock Smash technique, causing the hard stone to crack and crumble off in pieces, losing a few of the monster's myriad eyes in the process. "Plus, I'm not as susceptible to moves like that as you are!"

Coldstone replied by thrusting their ice lance arm at Rukario's stomach. He hopped over the strike, landed on top of the lance, jumped off, and smashed a burning Blaze Kick attack into the icy half of Coldstone's face. The monster cried out as some of their face was melted by the heat, evaporating and taking some more eyes with it. Rukario flipped off of Coldstone and dashed forward, one of his hands glowing white and the other burning up. He drove his fists into both halves of the monster's chest, using Rock Smash and Fire Punch simultaneously.

Coldstone staggered backwards, deep cracks snaking out across their rocky chest and cracks and melted sections riddling their icy half. "Puny little-" Enraged, Coldstone drove both their arms into the ground, causing a wave of huge rock and ice spikes to rip out of the rooftop in a chain heading straight for Rukario. The Steel and Fighting type leaped into the air as the spikes erupted beneath him, somersaulted, and landed neatly on the tip of one of the spikes, balanced perfectly. He jumped off of the tip just as Coldstone waved their hands and the protrusions shattered, turning into sharp-edged projectiles which hurtled through the air at him.

He formed an energy ball in both hands and landed on one foot, twirling about like a top and using his power-enhanced fists to smash any bits of stone or ice which flew at him to pieces. He felt the ground beneath him shake, and quickly jumped off before it ripped off and flew into the air, telekinetically controlled by Coldstone, who angrily hurled it at him. Rukario drove a fist into the side of the chunk of rooftop as it flew at him, shattering it with a Rock Smash.

Coldstone growled, their fury at the little upstart rising every second. In the backs of their minds they knew they should break off the engagement and use their power over stone to collapse the rocks holding the support cables for the prism. Doing so would shift the light beams it was sending out of alignment and completely disrupt the spell it was being used for, thus fulfilling their mission. But they were just _so_ angry at this stupid Pokemon! They had never been fond of him back in the old times, how he had always followed Registeel around like some disgusting little pet their brother had grown fond of and would not get rid of despite their wishes. How had he grown so strong? Or had he always been this good at fighting, and they had simply never noticed?

Either way, Coldstone decided, slamming their fists into the ground and sending another wave of spikes at Rukario, they would not let the stupid fox win this battle.

Meanwhile, Registeel and the ghost shamans continued channeling power through the orbs and the pathways laid out in metal on the roof, pathways which led right into the bodies of Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza. And once that power was returned to the bodies, they would become habitable for their lost spirits intertwined in the Realm of Mists. And once those spirits had returned…

Then, perhaps, they would have a chance of winning this war.

…

After much stumbling around and tripping over each other, the minions of evil had managed to find the stairs and had, slowly, managed to fumble their way up several flights to the next floor. What they found there was definitely not what they had expected.

Instead of a dull, rather plain wide stone chamber with nothing in it but a few torches on the walls and maybe some ghosts or other Pokemon guarding it, they found what looked like a gaudily decorated game show studio with flashing colorful lights along the walls, several rows of seats holding cardboard cutouts of various random Pokemon, several typical game show podiums with buzzers and score displays, and a larger podium without buzzers or displays beneath a giant screen with the words PILLAR OF POWER flashing on it in bright yellow, blue and pink. Hovering behind the podium was a rather tall red Dusclops. "Ah, hello!" said the Dusclops, noticing them. "I was wondering when you'd get here. You're almost late for the show!"

"Show?" Shalor scratched his head in confusion. "What show?"

"Why, the most famous show in all the Ghost Kingdom, of course!" the Dusclops said, waving one of his grayish arms.

The villains jumped as, from everywhere, hundreds of disembodied voices shouted, "PILLAR OF POWER!"

Chimecho screamed and wrapped himself around Shalor's head, quivering. "Wh-what was that?" Meowth asked, frightened.

"The studio audience," said the Dusclops, pointing to the cardboard cutouts.

"But they're not real," said the confused Shalor, ripping Chimecho off his head.

"Shh, don't say that, you'll hurt their feelings!" the Dusclops chided. "Anyway, I'm Copernicus the LV, the host for tonight's show. If you want to get to the next floor, you'll have to win the game!"

Shalor ignited his sabers. "And if we don't want to play games?" he threatened.

Copernicus spread his arms out. "Do you see any exits? If you find any, you're welcome to us them."

The four glanced around. To their surprise, there were indeed no exits. Even the staircase they had come up on had vanished. "Where'd the stairs go?" the confused Meowth asked.

"They'll reappear if you win the game. If not, you'll find yourself all the way back on the first floor…courtesy of one of our special trapdoors!" Meowth, Shalor, and Growlie glanced down and anxiously got off the floor tiles they were standing on; worried they might collapse at any moment. "So, what'll it be? Play or fall? And just in case you get any thoughts about killing me, don't. If you do, you'll never get out of here!"

"…Fine." Reluctantly, Shalor vanished his weapons. "What must we do?"

Copernicus pointed to the podiums. "For the first round, stand there and buzz in when you think you know the answer to a question. Doing so accumulates points. Whoever gets the most points proceeds to the next floor. The other three will have to start over from the ground floor."

"So only one us will go on, eh?" Meowth walked over to one of the podiums. "Fair enough. This can't possibly be as bad as one of Mewgle's games."

Copernicus chuckled. "Oho, we'll see about that feline…"

Feeling somewhat confused, Growlie stepped up to a podium. Mimicking everyone else, Chimecho did so too. "Er…so…what's the first question?" Shalor asked, uncomfortable to be in this position instead of hacking his way to the top of the pillar.

A card slipped out of a slot on Copernicus' podium. "Let's take a look!" He glanced at it with his one swollen red eye. "The first question, for all players, is: toast."

They stared at him. Except for Chimecho, who started drooling at the sight of the pretty red buzzer button on his podium. "Toast?" Meowth complained. "That's not a question?"

"Or _is_ it?" Copernicus asked, leering at him. The feline stared back blankly, confused.

"Chiiiiiiiiii!" Squealing with joy, Chimecho rammed his head into the shiny buzzer, causing it to make a 'ding-ding!' noise.

"And Chimecho has buzzed in! Chimecho, what is the answer to the question?" Copernicus asked.

Chimecho stared at him blankly. "Chiiii?"

"Congratulations! That is the wrong answer!" Copernicus informed Chimecho as lights flashed behind him, recorded music played, and the audience cheered, startling the other three villains again. "The correct answer is: _baby powder_. That puts your score at negative one million, so you lose the game!" He pressed a button on his podium. "You are the weakest link, goodbye!"

A trapdoor fell open beneath Chimecho. But since he was floating, that didn't do anything. "Chiii?" Chimecho asked, even more confused.

Copernicus sweatdropped. "Er, hang on a second." He pressed another button.

A huge 5-ton weight dropped from the ceiling right onto Chimecho, flattening him and pushing him down the hole. "CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" he screamed as he plummeted away.

Shalor shrugged. "Oh well, he was annoying and fairly useless anyway."

Meowth nodded. "Yeah, little bugger was a pain in the neck…but his healing came in handy."

"Then if he's lucky, he can use it on himself," Shalor said sarcastically. "And get back up here."

"Now for the next round!" said Copernicus. He pointed to three curtains hanging from the ceiling that none of them had noticed before. "Growlie! You must choose the prize behind one of these curtains! Will it be curtain number one, curtain number two, or curtain number three?"

Growlie whined in confusion. "Ooh, pick curtain number three! The good stuff's always under the third one!" Meowth insisted.

"Actually, that would mean it's _not_ under the third curtain, since that's where you'd expect it to be. Pick the second one!" Shalor recommended.

"No, the third!"

"Second!"

"Third!"

"Second!"

"Third!"

Conflicted and utterly confused, Growlie howled mournfully.

"Curtain number one, you say? Is that your final answer?" Cornelius asked. "Because if so…then YOU WON!" Music played and the audience cheered, somehow.

"He did!" Meowth and Shalor cried in disbelief.

"Yes! But first, let's see what he _didn't_ pick!" said Cornelius, gesturing at the curtains, which rose to reveal their hidden prizes. "Behind curtain number two was a cage full of rabid Linoone!" The maddened raccoon things foamed at the mouth as they mauled each other and rattled their cage. "Behind curtain number three was a lifetime supply of Pokemon food!" Growlie whimpered hungrily at the sight of all those fresh, unopened cans just sitting there, waiting for consumption. "And now, for your grand prize…"

The first curtain rose to reveal… "A Blastoise!"

"What!" Shalor and Meowth cried. Growlie barked in surprise.

The Blastoise grinned and fired its water cannons, which were full of fire extinguishing solution, right at the big flaming hell hound. He howled in terror as the white foam engulfed him, covering him completely…and then fell silent, his flames put out. He collapsed to the floor, dripping foam, only inches from death without his fire burning. A trapdoor swung open underneath him, and he fell into the resulting pit, back to the bottom floor of the Pillar.

Shalor and Meowth stared in disbelief at the hole, then at the red Dusclops. "B-but you said he won!" the cat stammered.

"Oh yeah, I did didn't I?" Copernicus asked in surprise as the Blastoise stomped over to the pile of Pokemon food and started cramming cans down its throat. "My mistake. Slip of the tongue. Now for the final round!" The 'audience' cheered and lots of lights flashed, causing the two villains to feel dazed and woozy.

A giant wheel lowered from the ceiling. A handle was attached to the side, and an arrow was painted on the rim so it pointed towards the spokes, nearly all of which were painted red with LOSER written on it in big green letters, while there was one tiny sliver of white with WINNER written in hard-to-read red cursive wedged in between the other spokes. "This is the Wheel of Misfortune! Each of you gets one chance to spin it. Whatever the arrow's pointing to when it stops spinning is your fate!"

"But almost all of them will make us lose!" Meowth protested. "That's not fair!"

Copernicus glared at him. "And you call brutally torturing a mediocre and relatively harmless criminal just because he rejected you fair? Or assaulting an island full of small Pokemon who couldn't fight back and slaughtering the lot of them? Or invading this Pillar and cruelly slaughtering my cousins and friends to stop the rebirth of our suffering king, who's been all alone for over a hundred thousand years and only wants one last chance at life and love again?"

Meowth sweatdropped. "Uh…"

"The bunch of you are pure, heartless evil. What I do to you is much less punishment than you deserve," Copernicus said coldly. His words hung in the air, and the villains felt mildly uncomfortable, realizing what he said was true. "Now spin the damn wheel. The cat, first."

Uneasily, Meowth walked up to the wheel as the 'audience' cheered. "Ah, what do I do?" he asked once he had gotten there.

"Pull the handle," Copernicus told him.

Meowth did so. The wheel started spinning around and around, the letters on its surface blurring together into a solid circular block of green with red edges and interior, with only one little differently colored spot that was really hard to see. "Spin and win! Spin and win! Spin and win!" the 'audience' chanted.

Meowth clenched his fists. "Come on baby, Meowth doesn't want to have to climb up all these stairs again!"

The wheel's rotation started to slow, the words written on it becoming more and more distinct as its velocity dropped. After several more revolutions of decreasing speed, the wheel finally came to a halt with the arrow pointing right at a spoke saying LOSER. "NO!" Meowth screamed, as the audience moaned in disappointment.

"Oh, I'm sorry you psychotic freakshow, you've lost the game!" Copernicus crooned. "Get out of here, alley cat."

The tiles beneath Meowth fell open, dropping Meowth into a pit. "Looks like I'm blasting off agaaaaiiiiiin!" he screamed as he plummeted away.

"A shame the fall won't kill him," Copernicus said in disappointment, turning his gaze to fix on Shalor. "Your turn, general. Last chance."

Shalor glared at the Dusclops but said nothing. He stepped away from his podium and walked over to the wheel, while the audience behind him started cheering his name. He took no notice. Without a word, he pulled on the handle.

"Spin to win! Spin to win! Spin to win!" the audience cheered as the wheel spun around and around.

"Indeed it will," Shalor said as the wheel started slowing down, summoning one of his swords and, with perfect timing, driving it into the spinning object's face right as the tiny WINNER spoke rotated underneath the arrow. The audience gasped in horror, and Copernicus recoiled in shock.

The wheel creaked loudly and shuddered, jerking to a halt, the white spoke barely underneath the arrow. Sparks shot out from the sides, and smoke started hissing out of the back. Shalor glanced up at the arrow and chuckled. "Well, will you look at that?" he said calmly, extricating his laser blade from the wrecked wheel, along with some oil and machine parts. "I won."

"…" Copernicus narrowed his eye. "So you did."

"That means I get to go to the next floor."

"According to the rules, yes." An icy silence passed, as the general and the ghost glared at each other. Then the Dusclops waved a hand, and against the back wall of the studio a staircase appeared. "You may pass."

"Good." Feeling pleased with himself, Shalor started to strut past Copernicus towards the stairs.

"You know," the ghost said as Shalor walked by. "You may have beaten me…but someday, somewhere along the line, someone will make you pay for the things you've done. What all of you have done."

Shalor halted in his steps…and laughed. "I find that very unlikely," he sneered, glancing back at the red Dusclops. "And even if that does come to pass…so be it. I do not fear my fate. I welcome defeat to this miserable half-life."

"Is that so?" Copernicus asked innocently. "Then why, pray tell, are you terrified of oblivion if that is the case? Because surely you realize that is all that awaits you if you die again."

There was a long pause. Then, with a roar of fury, Shalor thrust a sword straight at the irritating ghost's big red eye…

And passed through air. Copernicus was gone, as was the studio. Shalor was alone on the floor, which was now completely empty.

Shalor stood there for a moment, glowing blade held out, glaring at nothing for a moment. Then, with a growl, he dissipated the blade. "Damn ghosts." With a swish of his cape, he turned and headed for the stairs.

…

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Shedinja screamed, cackling madly as he fired Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball at his foes. The aerial monstrosities shrieked in pain as they exploded graphically, showering the Shed Pokemon with blood and other unmentionable fluids. He howled with laughter and unleashed his Solar Beam attack in an arc, eviscerating the wing of infected Pidgeot flying towards him. What glory, what violence! This was where he truly belonged, not curbing his loathing for all things living or spending 'quality time' with other people as his lord insisted, but on the battlefield, bringing death to all who stood against him! He rushed eagerly into the midst of a swarm of Murkrow, using Leech Life to drain the life force from their bodies and kill every last one of them. They fell from the sky as corpses, shedding black scales and feathers as they plummeted. Insane giggles bubbled out from his shell. More! More! He needed more!

His reverie of mayhem and destruction was cut short by an unwelcome interruption. "Shedinja! Shedinja!" Misdreavus appeared.

He started. "What are you doing here? The battlefield is no place for a female!"

"AHEM!" coughed a nearby Banette, who happened to be leader of the all-female Femme Fatale 138th brigade of the ghost army.

Shedinja sweatdropped. "Ah, what I meant was, the battlefield is no place for a female without combat training and whose skills essentially add up to little more than a lovesick secretary! What are you doing here!"

She bit her lip, hurt by his comments, but said nothing save what she had come to tell him. "We've got reports of enemy movements inside the Sky Pillar. The majority of the forces that got inside has been picked off and is either dead or cooped up on the first floor, but Copernicus reports that one of the generals is still alive and made it past his game and is heading to the top floor as we speak. Our forces out here are too busy dealing with the rest of the invaders to take care of the general or the wounded on the first floor, and everyone inside who could have stopped them is dead or out of the way. Rukario is occupied keeping that monster on the roof away from the shamans, so he can't take care of this. Shedinja, you have to do something!"

"Hmm. You're right." He casually fired a Solar Beam over her head, exploding the flock of corrupted Spearow that had been flying right towards her. "The troops can coordinate themselves without me. Rukario can hopefully take care of the intruder long enough for the ceremony to be completed. It seems as if I'm the only one left who can handle this."

He started flying back towards the Sky Pillar. Anxious, Misdreavus followed him. "You're going to fight the general by yourself?"

Shedinja grunted. "I will do my duty to king and kingdom. If that means fighting an enemy general, so be it. I've been relishing a good fight for a while now, anyway."

"…Be careful," she whispered, falling behind.

He snorted. "Your caring is touching, but misplaced. I know what I'm doing."

…

With a roar, Coldstone telekinetically flung dozens of heavy chunks of stone torn off the roof at Rukario. The vulpine fighter leaped towards the one at the front of the swarm, smashed it with a punch, and flipped over to bat another away with a swing from his tail. He landed on top of another rock and sprung off it, kicking off another and ricocheting in this way through the cloud and out the other side, driving both his feet into Coldstone's face. The fused Pokemon stumbled backwards, more cracks opening up along their body as the Wave-Guiding warrior's attacks finally started taking their toll. "Ugh…how can this be possible? How can you be defeating us?"

"Maybe…" Rukario ducked under a swing from the stone mace and delivered a flaming uppercut to Coldstone's icy face. "It's because…" He backflipped out of the way of a vicious stab from the monster's frozen arm. Angry, Coldstone gestured, and the moisture in the air around Rukario solidified, trapping him in a chunk of ice. The chunk didn't last two seconds, as he smashed his way out of it with a simple flex of his muscles. "I have…" He launched at Coldstone with a whirlwind kick, driving the beast backwards as he slammed into their chest again and again. "A double type advantage!" With that, he drove his fists, one charged with a Rock Smash, the other with a Fire Punch, right through Coldstone's head, shattering it.

The abomination trembled, lurching backwards on their suddenly unstable legs. They toppled over, landing on their back and shattering into a million pieces. Rukario smirked. "That, and I still have a heart which drives me to win any battle. But I wasn't sure how to say it without sounding corny." He turned around to see how his master's progress was doing, and so did not see the pile of rock and ice chips shift and a small crystal sphere levitate out of the debris.

The majority of the metal lines in the main circle were throbbing with power, glowing with green, red, and blue energy. The shamans had begun to hum as their little 'dancing' turned into simple hovering above the ground, their bodies still in a trance-like state of concentration. The power flowing through the orbs had almost reached the lines leading to the comatose bodies of Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza. Once the power reached those bodies, the ancient titans would be awakened again at long last! Then even the armies of the evil one would have a hard time dominating the Earth!

His ears twitched, as he heard the sound of something shooting through the air towards him. He immediately jumped out of the way, barely dodging a rock-solid punch which would have split his skull open.

He stared in disbelief, jaw gaping, at the sight before him. "No! I just killed you!" he protested, gazing at the reconstituted figure of Coldstone.

The stone and ice monster chuckled. "You didn't really think it would be _that_ easy, would you? Our new crystal core regenerates us every time we are defeated. As long as it is intact, we can never be destroyed!"

Rukario clenched his fists. "Then I will shatter it right after I shatter you…again!"

Coldstone chuckled. "We would like to see you try, little one. We've regained our full health and stamina…while you're worn out, even if only a little. Every time I fall, I get back up in perfect condition, while you slowly get more and more exhausted! In a fight, I can easily outlast you!"

"I don't need to outlast you," Rukario countered, glancing at the metal circle. The power lines still hadn't reached the edges yet. "I just need to hold you off long enough to buy my master the time he needs!"

"Hmmph. I'd say that time has just run out!" Coldstone pointed their stone arm at one of the rocks anchoring the prism. The stone started to tremble.

"NO!" Rukario pounced at Coldstone, grabbing the monster's rock arm and wrenching it away from where it was pointing, causing the support to settle back in place.

"Again you interfere!" Enraged, Coldstone slammed their arm into the ground, knocking Rukario off. Coldstone then started focusing on the boulders again…only for Rukario to leap back to his feet and punch the monster in their face, knocking them back a step and breaking off their concentration yet again. "If you want to fight so badly, wait until we've shattered our brother's hopes as well as everyone else's and secured the orbs for our master! Then we will be willing to oblige!"

"I won't let you ruin everything we've worked for!" Rukario said angrily, crouching into a fighting stance.

"In that case, we will grant your desire for death now rather than later!" Coldstone fired a Zap Cannon at Rukario's face at point-blank range, lighting the rooftop up in a blinding explosion.

…

Shalor stepped out of the stairwell and onto the fifth floor. He glanced around. Just like the others (save for when the fourth had been occupied by a game show studio) the room was stark, bare, and devoid of anything worth noting. That included enemies for the general to fight. Admittedly, there could be ghosts in hiding, but Shalor figured he could handle any that appeared on his own.

As he crossed the room, he paused, hearing the very faint sound of something displacing the air behind him. He immediately spun around and blocked with one of his beam sabers, deflecting a Cut attack which might have decapitated him.

The Shedinja who had attacked him backed away. "You shall not pass," he hissed.

Shalor summoned his second saber. "And who are you supposed to be?" he asked.

"General Shedinja, second in command to the Ghost King and leader of the ghost army. And you are Shalor, the Black General, one of the leaders of your master's army of evil."

"So we are both generals, then," Shalor realized. "Leaders sworn to serve our masters with our lives…or in your case, afterlife."

"Indeed," Shedinja agreed. "And because of that duty, I will let you go no further."

"And because of _my_ duty, I shall indeed," Shalor replied.

"Then let us get this over with," Shedinja finished, launching a Secret Power at the villain. Due to the stony surroundings of the Pillar, the attack manifested in the form of a shower of sharp pebbles. Shalor swung his swords outwards, shattering the rocks into dust as he lunged forward, slashing at Shedinja.

The Shed Pokemon bobbed and weaved out of the way of each thrust, stab, and swipe, using his small size and flying power to evade the attacks. He split into a Double Team, surrounding the evil general with illusory doubles of himself, all of whom raised their crescent halos and started charging a Hyper Beam. However, Shalor noticed right away that only one of the Shedinja cast a shadow as the balls of golden energy formed over their heads, and he immediately lunged at that one, bringing his twin swords down in a killing chop…only for them to pass through thin air. "What-" he started in surprise before he got blasted from behind by a Hyper Beam, burning a hole in his cape and causing him to cry out in pain.

Shedinja chuckled. "You don't think I haven't fought smart enemies before? I know how to fake my Double Team copies with perfection."

"Hmmph." Shalor replied by sprouting his lower set of arms, fully healed by now, and summoned his remaining two blades, arming himself with four. He lunged at the Shedinja, twirling two of his sabers before him like fans while stabbing forward with the other two.

Shedinja used Harden, expecting the blades to bounce right off his specially enhanced shell…and was astonished when one of the swords left an ugly black scorch mark across his front, causing him to feel some of the first pain he could recall in years. "Wh-what? How did you damage me?"

"My beam sabers are quite hot, much like a fire," Shalor explained, thrusting all four of them forward at once. Shedinja flew over the strike and fired a Shadow Ball downwards at Shalor. The evil general swung his sword at the dark sphere, deflecting it right back at Shedinja, who barely managed to Harden himself before it exploded, smashing him into the ceiling and leaving more scorch marks and scratches on his shell. "Your Wonder Guard special ability makes you invincible to all attacks save the types which you are weak against. And fire, or namely intense heat, is one of them. Ghost-type attacks are another."

"Then I'll just have to be more careful, won't I?" Shedinja spat Toxic sludge at Shalor.

The general leaped out of the way of the spray, although some of it caught the end of his cape, causing part of it to sizzle and disintegrate. Shalor leaped at a wall, kicked off it, and shot towards Shedinja, swords raised for a quadruple chop.

As the swords came down on the Shed Pokemon, Shedinja raised his crescent halo, catching the blades in its bend. He then fired a Confuse Ray from his eyes at Shalor, blasting him off and sending the general to the ground. Shalor stumbled about for a moment, feeling dazed and rather woozy, and leaving him wide open for Shedinja's Hyper Beam attack.

He cried out as the beam engulfed him, incinerating his cape and damaging his armor severely. He staggered back, the pain snapping him out of his confusion, holding his swords in front of him as guards.

Shedinja's eyes glowed as he used Leech Life on his foe. Shalor faltered, nearly falling to the floor as energy drained out of him and into the Shed Pokemon…only for the ghostly ninja to spit it back out in disgust. "Faugh! So vile! How can one's life force taste so awful?"

"Because it is rife with the power my master has granted me," Shalor said, standing up straight, recovering from his momentary weakness. "Power…" He bounded at Shedinja. "Which will defeat you!"

Shedinja used Double Team to get out of the way and surround the general with fakes, all of whom started charging up Hyper Beam. Shalor noticed one of the Shedinja had a shadow, but he wasn't going to fall for that trick again. Instead, he pointed his four arms outward in the directional points of the compass and spun on one foot, simultaneously slashing through all the illusory Shedinjas, causing them to vanish and striking the real one four times with his sabers, cutting a deep gash into his shell.

Shedinja cried out in pain, startled, and flew back, firing a Hidden Power followed by a Confuse Ray at Shalor. The Black General destroyed the mass of rocks with one saber swing, and with the other deflected the Confuse Ray right back at Shedinja, striking him and flinging him into a wall, dazed and confused. Before the Shed Pokemon could recover, Shalor pounced, swinging his two upper swords down in a vertical chop while bringing his other two up in a cross slash.

Shedinja rocked as the super-hot laser blades struck him, cracking and burning his shell. And then…

His wings crumbled and fell off, and his crescent halo snapped in two and disintegrated. Gasping in pain, Shedinja collapsed to the ground. "N-no…I cannot…cannot be defeated…"

"You can," said Shalor, bringing his swords together and raising them to deliver the final blow. "And you have."

Just before Shalor could bring his swords down, an ear-splitting shriek cut through the air, and Shalor cried out, clutching his chest in pain. The shriek turned into some sort of song, one with extremely high notes which pounded the eardrums and made most people run for the hills. But Shedinja recognized this melody, and knew that it wasn't merely its awful sound which was causing Shalor such pain, it was because he had been caught in the grip of a Perish Song! But who had abandoned their post fighting the invaders and come down here to rescue him?

As Shalor collapsed to his knees, each shrill note of the Perish Song stabbing into him like a poisoned knife, Shedinja saw the face of his savior. "Misdreavus!"

"She-din-ja! Fin-ish him while he is weak!" Misdreavus sang, her voice rising and falling to match the pitch of her Perish Song, her body trembling in pain, the cost of using this forbidden attack.

Shedinja grunted and struggled to comply. With some effort, he managed to float lopsidedly back into the air and tried to gather the energy needed for a Hyper Beam. It was hard though, because he was wounded and exhausted, but he knew he had to do this! This determination seemed to be the deciding point, as golden energy started gathering above his head. It was harder to do without his halo as a focus, but he could still charge the attack.

"N…no!" Shalor roared, staggering to his feet, clutching his chest as painful note after painful note seared through him. "I will…not…go like this!" He spun around, what was left of his cape batting into Shedinja and causing him to lose what little balance he could maintain and forcing him to drop from the air, losing the energy he had gathered. Summoning a beam saber, Shalor pointed his arm at Misdreavus and flung his sword at her. The blade flew straight and true, and pierced her right through her little wavy body underneath her pearl necklace, causing her to gasp and cut off her song.

Shedinja was startled. "M-Misdreavus!"

Shalor chuckled, his body sore from the Perish Song but no longer caught in its curse. It was already starting to heal, albeit slowly. "I'm afraid it will take more than that to defeat me, fools." He glanced at Shedinja on the floor, trying to pick himself back up, and kicked the Shed Pokemon into the wall. "I've wasted enough time here. I have a mission to complete." He pointed a hand at Misdreavus, and his sword extricated itself from her and flew to him. He grabbed it and ran across the room towards the stairs, leaving the two ghosts behind as he headed for the rooftop.

Misdreavus' eyes fluttered. She floated down to the ground, her long ghostly hair writhing in agitation. Shedinja grunted in pain and managed to drag his shell over to her. "Why…why did you do that, you idiot!" he snapped. "You got yourself killed! Now you're dead!"

"I…" She gasped, feeling faint. "I had to…I didn't want you to die."

"Fool! Idiot! Imbecile!" he ranted. "If I died then, it would be with the knowledge that I had done my best to protect my king! But now I'm virtually crippled and alive with the knowledge that Shalor may very well succeed in his mission and destroy the King's chance at happiness! If I were dead, it wouldn't have mattered anymore!"

"I had to save you though," she protested weakly. "Because I love you."

"Idiot," he repeated with a hiss. "There's nothing to love."

"That's…what you always say…" she sighed. She lay her head down on the ground. "So tired…Shedinja…if you had died you're right to say it wouldn't have mattered…but if you're still alive, you still might have a chance. I saved you because I had a duty to my heart to do so. You still have a duty to carry out too…" Her eyelids started to droop. "Shedinja…I'll see you on…the other side." Her eyes closed, and she went still. Her figure grew fainter and more diffuse as the spectral essences making her up dissipated, and in a moment there was nothing left of her at all, save for the pink pearls of her necklace, which clattered to the floor, coming apart and rolling all over the place.

"Idiot!" Shedinja growled scathingly. "Why did she…why did she have to…" He trembled, feeling strange. "What…what is this feeling? Why do I feel so…so…sad? I do not…I do not understand…" he whispered. "Why is…why is there water coming out of my eyes?"

…

Rukario was slammed into the ground, coughing up blood. "Ugh…"

Coldstone laughed cruelly as they loomed over him. "You see? We told you you could not win. Your advantage only lasted as long as your strength did, and now you're too tired to fight back. We should finish you off now, but…" The monster paused, glancing up the stairs at where their brother was working. "We have business to attend to." Rukario struggled to get back up, but Coldstone stomped on his back with an icicle-like leg, causing the vulpine to gasp in pain and collapse back to the floor. "Stay down." Coldstone turned and started walking up the steps.

The spell the shamans were working was almost complete. The lines of power had left the initial circle and were now flowing into the simpler circles encircling Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza. Within moments, the circles would be completely filled in, and the final phase of the ceremony would begin.

Not if Coldstone had anything to say about it, of course. The fused monster raised their rocky arm, focusing yet again on one of the supports, when a startled voice broke them out of their concentration. "Coldstone?"

The abomination turned around and saw, to their surprise, a cape-less and weary yet recovering General Shalor at the bottom of the stairs. "Shalor? What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question," Shalor said, looking confused. "I managed to penetrate the Sky Pillar from the first floor and work my way up here. But how did you get here before me?"

Coldstone shrugged. "Oh, when our ship was falling down we jumped out of the hatch before it could hit the ground and managed to grab onto the side of the Sky Pillar before we could crash. We then climbed our way up, unnoticed by everyone else because they were too busy fighting. And here we are now."

If Shalor had eyes, they would be twitching. "Why didn't _I_ think of that!"

"Because you don't have the higher processing power obtained by having two brains wired together?" Coldstone suggested.

"…Good point," Shalor grumbled. "Well, in any case, we're here now." He drew all four beam sabers. "So let's do what we came here to do."

Coldstone nodded. "Agreed." They turned around and started up the stairs, preparing themselves yet again, only to see that while they were talking the glowing lines of power had completely encircled the three titans. There was a flash of light as the colored lines all changed into a blinding white, and the humming of the ghost shamans was accompanied by an eerie, metallic resonation from Registeel that could actually be considered singing in the right context. The air directly over the Sky Pillar darkened, and a spherical portal, a bubble containing constantly roiling mist, appeared above the prism. Yellow eyes glowed brightly from within the sphere, and _something_ pushed its way out of the bubble's permeable surface, shedding the dense layer of smoke that had been covering it and revealing it to be not one figure with yellow eyes, but _three_. The three translucent yellow-eyed spirits, too lacking in substance to be called Ghost Pokemon but nowhere near being alive split apart from the single intertwining mass they made up, looking for a moment hesitant and at the same time all too eager to separate. Their forms were indistinct in the bright light radiating from the prism and circle, but one looking at them could barely make out a dinosaur, a whale, and a somewhat larger dragon, all with glowing yellow eyes.

The Red, Green, and Blue Orbs grew as radiant as miniature suns, and started to float off their pedestals. "Are we too late?" Shalor asked, worried.

"No." Coldstone focused their gaze on Registeel, who was standing in the center of the floating orbs, his body tense and stiff with concentration. "If we take out our brother, all this will end." Coldstone started charging up a Zap Cannon…

Only for them to gasp and topple over as an energy ball struck them in the back, exploding and causing them to fall on their face. "I believe you're forgetting something," Rukario said, his voice weak but the steel behind it as hard as his mentor's body. "I'm not going to let you anywhere near them."

Growling, Shalor started down the steps towards the Wave-guiding hero, infuriated that yet another setback had presented itself. "I'll kill you-" he started.

"No." A Shadow Ball shot out of nowhere and slammed into the general, exploding and pushing him off the stairs and down to the rooftop's lower level. Shedinja, tired, weary, and heavily damaged, floated in the air wobbly. "I don't know why I'm feeling like this…but I know that you are the cause…" he hissed. "For some reason, I hurt. I hurt more than I ever have before, not just on my shell, but something…_else_. Something I don't understand. And I don't like it." He trembled with rage. "If killing you will make this stop…then I will gladly rip your skull open myself."

Registeel raised his hands, facing Groudon, as the ghost shamans all went still, their humming rising and falling as they too began to glow with white light. "Soul which burns with the fires of pride, fury, and courage! Master of ground and flame! Return to your mortal form, so you may walk the Earth once more! Groudon, lord of the land, awaken!"

"NO!" roared Coldstone, firing a Hyper Beam at their brother. They had managed to Lock-On while Shedinja had been talking and had guaranteed that even if Rukario hit them again, their attack would not miss.

Or so they thought. Shedinja shot past the stone and ice conglomeration and planted himself right in the beam's path, causing it to strike him and explode without damage. Hyper Beam was a Normal-type attack, and thanks to his Wonder Guard he was immune to such techniques.

The saurian shade roared and flew towards Groudon's body like a bolt of lightning. At the same time, the Red Orb transformed into a beam of light and shot at the sleeping Continent Pokemon. The spirit and orb converged into a ball of red and gold energy right before they struck Groudon's forehead and sunk in, causing the red and black dinosaur to tremble, his breath breaking into a gasp. His eyelids twitched.

"No!" Frantic, Shalor leaped onto the stairs and started dashing up them, using his extra arms to increase his speed.

Rukario tackled him from behind before he had even made it halfway, catching him in a Full Nelson and rolling him onto his back. "Not on my watch!" he cried, slamming the general's helmet into the ground repeatedly to keep him from conjuring his beam sabers.

Registeel lifted his arms again. "Soul which resonates with the waters of beauty, purity, and change! Mistress of sea and tide! Return to your mortal form, so you may swim the oceans once more! Kyogre, lady of the deep, awaken!"

The whale spirit and the blue orb shot towards Kyogre's sleeping form, combining into a sphere of blue and gold light right before they slammed into the Sea Basin Pokemon's forehead, causing her shallow breathing to break into a gasp. Her eyelids flickered.

Frantic, Coldstone charged up the remaining stairs, swiping Shedinja out of their way with a swing of their arm, and kept running towards the circle.

"_No further._" An energy ball from Rukario and a Shadow Ball from Shedinja collided into Coldstone's back, exploding and knocking them to the ground once more, only a few inches away from the radiant circle. The vulpine Pokemon slammed into the fused Pokemon's back, cracked from the force of the explosion, and started punching it with Rock Smash. Shedinja, seeing that his 'partner' had things under control, saw his nemesis Shalor running back up the stairs. Shedinja didn't even bother firing a beam or attack at the villain, he charged headfirst at the fiend, head down so the little horns atop his head would ram into his foe's chest.

Shalor lashed out with his blades, cutting deeply into Shedinja's sides and breaking some of his shell off, but he didn't notice. He slammed into Shalor's chest, digging his horns in, and pushed the general backwards, causing him to lose his balance and tumble back down the stairs, his limbs flying and twisting about as they were bent and broken into positions his body was not meant for. His neck snapped as he hit the bottom, and he lay still there. Shedinja thought it was a shame that that probably hadn't been enough to kill him.

"Soul which flows with the winds of justice and beats with a dragon's heart! Ruler of dragons and air! Return to your mortal form, so you may fly through the skies once more! Rayquaza, king of dragons, awaken!"

The final spirit roared triumphantly as it and the Green Orb combined into a sphere of green and gold light, slamming into Rayquaza's forehead and sinking into his skin. The Sky High Pokemon snorted, tail slipping from his mouth. His eyes flickered…and shot open, blazing yellow.

"ENOUGH!" Enraged, Coldstone shoved Rukario off their back, pinned him to the ground with an icicle leg, and formed a huge ice boulder over their head, preparing to bring it smashing down on the scrappy fighter. "THIS TIME, YOU DIE!"

"You know, I don't really see that happening," interrupted a gravelly voice as hot as the molten center of the Earth.

"Mmm, me neither," agreed a fluid, feminine voice as cool as the deepest reaches of the seas.

Four beams of light, two red and two blue, shot at Coldstone and struck them in the back, causing them to cry out in pain and shock as they found themselves paralyzed, the ice boulder they were holding shattering. "What…what is…happening…to us!" they cried, their foot unwillingly being removed from Rukario's chest.

"We did," said Groudon with a toothy grin, his yellow eyes the source of the red beams. "We saw everything the kid was doing to keep you from stopping us from leaving the Realm of Mists. I may have a reputation as a not very nice guy at times, but I can't let someone as loyal as that just die for trying to help me, can I?"

"Help _us_," Kyogre corrected, the blue beams emanating from her eyes. "You may have power over ice and rock, Coldstone, but you forget that we are the _true _rulers of the elements of earth and sea. And since rock is hard earth and ice is frozen water that means we have power over you too. Amazing we didn't think of this sooner, isn't it?"

Registeel, who had collapsed to his knees after directing the final soul back to its place, stared up at the two titans in disbelief. "Groudon and Kyogre, working…together? Will wonders never cease?"

Rayquaza's head loomed over the Iron Pokemon, his yellow eyes laughing. "Everything ceases eventually, old friend," he joked, his voice strong and proud, heavy with the weight of great responsibility but also marked by the ability to bear it well. "So you have to enjoy things while they last."

"Hey!" Groudon protested. "You make it sound as if we're going to go at each other at the drop of a hat the instant we feel it's convenient! Did it ever occur to you that maybe this _isn't_ just your typical temporary truce which only lasts until your common foe is defeated or you get really pissed off at whoever you're working with?"

Rayquaza and Registeel stared at the dinosaur in disbelief. "You mean it's not!" they asked in simultaneous incredulity.

Groudon and Kyogre looked uncomfortable. "Well…um…" Groudon started.

"Let's just say…that when you're reduced to the barest form of consciousness and relegated to the back of someone else's mind for over a hundred thousand years with nobody else to talk to, a lot of things like rivalry or dominance don't seem quite as important anymore," Kyogre elaborated.

Rukario, panting, got to his feet. "Mighty lords!" he called up to Groudon and Kyogre. "Coldstone can only be destroyed by shattering their crystal core!"

"Then let's find that core, shall we?" Groudon growled. "Ready, Kyogre?"

"Ready, Groudon!"

At the same time, they both turned their heads away from Coldstone, causing the rock and ice halves which made up the monster to split in two with a resounding crack, causing the abomination to scream in stereo voices of agony as a crystalline sphere, crackling furiously as it tried to reunite the two halves, was revealed between the two.

Rukario limped over and drew back a fist, preparing to break the core. "Wait!" Registeel cried. He walked over, leaving the periphery of the now useless circle. "I must finish this."

"Bro…ther…" Coldstone moaned, their voices out of sync for once. "Please…show mercy…"

Registeel's eyes hardened. "I am no one's brother." He clenched his fist and drove it into the core, causing it to shatter into a million pieces with a burst of light.

Coldstone's halves stiffened, before screaming in a double howl of pain and anguish…and then they disintegrated, falling out of Groudon and Kyogre's control and accumulating on the ground as a pile of pebbles and ice dust.

"…Master," Rukario asked uncertainly. "Will you be all right?"

"No, Rukario. Not for a long while," the Iron Pokemon said sadly. "But someday…someday perhaps…I may be." He put an arm around his servant's shoulder. "I have lost my siblings…but at least I still have you, my child." Rukario's face flushed, uncertain what to say.

Rayquaza lowered his head to level his eyes with those of the ghost shamans, all of whom were growing fainter and fainter as they faded away. "Thank you," he said quietly. "From the bottom of my heart, thank you." He sighed. "I only wish it hadn't needed to come to this."

"Do not mourn us, your majesty," said a Dusclops. "We knew the price to be paid when we accepted this task."

"There is little to hold us to this realm anymore anyway, now that you have regained your flesh," added a Shuppet.

"We have no family. No friends. All have already passed on to the other side," explained a Gastly.

"They are waiting for us. We must go to them," said a Misdreavus.

"You still have someone here who is waiting for you, majesty," a Banette informed the King.

"Go to her. She is waiting," said a Gengar in what could almost be called an order.

Rayquaza bowed his head. "I will. And once again, thank you."

"Thank _you_, my lord," said a Haunter just before it disappeared for good.

"For being our ruler for so many years," said a Duskull before vanishing as well.

"For allowing us to help give you life," said a Shedinja before it was gone.

"And most of all, for giving us our freedom," said the last shaman, a Sableye. "_Thank you._"

And then they were gone, and there were no more shamans before the once and future king of the ghosts and the dragons. Rayquaza sighed, having a moment of silence for the passing of these loyal spirits…before he was interrupted by Shedinja and Groudon, who stomped over, carrying the unconscious, pathetic figure of Shalor in one claw. "Hey Rayquaza, what do we do with this guy? He was trying to crawl away while we weren't looking and I knocked him out," the Continent Pokemon informed his fellows. "Can I eat him? I haven't had a meal in a hundred thousand years…" he begged hopefully.

"Groudon!" Kyogre told him with a scowl. "That thing smells like it's been dead for ages! You can't possibly want to eat it!"

He sneered at her. "I could say the same thing about you and your penchant for fish."

"Lord?" Shedinja asked weakly, his form trembling like a leaf. Rayquaza was startled; he did not think he had ever seen his second in command so…_fragile_ before. "Please…let me kill him. He has done something to me, put me under some kind of enchantment or curse…perhaps if I kill him it will go away."

Registeel was puzzled. "Curse? Describe it to me, perhaps I can break it."

"It…it happened after he killed Misdreavus," Shedinja confessed, causing the Sky High dragon lord to widen his eyes in shock. "I started feeling…sad, so very sad. It took me a while to figure out that I was sad because I've never felt depressed before. And I felt so…hollow all of a sudden, and weak, like I would never feel better again. And for some reason…some reason I can't understand…I keep thinking of that stupid Misdreavus, how she was always pestering me and trying to make me take her out on dates, how I always wished she'd go away, but now for some reason there's nothing I want more than to see her again…please, cure me! Whatever is wrong with me, make it go away!"

"…" Registeel shook his head. "This is far beyond my expertise, Shedinja. This 'curse' as you call it is something not even the most skilled sorcerer could remove…well, not without some heavy memory restructuring, that is."

"What? What is it?" Shedinja asked desperately.

"It's called a heart," Rayquaza said softly, sympathetically curling his tail around his minion's beaten shell. "You've finally discovered that you had one, and that it loved Misdreavus."

Shedinja was horrified. "No! Not a heart! Nothing as horrible as that!" he cried. "Please, Registeel, anyone, remove it at once! Surely there must be some way to rid myself of it!"

"This is something can not and will not do," Registeel refused. "Removing someone's heart once it has been found is so vile an act only those who are most closely affiliated with our enemy would even think of doing it without recoiling in disgust. It would go against everything I, and all of us, stand for. No, I will not do this thing."  
"But-but it hurts so much!" Shedinja protested, not noticing or caring that once more water was dripping from his eye slits. "I can't bear feeling like this! Please, how can I make it stop hurting?"

"You can't," Kyogre said, her eyes misting over as she recalled a tragedy of her own from long ago. "It never stops hurting. But, with time, it can become easier to bear."

Rayquaza nodded, impressed by Kyogre's perception. "And perhaps-just perhaps-some day you may find another who makes you feel as you do now, but more positively, as Misdreavus would have made you feel had you given her a chance before it was too late. A heart that is broken can be mended. A love thought lost can be found again or reborn elsewhere."

"Such is the nature of life…and death," Registeel said philosophically. "What seems like an ending is a beginning. A transition. Whether it leads to something good or bad is in how you perceive it, how you react to it. You can either deal with your grief at your loss by nurturing it, growing bitterer over time until you loathe Misdreavus with every fiber of your being for causing you to feel this way about her…or you can channel it. Release it. Find ways to express yourself and deal with your pain."

"Like by torturing to death this bastard here?" Shedinja asked a little too eagerly, hovering in front of Shalor's masked face.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Well…er…I suppose that's one way…" Registeel said without certainty. "I was thinking more along the lines of painting, actually."

"I do not recommend it," Rayquaza said, pulling Shedinja away from the beaten general. "Revenge will not help you, Shedinja."

"But it will make me feel better!" the ghost protested.  
Rayquaza shook his head. "No, it will not. After you kill him, he'll be dead, and Misdreavus will still be dead as well. You will have done nothing to alleviate your heart's suffering. Rather, you will have only increased it, and you will start seeking others to take your grief out on, others who had nothing to do with causing this pain in the first place. Revenge is a short-sighted and ultimately futile premise. Once more, a permanent solution to a temporary problem, as you seem to be so fond of."

"So…can I eat him then?" Groudon asked hopefully, growing hungrier by the second while everyone else yammered on about ethics and philosophy.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Well…there is a fine line between revenge and justice, but there is still a line all the same," Rayquaza said after a moment's thought. "Killing Shalor as punishment for all the cruel things he has done, not simply because of how he has hurt an individual or made them feel, is justice rather than revenge. I think."

Groudon sighed in exasperation. "Then can I eat him or not?"

Rayquaza rolled his eyes. "Yes, you can eat him."

Groudon grinned. "Good. Hey, Shed-thing, if it'll make you feel better I'll make sure to do it messily, with lots of crunching of bones and spurting of blood. Will that help?"

"…Do whatever you want," Shedinja said unhappily, turning away. "For some reason the promise of gratuitous violence doesn't appeal to me like it did just a second ago anymore." His anger had fled him, leaving him only with grief…and an aching emptiness that encompassed more than the hollow space within his shell.

Groudon shrugged. "Okay, whatever floats your boat." Kyogre rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath about the dinosaur's manners and eating habits as Groudon opened his jaws wide and prepared to toss Shalor in.

"Could you please wait a moment before doing that? I was hoping to have a word with all of you first."

Everyone froze as the cold and unmistakably evil voice resonated through their minds. They turned as one to see, crouching on top of one of the rock piles, trident held loosely in one hand, was the evil one. Rukario paled. "It-it's him…"

Groudon growled and clenched his fist around Shalor's leg, crushing it. "YOU!"

"Yes, me," he said, sounding mildly amused. "Hello, all. How nice to see you again, Registeel, without a ten-foot crystal javelin driven through your brain. Or you three magnificent titans. You've grown from the pathetic, mewling creatures that cowered or hid as I slaughtered your parents and had their reanimated corpses make love to your siblings."

Enraged, Groudon and Kyogre opened their mouths, preparing to fire Hyper Beams at the source of all evil. "STOP!" Rayquaza bellowed. "This is exactly what he wants! Allow him to make you angry, and he's already won half the fight!"

"Well," the foe said, looking surprised. "It's refreshing to find I have at least one enemy with some common sense."

"Your flattery will get you nowhere, monster," Rayquaza growled. "I know of your ways. I know of how easily you can weave words to get people to believe or disbelieve whatever you say. But I can recognize the truth when I hear it, and I know there is a difference between not lying and telling truth."

He chuckled. "You have taught this one well, Registeel. You truly were a better teacher than your siblings."

"How did you do it?" Registeel asked quietly, trying to follow Rayquaza's example and not lose what little restraint he had left on the deep anguish generated by the betrayal and violation of his siblings. "How did you turn them like that? The dream energy running through us has always kept you from infecting us in the past."

He shrugged. "I have learned many things in space, old friend. How to convert those who are supposed to be totally steadfast in their faith and what they believe in is one of them. But it helped that they had already fallen so far from the ideals and virtues they had been taught all their lives." He met the Iron Pokemon's red eyes with a look of amusement. "In the end, no one is incorruptible."

"Why have you come?" Shedinja asked, floating to the same level as the devil. "Do you think you can win? You are greatly outnumbered."

"I am?" he asked, with a tone of mock surprise. He glanced at the Pokemon on the roof below him, united against him. He looked skyward, at the dragon, steel, and ghost Pokemon circling overhead, their numbers greatly diminished by the great struggle against his forces, but still victorious, the bodies of their foes disintegrated or scattered about in the surrounding waters and shore. "You call this outnumbering? I have fought larger armies, and stronger individuals. Even without reinforcements your soldiers and companions are of no worry to me. In any case, I did not come to fight…"

"You may not have come here to, but you're certainly going to!" Groudon roared, spitting a massive Hyper Beam at the evil one…

Which passed right through him as if he wasn't there, striking some of the circling Pokemon and annihilating them, causing them to be consumed with agonized screams in golden light. "You see, I'm not actually here," he continued as if nothing had happened and his enemies gaped at him, "just as the me your scouts thought they saw at the South Pole isn't me but a body double. This is merely an astral projection I've sent to distract you."

Registeel gasped, realizing that only a truly horrible result could follow from this. "Oh no..."

"Distract us?" growled Rayquaza. "From what?"

"From the missile I launched from my castle in orbit," the projection said calmly before vanishing.

They blinked. "Missile?" Kyogre asked in confusion. "What miss-"

…

The explosion was visible from space and from as far away as the Orange Islands. Windows in numerous regions rattled as the shockwave from the blast rattled through them, and the tidal surge caused water levels to rise miles away from the site of impact due to the amount of water displaced.

The evil one stood strong atop his mount as the shockwave and light from the explosion rippled over him, not flinching in the slightest from the force. He had experienced worse at closer proximity. Even so, he had to admit it was a rather spectacular explosion.

"What glorious devastation!" his newest general spoke up gleefully. "Even now I can hear their screams of torment as they are blown to pieces by the fire!"

The master nodded. "Indeed. However, the amount of pain I'm detecting seems oddly diminished…perhaps the blast was stronger than I anticipated and they were disintegrated before they could truly feel anything. No matter. The orbs are now free for me to gather. And you, my pet, have a feast ahead of you," he said to his immense mount. "Why don't you eat it?"

The giant monster obediently opened its mouth. Its eyes glowed, and the beast trembled as it inhaled deeply…and then blinked, puzzled. "Nothing."

The evil one glanced down. "How do you mean?"

"Nothing. No souls. No ghosts. Nothing to eat here." The mount seemed utterly miserable at this.

The master narrowed his eyes. "That's…odd. Their souls should not have transcended time so quickly. And…" He paused. "I cannot sense the orbs. I do not hear the pieces of myself crying out to me, begging to be rejoined. Something is wrong here." He tapped his trident on his mount's head. "Let's investigate."

The beast complied at once, undulating through the air towards the shattered, smoking rocks barely sticking out of the frothing, seething water which was all that remained of the Sky Pillar. There were no bodies left to lie on the island's ruins, no corpses or survivors barely clinging to life. All had been vaporized in the explosion.

And yet…there were far fewer ashes than the evil one would have expected as he dismounted from his monster's head and set foot on the blackened pile of rubble which was all that was left of the small island or the tower that had stood on it. This only furthered his feeling that something was off.

His eyes glowed as he psychically scanned the ruins. He detected no trace of the orbs which were transmuted crystal shards, but was surprised to find a few life-signs as well as something else, something…familiar.

Disregarding the life he detected, he darted over to one of the largest heaps of scorched rubble left over from the explosion. He reached out and grabbed the few delicate hairs lying against the side, their bright colors-pink and green-standing out against the rest of the raw desolation.

His eyes narrowed. He crushed the hairs in his fist, burning them to cinders with a thought. "So…" he said out loud, his normally calm tone underlined with a hint of anger and at the same time, amusement. "The series of catastrophes around the world I engineered to keep them busy did not occupy them long enough to keep them away…"

"Master?" his new general asked in confusion, tentatively floating over. "I don't understand. What's happened?"

"They got away," he explained simply, tightening his grip on his trident. "All of the ones I was trying to kill."

"But how!" the general asked in disbelief. "There's no way they could have gotten away! You cut off your astral projection only half a second before the missile hit, they couldn't have teleported that quickly could they?"

"When you have the power to freeze, or at the very least slow down time…" he said slowly. "Then half a second is more than enough time to get an entire army away. It seems as if this venture was a failure, then…" He shrugged. "No matter. At least my body double did manage to retrieve a crystal shard from the south, and I managed to obtain the two of you as my latest and deadliest generals yet. It was not a total loss."

A smaller pile of rubble on their right shifted, catching their attention. Pebbles and bits of broken stone and metal armor collapsed and rolled down the small hill as a burnt, beaten, and all-around sorry-looking Meowth crawled from the ruins, gasping for breath. An exhausted Chimecho and Growlie, equally damaged, plopped down on either side of him. "What…the heck…was that?" Meowth rasped, his voice scratchy and dry.

"You managed to survive a missile attack from orbit," the master said, impressed. "I'm surprised. I didn't think you had it in you."

Meowth managed to grin weakly. "Yeah…well…when you've been in as many explosions as I have…you get used to this sort of thing."

"Chiiii…" Chimecho moaned, his bell cracked, parts of it imbedded in his empty skull. Growlie whimpered in pain, his flames low and barely burning at all.

"Your survival ability is truly impressive…I believe I have misjudged you, Meowth, and your companions. I'm promoting you to general status. You may keep the other two as attaches, if you wish."

"…That's a good thing, right?" Meowth asked weakly, spitting out cracked teeth, blood, and half his tongue.

"Yes."

"Woo…hoo…" His face planted itself in the dirt as he fainted from the exertion of digging himself out from the rubble. Chimecho and Growlie followed suit.

"He's going to be a general?" the evil one's newest servant asked, looking disgusted. "But he's so…weak! And pathetic!"

"That he is," he agreed. "Don't fret. He won't come anywhere near your level. He and his companions will simply be cannon fodder, as they've always been…somewhat stronger cannon fodder, but that is all they are. If they live or die in the upcoming battle, it is of no concern to me. Speaking of which…" He turned away from Meowth, Growlie, and Chimecho and strode over to another pile of rubble. He pushed at it with his psychic abilities, and it gently split apart like the sea before Moses, revealing the broken, beaten, and nearly shattered form of General Shalor.

"Ohhh…." He moaned in pain, his limbs burnt and twisted, and one or two actually ripped off from their sockets. "Am I dead yet?"

"If you were dead, you would be incapable of articulation, and you would not be experiencing crippling pain right now," the master informed him.

"Oh…could you kill me then?" Shalor pleaded. "I'm not sure I'm afraid of oblivion more…it can't hurt as much as this."

"No, it can't," the master agreed. "But I will not kill you, general. No, you still have some use to me."

"I do?" Shalor asked, disappointed.

The master laughed, long and low. "Oh yes," he said, his eyes gleaming. "Your service to me is not yet over. And until that time comes and you finally do die…well, let's just say I have things in mind for you, my general. Oh yes." He smiled cruelly. "Great things indeed."

…

Hail, hail! The King of Dragons has returned! And almost got killed by a missile fired from orbit.

Well, he and the others are still alive and kicking, which means they still have a part to play in this story. But who are these new beings who have joined the evil one? Well, all I can say is you'll find out…in time. Heheheheheh…


	50. The Night Before

Hello all. This is it, the big chapter 50! If you were expecting there to be a special event to commemorate this occasion, then you were sadly mistaken. Sorry!

But I have just realized this story has been up for over a year. THAT is something to really celebrate, people! So I'd like to thank all of you readers who have stuck with me this long and made this an enjoyable experience for everyone. I'd say names, but there are, unfortunately, too many for me to specifically recall without being unfair and forgetting everyone else. Sorry. XP

You all rock! I love you!

And now for replies for my last chapter:

MichaelDJ54, I'm glad you've become so close. The new creatures are some of the worst yet. Wait'll you see them in action. I hoped Coldstone's death would seem well done to you all. And will any other legendaries be mutilated? Hmm…could be.

Ring of Fire, the pronunciation of Rayquaza irritated me too. That and a lot of other things in that movie…hope the eighth is better. Wedding bells for Groudon and Kyogre? Sure, why not? And lots of people don't get communism either. Maybe you should ask a communist.

Gladdecease, thanks for being there.

Doom18769, did you like my use of your character Copernicus? And when are YOU going to update?

Blaze Totality, Cacturne's actually fine. It's Milotic and the other Wynaut who are dead. Wobbuffet's sister is gone too. I'm glad you liked the colors, I used them to emphasize Wobbuffet's state of shock. The identity of the evil one's new minions will be revealed eventually. The Wobbuffet is the same one who let the bad guys into Mirage Island. Our hero Wobbuffet is still out there, somewhere. And Shedinja survived the missile with everyone else too, thanks to Mew and Celebi. The only ones who died (that weren't already killed in combat) were the bad guys.Who's the cousin who recommended this story to you?

EagleFox, Shalor was actually inspired by Grievous. You'll have to wait for the reunion scene before it can be drawn.

Sir Pudding! I've missed you! Good to hear from you again! And yes, maybe now the good guys stand a chance. The thing with Copernicus was really more for fun than anything else. (My amusement, and the readers, that is) He wasn't playing fair anyway, and expected Shalor to fall too. I know who Thardus is, but wasn't sure how to create a more awesome look for Coldstone. Sorry. And Mew and Celebi are the ones who saved everyone, as the pink and green hairs indicated.

Thank you for pointing out my mistake, Just a Reviewer.

CrimsonEagle, all your questions will be answered in time.

HVK, you're back! Where have you been!

Disclaimer: I only own certain concepts and events in this chapter, plus a few characters. All else belongs to Japan and Nintendo. Except the song, which belongs to Utada Hikaru.

…

"Wobbuffet?"

The blue blob didn't look up. His gaze was fixed, as it always was, on the small sliver of purple crystal lying in his arm flap. He had been holding onto it so tightly up to this point that it had cut open his skin and left deep scratches in his blue flesh. And yet the blood he had shed on it seemed to have vanished, as if the little jewel had absorbed it the instant the precious liquid had touched its surface.

"Wobbuffet?" Cacturne, her body still burnt and many of her thorns missing, implored her friend again. "Please, say something. I know you're hurting, but…please don't shut me out. Don't leave me alone."

Wobbuffet slowly lifted his gaze from the purple crystal to stare at her. She flinched from his dead, lifeless stare, even though his eyelids were as always sealed shut, and sat back painfully on the healing bed that had been provided for her when she and Wobbuffet had been admitted into the Ever Grande Pokemon Center's ICU after being discovered on the island's shore, near the broken remnants of the makeshift raft they had used to get here from what was left of Mirage Island. "Wobbuffet…"

The Patient Pokemon said nothing. He turned his gaze back to the shard in his flap. Cacturne, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the room's temperature, hugged her knees and sat silently on her bed, watching Wobbuffet.

Neither of them moved for some time.

…

"…And the mysterious explosion which destroyed the ancient Sky Pillar near the edge of the Sevii Islands, wiping out the bizarre congregation of Pokemon who had gathered there and were reported to be engaging in what can only be described as an all-out war, was only one of the myriad disasters happening around the world in the past week, and yesterday the number of simultaneous catastrophes was astounding. There were landslides, earthquakes, hurricanes, tidal waves, explosions, invasions by savage and mutated Pokemon, and the volcanic Mt. Battle in Orre finally erupted. Amazingly enough, casualties in these latest disasters are at a surprising minimum, and many survivors claim that just as they were about to die, they saw a flash of pink and green, and then whatever was threatening them ceased or vanished and they found themselves on safe ground far from the danger zones. Authorities and officials claim there is no reason to believe that all these events are linked, but have no proof that they are _not_ linked either. They also can make no claim on whether or not the legendary Pokemon Mew and Celebi were involved in averting the worst of the casualties.

"And to make matters worse, the disasters haven't stopped. Just today we've already had quite a few problems; the latest envoy sent to supply the people trapped in Silica with supplies mysteriously vanished just like the last one, despite the Peacekeeping forces sent with it. Still more water reservoirs, lakes, and rivers have been poisoned by some toxic and heretofore unknown pollution, making them absolutely fatal to anyone who drinks or even bathes in them. Also, a major oil rig owned by Ford Industries was destroyed, along with numerous oil tankers and fuel supplies around the world, crippling energy production in numerous cities and regions. The prices for gasoline are already going drastically up, and there have been numerous riots among those unable to pay the new cost for gas. The stock market, already at an all-time low, is being pushed devastatingly close to a collapse by all these recent events. If it crashes, then this very well may be as close to the end of the world as we've ever been in recent history, if not the actual end itself.

"Also, Ecruteak City, Lavender Town, Mt. Pyre, Necropolis, and numerous graveyards, temples, forests, and other hot-spots for ghost Pokemon around the world have suddenly become almost completely spirit-free. After the strange rise in activity among our world's population of ghosts in the last week or so, this surprise drop is very confusing indeed among all who are experts in the field of Ghosts. Several pedestrians have reported seeing a strange, hideous serpentine monster in the sky just before the ghosts vanished. None of these claims have as yet been verified.

"Also, various criminal Pokemon and their Prison Balls have been stolen from the maximum-security facilities they were housed at worldwide. In a simultaneous silent and nonviolent strike all over the planet, these dangerous Pokemon were taken from their secret storage facilities without tripping any alarms or anyone noticing until just this morning when guards went to check on them and found them gone. None of these fugitive Pokemon have as yet been spotted, and authorities have received no threats or demands from whatever organization or terrorist group has managed this masterful theft, but report that everything is under control and the public has nothing to worry about. On a positive note, the Prison Balls held in Professor Oak's laboratory in Pallet Town were reported to still be safe and sound.

"In other, less portentous news, today is the sixth and second-to-last day of the Hoenn League Championships. Competition up to this point has been fierce, and in quite a few memorable matches downright bizarre, and anticipation is high for today's matches and the finals and closing ceremonies tomorrow-" The newscaster's voice was cut off as the television switched off at a flick of a button.

J.R.S. Ford sighed and leaned back in his comfortable padded seat in his almost disappointingly plain and all-business office on the forty-seventh floor of Battle Tower. "The world's in some dire straits right now, isn't it old friend?" There was only a grunt of affirmation in reply from the sunglasses-wearing Blaziken leaning against the office wall, staring out the bay windows at the island spread out below them. People and Pokemon scurried here and there, visiting the park's attractions and rushing to make it to some of the arenas in time for the next round of matches.

"This is too big of a job for what we already have," Ford said sadly, glancing at a pair of framed pictures on the wall showing the Poke Rangers posed for battle and the Soldier Scouts hanging off of Tuxedo Masquerain's arms. "A new hero must rise. One strong enough to handle this threat." He swiveled his chair around to face another, smaller television set neat Blaziken, currently muted and showing a match taking place at that very moment in Battle Factory. "And I think I know exactly where to find him."

…

"Zangoose, Crush Claw!" yelled the bland and easily forgettable Generic NPC #175 (What an odd name for a parent to give to their child!)

"Nosepass, Harden!" Ash countered.

The white and red mongoose lunged at the large stone Easter Island statue lookalike, claws drawn and glowing, only for them to bounce off the Nosepass's hardened skin with nary a scratch. The Zangoose somersaulted over the rock Pokemon's head and landed on a rotating gear, clinging to a tooth as it was carried upwards.

Ash was fighting his sixth championship match in Battle Factory, where not only did he have to choose a selection of random rental Pokemon instead of his registered team, but he had to fight in a complex and active battlefield with moving parts and quite a deal of heavy machinery. Both Ash and his opponent were down to their last Pokemon, so whoever won this round would claim the match and move on to the finals.

"Nosepass, use Rock Throw to get Zangoose off there!" Ash commanded.

The Compass Pokemon, trained to obey whoever called it in battle, reached down and ripped a chunk of the metallic and riveted floor out of the ground and then hurled it at the Zangoose. The Cat Ferret Pokemon leaped off of its gear as the piece of metal came flying at it, and the projectile got lodged between the gear and another giant gear fixed to the ceiling, causing the two pieces of machinery to jam up and come to a screeching and reluctant halt, even though the gears continued pushing futilely at each other, trying to get past the grit of sand which had gotten caught in their teeth. The Zangoose flipped through the air as it hurtled down towards Nosepass, preparing for another Crush Claw at its trainer's command.

"Nosepass, Double Team!" Ash ordered. The large stony Pokemon split into several illusory fakes, one of which Zangoose sailed through with its failed dive and crashed onto a motionless conveyor belt nearby. "Now, use Rock Smash!"

Nosepass raised its arm…and brought it down on a control panel, smashing it. The conveyor belt whirred angrily and came to life, the wheels in its length turning rapidly and pulling the belt down towards a pair of spiked rollers at the end which started churning noisily. Startled, the Zangoose started running for its life, frantically fighting the flow of the conveyor belt to keep from getting pulled into the rollers...and failing. "Oh no, Zangoose!" cried the startled Generic NPC #175. "Wait, I know! Stop and use Iron Tail!"

Grimacing, almost certain this was going to hurt but conditioned to obey its trainer, whoever that might be, Zangoose stopped running and was swiftly carried down towards the evil spiked rollers, its tail already glowing with the power of Steel. The long white bushy appendage got caught in the spikes and was pulled through the rollers…where, with an agonizing squeal, they came to a halt, unable to crush the hardened metal that the tail had become. The rollers trembled and smoked as the machinery driving them broke down from the exertion of trying to process the unbreakable metal tail, and with a shower of sparks the entire conveyor system came to a jerky and unwanted halt. Even though its tail was still stuck, and kind of hurt, the Zangoose sighed in relief…

Until it heard Ash shout, "Okay, Lock-On and use Zap Cannon!"

The Nosepass raised its arms as its big red nose started glowing blue, swiveling on its stubby feet to point right towards the trapped Cat Ferret. "Ahhh! Zangoose, get out of there!" cried Generic NPC #175, realizing what was about to happen.

The Zangoose frantically struggled, grabbing onto its tail and pulling with all its might, trying to tear it out of the rollers holding it in place before it was too late. But deep down the Pokemon knew it didn't have a chance, even if it did escape from the stuck wheels Nosepass had already locked on by now, so the attack would not miss.

And as it turned out, the Zangoose was right to have no hope. The Compass Pokemon, now locked-on to Zangoose, fired a tremendous beam of blue-white electrical energy from its nose. The beam struck the Zangoose and flowed down its metallized tail into the surrounding machinery, causing its power to be amplified by all the metal and electronics in proximity to the Cat Ferret. Zangoose screamed in pain as electricity coursed through his body from the beam and from the machines.

And then…

The machine, overloaded by all the high voltage, exploded, flinging an extremely burnt Zangoose into the air, where he slammed into the uppermost giant gear that was still stuck on the piece of metal debris from before. The sudden jar dislodged the piece of junk, causing the gear to start to spin out of control due to all the excess pressure which had built up in the attempts to move while the metal chunk had been blocking it. Zangoose fell to the ground, dazed from the explosion and the collision, just in time for the ceiling above it to crack open from the sudden burst of energy generated by the spinning gear, allowing an avalanche of smaller gears to fall down from the machinery above and bury the hapless mongoose beneath a heap of toothed wheels.

"Oh no! Zangoose!" Generic NPC #175 cried in horror as some of the gears shifted and Zangoose managed to drag itself halfway out of the bottom of the heap before fainting.

"Zangoose is unable to battle!" The referee declared, pointing at the beaten Cat Ferret from a titanium and Plexiglas-shielded booth on the edge of the arena. "Ash Ketchum and Nosepass are the winners! Ketchum will advance to the next round and fight in the finals tomorrow!"

"Yeah, we won!" Ash cried, practically leaping in the air as behind him, the crowd, along with his friends, burst into applause. "Great work, Nosepass!"

"Yeah, whatever," said the bored statue Pokemon, as attached to this trainer as he had been to the last five hundred and eighty nine trainers before him. (He had counted every single one.) He had been in so many battles with so many different trainers over the years that fighting (or life, for that matter) had lost all appeal for him. He did it because he was supposed to, not because he wanted to, that was all.

But he had helped his trainer for the day advance to the finals, so that was something, wasn't it?

Then again, he'd also helped about seventy-two other trainers advance to the finals, so it really wasn't that special.  
Oh well, just another day in his life. He idly wondered what would be on television that night as he was recalled to his Pokeball and his part in this story ended.

…

A large crowd of trainers and pedestrians gathered around the stage in front of Battle Tower, where Ford, his Blaziken, and the Frontier Brains and Elite Four stood, just as they had on the opening night of the tournament. The only difference between then and right now (other than being in the light of day) was that the torch on top of the tower was already lit at the beginning of this gathering and there were less people here than there had been on that first night.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and Pokemon," Ford boomed into a microphone as speakers on either side of the stage played familiar triumphant music. "Thank you all for coming here today, and for helping to make Battle Frontier and the Hoenn League Championships the incredible event it's supposed to be: one of the greatest tournaments in the world!" There was some enthusiastic applause from the audience at this. "And now my friends, I'd like to introduce you to our finalists in this year's tournament; some of the finest young trainers in all of Hoenn!" Beaming, he pointed out into the audience. "First of all, come on up Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

Ash, startled to be selected before everyone else, didn't move at first in his shock, until Pikachu gave him a little zap to snap him back to reality and, with some smiles and pats on the back from his friends, headed through the cheering crowd towards the stage, jogging up the steps on the side and coming to Mr. Ford's side. Drake tried to catch his eye, but Ash didn't spare the old sailor a glance.

Ford pointed to another figure in the crowd. "Second, Wes of Orre!"

Wes smirked as the trainers around him clapped politely and Rui hugged him. Shaking her off, he headed towards the stage, his Espeon and Umbreon flanking him.

"Third, my own son Harrison Ford!" the businessman announced.

The cheers were somewhat more enthusiastic than they had been for Wes and Ash as a blushing Harrison walked up to the stage, avoiding the numerous fangirls and sycophants who wanted a piece of him. He stood next to Ash, giving him a small smile as if to say _Here we are again,_ to which Ash and Pikachu gave him a smirk which said, _This time'll be different!_

"And finally," Ford said, pointing to one last figure. "The child prodigy from Slateport, Carrie Hawkins!"

There were a few more cheers as a little girl about eight years old with glasses and black pigtails ran up to the stage to join the other three finalists. She grinned and waved to the crowd.

"You four have battled your way here through six days of grueling matches and challenges! What do you have to say for yourselves?" Ford asked, pointing his microphone towards the four trainers.

"I'd say we all worked hard to reach this point, and whoever wins tomorrow will definitely have deserved it!" Ash said proudly.

Wes smirked. "Heh, well said. Glad you've already reconciled yourself to my inevitable victory."

"Hey!" Ash snapped while Pikachu, the two Eons, and Carrie giggled.

"I hope I'm included in your statement, Ash," Harrison said, shooting a quick glance out at the crowd. "Because, despite what many of my rivals seem to think, my father DID NOT BUY ME ENTRY INTO THIS TOURNAMENT OR RIG MY MATCHES SO I'D HAVE EASY FIGHTS. I EARNED THE RIGHT TO ENTER THE CHAMPIONSHIPS JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE."

Ford's eyes darted about nervously. "Ah, right, right, that's right son, you've earned the right to be here."

"I'd just like to give a big shout to all my friends back at Slateport and thank my family for supporting me all the way!" Carrie said sweetly, winking and blowing a kiss at the news cameras filming this event. "Love you lots!"

"These are your four finalists, Hoenn!" Ford announced, bringing the microphone back to his face. "One of these four will win the title of Hoenn League Champion tomorrow, when they and their Pokemon do battle as one in the Grand Aerie in a climactic four by four showdown!"

"Four by four showdown?" Ash asked, looking perplexed. "What's that?" Pikachu had no answers, so he simply shrugged.

"What's this?" Ford asked, surprised. "You don't know what a four by four showdown is? Well then, why don't you tell him, son?"

"A four by four match is often called a 'true' double battle," Harrison explained to Ash. "In which two trainers team up against another pair of trainers. The members of each team and their Pokemon must cooperate with each other to win the fight. But here in the championships, we expand on the battle so instead of having four trainers, each with one Pokemon on the field at a time, we'll have four trainers each with _two_ Pokemon per trainer. So each team will have four active Pokemon at a time, which not only increases the level of difficulty and skill needed to conduct the match but also makes the amount of teamwork required even more of a necessity!"

"Whoa, that sounds pretty tough!" Ash commented, amazed. "This is so cool! I can't wait for this!"

"Heh, that's not all kid!" Ford said with a chuckle. "The four by four showdown ends when one team has defeated all the Pokemon on the other team, a truly exhausting effort. After the match you and your Pokemon will have a full six hours to rest and cool off, with every facility in the Tower or anywhere else in the Frontier at your disposal, before coming back to the Aerie for the final battle against whoever you teamed up with in the four by four. There, in a classic six on six Pokemon battle, one trainer will emerge victorious as the next Hoenn League Champion!"

"You'd better hope I'm on your team then, Ash," Wes said with a smirk. "Otherwise there's no way you'll make it to that last battle!"

Ash grinned. "Ha! We'll see about that, Wes…but whether or not you're on my team, we'll finally have the match we've both been waiting for!"

"Don't forget about me, boys," Carrie said with a smile, stepping between them. "You'll be too busy dealing with me to fight each other!"

Wes snorted. "You? Pah! I'll chew you up and spit you out, kid!"

"Heehee…you haven't seen any of my battles, have you?" Carrie said with an evil cackle. "Let's see if you're still saying that when you meet my team!"

"Hey now, that's enough of that," Ford cautioned. "Save your anger for tomorrow, you'll need it! Tonight, on the other hand, is a time of celebration!" Ash and Wes stared at him in confusion, not having the slightest idea what the tycoon was talking about. "In olden times, before going off to war soldiers had big parties on their last night in civilization! 'Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!' they said in those days. That principle holds true here too. Tomorrow you four will be thrown against each other in one of the toughest matches of your lives. You'll definitely want some merriment on your last night before then! So, following tournament tradition, tonight we will have a party down in Battle Frontier's village…and everyone is invited!"

The volume of the screams of enthusiasm from the crowd was nearly deafening. "A party?" Umbreon said eagerly. "Sounds like fun!"

Espeon groaned and shook his head. "Oh no, please tell me you're not going to do what you did last time!"

"What are you talking about, brother?" Umbreon asked innocently. "I didn't do anything at the last party!"

"Tell that to Wes, who woke up the morning after and found himself in Venus' bed," Espeon growled.

"As for you four," Ford said, turning back to the finalists. "You, your Pokemon, and any guests you wish to bring are invited to a somewhat smaller party hosted for park employees, company executives, a few other 'upper class' folk, and their kids at Battle Pavilion! But formal wear is required, so if you intend on showing up I suggest you purchase something nice from one of our fine outlet stores down in the village. As finalists, you get a 75 discount on any item you buy there!"

Ash was amazed. "Wow! All this, plus the other free stuff we've gotten so far by winning matches?"

Ford nodded. "Yup! Let it never be said that I'm not an uncharitable man. And so to you four brave trainers and any other trainer out there who longs for a chance at glory, I say this: BATTLE ON!"

The throng before the stage whooped and burst into applause as Ford grinned and waved, taking in the accolades. Both he, Harrison, and the shaded Blaziken glanced at Ash, who was also waving, out of the corners of their eyes. Soon, they thought to themselves. Soon.

…

"A four by four fight, huh?" Crawdaunt said thoughtfully. "Sounds like fun. Can't wait to start battling tomorrow!"

"Four times four equals fourteen!" Phanphy said happily.

"That's sixteen," Togetic corrected. "Didn't you learn better math skills while you were at Oak's estate?"

"Nope!" Phanphy said cheerfully. "The lessons were _so_ boring. Daddy taught me everything I need to know!"

Togetic and Misty both glanced at Ash, who gave them a confused look. "What?"

"So, there's going to be a party tonight!" May said excitedly, changing the subject. "Sounds like fun!"

"Not for me," Brock moped.

"Why's that?" Misty asked. "There'll probably be lots of nice women there for you to annoy."

"Yes, but none of them will compare to Venus!" he sobbed, bursting into tears. "VENUSSSSSS!"

They collectively sweatdropped. "He's done this every half hour since we got here," Sadic said in disbelief, stepping away from the sad, pathetic man.

"Pikachu, are you sure there's nothing you can do for him?" Latias asked anxiously.

The electric mouse sighed. "I haven't seen anything on the Psychology Channel yet about getting over lost loves. I don't have the first clue where to begin."

"Max, what's a party?" Jirachi asked.

"You've never been to one?" Max asked in surprise.

"No…" Jirachi said, deep in thought. "Aren't those the things your Mom and May wear?"

"HAVE YOU BEEN IN MY UNDERWEAR DRAWER AGAIN!" May shouted at them.

"Eh heh, calm down May, that was a long, long time ago!" Max said quickly, trying to calm his sister down.

"And I believe they are called, 'panties'," Absol informed his charge. "Parties are big events where lots of people come together and dance, eat, drink, and socialize."

"Ohhh…" Jirachi said, getting it. "Sounds like fun!"

"You're not going," Absol said flatly.

"What? Why!" Jirachi screamed.

"Remember the last big social event you went to? That parade in Petalburg?" Absol reminded the Wishmaker.

Jirachi sweatdropped. "Oh come on, it wasn't _that_ bad…"

"Tell that to the people who got melded to the floats they were riding on as they came to life and started rampaging throughout the town," Absol said with a glare. Jirachi drooped, knowing he had lost.

"Well, I'd like to go!" Bayleef said cheerfully. "It sounds like a fun event!"

"Eh, you and everyone else can go then," Charizard grunted. "I'm not interested."

"You're not?" Ash asked in surprise. "Why not?"

The fire dragon looked away. "…Too many couples. I'll feel out of place there by myself."

"That won't stop Brock from coming," Latias pointed out. "And just because there are couples doesn't mean that those of us who will be there alone aren't going too."

"I…look; I just don't want to go, okay!" Charizard growled. "That's all there is to it!"

"Okay, okay, if that's what you really want," Ash said, trying to placate Charizard's growing anger. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

Charizard grunted. "Good."

"Well, for those of us who _are_ going," Misty said, grabbing Ash's arm. "I believe Ford said formal wear was required, so you know what that means Ash!"

His face paled. "No…NO! Anything but that!"

"That's right!" she said cheerfully. "We're going clothes shopping!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ash's screams of terror could be heard all the way on the other side of the island. He started to run for his life, but Misty's arm shot out and grabbed him by the ear. He started struggling, regardless. "You can't make me go! I don't want to!"

"Too bad," she said calmly. "Because it's been a very long time since I've been to a nice party, and I would like to make a good impression by showing up in the right outfit. And since I'm your guest and can't go unless you're there, that means _you_ have to wear the right outfit too."

"Then I'm not going to the party!" Ash said desperately.

She laughed coldly. "Oh, yes you are Ash Ketchum," she said, yanking on his ear and causing him to yelp. Brock, who had gotten over his Venus crying fit (for this half hour, anyway) shook his head sympathetically. "We are going to that party and you are going to wear nice clothes even if it kills you."

"Please Misty, anything but that!" Ash begged her. "I'll take you out to dinner! A movie! E-even…" He swallowed. "P-pay you back for your bike! Anything but shopping!"

There were gasps at the last comment. Misty raised an eyebrow. "That's very sweet of you, Ash. Maybe I'll take you up on those offers some time…but that time is not now."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he howled.

"Come along now." She started walking off towards the village, still holding Ash by the ear. Ash firmly dug his heels into the pavement, trying to get some leverage to break free from his girlfriend's ear lock, but only succeeded in leaving long, deep trenches into the ground as she dragged him away. "Pikachu, help me!" he cried.

The mouse sweatdropped. "I'm staying out of this. I know when not to interfere."

"TRAITOOOOOR!" Ash shouted as he vanished down the trail.

There were sweatdrops all around. Sadic chuckled and folded her arms. "I swear that girl's got some Sneasel in her! That's just what you do with a recalcitrant male when he gets stubborn on you!" She glanced at Pikachu, who paled and scurried to hide behind Bayleef.

Charizard chuckled and shook his head. "Heh. Why does that seem so familiar?"

"Sometimes I have to wonder whether Mom and Dad's relationship could be described as Princess and Slave more than anything else," Togetic said with a sigh. "Come on Phanphy, we'd better follow them."

"Okay!" said the little elephant cheerfully. The two ran off after their parents.

"Um…I suppose we should go too, then?" May asked. "We'll need something nice to wear too, if we're going to the party."

"Actually," said Latias, touching a finger to her chin in thought. "I think I can just 'shape shift' my clothes into something more formal. Did it all the time when Bianca and I went out at night as 'twins'. Hmm…" She smiled, bittersweet memories of the many wild adventures they had had those nights in Alto Mare flowing back to her. "Good times."

"Well that's good, it means we'll have less to pay for," May said with a smile. "I'll still need something though…" She glanced at the cloaked figure of Gardevoir, who had been hanging a little ways away from the group ever since she had joined them. "What about you? Will you want anything to wear? I doubt they'll let you in wearing that cloak."

Latias fidgeted. "Ah, I'm not sure she'd want to-"

"I'll go," Gardevoir said abruptly, startling the dragon girl.

"You sure?" Sadic said anxiously. "You and crowds don't really mix…"

She shrugged. "Read about parties all the time…never been to one. Could be fun?" From her fidgeting it was clear she was nervous about this, but also clear she really did want to go. Well, that was another step forward towards conquering her shyness and fear of people, right?

Or at least, that's what the casual observer would conclude. Latias and Sadic, who knew Gardevoir better, could see the truth. She was honestly terrified about going to such a crowded event with unfamiliar people. But she was desperately trying to 'fit in' with these people she was going to fight alongside in the coming battle, and for that reason was willing to make the effort and face her fears. Nobody was consciously pressuring her to go, but the very fact that the majority of her new 'friends' were attending the party was enough to convince her to go too. The desire to conform is a very powerful influence, whether among Pokemon or humans alike.

And yet they said nothing. Perhaps because they thought that going to the party might indeed be good for her. Or because they knew they would both be there to comfort her if she became too agitated or claustrophobic from all the unfamiliar faces. Either way, the masked Embrace Pokemon was going, and that was all that mattered.

"Well then, should we get you anything, or-" May started.

"I think her natural look is good enough for the party," Latias said quickly. "With her mask on, it's doubtful people would recognize her for an actual Gardevoir." Plus, they wouldn't have to subject the poor and inexperienced woman to the horror that was trying on new clothes with sales representatives measuring every inch of your body and invading your personal space. Gardevoir gave the dragon girl a brief nod of thanks, enough to make her certain she'd made the right decision.

"Well, I suppose I'll go all natural too," Crawdaunt huffed. "Wouldn't want to do anything to block out any of my natural charm. There's certain to be a few ladies at the party tonight worth talking to."

"Only talking?" Bayleef asked sardonically.

Crawdaunt winked at her. "Well, I gotta start off with a little bit of conversation to reel them in; otherwise most of them wouldn't take the bait I offer."

"In any case, there's no need for you to wear anything," Pikachu said flatly. "You're a Pokemon. You're not expected to bring formal wear to the party."

"Actually, I wouldn't mind wearing something," Bayleef interjected. "Maybe a little sequins and ribbons, something to bring out my eyes…"

"What about me?" Max asked May. "I don't have to wear anything, do I?"

"Of course not," she said sweetly, patting him on the head. "Because you're not coming. Not to the special party or the one going on in the village."

"What! Why not!" Max protested.

"Because you're too young," Latias pointed out. "And Jirachi isn't going, so it wouldn't be fair for you to leave him all alone with Absol while you have fun, is it?"

Absol frowned thoughtfully. "Is she saying I'm not fun?" he wondered.

"Plus, remember what happened at the last party you went to?" May asked. "The one celebrating Mom and Dad's anniversary?"

Max rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Ah, no, refresh my memory."

"You goosed Mom," she said flatly. "And Grandma. And most of the other women there, including me."

Everyone stared at the boy, who was now looking very embarrassed. "S-somebody spiked the punch!" he protested.

"There was no punch. Just apple juice," May reminded him.

"…" Max sagged. "Okay, I'll stay with Absol and Jirachi!"

"Yay!" Jirachi said happily, dancing on top of Max's head.

"Good choice," Absol complimented. _Even if it does mean I'm going to have to pay extra attention to the both of them to keep them out of trouble_, the Disaster Pokemon thought to himself.

"And in the meantime, can we finally get going?" Bayleef asked. "I wanna go to the store!"

"Okay then," May said eagerly. "Let's go shopping!"

…

"How about this one?"

"It's perfect. Buy it."

"Or this one?"

"It's perfect. Buy it."

"Maybe this one…"

"It's perfect. Buy it."

Misty frowned at Ash. "You could be a little more helpful here, you know."

He shrugged from the bench he was sitting on, looking completely and absolutely bored beyond belief. "You're already beautiful. Nothing you wear can make you look any more or less than that," he said listlessly and honestly.

Misty frowned and held up another selection from the pile of dresses she was inspecting. "Not even this one?"

He stared blankly at it, and then shrugged. "No, not really. No more than the others."

Exasperated, the red-head tossed the very skimpy and revealing outfit into the growing pile of other dresses she was finding to be unsatisfying. "You could be a little more helpful, you know!"

Ash shrugged. "I could lie, if that makes you feel better."

They were in Battle Frontier's outlet of one of the most acclaimed fashion franchises around, NORD & TAYLOR'S. Misty was doing the oft-stereotyped act of testing her boyfriend to figure out which dress fit her best, and true to the stereotype it was incredibly boring to poor Ash.

Misty sighed and leaned against the display mirror she had been using to force Ash to see the outfits she tested from all angles. "You could at least tell me whether any of them make me look fat or not!"

"They don't," he said honestly. "And why would it matter if they did?"

She put her face in her hands. "Oh, forget it. Why am I doing this? You don't know the first thing about what clothes look good or not. You could probably walk around in filthy rags and still not see a problem with it."

"Probably," Ash agreed. "Can I go now? There's a snack bar just across the street and I'm kind of hungry-"

"You're not leaving until you find something acceptable to wear to the party!" she snapped. She handed him a stack of suits she had picked out, since Ash was hopeless at choosing fancy outfits to wear by himself. "Here, let's switch. You go into the changing room over there and try one of those outfits on, then come out here and I'll tell you if it's any good or not."

Ash shrugged. "Okay." Carrying the carefully folded dress shirts, jackets, and pants, Ash headed over to the men's changing rooms, located an unoccupied booth, and went inside.

After locking the door and hanging the clothes on a nearby hook, he climbed onto the small seat in the back corner of the cubicle, grabbed onto the rim of a window placed high above his changing room (left open by the last person to use it as an escape route) pulled himself up onto the windowsill and tumbled through it, landing on the ground outside with a thud that forced the breath from his lungs.

"Hey Ash," said Wes, who was crouching on the ground next to him, catching his breath from his own window jump.

"Rui making you to try stuff on too?" Ash asked.

The teen nodded. "Yeah. How can she possibly call this informal?" he asked, gesturing down to his long blue jacket. "How can anything this stylish _possibly_ be bad to wear at a party?"

Ash pushed himself back to his feet. "Well, we'd better get out of here before they find out we ditched them, or we're both in big trouble."

Wes smirked. "Red-heads. Can't live without them, can't live with them without getting your head pounded in."

Ash nodded seriously. "Exactly."

They had managed to work their way around the side of the store and were dashing down the main street running through the village, keeping their eyes peeled for raging girlfriends or good hiding spots, when they heard a sound akin to an explosion behind them in the direction of the NORD & TAYLOR'S.

"ASH!"

"WES!"

"GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, YOU TWO!"

The duo's eyes widened. "Ah, fuck," Wes muttered, speeding up as he enlarged one of his Pokeballs.

"Hey, wait up!" Ash panted, running after Wes as he caught the sight of Misty and Rui stampeding towards them with mallet and paper fan and trampling over anyone foolish enough to get in their way.

"Aerodactyl, come on!" Wes called out, summoning the carnivorous pterodactyl, who looped in the air as he was released and flew alongside his trainer. "Come on, we gotta get out of here!" He jumped onto the shiny purple Pokemon's back in mid-run, and with a screech Aerodactyl flapped his wings and started rising into the air.

"Don't leave me here!" Ash shouted, making a leap of faith and grabbing onto the end of the flying Pokemon's tail before it could fly out of reach.

"What do you think you're doing!" Wes cried as Ash hung onto Aerodactyl's tail for dear life, causing the startled reptile to flap his wings harder to keep them in the air. "You're weighing us down!"

"Better that than staying down there!" Ash retorted, glancing down at the ground, where he saw to his horror that Misty and Rui were running fast enough to keep in perfect stride with the flying Aerodactyl. "Can't we go any higher! We're barely out of Misty's Mallet Boomerang range as it is!"

"Not without dumping some weight, and I for one am not getting off!" Wes yelled, rummaging through his pockets for something to throw at Ash. "Nothing personal kid, but this is every man for himself!"

When Wes finally found some loose change and started pelting Ash with it, they were over the lake surrounding Battle Palace. "Stop it-ow!" Ash yelled as a penny hit him in the eye.

"Get off and I will!" Wes shouted back, flinging a quarter at Ash's forehead.

"OW!" the coin caromed off his thick and mostly empty head, nearly opening a cut. "That hurts!"

"It's supposed to!" Wes dug his hands deeper into his pockets, looking for more quarters or maybe even a silver dollar.

Their pursuers, Misty and Rui, found themselves unable to continue after the Aerodactyl when they found the entirety of their lake in their way. However, they were not undaunted.

"Don't think you can escape that easily!" Misty stuck her fingers in her mouth and blew, making a piercing whistle. "GYARADOS!"

The water bubbled as an immense shadow rose to the surface. Gyarados erupted from the lake magnificently, roaring as he arced out of the water and into the air, right in front of Aerodactyl. The purple avian squawked in fright and quickly veered out of the way, his tail whipping out as he performed a mid-air U-turn and flinging Ash off and right into the waiting Gyarados' mouth. "NOOOOOO-" Ash howled as the Atrocious sea serpent clamped his jaws shut around him and dove back into the lake, sending cascading water droplets into the air.

"Ash!" Wes gritted his teeth. "That poor soul…I shall not forget your sacrifice! Come on Aerodactyl, let's get out of here!"

The Fossil Pokemon nodded and started gliding towards the edge of the island and the ocean beyond when suddenly Rui called out, "Oh Aerodactyl! I have some of that Aspear fruit you like so much!"

Aerodactyl's head jerked, glancing back at the lake shore. Wes' eyes widened. "Oh no you don't! Aerodactyl, get us out of here and I'll feed you an entire tree of Aspears!"

"Yeah...but she's got one right now," Aerodactyl pointed out, seeing the yellow pear-shaped fruit Rui was holding. "And I am kinda hungry so…" He turned around and started gliding back to shore.

"Oh, hell no!" Wes cried, jumping off of Aerodactyl's back, not wanting his Pokemon's treacherous stomach to lead him to his doom. He plummeted into the lake, making a big splash as he penetrated the surface and went under. Several Goldeen and Magikarp stared at him in surprise as he burst back up on the surface, gasping for air; his hair drenched and plastered to his head, and frantically started swimming for the other end of the lake.

Unfortunately, Aerodactyl had learned to his chagrin that Rui wouldn't give him any Aspears without Wes, so he had flown back out over the lake to look for his trainer. Spotting the young man's blue jacket, he swooped out of the sky and plucked him out of the water with his claws as if he were nothing more than the average fish the Fossil Pokemon occasionally caught for dinner. "H-hey, let me go!" Wes cried, struggling futilely to free himself from the pterodactyl's claws.

"Nope, you're my ticket to lunch, and I'm not giving it up!" Aerodactyl squawked pleasurably.

"TRAITOR!" Wes howled angrily as Aerodactyl gently spread his wings out, using drag to slow down his descent, neatly dropped Wes the few feet between his claws and the shore, and landed on the ground, kicking up dust and grass as he came down.

"Good boy!" Rui held out the Aspear. Aerodactyl gleefully snatched it out of her hand with one of the claws on his wings and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing noisily and spraying juices everywhere.

Ash smirked from where he hung, bedraggled, from Gyarados' mouth. "Looks like they got you too, huh?"

"Shut up," Wes grumbled, picking himself up, the white dye dripping out of his hair and revealing its natural brown hue.

"Well boys, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Misty said smugly, hands on her hips.

"Um…we're sorry we tried to run away?" Ash said meekly.

"Says you," Wes muttered, pulling off his jacket and trying to wring some of the water out of it.

Rui stepped forward and grabbed Wes in a headlock, cutting off his air supply and pulling him backwards in a way his spine didn't want to bend. "What was that?" she growled.

"Choke We'll never do it again?" he rasped.

"Good." Rui let him go. "I'm so glad we were able to come to an agreement without any violence."

"Almost a shame, really," Misty said, leaning on her mallet. Ash swallowed nervously. "Now that you've learned your lesson, are you ready to come back to the store and pick up where we left off?"

"Yes ma'am," both boys said at once.

"Good." Misty snapped her fingers and Gyarados opened his mouth, letting a wailing Ash fall to the ground head-first and bury his face in the mud. "Get yourselves cleaned up and meet us back at the store."

"And don't even think of running off again," Rui threatened, tapping her paper fan on Wes' head. "Or else. Aerodactyl and Gyarados are perfectly willing to make sure you come back, aren't they?" The pterodactyl and sea serpent nodded.

"Yes ma'am," Ash and Wes both said meekly.

"I'm glad we understand each other." Smirking, the girls turned and headed back to the NORD & TAYLOR'S.

"Red-heads," Wes muttered. "Can't live without them, can't live with them without getting your head pounded in."

"I hear you," Ash said, nodding sympathetically. "I hear you."

…

Latias frowned at the dress May was holding up. "Hmm…" She bit her lip and concentrated for a moment.

Her green shirt and white shorts shimmered and transformed into an exact copy of the outfit May was holding. She spun around and examined herself in the mirror.

She was wearing a sleeveless strapped red dress that flared out a bit at her knees. "I don't know…don't think it suits me," she said with a shake of her head. The dress shimmered and changed back into her usual outfit.

"Maybe this one, then?" May asked, holding up a different dress.

"Maybe…" Latias tried this one out too.

She and May were in the women's section of NORD & TAYLOR'S, trying out clothes. Latias had been surprised when she found her transformations to match the clothes May offered her came more smoothly and easily than ever before, with barely any of the effort she'd have needed to make changes to her Bianca morph back when she went on the town with her best friend in the old days. She speculated it was probably a result of the power boost from the crystal fragment she had absorbed from Mariah Susanson the day before. She wondered if it also had something to do with the long-awaited return of her King to the mortal realm…she could still sense his presence somewhere, far away from the island. It was hard for her to restrain the urge to drop everything she was doing and fly where her heart told her to go, to find him. But she had other priorities to take care of first. Besides, he had promised he'd show up at tomorrow's match…and she knew he did not break his promises.

She looked in the mirror, frowned, and shook her head. "No, this one doesn't work either." She sighed and changed her clothes back to their default setting. "You know, I think I'd be better off just going as myself."

"But you look so good in a dress!" May protested.

"I know," Latias agreed. "But…I think I'd be happier going as Latias instead of Bianca." She kept her reasons to herself. While changing into the form of her old friend did give her one last link to the days of Alto Mare and left her with a warm feeling of nostalgia, for some reason turning into a human just wasn't as appealing as it once had been. She wondered if perhaps she subconsciously just preferred her own body because she knew the King enjoyed it immensely…that, and she couldn't fly as Bianca.

"Here, I have an idea," she said. "Let's find you an outfit instead. I went shopping with Bianca all the time; I often changed into her wearing the outfits she was looking at so she could see if she looked good in them."

"But how can I know if something looks good on me just because it looks good on Bianca?" May pointed out.

"If I assume your form wearing the clothes, then we'll know," Latias suggested.

May blinked. "You can _do _that!"

"I think so," Latias told her. "My shape-changing abilities feel stronger than before. I see no reason it won't work."

"Okay! Umm…" May pulled out a skimpy black affair from the selection of dresses and held it up for Latias' inspection.

The dragon girl stared at it. It looked like the kind of thing you'd find on a woman of loose morals, which Latias most certainly was not. "Uh…you sure you want to wear that, May?"

"No, of course not!" she snapped. "It's just a test. You know, to see if you can do it."

"Ah. Okay." Latias bit her lip and concentrated on May's form, imagining in her head the brown-haired girl wearing the outfit before her. It was a little difficult to imagine a young woman like May wearing something like _that_ but…since her flesh was tingling, she could tell it was working.

Her body slimmed and shrunk down a little, the face and the hair framing it shifting about to form a perfect mirror of May's own image. Her shirt and shorts shimmered and darkened as they clung to her body, changing shape to match the same skimpy outfit May was holding. In moments, the transformation was complete, and May was face-to-face with herself…a self that was wearing a dress that she'd never ever even for a moment consider wearing unless she were positive her parents would never find out about it.

"It worked!" she cried in disbelief.

"So it did," agreed Latias, equally amazed. She hadn't expected it not to work, but it was still surprising to her that she had to exert such little effort to do so. Her abilities really _had_ increased…she wondered what else she could do. She'd have to do some intense meditation later to find out. And, if it were possible, try to get in touch with the King…assuming the spiritual link between them was still working the way it should.

May discarded the bad, _bad_ outfit she was holding and grabbed another. "Here, let's try this one."

…

In the meantime, the Pokemon were exploring the store on their own. Some of them were interested in getting outfits of their own for the party (not that they really needed any) while the rest were just taking interest in seeing what it was that humans spent so much of their time and money on instead of just growing fur or scales like any sensible Pokemon would.

Munchlax, as hungry as ever, was stuffing socks into his mouth, curious to see if they were any good. "Munchlax! Spit those out right now!" insisted May's Ivysaur, grabbing the garbage-eater from behind with her vines. Munchlax shook his head stubbornly, keeping his mouth firmly closed while chewing on the socks in his mouth. "Okay then, you asked for it!" Ivysaur turned the omnivore upside-down and started shaking him rapidly, causing Munchlax to feel queasy as most of what he had eaten so far started rushing back up his throat. His face turning green, he gargled and spat up a huge mass of dripping lint, along with a large portion of his breakfast, brunch, three lunches, and numerous snack breaks.

Her own face turning greener, Ivysaur dropped Munchlax. "Ah, p-perhaps that wasn't a good idea." She was so grossed out by the pile of semi-digested crap Munchlax had thrown up that she turned and ran away to find her own place to safely purge herself. Munchlax shrugged and started stuffing everything back in his mouth.

Bayleef, who had been passing by, stared at Munchlax in disgust. "…You're very sick, you know that?" Munchlax nodded vigorously as he shoved a regurgitated shoe down his throat. "Okay. As long as you know it." Disturbed, she walked away as quickly as possible.

"Ooh! Ooh! I wanna wear this one!" Phanphy squealed, pointing to one cute little outfit.

"Phanphy, you are not going to the party wearing that," Togetic said sternly.

"Why not?" he whined.

She sweatdropped. "One; it's for humans. Two; it's too big for you. Three; it's for _female_ humans. Four…do you really want to wear a tutu?"

Phanphy nodded. "Yes! I wanna be a ballerina when I grow up!"

Togetic gave him a confused look. "I thought you wanted to be a clown."

"That was yesterday. Now I want to be a ballerina!" Phanphy informed her.

Togetic sighed in defeat. Surely she couldn't have been _this _frustrating before she had evolved, could she?

"Come on now; don't tell me you're not interested!" Crawdaunt said, flirting with one of the store's few Pokemon sales reps, a wooly Flaffy. "A cute little pink thing like you, in the business of fashion? I can tell that my red, tan and blue armor ensemble, with the nice little addition of a gold star on top, is turning you on."

Flaffy's cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. "S-sir, please, I-I'm not supposed to gulp mate with customers!"

"Well, sure," Crawdaunt allowed as he turned up the charm. "But that's only during working hours, isn't it? When's your shift through, Little Miss Fluff? I'll be at a party down at Battle Pavilion tonight. Don't suppose you could meet me there?"

"Um…well…" the Flaffy stammered nervously, not sure what to say.

Corsola, who was only a couple of feet away, growled as her eye twitched. Crawdaunt glanced over to her. "You can come too, if you want. It'll be a big party, there's sure to be plenty of room for everyone."

"Wha-why would I do something like that!" she screamed at him. "We broke up! We're over! Done! Through! Why would I have your kind of 'party' with you after our break-up!"

Crawdaunt was confused. "What does breaking up have to do with turning up a chance for some fun?"

Corsola stared at him in disbelief. He honestly didn't get it. He honestly didn't think that them breaking up was a barrier to his sleeping with her again. "I…you…ARGH!" Frustrated, she fired a Spike Cannon in his face and stormed off.

"What was that about?" Flaffy asked in confusion.

"I have no idea," Crawdaunt said honestly, rubbing his face. "She's been like that for the last few days now. I have no idea why." He shrugged. "Oh well, if she's not coming to the party tonight, it's her loss. So, what do you say? Can I expect to see you there?"

The sheep blushed. "Oh, s-s-sure!"

"Great!" he said cheerfully, hugging her between his pincers. "I'll see you then!"

Blushing furiously, and terrified one of her supervisors would see her like this, Flaffy struggled out of his claws and ran off, feeling dazed and light-headed. "S-see you then!" she called to him as she hid herself in a circular rack to cool down.

Feeling pleased with himself, Crawdaunt nodded and scurried off to find another lovely pink female sales rep.

Pikachu examined the little blue Pokemon-sized tuxedo he was holding, trying to imagine himself in it. "Hmm…" After a moment he shook his head. "Nah." He put it back on the shelf. "Think I'll wear my masked swordsman costume instead. That's sorta fancy, right?"

"I think you look rather nice in it," said Sadic the Manyula, who had snuck up on Pikachu from behind without any warning at all and probably could have driven her claws through the back of his skull if she had felt so inclined.

All that was running through Pikachu's head as he screamed and leaped about ten feet into the air, where he grabbed onto a dangling light fixture and held on to it in fright. "Are you stalking me or something!" he screamed. This was the fifth time she had snuck up on him this hour alone!

"Yes," she said so plainly that Pikachu almost let go in surprise.

"Wh-why?" he asked. He calculated whether he could let loose a powerful enough Thunderbolt to knock her out before she could eviscerate him and realized he probably didn't have a chance.

She gave him a look. "I already told you why. Because I want to mate with you."

Pikachu gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, I know that. I mean why do you want to mate with me!"

She blinked. "You don't know? I'm in heat."

Pikachu stared at her. "You are?"

"Of course I am. You didn't smell the increased hormones my body is pumping out?"

Pikachu sweatdropped. "Uh, I thought that was how all Manyula smelled. I've never met any before now, and your hormones smell so different from the kind I'm used to, so I had no way of knowing."

"Eh, that's all right," she said, waving it off.

"So, uh, why do you want to sleep with _me_ particularly, then? Why not somebody else? There are plenty of other good males around." _Males who you probably wouldn't eat_, he thought to himself.

She gave him a look. "_What_ males?"

Pikachu started to reply, and then paused. From his vantage point on the light, he could see Munchlax chewing on lingerie, Phanphy prancing about with a tutu on, Crawdaunt simultaneously hitting on a sales rep Jynx and Hoppip, Charizard sitting moodily by himself in a corner, Golduck stumbling about with a bra covering his eyes, Politoed being himself, and the trio of Jirachi, Max, and Absol running away screaming from a sales rep trying to fit them into a set of 'adorable' new clothes. And then there were the males of the Pokerockers, who were on the far side of the store listening in awe to the tales a heavily tattooed Hitmonlee with pierced lobes had to tell them. He also saw Gardevoir, who was lurking somewhere in the shadows in her cloak, avoiding everyone who tried to force her to try something on. She seemed all right by herself, which was probably why Sadic had thought it would be fine for her to come over and pester Pikachu instead of watching out for the psychic. Good point," he admitted.

"So you're really my only shot, unless I try the other gals or a human," Sadic told him. "And I don't swing that way."

"Well, ah, I'm…flattered you chose me over all the other possible mating partners…"

"You're welcome."

"But, uh, I'm…" He swallowed. "Ah, not really that interested."

Sadic was puzzled. "Why not?"

"Oh, all sorts of reasons," Pikachu said uneasily. "You're a complete and total stranger to me, I've never done…_it_ before and was hoping to save it for somebody I really care about, and I'm, um, afraid you'll eat me." He said the last bit very quietly in fear that it would set her off.

Sadic was surprised. "You mean to tell me a virile, handsome young Pikachu like yourself has never mated before?"

Pikachu blushed. "I-I'm not _that_ young, I've probably lived out maybe half my total lifespan already, give or take a few months."

"Me too, but I'm not complaining!" Sadic pointed out. "You mean to tell me that you're still a virgin?"

"Um…yeah," he admitted, feeling very embarrassed.

She looked sympathetic. "Oh, you poor thing. Now I definitely have to mate with you. You can't stay a virgin forever, it's not right!"

"I'm perfectly fine with it right now!" he said shrilly, his panic rising. "I'm sure when I find someone I really like and get to know well, I'll do it! But right now, I think it's a little too early for that, plus I'm afraid you'll eat me after we're done."

"Don't worry," she reassured him. "I'd only eat you if you were bad at it."

"And since you would be my first time, so I have no idea from prior experience if I'm bad or not, I have no reassurance that I _won't _be dissatisfying enough to convince you to eat me!" Pikachu protested desperately. "And I really, really don't want to get eaten!"

"You've got nothing to worry about," she said calmly. "You're too strong to be bad at mating."

Pikachu blinked. "…Where do you get that idea?"

"The males back where I come from who are the best at hunting, fighting, and whatever is most important to the Sneasel colony are naturally the best at mating. Extraordinary physical prowess or incredible cunning and intelligence transfer over to mating as well, to guarantee both an extremely pleasurable experience for the mating female as well as healthy, fit children," she explained as if this were obvious and Pikachu should already have known it. "If a male is bad at mating, it's because their own personal flaws and weaknesses overpower the rest of their personality and physique. Such a male is nothing more than a hindrance to the rest of the colony because he will fail in hunts and fights and be unreliable when it comes to protecting those who are young and ill from predators, poachers, or Pokemon trainers eager to capture a Sneasel or Manyula for their collection. As such, their lives are forfeit to the colony, and the only purpose they can serve is as food for those who need it."

Pikachu stared at her, mouth gaping. "That's…rather cruel, isn't it?"

Sadic raised an eyebrow. "This from a species who takes the sick, old, and weak out to a selected clearing once a month, ties them to rocks, then drops them into freshly dug pits and buries them alive? And whose mothers eat their babies if they run out of food?"

Pikachu stammered. "I…well…" His ears drooped. "_I've_ never done that," he said lamely, knowing Sadic had made her point.

"And I've never eaten a male who held back or put a resources drain on the rest of the colony," Sadic pointed out. "But if I had to, I would in a heartbeat. My family might be counting on the meal he would make, and if he lived we as well as others might starve while he continues to feed himself at the expense of those who both need and deserve the food more than him. Wouldn't you do the same to protect your family?"

"No, I-" Pikachu paused, recalling that he had in fact helped Charizard hunt down and kill wild Pokemon for food to feed the group back when they were wandering through the Hoenn countryside on the way to Mossdeep Island. "Well, at least I wouldn't resort to cannibalism!" He protested.

"We see it more as efficient use of resources," Sadic explained. "By itself, a dead body is no good to anyone other than providing an additional source of food. A male who can't protect the rest of the colony is just a dead body that breathes and wastes valuable food our children and elderly need to live. We do not kill those who are strong enough to protect their own, nor do we kill those who are too weak to fight back but have proven themselves worthy of protection by value of the deeds they have performed throughout their long lives or are too young to have proven themselves yet. And if that makes us cannibals…" She shrugged. "What does that mean to me? As much as you or other people calling me a 'monster', or 'murderer', or 'heartless darkling fiend.' They're nothing but labels, and labels have no power unless you regard them as being true. What I or my kind does is simply what we are trained to do from birth, what we are _born_ to do. Can you honestly look at these claws of mine and say they are for any purpose but killing others?" She held her claws up so Pikachu could get a good look at them. "We mostly live in caves, frozen mountains, or the arctic lands. What would we use them for, if not for collecting prey-food? Chopping down wood? Digging tunnels? Scratching ourselves? Much like Scythers, we are born hunters. Born killers. It's what we do best. To deny that is to reject an important piece of ourselves."

"…You make a good argument," Pikachu admitted in surprise. He was a little worried to find himself warming up to Sadic. The explanations for the society she grew up in provided logical, psychological, and sociological reasons for her ease with killing and attitude towards it, even if said attitude was still somewhat disturbing for him. Then again, he hadn't really spent much time growing up in a wild Pikachu society before his mom tried to eat him, so what Sadic did with her life probably would have seemed just as normal as him burying his own offspring alive if he had been socialized into believing it was all right. There was probably even a reason why his species had started the burying tradition back in the mists of time, possibly as a way to deal with overpopulation and scarce food without resorting to cannibalism. In these modern times food was plentiful, but culture had a way of lagging when it came to catching up with the latest beliefs and advances and so the practice continued, with few who participated pondering the 'rightness' of it all. It was no doubt the same case for Sadic's society, although an argument could be made that the custom of killing and devouring the weaker males there was still necessary due to the lack of food available in the colder regions that Sneasel and Manyula called home.

Of course, he doubted explaining all of this would help him convince Sadic not to mate with him. Not that he didn't think she wasn't _attractive_ or anything, he just wasn't sure he was ready for that sort of thing, plus he was scared about the little matter of getting eaten if he proved to be a dissatisfying partner. Fortunately, he did quickly concoct a possible solution to his problem. "So, um, back to our original point…you say you want to mate with me because I'm strong and clever, so therefore will be a good partner, and bear you strong children?"

"Pretty much yeah, that's how my kind does it," Sadic agreed.

Pikachu sprung his trap. "Yes, well, that's the problem. I'm _not_ one of your kind. I'm not a Sneasel or Manyula. I don't know if males of your species who are stronger or more cunning are actually better at mating than weaker males--I suppose that, physiologically speaking, it is possible that it's more than a matter of perception--but seeing as how I'm of a different species than your males, isn't there a possibility that despite my positive attributes I will be not only a poor lover, but will bear you weak offspring? Or maybe be a good lover, but still give you weak offspring? You should really consider that carefully before diving into something like this."

Sadic paused. Frowning in thought, she tapped her chin with a claw. "Huh," she said after a moment. "Never thought of it that way."

"So you should probably go seek someone else out to, ah, release your pent-up sexual energies with. Preferably someone of your own species. I believe Harrison, who Ash may be fighting tomorrow, has a Sneasel on his team. Perhaps he'll mate with you if you ask," Pikachu suggested, trying not to sound too eager.

"Hmm? No, that one's a female, pretty sure of it…" She grimaced. "You make a good point, Pikachu. I'll need to think about this."

"Anything that doesn't lead to you eating me is fine with me," he said anxiously. She nodded absent-mindedly as she walked off, lost in thought.

Pikachu sighed in relief, his jangled nerves calming down. There, he'd thrown her off the track and given her some doubt as to his eligibility as her mate. With any luck, she'd lose interest in him and go find someone else to mate with.

Still, he didn't let go of the light and drop back to the ground for a full fifteen minutes until he was sure that Sadic wasn't hiding somewhere below, patiently waiting for him to drop his guard and allow her to devour him.

…

Meanwhile…

Brock cackled, raising the articles of clothing he had just found into the air. The lights overhead flickered and a horde of Rattata ran through the ventilation duct nearby, their footsteps echoing through the metal and causing it to sound like thunder which, oddly enough, was in perfect timing with the flickering of the lights.

"Yes…YES!" he cried, tightly clutching the fabric in his hands. "This is PERFECT! With this, all my heart's desires will at last be fulfilled! Fufufufu…gwahahahaha…MUHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA-"

"Excuse me sir," said an employee, tapping him on the shoulder. "There's no evil laughter allowed here."

"Huh?" Brock said dumbly, looking at the worker in confusion.

"You're in a 'No evil laughter zone'," the employee explained, pointing at a sign hanging from the ceiling. "If you're going to laugh evilly, you have to go over there," said the worker, pointing to an area labeled SUPERVILLAIN'S WEAR, stocked with capes, suits of armor, unitards, and spandex outfits in all shapes, sizes, colors, and materials. (Gizmos not included)

"Yes, this is perfect!" crooned the evil Emperor Grimm, rubbing the fabric of an outfit against the metallic skull that was his face. "This garment is the perfect thing to let the world know that I'm an evil dictator! And the velvet making up the inside is so soft and smooth there's virtually no chance of my sensitive skin chafing or getting a rash from it! With this, I will defeat the Poke Rangers and conquer Earth! GWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Brock sweatdropped. "Oh, uh, sorry. I'll just go over there then."

"Have fun with your evil plots!" the employee said cheerfully as Brock headed over to the Supervillain section, where Grimm, Count Xedd, and Wendy Wickeda were now fighting over the outfit Grimm had selected while their bumbling minions argued over prices and about which of them should get to wear this lovely pair of frilly pink underwear beneath their hard, spiked armor.

…

Some time later…

Night had fallen on Battle Frontier, and the village had undergone a nearly magical transformation in preparation for the party. Lanterns in the form of electric and spherical Pokemon hung from long strings over the streets, between the flagpoles, and the edges of the roofs. Pokemon, Pokeball, and superhero-shaped balloons floated all over the place, anchored to rooftops or carried in the hands of eager toddlers. Vendors had set up stands between buildings and were selling Pokeblock, Pokemon minifigures, souvenirs, novelty items, and various Ford Industry knickknacks. At one particular stand was a vendor making quite the profit selling Hoppip disguised as Chimecho, Magikarp disguised as Feebas, and Voltorb disguised as Clamperl pearls to paying customers.

A parade of floats, bands, the local police and fire-fighting force, and numerous people wearing giant papier-mâché Pokemon heads and bizarre outfits marched down the street, preparing for a long circuit which would take them all around Battle Frontier so everyone on the island could see them. The night sky above them was lit up by fireworks which exploded in colorful Pokemon shapes.

There were jugglers, entertainers, games, college kids getting drunk off their asses and throwing soda cans and empty beer bottles at innocent children human and Pokemon alike…it was definitely a big affair!

At the same time, a somewhat calmer party was going on at the Battle Pavilion. The sunken pit that made up the arena's central attraction had risen out of the ground, leaving a level floor perfect for dancing and practicing interpersonal relations on. The guests, most of whom were park employees, company shareholders and executives, and the elite of Ever Grande City along with their Pokemon, were all dressed in whatever formal wear they could afford, most of which was very nice. There were plenty of tuxedos, gowns, ballroom dresses, etc, and Pokemon (forced) to wear the latest 'fashions'. Basically anything you'd see at your average fancy expensive get-together. Although the children of the guests had been invited, the majority of them had elected to have fun with the bigger island-wide party instead of having to spend time in stuffy outfits with boring adults. The older, teenaged ones did not have such good fortune and were stuck at the party with everyone else. Just like those unhappy teens, Ash wished he could join those lucky, lucky kids outside.

"Misty, this outfit's itchy!" Ash whined, scratching vigorously at his armpits, legs, back, and pretty much every inch of his suit. He was wearing a smart blue dinner jacket over a white button-down shirt with a small black bow tie constricting his neck. His khaki long pants were held up by a belt which was cutting into his waist and stopped above the rims of his brown loafers. His hat was nowhere to be found, revealing his messy black hair to all, which refused to stay down no matter how many times it had been attacked with a wet comb.

"You seemed to like it when we were in the store," Misty said coldly. She was far more in comfortable in her long red gown which reached to her ankles and was loose enough to allow her legs and sandaled feet to breathe. The gown had Milotic and Gyarados motifs spiraling up the sides. Around her neck hung the Big Pearl Crawdaunt had given Ash back on Luvdisc Day in lieu of the sculpted Water Stones that Mariah and Berry had won. (Whatever happened to that sculpture, anyway?) Her red hair was let out of its usual ponytail and hung down her neck, framing her face-and the two Cascade Badge shaped earrings-nicely.

Ash probably wouldn't have cared much about how nice she looked even if he weren't itching all over. To Ash, she was beautiful no matter what she was wearing, so needed no outfit to improve on that. As a result, there was little she could wear that could _really_ arouse him. (Perhaps it would help if the boy was less dense and more receptive to hormones.)

"I did like it in the shop!" he insisted. "But the store was air conditioned and didn't have all these bright lights!" he complained, pointing at the large spotlights hanging from the ceiling.

"You'll just have to bear with it, Pikapi," Pikachu said nervously, glancing about in his mask while he kept a tight grip on his sword, his cape swishing with every nervous jerk of his head.

"What's with you, Pikachu? You've been acting so…I don't know, scared lately," Misty said with a frown.

"Scared? Me?" Pikachu scoffed. "N-no, just…ah…looking for a good opponent. Yeah."

"Well, save it for tomorrow," Ash said, scratching his chest and back simultaneously. "You'll get all the fighting you could want then. And I'll get to wear something more comfortable."

Misty rolled her eyes. "I doubt Wes is complaining as much as you are."

At that moment…

"Can't…breathe!" Wes wheezed, clawing at the bowtie that came with his black tuxedo. "Too…tight! Spawn of evil…strangling me!"

"Wes, stop it!" Rui scolded him, tightening her fists. "You're making a scene!"

And indeed he was. Numerous other partygoers stopped and stared at them. A few of the men gave Wes sympathetic smiles, feeling his pain.

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to wear one of those," Umbreon said cheerfully.

"That's because you managed to gnaw yours off," Espeon growled, pawing at the tight bow around his neck with his hind leg. Numerous women cooed about how cute he was with the thing on and petted him, hurting his dignity. "How do you get these damn things off!"

"Heehee, trade secret," the Moonlight Pokemon said smugly. "I'm going to see if there's anything to eat at one of the buffets. Seeya." He scampered off into the crowd.

"Umbreon!" Espeon cried desperately as more of the 'Aw, how cute' ladies closed in around him, making noises of awe about what an adorable Pokemon he was and how good he'd look with a little hat and some pants and maybe gloves and boots. "Don't leave me here!"

"Too late!" Umbreon's voice called from somewhere Espeon couldn't see as the Sunshine Pokemon found himself completely surrounded.

"It's times like this I'm certain that you're adopted!" Espeon howled before he was buried in hands which stroked his fur and rubbed his head and told him what a wonderful little Espeon he was.

"Wee! Look at all the people dressed like penguins!" Phanphy squealed happily, hopping up and down in his little bowtie.

"Phanphy, you shouldn't refer to them that way," Togetic scolded, picking him up and airlifting him out of the way of people who might step on him or smother him due to his cuteness. "Come on, I found some cookies over at the snack bar with our names on them."

"The bakers knew we were coming in advance and wrote our names on them so everyone would know they're for us and nobody else?" Phanphy asked in amazement. "Wow! Are they all Xatu then?"

Togetic sweatdropped. "It's a figure of speech, Phanphy."

"You mean speech has to watch what it eats too so it doesn't get fat, just like Grandma does?" Phanphy asked in confusion.

Togetic sweatdropped. "Oh, forget it."

Bayleef, who was wearing a Miracle Seed necklace, sequins, and had had her leaves trimmed and groomed until they shone in the spotlights, along with Latias, who had just gone as she always did, wearing her Dragon Flute and locket around her neck, sweatdropped as May rambled on to a growing group of impressed boys. "And you've really earned ten ribbons already? Wow! That's pretty good!" said one of them in amazement.

"Yup!" May said, patting Latias and Bayleef on the head and causing them to sweatdrop. The coordinator had put on a short-sleeved white jacket over a pink overshirt which spilled onto her wide red skirt which reached the ground. Her bangs had been pushed out of her face and into a pair of long brown ponytails on either side of her head. "And it's all thanks to me that these two have done so well in the tournament! They wouldn't be half the stylish battlers they are now if I hadn't spent so much time helping to train them!"

"Well, that's half true…" Bayleef murmured.

"Why are we letting her go through with this again?" Latias asked uneasily, not enjoying being part of a lie.

"She wants some attention for once. She's usually the sidekick and third banana. Let her enjoy it, it won't last for long anyway," Bayleef advised.

"Okay…" Latias doubted this, but trusted her friend. Speaking of friends… "Have you seen Gardevoir or Sadic?"

"Sadic?" Bayleef frowned. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since we got here. But Gardevoir's over by the punch table," she said, gesturing with her leaf.

Latias looked in that direction and her heart sank. Gardevoir, free of her cloak but still wearing her mask, was standing by the punchbowl, looking increasingly anxious as a rather rude upper-class woman was lecturing her on something. She was visibly trembling, and punch was dripping out of a cup she was holding in her shaking hand as the woman holding her captive continued ranting about how naughty her servants were and how she thought there should be laws which would allow her to beat them like the disobedient Pokemon she had. Latias' heart went out to her, and she felt a twinge of guilt. Gardevoir should never have come here. She wasn't ready for this kind of social interaction. She might never be, for that matter. She should never have been forced to come out here. But she was here now, and terrified, and Latias intended to do something about it. She made to shrug off May's arm while the girl was babbling about how well she had done in contests, intentionally omitting any mention that not only was she Norman of Petalburg's daughter, but the majority of the contests she cited she had either never competed in or had lost, when a shrill voice pierced through the coordinator's inflated story and startled all of them to silence. "Make way, inferior mortals! Your goddess has arrived!"

All of them, human and Pokemon alike, gaped as an unbelievable figure arrogantly cut through the crowd, shoving a server offering some sweetmeats out of the way and standing before them imperiously. Clad in a shining white and pink dress with pink sleeves and wings on the shoulders, a few veils, a golden hairpiece, and a huge golden sun disk attached to the back, was…Brock. Brock was dressed as Venus. He even had applied a ton of makeup to his face to make himself look more feminine. It had failed horribly, and made him look like the world's most hideous drag queen instead.

"Greetings, May, Bayleef, and Latias! How are you three not-as-beautiful-as-me ladies doing?" he said in a high, vaguely feminine voice before snapping his fingers. "Feel free to bask in my radiance, for I am Venus!"

"Uh, May, do you know this guy?" asked one of May's 'suitors', sweatdropping.

"No, no, he's just some crazy person; I've never seen him before!" May said quickly, her voice thick with panic.

"Me? Crazy? Oh you poor child, your feeble mind is unable to perceive just how great my mind is. It's all right," Brock said, patting her on the head. "Most people make the same mistake."

"…Brock, why are you dressed as Venus?" May asked in disbelief.

Brock frowned. "Surely you aren't stupid enough to mistake me for my beloved fiancé? Oh wait, forgot who I was talking to," he said with a haughty laugh.

May fumed. "If you're Venus, shouldn't you be dead?"

"Of course not!" Brock scoffed. "I am an immortal goddess! It takes more than being impaled to kill me!"

"But you had a funeral and everything. Brock wept the whole time your body was lowered into the ground. And numerous times he tried to dig up your grave," May pointed out.

"Um…well…" Brock glanced around nervously, his voice breaking while May's boyfriends decided this wasn't worth it and started anxiously edging away. "His tears brought me back from the dead to be his lover forever, and so here I am."

"And where is Brock?" May asked with a frown.

"Um…in the bathroom," Brock said a little too quickly.

"Really? Can you go get him, please?" Latias asked politely.

Brock scoffed. "What! Go into the men's room! I may be a goddess, but even I respect certain social taboos!"

Latias shrugged. "Doesn't matter, you've just proved you're not Venus anyway."

Bayleef, May, and Brock looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Brock asked, getting angry.

"I'm speaking to you telepathically," Latias pointed out. "I can only communicate telepathically with my friends. Venus was most certainly _not_ my friend; therefore you can't be Venus if I'm speaking to you right now. Therefore, you must be Brock."

"But…I…that can't…" Brock stammered frantically. After a few moments of utter babble, his face sagged. "Oh, who am I kidding? Your logic is irrefutable!" He fell to his knees in shame. "You're right. I am Brock. I can't believe you saw through my disguise!"

They all sweatdropped. "Brock, why were you dressing up like Venus in the first place?" Bayleef asked gently, as if she were speaking to a deranged individual who might snap at any moment.

"Because I miss her so much!" he sobbed, putting his face in his hands. "And when I saw this dress in the store, I just knew I had to have it, because it reminded me so much of her! Just wearing it made me feel like she was still here…like I _was_ her! But now you've ruined the illusion. Oh, VENUUUUUSSS!" he wailed, causing other partygoers to stare at him and move as far away as possible while acting as if he wasn't there.

"Brock, this is not the way to deal with grief at losing a loved one," said Latias in annoyance. "Trust me, I know. You don't see me spending all my time in Bianca's form just because I miss her, do you?"

"But you do spend a lot of time as Bianca," Bayleef pointed out.

Latias sighed. "That's so I can fit in better in a crowd and avoid being harassed by fans and nerds like Max!" She glanced over her shoulder pointedly at the group of geeks who had been sneaking up on her, hoping to grab a piece of her down and worship it in their Latias shrine. The nerds squealed and ran away; back to the rocks they had crawled out from under.

May put her hand on Brock's shoulder. "Brock, no offense, but I think you need help."

"Definitely, he's a whole bundle of problems," Bayleef agreed. "This, his intense horniness (which I suppose has been somewhat curbed for the moment or at least focused entirely on one woman) and the thing with Professor Ivy."

"Professor Ivy?" May asked in confusion.

"AHHHH!" Brock lay on the floor on his side, curled into a fetal position, his skin grayish blue as blue and black lines appeared over his head. "I don't want to talk about it…"

The girls sweatdropped. "Huh?" Latias said, blinking.

Bayleef sighed. "He used to do this all the time. Thought he'd have gotten over it by now…he really _does_ need therapy."

"What's this about?" May asked, worried. "Why's he like that?"

"A while back, before any of us met Ash, Misty, or Brock, they went to the Orange Islands on an errand for Professor Oak," Bayleef explained. "When they got there, they met Professor Ivy, whom Brock immediately fell in love with and decided to stay with so he could learn more about Pokemon, help her with her research, and generally be a horny bastard. A month or two later, when Ash and friends got back to Pallet Town, they found Brock waiting for him, and every time Ivy's name was mentioned he'd end up like this," she said, pointing to the fetal Brock with a vine.

Latias frowned. "What happened with that woman to cause this?"

"Brock never said, but his Pokemon told me some of it while we were traveling through Johto, and I learned the rest one day in Professor Oak's lab when he was having a telephone conversation with Ivy. Basically, here's what happened…"

…

Brock walked up to the purple-haired Professor Ivy, holding a bouquet of flowers. "Professor, you're the most beautiful-"

"Brock, would you like to have sex with me?" Ivy asked.

Brock blinked. "Uh, sure."

And so they did. One wild and passionate night later…

"Professor, who's this?" Brock, in the nude, asked, pointing to a picture on Ivy's nightstand of a particularly butch dockworker-type man. "An old boyfriend?"

"No," said the equally nude Ivy. "That's me before the operation."

And then Brock started to scream, and did not stop for a long time.

…

Latias and May were staring at Bayleef in shock, jaws hanging wide open. "Is that…what really happened?" May asked, glancing at Brock.

"More or less," Bayleef conceded. "I kind of left out the part where they went out on a date beforehand and there were some very, _very_ intimate details about what they did in bed, but I figured you wouldn't want to hear about those."

"I don't want to talk about it…" Brock moaned.

"Oh, poor Brock!" May kneeled beside him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I had no idea you were harboring all this all along!...Even if you did sort of initiate it." Brock shuddered and said nothing.

Latias shook her head sadly, and then remembered she had forgotten all about Gardevoir. She quickly scanned the crowd, looking back over at the punch table where Togetic and Phanphy were now noisily hoarding all the cookies for themselves, to the annoyance of some of the younger party guests, but the masked Pokemon was gone.

…

"Damn…jar! Why won't you…open!" Charizard growled, struggling to wrench open the stuck lid on a jar of jam.

He was sitting on the slanted rooftop of Battle Pavilion, his feet dangling over the side, a plate with two slices of bread laid out on it with generous amounts of peanut butter slathered over them. He was trying to add the jam, but the jar lid was stuck and impeding his progress to making a complete sandwich.

He growled and set the jar between his legs, shaking out his arm to get some feeling back in his muscles. Amazingly enough, even with all the training he had done and the strength he had gained, the jar lid still refused to budge for him.

He sighed and leaned back on the rooftop, his wings folded on his back against the tiles. The cheers and laughter from the party in the building beneath him and from the parade passing by wafted up to his ears, making a soft background noise of joy and excitement. The night sky above him lit up constantly as fireworks shot into the air and exploded, releasing colored sparks in the shapes of Pokemon which burned brightly then simmered down to embers. He felt a painful tug on his heart when one of the fireworks turned into a roaring Charizard. "Charla…"

He grimaced and looked away. This was why he had not joined the others at the party. He knew sooner or later there was going to be dancing and everybody would pair up, and he'd probably be all by himself. Sure, there'd probably be lots of other guys left to themselves too, but that didn't make his own painful feeling of loneliness any less acute.

There were times it got to him, seeing how happy some of his friends were. Bayleef and Grovyle had chatted for nearly half an hour on the phone just this afternoon before she got yanked off so Ash could call his mom, who was scheduled to arrive by boat tomorrow morning with Professor Oak and the remaining Chosen Pokemon in time to see Ash fight in the finals. Latias had her boyfriend, that Ghost King, who she was clearly head over heels for, despite Charizard's own uncertainty about the guy. After all, he _had_ pretty much leveled her home town. There was Golduck and Delcatty, who didn't share more than an atom's worth of brains between the two of them and still managed to find love. And who could forget Lombre and Mudkip? One of the strangest pairs of them all…

And then there was Charizard's own trainer and his mate, Ash and Misty. Yes, he had quietly wished they would get together from the sidelines, just like virtually everyone else in the entire damn world. Yes, he was as pleased as everyone else when they finally got together. But that didn't stop him from feeling jealous whenever he saw them together and was reminded of how he had once had something like that. How he had had a happy ending of his own, and had probably ruined it forever.

He hadn't gotten a reply from the letter he sent to the valley on Luvdisc Day. He had considered calling numerous times, but was terrified that Liza would answer and she'd start laying into him like she usually did when he messed up really bad, and he wasn't sure if he could take it. All he knew was he missed Charla something awful, and that if he never saw her again, it was his fault. Because he had been so worried about her he'd entered the cave forbidden to males and actually held his fragile egg before it could cool and harden, which is why it broke when the Unown had spirited him away.

He grabbed the jar and once more struggled to pull the lid off. "Goddamn you, you fucking piece of…" And now he couldn't open a simple jar of jam. Had he really fallen so low?

Frustrated, he spat a few red-hot embers at the jar lid, hoping the heat would loosen it up. However, some of the hot embers scattered onto his claws and sizzle on the small traces of peanut butter on them (he had used his claws to lay the peanut butter down on the bread instead of a knife), causing him to yelp in surprise and throw the jar up into the air. "Uh oh." It crashed painfully down on his head, smashing open and splattering jam everywhere. The jar lid, still firmly attached to the bit of glass making up the top of the jar, clattered onto the tiles next to him. He blinked in surprise after his head stopped ringing from the impact. "Well, I suppose that's one way to open a jar," he said, dipping his claw into the jam coating his head and sticking it into his mouth, sucking it off with a satisfying slurp.

There was a chuckle behind him. "You always do find the best ways to use your head," said a familiar voice.

Charizard stiffened. No. It couldn't be.

He turned around. Sitting just a few feet behind him and to his right was Charla the Charizard.

…

Pikachu stepped out of the stall as the porcelain chair behind him flushed its contents down the drain. He glanced around nervously. Still no sign of Sadic. That didn't mean she wasn't there, though. He doubted that she'd really stay out of here simply because it was the men's room.

He glanced under the doors of the other stalls in the Pavilion's restroom. He pushed open the doors to make sure all of them were unoccupied, which they were. His heart leapt into his throat when he heard a skittering noise behind him, and he immediately spun around and fired a Thunderbolt while simultaneously stabbing forward his sword, both skewering and electrocuting the harmless little cockroach which had been racing across the floor.

He laughed nervously. "Uh, sorry Mr. Cockroach." He struggled to get his nerves under control. He knew he had to relax. But it was hard to when his natural prey instincts were screaming at him to run, run as far and as fast as he could, even though logically he knew running from a predator would only make the inevitable demise that much more certain.

"Gotta get a hold of myself," he murmured, padding over to the sinks, hopping up on the rim, and running his paws under the motion sensors to cause clean water to run onto them. "Besides, she's probably found someone else to mate with by now. Yeah, I'm definitely off the hook." If he told that to himself enough times, perhaps he'd believe it.

He washed his hands with soap and water, dried them off with a nearby paper towel (he supposed he could have used his cape, but he didn't think it should be used that way) and looked up to see Sadic's reflection in the mirror right behind his own. "Hi," she said cheerfully.

Pikachu screamed, leaped into the air, and landed on the ground facing her, quivering and pointing his sword at her. "S-stop doing that!" he gasped.

"Sorry, force of habit," she said apologetically. "You look good in that costume. Nice sword too," she said, poking the tip with her claws. "Blade looks about as good as my claws."

"Uh, thanks. It was a gift." Slowly, he lowered his weapon. "S-so, what are you doing here? This is the men's room, you know. No females allowed."

"This restroom is intended for human males only, but you're still in here," she pointed out. "So it's not taboo for a lady Manyula like myself to come in, is it?"

"I suppose not," he said reluctantly. "Why are you still stalking me? Haven't you found another mate yet?"

She looked puzzled. "Why would I want another mate when I can have you?"

His face paled. "B-but, don't you remember what we talked about before? You know, the whole thing about how my sexual and physical/mental prowess might not be linked because I'm not the same species as you are?"  
She nodded. "Yeah, I remembered. So I thought a bit, talked to Gardevoir, and checked that red electronic thingie your trainer has, and came up with a solution!" She rubbed a certain cough area of her body with her claws, causing Pikachu to flinch. "It turns out that I've got a valve of sorts somewhere about down here that I can use to regulate bodily functions during sexual intercourse. I didn't really get all the technical aspects of it, but basically it closes the tubes to my ovaries if it detects that the stuff that gets pumped into me is weak and unhealthy, and lets it in if it will foster strong children. Therefore I can mate with you without fear of having weak and sickly offspring, and since you're not a member of my species I'm not required to eat you if you're bad at it. So that means if we mate and you're good at it, you'll get a valuable learning experience and I'll get fertilized eggs. If we mate and you're bad at it, my valve will automatically close off and you'll get a valuable learning experience and I'll get to vent some of my pent-up sexual energies."

"But, uh, w-what if I have good, healthy…ah…stuff, but am bad at it?" Pikachu asked anxiously.

She shrugged. "To be frank, if you were bad at it, I wouldn't _want_ your seed. If I did, then my children might inherit that problem and have trouble getting mates and offspring of their own. The valve can also sense that sort of thing due to nerves linking to the same part of my brain which controls my sex organs…somewhere about here," she said, tapping her claw against a spot a little above her right ear. "And will close off to keep the bad genes from getting in. It'd do the same thing if you were good at it but had bad stuff, to keep my eggs from being contaminated. Simple as that, see? And either way, you won't get eaten and will have the benefit of your first mating, and I get some sexual release."

"Ah," Pikachu said flatly, his heart sinking. "Well…um…that's rather reassuring…and I suppose either way we both win, huh?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Sadic said, stretching her arms and legs. "So, what do you say?"

"Well…um…" He gulped. "Look, even though it's reassuring to know I wouldn't get eaten--really, it is--there's still the little problem of me, well…not…wanting to."

She blinked. "You mean you _still_ don't?" He nodded weakly. She looked puzzled. "Why?"

"Well, mainly because I'd like my first time to be with someone I actually care about," he said with a shrug. "Blame spending too much time with humans. If I had been raised wild, I suppose this wouldn't be such a hard thing to consider, but…" He shrugged. "I'd honestly rather do it with someone I know fairly well and intimately enough to feel comfortable doing it with than with someone I barely know, have only known for a couple of days, and am honestly somewhat scared of."

"Huh." Sadic looked surprised. "That seems backwards. My kind does the deed first, and then gets to know each other better (assuming they hadn't been more than passing acquaintances beforehand, that is). If their personalities are compatible, they stay together. If not, they move on and find other people to try it with."

"Well, I'm not a member of your kind," Pikachu pointed out. "I like to do things a little differently."

"Good point," Sadic agreed. "Hmm." She frowned in thought for a moment. Then her eyes lit up. "I think I just got an idea."

"Did you now?" Pikachu asked nervously, tightening his grip on his sword. "What would that be?"

Sadic sat on the floor. "Sit down," she said, patting the tiles before her.

Pikachu blinked. "Huh?"

"Sit down," she repeated. "We're doing this your way."

Pikachu stared at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You said you only want to mate with a girl whom you care about, someone who you knew fairly well and were comfortable with. So that's what we'll do. You tell me about yourself, and I tell you about me. We get to know each other better. We find we have more in common than we thought, maybe start thinking we like each other, then we talk about getting serious. Okay?"

Pikachu hesitated. "I…guess it's a fair compromise…"

"Yeah. Come on," she said, patting the tiles once more. "Sit down. Let's you and me learn something about each other."

"I suppose I _am_ rather curious as to how you were brought up to follow the certain set of beliefs and values you share with others of your kind," Pikachu admitted, sitting down.

Sadic nodded. "And I'm a little curious about what your life is like, living with a trainer who cares about you. Mine wasn't a bad sort, but he was nothing special, you know? Nobody to really get attached to. Wasn't cruel to me, didn't go out of his way to be nice to me…just your average guy, you know?"

"I get it," Pikachu said, understanding. "I also get that you ate his frozen corpse."

She shrugged. "We never formed any real bond. Like I said, I didn't get attached to him. If we had been friends or partners, I would have given him a funeral instead of eating him."

"But you did eat him."

She shrugged again. "Efficient use of resources."

"In that case, I suppose the same thing could be said of my mother and the rest of my siblings…" Pikachu muttered wistfully, beginning the trip down memory lane. A trip that would lead both Pokemon to a better understanding of each other.

…

Charizard blinked. He rubbed his eyes, wiping away some of the jam dripping over them. He poked her in the foot with a claw to see if she was real. "Charla?" he whispered.

"Yeah," she said softly. The bow on her horn rustled in the breeze. "It's me."

"What…what are you doing here?" he asked, still not believing this. Still not believing that she could be here.

She smiled. "I saw you on the broadcast of the preliminary matches. There were plenty of Charizard fighting, but I knew it was you the minute I saw you. It also helped that you had the only trainer wearing an old red and white Pokemon League hat. Once I realized you were here, I knew I had to find you. To talk to you. So I left the Valley and started flying here."

He stared at her, stunned. "You flew all the way across the sea from Johto to Hoenn in less than a week!"

"Well, not nonstop of course, my wings would have conked out and I might have fallen into the ocean, but…yeah, pretty much." She flexed her wings, and only winced slightly at any pain in her muscles. "Made sure to get just enough rest breaks in between flights to make it here. Otherwise I might not have found you tonight."

"…Why didn't you just take a plane?" he asked incredulously.

Her face flushed. "I tried, but they wouldn't let me on board." She glanced at her tail flame. "It was a nonsmoking flight."

Charizard chuckled, feeling his spirits rise. But… "Why'd you come all this way?" he asked uncertainly. "Just to see me?"

"I had to," she said, putting her claw over his. "We're life-mates. We even produced an egg. We have to stick together."

"But…" He grimaced. "But I…I broke that egg!" He sagged. The jam dripped off his face and onto his legs or off the side of the roof, splattering on the heads of unsuspecting passerby below. "I ruined our future!" He moaned and wrenched his claw from Charla. "And got myself banished from the valley, didn't I? Bet all the other Charizard were glad to see me gone, weren't they? They probably leapt at the chance to exile me, now that they had a legitimate reason to do so! I broke our egg! I broke sacred Charizard law!" Tears started dripping down his cheek, mixing with the jam. "You…you shouldn't have come all the way out here! You deserve better than me!"

She took his claw again, scooting down the roof to sit beside him. "Is that really what you think?" she asked sadly. He nodded unhappily. She shook her head. "Charizard, you may not be the strongest—or always the best-behaved—Charizard in the valley…" She placed her free claw over his chest. "But your heart was the only one there which called to me. The only one I knew I could have a future or family with, no matter what everyone else, even my own trainer occasionally, thought."

His eyes widened. He looked up at her. "You…you really mean that? Even after what I've done?"

She leaned closer and licked off some of the jam oozing down his face. "I got your message," she told him. "And the coal. That was very sweet of you, by the way."

He blushed, but it was hard to tell under the jam. "Thanks."

"I'm not pleased that it took you nearly a month after you disappeared to get in touch with me," she growled, causing Charizard to gulp. "But you managed to get word to me eventually, and that's what mattered. I would have sent a reply, but your letter had no return address."

He winced. "Knew I was forgetting something! Oh well, wouldn't have mattered anyway. We were constantly on the move; I'd have been gone by the time your letter got back to that town."

"In any event, what I'm saying is that I understand that you did not mean to break our egg," she continued. "It was an accident that you had no control over."

"It wouldn't have happened if I had stayed outside the cave like I was supposed to," he pointed out. "Then when the Unown whisked me away I'd still have a child and a home to come back to."

"You came into the cave because you cared about me," Charla said. "Which was proof that you did not _intend_ to break the egg. Had you vanished into thin air without me ever laying eyes on you beforehand, I might have begun to believe what the other girls said about your unworthiness, and might have started thinking that you had ran out on me. In this way, perhaps what happened happened for the best. And in any case…" She rubbed her stomach. "Soon we may have another egg to replace the one that was lost."

It took him a full five seconds for him to realize what she was saying. "Wait…you don't mean…" She nodded and patted her belly again. "But…but…that's wonderful!" he cried in amazement. Suddenly, all his dreams of having a son of his own, which he had thought lost forever when he broke the first egg, flashed through his head again, clearer than ever before. He saw himself teaching his son how to fly and breathe fire, how to make the biggest gas bubbles in lava baths, train him to be the toughest Charmander and beyond in the world. Heck, who knew? Maybe if Ash ever got around to having a kid (Charizard personally thought he was long overdue for one, not taking into account the different rates at which humans and his kind matured) perhaps his son and Ash's kid could become friends, maybe even partners. Okay, the last one was probably a bit of a stretch, but still!  
"Waiiit…" He frowned, reason setting in. "When would we have had time to conceive this one? We kept our claws off each other all throughout the last trimester because the egg might have gotten developed enough by then to get broken by our 'playing'."

She flushed. "Um…remember that party we had a month before I gave birth to our first egg?"

He nodded. "It was Char the Elder's birthday, if memory serves me. Why?"

Her blush deepened. "Well…ah…remember how somebody spiked the drinks at the party?"  
Charizard paused, a perplexed look on his face. "Was it? Huh, suppose that'd explain why I can't seem to remember the last six hours of the party after Char the Elder blew out his candles…and why I woke up with a pounding headache and a lampshade on my head." He blinked. "And we were tangled up pretty tightly in bed—not that we aren't usually tangled up what with our regular sleeping habits—and feeling pretty good despite our hangovers. You don't think…"

"It had to have been then," Charla insisted. "Nurse Joy says the new egg is still too early in its development to have been conceived at any other point, so that's the only time it could have happened."

Charizard shook his head. "Dang! If I ever figure out who spiked the drinks, I'll…let you beat him up, since he'd probably whup me," he finished lamely. "I mean, I'm glad we have a second chance and all, but still! Getting drunk and mating so close to the egg's birth could have severely damaged it or the kid inside it!"

"Even if the egg had been damaged, it wouldn't really have mattered anyway," Charla pointed out. "Seeing as how you accidentally dropped it when you were taken away."

Charizard perked up. "Good point. Hey, maybe that means I did a good thing! I might have spared us from having a sickly and warped child by accidentally killing it before it could be born!" He paused. "Uh, I didn't mean that to sound as cold and uncaring as it did, but you get my point, right?"

"Sort of," she said uncertainly. "But it doesn't matter now. That egg, whether it was damaged or not, is gone. Now we have a second chance at a family."

"A second chance…" he whispered in awe. "That'd be…that'd be great! Do you think it'd be enough to let me back in the valley?"

Charla shrugged. "It might. It might not. And if they don't let you back in, then I'm not going back either."

Charizard was startled. "Wha-you aren't!"

She shook her head. "No. The valley was my home once. It still might be. But it is not where my family is. That's wherever you, and our child, are. Wherever you go, I will follow, and whatever the consequences, I will stay by your side."

"But…Charla…" Charizard protested, shocked. "What about…what about Liza?"

"Liza understands that I must do whatever is best for me," Charla explained. "Just as your trainer understood the same thing when you left him to train in the valley. Just as you found your trainer again on many occasions, perhaps I shall find mine at some other point along the line. And by then…" She rubbed her stomach again. "She will have a niece or nephew."

"I'm hoping it'll be a nephew myself," Charizard joked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why is that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Your strength and brains…" He smirked. "And my good looks!"

Charla laughed and leaned on him, entwining her tail around his. "I've missed you, Charizard."

"I've missed you, babe," he said softly, rubbing his cheek against hers. "More than you can imagine."

Charla grimaced as the cool slimy jam was rubbed off his cheek and onto hers. "You have jam on your face."

"I noticed."

"Here, let me get it off." She started licking at his face, causing him to tremble and try not to laugh as her saliva tickled his skin. "Mmm, tastes good."

"Is it the jam you're tasting or me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm…not sure," she admitted. "Let's find out…" She leaned closer, and…

Charizard found himself tasting a bit of Charla as well. She reminded him of cinnamon and brimstone…yum. His favorite.

…

"I don't like these shoes," Ash complained as they headed over to the refreshment table.

"I know," Misty growled, trying to resist rolling his eyes. "You've said so enough times."

"Well I don't!" Ash snapped, shifting his feet uncomfortably as he grabbed a brownie from a platter on the table and started munching on it.

"Hi mom, hi dad," Togetic said, floating over, cookie crumbs covering her face. "What's up?"

"Your father is complaining about his clothes again," she said, glaring at Ash. "The clothes he himself selected, I might add."

"I only picked them because I didn't want to spend another three hours in the store," Ash grumbled, chewing on the brownie. "Where's Phanphy?"

"Went to the bathroom," the Happiness Pokemon explained. "I told him not to drink all that punch, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"Hey, Ash!" Harrison, clad in a neat white business suit nearly identical to his father's (without the cowboy hat), walked over to them. "I've been looking all over the place for you! There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about-"

"Hey, Ash!" a voice hissed from underneath the table.

Ash blinked. "Did you guys hear something?"

"It's probably nothing important," Harrison insisted. "Now, as I was saying-"

A hand reached out from under the table and grabbed Ash by the ankle, pulling him down to the floor with a yelp. "Wes?" Ash cried in surprise, seeing his older friend hiding underneath the table.

Misty bent over to see the teen while Harrison grimaced; frustrated that he had missed his chance again. "What are you doing down there?"

"Shh!" Wes hissed. "I'm hiding from Rui."

Misty's eyes narrowed. "You're trying to escape?"

"Hey, she said I had to come to the party, she didn't say for how long," Wes said with a shrug. "And I was gonna ask Ash if he wanted to come with me, but seeing as how you're here…"

"Can I go Misty?" Ash begged. "Please?"

"No. For once you are actually going to stay and enjoy a regular, ordinary social event," she said firmly. "You should stay too, Wes. You know Rui won't be happy with you if you run off now. I should probably go tell her what you're planning, in fact."

Wes shrugged. "By the time you do, I'll have made my escape. Umbreon's going to cause a distraction any minute now that'll cause enough chaos to give me a chance to run out of here! Then I'll just hop on Ho-Oh and fly back to Ever Grande, by the time Rui catches me I'll have already spent a night out on the town having my own kind of party!"

Ash frowned. "Distraction? What kind of distract-"

There were gasps and several startled screams around a table at the far side of the room, where Mr. Ford, along with the Frontier Brains, Elite 4, Steven, and numerous executives and Ever Grande's elite were eating, as Wes' Umbreon jumped onto their table wearing a Miror B wig and started singing and dancing.

"I'm too sexy for my shirt! Too sexy for my pants! Too sexy for my shoes! Uh-huh uh-huh!" he sang, gesticulating convulsively in a disturbing parody of actual dancing.

"What is this Umbreon doing in my casserole!" Ford asked angrily, glaring at the Pokemon who was dancing absurdly in his dinner. His dining companions glanced at each other and shrugged, lost for words.

From the refreshments table, everyone groaned. "Uh…is that your distraction?" Misty asked.

"What? No! He was supposed to get into a violent mock-fight with Espeon and draw everyone's attention so I could get away!" Wes hissed. "Dammit, he's ruined everything!"

"WES!" Rui's voice screamed out from somewhere in the crowd, most of whom were transfixed by the site of the wigged, dancing Umbreon. "WHERE ARE YOU? I KNOW YOU'RE BEHIND THIS!"

Wes cursed. "Shit! Gotta get out of here!" He crawled out from under the table and started running towards an open archway as Rui stormed towards them, throwing people out of her way. "See you tomorrow Ash! Hope you have better luck escaping than me!"

"YOU GET BACK HERE!" Rui screamed, running past Ash and friends as she chased after Wes.

They all sweatdropped. "That was odd…" Harrison murmured.

"Ash, you better not think of trying anything like that," Misty growled, hefting her mallet. "Or I swear…"

"N-nothing to worry about, I've learned my lesson!" Ash stammered quickly. "I'm not gonna make Wes' mistake!" _For one thing, I'll use more reliable Pokemon for my distraction. Now where did Pikachu and Bayleef go?_ He wondered to himself.

"Well, that was interesting entertainment," Togetic remarked, grabbing another cookie as security dragged Umbreon, who was screaming about wanting a lawyer and how it was a free country and he had the right to express himself, away. "I wonder if they'll have a stand-up comic too?"

…

Phanphy whimpered as he trotted down the hall, crossing his hind legs every other second. "Ohhhh, I knew I shouldn't have drunk all that punch!" he whined as he approached the men's restroom…

And paused, hearing the voices of Sadic and Uncle Brother Pikachu inside. Curious, he pressed one of his giant ears to the door to hear better.

"Hmmm…" Sadic's voice resonated through the door.

"It's too small, isn't it?" Pikachu's voice asked unhappily. "I knew it."

"No, no, it's not too small and not too big, but just about right…"

"You're sure?"

"Sure I'm sure, I've seen bigger and I've seen smaller. Yours is just fine."

"O-okay."

"Hmm? What's wrong? You nervous?"

"…A little…"

"You sure you want to go through with this?"

"Wh-what? Uh, yes! Yes, I definitely want to go through with this!"

"Good, so do I."

"It's just…"

"Yeah?"

"…"

"Come on, what is it?"

"I just…well, you know this will be…my first, right?"

"Yeah…oh, I see. You're worried it'll be a bad experience, right?"

"A little. Not enough not to do it, I mean, but…this isn't something to jump into headfirst…"

"Relax. I'll go easy on you, since this'll be your first time. It'll hurt a bit, I can't deny that, but it always hurts a little the first time. But the pleasure is more than worth the pain. And if it helps, I promise not to bite too hard, as long as you remember to bite me a little too."

"You like that sort of thing?"

"As long as it's not too hard, yes."

"Um…sure, I can do that."

"Okay then. You ready?"

"Yeah. Um…"

"Something else wrong?"

"…Will it fit?"

"…HAHAHAHAHA! Will it fit! My little Pikachu, if it doesn't fit, then we'll MAKE it fit!"

"Heheh. Sure!" Uncle Brother Pikachu started sounding a little more enthusiastic for some reason. "Um…okay, let's get started! What do I do?"

"Give in to your instincts. Do what your primal Pikachu tells you to do!"

"My primal Pikachu?"

"Yeah! Can't you hear it now? Whispering to you, guiding you as you take this next step to maturity?"

"I hear something…"

"Listen to what it tells you! It won't steer you wrong on this kind of thing, trust me on this!"

"I…I think I hear _something_…"

"Yeah? What's it say?"

"It says…"

"Yeah?"

"It says…"

"Yeah?"

"It says…t-to rock your world!"

"Oh-ho, I like the sound of that! Come on, little Pikachu! Fill me up!"

For a few moments, there was silence, and the confused Phanphy was painfully reminded by his bladder that he still had to go potty. Since he hadn't heard anything from Sadic or Uncle Brother Pikachu for a few minutes, he figured they wouldn't mind his intrusion. He was just about to open the door when they started making noises again.

"Ohhh…it…it hurts…gahhh!"

"Come on…come on…you can do it!"

"It…it's…stuck! Can't…break…"

"You can and you will! Come on! Give it to me!"

"Nnghhh…gkkkkhhhh…"

"Come on! Give it to me! ROCK MY WORLD!"

"Graahhhh…Pi…kaaaaa…CHUUUUUUU!"

Phanphy flinched as blinding light from his uncle brother's trademark electric attacks flashed through the edges of the door. What were they _doing_ in there? It sounded painful!

"Ohhh…OHHHHH!"

"Heh…feels good…don't it?"

"I've never…ahhhhh…never felt anything like this before! It's…it's…!"

"Save your breath, Pikachu…gasp…you're…gonna…need it!"

"Hang on, there's…more…coming…up! PIKAAAAAA!"

Another flash. Phanphy blinked. What the heck was going on! Why were they talking about and making all those weird noises!

Suddenly, Phanphy had a brainstorm (a very small one) as he recalled seeing something just like this on TV many times. Two people were in a room behind a closed door making strange noises and talking about some stuff he didn't get and their friends were all listening at the door and making weird faces like they were doing something really really awful in there! But when they opened the door, it turns out the people were just moving furniture or something like that. That was probably all that was going on here, Sadic and Uncle Brother Pikachu must be fixing one of the toilets that somehow or other broke!

This innocent explanation in mind, Phanphy pushed open the bathroom door and went inside, fully ready to do his business then help Sadic and Uncle Brother Pikachu with whatever they were doing.

The foolish and naïve elephant immediately learned, once again, that just because something happened on television didn't mean it was true.

…

"Would you like some wine, sir?" asked a waiter, offering some glasses on a tray.

Ash paled and shook his head rapidly. "N-no thanks, I've been scared off alcohol for the rest of my life," he said, glancing at Drake sitting at Ford's table, who was by now so drunk he was hitting on Tucker of Battle Dome, who, eerily enough, was flattered by the attention. He shuddered at the memory of all the grog the dirty old man had forced down his throat.

"I'll have some, then," Misty said, taking a glass and sipping it.

"Me too," Harrison chimed in, taking a glass. The waiter nodded and walked off to get refills while Harrison grabbed Ash's attention again. "Anyway, Ash, there's something I need to talk to you about-"

"Ah, _mi amigo!_ I knew I would find you eventually!" a rich, Mexican-accented voice cried, and Harrison gritted his teeth in frustration as a tall, very handsome Latino man with a thin mustache and dark clothes with a silver Z embossed on the left breast walked over to them.

Ash looked at the older man in confusion. "Uh…do I know you?"

"Ash, that's Zoro!" Misty realized.

"What!" Ash cried in disbelief.

The man nodded vigorously, a wide grin on his face. "Si, that is correct _senorita hermosa!_ I am indeed the masked swordsman, El Zoro! But tell me, how did you know?"

"The Z on your jacket was a dead giveaway," she said, pointing to the silver letter.

Zoro nodded sheepishly. "Ah, that would explain it. How _penoso_…"

Harrison coughed. "Well, it's nice to meet you Mr. Zoro, but I was hoping I could talk to Ash for a min-"

"What're you doing here, Zoro?" Ash asked, his interest peaking up at seeing his friend and opponent out of his costume. "Did you get invited to the party too?"

"Me?" Zoro laughed deeply. "No, no, I did not get an _invitacion_ But I figured if I dressed the part, took off the mask and became Diego de la Vega, nobody would ask questions as long as I looked like I belonged. A good plan, _si_? Nobody has caught me yet, so I thought I might as well relax and enjoy the fiesta."

"What are you still doing here, anyway?" Misty asked before Harrison could interrupt and ask for Ash's time again. "You said yesterday after we celebrated Mariah's defeat that you were heading back for your hometown."

He grimaced. "That was my _intencion__ original,_ yes, but…I misjudged the jump from the dock to the departing _barca_ again."

"Again?" they asked flatly.

"You'd probably make it if you didn't try and make such a dramatic exit," Misty pointed out.

Zoro—or Diego de la Vega—shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "What is life without a little _olfato_ and _excitacion_ to spice it up? Such is the way of a masked champion of justice and all that is _bueno_, eh?" He chuckled, pausing to give an appraising look at a passing lady who winked at him in return. "In any case, I simply wanted to wish you _buena__ suerte_ in tomorrow's match. Bring home the gold, mi amigo!"

"I intend to!" Ash said with a smirk.

"Good!" Diego winked at Ash. "Now, you stay and enjoy your _senorita's_ company. I have a _senora_ of my own to catch." He glided off into the crowd as Ash and Misty blushed slightly, while Harrison was relieved Zoro was gone so he'd finally be able to talk to Ash.

"Okay Ash, like I was saying-" Harrison started when another unwelcome visitor bumped in.

"Hi!" said Carrie, walking up to them. She was wearing an adorable black dress with white lace on the edges, countered by the beaming smile on her face. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oh, hey! Carrie, right?" Ash asked, straining his memory.

She nodded while Harrison fumed in silence. "Yep! I'll be fighting with you, Wes, and young Mr. Ford behind you tomorrow in Battle Tower!"

"If you look half as cute then as you do now, I'm sure you'll give Ash a good fight!" Misty joked.

Ash blinked. "Uh…was that supposed to be an insult to me, a compliment to her, or both? I'm confused." The other three facefaulted.

"I see the intelligence evaluation in your trainer dossier was accurate," Carrie stated as she got back up. "But your skills in training and…very interesting list of accomplishments more than make up for it."

"Well, I'd hope they would," Ash said proudly. He paused. "Wait, was the first part another insult?" Everyone facefaulted again.

"Don't be annoyed Carrie, he's usually this dense," Misty said affectionately after she got back up, wrapping her arm around Ash's. "Which is why he's lucky to have a good head like mine to steer him straight."

"Straight into trouble, you mean," he muttered under his breath.

She glared at him. "I heard that."

"You were supposed to."

"Oh, good," she said sarcastically. "I'd hate to think that you believed you could get away with saying something like that."

"No, why would I think that?" Ash asked snidely. "I know by now there's nothing those ears of yours can't hear…"

She smirked. "Well, I'm glad we agree on something."

"Like the voices in your head!" Ash finished triumphantly.

Her eyes flashed. "The only voices in my head are the ones telling me to kick your ass, Ash Ketchum!"

"Well, at least they're not telling you I still owe you for a bike that was fixed up good as new by Nurse Joy for no charge at all!" he retorted.

"The bike may have been fixed, but YOU STILL OWE ME MONEY FOR WRECKING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE, ASH KETCHUM!" she roared, lunging at him with fingers twisted into claws.

Harrison and Carrie stared in amazement as the lovers proceeded to wrestle each other on the floor of the pavilion, not seeming to notice or care that a good number of people were staring at them and backing away, telling themselves not to get involved. Even security personnel thought this a little too bizarre to interfere in, and stayed out of it. Togetic took one look at the tableau and smiled. "About time, they haven't had a good fight all day!"

"This is…weird…" Harrison said, unable to take his eyes off the pair as they tore into each other.

"It's very fascinating," Carrie said, scribbling down notes for her to study later as part of her ongoing research project on the differing mating habits between humans and Pokemon. "But this isn't what I came for. Excuse me?"

Misty, who now had Ash pinned to the ground in a leg bind, glanced up. "Yeah?"

"I was just wondering…that boy who's traveling with you, about my age, named Max Maple? Where is he? I was interested in meeting him and learning his perspective on some things such as the relationships of the people around him. I was also looking forward to seeing his Jirachi."

Ash, who had been pounding on the floor while gritting his teeth because Misty had his leg, stopped struggling and looked over at Carrie. "Oh, we figured he and Jirachi would cause nothing but trouble if they came to a party like this or got involved in whatever they've got going on outside, so we left them at the hotel room with a responsible adult guardian."

"Hope they're not too miserable, missing out on the fun…" Misty said with a sudden thought, looking slightly guilty.

Back at the hotel…

The brown-haired boy desperately fought against the current which dragged him downward, trying to reach the outstretched hand of his friend just above him. Struggling, he stretched his arm out, only inches away from safety…

And lost his strength. Bubbles flowing from his mouth, he fell into the darkness, a glowing luminescence forming far below him.

"This movie is great, Absol!" Jirachi commented, telekinetically levitating popcorn out of a bowl sitting on the bed and into his mouth. "And I'm enjoying it and all, but was it really necessary to tie me to the backboard?"

"I don't want you floating about too much if you get bored and fly into the fan again," the Disaster Pokemon explained. "This way, you can't hurt yourself. Are you uncomfortable?"

"No, I'm fine," Jirachi said, sinking into the deep cushion of the pillow placed between him and the backboard he was tied to. "But why'd you tie Max to a chair and duct-tape his mouth shut?" he asked, gesturing to his young friend, who was struggling against the bonds Absol had tied around him while making muffled screams against the tape blocking his mouth.

"To keep him from giving you any suggestive ideas or wishes which you would carry out and cause disaster for us all," Absol said pleasantly. "And this way I can keep an eye on both of you and not worry about you getting into trouble."

"I think some people might consider this child abuse," Jirachi commented as the boy on television, now with a sword, embarked on a stunning fight against his dark side (which, strangely enough, didn't look that much like him).

Absol shrugged. "Perhaps I'm a little tired of my usual methods of guardianship being ineffective and wanted to try something new. In any case, indulge me just this one time and I'll never do it again. All right?"

"All right," Jirachi said with a nod. "But if you _do_ ever do this again…could you tie Max to the bed, too? He doesn't look very comfortable in that chair."

"We'll see, Wishmaker. We'll see."

Back at the party…

"Really?" Carrie looked disappointed. "Oh well, maybe I'll see him tomorrow." She bowed slightly to them. "Thank you for your time, you've provided interesting data for my research. I look forward to fighting you tomorrow, Ash!"

"You too," Ash called to her as she walked away. "Uh, could you let me up now, Misty? My leg's starting to fall asleep."

…

Phanphy staggered down the hallway, his eyes wide and staring at nothing as he headed towards nowhere in particular.

The things he had seen…

He saw Uncle Brother Pikachu and Sadic…they were…they were…

Liquid…everywhere…

Cries of pleasure…

Purring, growls, and flashes of lightning…

What had they…how had they…

_What were they doing!_

He stiffened when he heard a giggle from somewhere nearby. A feminine and familiar giggle which cut through the fog of shock and confusion clouding his brain. "Aunt Corsola!" he cried, running down the hallway towards the source of the giggles. "Aunt Corsola, help! Uncle Brother Pikachu and Sadic, they're…they're…" He knew no words to express what he had seen, so simply resolved to get his aunt, bring her to the two offending Pokemon, and get things straightened out so it would be as if nothing ever happened and his scarred brain could forget all about it.

He pushed open the door that Corsola, and several other unfamiliar voices, were giggling from, not noticing or caring that it was the entrance to the women's restroom, and saw…

Something so bizarre, so strange, so…so…_abnormal_ his brain automatically shut down to keep from going insane at the very attempt to comprehend it.

There was…pink. Lots of pink. There was a Slowbro, a Clefairy, a Wigglytuff, a Likitung, a Ditto, two of Nurse Joy's Chansey, a Blissey, the Flaafy and Hoppip from the NORD & TAYLOR'S, a Porygon, a Jynx, Harrison's Miltank, a trio of Whismur, a pair of Skitty and May's Delcatty (while Misty's Golduck drank toilet water from a nearby stall, not seeming to notice the activity going on), a Milotic, a Clamperl, a Gorebyss, Aunt Corsola, and half a dozen Luvdisc, all of them gasping and breathing deep sighs and doing _unspeakable_ things around his uncle Crawdaunt, who towered above them all, as proud and joyful and omnipresent as any old saturnine god of sex, thoroughly enjoying the massive orgy taking place around and inside of him. "Hohoho…that's the way, my pink lovelies…simply relax, and let your mind drift into the warm nothingness of passion, the richness of the sensations you and I are sharing. All it takes is a minor sacrifice from you on my altar of love, and I will grant you a blessing none of you will ever forget."

"Ohhhh…" the females moaned with longing and a somewhat frightening joy. "We love you, Crawdaunt."

"And I love you too, ladies," the lobster said, leaning down and…and…Phanphy's mind blacked it out, unable to process the sheer impossibility of the act, and when Crawdaunt raised his head his mouth was rimmed with white splatter. "Hoho…Craw-daddy, in whatever part of Heaven you're at now with whichever angels you're shagging, I hope you're seeing this, because sonny-boy is doing you proud! Haha!" He then sank down as the sighing pink Pokemon happily buried him beneath their bodies, licking and kissing and caressing every inch of his shell and each other as their thighs and nether regions literally throbbed with energy and something else.

Golduck walked out of his stall then, accompanied by a flush, with toilet paper stuck to his heel. He stared dumbly at the writhing mass of Pokemon sighing and cooing and moaning in pleasure around Crawdaunt, including his own Delcatty, shrugged, walked over to the sink, and started squirting liquid soap down his throat from the nearby dispenser.

Phanphy tried to scream, but his vocal cords seemed to be paralyzed. He tried to run, but his legs wouldn't move. He tried to close his eyes, but his eyelids were stuck open. And so he could do nothing but watch in silence as Crawdaunt and his harem performed acts so contorted and sensual they deserved mention in the Kama Sutra, so deep into their lovemaking that they didn't even notice he was there.

Golduck did though, after he finished washing down the soap with some more toilet water, and walked over to the little elephant. He sympathetically patted Phanphy on the head, then stretched out his arms, yawned, and lay on the ground, using Phanphy's frozen and immobile body as a pillow as he went to sleep, his snores punctuating the pauses between the grunts, moans, and squeals coming from the middle of the room.

And still Phanphy watched, slowly going insane in the process.

…

Gardevoir watched the fireworks exploding against the sky silently, a sad look in her solitary eye. She sighed unhappily, looking over the side of the bridge from the main street to Battle Pavilion and seeing her reflection in the lake. As always, it showed her the image of a thin, graceful humanoid Pokemon with curly green hair and a gold and silver sun and moon mask. But Gardevoir knew her own face well enough that even seeing her mask in the water did not stop her from imagining her true visage from staring mournfully back at her, reminding her of just how much of an abomination she was…and also reminding her how lucky she was to have someone love her anyway.

"There you are." Gardevoir glanced up from her reflection to see Latias floating towards her. "I've been looking all over for you."

Gardevoir looked down, feeling guilty. She hadn't meant to make anyone feel worried about her. "I'm ssorry," she said sadly. "The crowd…it wass…"

"Too much?" Latias asked sympathetically. Gardevoir nodded and turned away, leaning her elbows on the bridge railing. Latias floated over and put a claw on the female's shoulder. "It's okay," she said. "I know you were only doing it to try and fit in. You gave it your best shot."

"Not good enoughh," Gardevoir slurred miserably. "Never good enoughh."

Latias had nothing to say to that. So instead she leaned on the railing next to Gardevoir, looking up at the fireworks as one rocket exploded in the form of a green and red Salamence. "They're pretty, aren't they?"

"No," Gardevoir said flatly. Latias looked at her in surprise. "Blocks out the stars."

Latias blinked, realizing the Embrace Pokemon was right. "They do, don't they?"

"It's another of the things I hate about leaving the desert," Gardevoir said unhappily. "Too much pollution. Too many trees and mountains. Too many clouds and storms and airplanes. They block out the stars." She sighed. "Only thing I miss more is Mewtwo."

Latias nodded, understanding Gardevoir's pain. She wasn't the only one who had an absent loved one. She knew her King was alive and well, and out there…somewhere. That didn't make her miss him any less. "Did you like to look at the stars, the two of you?"

Gardevoir nodded. "Ever night, we'd go to the volcano. Look at the stars. He taught me…names. Human names for stars and constellations. And what many Pokemon name them too. And I…I told him my names. What I called the stars over the years." There was a pause, as she looked up at the sky, the fireworks explosions bright and luminous as they blotted out the faint starlight shining down on the Earth. "For so long, the stars were my only friends. The only ones who never hurt or tried to hurt me. They were always there. Always. And now…" She sagged. "Now they are not."

Latias smiled. "You'll see them again. It's not like they're gone forever, just…away for the moment. They're still up there. You just can't see them right now." She frowned, realizing how easily what she just said could also be applied to her own friends who had died. She changed the subject. "So by stargazing with Mewtwo, you were sort of introducing your friends to him and asking for their approval?" Latias asked with a smile. Gardevoir nodded, blushing under her mask, sure Latias would think her foolish for this. "Could you introduce me to your friends sometime too? I'd like to meet them."

Gardevoir blinked in surprise. "R-really?"

Latias shrugged. "For me, the stars were something that was always there. Something I took for granted. Like…my brother." A tear rolled down her cheek. "It wasn't until he was gone…or until I lost my home and everyone in it…that I realized how important they had been to me." She smiled, suddenly cheerful again. "So now I know I have to value my friends, and everything I have, more than ever. It's funny, how going through such a bad time can give you such a positive lesson to hold onto for the rest of your life."

Gardevoir said nothing, staring at Latias for a moment. Then she said, "The sky is not good here. Too much light from city, too much light from fireworks and buildings. But after…after our…destiny is over…I would like to show you my friends. I would like you to join me and Mewtwo on the volcano and gaze upon a sea of stars."

Latias smiled gratefully, new tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "Do you…do you think I could bring someone up with me? Someone as important to me as Mewtwo is to you?"

Gardevoir went silent then, and Latias realized she must have made a mistake. She cursed herself, furious that she had for a moment forgotten how shy and distrustful of strangers Gardevoir was from her long life alone, certain that she had just destroyed whatever trust Gardevoir had in her with her thoughtless request. "Yes."

Latias blinked. "Y-yes?" she asked in surprise.

Gardevoir nodded slowly. "I have found…an experience is much more memorable…if someone can share it with you."

Latias was speechless, and moved almost to tears. "I…you really mean it?"

Gardevoir paused for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes. It is good to gaze on the stars…with a friend."

Latias smiled, feeling closer to the women than ever before. "I would be honored to join you then, Gardevoir."

They said nothing more after that. They had no need to. They simply gazed up at the sky, imagining what lay beyond the garish Pokemon-shaped lights exploding in the air, and thinking of how much they longed for the ones they loved.

…

"So Harrison, you were trying to tell me something?" Ash asked after dusting off his suit.

Harrison sighed in relief. "Yes, I was. Uh, but I'd rather talk about this in private if you don't mind-"

He was interrupted by the ringing chime of a spoon being tapped on a wine glass as J.R.S. Ford stood up from his seat, getting everyone's attention. "My friends! Ladies, gentlemen, and promising young trainers alike, thank you for attending this little get-together of mine. It is an honor to have you all here, especially our young finalists. You four are our future, and we salute you for it." He and the people at his table gave smiling nods to Ash, Harrison, Wes (who had been captured and dragged back to the party by Rui) and Carrie. Harrison was fuming, wondering how the hell he was supposed to do as his father wished if Ford himself interrupted his efforts! "I suppose you are all wondering why I've interrupted your socializing just to say hello to you all. I can assure you all firstly that I am not as senile as many of you may believe me to be." He gave glances at some very specific executives at his table, as well as Steven Stone, a few of the Frontier Brains, and all of the Elite Four except for Drake. "Secondly…well, as any of you who have been paying attention to the news know, our world is in a time of strife and turmoil. Environmental disasters and mysterious Pokemon have attacked our cities and towns. People are dying left and right. Our economy seems to be on the brink of a collapse.

"And yet, we still go about our everyday jobs, our everyday lives, as if nothing has happened. As we should! It's our own way of coping with the fear and the worry that we're going to be next. But even so, that does not mean we can simply ignore these going-on and pretend they didn't happen. That is nothing but dishonorable to all the folk (some of whom were employees of mine) who have been killed in recent times. I wish to have a moment of silence in honor of those people."

There was no response, and none was needed, as everyone went still and silent, feeling a little guilty for going on about their lives normally while so many others had died.

Ash felt more than a little guilty, because he had known beforehand that something like this would happen. He had known a cataclysm was going to strike, but he had expected it to happen all at once, not over a span of days with mounting death tolls and suffering. He knew rationally there was nothing he could have done, but that still didn't stop him from blaming himself for not finding some way to help all those people.

Harrison thought along the same lines, but did not make the error of blaming himself for inaction to help alleviate these catastrophes. He was looking to the future, and how the faith he and his father had in Ash to do the right thing might be a deciding factor in the battle to save the Earth. A new hero would rise to protect the world, and that hero would be Ash Ketchum.

Wes was bored. There hadn't been too many people in Orre he had cared about, and all the ones that mattered had been magically rescued from the volcanic eruption. It didn't bother him that his home region had been all but reduced to a molten wasteland; he had never been fond of the place anyway and was rather glad it had been destroyed. Heck, with all the rich, fertile volcanic ash left over from the eruption, there might be a chance for Orre to grow into a more prosperous land, leaving its scarred and corrupt past behind.

Carrie, on the other hand, was noting how many people in the room were truly remorseful for the loss of life and how many were either indifferent, bored, didn't care, or was more frustrated by the loss of manpower and money than anything else by the expressions on their faces. It had nothing to do with her research, but it was fun to do and helped her to see the gaping difference between people who had different status among society.

After the moment was up, a wide grin split on Ford's face. "Now that we've gotten that doom and gloom out of the way, I'd like to introduce you all to tonight's entertainment. Give a big Battle Frontier welcome to the Pokerockers!"

"The Pokerockers!" Misty cried in surprise as the partygoers burst into applause at the sight of the band members, who had quietly set up while nobody was looking on a stage on the far side of the room during the moment of silence in respect for the departed. Meg and Amp were hooked up to microphones and several other amplifiers and waved at the crowd with broad grins on their faces. Geodude smirked and strummed a few notes on his guitar, generating squeals from the few teenage girls at the party and some of the lady Pokemon as well. Onix flexed his tail to wave, nearly striking the ceiling, while his "drums" hardened their shells in anticipation of the performance. The newcomer Electabuzz tapped a few keys on his board with a smirk on his face, and the two Jigglypuff singers gave flirtatious winks into the crowd, causing some of their fanboys to faint with joy. Their burly Fighting-type bodyguards stood around the periphery of the stage, keeping any groupies from bothering the superstars. All of them were wearing bow ties and boas in an attempt to make their garish rock-and-roll getups seem a little less intimidating to the more mild-mannered businessmen in the crowd. "What are they doing here!"

"I guess my dad hired them," Harrison said, cursing the old man for ruining his opportunity to speak with Ash. "He's really impressed with how popular they've gotten, especially after their surprise appearance at Ash's match yesterday, and he thinks he can profit from their talents somehow." _And now that they're here, it'll be even harder to talk to Ash!_ He thought angrily. _Then again, I suppose he expected me to have started the business with Ash by now…guess it's my fault as much as his._

"Hello, trainers, rich folk, and employees of Ford Industries!" Jigglypuff the elder called out to the party. "Thank you for showing up in such great turnout even before you knew we were coming!" Only a few people (mainly Pokemon, and our heroes) had a clue what she was saying, but that didn't stop everyone else from smiling and nodding in appreciation anyway. "We'd also like to thank Mr. Ford for generously hiring us for tonight's performance, as well as paying us a hefty check in advance! This is for you, J.R.S.!" She blew a kiss at the businessman, and he blushed as those sitting next to him snickered.

"Now, let's get ready to rock and roll!" cried the younger Jigglypuff.

Amp and Meg opened their mouths as smooth music, like waves of water, started washing out across the room. Electabuzz ran his fingers over the keyboard a few times and Jigglypuff the younger made a few deep, throaty gasping noises.

Misty gasped as well, recognizing this opening. "Omigod! I love this song!" She grabbed Ash's hands. "Dance with me, Ash!"

"Wh-what! But-but I don't know how to dance!" Ash protested.

"Too bad!" Misty snapped as Geodude started hitting a few strings on his guitar, which had been rewired to sound more techno while the Jigglypuffs gasped an "Oh!" "You're about to learn!"

"Wait! I still need to-" Harrison's voice was drowned out as suddenly the music from the speakers rose in tempo and pitch, and the band started to play in earnest. "I still need to talk to you…dammit!"

The drums beat, the guitar played, the keyboard sent out vibes, all of them sounding rather techno. The lights dimmed and started flashing in different colors, and several partygoers were, like Misty, inspired to start dancing, grabbing whoever was closest to them and beginning to jive to the musical tunes of Simple and Clean.

The older Jigglypuff started singing, her melodious voice ringing throughout the pavilion as her bandmates played behind her and her young protégé added background echoes to her voice. "When you walk away, you don't hear me say pleeeeeaaaase, oh baaaaaaby, don't go! Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feeeel tonight, it's haaard to let it go!" She smiled and bounced on her feet as the guests before her started to get into the rhythm of the music. "You're giving meeeeeee too maaaaany things…lately, you're aaall I neeee-eed…you smiiiled at me and said-and said-and said-and said-"

…

Outside the Pavilion, Charizard and Charla flew side-by-side, wingtips touching occasionally as if to remind themselves the other was really there. They smiled at each other as they danced through the skies, the fireworks bursting all around them. To anyone watching, it was a truly romantic and inspiring sight, two dragons of flame, burning with the passion of love, flying through a night sky ablaze with lights of celebration and festivity…a good basis for any romantic poem, don't you think?

…

Ash swallowed as he was jerked here and there by Misty, wondering what the hell he was doing on a dance floor. Misty was too lost in the music to care or notice that he was accidentally stepping on the feet of all the couples around them, causing them to get very angry with him. Carrie, who had decided to continue studying them to obtain more data for her research, scribbled notes furiously as she observed Ash and Misty's vastly different reactions and attitudes to dancing. Togetic followed as well, munching on another cookie, interested by her parent's dancing and wincing whenever Ash stumbled over somebody else's foot (or his own).

The younger Jigglypuff started singing now, her voice belting out the lyrics rapidly to match the quick beat of the music. "Don't get me wrong I love you, but does that mean I have to meet your father? When we are older you'll understand, what I meant when I said, 'No, I don't think life is quite that simple!'"

…

Pikachu gasped and panted, trying to catch his breath after his latest and most powerful exertion yet. "I…I think-" He stopped, trying to gather more air into his lungs. "I think I'm in love with you," he breathed out, his fur damp with sweat but his eyes still shining with more than enough energy to keep going.

Sadic raised an eyebrow. "You _think!_'

He shrugged. "Hey, this is new to me. I think I need a little longer to know for sure."

"Well then, while you're at it, could you mind...?"

He blinked. "Huh? Oh, sure."

Anyone heading towards the bathroom at that moment would have started when a high voice screamed out "CHUUUUUUUUUUU!" at the same time as another, huskier voice rasped out in a cry of sheer ecstasy as bursts of static and brilliant light streamed out from underneath the door. That same person would wisely have decided to go find another bathroom, because this one was clearly occupied.

…

Somewhat resigned, Harrison sighed and kept in pace with Ash and Misty, keeping an eye on them and looking for an opening so he could snatch Ash away and speak to him in private, subtlety be damned. At his table, J.R.S. Ford excused himself and got up. His Blaziken appeared to escort him as they inconspicuously left the room.

On stage, both the cream puffs were singing now, their singing louder and a tiny bit slower than the last verse. "When you walk away, you don't hear me say pleeeeaaaase, oh baaaaaby, don't go!" They took a quick breath, then rapidly sang, "Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feeeel tonight, it's haaard to let it go!"

…

Phanphy had long since blacked out from overexposure to the mind-warping feats of sex which Crawdaunt and his harem had managed to perform. His mind was already convincing itself that everything it had just seen was some horrible hallucination brought on by drinking too much punch, and had immersed Phanphy in a calming dream so it could re-write the elephant's memory to reflect the assessment that everything was a hallucination. By the time he woke up, the orgy would be over, and the horrible, horrible memory would be relegated to the back of his mind as a fading nightmare which would serve as a lesson not to drink semi-alcoholic beverages in the near or distant future. With any luck, he would manage to continue growing up as a perfectly normal and healthy Phanphy with only slight mental scarring on his psyche to show any sign of this traumatic event.

The elephant's dreaming state was not impenetrable to the noises being made by the orgy, but his subconscious managed to translate it into harmless, relatively cute dream images. Crawdaunt's roars of laughter became Ash's chuckles as Phanphy tackled and thumped his father affectionately with his trunk. The squeals, giggles, and throaty sighs of the females Crawdaunt serviced became Togetic's gentle laughter carried on the wind as she and Phanphy played tag. The snores from Golduck were translated into the snores of his Half-Brother Snorlax as Phanphy happily bounced up and down on the fat cat's belly. The puddles of sticky off-white liquid oozing from the mass of bodies which lapped against Phanphy's trunk and feet…

Well, that his brain had a much harder time turning into a euphemism.

…

Diego de la Vega twirled his dance partner away from him at arm's length, yanked her back suddenly, and dangled her over the ground while she was still disoriented. He bent over her shocked figure and smiled, pleased by the crimson flush that formed on her face. He pulled her back up swiftly before their closeness lasted too long, and they continued their dance, passionately spinning and stepping the night away.

The Jigglypuffs, rested from a three-second break, started up again as rapidly as before, with the elder singing the main lines and the younger singing backup. "So simple and clean," the younger one crooned

The elder started again. "The daiiily things-"

"Like this and that and what is what," the younger Jigglypuff added.

"That keep us all busy are confusing me, that's when you came to me and said-"

…

Gardevoir and Latias stood side-by-side on the bridge railing, gazing out at the fireworks while lost in their own thoughts of absent loves. They glanced up as they saw Charizard and Charla swoop overhead, passing over and under each other in an endless flight of love.

Gardevoir and Latias could not help but smile, their hearts going out to the two lovers, reunited at long last. Deep down, they wished they could be up there as well, flying with their own soulmates. But still they smiled, for they felt that somehow, someway, they would be seeing their heart's desires soon enough, and then nothing would be able to part them again.

…

"Isn't this wonderful, Wes?" Rui asked softly, leaning her head against his chest as they danced.

"Well, it's better than Miror B's garbage, that's for sure," Wes admitted grudgingly, keeping his eyes open for a way out of this predicament. Espeon had managed to escape from his fans, and Umbreon had fought his way free of the security guards, but neither had come back to save him, the traitors.

Both Jigglypuff sang as one now. "Wish I could prove I loooove you, but does that mean I have to walk on waaaater? When we are older you'll understand it's enough when I say so and maybe some things are that simple!" Onix pounded on his drums, the hard shells of his lesser bandmates performing a glorious ringing symphony as the rock snake's tail slammed on top of them again and again.

…

May and Bayleef sighed, while Brock was sobbing on the floor again, still dressed as Venus. "Such a beautiful song," May started.

"So romantic," Bayleef agreed.

"If only there were someone to dance it with!" May cried despondently.

"Perhaps I could provide some assistance?"

May blinked in surprise, not expecting the suave, green-haired Tuxedo Masquerain to be standing before her, offering a hand. "D-Drew! What are you doing here?"

"Offering a pretty young woman a dance," he said with his usual smirk, his hand still extended. "Come on, you said you wanted someone to dance with!"

May was shocked. "You…actually want to do something with me?" Something seemed different about him. He no longer seemed like the rude, arrogant person she recalled who had always insulted her skills and looks, and tried to sabotage Ash's match with Zoro. He seemed…better. Purer. A true gentleman. Someone she had always dreamed of having a romantic dance with. "I…yes, of course, I'd love to dance!" she squealed.

"Then come with me." May gleefully took his hand, and they swept off to join the rest dancing to the song.

Bayleef frowned. "Well that's all good and well, but what about me! I can't dance with _him_!" she cried, glancing at Brock.

"Oh, Venus!" Brock cried. "If only you could be here now with me! We could dance together, and you'd see what kind of trainer I am to have raised Pokemon with such musical talent! Why did you have to leave me!" Bayleef sighed in disgust and wandered off; figuring Brock wouldn't go far if she left him for a moment to get something to drink.

"When you walk away, you don't hear me say pleeeeaaaase, oh baaaaaby, don't go! Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feeeel tonight, it's haaard to let it go!" the Jigglypuffs sang, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

…

"Ew, gross!" Jirachi complained as the actors on television kissed. "They're kissing!"

"That is what those who are in love do, Wishmaker," Absol said, amused.

"Have you ever been in love, Absol?" Jirachi asked, intrigued.

Absol shook his head. "Regrettably, no. There are times I wish I had pursued my heart when I had the chance, but…I am dedicated to you, Wishmaker. There is no room in my heart for anyone else. You are all I have, or need." He rubbed his head against Jirachi affectionately.

"Awww…" Jirachi blushed.

"Will you two stop bonding and untie me already!" Max yelled. Or at least, that's what he would have yelled if there weren't a gag tied around his mouth.

…

Ash was feeling more and more anxious. Not only was his dancing with Misty getting more and more, well, wild (causing more dancers whose feet he trod on to yell angrily at him), she was getting closer and closer to him. A little…_too_ close for him. "Mmm…" she sighed, pulling him close and embracing him, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Ash's eyes widened. He started sweating frantically. What was he supposed to do here? Yes, he was now officially her boyfriend and hugged and kissed her and slept in the same bed as she did (mainly because every night she sleepwalked into his room, literally dragged him out of bed, and held him in her sleep all night), but that didn't mean he had the slightest idea what to do in situations like this, where they were in public, dancing to a big song! Was he supposed to kiss her? Hug her? What was he supposed to do, other than stiffen up like a log!

Fortunately, his dilemma was solved when Wes came charging towards them, riding on the back of Zoro's black Rapidash, which he had managed to snatch from its Pokeball when his and Rui's path crossed that of Diego de la Vega on the dance floor. "Yah, horse! Yah!" he cried, smacking the equine's rump, mindful of its flaming tail. The Rapidash whinnied and sped up, dancers screaming and scattering out of its path. Togetic and Carrie were shoved out of the way by the panicked throng and were lost in the writhing mass of humanity. "Out of the way!" he yelled at Ash and Misty, who were right in front of him.

"Ahh!" They quickly let go of each other, stepping to the side as the horse charged right between them.

Rui came through just behind Wes, screaming, "WES! COME BACK HERE!"

And right after her came Diego de la Vega, struggling to get his cape and mask on in mid-run and shouting, "Come back with my horse you _bandito!_"

When the bizarre procession had passed through, leaving a whole bunch of confused partygoers behind, Misty was startled to find that Ash had disappeared. "Ash?" she called into the crowd, hoping he was nearby. "ASH!" There was no response. But surely he wouldn't have run out on her…would he?

On stage, the song continued as if nothing had happened, the instruments picking up as they reached the climax. "Hooooold me, whatever lies beyond this moooorning is a little later on, regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at aaa-aaa-aaall, nothing's like before!"

…

"Harrison, where are we going?" Ash asked as Harrison dragged him by the arm down the steps of Battle Pavilion and across the bridge over the lake, passing Gardevoir and Latias and leaving them confused and blinking in their wake.

Harrison smirked at Ash, noticing his father waiting for them by the road, a security detail disguised in parade outfits flanking him. "To Battle Tower, Ash."

"Battle Tower?" Ash blinked in confusion. "But why are we going there? I thought it's off-limits until tomorrow!"

"It is," Harrison agreed. "But my father has something he needs to discuss with you. Something that could change your entire future!"

Ash was startled. "R-really? What?"

…

"Hooooold me, whatever lies beyond this moooorning is a little later on, regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at aaa-aaa-aaall, nothing's like before!" With this, the band played one final riff on the guitar, one final beat on the drums, and one final series of notes on the electric keyboard, bringing the song to a triumphant finish.

The partiers burst into applause, normally reserved executives and businessmen cheering alongside teenagers and older members of upper, middle, and working class society, all of them united for the moment by this one enthralling song.

And among them, Misty searched frantically, hopelessly, for any sign of Ash Ketchum.

…

Harrison smiled at Ash, bemused that his younger rival had no idea what a wonderful gift he was about to receive. "He's going to make you the greatest hero the world has ever known!"

…

And that ends big chapter 50! Congratulations for making it this far! Next chapter is when things _really_ heat up, heh heh…

And as a challenge, I'd like to ask you readers to make up names for all the new ships revealed this chapter, Pikachu/Sadic in particular! One-sided or dead relationships like Brock/Venus count too.Leave whatever you come up with in your reviews if you please, and I'll see you all next time!


	51. Hero pt 1: Rising

Well, last chapter was the big 50. This is the not-so-big 51, without songs and much less humor than the last one. Hope you like it anyway.

Yes Gladdecease, poor Mr. Generic has had to take therapy most of his life due to the bullying resulting from his name. I had no idea there was an earthquake recently in Palestine. I wanted a little girl trainer, and Rebecca sort of leapt to mind. You don't like shopping either, I take it? Wes _is_ awesome, isn't he? I hate ties a lot. I've been thinking that's what happened with Brock and Ivy for a long time now. And yes, things are happening with Drew. And May, possibly. Any names for the romance ships in the last chapter?

MichaelDJ54, Obsessiveshipping sounds perfect for Brock and Venus. Thank you.

EagleFox, no, Brendan will not be back. And I'm glad you loved the Charizard reunion.

Kageryu Wolf, thank goodness Venus is dead and even if she were alive wouldn't want to get anywhere near Brock. So whatever abominations of nature which would spring from that coupling will, thankfully, never see the light of day. I personally call Charizard/Charla Charshipping. Seems right to me. I like Sadic too. Any names for her and Pikachu's coupling?

And I honestly have no idea how Crawdaunt got all those females to have sex with him. Personally, I think it was his natural charm and charisma. XD

Alex, what was over the line? (Other than the scarring of the Phanphy?) And what other bad moves have I made in this story?

HVK, I'm so glad you're back. Where've you been all this time, anyway? Pikachu bury their old and sick because I want them to, and it demonstrates how Pikachu's species in their own way aren't morally better than Sadic's. Would you believe Bill from King of the Hill inspired me to do that to Brock? I love playing with poor little Phanphy. How about we call Sadic/Pikachu Philosophyshipphing, because prior to their mating they were discussing the philosophies and underlying principles behind their species? I think it works well. Like your new look, by the way.

Yes Ring of Fire, Charizard do spike punches. And it didn't occur to me to give Latias the same dress as before. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Battle Frontier or anyone associated with it, save Ford Industries and its leader. Any other weird stuff either belongs to somebody else or is a weird rip-off.

…

"What's this all about?" Ash asked repeatedly as he was led through the out-of-the-way maintenance paths of Battle Frontier by J.R.S. Ford, his Blaziken, and the costumed security detail. Harrison had remained at the party to keep anyone from getting suspicious or something of their absence.

"I've been waiting to meet you for a long time, my friend," Ford said, glancing at Ash while walking briskly along the path, his Blaziken beside him. "But due to my busy work schedule (and numerous other events beyond my son's and my own control) I've been unable to speak with you until tonight. There is something I must show you, something you need to understand. Something that could change your entire future."

"Uh, yeah, Harrison said something about that," Ash said uneasily. "Something about making me the greatest hero the world's ever seen?"

Ford's face was split by a broad smile. "Exactly!"

"Been there, done that, wore the T-shirt to shreds," Ash muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Uh, nothing," Ash said quickly. "So, you had to wait until tonight's party to show me this thing?"

Ford nodded. "Of course. I couldn't have shown you earlier today, with the other three finalists so nearby, without them or the press thinking I was choosing favorites. I already get enough of that from people who think I give my son an easy time in this tournament!" He sighed. "And I would have shown you this on any of the other days of this tournament, after all the matches and everything had calmed down, but I was always busy and Harrison was always unable to speak to you in private to tell you I wanted to meet you."

"How come?" Ash asked.

Ford rolled his eyes. "His fanclub, for the most part. And you getting dragged off by Lance and Drake, and then winding up in the infirmary guarded by a somewhat deranged nurse after fighting Brendan. And after that, he nearly got run over by that Zoro character trying to see you and got lost in Battle Pyramid because one of the tunnels caved in. So tonight, at the party, was the chance he and I have both been waiting for."

"And you had to take me out here instead of speaking to me about it in front of my friends?" Ash asked dubiously.

"With all the people at that party? Of course not! And besides…" He hesitated. "I'm sure your friends are trustworthy, but…let's just say that the less people know about this, the better." Ash raised an eyebrow at him, but Ford said no more.

Soon enough, they reached the base of Battle Tower. The square in front of it was empty, and there were only a few lights on in the offices high up on the skyscraper. The Victory Torch at the tower's very top still burned as brightly as it had on the eve of the tournament's opening ceremony several nights ago, however. Ford nodded to his security. "We can take it from here, boys. Fan out and keep a perimeter watch. Anyone who comes this way without clearance, kindly remind them that they should be back at the party and send them on their way. Okay?" The guards nodded silently and fanned out, still in their garish costumes. Soon they had vanished, leaving Ash alone with Ford and the eerily silent Blaziken.

"Okay now," Ford said, starting to walk across the square to the tower. "Come with me." Growing more and more confused and apprehensive, Ash followed.

The glass doors, which should have been locked, slid open on silent hinges as Ford approached. The businessman entered the building, followed by Ash and Blaziken.

The lobby was for the most part dark and dim, the only light coming from the receptionist's desk at the back of the room underneath the logos for Ford Industries and Battle Frontier. It's a shame the rest of the lights weren't on, or Ash would have been able to see the blue marble floors, topiary arrangements, statues, and paintings lining the walls. Although the light over the receptionist's desk was lit, the receptionist herself was not there, she had probably left her station to use the restroom. Ford marched over to one of the many elevators in banks along the walls and pressed the call button next to it. The metal doors slid open instantly with a ding, revealing a glass and metal capsule situated at the bottom of a long transparent glass tube which ran up the side of the building to the very top, alongside several similar elevator shafts. "Okay Ash, here we go."

The trio stepped into the elevator. Ford pressed the button for the 100th floor, causing Ash's eyes to widen in surprise as the elevator swiftly rose off the ground with only the slightest hint of acceleration. "We're going-"

"To the Grand Aerie? Yes."

"But isn't that closed off until tomorrow?"

"Tonight, I'm making an exception. Like I said, there's something you need to see there," Ford explained.

"And that would be?" Ash asked uncertainly.

Ford said nothing for a moment. He glanced up at the digital display over the elevator doors as slowly, the numbers representing the floors they passed grew higher and higher. The brightly-lit landscape of Battle Frontier was spread out around them, slowly shrinking as they rose up the side of the tower. The parade and partying was continuing in full force all over the island, and Pokemon-shaped fireworks continued to blaze in the sky. "What do you want for yourself, Ash?"

Ash blinked. "Huh?"

"What are your hopes? Your dreams? Your ambitions?" Ford pressed. "What is it you want out of life? What drove you into becoming a trainer and coming all the way out to Hoenn in the first place? Win or lose tomorrow, where do you intend to go after the championships? Another region, to challenge another league?"

Ash frowned in thought. "Well…I guess I wanted to be a trainer because I've always wanted to be a Pokemon master, since I was a kid. That's all. That's what most trainers want, right?"

Ford nodded. "Pretty much, yes."

"And if you had asked me that stuff a couple of months ago, I wouldn't have really had much of an answer. For the most part, I've never given a lot of thought to what I'd do after I won a league championship. I'd probably just go and try another one. I need to win more than once to become a Pokemon master, after all. But now…" He shrugged. "Now, I don't think that's what I'm going to do."

Ford raised his eyebrows. "No?"

Ash shook his head. "No. I…I've seen a lot of things on the way here. Things which changed my perspective on life and a lot of other stuff. And now…well…" He shrugged. "Now, I don't think I want to be a Pokemon Master anymore."

Ford's eyebrows went higher. Even the unflappable Blaziken looked startled. "No!"

Ash shook his head. "No. How can I become something that doesn't exist? To be called a Pokemon master implies that someone has mastered Pokemon…which isn't possible. There are always new things to find out about Pokemon. New ways to fight. New things in general. And being called a master of Pokemon implies that they're inferior, among other things. But they're not. If anything…if anything, some of them are _superior_ to us. At least the majority of them aren't interested in causing pollution, tearing up the environment for resources like oil and gold, and other stuff like that." Ford felt a moment of anxiety, seeing as how his company was somewhat responsible for pollution and destruction of the environment for resources in some parts of the world, but said nothing. "But in the end, it doesn't interest me as much because, well, I've found more important things than a title."

"Such as?"

"Friendship," Ash said, not even needing to think about the answer. "Love. Wisdom. Understanding. Stuff you can't learn in any school. Seeing the world, seeing things you've never seen before."

Ford nodded. "Those _are_ important things."

"Yeah. In fact…" He paused. "In fact, after this tournament and…after something else I've gotta do…I was thinking of heading off to another region. But not to compete in a League or capture any Pokemon, just…to see it. To travel. Just me and my friends."

"That's an admirable desire," Ford said, impressed. "And a heck of a lot more original than what most other trainers who come here want out of life. Which region do you think you'll go to?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while now…and I've decided we'll go to the Sevii Islands," Ash told the older man. "I've heard a lot of good things about it, and…I dunno…it just feels _right_ somehow. I haven't told my friends yet because I kinda want it to be a surprise…and I also want to see the looks on their faces when I tell them that I'm effectively quitting Pokemon training for a while."

Ford chuckled. "They won't be expecting that?"

"If they know me well—and they do—they'll never see it coming," Ash said with a grin.

"Well, I think Sevii's a fine choice," Ford acknowledged. "I've been to many places around the world on business ventures, and those islands always stand out the most in my memory." He frowned. "I always have trouble setting up headquarters there, for some reason. Like I wouldn't want to ruin the archipelago's pristine beauty with modern capitalistic facilities…but that's preposterous, of course."

"Of course," Ash said, looking confused.

Ford nodded. Blaziken grunted. Ash said nothing. For a few more floors, they continued in silence up the elevator shaft.

Then, as they passed the seventieth floor, Ford spoke up abruptly. "You kind of remind me of myself when I was your age, son."

Ash blinked. "Really?"

Ford nodded, his eyes staring off into the distance, out the side of the glass elevator and down on the activity on the island below them. "Yeah…" he said, softly. "Back when I was your age, I was an average happy-go-lucky kid who just happened to be the heir to a vast fortune and had aspirations of being a Pokemon Master. My Torchic and I traveled around Hoenn, battling gym leaders and growing stronger in our friendship." Blaziken grunted, remembering that time as well. "And then my parents died."

Ash started. "Oh. Uh…" He blinked. "I…I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Ford sighed. "A bunch of filthy crooks killed them while breaking into our house…when I heard I came home immediately, hoping it wasn't true, but…well, it was.

"After seeing their mangled bodies, I sort of…lost it for a while. The pain, the grief, it all hurt too much. I ended up driving my friends and relatives away and then left the country, with only good ol' Torchic (who had by then evolved into Combusken) by my side, to try and stop the hurt." Blaziken grunted again.

Ash felt a moment of sympathy for the wealthy tycoon, and found himself wondering what he would do in such a situation, if his mom had died. Would he drive everyone away as well? Would he take Pikachu and set off for who-knows-where to get away from it all? "I…that must have been awful," he said lamely, not sure what else to say. He had no experience in matters like this. The only connection he shared to his absent father was hatred for abandoning him and his mom, and he had never met his grandparents because they had disowned his mother or something like that, he had never been positive where they were and his mom had always skirted the issue. So death in the family had never affected him at all.

"It was," Ford agreed with a sad nod. "I just wandered the world, Blaziken and I, with no destination or aim to our travels as I tried to run from my past without success.

"And then, one day, I found my purpose. It was a stunning revelation, an epiphany of sorts, as I realized what I could do with my life, what I could do to keep other children from suffering like I had.

"Crime, and the evil which causes it, was the reason my parents were dead. To keep something like this from happening again, I realized I would have to put a stop to crime and whatever caused it. I would have to make a world without evil so trainers could go around without getting their money or Pokemon stolen and where retired couples can live without fear of their homes getting broken into or dying from a desperate thief's knife.

"So I came back to Hoenn, claimed my fortune, and established my empire. I've given increased funds to the police and crime-fighting groups worldwide. I've started reform and housing programs to renovate schools and ghettoes, bringing people out of the gutter and into the sunshine where they belong.

"But still, it wasn't enough. But then one day, when I saw some of the television shows my son was watching, I was struck upon by a marvelous idea. On those cartoons, superheroes fought evil and saved the world on a regular basis, not just from supervillains but regular crooks and crime lords as well. And I thought to myself, 'Why can't my company do something like that? Surely we have the technology!' And that is when Project HERO began."

Ash blinked as the elevator doors opened with a ding as they arrived on the one hundredth floor. "HERO?"

Ford waved a hand as they stepped out of the elevator and started walking down a plain, nondescript hallway. "It's supposed to be an acronym for some super-scientific term, but I don't have the slightest idea what it all means, so I just call it HERO. Basically, it does what happens in all those cartoons: finds some worthy pure-hearted kids and gives them superpowers."

Ash was skeptical. "Really?" He recalled what Wes had said about the inevitable fate of psychic humans and the test subjects of human/Pokemon hybridization. "And they don't blow up or anything?"

Ford shook his head. "No, their entire molecular structure is rearranged to compensate for the power…or something…don't really know how it works, but it does. And that power is what I am offering you, Ash."

Ash blinked. "Me?"

Ford nodded. "Yes, you Ash. Do you know why I built Battle Frontier?"

"Um…to make money and so the Hoenn League could have a place to host their Championship?" Ash guessed.

Ford sweatdropped, while Blaziken snorted. "Well, yes, that too…but mainly to find subjects for HERO! Every year, the best trainers from Hoenn and other parts of the world gather here to compete in tournaments! While they battle, their every action and utterance are analyzed by computers compiled by psychological experts in my employ to discover the young trainers who have the best mix of courage, heart, integrity, will, all that other stuff a hero needs to succeed! Then, the chosen trainers are brought to me, and are given the same offer I am giving you now: to help protect our Earth from the evils without and within, save us from invaders from space and who-knows-where and from corruption in the hearts of men. Some accept. Some do not. Either way, they pass through HERO and come out reborn, with power—and responsibility, of course—beyond their wildest dreams, dedicated to the safeguarding of mankind!"

"What about Pokemon?" Ash asked.

Ford grimaced. "Ah, their body structures seem to have an adverse reaction to HERO…whenever it's tested on them, even the most heroic-hearted of Pokemon seem to transform into some horrible evil monster. My scientists think it's because Pokemon are already born with power, and the addition of more of it corrupts their hearts or something. There's still so much we don't understand about the process…" He shrugged. "And in any case, my heroes safeguard Pokemon too, but Pokemon already have powers of their own, so in many cases are more suited to protect themselves than humans are."

Ash nodded, understanding that. "Yeah, that's true. So, does this mean the Poke Rangers and the Soldier Scouts are part of this project?"

Ford nodded. "They are indeed, and they're not the only ones. We have many other superhero teams around the world, keeping their presence a secret from most so as not to bring too much attention to my company and bring down the wrath of all those angry human rights activists who see me as endangering innocent children. Preposterous! Every last one of them chose to take on this dangerous task!" He sighed, looking forlorn. "Which isn't to say all of them have been up to the responsibility they have been given…" he said, a tragic memory coming to mind. "Some of them have not been balanced enough in mind and in spirit to utilize the powers they possess."

…

"Earth!" yelled a black guy in a green vest, pointing a ring in the air.

"Wind!" cried a blond European with a ring.

"Water!" added an Asian girl.

"Fire!" shouted a red-head.

"Heart!" a young Hispanic kid joined in, hopping up and down to be at the same level of his partners.

Colored beams of light shot from all of their rings and combined in the air, while the villainous Duke Nukem quaked in fear, soiling his Bermuda shorts with radioactive waste. "With your powers combined," said the glowing mass of light which formed from the powers of the five elements. "I am….GRAAHHHHH!" it roared, suddenly turning black and transforming into a grotesque monster.

"AHHHHH!" they all screamed before the evil being consumed them all.

…

"The lawsuits I got from that," Ford said with a sigh while Ash gave him a disturbed look. "I'm still paying off some of the lawyers from back then."

"Does that happen to all your heroes?" Ash asked, getting apprehensive about being part of this project.

Ford shook his head. "No, that was a special case. But…you've met the Poke Rangers. And I know you've had a bad run-in with Tuxedo Masquerain, haven't you?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. They seemed a little…well…not-very-hero-ish?"

"That's a kind way of putting it," Ford grumbled. "I know how bad they can be. I helped make them, after all." He shook his head sadly. "All of them, even that Drew kid, looked like they had what it took at first. They were all great kids who had strong bonds with their friends and Pokemon and were more than willing to help fight against evil. But, as I'm painfully learning, it seems that it is human nature to corrupt when presented with the burden of power. So many other members of my project around the world seem to be going that way, losing contact with the others, getting arrogant and overconfident, thinking they can get away with anything because they're superheroes and have the power. This can be corrected temporarily by running them through the HERO again, but they always seem to degenerate back into pride and indolence! And considering the nature of the threat we're facing now, those with the best chance of saving our planet are in the worst shape possible to fight it."

Ash hesitated. Did Ford know what was going on? "The threat?"

"You've seen the news, haven't you boy?" Ford asked. "All around the world, we're having all sorts of disasters! Power outages! Water poisoning! Volcanic eruptions! Earthquakes! Floods! Monster attacks! Death, death, and more death!" He shook his head. "My heroes were of barely any help to stop these catastrophes. They either saw it as beneath them or were unwilling to work with their fellows to save the day. And since I suspect all these disasters are being caused by a single mastermind, we're nowhere near ready to fight him, or her, or it, if and when said mastermind's final plan is put into motion.

"What this world and everyone affiliated with Project HERO need is a leader! A strong, trustworthy, incorruptible figure for our forces to rally behind, an ultimate hero who will lead the defenders of Earth to victory against the evils which plague it! And I don't just mean the current disasters, either. Once this threat's gone, there'll be others, and there's still the matter of corruption and crime among humans everywhere to deal with!

"With all the world's heroes united under a single leader, this planet will have a peacekeeping force second to none, an organization that will be able to do some real good in the world, a veritable Justice Force which can police the Earth and stop wrongdoing of any kind before it gets out of hand."

"Where would you get a guy like that?" Ash wondered.

Ford smirked down at Ash as they reached the end of the corridor, Blaziken stepping forward to push open a pair of large doors. "I'm looking at him."

Ash gawked both at Ford's statement and at the room they had just entered, too stunned to reply.

The Grand Aerie was a tremendous round chamber with hundreds of circular layers of stadium seats surrounding a single massive Pokemon arena sunken into the center of the room. The giant glass windows and steel supports for the Aerie's dome arced overhead, joining up in a metal disc directly above the Pokemon battlefield, supporting the blazing flame of the Victory Torch. The walls of the sunken pit which contained the battlefield were covered in scrollwork of rare and legendary Pokemon from around the world, many of whom Ash had met in person. The painted white lines which made up the battlefield were drawn in such a way so that there were two trainer boxes on either end of the field, no doubt there for each team of trainers in the four by four match that would start off the finals the next day.

A huge black cube hung from the top of the dome, with giant television screens and displays on each side linked to cameras around the battlefield to provide close-up shots of the fighting trainers and Pokemon during the match, as well as to display personal information. Various spotlights hung from the cube's underside, as well as numerous points elsewhere throughout the dome, lining the metal supports and the edges of the windows above the uppermost layers of seats.

The room was dim at the moment, the only light coming from the crackling flame of the Victory Torch showing over the periphery of the bowl holding it, the fireworks outside, and rows of floor lights lining the aisles which lit up as the trio entered the room.

"Whoa…" Ash said in amazement, turning about to take the chamber in while Ford and Blaziken descended one of many aisles of stairs down to the edge of the battlefield pit. "Hey, wait up!" He quickly dashed after his guides.

"So, what do you think of this place?" Ford asked, practically beaming with pride.

"It's amazing!" Ash said honestly. "But what does it have to do with this hero stuff? And what do you mean when you said I'm the guy you're looking for?"

"Rather than build an expensive laboratory to host the equipment in, I figured why not save time and money and house the HERO right here in Battle Frontier's most prominent landmark?" Ford said with a smirk. He pointed at the black cube hanging from the ceiling. "It's right there, my boy…hidden in plain sight for spectators to see every year during the finals, and nobody has the slightest idea what it really is!"

"That's the HERO?" Ash asked in disbelief, looking at the giant entertainment system.

"The housing for it, anyway. The real stuff is inside it. You'll get to see for yourself in a minute." They reached the bottom of the stairs and started walking around the edge of the very low battlefield wall between the first row of seats and the pit. "And as for your other question…I've been watching you since you came to this tournament, Ash. I've seen how well you work with your Pokemon. I've seen your interactions with your friends and colleagues. I've read your trainer dossier and had talks with some of the people you've met who participated in some of your numerous adventures. And what you said on the way up here confirmed my suspicions for sure…you have what it takes! You will be the greatest hero Earth has ever known!"

Ash was stunned. "Y-you're kidding, right? Me? I mean, okay, I've done a lot of stuff, but surely that's not enough to qualify me as this…this ultimate hero you seem to think I am, is it?"

Ford shrugged. "Well I certainly think so. To me, you have a steadfast heart of gold which can never be tainted or tarnished…but that's just me. The HERO itself will tell us for sure!"

Ash blinked. "Huh? What do you-"

"Ah, here we are." Ford pressed down on one of the many small brass knobs dotting the top of the circular wall ringing the battlefield pit, and Ash started as a section of the ground popped open and a complicated console atop a metal pedestal arose in front of the tycoon.

"What's that?" the young trainer asked.

"The controls for the HERO," Ford explained. "I don't really understand the principle behind how the thing works, but I know how to operate it, and that's good enough right now, I believe."

Ford took off his cowboy hat, dug into the lining, and pulled out a thin, plastic keycard. He inserted it into a small slot on the console, but did not turn it. Blaziken walked over, as silent as stoic as ever, and produced an identical keycard he had hidden in his long hair, inserting it in a slot on the opposite side of the console from Ford's. Demonstrating that they had practiced this maneuver countless times before, they turned the keys at the exact same time.

Ash yelped as every spotlight in the room turned on, illuminating the Aerie. It looked a lot bigger with the lights on and grander too. Ash wondered for a moment what it would look like with every seat filled for his match the next day. He heard a loud hum and a hissing noise, and turned to see the bottom of the television cube detach, releasing pressurized air as it lowered on four metal pistons fixed to the insides of each of the four corners of the cube. Sitting on top of the detached bottom, right above and actually wired into the spotlights hanging from it, was a complex mesh of wires, cables, and thin metal struts curved into the form of a spherical cage of sorts surrounding a central object held in a three-pronged metal claw, with all the wires and cables, including the ones from the spotlights and various others going up into the cube's interior, attached to it.

Held in the claw was a small, glowing sliver of jagged purple crystal.

Ash gasped, instantly recognizing the jewel as another piece of the same crystal which Missingno, Mariah Susanson, and Latias all had fragments of. "M-Mr. Ford…where did you get that crystal!"

Ford smiled proudly, giving the little crystal a fond stare. "That, my young friend, is the heart of HERO! A piece of an unknown compound my scientists discovered had unique properties when researching ways to fulfill my demands to create young superheroes, a strange material that, when caused to vibrate at the right frequencies, emits radiation capable of altering the genetic and molecular structure of any human and Pokemon and granting them power beyond belief! And also," he admitted with a hint of grouchiness. "Still a great mystery to all. This is what created the Poke Rangers, the Soldier Scouts, Tuxedo Masquerain, and all the rest! This is what manages to remind them of their heroic mission whenever they stray from the path they have chosen! And this, Ash Ketchum, is what will finalize your fate as the greatest hero the world has ever known!"

The hairs on the back of Ash's neck rose. Fighting down an uncharacteristic burst of panic, he backed away from the businessman and his chicken, away from the glowing purple shard which seemed to be staring back at him like an unblinking, all-seeing eye. "Mr. Ford, I'm not sure about this."

Ford blinked in surprise. "What? You don't want to be a hero?"

"It's not that, it's just-" Ash started. "It's just…I've seen crystals like this one before, and all of them were evil or used for evil! An ancient Duskull got a hold of one and became a dark spirit which created a whole pocket dimension where he tortured the souls of his victims in a lake of fire and later twisted the mind of one of my Pokemon's mother and turned her evil! And another piece was used by an insane mass of psychic thoughts and sensations to pull herself together in a humanoid form which she used to inflict suffering on countless people and Pokemon to make them conform to her way of thought before we managed to stop her!"

Ford frowned. "And you think this one's evil too?"

Ash shrugged weakly. "Well, considering my prior experiences, I think it's reasonable for me to be a little worried, don't you?"

Ford thought for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous, Ash. If it were evil, then it would turn the kids who volunteered to be transformed into supervillains, not heroes. And that hasn't happened at all, has it?"

"But you said the heroes that thing produced have been becoming more arrogant and stuff you'd usually associate with the bad guys," Ash pointed out. "And all the Pokemon you've tested it on have become monsters! How do you know that doesn't mean the HERO itself is evil?"

Ford frowned, getting annoyed. "That's ridiculous, Ash. I'm sure that it's because of individual personality flaws and other unknown factors. True, we may not know too much about how the crystal works, but there's no way it could possibly be evil!"

"And why not?" Ash asked.

"Because it's the greatest force of good our world has ever seen!" Ford insisted, gesturing to the shard, which was glowing brighter. "When Blaziken and I were spiritually lost, that thing found us and gave us new hope for the world! Hope which led us to build Ford Industries and begin the HERO project! It can't possibly be evil, not if it gave me the helping hand I needed to pull myself out of the gutter and back to the top where I belong and was needed!" He beckoned to Ash. "Now get over here so we can make you into a hero who will unite our forces against the evil which threatens us and lead the way to a shining future for human and Pokemonkind!"

Ash shook his head frantically, backing towards the steps. He liked the sound of this less and less the more he heard. "No way. Find yourself another champion, I'm out of here!"

Ford sighed as Ash turned to run. "I was afraid it'd come to this…"

"Stop right there, Ash!" Ash skidded to a halt as Lance dropped down before him, cape flaring. "I can't let you leave here!"

"Lance! You're in on this too!" Ash cried.

"Drake asked me to give his son a job after all of you went out to Dragon Rock a few days ago," Ford told Ash, walking towards him. Blaziken's muscles were tensed and his flaming wrists were blazing in anticipation of a fight. "Something which he'd be good at and would help make up for the dishonor he'd brought to the family. I thought he'd be good at being a second bodyguard, since Blaziken here's getting a little old." Blaziken snarled at that, and Ford glanced at his partner. "I don't mean it _that _way, I'm just saying you might want to leave the small fries to someone younger so you can tackle the big fish by yourself." The Blaze Pokemon grunted, mollified.

"Lance, why are you doing this?" Ash pleaded. "That crystal's nothing but bad news!"

Lance shrugged. "Even if that is the case, in Ford's hands it has done more good than evil that I can see."  
"Yeah, but for how long?" Ash questioned. "Ford said himself that his heroes are showing traits that heroes aren't supposed to have!"

"I told you, that's because of personality and individual problems, not because of the HERO itself!" Ford snapped.

"How do you know that?" Ash retorted. "You don't know! You don't have the slightest idea how or why the thing works! And even if you're right, I'm full of flaws! I'm ignorant, stubborn, pigheaded even! I may have done a lot of work on my pride, but I've still got a ways to go! If anything, I'm nowhere near good enough to be this ultimate hero you want of me!"

"Which is exactly why you're perfect," Ford pointed out. "Humility is a quality every true hero possesses. Holding onto that quality is what will make you the greatest of them all! That's why you're the one!" They were interrupted when the crystal inside HERO flared, its purple light glowing brighter than any of the spotlights in the room for a moment before fading. "You see?" Ford said. "Even HERO acknowledges your greatness and eligibility for this! Come on boy, don't you want to save the world?"

"I do," Ash admitted. "But not if there's a chance that I'll become evil in the process!"

"How can you be so selfish!" Lance asked angrily.

"I'm not being selfish; I'm just thinking it'd be an awful shame if I helped save the world only to become the next one to threaten it!" Ash retaliated. "I'd be hurting my friends even worse than if I got killed in the line of duty! What good is saving the world if in the process you lose your soul, and your friends, in the process? And speaking of selfish, how about you, Lance?"

"Me!"

"Yeah, why don't you go into that thing if you're so eager to get a perfect hero?" Ash inferred, pointing a finger at the former Dragon Master.

"We tried that actually," Ford told him. "Didn't work. HERO wouldn't accept him."

"Because of the sins I already carry on my soul, I am unworthy of this honor and burden," Lance explained.

"Including throwing an unprepared kid and his Pokemon into an ice tunnel full of bloodthirsty Glalie who were more than willing to kill us?" Ash asked angrily.

"I told you, it was to make you stronger!" Lance yelled.

"THE ENDS DON'T JUSTIFY THE MEANS, LANCE!" Ash shouted.

"Depends on the ends and depends on the means actually," Ford pointed out. "And I think in this instance, saving the world more than justifies the possibility of the force defending Earth one day becoming evil. If that happens, it will be later, not now. We need to deal with the present first before preparing for the future. And that's why you're going into HERO," Ford said coldly. "Because we need a hero now. Not in the future, but right now."

"No," Ash said firmly. "I won't do it."

Ford shrugged. "Then we'll make you. Blaziken!"

Before Ash could move, the shaded Blaziken charged forward and drove a fist into Ash's gut. The boy gasped and fell to his knees, gasping for breath, while the giant fire bird smirked and gave a brief chuckle.

"I'm sorry Ash," Lance said, pulling the weakened Ash up and tugging his arms behind his back. "I wish this weren't necessary, but it is. The world depends on you."

"Take him down to the battlefield," Ford ordered. "The HERO will have the optimal effect on him down there."

Lance nodded. "Yes, Mr. Ford." He started leading the wheezing Ash away.

"Lance," Ash rasped, trying to catch his breath. "Do you think…your King…will be happy with this?"

"How do you mean?" Lance asked as he forced Ash down a set of stairs underneath the seats, heading down to the battlefield.

"I'm the friend of his bride…I'm supposed to help her and a bunch of other chosen Pokemon save the world," Ash pointed out weakly. "Do you think either of them will be happy with you for doing this to me? Whether I become a hero or a villain, they'll still be angry at you for forcing me to do this against my will." Lance hesitated, thinking that over. Ash quickly pressed the point. "You'll have dishonored your family even more than you have now."

Lance frowned and shook his head, as if to clear it. "I might indeed. I might even be doing something bad enough to merit death by the King's hand. But if what I do has the slightest chance of securing his new reign, then I will gladly do it."

"He's here now, you know," Ash said with a hint of desperation as he was forced further down the stairs. He could see the light streaming through the door out to the arena only a little further down the stairs. "He's coming tomorrow. He'll be expecting to see me and Latias winning the tournament."

"And he will see you win," Lance told him. "Becoming a hero tonight will not affect your matches tomorrow."

"I think gaining superpowers will affect a lot of things," Ash pointed out. "Like who I am, how I behave, how I'll treat my friends or they'll treat me."

Lance shrugged. "Sacrifices are necessary to defeat evil."

"Then where's your sacrifice?" Ash asked.

"I've already made mine," he said coldly. "I told you about it on the boat."

Ash snorted. "That wasn't a sacrifice, Lance. That was a _mistake_. A mistake you yourself caused because you wanted to be the big hero and get the credit for dramatically thwarting another one of Team Rocket's plans. You haven't sacrificed a thing to get where you are now. The only reason you lost your job as G-Man and League Champion is because of your own damn pride!" Lance's eyes flashed and he twisted one of Ash's arms, causing the teen to gasp in pain. "If what you say is true, then I will be making a sacrifice right here and now. I'll be sacrificing the last shreds of my honor and whatever remaining love and trust my family or lieges may have in me, but I'll be creating something which may save us all in the process."

Ash gritted his teeth as Lance didn't let go of his arm. "Yeah, you are sacrificing something, all right. But Lance?"

"Yes?"

"Didn't your father say something about never giving in to evil?"

"Yes."

"Wouldn't you call doing something evil, even with good intentions and maybe even a good result is _exactly_ the same thing that got Lorelei in the hospital, the Dragon's Holy Land destroyed, and yourself exiled from Johto? Isn't this the same exact thing your father said not to do again?"

"…" Lance said nothing. He growled and twisted Ash's arm some more, causing the young hero to gasp and stop talking as the former dragon master pushed him further and further down the stairs, to whatever fate awaited him.

…

Charizard was in heaven.

Not literally, of course, but he couldn't imagine it being much better than this.

He was flying through the air with Charla, his Charla, who had come all the way across the ocean to not only join him but to bring him news that they would soon (soon being several months) have a new child to make up for the one he had accidentally killed.

He looped through the air and flew parallel to her, right over her back. Sensing he was there, she flipped over to face him, her wings beating automatically to keep her flying.

Their eyes met. As one, they leaned closer, and shared a gentle kiss…before parting, circling through the air, coming around to bear on each other once more…

When Charizard saw a sudden flash of purple light out of the corner of his eye. "Eh?" Startled, he flapped his wings a few times, slowing down and turning him about to face in the direction of the flash. He managed to see the strange light just as it faded, emanating from the lit Aerie atop Battle Tower.

"What's wrong?" a concerned Charla asked, hovering next to him.

"I thought I saw something. Over in that tower." He frowned. "The lights are on."

"So?"

"That place is supposed to be closed off throughout the year except for the finals of the tournament, which aren't till tomorrow. Why's the place lit up so much if it's not even the next day yet?" He narrowed his eyes and started gliding towards the tower.

"Do you think something is amiss?" Charla asked, falling in line next to him.

"I don't know…" Charizard murmured. "But I intend to find out."

Soon enough, they reached the tower. Basking in the warmth from the Victory Torch, they circled around the great glass windows making up the dome, peering inside. On any other occasion it would have occurred to Charizard that he could brag to Charla that he had helped light the giant thing, but such thoughts were far from his mind right now due to the possible urgency of whatever was going on here.

"Who is that?" Charla asked, noticing Ford and Blaziken standing on the edge of the battlefield pit, playing with a console.

"That's J.R.S. Ford, owner of this park and one of the guys running this tournament. This is his tower, but what's he doing here instead of being at the party like everyone else-" He gasped as he saw a purple glow increasing in intensity hanging from the bottom of the television cube. "That crystal!"

"What is it?" Charla asked, her hackles rising from the note of shock and horror in her mate's voice.

"Nothing good! We've gotta go back and-" His eyes widened as he saw a familiar, struggling figure getting dragged out onto the battlefield by another familiar caped figure. "Ash!"  
…

"Let me go!" Ash yelled, thrashing about in Lance's arms, struggling to get free.

"Quit fighting!" Lance hissed in frustration. "You're only making it harder for yourself!"

"I don't freaking care! LET ME GO!"

"We're doing you a favor, son," Ford said as he continued working on the console. The crystal's glow brightened and started humming as it powered up. "We're helping you fulfill your destiny!"

"My destiny is decided by ancient prophecies, omniscient extradimensional beings, and myself!" Ash snarled. "And my girlfriend, I guess…but not crazy businessmen or traitorous dragon trainers!"

"Hmmph, as you wish," Ford said, finishing his preparations. His finger hovered over one last button. "Prepare yourself, Ash Ketchum…for your ascension!"  
Just before he could press the button, there was a tremendous crash and shattering of glass as Charizard, followed by Charla, smashed through one of the giant dome windows, sending huge pieces of glass flying everywhere and leaving a gaping hole in their wake as they entered the Aerie, roaring furiously. Ford and Lance gaped in disbelief, Ash grinned gratefully, and Blaziken merely smiled.

"ASH!" Charizard bellowed, swooping down towards the battlefield. "HANG ON!"

"No." Ford's Blaziken leaped high into the air and came smashing down on Charizard's back with a Blaze Kick, knocking the air from Charizard's lungs and sending them both crashing down to the battlefield floor, denting the ground. The Blaze Pokemon glanced up, hearing an enraged roar, and jumped out of the way as Charla spat a Blast Burn at him. Charizard saw it coming as well and rolled out of the way, barely getting clear before the incredible fire burst could hit the ground and explode, shaking the Aerie.

Startled by the proximity of the fire dragons and the explosion, Lance's grip loosened, and Ash managed to tear himself from the traitor's grasp and run towards the door they had entered the battlefield from and the stairs inside. "STOP!" Lance yelled, running after him.

Ford pressed a button, and a steel shutter slammed shut over the doorway right before Ash could get inside. He spun around, making to run for the door on the other side of the battlefield, only to see another shutter slide down over it.

"Got you!" Lance yelled, lunging forward while Ash was distracted.

The young trainer, some of his lessons on Dragon Rock coming back to him, sidestepped Lance's tackle and swung his foot at the dragon trainer's legs, knocking him to the ground. Ash started to run, but Lance's hand shot out and grabbed Ash's ankle, pulling him to the ground before he could get far.

Blaziken leaped into the air at Charla as she flew down for another pass, smashing a glowing Sky Uppercut into her jaw and knocking her out of the sky. She hit the ground with a startled grunt while Blaziken flipped in the air and shot down towards her with a Blaze Kick, aiming for her jugular.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Charizard tackled him in midair, knocking the sunglass-wearing chicken away from the women he loved and smashing him into the wall of the battlefield. Charizard pinned the Blaziken to the wall by his upper arms before the chicken could slide off, turning his head to face Charla. "Get out of here, get the others and tell them to-oof!" Blaziken drove both his feet into Charizard's stomach, kicking the dragon off and knocking him to the ground. He dropped off the wall and drove a glowing Dynamic Punch forward, aiming to shatter Charizard's skull. The orange dragon managed to catch the punch in his claws before it could connect, using all his strength to hold the Blaziken at bay…and it did not seem to be enough, as the fighting chicken continued pushing against the dragon's claws, forcing Charizard's arms back. "Go back to Battle Pavilion!" Charizard roared to Charla before she could run over to help him. "Get the others! Tell them what's going on!"

"But what about you?" Charla asked anxiously.

Blaziken's other fist shot forward at Charizard's head. The dragon swung his tail at the chicken's feet, trying to knock him off balance. Blaziken anticipated it and front-flipped over Charizard, dodging the tail and wrenching his fist from Charizard's grasp in the process. The dragon had already rolled over and gotten back to his feet by the time Blaziken landed, ready to keep fighting. "I'll take care of this guy! Go get help!"

"But-" Charla cried out as a Hyper Beam blasted her from behind, knocking her off her feet and sending her skidding across the ground several meters away in pain.

Charizard gasped. "CHARLA!" This distraction was just what Blaziken wanted, as he dashed forward and punched Charizard in the face, sending the dragon reeling.  
"Pay attention," the chicken said emotionlessly before launching Mach Kicks at Charizard's face.

"I can handle this! Get help!" Charizard cried, crossing his arms to block the barrage of kicks.

Charla anxiously glanced from Charizard to Ash, wondering if she could take the trainer out with her, only to see that Lance had once more restrained Ash and had wrapped the boy up in his cape to keep him from escaping. To make matters worse, standing between her and the captured trainer was the menacing figure of Lance's Dragonite, who had blasted her with that Hyper Beam before. She had sparred with the dragon before on visits Lance had made to the Charicific Valley, but had always lost to the superior Pokemon. She had gotten stronger since then, but Dragonite probably had as well, so she wasn't confident enough in her ability to defeat him. She would probably be of little help to Charizard and even less help to Ash if she tried to fight, instead of fleeing to get help like her mate wanted.

Making her decision, even though every fiber of her being cried for her to stay, she spat a Blast Burn at the Dragonite, causing him to fire a Hyper Beam in retaliation. The two incredibly powerful attacks collided and exploded, shaking the room and covering the battlefield in smoke. Charla quickly snatched the moment of cover that gave her and took to the air, flapping her wings to gain altitude and fly straight out of the cloud, past the startled Ford, and out through the gaping hole she and Charizard had made when entering the Tower. "I'll be back!" she cried to her lover as she winged away. "Be careful! Stay strong!"

Charizard smirked, moving his head to the side to avoid a Mega Punch and slugging Blaziken in the gut as her words reached his ears. "Heh. Great girl, my Charla." Blaziken only grunted in response as he delivered a Sky Uppercut to Charizard's chin.

"She's getting away!" Ford cried.

"I'll stop her!" Lance declared, dropping his cape, which still had Ash in it. "Come on, Dragonite!" He hopped onto the dragon's back. Despite the fact that his wings looked too small to carry Lance's weight, let alone his own, Dragonite rose into the air with only a few wingstrokes and shot across the Aerie, nearly knocking Ford's hat off in his wake, and smashed through the window Charizard and Charla had already broken, effectively destroying almost all that was left of it as he went in pursuit of the female fire dragon.

Ford fumed. "Dammit! Do you know how much all that glass costs!" Grumbling under his breath, Ford pressed a few more buttons on his console as Charizard and Blaziken grappled and parted, and Ash managed to tear his way out of Lance's cape and started looking for a way out of the pit.

Huge metal shutters slid down from the disk at the top of the dome, covering all the windows (and void where a window had once been) in a steel sheathe and blocking out the night sky and fireworks outside, as well as keeping the light inside the dome from escaping and attracting anymore curious flyers. Ford grumbled to himself, wondering why he hadn't thought of doing this before.

At the same time, more steel shutters slid down over every window in the building, startling the few employees, janitors, and security guards who happened to be inside, leaving them bewildered and confused and slightly worried, wondering why the heck the building had gone into lockdown. Even the elevators and front doors deactivated and were covered by metal shields, cutting everything inside the tower off from the outside world.

"Now there's no way out!" Ford said triumphantly. "Even if that meddling Charizard does make it to your friends before Lance knocks her out of the sky, they won't be able to get in!" He sighed wearily, rubbing his temples. "Why'd it have to come to this, Ash? I didn't want to do things this way…why'd you have to be so stubborn?"

"Because among other things, I don't want to be a superhero!" Ash yelled up at him. "I don't want to be changed from who I am! I'm happy being Ash Ketchum, trainer and friend to humans and Pokemon, I don't need anything more!"

"You have no choice," Ford said, charging up the HERO again. "This is for your own good, and the good of the entire world. This has to be done."

"Oh no, you don't!" Charizard reared his head back and spat a Fire Blast at the glowing crystal hanging over the battlefield. "Let's see you do whatever you're planning without that fancy contraption up there!"

Ford and Blaziken looked completely unworried. The giant fire cross struck an invisible sphere of psychic force surrounding the HERO machine and burnt itself out harmlessly against the impenetrable shell, leaving the infernal device untouched. "What! No way!" Ash and Charizard cried in astonishment.

"You didn't really think I'd let such an important piece of equipment be so vulnerable when it's hanging right above an arena where some of the biggest Pokemon battles in the region go on, do you?" Ford asked pointedly. "It's got some of the best defense money can be! Super-strong unbreakable alloys, force-field generators, immunity to virtually all types of Pokemon attacks…it's almost totally invincible, just like the shutters over the doors and windows! There's no way you're breaking the HERO, just like there's no way you're getting out of here without becoming the champion Earth needs to unite our forces against evil!"

Charizard raised an eyebrow. "Ash, what's with this guy? He crazy or something?"

"He might be, he might not," Ash responded. "All I know is he's trying to use that crystal on me, and there's no way I'm going to let that happen!"

"You don't have a choice!" Ford said, almost finishing his preparations.

"Ash, he has a Pokemon and you have me. How about a battle?" Charizard suggested.

"A battle…" Ash's eyes lit up. "Yeah, that could work. Mr. Ford!"

"What?" Ford asked, glancing up from his console.

"I challenge you to a Pokemon battle! Me and my Charizard vs. you and your Blaziken!" Ash challenged. "If I win, you let me go and shut this HERO thing down! You win, you get to make me your ultimate hero! What do you say?"

Ford snorted. "Don't be ridiculous! I've been searching years for a kid like you! Do you really think I'll do something as stupid as risking losing you over a Pokemon-"

"Wait." Ford stopped in surprise, looking at his Blaziken. The fire chicken crouched into a fighting stance, his fists and muscles tensed. "Fight."

Ford blinked. "You want to fight?" Blaziken said nothing, simply stared straight across the field at Charizard, who glared right back. "Hmm…well, it has been a long time since your last real battle…all right Blaziken; we'll do it your way. This shouldn't take too long in any event. Okay Ash, you've got a battle!"

"All right!" Ash reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out his trademark hat. Shaking it out to get the folds and creases on it, he slapped it onto his head, turning it around so the bill faced backwards before he rolled up his sleeves. "These aren't really the clothes I'd like to wear for something like this, but they'll have to do!"

Charizard grinned and stepped onto the battlefield, cracking his knuckles. "Okay you big lug, I've been waiting a long time to fight a Blaziken! I was expecting that I'd get my chance tomorrow in a rematch against Harrison, but I think you'll do for a warm-up!"

The Blaziken smirked, his eyes hidden as always beneath his sunglasses. "Heh."

"Okay Ash, here we go," Ford said, beginning a new sequence on his console. "You asked for a battle, and that's what you're gonna get! Prepare for the fight of your life!" He stabbed a final button on the console and cried, "CAAAAAAGE MATCH!"

Ash and Charizard nearly fell over as the arena started shaking. "Wh-what's going on!" Ash cried.

"The field's transforming!" Charizard realized, seeing a wide crack appear in the smooth battlefield, bisecting the floor and causing it to split in two and retract to the sides, leaving a deep chasm in its place. Charizard jumped off his half of the field before it could completely retract and hovered in the air, while Blaziken simply hopped onto the trainer's box on his side of the field. A bright red glow lit up the newly revealed pit as it filled with bubbling molten lava, releasing foul-smelling fumes and embers as it oozed out of the chasm and started overflowing onto the battlefield. Ash yelped in surprise as the ground beneath his feet, which just happened to be the trainer's box on one end of the field, rose from the ground on a metal pillar before the lava could swamp him, leaving him on a raised platform overlooking a vast lake of lava which filled the entire sunken area from wall to wall, the intense heat from the liquid rock washing over him and already causing him to perspire. Charizard had flown higher into the air as soon as the lava bubbled out, and watched in amazement as several other platforms of differing sizes and heights also rose out of the lava, creating a variegated playing field. Blaziken hadn't moved throughout the entire process, and was now standing atop one of those platforms, the glow from the lava lighting up his eerie grin from below and giving him a somewhat demonic look.

The brass knobs dotting the circular wall around the battlefield rose up on curved poles, arcing up towards the ceiling as the cables and supports which held the large black cube that was the HERO over the battlefield retracted, raising the complex machine until the top of the cube was almost flush with the apex of the ceiling. The thin poles, which now looked somewhat like bars, met in a point just above the crystalline 'eye' of the HERO, joining together to form a gilded frame. More curved bars extended from the sides of each arced pole, touching and fusing together midway between each pole and forming what looked like a giant birdcage, with Ash, Charizard, and Blaziken trapped inside, with a floor made of lava and nowhere to go. As a final touch, the bars all started glowing and crackling as a few hundred volts of electricity began running through them, to discourage any ideas Charizard might have had of ripping the bars of the cage off and escaping if things got too rough.

The ground Ford was standing on elevated along with the console, leaving him standing on a block which rose a couple of meters higher than the top of the wall where the cage began, giving him an unobstructed view of the battlefield through one of the large gaps in the cage walls as well as a direct line of sight to Ash, who was right across the field from him and starting to wonder if this had been such a good idea.

"Okay Ash, this is it!" Ford shouted, pointing at Ash. "Are you ready for this?"

Ash glared at the businessman. "I don't have a choice…if I lose, I'll become another pawn of you and that evil thing up there! I'm not backing down!"

"Don't worry Ash," Charizard growled, gliding down to land on a platform in front of his trainer. "I won't let you down!"

Blaziken smirked at this and crossed his arms, looking amused.

"Okay then…here we go! Blaziken, attack!" Ford commanded.

Chuckling, the Blaze Pokemon leaped into the air, wrist flames burning, ready to give the duo foolish enough to challenge him a fight they'd never forget.

…

Elsewhere…

He stirred in his throne, his vast and twisted mind detecting a disturbance on the planet below. It took him a mere fraction of a second to grasp the meaning of this event, causing him to laugh coldly and send shivers down the spines (assuming they had any) of his minions.

"Master? What is it?" asked one of his servants timidly.

He opened his eyes. They gleamed with cruel ecstasy and amusement. "Something has just come to pass…something the consequences of which may prove _very_ fortuitous to me indeed…"

…

Ash had come into Battle Tower with the hopes that he could gain a power which would help him and his friends save the planet. Instead, he found himself a part of Ford's plan to create a unified army of heroes, guided by the power of one of the infamous crystal fragments. Now he and Charizard are trapped in one of the most high-staked matches they've ever been in. Will they manage to stand strong against the fires and prove themselves, or will they fail and lose Ash forever?

And what of Charla? Will she manage to rally Ash and Charizard's allies to save the day before it's too late?

And up in his fortress above the world, the evil one himself has become aware of this battle. What part will he play in the coming drama?

Find out this and more on the next Pokemon!

TO BE CONTINUED…

…

Okay, I know I said I wouldn't do another anime-ish ending like that one again, but it seemed perfect for this! This is the beginning of an arc which will lead right into the moment you've all been waiting for, the cataclysmic battle to decide the fate of the world! Stay tuned for the next chapter and discover what fate (and I) has in store for Ash Ketchum…


	52. Hero pt 2: Falling

Hey, all! If this chapter took a while, my apologies, it required a lot of time to write and school intervened, as always. Enjoy pt. 2 of the Hero mini-arc!

Mimic12355, Tyranitar and the other Chosen are on the way to Ever Grande on a boat with Ash's mom and Professor Oak. They'll arrive the next morning.

Astoundingly Anonymous, I named Duke Nukem after the yellow rocky guy with the red Mohawk and radioactive powers. I assumed that was his name on the show. I guess I was wrong. I haven't seen Stream, so I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're talking about. Is the anime that bad? It's not just Lance's ego that's doing this, but a combination of other things as well, such as adherence to his beliefs (no matter where they take him), and a desperate desire for redemption. But like so many other things in life, that path can take you the wrong way…anyway, if I vaporize him, how will he ever feel the crushing guilt for what he's done? Your idea about crystal radiation is correct, as this chapter and possibly the next will demonstrate. Has Lance been affected, though? Well…I don't think so. You might be reading too much into it. Your speculation about the security system is correct as well. Nice job!

In any case, I'm glad to hear from you again, HVK my old friend. The lessons you've learned are wise ones indeed. If only more people remembered them. If the crystal were used on Mandy… OO Dear sweet heavens, the only thing that could possibly be worse is if it were used on Gaz. What horrors would that unleash! And you're right, corruption isn't so easy to smell. Ford himself has been corrupted partly by pride, belief that he's doing the right thing, and his 'destroy crime and evil' values. I wouldn't want Lance's soul either if I were the bad guy, it's such a piddling and insignificant bit of quintessence.

Palestine, Pakistan…eh, both are in the Middle East. No matter, Gladdecease. The Soldier Scouts will reappear shortly. Thank you for the T-shirt statement Ash made. And as always, I agree with you on Ford's ideals and other issues. If you thought the last chapter's ending was great, well…heh…wait'll you see this one.

The stakes can always get higher, Ring of Fire. The big battle for the fate of the world will begin in just a few chapters, my friends. I've never played HALO, but I know of it. Charizard won't try to commit suicide, don't worry. His self-confidence has soared thanks to Charla's reappearance. And as for Saunders…of course he'll influence the fight! It's in his best interest, after all.

Trust me Eaglefox, the story is ending, but when I mean 'soon' I mean it'll probably take me another few months. So you can relax. Rayquaza and Latias will meet soon.

MichaelDJ54, I'm afraid you'll have to wait _just_ a little bit longer for that war. But it'll start soon, I promise you that.

Disclaimer: All concepts and characters in this chapter not owned by me belong to various companies in Japan whose names I'm having trouble recalling. I'd also like to give a big thank-you to DiamondLatias3000 for helping me make Latias not look like a power-mad whiny bitch this chapter, along with putting up with me and other things.

…

The party at Battle Pavilion was winding down in the aftermath of the Pokerockers performance of Simple and Clean. Tired, full, and happy, many guests (including young Carrie Hawkins, who had been up way past her bedtime) were leaving for home, causing the number of people on the dance floor to gradually decrease. This did not bode well for Misty Waterflower, for even with the reduced numbers she still couldn't find Ash.

"ASH!" she called, pushing her way past an overweight and overdressed couple, looking desperately for any sign of her boyfriend. "Ash, where are you!"

"Misty!" May came running over.

"May, have you found him?" Misty asked anxiously.

May shook her head. "I've asked all over the place, but nobody's seen him."

"Seen who?" Latias asked, floating over with a cup of juice in one claw. Gardevoir was walking alongside her; empty-handed because she did not like the taste of the juice (it stung her taste buds).

"Ash," Bayleef explained, coming over from her own failed search. "He disappeared at some point during the dance when Wes escaped from the party and went riding off into the wilderness on Zoro's horse, chased by Zoro and Rui. We haven't been able to find any sign of him at all."

Latias blinked. "Huh," she said. "That's funny. Gardevoir and I saw him just a little while ago, didn't we Gardevoir?" The Embrace Pokemon nodded in agreement. "We saw him and Harrison when they passed us on the bridge. They joined some guys in costumes and Mr. Ford and headed off somewhere."

Misty was instantly on full alert at this. "And you didn't think there was anything suspicious!"

Latias winced. "Not until right _now_…I thought they were just trying to get away from the party. We all know Ash didn't want to be here that badly." She looked down at the ground sadly. "I should have stopped him…"

"No, it's okay," Misty said quickly, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You couldn't possibly have known something was up."

"We don't even know if anything _is_ up," Bayleef pointed out. "We might all just be blowing a simple party escape into something worse."

"Well, I think I know who we can ask to know for sure," May said, a smirk on her face. "I saw Harrison get back, by himself, just a little while ago. He's been chatting with some friends of his ever since."

"Well then, why don't _we_ chat with him?" Misty said, narrowing her eyes. "Take us to him, May."

The brown-haired girl nodded. "Okay. Last I saw him, he was over here…"

May started to lead the group through the thinning crowd towards Harrison. Along the way, they picked up Brock, who was still wearing a Venus costume and had a face red from crying, and Togetic, who was somewhat concerned Phanphy hadn't come back from the bathroom yet and hoped he hadn't fallen in the toilet again.

Harrison was laughing at something the girl he was talking to said when he saw the approaching group of friends out of the corner of his eye. Certain they were going to ask where Ash was, he quickly told his friend he had business to attend to and turned to face the group, already phrasing a response to any questions they might have for him in his mind. That response disintegrated when he saw the determined look on Misty Waterflower's face that told him that if he did not have the answers she sought or tried to deceive her in any way, she'd either smash his head in with her mallet, feed him to her Gyarados, or do both. Swallowing and trying to ignore the cold sweat running down his spine, he forced a smile as they reached him. "H-hey guys, what's going on?" he asked, cursing himself for the tremor in his voice.

Misty grabbed Harrison by his tie and yanked him down to her height so their noses almost touched. "You're the last person who was with Ash. Where is he?"

"She doesn't need to be this…hands-on, does she?" May asked in concern.

"Better this than some of the other methods she has of making people talk," Brock said with a shudder, remembering how she had mercilessly tortured him one time until he finally admitted that he had been the one who had been stealing her underwear in her sleep. "If anything, Harrison should be thankful he's getting something as physically painless (though psychologically scarring) as her infamous stare."

Harrison swallowed, nearly choking due to the tightening of his tie which had resulted from Misty grabbing it. "I-I don't know-" Misty hefted her mallet, and Harrison went pale, any pretense at calmness and deception he had mustered fading. Yes, he wanted to keep his promise to his father, but he was more frightened of Misty than breaking his father's trust. "M-my dad wanted to see him!" he blurted out, praying she'd put that giant hammer of hers away.

"His dad? As in, his dad Mr. Ford, who owns this place?" Togetic wondered in surprise, voicing everyone's confused reaction to this knowledge. "What would he want to see Dad for?"

Misty nodded slowly. "That's a very good question, Togetic. Harrison! Why did Ford want to see Ash?"

"Just to congratulate him on getting so far, and give him advice for tomorrow," Harrison said quickly, a meager portion of his courage coming back to him.

Her eyes narrowed. "You're lying."

"I'm not, honest!" Harrison protested.

"He is, I can tell!" Latias said triumphantly.

Her friends stared at her. "You can?" Bayleef asked in disbelief.

"Well, of course I-" She stopped, confused. "Wait. I actually could. Since when have I been able to tell when people were telling the truth or not just like that?"

"Tell the truth, Harrison," Misty growled, jerking on the tie and nearly strangling the teen. "Where. Is. Ash?"  
"My dad took him to Battle Tower," Harrison gasped, deciding that breathing was more important than helping his father at the moment. After all, if he died, who would his father choose to inherit his business? "He's going to give him a gift…make him the greatest hero in the world!"

"What?" May said, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"He's talking about HERO," said Tuxedo Masquerain, materializing out of the crowd with a rose in hand. "It's a machine Ford Industries invented to grant normal kids superpowers so they can fight crime and save the world and stuff. That's how he made the Poke Rangers, me, the Soldier Scouts, and a bunch of others you probably haven't heard of. It doesn't work well on Pokemon, for some reason. I volunteered to be changed by it after I was almost killed by the thugs in Lilycove, and I think I turned out marvelously, don't you?" he asked with a wink at May.

Everyone instantly flashed back to how Drew had behaved recently, especially during Ash's battle in that very Pavilion. "I have a bad feeling about this," Latias moaned.

"What?" Tuxedo Masquerain asked, puzzled by the worried looks on their faces. "He'll turn out fine! Better than me even! Heck, I have to go through the thing every couple of weeks or so to keep from devolving into that arrogant jerk you were familiar with these last few days. I'm sure Ash won't even come close to becoming a jerk, semi-evil, power-mad, or out-of-control like almost everyone else who's been through HERO!"

Their hearts almost stopped at this revelation. "That bad feeling's getting worse," Latias groaned.

"You IDIOT!" Misty snarled, eyes burning. "What have you done!"

"It's nothing to worry about, honest!" Harrison protested. "Ash's character is perfect for this! The only reason the heroes created by HERO haven't been working so well is due to certain character flaws, we're sure of it! Ash's pure heart and noble soul will transform him into the greatest champion Earth has ever known, someone who will unite us all against the evil which is causing all these global catastrophes!"

"Saving the world? But that's our job!" Togetic protested. "The Unown chose us for that! Which isn't to say we wouldn't accept help if we were offered it, but I wouldn't want that help to come this way, not if there's a chance that it'll turn Dad into something like…well, like him!" she said, pointing at Tuxedo Masquerain.

"Apparently this Ford character didn't get the memo," Bayleef grumbled. "So now he's going to try to save the world himself using some weird, dangerous, and no doubt illegal method and probably get himself--and Ash--killed. Great."

Latias nodded. "Well, we have to do something about that, don't we?"

"Right," Misty agreed. "You're taking us to Battle Tower, Harrison."

"Wh-what!" he cried, startled. "I can't do that! You'll ruin everything!"

"That's the plan," May said with a glower.

"But-but Ash has to do this!" Harrison protested. "We need him to save the world!"

"Exactly," Misty snapped. "Which is why we're putting a stop to this. If Ash goes through with this, he might not be Ash anymore. We'd rather have him as a regular human than something like the Poke Rangers or…well, him," she said, gesturing to Tuxedo Masquerain.

He blinked. "What's wrong with being me?" he asked, looking insulted.

"You run around in tights with a Masquerain mask on all the time," May said flatly. "Need we say more?"

Tuxedo Masquerain sweatdropped. "Good point."

"B-but you'll doom the world if you do this!" Harrison cried. "How can you be so selfish!"

"SELFISH!" Misty roared, and Harrison realized he had made a fatal mistake when he saw the furious expressions on all their faces. "Is it selfish to want to have a boyfriend who doesn't have to go risk his life every other day for some reason or another! Selfish to want him to stay safe and sound by our (and my) sides! Selfish for my children to want a father!"

"You can still have those things!" Harrison protested. "Him being a superhero won't change anything, honest!"

"You really believe that, don't you?" Misty asked pityingly, shaking her head. "Ash is enough of a hero as it is. Yes, he has a good heart and all, but it's his head that's the problem! The boy has enough issues dealing with his ego as it is, what do you think something like this, getting super powers and being told repeatedly he's the greatest hero Earth has ever seen, will do to it!"

"And he's been making a lot of progress, too," Bayleef said sadly. "Something like this could put him back at square one. Or even further back."

"It's not that the concept of superheroes are bad or anything," Brock explained. "It's just that so far, the ones we've seen who are the result of this HERO thing aren't the best examples of real heroes."

"I'm right here, you know," Tuxedo Masquerain said flatly. "I can hear every disparaging statement you make about me." Nobody paid attention to his complaints.

"Is it so wrong for us to be concerned Ash will become like Drew was, or even worse?" May asked sadly. "We're his friends, and we care about him. Which is why we can't let him go through with this!"

"But you might lose the world!" Harrison protested.

Misty shook his head. "No, we won't. Somehow, I think the world will find a way to protect itself," she said, glancing at Togetic and her friends, well aware that they and others had specifically been Chosen to save the Earth. Admittedly, Ash had too, but they had all agreed a while back it was either so he could fulfill some sort of caretaker role, seeing as how no other human had been Chosen to help out, or because if he hadn't been summoned by the Unown he'd have been killed by the Ghost King, and who knows how big a mess that would have made for everyone?

And besides, the Unown had mentioned there WAS a small chance Ash might be the one who might instigate the end of the world…perhaps not consciously or willingly, but still be a part of the great cataclysm. Could they possibly have been hinting at this moment in time?

And besides, the mental image of Ash running around in a cape and spandex was just too weird for anyone to contemplate without feeling nauseous. This HERO thing definitely had to be stopped!

"So you're going to take us to Ash, now," Bayleef warned, growing vines as she advanced on the helpless teen.

"Or else," agreed Togetic, her eyes starting to glow.

"Well Harrison?" Misty asked coldly. "What's it going to be?"

The terrified young man never got a chance to answer as just then an injured Charizard came flying through one of the archways around the room, smashing into the table the Elite 4, Frontier Brains, and high-ranking executives had been sitting at just a little while ago (they had all gotten up to join in the dancing during Simple and Clean), causing it to collapse under her weight. She groaned and struggled to push herself back up while startled partygoers screamed, fainted, or moved away from her as a cold-eyed Dragonite swooped in through the same archway, landing only a few feet away. Lance hopped off his partner's back. "End of the line."

…

"Blaziken, Aerial Ace!" Ford commanded.

The shaded Blaze Pokemon leaped into the air and vanished abruptly. Charizard and Ash looked around in confusion. "Huh? Where'd he-"

Blaziken reappeared in the air behind Charizard and shot towards him with a Blaze Kick. "Charizard, watch out!" Ash cried.

Charizard leaned to the side on one foot, throwing the bulk of his body out of the way so Blaziken's kick could miss. As the fire chicken flew past Charizard, the dragon swung his flaming tail up, pivoting on his foot so the ember on the end would strike Blaziken in the back. However, the poultry Pokemon twisted in the air, ducking under the tail sweep, and grabbed the non-burning end of the tail as he landed on the platform Charizard was standing on. Before Charizard could regain his balance, Blaziken grunted and yanked the dragon off his feet, swinging him in the air by his tail and flinging him away, straight towards the electrified cage wall. "AHHHHH!" he cried, startled.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower to slow down!" Ash cried frantically.

Charizard quickly spat out a powerful burst of flames from his mouth, pushing against the cage wall. He spread his wings as he did so, the heat reflected back from the wall pushing at his membranes and causing enough drag to slow him down and allow him to flip away from the wall, only inches from touching it. "Okay you big bucket of KFC, let's try that agai-"

"No talking." The Blaziken leaped into the air towards Charizard, both fists burning with a Fire Punch. "Fight."

"Whoa!" Charizard managed to swerve out of the way of the charge. He spun as the Blaziken flew past, smashing into him with his tail. This time his attack worked, and it knocked the Blaze Pokemon straight into the cage wall. "Yeah! Take-"

Blaziken somersaulted so his feet would touch the wall and he _kicked off_ the bars even as the electricity ran into his body from the brief contact, not looking as if it had hurt him in the least. He rocketed back towards Charizard, his fists clenched over his head into a flaming ball. "Heh." He brought the flaming smash down on Charizard.

The dragon gripped the clenched fists in his own claws, flinching slightly from the surprising intensity of the fire. It almost felt hotter than the lava below them! "Jeez! What do you eat for breakfast?" he wondered as the force from Blaziken's attack sent the two grapplers falling back towards the arena.

"Bricks," Blaziken commented as he drove his feet into Charizard's chest and kicked off, flipping in the air as he landed on a platform and Charizard slammed down on a lower one. He grunted in pain.

"Come on Charizard, get up! We both know you can take more than this!" Ash said encouragingly.

Ford shook his head. "Yes, but how much more? Blaziken, Meteor Strike!"

"Huh! Never heard of that attack before…" Ash said in confusion as Charizard got back up, and Blaziken leaped into the air.

The Blaze Pokemon curled into a ball and started spinning rapidly. There was a flash of heat as the air around him burst into flame, turning him into a huge ball of fire. Charizard's eyes bulged as the balled-up Blaziken rocketed down towards him, looking for all the world like an actual meteor. "Ah, crud."

He quickly held his claws out, catching the fireball and shuddering at the force of the impact, shoving him a few feet back. He grimaced and pushed against the meteor with all his might as it continued spinning against his hands and generated wave after wave of heat, washing over his tough hide. With a mighty thrust of his arms, he managed to shove the fireball away, sending it careening into the side of a higher platform. It smashed into the side of the pillar and exploded, causing the upper part of the structure to crumble and collapse into the lava with a weary groan, splashing into the pit and sending up globules and waves of the scalding magma.

"Jeez!" Charizard said, shaking his head in disbelief.

And that's when Blaziken reappeared behind him using Aerial Ace and lashed out at his back with a Dynamic Punch. It would have connected if Ash hadn't shouted a cry of warning just in time, alerting Charizard to the attack and allowing him to block it with his arm. Undeterred, Blaziken leaned back and launched a barrage of Mach Kicks at Charizard's face, stomach, and groin, with the dragon only just managing to block and deflect each rapid kick with his arms, leaving him unable to retaliate.

"Come on Charizard, hang in there! He can't kick forever!" Ash shouted encouragingly.

"That's true…" Ford agreed. "But there's a lot more he can do than just that! Boy, you don't know what you've gotten yourself into! This fight's only barely begun!"

…

"Lance! What are you doing here?" Steven Stone cried in surprise, the champion trainer and young adventurer the first to speak in reaction to Lance's entrance.

"Sorry to interrupt the party," Lance apologized, noticing Ash's friends and a confused Harrison, who knew Lance was Ford's new bodyguard, out of the corner of his eye. "I found this crazed Charizard trying to attack some civilians and attempted to defeat and neutralize it. Unfortunately, it managed to lead me on a long chase until my Dragonite managed to connect with a lucky Water Pulse and knock it out of the sky, sadly causing it to crash land here. I had no intention of putting you in any danger, I assure you. Now," he said, turning back to his Pokemon as Charla managed to get back to her feet, stumbling slightly and glaring at the duo with pure hatred. "Finish her! She will harm no one else ever again!"

"Wait!" Lucy yelled, stepping forward. "Something don't seem right about this. That Charizard doesn't have the look of a crazed Pokemon…even if she does seem like she wants to rip them to pieces, possibly for good reason."

"Yarr, I agree," Drake growled, squinting to get a better look at Charla. "In fact, something looks very familiar about her…"

"Crazed or not, this Pokemon tried to harm innocent people!" Lance said quickly, hoping he could end this before anyone started thinking too hard about what was going on. "Dragonite, finish it off!" The dragon nodded and started charging up a Hyper Beam.

"Stop!" Misty stormed forward and jabbed a finger at Lance's chest. "That's no wild Pokemon, she belongs to a trainer! Liza of Charicific Valley, to be precise!"

Drake gasped, noticing Charla's ribbon and realizing the truth. "Arrgh, I thought she looked familiar! That be Charla!"

"But Charicific Valley? That's all the way in Johto, isn't it?" asked a confused Glacia. "What would a Pokemon from there be doing all the way on this side of the sea, not to mention attacking civilians?"

Spenser frowned. "Something doesn't feel right…"

"My Centennial Rod will reveal the truth!" Brandon announced, marching forward and thrusting a yellow plastic stick with a lightbulb at the end of it in Lance's face. The dragon trainer flinched as the bulb switched on. "Your mind is an open book to me! I can see every thought of yours with the power of my Rod!"

Everyone sweatdropped. "Does he always act like this?" Sidney asked incredulously.

Noland sighed. "Unfortunately, yes."

"We've got to stop letting him watch Lu-Gi-Oh…" Greta muttered.

Tucker nodded in agreement. "For one thing, those priestly outfits he's taken to wearing are a fashion no-no!"

Realizing they were in really big trouble, Dragonite quickly came to the decision to just attack Charla, grab Lance, and get the hell out of there before the elite trainers over there started getting any more suspicious. While they were still distracted by Brandon, Dragonite roared and spat his Hyper Beam right at the weakened yet still defiant Charla.

The beam never reached her. A pair of white Pokemon, one big with large red sections and the other small and covered in red and blue triangles, moved in front of Charla, eyes glowing. The blue screen of a Safeguard formed in front of them, blocking the attack before it could strike. The beam slammed into the screen, causing it to buckle and forcing Latias and Togetic to exert themselves more to deflect it, but things were made much easier when the masked Gardevoir joined their side and lent her own psychic powers to the barrier, making it strong enough to repel the beam and slam it back right into the startled Dragonite's chest, causing him to topple over and land on top of Brandon, pinning him to the ground and sending the 'Centennial Rod' flying away where it smashed on the ground.

"Shit!" Lance swore. He quickly recalled Dragonite and made to run…only to find his way blocked by Misty, May, Bayleef, Brock (still dressed as Venus) and Misty's Gyarados, whom had been summoned to the party with a single whistle from his red-haired trainer, sending the select few who had stuck around after Dragonite and Charla came crashing in running for their lives in fear. Tuxedo Masquerain and his Roselia, Masquerain, and Flygon stood beside them, not quite sure what was going on, but their 'hero instincts' telling them that Lance was definitely up to No Good. "Going somewhere?" Misty asked coldly, hefting her mallet threateningly.

Lance whirled around to run in the other direction, only to find his way blocked by the Elite and Frontier Brains, (aside from Brandon, who had gotten up and was weeping over the shattered remnant of his Centennial Rod) Pokeballs in hand. "Crud."

"Lance, me boy," Drake said, glaring at his son. "What be going on here? Why are ye attacking a member of our own family?" he asked, gesturing at Charla, who was undergoing healing from Gardevoir and Togetic. Latias, on the other hand, was focusing her yellow eyes on Lance. The look in them was not the gentle, playful Latias Lance had seen among her friends…it was cold, pitiless, and commanding. He didn't doubt that anyone would obey her if she glared at them like that. Perhaps it was her true nature as Queen of Dragons coming out, he thought to himself. A shame the fury of that aspect would probably be directed at him.

"Yes Lance, what's going on?" asked the confused Harrison. "You're supposed to be protecting my dad, not attacking other trainer's Pokemon like that!"

Lance felt the myriad eyes focused on him, all prying at him and demanding the truth.

He clenched his fists and set his mouth in a hard line. Well, he wasn't going to give it to them. Mr. Ford had trusted him to keep the HERO a secret, and he refused to divulge what was transpiring this night. He knew that Ash's friends, and possibly even these elite trainers, would foolishly rush to the tower to try and stop Ash's transformation to 'save' the boy from the 'horrible' fate of becoming a superhero and saving the world. He would not do it. His father and Queen may damn him, but he would not betray the world for the life of one person.

"Lance, explain yourself," Steven demanded. "What is going on here? Why did you attack that Charizard?"

"I already told you," Lance said coolly. "She was attacking innocent trainers and had to be put down."

"That's a filthy lie!" Charla snarled.

Latias did not spare a glance at her. "Then what did happen?" she asked, her voice unnaturally frosty as she continued staring at Lance. Togetic blinked in surprise, not expecting that tone from her sweet aunt.

If Charla noticed the frost, she didn't show it. "Charizard and I were flying about. We were celebrating how we'd gotten back together and how I was pregnant again. We went past Battle Tower and saw Lance restraining Ash in this big arena at the top, and that Mr. Ford person and his Blaziken were operating the controls for some big machine on the ceiling with a crystal in it. We figured that something bad was going on, so we smashed in to try and save Ash. Charizard got occupied fighting Ford's Blaziken, while Lance sicced his Dragonite on me. Charizard told me to go and get you—his friends, I presume?—to help him. Dragonite managed to do a fair bit of damage to me, but I got here anyway. And if it weren't for you, that last Hyper Beam might have finished me. Thank you."

Latias' eyes narrowed. "I am only doing my duty to my people."

Charla blinked in confusion. "Hmm?"

Ignoring the confused Charizard, Latias quickly relayed Charla's message to her human friends, emphasizing the part about the crystal and making sure they understood just how dangerous such a thing was. After all, a shard of the same object was what had made Mariah Susanson and Missingno so powerful. They in turn told the high-ranking officials what Latias had just learned, along with what Harrison and Tuxedo Masquerain had told them about HERO, and almost gave Lance a heart attack in the process and shocked Harrison, who had not known any of those things involving the crystal or Charla. _How could they have possibly known about those events in the Tower if they hadn't been there!_ Lance wondered. But what they were saying about the possibility of that crystal in HERO being evil had to be preposterous. There was no way it was that dangerous. No way…that's what he (and Harrison) kept telling themselves, in any event. Lance redirected his shock into anger at Harrison for betraying his own father, and that kept him from thinking too much about the possibility of the HERO being dangerous. Harrison, in the meantime, continually denied everything he was hearing mentally, swearing it couldn't possible be true. But in his heart, he began to develop some doubt.

The officials looked somewhat shocked and skeptical about the possibility of something like HERO being hidden in Battle Tower, right under their noses, all along. Annabel was especially displeased. "You mean all this time, in my own Tower, there was something Ford's been using to make all those weird heroes of his? No way! I would have noticed!" she protested.

Feeling somewhat relieved, Lance quickly moved to take advantage of their skepticism. "They're just kids, esteemed trainers. They don't know what they're talking about. I was not in Battle Tower helping my new boss hold Ash Ketchum against his will for some fiendish experiment. I did pursue and try to neutralize Charla, yes, but only because she was attacking innocents! I swear, I have no idea what she's doing on this side of the sea away from her trainer, but I had to do my duty! Father, surely you don't believe all this!" he appealed to Drake.

The seaman looked skeptical. "I…don't know, me boy. Not sure who to believe here."

"We're the ones who are telling the truth!" May insisted. "He's the one who's lying! He didn't even mention who Charla was or who trained her until Misty recognized her!"

"I didn't mention them because it was not relevant!" Lance snapped. "I saw a Pokemon attacking humans. Trained or not, that meant she had to be stopped!" Charla growled and would have incinerated the lying bastard had Togetic and Gardevoir not still been healing her.

The Frontier Brains seemed divided. "Mr. Ford wouldn't do something like this, would he?" asked an uncertain Greta. "He would never force a kid into doing something like this, right?"

"Mr. Ford _is_ rather zealous when it comes to the fight against crime…" Spenser mused. "And those heroes of his had to come from somewhere, didn't they?"

"But something like that couldn't possibly have gone on without us noticing, could it?" Noland pointed out.

"Especially me, since it would be inside my tower!" Annabel pointed out.

"In a room you almost never go to, seeing as how it's closed off from everyone else most of the year," Tucker pointed out.

Annabel sweatdropped. "Well, uh, yes, but…"

"I believe the kids," Lucy interjected. "They're trustworthy. I can tell that sorta thing. And it doesn't surprise me one bit that Ford was doing this behind our backs. I knew there was a reason we get such large paychecks…to buy us off in case for some reason we figured anything out, I bet, or to convince us to look the other way if we ever got the least bit suspicious."

"This is still all conjecture," Phoebe said with a frown. "We don't know yet who's telling the truth. But perhaps…if we went to the tower, we could find out for ourselves?"

"Yes, that's an excellent idea," agreed Glacia.

Steven nodded. "All right. We'll go take a look at this tower, and see for ourselves what the truth is. As official representatives of the Hoenn League—and Battle Frontier," he added, nodding to the seven other high-ranking trainers. "It's our duty to investigate something like this."

Lance started sweating, realizing he was losing here. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ash's friends were grinning predatorily, Harrison looked torn and disbelieving, and Tuxedo Masquerain was…well, just combing his hair. He couldn't let them win, he would be letting down the entire planet! "Esteemed trainers, surely there's no reason to give credence to these youth's claims! They probably just drank too much punch during the party and got this wild idea to play a prank by tricking you respected officials into going all the way out to Battle Tower to check up on some so-called 'hero' device! They've probably collaborated with other kids their age and have a trap set up for you all consisting of silly string, pies, paint balloons, or whatever else it is kids these days use for pranks!"

"We're not _that _much younger than he is, are we?" Brock grumbled under his breath.

Drake frowned. "Son, it seems to me that ye be protesting a _little _too much."

"And laying it on a little thick," agreed Steven, his suspicions growing.

Lance realized he might have made a mistake, and quickly tried to correct it. "What I mean to say is…you won't see anything there! Just look outside!" He pointed through the nearest archway in the direction of the Battle Tower. "Do you see anything suspicious?"

They looked. "All the lights are out," Tucker commented.

"As they should be!" Lance said triumphantly. "If the off-limits Aerie were being used for some diabolical purpose, the lights would be on! But the entire building is dark! Therefore, nothing is going on!"

"But ALL the lights are out," Annabel pointed out, looking perplexed. "That's never the case. There are always some executives or workers doing overtime or janitors cleaning up or that sort of thing. The Tower's never completely dark." Her earlier skepticism was starting to turn into worry. "The only reason all the lights would be out is if the windows were blocked over by the metal sheets we installed for security…and they would only go down if the building was in lockdown. And if the building were in lockdown, we'd have all been informed by an automatic signal picked up on our special arena badges, which can only be blocked off by the master control unit in the tower itself…."

"Oh, I can explain that too," Lance said quickly, causing Lucy, Ash's friends, and those of the elite trainers who were starting to believe something was up to get exasperated. "The rogue Charizard attacked some partygoers at the plaza in front of the building. Some lazy guard inside must have panicked and activated lockdown, spilling coffee or whatever alcoholic/carbonated beverage he was drinking on the automated alarm system by accident, and didn't have the sense to call you manually to let you know."

"Oh for the love of-" Misty growled. "Let me at him!"

"Misty, no!" May hissed, grabbing her arm. "You'll only prove his point and ruin ours!"

Steven narrowed his eyes. "So the building went into lockdown as you left? Then why didn't you volunteer this information right away as an explanation for why all the tower's lights are off?"

Lance froze. "I…er…"

"It looks as if we have caught you in the middle of a fabrication," Glacia said, folding her arms and glaring at Lance.

"And I doubt it is the _only_ one you've been telling us…" Spenser murmured, stroking his long beard.

Drake looked heartbroken and disappointed. "Me boy…please, say this ain't so!"

Lance stammered. "I…Father, I can explain!"

Harrison was startled by Lance's inability to come up with an answer, which seemed to indicate that the accusations made against him were nothing but the truth. "Wh-what? Lance…really did those things you said he did!" he cried, crestfallen.

"I'm afraid so," Brock said with a nod.

Tuxedo Masquerain sighed. "A shame how far heroes can fall, isn't it?" They stared at him. "What?"

"But then that means…my father…" Harrison blinked back tears. "He's actually…he's actually _forcing_ Ash, and who knows how many others, into this! I almost can't believe it, but…somehow…I know that it's the truth. I can see him doing something like this." He shook his head bitterly. "Why father, why?"

"Well, we'll know soon enough," Bayleef said menacingly. "When we go to meet him ourselves."

"And if he's done _anything_ to Ash…" Misty growled in agreement, already picturing Ford's head splattering like a ripe melon when she smashed it open with her mallet.

In the meantime, Lance was failing to clear the suspicions now facing him from all twelve powerful trainers (discounting Brandon, who was screwing a new lightbulb into his Rod). "I…please, you have to understand!" he said anxiously. "This had to be done!"

"Did it now?" a voice as cold as dry ice whispered, piercing the dragon trainer's mind like a jagged icicle and causing him to gasp and nearly fall to his knees from the shock.

Latias glided over to him, her eyes frozen chips of yellow fire. "Tell me, Lance. Tell me what was so necessary that you were willing to force one of my dearest friends into a position which may very well lose him his soul."

Lance stammered. "I…m-my lady-"

She glared at him, causing him to shut his mouth. "Tell me, Lance."

Lance swallowed, and reluctantly began. "My lady, surely you've been paying attention to the news! Disasters of great magnitude have been striking all over the Earth in the last several days! Ford's private group of superheroes has been unable to stand up to a threat like this, he believed that by giving them a strong, trustworthy leader they would mobilize and be able to save the Earth!"

"Why is he talking to that Pokemon?" asked the confused Noland.

"Hush!" Drake hissed. "That be Latias, a legendary Pokemon! She be speaking to Lance telepathically!"

"For what reason?" asked a puzzled Tucker.

"She belongs to the trainer who has allegedly been taken to and is being held at Battle Tower," speculated Steven. "Perhaps she is attempting to obtain further details?"

"But then why's he acting like she's royalty or something?" asked an annoyed Sidney. "She's just a Pokemon!"

"Shut yer mouth!" snapped Drake, smacking Sidney on the head. "Ye don't know nothing about this! Stay out of it! And that goes fer the rest of ye, too!" Startled by the old man's sudden ferocity, they all quieted—though Lucy looked somewhat curious about why Drake was having such a violent reaction. As for himself, the old man lamented, both cursing his son for getting himself into this mess and praying that whatever Latias' judgment was, it would not be too harsh.

"My lady, please, I was only doing what I thought was right!" Lance begged pitiably.

"Just as you thought it was right to throw Ash and myself into an icy tunnel full of Glalie whom your family purposefully starved for training purposes?" Latias asked, her voice as cold as that very same tunnel.

Lance swallowed. "M-my lady, as I already told both you and Ash…we were watching you every second you were in the tunnel! Had you truly been on the brink of death, we would have saved you!"

Latias' eyes flashed with anger. "Do not lie to me, Lance. I would have expected better from you."

Lance's eyes were wide and frightened. "My lady?"

"Neither you nor Dragonite watched us while we were in the tunnel. Your father I can excuse, because he went to get himself some grog, trusting you would handle things in his absence. You did not. Instead, you and Dragonite watched and waited as I was frozen into a stupor by the cold. You watched as the Glalie pursued us down the tunnel, and neither Ash or myself were able to stop them. You watched as they caught us, and nearly killed us with Sheer Cold, if I hadn't mustered the energy to melt them. We would have died due to your negligence."

"But you didn't die!" he pointed out desperately. "You survived, which proved our faith was in the right place!"

Her eyes narrowed. "Faith?"

"Yes! We were certain that, as the future Queen of Dragons and mate of Rayquaza, no matter what happened to you in the tunnel you would not die because it was not your destiny to! We knew that no matter what happened, you would live! So we saw no reason to intervene because we were sure that you would pull through, and we were right! We had faith in you, and it was proven to be true!" His eyes took on a fanatical gleam as he continued talking. "This is why I helped Ford force Ash into HERO, because that is his destiny, to become the world's greatest hero and help save the Earth and secure it for you and Rayquaza to rule in harmony! Don't you see, lady? I did all this for you!"

Latias stared at him for a long moment. As did everyone else, very disturbed.

"Jeez…" whispered Bayleef, shaking her head. "I had no idea he was this messed up."

Misty shrugged. "It's your typical zealot deal, I suppose. Kind of sad, really." She glanced at Brock. "You'd better not think of going to lengths like this to bring _your_ 'loved one' or object of worship back to power."

Brock blinked. "Huh? Oh no, I wasn't thinking of sacrificing your soul to the gods of death so they would place Venus' in your body so she would live again." They stared at him and slowly took several steps away from him. "What? I was joking!" he lied.

Drake shook his head sadly. "Lance…me boy…" His heart felt heavy. How much of this was his fault? How much of this was because of how he had raised his son since childhood? He felt guilt, and a good deal of weariness, from too many years and hardships as this image of his son, not as a hero but as a half-crazed traitor and fanatic etched itself into his mind.

Latias' eyes did not soften as Lance made the reasons for his actions clear. Instead, she simply glared at him. "You disgust me, Lance."

He blinked. "Wh-what?"

"Your faith is touching, and I am honored (and slightly embarrassed) that you believe so much in me…but it crosses the line from simple belief into blind devotion. And you truly have become blind, Lance. Faith is well and good when it is backed up by good reason and proof to have that faith. Blindly trusting completely in someone you have never met before, whom you have only heard about from stories and thus cannot gauge their true capacity and strength as an individual, only by your own preconceptions and hopes. Yes, I survived the tunnel, as you believed I would. But not because of your faith, or because I was 'fated' to live. The only reason I made it was because Ash's words managed to sink through the torpor that had formed in reaction to the cold and enabled me to trigger my power just in time. Had I taken half a second longer, I would have died, and so would he, and destiny be damned. Your faith in us would have gotten us killed." A growl rose up from deep in her chest. "And now look what your faith has caused. You and your Dragonite almost killed the mate of one of my best friends, someone who is a part of your own great extended Dragon-training family in a sense. And you have all but doomed the soul of Ash Ketchum, who is also one of my best friends. Did you think this would not anger me, Lance?"

"I-I thought that you would react badly," he admitted. "But I was certain that in time you would see the necessity of this!"

"You thought wrong." She coolly turned away, wanting nothing more to do with him. She glanced at Drake, making eye contact. "He is your son. He is your responsibility," she informed him. "Take him far from here. I do not wish to lay eyes on him again." She paused. "Be sure to tell his Dragonite that I wish to talk to him later about how he nearly killed Charla and aided and abetted Lance in all this. I would do it now, but I do not believe we have the time."

Drake nodded. "Of course." He walked past her, careful not to touch her, and bent down to take his son's hand and pull him up. "Come on, lad. We'd best be getting out of here."

"But father-" Lance started.

"No arguments, boy," Drake said with a tone of finality that Lance could not help but obey.

"Drake, are you sure you should-" Steven started.

Drake shook his head. "He be my son, Steven. He be my responsibility. Don't worry; I'll take care of him. I'll…I'll try to make him see what he's done." He tipped his hat off to Latias. "Farewell, lady."

"Farewell, Drake," she said, actually smiling. "If we should meet again, I hope it will be in better circumstances."

"As do I," the old seaman said, walking away, pulling his confused son with him. "As do I."

Latias' friends, the Frontier Brains, and the Elite stared after Drake for a moment as he left the Pavilion with Lance in hand, uncertain how to react to what had just transpired. "All right," Steven said finally. "Ah…I believe that confession was all we needed to hear. We should probably go to Battle Tower and stop Ford's insane plan, then, right?"

There was a near unanimous agreement from his companions. Lucy didn't say anything because she was looking at Latias with interest, intrigued by how much steel Latias had just revealed she possessed. "Dang, girl…not bad."

Brandon, who had put the pieces of the lightbulb back together and wrapped duct tape around the fragmented glass, thrust his 'Centennial Rod' into Latias' face. "Away, evil shadow creature! Back to the darkness with you!" She just stared at him. He blinked. "Why aren't you vanishing or being imprisoned in a giant stone slab? Nothing can defy my Centennial Rod!" Latias stared at him while everyone else sweatdropped. Then she tapped the dimly glowing lightbulb with a claw, causing the fragile glass to shatter and reducing Brandon to a sobbing heap on the floor once again.

"We really need to do something about him…" muttered Spenser.

"Um…Aunt Latias?" Togetic asked tentatively, hovering over. "What was that?"

Latias blinked. Her usual demeanor came rushing back to her while the cold, regal presence she had exuded moment ago retreated back to the furthest corners of her mind. "I…don't know."

"Whatever it was, it was kind of cool," Bayleef commented, putting a vine on her friend's shoulder. "A little freaky too, but a little cool. Like how you were able to just talk at them like that psychically even though they weren't friends of yours so lacked the bond you share with the rest of us."

Latias blinked in surprise, realizing Bayleef was right. She _had_ communicated directly to Lance and Drake. "What's happening to me?" she whispered to herself, somewhat unnerved. Was this another side effect of adding Mariah's power to her own? If so, how many more would reveal themselves?

Misty put a hand on her other shoulder. "Whatever it is, let's hope it continues to be useful…because I bet we'll need it in the Tower!"

Phoebe blinked. "Wait, you can't mean to say you're coming to the tower too?"

Misty shrugged. "Why not? It's my boyfriend's life that's in jeopardy."

"And he's our good friend," added May. Brock nodded in agreement.

"And our trainer," pointed out Bayleef, standing beside Latias.

"And my father," included Togetic.

"And my best friend," added Pikachu, walking over from who-knows-where to join the group.

"And I could use a good fight," agreed Sadic, sharpening her claws.

"Hey guys, where have you been?" Bayleef asked.

"And Uncle Brother Pikachu, why is Sadic wearing your cape and mask?" asked Togetic.

Pikachu and Sadic blinked and looked at each other. The Manyula was indeed wearing Pikachu's mask and cape. The yellow mouse laughed nervously and quickly snatched them from the amused black predator, blushing severely as he tied them back on.

"Don't forget this," Sadic said, also handing Pikachu his sword. "This thing's a little big, I can't go around carrying it with me all the time, especially since there's only one place it would fit and I don't feel like sticking it in there right now."

"Uh, right." Blushing furiously from Sadic's little innuendo, Pikachu took the sword.  
The other Pokemon sweatdropped. "Did something go on between them?" wondered Latias.

"And if it did, do we want to know the details?" Togetic said, looking grossed-out. She had been educated as to the nature of the birds and the Beedrill after returning home from the Mirage Kingdom, and it had been a lot less scarring than Brock's own explanation of the same subject to Ash.

"And I have to come too," said Charla, grunting as she got up, her healing finished. "Like the red-head, my boyfriend's up there too and he needs me! I'm going up too!"

"…I will as well," Gardevoir said quietly after a moment, glancing at Latias. "It is…what friends do…right?" Latias smiled and nodded, pleased with the Embrace Pokemon's social progress.

"And don't forget about us!" Crawdaunt interjected, scurrying over. Golduck, Delcatty, Corsola, and Phanphy were with him. "Don't actually know what's going on, but I heard something about a good fight and you know I'm there!"

"We're storming Battle Tower. Ford's kidnapped Ash (sort of) and is holding him and Charizard up there. He's trying to turn him into the ultimate hero or something," Bayleef explained.

Crawdaunt frowned. "Well, we can't have that, now can we?" His companions shook their heads. "So we're in on this too!"

"Where _have_ you been all this time, anyway?" Pikachu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Crawdaunt chuckled and winked. "Doing the same thing as you, of course. Heh heh."

"Cleaning the bathrooms?" Phanphy asked naively. His scarring memories of Pikachu and Sadic's intercourse had been erased as well and replaced with far more benign images.

Crawdaunt, Pikachu, and Corsola sweatdropped. Sadic snickered, Golduck was oblivious, Delcatty was sitting on top of him, and everyone else was just disturbed. "Er, yes Phanphy, cleaning the bathroom. That's exactly right," he said, patting his nephew on the head with a pincer.

The humans sweatdropped. "Do we want to know any more?" Brock asked rhetorically.

"You don't think that…that he and Delcatty actually-" May managed to gasp out, shocked by the very idea.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know," Misty said flatly. "But whatever happened, at least Corsola looks happy again so now she'll stop sulking and ranting about what an awful Pokemon Crawdaunt is."

"Hmm…now I need to find a girlfriend…" Gyarados muttered to himself. "Seeing as how everyone else seems to be finding someone. Eh, I'm in no hurry."

"So…ALL of them want to come?" Greta asked in disbelief.

"Why not?" Lucy asked with a shrug. "They can stand up for themselves. I'll vouch for them."

"I don't know…" said Glacia with a frown. "This seems highly irregular."

"And this rescue mission itself isn't?" Tucker pointed out.

"Hmm…very well," Steven said, deciding it. "I've met Ash before, and I trust in his friends. If they believe they can assist us, then we'll let them."

"Good," Lucy said, pleased. "Because if you didn't, I'd shove this here boot of mine up you're a until you did."

Steven blinked. "Did she just-"

"Yes," Noland said flatly. "And she's not bluffing either. She'd actually do it." He glanced at Lucy's boots. "And it's a very painful experience, I can tell you that. Especially with those spikes on the bottom." Steven swallowed and decided to stay as far away from Lucy as he could in the near future.

"So we're all going, then? Great!" Misty said enthusiastically, pleased they were finally going to head out. "Let's go save Ash!"

"And Charizard," Charla reminded them.

"And my father is involved in this, so I have to go too," Harrison said, a determined look on his face. "I helped him maneuver Ash into this. If what I've done has caused anything to happen…I have to come along to see this for myself."

Tuxedo Masquerain sighed. "I suppose I'll come too…"

"Really, Drew?" May asked in surprise.

Tuxedo Masquerain flinched. "I…Mr. Ford is my employer, and the one who made me what I am, but…if he's forcing an innocent into something he doesn't want to do…my hero instincts are clear on this. I have to put a stop to this! Even if it means destroying the very thing which turned me into what I am now."

Brock was impressed. "You've changed, Drew."

Tuxedo Masquerain shrugged. "It's the HERO that did it. I'm sure sooner or later I'll devolve back into the arrogant jerk you've been familiar with for the last week or so, so we'd better make the most of my current noble state while it lasts."

"Okay then, if we're all ready, let's go," Steven said with a nod. "We've dallied long enough as it is. For all we know, it may already be too late."

…

Fortunately, it was not too late just yet. The fight at the top of the tower continued as Ash's friends plotted his rescue.

"Ugh!" Charizard slid back on his heels, grimacing and clutching his chest. Blaziken, on the opposite side of the platform, slid back and grimaced as well, but it didn't look as if he had felt the impact quite as much as Charizard had. They had both just fired simultaneous Fire Blasts at each other which had exploded on impact and affected the both of them.

"Come on Charizard, hang in there! Don't let a little explosion get you down!" Ash encouraged his dragon.

"I don't intend to! Raahhh!" Charizard belched a Fire Spin at Blaziken. The constricting tongue of flame wrapped itself around the chicken, pinning his arms and legs together. Blaziken grunted and started struggling against the fire, actually looking surprised that he was having difficulty getting out of the bind.

"Great job, Charizard! Now, use Submission and Seismic Toss!" Ash commanded.

The dragon charged forward, slamming into the trapped Blaziken, and pushed both of them off the platform, spreading his wings and using the heat rising from the lava to lift him into the air. He started looping in the air, spinning as he did so to pummel his passenger with buffeting winds.

However, Ford seemed to be prepared for this. "Blaziken, Rapid Spin!"

"Huh!" To both Ash and Charizard's astonishment, the Blaze Pokemon started spinning rapidly, twisting his way out of Charizard's grip and causing the startled dragon to nearly crash into the electrified cage wall out of surprise. Blaziken twirled rapidly as he fell from the dragon's claws, shedding the flame rope that had been wrapped around him and landing neatly on one foot on a platform, not looking even remotely the worse for wear.

"But that's impossible!" Ash protested. "Blaziken can't learn Rapid Spin!"

"You can learn all sorts of things when you put your mind to it, boy…" Ford said with a shrug. "Such as this stupid stubbornness of yours! Maybe when you go through HERO, you'll understand what I'm trying to do here!"

"That's not gonna happen!" Ash snapped back.

"What's the big deal, anyway? Why are you so dead set on not becoming a hero!" Ford asked, getting frustrated by Ash's repeated refusal.

"I've already told you, it's because I'm worried that crystal of yours is evil…and from the way you're acting, I'm starting to think more and more that it might be!"

"What's that supposed to mean!" Ford bellowed. "I'm not evil! I'm trying to FIGHT evil!"

"By forcing kids who don't want to to be transformed, and by creating heroes who turn into cocky, arrogant jerks who don't feel like helping people?" Ash retorted. "That alone is bad enough, but the main reason I don't want to join your group of heroes is because…in the end, they're totally useless!"

Ford's eyes widened. "WHAAAAT!"

"You heard me!" Ash yelled. "You said they're supposed to protect the world! Then how come I've never seen them on my adventures? Where were they every time Team Rocket, Aqua, or Magma tried to steal something, like my Pikachu? Where were they when Lawrence III tried to capture the legendary birds and almost destroyed the world? Where were they when Molly and the Unown almost crystallized the planet, or when the Iron Masked Marauder tried to control Celebi, or when Alto Mare was held hostage by two demented women and one of the city's guardians died?" His face was turning red, both from perspiration and from the anger fueling his accusations. "Where were they when an artificial Groudon was unleashed which could have absorbed all life on Earth? Where were they when my friends and I were trapped in the Dark World by one of my Pokemon's mother and an evil demon using a piece of the same crystal that you have? Where were they when General Hanson captured Wallace, impersonated Ardan, and nearly killed me and my girlfriend in Sootopolis?"

"I…well…" Ford stammered. "The world's a big place, you know! They can't be everywhere at once!"

"That's true," Ash agreed. "And yet from what I've seen so far, when they are where they need to be, they're all but useless. Neither your Poke Rangers or Soldier Scouts were able to defeat the Tyranitron. Neither were we, but at least we might have had a chance given a little more time (and if Lance hadn't been overly cautious when the Tyranitron was shut down the first time). The Poke Rangers also were unable to beat Miror B, and while the Soldier Scouts were helpful with the rest of Team Snagem, the only consistently useful one was Soldier Wisdom. And then there's Tuxedo Masquerain, of course."

"He's better now!" Ford insisted.

"Yeah, until he becomes a jerk again! How long does he have? A week? Two?"

"Well…" Ford fidgeted uneasily.

"And here's another thing. I can accept that they might not be able to take out really powerful guys like Neo Team Snagem or the Tyranitron. I can accept them never being there during any of my adventures. But what I _cannot_ accept is how, if they're supposed to be protecting the world and its people like you said they are, they've let not only Lilycove but the Mirage Kingdom as well turn into awful, AWFUL places after Team Aqua, Magma, or Hanson took over! Where were your heroes then, Ford, when they were really needed? Why did none of them even try to liberate Lilycove or the Mirage Kingdom after they had been taken over? Can you tell me that?"

"I…" Ford cringed. How could he explain this to Ash? How could he tell him that, to be honest, he COULDN'T think of a reason why his heroes hadn't intervened, even when told to. "I…no…no, I can't." he said weakly. "But…but that's because they're weak! Disorganized! With a leader like you at their head, they-"

"Will be no better than before!" Ash interrupted. "If anything, they'll be worse! It's not them or their flaws that's the problem, although I'm sure that's part of it…it's the crystal itself, HERO, that's the reason they're all but useless! It's because of that that they degenerate and become lazy, arrogant jerks! Your entire project is a failure!"

"IT IS NOT!" Ford bellowed, slamming his palms on his console.

"It is! And until you realize that, you'll keep on doing this, trying to find new heroes to shore up the rest and make them what they're supposed to be! But it doesn't work like that, Ford. You can't make someone a hero by giving them superpowers, no matter how 'pure of heart' you think they are. It takes more than that, a lot more!"

"And you have it!" Ford protested. "You have all of that stuff! Which is why you're perfect, why you're the one! Because you were the one to solve all those catastrophes you've listed, by yourself! That's why you'll be the one to save us all!"

Ash shook his head in frustration. "No Ford, you don't get it! I DIDN'T stop all those problems by myself! Every step of the way, I had the support and help of my friends! Even if I have qualities which you seem to think would make me a perfect hero, I'd be nothing, none of that, without them!"

Charizard looked at Ash in surprise. "Ash…you mean that?"

Ash nodded at the Pokemon. "Of course I do! Would I have been able to help Molly, or get the treasures to Shamouti Island, without you Charizard? How many of the adventures we've had together, ever since we first met up until this point, would have flopped without you? How many times would I have died if you hadn't been there?" He shook his head. "Me? I'm just a dumb kid lucky enough to have great friends. YOU guys are the real heroes, not me."

Charizard blinked, touched. "I…Ash…"

Blaziken snorted, finding this whole display cheesy and boring. He wanted to fight some more. Ford, on the other hand, looked ecstatic. "You see! You see! That's what I'm talking about!"

Ash blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"You have the humility to deny your own worth to keep it from going to your head! You're the one! No matter how much you say otherwise, you're the one! Hahaha!" he laughed madly.

Ash sighed in disgust. "You just don't get it."

"This guy's nuts," grunted Charizard. He glanced at Blaziken. "And you, you're just freaky, you know that?" The Blaze Pokemon smirked in response. "Come on, Ash. Let's get this over with."

Ash nodded. "Right…Ford, no matter what you say, I'm not giving in! This fight's not over yet!"

"It will be," Ford promised, as Blaziken leaped into action. "It will be."

…

"Hey Absol," Jirachi said suddenly. "Do you get the feeling we're missing some dangerous adventure where we could really come in handy?"

"No," Absol said dully, entranced by the beautiful Ninetales on the television screen.

"Okay, me neither," said Jirachi, levitating some more popcorn into his mouth.

"Mmph mmph mph MMMPPPH!" Max yelled, the duct tape still over his mouth. Both of his friends ignored him and kept watching the movie.

…

The plaza before Battle Tower was dark. Any lamps which normally lit it were out, and no illumination came from the tower itself thanks to the metal sheets covering it. However, the dozen or so guards patrolling the tower perimeter had little trouble seeing in the dark thanks to extensive training in night conditions.

Two of the guards, following separate patrols, stopped in front of each other. "All's clear in the southwest."

"Same with the northwest."

"Good. Carry on."

They kept going. And then….

There was a burst of light as several concealed Pokemon out in the trees surrounding the plaza used Flash, lighting up the plaza. The guards didn't let the sudden shift from dark to light hinder them in the least and immediately whipped out their Pokeballs. "Who's there?" shouted one of them. "Leave this vicinity at once!"

"No, I don't think I will." Noland leaped out from behind a flagpole and tackled one of the guards to the ground, wrestling the Pokeball from his grip. He looked up and saw that all the other security guards had already loosed their Pokemon, and he was faced with several dozen very powerful-looking Pokemon of the Fighting, Flying, Poison, and Ground types.

"You have assaulted a paid security enforcer for Ford Industries. You will not be asked again. Leave now, or suffer the consequences!" barked one of the guards.

Noland smirked and whistled. Out of the trees emerged a Mawile, Golem, Glalie, Venusaur, Machamp, Rhyhorn, Breloom, Rhydon, Lairon, Camerupt, Pinsir, Sandslash, Golduck, Manectric, and a Trapinch, all of whom looked ready for some action. "I would, but I promised my friends a good time. They were so looking forward to a good fight!"

"Even if you are a Frontier Brain, your Pokemon still aren't strong enough to handle all of us!" one of the guards insisted. "Leave immediately and your intrusion will not be reported to Mr. Ford!"

"If it were just me here, I might leave," Noland admitted. "But as it turns out, I have some reinforcements on my side!"

As he said this, Greta, with a Heracross, Medicham, Shedinja, Umbreon, Breloom, and Hariyama as her vanguard charged into the guard trainers from behind, bowling them over. A Salamence carrying Tucker swooped down from the sky, roaring as it unleashed Dragonbreath on the startled security Pokemon. Misty's Gyarados, a Charizard, an Arcanine, and a Swampert followed in the air and on the ground respectively, joining the battle. Spenser stood from the sidelines and pointed his walking stick at the guards, shouting for his Pokemon, a Crobat, Slaking, Arcanine, and Lapras to attack. Noland's Pokemon joined the fray at his command, and a huge chaotic melee broke out across the field. Some frightened guards and Pokemon tried to escape, only to run into Glacia and her Sealeo, Walrein, and Glalie, who were more than eager to freeze the escapees in solid ice.

"You're not the only one who's got friends!" the guard commander shouted, punching in a sequence on his radio. "We're calling for backup!"

"Bring it on!" Noland's Machamp roared, smashing two weaker Machoke's heads into each other. "I'll take em' all!"

While the huge and confusing battle went on, a somewhat smaller and unnoticeable group crept past the battlers, sneaking over to the sealed front doors of the building. Once there, the air rippled, and Latias, Bayleef, Phanphy, Crawdaunt, Charla, Corsola, Pikachu, Sadic, Gardevoir, Togetic, Brock, Misty, May, Harrison, Tuxedo Masquerain, Steven, Lucy, Annabel, Sidney, and Phoebe appeared, seemingly from nowhere. All the humans were still wearing their formal outfits from the party. "I must say, that invisibility trick of yours is very useful, Latias," Steven complimented the dragon.

She blushed. "Thanks. I didn't even know I could do it to a whole bunch of people until now."

"Can you get this thing open?" Phoebe asked as Annabel ran her fingers over the frame of the door, outside the metal sheet.

"Of course I can," she remarked. "Even if this building is Ford Industries corporate headquarters, it's still my domain, and I know how to get around a little thing such as a security lockdown. Ah-ha!" She pried open a concealed panel, revealing a keypad. "One moment." Her fingers flew across the keys as she tapped in what looked to be a very complicated sequence and Brock, who had been watching out of curiosity, soon found himself getting dizzy trying to string the keystrokes together. Annabel stopped typing, and the keypad split apart, revealing a retinal scanner and fingerprint pad. She peered into the scanner and pressed her thumb on the pad, then stuck her tongue open so another, hidden sensor could scan her taste buds and see that it was really her. A green light blinked, and the sheets over the doors retracted.

"Wow. Not bad," said the impressed May.

Annabel shrugged. "Like I said, this Tower is my domain. There's nothing about it I don't know!"

"Except for the hero-creating device in the top," Sidney pointed out.

She sweatdropped. "Uh, yeah…"

"Ah, leave her alone," Lucy remarked, slugging Sidney lightly on the shoulder and nearly breaking his arm. "The tower's a big place. Not even I know all the twists and turns of the Pike, just as Brandon needs a map to find his way through his own pyramid."

"Brandon's crazy," Phoebe pointed out. "But we get it."

"It's a good thing we told him to stay behind and 'find the palace guards' or he'd have tried to take the lot of those guys on with his 'Centennial Rod' and 'Ancient God Monsters'," Annabel said, pushing the door open. "Shall we?"

The group entered the tower. The doors closed behind them, blocking out the sound of the massive struggle outside as reinforcements for the guards arrived.

The lobby was as dark as it had been when Ash and Ford had arrived earlier, and the receptionist still wasn't back at her desk. "Where do we go from here?" Steven asked Annabel. Seeing as how she knew the Tower best, she was the logical choice to guide them to the top.

Annabel pointed to the elevator banks along the walls. "We can take those. Most of them go up to the hundredth floor. There are a lot of us, so we can probably split up and take each one in small groups. Then, once we emerge in the arena, we can surprise Ford from all sides and put a stop to this!"  
"The HERO's in the top arena, right?" May asked Tuxedo Masquerain, just to check.

He nodded. "Yeah, the entertainment system is the main housing for it. I think the system itself is almost indestructible, but the supports holding it to the ceiling aren't. And I think the room's spotlights are part of it somehow…not sure how, but every time I've used HERO all the lights focused on me."

"That should be no problem, then," Pikachu said, fiddling with the tie of his cape. "One good shock and I can probably short the whole thing out."

"Or we could smash them," Crawdaunt suggested. "Smashing things usually helps in these situations."

"It always does on TV," Phanphy agreed.

"Well, we have to get up there first, so don't get too eager," Sadic advised, sharpening her claws. "No telling what's waiting for us up there."

"A crazy human, a very powerful Blaziken, Ash, and the Pokemon I love," Charla informed her.

"Ah. Well, if that's _all_ that's waiting for us then, we have nothing to worry about," Sadic said with a smirk.

"If you're worried, you can just stick with me," Pikachu told her.

She snorted and rubbed his head affectionately, slicing off a few hairs. "It's _you_ I'm worried about, little mouse. Wouldn't want my kids to grow up knowing their father got himself killed doing something stupid."

Pikachu sweatdropped. "You really don't have much faith in me, do you?"

"I have plenty. Doesn't mean I can't care for your safety, does it?"

Bayleef frowned. "What was that about children?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing!" Pikachu said quickly, covering Sadic's mouth with a paw before she could reply. "She's just talking. You know she does that."

"Does she?" Bayleef asked, looking doubtful. "Hmm."

Phanphy's eye twitched, one of his repressed memories stirring…before thankfully rolling over and going back to sleep, leaving his mind unscarred. Togetic grimaced. "I really don't want to know what you were up to by yourselves."

Corsola glanced at Crawdaunt. "Er, Crawdaunt, will I-"

"Nope. Not that time yet," he told her gruffly.

Togetic and Latias blanched. "I don't want to know what they were doing even more," the dragon confided to her niece.

In the meantime, Annabel was typing at the computer at the receptionist's desk. "What are you doing?" Misty asked, leaning over the counter to take a look.

"I opened the doors, but the rest of the building is still on lockdown," Annabel explained. "I'm trying to undo the locks on the elevators so we can ride them to the hundredth floor. Shouldn't take more than a second." She punched one last button. "There! That should do it."

All of the lights in the lobby came on…and suddenly dulled to a glaring red, flashing as sirens went off. Metal bars slammed down in front of the sheets already covering the elevators, and sheets and bars sealed the exit doors again. A huge, yet thin metal wall dropped abruptly from the ceiling, bisecting the room diagonally and splitting the group in half, leaving most of the humans on one side of the new barrier and most of the Pokemon on the other.

Annabel sweatdropped and laughed nervously. "Whoops," she said meekly. "They must have changed the password." The group on her side of the wall facefaulted in disbelief.

"Hey, what just happened!" Brock shouted, his voice carrying through the wall with only a slight muffling.

"Uh, sorry!" Annabel shouted through the wall in reply. "The codes must have been changed, and I either didn't get or forgot to open the memo about the new ones. Now we're kind of stuck again. The doors are sealed and the elevators are even more closed off than before."

"No worries!" Crawdaunt said confidently, flexing his claws. "One good hammer will knock this thing down!" He smashed his claw into the wall with a Crabhammer…and howled in pain, hopping back and clenching his throbbing pincer. "Ow! Ow! That's one damn strong wall!"

"Crawdaunt, no cursing around the kids!" Bayleef scolded, smacking him with a vine.

"What's damn mean?" Phanphy said innocently.

"The same thing as darn, dear," Corsola told him through the wall.

"Here, let me try," Charla offered. The other Pokemon got out of the way as she inhaled deeply, then spat out the incredibly powerful flame of a Blast Burn. It exploded against the wall, burned fiercely, and went out, revealing…that she hadn't even scorched it. The Charizard blinked. "That's a very strong wall."

There were some yelps and cries of pain from the other side of the wall, indicating that the trainers had tried using some of their Pokemon to knock down the wall only for their attacks to be either repelled or totally ineffective. "Jeez! My ghosts can't pass through this thing! What's it made of?" wondered Phoebe.

"Some powerful metal…all of the security seals in the building are made of it, and I think some of the walls are reinforced by it," Annabel told them. "As corporate headquarters for Ford Industries, Ford wanted this tower to be very secure in case of something like a Team invasion or terrorist bombing."

"Can't you just undo the locks like you did for the doors earlier?" Steven asked.

Annabel shook her head, realized Steven couldn't see here, and said, "No, the computer's shut down. Security measures, you know. Nothing like this has ever happened before; I always thought I'd be able to have total control of my Tower no matter where I was in it. But now that I've set off that alarm, the only computer that can end the lockdown is the one that started it in the first place…and I'm not sure where that is."

"Ford's probably got it," Lucy suggested. "So our mission's still the same as before. Get to the top of the building, beat him up for using us as a cover for this, and save that Ash kid."

"But how do we do that?" asked the confused May. "The doors and elevators are all locked!"  
"Don't worry, there's still a way for you guys to reach the top," Annabel reassured them. "The central area of the tower, from top to bottom, is one hundred battlefields stacked on top of each other, one for each floor. The battlefields are ringed by flights of service stairways used for maintenance to repair the fields and for trainers to enter without getting mobbed by crowds eager to see a fight. The door to the battlefield on this floor is right on your side of the lobby. The metal seal on that door, for some reason or other, is unable to lock properly; we've been meaning to get it fixed. If a strong enough Pokemon can push up on it from the bottom edge, it should be able to retract so you can get inside and climb the service stairway up to the top. For structural reasons each flight of stairs only goes up a few floors, then you have to leave it and cross the battlefield to reach the next flight and keep on climbing. Go up enough stairs and you'll reach the top."

"How come those stairs aren't sealed too?" asked Misty.

"They are, from the outside, to keep terrorists or whoever from getting into the battlefields and using the stairs to get up and down the building. But the stairways are open from the battlefield itself, and if you get to the top and the door, either to the arena or the outer hallways, is sealed, it should be easy to undo the locks from the inside, just type…let's see…I believe the password for this week is NEW FRONTIER…into the keypad next to the door. I could be wrong though," she said sheepishly. "I did mess up on the elevator password."

"No worries," Lucy said confidently. "If the password doesn't work, a solid boot from yours truly should get it to cooperate."

"I don't doubt that," Sidney muttered to himself, cowed by Lucy's aggressiveness.

"I like this girl!" Sadic said approvingly. "She'd make a great Sneasel or Manyula!"

"Just what we need," Bayleef muttered. "Two of them."

Pikachu glared at her warningly. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Depends on your preference for company, I suppose," Latias said quickly, trying to keep any conflict from breaking out. "Right, Gardevoir?" The psychic, who was herself somewhat fond of Sadic from the travel time they had spent together, nodded silently.

May moaned. "Ohhh…it took us forever to climb all those stairs back at the hotel…and now we have to go up one hundred stories!"

"If you don't want to do it, you can stay behind," Misty told her flatly. "But I'm going all the way to the top! Ash needs us, and I'm not going to abandon him!"

"I'm with you, mom!" Togetic chirped, landing on her mother's shoulder. (She had been on Misty's side of the lobby when the wall came down.)

"But what about you guys?" Brock wondered. "How'll you get to the top? Is there a door on your side to the battlefield too?"

Annabel sighed. "Yes, but the lock on that one is in working order. I'm not sure what we can do…"

"If I may interject?" Tuxedo Masquerain asked. "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Annabel, but…HERO isn't the only part of his hero project Ford hides in this building. There are a couple of labs on the R+D floors of the tower, and some training rooms, but if I recall correctly there's a secret passage in this very lobby which leads to an obstacle course of sorts that winds all the way to the top of the building. Ford built it to help us superheroes get used to our new abilities and the like."

"Really?" Annabel asked, both surprised and somewhat dismayed. "How many more parts of this tower do I know nothing of…? How do I open it?"

"Simple, rotate the picture of the cowboy boots on the wall 45 degrees counter-clockwise and press the button that appears."

"You mean this one?" Latias asked, spotting the described painting on the wall. She floated over to it and twisted it as instructed.

A big, shiny red button popped out of the floor in front of Phanphy. "Oooh, pretty!" He happily stamped on the button.

There was a hiss of pneumatic pressure and a portion of floor tiles rose into the air on thin metal pistons, revealing a large hole with ladder rungs leading down into a tunnel a few meters beneath the floor. "Wow, just like on TV!" the little elephant squealed.

Annabel shook her head in disbelief. "I walked through here every day and never once noticed this!"

"Well, that's secret passages for you," Bayleef said, patting her on the shoulder with a vine sympathetically. "You're not supposed to notice them."

"Well then, it looks like we all have a way to get to the top," Phoebe said cheerfully.

"Yeeessss…" Brock said, a frown on his face. "How convenient that we'd get split up, then each of us finds an entrance to a passage up to the top of the tower while, due to bad luck, the one person best qualified to navigate said passage is trapped on the other side of the split. It's almost as if some omnipotent being, like an author of some sorts, was trying to find a convenient plot device to split us up so he, she, or it wouldn't have to try writing for all of us at once."

Lucy pounded him on the back of the head and slammed her foot into his back, pushing him to the ground. "Be quiet, you idjit!" She hissed. "You'll break the fourth wall and destroy the fabric of space-time, killing us all!"

"Sorry," he wheezed apologetically.

"Hmm…" Misty turned to May. "Do you think I should get spiked boots?"

May's eyes widened. "Ah-ha, no. Nonononono. I don't think you're at quite that level yet."

Misty nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah…don't know why I'm complaining really. I still have my mallet, anyway."

"Just don't add spikes to it," Togetic recommended. "Otherwise, you might actually hurt Dad when you pound him with it."

Steven clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention. "Well, now that that's settled…shall we head on to the top? I believe we have a young trainer to save, and goodness knows we've dallied long enough as it is."

Harrison nodded. "Right, let's go. My father is waiting for us." He paused. "Ahhh…" He sweatdropped. "Anyone got a Pokemon strong enough to open the door? I'm not sure my Blaziken's up to it." Everyone on his side of the lobby facefaulted. Then Steven took out his Aggron, who kindly lifted the metal sheet, and they were on their way.

On the other side of the divide, Pikachu and Sadic hopped down the hole and landed neatly in the tunnel. They glanced around for a moment, all of their finely-tuned senses on alert for any hint of trouble. After a moment, they glanced up. "All's clear!" they shouted to the others.

"Okay then. If I may go first?" Annabel asked, walking over to the edge where the ladder was.

"Go right ahead," Bayleef said graciously. "I don't know how I'm going to fit down that thing. Looks a little too small for me," she muttered.

"Don't worry," Crawdaunt said cheerfully. "If you get stuck, I'll pound you in!"

"Like a hammer hitting a nail!" Phanphy added happily.

Bayleef grimaced, the unpleasant thought of Crawdaunt driving her head into the ground with a hammer flashing through her mind. "Ah, actually, I don't suppose you could just push me through psychically, Latias or Gardevoir? I can't imagine it'll hurt as much…"

…

Ford noticed a blinking light on his console. _Hmm?_ _What's this?_ He pressed a button, and a small screen lit up, showing a split image of the two groups, one climbing the stairs and the other working their way through the booby-trapped training passage. He noticed, to his horror, that among the rescuers were two of his Frontier Brains and three of the Hoenn Elite trainers, including his own son! _WHAT! WHAT'RE THEY DOING HERE!_ He didn't look up as Blaziken ricocheted off the cage wall before him and nearly flew back towards Charizard, ramming him in the gut with a double Dynamic Punch. _Lance must have failed…and now some of the strongest trainers in Hoenn are coming for me! And if they came this far, with my son as well, that probably means they won't be willing to listen to me either…and Harrison must have been coerced into losing sight of our dream!_ He growled in frustration, ignoring the battle for a moment. _Damn it, I didn't want it to come to this! I was hoping you of all people would understand what I was doing, son! And that the League would understand as well, once they saw the necessity of it all! But those idiots are so blinded by their own sense of what's right and what's not that they're missing the bigger picture!_ He sighed unhappily. _It looks as if I have no choice…_Resigned; he pressed another button, sending a signal to a few select individuals inside the building, none of which were trapped employees or rescuers. _THEY will take care of things…in any way necessary…_ He grimaced and glared down into the cage at Ash, who was shouting orders to Charizard just in time for the dragon to dodge another Meteor Strike, grab Blaziken by the leg, and fling him into the lava. _Dammit, boy, why'd you have to be so stubborn! Then things wouldn't have gotten this far!_ He scowled. _Oh well…I've set things in motion, and I must see them carried out…no matter what the consequences!_ He gave one last glance at the screen as Blaziken erupted from the lava pit, streaming magma, which he flung at Charizard like darts. _I'm sorry; Harrison…but you've left me with no choice. If you choose to stand against the world and choose your friends over the planet…then there is nothing more I can do for you._

…

"Are…we…there…yet?" May gasped, almost collapsing on the steps.

Misty glanced at an arrow painted on the wall. "Yep, we're almost to the twentieth floor and the end of the first flight. Wow, that was fast, wasn't it?"

Lucy shrugged. "Eh, that's what happens when you run up stairs; you pass the floors pretty quickly. Now come on and get up, May, we still have a little way to go." May moaned and got back to her feet, practically dragging her way up the stairs.

Steven reached the landing at the top of the stairs and glanced around. The landing was narrow, much like the stairwell itself, and had two doors on opposite walls. One was sealed by a metal shutter; the other was open and allowed access to a large Pokemon arena. "Come on, we're a fifth of the way there. This is no time to lose momentum; we still have so much further to go!" There was a very loud moan from May at this, which everybody ignored.

"I don't know why you're complaining so much," Brock grumbled. "You're not the only one wearing a dress and high heels, but you don't hear me saying anything."

"About that…why haven't you changed into something more comfortable?" asked Misty.

"Just like you guys, there wasn't any time. Plus, I'm not wearing anything under this," Brock told her.

They all stopped and shuddered in horror. "We did NOT need to know that!" Lucy snapped, pounding him on the head.

They entered the arena. It was a large, circular pit with a sand-covered floor and white lines designating the usual boundaries of a Pokemon battlefield. Glass walls rose from the top of the pit walls, forming protection for the viewers who would normally be sitting in the rows of seats ringing the arena. Across the pit from them was another open door, leading to the next flight of stairs. It was to this door that they hurried towards; knowing time was of the essence.

However, before they made it halfway across, somebody cried, "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" A flash of pink and black fell down from the ceiling, landing in front of them and revealing itself to be the pink Poke Ranger. However, her attire seemed different. The sides of her helmet had popped open, allowing an antenna and comm. microphone to stick out. Her torso was covered in a thick black Kevlar vest with a pink and silver number five emblazoned on the left side, with a pocket which held her badge/morpher on the right. Black braces and straps ran up her legs. She was carrying a large laser gun with two barrels, which she pointed at the group. "You are trespassing on Ford Industries property and are attempting to disrupt the vital functions of Project HERO! You are all under arrest! Surrender now or I will be forced to take action!"

They sweatdropped. "Who is she kidding?" Misty muttered. "Like she can take on all of us and our Pokemon when she couldn't even beat that Miror B guy."

"We couldn't either," Togetic pointed out.

"Well, yes but…oh, never mind."

The elite instantly reached for their Pokeballs, but Tuxedo Masquerain stopped them. "Wait! Let me handle this!" He stepped forward. "Pink Ranger, stand down, they're with me!"

"Orders are for me to apprehend you as well, Tuxedo," Pink Ranger told him, pointing her gun at him.

This startled Tuxedo Masquerain. "What? Why!"

"Your mind has been corrupted by these interlopers! You are against the project and Mr. Ford! Therefore you are a criminal, and all criminals must be contained!"

Tuxedo Masquerain sputtered. "But…but…I'm a hero!" he protested weakly. "Just like you!"

"Not anymore you aren't." She pointed her gun at his feet and fired, causing him to yelp and stumble backwards as the blasts exploded in front of him. "By siding with these criminals, you have become one of them! How very disappointing that one of our best would turn to the forces of evil," she said, disgust evident in her voice.

Tuxedo Masquerain's face managed to convey shock, disbelief, horror, anger, and finally depression in rapid succession. "I…I don't believe this…" he said, sagging. "I'm not the evil one here! I'm just trying to do the right thing by saving that Ash kid from…well…becoming like us!"

"And that's a bad thing?" Pink Ranger asked, pointing her gun at him.

"I…well…I'm not sure," he admitted uneasily. "But my hero instincts are telling me to put a stop to this, so that's what I'm going to do!"

Pink Ranger shrugged. "Okay." She fired her laser blaster right at Tuxedo Masquerain's head.

A blue Safeguard aura flickered into being before the group, deflecting the laser shots. "That wasn't very nice," Togetic said, frowning at the Ranger.

"I think I've had enough of this gal," Lucy said, cracking her knuckles. "What do you say we take her down a notch?"

Tuxedo Masquerain nodded, his eyes cold. "Yes…I think that's exactly what we should do." He grabbed his Pokeballs and threw them out. "Go, Roselia, Masquerain, Flygon!" The rose, insect, and dragon Pokemon all appeared before him. Misty yelped at the sight of Masquerain, a bug, and scurried to hide behind May, her insectophobia kicking in.

Pink Ranger fired her blaster at them, but Togetic's Safeguard deflected it again. "Masquerain, draw her fire!" Tuxedo Masquerain ordered. The insect darted around the room, irritating Pink Ranger (who was not fond of bugs either) and caused her to fire her laser rapidly at the bug to try and hit it. "Flygon, SIT!" The bug-eyed dragon flapped his wings, rose into the air…then dropped right onto Pink Ranger, flattening her and pinning her to the ground.

"OW! HEY!" The Ranger struggled. "GET OFF OF ME!" She pointed her gun upwards, targeting the dragon's head…

But Roselia showered her with Sleep Powder, getting through her helmet filters and putting her to sleep.

Harrison blinked. "That was kind of anticlimactic."

Misty snorted and rolled her eyes. "Some superhero she was."

"I'm one too, you know," Tuxedo Masquerain pointed out.

"My statement stands," she said flatly.

"So…what do we do with her?" Steven asked. "She may be out now, but she might wake up and try to come after us again."

"I'll stay and watch her," Tuxedo Masquerain volunteered. "That way she'll have to go through me and my Pokemon before reaching you guys."

"You sure about this?" Brock asked.

Tuxedo Masquerain nodded. "Yes. It's the…_heroic_ thing to do, isn't it?"

"Well, not exactly…" Lucy murmured. "But hey, whatever floats your boat."

"Be careful, okay?" May said anxiously.

Drew laughed and brushed back his hair. "Ha! What's to be careful about? I'm Tuxedo Masquerain!" He paused. "But…eh…yeah, I'll be careful."

She smiled. "Well, good then."

"Are they going to kiss yet?" Corsola asked, annoyed.

"I don't know. I'm not sure there's anything between them yet," Togetic said with a shrug. "Speaking of which, I see you and Crawdaunt got back together. How'd that happen?"

Corsola shrugged. "He can be very persuasive when he puts his mind to it."

"You crawled back to him begging and crying, didn't you?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

After saying their farewells to the masked coordinator, the group continued on their way to the top of the tower. Tuxedo Masquerain smiled faintly and leaned against the side of his Flygon. "You know, I think it's a good thing we never put you on that diet," he said, glancing down at the trapped Pink Ranger.

"Can I get off her yet?" the dragon whined. "The metal on her vest is chafing my hindquarters." He whimpered. "I swear that she's going to leave a permanent 5-shaped imprint scar on my rear. How'm I going to mate with any females then?"

"I wouldn't mind the scar," Roselia hinted, winking at him.

He stared at her. "Huh? You're too small for me. I mean really, you'd probably fall into it."

Roselia's eye twitched. She huffed and turned around. "Men," she grumbled.

…

"What the heck are these things!" Pikachu cried, charging up his sword with some electricity and slashing out with it, sending a thunder wave coursing down the hallway and bisecting several of the bizarre creatures attacking them.

"Nothing but trouble. Though they do have nice blades," Sadic admitted as she froze half a dozen before her with an Icy Wind and smashed them to pieces with her claws.

The monsters, or whatever they were, looked a lot like Scythers, except that they were a little slower and not quite as adept with their blades. Their green exoskeletons had turned black and hardened into spiky chitinous armor. A second set of arms sporting massive claws grew from their midsections. Purple feathery spikes sprouted from their eye ridges, hanging over mindless red eyes. Their scythe blades had become long organic sword-like growths with which they hacked and slashed indiscriminately at friend and foe alike. The heroes had no way of knowing, but these Scythers were some of the failed experiments which resulted from testing HERO on Pokemon. Since they were of no use to the 'forces of good', they were relegated to training areas for Ford's heroes to practice their skills on. When the group of Pokemon (and Annabel) had entered this area by crossing a wildly tilting bridge, climbing up a series of stairs and passing through several doors which would only fall when Charla and Latias blasted them with their fire, they had triggered an alarm which closed the doors and unleashed this endless horde of monsters on them.

The beasts weren't very resilient, it only took a Blast Burn or Fire Blast from Charla and crushing Psychic waves from Latias or Gardevoir to knock whole bunches of them down and permanently eliminate them from the fight. However, there were always more monsters to replace them, pouring in endlessly from the walls.

"Ahhh! Help!" Phanphy screamed as one of the monsters pinned him with a clawed foot and prepared to run him through with a sword.

"Hang on!" Crawdaunt leaped onto the beast from behind and started pummeling its head with his Crabhammers. "Leave the kid alone, you freak!"

The monster hissed and twisted its arms so that the swords would point towards Crawdaunt and thrusted them backwards, trying to skewer the crustacean. This ploy was foiled when a Hyper Beam from Annabel's Alakazam slammed into the creature's head, causing it to explode and shower Crawdaunt in gore before the monster fell to its knees and hit the ground, throwing Crawdaunt off. He blinked while Phanphy made a grossed-out face and licked some of it off his claws. "Hey, this stuff's not bad!"

Phanphy stared at him in disgust. "Uncle Crawdaunt, you're not actually going to eat that stuff on you, are you?"

"Kid, you should know by now there's very little I won't eat."

Latias forced a wave of the monsters back with a combined Psychic crush from her and Gardevoir, and glanced over her shoulder at Annabel, who was frantically working at the keypad next to the locked exit door. "Annabel, are you done yet?"

"Just a little longer!" the purple-haired maiden replied to Latias' psychic probe. "Almost…there!" With a beep and a hiss, the shutter door opened, revealing the next passage, which was most definitely not full of murderous beasts. "Come on, let's go!" Annabel recalled her Pokemon, and then she and Phanphy went through the door. Sadic and Pikachu followed after slicing up a few more monsters, followed by Crawdaunt, Annabel's Pokemon, and finally Gardevoir, Latias, and Charla, who had been using their wide-range attacks to hold the beasts at bay while their friends made it through the door. Once everyone else was through, the trio quickly ran through the exit. "Close the door!"

Annabel reached for a keypad…only to see there was nothing on this side of the door that would close it. "I can't! The controls are on the other side, with THEM!" she cried, pointing at the horde coming down the hall towards them.

Sadic glanced at Pikachu. He met her gaze. For a moment, they did nothing, but finally nodded and ran back through the door. "Hey! What are you guys doing?" Bayleef cried in alarm. Crawdaunt quickly understood and followed after the blade-wielding duo, leaving the others behind.

Once they were through the door, Pikachu released a Thundershock at the control panel, causing it to explode in a burst of sparks and smoke. The shutter door came slamming back down, leaving them (and the monsters) trapped in the room!  
The rest of the group, on the other side of the shutter, gasped in horror. "UNCLE BROTHER PIKACHU!" Phanphy cried.

"They've doomed themselves!" Latias gasped.

"No!" Charla launched a Fire Blast at the door, trying to either melt it or knock it down. Neither happened, and the shutter held firm. Growling, she pounded at it, trying to knock it down. Latias tried to push it up with her psychic abilities, and Bayleef tried pummeling it with her vines, but nothing seemed to work. Phanphy didn't do anything productive, he just sat down and started crying.

"Wh-why?" Gardevoir wondered, shocked that those three would have done such a thing.

Annabel didn't understand Gardevoir, but could tell what she was thinking by the tremor in her voice and the look in her eye. "They did it to save us," she said weakly. "They realized the only way to close the door and keep those things at bay was to sacrifice themselves…those brave fools!" she cried.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Pikachu shouted from the other side of the door, over the roars of the monsters, Crawdaunt's raucous laughter, and the sounds of explosions and electric blasts. "Get going! We'll hold them off here, hurry!"

"But we can't leave you behind!" Bayleef protested.

"There's no time, you guys know that!" Sadic replied, decapitating one of the monsters with her claws. "You have to save that Ash kid! You're the only ones who can do it now!"

"But we can't leave you!" Phanphy screamed. "We need you!"

"Don't worry," Crawdaunt grunted as he fired Bubblebeams at the monsters. "We'll be okay! We're just buying you time to get to the top; we'll find a way out of this!"

Charla growled and stopped pounding on the door, realizing how futile it was. "Dammit…" She shut her eyes, remembering how she had been forced to leave Charizard behind much like this, and prayed that he was still all right. "Please…don't die."

"Yes," Latias agreed, her eyes watering. "I don't want to lose any more friends," she said, sorrowfully thinking of Bianca. "So…so don't die, you hear me?"

"Heh…when you put it like that, what choice do we have?" joked Sadic, flinging an Ice Ball at her foes. "Guess I'll have to put off joining my ma in the big hunting grounds in the sky a little longer. Take care of Gardevoir until I get out of here, okay?"

"I…" Latias swallowed and nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

"Guys…" Bayleef whispered.

"Hey, don't get all weepy on us!" Crawdaunt snapped. "You don't have time for that! Get going already!"

"Save Ash, or my ghost is coming back to haunt you, okay? And his too, maybe," Pikachu said.

Latias couldn't help smiling at that. "If you haunt us, I'll get my boyfriend to scare you away."

Pikachu chuckled. "Yeah…you do that…now get going!"

Latias nodded. "Come on. We have to go."

They did not want to go. They did not want to leave their friends behind. But they had no choice…and so, regretfully, they departed.

Pikachu panted, shaking his sword off to get rid of some of the chunks of insect innards on it. "You really think we're going to get out of this alive?"

Sadic gave him a look that said she couldn't believe he had asked such a foolish question. "Of course we are. It's going to take more than these guys to bring us down!" she said, gesturing with a bloody claw at the dozens and dozens of hideous black sword-armed monsters lumbering towards them.

"And if we do die…at least we'll have given em' one hell of a fight!" agreed Crawdaunt, snapping his pincers. "But come on…no more talk of death…we promised we'd live to see them again, and I intend to do that!"

"And if we die…so what?" said Sadic with a shrug. "It's not like death is something to be feared, anyway. I've never understood why so many people are terrified of dying."

"Were this any other time, I'd be delighted to learn why you or your people have no fear of death," Pikachu said, charging up his sword. "But right now we have a fight to win!" He pointed his blade at the monsters. "Okay, in the words of a famous swordsman, 'You shall not pass!'"

"That wasn't a swordsman," Crawdaunt corrected him. "It was a wizard."

Pikachu sweatdropped. "Oh, right."

"Eh, swordsman, wizard, who cares? Either way, we're not letting these things get by us!" said Sadic, slashing at the air with her claws.

Pikachu nodded. "Right…ready, you guys?"

"Ready!" they chorused.

"Okay…here we go! YAAHHHH!"

"YAHHHH!" Together, they charged down the hallway. The monsters bellowed and ran to meet them, swords flying.

The two forces clashed in the middle of the chamber, and the battle began anew.

…

"Charizard, Dragon Rage!" called Ash.

"Blaziken, dodge them!" Ford retaliated.

Charizard circled in the air above the lava field, spitting flaming energy balls down on the arena. Blaziken utilized his rapid speed and high jumping ability to hop from platform to platform, dodging the attacks with ease. He paused for one moment on the tallest platform, pivoted on one foot, and caught one of the energy balls in his hand. He used the momentum from the shot to spin around and throw the Dragon Rage right back at Charizard, adding a little fire to it with a Flamethrower to make it stronger.

"Charizard, deflect it!" Ash called out.

Charizard grunted and spun around, using his tail to knock the energy ball right back at Blaziken at a higher speed. The Blaze Pokemon scowled and punched it before it could strike him, sending it back at Charizard again faster than before. The dragon deflected again, and the ball's speed increased. Blaziken made to punch it…but misjudged his timing and missed, causing the orb to strike him in the chest and explode, knocking him off the platform!

"Great job, Charizard!" Ash cried.

"Hang on, we're not done yet!" Charizard replied. Blaziken had dug his claws into the wall of the arena as he fell, slowing his descent and stopping him before he could fall into the lava. He kicked off the wall, soaring towards the nearest platform, kicked off the side of it, and bounced back and forth between the wall and the platform, going higher with each jump until he rose over the edge of the platform…

"NOW, CHARIZARD!" yelled Ash.

…And ran right into Charizard's fist.

POW!

Blaziken's head spun back, his sunglasses cracked. Growling, he immediately launched a Blaze Kick at Charizard's face. The dragon moved his head to the side and grabbed the chicken's leg, not bothered by the flames, and spun around, flinging Blaziken at the electrified cage wall.

"Fire Twister!" ordered Ford.

"Fire what?" Ash asked in confusion. He hadn't heard of that attack before. He took out his Pokedex and looked through it to see if such an attack was listed.

Blaziken started spinning in the air as he hurtled towards the cage wall. He opened his mouth and spat out a tongue of flame which wrapped around him much like a Fire Spin. However, instead of constricting him, the fire swelled and enveloped him in a twirling column of fire which reached to the ceiling and touched the ground, stirring up the lava and licking the platforms, incidentally halting Blaziken's flight in its tracks.

Charizard sweatdropped. "Ah, hell."

"That's not an official attack!" Ash realized, looking up from his Pokedex. "And neither was that meteor thing, for that matter!"

"This isn't an official match, boy…so all the rules are off!" Ford told him. "Here, anything goes…and both of us will do whatever it takes to win!"

The fire tornado swirled towards Charizard, its intense heat causing Ash to cringe and back away to the edge of his platform, for fear of getting burnt. "Charizard, try flying around it in the opposite direction it's spinning! Maybe you can generate enough wind to negate it!"

Charizard nodded. "Right!" With a flap of the wings, he took to the air and started flying around the tornado, dodging the tendrils of flame which burst out from its surface to try and engulf him. Faster and faster he flew in circles around the great conflagration, trying to generate enough wind from displaced air to counter the tornado's rotation and bring it to a halt. Slowly but surely, the flaming column started to shrink on itself, growing thinner as Charizard's counter-spin tore bits of fire off of it which quickly burned themselves out, unable to go against the current generated by Charizard's flight.

"Yeah, good job, Charizard!" Ash cheered his Pokemon.

"Not bad," Ford admitted, impressed as the tornado started to collapse on itself. "Not bad…but not good enough!"

Just as the fire column was about to extinguish itself, Blaziken erupted from the center of it and spin-kicked Charizard in the chest with a Blaze Kick HARD. Charizard's mouth gaped open, the breath forcefully leaving his lungs.

Ash gasped as the dragon started to fall. "CHARIZARD!"

"Ugh…don't count me out yet!" Charizard managed to flap his wings, slowing his descent and allowing him to land clumsily on a platform, nearly falling to his knees as his feet absorbed the impact. Ash sighed in relief.

Blaziken landed on an adjacent one, smirking. "Heh."

"Oh, think you're such a wise guy, huh?" Charizard asked, annoyed as he pulled himself back up. "Hmmph!"

"That was a pretty fancy trick you pulled back there…" Ash said to Ford. "But it'll take more than that to keep us down!"

"That it's a good thing that wasn't our only fancy trick…" said Ford with an eerie smile. "Because there's more where that came from!"

…

The group of trainers exited the stairwell and stepped onto the sandy floor of the 40th floor arena. "How much further?" May gasped, panting for breath.

"We're two-fifths of the way up!" Steven said cheerfully, stretching his arms out. "Ah, haven't had a good workout like this in a long time! Too bad it has to be in such dire circumstances, or I'd enjoy this more."

"Well, if you want to enjoy it that badly, you can walk all the way back downstairs once we're through here," Lucy cracked with a smirk.

"I for one am taking the elevator," Brock wheezed.

"No time for talking!" Misty snapped. "More walking! We have to get to Ash!"

"You'll have to get through me first!" Yellow Ranger, clad in the same black vest and gear as Pink Ranger, dropped down from the ceiling. "Yah! Yellow Ranger reporting for duty! You are all under arrest!"

"Another one?" asked the annoyed Phoebe. "Okay, who's taking this one on?"

"None of you are!" Yellow Ranger said, pointing her gun at them. "On Mr. Ford's orders, all of you are to be apprehended immediately! Even you, Harrison," she told the businessman's son. "How very disappointing! The son of the HERO project's founder is attempting to derail it! I can't let you do that!"

Harrison winced, feeling a deep hurt at his father's seemingly casual casting off of him. "Dad…"

"We don't have time for these delays," Sidney grumbled, pulling out two Pokeballs. "Go, Absol and Mightyena!" A pair of four-legged bestial Pokemon appeared, growling at the yellow and black Poke Ranger.

"Count me in, too! Go, Pokeball!" Phoebe released her Dusclops and Sableye.

"Four against one? Hardly fair. Then again, what else could I expect from criminals?" taunted Yellow Ranger.

"Well, seeing as we're in a bit of a rush, we don't have time to play fair," Sidney said with a smirk.

"We have a young trainer to save, and you're in our way!" Phoebe told the Ranger.

"Heh…guess I'd better make things even then!" Yellow Ranger glowed yellow…and suddenly split into four, leaving the group faced with four Yellow Rangers. "Ha! How's this for fighting fair?" all four taunted at once.

"Did you know she could do that!" an incredulous Misty asked Harrison.

He shook his head in surprise. "No, never! I didn't know she could do this!"

"I just got a power boost from HERO the other day which gave me this ability! Now I have the power to clone myself! Beat that!" the Yellow Rangers mocked in stereo.

"Wait, if she got a boost from HERO a few days ago, shouldn't she have been…um…re-hero-ified behavior-wise?" a confused May asked Harrison.

He shook his head. "Not necessarily. The more times one of the heroes has had to go through HERO, the shorter the personality change lasts until they degenerate. The Rangers have used it so many times they need to go back every couple of days to keep from becoming truly dangerous. It's probably almost time for Yellow to go back in again…too bad we caught her before then!"

"Don't worry, they're probably just illusions, like Double Team," Steven asserted.

"Ha! Wrong! All four of us are real!" the Yellow Rangers said in unison. "If you don't believe us, just see for yourself!"

Sidney and Phoebe glanced at each other and shrugged. "Okay. Mightyena, Take Down! Absol, Aerial Ace!"

"Dusclops, Sableye, Shadow Ball!" commanded Phoebe.

Mightyena barked and charged towards his target, while Absol growled and dashed towards his. At the same time, both of Phoebe's ghost Pokemon formed Shadow Balls and hurled them at the two Yellow Rangers they were facing.

Mightyena's Ranger ran towards the charging hyena and leaped over him before he could hit her, firing lasers at the black mane of fur on his back. The hyena yelped in pain and skidded to a halt, smoke rising from the burns on his back. Absol had better luck, though. He vanished right before the lasers fired from the Ranger he was charging at could strike him, reappearing behind Yellow Ranger and slamming into her hard, slashing at her back with the blade on the side of his head. She cried out in pain as, for some reason, sparks flew from where the blade hit, somersaulted into a crouch, and fired lasers at the Disaster Pokemon.

In the meantime, both Yellow Rangers Phoebe's ghosts were facing fired their laser guns at the Shadow Balls, causing them to explode. They leaped through the smoke cloud that resulted, emerging above the startled ghosts and raining lasers down on them. Of course, since they were ghosts, Sableye and Dusclops just phased out of the way, but the two Rangers did not look too worried as they landed on the ground and started dashing over to the ghosts' new locations, firing more laser blasts.

Steven sweatdropped. "My mistake, I guess they are real after all."

"Mightyena, Sand Attack! Absol, Snatch!" Sidney called to his Pokemon.

Mightyena turned around and kicked up a great load of sand into Yellow Ranger's visor, blocking her vision for a moment. "Ahh! I can't see!" The hyena crouched and lunged at her with Take Down, slamming into her chest and knocking her to the ground. Her gun flew away, clattering to the dirt. He pinned her to the dirt with his paws, growling into her visor…and was surprised when, in a flash of yellow sparkles, she disappeared. His ears folded and he whimpered in confusion. Where had she gone?

Absol, crackling with Dark energy, lunged at Yellow Ranger as she fired her lasers at him. He somersaulted through the air and bit down on her gun, tearing it from her surprised hands and flying over her shoulder, landing on the ground behind her. She turned around in time to see the Absol crush the gun in his jaws and spit it away. He growled and advanced on her, thinking her helpless without her weapon. Unfortunately for the doom hound, this turned out not to be the case, for the Ranger still had a large number of flashy martial arts moves in her repertoire to use on him.

As for Phoebe… "Dusclops, use Confuse Ray then Earthquake and Ice Beam! Sableye, get rid of her gun with Psychic and hit her with Faint Attack!"

The Beckon Pokemon's single eye glowed, and a purplish ray shot from it and went right through Yellow Ranger's visor, affecting her brain. She staggered for a moment, then roared mindlessly and started firing her laser gun wildly in all directions, coming close to hitting the humans watching from the sidelines. "Hey, watch it!" Lucy snapped as one laser bolt came close to hitting May. Togetic's eyes glowed and a protective Safeguard formed around them to shield them from the battle.

"Sorry," the Dusclops muttered. She slammed her palms onto the ground, shaking the arena. The already off-kilter Yellow Ranger cried out and fell to the ground, where she was promptly frozen by an Ice Beam from Dusclops. "There. Looks like you're the one on ice instead of us," the ghost joked. Everyone who understood her groaned at the bad joke as the ice block shattered and the Ranger inside vanished.

At the same time, Sableye was taking care of the last Yellow Ranger. Her jewel eyes glowed as a blue aura appeared around Yellow Ranger's laser gun. She gasped in surprise at the weapon was wrenched out of her hand and crumpled into a little hunk of metal. Then Sableye grinned and vanished in a burst of Dark energy, reappearing right in Yellow Ranger's face and slamming her forehead into the Ranger's visor, cracking it as well as (for some reason) giving off lots of sparks. The Ranger cried out as she fell over backwards, vanishing in a shower of yellow sparkles.

The Ranger Absol had been fighting backflipped away from the Disaster Pokemon, kicking him in the jaw as she did so, glowed, and suddenly split into four fresh Yellow Rangers, each with a new laser blaster. "It'll take more than that to defeat me!" the Rangers chorused.

Sidney sweatdropped. "Now we have to fight her all over again!"

"That's annoying…" Phoebe muttered.

"And the longer it takes to beat her, the less time we have to save Ash!" Misty growled, getting frustrated.

"Hey, I just had an idea. Why don't we just sneak past them while they're fighting and go to the stairs?" Harrison asked, pointing to the unguarded entryway as the four Pokemon and Rangers started fighting again.

"…Why didn't I think of that!" Steven asked in disbelief.

"What about those two?" Brock asked, pointing to Sidney and Phoebe.

"Don't worry about us," Sidney assured them in a whisper so Yellow Ranger wouldn't hear. "We'll stay here to take care of her and keep her from going after you."

"Once we're sure she's beaten, we'll catch up," Phoebe told them. "Go on. Get going!"

Lucy nodded. "All right, you heard them. Let's go!"

The group moved around the perimeter of the battlefield as stealthily as they could, the sand cushioning their footsteps as they crept along the walls. Togetic's Safeguard deflected any stray laser shots or other attacks that came their way as they made their way to the exit. Yellow Ranger and her clones were too busy fighting to notice their absence, so the group had little trouble entering the stairwell and proceeding on their way to the top of the tower.

…

After climbing a long spiral ramp, and crossing a bridge guarded by a giant mutant Venusaur, the Pokemon and Annabel found their way blocked by another large, unbreakable shutter door. And there was no visible console or control panel visible that could open the door, though they looked as hard as they could to find one. "How do we get past this?" Latias asked, getting a little anxious. She was worried that the sacrifice Pikachu, Sadic, and Crawdaunt had made would be for nothing, all because they couldn't figure out how to open the door.

"Hey, what about this?" Phanphy asked, trotting over to a large air duct opening high on the wall. "Maybe one of us can climb through that and open the door from the other side! That's how it always works on television and in movies!"

Bayleef was about to remind him yet again that real life wasn't the same as stuff on television until she realized that, seeing as how this was a superhero training course of sorts; the little elephant just might be on to something. "You might be right, Phanphy."

Charla peered into the duct opening to take a look. "It's too small for any of us to get in, though."

Latias glanced at her 'nephew'. "Except for you, Phanphy."

"Is it safe to send the little one in?" Charla asked uncomfortable, the thought of the tiny elephant in danger making her think all too much about the child in her stomach and how it might not have a father if they weren't fast enough.

"I can do it!" Phanphy asserted. "Just send me through and I'll open the door!"

"Is there anything in particular Phanphy should look for?" Latias asked Annabel.

The purple-haired woman shrugged. "Probably any conspicuous-looking button or switch should do the trick."

"What's conspicuous?" Phanphy asked.

"Easily visible," Gardevoir said, picking up Phanphy and pushing him into the shaft.

"Okay, I'll try to find something like that. See you in a minute!" he said, scurrying down the small duct, his tiny stomps causing echoes to ring through the metal as he went.

The duct was dark, which caused Phanphy to get frightened and almost wet himself, but it was short and he soon emerged into the light of a large rectangular room, with his duct on one of the short walls and the sealed door blocking the way for his friends on the longer wall perpendicular to his right. The long wall on the left featured another door, this one open. Almost directly beneath Phanphy was a large square floor switch that glowed an inviting yellow. _That must be the cons-cons-easily visible thing!_ Phanphy thought to himself as he dropped down from the vent. He trod over to the switch and hopped on it, his weight pushing the button down until it was flush with the ground. There was a beep, and the door on the right slid upward. "Yay, I did it!" Phanphy cheered, hopping off the switch and running towards his friends as they started through the opened door…

Only to yelp as mechanical tentacles emerged from holes in the wall behind him, grabbed him by the legs, and started to drag him backwards. "Ahhh! Help!" he screamed.

The rest of the group asked. "Oh no! Phanphy!" They started to run towards the little elephant…

Only for a clear sheet made of some kind of glass or plastic to slide down from the ceiling, blocking them off from Phanphy's side of the room. Charla had been at the front of the group when the sheet fell, and now found herself cut off from the others. Surprised, she breathed fire at the sheet, trying to burn or melt through it…but like every other barrier in the infernal place, it didn't react at all to her fire.

"Ahhh! Now the ceiling's falling!" Phanphy cried in fear as the tentacles held him prostrate against the wall, noticing that the ceiling above him and Charla was dropping very rapidly towards them.

The mighty Charizard noticed and quickly thrusted her arms upwards, catching the surface of the falling mass in her claws and stopping its descent. She sweated and gritted her teeth as the ceiling, propelled by powerful pneumatics, continued to push down on her, applying a great deal of pressure to the fire dragon, possibly more than even her beyond-average strength could sustain.

"We have to help them!" Bayleef cried. She opened her mouth and started gathering what ambient light there was in the room into the leaf fronds around her neck, which slowly started glowing white.

Latias nodded and started blasting the wall with the white fire of her Dragonbreath, while Gardevoir's eyes glowed and she slammed the awesome Psychic power of her mind against the barrier. Annabel, a determined look on her face, cast out her Alakazam and Snorlax. "Alakazam, Snorlax, Hyper Beam!"

The two Pokemon fired golden lasers from the mouth at the same time that Bayleef finished charging her Solar Beam and fired it at the barrier. The three powerful beams struck the wall…and bounced right back into them, slamming into the Pokemon which had fired them and smashing them into the back wall of the room. "Ow…" Bayleef moaned.

Latias growled in frustration. "Why does this thing have to be so strong!" she ranted, her fear for Charla and Phanphy's life channeled into anger as she lashed at the wall with a Dragonclaw and nearly broke her nails on the barrier.

Snorlax groaned and slumped down from its position on the wall, its enormous weight pressing down on a concealed pressure switch and activating it. Abruptly, the door they had entered through slammed shut, the ceiling above them started to lower, and a metal shutter slowly started to close off the only remaining door. "Ahhh! Snorlax, look what you did!" Annabel cried.

The fat cat sweatdropped. "Oops."

"We must get out of here!" said the Alakazam. "Or we'll get flattened!"

"But what about Charla and Phanphy?" Latias asked anxiously.

"Get…going…" Charla said through gritted teeth, still pushing against the ceiling above her. "I…lift rocks heavier than this…for hours at a time…go on. I'll catch up. This thing's gotta give out sooner or later, right?"

"But Charla…" Bayleef started.

"Go!" she snapped. "Don't worry, I'm not going to die! I have too much to live for…a wonderful mate, a child-to-be, and a promise of new adventures! I'm not going down!" She nodded, almost losing her grip for a second. "Get out of here! I'll get Phanphy out and meet you at the top. You don't have much time left, so you have to hurry."

"I…" Latias squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. "All right. Don't die, Charla. I've just met you…and like I told the others, I don't want to lose any more friends. Or friends of friends."

Charla smirked. "Relax, I'll be fine. If I could fly all the way from Charicific Valley to here in less than a week, than I can handle myself a little longer. Now get going!"

Annabel quickly recalled her Pokemon and ran over to the door, bending over to fit under the slowly lowering shutter. Bayleef ran after her and pulled her legs up, landing on her belly and squeezing underneath. Gardevoir gracefully managed to slide under as the door got lower and lower, with the ceiling not far behind, and Latias started flying as fast as she could towards the door, dropping to her belly at the last second and sliding through the opening just before the door got too low for her to fit through. As she made it to the other side, she looked back through, making eye contact with Phanphy on the other side of the barrier.

"Don't worry Aunt Latias, we'll be okay!" Phanphy said cheerfully as the lowering door took him out of Latias' sight. "Things always work out on television!" The door shut, and the ceiling not held up by Charla hit the ground, and he was gone.

Latias stifled a sob and turned away, seeing Bayleef was trying to hide tears as well. Annabel and Gardevoir looked more distressed than upset, but that could be excused; seeing as neither of them knew Phanphy or Charla very well. "Dammit, Phanphy," Bayleef whispered. "This time, I hope you're right. Because…" She didn't finish her sentence.

Because in real life, things didn't always work out like they did on television.

…

"Charizard, Aerial Ace!" Ash ordered.

"You too, Blaziken!" Ford ordered.

The two Pokemon dashed towards each other, one swooping down from the sky, the other leaping to meet him from a platform jutting from the lava. As they shot towards each other, the two of them seemed to vanish for a split second before reappearing in midair with a resounding crash as the two collided, a kick from Blaziken connecting with Charizard's chest at the same time that a punch from the dragon smashed into Blaziken's hard beak. Grunting in pain, both of them tumbled away from each other, managing to right themselves just before they could crash and landed on the platforms neatly.

"I'm impressed, Ash…I hadn't expected you and your Charizard to last thing long!" said the amazed Ford.

Ash smirked. "Yeah, well, if you really knew anything about me or my Pokemon, you'd know we don't give up eas-" He broke off, coughing hoarsely.

"Ash?" Charizard asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Ash said quickly, a slight rasp to his voice. "Kick that Blaziken's tail feathers!"

"Yeah…all right," said Charizard, not certain Ash was telling him the truth.

"Hmm…" Ford frowned in thought. "You've done well to last this long…but we're kicking it up a notch now! Blaziken, Phoenix Punch!"

Blaziken grinned, his eyes gleaming behind his cracked sunglasses, and he drew back his fist, which started glowing as the flames on his wrists crackled excitedly.

"Charizard, watch out!" Ash warned. "No telling what he has in mind!"

"Right!" Charizard started to move, preparing to jump towards the next platform…

And was utterly surprised when, with a roar, Blaziken stepped forward and thrust his glowing fist out, projecting a HUGE phoenix-shaped blast of fire at Charizard. "Waahhh!" Startled, he quickly enclosed his wings around himself to shield himself from the blast.

"CHARIZARD!" Ash cried out in alarm.

"GRAAAAHHHH!" Even with his meager protection, Charizard's body trembled in pain as the flames roared over him. So hot…hotter than any of the magma pools he had ever bathed in! Too hot, even for him! He crashed onto a nearby platform, rolling over as the fire blast continued on and exploded against the side of a higher platform, crumbling it to pieces. "Ouch…" He grunted, uncurled his wings, and started getting to his feet…only for Ash to cry out in warning as Blaziken drove a Blaze Kick right towards his face. Charizard yelped and rolled out of the way of the kick, leaping to his feet and spitting a Dragon Rage at the fire chicken. Blaziken shifted his head to the side to avoid the attack and thrusted both fists forward in a double Phoenix Punch attack, blasting Charizard in the chest and sending him hurtling across the arena, crashing into the side of a taller platform and causing it to collapse on top of him.

"It's over!" Ford cried triumphantly.

"Don't count us out yet!" Ash said with a smirk, knowing that Charizard had more than enough left in him to keep on fighting.

His faith was proven to be well-chosen as a Fire Blast exploded out of the pile of rubble and shot towards Blaziken. The chicken reared back and struck the fire star with his Phoenix Punch, shattering it in a burst of flame. "Grr…"

Charizard pushed his way out of the rubble on the now much-shorter platform. He was battered and bruised, but still not ready to give in. "Okay, asshole, that was a good hit…but it's the last one you're getting in!" He clenched up his fists before him in a fighter's pose. "Come on, big guy…show me what else you got! It'll take more than that powered-up Fire Punch to impress me!"

Blaziken snorted. "Idiot."

"You're going to let this keep on going?" Ford asked Ash mockingly. "You know your Charizard can't keep fighting like this forever!" _And neither can you, for that matter, if my guess is correct._

Ash glared at Ford. "Both of us will keep fighting as long as-" He broke off, coughing slightly. "As long as it takes to win!"

"If that's the way you want it…" Ford said with a shrug. "Blaziken! Crush that orange lizard!"

Blaziken chuckled and leaped into the air, curling into a ball and launching himself at Charizard with his Meteor Strike. Charizard swung his tail at the chicken fireball before it could strike him, knocking him away in a home-run hit. Neither he nor Ash were going to give up easily, and Charizard intended to pound it into these idiots heads until they figured that out!

…

"The sixtieth floor! The halfway point! And I'm still not the least bit winded!" Steven said cheerfully.

"How…do...you…do it?" May wheezed, on her knees on the sandy floor of the arena.

"Lots of exercise and hiking up mountains and through caves!" Steven said with a smile. "Plus, my father encourages me to take the stairs in Devon Corporation headquarters instead of using the elevator; it keeps both of us more fit."

Harrison flinched, Steven's brief anecdote about his father the president of Devon Corporation, reminding the sandy-haired teen of his own parent. "Dad…" He clenched his fist, determined not to get anymore broken up about it. "What else do you have in store for us?"

"At this rate, probably another Poke Ranger," Togetic said to Misty.

"And it'll probably be the green one, seeing as how he had a big 3 on his chest last time we saw him and the Yellow one was 4 and the Pink was 5," agreed Corsola.

After May eventually recovered (Brock had finally asked for someone to cut off the heels of his shoes halfway up this latest flight so he could actually walk around with his soles flat against the ground, so wasn't quite as exhausted) they hurried across the arena floor towards the next stairway, at any moment expecting an attack from above.

They were not disappointed. A quarter of the way across the field, there was a cry of panic and alarm, and then the screaming figure of Green Ranger, clad in the same black vest and leg armor as the last two Rangers, fell down from the spotlight apparatus on the ceiling and landed on his helmeted head, hard. "Ow…that's the last time I try dangling upside-down from the ceiling to make the blood rush to my head and make my brain think better."

They all sweatdropped. "Nice entrance," Lucy said sarcastically.

"Er, are you all right?" Steven called to the Green Ranger.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm okay," he said, getting to his feet. "Why is it called 'all right' anyway? Why not all left? Or forward? Or backwards? Why right? How does that make left-handed people feel? Or people who are ambidextrous? Or have hooks instead of hands? Or have flippers, like some Pokemon?"

They sweatdropped again. "I'm sure we don't know," Misty said, backing away slowly.

"Harrison, is he supposed to be like this?" Brock whispered to the teenager.

Harrison sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. He's always been rather weird, even after his degeneration periods increased. We're not sure if his brain had an adverse effect to HERO, or if he's just somewhat nuts."

"Why is 'nuts' synonymous with crazy, anyway?" Green Ranger asked aloud. "I mean, nuts also mean the nether regions in guys, which makes sense since those kind of look like nuts. But what do nuts have to do with being crazy?"

"Er…" they said, sweatdropping again.

"I mean, when I think of nuts, I get the hankering for a peanut butter sandwich. Because it's made with peanut butter. Which is made from peanuts. I think. Isn't it?" There was a long pause. "Was I supposed to be doing something? I can't remember."

"Oh, ah, you were just going to let us through so we could get to the top of the tower," Brock said quickly.

"Huh? Oh, right…or left…go ahead." They started forward when suddenly he pointed his gun at them. "Wait a minute, I remember now! Mr. Ford gave me orders to stop any intruders from reaching the top, and if I'm not mistaken…and I hope I'm not…you all are intruders! You are under arrest for trespassing and attempting to disrupt the private business of Ford Industries!"

"Guess he hasn't degenerated as far enough as I had thought," Harrison said apologetically to the others.

"You bet I haven't!" Green Ranger paused. "'Degenerative'. Such a funny word, isn't it? I mean, we have generators, which make stuff like electricity to keep this building running, so what would a degenerator do? Absorb electricity? Warp the fabric of space and time? Destroy the universe? Hmm…" He started avidly talking to himself, losing interest in the intruders.

They sweatdropped again. "Think we could sneak past him now?" May whispered.

Lucy shook her head. "Nah, he's still attentive enough…sort of…to shoot us if we try. I have a better idea…" She quickly explained it to the others.

As Green Ranger continued babbling to himself, Misty stepped forward, holding Corsola in her arms while Togetic fluttered on her shoulder. "Um, Green Ranger?"

He abruptly stopped his babble. "Huh? Yes, what is it, miss criminal?"

"Are you going to shoot us with that gun?" she asked, pointing to his laser.

He held it up. "What, my Sigma Enforcer? Yeah, I get to shoot you if you attempt to escape or try to get past me."

"Okay then…Togetic, Metronome!" Misty ordered. The Happiness Pokemon rose into the air and started waving her little arm nubs back and forth.

"Oh no you don't! Fire!" Green Ranger cried, shooting his laser at the little Pokemon.

Misty quickly held up Corsola in front of Togetic. "Mirror Coat!" Corsola shimmered right as the laser bolt hit her, and it was deflected up towards the ceiling, where it struck the support holding up one of the spotlights directly over Green Ranger, causing it to fall.

The Ranger looked up to see it plummeting right towards his head. "Oh, crud." It smashed down on his helmet, shattering the light bulb inside and covering his head completely. "Ow, that hurt," he said, wobbling about. "Who turned the lights out?"

They sweatdropped. "Shouldn't that have knocked him out?"

"Guess his head's harder than I thought," Harrison said in embarrassment.

"Oh, I'll handle this," said the annoyed Misty, putting Corsola on the ground. She took out her mallet and slammed it down on the spotlight-covered Green Ranger's head.

He dropped his gun and staggered backwards, the spotlight vibrating and making a ringing sound of sorts. "WhoOoOoOahH, that can't be good. Do I hear bells? I like bells. They remind me of church…"

Everyone sweatdropped again. "Oh for the love of-" Lucy tore off one of her spiked boots and hurled it at Green Ranger's head.

It nailed him right in the spotlight and caused him to topple over. "Ow!" he moaned. "Why do I keep hitting my head today?" He tried to get up, only to find the spotlight was too heavy for him to lift. "Um…a little help here?"

"Sorry, we're in a bit of a hurry," Steven said, running past Green Ranger.

"Yeah, we have a friend to save," agreed Misty, rushing past him.

"If we remember, we'll help you up on our way back down," May told him as she went past.

"But don't count on it," Lucy warned him as she ran after May.

"Huff…huff…so glad I got rid of those heels," Brock panted as he followed Lucy, hitching his skirt up.

"Really sorry about this," Harrison added as he followed the others into the stairway. "Bye!"

"Wait! Come back!" Green Ranger cried. They did not. He sighed miserably, struggled to get up, failed, and gave up. "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen…" he started singing piteously.

…

Their numbers greatly reduced, the small party continued on their way to the top of the tower, climbing stairs, riding elevators, and fending off booby traps and monsters as they kept going, only to find their way blocked by yet another indestructible shutter.

"Open up!" Latias cried in frustration, clawing at the door angrily and once more nearly breaking up her nails. "We don't have time for another puzzle; we have to get to the top!"

"Calm down, Latias!" Bayleef told her friend. "Yes, I know we're running out of time, but getting angry won't help anyone, be it Ash and Charizard, or…or everyone else!"

Latias sighed, relenting. Actually, she had been trying to get angry, so she could kindle that fire in her heart and summon the power she needed to simply blast the door down and continue unopposed to the top. However, her previous anger (and strange behavior) towards Lance had faded after her banishment of the failed dragon trainer, and the sacrifices her friends had made so far more depressed her than made her truly mad. The anger she had gathered so far just wasn't enough, it seemed.

Annabel noticed a control panel on a podium across the room from the door. "Hey, maybe this opens it." She walked over to the panel and examined it. There were quite a few buttons. "Hmm…let's see here…" She started pressing a sequence of buttons. "I _think_ this should open-" As she pressed the last button, a clear barrier made of plastic or glass lowered from the ceiling, cutting Annabel off from Latias, Bayleef, and Gardevoir. At the same time, the shutter door rose up, revealing…another shutter just a few feet down a narrow passageway.

"Oh no, not again!" Bayleef cried, running over to the barrier.

"Annabel, are you all right?" Latias asked in concern.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she said, startled…then gasped as a floor panel behind her collapsed, leaving a small, but very deep hole in the ground. "Oh dear."

"Annabel, don't move! We'll get you out of there!" Latias cried.

"No, no, don't worry, I think that was supposed to happen…" she said anxiously. "And I have to get the next door open! Let's see…" Despite Latias and Bayleef's vehement protests, Annabel walked back up to the console and input another sequence.

The shutter door opened…releasing a pair of hideous plant Pokemon monsters too mutated to tell what species they had originally been, looking like nothing more than a couple of very large flowers with toothed petals, an eyeball in the center, and a pair of claws formed from leaves. "Yikes!" Bayleef cried, stumbling back from the monsters as one lunged at her, snapping with its petals.

Latias immediately immolated it with her white Dragonbreath, causing it to screech in agony as it was burnt into nothingness. The other monster found itself at the wrong end of Gardevoir's formidable Psychic attack, which crumpled its body into a tiny, compact mass, rupturing whatever kind of circulation system flowed through the creature's body and killing it rather quickly.

The floor shook, and more panels fell away on Annabel's side of the barrier, leaving her with less room to stand on. She gulped. "Oh dear...what an intricate trap!"

"Annabel, stop!" Latias ordered her. "You're only putting yourself at risk!"

"I have no choice," Annabel told her, pointing over Latias' shoulder down the small passageway. "Do you see? There's another door. I'm going to have to open it."

"But-" the dragon started. But before she could be stopped, Annabel turned back to console and pressed in another sequence.

The next shutter slid open, releasing another pair of grotesque plant monsters. Both of them were immediately destroyed by Latias' Dragonbreath, which did nothing to stop still more floor panels from collapsing around Annabel, leaving her standing on a small platform in the midst of a chasm with numerous single panels standing here and there.

"What is she doing!" Bayleef screamed. "She's going to get herself killed!"

"Annabel, stop!" Latias cried. "There has to be another way-"

"Do you really think so?" Annabel replied. "This whole place seems to be designed to split large groups up. It makes sense really; a lot of superhero teams rely on teamwork, so this would force them to split up and try to solve problems on their own. Even if it means making a sacrifice."

"But we don't need to make any sacrifices!" Latias protested.

"Sometimes, you have no choice." Annabel turned back to the console and pressed another sequence of buttons before Latias could argue any further.

The door slid open, releasing another pair of flower monsters. Both were destroyed by a combined blast of Dragonbreath, Psychic, and some Razor Leaves courtesy of Bayleef (who had been feeling rather left out). Once the beasts were dispatched, the floor shook again and all the remaining floor panels, save for the one Annabel was standing on and the one the podium was on, collapsed into the pit. She smiled sadly. "Just as I thought…"

"Why did you do that!" Bayleef asked in disbelief.

Annabel shrugged. "I had to…it was the only way to get the doors open. Like I said, this place seems to be designed for sacrifice." She pointed towards the now-completely open passageway. "Now get going. You still have a ways to go to the top. You still have some friends to save."

"But what about you?" Latias asked.

Annabel smiled. "Relax, I have an Alakazam remember? He can just Teleport me out of here!"

Gardevoir frowned under her mask. "Then why…did you not Teleport us up to the top of the tower in the first place?"

Annabel grimaced. "He's allergic to teleportation."

They stared. "Allergic?"

She nodded. "Yeah, teleporting causes him to bloat up, vomit profusely, and leaves him unable to fight for weeks, so we don't do it often, except in emergencies."

Latias frowned. "And saving a young trainer and his Charizard from an unknown fate isn't an emergency?"

Annabel hesitated. "I-"

"You're lying, aren't you?" the dragon asked coldly.

Annabel sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. My Alakazam doesn't know Teleport." She looked at her feet sadly. "I didn't want you to get caught up worrying about me and lose the time you need to get to the top." She sighed again. "Look, I know I'm stuck here. But look on the bright side; at least I'm not in imminent danger like the others were. Are. See?" She patted her platform. "Solid as a rock! It's not falling anytime soon."

"Annabel…" Latias started.

"Go," the maiden said shortly. "We don't have time for arguments. Ford is using something he's hidden in my tower to do something horrible to one of the trainers who come out here all year round to prove themselves. I don't want anything to happen to that trainer…" She shook her head. "Go. Stop Ford. Give him a good one for me. I'll be all right here." She shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere."

"…" Latias closed her eyes. "Annabel…we'll be back for you."

"I should hope so," said the purple-haired woman. "I don't want to fall asleep from waiting too long. I might roll over and fall off." Although she smiled as if she were joking, they all knew it wasn't that funny.

The three females sadly said their goodbyes and filed down the passage, their hearts heavy at the sacrifice another friend had made to allow them to get further in their quest. How much more would they have to give before they made it to the tower's top? How much more would be asked of them?

And would the price for saving Ash and Charizard become too high?

…

The two Fire Pokemon were still at it.

Any other Charizard, save maybe Charla, would have collapsed a while ago. But Charizard had not. Yes, he was hurt. Yes, he was being beaten. Yes, the blows he landed on Blaziken weren't doing enough damage. But he was determined to keep on fighting, no matter what the cost.

That determination was about to be put to the test.

Blaziken launched a flurry of punches, kicks, and occasional bursts of fire at Charizard. The fire dragon blocked, deflected, and returned every one, despite the slight reduction in speed which was occurring as his reflexes got tired. As Blaziken hopped back and drove his foot upward in an arcing kick, Charizard bent backwards to dodge the blow, and spun around, lashing out at Blaziken's other leg with his tail. Blaziken's reaction time had slowed from the long battle as well, not as much as Charizard's but still just enough for him to fail to clear the tail swing in time. The burning appendage connected with the fire chicken's ankle, knocking him off balance and throwing him to the floor. Charizard immediately pressed the opportunity he had been given, body-checking Blaziken to keep him from getting up. He grabbed the chicken by his wrists, not minding the flames, and struggled to keep Blaziken pinned down, despite the Blaze Pokemon's struggling.

"That's it, Charizard! Keep him pinned down!" Ash rasped, breaking into a cough. He had been looking worse and worse as the fight continued…Charizard pushed that thought to the back of his mind. The only thing that mattered now was the fight, and winning it to save Ash. He could worry about the boy's health later, when it wouldn't inconvenience him.

Blaziken opened his beak and spat a Fire Blast in Charizard's face. The dragon immediately shut his eyes closed as the fire star exploded at point-blank range, engulfing both of them in fire. Charizard was thrown off from the blast, his face burnt and smoking, and he landed roughly on his side, causing him to grimace in pain as his weight fell on top of his left arm, which was starting to feel a little strained and worn out from all the very strong blows it had deflected.

As he got up, Blaziken walked out of the diminishing ball of fire which had resulted from the Fire Blast, his feathers and plumage burnt and damaged. His beak was cracked, and his sunglasses had disintegrated, allowing the fire dragon to stare into the eyes of his foe for the first time. They were cold, malicious, and filled with delight to see him in pain. They were also purple, which was odd since most Blaziken had blue eyes. "Heh…looks like you're not so tough after all, huh? Can't take a Fire Blast right in the face, can you?"

Blaziken smirked and said nothing. Even damaged and tired out, his well-toned muscles were still tense and ready for action. Then again, so was Charizard. "Okay…let's finish this, right Ash?" There was no response other than a gasp and a choking cough. "Ash?" Concerned, Charizard glanced over his shoulder, keeping one eye on Blaziken to make sure the dirty chicken didn't try any sneak attacks.

He forgot all about Blaziken when he saw that Ash had fallen to his knees and was clutching his chest, gasping for breath. "ASH!"

Blaziken grinned and was about to attack, when Ford shook his head at him. The fire chicken frowned and gave his trainer a pleading look, but Ford simply glared at him, letting his Pokemon know not to interfere. Grumbling, the Blaziken stood down.

"cough Charizard…don't worry, keep fighting. I'm…" Ash broke off, his voice degenerating into a coughing fit.

"Hmm…seems like the boy's been in the pit for too long," Ford said, his voice half genuinely sympathetic, the other mocking. "All that heat and the fumes from the lava have plum dehydrated him. Can't say I didn't warn him, though…I told him there would be consequences to keeping on fighting his destiny!"

Charizard gasped in horror, remembering how Ash had come close to dieing from dehydration back in the desert. "No! Ash!" He quickly flapped his sore wings, gliding over to the platform on which Ash was kneeling. "Ash! Please, speak to me!" Ash opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was lost in a painful cough. "Er, on second thought, don't speak, you'll lose whatever moisture you've got left."

"You have a choice now, dragon," said Ford. Charizard glanced up at the man. "If you forfeit the match now, Ash need suffer no longer. He'll receive the water he requires, then go through HERO. If you keep fighting stubbornly and foolishly against fate for the sake of your own pride, then Ash will dehydrate and die here in the cage." He was bluffing, to be honest. He had no intention of letting Ash die, if the boy passed out he'd call the match and immediately use HERO on him. But Charizard had no way of knowing that. He crossed his arms, fixing Charizard with a cool glare. "The choice is yours."

Charizard's shoulders sagged. There was nothing else he could do, and he knew it. This went far beyond his pride and determination, and his desire to erase the stain of defeat he had gained from losing to Blaziken in the Silver Conference. His trainer's life was at stake. Yes, he had been in this position many times before, trying to save Ash, but rarely had it ever seemed as dire as it did now. In almost every other fight Charizard could remember, Ash had been healthy and full of energy, supporting him and driving both of them to victory, even when they were in the depths of the hellish Dark World. But this time…the boy hadn't looked as weak as he did now since their sojourn through the desert almost a month ago. This time, he was already half dead.

Charizard knew he had to do this. Yes, Ash might be lost, but at least he would still be alive. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I-"

"N-cough, cough n-no!"

Charizard looked down in surprise to see Ash, struggling to stand up. "Ash, don't get up, please-" Charizard gently pushed him back to the ground. "I have to do this, it's for your own-"

"That's what-cough, cough-Ford says about HERO too!" Ash protested angrily. "It's-cough-my life, dammit, and I should decide what happens to it!" he rasped. He shuddered, mustering what energy he still had in him. "Charizard, as your trainer, I order…no, I _beg_ of you…don't stop. Keep fighting."

Charizard's eyes widened. "Ash?"

"This goes beyond just you and me. Ford thinks he can dictate who saves the world and who can't. He thinks he knows what's best for the Earth. We have to-cough, cough-show him he's wrong! We have to show him that the world doesn't need his cheap brand of superheroes to survive!" He managed to smirk, his dried lips cracked and bleeding, but his eyes still burned with a fire as hot as the one on Charizard's tail. "Besides…cough…what would Charla say if she saw you giving up now? After she's gone to all the effort of escaping to find our friends and bring them here? How do you think she'd feel to know she did all that, only for you to throw it all away by giving up?"

Charizard blinked. He hadn't thought of that. He had forgotten his friends were on their way. Yes, they hadn't arrived, yes, he had no way of knowing they were here…but somehow, he just _knew_ that they were climbing the Tower at that instant, working their way up to save Ash. To save himself. He managed to grin at his dehydrated trainer. "The same thing Misty would do if you ever decided to give up: shout at you then pound your head in."

Ash nodded. "Exactly." They both shared a knowing smile, the already-strong bond of friendship between them growing tighter. "Go on. You-hack-have a fight to win."

Charizard nodded, turning back to face his nemesis. To face Blaziken. "I won't let you down."

Ash smiled. "I know."

Charizard smirked, and with a flap of his wings, took off, landing on the platform he had started from. "Okay, rooster…I'm still in this game! If you thought I was tough before, wait'll you see me now, when I really got something to fight for!"

Blaziken chuckled. "Good."

"If that's how you want to play…" said Ford, looking disappointed. "Then this fight continues!"

At that, Blaziken leaped at Charizard, but the dragon was more than ready.

He was not, under any circumstances, going to let his trainer down.

…

"Can somebody…please…carry me?" May gasped, stretched out on the ground.

"I had no idea you were so out of shape," Brock said in surprise, which resulted in him getting slammed to the ground by Lucy.

"Hate to say it, but he's right May," Lucy said apologetically. "You need to work out a little more. It's what the best trainers do; anyway…exercise alongside their Pokemon so both of them get more fit."

"But it's so hard!" May whined unhappily.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Of COURSE it's hard, girl. Haven't we been over this? Anything worth doing is hard. We're going to need to have a long talk after this, missy, about what exactly you're trying to do to yourself with your life."

Togetic sweatdropped. "Wow, now it looks like May has two moms, her regular one and Lucy. I much prefer having only one mother though," she said, glancing at Misty and smiling.

"No time to slow down everyone, we're almost there!" Steven announced, mounting the landing. "The eightieth floor! Only twenty more stories to the top!"

"And whatever waits for us there," agreed Lucy, helping May to her feet.

"And if the current pattern continues, Blue Ranger will be waiting for us," Harrison warned them. "So be careful, everyone. He used to be an actual police cadet before joining HERO, so he may not be as…well…lame as the last three."

Cautiously, the entered the eightieth floor arena. They glanced at the ceiling warily, only to see no signs of the fourth Poke Ranger anywhere. "I don't see him up there," Misty commented. "Harrison, can he turn invisible or something?"

Harrison shook his head. "No…one of the members on our last team of Rangers could but he was…retired…" He fidgeted, not wanting to go into details on how the ex-White Ranger had gone berserk and tried to destroy an entire city before he was stopped, permanently.

They reached the center of the battlefield without any opposition. The Blue Ranger still failed to appear. "I don't like this," Steven muttered, grabbing a Pokeball from his belt. "This is too easy."

Lucy scanned the seats surrounding the arena. All were empty. "Hmmph. Don't see him up there, either."

"I don't suppose he chickened out?" May asked hopefully.

Harrison shook his head. "No way, not Blue Ranger!"

"Then where is he?" asked the annoyed Misty, taking a step forward.

The ground in front of her exploded in a cloud of sand as a figure in blue spandex and black armor erupted from beneath the battlefield floor, howling a battle cry and firing laser blasts at the group. Had Togetic not quickly thrown up her Safeguard, the gun shots might have connected and killed them.

They stared at the Blue Ranger in shock as he dusted off his suit and pointed his gun at them. "A.S.S. Blue Ranger! You are all under arrest! Surrender immediately or I will be forced to take dangerous measures!"

"You…you almost KILLED us, you jerk!" Misty shrieked, feeling as if her heart had skipped a beat.

"Nonsense, those were warning shots," Blue Ranger said, still pointing his weapon at them. "The next ones won't miss. Surrender at once!"  
"I'm afraid we can't do that," Steven said, releasing his Metagross, who hovered in front of him ominously. "We have a young trainer to rescue, and you're the latest obstacle to stand in our way."

"I'm not like the others," Blue Ranger promised them. "For one thing, I'm not nearly as weak."

"Maybe you're not," Lucy commented, releasing her Gyarados, who surprisingly enough looked only marginally stronger than Misty's. "But are you strong enough to handle all of us?"

"Of course I am!" Blue Ranger snapped.

Lucy smirked. "Heh. Why don't we see about that? Gyarados, Thunderbolt the lights!"

"Hey!" Blue Ranger aimed his gun at the Atrocious Pokemon's head and fired as the sea serpent fired a blast of electricity from its horns at the spotlights on the ceiling. Togetic intercepted the laser bolts with her Safeguard, deflecting them as the electric burst hit the lights and caused them to overload in an explosion of sparks and smoke, sending the room into darkness.

"Ha! You think that bothers me?" Blue Ranger boasted, his visor glowing a pale green. "I can see in the dark!"

"Good, that's what we were hoping for," Lucy said from somewhere in the dark with a smirk.

Understanding at once, Misty commanded, "Togetic, Flash!"

The Happiness Pokemon immediately lit up with a blinding white glow, overloading the night vision sensors in Blue Ranger's helmet and effectively blinding him. "Ahhh! My eyes!" He tightened his hold on his gun and backed away, shielding his eyes. "My other senses can compensate…I can hear you moving all around me! Ha!" He fired a laser shot off in the direction of a loud metallic skittering.

"Metagross, Iron Defense!" Steven called out from somewhere in the darkness, Togetic's light allowing him to see where Blue Ranger was aiming. Metagross folded up its legs on top of its shell and hardened its metal skin, causing it to take no damage as the laser shot hit it.

However, Steven's outburst had allowed Blue Ranger to pinpoint him, and the corrupt hero pointed his gun, squeezing the trigger…

Only for his ears to explode in pain as a powerful Supersonic scream from Brock's Crobat washed over him, shorting out his helmet's auditory sensors as well. "Ahhhhh!" Crying in agony, he dropped to his knees, letting go of his gun so he could cover his ears.

"It wasn't very nice of you, popping out of the ground like that and scaring us," Lucy commented, walking up behind the paralyzed Blue Ranger. "You acted like a real HEEL!" She kicked him hard in the rump with her spiked boots, sending him hurtling across the room…

And right into Misty's mallet. BAM!

Misty slammed on the Ranger's helmet repeatedly until he fell to the ground, moaning in pain, his visor cracked. "That's for scaring us all, you jerk!"

"Delcatty, Blizzard!" May commanded, pointing at the Blue Ranger.

"Yellow?" Delcatty asked in confusion, looking around in the dark.

May sighed. "No Delcatty, not right-"

One of Misty's Pokeballs popped open, releasing Golduck. "Huh?" he said obliviously.

"Yellow!" Delcatty squealed happily, pouncing on him.

"No, Delcatty!" May snapped. "We don't have time for that right now!"

Scowling, Delcatty sniffed, climbed off of Golduck, hissed at May, and then blew a gust of freezing wind at Blue Ranger, causing the air around him to solidify into a chunk of ice. Her job done, she turned back to her yellow duck, only to see him get returned to his Pokeball by Misty. Enraged, the pink cat snarled and pounced at Misty…

Only to get caught by the recall beam from May's Pokeball and get sucked back into containment. May sighed in exasperation, stowing the ball away. "I'm really going to have to talk to her about this…"

"Maybe later, but not right now," Lucy said. "With blue boy out of the way, we have a straight shot to the top!"

"Right!" Harrison released his Blaziken. "Blaziken, use Flash so we can see better and find the exit!" The Blaze Pokemon nodded and with a grunt caused the flames around his wrists to grow in luminosity (and, subsequently, heat) lessening the darkness around them and allowing them to see the door.

"Just keep him away from Blue Ranger," Steven advised, glancing at the chunk of ice to see if it was melting. "We don't accidentally want to release him."

"Oh, right, sorry," Harrison said, his face flushing in embarrassment. How could he have not thought of that?

"We should get going," Misty said. Togetic landed on her head, still glowing brightly, and Corsola hopped onto her shoulder. "Up those stairs are Ash, Charizard, and Mr. Ford." She clutched her mallet grip tightly. "We have to reach them."

"Don't worry," Brock said reassuringly as Crobat flapped in circles above him, glad to be out of his Pokeball. "I'm sure we still have time."

"We won't if we keep standing here talking," Lucy informed them, recalling her Gyarados and switching it for her Seviper. "We'd better be prepared for whatever's up there," Lucy said in response to the unanswered question. "We might be in for a fight."

"Good point," agreed May, sending out her Combusken, who stretched her arms out and looked around, somewhat confused to be in such a dark place. "Don't worry, I'll explain on the way up," she told to the Young Fowl Pokemon.

Harrison and his Blaziken walked over to the door, the Blaze Pokemon's flames lighting the way. "Come on…" he said, half-dreading the encounter with his father waiting for him at the tower's top. "Let's go. Only twenty stories left."

To her credit, May did not once complain as they started up the long, final stretch to their destiny. That changed, though, when Crobat for some reason or another decided to land on her head and scared her so much she almost fell down the stairs and knocked over Brock, who was behind her (and still in a dress, in case you were wondering). The poor girl.

…

They were almost there.

Latias wasn't sure how she knew, she just did. They had traversed many challenges since reluctantly leaving Annabel in behind, and she somehow felt they were coming down the home stretch. They couldn't possibly be very far from the top now!

"It's strange…" Bayleef commented.

"What?" Latias asked.

"We haven't run into a trap yet since that one with the spikes a couple of floors ago. I'd have thought we'd have run into another one by now," the plant Pokemon explained.

Right on cue, the wide hallway they were in trembled, and four all-encompassing force field walls sprung up on each side of them, trapping them in an energy box.

Gardevoir and Latias glared at Bayleef, who sweatdropped. "Eh heh, guess I should've kept my mouth shut."

Gardevoir shook her head and looked away. Her eye widened. "They're moving."

"What?" Latias asked in confusion.

"The walls. They're moving!"

Latias and Bayleef looked for themselves and gasped, seeing that this was true. The four force fields were contracting, shrinking towards them without losing contact with the ceiling, floor, or each other, leaving the trio stuck in a box which was quickly getting smaller.

"We'll be crushed if those things close in too much!" Bayleef cried.

"We have to get out of here!" Latias exhaled a blast of Dragonbreath at the wall in front of her. It rippled for a moment, but then steadied out and continued moving towards her. "It wasn't strong enough!"

Gardevoir's eyes flashed, and a spear of psychic force shot forth from her, striking the center of the wall she was facing. That one vibrated, but still did not break. "Neither was mine."

"Maybe I can do it. Latias, give me some more light!" Bayleef told her friend.

Latias nodded. "Sure." She started glowing.

Bayleef opened her mouth as her leaves started gathering ambient light from both Latias and the strip lamps on the ceiling above them. When she had gathered enough power, she fired the mighty white Solar Beam at one of the walls.

When the beam struck, it actually managed to _push_ the wall outward, for a moment looking like it was going to break…until the power behind the beam ran out and it dissipated, causing the force field to snap back in place.

And the box just kept shrinking.

Bayleef sighed miserably. "Guess I'm not strong enough either."

Gardevoir's eye lit up. "Perhaps…if we combined our powers?"

"Yes, that could work!" Latias said enthusiastically. "Okay…everyone, attack the center of this wall!" she said, pointing a claw towards one of the barriers.

"Right!" Her friends got on either side of her. Bayleef started gathering light energy, Gardevoir concentrated her mind, and Latias gathered white fire in her chest. In unison, they fired at the encroaching wall. A beam of white light, a stream of white fire, and a wave of invisible psychic force converged at the center of the wall.

The entire force field shuddered as the powerful attacks struck it, rippling and fluctuating as the girls applied more force to their techniques. The force field trembled…and then, where their attacks converged, a hole opened in the field, allowing their attacks to pass through to the other side!  
"Yes! We did it!" Bayleef cried gleefully, cutting off her attack.

The hole instantly shut.

"Oops," she said, her leaf drooping.

Gardevoir frowned, noticing the walls were now closer to them. "We're running out of time…"

"Our attacks were strong enough to open a hole…" Latias said, thinking out loud. "But it closed the instant one of us stopped firing…but we can't possibly jump through the hole while we're all firing at once…" Her eyes widened. "Unless…guys, I have an idea."

"Oh?" Gardevoir asked.

Latias nodded. "Gardevoir, get on my back. Bayleef, I'll carry you in my claws. I'll float up and we can all fire at once. Since I'll be airborne and mobile, I can fly us through the hole while we're still training our attacks on it. What do you think?"

Bayleef sweatdropped. "You can carry me with those?" she asked, glancing at Latias' puny claws.

The dragon shrugged. "My arms have been feeling a lot stronger since I absorbed Mariah's crystal." _Among other things…_ "I'm pretty sure they can do it."

Bayleef sighed. "Well, all right…seeing as how I have no other choice."

Latias floated low to the ground, allowing Gardevoir to climb onto her back. The dragon felt almost no burden from Gardevoir's weight. Either the Embrace Pokemon was very light, or more than her arms had strengthened. Latias was betting it was a little of both of those possibilities.

She then floated into the air, once more noticing how little a burden Gardevoir was, levitated over to Bayleef, and pressed her claws against her friend's sides. Bracing herself, she floated higher into the air…and was surprised to find that Bayleef felt no heavier in her arms than Ash ever had on her back. This is to say, that Bayleef wasn't exactly light, but she could probably carry her friend for a while before she got tired and had to put her down.

"Don't drop me, okay?" Bayleef asked nervously.

"Relax, I've got you," Latias said reassuringly. She floated a little higher. They were running out of room, but there was still a comfortable distance remaining between them and the target wall. "Okay…everyone on 3! 1…"

Gardevoir started powering up her psychic abilities.

"2…"

Bayleef's mouth yawned, gathering light energy.

"3! Fire!"

All at once, the trio fired their attacks at the wall. Just as before, it rippled, wobbled, and finally tore open, leaving a hole for the powerful moves to escape from.

Latias shot towards the hole at top speed, keeping the Dragonbreath pouring so the hole would stay open, aiming right for the spot where their attacks converged and tore through. She knew she'd have to cut off her own attack at the last minute though, lest she fly straight into the combined energies and hurt herself. So just micrometers away from the point of convergence, she cut off her Dragonbreath.

Instantly, the hole started to close. Latias sailed through it before it could shut, Gardevoir ducking to keep from hitting her head on the hole's rim…

But Bayleef was not so lucky.

The bottom rim had shrunk too fast for her to fit through, so when Latias passed through the hole Bayleef slammed head-first into the force field wall and was wrenched from her friend's claws, crying out as she fell back to the floor in the middle of the cage.

Realizing she was missing one passenger, Latias whirled around and saw her friend still stuck inside the shrinking force field cage. "Oh no…BAYLEEF!"

"Ugh…you said you wouldn't drop me…" Bayleef said with a wince, recovering from her collision with the wall.

"Oh no…" Latias quickly lowered to the ground in front of the force field, Gardevoir hopping off. "Bayleef, please, I'm so sorry…quick, let's converge our attacks again, that'll-"

"Do nothing," Bayleef said miserably. "We're on opposite sides of the wall now. Our attacks will just cancel each other out if they collide from such differing angles."

Latias paled. "Oh no. But…but then how will we get you out?"

Bayleef squeezed her eyes shut. "You…you can't…" she said softly. "You'll just have to go on without me, I guess."

"But…but you'll die!" Latias protested. "The walls will crush you!"

"Yeah, those are the breaks," Bayleef said bitterly. "Oh well…I guess I knew it had to happen sooner or later…Pikachu, Sadic, Crawdaunt, Charla, Phanphy and Annabel have practically given their lives for us…should have known I was next."

"Bayleef, don't say that!" Latias gasped, horrified that Bayleef was so certain their friends were dead…and alarmed that a part of her was close to agreeing with the Grass-type. "Hold on, I'll…I'll find a way to get you out!"

"Like we found a way to get the others out?" Bayleef asked, her voice toned with anger, bitterness, and despair. "No. This is my turn to make a sacrifice. Maybe it'll be the last one. Maybe you or Gardevoir will have to make the next. Either way, Ash is still waiting. You have to keep going. You have to save him…and Charizard. Don't look back…for my sake, please don't!"

"Bayleef, no!" Latias protested, slamming her claws futilely against the force field before falling to the ground, sobbing. "Please…Bayleef, you're my best friend, I can't lose you…I don't want to lose any more friends…" Gardevoir started to step forward, to put her hand on Latias' shoulder, but she hesitated. Shaking her head, knowing she had no place in this, she remained where she was.  
Bayleef looked away so Latias wouldn't see her own tears. "Yeah…well…like Annabel said…sometimes you have to make sacrifices." The walls were now only a few feet away from her on all sides, and that space was diminishing rapidly.

Latias squeezed her eyes shut. "N-no…"

Images flashed through her mind.

Latios falling away from her, crystallizing and turning into a single mass of brilliant light.

Bianca's corpse lying in bed, her dead eyes staring at nothing until the city was flooded and her body was eaten by hungry Sharpedo.

And then…

More images, more memories, familiar and yet unfamiliar.

A pair of Dragonite getting sadistically slaughtered by an evil too horrific to define, only to get up and begin to devour their Dratini young.

Too many dear friends dying, some of age, some from war, either way always leaving her.

But all of those times, which she both did and did not remember, she had someone to fall back on, whether she had been aware of it or not. Someone dear. Someone special. Someone…someone who was not here now…

She needed him. But he was elsewhere. And she missed him more deeply than she could imagine.

She wanted him, just as she wanted Bayleef and Ash and Charizard and everyone else, for she did not want to lose any more friends.

Her eyes opened, the yellow in them flashing. "_No_." Bayleef looked up in surprise and Gardevoir took a step back in amazement at the almost otherworldly tone in her voice.

Latias turned her neck, glaring at a point on the hallway wall only she could seem to see…and a portion of that wall exploded without warning.

The force field box hesitated in its reduction, flickering.

She turned her head to the other wall, and a portion of that exploded as well.

The force field fluctuated, flickered, and abruptly shattered in a shower of sparks and light, leaving Bayleef unharmed and free from the deathtrap.

She stared in open-mouthed awe at Latias, who blinked and seemed to come back to herself, looking somewhat startled. "Did…did I just do that?"

"Latias…" Bayleef whispered, stepping out from the small floor space which only moments ago had been her prison. "How…how did you do that?"

Latias blinked, swallowed, and blinked again. "I…I just wanted them to go away," she said, sounded amazed and somewhat frightened. "And just like that, I could…I could _tell_ exactly where the force field projectors were. So I just…willed them to stop. And…and they did."

"That was…incredible," Bayleef breathed. "Latias…you _saved_ me. I was about to die!"

Latias blushed. "Well, like I said…I don't want to lose any more friends." _Whether they're ones I remember having in this lifetime or not._

"…_Thank you_," Bayleef said emphatically, wrapping her vines around Latias and pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you for not leaving me behind."

"I only wish I could have done the same for the others," Latias said, feeling ashamed at herself for not being able to demonstrate abilities such as what she had just done before.

"Don't worry," Bayleef said reassuringly. "I don't know why, but…somehow, I think they're okay." She smiled. "Come on. We have to go make sure our other friends in danger are okay."

Gardevoir said nothing as she followed the two down the hallway, her mind deep in thought at what she had just seen.

Latias' actions, her temperament just then…for a moment, she had seemed so much like Mewtwo.

She had seen Latias train with Mewtwo in the desert. She had seen Latias defeat that anomalous, foul Mewtwo clone in Battle Pyramid.

But now, for the first time, Gardevoir wondered…just how powerful was Latias anyway?

Could she possibly be a match for Mewtwo himself?

…

Blaziken landed a Phoenix Punch directly to Charizard's chin, causing his head to twist back and his body to nearly topple over.

It was strange.

The Blaze Pokemon rammed his knee into Charizard's gut, gave him an elbow in the sternum, then grabbed him by the arm and threw the dragon to the ground.

He was getting beaten…

Charizard swept his tail at Blaziken's ankles while he was on the ground. The chicken hopped over them easily and drove his feet into Charizard's sides, kicking him off the side of the platform they were on.

He was losing…

Charizard caught the edge of the platform with a claw, flipped himself back up, and spat a Dragon Rage right into Blaziken's face, exploding and knocking the chicken back.

His trainer was on the brink of death from dehydration…

Blaziken recovered almost immediately from the attack and charged forward, fist glowing as he unleashed a Phoenix Punch. Charizard barely managed to leap out of the way in time, his weary and aching wings flying open to help him glide to another platform.

But he had never felt stronger in his life than he did right then.

"Blaziken, this has gone on long enough!" Ford said, glancing with a hint of anxiety at Ash, whose breathing had slowed down tremendously as he sat down on his platform watching the fight, his voice too weak to give any more commands to his Pokemon. And despite all that, the boy couldn't stop smiling, even as his lips cracked and bled, at the sight of his Charizard waging battle, getting the stuffing beaten out of him by Blaziken, and still managing to get back up for more. "We need to finish this! Phoenix Fury!"

Blaziken grinned at the name of the attack. Spreading his arms out, he leaped backwards into the air, his wrists blazing with new fire. Without warning, the air around him ignited, surrounding his body in a flaming aura. He stopped in mid-jump, floating in the air as the flames around him crackled and grew in intensity, taking on the form of an immense phoenix.

Charizard stared into the malevolent eyes of the Blaziken without fear. He had no reason to be afraid, after all.

His Charla had come back to him.

He was going to become a father.

His trainer had absolute faith in him, even as both of them were losing in this hellish cage match.

Nothing else mattered anymore. Not his pride, not his honor, not his desire to redeem himself, only this.

There was no way he could lose.

And so, as the massive fire phoenix launched off of Blaziken's body and shot at him, Charizard practically roared as flames of his own, fueled by his determination, welled up from his chest and out onto the field, manifesting as a tremendous fireball. "BLAST BURN!"

The phoenix didn't stand a chance in hell against the unstoppable flare of destruction rushing towards it. Charizard simply stood there and watched in satisfaction as it struck the shocked and disbelieving Blaziken as Ford yelled something (probably crying out in fear, the wuss) and exploded in a blast which shook the entire tower.

…

May grabbed a railing as the stairs shook. "What was that?" she asked after the tremors stopped.

"I don't know…it felt like something big," Brock said, offering his opinion.

"Then that gives us all the more reason to get to the top as quickly as possible," said Lucy. "Come on, we have to pick up the pace!"

"Right! Continue leading the way, Harrison!" Steven called up to Harrison and Blaziken, who were at the front of the party and using the Blaze Pokemon's flames to light the way.

Harrison nodded and continued up the stairs. _Father…whatever comes of this, I have no regrets. I've made the right choice. I only hope you can do the same._

_Ash, I'm coming,_ Misty thought to herself, carrying Corsola under one arm, the luminous Togetic on her head, and her mallet in her other hand. _And after we get out of this, I promise I'll never force you to another dance again! Well, except for our wedding. I mean, that one's inevitable after all._

_I wonder what awaits us,_ Steven thought to himself. He smirked and glanced at his levitating Metagross beside him. _Whatever it is, I know we can defeat it together._

_When I see Ford, I'm gonna shove my spiky boot all the way up his ass and out his mouth for hiding this from us and kidnapping Ash and who knows who else to carry out his stupid plans,_ Lucy thought, a scowl on her face. _And then I'll let Seviper eat him. Well, after everyone else has had a crack at him, of course. He has it coming._

_Man, am I glad I got those heels removed,_ Brock thought as Crobat flapped around just behind him. _They were killing my feet! Now if only I could do something about how much this dress chafes my skin…makes me glad I'm not wearing anything underneath it or I'd get such a rash!_

_How much further is it?_ May whined to herself, since she knew nobody wanted to hear her complain. _My feet hurt! Brock may have mutilated his shoes, but there's no way I'm removing the heels from mine, they're too expensive! And I might want to wear them again. No way will I sacrifice their value just to make them more comfortable!_

_Why is May climbing this tower wearing a dress?_ Combusken wondered. _Shouldn't she have changed into something more practical? Oy…humans are so weird._

_Why is Brock climbing this tower wearing a dress?_ Crobat wondered. _I mean, I know he's hung up on that Venus lady, but…Jeez! He really needs help. Humans are so weird._

_I'm hungry,_ Lucy's Seviper thought, licking her lips. _Lucy promised me I'd get to eat something soon. I hope it's something big, fat, and juicy that I can just relax and digest for the next couple of weeks as it's slowly pushed through my bowels and crushed bit by bit into an unrecognizable pulp in my belly._

_I hope Dad's all right,_ Togetic thought anxiously. _I mean, I'm sure he is, but…oh, I can't help but worry for him! And for everyone else. I hope they're okay. Little brother, please take care of yourself!_

_I hope Crawdaunt's all right,_ Corsola thought anxiously as well. _He's probably gotten himself into the middle of a huge fight…or an orgy…knowing his luck, I can't say for sure which it is. Or which one I would prefer. Hmm…_

_Hope that Charizard doesn't get too beat up before we get to him,_ Harrison's Blaziken thought to himself. _I still want to fight him again. Heh._

_Doo_ _de doo de doo de doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo…_ Metagross sang happily to himself, using his four brains to reconstruct a meaningless song from some stupid children's television show he liked.

In silence, left to their own thoughts, the group continued up the stairs, uncertain of what awaited them.

…

The trio of Pokemon, all that remained of the second rescue group, entered a large cylindrical chamber with an arched ceiling with strip lights on it. The wall on the right side of the room was mostly made up of windows, all of which were covered by metal shutters from the outside. There was a door across the room from them, with a staircase beyond it.

"We're almost there," Latias said abruptly. "I don't know how, but I can feel it."

"I too," Gardevoir said quietly.

"Well, whatever's waiting for us, we can take it on! Nothing's gonna stand in our way, right guys?" Bayleef asked confidently.

"Right!" agreed Latias. Gardevoir nodded as well.

"Wrong," said an unfamiliar voice.

There was a _phht_ noise, and Bayleef and Gardevoir abruptly fell to the ground. Latias gasped in surprise. "Guys? Guys!" She gasped again, seeing a pair of darts lodged in their necks. A pair of very familiar looking darts. "Hey…those are Poke-B-Gone!" she realized in horror.

"Yeah…a shame I only had two shots, but that stuff's so rare and illegal even Mr. Ford has trouble getting his hands on it." The Red Poke Ranger, clad in a black combat vest and leg gear, dropped from the concealed recess in the ceiling where he had been hiding, discarding a small dart gun in one hand while pointing a double-barreled laser gun at Latias with the other. "My aim must not be as good as I thought, because I was aiming specifically for you, seeing as how you've shown yourself to be the biggest threat. Oh well."

"Why did you do that!" Latias asked, enraged. "They were my friends! They haven't done anything to you!"

"True, but they're trespassers on Ford Industry property. My orders are to defeat and capture all intruders. Your other friends have done a good job of doing that to themselves so far, so…" Before she could counter, the Ranger fired two shots from his gun, one at Bayleef and one at Gardevoir, causing the air around them to explode. "All I have to do is take you in, and my job's done."

"Bayleef! Gardevoir!" Latias cried in horror. That horror quickly turned into confusion as the smoke cleared and revealed a pair of metal cards with holographic screens, each of which showed the face of one of her knocked-out friends. "Huh?"

"My gun was on Capture mode," Red Ranger explained, ejecting what looked like a blank version of the metal cards her friends were trapped in from his gun. "It only works on my opponent if they're weakened first, though. So if you don't mind letting me beat you up a bit, we can get this over with quickly."

Latias stared at him appalled. "You actually expect me to let you shoot at me just to get put in a card!"

"It's not much different from how most other Pokemon are captured," Red Ranger said mockingly. "I'd think you'd be used to it by now."

Her eyes flashed in rage. She had only been inside one Pokeball, and that had been Mary Sue's Master Ball near the beginning of her journey. That had been an extremely hellish experience which would have been a lot worse if Mewtwo hadn't saved her. She'd be damned before she let something like that happen to her again. "You've just shot my friends twice and trapped them in little metal cards. My other friends are caught in deathtraps and could be dead by now. And the friends I came here to save may have already lost." She growled as a flame of anger finally ignited in her heart, this false hero the last straw which broke the very exhausted Numel's back. "If you want to capture me, 'hero', you're going to have to fight for it."

"Oh good!" Red Ranger said eagerly. "I was hoping for a good fight!" He whistled. "Come 'ere, BID! Battlizer, activate!"

There was a bark and what looked like a robotic Houndour raced out from the doorway on the other side of the room, just before it (and the other door) was sealed by shutters. It jumped towards Red Ranger, its mechanical parts splitting up as its body unfolded, and landed on the Ranger's body in the form of armor. His lower legs were both covered in angular white metal with black sides, kneecaps, and front. Two side flaps of armor hung down from his belt over his hips, protecting them. The main body of the robot had folded onto his torso and shoulders. Most of it was white metal, but the breastplates of the armor were made up by big red and blue sirens. There were also sirens on his angular shoulder pads, the left one blue, the right one red, matching the lights on his chest. A pair of red and blue thrusters and wings grew from his back, giving him a jet pack, and a pair of cannons attached to the Ranger's shoulders by pivots hung down between them. A pair of white angular gauntlets formed on his hands, and the robot Houndour's head extended a handle from its neck and released a long blade from its mouth, creating a sword which the Red Ranger caught in his right hand and swung about, causing it to glow and ring in the air. "Hyah! What do you think of my Battlizer armor?"

She glared at him. "I don't suppose any of your other Rangers have this armor?" She asked this out of concern for her friends in the other rescue group. After all, if one Ranger was here, who's to say the others weren't present somewhere as well?

"Ha! Of course not! They're largely superfluous. Why else do you think the Red Ranger always gets the best weapons and gear?"

"So you even denigrate your comrades who fight alongside you…" Her eyes narrowed. "You attack a pair of Pokemon who had done nothing to hurt you without provocation or warning, intend to beat me to a pulp to capture me, and are also assisting a madman with his evil plans. You are no hero."

He shrugged. "Hey, as long as the people of Ever Grande City think I am, and I get paid for my work with money and power by Ford, I don't care what you call me! So…we gonna start this?"

"Yes, I do believe we will," Latias said, her eyes glowing. She launched an extremely powerful Psychic attack at the Ranger.

The Ranger's sword glowed and he lashed out at the encroaching wave. "Kiyah!" Amazingly, he slashed it in two (despite it not even being a physical force which could be acted upon) causing it to pass by harmlessly on either side of him. "What, that all you got?"

"Unfortunately for you, no," she growled, floating backwards and powering up. Snarling, she charged at the Ranger, intending to make this pretender pay for all the pain he and his boss had caused her friends.

…

Charizard collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as the smoke from the explosive blast of his ultimate attack continued to billow about the arena. His heart soared with elation at the knowledge, the sheer and irrefutable fact, that he had done it.

He had beaten Blaziken.

He had won.

It had taken everything he had left…every last ounce of energy…but he had done it. He had won.

He closed his eyes as he caught his breath, every inch of his body in pain, trying to regain his strength. His ears listened intently to the sounds around him, expecting at any moment for Ford's dumbfounded and requisite howl of denial and despair, and Ash's cries of victory and praise, for he, Charizard, had saved his trainer and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, balancing whatever problems and insecurities lingered in his spirit as he did so. He had won, and he felt like a much better and balanced Pokemon for it.

However, he did not hear cries of joy from his trainer. What he heard was most troubling…it sounded like a gasp of horror.

Confused, he forced his heavy eyelids open…and found himself staring at the scorched, burnt, feathery feet of an extremely damaged and heavily pissed off Blaziken standing over him.

The blood drained from his face. No. No, this couldn't be happening. He had hit him. He had hit him with the ultimate fire technique, Blast Burn! He had hit him with everything he had left! According to every law of causality, physics, and reality, he should be an unconscious cinder by now! How could this be!

Blaziken smirked, his cracked beak splintering as he did so, and said only one word. "Endure."

That single word struck Charizard harder than any of the Blaze Pokemon's punches. Of course. Endure. The special technique which allowed you to just barely survive an attack, no matter how powerful, with a slim bit of vitality to keep you going. It was less effective the more times it was used in a fight, but this was clearly the first time Blaziken had used it during the match, and so…and so Blaziken had survived.

And while the Blaze Pokemon looked beaten, weary, and exhausted, he was still able to stand on his own two feet, while Charizard had used up so much energy the mere act of breathing and keeping his eyelids open felt harder than lifting a mountain.

And because of that, because Charizard couldn't move, couldn't get up and fight, he had lost. Completely and utterly, he had lost.

Once again, he had been bested by a Blaziken…only this time the defeat was not as close as it had been last time, and the stakes were so much higher.

He had lost.

"Blaziken, that Charizard has been a hindrance for too long," Ford rumbled. "He's delayed everything immeasurably and brought Mr. Ketchum much too close to the brink of death due to his pigheaded stubbornness to keep fighting. Finish him."

"N-no…" Ash rasped, forcing the air out of his dry and shriveling lungs. "Please…"

Ford shook his head firmly. "No, Ash. I never wanted it to come to this, but you and your Pokemon have fought your fate every step of the way. Now I have no choice but to teach both of you a lesson. Blaziken…"

A sadistic gleam in his eyes, Blaziken set to work.

Ash cried out with what little remained of his voice. He begged Ford and Blaziken to stop, pleaded with Charizard to get up. The corners of his eyes misted up, but he didn't have enough moisture left to generate tears to cry for his Pokemon's suffering.

And despite Ash's pleading, there was nothing Charizard could do. He was defeated. He was powerless. He realized that, in all honesty, he had probably never had a chance to begin with. The businessman and the Blaze Pokemon had been toying with them from the start. He had been a fool to think he could beat them. He had been a fool to think that his life might finally be getting back on track and that he had a second chance for a happy ending. He should have realized that fate would never be so kind to a failure and a child-killer like himself.

And now, in his weakest and most defenseless state, his new self-confidence stripped away, his failure and weakness was bared for the entire world to see, were they but here to look at it. But they probably had more important things to do than waste time looking at a useless, pathetic failure like himself.

There was nothing he could do as Blaziken broke his ribs.

There was nothing he could do as Blaziken shattered his jaw.

There was nothing he could do as Blaziken turned him over, dug his claws into the dragon's back, and with one mighty yank _tore his wings out._

…

Shouting a battle cry, Red Ranger swung his sword down at Latias with both hands. The dragon caught the blade between her claws and lashed out with a powerful Psychic blast, flinging the Ranger across the room and tearing the sword from her grasp. She immediately dashed forward, moving fast enough to smash the Ranger's ribs if she made impact.

However, Latias wasn't the only one with speed, and just before she could ram into him the Red Ranger activated his thrusters and rocketed over her in a jet-powered somersault, blasting at her with his laser gun as she braked hard to keep from slamming into the wall.

Her eyes flashed, and the laser bolts were instantly redirected from her and homed in on Red Ranger. He moved his sword in a series of rapid blocks, deflecting and destroying each one of the laser bolts as he landed on the ground and started gliding backward, his thrusters pushing against the ground as he fired his gun repeatedly at Latias.

The bolts swerved away from her with a mental command, and she tore the gun from the Ranger's hand with her telekinesis, crumpling it into a ball of scrap with a Psychic blast.

Undaunted, the Red Ranger ran his free hand down the side of his long sword, causing the blade to light up. "ASS Power Saber! Hah!" He swung his sword…and an incredibly long energy blade shot out from the end of it, slashing out at Latias as the Ranger's real sword cut through the air.

Latias floated above the blade slash with ease, as if the attack had been too slow for her to be concerned about. She charged towards the Ranger, a Dragonbreath building up in her throat.

As she approached, the Ranger pointed his left gauntlet at her, and a bolt of flame shot out from it, forming the head of a slavering Houndoom, which then curled into a fire wheel that rolled towards her, connected to the gauntlet by a thin thread of flames.

Latias exhaled her Dragonbreath at that moment, which took the form of a tremendous white dragon and shot towards the Houndoom fire wheel. The two fire projections collided midway between their masters and exploded violently, flinging both Latias and Red Ranger back from the force of the blast.

Red Ranger's thrusters flared, stopping his backwards momentum, and he rapidly fired red and blue lasers from the sirens on his chest and shoulders into the smoke cloud from the explosion.

All of them missed, however, as Latias used Aerial Ace to not only dodge the attacks, but get right behind Red Ranger and fly into his back, attempting to damage his thrusters. However, the Ranger had expected this, and suddenly rocketed forward, the exhaust from his jets flaring out into Latias' face and blinding her.

She cried in pain and quickly used Recover to heal her face, but that brief pause was all Red Ranger needed to have his double cannons flip onto his shoulders, charge up, and fire along with the lasers from his sirens.

Latias' eyes flashed as she finished recovering, and a green-blue shell of light, formed from a combination of Light Screen, Safeguard, and Protect, formed in front of her. The lasers struck the shield…and smashed right through it, slamming into Latias and burning her flesh, causing her to cry in pain as she flew across the room and slammed into the wall.

The Red Ranger flew over, charging up his cannons for another assault…and Latias' head shot up, eye glowing as she used Psychic to flip the cannons upward just before they fired so they would blast at the ceiling. At the same time, she formed another combination protective shell, which was weaker due to her use of Protect twice in a row, but since the laser blast wasn't as strong without the use of the cannons her shield was able to handle it.

A large chunk of ceiling, dislodged by the powerful cannon blast, fell towards Red Ranger. Acting reflexively, he slashed at it with his sword, cutting it in half, and got rammed hard in the chest by Latias, who had used the Ranger's moment of distraction to heal and get back into the air.

She opened her mouth as the Ranger flew back from her attack and unleashed Dragonbreath before he could get too far, the white fire dragon seeking to engulf the Ranger in its flames. The crimson anti-hero fired the Houndoom flame wheel from his gauntlet just before the dragon could wash over him, causing both fire beasts to explode and send him flying into the windows, shattering them but not even denting the shutters just behind them.

He slid to the ground, groaning in pain. Believing him weakened, Latias swooped in for the kill…

And fell for the Ranger's trap as his cannons swiveled up and blasted her, sending her tumbling away. The Ranger then powered up his sword and with a cry lashed out at her with its energy blade.

Latias twisted out of the blade's swing at the last moment, formed a sphere in her claws, and hurled a Mist Ball at her foe. The Red Ranger pointed his gauntlet at the projectile, calling upon his fire wheel…only for the weapon to spit sparks, and he realized to his horror that the explosion must have damaged it too much to be used again.

The misty orb slammed into his chest and exploded, smashing him back into the shutters he was already leaning against. The red and blue sirens on his chest shattered from the blast, and the wing parts of his thrusters snapped off, falling to the ground uselessly. The Ranger grunted in pain, his ribs feeling the force of that attack.

Latias charged forward, grabbed him by the neck, and reared back her claw, charging up a Dragonclaw to drive right through the Ranger's visor. But before she could strike, the Red Ranger's shoulder cannon swiveled up and fired directly in her face, blowing her away.

As Latias hurtled away, the Red Ranger pulled himself out of the wall and started shooting towards her, the thrusters on his back igniting and propelling him forward along the ground, since his loss of wings kept him from flying. He charged up his sword, causing the extremely long energy blade to extend from its tip as he shot towards the dragon.

Latias regained control of her flight and started flying towards the Red Ranger at top speed, her right wing glowing white with the power of Steel Wing.

Moving almost too fast for the eye to see, the two combatants passed by each other, lashing out with sword and Steel Wing at the same time in the split second before they moved out of range, both braking to a halt on opposite sides of the room.

There was a pause.

One of the fighters collapsed.

A scream of agony echoed throughout the room.

…

Ash stared in disbelief. Every moment he wished that this were all a dream, that he would just wake up and find it was the morning of the Hoenn League finals, and that none of the awful events of this night had happened.

But they had. The proof of that was right before him.

Charizard, his body beaten, broken, and bruised, was curled in a tight orange ball of pain; eyes clenched shut as copious tears ran down his cheeks, too much in agony to utter a cry after his initial scream.

The two stumps on his back had gushed blood at first, but the searing heat of the arena and the Blaziken looming over him quickly cauterized the wounds. That did not make them look any less ugly or just plain _wrong_, however.

Blaziken chuckled as he tossed the bloody, ragged wings he had ripped off the dragon's back off the side of the platform, watching intently as they fluttered down into the lava pool below and sank beneath the surface. Smiling, he turned around and kicked Charizard in the side, eliciting a whimper. "That was for my sunglasses."

Ash's mouth opened, but nothing came out. His throat and tongue had dried up by now. There was barely any breath left in his lungs. It was just so hot…if only he could have a drink of water…but he knew he wouldn't get one, now. He was going to get something much worse.

He had failed, just as Charizard had. He had put all his faith in the dragon, left his life hanging on the line, and…it wasn't enough. It never had been. And now, due to Ash's desire for a life of his own, Charizard had been dealt a blow so cruel he would probably kill himself rather than go for the rest of his life without flying.

And that blow would never have struck if Ash hadn't wanted his freedom, or if Charizard hadn't been such a good friend that he would have risked anything to protect him. And in the end, it seemed the dragon had risked too much, all because his trainer had asked it of him. Ash fell to his knees, partly from exhaustion and dehydration, but also from utter despair.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this, boy," Ford told him honestly, feeling more than just a twinge of guilt, quickly suppressed. He had not expected Blaziken to do that. He had not expected his Pokemon to take it that far. He realized for the first time that the Blaze Pokemon had been acting a little strange recently, but had never made much note of it…perhaps he should have. It was too late now.

He sighed and rubbed his temples. It had to be done, he told himself. It had been necessary...if more than a little extreme. He would have to be sure to have a long talk with Blaziken after this was over, though. "But you left me no choice. I never wanted it to come to this, but it had to be done."

Had he any voice left, had he any strength left, Ash would have shouted, "If you never wanted it to come to this, then why'd you let it?" But he said nothing. He could say nothing. There was nothing left. He only felt emptiness and despair in place of his usual courage and boundless energy.

And so, he didn't move, didn't even try and protest as Ford pressed the button on his console which sealed Ash's fate.

At the cage's apex, the HERO came to life in an unearthly flash of purplish light. With an almost hungry glow, the crystal 'eye' pulsed, and every spotlight in the room swiveled to point directly at Ash, bathing him in unusually bright white light which grew in intensity as the crystal hummed and crackled with power, causing him to gasp in pain as the very building blocks of his body started rearranging themselves in reaction to the light. He fell backwards, a whoosh of air flying from his deflated lungs. As his body started to glow and transform, his precious cap, and the even more precious handkerchief inside, fell off, skidding to the edge of the platform.

And then Ash Ketchum started to scream.

…

Latias stared dully at her right wing, which was currently unattached from her body, lying a few feet away, covered in blood and gore. _Why is my wing over there?_ She wondered. _Shouldn't it be attached to my body?_

She glanced down at her right side, where the wing was supposed to be, and saw a huge gaping wound spewing blood out in a puddle around her. _Oh, that explains it. Heehee. I lost a wing!_ She thought giddily, her mind numb from shock. Deep down she knew this was something serious. Even using Recover, all she would be able to do was heal over the wound, she wasn't sure that even Mewtwo could regenerate her wing. This meant she might never be able to fly properly again.

There was a splash. Latias turned her head and saw Red Ranger standing over her, his feet soaked in the blood surrounding her. "Huh," he said. "Nice attack. Actually broke my sword," he said, holding up the jagged stump that had once been his powerful blade. "But I cut your wing off too, so I'd say I won this round." He chuckled coldly.

"So now I guess you're going to stick me in a little card!" Latias said dazedly, her head spinning from blood loss.

"Mmm…no, don't think so," said the Ranger, shaking his head. "You destroyed my gun, remember? Without that, I can't capture anyone. Guess I'll just have to kill you, then."

Her eyes widened, those words cutting through her confusion and funk. "Wh-what?"

"I'll have to kill you," he explained calmly, reversing his grip on what was left of his sword. "Even wounded, you're still dangerous. I'm supposed to incapacitate any intruders, and I think dying is the most effective form of being incapacitated. Mr. Ford will understand. I'll just tell him you tried to claw my eyes out, and he'll give me hazard pay, fix my suit, give me a new gun, and put me back out on the streets in a couple of days. And you'll be dead, forgot about that."

She blinked, a chill raising goosebumps along her spine. "And so, j-just like that, you're going to kill me?"

He shrugged. "My job is to capture criminals and kill monsters. Pokemon is short for Pocket Monsters, and you're a Pokemon, which makes you a monster. So…yeah, pretty much." His arm thrust forward, driving the jagged remnant of his sword into Latias' chest.

She gasped in pain, yellow eyes bulging. She sank to the floor, blood oozing out from around the sword hilt, now firmly imbedded in her chest, while more of that precious liquid dripped from her mouth. She stared up at her murderer in disbelief, shocked that it was all going to end like this.

The Red Ranger stood there and watched her for a few moments. Watched the life draining out of her. Then he chuckled and turned away, walking across the room towards the discarded prisons containing Bayleef and Gardevoir.

She blinked, her eyelids drooping as more blood came out. _Is this…is this it? Am I dying? Is this my end?_

Tears welled up, a deep sense of shame and loss rising from within her. _That's it…I'm going to die here. Not in a battle to save the Earth or my friends, but in a duel with a fake hero. I've let…_everybody…_down…_

She clenched her eyes shut as her breath grew shallow. _Bianca…Latios…Lorenzo…Pikachu…Crawdaunt…Sadic…Phanphy…Charla…Annabel…is this what all of the struggle and sacrifices you made for me have amounted to? A lonely death, failing to save my friends? What good was all your hard work, then, if it came to this? To nothing? To failure?_

_It was all…all for nothing…_

Her claw spasmed, brushing against the Dragon Flute and locket dangling from her neck, now soaked in the pool of blood spreading out around her. It was only now she realized that at any moment, she could have summoned Mewtwo, who would have done everything in his power to help her and her friends and save Ash and Charizard. But it had never occurred to her to summon him. Not even when things had seemed their most hopeless. Not even after she had spent bonding time with Mewtwo's amore beneath the fireworks, _talking_ about the all-powerful Psychic! Why hadn't it occurred to her to call him? Why had she forced her friends to suffer and perhaps die when she could have saved them right from the beginning? Had it been pride? A desire to prove herself? Or had she just been too stupid or in a rush to think of it?

Either way, it was too late. She was dead. Her friends were dead, trapped, or doomed. She had come all this way on her journey…and in the end, it was all for nothing.

"My King…" she whispered as the spaces between her heart beats became longer and longer. "I'm sorry…I made you come back…for nothing. If you had waited a little longer, then I would have been able to join you in death. Now…we've switched places. You're alive, and I'm going to be a ghost or just plain dead. How-" She gasped, her body shuddering as it began to shut down. "How ironic fate is, isn't it?"

Her heart stopped.

…

_Pain._

_Fear._

_Sorrow._

_That was all he felt. That was all he knew. Nothing else mattered._

_He had failed. He had forced a dear friend into losing something precious. And now he was going to be punished for his thoughtlessness._

_He was falling. He didn't know where to, or where from, all he knew was that he was falling, and hurting, and becoming something else._

_And_

_He_

_Kept_

_On_

_Falling._

_And below, something with three eyes was waiting with open arms._

…

_Pain._

_Fear._

_Sorrow._

_That was all she felt. And she knew she deserved it._

_She had failed. Her friends had been counting on her. Her dear friends, who had given their lives so she could go on, their sacrifice had been for nothing. Her beloved, who had come back from the edge of death itself to be with her, had returned to life for nothing._

_She was dying._

_She_

_Kept_

_On_

_Falling._

_And there was nobody waiting to catch her._

…

Misty stumbled, nearly falling over. "Mom!" Togetic cried in alarm.

"I-it's nothing. I just thought…" She blinked in confusion. "I think…something's happened to Ash."

…

His yellow eyes flashed as an indescribably awful sensation struck him, nearly causing him to collapse from shock. He instantly knew what this meant.

"NO! LATIAAAAAAS!"

…

"It…it's done," Ford said, his mouth dry, his eyes wide in awe.

Blaziken tilted his head, intrigued.

A new figure, clad in shining white spandex, stood on the platform where Ash had been moments ago.

The far left side of his suit, and left arm, were covered in blue spandex, while the rest was white. A zigzagging gold line, running straight up from his boot to his shoulder, then zipping down towards his waist then back to his other shoulder, split the two colors apart. His belt had a gold buckle with the Astro Squad Sigma emblem on it. Hanging from it in a holster on his right side was a laser pistol, and a dagger hung in a holster on the left. Above his white boots, he had a pair of thick gold greaves which went over his kneecaps. One his left wrist, he wore a strange metal device that had what appeared to be a throttle and gauge. He had a gold vest which projected over his shoulders in the form of large shoulder pads and wrapped around his chest, connecting to a plate with the Latin symbol for Alpha on it. His helmet was white, like most of his bodysuit, with a blank silver faceplate for his lower face and a black visor shaped like a jagged mouth. Above the visor was a small V-shaped crest curved back against the forehead, and there were a pair of red lights on the sides of the helmet. Instead of being spherically oblong, the helmet came to a sharp point in the back, giving it an aerodynamic look.

"I did it! I DID IT!" Ford cried, laughing manically. "The ultimate hero is born! ALPHA RANGER!"

Alpha Ranger stood on the platform, unmoving and indifferent. Behind him, Ash Ketchum's official Pokemon League hat teetered on the edge and fell off, dropping into the lava below. It was incinerated on contact, destroying everything within.

…

High above the world…

He opened his eyes. "It's done," he said with a low chuckle. "He is _mine_."

As his minions burst into raucous howls and laughs, weeping tears of joy at this splendid news, the evil one sat calmly in his throne, gazing down at the Earth below, pleased with the way events were unfolding.

Everything was going according to plan. And soon, his ultimate victory would at last be obtained.

Earth, and all else, was doomed.

…

It seems as if things have taken a turn for the worse for all our main characters. Whose side is this new figure, the Alpha Ranger, on? Has Latias truly met her demise at the hands of Red Ranger? Will Ash's friends be of any help when they reach the tower's top and find themselves confronted with Ford's creation? And, just as important, will Charizard ever fly again? Find out next time, in the conclusion to Hero!

…

Bet you weren't expecting these twists, were you? Heh. Any opinions on how the actors in this little drama performed are welcome.


	53. Hero pt 3: True Heroes

Well, after the heart-stopping ending for the last chapter, I bring you the final chapter of the Hero mini-arc! Read on and witness the final fate of Ash, Latias, and pretty much everyone else!  
Disclaimer: All characters in this chapter are either parodies, gross transformations, or licensed to other companies who are not me. Kudos to Alex Warlorn for the solution to Charizard's problem and for his help editing.

…

High-pitched screams filled the chamber as the newest general gleefully dug his claws again and again into the human's flesh, tearing at muscle and viscera as he shredded apart the weakling's innards and gnawed on the intestinal tract, not minding the foul taste of the bowels emptying in his mouth.

He could sense the human's spark of life fading away. He could sense his victim's mind blacking out and shutting down as he sank into death. He found himself mildly annoyed that the fool was trying to escape so pathetically from his torture, and drove his tendrils; both physical and psychic, into the prisoner's flesh and soul, unleashing a wave of power which wracked the human's body in agony as he dragged the mortal's frail and pathetic spirit, kicking and screaming, back once again from the boundary of death and into the hell that was his life. "Not yet," he cackled, his tongue flicking at the air. "Not…YET!"

The bits and pieces of the prisoner's body, playfully ripped out by the general, floated into the air and reattached themselves to the shattered figure lying on the floor, painfully reconnecting ligaments, blood vessels, and nerve endings, causing the human to writhe about on the floor as he experienced a very painful, very careless, and very cruel form of healing that would leave him with bones arranged in the wrong manner, blood flooding his lungs and brain, a twisted spine, crossed nerves and pressure points, and a whole mess of other things which his captors would get around to fixing eventually…if only so they could take him apart again. The broken, barely human thing lay there, mewling piteously.

"Done having fun?" the master asked from his throne.

"Yessss," the general hissed, licking James' blood from his lips. "But he's so…WEAK…it is so easy to break him again and again. I require someone stronger…someone who won't fall apart the instant my mind brushes theirs!"

"And you will get that someone quite soon," the master promised.

"But how can I? How can I, if-" the general started.

The master laughed. "You don't really think something like that will keep her out of the picture? She will come back. I have foreseen this. And then, you may play with her to your black heart's content."

The general bowed graciously as his evil heart soared at the prospect of all the deliciously painful things he had in mind which would shatter her again and again. "Thank you, my master."

The master nodded. "In the mean time, we must focus on our latest comrade: the Alpha Ranger."

"Why IS he a Ranger, anyway?" Meowth wondered. "Instead of a horrible monster like the rest of us?"

"Because I…or should I say, the crystal piece of HERO, found this form more amusing," the master said with a chuckle. "It is a part of me, after all, no matter how much it has become corrupted due to the Mother's influence in our final battle. That is the only reason that the humans who go into HERO display any heroic tendencies at all and retain humanlike characteristics, before their hearts turn. However, this shard has managed to turn its corruption to its own advantage, by ensuring that no matter how 'good' its heroes start out as, eventually all will fall into my clutches. And each time they go through HERO again, they are that much closer. As for why they appear as heroes as pitiful and cliché as they are…the crystal recalls the foes who opposed me in many of my past lives. It finds it ironic and amusing to create mockeries of those foes, all of whom shall someday serve me or be destroyed at my whim. I must say, I am rather pleased by how this piece has managed to use its own flaw, the Mother's benevolent energy infecting it, to its advantage. I will put that energy to great usage, once it is mine."

"But why does it turn all the Pokemon who pass through it into monsters like us instead of mockeries, then?" Cerberus asked.

The master shrugged. "Partly to keep the humans confused and perplexed, partly because it feels like it. As I said…it is a part of me. It enjoys manipulating the weak and causing chaos and suffering to all."

"And it's done a good job of it too…I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when his friends see what you've done to their precious Ash, master! Heeheeheeheehee!" Mewgle giggled insanely.

Shalor looked pensive as he stared at the imposing image of the white Ranger in the fortress' crystal viewer. "But I wonder…master, I know Alpha Ranger is strong, but…what if they manage to defeat him?"

The master shrugged. "If they defeat him, he will be that much more willing to join us to get his revenge. If he defeats them…not only will those members of the Chosen no longer be a threat, but it will be even easier to convince him to join us by offering him the power to destroy every vestige of his past. Either way…I win."

…

At the hotel…

Max had fallen asleep, still bound and gagged to his chair. He was drooling in his slumber, causing his gag to get soaked with saliva and start smelling funny. The television was still on, albeit muted, and showing some stupid movie about a Meowth who went around on roller skates killing blocky alien robots.

On the bed, next to a limp length of rope was a note:

_Deer Mai, Ash, Brok, Mistee, Peekachoo, Togetik, Lateeas, and evrywun els,_

_Mew and Selebee shoed up and said thei needed mee too cum with them so wee can saiv the world frum the bad gi. Bak toomoroe._

_Luv_ _yoo lots, Jirachi and Absol_

_They could have at least untied me before they left,_ Max thought unconsciously as the ropes digging into his sides manifested as the coils of an Arbok in his dreams.

…

"Latias."

She opened her eyes. She had stopped falling. Someone had caught her. "Where am I?"

"Between life and death."

She had the nagging feeling she'd been here before. "And who are you? Your voice sounds familiar."

"You once knew me, even if it was only for a moment. We have passed that moment…and now I know you much more intimately than before, for I am no longer who I once was."

A figure appeared from the grayish and shifting void around her. Latias blinked in surprise, her visitor looking quite a bit familiar. "Molly?"

…

"We've done nothing wrong!" protested one of the guards as he was led away in handcuffs. "You can't do this to us!"

"I can, and I have!" Officer Jenny said smartly, hands on her hips. "By protecting a madman, you are not only aiding and abetting his insane plans, but you are also obstructing justice by preventing the proper authorities from handling this situation! As such, you and all your colleagues are under arrest…or at the very least, will be held in police custody for questioning until we can tell just how much you know about what's going on!"

The guard grumbled as he was dragged away by the cop, along with all the other Pokemon and security guards Ford had hired to keep everyone out of the Tower.

The plaza in front of Battle Tower was lit up by floodlights set up by Ever Grande police in the wake of the frenzied battle which had occurred when the cops, summoned by Brandon, had descended on the plaza to aid the other Frontier Brains and Elite trainers in their fight against the surprisingly large horde of guards Ford had in his employ. The perimeter of the plaza was now heavily secured to keep any other lingering guard reinforcements or the numerous frightened pedestrians from getting anywhere near the tower, and allowed the police to continue their so far unsuccessful efforts to penetrate the building's unbreakable defenses. The Brains and Elite trainers would have stuck around, but their Pokemon were exhausted from the grueling battle, so had gone to the Pokemon Center to heal them and promised to be back as soon as they could.

"Report. How are our efforts going so far?" Jenny asked one of her lieutenants.

The lieutenant saluted. "Ma'am! Still no success. The tower still repels all efforts to gain entry. We still have helicopters and flyers patrolling the roof and upper levels to look for any openings and weak spots, and welders are attempting to cut through the metal over the windows, but still nothing seems to be working. Diggers encountered several extremely solid layers of metal not too far beneath the surface, which cancels out any of our burrowing plans."

"How about hackers? Have we managed to get any headway through the building's electronics?" Jenny asked.

The lieutenant shook his head. "No ma'am. All phone and computer lines into the building are unresponsive. We've tried cutting power, but the facility has its own generators. We sent a crack team of Porygon2 and Porygon into the systems, and all of them came out with their data on the brink of derazzing."

Jenny sighed. "Great…where are the Poke Rangers or Soldier Scouts when you need them?" _Not that they'd be of any help, considering how they seem to be part of all this,_ she thought bitterly, still trying to cope with the unbelievably hard blow to her morale and every belief she had in Ford Industries, the HERO project (which, as a high-ranking police officer, she was peripherally aware of, but not to the full extent which had just been thrust upon her, thus clearing her of any attachment to the guilty parties (or that's what she believed anyway, she'd have to check with the legal department to be certain)) and a good many other things in her life that she had received when she had found out, via the somewhat unreliable Brandon and the much more trustworthy elite trainers after him, just what was going on here.

"Well, keep at it," she heard herself telling the lieutenant. "No fortress is truly impervious. There must be some way to get in…interrogate the guards we've captured, maybe they have keycards or a password or something that'll work…it's drawing at straws, but it's all we've got."

"Yes ma'am."

Jenny walked away, feeling somewhat useless and unsettled, as she often did in situations where she felt that she was superfluous and had little to no control over the situation. The thought of the kids whom had fought alongside her in the battle against Neo Team Snagem trapped somewhere up in that tower, while their friend was being held hostage and forced through Lord-knew-what kind of torture, sickened her. It was, she thought ironically, like history from only a few days ago being repeated, only this time she wasn't up there with them, sharing the fight and standing alongside people she had swiftly realized were friends she could trust to protect her back. She didn't have many of those on the force.

She sighed, taking a seat on the rim of the currently inactive fountain in the middle of the plaza. "What's the point of me being around when I can't handle when push comes to shove?" she thought miserably.

"Officer Jenny!"

The cop looked up in surprise, the somewhat familiar voice catching her attention. "That voice…is that…?"

She was not completely surprised when she saw Wes and Rui, the former wearing his stylish blue coat over somewhat uncomfortable-looking formal wear, along with the dashingly handsome masked figure of Zoro running over to her. "What the…how did you three get in here?"

As they stopped before her, the caped Zoro laughed and twirled one of the fine ends of his moustache between his fingers. "Ah _senora_, a little dash of the _Encanto_ _de Zoro_ and the guard on duty let us right in."

"That and we greased their palms a little," Wes said with a smirk.

Jenny sighed and put her face in her hands. "Great, I thought we'd gotten rid of all the bribe-takers during the last mass layoffs."

"Bribes? All we did was give them some coffee and donuts," said Rui, frowning at her two companions. "And said we were bringing some for you, Officer Jenny. But, ah, we had to give up some for every cop who stopped us, so…" Rui shrugged weakly. "Now we're all out."

"Oh." _Guess I don't have to fire anyone after all,_ she thought. _Though I could have used some coffee and donuts._ "And what're you three doing here?"

Wes shrugged. "For the same reason the people you were with came last time…because they're our friends."

Zoro nodded. "Si. This is true. Senor Ketchum and his comrades are _mi amigos_…and I cannot stand by and allow _mi amigos _to go alone into danger! _Es dishonorable!_"

Jenny blinked. "How do you even know Ketchum and his friends are involved?"

Wes smirked. "Who else would it be? That, and there's all these rumors going about with the people outside saying that Ash has been captured by Ford, who's actually a mad scientist who's trying to make him into the world's most powerful monster. We weren't sure how much of that was true, so we thought we'd ask you."

"And see how we could help," Zoro added.

Jenny sighed, reminding herself to find out which of her officers was feeding all these leaks to the media and the public and have him or her demoted back to meter maid. Or man. Or person, to be absolutely politically correct. "That's only half-true, but it's still enough for us to be called in. I don't know how much you three can help, but…" She paused, then smiled. "I thought the same thing of those friends of yours, and they managed to help out a great deal. I don't suppose you have any ideas on how we can break into the invincible Battle Tower over there?"

"Actually," Rui said with a grin, glancing at Wes. "We _did _have an idea or two…"

…

Ford's fingers flew at the controls. The electrified cage surrounding the arena quivered and retracted back into the walls, while the lava filling the field drained away. The platforms retracted back into the ground as the arena floor slammed shut over the lava drain, leaving the field looking as good as new, almost as if it had never been covered in molten rock just a few moments ago.

Two figures stood resolute, one figure lay curled up in pain on the floor. The two were Ford's weary Blaziken and the newly born Alpha Ranger, and the one was the utterly defeated figure of Charizard, his wings torn off and his dreams shattered.

"How does it feel, son?" Ford asked the Ranger, his face sweaty with anticipation and triumph.

"It feels…" Alpha Ranger said, his voice a distorted and somewhat older form of Ash's. He glanced down at his hands, clenching his fists. "Powerful."

Blaziken raised an eyebrow at the Ranger's tone, but said nothing. Ford didn't seem to notice.

"I told you!" the businessman said gleefully. "I told you! Wasn't it worth it, Ash--er, Alpha? Wasn't it?"

"Yes," Alpha said slowly, his arms lowering to his sides. "Yes, it was."

Ford glanced at Charizard, feeling a twinge of guilt. "A shame this realization had to come at such a price…"

"There will always be those who do not understand," Alpha said calmly. "If they won't understand and won't get out of the way…then they must be pushed."

Ford frowned, some of his ecstasy at the success he had been working for years for ebbing away a little. "Not sure that's the right attitude…then again, the example I've set does give good reason to believe that…" he murmured to himself. "In any case," he said, his enthusiasm bubbling back up. "You are here at last, and underneath your standard will lead the forces of Earth to victory against the evils which plague it!"

"…Heh," Alpha smirked, looking amused by Ford's comment. The confused businessman did not have time to ask why that was though, because just then the sealed door behind the super Ranger in the arena opened up.

Harrison, his Blaziken, Steven, Metagross, Lucy, Seviper, Misty, Togetic, Corsola, Brock, Crobat, May, and Combusken all tumbled through the door. "Ash! Ash we're here-" Misty stopped dead in her tracks, seeing the Alpha Ranger, who was now impassively staring at them all through his jagged visor. They all gasped, both at the sight of the spandexed figure that had once been their friend as well as the broken orange dragon behind him. "Oh no."

"Curses! We're too late!" Steven lamented.

"Dad, Brother Charizard, are you all right?" Togetic cried in concern. The dragon whimpered but said nothing, while the Ranger chuckled softly.

"Ash, speak to us!" Brock pleaded.

Alpha chuckled. "Heheheh. Ash isn't here anymore."

Lucy frowned. "That don't sound good…"

"Father, how could you!" Harrison cried.

Ford sighed. "I did what I had to, son. And the world is a better place for it."

"The world's a better place because you transmogrified a kid against his will and mutilated a Charizard for life!" Lucy asked incredulously.

Ford sweatdropped. "Th-That was Blaziken's fault," Ford said quickly, receiving a glare from his Pokemon. "I told him to punish the Charizard for forcing Ash to suffer dehydration from the lava by prolonging the battle, but I never said he should go that far!"

"And that exempts you from taking responsibility for his actions as his trainer!" Brock asked furiously.

Steven nodded in agreement. "For that alone, you could and WILL be sent to prison, the other crimes you've committed (kidnapping, forced and illegal experimentation, reckless endangerment, etc.) notwithstanding! As League Master of the Hoenn region, I'm placing you under arrest!"  
"Wh-what!" Ford cried, startled. "But…but I…I was just…"

"There's no excuse for this!" May snapped. "There's no way you can possibly justify this!" Combusken squawked in agreement, both enraged that a fellow Fire Pokemon had been forced to suffer as Charizard had, and also feeling ashamed and depressed that the oh-so-hot Blaziken would do such a horrible thing.

"I…I was just…I was just trying to do the right thing!" Ford snapped. "I'm trying to save the world here! You have to make a few sacrifices for that!"

"I believe Team Aqua, Magma, and sad to say now Lance, all used that same logic," Steven said coldly. "And used it as reason for all the crimes, atrocities, and deaths or near-deaths their actions have caused."

Lucy nodded. "I know better than anyone that you need to break a few eggs to make an omelet…but in the real world, it's not just which eggs, but how you break them, that matters! If you're trying to make a 'save the planet' omelet, then you're going about it with completely the wrong recipe and ingredients!" She sweatdropped. "Er, that sounded kind of stupid, now that I said it…"

Seviper hissed hungrily next to her trainer. "Mmm, this fool surely deserves to spend a month being dissolved by my stomach acids…"

"Wh-who are you to judge me and what I do!" Ford asked, getting frustrated.

"As an official League representative, I believe I can actually," said Steven, raising an eyebrow. "And what you have been doing here is so far outside the rules that I doubt any lawyer you hire will be able to get you out of this if you go to court."

"When my heroes save the day, the people will love me and forgive me!" Ford protested. "They'll never let me go to court! And if I did, no jury will be able to prove that we would all have been saved if I _hadn't_ changed Ash into a superhero! What I've done may not be right in the high-and-mighty eyes of the law, but I still know it's the right thing!"

"I don't know about that…" Corsola muttered to herself. "Isn't there some human saying about how the ends don't justify the means?"

"Actually, that depends on the context of the ends and means," Metagross said intelligently. "But in this instance, I believe that logic holds true."

Alpha, who had been looking in boredom at the shocked Misty for most of this argument, whirled around to face Ford, who was continuing his spiel on why what he did was all right. "Oh, shut up you fuckhole." He whipped out his laser gun and fired it at the businessman.

…

"Mie," the girl corrected. She looked so much like the human Latias had met once before…she had the same blue eyes, only her entire body seemed to have turned to crystal and her human features looked…unfinished somehow, or as if they were in the process of turning into something else.

"Not Molly?"

"No. Mie."

"Oh," Latias said apologetically. "You just look like Molly. Sort of."

"I was Molly, once," said Mie. "But not anymore."

"Ah." Latias nodded. "So…I'm dead, then? I distinctly remember getting a broken sword driven into my chest, then falling to the ground and bleeding out in despair."

"You did."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"You are between life and death," Mie repeated. "Your spirit flees its body, which is as we speak on its last moments of life. That is just enough time to return to it, if you wish."

"Return to what?" Latias asked, sullenly. "To a corpse with a missing wing and a sword driven through it? I don't want to be a zombie."

"Not a zombie," Mie corrected. "Something more. Something different. Something…that is more like you than ever before."

Latias considered it for a moment. "…What good would it do? I've already let my friends down. And it's too late for Ash, isn't it?"

"Your friends are still alive," Mie told her, to which Latias' eyes widened in surprise. "All of them."

"R-really?" Latias asked, shocked and hopeful. "All of them!"

Mie nodded. "Yes. Pikachu, Sadic, and Crawdaunt fought and fought until there was nothing left to fight, and are lying exhausted in the corridor amidst the blood of the beasts they've killed. Charla managed to overload the mechanisms pushing down on her with her stubborn refusal to give in, and the ceiling press stopped, but she and Phanphy are still trapped, as is Annabel in the pit. Bayleef and Gardevoir are still in the Red Ranger's capture cards, but other than that and the Poke-B-Gone in their veins they're fine.

"As for Ash…he has transformed, yes. He has fallen into the clutches of the enemy. But there is still a chance you can save him. Or perhaps…someone close to you. Someone who has the power and experience at saving lost souls?"

"Mewtwo," Latias understood at once, automatically reaching for the Dragon Flute. Of course, since she was a spirit, it wasn't there. It was still where she left it, with her body. "I'll call him the instant I get back. Can't believe I was stupid enough not to think of him in the first place…"

"We all make mistakes," Mie said with a smile. "That's how I got here, too."

"Is it?" Latias asked, surprised. "I'd like to hear more about that, but seeing as how you said my body's only got a few moments of life left I don't think I have time."

"Actually, you have all the time you need or desire," Mie corrected. "We're a little less than halfway between life and death, time and not-time. So what you would perceive as time only passes if you believe it does."

"…That's weird," Latias said, raising an eyebrow.

"From our perspective on this side of what you would call reality, time--and a lot of other things--are really quite subjective," Mie told her with a shrug.

"Okay, so that means I'm not running low on time. Nevertheless, how do I get back? I have to help my friends!" _And see the King,_ she thought to herself, kicking herself for nearly forgetting about him in her urgency.

"You can get back the way you did last time," Mie told the dragon girl.

Latias stared blankly. "Last time?"

"Yes, the last time you died."

She sweatdropped. "…I think I'd remember dieing more than once."

"You do remember," Mie told her. "You just don't know you do. It's a consequence of forced and premature reentry into the time stream before completely leaving it."

"Is it?" Latias asked dubiously.

"Oh yes, happens to pretty much everyone who reincarnates."

"Rein-" Latias paused. "Registeel said something about that…"

"About your soul being that of the first Latias'? He was telling the truth. You and your ancestor share the same spirit, if not the exact same body. You died after defeating Missingno, couldn't stand to go into Eternity without your King, so reentered Time to be with him again," Mie told her.

Latias raised an eyebrow, skeptical despite the fact that everything Mie was saying resonated oddly true with her. "And I couldn't have chosen to be reborn sooner, instead of several thousand years after he…I don't know, died or something…and became King of the Ghosts, who then destroyed Alto Mare because I didn't recognize him or whatever?"

"Of course you could have," Mie told her. "And then the King would have lusted for his own granddaughter. Wouldn't that have been fun?"

Latias' eyes bulged. "Ugh…I really didn't need that mental image." Mie giggled. "Okay, I see your point. And I suppose avoiding a dilemma like that was part of the reason she…I came back so late, incidentally condemning the King to several thousand years of loneliness?"

The once-human girl shrugged. "Better that than besmirching his honor, reputation, and legacy with incest and producing some truly twisted offspring who would have ruined the peace the two of you had wrought together."

"…Yeah, I can see how that would work," Latias said, feeling more disgusted. "Okay, so I just need to find my way back to the time stream like I did before in that time I can't remember, right?"

Mie nodded. "It'll be easy because you still have a warm body with blood flowing through its veins for at least a few more moments, time-wise. You can home in on that feeling now that I've stopped your freefall to death and reenter the world of Life and Time just about where you left it."

"I'll still be stuck in a really badly wounded body though," Latias pointed out.

_You will not,_ said the crystalline Unown, appearing around her. _We, and you yourself, shall see to that._

"I will?" Latias asked in surprise.

_You remember who you were. You remember what you were. You just do not remember you remember._ The crystalline alphabetic entities spun about and rearranged themselves into a long, glistening chain which stretched off into the void, towards a somewhat darker region off in the infinite nothingess. Or at least, that's what it looked like to Latias, whose extradimensional senses were groggy from her 'death' and rather untrained for the most part. Perhaps that was for the best, because as she was now, her mind would be unable to comprehend the sheer complexity and impossibility of the region she was in, between time and not-time, between life and death.

_You are Latias, friend of Ash Ketchum and others, brother of Latios, adopted aunt of Phanphy and Togetic, child of Ho-Oh and an elder Latias,_ _surrogate daughter of both Vincentio and Mewtwo, future Queen of Dragons, and destined mate of Rayquaza, _they told her. _You are Latias the First, founder of your line, brother of Latios the first, former Queen of Dragons, survivor of the Evil One's last coming, and mate of Rayquaza._

_Both lives, both memories, are from different times, separate instances where you swam in the river of time. Both are viable. Both are real._

_Accept both, so that you may live one last time and fulfill what you are meant to do. What you are _Chosen _to do. Grab onto this chain, and we shall guide you back to where you belong. Do not become so startled by what may happen, though, that you let go,_ they warned her. _If you do, you will fall out of time for good, and there is nothing we can do to return you to life then._

Latias had expected to feel apprehensive from this explanation, from how she would 'remember' this other life she had led, how it might change her into someone alien and different. Oddly enough, she felt excited. As if this was what she, when she had passed back through this shadowy place to reenter the time stream once before, had envisioned would someday come to pass. She realized that these memories, even if they had belonged to a different 'incarnation' so to speak, would still be hers, would still have been MADE by her. This ancestor, this first Latias whom she had once been, was no different than she. There was no precise line between when she had stopped living one life and started another, they were both the same life, just extended somewhat and transmuted past its end.

And now it would be extended and transmuted once more. Eagerly, she grasped the end of the chain, her skin (if she had any, seeing as how she was a spirit) tingling as her mind, or whatever passed for one in her spiritual form, had a sudden flash of memory, one that she recognized instantly although part of her could not remember ever having it before:

_It was dark, and warm, and cozy._

_But too small! She wanted out!_

_She thrashed and flailed at the walls of her prison, struggling to break free, and then…_

_Light. It hurt the…the things she used to…see things…which had never been used before. She squeezed the things shut; squealing (was that what she sounded like? Interesting.) in pain._

_She felt a wave of…not-hurt…when something big moved over her, blocking out the light and heat. Squeezing open her…things that she saw with…she saw the vague, blurry figure of a big reptilian object which had a color like…like…well, she'd never seen colors before, but she decided it was called tan, just for the heck of it._

_She knew instinctively this was her mother, and squealed with joy._

Latias did not let go of the chain out of surprise from that abrupt memory of her first birth. In another time, or if she were another person, she might have. But these memories were hers. She knew that. She recognized them. And she knew there was nothing to fear from them. In a sense, as she was now, she was incomplete, only remembering half (if that, even) of her total existence, the lifetime she had lived in this present. By regaining the memories of that other time, of that past life, she would become truly complete…she would be more Latias than she had ever been before. And she found herself eagerly looking forward to that prospect.

She glanced over her shoulder (assuming she had a shoulder) and smiled at Mie. "Thank you for giving me a second chance, Mie. I'm sorry we couldn't help you when your town was destroyed."

"It is of no concern," said Mie with a simple shrug. "What is in the past is past. I have moved on to where I belong. But I, and my teachers, did not think you should die before you fulfilled your own part in the future they have foreseen." Her face turned serious. "But be warned. This is the only time we can do this. If you die again, there is nothing more we can do."

"So this is my last chance." Latias nodded in understanding. "Got it. Some could say I've had two too many as it is."

"Some could say that," Mie agreed. "Others could say that your love of life (or your King) was so great that not even dying twice could conquer it."

Latias chuckled. "That's a nice way of putting it." She reached up with a claw and grabbed the next link in the crystal chain. Her eyes went glassy for a fraction of a second (if they had seconds in this place, or eyes for that matter) as she absorbed another memory, then continued, slowly ascending the path laid out for her.

"Good luck, Latias," Mie said as she faded away. "You will certainly need it in the trials to come."

…

"FATHER!" Harrison cried in horror.

Ford gaped at the Alpha Ranger, gripping unconsciously at the cauterized, blood-rimmed hole in his shoulder where the Ranger's laser pistol had struck and passed right through. "Wh-what? Why…why did you…"

Alpha laughed and put his gun back in its holster. "What made you think I was interested in playing the part of your little hero stooge, dumbass? I've had enough of being part of a big group trying to save the world. This hero is going solo!" He chuckled at Ford's look of disbelief. "Guess you were wrong after all. It's not the fault of the individual that they become corrupt, at least not completely…it's the HERO itself, and the force behind it that's the problem. And I owe it big for finally giving me the freedom and power I deserve! Now I'm free to be the best…and NOBODY'S holding me back or standing in my way!"

Ford gasped in pain, his knees betraying him. He collapsed onto the control panel, blood splattering out onto it. "B-Blaziken," he rasped. "Get…get him…"

The tired, beaten, and purple-eyed Blaziken stared up into the eyes of his trainer for a moment. Then he grunted, and grinned. "Hmmph. He got you before I did. Oh well." He turned and limped away, ignoring Ford's cry of betrayal and Harrison's screams of rage. "Have fun," he said to Alpha.

"Heh. I will," Alpha said, turning back to the shocked group. "All right, which of you losers is next?"

"Why did you do that!" Harrison demanded, enraged. "What did my father do to deserve that!" True, they had just given Ford a big talking-down only moments ago, but Ford was still Harrison's father.

"Hey, that transformation fucking hurt, okay?" Alpha yelled angrily. "That, and I was so sick of hearing him TALK and TALK about how I was going to do this and be the greatest hero that and I just wanted him to shut up. So I made him!"

"I can't believe this!" May cried in disbelief. "What's happened to you Ash, to make you like this?"

"He's not Ash."

"Huh?" All looked at Misty, who had spoken up quietly.

"He's not Ash," she said, continuing to stare at the white and gold Ranger. "He can't be. Because Ash would never behave like this."

"Ha! Right and wrong, bitch!" Alpha said proudly. "The wimpy boyfriend you're used to wouldn't have acted like that…but that pathetic ignoramus ain't here no more! Now all that's left is the TRUE Ash Ketchum…one who isn't held back by petty things like friendship, love, kindness, compassion, morals, or any of that Tauroscrap! Now that all that's gone, I can do whatever I please, everything I've always wanted to do but couldn't because something was holding me back! I WANNA DO ALL THE STUFF I'VE SEEN IN MOVIES!" He threw his head back, laughing insanely. "As the Alpha Ranger, I'm going to be the number one, greatest of them all, just what Ash should have done before he got all these stupid ideas that were actually making him consider QUITTING Pokemon training for a while!"

"What?" Brock asked in surprise. "Ash was going to do that?"

Alpha chuckled. "Yeah, guess you don't know your friend Ashy-boy as well as you thought if none of you saw this coming! Further proof you guys have only been a waste of time, which makes the thought of dumping you all the sweeter!"

"Hey, that's no way to talk to people you've traveled with for quite a while, now is it?" Lucy asked, glaring at the Ranger in place of Ash's friends stunned silence.

"Why not? I can speak however I want!" Alpha retorted. "Who needs these guys, anyway? A horny, overly hormonal freak who walks around with his eyes closed yet still manages to home in on any pretty lady in sight, bugging the hell out of everyone, and is currently so crazy over someone who's DEAD he's going around wearing her clothes?" Looking uncomfortable, Brock tugged on his skirt while Crobat sweatdropped at his trainer. "Or a wimpy, annoying, whiny, weak-willed, self-conscious gym leader's daughter who thinks she has any skill at making Pokemon dance about and look pretty, uses her dad's influence to buy her way into a major tournament just to impress a guy she likes who's not even remotely interested, can't keep her idiot brother from making dumb wishes that makes everyone's lives more difficult, is currently having the hots for a freak in tights and a stupid mask, and has so many other things wrong with her self-esteem that it would take hours to list them. Oh, and did I mention she reeks as a trainer?" May was stunned speechless by the cruel words. It was only Lucy's hand on her shoulder which kept her from breaking down in tears then and there. "And then, of course, there's YOU," Alpha said, turning on Misty.

She tilted her head. "And what do you have to say about me?" she asked, while Togetic looked frightened of what her father had become.

Alpha laughed cruelly. "Oh, where to begin? Let's see, you're scrawny, have an inferiority complex due to tormenting by your airhead sisters (who are, by the way, much prettier than you), you have an unhealthy obsession with water and everything related to it, you baby that whiny brat of yours too much-" Togetic gasped at this, and Misty rubbed her back reassuringly. "-Speaking of whom, was nowhere NEAR worth all the effort it took to hatch the damn thing and keep it from killing itself in all the stupid situations it got itself into-you bitch and moan when things don't go the way you want, your blatant attempts to conceal your feelings for me were obvious to anyone with half a brain cell (which, admittedly, I didn't even have until just now), your extreme _possessiveness_ of me is nothing short of insane, as is the way you're always trying to boss me around, you constantly criticize my skills as a trainer, and if that's not enough, whenever I do something you don't like you whack me on the head with a fucking hammer. There's a lot more I'd like to say too, but there aren't words in any language I know vile enough to express just how much I loathe you."

"First of all, it's a mallet, not a hammer," Misty pointed out calmly.

"You think I give a damn?" he snarled.

"No, not really." She smiled. "And second of all, everything you just said would be a lot more hurtful if I actually believed Ash felt that way."

Alpha was startled, while her companions looked confused by that statement. "What? What're you talking about? Of course that's how I feel you idiot!"

"Yes, but you're not Ash," she pointed out. "At least, not the one we know and have traveled with for the last few years. I know Ash probably has entertained thoughts like the ones you've just ranted to us about…but I don't for a second believe he held onto those thoughts, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed with us all this time…or put up with everything that I personally may have put him through. It's called love, and it's something you, you shadowy thing, can never understand!"

"…" Alpha looked dumbstruck for a moment. Then, to their surprise, he started laughing. "Hahahahaha! You actually believe that, don't you? What, you think my memories of what we had together are going to stop me from strangling you with my bare-er, gloved-hands? I understand love perfectly…and I'm sick of it! But hey, if you think it's gonna help you, go ahead. Come on!" He beckoned the group with one hand. "Let's do this! Take me on with all your Pokemon, if you dare! Let's see if your friendship and love can stand up to these fists of mine, that useless sod over there," he said, gesturing with his head towards Charizard. "Already proved just how worthless trust and faith really are when he tried to keep me from receiving this glorious power! SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!"

Harrison growled. "You may have once been my friend, but not anymore! You've hurt my father, who didn't deserve it, even if he did do something awful to you! Blaziken-"

"Stop!" Steven said, holding his arm out in front of the enraged teen. "You can't participate in this fight, Harrison."

"What! Why!" he screamed.

"Because your judgment is clouded by anger," the Steel trainer told him. "In a battle with Alpha, you'll be too blinded by rage at him to command your Pokemon effectively!" Harrison bristled at this but relented, realizing it was the truth. "Go tend to your father. He could use some assistance right now, I think."

"Here," said Lucy, tossing him a Super Potion. "This should work."

Harrison blinked as he caught it. "But…this is Pokemon medicine. It won't work on humans, will it?"

She shrugged. "To be perfectly honest, I don't really care." Harrison grunted, rolled his eyes, and headed for the door. Blaziken shrugged and followed him.

"Heh, I like that attitude!" whooped Alpha. "How'd you like to go on a date sometime?"

"Sorry, as I've already told your cross-dressing friend here," Lucy said, grabbing Brock by the collar of his dress and choking him. "I don't date scumbags. Or perverts," she added before Brock could protest that he wasn't a scumbag, which was true.

"Eh, your loss." He beckoned towards the group again. "So come on! Let's do this!"

"All right, you asked for it! Full Metal Attack!" Steven tossed out five extra Pokeballs, releasing his Aggron, Skarmory, Claydol, Cradily, and Armaldo to stand beside his Metagross.

"Seviper, change of plans. Instead of Ford, how'd you like a taste of this guy?" Lucy asked, tossing out her Shuckle, Gyarados, Milotic, and Steelix to battle alongside her Fangsnake. "And maybe the others'd like a piece too!"

"Ash…I don't know what's going on with you, but maybe fighting you will bring you back to your senses! Go, everyone!" Brock cried.

"Uh, Brock, I'm all you have," Crobat pointed out. "Everyone else is with the band, remember?"

At this, Brock curled up in a corner under a cloud of gloom. "Why must I be so uncool?" He lamented.

"Ash, or whoever you are, I'll prove to you that I'm not as weak as you say I am!" May cried, throwing out her Pokeballs. Delcatty, Ivysaur, Munchlax, and Beautifly all appeared before her. "Full Cast performance! Let's show him how much we've improved!"

"Yellow?" a confused Delcatty said, looking around and failing to find her beloved.

"I'm hungry," complained Munchlax, taking a bite out of Ivysaur's leaf.

She yelped and jumped away from him. "Hey, watch it!" she snapped, lashing out at him with a vine.

The garbage scavenger bit into it, catching it with his mouth. "Mmm," he mumbled, salivating all over it.

"Ew, get off!" Ivysaur shrieked, flinging her vine back and forth, trying and failing to shake the kitty off.

May's eyes twitched. Her Pokemon were NOT doing a very good job of proving how bad a trainer she wasn't. "FRONT AND CENTER!" she yelled, channeling Lucy for a moment while stamping her foot in frustration. Her Pokemon stared at her blankly. May groaned and put her face in her hands, while Lucy and Combusken patted her shoulders sympathetically.

"Togetic, go heal Charizard," Misty told her daughter. "He needs help more than anyone at the moment."

"But mom, what about you?" asked the concerned Happiness Pokemon.

"I'll be fine," Misty reassured her. "Your father and I simply need to have a heart-to-heart involving me bashing his head in until he goes back to normal. Get going!" The little angel nodded and flew off. "Okay, you impostor, here goes! Misty calls everyone!" She called out Politoed, Kasurin, and Golduck. Corsola hopped away from Misty's side, joining her friends and teammates.

"Yellow!" Delcatty squealed joyfully, pouncing on the duck.

"Finally, air! I haven't seen the light of day or had any lines for countless chapters now!" Kasurin cried, tearing up in joy.

Politoed shrugged and just clapped his hands like always.

Alpha sneered. "Wow, impressive lineup Misty. These are some of the guys who've been helping you maintain the gym while your idiot sisters are off screwing around?"

Misty smirked. "You've only fought Gyarados recently…or Ash has, anyway. You'd be surprised at what they can do after almost a year of getting whaled on by rookie trainers trying to get a badge!"

"Whatever you say." Alpha Ranger surveyed the two dozen or so Pokemon facing him. He chuckled and cracked his knuckles. "This shouldn't take very long…"

…

She remembered so many things.

She remembered playing with her siblings in the grotto they called home.

She remembered swimming in the ocean for the first time.

She remembered meeting her future mate, then a Bagon, for the first time as he splashed down in the grotto after yet another failed attempt at flight.

She remembered meeting the divine trio and their priestly entourage for the first time, and was moved by how deeply they seemed to care about her little problems and issues, which seemed so trivial compared to the rest of the world. When they had left, she understood why most could not help but love them.

She remembered the skies darkening as the evil one rose in power, and the nightmares which gripped her in her slumber and would only flee when she was beside her twin or Bagon.

She remembered the evil one arriving in their grotto, killing her parents, and infesting them so they would devour their own children.

She remembered the evil one leaving her and her brother to die, only managing to escape when Bagon, who had just escaped from his own zombified parents, plummeted from the sky again and knocked them out long enough for them to get away.

She remembered watching in terror with her friends as the godlike figures of the Mother and the Evil One clashed in the heavens, causing the Earth to suffer and die from the resulting storm of power.

She remembered crying as both omnipotent beings exploded, releasing a force which almost destroyed everything, yet somehow spared her, her brother, and Bagon.

She remembered her tears lighting upon the strange jewel fragments which fell from the sky, and how the air shimmered with magic and then…and then everything was back to the way it should have been.

She remembered the exhilarating, indescribable feeling of _fusing_ with the jewel piece, and evolving into Latias.

She remembered being…elected, in a sense, as Queen of the Dragons, alongside the newly evolved Rayquaza.  
She remembered the wedding, and what followed after. If these memories hadn't been her own, and had Latias not been who she was, she might have blushed at the very, _very_ erotic images in these visions.

She remembered what felt like an eternity (though in actuality it was just a couple of centuries or so) of wonderful peace.

She remembered the unrest among the people.  
She remembered the machinations of Missingno.

She remembered sacrificing her life to seal the demon away.

She remembered waking up, in a sense, between life and death, and realizing her other half was not there.

She remembered panicking for a moment, then diving right back into the time stream to find him.

And then…birth, a second time. And the events of her new life began.

She continued climbing up the chain, reliving another memory for each link of the chain. She saw friends, many long gone, but she felt no sorrow at their loss, for she knew they were somewhere safe now. She similarly felt no sadness (well, maybe a little) when she saw Bianca die again, but was nonetheless reassured that she was fine. She knew the girl, her surrogate sister, was happy and well outside of time, just as her brother was. Someday, she would see her, and Latios, and all her other old friends again.

But today was not that day, for she still had business to finish and a life to live.

As she relived memories of the tournament, she knew she was almost at the end. She knew this for certain when she saw a familiar light at the very end of the chain, just a few 'meters' (if physical measurements counted for anything here) up the line.

Latias knew that light most intimately. It had been at her heart of hearts whenever she meditated, and she understood now what it represented: not just her connection to her beloved King, the tie which linked their souls; but also the very essence of the memories, power, and experience she had repressed from her first life, as well as the original crystal piece she had absorbed as a despondent Dratini which allowed her to evolve into Latias in the first place. That was why it was hidden so deep in her mind, underneath layers of primal memories and undiscovered abilities. It had not followed her when she had died, and remained in her family line; passed down among other Latias' until the day she was born again and reunited with it.

That was what had stopped her from completely fearing and hating the Ghost King the first time she met him, no matter how often she denied it. Because that part of her self remembered him dearly, and longed to be with him again. It was also the source of her heightened skill and power whenever she had managed to get truly angry, as she dipped deeper into the strength that was her right and heritage when she grew truly desperate. When she had absorbed the crystal from Mariah, adding it to the light along with the piece Latios had transferred to her in death, the memories and feelings and power contained in the light had started to seep out at a higher rate, which was why she had been changing so quickly over the last twenty-four hours.

And now, now that the self of her present and the self of her past were truly and acknowledgedly one, that light would no longer need to remain repressed. It would flow through her, infusing her spirit and allowing her to attain her true potential, for the sake of her friends and the world.

She reached the last link, pausing as she saw the Red Ranger plunge his broken sword into her chest once more. She glanced up at the warm, welcoming light, and smirked.

"Red Ranger, everyone, here I come…" She plunged her claw into the light and closed her eyes as her entire body (or spirit, whichever you prefer) was engulfed by its brilliance.

…

He felt strangely calmed. His sudden feeling of panic, horror, and loss, faded away, leaving a soothing sense of balance and peace in his soul. "Rayquaza?"

He glanced at Kyogre, who was looking at him in concern. "Hmm? What?"

"Er…are you all right? Just a second ago you were screaming about something."

He blinked. "Oh…so I was. Don't worry, it's nothing to worry about…sort of a false alarm, to speak."

She raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

He nodded. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. I feel as if all is right with the universe again…or as right as it ever gets around here, anyway."

"Hey guys, look what the islanders gave me!" Groudon said loudly, stomping over energetically.

They stared at him. "Groudon, are those pants?" Rayquaza asked, disturbed.

"Yep!" Groudon said happily, tugging on the waist of his new article of clothing. "I finally got what I've longed for for so many years: a pair of comfortable pants which actually fit me!"

His companions sweatdropped. "Er, right…" Kyogre said slowly.

"I always envied the humans, with their ability to fit snugly into pants," Groudon continued. "Which is why I made pants illegal and forced everyone to walk around in skirts!"

"You mean kilts," Rayquaza corrected.

Groudon rolled his eyes. "Same thing."

"That was rather cruel of you," Kyogre said.

Groudon frowned. "This from the whale who used to eat a dozen human babies every day for breakfast?"

"So did you," she pointed out.

He had no response for that. "Uhhh…well, I have pants and you don't, so there…yeah!" He stuck his tongue out at her.

Rayquaza shook his head in despair and moaned. "And here I thought those two might have actually matured from being stuck in my head for a hundred thousand years…"

…

"Cradily, Confuse Ray! Aggron, Earthquake! Metagross, Meteor Mash! Armaldo, Skarmory, Aerial Ace! Claydol, Reflect!" Steven shouted out in rapid succession.

His Pokemon attacked Alpha Ranger in the order they were named. Cradily's Confuse Ray would daze the Ranger, while the Earthquake knocked him to the ground. Then, the Meteor Mash, followed by the double Aerial Ace attack, would damage him severely. Claydol's high-powered Reflect attack would guard the team from retaliation from the Ranger's laser pistol.

Of course, things did not go according to plan. The instant the green fossilized plant Pokemon fired a ray from its orifice, Alpha grabbed the throttle on his wrist-mounted device and squeezed it a few times. "Shield Mode!" He moved his arm in a circle in front of him, creating a blue shield which absorbed the Confuse Ray and kept it from hitting him.

Aggron started pounding the ground then, going into his Earthquake attack despite Alpha's senses still being intact. However, the Ranger avoided the attack by leaping into the air to keep from losing his footing, causing everyone else to flail about as the earth shook.

Metagross' eyes glowed, and several flaming rocks started falling from out of nowhere towards the airborne Ranger. He whipped out his laser gun and started firing at the meteors, blasting them to bits one by one as he soared through the air.

Of course, this left him completely open for Skarmory and Armaldo's Aerial Ace as they suddenly appeared behind him…at least, that's what they thought, for right before they could strike the Ranger Alpha backflipped over their shoulders, kicking them in the backs and sending them crashing right into the last meteor, which he had left intact for this purpose. The space rock exploded on impact, knocking the bird and fossil out of the fight.

Alpha twisted in the air and started hurtling down towards the remaining four Pokemon. Claydol's many eyes glowed, activating Reflect shields around him and his teammates. Alpha, however, seemed unfazed.

He squeezed his throttle a few times. "Power mode!" His right hand curled into a fist and started to glow. He thrust it down at the Claydol as he reached the doll Pokemon's shield, shattering the Reflect with a single punch and continuing his drive further, sending his fist right through one of Claydol's eyes and out the other side of the Pokemon's head. Claydol gasped, quivered, hardened, and crumbled into little bits of clay and dust, the spirit animating the clay vanishing.

Steven (and everyone else) was shocked. Even Misty, who had remained confident so far, was startled by what Alpha had just done. "He…he just killed…" May stammered in horror.

Togetic had glanced up when she heard the sound of shattering pottery and was as stunned as everyone else. "D-dad?" she whispered in disbelief.

Alpha chuckled and stood up, cracking his knuckles. "Don't think he'll be the last one to die." With that, he dashed suddenly towards Metagross.

Frightened of the figure in white and blue who had just killed one of his friends, Metagross panicked and hardened his body with Iron Defense. Alpha was undeterred as he squeezed his throttle. "Speed Mode!"

The Ranger became a blur as his speed boosted exponentially. He began pummeling the Iron Leg Pokemon's hard face with supersonic punches, moving so fast and hitting so hard the friction caused the air molecules surrounding him to ignite, setting him ablaze and adding a flaming element to his fists. And seeing as how Metagross was a Steel Pokemon, this was naturally a Bad Thing.

The metal Pokemon screamed in agony as his face melted from the red-hot punches of the Alpha Ranger. He collapsed to the floor in pain, liquid metal dripping over his eyes as the Ranger cackled gleefully and stepped back to enjoy his handiwork. "Heheh, Mom always did think I could have been an artist if I had applied myself harder."

He abruptly whirled around and punched Aggron, who had been charging towards him in rage, right in the stomach, smashing through the metal beast's chest armor and rupturing the Pokemon's gut. Aggron gasped from the sensation of his life slowly draining out of him. Alpha chuckled as organic juices started squirting out in vast quantities from the hole he had made, grabbed the monster by its horn, and flung it at the terrified Lileep, who had been paralyzed with fright ever since the Ranger had mercilessly killed her friend Claydol. As such, the fossil Pokemon couldn't move in time and got flattened when the extremely heavy Aggron landed on her.

Alpha casually wiped his hands and glanced at Steven, who had fallen to his knees in shock at the sight of his beloved team defeated, mutilated, and in Claydol and Aggron's case slain, so swiftly. "Hey Steven! I beat you; does this make me Hoenn League Champion?" he asked mockingly.

There was a pause. Then Lucy snapped, "GET HIM!"

In unison, all the Pokemon charged Alpha Ranger. May, who had been scared shitless by what the Ranger had done to Steven's Pokemon, tried to get hers to stop, but they were too infuriated by Alpha's cruelty to back down. Including Munchlax, who, being a garbage eater, had decided Alpha _was_ garbage.

The psychotic antihero was unfazed. "Oh wow, throwing all your Pokemon at me at once just so they'll all die. What great trainers and friends you are." He squeezed his throttle. "Split Mode!" The gadget on his wrist glowed, and suddenly the Alpha Ranger multiplied from one to over a dozen, much like Yellow Ranger had several floors back. "Let's do this!" all the clones cried in unison, charging at the Pokemon.

"Seviper, Flamethrower! Gyarados, Thunderbolt! Milotic, Hyper Beam! Shuckle, Sludge Bomb! Steelix, Iron Tail!" Lucy commanded. The poisonous serpent spat a tongue of flame, Gyarados launched an electric strike from its crest, Milotic shot a golden laser from her mouth, Shuckle spat a barrage of poisonous globs, and Steelix swung his glowing tail at the oncoming Rangers.

"Crobat, Ultrasonic!" added Brock. Crobat started shrieking, sending out ultrasonic waves which would hopefully affect Alpha like they had the Blue Ranger.

"Politoed, Kasurin, Ice Beam! Corsola, Spike Cannon! Golduck, Hyper Beam!" Misty ordered. The Discfish and frog spat beams of pure cold, Corsola fired blasts from her spikes, and Golduck fired a gold laser from his forehead gem (after staring stupidly at Misty for several seconds, causing her to yell at him until he finally got with it).

"Oh…all right!" May relented. "Combusken, Blaze Kick! Ivysaur, Solar Beam! Delcatty, Blizzard! Beautifly, Silver Wind! Munchlax…um…I dunno, Bite his foot or something!" The Young Fowl launched at one of the Rangers with a flaming kick, Ivysaur charged up and fired a white blast from her flower, Delcatty breathed out a gust of snow and ice, Beautifly flapped her wings to launch silver vacuum blades, and Munchlax, well…just…stood there.

This simultaneous attack turned out to be the wrong thing to do, however, for these clones were not like the ones Yellow Ranger had used. The instant the projectile attacks hit them, the clones exploded in an incredible blast of heat and light which shook the arena. Steelix, who had hit one with his tail, and Blaziken, who had nailed one in the chest with her kick, were both startled as the conflagration consumed them.

May gasped. "Combusken!" Lucy was similarly startled by the blast, but gritted her teeth, having faith in Steelix's durability.

The true Alpha Ranger, along with the remaining clones, leaped out of the explosion, arcing high into the air. Simultaneously, the Rangers pulled out their guns and started shooting lasers at the group of Pokemon.

"Politoed, Kasurin, use Ice Beam to make a shield!" Misty cried out.

"Help them out, Delcatty!" May commanded her cat.

The three Pokemon fired blasts of ice at the air, causing it to solidify into a frozen wall which stopped the laser shots, although it melted slightly when the bolts impacted. However, the wall was no protection against the clones themselves, for when they hit it they all exploded, shattering the shield and pelting all with very sharp fragments of ice. The true Alpha Ranger had kicked off the top of the wall, leaping over it just before it exploded, and was now descending rapidly towards the defending Pokemon. He squeezed his throttle a few times and shouted, "Electro Mode!" just before he hit the ground, punching it and releasing an electric shockwave on par with Pikachu's regular voltage output which rippled across the floor, electrocuting all the Pokemon surrounding him with powerful lightning bolts which tore out of the ground and delivered painful shocks right into their bodies.

They writhed, twitched, and screamed in anguish (save Munchlax, who was greedily swallowing the electricity with Stockpile) before finally passing out, their bodies burnt and blackened by the electric wave while their trainers gaped speechlessly.

Alpha got out of the crouch he had used to generate the electric attack and stretched his back, chuckling. He felt a sudden pressure on his leg, and looked down to see Munchlax, still hungry, gnawing at his boot.

May gasped and pulled out her Pokeball. "Munchlax, retur-"

Alpha whipped his gun out of its holster and shot Munchlax right between the eyes, killing him. The garbage-eater fell on his back and disgorged the electricity he had stockpiled from the Ranger's high-voltage attack, sending it arcing into the air where it split and came right down onto Golduck and Kasurin, as well as Steven's remaining Pokemon, killing them gruesomely. "Too late."

The now-useless Pokeball fell from May's trembling fingers. She dropped to her knees, her voice fleeing her, staring wordlessly at the corpse of her garbage disposal Pokemon. Misty had the same reaction, realizing to her horror that her nerve-stricken Luvdisc and adorably stupid Golduck were now utterly and irreversibly dead.

Alpha calmly put his gun back in his holster. "Who's next?"

Up on the arena's edge, Harrison gaped at the gory spectacle below, the handkerchief he was using to wipe his father's sweaty brow dropping from his hand. "I can't believe this…" His Blaziken turned away, shaking his head despondently.

Ford stared dully at Alpha; the burnt hole through his shoulder long since healed over by the Potion, and said nothing.

And the purple-eyed Blaziken, sitting higher up on the stands, contemplated whether or not he felt up to killing all three of them.

…

Red Ranger grunted, tugging on the hilt with all his might. With a cry, he tore his broken sword out of Latias' chest, causing a fresh wave of blood to spurt out for a moment. "I suppose this could be counted as desecration of the dead, but I'm rather attached to this sword, even if it's broken," the Ranger told the corpse. "I'm sure I can get it fixed, though." He turned and walked a short distance away, bending down to pick up the severed wing. "And I think I'll take this as a souvenir, since you aren't using it. Wonder if I can get it remade into a sword…it does have a rather powerful edge, after all. Heh."

Latias could not respond to him, of course, because she was dead. And the Ranger knew that and was fine with it.

Except for one small, insignificant detail. That being that Latias was not _quite_ dead yet, as Red was about to learn.

The dragon's body was motionless, and to all appearances was still and dead. And yet…

And yet, even as the blood kept flowing, albeit at a much more reduced rate than before, there was a heartbeat. A faint one, starting at nothing, but slowly growing faster and faster.

Latias' yellow eyes began to glow a pure white, and her body followed, without warning growing to an incredible brilliance the likes of which the Red Ranger had never seen before. Startled, he dropped the dismembered wing. "Ahh! G-ghost!" he cried in fright.

But the light was not a ghost. Rather, it was the power of evolution.

The light faded. Latias hovered above the ground, her wounds healed, her wing restored. But that was not all that had changed with her.

The red coloring which covered most of her body had diminished, leaving a majority of soft white down in its place. There were still red stripes crisscrossing over her skin, forming intricate swirls and curlicues, with a large red splotch over her chest that had a hollow blue triangle in the middle. Her short, skinny arms had lengthened and thickened, made up of a white forearm and a hard, armored lower arm with three longer, jointed claws than what had previously passed for fingers, with a flattened palm. One of the claws was further apart from the others, making it a 'thumb' of sorts. Her wings, which were also down in her thicker lower region, had transformed from long triangular fins into white angelic wings with red tips on the very end of the longest feathers. Her legs, which had previously looked sort of like duck feet with very little muscle attached to the lower end of her body, had changed into smaller wings like the ones growing from her back. (Although one could consider the loss of legs a great tragedy, Latias had never really used them much to begin with, so it didn't make much of a difference.) The little 'nub' on her rear had grown out into a true, slightly stubby tail with mottled red and white down.

Her head was for the most part unchanged, except the ear tufts on the back had grown out a little and were smoother and more streamlined. The red coloration on her face was the same as before, except there was now a little dot in the small white triangular space on her forehead. Her yellow eyes, which had remained the same, blinked a couple of times, adjusting to the light. She turned to gaze at Red Ranger, who shuddered as he felt her piercing eyes peering at him, seeing past his uniform and seeing the person within. Trembling, he dropped the bloody wing he had cut off, which dissolved in a flurry of white feathers the instant it touched the ground. "Th-this can't be. You're dead! DEAD! Monsters I kill don't come back from the dead unless they're transformed into giants, resurrected by some bad guy, or are some kind of doppelganger or mimic! You can't be alive!"  
"And yet here I am," Latias pointed out.

The dragon girl had felt different for a moment upon her transformation, but the feeling had passed after her spirit got settled into her new body. She was different from how she had been before, and at the same time, not different. She was who she was supposed to be: Latias.

Her eyesight was more powerful than it had been before. It was no longer forced to simply see things of the material world, but was now sensitive to psychic patterns and imprints. She could 'see' the psychic trail or fingerprint a person left wherever it went, and more than that, could see _inside_ them, down to their very souls. She had unwittingly used this same power when Lance had told his lies to the Elite trainers, peering into his heart and seeing the falsehoods he had spun and how his soul had been hollowed by his pride and fanaticism. It was basically an advanced form of aura reading, something she had dabbled with during her trainer with Mewtwo before dying and remembering how to do it properly.

The Red Ranger's heart was distorted as well, not just from pride and foolishness, but from a foul cancer that had infested his body; the product of HERO, used so many times on the Ranger, to the point where it was present in some shape or form throughout nearly his entire spirit. She recognized it as the power of the evil one, and shuddered inwardly, thinking sadly how his influence could still poison the world so many years after his defeat.

Except he was back, wasn't he, and behind this latest threat to the world? Somehow she had always known it was him, but only now that she was whole in memory and spirit did she truly realize this. But that was a matter for another time; right now she needed to focus on her original mission: save Ash and her friends. Now that her senses were heightened, she could tell that Ash had already gone through HERO…and something truly terrible was going on at that instant.

She looked sadly at the Red Ranger, feeling pity for him in place of her previous anger. Yes, he had killed her, trapped her friends, and was truly corrupt…but she now saw that he was a victim himself of Ford's depraved ideals, much like how she had been a victim of Lance's. She could easily defeat him, now that he was weakened and scared…but perhaps there was another way.

She floated towards him. Frightened, Red took a step back. "St-stay back!" he said, prepping his lasers. "I-I'm still armed!"

Latias was not worried. She could tell even without reading his mind that his guns had become overheated, the way he trembled, the quiver in his voice, and smoke carrying the scent of melted circuitry trailing from the cannon's exhaust vents all told her this. "Don't worry," she told him as her claws started glowing. "This won't hurt." With that, she drove her arms into the Ranger's chest.

He gasped, expecting to feel a pain not unlike the one the dragon must have felt when he drove his sword through her chest…and was surprised when he saw that not only did he feel nothing, but that her claws had appeared to…pass _through _his skin, and were causing a strange tingling sensation as they rooted through his body painlessly. "Wh-what are you-"

"Quiet," she told him. "I'm trying to heal you." She then tuned out any confused replies he might have to that, and focused completely on her task. After all, groping about someone else's soul was a very delicate business.

Her face rankled slightly as her claws trailed through the parts of the Red Ranger's spirit which had been tainted by the evil one's power. To say it was like sticking your arm in a mountain of fresh dung was an understatement, it felt absolutely vile…and somewhat corrosive. She was glad her claws were 'ghostly' for this; otherwise it would be hurting her physically instead of psychically.

She cringed inwardly as she found what she was looking for, the spot where the HERO's power had entered Red Ranger in the first place, and the point from which it flowed to the rest of his being. Steadying herself, she gritted her mental teeth, and tugged _hard._

Red gasped, and Latias herself nearly let go as the sheer foulness and malice of the power she was striving to grip washed through her, threatening to consume her and turn her into something like the Ranger. Or at least, that's what it _wanted_ her to think.  
Latias refused to let go. She had suffered far worse than this thing could do to her…well, okay, not that much, but…hey, it was still pretty bad.

Gathering all her now-very formidable mental strength, she dug her claws in deeper to the metaphorical mass and pulled with all her might.

It didn't want to let go. It was rooted in very deeply to the Red Ranger. But the evil thing was no match for Latias as she was now, and slowly, inexorably, but still inevitably, the monstrous thing was forced to let go.

Latias reeled back as she tore the parasitic power out of Red Ranger, watching with satisfaction as the red spandex suit and armor were torn off the human's skin with it, disintegrating and congealing into a visible red mass around the psychic material she had gathered in her claws. The thing tried to seek refuge in her soul, but she gave it no entry, those doors were locked and barred to things of this nature, and it had not the power to force them open. Without a host, it quickly dissipated, the energies it had contained released to the winds. Latias smiled triumphantly, the warm sense of having done a good deed welling up in her. She felt a mild pressure on her side and looked down to see Red Ranger, who was no longer Red Ranger, pounding his fists angrily and hopelessly against her chest. "Nooo! Give it back! Give it back!"

She looked down sympathetically at him. "I can't, and even if I could, I wouldn't," she told him.

"But I need it!" the ex-Ranger protested. "Please, give it back!"

"And what would you do with it if you had it?" Latias asked with a frown. "Abuse it some more? Trap more innocents in cards and kill people for fun?"

"I would do whatever I want! I deserve it!" he snapped.

She slapped him hard, leaving gashes in his cheek. "What you need is a reality check," she told him sternly. "Power is meant to be used responsibly, not to do as you please. You knew that once, but have forgotten, Richie Getem."

The red-haired boy who looked surprisingly like Ash blinked in confusion. "Wha…how did you know my name!"

"I learned it when I was inside you, pulling out that cancerous power," she told him. "You have fallen far from whom you once were, Richie. What happened to the kind and caring boy who was friends with his Pokemon and gave them all cute nicknames to show that they were his teammates and not pets?"

"He grew up," he told her. "And got rid of his Pokemon once he realized how useless they were."

She shook her head. "As I feared. You have had the power too long. Your mind has been twisted as well."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Richie snapped.

"It means that you have become addicted to it, like a junkie to their drugs, in spite of evidence that it's bad for you…although in your case, the poison is subtler and not so obvious to the one who is poisoned." She shook her head. "You can recover from this, Richie, but it is a path you will have to walk down on your own. I have other things to attend to…and another soul I must save before it is poisoned as badly as yours."

"What? But you can't just leave me here!" Richie protested.

"You're right, I can't," Latias agreed. Her eyes flashed, and the door she had entered the room through was blasted open. "There is your way out. Leave. Since you've been here so many times training, I'm sure you know the way out." Richie didn't move. He glared at her furiously. She cocked her head, not surprised. "You can leave freely, or I'll make you. Which would you prefer?"

He clenched his fists. "Don't think this is over!" he cried, stomping past her in rage and out the door. "You'll pay for this!"

"Somehow, I doubt that," she murmured, her eyes glowing again as she telekinetically lifted the two capture cards which contained her friends off the ground, where they had fallen after Richie lost his powers and dropped them. Her eyes flashed as she sent a little psychokinetic force into the cards, causing them to shatter and release Bayleef and Gardevoir in a flash of light. Both were still out cold from the Poke-B-Gone Red Ranger had hit them with, but Latias intended to change that.

Latias placed her new palms onto Bayleef and Gardevoir's foreheads and concentrated, marveling as she did so at how much 'cleaner' their spirits felt than the one she had just visited, since they were lacking the corrupting power which Red Ranger had possessed. Gardevoir's spirit seemed especially pure, and it saddened Latias that the Embrace Pokemon could not see it for herself and realize that she truly was beautiful, no matter what her face looked like.

Her eyes glowed as she exerted her will on the white blood cells inside Bayleef and Gardevoir's bodies, supercharging them and making them strong enough to destroy every particle of Poke-B-Gone in their systems, neutralizing the toxin. Within seconds, the task was done, and the venom was gone.

Bayleef and Gardevoir shuddered for a moment, then were still. Latias nodded to herself, satisfied that they were healthy and fine. Their bodies would just need a little time to adjust to the overabundance of white blood cells Latias had provided, and they should be back up in no time. In any case, she knew what she had to do now.

Regretting for a moment that she had not done this sooner, but quickly dispelling such thoughts because she knew they amounted to nothing, she removed the Dragon Flute from where it (still) hung around her neck and blew into it.

She closed her eyes and relaxed as she played, the soothing melody of the flute echoing throughout the room and deep to her core. With her heightened senses, she could feel the resonance from the infinitesimal part of her mind that was connected to Mewtwo as the magic flute sent a signal up through that connection. A moment later, she heard an echo, the 'sound' of her signal being received and acknowledged. Satisfied, she stopped playing and turned around to the point where she felt the inbound psychic wavelength of a Teleport just as Mewtwo appeared in the center of the room. The flute disintegrated in her hands, its power expended, but that was of minimal importance to Latias at the moment.

The Psychic blinked, startled by the white and red dragon's new appearance. "Latias?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"You have changed."

She cocked her head. "Have I?"

He paused, studying her. "Yes…and no. You are more yourself than you were before…interesting." He looked past her. His eyes widened when he saw the masked feminine Pokemon. "Gardevoir!" He glided over to her, knelt, and cradled her in his arms. "What has happened? Why did you summon me?"

"This is why," she told him, sending him a telepathic 'packet' of information containing the details of everything that had happened since Lance and Charla had crashed into the Pavilion.

It took the Genetic Pokemon less than half a second to process and diseminate the information. "Interesting," he said, his eyes narrowing. "You let Richie go?"

She shrugged. "Would it have made you feel better if I had killed him?"

Mewtwo frowned. "A little…but I suppose you're right, I'd feel sorry about it later. You made the right decision, it would be best to let him have his own chance for redemption." He carefully stood up, still carrying the unconscious Gardevoir. "So you summoned me for aid?"

Latias nodded. "Yes. Can't you feel it? Something terrible has happened…a powerful emanation, coming down towards us from the top of the tower, screaming from torment and anguish. It reeks of _his _work."

"So it does," Mewtwo agreed. "Which means it might be too late for Ash. And I too detect pain, suffering, despair…and something more…you are wrong Latias, something terrible has not happened, it is still going on. We must stop this at once."

Latias nodded in agreement. "Yes. But first…" She paused. "Mewtwo…can you go save my other friends?"

Mewtwo frowned. "They aren't in any imminent danger."

"Yes, but we may need their help. I know where they are, but you're faster than me because you can Teleport. You can find them from the memories I gave you, then teleport everyone to the top of the tower to help out against whatever's going on," she told him. "Plus, I don't think they'd be pleased if they missed out on this."

"That is true, but sometimes it's a good thing to 'miss out' if going could mean your death," Mewtwo pointed out. "And I suppose you were planning to go up by yourself while I was gathering your friends and face this threat yourself?"

"…Sort of," she admitted, feeling somewhat embarrassed and stupid for the thought.

He pursed his lips. "Very well."

She blinked. "Huh? You're letting me go?"

He nodded. "I can see that you are still feeling guilty for letting down Ash by not getting there in time…if you believe you can do him any good by charging up there yourself, go right ahead. I am not certain it is the best thing to do, but sometimes the only way to learn from a mistake is to make it in the first place."

Latias sweatdropped. "…That's not exactly reassuring."

"Just a little nugget of wisdom," he said with a shrug. "Although to be honest, I'm letting you go because I'm rather curious to see what you can do. Your memories of how you saved Richie are intriguing, and a somewhat different method from how I perform purification. Admittedly, it's not exactly the most selfless thing to do, but…"

"But as a teacher, and surrogate father," she told him, causing his white cheeks to darken slightly. "You would like to see what your daughter and student has learned, even though at the same time you are feeling apprehensive about letting her go into danger."

"…Yes, that's it exactly," Mewtwo said, impressed.

Latias chuckled. "I'll bring Bayleef if it'll make you feel better."

He smirked and rolled his eyes. "Ah yes, your best friend will _surely_ make a good chaperone…very well, then. I'll gather your friends and meet you at the top shortly. If you find yourself unable to handle things, call me through your link—you know by now how to use it properly, I think—and I'll be there right away."

Latias nodded. "I understand." She paused. "Oh…and before you get going, could you do something about the people still trapped in here?"

Mewtwo nodded. "Of course. And I'll let the police gathered outside the building in as well. I seriously doubt they will be of any use, but they should probably be on hand to deal with the freed employees and remaining Rangers…and arrest Ford, of course."

"Rather than letting us pummel him a bit?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mewtwo smirked. "Now I didn't say that…if the police find him roughed up a bit when they show up, we can always lay the blame on that Lucy girl, she'll surely take pleasure in being given credit for it. Although they'll have a hard time explaining why his mind was completely shattered…" He chuckled darkly. "In any case, we should both get going. I sense the violence upstairs decreasing…but whether that is a good or bad thing, I cannot be certain. Rising levels of fear and panic seem to indicate the latter."

"Then I must be swift," Latias said, telekinetically lifting Bayleef and clutching her friend in her claws.

"I'll teleport you," Mewtwo told her. "But you should wake up Bayleef first, she won't be a good chaperone asleep and nothing but deadweight if you teleport right into the middle of a battle, where it would be problematic to wake her."

Latias nodded. "Right." She looked down at Bayleef, her eyes glowing.  
The vegetative Pokemon's eyes fluttered open. "Wh…what? Wha's going on?" she asked drowsily.

"You're recovering from the aftereffects of the removal of Poke-B-Gone in your body," Latias informed her. "How are you feeling?"

She grunted. "Mmm, fine, fine-" She stopped, suddenly noticing how different Latias looked all of a sudden. "Latias?"

The dragon smiled. "Yes?"

Bayleef blinked a few times in disbelief. "Did you…evolve, or something?"

"Or something, yes," Latias said in amusement.

"You look…wow. I mean, you look really pretty," the amazed Bayleef said. "What're you called now?"

"Thank you," Latias said genuinely. "And my name is still Latias, as far as I can tell. But we don't have time to talk, we need to go. Ash and the others are in grave danger, and we've had more than enough delays as it is." She nodded to Mewtwo. "We're ready."

"We are?" Bayleef asked, confused.

"We'd better be."

Mewtwo smirked, and, with a thought, demolecularized the two Pokemon, transporting them up to the top floor of the tower. "There. That's one thing out of the way." He glanced down at Gardevoir. "Now for you…" His eyes flashed.

Gardevoir groaned and stirred in his arms. Her eye blinked open. "Mmm…" The orb opened fully when it saw the white, semi-feline face of her beloved. "M-Mewtwo?"

"Yes," he said, leaning his head down to kiss her gently. "I have returned."

"…I missed you," she said after a long moment of staring into his warm purple eyes. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned on his shoulder, holding back tears. "Don't leave me again."

"Shh," he said, rubbing her on the back while nuzzling her cheek. "I have no intention of going anywhere, my love."

"Oh, Mewtwo…" she sighed.

"But now is not the time for romance," he said seriously. "We have other things to deal with."

"Oh?" Gardevoir asked, disappointed that she wouldn't get the 'together' time she needed so very much with her love.

Mewtwo nodded. "Yes. Your trapped friends, for one thing. And the people still stuck in this building, for another. Speaking of which…" His eyes glowed.

…

"Sacred Fire!" Wes commanded from Ho-Oh's back.

Ho-Oh took a deep breath and exhaled rich gold and crimson flames at the metal shutters coating the outside of the Battle Tower's Grand Aerie. The fire washed over the metal, causing it to glow a dull red for a moment.

"Now, El Toro, use Ice Beam before it cools!" Zoro commanded, also on Ho-Oh's back.

The masked bull, who was standing between the two trainers, inhaled and spat out a white beam of cold energy, which struck the spot Ho-Oh had hit and froze it.

"Now, Sacred Fire again!" Wes commanded.

Ho-Oh sighed. "Again? Fine." He breathed fire out at the frozen metal shutter again, heating it up once more.

They had been alternating between ice and fire attacks repeatedly on the metal in an attempt to cause it to expand and contract enough to the point where it cracked open, but they had been trying for several minutes now and it wasn't working. The same thing could be said of all the other police fire and ice Pokemon attacking the tower's shutters; the metal simply wouldn't break.

Rui sighed unhappily down on the ground. "And it seemed like such a good idea, too…"

Jenny laughed bitterly. "Well, once again, the Ever Grande police force in unable to do anything but clean up. We're never going to get into that tower."

The moment she said this, all the shutters on the tower retracted at once, causing the area to brighten suddenly as light from all the free windows poured out.

The police stared, dumbfounded, not quite believing that just like that, the tower was open. "Perhaps I spoke too soon…" said an amazed Jenny as with a flash of light, the frightened and confused employees who had been trapped inside the Tower appeared in the middle of the square, where they were quickly set upon by paramedics and paparazzi who had managed to force their way into the police enclave.

The shutters in the aerie had retracted as well, revealing the gruesome spectacle going on inside. "Whoa!" Wes gaped.

"Dios mio!" agreed Zoro, crossing himself.

"We must stop this!" lowed El Toro.

Ho-Oh nodded in agreement. "Right, I'm not fond of females but they don't deserve to be treated like that! Let's go!" He started flying towards the now shutterless and easily breakable glass windows…

And the crystal inside HERO flared and fired a bolt of electricity through the window Charizard and Charla had smashed through, arcing around to strike Ho-Oh and everyone on board. "Gaahhhhh!" Wes cried, convulsing as the shocks poured into him.

Ho-Oh screeched in pain and tumbled from the sky, smashing into the side of the tower as he fell, causing the skyscraper to shake and also tossing off his passengers. Together, they all started falling towards the ground, to the horror of all the people gathered below. And Rui, of course.

Quickly recovering, Wes pulled out a Pokeball. "Ho-Oh, return!" A red beam shot out and struck the phoenix, causing him to dematerialize back into the sphere. Wes pulled out another Pokeball and threw it out, releasing his shiny Aerodactyl. "Aerodactyl, help us out!"

The Fossil Pokemon squawked in acknowledgment and swooped down, catching Wes on his back and grabbing Zoro in his talons.

"What about meeeeee?" El Toro cried as he continued to fall.

"El Toro, return!" Zoro said, recalling his Pokemon. "Well, that did not go well."

"You're telling me." Wes glanced back up at the Aerie, and saw that it was now enshrouded in a glowing spherical purple force field, as was the top five floors of the building beneath it. "Great…something really fucked up is going on, and there's nothing we can do about it. By the time we get there, it'll probably be too late."

"That does not mean we cannot try, amigo," Zoro pointed out. "Look over there!" He pointed to a window a floor or two beneath the force field, which had been opened by a tired manager trying to get some fresh air after hours of working late just before the building had been locked down. "We can get in through there and get to the Aerie using the stairs!"

"Will we make it in time?" Wes asked doubtfully.

Zoro shrugged, nearly slipping out of Aerodactyl's grip by accident as he did so. "Maybe, maybe not. But we have to try, si?"

"Yeah, I guess we do…" Wes agreed. "Okay then…Aerodactyl, take us in!" The pterodactyl squawked and did just that.

Down on the ground, the confused and dazed ex-hostages were being taken away to be checked up and debriefed, while Jenny was organizing a force to go inside the Tower. "Okay people, I know that big glowing thing looks a little scary, but it's nothing to be afraid of! It's up to us to get in there and put a stop to whatever bad mojo's going down!"

"But Officer, why can't the Poke Rangers or the city's other heroes handle it?" whined one of the recruits, who was scared despite Jenny's reassurances.

Jenny hesitated. The classified information about just what those 'heroes' were had not been distributed to the lower-ranked cops to keep them from becoming demoralized. "The Rangers are…indisposed," she said, which wasn't completely a lie, vowing to tell them more inside, if it were necessary. "Tuxedo Masquerain is already inside, but may need assistance. As for the Soldier Scouts, they are MIA. But that's not much of a surprise, since Tuxedo Masquerain seems to be the only one who ever knows where to find them, so perhaps he will be able to shed light on this. In any event…we're the Ever Grande city police force! It's our job to fight crime and handle situations that are dangerous to the people we're sworn to protect! In the absence of other heroes, we are the only ones who can handle something like this!" She pointed to the open Tower doors. "So let's get in there and put things right!"

"Yes ma'am!" the cops chorused, saluting and heading inside, looking quite formidable in full combat armor.

"I hope Wes will be all right," Rui said anxiously, looking up at the window where her boyfriend and Zoro had disappeared into.

"Don't worry," Jenny said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "If he managed to deal with all those Snagem thugs just a few days ago, I know he'll be okay now." She paused. "And if he's in trouble…we'll make sure he, and everyone else, gets out all right, okay?"

Rui nodded, smiling weakly. "Okay, officer. You go get them."

"I will," Jenny said, sliding down the visor on her riot armor helmet. "I will." Calling out her Arcanine, she followed her troops into the tower, leaving the anxious Rui behind.

"Be careful…" the red-head whispered.

…

"Charizard, get up, please!" Togetic whispered desperately, shaking her big brother. She didn't understand, she had healed all his wounds, the hideous stumps which had once been his wings were scabbed over, his bones were reset, and yet he still wouldn't move. "We need you!" She hadn't looked up from her task of healing in the last few minutes, too frightened by the blood-curdling screams from Alpha's victims to risk seeing what had caused them and make the terrifying visions her imagination conjured up all too real.

"You don't need me," he whimpered, eyes clenched tightly shut. "Nobody needs me."

"We do! I do! Charla does!" Togetic protested. "Who will help save everyone if not you? Who will be your child's father if not you? You're needed, Charizard! You have to get up!"

"Don't bother trying," the warped voice of her father sneered just before Alpha grabbed her neck, cutting the Happiness Pokemon's pleas off in a strangled gasp. "He's not worth it. He failed when his trainer needed him most. He lost his wings. He has no point in living…which is why I'll let him keep living." He laughed and kicked Charizard in the side, causing him to roll over, whimpering. "Hahaha! See how pathetic he truly is? Once a brave, flaming dragon…and without his wings, this is all he is. Not a father, not a hero, not even a Pokemon, but a worthless wyrm. Heh, I made a pun."

"You leave him alone!" Misty yelled.

Alpha snorted and turned around to face the red-head. "What? You still up? Oh that's right, I saved you for last, didn't I?"

"Please…Ash…stop this," Misty begged, looking weary, her mind reeling from what Alpha had done to her friends and still distraught from the sudden deaths of Kasurin and Golduck. "This is enough. Whatever point you're trying to make, you've made it. Just…just stop!"

Alpha snickered, tightening his grip on Togetic's neck. "Stop? Why should I stop? I'm just getting started!" He darted forward.

Misty swung her mallet at him. The Alpha Ranger caught its blunt end in his free hand, wrenched it out of the girl's grasp, threw it on the ground, and crushed it with his heel. "Sorry, was that supposed to hurt?" He punched her square in the face, breaking her nose and knocking her to the ground.

Harrison, who had been transfixed with the atrocities by some perverse fascination, finally snapped out of it. "We can't let this go on any further…we have to stop this!" He glanced at his father. "Dad, stay here, we'll be back soon, okay?" Ford said nothing. He was as catatonic as he had been ever since getting shot. "I'll take that as a yes. Blaziken! Get in there!" Blaziken nodded and ran down the steps to reach the edge of the arena…

Only for the older, more muscular purple-eyed Blaziken to drop down in his path, blocking his path. "No." The insane chicken landed a haymaker in his younger counterpart's face, sending him slamming back into the seats.

"Blaziken!" Harrison cried, running to his side. He helped his dazed Pokemon get back to his feet, then glared at his father's former best friend. "What are you doing! Why are you fighting us? Haven't you done enough?"

"No." The older Blaziken thrust his fist forward, launching a Phoenix Punch at the duo.

The younger Blaziken quickly shoved his trainer out of the way, taking the flaming blast head on. He cried in pain and fell to his knees, his chest smoking.

Harrison slid down the nearby stairs, bumping his head on the steps from where Blaziken had thrown him. "Ow! Dammit, that-" His vision was blotted out by a tall, aquiline figure as the older Blaziken appeared over him, fist drawn back to smash his head in. The human's eye bulged. "Oh fu-"

Harrison's Blaziken tackled the elder from behind, knocking him off Harrison and allowing the teen to crawl away to safety. He cursed himself, wishing that he hadn't dropped his other Pokemon off at the Center before that night's party at the Pavilion, and so could neither help his Blaziken out in any way nor do anything to stop the Alpha Ranger. He stared as the two fire chickens started grappling and rolling about on the floor, trading blows, then at the arena floor, where the Alpha Ranger had slammed Misty into one of the walls and had pinned her there with his free hand, the other still constricting Togetic. Tears in his eyes, he furiously glared at his catatonic father. "Dammit, dad!" he cried angrily. "Look what all your precious dreams of heroism have done!"

Ford said nothing. He continued to stare into the arena, not at the Alpha Ranger, the cringing Charizard, the unconscious or dead Pokemon, and what Alpha had done to the humans, but at a point that only he seemed to see.

"So here we are, Miss Waterflower, just you and me," Alpha said, enjoying watching Misty squirm under his grip. "Were these any other circumstances, someone could construe this as almost romantic…heheheheh."

"Please…stop," she rasped.

Alpha threw back his head and laughed. "Hahahaha! I can't believe you ever cowed or intimidate me! I mean, look at you! Without your Pokemon, without your stupid mallet, you're nothing! Nothing but another hypocritical tomboy trying to assert her own version of femininity, but still enjoys wearing dresses and being a _lady_ whenever she feels like it while bossing around the people around her…bitch. I don't know what I ever saw in you."

"If you're trying to hurt my feelings…it's not working," she gasped. "Because I still know that you _aren't_ really Ash…and no matter what you say, I know that's not how he feels about me."

Alpha shrugged. "That may be true, I may not be Ash…not the one you know and love, anyway. But that doesn't really mean anything to me because that's still how _I_ feel about you. And as for Ash…he can't do a thing to help you. He's somewhere so awful that when he comes back, he'll be _me_. And then I really will be Ash Ketchum…not that I wish to be. I'm perfectly happy as the Alpha Ranger. Heheheheh."

"I don't believe you!" she protested. "When his friends are in danger, Ash always manages to come to their rescue!"

"Oh, and you think he'll come to yours? When he didn't come to save the others?" Alpha laughed. "Let me guess; you think that because you and he love each other or something, if I start to really hurt you he'll break free and take his body back or something, right? Idiot." The silver faceplate parted along an invisible seam, revealing his mouth. The familiar mouth of Ash Ketchum. "Here, you know what? I'll give you a free shot. Kiss me. If anything'll break him free, that will. Let's see just how powerful love is, shall we?"

Misty was struck speechless. "Wh-what? You want me to kiss you?"

"Sure, why not? You've kissed this mouth so many times before, what does one more matter?"

"It's not the mouth so much as the person behind it!" Misty protested. "I kissed Ash all those times, and you're not him!"

"But I _am_ Ash, even if it's not the part of him you care for," Alpha pointed out. "And he's inside me, somewhere, so you'll be kissing him. And maybe it'll be enough to bring him back to the forefront." He smirked. "So, what'll it be? Gonna risk it all on a kiss? Because it's the last chance you've got." Misty said nothing. Togetic blinked and looked from her mother to her captor and back in apprehension. Alpha shook his head and loosened his grip. "Figures. Knew you didn't have the guts to-"

Misty lunged at him. She kissed him with all her pent-up frustration and passion and all the emotion reserved for Ash, longing for him with all her heart and praying, hoping, _believing_ that this would free him.

After a full minute, Misty finally pulled away, gasping for air. The Alpha Ranger stood stiff, his muscles tense, his mouth frozen in a small 'O'. "Ash?" Misty asked hopefully.

"Mmm…nope, sorry," the Alpha Ranger said, his faceplate closing back up. "The number you called does not exist, please hang up and try again." Cackling, he lunged forward, slamming the shocked Misty back up against the wall. "Sorry little girl, I guess love doesn't conquer all after all. Just another bit of propaganda shoved down our throats like everything else in life, much like how I'm going to shove this Togetic here," he said, holding up the choking Happiness Pokemon. "Down yours!"

He wound up his arm, intending to do just that…when, with a flash of blue light, Latias and Bayleef appeared in the center of the arena.

They would have showed up sooner, but since the crystal's barrier had gone up while they were halfway between being teleported and arriving, their rematerialization was delayed by several seconds due to the interference caused by the malevolent gemstone's energy.

Latias dropped Bayleef on the ground, her now-rather impressive mind quickly taking account of every sickening detail of what was going on around her.

First, every inch of the place practically screamed with violence and evil, the familiar essence of the evil one's power staining the entire arena along with remnants of old battles fought here long ago, during past Hoenn League Championships. There were several spots where the concentration was greatest, of course, just as Red Ranger had contained a high dosage of it. The first one was obvious, the crystal itself, contained in a cage-like structure hanging from the ceiling, beneath a large entertainment system. The crystal flared as her mind 'brushed' against it, displeased with her presence. She didn't want to be around it either, so quickly pulled her awareness from the stone before she could get sucked in and thrown into the nightmarish mindscape which was its master's psyche.

The second highest concentration of evil was in the blue and white spandex-clad figure across the arena from them, holding Misty against the wall and rearing his arm back to smash Togetic into her face…or through it. She nearly flinched at the malice he radiated, far worse than that which the Red Ranger had possessed. Although the concentration wasn't quite as intense as that of the crystal itself, it seemed…more venomous, somehow. As if something far worse than the shard's power itself had filled the human's body. And, buried deeply somewhere in that seething mass of hatred and lust and chaotic desires was the barest, faintest ghost of something different. And Latias instantly knew that the figure was Ash, twisted by the power of HERO. But since she could still sense a tiny trace of Ash somewhere in there, Latias knew there was still a chance that he could be saved.

Two more concentrations, far, far less potent than the ones in the crystal or in Ash, almost went unnoticed by Latias' psychic senses at first, so overshadowed were they by the aura radiated by Ash and the jewel. When she did notice them, she recognized their carriers as Mr. Ford and his Blaziken. Although neither of them had ever gone through HERO themselves, they had clearly been exposed to it long enough by sheer proximity, as well as absorbing some of the radiation given off in the hero creation process, that their minds had been twisted almost beyond repair, which probably explained a lot of their behavior, and why said Blaziken not only had purple eyes but was currently trying to kill Harrison, the young man's own Blaziken, and Mr. Ford himself, switching between his targets with no discernible pattern, the younger Blaziken the only thing that had stopped him from murdering the two humans by then.

Of course, these concentrations of evil energy were not the only things in the room which invoked strong feelings. There was also a great deal of suffering and despair, and it almost broke the dragon's heart to see what was radiating such pain.

There was the Metagross with the melted face. The ten or so Pokemon lying unconscious on the floor, blackened by electricity. There was the shattered Claydol, the Munchlax with the gaping head wound, and others whom Alpha had randomly decided to kill…none of which, thankfully, were Chosen…although Golduck and Kasurin were among the deceased, along with Lucy's Seviper and Gyarados, whose jaws had been split open, and Crobat, who's shrieking had gotten on Alpha's nerves so he had ripped the mammal's wings off, and the sudden shock, pain, and grief were so great that he had bit his own tongue off and bled to death.

There were the humans whom Latias and her group had been separated from. Steven was dead, the words I AM TEH CHAMPION carved into his face by Alpha's dagger. Brock had been stripped of his Venus dress (which had been put on Lucy) revealing him in the nude, which would have been bad enough as it was if Alpha hadn't also decided to cut off his male organ and stuff it in his mouth, causing blood to pool out on the floor around him. He and the dressed Lucy were tied up in a small intestine which had been removed from the dead Munchlax, and both seemed to have gone catatonic from shock. Or maybe it was the numerous bruises and gashes covering their skin.

As for May…absolutely nothing had been done to her. Nothing at all. Which, of course, was one of the cruelest things Alpha could do. By ignoring her, he had effectively told her she wasn't worth his time, both when he had been the caring boy they had all known and loved, and as the evil monster he was now. Latias barely had to probe far to tell that the girl was overwrought with grief, despair, guilt, and was drowning on her own self-loathing…much as Latias herself had been when she was dying from Red Ranger's sword, but seeing as how May's self-confidence had been so fragile to begin with, this blow had been too much for her to bear. She sat in the dirt, staring blankly at everything around her. She made no move to help her friend Brock or her semi-mentor, Lucy. She made no move to recall her Pokemon or to help Misty. She was simply…dead, in a sense, on the inside. Or broken.

But even worse than that was the raw, gaping despair which consumed Charizard. Latias instantly felt a sympathetic connection to the fire dragon, seeing that both his wings were torn off, just as one of hers had been severed not too long ago. He was curled up in a ball on the floor, his body stabbed repeatedly with barbs of self-hatred, accusing himself over and over of being a child killer, a weakling, an unworthy mate and father, a disgrace, and most prevalent of all, a failure. He felt that he had failed his trainer, his friends, his mate, his unborn child, and himself. After all, what good was a Charizard without wings? Among his kind, those who found themselves permanently unable to fly almost always killed themselves in response to the gaping loss of freedom denied them due to inability to fly, often jumping off a cliff to take an honorable 'last flight' to their deaths. Charizard was, at the moment, not in the right frame of mind to do something like that (thank goodness) so was simply going to lie on the floor hating himself until death got bored of his sniveling and claimed him.

Latias would have done everything she could to help him, having found herself in a position not unlike his own (though much less severe) just a few minutes ago, if it weren't for the fact that the Alpha Ranger was about to do something horrible to Misty and Togetic. Her friends were unwell but for the moment safe, the dueling Blaziken seemed to be well out of the way of the two Fords, so saving her niece and human 'sister' from Alpha was at the moment her highest priority.

While Bayleef, who was dumbstruck by the brutal scene which greeted them, started to express her horror at what they had been too late to prevent, Latias dashed forwards at speeds close to that of sound, slamming into the Alpha Ranger's side, causing him to let go of Misty and Togetic as he was sent hurtling across the pit and slammed into a far wall. "Gaaaaahhh!"

Misty fell to her knees, gasping. "Wh-what?" She looked up at Latias, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Aunt Latias?" Togetic whispered in amazement.

"Yes," she said, her eyes focused on the dust cloud that had formed from smashing Alpha into a wall.

"What-"

"I died, came back, and evolved. Sort of. No time. Bayleef?"

"Here," the Grass Pokemon said, bounding over.

"Get ready. Misty, Togetic, attend to our friends, I believe they could use it."

Misty nodded nervously. "I…don't know what we'll do for Brock, though-"

"Simply reattach it, when Togetic heals it it should return to full functionality. If not, I'll fix it myself," Latias said.

Togetic's eyes bulged. "I don't wanna touch that!"

Latias shrugged. "Then Uncle Brock will remain a eunuch for the rest of his life."

"The thought is tempting…" Misty murmured. "But Latias is right. Come on, Togetic."

"O-okay, mom," the Happiness Pokemon said, following her mother away from the coming battle.

"Latias, who is that guy anyway?" Bayleef asked right as Alpha burst out of the dust cloud, firing lasers at them.

Latias' eyes glowed, and the air around them warped and hardened, causing the laser shots to reflect away from them. "Ash."

Bayleef blinked. "Ash?"

"Yes. And we need to fight him to save him."

"Ah. Okay." Bayleef quickly gathered light from around her (with all the spotlights in the arena, it wasn't difficult) and fired a Solar Beam at her transmogrified trainer.

Alpha squeezed his throttle. "Shield Mode!"

A blue force screen appeared in front of him…which shattered instantly as Latias struck it with a spear of psychic will, causing the Solar Beam to lance in right behind it and strike Alpha in the chest, pushing him backwards as he cried in pain.

"Wh-what?" he said in disbelief, holding a hand to his smoking chest. "You…you actually hurt me?"

"We're gonna do more than that," Bayleef quipped, swishing her leaf and flinging a cloud of Sweet Scent at the Ranger, following that up with a Solar Beam to set the cloud aglow with seizure-inducing lights.

"Ha! That won't work on me, my visor filters out all harmful light effects," Alpha boasted, pointing his gun at Bayleef.

"It wasn't supposed to work on you," Latias said, appearing behind him and slamming into him with Aerial Ace. "It was only meant to distract you."

The Ranger hit the ground, rolled, and sprang back up, fuming. "Split Mode!" He immediately separated into half a dozen clones.

Latias' eyes flashed, and a wave of psychic force struck the Rangers, causing five of them to explode instantly and hurtling the true Ranger back through the air. Bayleef followed up that strike by flinging Razor Leaves at the stunned Alpha, cutting up his suit and doing some minor damage. "Ugh!"

Alpha flipped, landed on his feet, and started charging towards them. "Speed mode!"

As he accelerated rapidly, Latias glanced at her friend. "Bayleef?"

The plant smirked. "You take him high, I'll take him low."

Just before Alpha could reach them and slash them with his nastily pointy dagger, both Bayleef and Latias move to the side. Latias held a claw out at the Ranger's head level, while Bayleef extended a vine at ankle level. The Ranger, startled by this, tried to stop, but of course he was moving too fast. He tripped over Bayleef's vine and flew face-first into Latias' clenched fist at incredible speed, cracking his visor and causing a slight pain to go up Latias' arm from the impact. "Ohh…" He collapsed to the ground, groaning.

"Is he all right?" Bayleef asked in concern. Yes, he was trying to kill them, but he was their trainer after all, and she didn't want to hurt him too badly.

Alpha instantly leapt up, somersaulted through the air and landed on Bayleef's back. The Plant Pokemon gasped as the Ranger brought his dagger down on her head…before it was wrenched from his grip by Latias' telekinesis, crumpled into a metal ball, and flung back at Alpha's head, cracking his visor again and flinging him off her friend. "Thanks," Bayleef said in relief, kicking the stunned Ranger with her hind legs, and sending him rolling away.

Alpha sprung back up again, panting slightly. "You…fucking little…" He paused, then laughed. "How ironic…just when I get strong enough to not need you losers anymore, you actually get powerful enough to be worthy of my time. Figures."

"Losers!" Bayleef asked angrily. "Is that all you have to say of us after all the months and years we've known each other? After all we've been through together! All the fights we've had!"

"Yes," Alpha said flatly. "That, and I find it amusing that a stupid animal like you actually had a crush on me once. You idiot."

Bayleef growled, but Latias put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Calm down, Bayleef. He wants you angry."

"How can he say all that stuff!" Bayleef asked, still furious.

"Because he's not truly Ash, and that's not truly how he feels about you," Latias told her. "What we are facing is, in a sense, Ash's dark side…his pent-up anger, bitterness, and negative feelings about his friends amplified by HERO and the evil one's power. The real Ash is still in there somewhere, but buried deep beneath layers of negativity and hatred."

"How do we help him?" Bayleef asked, startled.

"By removing the power from him before it can corrupt Ash's soul and really make him the Alpha Ranger," Latias told her friend. "I was able to do it to Red Ranger, but the human that remained had had the power so long he knew nothing else, and was still a heartless power-hungry jerk. We must do the same for Ash before it's too late."

"I'd like to see you try!" Alpha said, squeezing his throttle. "Electro Mode!" He slammed his fist into the ground, sending an electric shockwave rippling out towards them.

Latias' eyes glowed, and Bayleef levitated off the ground, causing the shockwave to pass underneath her. When lightning bolts shot out of the floor to strike at them, they were diverted by the dragon's will and sent shooting right back into Alpha Ranger, causing him to stagger back and cry in pain as he was electrocuted by his own power.

"Ugh…you'd think after all the times I've been zapped by that fucking Pikachu, I'd be used to that," he growled, panting.

"That's no way to speak about your partner and best friend!" Bayleef said in alarm.

"Remember Bayleef, he can't help it," Latias reminded her. "He's made up of Ash's negative thoughts and feelings, like annoyance and frustration for all the times Pikachu's shocked him for no reason, so it's only natural that he can feel nothing but hatred. It's rather sad, actually…I find myself pitying him."

"What! I don't need your pity!" Alpha said angrily. "I'm better than I've ever been! Without all those stupid things like friendship or morals holding me back, I'm free to do whatever I want!"

Latias shook her head. "Those 'stupid things', as you call them, are part of what makes life worth living," she told him. "Without friendship, without love, one is terribly alone in the universe. Without the ties that bind us to others, we are all nothing against the void. In a way, you, or the true Ash knew this, for why else would he have made so many friends or acquaintances throughout his journey?"

"Oh, shut up!" Alpha snapped. "I don't want to hear any moral lectures! I've heard enough of them from my so-called friends before I quieted them myself!"

Latias shrugged. "Very well…I didn't think I'd convince you of anything, anyway."

"Then why'd you say it?" Bayleef frowned.

"Because I felt it needed to be said," Latias told her. "So without further adieu, let's finish this, shall we?"

"I agree," Alpha growled. "Split Mode!" He instantly split into numerous clones. However, instead of charging at the duo like before, the clones floated into the air, frozen in Ash's trademark 'V for victory pose', and started orbiting the two Pokemon.

"What are they doing?" Bayleef asked in confusion, taking a step back. To her surprise, the clones shifted their orbit to stay equidistant from her. "Huh?"

"Hmm…" Latias lashed out at one clone with her claw, but its orbit was well outside her reach. When she floated closer to try to hit it, the clones both moved away and followed her, once more keeping themselves equidistant from her. "I see. We can't touch them. Well, not physically anyway."

"So?" Bayleef asked. "Let's not touch them, then." She swished her leaf, flinging Razor leaves at some of the clones floating past her, just as they stopped orbiting and started shooting towards her. The clones exploded on impact, but now the remaining clones were closing in on her. Latias' eyes flashed, and they all exploded, leaving the duo untouched.

"What was the point of that?" Bayleef wondered.

"To let you forget about me!" the real Alpha cried, dropping down from the HERO and plummeting towards them. "POWER MODE!" He thrust his fist downwards as he fell, intending to smash Latias' head in.

She held out her claw, catching the fist easily in her palm and stopping the Ranger's momentum dead in its tracks. "What-"

Latias' eyes flashed, and Alpha was flung across the room with a blast of psychic force, slamming him into the wall. "I believe this has gone on long enough," said the dragon, flying towards her transformed trainer.

Bayleef nodded as she followed. "I agree." She shot her vines out, slamming them into the moaning Alpha Ranger's wrists and wrapping them around them, pinning him to the wall.

"Argh…let me go!" Alpha cried angrily, struggling against the vines. Unable to reach the gadget on his left wrist, he was all but helpless.

Latias used her psychokinesis to freeze his body in place and stop his thrashing. "We will," She told him, hovering before the Ranger's chest. "After we free Ash and make sure you no longer exist!" She drove her claws into Alpha's chest, projecting her will through them and into the Ranger's soul.

That turned out to be the biggest mistake of her new life.

Whatever she had expected to find in this black pit was infinitely worse. Her mind was instantly bombarded with images so vile they made her want to cry and flee to some tiny corner and hide there until the world made sense again.

Thousands of babies, cradled in massive claws, lifted to a flaming maw…

Oceans comprised of blind, bleeding bodies, scrambling over and on top of and through each other, all screaming in pain and reaching up for a nonexistent light while ships made of bone scythed through them, drinking their blood to polish their decks…

Worlds where the air was fire and those who were cursed to live there burning both inside and outside, their lungs turning black and shriveled with every screaming breath they took while their bodies crumbled into ashes…

Crystalline trees from which people hung impaled on the branches, roots and spines growing _inside_ them and bursting out of their skin while they still lived, their life blood greedily drunken up by the evil plants as they feasted upon their food's pain…

Drowning in despair, tears of acid falling forever from the sky, dissolving the body so it would evaporate, rise into the atmosphere, reform, and be dissolved all over again in an eternal cycle of suffering…

Universes where life was frozen into programming and perfect order without freedom or individuality, and universes of absolute chaos, where nothing was solid or uniform and all of reality endlessly shifted, throwing its inhabitants into total madness…

Worlds that were cold and dead and empty of life, their soil screaming with all the blood and pain and endless, endless death that had been shed…souls frozen in jagged ice wailing in despair as beautiful, radiant angels passed them indifferently, not caring in the least for the suffering…worlds where pure darkness was solid and all suffocated in it, and worlds of light so bright that all were burned to cinders by it again and again.

And all these screams, all these cries of agony and despair, together blended into a dissonant, toneless voice, singing with beatific and eloquent _joy_ at the thought of annihilation and war and destruction and pointless suffering, how _beautiful_ and _perfect _worlds which had been cleansed of all forms of life by violent and excruciating genocide were, how _wonderful_ it would be if all the myriad fragile realities were to shatter like so much glass and all the souls therein were to fall into its waiting arms, so they could flail about in the void forever, their lonely voices crying out in a despair sweeter than the freshest honey, so those who loved such things could drink and drink and be content forevermore.

Her mind was nothing but a miniscule speck, smaller than a germ, compared to this conglomeration, this entity of pain and malevolence so vast that all of reality could easily fit in its mouth. This thing which listened to the screams of those who were burning and buried alive for relaxation, and bathed in rivers of sour tears and babies blood. And that thing stared at her with three eyes, each the size of a large universe, and intoned, "_HE IS MINE."_

Bayleef stared in alarm as Latias was violently cast off of Alpha, thrown away by a blast of purple and red and black electricity which convulsed through the Ranger's body, causing him to howl in pain before falling limp against the wall. The crystal above them pulsed steadily, its brilliant glow looking rather pleased and satisfied with itself. "Latias?" Bayleef asked, her voice full of concern. "Wh-what just-"

"I can't," Latias whispered, her form trembling. Her mind was still reeling from what she had just seen; the sheer complexity of cruelty, the vast and endless detailed and horrific torture of those trapped in it nearly enough to drive her mad. She had just gotten a glimpse into the mind of purest evil, a brief and fleeting look into Hell, and it had almost destroyed her. "I can't. I can't save him. He's directly involved himself in Ash's transformation. I…" Her head hung low. "There's nothing I can do."

…

Zoro sighed as Wes tried, yet again, to break through the force field. "Amigo, I don't think that crowbar is going to work."

His prediction was proved correct as the ex-thief smacked the shield with his crowbar (where did he get it, I wonder?) and staggered backwards, the resulting vibration running up his arm and shaking his body. "Dammit…"

He threw the now bent-out-of-shape crowbar away in frustration, almost hitting the head of his Umbreon. "Hey, watch it!" the Moonlight Pokemon said angrily.

"So, got any other ideas?" Wes asked Zoro.

The masked swordsman shrugged. "I really don't know. We've tried El Toro's wrestling moves, El Rosa's dancing techniques, both El Lobo and El Caballo's charging attacks, and El Gato and my own _espada_ skills. Needless to say, none of them worked." He looked sadly at the bent mess that had once been his sword.

Wes sighed and ran a hand back through his head. "And I've tried Espeon and Umbreon's powers and teleportation, Plusle and Minun's combined electric attacks, Aerodactyl's Hyper Beam, and if Ho-Oh fit in here I'd try him out too. Nothing works. Lousy force field." Grumbling, he punched it, yelping and convulsing as it electrocuted him. His Pokemon snickered, which earned them a one-way return to their Pokeballs.

As you may recall, Zoro and Wes had climbed into the Tower through an open window with the idea of getting to the Aerie through the stairs or elevator, seeing as how the outside was now blocked off by that weird force field. Unfortunately, said field extended inside the building as well, blocking off the stairs and keeping the elevators from going past a specific floor. All of this meant that the Aerie was still off-limits, and Ash and his friends were still in trouble. And it seemed as if there was nothing Zoro or Wes could do about it.

They heard a 'ding' behind them and turned to see the elevator banks in the hallway just outside the stairwell they were in all open up at once, allowing Officer Jenny, her troopers, Sidney, Phoebe, and Tuxedo Masquerain to spill out onto the floor. "All right people, come on! There must be some other way to the hundredth floor from here!" Jenny barked.

"'Fraid not," Wes said, coming out of the stairwell. "We've tried. Force field is in here too. Blocks everything above us off."

Jenny blinked. "That can't be! You mean to say there's no way up?"

Zoro sighed regretfully. "I am afraid not, Madame _Policia._ We have looked everywhere, and tried every attempt to break through the barrier. The elevators won't go any further, the stairs are all blocked off, and the force field even passes through the ventilation ducts and _servicio_ passageways which go to the higher floors."

"I should know," El Gato grumbled, licking his fur to clean off the dust and dirt. "They made me go in to check."

Sidney sighed in annoyance. "Great, so we've spent the last half hour or so fighting that stupid Yellow Ranger, and now we can't even get to the damn top of the tower."

"Perhaps I should give it a whirl," Tuxedo Masquerain said, stepping forward. "I haven't met a barrier yet than can stand up to the likes of me!"

Five seconds later…

"Wow, that was pathetic," Wes said flatly. "I mean really, who uses a rose to break a force field?"

"Shut up!" Tuxedo Masquerain snapped, wincing as he plucked another thorn from his face. "I'd like to see you do better!"

"I tried whacking the thing with a crowbar," Wes said. "And it jarred like hell, but at least I didn't throw a flower at it which exploded and pelted my face with charred plant debris."

Zoro put a hand on the miserable Tuxedo Masquerain's shoulder. "I'm afraid I must concur, _chico._ A rose is all well and good when you are trying to be _elegante_, but you should never use one as an actual weapon in a fight."

"But you have that Roselia," Tuxedo Masquerain pointed out. "Just like I do."

"Si," Zoro agreed. "But they are not weapons, they are Pokemon. And they have many other attacks other than simple roses."

Tuxedo Masquerain sighed, and winced as he plucked out another thorn. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Jenny sighed as she watched her officers and their Pokemon try and fail to penetrate the barrier. "Great. Just great. We've come all this way, and we still can't do a damn thing."

"Perhaps I may be off assistance?" offered an unfamiliar voice which echoed through their minds.

Jenny turned around as the group of officers standing guard in the hallway parted in fright, allowing a tall, white, vaguely feline Pokemon with purple eyes to glide into the stairwell, followed by a masked Gardevoir, a Pikachu with a cape, mask and sword much like Zoro's, a Manyula, a Crawdaunt, a Phanphy, a large female Charizard, and Annabel.

"Hey, you guys made it!" Tuxedo Masquerain said in surprise, pulling out the last thorn. "Er…but weren't there a couple other Pokemon with you? And who's the big guy?"

"I am Mewtwo," the Genetic Pokemon said. "You may or may not have heard of me. It matters little. I was summoned to assist in this endeavor, and that is what I intend to do."

Jenny looked dubious, but Annabel quickly reassured her. "Don't worry officer, he's on our side. I can vouch for him. He was able to get me and everyone else out of the traps we were in, and would have teleported us right to the tower's top if it weren't for this weird force field here," she said, pointing to the rippling barrier blocking their progress up the stairs.

"It is the power of the crystal fragment, put into action by its master, the evil one," Mewtwo said, glaring at the wall as if it were the enemy himself. "A truly formidable opponent. But I believe I can dispel the barrier, now that I am before it, so we can continue to the tower's top and stop whatever madness is going on."

Jenny still looked apprehensive, but then Zoro pitched in. "I recognize some of those Pokemon, they belong to the boy we are trying to save, Ash Ketchum. If they trust him, I believe we can as well."

Wes grunted and shrugged. "Eh, if he can get us to the top, he's good enough for me."

"Hmmm…" Jenny frowned. "All right then…but I'd like explanations later as to just who exactly you are!"

"Very well. But let's get past this obstacle, shall we?" Mewtwo started up the stairs towards the force field; the cops who had been trying to break it open in the meantime after Tuxedo Masquerain's failure pushing themselves to the sides away from him.

"You might want to stand back," Crawdaunt commented to Wes' Espeon and Umbreon. "The last time he broke down a force field, the backlash was wicked."

Mewtwo placed his palms against the force field, which rippled as he touched it. He closed his eyes, gathering his power, for he would most certainly need it to get through a barrier of _this _caliber.

…

Alpha had fallen unconscious after Latias' attempt to purify him, which was good since the dragon didn't really know what to do with him. She figured she'd wait for Mewtwo to show up to deal with him; in the meantime he was tied up in Bayleef's vines and currently not a threat to anyone.

Latias had assisted Togetic in healing all the wounded (and fixing Misty's nose), returning the Pokemon that could to their Pokeballs, and fixing Brock's maleness when Togetic repeatedly refused to touch it. One quick sojourn into their minds to erase the memories of the horrible things Alpha had done later, and their mental state was quite a bit more stable. Even May seemed a bit better, although she still felt very guilty and inadequate due to Munchlax's death, and there wasn't much more Latias believed she could do about that….or about those who were now dead.

There was, however, something she could do about the crazy Blaziken. One psychic blast to the chicken's brain, and he was out cold, and Harrison and Mr. Ford were safe. She refused Harrison's request to go into Mr. Ford's mind and see what was wrong with him on the grounds that she wasn't sure exactly what she could do for him or for his insane Blaziken. Both of their minds had been saturated by radiation from the crystal for so long that she wasn't sure what would happen if she were to remove the power, it might causes their psyches to collapse or something, which was why she elected to wait for Mewtwo to arrive to see for himself what they could do.

So, while Harrison attempted to get some reaction out of his father, Brock made himself comfortable in the new set of clothes Latias had fashioned for him out of air particles so nobody would have to look at his nakedness (and Lucy wouldn't be motivated to chop his maleness off again), May was attempting to pull herself back together with Lucy's help, and Misty and Togetic were trying to recover from what had almost happened to them as well as Golduck and Kasurin's death, seeing as how Latias thought it might be for the best for at least a couple of other people to remember fully what happened here this night, the dragon turned her attention to Charizard. The fire dragon was still badly in need of some aid, and she believed that she could do something about that.

"Do you really think you can fix him?" Bayleef said doubtfully.

Latias nodded. "Yes, it's just the way to go about it that troubles me. I can give him new wings, ones that are superior to the old ones, and I could go inside him and talk him out of his problems…but that wouldn't make them go away. He's been suffering from self-doubt for a while now; even if he doesn't show it much, and it's clear that it's eaten him up inside, no matter what we, Charla, or he has told himself. Even if I bring him out of this funk, he'll still blame himself for failing Ash, and feel guilt for indirectly causing all of Alpha's evil. So…what he needs is a fresh start."

"You're going to erase his memories?" Bayleef asked, looking alarmed. "Latias, that may be an okay thing for a spot-job like what you did for the others, but…if this has been bothering him this long, you'd have to take out a big chunk of his memory! That can't be healthy, can it? And I can't imagine it would be easy for the rest of us, or Charla."

Latias shook her head. "No, it's not…which is why I'm not going to do it. So instead…" She glanced at her friend. "Bayleef, do I seem different to you?"

Bayleef blinked. "How do you mean?"

"Well, now that I've 'died', regained memories from a past life, and come back like…well, this," she said, gesturing to her body. "Do I seem like a different person to you?"

Bayleef thought about that. "Well…not _that_ much, no. Other than the new body. And the powers. And those memories, like you said. But…" She frowned. "I mean, you haven't _acted_ like you were a different person. That is, you still behave like the Latias I remember from before we came into the tower."

"That's because I _am_ the Latias you remember," the dragon told her. "And at the same time, not. The Latias you know, the Latias I was thousands of years ago, and the Latias I am now are all the exact same person…and at the same time, they are different. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The Latias I was thousands of years ago behaved for the most part like I do now but lacked some of the…mannerisms I have in the present, as well as the benefits of being raised by humans. Those I got from my current, or most recent, life. What I am now is, in short, a fusion of the two…the 'true' Latias, in a sense. One who has a better perspective of both my lives, and to whom many of the issues and problems of my previous lifetimes seems less pressing or tragic. Simply put, a transformation can put a lot of things in life into a different perspective."

Bayleef tried to cogitate that. "So…you're going to transform him?" Latias nodded. Bayleef looked disturbed. "Into what? A different Pokemon? A human? Some freakish mixture of the two…what do they call it, a Pokemorph or something?"

Latias chuckled. "No, I wouldn't have the first clue how to do something like _that_. There is, however, something I _can_ do. I've done it before actually…to another friend who was suffering…but the details of that time aren't important. Charizard is who we must focus on now." She plucked two white feathers from her body and placed one on each of Charizard's scabbed-over wing stumps.

Bayleef's eyes widened in amazement as the feathers glowed and sank into Charizard's skin, causing him to shudder for a moment. "What was that?"

"His new wings."

Bayleef blinked. "Those feathers are wings?"

"They will be," Latias told her. She pressed her claws against Charizard's side and closed her eyes, spreading her wings as she did so. Slowly, gently, her wings flapped. With each flap, a cascade of loose white feathers showered down, more feathers than there appeared to be on her wings, and still more appeared with everyone that fell off. Bayleef stared in wonder as the feathers drifted down onto Charizard's limp, quivering form, until he was covered in the soft down, much like a hillock buried beneath a fresh snowfall. Even the dragon's tail flame was covered up by the feathers, and amazingly enough it neither suffocated nor set the feathers on fire.

After a moment, Latias stopped flapping her wings. All her feathers were still on them, as if none of them had fallen off, and yet Charizard's form was still covered in down. The feathers glowed softly and suddenly began to contract, collapsing upon themselves and melding together into a single, small form of light which resolved itself into a small orange Pokemon egg. There was no sign of Charizard.

Bayleef blinked. "Where did-" Latias pointed to the egg. Bayleef's jaw hung open. "No _way_."

"Way," Latias said with a smirk.

"You…you…what's the word?" Bayleef asked, her mind failing to provide her with an appropriate label.

"Age regression?"

"Yes, age regressed him! How?"

Latias shrugged. "To be perfectly honest…I don't know how either. But I can. I don't use it often, though…even if it does only last a little while, forcing a different viewpoint on other people isn't always a good thing." She paused. "Actually, it rarely is unless absolutely necessary, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah…so, how is this going to help him?" Bayleef asked, nodding at the egg.

"When the egg hatches, he'll be a Charmander again, with all his memories from his life before," Latias explained. "Through the simpler mind of a Charmander, all his problems, issues, and self-doubts will seem silly or pointless, since all they do is make him feel bad and don't fill his stomach or make him happy. He'll rapidly mature into a Charmeleon soon after, giving him another, more mature perspective on his issues. By this point, they won't seem quite as silly, but he will have realized that the majority of his problems are not only untrue, but self-inflicted, and will logically enough let them go. When he finally becomes a Charizard again, with the new wings I've given him, he'll be purified of all the nagging doubts, self-loathing, and guilt which would have led him to kill himself if I hadn't age regressed him to begin with."

Bayleef blinked. "Huh. That'll actually work?"

Latias shrugged. "It did the last time I tried it. What I'm unsure of is how Charla will react to it."  
She glanced up, sensing a fluctuation in the energy flowing from the crystal which maintained the shield that had kept them stuck in here after their arrival by teleport. "Ah, speaking of Charla, she should be arriving with Mewtwo and the others any minute now."

This prediction was proven accurate as the crystal flashed glaringly, vibrated, and abruptly dimmed as there was a rumble beneath them and the faint sound of the force field around them shattering. A moment later, there was a great flash of blue light, and Mewtwo, along with Gardevoir, Wes, Zoro, Tuxedo Masquerain, Sidney, Phoebe, Jenny, Annabel, the other missing members of Latias and Bayleef's original group, and the rest of the police appeared in the middle of the room, drawing the attention of all the conscious people in the Aerie, most of whom had been wrestling with their own worries which had resulted from Alpha's assault and Latias' subsequent little memory erasure.

"Officer Jenny! Phoebe! Annabel! Thank goodness you're here!" Brock gushed, running over and startling the three ladies. "I'm so glad you weren't here to see all the awful, _awful_ things which happened here (most of which I can't recall due to someone tampering with my head) but you're fine now, and that's all that matters! Now, do you think any of you ladies could spare a date with me, because even if I can't remember what happened I know it was awful and need some help recovering from it…"

Bayleef blinked. "I thought Brock was too caught up in Venus to be attracted to other women. Unless…" She frowned and glanced at Latias, who was whistling innocently. "Latias…"

The dragon shrugged. "Well, I figured as long as I was messing around in his head, I might as well do _something_ constructive…"

"Then why didn't you just remove his girl problem in the first place!"

Latias looked at her friend in disbelief. "Because then he wouldn't be Brock, of course!" Bayleef facefaulted.

Brock was dissuaded from hitting on Jenny, Annabel, and Phoebe when an amused Mewtwo levitated him upside-down off the ground and hung him in the air for a few moments. The amusement didn't last long, for it was then that he, and everyone else, noticed the corpses Alpha had left behind. "What happened here!" Annabel asked in alarm.

"Damn! We were too late after all…" Wes said with a grimace.

Phoebe gasped when she saw Steven. "Steven! No!"

Sidney swore. "Damn! We came up here to help out, and look what happened…one of us dies! And his Pokemon too, to look at it," he said miserably, staring at some of the corpses. "Blimey…what a loss."

Jenny sagged. "No…I was too late to stop it…what's the _point?_"

"It may be true that you were late," Mewtwo told her, putting a hand on her shoulder (and earning him a glare from Gardevoir, which he ignored.) "But now that you're here, you can make sure that none of this will ever happen again."

She nodded slowly. "Yes…I suppose I can…who is responsible for all this?" Jenny asked loudly of the human survivors who approached her.

"It was him," May said faintly, pointing to Alpha Ranger as Bayleef dragged him over. "He did it. He killed…he killed all of them." While it was true she couldn't remember _seeing_ her poor Munchlax get shot, that didn't stop her from imagining it happening over and over again.

"But that's a Poke Ranger! Isn't it?" asked one of the confused cops.

"Not one I've ever seen before…" muttered one of his companions.

Jenny sighed, knowing it would take a while to explain all of this. "Even if he is a Ranger, he's clearly broken quite a few laws, such as murder and slaughtering trained Pokemon. We'll have to take him downtown."

"Wait," Misty protested. "That's…yes, he did those things, but he didn't mean to! That's Ash!"

"That's Ash!" Wes cried in disbelief.

"Madre de dios! Say it isn't so!" Zoro protested.

"It is," Mewtwo said, with a glance at Alpha. "He went through HERO. It twisted him…very badly, it appears."

"If that's the case, then I suppose he wasn't _totally_ responsible for his actions…" Jenny considered. "Since from what I know already, he would have been forced through that thing…" She glanced upward at the infernal machine and grimaced, not liking the look of it. "In which case, the person who forced him to undergo this transformation shares a good deal of the blame. Where is Mr. Ford?"

"Up there," Lucy said, pointing to the seats surrounding the arena. The businessman was as lifeless as ever, his sullen and despondent son sitting next to him, knowing this had to be done, no matter how much it saddened him.

Jenny sighed and nodded. "All right. We'd better go get him, then. You lot! Come with me!" she said to a group of her cops. "You five, start taking pictures for forensics and make sure those bodies stay undisturbed. Everyone else, guard the perimeter and call for backup and paramedics, we don't need the press barging in here…assuming they can get past the guards outside, that is…move!"

The police quickly broke up, leaving everyone else who had come up to assimilate what had happened.

"May, are you all right?" asked a concerned Tuxedo Masquerain.

"I…yes, I'm fine, but…" She stopped, sniffled, and finally hugged him, startling the masked coordinator. "Oh Drew! My Munchlax is dead!"

"I…oh no. That's horrible!" Drew said, feeling somewhat awkward yet sympathetic all at once. He had never quite been in a position like this before.

May sobbed. "He…he never tried to hurt anyone, and now he's dead! I never got the chance to really bond with him before, and now I never will!"

"Er…" Drew sweatdropped, having no idea what to say. He quickly glanced at Zoro, who was lip-synching lines for him. "Ah…it is terrible to lose a loved one, but even more terrible to lose a friend before we get to know them," Drew told her robotically. "But that is the way of the world. People die every day, some of them people we cherish, but if we spend every memento…er, I mean moment," he said quickly, correcting his misreading. "Every moment thinking of what was and what might have been, then we have no foot-er, future, to look forward to." May gazed into his eyes, blinking back tears, but Tuxedo Masquerain was too busy glancing at Zoro to notice. "And…ah…we must find the strength to move on, in spite of this sorrow, for those who have deport-departed, departed!-us would not want us to suffer so, would they?"

She sniffed and nodded. "I guess…"

"Good, good!" he said encouragingly, glancing at Zoro again. "And…ah…you must learn to treasure the memen-moments you still have with those who are still around you. Your friends. Your family. Those whom you might wish to be more than friends. Kiss the girl."

"What?" May asked, confused. Tuxedo Masquerain was equally confused, wondering why Zoro had said that and why the masked swordsman was now slapping his forehead in frustration. Was he supposed to do that too?

Just as he was about to do just that, Wes, annoyed, shoved Tuxedo Masquerain in the back of his head, pushing his face into May's. However, instead of kissing, they ended up smashing their noses into each other, causing May to recoil in pain. "Ow! Why'd you do that?"

"I-I don't know! I didn't mean to!" Tuxedo Masquerain said frantically, glancing at Zoro for help, who just threw up his hands in defeat and stalked off. "Er…oh, forget it."

"What?" May asked, still confused.

"Uh, nothing. Why don't you…ah…tell me about Munchlax…"

Crawdaunt shook his head sadly as he scuttled about the dead bodies, peering through the gaps between the photographing police officers' legs to take a better look. "Didn't think Ash had it in him to do this…"

"It wasn't Ash," Pikachu said firmly, joining the lobster. "It may have been his body…but Ash would never do this."

"Regardless," said Sadic, shaking her head in disgust. "Whoever did this killed because he felt like it, just because it amused him, not because he was hungry or felt honestly threatened. Were he a Sneasel or Manyula, he would have been cast out or killed by the pack for such a shameful abuse of hunting skills."

Crawdaunt grunted. "Yeah, that fucker-" he paused, noticing a hint of pink among the charred, blackened bodies. He paled. "No." He shoved the officers out of the way, scurrying onto the bodies.

"Crawdaunt, what are you-" Pikachu started in confusion. He gasped as he saw what Crawdaunt had unearthed from beneath the other bodies.

The hard-shelled lobster stared, lip quivering, eyes brimming with tears, into the still, lifeless face of Kasurin. "My son…" he whispered. His legs lost the strength to support him, and he collapsed onto his belly. "That…that's my son…and now…" Words failing him, he simply clutched the dead form of his estranged child to his chest, weeping.

Pikachu and Sadic looked on sadly. The photographing officers, uncertain what to do now that the crime scene had already been contaminated, just backed away and decided to move on to the next group of bodies, knowing that forensics was going to be pissed at them for this. "Crawdaunt…I…" Pikachu started.

"Go away," Crawdaunt whispered. "Just…go." Corsola, who had long since been healed, trotted up next to Crawdaunt, equally sad, for Kasurin had been her friend too. She rubbed her horns against the lobster's shell, letting him know that she was here for him, and he was not alone in his sadness. Politoed joined them, though didn't get quite as close, since he was not as intimate with the two Pokemon as they were with each other. His hands hung at his sides, his usual happy clapping noticeably absent.

They were not the only Pokemon to suffer from loss. Nearby, May's Delcatty yowled mournfully, and violently attacked anyone who approached her dear dead Golduck. The remainder of May's Pokemon held a silent vigil of their own over poor Munchlax, with May and an uncomfortable Tuxedo Masquerain watching on.

Lucy, along with her Shuckle, Steelix, and Milotic, mourned for their dead friends Gyarados and Seviper in their own manner, Shuckle emitting bitter pheromones, Steelix making a long, sad grinding noise, and Milotic singing, her usually beautiful voice deep with sorrow. After rubbing Gyarados' side with a sad smile, Lucy knelt next to her Pokemon, and brushed her fingers against the poisonous snake's scales gently. "Heh…I never thought it would end like this," she confessed softly. "I always thought it would just be you and me in the end, whatever end that might be…but then, I suppose you rarely can choose when you die, can you girl?" She didn't cry. She had long since outgrown tears…but that didn't mean hard-as-nails Lucy couldn't still feel sad like every other human in the world. She stood up, sighed, and closed her eyes. "Goodbye, old friend."

Annabel, who was disgusted and ashamed that her tower had been used so carelessly as a slaughterhouse, watched from afar, feeling a deep sense of guilt that she hadn't known about HERO in advance and put a stop to this madness before it could really take off. Brock had been hitting on her a moment ago, remembered his Crobat was dead, got sad, and went off to mourn. He'd probably be back in a few minutes; his hormones were a very powerful force after all.

Pikachu shook his head. He had seen death, of course, even helped hunt down live game for food to help feed his friends, as well as killing lots of RPGenerator monsters and the Scyther mutants in the lower corridors of Battle Tower, but that did not make this scene seem any less horrible to him. It did not help that he had known a couple of those who were gone fairly well, either. "Jeez…just…jeez," he said finally, shaking his head unhappily. "And to think, we might have been able to prevent this, if…if…"

"Don't think that," Sadic snapped, cuffing him on the back of his head. "What's past is past. If you constantly fill your head with thoughts of what might have been, you'll have no future and will never be able to move on."

He smirked slightly. "More of that Sneasel philosophy?"

"That, and some common sense," she said, messing with his hair affectionately. "The loss of a loved one is something to be sad about, for a time…but time passes, and you must move on. I was pretty sad when my ma died, too. Didn't know how I'd go on without her for a while…but I managed. Most people do, in their own way. For me, though, it helps that all my life I've been taught that death is nothing to be feared. Avoided, yes, painful, occasionally, but feared? Never."

"Why is that?" he asked curiously. "You said the same thing before."

"Are you afraid of being born?" she asked him.

He frowned in confusion. "Um…not particularly."

Sadic smirked. "Then you shouldn't be scared of death, because it's the same thing as birth. Birth and death are the two things that every single one of us has in common. Death is an end no more than life is a beginning, they're both just transitions."

Pikachu blinked. "Transitions? From what?"

She chuckled. "Death is obvious. You lose your physical form and go to…well, my kind call it the Celestial Hunting Grounds. Your kind probably have their own name for it, just as the humans and most species do as well. Whatever it is, it's the next stage. We drift there, formless and free from things like pain or hunger or sadness…and then, if we crave materialism again for whatever reason, we come back, clothing ourselves in flesh and emerging from a fresh egg to begin life anew. It's an eternal cycle."

Pikachu blinked. "So…what, you think some of these guys," he said, gesturing to the dead. "Like Kasurin or Golduck will come back someday?"

Sadic shrugged. "If they choose to. Records of my tribe's past have documented such occurrences. They are few and far apart, but they have happened. I myself occasionally have dreams, memories of hunting prey underneath a different sky, where the northern lights don't shine and the air isn't as crisp and cold, which leads me to believe I myself may have returned from the Hunting Grounds. Or I might just have really weird dreams. It matters little in the long run. If I did come back, I'm glad for it, because I was able to meet you."

Pikachu blushed severely as she messed with his hair some more. "Er, do you suppose they'd let me into that hunting ground of yours when I pass on?"

"I don't see why not," she said after a moment's thought. "How fast can you run under duress? If you're going to be prey, it's not fun to chase someone who's slow and is an easy catch." Pikachu sweatdropped heavily at this.

"Latias?" Charla asked, coming over anxiously to the evolved dragon. "I've looked everywhere, but I can't find Charizard. What's happened to him?"

Bayleef grimaced. "Oh boy, here we go…"

Latias held out the new egg to Charla. "Here he is."

She stared blankly. "Latias, I wanted to know where Charizard is. I don't see what an egg has to do with anything."

"He's in the egg," she said calmly.

Charla blinked. "…He's inside the egg?"

"Yes."

Charla's eye twitched. "And…why, exactly, is he inside an egg?"

"Because if he weren't," Latias said with a smile. "He'd be dead."

Charla started. "…What?"

"When we found him, he was in pretty bad shape," Bayleef told her. "Ford's Blaziken tore off his wings."

Charla's eyes widened. "Sweet heavens!" Now it all made sense to her. Who wouldn't want to die if they suffered as grievous a fate as that? To never fly again…nearly all winged Pokemon agreed that killing themselves was far better than living like that.

"It was more than that, though," Latias elaborated. "He lost his fight to Blaziken, and in doing so failed Ash…or so he believes. The guilt, doubt, and self-hatred were tearing him up inside. Simply growing him new wings would not have made them go away, so the only way to make him better was to give him a new perspective…and this was the only way to do that."

"By turning him back into an egg?" Charla asked doubtfully.

"With the simpler mind of a child, his problems will seem less complicated and overwhelming…allowing him to shed them as he evolves, becoming the 'true' Charizard, free of his nagging guilt and doubts. But to do that…he needs you."

Charla blinked. "Me?"

Latias nodded. "You are pivotal to Charizard, Charla. So many of his thoughts revolve around you. To him, you are practically a goddess, a divine personification of all that is perfect in a female Charizard. He finds himself at once both unworthy of you and honored beyond belief that you continue to choose him as your mate. He only desires to prove himself to you and to be a good father to the child the two of you has conceived. He does not already see that he _is_ all these things already, and has no need to prove himself.

"This is his second chance to see that. On his own, however, he may not be able to do it. Your love will allow him to take the next step…to become the Charizard he is meant to be." She held the egg out to Charla again.

The female dragon hesitated for a moment…then gently took the egg from the dragon's claws. She gasped as it started to glow. "It's hatching!"

"Wow, that was fast," said an amazed Bayleef.

"Like I said before, "Latias said with a smile. "His evolution will be faster than usual. His body naturally wants to return to its original age, so will mature very quickly. How fast it goes depends on how well he adapts and rejects his old hindrances…I believe Charla's presence will help with that a great deal."

The glowing egg, now a mass of light, changed shape, swelling from an ovoid object into a larger reptilian form. The light faded, revealing a small orange bipedal lizard with a yellow belly, a burning flame on the tail, and a pair of blue eyes that Charla immediately recognized, no matter how young he had gotten, as being her Charizard's.

The Charmander blinked, unused to the light. His eyes came into focus, sighting on Charla. "Charla!" he squealed happily, hugging her on the chest.

Her eyes widened. Her heartbeat sped up as she felt a strange, warm feeling inside her. It was partly her usual, familiar love for her mate, but there was something else too…

This child, he felt so…so small, and weak. She felt a surging desire to hold him in her arms, to keep him safe from the bad things in the world. Her maternal instincts brimming, the female Charizard wrapped her arms around the little one and held him tightly to her chest, closing her eyes and breathing softly as she felt the Charmander, her Charizard's, heartbeat against her skin.

Latias felt pleased and certain that she had done the right thing. Bayleef, however… "You sure this won't give him an Oedipus complex?"

Latias blinked. "A what?"

"Oedipus complex. Heard Pikachu talking about it one time. It means you have a sexual desire for your mom."

Latias frowned. "Oh…huh. Never thought of that." Bayleef facefaulted. "Oh well, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. It worked out the other time I did it…"

"If you say so…" Bayleef said doubtfully.

Mewtwo examined Alpha, who had been laid out on the ground before him. "Well?" Misty asked nervously. "Can you fix him?"

"I believe I can…" said the clone, not looking up. "It will be difficult…our enemy has a very strong grip on him…but yes, I believe I can."

"Yay!" Phanphy squealed, hopping up and down happily. "I knew you could do it, Great-Uncle Mewtwo!"

Mewtwo blinked and stared at Phanphy in confusion, as did Misty, Togetic, and Gardevoir. "What?"

"You're Latias' daddy, and Latias is my aunt, so you're my great-uncle!" Phanphy clarified.

Misty sweatdropped. "That actually kind of makes sense…oddly enough."

Amused, Mewtwo glanced at Gardevoir. "I suppose that would make you a Great-Aunt, wouldn't it?" She blushed under her mask, flattered and at the same time overjoyed to be welcomed into their somewhat odd and unorthodox family. "In any event, Ash is not past saving yet…although we'll have to move quickly. I could use your help, Miss Waterflower…yes, and perhaps the children as well."

Misty blinked. "What do you need us for?"

"Your strong connections to young Ketchum will make it easier to locate him in the vast ethereal morass occupying his body and free him from the enemy's grasp. Phanphy and Togetic call him 'father', and you and he share a bond of your own. I'd ask Pikachu for help as well, but…" He glanced at Pikachu, who was trying to comfort Crawdaunt. "He seems to be a bit busy helping the grieving at the moment."

Misty bit her lip. "If I have a connection with Ash, it can't be that strong," she said bitterly. "I tried using it, or something like it, to snap him out of this…and it didn't work."

"Love is a powerful force," Mewtwo said gently. "But Ash's soul is, at the moment, in a very, very bad place. Almost the very _worst_ of places, or near its edge. Somewhere so far from here that, no matter how strong a bond you share, he'd be lucky to feel anything at all from our side of reality. That does not make your connection any weaker, it simply means he's out of range. I seek to remedy that. The love you all have for him will serve as a beacon with which I will be able to find him, purify him, and grant him control over his body once more." _Hopefully_, he added to himself. _Assuming I'll be able to convince our foe to let him go in the first place…_ He did not pursue that line of thought any further.

Misty took a deep breath and smiled. "So, what do we do?"

"Yeah, how do we help Daddy?" Phanphy chirped.

"Close your eyes and concentrate," Mewtwo told them. "Think of Ash. Think of all he means to you. Think of all he has done with you. Think of all you feel for him, and him for you." They obeyed. He could already sense their heartbeats increasing as memories of the trainer, father, and lover they all knew ran through their heads. He smiled. "Good. Now, picture that there is a…tunnel of sorts, going from your mind to my mind. Direct the flow of your thoughts of Ash through that tunnel, from your mind to mine." Gardevoir blinked in surprise, her psychic senses 'seeing' three twisting threads of light running from Misty, Togetic, and Phanphy's heads, and into Mewtwo's brow. Glowing beads moving faster than light ran down the threads and into the spot on Mewtwo's brow, causing it to flash slightly each time a bead connected. (Note that the 'light' was psychic in nature, and was invisible to those using their eyes only.)

"Good, good…these are strong feelings. They will serve well. Now, continue thinking of Ash. Let yourself relax and immerse yourself in the flow, ignoring all external disturbances which would seek to disrupt your contemplation. If you hear a sound, it is nothing. If you feel a touch, it is nothing. Do not lose control of the thread, for if you do we may lose him forever. You may want to sit down, Miss Waterflower, this might take a while," he recommended.

Misty did as she was told, sitting on the ground. Togetic fluttered her wings and landed on her shoulder, while Phanphy sat on his hindquarters. The threads and beads were unimpeded by this change in latitude, and continued to feed into Mewtwo's mind. "Good. Now…one more thing…" His eyes rolled upwards, towards the sinister HERO above them. With a flick of a finger, a Shadow Blade sliced through the supports holding the device to the ceiling, causing it to plummet to the floor. Before it could crash and crush the startled, terrified people below, it stopped in midair and was surrounded by a faint blue glow as Mewtwo held it up using telekinesis. The crystal flashed angrily, but could do nothing. "There. That should keep any unwelcome surprises from interfering. I'd deal with it permanently, but the longer I dally the less chance Ash has of recovering. So Gardevoir, I need you to tell the others to be on guard in case anything happens. Nothing must disturb my trance. Understand?" She nodded fervently. She understood the importance of what Mewtwo was doing, and would make sure nothing stopped it. "Good. Now…" He took a deep breath. "Let us begin." With that, he closed his eyes, pressed his palms onto Alpha's forehead, and plunged himself into pure evil.

…

"I'm sorry dad," Harrison said sadly, stepping back to let Officer Jenny and her subordinates through. "But this is for your own good."

Ford, unsurprisingly, did not respond. He was lost in his own mind, confused and dumbfounded, trying to understand what had happened.

_Where did I go wrong?_ He wondered as Jenny read him his rights, then handcuffed him. _What did I do to cause all this pain, all this suffering, all this…_evil…_to occur? I was only trying to do the right thing. I _was doing _the right thing!_ He insisted to himself as his body was lifted to his feet and roughly shoved towards the aisle. With his consciousness not paying attention, his unconscious took over and automatically made his body start walking. _I was making heroes, champions of right and justice, to protect the world. So why…why did they all, why did _Ash_, who showed every indication of being perfect for this, turn evil?_ He continued pondering this as he was led down the aisle. _HERO isn't evil, no matter what they say. I have no doubt of that in my mind. Nothing so pure and beautiful could be evil. Which means there's something else wrong. Something…something in the subjects itself, perhaps? But what?_

He froze suddenly at the top of the stairs leading down into the arena as a strange thought came to him. _Perhaps…perhaps the real problem was that no matter how pure of heart they were, everyone has the potential to become evil…which means…that everyone _is _evil by nature…if so, then it's no wonder they turned out so wrong when they gained the power._

_How can this be remedied? How can I fight evil if it's everywhere, in every person, even in myself? Why, the only way I could do that would be to…to…_ His eyes widened in realization, a brilliant epiphany hitting him. _Yes…of course…that's PERFECT…_

"Hey! Ford! Keep walking!" Jenny said, shoving the businessman in the back, frustrated that he had been standing stock-still for the past several seconds despite all their attempts to make him budge. Growling in frustration, she was about to let out her Arcanine…

When abruptly, every spotlight in the room swiveled and focused on Mr. Ford, leaving most of the room in darkness and covering the businessman and the police escort in blinding light. "Agh!" Jenny covered her eyes with an arm.

"What's happening?" an alarmed Bayleef cried.

Latias gasped, sensing a great deal of activity from the crystal. She glanced at the infernal machine and saw that, even though it was disconnected from the ceiling and hovering over the floor, it was powering up. "The HERO is activating on its own!"

"What! That's impossible!" Harrison screamed in disbelief.

"What do we do!" May shouted from the arena as she heard horrific screams from the police trapped in the patch of light, which was growing brighter and brighter in intensity, blazing like a small sun.

"Smash every light!" Harrison said, taking out Blaziken and charging up the stairs towards the spotlights. "The HERO transmits power through them!"

Tuxedo Masquerain nodded. "Yes, that should work!"

Brock reached for Crobat's Pokeball…only to remember Crobat was dead, leaving him completely useless. "Aw man…"

"You guys help us out!" Wes said, tossing out Plusle and Minun. "Use your electric attacks to overload the lights!"

"Okay!" the mice chirped at once.

"Ready Plusle?" asked Minun.

"Ready, Minun!" said Plusle.

They touched their cheeks to each other and let out a powerful Thunder attack, dancing through the air and striking several spotlights, causing them to overload and explode.

"El Gato!" Zoro commanded his partner in swordfighting. "Destroy those lights, pronto!"

"Mind if I join you?" Pikachu asked his rival, drawing his sword.

"And don't forget about me," Sadic added, flexing her claws.

The suave feline smirked. "I would be honored, my amigos." The three blade-masters rushed off to do their part.

Latias rose into the air. "Gardevoir, Bayleef!" she cried. "Let's attack that thing at once! Maybe if we stop the flow of evil at its source, we'll stop whatever transformation is occurring!" She could sense the crystal's energy flowing through HERO to the lights, and from the lights to Ford. It was filling the man to bursting within the light. There was no telling what would result of all that power converging in one human. If only Mewtwo weren't occupied saving Ash…no matter. She had watched as the evil one had destroyed her old world thousands of years ago, she would not let his power do the same again!

Bayleef nodded in understanding. "Just like when we were stuck in that force field, then."

Gardevoir's eye glowed and her dress billowed as she gathered her power. "We must stop this…attack!"

Bayleef drew light from all the spotlights and fired it from her mouth as a Solar Beam. Gardevoir pointed her green celery-stalk arm at the HERO and launched a powerful Psychic blast at it. Latias' body glowed as she focused her power, and launched a Psylance (one of her new techniques, a spear made from focused psychic energy) at the evil device. The three attacks collided against the HERO's built-in defense force field, which went up the instant it detected their attack. Undaunted, the trio poured on the power, causing the shield to warp and flicker as they slowly started to eat away at its defensive ability.

"Drew, what can we do?" May asked.

"Nothing. We'd only get in the way," Tuxedo Masquerain told her firmly. "The others have everything under control. Let's leave it to them, okay?"

"…Okay," she said smiling. "I hope this works…"

The other cops in the room, somewhat frightened, wisely decided to do as Tuxedo Masquerain said and stay out of the way, letting these others handle things. That, and they were too scared to actually do anything useful.

Rapidly, the dozens of spotlights went out, smashed, shattered, and overloaded by the swift Pokemon heroes. The room darkened as the beams of light were cut off, but the spotlights attached to the HERO itself were still firing at Ford. The screams from the police and Jenny had long stopped, and the remaining cops and those still on the arena floor could not help but fear for the worst.

"It's starting to fail," Latias announced as the shield flickered. "A little more, and we've got it!"

"Here, let us help you out!" said Pikachu, firing a Thunderbolt at the spot where the three ladies' attacks converged. Plusle and Minun joined in, combining their own electricity with Pikachu's to make a much stronger attack.

"Heh, don't forget little old me," Sadic joked, breathing out Icy Wind.

"Blaziken, let's help them out!" Harrison said. The Blaze Pokemon nodded and breathed a flamethrower at the shield. Down in the arena, Charla added her flames to the mix, creating a powerful stream of fire which washed over the HERO's shield along with all the other attacks.

The combined assault was too much for the machine to handle for more than a few seconds. The shields collapsed, and the awesome elemental energies converged on the evil device, causing it to explode spectacularly. A quick shield thrown up by Gardevoir and Latias kept the flames and debris from hitting anyone, forcing the ball of fiery death to collapse on itself and go out, leaving the furiously cracking crystal shard behind as the only remnant of the infernal machine. It fell to the ground, bouncing a few times before lying still, throbbing angrily.

"Yeah, we did it!" Bayleef cried, right as the room went completely dark due to their destroying every spotlight in the room. "Ooh. Dark."

Latias' body began to glow brightly, lighting up the arena floor. "That was great work, everyone!"

"Yeah, who knew you guys could do so much damage by teaming up?" asked an impressed Crawdaunt, carefully putting Kasurin's body back on the ground. "Kinda makes me wish I could have helped out too."

"Well, I'm sure you'll get another chance eventually," Corsola said, joining him. "I mean, we are going to have more fights in the future."

"True, true," Crawdaunt agreed with a nod.

"Great job, Blaziken!" Harrison said with a grin. His Pokemon smirked. "But…what about my dad? Is he all right?" They both turned to look down at the spot where the HERO's beams had been concentrated. "Dad? Are you okay?"

The spot was dark, for Latias' light did not reach it. However, a spark of golden light appeared. It grew and grew, until it outshined even the surprised dragon and lit up the whole room.

Standing where the HERO had given its power, surrounded by the ashes of the police escort and Officer Jenny, were two figures. One was monstrous, and somewhat of a mix of humanoid and avian in form. Its body was covered in fire, with blackened bones visible in the flames. Spikes grew from its arms and knees, and its feet ended in huge talons. A pair of long demonic wings sprouted from the back of its head, spreading three feet outward in both directions. Its head was a blackened skull wreathed in flame, crowned with a bony helmet with devil horns and spiky knobs growing from its forehead and eyebrows, with a cruel curved beak and glowing red orbs for eyes.

The other figure was a stark contrast to the monstrous bird-thing, and the source of the golden glow. His body was covered in black spandex with golden gauntlets and greaves. He wore golden bracers around his upper arms with zigzags carved into them, and a black and gold belt with A.S.S. engraved on the buckle. His upper body was clad in a vest of solid gold armor, with a torus-shaped band going over his shoulders and around his neck with intricate designs etched into it. A white cape with a red interior hung from the shoulders of this torus and hung to the ground. A white hexagonal crest was sunken into his chest, with the A.S.S. emblem on it, and the number 100 embossed on his chest underneath it. His black helmet had a pair of pointed fins on the top of the head which looked slightly like dog ears, and a pair of gold bull-like horns sticking out from the sides of the helmet, with red sirens for tips. The gold-rimmed black visor was angular and wrapped around a blank pentagonal golden faceplate, looking vaguely like the letter H without the upper arms. A katana hung from his belt on the left side, with a crosspiece looking like a Houndoom with its mouth chained shut.

The shining gold figure drew his sword and slashed at the air with it, stepping forward and leaning on one foot as he did so. "Kiyah! Your attempts to prevent my transformation were close to succeeding, evil ones, but not close enough! Although I am not as powerful as I should be, Shining Ranger and Phoenetrice are more than ready to defeat you!"

…

Mewtwo descended into the heart of the corrupt mass which plagued Ash's body and spirit, guided by the warm, glowing globules surrounding his body, representing the loving thoughts of Ash's friends. Somewhere in this hell they could sense Ash's spirit, and it was to that spirit Mewtwo would have to go.

To purify Ash, Mewtwo first needed to find the kernel of what made Ash Ketchum Ash Ketchum, the heart of his heart so to speak. Just as Latias had removed the evil from Richie by ripping out the central root from where it had been implanted in the boy in the first place, so would Mewtwo have to begin his purification where the power was most concentrated in Ash, where the evil one's own will was working on corrupting the boy's soul and turning him to full evil as the Alpha Ranger. Once that happened, Mewtwo did not think he would be strong enough to change him back.

He passed horrors that would drive the most courageous person insane from terror. He passed tortures so gruesome and inhuman most people would tear their eyes out after seeing such a sight. He saw cruelties so intricate and complex, that, along with going insane from the horror and complexity, one could not help but be impressed by how much thought and work had gone into crafting them. Mewtwo ignored all of them, as the Unown has taught him to, among other things, and wondered if they had anticipated this rescue mission. It wouldn't surprise him if they had.

He soon found what he was looking for, as the increased activity from the positive thoughts and memories indicated. After rounding a geometrical figure so multifaceted and impossible that Einstein would have torn his hair out and stabbed himself to death with a ballpoint pen from the attempt to comprehend it, was Ash's soul. It was so small and frail, a luminous figure pierced by millions of spines and tentacles from the pure, unadulterated feeling of evil surrounding him, the ends of said spines and tentacles anchored into the tiny object and spreading runners and roots in Ash's soul, growing inexorably as they infested him and fed him with feelings of anger, pain, anguish, despair, hatred, and the utter, utter meaninglessness of, well, everything. The chill which ran up Mewtwo's (imaginary) spine told him at once that this was the source of the corruption.

Some of the thoughts surrounding Mewtwo, overjoyed to see Ash, left orbit around the psychic and tried to make contact with the boy. The instant they approached the trapped spirit, more tendrils shot out from the heart of decay enshrouding Ash's soul and speared them, dragging the happy thoughts screaming into oblivion. The feeling of hatred and thirst for violence and destruction and loathing for all forms of life grew stronger, and the roots wormed themselves deeper into Ash.

Despite himself, Mewtwo shuddered. This was not going to be an easy task.

Carefully, he approached the tortured soul. The happy thoughts around him, repopulated by new ones generated by the minds of Misty, Phanphy and Togetic, stirred, but did not leave Mewtwo's presence, the horrific deaths of their siblings enough to teach them caution. Mewtwo kept all his senses on overdrive, constantly scanning the area for any sign of attack. None came, but that didn't mean there wasn't one in the works.

Cautiously, he extended an arm out to touch one of the slowly shrinking patches of spiritual essence which weren't covered in nastily sharp penetrating barbs…

And was buffeted back as a mind infinitely larger than his own became aware of him, and was angered by his presence. His astral form almost lost cohesion, and the happy thoughts, and connection to his friends outside, were nearly blown away by the enemy's fury.

Three eyes, each one the size of a large universe, appeared in a pyramid formation, with the tiny lost soul framed in the center. "_HE IS MINE."_

Mewtwo recovered quickly, although his mind reeled not just at the size of his foe's mental might, but at how much raw malice and disgust was present in that foe's voice. The enemy, the evil one, would like nothing more than to swallow all of existence and condemn every living soul throughout reality to an eternity of mind-bending and unimaginable suffering, to join all voices into one joyous song of misery, death, and despair. That same song was echoing, from all around him, and it took all the training the Unown had given him to keep Mewtwo from breaking down and retreating from fright. "He is _not_ yours," Mewtwo said, steeling himself. "He belongs to his friends, his family, all those who have claimed a place in his heart."

"_HOHOHOHO! IN THAT CASE, HE TRULY IS MINE. I HAVE ALREADY DUG INTO HIS SOUL. A PIECE OF ME IS INSIDE HIM NOW. A PIECE OF ME HAS_ ALWAYS _BEEN INSIDE HIM, JUST LIKE ONE IS INSIDE OF YOU."_

"That may be so, but you didn't earn it," Mewtwo agreed, forming a Shadow Ball. "More than just you is inside him. I represent the rest of Ash Ketchum's heart, the people he loves and cares for…and for them, I shall free him, no matter if hell bars the way!"

"_HOHOHOHO! HELL _DOES _BAR THE WAY, FOOL…BUT VERY WELL. IF YOU INSIST. SAY THE MAGIC WORDS."_

Mewtwo blinked, dissipating his Shadow Ball. "Wait, what?"

"_SAY THE MAGIC WORDS,"_ the evil one said innocently. (My, what an oxymoron) "_AND I WILL LET HIM GO."_

Mewtwo blinked in confusion. "Um…please?"

"_OKAY."_ Instantly, all the roots and tendrils buried inside Ash's soul removed themselves, causing the spirit to cease its suffering and relax. "_THAT WASN'T SO HARD, NOW WAS IT?"_

"Er, no, I suppose not," said Mewtwo, still confused.

"_WHILE I'M AT IT, I SUPPOSE I MIGHT AS WELL GET RID OF ALL THE EVIL AND CORRUPT POWER I'VE STUFFED IN HIM. CAN'T HAVE ANY OF THAT LINGERING AROUND, NOW CAN WE?"_

"Er…no…" Mewtwo said, very, very confused.

"_OKAY. HERE WE GO."_ Abruptly, all the pain and suffering and hatred and joyous destruction stripped itself from the mindscape, collecting itself in a tiny, crackling ball of malevolence, which floated over to Mewtwo. "_HERE YOU GO. DISPOSE OF THIS SOMEWHERE, WILL YOU? CAN'T HAVE IT FLOATING ABOUT FREELY WHERE IT CAN CORRUPT SOMEONE ELSE, NOW CAN WE?"_

"Ah, no," Mewtwo said, grabbing the evil orb and holding it away from him at arm's length, its very presence filling him with fear and disgust. "Um…thank you?"

"_YOU'RE WELCOME,"_ the evil one said sweetly. "_SEE YOU TOMORROW AT THE FINAL BATTLE. HAVE FUN TILL THEN, YOU HEAR ME?"_

"Uh…I shall try to," said Mewtwo, wondering if maybe he wasn't hallucinating all this and had in fact just gone insane from one of the many nightmarish impossibilities in this mindscape.

"_OKEYDOKEY. TTFN, TATA FOR NOW!"_

"Yes…" Mewtwo agreed slowly as the three eyes vanished. "Tata." Completely dumbfounded, he faded from the dreamscape, taking the evil ball with him. He left behind the good thoughts, severing his connection to Misty and the kids, allowing the thoughts to fly towards Ash's soul so they would revitalize it.

Once Mewtwo was completely and totally gone, the eyes reappeared as the happy thoughts were, with a surprised shout, utterly consumed. "_HOHOHOHO. FOOL."_

…

"Master, why did you-"

He laughed. "I have my reasons. Let us leave it at that, for now."

…

"Wait…you're calling us evil?" asked a confused cop. "But…I'm a police officer, see?" he said, thumbing his badge. "So, unless I were a dirty cop (which I'm not) that makes me a good guy!"

"Wrong!" Shining Ranger corrected, pointing his sword at the officer. "Every last one of you is evil!"

"And why is that, exactly?" Latias asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Because you are alive, of course!" the Ranger said, as if it were obvious.

They stared at him. "Huh?" said a confused May.

The Ranger gestured with his sword. "As long as a person is alive, they will be tempted to be evil! Their desire to live will cause them to do greedy and selfish things! So by removing the desire to live, there will be no more evil! Therefore, I will save everyone on Earth from evil by killing every last one of them!"

There was a long pause, as they stared at him incredulously. "…That is the absolute most fucked up reasoning I've ever heard," Lucy said flatly. "And I've heard a lot of stupid things in my life."

"Of course you'd say that, because you are alive!" Shining Ranger said patronizingly. "You'll thank me once you're dead!"

"…How can I thank you if I'm dead?" Lucy said in disbelief. "I'll be dead. I won't be able to thank anybody!"

"That's beside the point!" Shining Ranger said. "Even if it is a thankless job, I'll be satisfied knowing I have done the right thing!"

"How is killing everyone on earth just to stop them from maybe doing evil the right thing!" a disbelieving Sidney cried. "Most of those people are innocents who haven't done anything wrong!"

"Which is why they must be killed too," Shining Ranger said. "To _prevent_ them from possibly causing evil in the future."

"That is so fucked up," Lucy repeated, shaking her head.

Crawdaunt nodded in agreement. "He's crazier than a sack of crazy Linoone who graduated from Crazy Linoone University during National Linoone Go Crazy Week." Corsola stared at him. "What?"

She sighed. "Nothing."

Latias' lip curled back in disgust. The aura she 'saw' for the Ranger was disgusting. It didn't reek of pure hatred and destructive desires like Alpha or Red Ranger's had, but of something almost worse: the foul odor of pride, of a mind so blinded by its own perceived brilliance that it could see nothing else but its own vision of reality. The 'Phoenetrice' (i.e. Mutant Blaziken), on the other hand, had the same feel as Alpha, (although a little less vile) which didn't surprise her much, and was only given a mere fraction of her attention as a result. She had seen all too many people like Ford in her days as Queen, among all the pompous politicians and leaders she had to deal with on a daily basis who were convinced that only they knew what was best for the people, instead of getting off their plush asses every now and then and actually asking the people what they needed so they could get a better idea of what was going on in a given situation and allow them make a truly fair decision. Ford was no different.

In fact, her distaste of Ford would have been enough to make her attack him, had Harrison not stumbled down the stairs and grabbed the armored Ranger's shoulder. "Dad, wait! Please, just stop this!"

Phoenetrice growled and flexed its burning arms, but both Harrison and the Shining Ranger ignored it. "Hmm? How do you mean?"

"Dad, this has gone on long enough! I'm tired of this superhero thing! I'm tired of your desire to save the world! All you're doing is making it worse!" Harrison said desperately.

The Ranger looked confused. "I…don't follow."

"Dad, all I'm asking is that you STOP this! Please, it's enough! More than enough people have died already! Just…just let it end, will you?" He started crying. "I just…I just want my father back!"

Time seemed to stop for a beat as Shining Ranger stared at his son, and everyone stared at Shining Ranger, wondering what the result of this sudden intervention would be. Latias' eyes narrowed at Ford, not trusting the man one bit, but willing to see if maybe, just maybe, his son's desperate pleas might be able to break through to the father beneath the armor.

All of a sudden, Shining Ranger chuckled and embraced Harrison. "I love you, son."

Everyone relaxed. Harrison sighed in relief and hugged his father back. Latias' eyes widened, sensing through the Ranger's aura what Ford was about to do. She lunged forward…

Just as the Shining Ranger drove his sword right through Harrison's stomach, yanking it upward and slicing through Harrison's chest and ripping his head off. It flew through the air and landed with a bloody thud on the arena floor below. "Which is why I killed you first," Shining Ranger said happily. "So you wouldn't be tempted to evil. Now you'll die pure and innocent, like you should be. Say hi to your mother for me when you get to the next world, will you?" He cheerfully pulled the headless body off his sword and tossed it over the side of the arena.

Latias' and Gardevoir's eyes flashed at the same time, and Harrison's descent slowed down in midair. The dragon, humanoid, and Togetic all rushed over to what was left of the teenager as he gently lowered to the ground. "Can you-" Togetic started.

"No," Latias said coldly. "No healer is that good." Gardevoir shook her head sadly.

Sadic growled. "Okay, now I'm getting _seriously_ pissed off here! Not only did he just kill his son, which where I come from is strictly a no-no unless under specific circumstances, it was for no damn reason either!"

"_Us_ killing him, however, would be for a good reason, right?" Crawdaunt asked, clacking his pincers, his grief at losing his own son aroused again. He was infuriated that anyone would ever think of killing their child so callously, after he had just lost his own so recently.

Charla agreed with Crawdaunt's sentiment, even though the child she had lost she had known for all of a few moments and had not been particularly attached to, it was the fact that she would never get to know that baby that hurt her. Her tail flame roared, growing bigger and hotter. She gently placed Charmander on the ground and kissed him on the forehead. "Dear," she said softly. "If you will excuse me, I must go kill that bad man up there."

Charmander nodded, understanding from his own memory that someone who intentionally killed their own child, rather than accidentally doing it as he had, was bad and needed to be punished. "Go."

Harrison's Blaziken, paralyzed with shock at the sudden death of his trainer, stared down at the headless, dead body of Harrison. With a roar of grief and rage, he leaped furiously at the Shining Ranger.

Phoenetrice grinned maniacally and thrust a talon forward, firing a ten-foot spear of flame at the enraged Blaziken. Before the fire could strike and incinerate him, a blue spherical shield formed abruptly around the Blaze Pokemon and protected him from the blast, as well as halting his suicidal lunge. Latias and Togetic, using their control over the Safeguard they had formed together, levitated the Blaziken away from the insane duo and set him down neatly on the arena floor.

Latias, eyes burning with white fire, glared at the Shining Ranger, as behind her the trainers and their remaining Pokemon prepared themselves for one last fight. Because of Ford, almost all of them had suffered this night, losing a friend or a family member due to the madman's machinations and insane dreams of heroism. "Enough people have died here today.

"But I don't think anyone would mind if two more inconsequential kills were added to that list."

"It is only EVIL that shall die this day!" Shining Ranger said proudly. "And to aid me…" He did a weird pose, slashing through the air with his sword before pointing it straight upward. "Shining Hero SUMMON!"

The sword ignited in a blaze of golden light at the same instant that Latias roared and unleashed a nova-hot stream of Dragonbreath at the false hero.

…

Mewtwo opened his eyes, removing his hands from Alpha and taking the ball of evil with him. "Well, that was a bit odd, but it went much better than I expected-" Mewtwo stopped, puzzled. Ash was still clad in the outfit of the Alpha Ranger.

He blinked in confusion. If he had just removed the power from him, why was Ash still Alpha? He looked down at the ball he had removed from the boy…and his face paled as he saw it to be a glowing iridescent ball of light instead of a pulsating, malevolent conglomeration of anger and hatred. "Oh no…"

"Nngh…" what's wrong?" Misty asked, rubbing some sleep out of her eyes as she woke up from her trance. "Did we save Ash?"

"No," the psychic said flatly. "I've been deceived. I haven't purified Ash, I've removed his _soul!_" He glanced down at Alpha, who was starting to stir. "Quickly, I must-"

"Shining Hero SUMMON!"

There was a flash of light, and Alpha was gone.

Togetic and Phanphy cried in alarm. "Ahh! Where'd he go?"

"Wherever it is, we must find him quickly!" Mewtwo said, furious at how easily he had been tricked. "Without Ash's soul in his body, Alpha, Ash's 'dark side', is all that remains! Whatever meager vestige of restraint Ash's soul may have had on him is now void!"

It was at this point they finally noticed how dark the room was, and how all the light seemed to be emanating from the golden figure standing on the edge of the arena wall, with the flaming monster behind him. There were several flashes of light, and the Pink, Yellow, Green, and Blue Poke Rangers appeared alongside the golden figure, along with Alpha, a confused Tuxedo Masquerain, and…Soldier Heart and Wisdom, who were naked and going at it like rabbits.

There were numerous yells of horror and arousal from the arena, and Brock fainted with a massive hemorrhaging nosebleed. Phanphy's eye twitched and more repressed memories started stirring. Thankfully, he passed out before he could remember any of them.

"Whoa," said an amazed Wes.

"Avert your eyes!" Zoro hissed, covering his own eyes as well as Wes'. "It is disrespectful!"

Latias gasped and quickly dissipated the Dragonbreath she had fired, not wanting to incinerate Tuxedo Masquerain or the Soldiers along with the evil Rangers. "DREW!" May cried.

"Huh? What am I doing up here?" asked the confused Tuxedo Masquerain. "And…GIRLS!" He got a nosebleed, just staring at the two ladies, who had yet to notice where they were.

"Hmmph, the evil in them has manifested as lust. I shall correct that!" Shining Ranger said, gesturing with his sword.

Abruptly, Soldier Heart and Wisdom were wearing their costumes. "Huh?" Heart said, feeling strange. "What just…" It was then she noticed that she and Wisdom were at the edge of an arena, with everyone staring at them, and only moments ago they had been having sex. "AHHH! Where are we!"

"I don't know," Wisdom said, pulling out her bubble gun. "But I want some answers!"

"Yeah, who are you, and where's Red? And who's that guy?" Yellow Ranger asked, pointing at Alpha.

"The Red Ranger is no longer with us…this is Alpha Ranger, his far more powerful replacement. I have summoned you all here to aid me in my quest to finally rid the world of evil forever!" Shining Ranger told them.

"Rid the world of evil? Is that possible?" wondered Green Ranger.

"I don't know…but if it is, I'm all for it!" said Pink Ranger.

"Don't listen to him!" Tuxedo Masquerain protested. "He's going to try to 'save the world' by killing everyone on it!"

"WHAT!" Heart and Wisdom cried in alarm.

"It's true, that's what I plan," Shining Ranger said without guilt or shame.

"Sounds good to me," said Yellow Ranger with a shrug. "If it'll rid the world of evil, I'm all for it!"

"I'm always for fighting evil!" Blue Ranger agreed.

"It'll make the world a better place if every evil person died!" Pink Ranger added.

"And we'll get to kill everyone on Earth. That's a definite bonus!" Alpha sneered.

The police gasped at the Rangers' unanimous condemnation of Earth. This was understandable, they had always thought of the Rangers as heroes, imagine how shocked they must feel to learn just what kind of people they really were.

"Then you'll have to do it without us!" Heart announced angrily. "There's no way we'll assist you in a plot to kill everyone!"

"That's right!" agreed Wisdom and Tuxedo Masuqerain. On the floor, the crystal glowed angrily at this.

"Hmmph. I'm disappointed in you three…Very well!" The chain on his sword shattered, and the Houndoom jaws opened wide, causing light to run down the length of his sword. "Shining Sabre!" He slashed out at the three renegades, creating a massive energy blade which would have sliced them in half…

Had not Mewtwo intervened and teleported them away at the last minute. "I think not," said the Psychic, as his body started burning with blue psychic flames. "This has gone on for long enough…we will not allow you to carry out your insane plans!" He was about to lash out with a mental strike which would utterly shatter the Shining Ranger…when the nearby crystal pulsed, and a spike of pain shot through his head, causing him to falter. "Wh-what?"

"Are you all right?" asked the alarmed Gardevoir.

He held his head, puzzled and a little sore. "Yes, I'm fine…but what…"

"Nothing will stop me in my glorious mission!" Shining Ranger declared, raising his sword in the air. "Rangers…attack!"

Five minutes of utter pwnage later…

The four regular Rangers were lying at various spots on the floor, moaning in pain. The Shining Ranger was slumped against a wall, his cape torn, his sword broken, and his shiny gold armor all but shattered after a joint assault from Latias, the recovered Mewtwo, Gardevoir, Pikachu, Sadic, Zoro, El Gato, Harrison's enraged Blaziken, and quite a few other people who were pissed off at him. He had put up a good fight, but with everyone teaming up on him he hadn't stood a chance. The room was much darker now as a result, but Latias' glow was able to illuminate the arena pretty well in Shining Ranger's place. Phoenetrice was currently beating the floor with his fists in pain as Charla held him in a leglock, and Charmander was gnawing on his head. Blaziken, who had helped subdue the fiend, growled then turned away.

As for Alpha...

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"That's for Kasurin…again!" Crawdaunt growled, pounding Alpha with a Crabhammer again.

"And Yellow!" Delcatty screeched, slashing at his chest with her claws.

"And Munchlax!" Combusken said angrily, hitting him in the side with a Blaze Kick.

"And my Seviper and Gyarados!" said Lucy, ramming her spiked boot into Alpha's groin.

"And Crobat!" Brock joined in, kicking Alpha's sides whenever there was an opening.

"And for being a complete and total asshole, along with everything else!" Misty agreed, pounding him with a spare mallet.

"Don't forget to leave some of him for us!" Sidney called, growling.

"We'd like a piece of him too for killing Steven!" Phoebe agreed.

"Do you think we should stop them?" Latias asked Mewtwo, looking away from the sight of virtually every Pokemon in the room beating up Alpha for all the friends he had hurt and killed. "I mean, if we let them keep doing this, Ash might not have a body to return to anymore."

"I'm not worried," said Mewtwo with a shrug, glancing at the quivering soul in his hand. "If worse comes to worse, I can always clone him a new body."

"Won't that clone develop a soul of its own, though?" Bayleef asked.

"Not if I grow the new body around Ash's," Mewtwo said. "I've done it a few times, actually. I'd like to think I'm rather experienced when it comes to cloning."

"Okay, I think that's enough of that," Wes said, pushing the enraged group away from the beaten Alpha. "Keep going, and you'll cross the line to where you're as bad as he is."

"I don't particularly care," Crawdaunt growled.

"But I do," said Corsola, firing one last spike at Alpha for good measure. "Even if he did kill two of my friends."

"…Fine," Crawdaunt grumbled, scurrying away, still feeling an empty spot in his heart where his son had once been.

"Are you all quite through?" said the ranking police officer, who was in charge now that Jenny was dead. "Good. In that case, I'm putting all of you," she said, referring to the Rangers and Phoenetrice. "Under arrest, for reckless endangerment, illegal experimentation, murder, and conspiring to wipe out all life on Earth." She shook her head in disgust. "And to think, we once looked up to you all…cuff 'em." She paused, glancing at Phoenetrice, who Charla and Charmander weren't letting go of any time soon. "Don't think we have anything for that guy, though, that won't melt from heat…"

"I believe I can handle that," Wes said with a smirk, raising his left arm to show the Snag Device on it, which he had been wearing under his sleeve all along and somehow went unnoticed by all. He popped a Pokeball out of his pocket, flipped it in the air, and caught it in his gauntleted hand. He clenched it, causing the ball to glow as his Snag Device poured energy into it. "Snag Ball, go!" He hurled the spherical capture device at the mutant Blaziken.

Charla and Charmander quickly scrambled off as the Pokeball struck Phoenetrice and snapped open, shooting out a big yellow energy hand which grabbed the Blaziken and dragged him, howling and screaming, into the Pokeball, which snapped shut instantly. It fell to the ground and started wobbling, the white button on its side flashing red as Phoenetrice fought to escape from the Pokeball. All watched with hushed breath, waiting as the button kept flashing…flashing…flashing…

With a satisfying tone of finality, the ball stopped wriggling and the red light went off. Phoenetrice had been snagged.

"Wow," said the impressed cop. "Never seen something like that before."

"Yeah, well," Wes said, bragging. "I'm just glad I found a use for the old thing. Hasn't seen much action since I used it to capture and subdue the toughest Pokemon of a high-ranking crime syndicate, leading to its downfall."

"Really?" said the interested officer. "Hmm…wonder if we could get some of those down at the station…"

"How could this happen?" Shining Ranger lamented as he was yanked to his feet, his arms pulled and handcuffed behind him. "My mission is right and just! How could I fail-"

He was broken off when Blaziken, still irate for his trainer's death, punched Shining in the gut, causing him to double over in pain. The Blaze Pokemon pulled back his fist for another punch, when Mewtwo intervened, paralyzing the Blaziken with his psychic hold. "That is enough," he told Blaziken. "You have already had your shot at him. You have already beaten him. You have had your vengeance."

"But he's still alive, and my trainer's still dead!" Blaziken protested.

"Yes, and will killing Shining bring him back?" Mewtwo pointed out. The Blaze Pokemon fell silent. "There has been enough death this night. Let it end here."

"…" Blaziken jerked as Mewtwo let go of him. He gave Shining Ranger a sullen look…then sighed and walked away.

"That goes for all of you as well," Mewtwo said, turning to the other Pokemon. "You have had your fair share of retribution for the deaths of your own comrades. But in the end, it means nothing, and deep down, you all know this. Hurting those responsible will not save those who are gone. Killing them will not bring your loved ones back. Revenge is, in the end, ultimately pointless. Whatever anger you still harbor, let it go. It will do you, and those you wish to avenge no good. I speak from experience" Lucy nodded sagely, agreeing perfectly with this.

They were silent as they mulled this over. "He has a point," Politoed announced suddenly. "They wouldn't want us to stay this angry and vengeful, would they?" Delcatty shook her head, thinking sadly how Golduck had not been clever enough to think of such a wish, and Crawdaunt thought to himself that Kasurin, being too much of a namby-pamby, would have wanted him to just let it go…and the crazy thing was, the boy might have a point. "There's still plenty of reasons to be happy, even if they're not with us anymore. The sun will rise again in the morning, like it always does," the frog continued. "Let's watch when it happens, okay?"

"Fuck…can't believe this is happening…" Alpha groaned as he was pushed, limping, towards the exit. "I'm going to fucking kill every last one of you, you know that?"

"Yeah, yeah, keep going," said the cop behind him, shoving him again.

"What are we gonna do about him?" Brock wondered. "He's still got Ash's body."

Misty glanced at the shining ball of light in her hands. Mewtwo had handed it to her before going to stop Blaziken, saying 'it felt better with her'. "Oh, I'm not worried. We'll think of something."

"Yeah," agreed Pikachu, hopping on her shoulder. "Don't worry Pikapi, we'll get you fixed up in no time!"

"So if you see some bright light, stay away from it!" Togetic recommended. "There's no reason for you to leave just yet, right?"

"We still need you, after all," Phanphy said cheerfully. "We love you, daddy!"

At this, the soul-ball stopped trembling a little, and brightened visibly.

"To think," Tuxedo Masquerain mused as the four Poke Rangers were led after Alpha. "Not too long ago, I was just like them. And I might be, again."

"No, you won't," May said confidently. "I'll make sure of it."

"And we will too," Heart said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, you didn't forget we're in the same boat as you, did you?" Wisdom asked, taking his other shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to fix this."

Tuxedo Masquerain flushed. "…Thanks, girls."

Zoro, watching from nearby, chuckled. "Way to go, _chico_."

Sidney sighed, staring unhappily at Steven's body. "We're going to need a new champ."

"The new guy won't be the same as Steven, though," Phoebe said sadly.

Sidney shrugged. "We'll get used to him…or her…I'm sure. That's how it always is."

"I guess…" Phoebe said unhappily. "But I suppose…that's just the way life works, doesn't it?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Sidney agreed.

"So much bloodshed…so much violence…so much suffering…" Annabel said, shaking her head miserably at all the bloodstains and corpses on the arena floor.

"You couldn't have known about it," Lucy assured her. "It's not your fault."

Annabel nodded. "I know. But now…it's over. Maybe now, this Tower can truly be what I always thought it was…a place for trainers to test their skills, without the terrible secret looming over it." She smiled, her outlook on the future bright.

"How could this be?" Shining moaned as he was led ungracefully towards the exit with the other Rangers. "How can it end like this? Oh great HERO, please give me a sign!"

"Forget it, bub," said the officer who had him under custody. "That thing's kaput. The only thing it can do now is…" He stopped, stunned, as the crystal suddenly lit up and started to rise into the air. "Act…weird?"

Mewtwo gasped and clutched his head, feeling another stab of pain. "Wh-what the?"

All of them instantly felt a wave of mind-numbing fear as an unearthly chill ran down their spines. Latias' feathers ruffled, and she bared her teeth at the crystal. "It's _him_," she hissed, recognizing the aura around the jewel. No one else could possibly have one as vile or twisted. "He's _here!_"

And then, to most everyone's amazement, the small jewel fragment laughed. "_That is correct," _a voice emanated from the shard, its utter loathing of them and all life in general dripping from every syllable, a dissonant chorus of pain and misery audible in the background. "_I thought it was about time I intervened."_

"Who are you?" Shining Ranger asked in wonder. "That voice…so melodious, so perfect! What divine spirit are you?"

"_I am one who seeks to cleanse the Earth of life, and render it barren and empty, so nothing may ever sprout here again,"_ the voice of the evil one told him. "_I gave you the power you now hold, and can grant you more if you will assist me in my quest. After all, if there was no more life, there is no more evil, correct?"_

"Don't do it!" Latias yelled at Shining Ranger. "He's lying!"

"Yeah, weird floating crystals that talk are almost always pure evil on principle," Wes added.

"Of course I will join you!" Shining Ranger said, ignoring them. "I will do anything to rid the world of evil!"

"Open your eyes, Senor Ford!" Zoro cried. "This entity is clearly El Diablo himself!"

"_Hmm, that's a name I haven't used for a while…"_ the voice mused. "_But it is irrelevant. He is far too deep in madness to see the truth. And in the end, evil is only a matter of perception, anyway. You see me as evil because the majority of my values and pastimes involve annihilation, inflicting pain, destruction, torture, etc. _I _see that almost everything you mortals do could be interpreted as evil under the right context. Ford is too far gone to see how skewed his own definitions of evil, and how to get rid of it, is. Such is so common among those whom I take interest in…you were not very different from Ford yourself not so long ago, Mewtwo."_

His head still throbbing with pain, the Psychic managed to respond. "Those days are long past, evil one."

"_Are they? Hmm. We shall see. In the meantime…"_ The crystal turned its attention back to the Rangers. The cops, feeling so terrified they voided themselves as the entity's attention passed over them, quickly collapsed to the ground in fear. "_Shining Ranger, will you serve me so that we shall eradicate this Earth?"_

"To rid the world of all evil, I will do anything!" Shining Ranger said zealously.

"But-" May started.

"Oh, give it up, we tried that already," Tuxedo Masquerain snapped. "He's not listening."

"_Alpha Ranger, will you serve me if it will allow you to destroy all you once held dear…and to repay the debt owed by creating you in the first place?"_

"Hell yes!" Alpha said gleefully. "I've been waiting all my life for this!"

"_Then come both of you, into my arms."_ Lightning bolts shot out of the crystal and struck Alpha and Shining Ranger, causing them to cry in pain and surprise before vanishing in a flash of light. A third lightning bolt shot out and struck the Snag Ball containing Phoenetrice, causing it to vanish as well.

"Are they dead?" Bayleef asked, startled.

"No," Latias corrected her friend. "Just transported somewhere." She growled at the crystal. "What are you up to!"

"_To finish what I started all those years ago…you remember, do you not? You were there, I recognize the scent of your soul…heheheheh…I saw your mate in the flesh not too long ago…enjoy whatever happiness results from that reunion, for it will not last long." _Enraged, Latias launched a burst of Dragonbreath at the crystal. The white flame formed itself into the shape of a roaring dragon, which lunged at the shard…and dissipated completely with a simple pulse from the crystal. "_Temper, temper, Latias. That was an act unbefitting of a queen."_

The crystal then turned its attention on the soul in Misty's arms. It screamed, a sound reminiscent of wind chimes jangling against each other, and promptly flew down her shirt, causing her eyes to bulge and would have sent everyone else laughing if they weren't scared stiff from being in the presence of pure evil. (That didn't stop Brock from feeling a hint of jealousy, though) "_Do not think the freedom I have given you will last long, mortal. It is no more than a loan with _quite _a lot of interest behind it…when I come to collect; I seriously doubt you will be able to repay the debt."_

"You'll have to go through us first!" Pikachu said, brandishing his sword at the crystal, and trying to hide how scared he truly was. It was all he could do to refrain from leaping down somebody's shirt as well, but that would make him look very foolish in front of Sadic, wouldn't it?

"_That shouldn't take long then, approximately a thousandth of a second. Nine hundredths if you are more resilient, which I seriously doubt."_ Chuckling in amusement at Pikachu's shocked expression, the crystal floated towards the ceiling. "_It's been entertaining terrorizing all of you, but if you'll excuse me I must be off."_

"Wait!" Blue Ranger cried. "What about us?"

"_What about you?" _asked the evil one, somewhat annoyed.

"We want to destroy the world too!"

"Yeah, we can help!" Yellow Ranger said.

"If we weren't in handcuffs, that is," Green Ranger said. "I don't suppose you could take them off?"

"_Hmm…"_ The crystal brightened, and from the way its aura writhed Latias knew something bad was about to happen. "_I apologize. How could I possibly forget about you?"_ The jewel flashed, and the Poke Ranger's heads exploded, showering blood, plastic, metal, and bits of brains everywhere. "_There. Now you're dead,"_ the crystal said pleasantly, as everyone else gasped in horror. "_And while I'm at it, I should probably deal with you three as well,"_ it said, turning to Tuxedo Masquerain and the Soldier Scouts, whose eyes widened in terror.

"NO!" Latias quickly threw up a Safeguard around the trio, and the horrified May as well, as the crystal flashed. Mewtwo made to help her, only to feel another crippling stab of pain in his head which caused him to fall to his knees. Alarmed, Gardevoir helped him up, the world's most powerful Pokemon feeing surprisingly weak. _Ugh…what is happening to me?_

Latias' shield, sadly, was completely ineffective. Tuxedo Masquerain, Soldier Heart, and Soldier Wisdom's heads all exploded. May, who had been the closest to the green haired ex-coordinator when he spontaneously combusted, got the worst of the gore shower. She stood there, eyes wide, hyperventilating from the abrupt, violent, and messy death she had just been millimeters away from.

"_There. That's everything. Now I must be going, and I would suggest you all leave as well, if you wish to face me and my minions tomorrow for the destined showdown foretold by the Unown. The missile I fired from orbit will be here in approximately thirty seconds, and when it hits this island and everything on it will be vaporized. Farewell_." In a flash, the crystal vanished.

As the devil's last words sank in, mass panic spread in. May started screaming her head off, the cops voided themselves again and ran for the exit, Pokemon and humans started gibbering and running about, certain they were about to die, until Mewtwo, his head feeling remarkably clearer now that the crystal was gone, roared, "WE SHALL NOT DIE THIS DAY!" and slammed his hands onto the ground.

A wave of blue light shot out from his fists, encompassing the entire arena floor and turning it a bright cerulean hue. The wave spread out from the tower, covering the entirety of the island's surface, startling cop, partygoer, trainer, and Pokemon alike.

They felt a sudden moment of weightlessness, then a sharp tug from somewhere around their navel, and every living thing on Battle Frontier vanished without a trace. (Sad to say, those who were dead, or in Pokeballs attached to dead bodies, such as the ones belonging to Tuxedo Masquerain and the Soldier Scouts, were not picked up by the teleport and left behind to face their doom.)

A few seconds after that, a missile roared through the skies like a meteor and drove into Battle Tower, engulfing the entire island in an earth-shaking explosion.

…

The teleport, usually a rather smooth transition from one spot to another, felt rather prolonged and rough, probably because it had been a huge mass transit, snatching up a few thousand individuals at once and plopping them down about half a dozen kilometers away.

The instant they rematerialized, on the northern beach of Ever Grande City (scattering all the confused partygoers, trainers, Pokemon, and cops over a wide distribution and crushing quite a few sandcastles, interrupting a couple of weddings and beach parties in the process) Mewtwo gasped and fell to his knees panting. "Nothing to worry about," he quickly reassured Gardevoir. "Just used up a lot of energy…I'll be fine in a-"

It was then the missile struck Battle Tower. The explosion was tremendous, and everyone on the northern beach could not help but stop and stare at the huge mushroom cloud rising from what had once been one of their city's main attractions and sources of income. "Dude," said several particularly stoned drunks or druggies, "This year's fireworks are the best ever!"

They forgot about the brilliant explosion right away, not just because of the wave of heat and force which rippled from the blast over them, causing the earth to tremble, glass to shatter, and car alarms to go off, but also because the explosion had caused a tremendous water displacement in the form of a mile-high tsunami which was now roaring towards the city, drawing away water from Ever Grande's artificial shores and causing it to rise several feet above the receding waves for a moment (seeing as how it was a floating land mass attached to the seafloor by numerous pillars and supports) as the tsunami added all that water to its mass.

A few foolish surfers immediately jumped into the water and started paddling towards the wave which would completely annihilate their city, thinking of nothing but how sweet a ride it would be.

Gyarados' (who had appeared near his trainer when the teleport ended, even though he had been in the Battle Tower's plaza when it happened) eyes bulged. "Wow," he said simply. "That is one big f'ing wave."

"And it's coming right for us!" Brock screamed. "We've traded one death for another! Oh well…Annabel, will you have sex with me before the wave hits so I don't die a virgin?" This resulted in him getting pounded by Lucy, unsurprisingly.

Misty hugged Ash's trembling soul to her chest in fright, wondering if she was about to join him. "Mewtwo, can you-"

"Give me a second," he said, catching his breath. "I can-"

He was cut off when a white and red blur shot out to sea, kicking up sand and water in their faces as it rocketed towards the wave at subsonic speeds, very nearly creating a sonic boom in its wake.

Togetic gasped. "Aunt Latias!"

"She's going to take that thing on head-on!" Pikachu realized. "But it's much bigger than the one in Alto Mare, and she had her brother to help her then!"

"Mewtwo, you have to-" Bayleef started.

"Do nothing," the Psychic said, shakily standing up, leaning on Gardevoir a little for support as he regained his strength. "This is something she must do on her own. If she fails, I will do what I can to save this city…but I assure you that I am _not_ doing another mass teleport like that last one any time soon, I'm not immortal after all."

"You're not?" asked a surprised Crawdaunt.

"No, my body's actually deteriorating at a fairly slow rate due to an error in the cloning process used to create me as well as the vast amount of power my body is forced to house, limiting my lifespan to a few decades (if that) unless I either stop using my powers all together (which slightly speeds up the rate of deterioration which each use) or I find a way to permanently stabilize my DNA." He looked around, surprised by everyone except Gardevoir's (who just seemed sad) look of shock. "What, I never mentioned that before?"

…

She had come full circle.

This was her fifth time doing this. Two times in her last life, two times in this life, and right now.

The first two times had been to break up tidal disturbances engineered by Kyogre in attempts to destroy her and Rayquaza's kingdom. Latios had been by her side then.

The third time was when Anny and Oakley had destroyed their uncle's Soul Dew. She and her brother Latios had flown out to stop the wave. But she had not been who she was supposed to be yet, so failed to gather the required energies, forcing Latios to sacrifice himself.

The fourth time she had been alone, but was still not the Latias she was supposed to be. Because of that, even though she had her brother's crystal fragment transferred to her when Latios had died, she was unable to use it to stop the wave, and Alto Mare was destroyed.

The fifth time, she was who she was supposed to be. She was Latias, wholly and completely. She was both Queen of dragons and child of man, just as her brother had been both Prince of dragons and child of man.

She knew now that just as she had returned to the time stream to find her King, Latios had followed her when he had inevitably died, to protect his sister. He was gone now, fully crossed over to outside of time, but he was still here. He was still inside her, a part of her through the memories she had of him in both lives and the power he had given her. Latios had never left her, not even when she had failed on that awful night which had started her journey, because just as she had not known the Ghost King for who he was, so did she not know herself or her brother for who they were. Had she been able to do so, the city of Alto Mare might still stand this day.

But if it had, would she be here now? If it had, would she have met all her wonderful friends and evolved into the person she was now? Second-guessing history was not for those confined to the timeline, she decided. Only the Unown, or others outside of time, would know for sure.

What was past was past. She had failed to save one city, and now would save another. This time, she would not fail. She was and was not the person she had been a few months ago. She was and was not the person she had been a hundred thousand years ago. She was, simply put, Latias. That was who she was.

She could sense them all around her. The Latias' and Latios' from the time between then and now, her children and her ancestors at once. There was her brother, flying alongside her, his red eyes filled only with love and the desire he had always had to protect her. There were Bianca, Lorenzo, Marcella, Vincentio, and the rest of her human family, flying on invisible wings to keep up with the rest of the pack. There was her King, at once somewhere else in this world and by her side, a golden-eyed memory, one as close to her as her own shadow.

They were here, had been there, would always be there. They were inside her and alongside her. They were her family, her memories, her dreams. They were Latias. _She_ was Latias.

Her journey had come full circle, and yet it was not over. As Sadic had told Pikachu, and Vincentio himself had once told her, there were no endings or beginnings, only transitions. _Existence_ was a journey with no start and no conclusion, an eternity of travel through worlds both physical, metaphysical, and spiritual, constantly learning more about one self, about the world, about reality. But, for the moment, she had reached the end in a sense, this was the transition point between one journey and the next. One that would be harder and more challenging than anything she had faced in the past.

And she was ready for it. This knowledge suffused her with a warm calm, a calm that spread throughout her body and radiated outwards as the ghosts of her memories faded, leaving Latias alone—no, she had never been alone—as her body turned into a sphere of glorious light. The light shot forwards, towards the crushing wave of destruction which raced towards the shoreline and her friends. The light crashed into the raging wall of water, burying itself deep within the heart of the tidal surge.

And then, when the moment was right, Latias released her power in a colossal blast of psychic power.

"LUSTERRRRRR…PURGE!"

…

Cacturne's eyes widened as she stared out the window. "Well, _that's_ not something you see everyday…"

Wobbuffet did not respond to her comment, or to what was going on outside. She had not expected him to. Even so, she wished that he would do something other than stare at that crystal in his hand all day…

…

The people gathered on the shoreline, standing on the rooftops, staring from their windows and balconies, watched in awe as the colossal wave _split_ right down the middle where the magical glowing ball had flown into it, a beam of light shining up into the heavens as the wave collapsed upon itself, its rage ceasing as abruptly as it had started. The waters still rushed towards the fragile island, but as a gentle surge rather than a force of pure destruction. All Mewtwo needed do to keep the sea from washing over them and flowing into the city streets was to form a force field around the island's northern edge, deflecting the tide and allowing the waters to flow back into the hole which had been formed by Battle Frontier's destruction, creating a large whirlpool off in the distance which sucked up the shattered remains of the monorail system, which had been totally devastated by the massive tsunami.

The island was tugged slightly by the whirlpool's current, but its supports were strong, and the city stayed fast. Mewtwo soon lowered the shield, and the much-reduced tide came back in, lapping at their feet as it rose onto the beach. Charla held Charmander above the water in distaste, and made sure to keep her flaming tail well above the nasty wetness. Out to sea, the beam of light died down, leaving them staring out at the empty stretch of ocean where Battle Frontier had once been. Richie, staring out to sea in disgust, turned and ran into the city streets, cursing the dragon furiously and weeping bitter tears for the power he had lost.

"That was…" Togetic started, awed.

"Incredible," Misty finished.

Bayleef nodded, astounded. Yes, she had seen Latias change a suffering, wingless Charizard into an egg with minimal effort, and whup the Alpha Ranger's rear, but that somehow felt a heck of a lot different than watching her single-handedly cripple a mile-high tsunami which would have shattered Ever Grande to pieces.

"Wow," said Brock, simply. May would have said something too, were she not still traumatized and covered in gore from the boy she had been crushing on.

"Dios mio…what power…" said Zoro, shaking his head in amazement. El Gato took his hat off and wiped some sweat from his brow.

"Was that…my daughter?" Ho-Oh, who had been released by Wes in case Latias failed to stop the wave.(Wes was the kind of guy who always had a plan B). "That was…beautiful…" Once more, the phoenix felt a deep sorrow for what he had missed out on by not being a part of the life of his child.

"Where's Latias?" Pikachu asked suddenly. "Did she-" He broke off, recalling painfully how Latios had died the last time there was a big tidal wave defeated by a ball of light.

"Nah, she's okay," Sadic said, shaking her head. "A girl can tell these things. She's all right."

"She is indeed," agreed Mewtwo. "And yet, we should retrieve her. She is tired after an effort such as the one she just performed, and needs to rest somewhere where she doesn't run the risk of drowning or getting eaten by an oceanic predator. I would fetch her myself," he admitted. "But…" He flinched and leaned more heavily against a surprised Gardevoir. "I am tired as well. I am not used to being on the material plane for so long after spending so much time with the Unown. That, and the fact that in the last hour I've performed several mass teleports, broken down a very powerful force field, and delved into Hell itself to retrieve a soul, has taken its toll on me."

"Then we'll go get her," Misty announced. "Gyarados and I can go out and get her back within half an hour, right Gyarados?"

"Yeah, I can easily do that," the sea serpent said, lowering his head. "Hop on." Misty, still carrying Ash's soul, climbed onto her Pokemon's head. Togetic, as always, fluttered after her, alighting on her shoulder.

"I'm coming too," Bayleef said, vaulting herself up with her vine whips. "I missed the last ride because there were too many other passengers, and had to fly Air Charizard again. Plus, Latias is my friend, and I want to be there to help her out, just like she's helped me out twice now tonight."

The redhead nodded and turned to her other friends on the beach. "We'll be back soon," Misty told them. "Head back to the hotel and rest up, this has been…" She winced, recalling yet again seeing Golduck and Kasurin's painful deaths by electroshock. "This has been a long night." Gyarados started levitating out over the ocean.

"W-wait!" Ho-Oh cried suddenly. "I…" He grimaced and swallowed. "…I'd like to come too."

Wes' eyebrows raised. "Well, Ho-Oh!" he said in mock amazement. "What's this I'm hearing? Actual concern for a female's well-being?"

"Shut up!" Ho-Oh snarled, smacking Wes with a wing. "Misognyism be damned, she's still my daughter, and as a father it's my responsibility to care for her!"

Mewtwo nodded. "In that case, go. I think she'll be pleased to see you."

Ho-Oh grunted and kicked off, intentionally blowing sand in Wes' face, who flinched but still smirked, as he flapped his wings and glided out to Gyarados, Togetic and Misty. The small group then proceeded together out to sea, in the direction of where Battle Frontier had once been.

"This is going to be one hell of a report when I get back to the station," the leading police officer said, shaking her head. "Oy. I'd better go round up the others and head back…it's been a long night."

"We'll go with you," Sidney said, as Glacia emerged from the still rather confused crowd of teleportees to join them. "We'll need to make a report as well at League headquarters…they'll need to know that Steven's…" He clammed up, unable to say anymore, while Glacia looked at him in confusion and a hint of worry.

The officer nodded. "Your help finding the others—and breaking up and controlling this crowd, I suppose--would be greatly appreciated." They headed off.

Annabel, Lucy, and the rest of the Frontier Brains stared out to sea. "And just like that…it's gone," Tucker said in wonder. "Our job. Our home. Battle Frontier is gone."  
"And so is Mr. Ford," Annabel added.

"Good riddance," said Lucy with a shrug. "The bastard used us to promote his stupid hero factory…no offense, Noland."

"None taken," said the former factory leader with a shrug.

Brandon shook his head and started taking off his priestly robes. "That does it, screw Ra. I'm not worshipping a god who blows up my pyramid just because my magic rod got broken. I think I'll become the High Priest of Bahamut or Odin instead, I hear the babes in Valhalla are to die for, literally." His comrades sweatdropped.

Greta sighed miserably. "Great…there goes my pavilion…and all the credit I had run up at the gambling lounge…"

"Attachment to material possessions leads only to strife and misery," Spenser said sagely. "Although I am somewhat miffed that my palace is gone, my favorite staff was still in there…" Everyone facefaulted.

"Well, now that they're off to get Latias…" Mewtwo abruptly stood up, not looking in the slightest bit weary or tired.

"Hey!" Brock realized. "You're not-"

"Tired? No, I just pretended to be to convince Ho-Oh to do something nice for his daughter, if I had to watch one family be destroyed tonight, I could at least try to heal another," Mewtwo said with a smirk. "That, and because it would allow me to have some private time with Gardevoir." The humanoid Pokemon beside him giggled at this, blushing under her mask. "We'll see you back at the hotel."

Brock blinked, and then shook his head ruefully. "You horny bastard…"

Well," Mewtwo said innocently. "At least I _have_ a mate." Brock's eye twitched, while the others snickered. "Come along now, dearest," Mewtwo said, leading Gardevoir away. "We have much catching up to do."

"Hmm…that reminds me…" Crawdaunt said, scuttling over to Corsola. "Wanna continue what we were doing in the bathroom at the party?" Phanphy, who happened to be nearby when this was said, twitched violently as another repressed memory struggled to rear its ugly head, before thankfully going back to sleep.

Corsola stared at him in disbelief. "Crawdaunt, your son's been dead for less than half an hour and already you want to have sex!"

Crawdaunt shrugged. "It's how I deal with grief, other than beating the crap out of someone. Did the same thing when my dad got caught by that lobster trap." He shook his head sadly. "Poor dad…I told him the Pokedoll Luvdisc they baited the trap with was too cute to be the real thing, but he wouldn't listen. Next thing he knew, he was being served up for dinner at the local seaside restaurant…poor dad. They didn't even care that he was allergic to butter, too."

Corsola sighed. "Oh, all right. Maybe it'll make me feel better too."

"Kay. Hey, Delcatty?" The sullen pink cat looked up. "Me and Corsola are gonna have sex, wanna join us?"

"…" Delcatty meowed piteously, and then slowly walked over to them, feeling like she had no other choice. Without her Yellow, her life seemed so meaningless. What else could she do now that he was gone?

"Great, I knew you'd want to!" Crawdaunt said cheerfully. "Okay girls, let's go back to the hotel, the pool there is heated."

"We're not using another bathroom?" Corsola asked as they walked away.

"Nah, one bathroom a night is enough for me," he replied before they were gone.

"Hey Pikachu, race you back to the hotel!" Sadic said energetically.

He sweatdropped. "By 'race', do you mean you hunt me through the streets, toying with me and causing my adrenaline to rush, before finally cornering me and eating and/or mating with me?"

"Yes."

"Do I have a choice?"

"No, not really."

Pikachu grunted. "Eh, fine. Can I at least have a head start?"

"You have ten seconds," she told him. He immediately took off. Ten seconds later, the Manyula was in hot pursuit, purring happily.

"Have fun playing Hide and Seek!" Phanphy said naively, waving his trunk goodbye.

"Ah, love…" Politoed said with a happy sigh. "I hope that one day I shall be similarly blessed. Oh well." With nothing better to do, he started clapping like he usually did.

"We should get going too, Charmander," Charla said, nuzzling her age regressed lover happily. "It's probably way past your bed time."

"Charlaaaaa!" Charmander whined. "Just because my body's regressed doesn't mean my mind—ooh, a Butterfree!" Phanphy, also seeing the Butterfree, squealed and began to chase it, resulting in him running right into a lamppost and knocking himself out. "So pretty…Charla? Why are you laughing?"

Brock blinked, looked around, and suddenly realized that he was almost completely alone. "Guys?" He turned around, looking about the beach, which amazingly enough didn't look nearly as crowded as it had been a few minutes ago. "Wes?" Wes had been grabbed by a sobbing and heartsick Rui, and had taken her back to the hotel, leaving Espeon behind so Ho-Oh would know where he'd gone. "Zoro?" Zoro had gone off with the Frontier Brains to get something to drink (in Lucy's words, "If it doesn't make me blind after two glasses I'm going to feed the bartender to my Steelix. Or something."). The police had gone to find their missing colleagues and help organize the crowd with the help of confused rescue officials who showed up at the scene moments after the tsunami was dissipated, expecting there to be far more casualties than a big fat zero. The Elite trainers had gone to help them. That left Brock pretty much by himself on the beach. He didn't count May or her Pokemon, because May was currently sitting on the sand sobbing while being comforted by her Pokemon (and he thought she was too plain for him to try to take advantage of in her state of emotional distress), and he didn't count Politoed because he was having too much fun clapping by himself. "Oh well, at least I've still got you, right Crobat?" There was no response. Brock looked around then checked his sole Pokeball. "Crobat?" His purple bat was nowhere to be seen. It was then that Brock remembered that Crobat was dead, so would not be showing up anytime soon. Feeling miserable and lonely, Brock sat down in the sand, a deep pout on his face.

Politoed waddled over, still clapping, in an attempt to cheer him up. With a sigh, Brock started clapping along with the frog, having nothing better to do.

…

When Latias opened her eyes, she saw the stars proud and bright in the night sky. _Well, I suppose that's a pleasant side effect of blowing up the island,_ Latias thought to herself. _Once the smoke from the fireworks and the big explosion are gone, you can actually see the stars for a change._ She giggled at this thought, slightly giddy from exhaustion. She had to use a lot of power to stop that wave.

She noticed that although she was damp and cold, she was not nearly as wet as she should have been, seeing as how she was in the ocean. She also did not feel the gentle rocking of waves around her or the wetness of water, which indicated she was not currently in the water. That, and the fact that she could feel the surface she was lying on was solid, smooth, slick, and oily, confirmed this suspicion.

Rolling over (feeling woozy from fatigue) she looked down and saw she was resting on a sloping, almost spherical dark blue shape. Two beady black eyes, set far apart from each other, rolled up to look at her. She blinked. The eyes blinked. "Hello," she said.

"Hello," the Pokemon beneath her said, his deep voice resonating through his skin into her body and causing her to tingle, nearly making her laugh. "What's a pretty thing like you doing out here?"

She blinked. "Saving a city from a giant wave," she said innocently.

"Ah. Okay," said the Wailmer. "Do you do that often?"

"Not _that_ often, no," she said. "Although it's sort of in my job description."

"And do you always faint after doing it?"

"If the wave's big enough, yes."

"Huh," he said. "Doubt I could Surf a wave as big as that one."

"No," she agreed. "You couldn't." She glanced around the horizon wearily. "Oh look!" she said, spotting Ho-Oh and Gyarados approaching from the distance. "Those are my friends! Can you take me to them?"

"Okay." The Wailmer flexed its tail, paddling swiftly towards the flying sea serpent and phoenix. Latias was almost lulled to sleep by the rhythmic motions of the whale's body undulating beneath her, but knew if she did she might fall off, and inconvenience the nice Wailmer who had rescued her.

Soon enough, the whale had been spotted by Gyarados and Ho-Oh, and both of them flew lower, hovering above the water's surface. Ho-Oh, being a bird, had to circle, but stayed very close. "Latias!" he cried. "Are you all right?"

_How sweet!_ She thought, touched and still a bit delirious from exhaustion. _He actually cares about my health!_ "I'm fine, da!" she called up to him.

"You look like a mess," Bayleef joked from Gyarados' head, amused. "All damp and soaked and covered in wet down."

"You try stopping a giant tidal wave all by yourself and see how good you look when you're done!" Latias responded good-naturedly.

Gyarados lowered his head and gently picked Latias up in his jaws. The serpent's warm mouth and tongue felt good against her cold skin. "Thank you for helping me!" she said to the Wailmer.

"Eh, don't mention it. Nice meeting you!" He said, submerging himself.

"You know, I think a Wailmer was one of the Pokemon who brought you to us when we first met, after the Soul Dew broke," Misty recalled. "Wonder if they're related?"

"Probably not," Togetic said. "It's a big ocean."

"Yes, and very wet and cold," Latias yawned. "So can we please go back to the hotel, where it's nice and warm and I can take a shower to get all this sea salt and stuff out of my feathers?"

"Sure," Misty said. "You may have to wait in line though…" she sobered up. "I think all of us could use a good shower…" Nobody bothered to ask why she said that. The meaning behind her words was rather clear. Some of them, such as May, still had blood on them…and even for those who didn't, and had their memories altered, the events of this night were not going to go away easily, no matter how much they tried to wash it off.

"Ah, Latias…" Ho-Oh said uneasily as they turned and started to fly back to Ever Grande. "That was…ah…"

"Yes, da?" she asked drowsily. From her position in Gyarados' mouth, she could hear his heartbeat. It was so soothing and repetitive and almost hypnotic.

"I…um…" He stammered helplessly for a moment before sighing, taking a deep breath, and said, in a rush, "That was some good work you did."

She smiled. "Thank you, da. I knew deep down you cared." The phoenix flushed and glanced away, not wanting her to see.

Latias laughed to herself, yawned, and relaxed in the Atrocious Pokemon's jaws, staring dreamily out at the stars. _Mmm, these stars are nice, but I can see them much clearer back at the Cleft,_ she thought sleepily, her eyes drooping. _Or out in space for that matter. Maybe when…this is all over…the king and I can take Gardevoir and Mewtwo up to our…summer house on the moon. Assuming it's still there, of course, it has been a hundred thousand years. The view from up there is simply…_divine… Smiling happily, her eyes shut tight, the dragon Latias went to sleep in Gyarados' mouth, dreaming of joyous times past and future, with her friends and her golden-eyed king, dancing together under the stars.

Misty yawned and leaned back against Bayleef, who was also getting tired. Togetic had already fallen asleep in Misty's lap. "It really _has_ been a long day," she said quietly, sadly. She glanced down at the soul cradled in her arms and smiled, her spirits lifting almost at once. "You know…I wonder what your mom will say when she finds out about this, Ash…" She laughed, and she almost thought she could hear Ash laughing with her.

…

"Father, is this really necessary?" Lance asked as Drake anchored his boat on the shores of Dragon Rock.

"Boy, for the time being I think it's going to be for the best if ye be as far away from the mainland as possible …" The seaman sighed and glanced at his son sadly. "And now that we be here, I think it's time we have a good long talk…over some grog, perhaps…about what's become of ye."

"Father, I was only trying to do what I thought was best! I was following my best judgment, like you've always told me to!" Lance argued.

"Yeah, well, sometimes a person's best judgment can be really stupid, ye know that!" Drake snapped angrily. "Boy, if ye weren't too big for it I'd take ye over my knee and-" He stopped in mid-sentence.

"Father, what-" Lance froze too.

Facing them, floating patiently in a line above the stony surface of Dragon Rock, were several dozen very large, very cold, very hungry-looking Glalie. "Hello," said the largest of them, a female. "We've been waiting for you."

Drake paled. "Oh blast it all…I fergot to feed them this week…"

"F-father?" Lance asked, terrified by the icy stares the Glalie gave them. "What should we do?"

"Don't make any sudden moves," Drake muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "Reach fer yer Pokeball…_slowly_…"

"Dear," the biggest Glalie asked a small Snorunt. "Are these the ones who killed your father and the others?"

The small Eskimo Pokemon narrowed his eyes. "No…" he growled. "But they're the ones who sent the murderers in in the first place."

"That's good enough for me," the Glalie said, narrowing her eyes.

Drake's face paled as the expressions on the ice Pokemon's frozen faces hardened. Disregarding his original advice, his hand snapped down to grab Salamence's Pokeball-

And was frozen solid, as was Lance, in a huge blast of Sheer Cold from all the Glalie, killing both the dragon trainers instantly.

The head Glalie laughed. "As they say, revenge is a dish best served cold…and who knows that better than we?" She licked her lips. "Come, my friends…we have been abused and underfed by these dragon fools long enough…let us show them how grateful we are to have been allowed to live on this island of theirs for so many years…"

The Glalie and several Snorunt closed in on father and son, ready to feed.

…

High above the world…

The evil one smiled to himself as Phoenetrice and the Shining and Alpha Rangers kneeled before him. "And so it comes to pass. All is as I have foreseen it." He laughed and leaned back in his seat. "Everything is going according to plan…"

…

And that is that. The Hero mini-arc is done, and with it we are just a tiny bit closer to the end. I'm leaving for Egypt soon, so I don't know if I'll get another chapter done before then. In case I don't, merry consumer-based holiday exploited by numerous greedy corporations so they can steal your money by making you spend it on lots of junk!

As the evil one said in his deception, TTFN! Tata for now!


	54. Dawn of doom and despair

Hey everyone, I'm back from Egypt. I'm sorry to say that I found no Millennium Items while I was there, and the trip itself was…slightly not as nice as I had imagined…but overall, it was worth it. The quality of some of the ruins was fantastic…the cruise up the Nile would have been nicer, though, if it weren't so choked with dams and cities and other boats. sigh And then there were the merchants…oy. Still, I suppose I can recommend it as a vacation spot. Just don't drink any water that's not from a bottle, okay?

Disclaimer: All characters used here are mutations or modifications of characters used by somebody else, namely some guys in Japan. Thanks to DiamondLatias3000, Alex Warlorn, and ninetalesuk for helping me edit this chapter.

…

Orbiting high above the planet, hidden behind an impenetrable cloak of invisibility, was a great and terrible crystalline fortress, composed of spikes, spines, edges, and angles which defied reason.

Within this fortress, sitting on a jagged and twisted throne before his equally twisted minions, was the great enemy who had almost destroyed the Earth thousands of years ago, and had returned to instigate the cataclysm prophesized by the Unown, leading to the formation of the Chosen.

He had spent his time since his return to the little blue planet gathering shards of his broken crystal, recruiting generals, abducting and infecting thousands of unwanted and unnoticed humans and Pokemon from the planet for his army, and making numerous systematic and unrelenting strikes at various points throughout the world, wreaking much havoc and leaving a good portion of the population in a climate of fear and anxiety, certain that the end times were upon them.

They were right.

"The time has come at last," the master said to his lackeys. "Over the last week we have caused numerous widespread disasters across the planet. We have caused the prices of energy to rise around the world and sent the stock market to the verge of collapse. Orre is all but destroyed. Metaba is engulfed in war. Silica is impotent. The Ghost Kingdom, which might have been a major threat, has been almost completely dissolved thanks to the help of one of our newest brethren," he said, acknowledging the largest of the horrors gathered in his throne room. "And by allowing a horde of hungry Glalie to devour the leader of the dragon trainer clans and his son, we may have reduced some of their effectiveness as well. Water and food supplies have been poisoned, and people all over the world are dying of hunger and thirst. And my special agents have been seeded throughout the globe and are all waiting on a single command to carry out their orders. It will take only a little more effort to push this planet over the edge.

"The Chosen, after their ordeal the night before, are emotionally, physically, and psychologically exhausted, greatly reducing their effectiveness in the coming battle. And those of them who were not present at the Tower…I already have things in store for them." He glanced meaningfully at a pair of creatures, one big and one small, encased in crystal sarcophagi at the side of the room and chuckled to himself, causing the barely human thing that had once been James Morgan to whimper and curl up in the softest, least jagged corner of his cell nearby. "Of course, they will still fight with all their strength…I would not expect any less of them, for they are heroes. Nonetheless, they will still fall. They don't have the slightest idea what they're in for." He glanced at the crystal viewer occupying the far wall of the cavernous chamber, which was displaying the blue planet below them. "Soon, the Earth will cease to be blue. The humans and Pokemon of the world have seen their last sunrise."

"All shall perish!" Shining Ranger said zealously, brandishing his saber and nearly decapitating the startled Meowth. "And all evil on Earth will be destroyed!" He did not notice the snickers of his comrades.

"Indeed," the evil one said without a hint of irony. "Mewgle, have you done as I have asked?"

"Yessir!" the digital Dungeon Master said, saluting his master with the arm of his robot body. "All the programs have been set!"

"As I expected." The master leaned back in his throne, causing the spikes on its headboard to drive themselves into his back. He did not give them a moment's notice. "Activate the overrides you've planted, then. Let the festivities begin. Oh, but first…" He glanced at another of his newest generals, who had been mauling James with immeasurable glee last night and was potentially the most powerful of all the minions. "I would prefer it if you were out of sight for this broadcast. She will be watching like all the others, and I think it would be best if she was unaware of your existence until you introduce yourself to her in person."

The monster in question grinned at his master's suggestion, revealing caked blood from James and his other torture victims on his grotesque teeth. "When at last we meet, I will cherish the horrified look on her face forever…before I rip her eyes out, that is." Smirking, he floated over to James' cell, which was out of the crystal viewer's range. Bloodcurdling screams and roars of devilish joy soon rang through the room, mixing with the notes resonating from the musical crystals strewn throughout the chamber and creating a melody of anguish and suffering.

The master sighed blissfully as some of his weaker-hearted minions (okay, just Meowth) cringed. "Ahhh…a paler shade of home…it warms my heart…if I had one, that is." He nodded to Mewgle. "Activate the programs."

"Yessir!" The robot turned towards the crystal viewer, which changed from the window image of Earth to a zoomed-out CGI view of the planet, surrounded by numerous green dots representing the Earth's satellite network. In seconds, every one of them turned red, and numerous red spots appeared on the planet's surface, representing broadcasting stations and radio towers all over the globe. "The planet's media network is now under your control, my lord. All television and radio signals are ours to command as we please."

The master nodded. "Very good. Begin broadcasting."

The crystal viewer cleared and went blank, save for a blinking light in the center of the flat screen indicating that they were on the air.

The master leaned forward in his throne to address the citizens of Earth. On the planet below, every television, radio, and computer with cable connections in the world switched on, either showing his actions or projecting his voice on their screens or through their speakers. Numerous Pokemon in the wild looked up in confusion, startled by the visions and voices which had abruptly appeared in their minds, projected there by the satellites amplifying Deoxys' telepathic powers so those who had no form of high-tech communication devices could take part in his broadcast. "Greetings, people of Earth. My name is Deoxys, and I have come to destroy all that you mortals hold dear. For the last few weeks I have made my presence felt on your planet, whether you knew it or not. Every disaster, calamity, and catastrophe which has befallen you recently has been ultimately engineered by me…and much worse is soon to follow.

"This is not a hoax, or a joke, or a clever attempt to get publicity for an upcoming movie or television special. Everything you are about to see and hear is nothing short of total reality." He sent a telepathic command to his agents scattered around the world, commanding all of them to act as they had been programmed to.

With a flash of light, a large amount of people appeared in a circle in the center of the room, closed in by tightly packed jagged crystal spines curved inward like the rib bones of some enormous beast. But these were no ordinary people who now found themselves suddenly in Deoxys' fortress. They were nothing less but the greatest leaders and most prominent individuals in the world.

There were presidents, prime ministers, royalty, parliamentary chairmen, ambassadors, and numerous high-ranking members of the United Regions, as well as the mayors and governors of every major city and country on the planet. There were generals, marshals, and dictators who ruled by force; every representative of the Earth's numerous military bodies. There were celebrities, movie stars, actors and actresses, corporate CEOs, and leading scientists and researchers. The crime element was represented as well in the form of gang leaders, Administrators, Team bosses, kingpins, and godfathers. Not even the more Pokemon-oriented branches of planetary power were spared, as every last one of Earth's elite trainers, League presidents and champions, and gym leaders found themselves amongst the crushing throng pressed together in the center of the throne room. Even the Frontier Brains had been captured with the rest.

Humans were not the only ones trapped in the circle, of course—there were numerous startled Pokemon as well, pack, clan, and hive leaders of very large and powerful groups from around the world, along with the Alakazam President of the all-Pokemon region of Poketopia. All in all, that numbered to nearly a thousand humans and Pokemon, all crammed together and piled on top of each other in a small space with a floor and walls made of very sharp and jagged crystal. Needless to say, all panicked immediately and started screaming and thrashing about, especially when they saw the horrific visages of the monsters surrounding their cage.

"Wh-what's going on!" Professor Oak cried, trying to get out from under his younger and less apt colleague Elm's armpit.

"What the fuck!" Lucy roared, struggling and lashing out with her spiked boots to no avail. "Get your hand off my ass, Brandon!"

"I would," the ex-priest said. "But we're too tightly pressed together, I can't-" Someone elbowed him in the back of the head, throwing him forward into Lucy's cleavage. Needless to say, she did not take that well.

Sabrina's eyes dilated, not seeming to notice the panic around her. "No…" she whispered. "I saw it, I dreamed it…I knew this would happen…and I did nothing to prevent it."

"Like, ew!" the Waterflower sisters screamed. "This place is, like, totally NASTY!"

"This is really quite unusual," said a confused president, who had been in the act of making love to one of his secretaries (who had, in fact, been Deoxys' agent) before getting transported up to the castle.

"You see before you the leaders you have chosen or who chose themselves to represent you," Deoxys continued, his telepathic voice rising over the frightened screams and howls from the prisoners. "They represent the power you hold as a people."

Abruptly, a portion of ceiling directly above the enclosed leaders shot down in the form of a spiked crusher, smashing down on the fleshy bodies and pressing them into the ground. Bones shattered. Bodies ruptured, spewing blood everywhere. Screams intensified or were silenced by the crusher. Those near the bottom of the mass of bodies were squished into the floor by the weight of those above them and impaled on the jutting crystalline ridges rising from the ground. The ones in the middle frantically struggled, trying to squeeze out through the small gaps between the ribs of their cage. They screamed and cried and pleaded desperately as the crusher slowly rose back to the ceiling, then came slamming down again, pressing down harder and killing more leaders while others were simply crippled as their spines and limbs were broken.

"For the love of Whoever, help us!" Oak cried, frantically reaching out with his only working arm towards the Alpha Ranger.

Alpha laughed and lashed out with his dagger, severing the professor's arm at the elbow. "No help for you, old man! I've wanted to do this for years! DIE OAK, DIE!" And the professor did just that, as the crusher slammed down again.

"How glorious!" Shining Ranger sang joyfully, slicing off grasping arms with his sword alongside Shalor. "The death of deserving evil is wondrous to behold and take part in!"

Shalor sweatdropped. "Er, right…" he said, driving one of his swords into the forehead of a crime boss he had done business with in life.

Cerberus' three heads snapped their jaws repeatedly at the air, catching drops of blood and severed body parts which flew towards them as the crusher pounded the prisoners into a bloody mess. It did this for a total of seven times, before retracting into the ceiling for good, dripping blood and leaving behind a mishmash of blood, gore, flesh, and bits of bone so disgusting that Meowth, who was still trying to fit in with being 'truly evil' like the rest of the generals, vomited all over the largest general, leading to him being viciously mauled by it.

"And so your leaders fall," Deoxys said calmly, staring into the viewer. "You will find that the second, third, and for good measure fourth in line behind all of those who died before you have been assassinated while you were watching, as well as many of the numerous minor functionaries who ran your towns and public works and did their part to keep your societies running, so you shouldn't get your hopes up that a hero will rise from their ranks. I am sure that some of you will be able to find new leaders to represent you or to be thrust forward onto the chopping block, but it is more likely that the majority of you will panic and begin mass rioting and lawless chaos from terror for the few hours you have left before my forces arrive to kill you, capture your souls, and twist your bodies to serve me, not necessarily in that order.

"I am sure that many of you, perhaps those who are particularly religious, moral, or just plain stunned and horrified are wondering why I am doing this and what you have done to deserve this. The answers to both are as follows: I wish to and you exist. That is all the reason I feel I am justified to carry out my plans, and why all of you deserve to suffer at my hands. Enjoy the last few moments of your desperate lives. Use them wisely, although you probably won't. You people rarely do."

"Annnnd…cut!" Mewgle said, shutting off the broadcast. "Nice job, boss-man! You didn't even need to rehearse for that!"

Deoxys shrugged. "I have had a good deal of experience at this sort of thing. Now, if you please, activate the rest of the programs you've planted."

"Yessir!" Mewgle turned back to the crystal viewer, which changed from the blank broadcasting screen to the default view of Earth. After a moment, the planet darkened significantly, as every light in every city switched off as the virus Mewgle had programmed into every electronics system on the Earth went to work, shutting down power plants, cutting off life support in hospitals, destroying the Internet, and causing the stock market to crash. Admittedly, some cities and towns didn't use electricity, and others relied on Pokemon for backup power, but so much of the world relied on electronics and the Internet in this modern age that with this single act Mewgle had thrown the Earth into utter chaos.

Chaos which his master was going to take advantage of.

"Phase 1 is now complete," Deoxys said, amused. "The planet's defenses, as minimal as they may have been before, are now all but nil. On to phase 2." He resonated at an ultrasonic frequency, and the crystal viewer changed to display a scrolling 2-D map of the Earth. Hundreds of colored lights lit up at various spots on the map, each looking remarkably like a targeting cross-hair.

"What's that?" Meowth asked.

"Phase 2," his master explained. "Systematic bombardment of Earth. The red targets are major cities and military facilities, which will be devastated by missiles. The blue and green ones represent small villages, towns, tribes, and other key areas which will be either invaded by shock troops (including the Pokemon I've liberated from the Prison Balls we've stolen), infected by virus bombs, or both." He glanced at his minions. "Do any of you have any specific places in mind you would like to add to the list which are not already on the map?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Hollywood! Hollywood!" Meowth hooted, hopping up and down, waving his arm, and cutting his feet open on the floor.

"Any particular reason why?" Deoxys asked, already knowing the answer.

"Revenge!" the feline roared.

"For what?" Shalor asked.

"This girl cat I liked wasn't interested in me," Meowth told them. They sweatdropped. "Oh, and I was picked on a lot growing up there."

Deoxys resonated at an ultrasonic frequency, and Hollywood was lit up by a red target. "Any others?"

"Ever Grande City!" Shining Ranger cried.

"No."

"No?" Shining Ranger asked, looking disappointed.

"No. Not this moment, anyway."

"Darn." Shining Ranger sulked. Blazeatrice rolled his eyes and patted him on the back.

Alpha Ranger glanced at the map. "Pallet Town's on there."

"So it is," Deoxys agreed. "Is that a problem?"

Alpha paused. "No…I just wanted to destroy it myself."

"I anticipated that," Deoxys told him. "Which is why Pallet Town is only going to be virus bombed. That way you can go down once we are through with our other business and raze the place to the ground…and destroy the infected inhabitants, if you wish. If that's not enough, you may have their souls as well."

"…Heh. Yeah, that sounds good. But…" He paused. "Where's Delia Ketchum?"

"In Ever Grande. I do not know for how long, though."

Alpha nodded. "Good. I look forward to hunting her down myself…so I can see her horrified reaction when I wring the life out of her, wearing her own _son's_ face."

Deoxys nodded. "Very good. Shalor? It looks as if you have something on your mind."

The Black General paused. "Yes sir…it's just that…the Sevii Islands…none of them are targeted. And none of the people there were among the leaders we've killed."

"A very good observation, general," Deoxys said, pleased. "No, none of the have been targeted. The Dream-saturated air there is infertile spawning ground for my virus, and as a result my shock troops would suffer a significant drop in power, which is why none of my agents are present there. Do not fret, though, the Islands will fall to us soon enough…once the last few elements of my plan are in place."

Shalor nodded. "As you command, my lord."

"Ooh! Boss! Can we destroy Circlehard headquarters?" Mewgle asked hopefully. "The guys who made me? They're the ones who trapped me in the RPGenerator to begin with!"

Deoxys chuckled. "I see that crippling their gaming engines with your virus is not enough for you…very well." He resonated, and a new red target appeared on the screen. "Any other targets? No? Very well, then." He resonated again, and the castle trembled in response.

The fortress' exterior shook as one by one, hundreds of the large crystalline edges and spikes making it up detached themselves and rocketed towards the fragile Earth below, carrying their lethal payload of explosives, virii, or nightmarish monstrosities.

"The bombardment is on its way," Deoxys said, pleased. "Phase 2 is complete. And now for the next part…" He resonated, and the crystal viewer changed to show profiles of numerous very familiar Pokemon, and a few humans as well. "Behold the faces of our enemies. The Chosen."

Meowth hissed angrily at the faces of Pikachu and all the other familiar Pokemon who had beat him up on a regular basis. Alpha sneered at his former friends. Cerberus growled at the picture of Ho-Oh. Blazeatrice smirked at an image of Charizard and Charla. Mewgle cackled with glee, anticipating how much fun he would have playing with the heroes. Shalor stood stoically, studying his foes with interest. And the two mysterious and most dangerous generals, the giant and the one whom had been torturing James, showed particular interest in a specific Pokemon displayed on the viewer.

"These few are the only obstacle between us and my ultimate goal," Deoxys told his minions. "The crystal Unown sought to deceive me by showing me only certain Pokemon when I was chosen like the rest in an attempt to convince me that those would be the only ones I would have to worry about, but once I understood and remembered just who and what I am I saw through their games and noticed several other individuals they had interest in who they believed might be of use against me. I have already eliminated most of those others to prevent them from being a threat, and have prepared countermeasures for the rest. This is not to say that they cannot triumph, for that is always a possibility…but I believe that with what I have in mind, they have a very low chance of stopping us."

"All evil shall fall before us!" Shining Ranger said triumphantly, causing his comrades to roll their eyes.

"Indeed they shall," Deoxys said soothingly. "But first, we must make certain that you are ready for them. They managed to defeat you just last night…true, they had overwhelming numbers, but nevertheless were more powerful than you had expected."

"That is so," Shining Ranger lamented. "My shame at defeat is without end!"

"The same could be said of you, Alpha Ranger," Deoxys told his other new minion. "You lost not once, but twice: first to Latias, then to the combined power of her friends."

"Those punks just got lucky…" Alpha growled.

"That may be so…but if you wish to defeat them once and for all, you will need to become stronger…as will you, Shining Ranger. And Blazeatrice as well…"

"What about me?" Meowth asked.

"What about you?" Deoxys asked.

"Um…don't I get to become stronger too?" the feline asked timidly.

"Hmm…I suppose so," Deoxys said with a shrug. "You would want to be as powerful as possible to defeat that mouse you're obsessed with, wouldn't you?"

"You bet!" Meowth said enthusiastically.

Deoxys nodded. "Very well, then. Shalor. Alpha Ranger. Shining Ranger. Step forward. Meowth and Blazeatrice, you will get your own upgrade later, the throne room is crowded enough as it is, we don't have room in here for the forms I have in mind." Meowth sulked, but Blazeatrice smirked in anticipation of the power he would receive. He hoped he'd be able to kill Harrison's Blaziken and finish the job he'd started on the Charizard with it.

Deoxys produced two small crystals in his hands as his three humanoid minions stepped forward. Cerberus watched eagerly, recalling its own creation through the use of a similar crystal, and Meowth and Blazeatrice paid attention, wondering if this would give them any hints as to what they could expect from their future transformations.

"I grant you three these powers so that you may better serve me," Deoxys intoned, the small gems in his hands glowing. "Let two become one in a glorious whole! A whole which is more than the sum of its parts!" he cried, tossing the jewel in his left hand at the ground before Shalor.

The crystal shattered on impact, releasing a crackling bolt of multicolored energy which shot towards a startled Shalor and encircled him, completely covering his black armor in pulsating light. Shining Ranger was perplexed. "What is this? I thought I was to become more powerful as we-"

Without warning, the shimmering mass which had engulfed Shalor reached out at Shining Ranger with lightning-fast tendrils of energy, grabbing the golden figure and pulling him, screaming, into the heart of the colors. The figure's mass swelled, doubling over in pain, and howled as it exploded in a blinding flash of light, forcing the weaker minions (once again, just Meowth) to flinch and look away.

When the light faded, a smoking being covered in armor grunted and stood back up, rising a towering twenty-five feet in height, making him almost as tall as Cerberus. He was mainly humanoid, just as Shalor and Shining Ranger had been, but most of his body had become less human and somewhat…different. His powerful legs were bent back and looked like those of a carnosaur, with two feet each ending in very long yellowish talons extending a foot and a half across the floor. The legs were covered in black chitinous armor with gold trim and spikes on the joints, with exposed musculature and bone in place of flesh at each gap in the armor plates. The monster's lower chest and abdominals were skinny, almost beanpoleish, and looked rather twisted and contorted, as if the tough, leathery black flesh there had been wound up like a spring. The torso, strangely enough, was shaped like a very large ovular sphere, composed of thick black armor with gold spikes jutting out at odd angles everywhere. His shoulder guards were comprised of two huge pieces of armor that looked almost exactly like the helmets of Shining Ranger and Shalor, the golden 'hero' on the left, and the Black General on the right. From the shoulder guards came the forearms, both of which looked less like arms and more like flexible tentacles of hardened pockmarked flesh, like giant worms ending in a pair of massive gauntlets. Both were thick and ended in huge three-fingered hands comprised of jointed claws, with bulges protruding from the top of each gauntlet that had large holes in the front, over the knuckles, as if something were intended to come out from there. The left gauntlet and hand was golden, and the right was black.

Along with a long cape, as both Shalor and Shining Ranger had possessed, the monster had a pair of immense spiked hoops, one laid over the other, affixed to his back, one rotating clockwise and the other counter-clockwise.

The head was small in comparison to the body, made up of a helmet with no visible neck. The helmet had a gold faceplate carved to look like a snarling fanged maw, with a cycloptic red visor placed over it. A long, curved gold horn rose from the forehead, and a pair of gold antlers from the sides. The rest of the helmet was a simple black, with another red spot on the back with a gold stripe bisecting it. "I…" the warrior said slowly, his voice deep and sounding like a mixture of Shalor and Shining Ranger's. "I feel…such power…"

"Whoa," said Meowth his eyes wide. "Am I going to be that cool when I transform?"

Alpha laughed and rubbed his hands gleefully. "Oh yeah, this is gonna rock!"

"Welcome to the ranks of fusions, brother," Cerberus growled. "Let us hope you prove more resilient than Coldstone did."

"I name thee Omega…the end," Deoxys told his massive new servant. "Which still leaves Alpha…the beginning." He turned his gaze to the ecstatic and hopeful Alpha Ranger.

Alpha laughed. "Oh yeah baby! Wait…I'm not gonna have to fuse with anyone, am I?"

"No."

"Oh yeah!"

"I grant you this power so that you may better serve me…receive it and destroy all who stand before you!" Deoxys tossed his remaining crystal at the Alpha Ranger's feet. It shattered as it hit the ground, releasing a bolt of multicolored energy which shot out and wrapped around him, bathing him in its power.

Alpha cackled insanely as the power of Deoxys engulfed him in multicolored energy, flooding his body with a rush greater than any drug. "Hahahaha…ahahahaha! Oh yeah! YEAH! HAHAHAHAHA!" There was a great flash of light, and once more Meowth had to avert his eyes. (The wuss)

When the light faded, it revealed Alpha, who had transformed just as radically (if not more so) than the fused Shalor and Shining Ranger.

He was both humanoid and reptilian at once, like some mix of man and lizard. His legs were thick, white, and covered in leathery scales, with a gold ridge running up the left leg, chest, and all the way to the shoulder. They were positioned like human legs instead of those of a dinosaur, with only a single knee each which had a long downward curving red black-tipped spike. A pair of black curved spikes grew out of each thigh. The lower legs had greaves with gold sides growing a pair of curved black spikes from the ankles and a white front piece with black pits which almost went up to the knee. The feet were shaped like those of a human, but had three toes instead of five, each of which ended in a black claw. His waist and groin area were covered in gold and purple scales and white plates. His torso was made up of a red and blue spherical growth with the Latin symbol for Alpha engrave on it covered by a pair of dull gold breastplates making an armored 'vest' with two black spikes each growing outward from the pectorals. He had white fluted shoulder guards with muscular scaly arms, the left one blue and the right white. Both lower arms were covered in bony white armor plates with jagged black spikes growing outwards and back from them. Both hands were five-fingered claws, but the left one wore a watch-like device on a band around its wrist with the Latin Alpha symbol glowing on it. A pair of small draconic wings, white with black arms and fingers, extended from his back, not big enough to grant him flight but they surely served some purpose.

His head was encased in a helmet which looked almost saurian and monstrous in nature. His blank metal faceplate had been covered by grayish-white armor which matched the color of the side guards curving around and behind the helmet. The jagged black visor had diagonal lines engraved in it to make it look like a toothy maw, and the small glowing red eyes and pointed crest extending over the top of his helmet helped drive this look home and made it seem as if it really were a mouth. Said crest was black and curved downward like a beak, with a red stone on the tip and a jagged black spike rose from the back. Six smaller black spikes grew from Alpha's neck, which was protected everywhere else by his new helmet.

"This…this is _perfect_," Alpha growled gleefully, his voice deeper and more bestial. "Now…now I can rip them apart…rend them limb from limb, rip out their hearts…hahahaha…and then there will be nothing left that has any relation to Ash Ketchum…and he will die forever, his soul in my keeping."

"You are pleased with your new form," said the bemused Deoxys. "Excellent. And now, we are all ready. Or almost," he amended. "Meowth and Blazeatrice have yet to change as well, but soon enough they shall. And I expect an ally or two…those whom _I_ have kept hidden, just as the Unown did with some of their chosen heroes…to join us shortly in the coming battle. They shall prove to be of great aid to us, I should think."

"As long as they stay out of my way…and leave _her_ to me…" Deoxys' unknown, most powerful general growled.

"The planet has been thrown into mass chaos…our enemies are gathering in Ever Grande City…and so we must go and defeat them," Deoxys said, gazing in amusement at the Chosen snapshots on the crystal viewer. "Meowth…get Chimecho and Growlie and go into the dungeons and retrieve Wynaut. Wobbuffet possesses one of my shards…we could easily take it from him, but dangling his sister…or what's left of her…before him should cause much more satisfying pain."

"You got it, boss!" Meowth saluted and exited the throne room.

"Master," Cerberus asked once the feline was gone. "Was it really necessary to promote him to general status?"

"No," Deoxys said calmly. "I'm almost certain he'll fall to the Chosen. But he will delay them…and in a fight, sometimes holding off the enemy for long enough is the best way to victory."

The crystal enclosure in the middle of the room sank into the floor, and the puddle of gore was greedily absorbed into the ground, causing the fortress to vibrate as the streams of blood pumping through its walls swelled and flowed faster.

"The castle is fully charged for the battle," Deoxys noted, pleased. "It will serve me well…" He glanced at the corner of his throne room, where James lay broken and bleeding in his cell, only partially healed from his latest torture. "However, I cannot risk a pawn as important as James by taking him into battle…therefore, I will give him a respite…by launching him into orbit, where he will remain until I have need of him again." James whimpered at the thought, but there was almost a gleam of--could it be hope? Or perhaps relief—in his eyes as he realized he might be free of torture for at least a little while.

Deoxys detected this and immediately quashed it. "Of course, it would not do to leave him all by himself for so long…he may get lonely, or even comfortable. Therefore, I will send the Jessies with him to keep him company."

At this James fell (deeper) into despair and started screaming in horror, clawing at the bars of his cage (and cutting himself up even more) as the crystal wall behind him irised open and three hideous identical creatures walked in. They were humanoid, but hunched over as they shuffled towards James, scratching their thick feet against the jagged ground. Their skin was leathery and covered in a rough, sand-papery surface. Wide membranes ran from the space between their wrists to their ankles, like the ones which allowed flying squirrels to glide.

They were somewhat feminine in spite of their bestiality, although their breasts were tipped with spikes and looked as if they could peel open like a split melon and the space between their legs was occupied by a slavering mouth. Their faces were pale, pinched, feral, and looked rather vampiric, with solid yellow eyes. Their long tongues, ending in a smaller pair of jaws, lashed out of their mouths, licking at the air. They had very long red hair trailing to the ground that looked to be made more out of razor spines than actual hairs, and a closer examination revealed the red was actually permanent bloodstain.

James screamed and tried to impale himself on a jutting spike on the bars of his cage, but it was no use, the spike would not penetrate his frail flesh because Deoxys did not wish it so. He sobbed, moaned, begged, and pleaded to no avail as two of the Jessies tenderly, lovingly grasped his weak and pitiful arms by the shriveled wrists hard enough to bruise them and yanked him off his feet, causing him to hit the ground. They shambled back towards the door they had come through, dragging James behind them and slicing his back, buttocks, and legs to ribbons on the sharp-edged floor as they did so. The third Jessie climbed over James' legs and positioned herself above his nether regions as her sisters pulled them from the room, her lower mouth opening its fanged maw wide eagerly as she lowered herself onto the human. The wall closed shut behind them, but not before James' bloodcurdling screams resounded through the chamber.

"…Whoa," said a stunned Alpha. "Were those-"

"Jessie, Jessiebelle, and Jessie's mother Musashi," Deoxys said, answering Alpha's question. "Three of my cruelest torturers and wardens."

"Whoa," Alpha said again.

The fortress rumbled slightly as a small spherical pod, containing James and the three Jessies, was jettisoned from the space-borne castle, falling away through the cloaking field and getting caught by the Earth's gravity into a low orbit. There it would remain until its master returned for it…leaving James alone with the three monstrosities until then.

"And now, I believe we are adequately prepared for what awaits us," Deoxys said as the crystal viewer changed to show the Earth again. "We will depart for Ever Grande shortly. It is there that this planet's fate will be decided."

"My lord…" Omega started.

"Yes?" Deoxys asked.

"I was just wondering…you have done little to prevent the actions of your nemeses, the Divine Trio," the general pointed out. "You have distracted Mew and Celebi with various simultaneous disasters, yes, but left Jirachi alone last night when he could easily have been captured and eliminated. And now he has rejoined his siblings and is somewhere in the Sevii Islands now—which you do not seem to be interested in attacking—and will surely gather enough power from the hopes and dreams of all the people of the world to transform into the Mother. I am sure you have a plan or countermeasure to prevent this, my lord, but…I just do not understand why you have done nothing up to this point to prevent their reunion."

Deoxys laughed, amused at his general's observations. "Prevent their reunion? Now why would I do something like that? Especially when my master plan _depends_ on them becoming my greatest foe again?"

His generals were startled, save for the mysterious ones, who were unsurprised by this revelation. "What?" asked a confused Cerberus. "You…want them to become all-powerful and fight you when your crystal is still incomplete?"

Deoxys chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "My friends, you understand so little. Yes, I could have targeted Jirachi and terminated him easily, preventing the Mother's rebirth and claiming the planet…and in winning I would have failed my _true _goal. Earth is nothing, a speck of dust in a soap-bubble of a universe floating through the great reaches of infinity. Conquering it, and the other worlds in this dimension, will make very little difference on the big picture."

He resonated, and a pillar of crystal rose up from the floor beside his throne, splitting open at the top and revealing a beautiful jewel radiating bright white light, causing the generals to flinch. Deoxys was unbothered by it. "You are correct, Omega, in guessing that I have countermeasures in store for my oldest enemy." He caressed the gem next to him, causing it to flicker and waver. "And once she has fallen…then the _real_ work begins."

…

And so the true enemy is revealed, his army is gathered, and Earth is all but doomed. Will the Chosen be able to fulfill their destiny and defeat Deoxys? Find out as their epic multipart battle begins next chapter!

By the way, do any of you know Spanish? If so, can you please contact me?


	55. Battle of the Chosen: The War Begins

And so, after the bloodfest that was last chapter, we've finally come to the moment you've all been waiting for…the great battle between good and evil!

And you'll have to wait a little longer, because the actual fighting doesn't start until the next chapter, but we'll set things up in the meantime, okay? (I am so cheap.)

Buckle your seatbelts, because the show starts here!

Disclaimer: Pretty much all the characters in this chapter are parodies or the property of an overseas company. Please do not sue me, for I cannot pay for them. Big thanks go out to DiamondLatias3000 for editing this chapter, as well as conceiving and writing the backstory for Deoxys' deadliest general of all (with some minor tweaks from yours truly, of course). Thanks to Alex Warlorn and ninetalesuk for editing help as well.

…

The sun rose the next morning, as it always had in Ever Grande City. Save for the fact that Battle Frontier had been destroyed and just last night a huge tidal wave had nearly engulfed the city, little seemed to have changed in the lives of the citizens of the island city.

For those who were not citizens, on the other hand…well, that's another story.

…

Delia Ketchum clasped her hands and looked around in wonder as their boat pulled into harbor. "Wow! This is incredible! I don't think I've ever seen such a big city in such a small place before! Especially not one with a giant oil rig in the middle!" She eagerly started taking snapshots with a camera around her neck.

"Yes, I suppose it is a rather impressive view," esteemed Professor Samuel Oak agreed, his brow furrowed in thought. "But…something's bothering me. I expected to see Battle Frontier as we came closer to the city, but I haven't seen it anywhere."

"Perhaps it's on the other side," Delia suggested. "It's a big island, and those skyscrapers and oil rig take up a lot of room. They're probably just blocking it from view."

"I suppose," the famous scientist said, unconvinced. "And yet…I could have sworn it was on _this _side of the city, on an island just a ways over there…hmm…"

A crewman tapped the scientist on the shoulder of his extremely loud Bermuda-patterned T-shirt. "Excuse me, Professor Oak?"

"Hmm? Yes, what is it?"

"Ah, those Pokemon of yours down in the hold have been causing a ruckus again. The passengers are complaining about it…as are the chefs, the janitors, a good portion of the crew, as well as-"

"Yes, yes, I get the picture," Oak snapped, cutting the man off. "I'll go calm them down. They probably just sense we're coming into port at long last, and are eager to stretch their legs. They'll be happy to get off this boat."

"As will everybody else, sir." The crewman handed the professor a slip. "Oh, the captain told me to give you this."

Oak frowned and glanced at it. "What's that?" a confused Delia asked.

"It's an add-on to the bill for our time on this ship," the professor told her.

"Listing the money owed due to the actions of your Pokemon, sir," the crewman elaborated.

"Oh well, it can't possibly be…THAT MUCH!" Oak's eyes bulged out of his head when he saw the lengthy sum listed on the bottom line. "What the…how can this…this can't possibly be right! Surely they can't have done so much as to rack up an amount this high!"

"I beg to differ, sir. The female Tyranitar and her child alone nearly emptied our daily food stores at every meal, and we barely had anything left after the rest of the Pokemon came after her. You'll need to pay for the extra food we're going to have to replace while we're in port."

"That must be why dinner always seemed so lean…" Delia said to herself. "And here I thought this was a diet cruise."

Oak sweatdropped. "I admit that is an awful lot, but surely the food doesn't cost _this_ much!"

"It doesn't, sir, but food isn't the only problem," the crewman told him. "Extra cash penalties have been tacked on for the numerous other disturbances your Pokemon have caused; namely your Scyther damaging various machines in our fitness center, as well as eating up a lot of our medicine supplies because it constantly aggravated its heart condition and attacking various sunbathing youths for no apparent reason; your Grovyle and Bulbasaur getting into very violent fights which have injured several passengers, and your Umbreon and Misdreavus scaring the elderly passengers into heart attacks with their pranks and scares. That, and your Tyranitar nearly sank the ship when she tried to dive into our swimming pool."

"So _that's_ why there's a big hole in the ceiling and floor of the fifth and fourth-floor lounge!" Delia cried in realization.

Oak flinched. "I see…" He sighed. "Very well…I don't suppose you'll accept a check?"

…

Professor Oak was still fuming after he had given a check for an exorbitant amount of money to the ship's captain and angrily scolded the Pokemon for causing so much trouble. They hadn't really understood what exactly they'd done wrong, so had tuned the professor out after the first couple of minutes and quietly walked out of the room, save for Tyranitar, who's son was awed by the shade of red the old man was turning, until Oak had all but fainted from exhaustion and had to take heart medicine, which had to be wrestled away from Scyther first.

Now they were all together and walking across the gangplank from the ferry/cruise ship's lobby to shore, ignoring both the ominous wobbling and creaking noises caused by Tyranitar trying to balance on the skinny bridge as well as the cheers and jeers thrown up by the passengers and crew behind them as they were booted off the ship.

"Bye everyone!" Delia said somewhat cluelessly, waving as they departed. "It was fun spending the last couple of days with you!" Turning to Oak, she said, "That was a nice cruise, wasn't it?"

Oak glared at the Pokemon traveling with them as they stepped onto the pier. "Yes, such a nice cruise…and now I'm quite a lot poorer." His eye twitched and he gritted his teeth. "There goes the expanded Pokemon habitat I was going to build, as well as my grandson's college fund…"

"Wowwww…" said the awed Larvitar child. "Mama, look how shiny those mountains are!"

"Those aren't mountains, dear, they're buildings," Tyranitar calmly corrected him. "Mountains built by humans to live in."

"Ohhh…" The concept boggled the young Pokemon, who hadn't seen many buildings larger than a few stories in his very short lifetime.

"Wee, finally we're out of that compound and in the big city, with no yucky stinky skives around!" Misdreavus cheered, doing a loop in the air.

"Don't get too excited," her Umbreon lover reminded the ghost. "We're only allowed here because we're supposed to fight some big evil or something like that. I can't imagine that'll be very fun. So much for a vacation…"

"Yeah, but remember, once we've done that, we'll be rewarded by those eyeball things," Scyther recalled, huffing slightly from his long walk from the ship to the docks. "Youth, here I come!"

"It'll be great to see Ash and Bayleef and everyone else again," Bulbasaur said cheerfully, glad to be back on solid ground again.

"Yep," agreed Grovyle, keeping a wary eye on the smaller Pokemon, who had been acting oddly aggressive towards him recently and noting the emphasis on 'Bayleef'. "I'd like to see them all…and Bayleef, of course…too."

"Don't you think you see her enough on the phone?" Bulbasaur asked abruptly, a surprising amount of venom in his voice.

Grovyle blinked, startled. "Talking to someone over the phone isn't quite the same as seeing them in person. You know that."

"Yes…" Bulbasaur said, glancing away as he nursed his emotional wounds. "I do."

"Ah, there they are!" Delia said, referring to the welcoming committee of Misty, Brock, Togetic, Phanphy, Pikachu, and Bayleef waiting for them. "Hey Pikachu! Long time no see!" she said, picking up the mouse and ignoring everyone else, causing them to facefault because this was so typical of the older woman. "And look how adorable you are, dressed up as a swordsman! Oh, and it's good to see you kids too."

Misty made a smile which didn't quite meet her tired eyes as she got back up. "Hey, same here Mrs. Ketchum."

Brock's reaction, on the other hand, was much more enthusiastic. "Mrs. Ketchum, it's so good to see you again!" he said, taking her hands. "You're looking lovely as always, I see! Even _lovelier_, if I do say so myself-"

Misty grabbed his ear and yanked him away. "Brock, I don't think today of all days is the time for this," she growled.

"GRANDMA!" Phanphy squealed happily, charging Delia, knocking her down, and joyfully beating her face in with his trunk. "Grandmagrandmagrandmagrandmagrandmagrandmagrandma-"

Professor Oak and the others sweatdropped. "Oh dear."

Togetic sighed. "Phanphy…" She flew over, grabbed her brother around the waist, and lifted him into the air. "Sorry, grandma. He does that a lot."

"My, he's happy to see me," said a stunned Delia, her face red from Phanphy's joyful greeting.

"Grovyle-kun!" The green gecko was tackled by the ecstatic Bayleef, who started constricting him in her vines while nuzzling him affectionately. Bulbasaur's eye twitched and he growled under his breath.

"Ack! Bayleef, I'm glad to see you too," Grovyle gasped. "But…could you…please…let go?"

She hesitated, then crushed him against her chest, sniffing. "No," she whispered, clenching her eyes shut. "Don't wanna let go. Don't wanna lose you too."

Grovyle blinked in surprise. "Huh? Bayleef, what are you talking about?" She didn't answer. She simply held him to her, sobbing slightly.

Bulbasaur shook, growled, and looked away…right into Pikachu's eyes. "I think you and I need to talk…" the yellow mouse said quietly.

Bulbasaur glared at him, not in the mood. "Leave me alone," he growled, stomping past him. "And your costume is stupid."

Pikachu blinked, indignant. "Hey…it is _not_ stupid! I'll have you know my new girlfriend likes it a lot!" He chased after the angry Bulbasaur.

"And nobody notices that we're here," Scyther grumbled, crossing his arms. "Lousy whippersnappers."

"We're minor characters. What do you expect?" Umbreon pointed out. "We're supposed to be in the background, half the time."

Scyther muttered a few unsavory things under his breath. "Arrogant little punks…back in my day…muttermutter…Bet they'll notice me once I'm young and virile again…"

"Aren't Scyther supposed to embrace death or something?" Misdreavus asked skeptically. "Like the other super-predator Pokemon species?"

"I did embrace death," he said flatly. "Until I got hooked on television and fatty foods and realized life was a lot more fun than killing myself." They rolled their eyes.

"It's good to see you two again," the Professor said to Misty and Brock, feeling left out. "Although you look…well, tired. Are you all right?"

"…We've been better," Misty said, rubbing her wrists tiredly. "It's been a very long night."

"Where's Ash?" Delia asked, finally noticing after being here for five minutes that her son wasn't present.

Misty and Brock tensed. "Um…Mrs. Ketchum…" Brock said slowly. "Ah…we have something we need to tell you…"

…

In space…

Deoxys paused in his preparations for his big speech to the people of Earth. "Did you just hear something?"

"Yes…" said a puzzled Shalor. "It sounded like a faint 'What!' coming from somewhere on the planet below."

"But that's not possible," Mewgle argued. "We're in orbit high above the atmosphere, there's no way we could have heard something from down below."

"In that case, we heard nothing," Deoxys concluded. "Put it out of your minds. We still have much more to do before we are ready…"

…

In the Ever Grande City Pokemon Center, Delia hugged the tall, glowing tank while sobbing helplessly. Said tank was full of fizzing greenish gel containing an iridescent sphere of light, surrounded by clusters of particles which were slowly starting to coalesce in a vaguely discernible form. "Oh, Ash! I'm such a terrible mother!"

Mewtwo, who was standing awkwardly nearby, sweatdropped. "Ah…"

"I should have paid more attention to you and nourished you and appreciated you more for your achievements! And now you're DEAD!" Delia cried miserably.

"Um, Mrs. Ketchum, he's not actually dead-" Misty started, but Delia continued her tirade.

"And just when I got ENGAGED, too!" Mrs. Ketchum cried. "Just when we could have had a whole family, like I always wanted!"

Brock's jaw dropped as he heard this. "E-engaged!" Despondent, he curled up in a far corner of the room, a dark cloud over his head.

"Married?" asked an amazed Misty. "Wow, congratulations Professor Oak! I always thought there was something between you!"

The elderly scientist gave her a confused look. "Eh? What are you talking about? I'm not the one she's engaged to."

All stared at him. "What?" asked a surprised Pikachu. "But…then who…"

"And you wouldn't have even minded your new father, either!" Delia continued, shaking the tube in her grief and agitating Mewtwo, making him worried she'd ruin the delicate cloning procedure. "Because he's been a part of our household for so long anyway that almost nothing would have changed! I just know that if you had the chance, you would have come to thought of Mimey as 'Dad'!"

There was a long pause. "Did she just say…" Bayleef began, a disturbed look on her face.

"'Mimey'!" Grovyle concluded in disbelief. "As in, Mimey the Mr. Mime housekeeper, who always tidies up everything in sight, living or otherwise?"

"Aren't there laws against human/Pokemon marriages?" a very disturbed Misty asked Professor Oak.

He nodded, looking grouchy. "There are indeed. But they're invalid if the couple gets married in the right place, outside their country of birth. Lucky mime…"

"Would Ash have liked having a mime for a father, do you think?" Corsola asked Crawdaunt, raising an eyebrow.

"No," the lobster said shortly. "And I wouldn't, either. Hell, I can't think of anyone who would. Everyone hates mimes."

"Actually, that's a generalization," Pikachu corrected. "But…I can't really imagine something like this myself. It's just so…weird. I mean, inter-species relationships between Pokemon can get bizarre on its own, but taking it to humans as well? That's just…that's a whole other level altogether. There's a whole branch of psychology dedicated to that sort of thing, and I've only had the chance to learn a little of it from my television viewings, barely the tip of an iceberg."

"Eh, I don't see a problem with it," said the unconcerned Sadic, sharpening her claws on an unfortunate table leg. "Love is love, like my mom always said. And if this 'Mimey' fails to give her offspring, he can always be eaten."

"Humans don't do that," Pikachu said flatly.

"Some do, actually," Grovyle said, recalling something he had seen on television about cannibal tribes.

"Yeah," said Crawdaunt, who had seen the same program. "And let me tell you, the dishes they prepared look mighty damn tasty."

Pikachu sweatdropped. "Well, yes, some humans are cannibals, but most aren't, not the civilized ones anyway."

"Maybe they should be," Sadic said, rolling her eyes. "If people got over their hypocritical inhibitions about how killing and eating other people was wrong, seeing as they do it to other Pokemon all the time for their own sustenance without feeling guilty about it, (as well as learning the proper discipline to keep from running around doing it willy-nilly like that Shining Ranger idiot was going to) then the world would be a much better and happier place."

"But that _is_ wrong," said a confused Bayleef. "…Isn't it?"

"What's wrong about it?" Sadic retorted. "Killing someone doesn't mean anything. Death isn't the end of existence; it's just a transition, like birth. A continuation of life, elsewhere. It's what makes people, all people, (who have souls, anyway) immortal. So that's why any distinctions drawn between killing something for food and killing someone of your own kind (for food or otherwise) are artificial and should be abolished, because if the same restrictions and discipline applied to both kinds of killing then there'd be less complicated rules and less moral conflicts to get people all confused and jumbled up."

Pikachu grimaced. "I, for one, find the thought of eating other Pikachu grotesque."

"That's because you've been among humans for most of your life," the Manyula pointed out. "In the wild, I think a lot of Pikachu eat each other, don't they? As do most other predatory races."

"That's probably true," Pikachu admitted. "But then why am I haunted by the traumatizing image of my mother trying to eat me when I was a kid?"

"Because you've been around humans so long that you've come to think that eating your own kind _is_ wrong, so of course that memory seems traumatizing," Sadic said.

"But I was afraid then," Pikachu countered. "When she was trying to eat me."

"Only because she was trying to eat you _alive_," Sadic responded. "Who wouldn't be afraid of someone shoving you down their throat while you're still conscious and capable of feeling pain or fear? When you're dead, you—the real you—is gone, so there's nothing wrong with your friends and family eating the husk you came in. (That's what I think, anyway.) Eating someone alive, though—well, that's a whole other thing altogether, which I personally find distasteful. If you want to eat something, it should be dead first. If it's not dead, you can always kill it. Because eating something while they're alive hurts them a hell of a lot more does than when they're dead and somewhere else so can't feel it. There's a belief among my kind that this philosophy is the reason we've evolved to have such sharp, efficient claws and killing speed—to terminate the life of a body swiftly and with minimal pain, to spare the spirit. That's why I was disgusted by the kills we saw last night…because the victims clearly suffered a lot before dying, and the killer clearly had no intention of eating them. That kind of thing, that torture (and waste of good meat), is a huge no-no where I come from." She shrugged. "And besides, if you don't eat the dead, somebody else will, and that someone might come after you next. That's a given, isn't it? So it doesn't really matter if you bury the body, because then not only are you denying yourself a meal you're letting it go to waste by giving it to worms and parasites or letting it become frozen to the point of being inedible."

"What about cremation?" asked Crawdaunt, who had become interested in the conversation. "I hear some humans and a few other Pokemon do that."

Sadic snorted. "Another waste. You can't eat ashes. Ashes are useless. All they can do is sit in a pretty little jar on your mantle where they can be knocked over and spilled all over the floor, or scattered to the winds, or something. (Don't tell that big Charizard I said so, though. I bet I could take her, but I'm not keen on finding out.)"

"The girl makes good sense," the lobster said, nodding sagely, as if he really understood most of what she was talking about, which he didn't.

"Why are we talking about this again?" asked a rather confused Grovyle.

"Oh, we were discussing how bizarre it is that Mrs. Ketchum and Mimey are engaged," Pikachu recalled. "And got sidetracked by talking about the morals behind being a cannibal or hunter/killer."

"And I said it's fine as long as they can make offspring," Sadic continued. "And if they can't, Mimey can always be eaten so Delia can try again."

"I could do that," Crawdaunt offered. "I wonder what mime tastes like? (And if Mrs. Ketchum would be interested in lobster? She's pretty attractive, for a human…)"

"Wait, doesn't eating Mimey screw up your 'love is love' statement from before?" Bayleef asked in confusion.

Sadic considered that. "Dunno. Guess it depends on how you define love. Where I come from, a good mate and lover provide you with offspring. If he can't, then he dies, even if you loved or thought you loved him. We make regular offerings to his spirit on the other side and always remember and cherish him in our hearts as we look for someone else."

"Then I suppose it's a good thing I _can_ provide you with offspring, right?" Pikachu said nervously.

"Yep, you're off the hook," she agreed. "For now."

Pikachu blinked. "For now?"

"Of course. If the kids go hungry and there are no prey animals anywhere to be found, someone will have to be sacrificed to ensure they survive." Sadic shrugged. "I'd give them my own flesh, but until you've proven to me you'd be capable of raising our kids to be the efficient killing machines they're destined to be, you're name's at the top of the list."

Pikachu laughed nervously. "Well…ah…then it's a very good thing our children will be raised in an environment where there's no shortage of things to eat…right?"

"Oh, sure," Sadic agreed. "This southern climate's an interesting change from the frozen north I came from, I don't think I'd mind raising my kids down in these parts. And while we're at it, I can see about training you in proper child care for a wild Sneasel kit."

"And I can see if I can't educate you in some of the benefits of 'civilized' society," Pikachu said hopefully. "I mean, I know you like your wild lifestyle, but even you must admit there are advantages to living in a world where pure survival isn't the most important thing, and you don't always have to hunt for your dinner."

Sadic smirked amiably. "Sure, why not? Sounds like a fair trade."

Bulbasaur, in the meantime, was sitting in the corner Brock wasn't in, glaring darkly at how close Bayleef and Grovyle were. He growled and clenched his toes repeatedly, digging into the floor and making deep scratches.

In the meantime, a very disturbed Mewtwo decided, after Mrs. Ketchum had started rambling about all the hybrid human/mime siblings Ash would have had, that enough was enough and coughed to get the woman's attention. "ahem Mrs. Ketchum, your son isn't dead."

She blinked. "He's not?"

"No. Well, _technically,_ if you consider death as being the point of discorporation (i.e., leaving the body behind) then he is dead, but since souls can't be destroyed a person is never truly _dead_ dead and continues to exist indefinitely, so Ash is indeed still alive."

Delia stared at him blankly. The intrigued Professor Oak took notes. Mewtwo sighed and cursed whatever genes ran through the Ketchum family that made them so, well…slow, for lack of a better term. "He's not dead," he said slowly, trying a less philosophical tack. "He's been ripped from his body (which is now possessed by his dark side formed from his unfulfilled fantasies, lusts, ego, etc.) to save his soul, and I am currently cloning him a new body by synthesizing proteins from the liquid he's immersed in around his spirit, much like how a baby is formed by synthesizing materials around a soul in a mother's womb."

Delia stared blankly. "Huh?" Oak continued to scribble notes.

Mewtwo counted backwards from ten and reminded himself why, despite their innate stupidity, he had decided not to try to wipe out the human race (again). "His spirit is alive, but lacks a body, so I'm making him a new one."

"Ohhhh," Delia said, nodding. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" All facefaulted.

"This is remarkable," Oak said, examining the cloning tank. "I've never seen a device like this before, and I've visited plenty of labs working on cloning, even ones where they can revitalize fossilized DNA!"

"Thank you," Mewtwo said, pride swelling. "It's my own design, improved upon from a faulty model used by one of the scientists who created me in an attempt to keep his daughter's soul from departing. For the most part I disapprove of a method such as this, keeping a spirit from its rightful place…but since Ash is still needed here, I believe that justifies giving him a new body."

"This is wonderful!" Delia cried, startling the two geniuses. "Now I'll be able to raise my baby all over again! That way I'll be prepared for the babies Mimey and I have!"

All sweatdropped. Oak paled and turned away, cursing all mimes in the world under his breath. Mewtwo counted back from ten again and said, "Actually, since Ash would be more useful at his current age—or should I say, the age his original body is—I've hyper-accelerated the cloning process so that the new body will rapidly mature to the age it's supposed to be within the period of a few hours, then slow down to the regular rate of entropy at which the flesh decays."

"Huh?" Delia said dumbly.

"The clone body will be the exact same age of Ash's original body," Oak simplified. "Which means no baby Ash for you."

"Oh," Delia said, disappointed. She shrugged. "Oh well…he was a biter when he was that young, anyway." All facefaulted, even Ash's soul, which was weird to see considering it was a ball of light in a tank of glowing liquid.

While all this was going on, the rest of the now-enlarged group of world-saving hopefuls were relaxing, or trying to relax, in the rooms just next door, multiple suites which Mewtwo had hypnotized Nurse Joy into giving them to recover from last night's ordeal, as well as have room for the remaining Chosen whom Mewtwo had predicted would arrive that very day and to convert into a cloning lab so Mewtwo could make a new body for Ash, using DNA he had obtained, with great reluctance, from a pair of Ash's unwashed underwear.

Tyranitar sat in a corner of the room she had gotten to herself, watching carefully and protectively as her son played on the bed with Togetic and Phanphy. Larvitar hadn't recognized the siblings at first, but when he realized that Togetic had been the Togepi whom Ash's (scary) friend Misty had carried around during the brief time Larvitar had traveled with the group, he had been more than happy to reunite with his 'step-siblings' and get to know them better, getting over his brief melancholy at not being able to see his surrogate father because he was now a soul in a jar. Phanphy was happy to have a new playmate, and Togetic was happy to regain a measure of innocence as she played with her young friends.

In the next room over, the Pokerockers, after hearing about what had happened at Battle Tower, had blamed themselves repeatedly for not being there to help, did what they could to console their friends (and mourn the passing of those who were no longer with them) and then set out to write a new song dedicated to the late Battle Frontier and those whom had been murdered there. Mewtwo had soundproofed their room after the first ten minutes to keep them from disturbing his experiments.

In the room after that, May was curled up on her bed, listlessly staring at the noise-making television set, surrounded by her miserable Pokemon, while Max, who had absolutely no way of relating to or understanding what May had gone through, was ranting and whining and complaining like the brat he was about how Jirachi and Absol had taken off without him. When Mewtwo (who Max had drooled over when he first saw him) had suggested that Max have faith in his friend and 'wish' (hint, hint) that he succeed in his endeavors, Max had sullenly retorted that he would do so if he knew what the heck Jirachi was doing anyway and if he had been included in it in the first place.

And in the room after that were the remaining Chosen and some of those who had shared last night's ordeal with them. Gyarados was curled up in a corner snoozing, Latias was happily chatting with her old friends Misdreavus and Umbreon, whom she had not seen in ages since she had escaped Team Rocket's attack on Professor Oak's lab, Gardevoir was sitting on the edge of the bed, listening in on Latias' conversation, and Scyther was interrogating Charizard, whom had evolved from Charmander to Charmeleon some hours ago and was sitting in a tired but happy Charla's lap.

And Harrison's Blaziken…stood stoically at the window, looking outside, and trying to deal with his loss. He had known Harrison almost all his life, save the first year he had lived at the Pokemon laboratory near Harrison's home town where the boy had picked him as his starter. He wasn't sure what to do now. He felt a great emptiness within him at his trainer's absence. Latias and the others of the group who had all too much experience with loss had done their best to help him work past his grief, and although he wasn't really that close to recovery (after all, Harrison had died only a few hours ago) he was on his way. (At least he wasn't as catatonic and unresponsive as May had become.) Now the only thing on his mind was…not quite revenge, as Mewtwo had told him that solved nothing…but justice. He knew Shining Ranger had done something horrible and would continue to do more horrible things along with those he was now allied with if they were not stopped. He knew now that Latias and her friends were 'Chosen', or some such thing, to stop this evil. And so he decided that he too would join them, if they would have them. For Earth. For justice. For Harrison.

The others who had been associated with last night's catastrophe were elsewhere, although they promised to be in touch. The police and League officials were making reports to the proper authorities and trying to figure out what to do in light of recent events. The Frontier Brains, after getting staggeringly drunk over the loss of their jobs and workplace, had been carted off by a conscientious Zoro to the city apartments that had been leased to them by Mr. Ford (before his going completely insane and turning himself into a homicidal superhero) and were now sleeping off their hangovers. The masked swordsman himself, along with Wes, had been briefed by Mewtwo about the Chosen deal and how recent events in the world were all being caused by a despicable mastermind from the shadows. Zoro's sense of justice and Wes' thrill for a good challenge had convinced both of them to do what they could to help, and were now 'part of the team' so to speak. Wes and Rui were off checking with contacts on their friends back in what was left of Orre, making sure they'd be okay during the global onslaught Mewtwo had predicted would soon occur, and Zoro and his Pokemon were training and gathering their strength, for they knew that they would need it all on this day of days, in which the fate of the world would be decided.

Umbreon shook her head. "I just cannot get over how…damn girl, you look fine! Do you have any idea how much I wanna jump all over you right now and get some hot yuri action?"

"Hey, what am I, chopped skives?" Misdreavus said mock-angrily as Latias blushed, very embarrassed.

"Nah, more like carrots," Umbreon joked, licking the ghost's cheek. "While Latias here is the prime rib." She glanced at Gardevoir. "Your friend here's kind of cute too. What's her name?"

Gardevoir flushed under her mask, surprised that anyone save Mewtwo would call her cute, while Latias smiled and answered for her. "She's my friend Gardevoir. But she's taken, sorry to say. As am I."

"Yeah, you told us," Misdreavus exclaimed, circling Latias' head. "And do you have any idea how hard it is to believe? I mean, the Ghost King, the fearsome all-powerful ghost all we pale shades are raised to worship and obey, is not only literally alive and in the flesh, but he's marrying _you_, somebody I actually know!"

"You don't think I don't find all of this strange sometimes myself?" Latias asked, rolling on her back on the bed, her wings folding against her sides. "I mean, it's like something right out of a weird fantasy novel written by a hackneyed author. My spirit, which has been reincarnated in this body, was a royal dragon thousands of years ago and is still connected to my mate from that time, who managed to survive to the present age as a ghost until finding his own way back to life so we could be together. If it weren't true and happening to me, I'd have a hard time believing it myself."

"The world is full of strange things and happenings," Umbreon purred, rubbing against Latias' soft red and white down. "For instance, the fact that I can actually have pussy with a ghost. How many can claim that?"

"Oh, shut up you!" Misdreavus cried, flipping upside-down. "If anything you're my pussy!"

Umbreon laughed and pawed at the spirit. "In your haunted dreams, biatch!"

"Yeah, in my dreams, where you're wearing a collar and chain and getting it on with me and liking it!" Misdreavus retorted, sticking her tongue out at her partner.

"G-girls!" Latias said, blushing madly. "As open-minded and supporting of lesbianism as I am…it still makes me a little uncomfortable to see you acting so, well…_blatant_!"

The two laughed at her. "Why do you think we're acting this way in the first place?"

Gardevoir chuckled softly, and Latias smirked good-naturedly. "Very funny, guys."

Meanwhile…

"And just like that, you were a Charmander!" Scyther asked incredulously.

"An egg, first, then a Charmander, and now a Charmeleon," the regressed Charizard said calmly, nodding in reply to the old mantis' query.

"In_credible_…" he whispered in disbelief. "She…_can do that!_"

Charla smiled and nuzzled her younger lover affectionately. "He's living proof of it."

"So…just like that…Latias can make a person younger?" Scyther asked, trying to set things straight. "_Anyone?_"

"Well, one would presume so," the Charmeleon said with a shrug. "Of course, it's only temporary, and done for the purpose of giving a troubled spirit a different perspective on life, so-"

But Scyther was not listening because he was already haranguing Latias. "Latias! Did you make Charizard younger?"

She blinked. "Yes, of course. Why?"

"Do me!"

She furrowed her brow, surprised and wondering if the mantis was aware of the entendre in his statement. "Hmm?"

"Do me!" he pleaded. "I'm begging you! Make me young again!"

Latias frowned. "Why?"

"What do you mean why!" he said in disbelief.

"I mean, why do you want to become young again? What's wrong with the way you are now?" A concerned look came to her face. "Do you have cancer? Or some fatal condition that you think might get better if you were younger? If so, I can probably remove-"

"No, no, that's not it! Well, I do have a little heart problem…but that's under control!" he said, wheezing as his feeble organ struggled to pump blood to his lungs. "I want to be young because I can't stand being old! My joints ache! I tire easily! I can't run or fly as fast as I used to! And nobody respects me!"

"We respect you, old-timer," Misdreavus said gently.

"You see!" he snapped, not understanding the nickname was a term of endearment. "No respect! Make me young again! Then I can fight and prove my worth as a fighter!"

Latias frowned and crossed her arms. "No."

He started. "Wh-what?"

"No. I will not regress you," she said flatly, a regal tone, similar to the one she had addressed Lance with, rising in her voice. "I can read your true intentions from your mind. The only reasons you want to be young again are out of vanity, so you may be as strong and handsome and virile as you remember yourself being; and so you will not die, because you have grown so soft from months of inactivity at Oak's lab that you have lost the razor-edge philosophy your kind used to live by; the same as my friend Sadic's: death is nothing to be feared, because it is a transition, not an end. If you were concerned that your age might hinder your friends in the coming fight, that would be another thing…but the only reason you want to become young again is to regain the figure you once had, and because you just don't want to be old. And I tell you now the only reason you don't have that figure anymore is due to your own laziness and self-indulgence."

Scyther stuttered. "Wha…but…I never! Listen here, missy-"

"'Missy?' I'm older than you are," Latias said, glaring at him. "And died two or three times more now than you have recently, I bet. And I came back each time because I still had something worthwhile to do…unlike you, who only wants to stick around so you can laze around and watch whatever new anime involving scantily-clad females pops up on television. I think your old hive would be ashamed of you, Scyther."

He glared at her speechlessly for a moment. "Then…then you won't do it?"

She turned away. "It's not your age that's the problem Scyther, you only believe it is. Were it not for how you've let your physical condition waste away through sloth, (and aggravating your heart condition) you'd be just as good a fighter as you used to be. If you wanted me to purge your body of all the fats and impurities you've flooded it with, that'd be another story…but I will not turn back the clock for you."

"Besides, it wouldn't last," Charmeleon added. "A few hours, maybe more, maybe less. So if you wanted to stay young, you'd have to keep making Latias do it to you forever. And I think not only your pride, but Latias' own determination will keep that from happening."

"…Fine!" Scyther huffed angrily, ignoring the stabbing pain which was gripping his heart at the moment. "If you won't do it, I'll find someone else who will! I'm sure that Mewtwo chap will be happy to help…" Muttering under his breath about how youth was wasted on the young, he stormed out of the room.

"Do you think that was a little harsh?" Umbreon asked.

"No," Latias said firmly. "This power of mine is not to be used for something as frivolous and selfish as what Scyther wants. It's only to be used to give others a new perspective and help them find balance in their lives."

"Which is why I find myself younger than I should be," Charmeleon said with a nod.

"Do you suppose you could do the same thing to that May girl?" said a concerned Charla. "She looked pretty bad last time I saw her as well."

Latias considered that for a moment. "I suppose I could…but I'm not sure it'll make a difference," she said uncertainly. "The majority of the things May's upset about are indeed rooted in self-confidence issues…but that won't really fix the trauma caused by seeing Drew, who she liked a lot, explode right in front of her. I suppose that could be fixed by erasing her memory of the event, but I already erased her memories of seeing Munchlax and the other Pokemon Alpha murdered die, as well as all the other cruel things Alpha said and did, especially to her. Mucking around too much in a person's head can be dangerous, and even if I did age regress her, the memory of someone you had a crush on have his head explode is just as traumatic, if not more, than seeing it as a teen or preteen." Latias sighed. "What she needs is, well, a lot of therapy, something I'm not qualified to give just as Pikachu isn't. Maybe Mewtwo can do something for her later, once the clone body he's making for Ash stabilizes or all this misery is over. I only hope that it won't be too late for May by then…"

She felt a claw on her arm and looked up to meet the blue eyes of the younger Charizard. "It wasn't too late for me," he told her firmly. "And it's not too late for her. Not yet." Latias smiled faintly and nodded, feeling somewhat reassured.

"Okay, I think that's enough seriousness!" Misdreavus interjected, hovering upside-down jut because she could. "We're going to have enough of that pretty soon anyway, I'm sure! Let's enjoy the time we still have until the big fight we've been waiting for comes!"

"In other words…" Umbreon slapped a paw on the nearby remote control, turning on the television. "Let's rot our minds watching senseless television!"

And so they did just that, becoming immersed in the pharaoh on Lu-Gi-Oh's continuing struggle against the Mankey Thief King Makura, while Charla watched in amusement, Blaziken continued his musing, and Gardevoir…

The Embrace Pokemon glanced at her friend Latias, who she had thought she had been starting to understand before, and was now realizing there was much more to the dragon girl than met the eye. She glanced at the Charmeleon sitting in Charla's lap, and recalled how different, how balanced he seemed in contrast to how he had been before. She thought of Scyther, and his selfish desire to regain his youth. She thought of May, who was truly suffering at that moment.

And then she thought of herself. How most of her life she had hated and despised herself and hid her face behind a mask. How even when introduced to the love of her life, Mewtwo, she had continued to feel hatred and insecurity. How this had continued, even when she had, very slowly, began to make friends with others, namely Sadic and later Latias. How no matter how many times Mewtwo had told her there was nothing wrong with her, she had continued longing for a beautiful face and had intended on asking for one from the Unown once their duty as Chosen was fulfilled. And she thought of how just a few minutes ago, she had been working up the courage to ask Latias to fix her face, certain that it was within the girl's power.

And now…now she was no longer certain she wanted that anymore.

Seeing Scyther being rejected on the basis of his vanity and being reminded of how both May and Charizard had suffered for the first time made her truly realize just how lucky she was. Charizard had lost his wings and his self-esteem had been crushed repeatedly by numerous defeats as well as endless guilt for accidentally killing his firstborn child and feelings of inadequacy as a mate for Charla. May had the same problem with self-esteem, made to feel by numerous people that she was inferior, and now that inferiority seemed to be proving itself true in how she not only could not win the heart of Ash, the boy she had originally loved, but the next boy she had had a crush on was killed right in front of her, as was one of her Pokemon. Compared to that, what was a little face deformity, no matter what other emotional baggage had come attached to it? At least she had people who genuinely cared for her, which was something more than a lot of other people could say. And as long as those people loved her…what did it matter how 'ugly' other people, or even herself, thought she was? Beauty was in the eye of the beholder, as they said, and for the first time in her life she started to believe it.

With only a moment's hesitation, she reached up to her face and pulled off her mask, laying it on the nearby nightstand. She blinked, her face feeling the slight prickling of a rapid temperature change as it swapped the warm face-tight mask for the breeze generated by the overhead fan. She felt a moment of abrupt insecurity and helplessness, as if she had just thrown away her only form of protection, but ignored it, knowing that was nothing but a falsehood. If the mask had protected her, it had been a poor form of protection, one that only caused her to feel worse about herself and even more determined to hide from the world as every day passed. The only way she could truly be free of her self-imposed burden of insecurity was to remove the mask once and for all and face the day…literally.

She saw, peripherally, that both Charla and Misdreavus started at seeing her true face. She was almost surprised to find that she didn't care. It meant nothing to her now. As long as she had people who cared about her in spite of how she looked, it didn't matter what others thought of her. In time they would see what kind of person she really was. And because of that, she had no more need of her mask…not now, not ever again.

Latias smiled without taking her eyes off the television screen, sensing from the change in Gardevoir's aura that her friend was finally on her way to peace.

…

"Lunchtime!" Nurse Joy chirped, wheeling in a large cart laden with trays of steaming and delicious-smelling food.

"Oh boy! Food!" Crawdaunt cried, splattering drool all over the place as he leapt at the cart…only to be grabbed by Bayleef's vine and smacked face-first into the ground.

"Calm down," the plant Pokemon told him. "Everyone else is hungry, too. Don't take it all for yourself."

"But I want something to eat now!" Crawdaunt whined childishly.

"Then it's good that I'm here, isn't it?" said Chansey, wheeling in a cart with several bowls of Pokemon food. "Eat up!"

Crawdaunt glanced at the brown nuggets with disdain, grunted, and finally said, "Eh, food's food, I guess. Thanks babe."

She winked at him and giggled. "I put something extra special in yours. If it's not to your liking, we could discuss it…in private."

"Maybe later," Crawdaunt said, burying his face in one of the bowls and coming up, chewing loudly with his mouth open. "Right now, I must have food!"

"Does it bother you?" Bayleef asked Corsola. "That he's sleeping with other women?"

Corsola shrugged. "It did at first, until I realized he can't help it and his species are hard-wired to be promiscuous. Then I understood that he doesn't care about me any less just because he loves sleeping with lots of people, and if I just dealt with it and went with the flow, we'd both be much happier. And so I am."

"I suppose that explains what you, he, and the other couple dozen Pokemon were doing together last night, huh?" Sadic said with a wink.

Corsola started. "Y-you heard that!"

Sadic laughed, grabbed Pikachu by the shoulder, and pulled him over. "Rat-boy's cries of ecstasy were loud, but not loud enough to drown out the noise of what you lot were doing!"

Pikachu flushed red in embarrassment. "S-Sadic, they don't really need to know all that, do they?"

"If you keep some personal secrets pent up, it just makes you miserable," Sadic said cheerfully. "Sometimes privacy is more trouble than it's worth! Why not let everyone know the details, so you can all share the joy of it together!"

Grovyle stared at Pikachu in shock, blinking a few times. "You mean you and her…" He glared at the mouse. "Dammit Pikachu, I thought you said you wouldn't have your first time before I did! Now I'm jealous!"

Pikachu sweatdropped in the Manyula's tight grip. "Well, uh…she was very persuasive, let me tell you."

"Yup, threaten to kill a guy a few times, and you'd be surprised what he'd do!" Sadic chirped, nuzzling Pikachu affectionately.

"Awww, don't be like that, Grovyle-kun!" Bayleef crooned as the gecko grumbled and crossed his arms unhappily, winking and rubbing against him suggestively. "We can always…'catch up' with him if you want to." Grovyle blushed and laughed nervously while his friends smiled in amusement, Crawdaunt continued gorging himself, and a vein started popping out of Bulbasaur's head as he began violently gnashing his meal between his teeth, vividly imagining that each bite-sized piece of Pokemon food was Grovyle's head.

Brock, who had snapped out of his depression at Delia's engagement when Nurse Joy came in, was trying to chat her up while stuffing his face. "Mmm, this meal is delicious Nurse Joy!"

"Why thank you, Brock!" the nurse said, flattered.

"Not quite as good as my own, though, but I'm sure if you and I spent more time together we could remedy that!" he said, scooting closer to her while shooting her a wide grin with teeth stained with meat sauce and vegetable chunks from the soup he had been eating. Disturbed, she backed away.

Brock advanced. Joy retreated.

He advanced. She retreated.

He advanced. She retreated.

He advanced- "Okay, that's enough," said the annoyed Misty, grabbing Brock by the ear and dragging him away from the frightened nurse. "Back to your 'sub-par' meal, Romeo."

Blinking a few times, Joy wheeled her cart and the remaining meals over to the cloning vat, where Professor Oak was vigorously taking notes and wishing he hadn't left Tracey behind to watch the lab, Mewtwo monitored the new body's vitals, and Delia was cooing and speaking in baby sounds to Ash, whose soul had compressed and was now inside a slowly solidifying fetus, which was shifting through the gestation period much faster than the usual nine months required for most humans. "Oh my! What's this?" the nurse asked in alarm.

"Nothing," Mewtwo said, his eyes glowing as he forced his will on her. "There is no cloning vat."

"There is no cloning vat," she said in a monotone voice.

"You will leave us and take lunch to our friends in the adjoining rooms."

"I will leave you and take lunch to your friends in the adjoining rooms."

"You will date Brock," Brock whispered into Mewtwo's ear.

"You will hit Brock with Misty's mallet," Mewtwo relayed.

"I will hit Brock with Misty's mallet," Joy repeated, taking the proffered hammer and pounding Brock's head into the ground with it.

"What have we learned?" Mewtwo asked Brock as Nurse Joy unloaded her cart and started wheeling it out of the room.

"Not to try to take advantage of your psychic powers to pick up chicks?" Brock moaned.

"Precisely."

"Fascinating!" said the amazed Oak, taking more notes. "Your mental prowess is so great not only can you speak clear English and assemble stray molecules into any object you choose, such as the cloning vat here, but you can also influence what a person thinks and does! You must let me examine you back at my lab once this world-saving business is over!"

Mewtwo's eyes glowed. "You will not examine me in your laboratory."

"I will not examine you in a laboratory," Oak said in monotone.

"You will be perfectly satisfied to interview me at length at a later date about my powers and nature, as long as it involves no invasive scans or probes. Had enough of that back when I worked for Giovanni," he muttered the last bit to himself.

"I will be perfectly satisfied to interview you at length at a later date about your powers and nature, as long as it involves no invasive scans or probes. Had enough of that back when you worked for Giovanni," Oak recited in a flat voice.

Mewtwo sweatdropped. "Disregard the part about Giovanni." He then turned to Mrs. Ketchum and said, "You will stop making stupid baby noises and content yourself with gazing at your son's fetus adoringly and quietly remembering fondly the years you spent raising him."

"I will stop making stupid baby noises and content myself with gazing at my son's fetus adoringly and quietly remembering fondly the years I spent raising him," she repeated, falling silent.

"Was that necessary?" Misty asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mewtwo shrugged. "I may be leader of the Chosen and a lot fonder of humankind than I was a few years ago, but even I can only tolerate so much stupidity and annoyances in a short space of time."

"But-" she started.

His eyes glowed. "You will cease questioning whether or not my methods are ethical and join Delia in gazing at Ash and remembering good times with him."

"I will cease questioning whether or not your methods are ethical and join Delia in gazing at Ash and remembering good times with him," she said in monotone, doing as she was told.

"Very good." He telekinetically lifted a pear from the dish Nurse Joy had left for him, peeled it with his mind, and started taking small bites out of it. "Mmm, juicy."

For a few moments, the group ate their meals in silence. And then, without warning, the television switched on, startling the Pokemon with strong hearing as static bombarded their brains.

"Ow…what the hell!" said an annoyed Pikachu, folding his ears against his head.

"Lousy electronics," Sadic growled. "Should be more mindful that humans aren't the only ones using em'."

"Mewtwo, did you-" Brock started.

The mutant shook his head. "No, I didn't touch it. Physically or telepathically." He frowned, getting a strange sense of foreboding.

…

"Hey, it stopped!" Phanphy pouted.

"Huh?" the confused Larvitar said, blinking at the snow-filled television screen. "It's not supposed to do that?"

"No, something's probably just wrong with the channel. It happens." Togetic grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels. To her surprise, all of them were as equally static-filled as every other. "Huh…that's strange…must be a problem with the cable."

…

"Oh great, now the TV's busted. What else could go wrong?" Max said insensitively, not thinking about his traumatized and mourning sister next to him.

…

"Nooo, that's not fair!" Misdreavus whined as the television filled with static. "We were just about to see who won the ultimate Dark game!"

"I'm sure they'll show it again as a rerun some other time," Umbreon assured the ghost. "But that might not be for weeks and weeks! I can't wait that long!" the spirit protested.

Latias frowned at the electronic box, feeling a strange, unwelcome sensation. An omen of some sort…

Gyarados, whose slumber had been broken by the abrupt noise of static, groggily opened his eyes. "Huh? Whaz goin on?" He blinked blearily, looking around the room before focusing on the fuzzy television screen. "Hrm?"

"Latias?" Gardevoir asked, gently putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Latias narrowed her eyes. "Something's coming."

Frowning, Blaziken turned away from the window, glancing at the television screen as he did so. Just in time to see the static fade and be replaced by the ghoulish smiling white face of what looked like a demented Mew with a red clown nose, purple bat wings, and an antenna ending in a little round ball. "Heeheehawhawhawhaw! Hello, people of Earth! How are you all doing on this fine day!"

…

"The hell is that?" Wes asked, looking rather disturbed as he stared at the face filling all of the television screens in the electronics store's display window.

Rui shuddered as other pedestrians stopped and stared at the Mew corruption's face. "Wes, I've got a bad feeling about this…"

The white creature grinned, showing misshapen fangs too big for its mouth, and started speaking in a high-pitched, psychotic voice. "This is your friendly DM Mewgle reporting to you with live coverage of the end of all life as you know it!"

…

Zoro and his Pokemon team frowned at the television set in his hotel room. "This does not bode well, mi amigos…"

"Drop whatever waste of time you're in the middle of and pay attention to me, because this is nothing less than a preview of your complete and total annihilation!"

El Gato growled and ran a claw over his sword. "There is something I do not like about this clown…"

…

Lucy, a bag of ice pressed to her forehead by her loyal Milotic, groaned and feebly threw an empty beer bottle at the television, missing it and the crazy cartoon character looking out at her. "Are we still drunk?" Noland, who had drank almost as much as Lucy, asked weakly from the floor, cringing and curled up away from the television's garish light.

"No," she growled, kicking him and causing both their heads to explode in pain. "Would our heads be hurting this much if we were?"

"The end of the world has come for all you weaklings…so cheer up and prepare yourself for your extremely violent deaths, enslavement, and soul rape, (not necessarily in that order) while you still have a few more minutes of freedom. Heeheehawhawhawhaw!"

…

Phanphy squealed in surprise. "Hey, it's Mewgle! Hi Mewgle!"

Togetic blinked. "Mewgle?" Something about the critter seemed vaguely familiar.

"Don't you remember, Togetic? He pulled us all into that fun video game! Or…wait…was that you or another Togetic there? I forget…" He screwed up his tiny little brain trying to figure it out and quickly got a headache.

"Mama," Larvitar cried. "He's scaring me. Make him go away!"

"Leave my child alone!" Tyranitar roared at the television screen, which unsurprisingly had no effect whatsoever on Mewgle and left the mother thoroughly confused, since that had never failed to frighten off any other threat to her child's health before now.

"So without further adieu, let me switch over to my lord and master so that he may pronounce doom upon all you worthless fleshbags!" Mewgle cheered as happily as if he had just earned an award for Best DM of the year.

…  
The image of the insane, yet almost somewhat in a disturbing way cute Mewgle changed to display a far more serious and disturbing scene. Now, displayed on every television and computer screen in the world, was the view of a nightmarish throne room made completely out of jagged, barbed crystal, with pillars, bizarre and unnatural sculptures, and mind-warping patterns of colors and shapes growing from the walls, floor, and ceiling. Small hovering crystals floated at various points in the chamber, resonating and giving off an ear-rending note of dissonance, which, combined with the blood-chilling tortured screams of utmost pain and agony and roars of sadistic joy in the background, created a symphony of terror not even the most jaded horror movie director would put in their picture.

"Dude, we've got to find out who the composer for this is," Onix commented, nodding at the screen. "We could definitely use him or her on the band."

His bandmates stared at him wordlessly.

…

In the middle of the throne room was a large enclosure created by arcing crystal ribs with little space between them, forming a roofless cage from which nothing could escape. Standing around the cage, clearly visible to the camera, were a number of monstrous figures, some familiar, some not. Blaziken clenched his fists in fury at the sight of Shining Ranger and Blazeatrice. In her room, May started and stared dumbly at Alpha Ranger. She did not remember the things he had said and done to her, but knew that they were horrible, and that he had killed Munchlax. Pikachu stared in disbelief at the blind, disgusting open-chested figure that looked, somehow, very familiar. "It can't be…Meowth?"

Those four were not the only monsters on screen, of course. There was also a fearsome black-armored creature with four arms, a cape, and a horned death's-head helmet, and a big black canine devil with three heads that looked all too much like a hideous fusion of the three sacred beasts. There was also a shadow being cast over the others, as if by something enormous, but it was off-screen and as such invisible to the average viewer. And then there was whatever unseen horror was making those joyous screams as it tortured some soul, allowing imaginations to run wild as to just what sort of monstrosity it was.

And then there was the most horrifying of them all, the monster sitting on the eyesore of a throne at the back of the chamber, horrifying in that not only was he not disfigured or transformed in any way, but the manner in which he sat…the way his dark eyes drew a soul into their boundless depths of hatred and unadulterated evil and chilled even the boldest heart, causing small children like Phanphy and Larvitar to urinate and burst into tears, respectively.

Latias and Mewtwo narrowed their eyes at the sitting fiend, both of them recognizing him from their respective pasts and from not only a month or more ago, when the Chosen had been gathered in the first place, but from just last night, when he had spoken to them through the fragment of his broken jewel powering HERO. There was no mistaking the masked, orange and blue embodiment of evil for anything less than what he was, now that he was no longer as diminished as he had been at the Chosen's gathering. Then, Latias had feared him without knowing why. Now, she knew why, remembering him as the entity which had slaughtered her family in the past and almost destroyed the world, while Mewtwo recognized him as their true enemy, the one who had almost consumed Ash body and soul, the one whom they had been Chosen to defeat.

"Deoxys," they both hissed.

…

"Who did you say that was?" Professor Oak asked in surprise, using his scientific curiosity to fight down the urge to flee the room and hide in a closet or the men's room that just looking at the creature on the throne gave him. He was not the only one, it seemed, who had a strange and adverse reaction to the monster, for the hackles on all the Pokemon had rose and they were growling at the television screen, sword and claw and vines and leaf blades and horns bared.

"Deoxys," Mewtwo growled. "He is the one who threatens our planet now. He is the one who almost made our friend Ash Ketchum lost forever."

In the cloning tank, the growing fetus of Ash Ketchum trembled like a leaf. Misty pressed her hand against the vat's side, blocking the fetus from view of the screen and trying to comfort it.

"That's the monster who almost took my baby away from me! Let me at him! I'll murder him! I'll…I'll…" Her anger trailed off meekly as she stared into the cold eyes of Deoxys. Whimpering, she sat down on the bed and hugged herself in fear.

"But…I thought he was one of us," said Bayleef in confusion. "Wasn't he? The Unown Chose him too."

"Yeah, but they also said that one of us Chosen might in fact be the threat to the world," Pikachu reminded her. "Guess they were right. It was _him_ all along."

The door opened suddenly, and an anxious Nurse Joy came in. "Oh no! It's on your screen too?" she said, looking worried. "I've been checking all over the Center, and every television is showing the same thing, no matter what channel it is, or even if it's turned off! Something horrible is going on!"

"Don't worry, Nurse Joy!" Brock said, grabbing her hands. "I'll protect you!" He paused, glanced at Deoxys, and then cowered behind Joy. "After you protect me, that is. Eheheheh…"

It was then that Deoxys began to speak. All went silent as the mastermind began addressing the world.

…

Latias' eyes were dilated in fury, scaring her friends, as was the fact that the smaller furniture in the room was rattling from psychic emanations of her fury. However, fear of the dragon girl's anger was nothing (well, maybe a little more than nothing) compared to the sheer terror they felt as they stared into Deoxys' eyes and heard his calm, contemptuous voice emanating through the television speakers and inside their minds, pronouncing their doom. "Greetings, people of Earth. My name is Deoxys, and I have come to destroy all that you mortals hold dear."

…

"For the last few weeks I have made my presence felt on your planet, whether you knew it or not. Every disaster, calamity, and catastrophe which has befallen you recently has been ultimately engineered by me…and much worse is soon to follow."

"Wes, do you think…" Rui started.

"He had something to do with Mt. Battle's eruption?" Wes finished. "Common sense would say no…but something about this guy says…something as little as a volcanic eruption is just the beginning of what he has in store for us."

…

"This is not a hoax, or a joke, or a clever attempt to get publicity for an upcoming movie or television special. Everything you are about to see and hear is nothing short of total reality."

"What is this?" El Lobo whispered, trembling. "His eyes…so cold, and dark, and full of hate…"

"Si…he cares nothing for us, for our lives and our dreams…he only wants us to die," Rosa murmured in agreement.

Zoro nodded warily, staring at the screen. "Truly, he is El Diablo himself. The real one, not you," he said quickly to his Blaziken, who only grunted.

…

It was then that Deoxys' agents all over the world acted on their programming. In penthouses and offices and palaces and locales everywhere on Earth, they struck, trusted secretaries and friends and Pokemon and random bystanders abruptly morphing and touching their targets, either teleporting them into space or running them through with a tentacle-spike, disintegrating moments later.

This fate befell gym leaders, celebrities, officials, world leaders, minor leaders, crime bosses, and great scientists across the globe. It happened to people related to those important people, underlings and heirs and next-in-lines.

It happened in the Pokemon Center as, without warning, Nurse Joy's skin crumbled like dry clay and revealed a smaller, weaker, purple copy of Deoxys without eyes and four tentacles in place of arms, which lunged forward and tagged a shocked Professor Oak with one limb and sent him away in a burst of scattering particles, and with the other three arms shattered the cloning vat containing Ash's fetus, nearly skewering Misty as they slammed into the plexiglass and broke it into a million pieces, causing the green liquid to spill out along with the developing and extremely vulnerable body containing Ash's soul. Misty cried out in alarm, but needed not fret, for with a flick of his hand Mewtwo caused the flow of liquid to reverse, flowing back in the tube along with the fetus, and the broken fragments to reassemble themselves, patching the hole the minion of Deoxys had made. The mini-Ash wobbled, more dazed than truly hurt.

As for said minion, it had vaporized right after striking, which was good for it, because if it had lingered it would have been more painfully vaporized by the irate heroes.

"No! Nurse Joy…evil?" Brock sobbed. "It can't be!"

"Calm down," Misty said, smacking Brock. "That wasn't Nurse Joy, just a monster disguised as her. The real one's probably tied up in a closet somewhere."

"Actually," said Mewtwo, doing a quick mental scan of the building and the psychic and empathic traces therein. "She was slaughtered an hour ago, cut up, and served to us in the lunch we had just a little while ago."

There was a pause, and then all the humans in the room threw up profusely all over the floor.

"…You know, I should probably be disgusted like they are," said a disturbed Pikachu. "But…"

"You liked it?" Sadic said with a smirk.

"…Yeah...yeah, I did…I mean, the taste, my ingrained morals are screaming at me to throw it up while another part is telling me not to bother since it's good food anyway, no matter where it came from."

"Oddly enough, I enjoyed it too," said Grovyle, his face pale. "And my species generally doesn't eat humans as a rule. (Mainly because we're satisfied with smaller bugs and animals or by absorbing light through photosynthesis.)"

Bayleef nodded, looking as disturbed as the rest. "It tasted a little…bitter, though."

"It's an acquired taste," said the Manyula cheerfully. "A little seasoning…a few milligrams of blood, snow, or berry juice…and it tastes pretty darn good."

"Still, I don't think I'll eat it again in the future," Corsola said slowly.

"Speak for yourself, I wouldn't mind a little more, I'm still hungry," said Crawdaunt. All stared at him, although Sadic was more amused than stunned. "What?"

Delia finished heaving up her lunch, wiped her mouth, and gasped, suddenly realizing that Oak had vanished in the minion's attack. "Samuel! Where did he-"

"There," Mewtwo said, his face tight and his tone severe, pointing to the television screen, on which at least a thousand humans and Pokemon had materialized in the ominous-looking cage enclosure in the middle of the room. And among all those leaders and crime bosses and scientists and other people, some of whom our heroes recognized, was Professor Oak.

…

Max gasped. "M-May! That's Dad!" he cried, pointing to one of the trapped, squirming figures buried halfway in the seething pile of warm bodies.

May's eyes widened. She scooted forward on the bed, her Pokemon making room for her to see the screen better. "Daddy?" she whispered.

…

"Samuel!" Delia cried.

"And my sisters!" a horrified Misty saw almost at once.

"And my little brother Jiroo!" Brock gasped.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Corsola whimpered.

The prisoners screamed and shouted from fright and desperation, demanding and pleading for freedom, yelling empty threats and bribes which they promised to carry out, if they would just be let go. But it was not to be.

"You see before you the leaders you have chosen or who chose themselves to represent you," Deoxys said calmly, as if a thousand important figures materialized in his living room every day. "They represent the power you hold as a people."

"How is he doing this?" Mewtwo thought out loud. "How did he get that agent in without my noticing? What's _wrong_ with me?" He felt somewhat unsettled. He hadn't been feeling one hundred percent since his 'rescue' of Ash. Could Deoxys be behind that as well?

There was a gasp from the viewers as, without warning, the ceiling slammed down on the cage in the form of a spiked crusher.

…

Zoro gasped. "Dios mio…"

Rosa sighed, shuddered, and fainted in horror as the crusher slammed down on the helpless prisoners, her elegant flowers wilting. El Gato resorted to spouting every curse he knew, and several he made up on the spot, at the television screen, while his comrades looked away, threw up, or just shook their heads in disbelief.

…

"WES!" Rui screamed, pointing to the screen. "That's-"

"Eagun," Wes said, struggling to keep the emotion out of his voice as the old sage's face was smashed in by Blazeatrice as he tried to climb out through the gaps between the cage ribs, and was subsequently crushed by the next slam of the falling hammer. "And now he's dead."

Rui collapsed against him, sobbing. And it was all Wes could do not to join her. He had a 'tough guy' image to keep up, after all.

…

Latias dug her claws into the bedsheets, tearing at them as her eyes glowed and the whole room shook ominously from her psychic emanations, ignoring her frightened friends as she focused all her attention and rage at the alien committing these atrocities, watching calmly from his twisted throne. "_DEOXYS…"_

…

The crusher slammed down again and again. Bones snapped, tearing out of the skin. Bodies popped like water balloons, spilling blood and gore everywhere. The generals were laughing and dancing as they ruthlessly slaughtered any who tried to escape their fate (save Meowth, who had thrown up offscreen and was now being mauled by the biggest unseen general).

Professor Oak lost his arm to Alpha, and was then crushed beneath the bodies of his colleagues.

The Waterflower sisters had been near the top and were, by a cruel twist, not killed but only flattened and maimed by the first crushing press. The second one had finished them off, and all the while they had been screaming about how blood didn't go well with their hair.

Jiroo, just a boy, did not last long at all. His frail body snapped like a twig beneath the weight of his fellow prisoners, so his swift death was a mercy compared to that of those around him, many of whom had been speared through the lungs by their ribs or forced to cough up their intestines as their bodies were squished flat.

The Frontier Brains and elite trainers, who had so valiantly fought alongside our heroes the night before, died screaming and begging for mercy, even the usually unshakeable Lucy. An ignoble end for such powerful trainers.

Mewtwo was clutching his head in pain, the result of his attempts to reach out and teleport the prisoners from Deoxys' fortress before all could die. Doing so had given him a splitting headache, must like the ones he had had last night, and his fury at the space demon was tinged with more than a little worry and fear that his powers were so easily being blocked off.

And the others simply watched in silence as friends, family, total strangers, and people they vaguely knew as acquaintances or people seen once in a while on television were slaughtered before them. Even Sadic was shaken by the careless and agonizing waste of lives.

…

"I suppose Mom and Dad were right," May said quietly.

Max blinked, transfixed by the image of his father, whom Max had always thought of as the bravest man he knew, shoving other gym leaders desperately out of his way as he tried to force himself through the gap in the ribs, screaming for any of the horrible monsters to help him. All they did was laugh and laugh as he was crushed by the falling weight from above. "Huh?"

"There is no loving and caring God. If there were, he wouldn't let this happen."

…

The crusher slammed down a seventh and final time, finishing off the last tortured soul and retracting into the ceiling, leaving a disgusting mass of gore, blood, bone, and bits of flesh behind, which were then slowly absorbed into the floor.

The Pokerockers stared in silence, all thoughts of music for once barren from their minds. The younger Jigglypuff was in the bathroom throwing up in the toilet, and her older mentor was comforting her and making sure she didn't fall in. Many of the other band members with weak constitutions were not so lucky and had thrown up at various points around the room, causing the chamber to smell quite foul.

"Dude…" Geodude said finally. "That's just…"

"Yeah," agreed Forretress quietly.

"That was just…man, that was just _wrong_!" Metal Sound said, his metal form quivering from fear and disgust.

"Even worse than when Arrowsmith bit off that Aipom's head onstage in '92," Onix said in agreement. "Which means we're not going to be recruiting these guys for our band."

"Hell no," said the Electabuzz, eyes wide as he shook his head vigorously. "Hell no."

Onix nodded. "Good…because I think they're a little out of our league."

…

"And so your leaders fall," Deoxys continued calmly, staring out from the TV screen. "You will find that the second, third, and for good measure fourth in line behind all of those who died before you have been assassinated while you were watching, as well as many of the numerous minor functionaries who ran your towns and public works and did their part to keep your societies running, so you shouldn't get your hopes up that a hero will rise from their ranks. I am sure that some of you will be able to find new leaders to represent you or to be thrust forward onto the chopping block, but it is more likely that the majority of you will panic and begin mass rioting and lawless chaos from terror for the few hours you have left before my forces arrive to kill you, capture your souls, and twist your bodies to serve me, not necessarily in that order.

"I am sure that many of you, perhaps those who are particularly religious, moral, or just plain stunned and horrified are wondering why I am doing this and what you have done to deserve this. The answers to both are as follows: I wish to and you exist. That is all the reason I feel I am justified to carry out my plans, and why all of you deserve to suffer at my hands. Enjoy the last few moments of your desperate lives. Use them wisely, although you probably won't. You people rarely do."

With that, the transmission ended and the televisions of the world were filled with static again.

…

Wes punched a nearby brick wall angrily, his eyes burning from held-back tears.

…

Zoro bowed his head in grief, turning away as he tossed his cape over the television set, covering it up.

…

Mewtwo lowered his hand away from the smoking pile of debris that had once been the TV, purple eyes blazing with fury and sorrow. He heard sniffs and sobs around him, and clenched his fists in anger.

"He's gone too far," Pikachu said coldly.

"Indeed he has," Mewtwo agreed.

"And so we're going to kill him, right?" Crawdaunt asked, more serious than he had ever been before.

"Indeed."

Sadic flexed her killing claws. "I look forward to it."

"Count us in, too," said Grovyle, extending his leaf blades. Bayleef nodded in agreement.

Bulbasaur glared at his unknowing rival in resentment, but managed to swallow his bitterness and stand beside him. "That thing, whoever it is, must be stopped."

…

The television had been reduced to a pile of cinders. Latias closed her eyes, growled savagely, and floated into the air, flying over to the bedroom door—which tore itself off its hinges as she approached—and exited into the hall.

Umbreon, Misdreavus, Gardevoir, Charla, Charmeleon, and Blaziken were quivering in a corner of the room, eyes wide. There was not an inch of the room that had not been damaged by Latias' unconscious psychic fury, resembling a scene from a poltergeist movie more than anything else. The beds had been smashed into bits of timber, the lightbulbs had shattered and the ceiling wires were spewing sparks, the carpet had been torn up and bits of fabric and string wafted down like snow, the windows and picture frames along the wall had shattered, huge slabs of plaster had torn off the walls and ceiling and now lay haphazard around the floor in bits and pieces, much of which was torn up as well. On a final note, the plumbing in the bathroom had gone haywire and was now flooding water across the floor, seeping through the holes that had been ripped open and spilling into the rooms underneath.

Scyther, who had been heading for Mewtwo's room but was attacked by a sudden bowel cramp (common to him, since he hasn't exactly been eating a healthy diet) and was forced to head for the nearest restroom, causing him to completely miss Deoxys' broadcast, entered the room. "Hey, what happened in here?" he asked, looking annoyed. "Did you youngsters have a party while I was out? Lousy inconsiderate kids these days…"

…

May stared wordlessly at the television set, which she had shoved off the dresser and was now broken on the floor, sparking and sizzling. Eyes dead, she turned and walked to the window.

Max stared dumbly at the wall where the television had been, his young mind seared and traumatized by the graphic bloodbath he had just seen, outdoing any of the violent movies and video games he indulged in when his parents (parent now, he realized painfully, unless his mother was dead now too) hadn't been looking. The sound of the window sliding open snapped him from his catatonic state. "M-May?" he asked, turning towards her…

Just in time to see her climb out the window and jump.

All screamed and ran for the window. "MAY, NO!"

Ivysaur's vines shot out the window, snagging May around the waist and pulling her back into the room. "There you are, safe and sound!"

May struggled violently against her Pokemon's gentle limbs. "Noooo! Let me die! LET ME DIE! I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE MY HEART IS A GAME PIECE AND THE PLAYTHING OF FATE!"

"May, stop!" Panicking, Beautifly showered her with Sleep Powder, as did Ivysaur, quickly knocking May out and ending her convulsions. She slumped in Ivysaur's grip, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Max collapsed to his knees in shock at what his sister had almost done. "M-May…"

Then, as if to complement the mood, all the lights in the Pokemon Center, Ever Grande City, and the world went out as Mewgle's virus activated, permanently shutting down every electronic system and device on the planet. In the land of Metaba, it had a different effect, causing all the giant robots there to go berserk, eject their pilots, and go on a killing spree.

And Earth became a whole lot darker.

…

Mewtwo and Latias stared up into the sky. The sun had been blotted out and the sky eclipsed by storm clouds, blood red and jet black, rumbling with thunder and crackling with lightning but without a single drop of rain falling from above.

A strong wind gusted by them, causing the fur and down of the two psychics to flutter in the breeze. Neither of them budged or showed any sign of the wind affecting them. "The storm has come," Latias said at last. "As it did in time long past."

"A super-cell," Mewtwo agreed. "Churned by Deoxys' power and hatred, much as the storm I created to wipe out human and Pokemonkind…but this storm is much stronger, and will spare none if we cannot break it."

They had gathered in the park in the middle of the city, of which the Pokemon Center was a part of, and where the city's main landmark, the old oil rig, towered into the air above all other buildings in Ever Grande's skyline. All of them, Chosen and allies, were waiting for the battle they knew was coming.

It was a mere half-hour since Deoxys' declaration of war against the Earth, and the global power failure moments later. The city had been in a panic then, as the inhabitants saw the oh-so-fragile frameworks of their lives collapse around them and fell into chaos, either rioting and looting stores and apartments, surging for the docks to try and escape Ever Grande in whatever boats were available, trampling each other underfoot, or in some cases simply going mad and lashing out at everyone in sight, surrounding themselves in corpses.

This stopped when Mewtwo forced his will on everyone on the city, psychically calming them all down and convincing them to go back to their homes and get some rest, assuring them that whatever was going on was nothing more than a hoax pulled by some powerful Team and once the authorities dealt with it, everything would be back to normal.

Once order had been restored, when asked why he didn't just teleport everyone off the island, he shrugged and said, "And leave myself at a disadvantage for the fight by weakening myself so much? People are going to die this day, regardless, but our chances of minimizing casualties are higher if all of us are as strong as we can be. Callous as it may sound, better the people of Ever Grande City die than lose everyone on Earth because we weren't ready. And besides," he admitted. "The Unown still have to grant those wishes of ours assuming we win. I've spent long enough with them to know they have the capability to fix all this. If we ask them to, they'll 'copy and paste' a large stretch of time from a universe where Deoxys never rose to power onto this one, undoing all the evil that has been wrought both by him and the other forces that threatened the Earth since this adventure started. They'll 'copy and paste' parts from other timelines as well to suit our more specific wishes, and the fragments of time will change each other just enough to match up perfectly, to prevent any continuity errors or paradoxes. I'd do it myself…if I had over a dozen of me and was back 'outside' of time again. We'd be better off delegating this to the Unown if possible. They promised to do it, after all." He had paused in thought for a moment, and then said, "Whether we wish to remember this adventure or not will, in the end, be our ultimate choice. While there has been much pain, there has been much wisdom as well. To keep it or throw it away…in the end, that decision lies with every one of us."

And so they were now gathered in the central park, the logical spot for the beginning of an epic battle for the fate of the world. And in any case, the Unown had specifically said the battle would be in Ever Grande. Since Deoxys had been there when they said this, it only made sense that he'd come here to fight, knowing the good guys would be waiting for him and his minions.

They waited, nerves tense, eyes on the roiling and malevolent sky. Wes checked the Snag Device on his arm for the millionth time to make sure it was undamaged and in perfect working condition, even though Mewtwo had pointed out that because Deoxys was Chosen he was immune to Pokeballs, Snag or otherwise. Wes had said in reply to that, "Doesn't mean those goons of his are too. And if they are…well, let me tell you from personal experience it smarts like hell to get a Pokeball pitched at your head." His Pokemon, including Ho-Oh, were out and were either anxious, looking forward to the fight or, in Umbreon's case, unconscious. (Because he had hit on the Chosen Umbreon, found out she was a lesbian, called her a 'dyke', and…well…you can guess what happened to him after that.)

Zoro and El Gato, fed up with being agitated, had started a mock duel between each other to alleviate tension. Their teammates were watching and cheering on one or the other of the two swordsmen. Pikachu and Lombre watched as well to see if they could pick up any new techniques.

The remainder of the group were in varied states of shock, dread, and anticipation. Misty and Brock were understandably miserable, because they had seen some of their family members killed before them and had little doubt in their minds that the rest were dead too. Misty had no other family other than her sisters, but Brock had tons of siblings along with his parents, and thanks to the power outage had no way of phoning home to see if they were all right, which only increased his certainty that they were dead. At least Misty had some small comfort in keeping Ash's soul with her, since the power outage had forced the cloning vat to malfunction and shut down, destroying the precious body it had been carefully fabricating for the last couple of hours. Mewtwo had been frustrated at first, but rejected Pikachu's offer to power it back up again, deciding that it would take too long to start over from scratch before Deoxys arrived and they'd just have to try again once the battle was over. (And besides, at that moment there were numerous other Pokemon in critical condition suffering because their life-support had failed, and Pikachu was needed to help stabilize them in the chaos which followed the blackout.) Brock had no lover's soul to comfort him though, and he felt too estranged from his rock-star Pokemon (setting up equipment in the Exploudrematic) to ask them for help, so he sought solace in Delia, for once not having a single perverted ulterior motive in mind. (Well, okay, maybe one or two.)

As for Max…

He had gone into shock in response to his sister's attempt to kill herself. He didn't speak, didn't move, barely even blinked. Psychic probes elicited no response from him. It was clear the boy was deeply traumatized. In her own grief, Delia immediately decided to adopt Max, (and May, if she recovered enough to be released from the coma Mewtwo had put her in so she wouldn't hurt herself or anyone else until they had time to help her properly) since he had nowhere else to go. It was questionable whether she did this out of actual concern for the boy, because she needed something to cling to, or because she desperately wanted a son to hold since Ash was in Misty's arms and she wasn't letting go anytime soon. Be that as it may, Delia held onto Max and didn't let go. Brock entertained momentarily the thought of marrying her to become Max's dad, remembered that Delia was engaged to Mimey, considered murdering Mimey, then decided that would be too much effort and he should just drop it altogether. Maybe if he was lucky he could seduce her away from him…they'd be careful to avoid scandal, of course. At least that's what he told himself.

The remaining Chosen and regular Pokemon were lined up behind Mewtwo and Latias, staring up at the sky as well and waiting for their foe to appear. There were no witty or vulgar remarks from Crawdaunt, no philosophical debates from Sadic, no grumbling from Scyther, no romance between any of the couples or jealousy from Bulbasaur (well, not overtly anyway). Even the youngest, Phanphy and Larvitar, had seemingly lost their voices long ago, either from screaming them hoarse at the bloodbath on television, shock, or for once getting it into their heads that now was a bad time to chatter frivolously.

And so they waited.

Mewtwo's purple gaze shifted eastward. "Someone approaches."

"Deoxys?" Gardevoir asked anxiously, clutching his arm.

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "Allies. So to speak, anyway."

Soon, the flapping of large wings could be heard echoing across the city. Ho-Oh flinched. "Oh no…I recognize those wingbeats…you mean to tell me _she's_ part of this too!"

"I'm afraid so," Mewtwo told the phoenix.

A huge silver and blue bird rose over the skyline, followed by a rainbow-colored phoenix and three smaller birds that seemed to be bickering at each other. Spotting the group (and the giant purple robot looming over them) the bird began descending towards the park, followed by the other four.

"That's it," Ho-Oh snapped, turning away. "I'm outta here."

"You can't run from her forever," Latias told him. He hesitated. "The past has a way of catching up with you when you least expect it."

Ho-Oh grimaced, knowing she was talking about his recent reunion with her as well. "…All right. But keep her away from me."

Lugia gracefully swooped down, landing in front of the group. He looked very weary, not just from a long flight, but from some deep, inner turmoil. "I see you made it, Mewtwo. Is everyone here?"

The psychic shook his head. "No, but I expect the rest to arrive sooner or later." He glanced at Ho-Oh, who had landed much further away from them and was visibly sneering at them. The three elemental birds had landed close to her, and had started squabbling again, until she shrieked and struck them with claws and beak, frightening them into silence.

"How'd you convince her to come?" Latias asked wryly.

"It wasn't easy, I can tell you that," Lugia said deadpan.

"The only reason I'm here is so I can get my egg!" Ho-Oh squawked furiously. "The sooner I'm away from you disgusting psychics and freaks, the better!" She scowled, noticing her former mate with the group as well. "And what are you doing here, traitor?"

"I'm here to fight," he said, glaring at her. "And to help those who need it. Which is more than you've ever done for anyone in the last few hundred years."

She sneered at him, noticing Wes by his side. "So the rumors are true…you have been captured! I had thought you at least had some form of dignity, ex-husband…clearly I was wrong to believe you had a scrap of pride at all!"

"I'm guessing she's the reason you don't like women?" Wes asked his bird Pokemon, raising an eyebrow.

"One of them," Ho-Oh muttered in reply. To his ex, he said, "I have nothing to say to you. I am here to protect this world and the few people I have come to share a bond with." He paused, glancing at Latias, before continuing. "Even those whom I have abandoned in the past. I will work with you only because I must, not because I choose to. When this is over, I never wish to see you again."

"Funny, I said the same thing when I banished you," the female sneered in reply. "Forget this. An egg isn't worth wasting my time with the likes of you and these filthy abominations you keep company with! Look at them!" She gestured at Pikachu, El Gato, and Zoro's other masked Pokemon. "Pokemon demeaning themselves with human clothes and weapons!" She glared at the Exploudrematic, where the Pokerockers were testing lights and acoustics placed in the giant robot's mouth. "Pokemon defacing themselves with human designs and using human equipment and technology, none of which springs from nature and is therefore an abomination!"

"Hey, our music is _not_ an abomination!" Geodude said angrily, shaking a fist at the bird.

"Although numerous parents and religious groups would say otherwise," Jigglypuff consented.

"And speaking of abominations…" Ho-Oh continued, turning to Mewtwo.

He rolled his eyes. "I was wondering when she would get to me." He sighed. "Since we're a little short on time, Ho-Oh, I hope you don't mind if I condense your planned insults a bit. Blahblahblah Mewtwo, blahblahblahblah incarnation of evil, demonspawn born of sinful science, blahblahblah Gardevoir, blahblahblah hideous monstrosity that should have been killed at birth, blahblahblahblah we should not be allowed to procreate because our children would be too hideous for this Earth." The unmasked Gardevoir gasped, more offended than actually hurt by Ho-Oh's intended insult.

Mewtwo turned to Latias while Ho-Oh gaped in disbelief. "As for you, blahblahblahblah freak of nature, blahblahblah unnatural evolution, blahblah bastard child of a bastard father (The male Ho-Oh started at this), and she privately wishes you were younger so that she could eat you and keep an unnatural thing like you from ever growing up. Oh, and she also is thinking that you, Lugia, are a coward and weakling-" Lugia sighed, too tired both from his long journey and from the trauma still hanging over him to truly get angry. "And she had a few other unflattering things to say about our group as a whole, also wondering why the humans among us aren't worshipping the ground she's standing on right now." He smiled to himself. "Being able to read minds can be fun sometimes, can't it?"

"Bitch," Misty said scathingly.

"Skank," Rui agreed.

Zoro said something in Spanish consisting of "El Pollo loco" and numerous other phrases that essentially compared Ho-Oh to a Granbull's ass and said that her mother was a drunken Blaziken (no offense intended to his own El Pollo Diablo) who had mated with a Slowpoke to produce her egg, which was dropped several times after being laid and weakened by alcohol in the mother's womb. El Gato added a few choice words of his own, saying Ho-Oh's father's sword had been a blunt rusted butterknife (not the sword you're thinking of, folks), and then Rosa said Ho-Oh's coloring was reminiscent of the drug trip Lewis Caroll had been on when he had written Alice in Wonderland, and El Toro said…well, you get the drift.

"It's a good thing I never subscribed to any major religion growing up," Delia commented. "Because I would be seriously disillusioned right now if I had been worshipping her all my life."

"It's a wonder she gets any followers at all, really, acting like that," Brock said thoughtfully. "Then again, since she never pays any attention to them anyways, I suppose they don't know any better."

Wes patted his Ho-Oh's side sympathetically. "Now it all makes sense. Hell, if I were married to her, I'd probably be a misogynist too."

"I told you, it wasn't _just_ her," Ho-Oh growled. "And she didn't start out this bad…but she certainly is now."

The female had a stunned look on her face from Mewtwo's accurate prediction and mocking summarization of all her planned insults, and how everyone else was now saying rude things to her face. "You…you…how dare you!" she shrieked angrily. "I am the lead legendary of the Johto region! I am Ho-Oh, master of all that lives and walks and breathes around me!" she said as behind her Zapdos, Moltres, and Articunos had gotten pissed off at each other (again) and were now rolling around in a dust cloud, clawing and pecking and biting at each other, occasional bursts of fire and lightning and ice emerging from their melee. "How dare you mock me like this?"

"If you don't want to be mocked, you shouldn't make yourself so mockable," Bayleef said reasonably. "Or act like such a total bitch."

"You know," Sadic said conversationally. "Back home, people like her are detrimental to the survival of the pack because they're so stuck-up and self-centered they do nothing but hold us back in hunts, waste food, take up space, and irritate the hell out of everyone. And you know what we do to people who are a detriment to society, of course."

"Kill and eat them?" Pikachu guessed, insulted that Ho-Oh thought his swordsman getup demeaning.

Sadic smirked. "Yep! The same punishment we give to all major threats in our community."

"Some would say that's a permanent solution to a temporary problem," Grovyle pointed out.

"Only if you believe discorporation is the actual end of someone's existence," the Manyula said with a shrug. "Which it isn't. We figure, 'Hey, since they're probably gonna come back in a generation or two anyway, what's the big deal?' Besides, we only do it in those cases if said individual continues their bad behavior despite numerous warnings to stop."

"Are you suggesting we eat Ho-Oh?" Corsola said in disbelief.

Sadic shrugged. "Sure, why not? She's just another Pokemon, albeit a really strong one. And there are more of us than her, also really strong. If we all ganged up on her, I bet we could put her down real easy."

"Mmm, I wonder what Ho-Oh tastes like," Crawdaunt said, licking his lips. "Like chicken, do you think?"

"_I'm_ a chicken," Combusken pointed out sourly. "And I should hope the two of us don't taste the same."

"You should be honored to taste the same as I do!" female Ho-Oh snapped. She paused while the others facefaulted. "Wait…that didn't come out right…"

"We're getting off topic," Mewtwo said as he got back up. "Simply put, Ho-Oh, if you're going to work with us, you must stop insulting us for our perceived inferiority and for not conforming to your insane specifications. If not, you can leave."

"Well, all you had to do was ask," she sneered mockingly. "If that's what you want, I'm going. I never wanted to work with you pitiful mortals anyway. 'Saving the world.' Hmmph! As if it were in any danger to begin with."

This enraged Lugia. "If you truly believe that, than you are even blinder than we thought!" he roared. "My family died because of this danger you believe nonexistent!"

"Really?" Ho-Oh replied snidely. "The way I heard it, it was _you_ who killed them."

Had this only been the week before, Lugia would have lunged at his antithesis, the bitch that had exiled him to the Orange Islands and kept him from his family for centuries, and ripped out her throat. Were it not for the fact that she was right…that it _had_ been by his own hands that his family was dead…he still would have done it. Feeling a deep, festering wound of guilt, Lugia bowed his head in sorrow.

This, of course, only made everyone feel sympathetic towards Lugia and hate Ho-Oh more. "Okay, I think that's enough," Wes said, gesturing for his Aerodactyl to come forward. "I think it's time you were gone."

"What?" the female phoenix said, glaring at him.

"You said yourself that you were leaving," her ex-mate growled, stomping forward. "Just a moment ago, didn't you?"

"And if that's the case, then you should go," Latias said, her eyes glowing. "As in, right now."

Ho-Oh started, seeing all the Pokemon advance on her, including the giant Exploudrematic, which was now cracking its knuckles. "Y-you dare defy me! Ho-Oh!"

"As far as I'm concerned, the only real Ho-Oh is this guy right here," Aerodactyl said, gesturing to his teammate and semi-rival with a wing. "Then again, I'm only a fossil that's been in this world for a few months, what do I know? But I think my friends here agree with me."

"Yeah, get out of here, Ho!" Bayleef jeered, not bothering to add the second syllable.

"Or we'll eat you!" Sadic said, licking her lips.

"Y-you wouldn't!" an alarmed Ho-Oh cried.

Charla shrugged. "Why not? We were fed Pokemon food with human bits in it at the Pokemon Center. If we've already eaten human, why not eat Ho-Oh?"

"Perfectly logical," said Gyarados with a nod. "I missed out on lunch because I was asleep. I could go for some poultry."

"Mmm…" Crawdaunt said, donning bib and silverware. "Ho-Oh…"

Frightened, the phoenix screeched, backed away, and took off, flying off into the distance. The three oblivious elemental birds stayed behind, still beating the crap out of each other. "Haha, that's it!" El Gato roared triumphantly. "Flee, you cowardly yellow-bellied _pollo!_"

"Ahem!" said Blaziken, El Pollo Diablo, and Combusken.

El Gato sweatdropped and laughed nervously. "Eh heh, Apesadumbrado mis amigos. I meant no offense."

"This isn't over!" Ho-Oh shrieked as she vanished over the horizon.

"Which means it is," said Brock. "Unless she's like Team Rocket and will come back to bother us in a little while."

"In which case, we'll eat her," Mewtwo said with a shrug. "Although I doubt she'll taste very good. All those years of bitterness, hatred, and hypocrisy have no doubt spoiled her flavor quite a bit. Then again," he mused. "The zombie and vampire Pokemon of the land of Noctylvania have told me that the brains and blood of a truly corrupt and demented individual taste much better than those of an 'innocent', whatever that may be. Hmm…perhaps this bares further study…"

"Speaking of eating, shouldn't we feel worse for eating Nurse Joy?" Pikachu asked.

"Why?" Sadic replied. "We're not the ones who killed her. And we didn't know until it was too late what our lunch really was. So why bother regurgitating perfectly good meat?" She shrugged. "We've done nothing wrong."

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't feel guilty," Pikachu grunted.

Sadic rolled her eyes. "You and your values internalized on you by the 'civilized' world."

"Well, at least the civilized world makes music and art for its own sake," Corsola pointed out.

"I don't honestly see the value in that sort of thing…" Sadic admitted. "But then again, back home we don't really have time to do stuff like that."

"Well then, that's just something I'll have to try to show you when we raise the kids," Pikachu said cheerfully, glad to find something Sadic wasn't confident about, making her seem like less of an author-adopted character. "The value of the arts!"

She looked doubtful that she'd ever understand the value of this so-called 'art', but decided it couldn't hurt. "Eh, if you say so," she grunted.

"Arts, huh?" Crawdaunt mused. "You know, that reminds me…my craw-daddy came up with a few poems of his own after some of his most momentous sexual conquests," Crawdaunt mused. "I'd recite some of them, but…" he paused, glancing at Phanphy who was nearby conversing with Larvitar on the joys of aluminum foil. "I'm not sure all of our audience is fit to hear them."

"Good, because I don't think any of us would want to hear them either," said a disgusted Bayleef.

"I had no idea until recently that you were such a, well, pervert Crawdaunt," said a disgruntled Grovyle.

Crawdaunt chuckled and whacked his friend on the shoulder, almost dislocating it. "You call it perverted; I call it sexually active, as is usual for my species, just like killing without regret is usual for Sadic's species."

"Damn straight," Sadic agreed cheerfully. "And nobody forget that."

In the meantime, Scyther blinked, the clogged synapses of his brain finally sparking with an idea. "Hey, wait a minute…I just remembered something! Damn my senile old brain!" He ran out into the park, screaming at the receding figure of Ho-Oh, who was no more than a speck in the distance by now. "Wait! Come back!" he shouted at her. "Bathe me in your fire! Make me young again, I beg of you!"

"What are you doing?" Gardevoir asked, tilting her head.

"Getting my youth back, that's what!" Scyther replied.

"And getting Ho-Oh to breathe fire on you will do that how?" Latias asked skeptically.

"Ho-Oh's a phoenix!" Scyther reminded them. "Everyone knows that phoenixes are immortal and rejuvenate themselves by bursting into flame and emerging young and whole again! That's what all the myths about Ho-Oh say!"

"Oh, you mean that old story?" said the annoyed male Ho-Oh. "Not true."

Scyther blinked. "Huh?"

"I said it's not true. I have no idea where people got that idea to begin with. Ho-Oh have no more ability to rejuvenate themselves through fire than, say, that Bulbasaur," the bird said, pointing to the miffed little reptile. "When we die, we die. That's it. No big conflagration…well, unless we want to make a show of our deaths. Then we die in fire. Otherwise, we just leave a corpse, which is then cremated by family members in volcanoes according to old tradition. Hmm, maybe that's where people got the idea…from seeing an old Ho-Oh go into the volcano to die and his or her younger family members burning it then leaving the scene."

"But…but…" Scyther stammered. "What about…what about that forest that was burned down a long time ago near Mt. Silver? Didn't Ho-Oh restore that place?"

"No, that was Celebi," Mewtwo told him. "Ho-Oh just took credit for it."

Scyther sagged. "Oh. So…no youth powers?" he asked the male Ho-Oh weakly.

The bird shook his head. "None whatsoever."

"It is said that all legends have a grain of truth, and that may be so," Mewtwo told Scyther. "But it depends on the legend, what the truth is, and where you go looking for it. For instance, there's an old myth saying that Gyarados tears turn lead to gold, but you don't see our serpentine friend here being used for alchemy, do you?"

"Certainly not," said the big blue Atrocious Pokemon.

"See? It's just as much a fantasy as the tears of Pokemon being able to bring back the dead," said Misty. Mewtwo sweatdropped at this and remained silent.

Scyther sagged. "Darn," the bug said with a sigh. "Guess I'll have to try something else...maybe Celebi can revitalize me when she shows up. Hmm…"

"You really should give this up, you know," Latias told him gently. "Your constant quest to make yourself younger will kill you even faster than if you just let things be. I envy you; you've actually managed to grow old. I've died twice now, once when I was middle-aged and the second time just last night. I've never gotten the chance to sit back and rest in my twilight years beside my mate, watching my children and grandchildren playing in peace, free from the hanging shadow of evil Deoxys has held over both my lives. Be thankful for what you have before lamenting what you've lost."

Scyther blinked at her, startled, and was on the verge of reprimanding her for speaking to her 'elder' that way when Latias, Lugia, and Mewtwo abruptly looked up at the roiling sky. Gardevoir sensed the same thing as them moments later and looked up as well. Togetic soon felt it as well, and Rui and any other psychics or empaths a moment or two after her.

"What is it?" Wes asked his girlfriend, noticing her tense up.

"He's here," she whispered, her body beginning to tremble from fear.

And so he was.

The clouds above them churned, twisted, and parted, lightning bolts cracking down as a hole opened in the surface of the super-cell storm above them. But instead of bathing them in the sunlight just past the thick layer of storms, a great shadow fell over them as something…_enormous_ floated down.

It boggled the mind to look at. The object was, as previously stated, huge, maybe five miles in diameter and made totally from crystal. At first glance from far away, it might seem to be a giant floating Morningstar coated in millions of spikes, but a closer examination revealed that every inch of the object's surface was composed of infinitely complex components, billions upon billions of smaller spines and edges that juxtaposed each other in ways and forms that defied all logic and created angles that shouldn't exist and eventually drove the mind to madness if stared at for too long.

If one didn't go mad, and looked even closer, they would see that the surface of all the spines and spikes and edges and joints was covered in carved reliefs depicting scenes of abject suffering; images from a mind driven to insanity, brought back, and thrust into madness again and again. The pictures were sick and twisted, showing cruelty beyond comprehension as angels, demons, gods, mortals, aliens, and all sorts of other things from beyond and between and above and beneath the fragile piece of illusory universe arrogantly dubbed 'reality' inflicted impossible tortures on all forms of life. The entire structure was nothing more than a monument to pain and the ultimate meaninglessness that was existence.

"Are we getting pictures of this?" Jigglypuff the elder asked her protégé in the Exploudrematic's cockpit.

"No. Why, should we?"

"Yes! This thing would look _great_ in our first music video!"

Aside from those idiots, the raw empathic vibes the floating monolith gave off were so terrible that all could feel them on one level or another, Psychics being the most sensitive to its negativity, Dark-types getting a very strong feeling of unease and worry, and everyone else stuck somewhere in between. They could feel that the intelligence inside the structure saw them, their lives, their hopes and dreams and accomplishments, as meaningless. Nothing more than a microbe on a germ on a grain of sand floating in the immense endlessness of eternity. It did not care if they lived or died…or to be more precise, it _wanted_ them to die, wanted their bodies to rot and decay and still live and breathe and feel as they were denied rest, their souls to writhe in burning barbed chains in the deepest pits of Tartarus, their minds shattered, mended, and shattered again repeatedly, their spirits crushed and broken, their very essence raped again and again and again until they had lost all trace of these flimsy and hollow ideals such as love or hope or honor or peace, so that they too would dedicate their immortal existences to suffering and agony.

A small figure detached from the surface of the immense object now hovering just above the top of the old oil rig and floated down towards them, resolving into the form of Deoxys as it approached.

He halted and stood in the air several meters above and away from them, near one of the oil rig's supports. He had changed marginally since last they had seen him in the flesh, in the world of the crystal Unown. The broken crystal in his chest was now almost complete, but still had several clearly visible chunks missing. He held a long, barbed crystal trident in his right hand. Also, a third eye, vertically slanted, had appeared on the forehead of his blue mask, at the top of the purple bulge running down the center of his face. None could stare into the bottomless, pitiless orbs sunken into his head without being reduced to a quivering mass of jelly, so terrible was the mind looking out at the world through them. They stared at him, the architect of all the pain and horror they had gone through in recent times, with equal parts fear and hatred (Well, mostly fear. The guy generated it like wildfire.). Ash's soul jangled and flew down Misty's shirt, trembling in fright. Lugia felt a confusing mix of anger and terror, wanting to rip apart the entity who had tricked him into murdering his family while at the same time wishing not to incur this being's wrath.

His aura, now much clearer to those who could read such things since it wasn't being blocked partially by the thick walls of the crystal fortress, was truly awful to perceive, a googol times that which Alpha Ranger and the crystal shard of HERO had radiated, evidence of the fiend's twisted genius, disregard for all socially constructed inhibitions such as rules or morals, and desires for the destruction of all life and the subjugation of all souls. It was enough to make Rui cling to Wes, Espeon return to his Pokeball, and those who had never experienced it before to feel a strong urge to flee for their lives. None of them did, of course. For where would they go? If they ran, he would hunt them. He would take them. And he would make them his own, forever. That didn't stop some of them (namely, Phanphy) from wetting themselves in fright, however.

Deoxys, reading the fear in their minds with his psychic powers, chuckled, looking amused at the group that had assembled to defeat him. His telepathic voice resonated both through their minds and in the air as audible sound, so those who were Dark could hear him as well. "So we meet again, Chosen. Our battle has been a long time in the making, has it not? Hmhmhmhm…"

"You seem oddly amused, seeing as how we're going to wipe the floor with you," Bayleef said, hiding her distress.

"Is that so?" Deoxys shrugged. "You may be right. I may lose. And I may win. Either way, the ultimate outcome is inevitable." His eyes seemed to smile as he saw Mewtwo at the head of the group, fists clenched. "Ah, my old friend Mewtwo. How has it been out there, beyond time? Have you learned much from your Unown masters?"

"I have learned what I need to defeat you," Mewtwo said, glaring at the alien. He frowned as he examined his nemesis, detecting a subtle difference in the being's aura since last they had met…evidence that Deoxys had gained Dark as a subtype or second type. Could this be how the alien's plans had gone on without his noticing them? Curious…especially since the Unown had also given him a very well-hidden Dark subtype, presumably to give him a more level playing field against Deoxys.

"Good, I would be disappointed if you gave me anything less than your best," Deoxys said with a chuckle, either unknowing or uncaring of Mewtwo's ponderings. "And what is this? Your beloved has removed her mask?" Startled to be referred to, Gardevoir gripped Mewtwo's arm for protection. Deoxys chuckled at her fear. "Such a shame. She seems to have gotten over her self-confidence issues. I was looking forward to toying with her…no matter. There's more than enough of you left to satisfy that urge...like yourself, Latias. You're looking quite well. One of my servants has been dying to meet you."

"Is that so?" the dragon said coldly. "In that case, he'll meet me…and then he'll be dying for real."

Deoxys chuckled. "How droll. He'll be amused you said that. I see you're still angry at me?"

"How could I not be?" she said, narrowing her eyes. "You killed my parents, reanimated them, and had them eat my siblings. That's not something you forgive easily."

"Good, because I would not wish to be forgiven. And Lugia…had any good dreams recently?" Lugia snarled, barely able to keep himself from lunging forward at the monster, certain it would spell his doom. Deoxys merely laughed.

"G-go away, you big meanie!" Phanphy stammered. "Leave us alone!"

"I don't want to," Deoxys told the elephant directly, causing him to squeal and hide behind Misty, who was trying to keep Ash, who was vibrating from raw terror, from being noticeable inside her shirt. "I have come for this battle. You have been Chosen for this battle. Destiny dictates that we must fight. How troublesome that is, isn't it? No matter. We are all here now, and we will do what must be done." He resonated at an ultrasonic frequency, causing Pokemon with extra sensitive hearing, like Pikachu, to flinch at the noise, while the ground trembled somewhat at the sonic vibration.

The fortress above them rumbled, and launched about a dozen small crystal objects in a 360 degree circle, each of them landing at the periphery of the city, opening up, and emitting a strong, pulsating glow.

"What are those?" asked an alarmed Delia as they shot overhead.

"Modified RPGenerators," Mewtwo informed her. "A special device which can alter reality in a small area, changing it to satisfy its controller's whims."

"Whoa," said an impressed Geodude inside the Exploudrematic. "That would make for some great SFX in our concerts, wouldn't it?"

"You're not going to destroy them?" Latias asked her mentor.

He shook his head. "They may be caging us in here, but he's trapped as well as long as the generators are running. He can't leave the mini-reality as long as it exists."

"That's true," Deoxys agreed as beams of light shot out from each of the RPGenerators, arcing above them and colliding at the tip of the uppermost spike of the alien's fortress, expanding to encase all of Ever Grande City in an unbreakable energy dome. "But it also means reinforcements, and the remaining Chosen who have yet to appear, will have quite the difficulty coming in to help you. Which means it's just you all, me…and my accomplices, who will be more than willing to handle you so I don't have to waste my energy defeating you all by myself. Mewgle, if you please?"

"Okie dokie milord!" said the white Mew-Moogle fusion, appearing out of thin air and startling everyone.

"This guy!" Crawdaunt cried in disbelief. "What's he doing in the real world?"

"The RPGenerator field must have given him the ability to leave his digital realm for the one contained here," Mewtwo hypothesized. "Interesting." Misty frowned, thinking the Mew rip-off looked vaguely familiar.

"Hi Mewgle! Are we going to play another game?" Phanphy asked stupidly.  
"Oh yes," the clown-like villain said gleefully. "A game which none of you will survive! Heeheeheehee!"

"Oh brother. This guy's one of our enemies?" said a completely unimpressed Wes.

"Si, he does not look like much of a threat," agreed Zoro.

"Yeah, if it weren't for his teeth, he'd make a great plushie," Rui agreed.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY!" Mewgle roared, changing to his enormous, hideous flame-winged monster form and scaring the bejeezus out of the two strong, fearless humans, causing them to leap into the air and land in Rui's arms, making her fall over because she wasn't strong enough to hold two grown men at once. "HEHEH." He whirled and shrunk back to his default state and conjured a microphone, leaving those who had not met him before (and those who had, as well) stunned by his new and grotesque power. Phanphy, unsurprisingly, wet himself.

Mewgle gestured, and the crystal fortress behind them rumbled and fired a huge opaque beam of blue light from its underside, completely engulfing (and possibly obliterating) the oil rig. It made no detectable impact as it hit the ground, so there was clearly no real force behind it. (That didn't mean anyone was willing to touch it, though) "Ladies and gentlemen, Pokemon and humans of all ages! Welcome to The End of the World as We Know It, the Last Show on Earth! On one side we have these…well, _losers_…who think they have a chance to defeat a power as old as eternity itself!"

"Hey!" the Chosen said in reply to this.

"And opposing them, we have the forces of evil and entropy, led by my main man himself, the lord, source, and embodiment of all evil, DEEEEOXYS!" Mewgle roared, shifting to his monster form for the last word, gesturing to his master.

Deoxys bowed graciously and mockingly to his foes as an invisible audience roared in approval and joy, startling the Chosen as it howled for Deoxys to do several things so mind-bending and impossibly gruesome many of them were automatically edited out by the heroes' auditory receivers. "I have been waiting a long time for this…" He paused, noticing the three elemental birds were still obliviously beating each other up, and sent a finger of psychic strength at the ground beneath them, causing it to blow up and send them flying away from each other in a daze, incidentally stopping their squabble in the process.

"Now, let's introduce the forces of evil, shall we?" Mewgle said cheerfully. "First of all, there's me, the Ultimate Godmoder and DM of Destruction, MEEEEWGLE!" He transformed again and smiled his gross serrated teeth and waved his bloodstained claws at camera flashes which started to go off all around him, taken by nonexistent photographers as the nonexistent crowd cheered loudly. "But I'm just the beginning, folks!" Mewgle said, changing back. "Give a big Ever Grande hello to our first general of evil! In life he was once two separate men, a crime boss and a businessman respectively, both doing their best to spread evil in the world, sometimes without knowing it! But together, they're the Endbringer, the Fusion Warrior, and the Master of Twin Swords…heeeee're's OMEGA!"

A twenty-foot tall humanoid figure clad in gold and black armor with saurian legs, a cape, and a pair of gold wheels on his back leapt out of the column of light emitted from the fortress, landing on the ground hard enough to dent it. Crouched down, he held his arms out, clenching his fists as red laser swords shot out of the holes in his gauntlets. Roaring, he surged to his feet, slashing out repeatedly with his arms as he did so, his blades flaring through the air and leaving crimson trails in the air, before freezing in place, his huge presence enough to make some of the smaller heroes take a step back. There was a pause, and then a pair of trees on either side of Omega trembled and fell to the ground, their trunks neatly cut through. The general chuckled and retracted his blades. There were shrieks and cries of ecstasy from the invisible crowd at his performance.

"My goodness!" Delia gasped in awe.

"Eh, he's got potential," Pikachu grunted, not so impressed by Omega's flashy swordplay.

"Si, we can do better than that," agreed El Gato.

"Lo más definitivamente posible," agreed Lombre.

"Once, I was Shalor and the weakling you called Shining Ranger…now, I am so much more," Omega boasted. Blaziken's eyes flashed, and his wrist flames ignited in anger as he realized he was facing his trainer's murderer in a new form.

What was more interesting about this monster, for those who knew how to tell such things, was that Omega didn't have a soul, and so had no aura, other than the same palpable feeling of malice and hatred that all of Deoxys' creations generated, easily detectable to those who could sense it. But that didn't really surprise Latias, as one of Deoxy's virus-animated corpse minions there was no reason Omega would have a soul. Deoxys would not release a soul once collected unless he had good reason to.

"Speaking of Shining Ranger…what party would be complete without his sidekick/partner? I'm sure all of you who were present at Battle Tower last night remember this guy. For those who weren't, allow me to present…BLAZEATRICE!"

There was more invisible applause and cheers as the flaming, skeletal, winged birdman leaped out of the column of light, landing at Omega's side and causing a ring of fire to flare up as he hit the ground. He clenched his fists, flexed his pectorals, and roared, causing the flames covering his body to flare up in all directions, shining off of Omega's armor. This fiery beast, like Omega, was also lacking a soul or the requisite aura that a spirit gave off, indicating his status as another of Deoxys' pawns.

Charmeleon growled, getting into a fighting position as he faced the fiend who had torn off his wings. Charla joined him, her mouth frozen in a fanged snarl.

"Now, here's a lesser-known guy I doubt most of you know…but I'm sure one of you in particular remembers him!" Mewgle said, winking at the group. "Allow me to introduce…the late General Hanson's bodyguard, Shedinja!"

Togetic and Misty gasped as a plain Shedinja floated out of the light column, to the phantom audience's joy. "General Hanson's dreams of conquest have gone unfulfilled…so I have come to avenge him by finishing what he started, and killing the last Togetic!"  
"I don't believe this!" Togetic cried. "You joined _Deoxys_, the one who's going to destroy the world, for revenge?"

"What else is there for me?" the bug retorted. "I have nothing now. The General is gone, the Ghost Kingdom has rejected me…what's left of it, anyway. All there is now is revenge."

"Don't worry, Togetic," Misty reassured her trembling daughter. "We took him before, and we can take him again!"

"Yeah, I won't let him hurt you," Gyarados promised the frightened Happiness Pokemon, who did not look very reassured.

Latias frowned, displeased at this twist of events. She had not expected the bad guys to have a Shedinja of their own. She wondered where the Soulless general of the Ghost Army had gone off to…and her King for that matter, both of them should be there! She missed him…

"Yes, yes, that's nice," Mewgle said, cutting in. "But Shedinja here isn't the only one out for revenge! Isn't that right, MEOWTH?"

"MEOWTH!" all who had experience with Team Rocket cried in disbelief as the gross, disfigured humanoid feline that Meowth had become lumbered out of the light column, his innards exposed, his eye sockets hollow, flanked by the burning skeleton that was Growlie and the floating fanged…something that was Chimecho. Meowth grinned, showing his overlarge fangs, and waved to the invisible crowd. There was no response. He pouted in disappointment. Even as a general of evil, he got no respect. (I could add that none of them had souls, but I suppose that goes without saying?)

"No way…" said Brock in disbelief. "That can't be Meowth!"

"Meowth…" Latias said, feeling at once both pity and disgust for the foolish creature. "What…have you done with yourself?"

"Allied with the winning side, of course," he told them with a grin. "Not that I had much choice in the matter, I admit…but hey, the benefits of being like this far outweigh the ever-present pain and the absence of a soul. Heck, I never used the thing anyway!"

El Gato shook his head in disgust. "_Disgusto_…you are a disgrace to gatos everywhere!"

"And what have those gats ever done for me?" Meowth retorted. "Shunned and ignored me, like everyone else! I learned to speak human, joined Team Rocket, and still everyone saw me as a freak or a loser! Well that's all changing now. Now, I'm a big bad general serving the greatest power in the universe! I'm not at the bottom of the totem pole anymore!"

"You sold your own soul for power and respect you believed you deserved…" Mewtwo murmured. "How sad…I pity you, Meowth."

"I don't want pity!"

"That's too bad, because we pity you anyway," Latias remarked, somewhat saddened that the annoying and evil yet relatively harmless Meowth that had pestered her and her friends for a good part of her journey had become this monstrosity. "And your friends as well."

Meowth growled angrily while Growlie barked and Chimecho chimed in confusion. "I said, we don't want your-"

"That is enough, Meowth," Deoxys interjected. "If they wish to waste their pity on you, let them. It does not mean you or they will fight you any less harder."

"Oh…right." Meowth pointed a meaty, diseased claw at Pikachu. "Pikachu, you're mine!"

The mouse blinked. "Huh? Why?"

"Because out of all the Pokemon we've tried to capture, it's you who's haunted me for years, both in my nightmares and in my waking hours! Pikachu…Pikachu…it's always Pikachu! You're always blasting us off, zapping us with a gazillion volts of electricity, and hurting me in general!"

"Maybe that's because you were trying to steal me and imprison me for the rest of my life 24/7," he said sardonically. "And haunting _my_ nightmares and waking hours."

"That's beside the point," Meowth snapped. "And totally different from what I'm talking about. Today, revenge is mine!"

Pikachu shrugged. "Okay. If that's what you want."

Meowth blinked, or would have if he had eyes. "Eh?"

"Hey El Gato, you want in on this?" Pikachu asked his swordsman rival.

"Si! I will take pleasure in restoring the honor of gato-kind!" El Gato said, drawing his sword and bounding to Pikachu's side.

"Hey, count me in too," Sadic said, joining Pikachu. "After all, I have to protect you in the unlikely event that that thing over there proves too much for you. I want my children to have a father, after all."

"Hey Scyther, will you join us too?" Pikachu asked the old mantis, blushing at the same time from Sadic's demonstrating that she cared for him.

"Huh? Hell no, why would I?" the old mantis snapped.

Pikachu blinked. "Uh...well, I don't know, I thought we might have some camaraderie. You know, because you use blades, Sadic has claws, El Gato and I have swords…so, it would kind of make sense if we teamed up. You know, be the Four Musketeers or something."

"Not interested," Scyther said, turning away. "I have my sights set on that big fellow over there. Egg something."

"Omega," the gold and black general said flatly.

"Yeah, right. I think I can take him on."

All sweatdropped. "Well, if you're sure…" Pikachu said doubtfully. "Well, um…Lombre, will you join us, then?"

"_Estoy_ _muy apesadumbrado_, but I can't," Lombre said sadly over a communicator deep within the Exploudrematic. "I must operate the Exploudrematic's _espada_ skills."

"Oh," Pikachu said in disappointment. "Guess it's just us three then."

"I'd join you," Crawdaunt said, "But I honestly would rather fight someone a bit tougher than Meowth."

"As would I," agreed Mewtwo. "I'm saving my power for Deoxys. I'm sure the three of you can handle Meowth, though."

"I'll help you out, if I can," Grovyle said, offering Pikachu a hand. "I've been practicing my Lead Blade techniques while I've been away…I'm hoping you and I can pull off some great new combo moves together!"

"I'd be honored to fight with you, old friend," Pikachu said, shaking the gecko's hand.

"Don't show off _too_ much, Grovyle-kun," Bayleef called while Bulbasaur sulked. "He's not worth it…it's only Meowth, after all."

Meowth was confused and a little hurt. "Huh? You…you guys aren't scared of me? You're all nonchalant and gung-ho and stuff about fighting me?"

"Why should we be scared?" asked Sadic. She pointed at Deoxys with a claw. "_That_ guy there is scary." She pointed at Mewgle. "That guy…well, he's more creepy and disturbing than downright scary, but still frightening in his own way." She pointed at Omega. "And that guy's just cool-looking." She looked back at Meowth. "You, honestly, elicit more disgust, annoyance, and pity than anything else."

"Si, the lady _esta_ _correcto,_" El Gato said with a nod.

"Yeah, what he said," Pikachu agreed. "You've only lasted a couple of minutes maximum against us before. I honestly don't think that's changed, no matter how ugly you've become."

Delcatty stuck her tongue out. "Meowth ugly."

"More like ugleh," Ivysaur corrected.

"_Really_ ugleh," Beautifly added, giggling.

"Si, one of the el más feo things I have ever seen," Rosa agreed.

Meowth sagged. "Awww…." Growlie nuzzled him sympathetically, burning the cat's flesh, while Chimecho chimed sadly, wrapped his tail around his friend's head, and tried to suck out his brains.

"Yes, yes, that's very nice, PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" Mewgle roared impatiently, reminding everyone he was there. "Now, next on our list of villains we have another familiar face…the shell of a former comrade, the Beginning of the end, I give you…ALPHAAAAA!"

Alpha, mutated from his original white and blue spandex to white and blue scales with gold plating and black spikes, roared as he leaped out of the light column, smashing a fist into the ground as he landed and sending out a wave of electricity which crackled into the air. He then stood up, leaning back slightly, laughing maniacally as his fans in the invisible crowd went wild. Since Ash's soul (now peeking uncertainly out of Misty's shirt) was no longer in him, he gave off no aura, and since Deoxys wasn't directly connected to him as he had been the night before he radiated much less malevolence than he did before. That didn't mean he wasn't dangerous, far from it, if anything he was even more powerful and nasty than he had been the last time he had encountered the heroes, he was just nowhere near Deoxys' level, that's all. Those who had met him before all tensed up, remembering this bastard well and knowing that he could not be allowed to survive this battle. "Hahahahahaha…it's good to see you all again…hahaha…especially YOU, mom…so nice to see that you've replaced me already with that worthless turd there…glad to know I meant less to you than some fucking retard!"

"You're not my son," Delia said coldly as she hugged Max tightly to her chest, recalling how Alpha had savagely torn off Oak's arm on television.

"No, I'm not," Alpha agreed. "And I wouldn't want to come from the anus of such a bitch anyway! Haha!" He glanced around, noticing Ash's soul peeking out of Misty's shirt for a moment before slipping back in, frightened that he had been noticed. "Hey, looks like that ghost that calls itself Ash is here too…well congratulations kiddo, you've finally got where Brock never will! Hahahaha!" Brock pouted at this, knowing Alpha was probably right. "Enjoy this closeness while you can, both of you, because the boss is taking back the freedom he loaned you, Ash, and I'm taking Little Miss Bitchflower for my own! I wouldn't mind groping around that chest of hers myself, even if it is a bit flat!"

"I believe that's enough out of you," Mewtwo threatened as Misty gasped and her Pokemon growled defensively. "We have no interest in hearing your vulgarities."

"Well too bad, pussy, because I'm here to stay. I'm a lot stronger than I was last night…it's time for a rematch, and I'm gonna win it!"

"Heh, we'll see about that," said Crawdaunt, snapping his pincers.

"Yes, yes, that's very nice," Mewgle said boredly. "Moving on, because we only have so much time in the day for this destined showdown…say hello to the Hound from Hades, the Dark Gatekeeper…CERBERUS!"

Out of the blue light bounded a huge canine monstrosity, its fur and mane mangy and filthy, with crystals growing out of the shoulders, three tails (two mouthed tentacles, one a zigzagging barb), crystal armor covering and piercing the legs and masking the monster's three faces, each of which looked a lot like one of the three legendary beasts. It also had spiked collars with chains that looked like spinal cords tangled in its mane. The beast loomed over the heroes, three heads held high, took a deep breath, and roared, shaking the ground and shattering windows as pillars of fire, water, and lightning erupted from the land around it. (And no, it didn't have an aura, but you knew that didn't you?)

"Wes, they look like-" Rui started.

"The three beasts? Yeah, I know. What the heck happened to them!" the ex-thief said in disbelief.

"I did," Deoxys said calmly. "I offered them power, and they accepted it, becoming my slaves. It is a sad thing how greed can affect people, isn't it?"

"I don't believe this," Ho-Oh said in amazement. "You used to serve my ex loyally…and abandoned her for power?"

Cerberus laughed, its three voices blending together dissonantly. "As our master said…greed is a very powerful motivator!"

"Well, at least this proves her wrong once again," Lugia consoled the stunned phoenix. "When I found her, she was vehemently denying that her servants had turned against her and become demonic abominations. Shows how crazy she is, doesn't it?"

"Is the power worth it?" Mewtwo asked Cerberus. "Worth losing individuality and soul, worth becoming what you are now?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Plus, it's fun! Then again, a large part of evil is, isn't it?" Cerberus said with a triple chuckle.

"Yeah, why do you think I stuck with being a bad guy even though I was really bad at it and kept getting beaten up?" Meowth asked.

"Because you're stupid and incompetent?" Crawdaunt suggested.

"And thought you had nowhere else to go?" Bayleef suggested.

"And are too greedy to do something that isn't related to crime or taking stuff from other people?" added Grovyle.

"And you're a meanie?" Phanphy pointed out as well.

"And-"

"Okay, okay!" Meowth snapped. "I get the picture!"

"Yes, I think we all do, (loser)" Mewgle said cheerfully. "But it's time for our next big surprise! Lugia, get ready to meet some faces from the past…because here's the wife and kid you murdered in cold blood!"

Lugia started. "W-what!"

"You killed your own family!" Ho-Oh said in disbelief.

"I-I didn't meant to…I was tricked!" the beast of the sea protested.

"Really? That's not how they tell it…why don't you ask them yourself?" Mewgle asked, gesturing to the light column as a pair of red-eyed, dark purple Lugias emerged to the pleasure of the invisible audience, one big and the other a good deal smaller. It was not their physical appearance that made them monstrous; they actually looked kind of cool and not nearly as terrifying as Cerberus. However, they were extremely frightening in one way (and not just the fact that the mere sight of them reduced Lugia to a quivering heap): they had auras, not just the telltale presence of Deoxys' power. That meant they had souls. That meant, in a way, they were still alive, and not just virus-animated puppets like the rest of his minions.

Rui gasped. "Wes, those are Shadow Pokemon!"

Wes rolled his eyes. "You don't say?" he said sarcastically. "Welp, time to charge up the ol' Snagger," he said, reaching into a pocket for a Snag Ball.

A laser bolt shot down from the heavens and impacted right at his feet, exploding and knocking him onto his back. "Try that again and I won't miss the next time," Deoxys threatened. Wes wisely decided to comply.

"Hello, husband," the larger Lugia, a female, hissed, causing the normal Lugia to whimper in fear. "We've been waiting a long time to see you again."

"No…no…you can't be real," Lugia moaned. "I saw you…I saw you in a dream…you said that you forgave me and were waiting for me on the other side…you're not real!"

"But she is," Deoxys said. "And what you saw was a lie, an illusion concocted by Molly on the Unown's orders to snap you out of the endless chain of suicides I placed you in. I was displeased with that, so I went to her home, destroyed her town and whatever friends she had made, and forced her to destroy herself, removing herself forever from this reality."

Delia gasped. "Then you're the one who destroyed Greenfield!"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course I am. I claimed responsibility for all the recent disasters in my broadcast, weren't you paying attention? It therefore goes without saying that I was behind Greenfield as well."

Delia blushed, embarrassed. "Oh…right…"

"Your wife and child have been with me all along," Deoxys told the cringing Lugia. "I kept their souls and retrieved their bodies after you finished savaging them. I fixed them up and replaced the heads you had torn off or disintegrated, and after a lengthy reeducation process planted their souls back in." He chuckled. "Now, I'm sure one of you sentimental fools will suggest that I am making a mistake in pitting a loving wife and son against their mate and father. But trust me, after what _he_ did to them…and what _I_ did to them because it never once occurred to this coward here that he could save them…there isn't a shred of mercy or love left in them."

"Do you have any idea what we had to go through while you were suffering from bad dreams?" the female hissed. "Do you have any idea what it's like, where we were?" She nodded at Ash's soul, which had peeked out of Misty's shirt again before diving back in to remain unnoticed. "_He_ only got a taste of it. We've been there for only a few real-time days…but time doesn't flow there the same way it does here. And the only reason we were there at all was because of you. Because you clearly didn't love us, _your_ _own_ _wife and child_, to think for a moment that we could be saved. You killed us and damned us, so it's only fair that we do the same to you."

"I'm sorry…" he whispered. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry isn't good enough," she hissed in reply.

"We're gonna kill you, daddy," little Silver said, licking his lips with a serpentine tongue. "We're gonna peck out your eyes, and tear off your wings, and eat your heart right out of your chest."

"Sadic, our own kids aren't gonna hate me that much if I were to accidentally kill them, would they?" asked a disturbed Pikachu.

She shrugged. "Eh, depends on the circumstances. If you did it because you were hungry and had nothing else to eat, (and made sure to kill them first) they might be a little miffed about it, but they'd understand. Then again, if by killing them you didn't send their spirits to the Hunting Grounds to be reborn and instead condemned them to an eternity of suffering which twisted them into sadistic evil monstrosities…well, I'd be pretty pissed off at you too."

"Then I'll have to make sure not to kill them," Pikachu decided. "Unless you say it's all right, seeing as how you seem to have more knowledge about this sort of thing…"

"Wow, talk about family drama, folks!" Mewgle said loudly into his microphone, annoyed that nobody was paying attention to him again and wanting to get on to the main event. "You could probably make a sitcom based on this…or at the very least, discuss it on one of those freaky talk shows! And speaking of freaks, we're down to the last two generals, the strongest of the bunch! First up, allow me to introduce the Ghost Eater, the Serpent O' Souls, and, sadly, the only female on our team! (Unless you count the Suicune third of Cerberus) Heeeeeere's LEVIATHAN!"

The invisible crowd cheered as a huge monster slithered through the air out of the column of light, twisting and turning as it wrapped its coils loosely around its master Deoxys, leering down at the Chosen and hissing in disdain.

Leviathan was aptly named, for her serpentine body was a hundred feet long and two meters in diameter. Her body was composed not of skin or scales or armor, but of bodies. Thousands of human and Pokemon corpses had been fused together from the waist down, their upper bodies plastered back against each other like scales, covering each other with their skin and bones and blood, dead eyes staring blankly at the world around them, and—eerily enough—they still held some semblance of life, moaning and flailing their mutilated hands slowly, grasping at the air and at each other, clawing one another's bodies and drawing more blood, which either spilled onto the ground or sank into the crevices between the individual bodies and into Leviathan's innards. Her long tail, like that of any serpent, tapered and narrowed at the end, terminating in a mass of spikes thornier than the tail weapon of a Stegosaurus formed from numerous rib cages lashed together by tendons and viscera, still dripping fresh gore from their sharp curved tips.

Thick spikes emerged from various random spots on her body, in many cases piercing right through the myriad dead forms which composed her skin, goring them on their tips and adding to their suffering. The spikes were made of numerous bones fused together, with skulls peering out at spots on the spike's surface, eyeballs still in their sockets. Two thirds of the way up her body grew a pair of long, lanky arms made from the severed arms of at least a hundred human and Pokemon children fused together and ending in powerful wrists with overlarge knuckles and claws. The knuckles were adorned with the skulls of over a dozen babies, worn like rings, and the claws, like the spikes, were formed from numerous bones fused together, their ends broken and jagged and no doubt unclean.

Leviathan's face was gruesome and vaguely draconic, formed of a great deal of muscle tissue fused together, throbbing a raw red in the daylight. Her gaping jaws contained thousands and thousands of teeth of all shapes and sizes, taken from every species of human and Pokemon and clustered together in such a grotesque display of cavities and decay that any dentist would weep from despair looking upon such a job. A tongue made from numerous livers and intestines wrapped together and bound by tendons drooled acid and blood and licked its cracked, scabrous lips, cutting itself repeatedly on its mishmash of unhealthy teeth and mending itself moments later.

Leviathan had two gaping holes for nostrils, with little black tendrils that ended in snapping mouths lashing in and out with every monstrous breath. A pair of long, curved crystal horns grew out from the back of the head, tipped with an array of spikes. Her eyes were the only things which were not obscene and hideous; a pair of small yellow points set in deep, overlarge sockets. Latias could not help but feel a strange sensation staring into the eyes, one unrelated to the ever-present scent of Deoxys' power, because she already knew this creature had no soul. So what was it?

Well, whatever it was, it was ugly enough to make some of their group throw up, and cause Phanphy to void himself for the umpteenth time.

"D-did you say Ghost Eater?" Misdreavus asked, eyes wide in fear.

"Yes," said Mewgle.

Misdreavus shrieked and hid behind Umbreon, shaking like a leaf.

"Where did you dig up this monster, Deoxys?" Mewtwo asked in disgust.

"Yeah, she's uglier than Gardevoir! Ah, no offense," Crawdaunt said quickly when the humanoid glared at him.

Deoxys chuckled, patting one of the writhing bodies close to him from his comfortable position inside Leviathan's coils. "I shall reveal that soon enough…Mewgle, will you bring out our last ally?"

"Of course, my lord! Okay boys and girls, we've saved the best for last! Put your hands together for what the extinct Christians would call the Antichrist, the Son of Deoxys himself…the nastiest, cruelest, and downright evilest general of us all…DAAAARK LATIOOOOS!"

"Son of Deoxys!" Mewtwo said in disbelief.

"Dark _Latios!"_ Latias cried in horror as her father Ho-Oh started, nearly knocking Wes over with a flick of his enormous wings. _No, that can't be right! I must have misheard!_ She thought to herself desperately.

The invisible crowd went wild as the already malevolent clouds overhead darkened and the crystal fortress and the earth beneath their feet trembled. The blue light column darkened ominously, turning into a purple-black reminiscent of ichor. A thin, rasping voice laughed maliciously, the sound of it sending shivers down the heroes' backs. And Latias paled considerably, for she got the feeling that this voice was laughing directly at her.

Tendrils of black mist rose from the base of the darkened light, undulating and twisting through the air as they came together, coalescing into a single mass which collapsed upon itself, solidifying and radiating an aura nearly as twisted and vile as Deoxys' own…hell, it was almost identical to the alien's, if a trifle smaller, and all who could detect it recoiled in fright, overwhelmed by the all-encompassing power the two auras emitted together.

He was terrifying to behold as his misty form solidified into a whole body, not even remotely as hideous or disgusting as Meowth, Leviathan, or Cerberus, but every bit of him screamed obscenity and the universe's outrage at his anomalous, unnatural existence. His body was covered in black down hardened into serrated scales, with jagged blue stripes and whorls zigzagging across his skin, with a big spiky blue splotch in the middle of this chest with a hollow red right side-up triangle in the center of it. A pair of huge jet black leathery demon wings grew from his back with blue tips on the ends of the sharp finger bones. He had a second, much smaller pair of demon wings in lieu of legs, also blue-tipped. His tail, unlike Latias', was armored in mottled black and blue and ended in a crown of thick spikes burning with dark fire. His arms were long and thick like Latias', black at the top and covered in spiky blue armor on the lower parts, with a flattened palm and three bloodstained jointed talons, one of which served as an opposable thumb, for hands.

His long black neck ended in a triangular head much like Latias', except harder and ending in a sharper point almost like a beak. In place of smooth, streamlined ear tufts he had long curled horns, like those of a ram. A blue hollow right side-up triangle with a blue dot in the center covered his face and forehead, only marred by his eyes, redder than blood, radiating unspeakable malice and hatred equaling that of Deoxys but with less self-control or inner restraint, all of it directed right at Latias, who found herself trembling in fright. His mouth split open in a grin, revealing fangs so encrusted in blood and a hell of a lot more filth and bacteria than the Leviathan possessed that they were a disgusting black. "Ahhh….Latiasssss…I have waited such a long time for this." He ran a forked tongue over his lips as several great black tentacles rose from his back. "I have dreamed of this moment…of the look on your face as we first met…and it exceeds my darkest nightmares. My withered heart weeps with joy at your fright." He cackled. "Dear sister…I will enjoy making you scream." His voice was almost an exact duplicate of Latios'. Ho-Oh's jaw dropped incredulously.

Latias paled. "No…you can't be my brother. He's dead. You're nothing but some monster Deoxys cooked up to play mind games with me."

Deoxys and Dark Latios laughed. It was eerie how much their cackles sounded alike. "Is that what you think? You poor, deluded fool…how could I be anything but your brother? After all, we were born from the same mother," he said, glancing up at the Leviathan.

Latias blinked in confusion. "What? She's not my-" She froze. Her eyes widened. "No…"

Deoxys chuckled and nodded. "Yes. This magnificent creature…is none other than Latias Sr. Now in my employ."

There were gasps all around. "WHAT!" Ho-Oh shrieked. "That…that _thing_…is the Pokemon I once called wife?"

"Until you rejected her. She wasn't too happy about that," Dark Latios said. "Just imagine…if you hadn't been such a callous jerk and thrown her away, then my father Deoxys might never have found her and I might never have been born. Wouldn't that have been a pity?"

Leviathan glared down at Ho-Oh and Latias. "HUNNNGRYYY…"

Phanphy gasped. "Wait…but that means…" He stuck out his tongue, straining his tiny little brain in thought. "Latias is my aunt…which makes Sr. my great-aunt…and if Sr. is Leviathan, that makes Dark Latios my uncle…which makes…" He gasped in horror. "_My great-uncle is Deoxys!_" Togetic, Misty, and the rest of his little 'family' sweatdropped.

"Oh, I'm part of your family now. I'm so flattered," Deoxys said sarcastically. "Well, it seems you have a new 'father' to add to your collection, Latias…myself."

"You're not her father!" Ho-Oh and Mewtwo shouted at once.

Deoxys laughed in amusement. "You reject me…how sad. It almost breaks my heart. No matter. I will break all of yours soon enough."

"How is this possible?" Latias whispered. "How can you…you foul, evil thing…reproduce, and with my poor mother of all people? I didn't think you had anything like sperm in you, just virus particles which make up your body."

"So did I," Deoxys admitted. "And yet…"

"Here I am," Dark Latios said. "It's a funny story, really, how I was born. Why don't we tell them, father?"

"Yes…yes, I think I will," the evil one said with a laugh, before telling the morbid and sickening tale.

…

The sun sank low behind the large monastery. From her small cell beneath the temple, Latias Sr. grudgingly watched the sunset. In spite of the monks' claims that they worshiped Dragon Pokemon, they were more than well-equipped to restrain a Dragon who wasn't interested in contemplating the meaning of life. While the majority of the dragons in the temple were content on spending their days meditating, curling up on beds of hot sand, and taking swims in the heated indoor pool, Sr. had startled the monastery's occupants on her arrival by slaughtering a quarter of the monks and half a dozen dragons on her initial attempt to escape until they managed to put her down and lock her in one of the temple's numerous 'isolation chambers' where the residents who either had problems controlling their rage, preferred solitary spaces for their contemplations, or were just antisocial spent a good portion of their days in hopes that it would calm her down and put her spirit back in balance. Those hopes were crushed when she busted out and managed to cave in one of the monastery nurseries, crushing an eighth of the eggs and human infants inside, before she was caught again and put in a much more secure isolation chamber underneath the temple, usually reserved for the truly unbalanced (which she most certainly was).

She had expected to be tortured, starved, or at the very least ignored. It was extremely frustrating how the humans continued to go against her preconceived biases by being nothing but courteous and helpful to her despite how much she thrashed and lunged and screamed how she was going to kill every last one of them and lick their blood off her claws while the monastery burned to the ground. They had given her hotcakes after that last one, with a penned note from the monastery children professing wishes that she got well soon. She hadn't been sure how to react to that, so just dumped the hotcakes in the corner and sulked against the back wall until she got hungry and ate them ravenously. She now made sure to offer vile death threats she had learned from Missingno daily to the monks so she would get more hotcakes. That didn't mean she still wasn't planning on escaping and killing them all, she just liked the hotcakes.

She sighed and clawed at the strange high-tech collar they had fastened around her neck that restrained her powers in irritation. "One of these days, I'll get out of this damn cell and kill every single one of them. Then, I'll track down that wretched white and purple cat…thing and that human brat and dispose of them!" She sneered and lashed out at the stones on the wall, unable to do any real damage due to the human contraption. The rough stone tore away a small portion of the flesh beneath her claws, leaving bloody lines on the wall, which she knew would just be cleaned up by the monks when she eventually went to sleep. Rage filled her mind as she stared at the bleeding wounds. "It's all her fault. That rotten worm who calls herself my daughter…She stole my power…I'll tear her to shreds when I get out of her!" She screamed in rage and rushed the thick steel door, slamming into it and causing it to shake, but it would not break. The monk guarding her door sighed and shook his head sadly. This was a daily occurrence, and it saddened him that she was so filled with pain and anger that nothing they did seemed to be able to give her peace.

Latias Sr. screamed in rage and charged the door again, her already fragile sanity almost at its end. There was a loud crack and she slumped to the ground unconscious, knocked out by the force of her blow against the steel barrier, which was still completely undamaged. As her vision rapidly faded, she could have sworn that she saw a trio of eyes staring out at her from the shadows of the small room.

* * *

Deoxys smiled as he watched the scene of rage-driven insanity. His army was away, attempting to halt a ritual driven by one of his many enemies. It didn't matter if the ritual succeeded or failed. Nothing would make any difference against him. They would all die anyway. His master plan would unfold as he pleased, no matter what surprises the Chosen or Unown thought they had in store for him.

His visions were what drove him to view this scene, of Sr.'s futile rage. He could not sleep, nor could he dream, but by passing into a lucid 'stupor' of sorts his multidimensional mind was capable of penetrating the fabric between time and outside of time, allowing him not only to catch glimpses of events in the future which might be of use to him but also to retain focus by making contact with his other 'selves', so to speak, throughout eternity, giving him the benefit of other perspectives and wisdom to objectively tweak his plan to perfection. He knew a great deal about the red dragon he was spying on, thanks both to the memories recorded on the shard which had come to him after Missingno's defeat but also due to the piece of himself which was within her…the piece which was within all things. Of great interest to him was the knowledge that she had once been a candidate to hold a fragment of his power. However, that power had fallen into the possession of another of his enemies, the dragon's own daughter. But the taint of that power still remained, imprinted on her spirit. Deep in her soul, it was what interested him the most. What had shone like a beacon in his trance, revealing to him the potential for a future in which his ultimate triumph was assured.

It was true that messing with her might be a small, nearly insignificant blow against a few of his enemies, and might only slightly affect his chances for victory, but in the game of fate no opportunity was too miniscule. And there was no reason he couldn't have fun doing it, after all. The elder dragon had tasted his power many times in the past and still longed for it. If he were to… supply a little more of it, crafted by his own hands, it would torture her mind and soul, a thought that he found quite enjoyable.

He chuckled softly to himself. "Very well, little worm. You desire to taste my power again so greatly? I believe it is time for you to taste the truth behind it. And once you have, you will be mine forever. If you survive, that is…"

* * *

Hours later, Latias Sr. groaned and lifted her head. Her vision was still blurry and darkness flooded the room due to the loss of daylight from the small cell window. She lifted herself off of the floor and slammed her clenched claws into the steel door. "Let me out of here, human scum! Why don't you come in here and worship me to my face? I'll show you what I am truly capable of!"

She roared in fury and beat her claws against the door again when there was no response. To her surprise, there was a low groan as the great steel door slowly fell backwards from its frame and crashed to the ground.

She stared at the frame in a combination of shock and fear. She had never been able to accomplish anything to that effect in the past. Not to mention that the collar was still restraining her powers. Almost as an afterthought, she reached up and tapped it with her bloodied claw. Adding to her surprise, it sparked viciously and split in two, crashing to the floor.

The dragon continued to stare in disbelief for another couple of moments before breaking out into frenzied maniacal laughter. She had no idea what was going on but it was about time for her to show these monks what she thought about their "worship".

With a roar of fury, she charged out of the room, claws bared and a Dragonbreath forming on her lips. But that fury faded instantly and fear bolted through her body as she spotted the monk who had guarded her, his still form leaning against the wall with a massive slash across his stomach that allowed his organs to spill out onto the floor. A dried trail of blood ran down his lips and his cold, lifeless eyes stared off into the distances, at some horror that only he could see.

She floated back, her body shaking with fear. She shuddered and realized that her newfound freedom might now be her only hope at survival. Whatever had killed the monk might still be lurking nearby, ready to feast on her.

Her heart pounded and she turned, bolting for the way she believed to be the exit. Without warning, time seemed to freeze and a bright flash of light briefly changed the room into a hellish nightmare. Skeletons leaned against the walls and blood flowed like a river across the grey stone floor. Fear getting the better of her, a weak scream escaped from her lips and she turned, fleeing in the other direction.

As she continued further down the hall, the lights dimmed until they finally died completely and she froze, panicking in the darkness. Shaking, she felt around for the wall. Finally, her claws came to rest on a cold steel bar and terror coursed through her body. An eerie red glow shot through the room and she suddenly found herself suspended in a steel cage above a burning pit of fire. Burning arms reached out desperately from the fire, either trying to drag themselves out of the flame…or to pull her down into it.

Attempting to compose herself, the dragon forced a strong, demanding voice. "What's happening here? Whoever is responsible for this trick, I demand that you stop immediately! Come out here so that I can tear you to shreds like the pathetic creature you are!"

A hideous laughter, infinitely crueler and eviler than Missingno's, split the air and the cage suddenly began to plummet towards the fiery hell beneath her. She screamed in horror, her false courage vanishing rapidly. Suddenly, the darkness swallowed her again and she grunted in pain as a cold stone floor rose up, slamming her in the chest. Despite herself, tears welled up in her eyes from the pain and she lay there, sobbing.

Torches burst into flames on the walls, revealing a cold, stone chapel of some sorts. Copious amounts of blood coated the walls and floor, and bones littered the floor. The ceiling was broken and full of holes, and a harsh red light shone through from a sky without sun, stars, or clouds occupying it, only three great orbs which looked oddly like giant eyes far above. Statues, some broken, some not, lined the walls; each depicting a creature more bizarre and hideous than the last, all of them engaged in an act of unspeakable cruelty to figures whose bodies were so contorted in pain they were nearly unrecognizable. It was amazing that they did not scream from agony, even if they were merely cold stone. And yet…if they were stone…why did it look as if the statues were _breathing?_

At the back of the room, poised over an altar caked with so much blood it had been covered in a dry red surface and beneath a stained glass window which seemed to depict nothing less than the absolute and utter annihilation of all existence, with the souls of all those worlds falling screaming into a hell infinitely worse than the Dark World she and Missingno had controlled was a statue of what could be nothing less than purest evil. It was so vile, so terrifying, that Sr. instantly tore her eyes off it lest she go mad, the sculpture's three evil eyes burning themselves into her memory.

There were no exits to the room save for the holes in the ceiling and a couple of broken, barred windows. The floor barely seemed to hold itself together, bright flames visible beneath the large cracks. Beyond the windows, she saw a hellish landscape and dark shades moving in the distance, along with what looked like the silhouette of some kind of sailing ship. From all around her, she could have sworn that she heard infant Pokemon crying out in pain and loneliness and a foreign emotion began to creep through her body. In her mind, she could see the birth of her children and realized that, whether she would admit it or not, she had been happy and some portion of her heart regretted her foul treatment of her offspring. A cry trembled on her lips and the tears of pain slowly changed into tears of sadness, not for herself but for her daughter. "Latias, I was wrong. If I survive this, I swear, I'll make it up to you. Somehow, some way, I'll fix the way I've acted in the past. Please, just let me live so that I may tell you how I feel."

"Oh, have no fear; you'll be seeing your daughter again soon."

Latias Sr. looked up, fear paralyzing her entire body. A warm feeling coursed underneath her and she realized that she was lying in a puddle of her own urine as her body shook to the core. "Who's there? Leave me alone! I don't want to die!"

The stone wall before her seemed to ripple like water as it rearranged itself, forming an opening out into the blazing hell for only a moment, allowing her to be blasted with a wave of blistering heat as wails of torment and despair washed over her...and then the opening closed, and in its place, a dark figure stood. "Don't worry. By the time this nightmare is over, you'll be screaming for death." His three eyes, so much like the statue's, gleamed evilly, and she knew they were one and the same.

Latias Sr. screamed in fear and tried to pull herself away, accomplishing nothing more than slipping and landing face-first in the vile puddle she had created. She lifted her head, a stinking mixture of liquids running down her face and obscuring her vision. "Go away! Please, just leave me alone!"

The figure laughed and stepped forth, the darkness melting off of its body, revealing the red and white form of her daughter. The younger dragon laughed and slowly floated towards her fallen mother, who was staring in disbelief. "You really want me to leave?" she said, her voice a perfect mimic of the true Latias', cradling her mother's head in her claws. "After everything you just said, you would wish me away so easily?"

Latias Sr. struggled to pull herself away. "You're not my daughter! I haven't been the greatest parent in the world but I know that you're not her!"

"Of course I am. Don't you recognize your own flesh and blood?" Latias chuckled softly and drew her claw across her mother's forehead, drawing a thin line of blood. "I just decided that I should treat you as you have treated me in the past. Isn't that fair?"

Latias Sr. sobbed and closed her eyes, wishing the figure away. She felt the claws beneath her chin vanish and opened her eyes. Rather than her daughter, she found herself staring into the face of her deceased son. "No! No, anyone but you!"

The blue dragon smiled sinisterly and wrapped his arms around her neck. "What's wrong? I thought you would be happy. After you spent so much time attempting to kill me or condemning me to death, you should be glad I'm dead and gone while you're still here. Isn't that what you wanted?" He grinned, revealing a long line of razor sharp teeth.

Lowering his head, he sank them deeply into her neck and Latias Sr. gasped in pain as she felt warm blood beginning to course down her skin. She screamed and jerked herself away from him, falling backwards and hitting the ground with a loud thud.

Latios laughed darkly and pulled himself closer to her. "Do you really think that you could escape from me that easily? After all, we're nothing more than mistakes of yours that you can't get away from." He laughed again and sank his fangs into her flesh again, just above her heart.

Latias Sr. suddenly found herself unable to scream, although her throat vibrated itself raw from the repressed cries from deep within. She blankly stared at the ceiling, her vision rapidly fading as her blood gushed from her body. After a few moments, she felt his claws cradling her face. Her son clicked his tongue gently in a calming manner. He stared deep into her rapidly fading eyes and cooed softly.

"Oh mother, I always loved you. But you wished nothing but pain and torment on me. And for that, I hope you suffer for all eternity."

A scream of horrible agony finally burst from her throat as she felt him penetrate her, forcing himself deep within her. Her body felt as though it was being torn apart from the inside. The cruel claws twisted and her vision went black as her neck shattered into several pieces. She thought, even hoped for a moment, that this was it and she was dead...

But even though she could not move, could not see, could not even feel her heartbeat, she was not dead. She heard the laughter of the thing masquerading as her son as he thrust into her again, the spines on his member extending and ripping through her belly, and then…

And then the pain _really _began…

* * *

He stood back and stared at the broken body before him. Pleasure filled every fiber of his body. What the dragon had felt could be seen by some as an illusion, but for one such as himself reality was not so difficult to tamper with when you knew how. She had really been in the bowels of the place outside of time formed from his own evil soul and those of countless others throughout infinity. As she had suffered, his tendrils had fed her pain and fear into his body. It had tasted so sweet and divine, the essence of purest pain and suffering, much more palatable than the tasteless cowardice provided by James! How he longed for more…and knew that soon enough, he would have all that he could ever desire.

He withdrew his final tentacle, taking care to tear at the flesh as much as possible. Surely the pleasure he received from shredding both her body and mind could only be described by humans as orgasmic! Cackling, he turned away and stared out the barred window of Sr.'s cell. It was a shame to simply toss away something that had given him such pleasure, and which his visions had told him might provide him with something to tip the balance more in his favor. However, what could he do with the broken, empty husk that had once been a proud and vengeful dragon that could give him such an edge? A dark thought crept into his mind and he reached for her body, smiling. The corpse would be perfect for becoming…

Suddenly, he paused. From deep within the dragon, he could feel a truly evil force stirring. His own seed? Was that even possible? Reaching out with his mind, he could sense it, rapidly growing and evolving, expanding deep within her body. He was amazed at the sheer malevolence and hatred of life he detected, so great that he was certain it had to be borne from himself!

He stepped away as, in a grotesque shower, Latias Sr.'s chest burst open and a small creature began to pull itself from the remains. He gazed upon it, interest, bemusement and something akin to pride growing within him.

The creature that pulled itself from the corpse resembled an infant Latios in almost every bodily way. However, its down was the color of midnight blue and darkest black and, unlike the long angular wings its mother had possessed, two great leathery demon wings sprouted from its back. It looked up at him with its red eyes filled with pure malice and hissed menacingly, a forked tongue snaking from its mouth.

It levitated itself up from its mother, shaking the gore from its body. It hissed again and great black tentacles shot from its body towards Deoxys. Without taking a step, his own tentacles shot out and clasped the newborn's, stopping them in midair.

His eyes met with the creature's. "Cease your attack at once. You have no desire to attack me, your own father, do you?"

The creature paused and stared at him. It blinked, semi-transparent film passing over its red eyes. "Fffffaaaaattthhhheeeerrrr?"

"Yes, I am your father...how strange. I have rarely been in a position before to say that and truly mean it. Interesting." He paused, his three eyes scanning the creature, noting how it was already growing rapidly and estimated it would reach maturity in a matter of hours. "Unlike the mistake your mother made with her previous abominations, I am proud to call you mine. I cannot give you love, for that is something beyond me, just as it is beyond you, but that does not mean we are incapable of understanding and respecting each other. Join me, and we shall drag this world into destruction together. Together, as father and son."

…

"And that is the story of how I was born," Dark Latios said as the tale ended. "Does that answer all your questions, sister?"

"…Was it really necessary for us to hear that story?" Mewtwo asked, looking disgusted.

"No," Deoxys said cheerfully. "Which is why I told it anyway."

"You really are pure evil."

"Thank you."

Latias stared at him in anger and disgust as around her, many of her friends were vomiting from Deoxys' very graphic description of all the things he had done to Latias Sr. "You…how _dare_ you!" she roared furiously, glaring at Deoxys. "Destroying my first family wasn't enough…and now you target my second? There was little love between us, but she was my mother, dammit!"

"And my wife, once!" Ho-Oh agreed. "It's my fault I turned her away and caused all this to happen, I know it! But now I'm trying…I'm actually trying…to make amends for that by acknowledging the daughter I never knew! I may not be that fond of her…my old misogynistic ways won't change that easily…but I still cared for her once, in a way! And she didn't deserve that!"

Deoxys chuckled and stroked Leviathan's sides. "Of course she didn't. But you seem to be working off the assumption that life is fair and everyone gets what they deserve. I assure you from personal experience this is not the case. If life was fair and just, I wouldn't exist at all…and yet here I am, as is my son." He looked at Dark Latios with something not unlike pride. "He is a piece of myself, born from my very soul, given flesh in his mother's womb due to a chance reaction between the virus particles I had injected into Sr. during her torture and the trace of my power still remaining in her…he is the child of my soul, his father's mirror, my own reflection. In him I see me, and in me he sees himself."

"And together, we will crush this reality…and my father's, and therefore my own, ultimate goal will achieve fruition," Dark Latios said with a hideous grin. "Dear sister…why do you look so disgusted with me? Have you not wished for this?"

"What?" Latias asked, startled.

"Don't listen to him-" Mewtwo started.

"Have you not wished upon a star many times for Latios to return to you, to come back from beyond time? Well, wish no more, for here I am. Aren't you happy to see me again?"

Her blood went cold. "You're not my brother. Deoxys said so himself, you're part of him, not my brother!"

Dark Latios laughed. "Hahahaha…dearest sister, in a way _all_ of us are part of him, and he of us. Is it really so hard to believe that maybe, just maybe, in the vagaries of eternity, my soul found his, and through it, was twisted into what I am now?" He smirked. "But of course you doubt…after all, Latios himself gave you that message in the locket you wear around your neck…and that was not too long ago, so surely I could not have fallen in such a short time, could I? But you forget…time flows differently when you're outside it, not nearly as linearly and straight as you would expect. Is it really so inconceivable that I could have changed since then? Is it really so inconceivable that I, dearest sister, am Latios?"

Latias felt a moment of panic as she realized that his words might hold a grain of truth. _Could_ this vile thing be her brother, twisted as Deoxys would have done to Ash, had already done to Lugia's family? Every fiber in her being cried no…and yet, he knew things he could not possibly know…could it be? Could he be Latios reborn? He had an aura, and thus a soul, she could sense it…could it really be his, twisted until it became a mirror of Deoxys' own? Could such a thing happen? The thought chilled her.

"I see you've inherited your father's ability for deception and mind games," Mewtwo said to Dark Latios with a smirk. "Perhaps you are her true brother, Latios. Perhaps you are not. In the end, it matters not, because you are our enemy…and as such, must be defeated if the world is to be saved.

"You may think you have made yourself invincible by gathering such allies, Deoxys, but you have not. You underestimate the power of the human and Pokemon spirit. Working together, there is no tyrant we cannot topple."

Deoxys rolled his eyes. "So a thousand heroes on a thousand worlds have said to me before their deaths. I see through your own attempts at deception as well, Mewtwo. I know you are stalling for time, waiting for some of the other allies the Unown have Chosen to fight with you against me. And I tell you now, most of them will not make it in time. The forces I've deployed around the globe should at least slow them down long enough for me to defeat you."

Mewtwo was startled, as were the others, who had been of the naive opinion that all Deoxys had done after his broadcast had come straight here. "What forces?"

"You didn't know?" Deoxys asked, feigning surprise. "After I shut down all the systems on Earth, I targeted and launched missiles, shock troops, and virus bombs at key locations across the globe. I'm surprised you didn't detect it, Mewtwo, I was almost certain you'd know about it. How very peculiar."

Mewtwo felt his blood run cold as he realized that somehow, Deoxys had outmaneuvered him again. How was he doing this! Could Deoxys' new Dark type or subtype be what was allowing the alien to plot and deploy without detection? But if so, shouldn't he have been able to sense it anyway, because of his own Dark subtype? Or was there something deeper and much more sinister going on… "Which key locations!"

Deoxys shrugged. "Major cities, military bases, reservoirs of important resources…and numerous smaller towns, just for fun."

"Like Hollywood!" Meowth said happily. "No more bad (or good, I suppose) movies, ever again!"

"And don't forget Pallet Town!" Alpha laughed. "We didn't send a missile there, but the virus bombs will be enough to turn everyone there into an infested zombie, who I will then kill at my leisure! Serves them right for never appreciating me enough!"

Delia gasped in horror, her heart almost stopping in dread. "No, not Pallet Town! Not Mimey!"

"All our friends are back there!" said a shocked Bayleef.

"Don't worry, the Professor's Omnian force field will keep everyone at the lab safe, I'm sure," Grovyle assured her.

"Actually, it won't," Deoxys informed him. "That force field keeps out hostile Pokemon and projectiles…but it can't detect anything as small as virus particles. By now, Pallet Town is a ghost town, with not a _living_ soul therein."

Zoro shook his head. "Dios mio…"

"No…" Delia whispered, her eyes tearing up. She had all but lost her son…she had lost her friend Samuel…and now she had lost her home and the mon she loved? It was too much for her. Hugging the stiff Max to her chest, she began to cry.

"Not Pallet Town," Misty agreed sadly, clamping her arms around her chest, hugging the trembling soul of Ash close to her breast.

"Brother Snorlax…Brother Heracross…Sister Noctowl…they can't…they can't really be gone, can they?" Phanphy asked in disbelief.

"Dammit…this is too much!" Pikachu cried. "All those people…our friends! How can you do this!"

"Because I choose to," said Deoxys. "I feed off pain and suffering. By invading the Earth, I have created a never-ending smorgasbord…as well as weakened the power supply of my true enemy, upon whom I am waiting eagerly so we may continue our destined battle."

"Deoxys, you've gone too far!" Mewtwo roared.

"Too far? My dear Mewtwo, I've just started," Deoxys said in amusement. "Just wait until the Mother arrives…then the fun truly begins."

"This is nothing but a warm-up," Omega informed them. "You insects are nothing before us!"

"I can't wait to see what reinforcements come, far too late to help out," Dark Latios said with a sinister smile. "Dearest sister, I believe your beloved King will be among them…I'd love to have a talk with the dragon who wanted to defile my sister before I had the chance…I wonder if he will still accept you after I am through with you? Hahahaha…"

Latias gasped. "The King is coming?"

"More's the pity," said Deoxys. "I sent my minions to slow his revival while I was molesting your mother...but he lives now, as you well know, and will stop at nothing to rejoin you."

"I still have the bruises to show for that attempt," Meowth complained. No one listened.

"Even he will have a hard time getting through the RPGenerator shield, though," Dark Latios continued. "And so the lovers shall never meet. It seems as if your romance is as doomed as you are, dear sister." Latias narrowed her eyes at him furiously.

"I've heard enough of this guy," Crawdaunt growled, snapping his pincers. "It's go time!"

"Si, I think it is time we put a stop to his evil!" agreed El Gato.

"So now you wish to challenge me? Very well." Leviathan uncurled from him and flew back into the light column, followed, surprisingly enough, by all the evil minions save Dark Latios. "Then come and get me…we will be waiting for you."

"Heeheeheehee…you won't stand a chance!" Mewgle cried before vanishing into the light.

"You cannot escape our vengeance, husband," the Shadow Lugia whispered before she and her son retreated, leaving the regular Lugia whimpering behind them.

"Okay Pikachu, this is gonna be our final battle!" Meowth sneered. "So bring it!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Pikachu said, not really concerned. "This'll be a piece of cake."

Meowth's face fell. "Can't you for once fear me and take me seriously?"

"No," said everyone who had ever encountered him, causing him to facefault. Growlie sympathetically bit his tail and dragged him back into the light beam, accidentally pulling him over every sharp rock in his path. Cerberus snickered before following them.

"Latias…" Dark Latios hissed. "You will fight me, won't you? You will kill me, or try to? I would expect nothing less from you, dear sister."

"I will annihilate you until there isn't so much as a molecule left over," Latias hissed.

The dark dragon cackled. "And I will rend your body, rape your mind, and make your soul my personal plaything…hahaha! Come then! I look forward eagerly to our duel!" He flew backwards, vanishing into the column.

"As do I, Mewtwo. Do not disappoint me," Deoxys said, twirling his trident.

"I do not intend to," Mewtwo said, narrowing his eyes. Deoxys chuckled, amused, and floated into the column, which remained the same dark color since Dark Latios had exited it.

"So, I'm guessing we go in there?" Bayleef said.

"No doubt," said Grovyle.

"Then let's go," said Pikachu. "It's time to make this bastard pay for all the things he's done!"

"And bring justice to those he has wronged!" agreed El Toro with a snort. "As a luchador, it is my duty to see this through!"

"And although May didn't actually manage to kill herself…we're going to avenge her anyway! Right, guys?" Combusken asked her teammates.

"Right!" they chorused. Max stirred at this.

"This is going to be one hell of a concert…" Jigglypuff commented.

"But we can take it! We're the world's first all-Pokemon rock band!" Geodude cried.

"Yeah, there's nothing we can't do!" agreed Onix.

"Sr…Leviathan…whoever…I can't let what Deoxys has done to you go unpunished…" Ho-Oh growled. "I'm coming!"

"Don't forget us," Aerodactyl said, smacking the phoenix with a wing.

"Yeah, this guy needs to be taken down!" agreed Plusle.

"Hard!" said Minun.

"Are you and Dad ready, mom?" Togetic asked Misty, fluttering onto her shoulder.

She nodded, taking Ash out of her shirt and holding him tightly in her hands. "I think so…I don't really want to go in there, but…there's nothing else we can do. This is why we're here, right?"

"Right!"

"Then let's do this!" said Brock. "Oh, and don't worry Mrs. Ketchum, I'll be okay!"

"Brock, why are you going?" Misty asked. "You don't even have any Pokemon left. What are you going to do, wail on those guys with your fists?"

Brock sweatdropped sheepishly. "Well, that was the idea…" Misty facefaulted.

"I see we have quite a few friends willing to help out," said an impressed Mewtwo.

"All of them want what we do: a world free of this monster's evil," Gardevoir said with a shrug.

"Or revenge," Latias added.

Gardevoir smiled. "Yes, that too."

Mewtwo nodded. "Very well then…we may not all be here, but there are enough of us to put up quite a fight! Deoxys doesn't stand a chance!" He pointed a ball-shaped finger at the column. "Onward! Into his castle we go!"

They started forward…and came to an abrupt halt as a powerful voice roared, "STOP!"

The air before them rippled and split open, for a moment becoming a hole in space through which three beings came through before closing shut. Latias blinked, surprised not only at the three's appearance—for they looked exactly like the legendary beasts, who she thought had fuses into Cerberus—but because of their strange auras, which had the mark of being altered or changed somehow. "Go no further until you hear our warning!"

Wes blinked. "Rui, am I seeing double or are those the three beasts, which I thought had become that Cerberus freak?"

"Yeah, I see them too," said the confused girl.

"Good, then it's not just me."

"Who are you?" asked Mewtwo.

"And if you want to fight us, you'll have to get in line!" Crawdaunt warned them, earning him a smack from Corsola.

"We are Papa, Mama, and Oniichan," the Entei lookalike said. "Sent here by the crystal Unown to fight alongside you as well as deliver an important message."

Delia blinked away tears. "Papa? Mama? Why does that sound familiar…"

"Are you related to Molly Hale?" asked a surprised Misty.

"Mmm, Molly Hale," Brock said, drooling as he recalled how hot she had looked as a teenager.

"We are her family," the Suicune, Mama, said. "We were made to love and protect her…and we shall do that by fighting Deoxys in her name, since she is unable to do so herself."

"Ah, I remember you now," Mewtwo said with a nod. "Very well. Tell us the message."

"You may not all go into the castle to battle Deoxys and his minions," Oniichan informed the group.

"What? Why not?" asked an annoyed El Lobo.

"Because you'll die," Oniichan said flatly. "Deoxys' castle is filled with the same DNA virus that's spreading across the planet now, infecting and transforming people into horrible monsters. If you all go in there, you'll be affected as well. Only the Chosen are immune, due to a genetic quirk which makes their immune systems capable of repelling the virus. That is why they were Chosen in the first place…to serve as a 'vaccine' of sorts to Deoxys' virus."

"Oh," said a surprised Rui. "That makes sense. I wouldn't want to become a monster."

"So that's why we were really Chosen?" Sadic murmured to herself. "Interesting."

"In that case, who _is _going?" Lugia asked, hoping he'd be excused so he wouldn't have to deal with his former family.

"All of the Pokemon originally Chosen," Papa said, sending Lugia spiraling down into despair. "Save for Ho-Oh, who has forsaken her duties and fled. You, however," he said, nodding to the male phoenix. "Possess that same unique immunity she did, thanks to a mutation in the common ancestor you both share. Therefore, you have been Chosen now to join us."

"I am honored…I think," grunted Ho-Oh.

"There were other Pokemon who possess this mutation which the Unown did not overtly Choose, so as to surprise Deoxys with their existence, but he somehow found out about most of them anyway and destroyed them. However, a few still remain, and they are either here now or will join us later, if they can," Mama said.

"The remaining Pokemon who possess this rare immunity and will thus be able to battle evil without fear of infection are: Aerodactyl, El Gato, Combusken, Blaziken, Charla, the three elemental birds, and Grovyle," said Oniichan.

Moltres looked up from pecking at Articuno's head while the ice bird clawed at Zapdos' chest and Zapdos was shocking Moltres. "Did somebody say our names?"

_What! He's with us too!_ Bulbasaur thought angrily as Bayleef hugged Grovyle in mixed relief and sadness, knowing he was putting his life on the line. _Dammit, stop thinking like that…jealousy won't get you anywhere…ooh, but I hate him so much!_

"Sorry guys," Aerodactyl said to the two electric mice. "Guess it's just me and Ho-Oh."

"Don't worry," Plusle assured him. "We'll cheer you from the sidelines!"

"Yeah!" said Minun. "We've been working on a new one we're sure you'll like!"

"Ooh! You guys are cheerleaders?" Politoed asked enthusiastically, stars in his eyes. "This is great! Now I finally have some friends who understand how much I love my profession!"

"You're a cheerleader too?" asked the surprised Plusle.

"That's great!" said Minun. "Then you can help us out!"

"I'd love to!" said Politoed, and a new friendship is born.

"Hey wait, what about us humans?" Wes asked, somewhat miffed. "We can't go in?"

"No," said Papa flatly.

"Why not?" asked an offended Zoro.

"Two reasons: one, you lack the special mutation that would make you immune to Deoxys' virus. Two, you'd die. Horribly. Whatever fighting skills you think you have won't be enough. This is a matter for Pokemon."

Wes grumbled and folded his arms, cursing, swearing, and having a downright fit under his breath before finally saying, "This stinks."

"Oh well, at least we get to be on the sidelines for once," Rui told him. "That's a new experience for us, isn't it?"

"Don't you dare remind me."

Misty sighed. "Nothing new for us, though…oh well."

"Don't worry, mom," Togetic told her mother. "It's safer for you out here. Besides, it'd probably be a bad idea to take dad anywhere near Deoxys in his condition." The iridescent ball of light nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Do not worry, compadre," El Gato told his trainer. "_El Raton_ and I will be unbeatable together!"

"Don't call me a raton," Pikachu said flatly.

"We wish you much strength in battle," El Toro said, bowing his head.

"And this is a little something from me," Rosa said, tip-toeing over and kissing the startled El Gato on the cheek. "For good luck, and to give you something to look forward to when you get back." The cat flushed and nearly fainted, while El Lobo wolf-whistled.

"Rosa, you flirt!" joked Zoro in amusement. "And here I thought you liked me! Ah well, such is life."

"Hey, what about us?" Mudkip asked from inside the Exploudrematic. "We're not Chosen, other than Onix, Geodude, and Jigglypuff. Does that mean we have to stay behind?"

"Your robot's thick hull and self-contained recycling atmosphere should protect you from the virus," Papa told the Pokerockers. "So you may all come if you wish."

"Oh, good," said Jigglypuff in relief. "I would have hated to break up the band."

"Yeah, that can't happen until we've made millions of records and become too arrogant and self-centered to work with each other," the Electabuzz said. "We haven't hit that stage yet."

"Guys, I promise I'll avenge May!" Combusken told her friends.

"We'll be rooting for you," Ivysaur promised.

"Go kill them for Yellow!" Delcatty shrieked, hissing at the thought of the Alpha Ranger, who had unjustly escaped his fate.

"Hey, wait for us!" a female voice cried. A Cacturne and a very morose-looking Wobbuffet came up to the group. "We need to fight as well!"

Latias blinked, recognizing the blue blob. "Wobbuffet? Is that you?"

"Hey, we haven't seen you for ages! Not since we blasted you off on the ferry on the way to Ever Grande!" said a surprised Bayleef. "How are you?"

"…" He looked down at something he clutched tightly in his right hand.

Bayleef sweatdropped. "That bad, huh?"

"You have suffered greatly because of Deoxys, haven't you?" Mewtwo guessed.

Wobbuffet nodded slowly. "He destroyed Wobbuffet's island of birth, killed his people and girlfriend, and kidnapped his sister," Cacturne said sadly.

"That gives us just one more reason to hate the guy…" Gyarados growled.

"In that case, you're welcome to join us," Crawdaunt told the blob. "I mean, other than the fact that you're Chosen and have to come. Yeah. Just don't get in the way." Corsola smacked him for saying this.

"You will have to stay behind, though," Mama told Cacturne. "You lack the genetic mutation which would render you immune to the virus infesting Deoxys' fortress."

"What!" Cacturne said in disbelief. "But I have to come! I-"

"It's okay," Wobbuffet said quietly, startling the cactus. His voice was rough and hoarse from a couple of days without use. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, we'll take care of him," Latias assured Cacturne. "Right, guys?"

"Do we have to?" Grovyle asked uncomfortably, not very fond of Wobbuffet since it had been the blob's team of incompetent Ciphers that had captured him and doomed him to Shadow Pokemonhood. This resulted in a slap from Bayleef, and a grin from Bulbasaur, which was quickly concealed. "Ow! Okay, okay, welcome aboard!"

"…Thanks." Wobbuffet shuffled over to join them.

"Are we all set, then?" Mewtwo asked, looking around at the Chosen Pokemon gathered around him. He received determined stares from most of them. They were scared, yes, but they knew they had no choice but to do this. (And were also aware that if they tried to back out, they'd be forced to fight, either by the crystal beasts or by those who were more willing to fight.) "Then let us be off."

"Take care of my baby," Tyranitar told Misty, handing her Larvitar. "If anything happens to him, I will eat you."

Misty nodded. "I understand perfectly. I would do the same thing." They smiled at each other, mother to mother, before the large reptile turned and joined her comrades.

"Goodbye! Good luck!" Rui cried, waving to the group of Chosen heroes as they walked or stomped or slithered or flew towards the foreboding pillar of light leading up into Deoxy's castle.

"Yeah, since they'll definitely need it," grunted Wes, still miffed that he was forbidden to go. He paused, getting a sudden thought. "Hey, Lugia, do you have a minute?" He walked over to the cringing seabird.

"El Gato, we are all counting on you!" Zoro cried. "Our honor is at stake!"

"Si! Come back to us!" Rosa called to him.

"And if you die, I'll take good care of Rosa!" Lobo howled, which earned him a thorny slap from the Roselia.

"Say goodbye to our champions, Max!" Delia told the stiff, nearly comatose Max. When he didn't respond, she grabbed his arm, raised it, and waved it by the wrist. "Goodbye, champions!" she said out of the corner of her mouth in an attempt to mimic Max's voice.

_This is it,_ Latias thought to herself, staring up into the dark column as they reached its base. _My life's journey, despite its twists and turns, seems to have always meant to come to this point._ The thought of Dark Latios flashed through her mind. _Dark Latios…whatever you are, I know you are not my brother. In honor of his memory, I will defeat you._

"Is something the matter, Latias?" Mewtwo asked her.

"Hmm? No, just prepping myself," she told him quickly.

"Hmm…as am I," said Mewtwo, who was deep in thought as well, trying to fathom just how Deoxys had managed to work around him so many times already in carrying out his plans. He sighed; realizing if he was ever going to figure it out, it would have to be soon, because they were only moments away from fighting the alien. "Let's go." He stepped into the light and vanished. Gardevoir, not fazed by the column's air of foreboding, stepped in after him, followed by Latias. One by one, the heroes Chosen to save the Earth entered the light, and were whisked up to Deoxys' castle overhead, where their destined battle would take place. The crystal beasts went into the light last, after the immense forms of the Exploudrematic and its companion mecha Gardua, only to run out moments later, grab the three squabbling legendary birds by their wings, and drag them forcibly back into the light, vanishing for good.

Which left their friends and trainers alone, waiting and watching expectantly. "Give me a C!" Politoed cried.

"C!" shouted May's Pokemon.

"Give me an H!"

"H!"

"Give me an O-S-E-N!

"O-S-E-N!"

"What does that spell?"

"Chosen!"

"That's right!" Politoed, Plusle and Minun started shaking pom-poms. "Chosen, Chosen, you're the ones, you're the ones who'll save our buns! Show that Deoxys what you can do, and we'll have celebrations up the wazoo! Goooo Chosen!" Plusle and Minun finished this cheer by firing colorful electric sparks into the air.

Wes groaned and put his face in his hands. "Oy. Why couldn't they be tough fighters instead of cheerleaders?"

"I think they're kind of cute," Rui giggled.

"I know, that's the problem."

"Wobbuffet…" Cacturne said, staring up at the crystalline ball of death floating above them. "Be careful."

"So, this is it," Brock said, staring upward. "The final battle."

"Yep," said Misty with a nod.

"You know, we may not get another chance, so…" he said slowly. "Would you mind having sex with me, since it's the end of the world and all? I'd ask someone else, but Rui's guarded by Wes, Delia's engaged, and I don't want to do a Pokemon, so I have no choice but to ask you, my dear friend, for help in this matter…even if I'd rather do it with someone a little prettier. Will you please do it with me? We'll never get another chance, and I don't wanna die a virgin!"

Misty's eyes flared, and Ash's soul flew out of her hands, throbbing with rage. "Well that's too bad, because I can safely say that that's exactly what's going to happen…right NOW!"

Brock ran, screaming, as the two chased after him. "I thought it was a reasonable thing to ask! WAAAHHHH!"

Delia laughed quietly, looked down at the half-dead boy in her arms, sighed, and looked upwards. "Good luck, all of you," she whispered. "Because you're the only hope we've got left." _Mimey_…_if you're still alive…hang on a little longer…please, for all of us…and for me._

The evil castle hovered above them as the super-cell storm continued to build ominously. Whatever battles raged within left no mark on the structure's twisted exterior. But whatever outcome occurred, for good or for evil, the world would never be the same.

The battle of the Chosen had begun.

…

And with that, we begin the big war. Witness Deoxys and the Chosen battle it out for the fate of the world, starting…next chapter. See you then!


	56. Battle of the Chosen: Into the Abyss

Here we are, ladies and gentlemen. The battle you've all been waiting for. I hope it's what you expected (because I don't know if it is), because either way, this is where it begins.

Disclaimer: I own all mutations and hideous abominations. Sadic and Dark Latios are owned by DiamondLatias3000, who graciously let me use them. All other characters belong to a heck of a lot of other people I can't be bothered to list right now. The idea for Omega's arena came from a book written by Tim Powers. Alpha's arena is part of Pokemon XD (sort of). Dark Latios' area is partially inspired by a book based on a Blizzard computer game. Mewgle's lyrics are adapted from one of Squaresoft's most famous villains, and his battle body belongs to a certain Capcom game. Everything else, I came up with on my own.

…

Earth's fate was eclipsed.

The skies were darkened by a terrible, churning storm, boiling to the point of overflow, on the very brink of bursting and raining death and destruction upon the much-abused world's soil.

Cities crumbled. Forests burned. Rivers went dry or were choked with pollution and death.

They were everywhere. Hideous, demonic undead creatures, twisted perversions of Pokemon, disgusting facsimiles of humanity, and clones of the one behind it all. They numbered in the millions as they stormed across the planet, killing and raping and adding the dead to their ranks as they consumed soul after soul to feed their master.

They burned the forests, causing wild Pokemon to flee for their lives into deadly ambushes. Those who did not flee died futilely, taking down many of the foe as they fell—not even leaving a dent in the ever-growing army of the dead.

They plagued the skies, dropping virus bombs and pollution on the helpless below, poisoning them and twisting them into more abominations. Those who flew were knocked from the sky, made to plummet on the rocks far below.

They invaded the seas, either blasting the oceans with huge electric blasts or hunting and eviscerating the aquatic Pokemon in their own element. None who swam could escape their wrath.

Many fought. Many died. And still the death count grew as gas from virus bombs, containing trillions upon trillions of virus particles crafted by the mastermind himself, swept over the land, overtaking all who ran before it, swelling and strengthening as they feared it. They succumbed quickly as the virus sank into their skin and ate at their lungs, consuming their flesh, wreaking havoc with their DNA, ripping their souls from their bodies and plummeting them into the depths of hell, and then forcing the ravaged, diseased, mutated bodies to arise and seek out new victims to kill, to infect, to consume.

Pallet Town didn't stand a chance. Within five minutes, every human and Pokemon in the small hamlet was infected and painfully transformed into soulless monsters. Delia's fiancée Mimey, Ash's Pokemon at Professor Oak's lab, and hundreds more joined the ranks of the dead and marched on the remains of Viridian City, where those who had managed to survive the orbital missile which had struck attempted to flee for their lives and ran right into the waiting arms of the damned.

Only two places on all the Earth were free from this invasion. One of them was the region of Sevii. The Sevii Isles were the only spot where the sun still shone and the legions of evil did not intrude. Instead, they encircled the archipelago, allowing none to enter and none to exit the peaceful isles.

The normally peaceful inhabitants had taken up arms and stood on their island shores as if they had been anticipating this all their lives, human and Pokemon alike staring without fear at the monsters waiting just outside their borders. The air was filled with a strange energy that left the many tourists who had been fortunate to be trapped there when the army came feeling oddly hopeful, as if something wondrous, no, _miraculous_, was going to happen.

And in the deepest, unseen heart of Sevii, something miraculous was indeed happening as a heretofore unknown faction made their own final preparations to survive this, Earth's darkest hour.

The second spot where the soulless army did not march upon the broken bones of civilization was Ever Grande City…but in many ways, it was in even more danger than almost every other place on Earth, for the instigator of this global threat was there in person.

Deoxys' castle, a huge spherical mass of jutting crystal shards and broken angles of pain and despair floated above the oil rig in the center of the city. A shimmering, spherical shield surrounded the castle, looking exactly the same as the giant dome of light which encased the entire city and trapped its inhabitants, most of whom were sleeping peacefully in their beds thanks to Mewtwo's psychic influence, inside. In fact, the reason the shields looked the same was quite simple—they _were_ the same. Both of them were RPGenerator fields, special areas where reality could be altered to satisfy the will of the field's creator. The first field cut the people of Ever Grande off from the rest of the world, while the second sealed the castle and those who had entered from those who would wish to help them.

They stood in the park below, staring upwards with fear, anticipation, disgruntlement, and hope, praying to whatever gods there were (if there were indeed any) that their friends would pull through, and they would live to see another day.

And in a dark alley, a pair of crazed eyes stared out, feeling nothing less than rapture as they gazed upon the floating monument to agonizing nonexistence…

…

Mewtwo cried out as he fell, adrenaline and terror rushing through him, panicking and trying to grab onto something or levitate, but something was wrong, his powers weren't working. And his body didn't feel quite right, either…too small, too feeble, and altogether too weak. He felt fear as well, not just that his powers weren't working, not just that he was falling and it was dark but because…well, just because. He was scared, and he did not know why.

He could vaguely make out, in the gloom dimly lit by the three suns far above, that another figure was falling close to him, but he couldn't make it out. And at the moment, he was too confused, worried, and terrified to care.

_Where are we? What's going on? Where is Deoxys!_ He questioned frantically, trying and failing to stop his descent to the strange, shifting landmass below. _And once again, what is _wrong _with me!_

He landed with a thud in something soft, wet…and _moving_. He gasped in fear and disgust as he felt the sensation of the surface he had landed on undulating beneath him, and felt a vague sense of déjà vu as he recalled the time he had accidentally fallen into a huge pile of Wurmple larva on one of his travels. The smell was…truly horrible, making him think of a dead caravan he had once found in the desert prior to his fateful first encounter with Deoxys and introduction to Gardevoir. The caravan had been untouched by Skarmory because it was next to an extremely poisonous spring, so the sun-rotted corpses reeked of the dehydrating venom fumes as well as the usual stink of flesh, alerting them that this would not make a good meal. This place smelled somewhat like that, but at the same time of something worse, something much, much fouler.

He tried to radiate light, or levitate off this grotesque mystery, but found he could not. He felt a strange sense of fatigue and weakness as the forms beneath him shifted and moved, and his fur bristled, feeling much shorter than he remembered. Confused and more than a little worried, he blinked a few times, adjusting his purple eyes to see in the dim light barely illuminating this…place. As a feline (of sorts) he naturally would have little problem seeing in the dark. He felt silly at himself for being too frightened during the fall to have remembered that. What had he been afraid of, anyway? A little falling and darkness had never scared him before…really; his nerves must have just been rubbed a little too raw after being in Deoxys' presence and having to listen to that gruesome story of Dark Latios' birth. There was probably little to worry about, just the alien trying to mess with his head, he told himself as his eyes refocused and he got a good look around him.

When he did see where he was, he gasped and was filled with fear even greater than before, a sense of sheer, numbing terror nearly rivaling what he had felt when he had found himself deep within Deoxys' consciousness earlier.

Everywhere, as far as his night vision could see, were bodies. Tortured, scarred, twisted bodies of every species of creature imaginable, human, Pokemon and things so alien she had no name for them. They were all moaning in pain, their toothless mouths gaping hungrily while their empty eye sockets wept blood, their broken arms thrashing weakly about, reaching up at the light emanating from the three suns far, far above, their fingers splayed and broken, drenched in blood and bodily fluids. They crawled and writhed and bit each other, moaning and suffering without end, these tortured souls trapped forever in a prison without escape, denied peace and trapped within dead bodies that did not wish to be dead.

Mewtwo was snapped out of his horror-induced shock by two stimuli. One was how many of the not-dead bodies had taken notice of him and were now reaching towards him with their weak, decayed limbs, wishing to pull him down into the depths of their suffering, which was as deep as the ocean of souls itself.

The second stimulus was a familiar (though oddly shrill) female scream from nearby, which Mewtwo recognized at once. "GARDEVOIR!" he cried, wondering right after he cried out why his voice had sounded so frail and tinny, nothing like the confident and powerful tone he was used to.

He immediately headed towards the shriek, pulling himself out of the mess of bodies that were already starting to drag him down, slapping their flailing arms away with his tail as he ran across their backs and bounced off their heads, slipping quite a few more times than he would ever admit later on if he got out of this mess on the slick blood and bodily fluids covering the damned, always managing to pull himself up and continue heading towards Gardevoir's continuous, and strangely shrill, screams, wondering why his legs felt shorter than he remembered.

He found her soon enough, being pulled under by the lost souls…except that she was not a Gardevoir at all, but a Ralts, thoroughly confusing Mewtwo and causing him to stop in his tracks, inadvertently kicking the head of a soul in front of him. What was a Ralts doing here?

The small Pokemon looked up as she was pulled down to her shoulders, her face revealed underneath her thick green hair, revealing a half-formed mouth, a single red eye, and numerous other wrinkles and deformities characteristic to only one other person Mewtwo knew. "Help me!" the Ralts cried, her soft shrill voice filled with terror and hope, as well as being slurred slightly by her misshapen mouth and slightly underdeveloped vocal cords.

"Hold on!" His arms shot out just as her head was pulled under, grabbing her by the red horns on top of her head, and pulled her out (noticing as he did so that not only did he need to exert more effort than he would have expected to wrench her from the grasp of the damned, but his arms were much shorter and thinner than he remembered). "I've got you!" he cried, nearly falling back from both the effort of unearthing her as well as how surprisingly heavy she felt to him.

She blinked in surprise. "Mewtwo?"

"Yes, who else would I be?"

"But you're…young!"

He blinked, unconsciously knocking away flailing limbs with his tail and shifting his balance to keep from tumbling off the back of the…unidentifiable body he was on. "Young?" He looked down at himself. "Hmm. I suppose that explains why my powers aren't working, why I'm much smaller than I've been in a long time, and why I feel so, well, weak."

"And why I'm small too," Garedevoir—no, Ralts—realized. "What-"

Mewtwo yelped and almost toppled over as the thing beneath him lurched, pulled down by stronger forces underneath it and bringing the duo closer to the grasping arms. "No time! We have to get out of here!" He slung her onto his back, eliciting a gasp from her, and leaped off the…thing he had been on before it sunk totally under, landing on something else's head, bouncing off, and dashing off across the endless sea of bodies, hopping on backs, kicking in skulls, and deflecting arms.

Unfortunately, once again Mewtwo's weaker legs and the slickness of the surface he was running on came into play and he tripped, falling flat on his face and throwing Ralts off his back. "Aaaahhh!"

"No!" Desperate, he lunged forward, grabbing her before she could fall into the gaping jaws of an especially large zombie-damned soul-thing…and fell right into the waiting arms of all the rest. He struggled and kicked and fought, but there were too many now, and he had lost his momentum. He bit one of them, and wished he hadn't, gagging and convulsing so much from the taste that more damned were able to grab him from below, giving them the strength necessary to pull him under. Frantic, he kicked and thrashed about, thrusting Ralts into the air with his free arm (which probably couldn't hold her up for much longer, due to her weight and its youngling weakness) and screamed "HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP US!"

Amazingly, someone heard their cries. What looked astonishingly like a very large red and white life preserver hurtled out of the air on a long rope, landing with a smack nearby, right on top of something that looked rather a lot like a mutilated humanoid maggot's head. "Grab on!" a voice cried out.

Mewtwo instantly threw Ralts at the life preserver, placing her safety over his own. The small white creature landed on the rubbery surface of the life preserver and almost slid off, scrambling to find purchase on the device before managing to catch herself on the edge dividing a red section from a white section, hanging on so tightly that her little nails dug gouges into the life-saving ring. She thought she heard a grunt, but disregarded it, thinking it to be one of the damned souls trying to get a grip on the life preserver and failing, merely succeeding in gently rocking it about.

Seeing Ralts was safe, Mewtwo summoned renewed strength, kicking hard at the appendages holding him until they broke and fell away, slamming his diminutive hands on top of a pair of bald heads leaning towards him and pushing off, tearing himself out of the mass of bodies and launching into the air, neatly landing in the hole in the center of the life preserver, nestling into it comfortably. He gave a sigh in relief…

Until suddenly pearly white spikes shot out of the inner surface of the life preserver and buried themselves in his sides, causing him to cry out in pain and Ralts to gasp in horror. The round tube growled, and two inconspicuous bumps which both Pokemon had thought to be merely valves to let air in and out rose into the air on long stalks, blinking open and revealing bloodshot orbs. The false preserver chuckled, digging its teeth deeper into Mewtwo as it rumbled and said, in the same voice which had told them to grab on, "Gotcha."

There was a tug on the connecting rope, which the pain-wracked Mewtwo at last realized was some sort of tentacle or umbilical cord, and the life preserver retracted back the way it had came with a sudden jerk, dragging the two captives with it at rapid speeds. Mewtwo gritted his teeth as blood welled up from where the teeth were buried and as the damned tried to grab him as he was pulled over them at rapid speeds, tearing at his flesh with their teeth and claws and filthy nails, ripping off bits of fur and cutting into his skin, causing streaks of blood to run down his white legs and purple tail.

Ralts, who had barely managed to hang on when the life preserver had abruptly taken off, crawled up to the inner part of the tube and tugged on a tooth weakly, trying and failing to pull it out. When that failed, she angrily kicked one of the monster's eyestalks at its base, only causing it to laugh. "Hahaha! That all you got, kid? You call that anger? Wait'll you see where you're going! Hahahaha! You think this place is bad, wait'll we reach the ship!"

Mewtwo blinked, his thought process dulled slightly by the teeth biting into his waist. "The ship?" Of course, he thought, feeling ashamed of himself for not seeing it before. Wherever there was a life preserver, there had to be a boat of some sort. But what kind of boat sailed in 'waters' such as these?

When Ralts gasped again, and the life preserver twisted around to allow Mewtwo a better look, the psychic found out the answer to his question.

From a quick cursory glance, it would look a lot like your typical pirate galleon, the kind Mewtwo had seen in some of the more child-oriented books among the small library back in the Cleft. A closer and more reluctant examination showed the galleon was much, much worse than some fantasy of pirates and buried treasure.

It looked almost like a thing alive, grown specifically to take the form of a boat. Its hull was red, not because of paint, but because instead of wood or metal it was made out of raw muscle tissue held together by rib bones almost ten times the size of Kyogre's, both secreting blood and collecting it as several oars protruding from the muscles between the ribs, looking more like stiffened flagellum with ends like hemispherical blades made of polished bone, slashed into the moaning damned that made up this vast 'ocean', chopping them to pieces with every oar stroke accompanied by agonizing screams and splattering blood and other things against the boat's hull.

From the ship's prow extended a large fleshy figurehead that looked disturbingly like Deoxys. It was animated, or at least automated, as its long, clawed arms moved methodically and repeatedly, scooping the damned bodies before the ship and pushing them into the pair of huge spiked cylinders merrily spinning in their setting underneath the figurehead's base, where the bodies were ground and shredded into miniscule particles of blood and gore that splattered the ship's front, passed through its innards, and were unceremoniously ejected from a gaping sore at the stern of the boat, where they wafted out in a thin red mist across the sea as more damned souls crawled up to replace the ones who had been shredded and consumed by the ship.

The ship's railings were made of bone and viscera lashed together with muscle tissue and other biological goodies, spiked with severed heads impaled on their tips. Underneath the railings were several open, oozing sores in rows along the ship's side with what looked like very large blisters emerging from them, possibly the galleon's set of cannons.

Three tall, thick masts rose from the ship's deck, made from the spinal cords of some unknown giant beast. Each mast had three very large sails, their colors a chaotic array for they were made from the scalps of thousands of different sentient species sewn together in a mottled mess. The sails were blown out to their full size, causing them to strain at the numerous mooring ropes holding them in place (made from dried-out intestines) which was rather odd since neither of the two passengers rapidly approaching the ship could feel any wind blowing across this hellish sea.

Shapeless, nightmarish horrors scurried about here and there on the deck, in the sails, and around the large and ominous black cabin rising from the boat's back end, tightening knots, swabbing the deck with thinned blood and stomach acids, and generally doing all the things your average sailor did when at sea. Some of them had noticed the two living souls rapidly approaching on the life preserver, whose cord was being retracted into a blister on the deck near the railing, and were cackling and rubbing their hands (or tentacles, or claws, or things too disturbing and alien to label) with glee.

Trembling, Ralts hugged Mewtwo's arm. "It-it's horrible," she gasped.

Mewtwo was inclined to agree. He wondered if perhaps they would have been better off drowning in the sea of the damned.

…

The chamber was tall and vast, its bloodstained walls reaching up to a ceiling enshrouded in darkness far above. The walls were covered in various reliefs of horrors that a person generally avoided looking at. The floor was composed of the packed-together bones of countless creatures, with various pools of some liquid that smelled a lot like blood and gore and violence scattered about here and there. Torches lit the room, flames smelling of brimstone crackling in holders crafted from various alien skulls. The back of the room was centered around a massive iron gate, over a hundred feet tall (and only twenty wide) with hinges covered with rust that looked more like bloodstains, a pair of thick handles halfway up, and doors carved with horrible images similar to the ones on the walls.

All and all, it looked pretty nasty, but as hellscapes go it was pretty mediocre. It still made a big impression on the dumbstruck Articuno, who had never been in a place like this before. "Whoa…wh-where are we?"

"Somewhere in Deoxys' castle," Papa said, glaring at the scenery. "And at the same time, elsewhere…in the realm that is his true home."

Articuno blinked. "Deoxys? Who's that?"

The three artificial beasts sweatdropped. "Please tell me you're joking," Mama said in disbelief. "You mean to say you missed everything that's happened in the last half hour or so? The giant crystal ball dropping from the sky? The ultimate incarnation of evil arriving and introducing his ranks of generals? Him blasting you three birds to keep you from fighting?"

"Oh, the last bit I remember," Articuno admonished. "But I didn't pay attention to any of that other stuff, because Moltres and Zapdos were pissing me off (as usual) so I wanted them to shut their beaks!"

The beasts sweatdropped again. "I'm so glad we are in unison, unlike those three," Oniichan said dully.

"Yeah, being in unison is a great thing, isn't it?" roared Cerberus as it dropped from the ceiling, shaking the floor as it hit the ground. "You three losers should try it more often!"

Articuno squawked in fright. "Wh-who's that!"

"Cerberus, evil general and servant of Deoxys," Papa growled. "And our enemy. We must defeat them. That's all you need to know."

"Heheheheh…" Cerberus chuckled. "We'd like to see you try! We thought we banished you to the gap between dimensions, from which there's no escape!"

"Ha! Somebody should have told us that, then!" Oniichan boasted.

Cerberus sweatdropped. "We DID tell you."

Oniichan facefaulted. "Oh. Right. Eheh." Papa and Mama sweatdropped, and Articuno was very confused.

"Well, it doesn't matter…" Cerberus said, all three heads grinning in expectancy. "Because soon enough, you'll either be sent back there…or you'll be dead once and for all! You lowly copies are nothing compared to us, the originals!"

"Original and clone makes no difference," Suicune lectured. "As a great Pokemon once said, it is not the circumstances of one's birth that matters, but what you choose to do with that life! We were made out of an innocent little girl's (Cerberus snorted at the innocent part) desire for friendship and protection! We embody all the traits that you, as legendary Pokemon, used to have…and abandoned!"

Cerberus laughed. "You stupid bitch! We were never as great as legends said we were! They're just that—legends! Fairytales told to little trainers to make them want to grow up and catch us or believe that Ho-Oh, and us as her emissaries, were sacred and to be obeyed! The legendary beasts you speak of don't exist, and never did!"

"Then we shall take their places and make those legends real!" Papa roared.

"For Molly, and for Earth!" Mama agreed.

Oniichan gave a mighty battle cry, echoing off the walls as he lunged at Cerberus. The three-headed demon returned that battle cry from three throats and charged forward, its mighty weight shaking the chamber as it came to meet the copy Raikou.

Papa and Mama dashed forward, joining Oniichan's side. The three of them began to glow their respective colors of red, blue, and yellow as they leaped at Cerberus, slamming into the monster's faces and cracking their three crystal masks.

Cerberus reeled back, roaring more out of surprise than pain. "Wh-what! How can this be!"

"We have grown stronger since last we fought!" Papa roared, his red glow changing into a blazing aura of flame.

"And this time, we shall triumph!" Mama howled, her blue aura intensifying.

"Cerberus, you die this day!" Oniichan declared, his yellow glow bursting into a crackling veil of electricity which covered him as he lunged at one of Cerberus' jugulars with a Volt Tackle.

Enraged, Cerberus swatted him away with a paw, and struck the trio with a triple elemental blast, pushing them back. "Fools!" the corrupted beast roared. "You are nothing! Copies based upon a story without substance or meaning, as hollow as a cast-off sea shell! We will snap your pathetic ideals in two!"

"Not as long as we still draw breath!" Papa challenged, launching a Fire Blast at Cerberus' Entei head.

"A problem easily mended!" Cerberus replied, dissipating the Fire Blast with a swipe of its forepaws before slamming them down on the ground, causing pillars of fire, electricity, and water to erupt from the ground and close in on the three copy beasts, who all showed their incredible speed as they bounded quickly out of the way, causing the pillars to converge on each other by accident and explode, as they kicked off the walls and lunged at Cerberus' sides and back, causing it to howl in anger as they tried to attack from all fronts.

Articuno sweatdropped and started tip-toeing away. "Well, I can see I'm not needed here. I'll jut be going-"

"GET BACK HERE!" the three beasts roared as they clawed and tore at their nemesis before Cerberus knocked them off with swift strikes from its versatile tails.

"Eep! Coming!" Very reluctantly, Articuno came back to join the fight, wondering just what the heck she had gotten herself into.

…

Chills ran down Lugia's spine as he stood on the rocky shore, watching the placid blue waves splash against the stones as the tide rose and fell.

He was on a fairly small, rocky island, one rather unimpressive save for one thing: for a few centuries, it had been the place his wife and son had called home, and he had as well in the last month.

It looked just as it had before that fateful day, before Deoxys had played his trick and deceived Lugia into murdering his own family. Because of that knowledge, Lugia could feel no peace as he stood here. Instead of memories of love and happiness with his family, all he could remember was pain, the screams of Silver and his mate as he murdered them, and of the thousands of deaths he had inflicted on himself in his nightmares since that day.

"Do you remember this place, lover?" his mate whispered, her dark head craning over his shoulder to rest next to his. "Do you remember it?"

"Yes," he said weakly. "This is…was…our home."

"And the place of our betrayal," she crooned, licking his cheek. "Where you broke the vows you swore so long ago as you sentenced us to death. Do you remember those vows, dearest?"

He nodded weakly, closing his eyes. He _did_ remember. How could he possibly forget?

_A very long time ago…_

_They lay next to each other on the rocks underneath the moon, sweaty from their exertions. The male stared at her, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and smiled._

"_What is it?" she asked, her voice tired yet still active, noticing his smile._

"_Nothing."_

"_Come on, tell me. I performed well, didn't I?"_

"_Oh, better than well," he said quickly._

"_Well, I should hope so," she joked._

"_I was just thinking that, well…" he shrugged. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."_

_She smiled wryly. "I didn't know I was _that _good."_

_This prompted a deep belly laugh from the Deep Pokemon. "You are that good, and more," he promised her. He leaned his neck over, nuzzling her cheek. "I love you."_

"_I love you too."_

"_I never want to leave you."_

"_Then don't."_

_He paused. "I'm not sure it's that simple. Ho-Oh's been acting rather strange lately…there have been rumblings that she wants me out of Johto."_

_She shrugged. "Then I'll come with you."_

_He blinked at her in surprise. "You will?"_

"_Of course."_ _She patted her belly. "I wouldn't want our child to grow up without a father, would I?"_

_Lugia smiled, rubbing the warm bulge in her chest softly. "Neither would I." He paused, then looked deep into her eyes. "I promise you that nothing, not even Ho-Oh, will separate our family."_

_She smiled and kissed him, long and passionately._

_The next day he was banished from Johto and exiled to the Orange Islands. Ho-Oh and her three minions showed up in person to escort him to his new home._

_His mate, naturally, did not take this well. When she found out that she was to remain here, she screamed and tried to attack Ho-Oh. Had Lugia not intervened, she, and the precious egg she carried, would have no doubt been killed without a second thought. Nevertheless, she did not leave unpunished, as Ho-Oh sentenced her to remain forever in the Whirl Islands, so she couldn't even go to visit her mate. "But," the cruel bitch-phoenix said with an evil smile on her beak. "To prove I am not so cruel as you believe me, I will allow him to visit you on certain dates, when the migration patterns of all three of his new wards take them in separate ways, so there's no risk of them running into each other and getting into a fight."_

"_And how often will that happen?" Lugia demanded._

_She smirked. "Oh, fairly often, once every hundred years or so."_

"_What!" both Lugias cried in alarm._

"_But…but I am expecting a child!" the male shouted._

_Ho-Oh's eyes flashed. "Are you now?" she growled, and Lugia realized he had said the wrong thing, foolishly forgetting how Ho-Oh's own madness had begun due to her inability to bear offspring. _

_She smiled. It was not a nice smile. "Well then, how unfortunate that you will miss its birth…but the birds need watching, and you're the only one who can do it, Lugia. You'd better get going."_

"_No! He can't-" the female started._

"_No!" her mate said, spreading a wing. He understood Ho-Oh's concealed threat. If he didn't leave, she would make certain that he had no child…and no mate either. "I…I must go."_

"_What!" she cried, startled._

_He could not meet her eyes. "I…I'm sorry. It's for your own good."_

"_How can abandoning me possibly be for my own good!" she screamed._

"_Because if I do not, then you will die this day." Her eyes widened as she realized this. "And so I must go. For you…and for our child."_

"…" _She closed her eyes, struggling to hold back tears. "I shall miss you, my love."_

"_And I too." He closed his eyes. "I…promise…that I will return."_

"_And so you will," Ho-Oh agreed. "But that day is not today. Come along, Lugia. Don't worry, a hundred years will pass in no time at all."_

_And so they left. And those first hundred years were the longest of his life, as he got accustomed to his new role, the unruly birds who made his life miserable, and the annoying islanders who seemed to think of him as some sort of deity. But eventually, he was indeed able to return…only for his hopes to be shattered._

_Ho-Oh had waited for his beloved to finally give birth before striking, sending Suicune to crush the egg while its mother slept. Lugia had no son or daughter to greet him as he came home, only a miserable, lonely, and rather bitter female._

_In time, they were able to move past this, and on a future visit conceived Silver in secret. Ho-Oh never found out, or if she did, had lost interest and did nothing to impede their happiness, save to pull Lugia away again. Perhaps that was why she had spared the egg…so its father would agonize for the rest of his days how he had missed the birth of his son._

…

"You broke that vow, not once, but twice," the female hissed soothingly, pressing herself against Lugia's back as if she wished to mount him. "Once when you left me to protect our first child, and it was killed anyway. And the second time when you returned for good, and said that nothing like this would ever happen again." Her eyes narrowed. "You lied. You killed us. The separation we felt before was nothing compared to what we experienced as Deoxys took us and made us his own."

"You broke a promise to me too, remember Daddy?" Silver asked his father, flapping down from a rocky overhang.

Lugia cringed, remembering this promise as well…

…

_Lugia and Silver were lying belly-up on the shores to absorb the sun's warmth, wet and weary from the hours and hours they had spent playing in the ocean's depths, but very happy to have spent time together._

"_Daddy?" Silver asked timidly, looking up at his immense, powerful father with wide brown eyes full of love and admiration._

"_Yes, my son?" Lugia asked gently, looking at the tiny bird which was his most precious treasure, equal in his heart only to the female who had given birth to him._

_Silver fidgeted. He still wasn't sure how to speak to this great figure who had been absent for most of his life. "Daddy," he said finally. "Will you…will you promise me something?"_

_Lugia looked at his son in curiosity. "Of course, my son. What is it?"_

"_Will you…" Silver sniffled and looked into his father's eyes, beginning to tear up. "Will you promise to…to love me always?"_

_Lugia's eyes were filled with confusion…but understanding soon dawned on him. He was here to stay…but how was his son supposed to believe that, if he had been absent for so long, and left after the first time they ever had spent together, only for all of them to be captured by Mary Sue? "Always," he whispered, kissing his dear child on the forehead. "Always."_

…

"And I believed you, Daddy," Silver said, hobbling over to the grief-stricken Lugia. "And then you crushed my skull and ate my head, stomping what remained into the ground before blowing up Mommy's head. The only thing that hurt more than that was my heart breaking as you abandoned us again."

"We trusted you, dearest," the female Lugia purred, wrapping her wings around the whimpering male and holding him tightly as she pressed her thighs against his tail. "We loved you. And you betrayed us. You murdered us. You damned us.

"And for that, you must pay."

…

She stared out at the landscape numbly. The wasteland was barren and dead, filled with withered, dead trees and rocks that looked more like gravestones than your everyday stones. The skies were dark blue and clouded over, the only form of light coming from three suns eclipsed by the dark clouds.

Lying against the bases of the trees, against the rocks, or just scattered about on the ground, were Togepi. _Dead_ Togepi, their shells cracked, their yellowish flesh burned to a crisp, their head spikes shriveled and black. Dried blood stained the rocks and the trees and the ground, as well as scorch marks to indicate a great fire had burned here some time ago.

And somehow, even dead and blackened and broken, the Togepi still lived. They crawled weakly and dumbly across the ground, breaking their fragile bones and snapping tendons every time they moved a muscle, weeping and praying and begging for a mercy that would never come.

Togetic knew this place well. For a time, it had almost been home to her. And now it was dead.

Togepi's Paradise had become a Togepi Hell.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" a voice as dry as mummy wrappings whispered. Togetic turned her head and saw him, the yellowed floating shed skin of a Shedinja. A Shedinja she knew well. "Their screams as we burned them alive and ate some of them for dinner were quite invigorating. The General and I both liked it quite a lot…but the General is gone now. Dead. And I am all that is left." He stared at her with his hollow slits for eyes. "Except you."

"Leave my big sister alone!" Phanphy challenged the monster angrily.

Shedinja cackled, amused by the little elephant's devotion to his sister. "I cannot do that, little one. It is because of her and her friends… including you, I suppose…that the General failed to keep the Mirage Crown and lost the support of the people, leading to his downfall. It is because of you that he died."

"…He died because he was an evil man," Togetic said softly. "Who met his end at the hands of justice."

Shedinja sneered. "A public execution? You call _that_ justice!" He seemed enraged. "He should not have died like that! Not as some display for all the commoners to gawk at! He deserved better!"

Togetic's eyes narrowed. "That's a matter of opinion."

"I suppose it is," the ghost admitted. "I would have met my end as well, at the hands of the Ghost Kingdom's most nefarious general, a Shedinja even worse than myself, who has little tolerance for spirits who rebel against the will of the Ghost King and cause chaos and destruction at a human's side, had Deoxys' minions not rescued me and demolished this planet's ghost population. The majority of them are now in Leviathan's belly, their souls extracted of suffering and energy to feed the serpent and make her strong. Those ghosts that are left will not be able to mount a large enough force to repel my new master's army. Simple military tactics. And since they are souls, and our new army _eats_ souls, they stand no chance of winning if a rebellion is mounted."

"They won't need a rebellion!" Phanphy said stubbornly. "Because we're here! The Chosen! We're going to beat you and all those other meanies and save the world and stuff!"

Shedinja cackled. "Hahaha! I'd like to see you try, child. I seriously doubt you will live to see my master's face again…because it is here that you and your sister will die!" The ghost Pokemon rose into the air. "Come, Togetic, if you dare! Let us finish what the General started in the Mirage Kingdom! I will honor his memory by completing his dream of killing the last Togetic!"

Togetic's eyes cold, the Happiness Pokemon rose into the air as well. "And I will honor the memory of my friends who died that day by defeating you, Shedinja…the last vestige of a corrupt monarchy and a wicked trainer!"

"And…I'll stay down here because I can't fly," Phanphy said unhappily, his ears drooping. "Awww, I wish I were like that Mumbo elephant on TV. He can fly by flapping his ears!" Phanphy flapped his ears half-heartedly, but remained firmly on the ground. "Darn. Oh well…you can do it, big sister! I believe in you!"

Togetic smirked, touched by her brother's sentiments. "Thank you, Phanphy."

"I believe your friends down there believed in you too…and look where it got them," the Shedinja sneered. "Now, Togetic, prepare to die! Your species will be extinct once and for all!" His crescent halo flipped up and fired a Solar beam at the Happiness Pokemon.

The ovoid angel glowed a blinding blue and projected a spherical cerulean aura, deflecting the white beam of solar energy and sending it down to the wasteland below, cutting a swath in the dirt. She then glowed blue again and fired a beam from her eyes up into the heavens, causing the dark clouds to rumble and swell, blotting out the light from the three suns as they burst open and began pounding down on the dusty field with heavy raindrops thanks to Togetic's Rain Dance, cutting off the power Shedinja needed for one of his strongest attacks (as well as making the battle even more dramatic). She then spread her wings, glowed white, and shot forwards, slamming into the Shedinja's shell and hurling him back as she got damaged slightly by recoil.

The Shed Pokemon righted himself and launched numerous Hidden Power orbs at his opponent. Togetic countered those with a flash of Safeguard and swooped down at the vile insect, forming and throwing a Shadow Ball from her hands. The dark orb shot towards Shedinja…and dissipated harmlessly against his shell. Togetic started as Shedinja laughed malevolently. "Wh-what? That should have knocked you out! You're super-weak against Ghost-type attacks!"

"Not anymore!" Shedinja boasted. "My new master has granted me a most wonderful gift…invincibility! I am now immune to all the attack variants I'm weak against, and in conjunction with my natural Wonder Guard special ability, that means I'm completely invincible! Nothing you do can touch me!"

Togetic and Phanphy gasped. "No! That's not possible!" the Happiness Pokemon protested.

Shedinja cackled. "But it is, thanks to the power of Deoxys! Now, not even that Gyarados brute of your trainer's can defeat me!" He suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Togetic, slamming into her with an Aerial Ace. She tumbled down, but flipped in the air and spat a Flamethrower fire stream at him. The evil insect simply laughed and flew through the fire as the flames harmlessly burned around him, slamming into Togetic with the horn nubs on his head and drawing blood. She kicked him in the chest, shoving him off her, and blasted him with Psychic, sending him spinning away in the air.

Shedinja righted himself and responded to Togetic's attack by hitting her with a Fury Swipe, leaving half a dozen deep scratches in her small chest that spilled blood droplets into the rain. Phanphy gasped below, but Togetic ignored the pain and made a Wish for the strength to defeat Shedinja, healing the wounds as if they had never been there. She then hit Shedinja with an Aerial Ace of her own, combined with a Steel Wing, slamming hard into Shedinja from behind…and nearly breaking her wing in the process. She cried in pain as she fluttered back, her wings throbbing with pain from colliding into Shedinja's iron-hard shell. The ghost cackled ghoulishly at her plight. "Is that really the best you can do?" he purred.

She growled at him. "You may think you're invincible, Shedinja…but every suit of armor has its weak spot, and you're nothing more than a flying suit of armor! Somehow, I'll find a chink in that shell of yours and exploit it for all its worth!"

"We will see about that, little one. In the meantime…take this!" Shedinja fired a Hyper Beam at Togetic from his halo.

The air in front of Togetic shimmered and took on a solid form as she used Reflect. The golden laser struck the shield squarely and bounced back, striking Shedinja head-on and exploding…

Doing absolutely no damage. The fiend cackled. "That wouldn't have worked on me even if I weren't invincible! My Wonder Guard protects me from Normal-type attacks, as well as many others!"

"Damn you!" she shouted, frustrated that her efforts were failing. And she couldn't even use Frustration on him now, because as he said, he was immune to Normal-type attacks.

"Don't give up, Big Sister!" Phanphy cried from below, hopping up repeatedly in the hopes that if he could jump high enough, he would somehow attain flight. "I know you can do it!"

"Your faith in your sister is touching, but misplaced," Shedinja mocked. "Soon, both of you will die…and I shall feast on your souls!"

…

Umbreon, Corsola, Scyther, Tyranitar, and Blaziken found themselves on a large boat of a different design from the one Mewtwo and Ralts were at that moment being dragged aboard. It wasn't nearly as disturbing, but it didn't need to be, the environs more than made up for it. Equally as disturbing was the fact that even though there was absolutely no light at all, they could all see perfectly.

The boat had at first felt like wood to the Pokemon, but then changed to feel like soft leather stretched over flexible ribs. It was then they realized the vessel they were in was in fact a giant snake, broadened and flattened in the middle like a cobra's hood, and both stern and bow tapered up into a living serpent's head. A faint pulse could be felt through the floor.

A small shrine stood in the center of the boat, encircled by a snake with its tail in its mouth. In the shrine was a man-high disk (which only came up to Tyranitar's chest) that blazed so darkly with radiant darkness that the members of the group who weren't Dark-types in nature were forced to look away from it. (The ones who didn't look away found it rather nice, really, and could see what looked like three suns, or eyes, inscribed on the disk.)

The boat was passing through a vast, ruined hall on a black river. Along the walls stood upright sarcophagi the size of telephone poles that shone with an intense blackness. Along the river's banks could be seen various vague, wailing forms that stretched their arms out to the boat as it passed and wept in despair as the vessel kept going. Poles placed at regular intervals along the banks had carved heads atop them which seemed to bow to the boat as it passed.

"Well, this is definitely not a nice place," Corsola said weakly, trembling slightly and wondering where Crawdaunt was.

"Actually, I kinda like it," Umbreon said, closing her eyes and basking in the glow from the enshrined disk. "Mmm, like moonbathing, but…different somehow." She frowned and stepped back. "On second thought, I'm not so sure I like this after all…it doesn't feel right…"

Blaziken grunted, his wrist flames igniting. The light they gave off seemed feeble and utterly out of place in this bizarre realm.

Scyther sighed and shifted restlessly. "Well, if this is supposed to be a cruise, it's certainly not the kind I'd recommend to any tourism agency."

Tyranitar frowned and took a step forward, sniffing the air. Whatever this boat was, it seemed more than sturdy enough to handle her weight. "We're not alone."

"How apt." Omega leaped down from where he had been hiding on top of the shrine, landing before the disk, the strange anti-light it gave off illuminating his armor in rather bizarre and unsettling ways. "This place is where you shall be entombed…where darkness hardens into an impenetrable solid, trapping all within it."

"Oh, you mean like a mud bath?" Umbreon chirped. "I sure could go for one of those, I haven't been to a spa in ages, my trainer never seems to think of it."

All facefaulted. The boat didn't shake in the slightest. "No, not like a mud bath," Omega snapped.

"I know," Umbreon said with a laugh. "I was just messing with you."

"Hmmph." Omega's laser blades slid out of his arms. "Who will be the first to challenge me?"

"I will," Tyranitar said, stomping forward. "I have a child waiting for me. I want to get back to him as soon as possible."

Omega chuckled. "Don't worry, he'll be joining you soon enough."

Tyranitar grunted as she stepped forward, the twenty-foot humanoid looming over her. She wasn't intimidated. With a growl, she threw her right fist forward in a lightning-fast Mega Punch right at Omega's gut.

The giant's left hand shot out and caught her punch in his palm, freezing it in place. "I'm afraid you'll have to do a bit better than-"

Tyranitar hurled her left fist at Omega's face with another Mega Punch. Startled, he only just managed to catch it with his other hand. He laughed in amusement when Tyranitar pressed forward with her arms, trying to break the mighty general's hold. "Ha! So you want to grapple, do you?"

He hopped backward slightly, keeping his hands tightly clenched around Tyranitar's, repositioning his feet so he could push back with all his formidable strength. "Then grapple we shall!"

What proceeded was something very reminiscent of watching a pair of musclebound bodybuilders arm-wrestling. Both Omega and Tyranitar quivered, straining their immense muscles as they pushed against each other, trying to force one or the other to lose their ground. Omega laughed as he seemed to get the upper hand, slowly managing to push Tyranitar back, not letting on how much his muscles were straining to even get that far.

Tyranitar merely grunted, shifted her feet, and pushed back even harder, startling Omega and nearly making him lose his footing as he felt the giant lizard's strength driving itself against his. He felt a twinge of fear and realized he had made a miscalculation, this Tyranitar was far more powerful than he had expected. If he didn't do something quickly, she would win this little struggle of theirs, his muscles were screaming for rest and he knew they couldn't hold out much longer.

"Wow, I had no idea she was so strong," said an amazed Corsola.

"Yep," said Umbreon with a nod. "I thought the same thing when she showed up in town, carrying her baby with her. When Snorlax was sleeping in a spot she wanted to sit down at, she just put Larvitar down, grabbed Snorlax from underneath and LIFTED him into the air as if he were no lighter than a pillow, walked twenty feet away, set him down gently, and went back to sit down. No lie."

"I saw it myself," Scyther agreed with a nod. "Of course, I assumed at first that there was something wrong with my medication, because I was sure as heck nothing could lift that fat old Snorlax, but the professor checked her out himself and she's really that dang strong."

Blaziken sweatdropped and he decided not to challenge this formidable mother of muscles and power in the near future. He hoped she wouldn't mangle Omega too badly, he still wanted to make the Shining Ranger half of the general pay a little for what he had done to Harrison.

Omega knew, as the four Pokemon on the sidelines cheered Tyranitar on, causing her to give forth more effort in their grapple and make him actually take half a step back to keep from being pushed over, that he had to act then and there or suffer defeat.

So he did. Still holding on tightly to Tyranitar's fists, he crouched his legs and leaped, flipping over the reptile's head and landing on his feet right behind her, wrenching her arms backwards at angles her shoulders weren't meant to bend and causing her to howl in pain and surprise. Omega's arms, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem with being rotated so freakishly in their sockets, and still held tightly to Tyranitar's hands, shocking her friends. They were even more shocked (and rather disgusted) when Omega's head rotated 180 degrees to face Tyranitar's back. "All right, I think I've had enough of you!"

His waist and lower chest, both of which looked rather gross and twisted, soon revealed their purpose as they started to uncoil, causing Omega's upper body to rapidly spin, independent of any motion from his lower body. Tyranitar was big and heavy, but even she was no match for the power of centrifugal motion, and soon found herself dangling from the evil general's arms, completely horizontal as she spun around and around and around, dislocating her arms again. She bellowed and struggled to break free from Omega, who was only too glad to oblige. "You wish to get down? Fine by me!" His torso revolved one last time, picking up even more momentum as he let go of Tyranitar, sending her flying as the laws of conservation of motion kicked in, causing her to rocket over the top of the snake head on the stern and slam into the ceiling behind the boat, causing it to crumble and collapse, sending Tyranitar and two tons of old stone crashing down into the black river, sending out waves which rocked the boat and splashed onto the shorebanks, causing the pitiable figures to scream as the dark water burned away at their pathetic forms.

"Did…did he just…" stuttered an amazed Corsola.

"Pick up and throw a 3 or 400 pound Tyranitar just like that?" said Umbreon in horror. "Yes, yes he did."

Blaziken shook his head in disbelief. Scyther was in awe at the power this guy had, and wondered if maybe he should have stayed behind…until he remembered that Pallet Town was now Zombie Central, and he honestly doubted everyone outside would have let him abdicate on his duties. Crud. That meant he had no choice but to fight this big lummox. He regretted ever saying he wanted a piece of him.

He sighed, wishing he were young again. Maybe then he would have had a chance. Because he honestly wasn't sure he would be of much use now. If only Latias hadn't been a selfish bitch and just age regressed him, this could have been avoided!

Omega's arms rotated back to their original positions, his torso twisted to face forward, and his head spun about to face the four remaining Pokemon. The noises his bones and muscles made as they twisted, snapped, and reconnected was sickening. "Who's next?"

…

The first thing they were aware of was the noise.

It was not a noise they were unfamiliar with, rather, they had heard it quite a few times, either on television or in person, fighting in front of millions of people. Even before their vision cleared they realized that they had to be in some sort of enormous arena, open to the viewing (and cheering) public. And so they were.

Grovyle, Bulbasaur, Bayleef, and Crawdaunt were standing together in a trainer's box at one end of a very large Pokemon coliseum. The coliseum floor was big, round, and made of cold stone, the main part of the circular floor colored faintly in red and white to look like a giant Pokeball.

The coliseum made up the 'palm' of a giant stone 'hand' with five giant rock outcroppings which towered over the arena, four fingers and a thumb, curved into claws as if it were the hand of a giant Pokemon trainer holding the giant Pokeball making up the arena floor. There was no ceiling, just an open, blood red sky with three large suns high in the sky.

The circular stands which rose up around the arena floor were packed with creatures ranging from hideous, disgusting things of nightmares (and quite a few virus-infected humans, Pokemon, and Deoxys clones) to normal-looking humans and Pokemon, alien beings, and magnificently beautiful otherworldly forms, cheering and jeering and eating popcorn and hot dogs while waving pennants and giant foam hands, screaming "ALPHA! ALPHA! ALPHA! ALPHA!"

And standing there, on the other side of the coliseum from the hero Pokemon, was the impostor Ash himself, Alpha. "Heheheheh…HAHAHAHA! Oh yeah, this is SWEET!" He spread his arms out and flexed his chest, eliciting more screams from the audience. "OH YEAH! THIS IS WHAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED! Thousands of people watching my every move, screaming my name…this is better than any Pokemon League battle I've ever had! Hahahahaha!" He leered across the arena at the three Grass and one Water Pokemon. "And all I've gotta do to make the crowd love me even more…is kill you four losers! Hahahahaha!"

Bulbasaur growled. "I don't like this guy."

"Nobody does," Bayleef assured him. "Which is why we have to take him down, so he can stop abusing Ash's old body like that and using it for evil!"

"The beating I gave this guy at Battle Tower wasn't enough!" Crawdaunt announced, snapping his pincers. "Now's our chance to finish him, right? Well then, it's clobbering time!"

Grovyle held out his arms, the leaves on them glowing and morphing together to form very long scythe-like green energy blades. "Okay! I'm ready! Let's take this guy!"

"I'm with you, Grovyle-kun!" Bayleef concurred, extending her vines.

Bulbasaur couldn't help twitching and growling again. _She should be mine!_ He thought angrily. _I've known her longer! I met her first!_

_She can be,_ a cool voice at the back of his head whispered. _All you have to do is eliminate the competition…_

"So, you guys are ready to die, huh? Okay!" Alpha clenched his fists. "Let's do this!"

"ALPHA! ALPHA! ALPHA!" the crowd cheered fanatically.

The evil Ranger cackled madly as his wrist device glowed. "SPEED MODE!" Crackling with electricity he dashed towards them, zigzagging back and forth at insane speeds and setting the ground behind him on fire.

"Get em'!" Crawdaunt started rapid-firing Bubblebeams from his pincers at the charging Alpha. Bayleef and Bulbasaur started launching hundreds of Razor Leafs, and with a quick intake of breath Grovyle started spewing Bullet Seeds machine-gun style.

Alpha, however, was much too fast for their projectile attacks, and dodged them easily as he zigzagged, laughing crazily. "You'll have to do better than that!" he cried as he leaped into the air, his shadow blocking out the light from the three suns as he rose over the four. "POWER MODE!" His wrist glowed again and he shot down towards them, fists-first.

"Scatter!" Grovyle cried, using his speed and excellent reflexes to hop back, away from Alpha's point of intended impact. Bayleef launched herself out of the way by pushing off the ground with her vine whips, and Bulbasaur quickly did the same. Crawdaunt settled for pointing his claws at the ground and firing his Bubblebeams, blasting himself into the air just as Alpha came crashing down, slamming his fists into the floor and cratering it as he sent out waves of crackling electricity in all directions.

"Keep firing!" Grovyle cried, spewing more Bullet Seeds at Alpha. His comrades joined in, shooting at the Ranger while he was still pumping voltage into the ground.

Alpha simply laughed as the projectiles ricocheted harmlessly off his armor and stood up. "Heheheh…Shield Mode!" His wrist device glowed, and he was suddenly surrounded by a glowing blue force bubble which repelled all the missiles fired at it, sending them shooting in all directions.

Crawdaunt yelped and quickly Hardened his shell to survive the dozens of Razor Leafs flying towards his face. Grovyle managed to bound out of the way of the projectiles, Bayleef swatted them away with numerous swings of her whips, but Bulbasaur, when copying her, left himself open and got struck in the face by several Bullet Seeds. "Ow…watch it!" he yelled at Grovyle.

"Hey, I didn't fire them at you!" Grovyle shot back, taking a step to the side to evade one last bubble reflected from Crawdaunt…and was surprised to find the stone he was stepping on sink into the floor slightly. "What the-"

A panel popped open on the arena wall behind him, and a long nozzle emerged from it, firing a stream of flame at the reptile. Grovyle screamed in fright and futilely shielded himself with his arms, expecting to feel searing, burning death at any moment.

Fortunately, Crawdaunt interceded, leaping into the flame jet's path and hardening his shell to protect Grovyle. When Grovyle realized he was safe, he quickly scampered away, followed by a steaming Crawdaunt. The flamethrower, its job done, retracted into the wall.

"Wh-what was that?" asked an alarmed Bayleef.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" said the amused Alpha. "This arena is littered with booby traps. I know where all of em' are and how to avoid them…but you don't. Makes that much more fun, don't you think?"

"You're crazy!" Bayleef said angrily.

"Yeah, I know…and I'm loving it!" Alpha cackled.

Enraged, Bayleef launched her vine whips at the evil Ranger. He flattened his body to the side so they shot past him, grabbed them, and yanked, pulling a startled Bayleef off balance and knocking her onto her face. "Oof!" Alpha cackled, got a better grip on the vines, and swung out with them, flinging Bayleef into the air and hurling her across the arena.

"BAYLEEF!" Bulbasaur and Grovyle cried out in alarm, charging after her.

She landed with a thud on a floor panel on the red part of the Pokeball, groaned, and realized to her horror that it had sunken a fraction underneath her weight. The floor in front of her opened up, and a pole with four blades extending from it shot out and began spinning, lowering as it did so so that it could decapitate her! She shrieked and scrambled to her feet, raising her head out of panic as she did so, which would have spelled certain doom if Grovyle hadn't dropped down from the sky, slashing at the spinning blades with his own Leaf Blades, causing them to shatter and explode. "You okay?" he asked her, helping her up.

"Y-yeah, thanks to you," she said, pale from her very, very close encounter with death.

Bulbasaur, who hadn't been nearly as fast in getting to Bayleef as Grovyle had, was growling and twitching again. _That could be you there instead of him…_ a little voice whispered again.

"Darn!" Alpha cursed, more than a little angry. "Oh well, there are tons more traps to kill them."

"Will they work when we've killed you?"

"Huh?" Alpha turned around just in time for Crawdaunt to slam a Crabhammer into the evil Ranger's visor, cracking it. "GUAAHHHH!"

Crawdaunt landed on the ground, snapping his pincers as Alpha stumbled back, more surprised than actually hurt. "You're nothing but a low-down, dirty bastard…I'm gonna enjoy taking you to the curb!"

"YOU FUCKING-" Enraged, Alpha pulled back his fist, intending to smash Crawdaunt's head in. Fortunately for the lobster, the evil Ranger's wrist was snared by vines from Bayleef and Bulbasaur. "Wha?"

"Get him, Grovyle-kun!" Bayleef cried, eliciting another twitch from Bulbasaur.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alpha saw Grovyle dashing towards him, ready to attack with his Leaf Blade. Thinking quickly, the evil Ranger yanked forward and down on the vines, pulling them right into the path of Grovyle's green slash, severing the vines, freeing himself, and eliciting cries of pain from Bayleef and Bulbasaur.

Grovyle gasped. "G-guys! No! I didn't mean to-" He was interrupted when Alpha smashed him in the cheek with a punch, followed by a reverse kick to Crawdaunt, who had pounced on him from behind.

"Grovyle-kun!" Bayleef retracted her bleeding vines and ran over to help her lover as Alpha started pummeling him.

And Bulbasaur's jealousy continued to grow.

…

"Phew!" Gyarados panted, sweat rolling down his sides. "This is pretty hot, huh?"

"That's an understatement," Combusken said tiredly, wiping sweat from her brow. "Where are we?"

"It looks like we're in some kind of giant volcano turned into a furnace…" Charla murmured, glancing around.

So it appeared to be. The group consisting of Combusken, Gyarados, Charla, Charmeleon, and a rather confused Moltres had found themselves separated from the rest of the Chosen when they had entered the pillar of light, and were now on a platform of hardened magma sitting in a huge lava tube of stone that had been worn away by lava flows over the years. That same lava was still here, in the form of an immense, slow-moving river of liquid rock covering the floor of the giant volcanic tunnel they were now in. Pipes and pillars and beams and crosspieces covered the walls and crisscrossed the tunnel's expanse, making a complex and rather chaotic affair that only a deranged architect would have intentionally designed.

Charla frowned. "This place is rather warm…more so than we're used to, don't you agree?"

Charmeleon nodded, wincing as he pulled a sizzling claw out of where he had dipped it into the lava flow. "Yeah…this stuff is _really_ hot…you and I could probably swim in it (you moreso than me, since as a Charizard your skin is thicker) but I doubt the rest of us could survive it. Not that there's anywhere to go to, anyway…it doesn't look like there's any way out of here."

"We could try following the tunnel," Combusken suggested. "It's gotta go somewhere, right? Maybe into the open?"

"Not necessarily," Moltres said, shaking her head. "The lava tube could lead to nowhere, or to even more lava. Then again, there _is_ air in here…hmmph. Never been in a place like this before. Why are we here, anyway?"

"To save the world," Charmeleon told her.

"Oh…right…from who?"

"How about that guy?" Combusken asked, pointing at one of the beams running across the giant tunnel. "Up there!"

They looked. Standing on the beam, his flaming head-wings spread and body of fire burning, was the wicked Infernatrice. He smirked down at the Chosen, amused by whom his new master had sent him to fight.

"It's him!" Charla roared, her tail flame blazing hotter. "The bastard who tore off your wings!"

Charmeleon nodded. "Yes…so he is who we must fight. I am not surprised."

"Guess that explains why I'm here, then," Gyarados muttered to himself. "Water against fire…yeah."

"Is that guy trying to rip me off?" Moltres questioned. "Because if he is, he's doing a spectacularly bad job of it. I'm much prettier than that."

Infernatrice chuckled and hopped off the crosspiece, his wings flapping and keeping him in the air. Smirking at the five Pokemon, he produced a small crystal, flipped it in the air, caught it, and smashed it in a claw.

The four Fire (and one Water) type Pokemon flinched and shielded their eyes as a blinding, multicolored flash of light ignited from the broken jewel, consuming Infernatrice and illuminating the dim cavern for a few moments before fading, revealing…

Infernatrice. Except now he was a hundred feet tall, his body was made of chunks of red-black magma with yellow veins of lava running between each piece, his wings of fire had taken on a more liquid form and become giant appendages of dripping yellow-orange lava, and he now had a pair of giant sunglasses made from polished obsidian over his burning red eyes. And he looked a lot more muscular, as well.

The giant molten mutant shrieked, causing the tunnel to shake and the lava to churn, before flapping his wings and propelling himself backwards, smashing through the crosspiece he had been standing on moments ago and causing it to collapse to the lava below in pieces. Infernatrice squawked and spat a humongous fireball at the small magma island the heroes were standing on as he retreated, leaving it as a parting gift.

Moltres' eyes widened. "That's a big fireball."

"AAAHHH!" Combusken screamed in fright.

"Charmeleon!" Charla cried. The red raptor nodded and jumped on her back. With a flap of her wings, she rose into the air, the heat from the lava below giving her extra lift as she shot down the tunnel.

"Wait up!" Moltres shrieked, following the dragon, embers sprinkling down with every flap of her wings.

"B-but what about me!" Combusken cried as the giant fireball grew closer and closer.

"I've got you!" Gyarados said, grabbing her in his tail and flicking her onto his head. "Let's go!" He slithered into the air and 'swam' after the other two flyers just as the meteoric ball of flame struck the magma island and exploded, shattering it and sending hot chunks of rock and lava everywhere. One of the more solid bits clonked Combusken in the head.

"Ow!" she cried, rubbing her skull sorely. "Ugh…you know, I'm starting to rethink this whole, 'avenging May', thing. I'm really not cut out for this."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Gyarados told her. "You may surprise yourself."

"Yeah…" the Young Fowl said doubtfully.

"Now come on! We gotta catch up! That big molten guy is getting away!" Gyarados continued to fly, catching up with his comrades, as they continued flying towards their destined foe.

…

It was a very, very bright place. Ho-Oh's eyes were tearing as he squinted, trying to filter out the intense light that seemed to radiate from every direction. The entire chamber or dimension or whatever the heck it was seemed to be totally made of it, a world entirely of blinding light.

Crucifixes and boulders and cages and other prisons and torture devices floated past, numerous frail souls held there by glowing chains of light, or impaled by needles and spikes of light. Incredibly beautiful angelic creatures were raping and torturing these souls horrifically, but paid no attention to the group of Ho-Oh, Zapdos, Aerodactyl, and Misdreavus.

"Where are we?" Aerodactyl squawked, flapping his wings as they floated through the shining abyss. "I'm pretty new to this modern world, but I'm pretty sure this isn't normal, is it?"

Misdreavus looked uncomfortable and pained in the brightness. "I don't like it," she complained. "Ghosts aren't fond of too much sunlight. It ruins our complexions and gives us headaches. I'm getting one now. Hope there aren't any skives around too…"

"Hmm…" Ho-Oh said nothing, merely trying to adjust his vision to the ever-present glow as they proceeded onward to…somewhere.

"Is there going to be a fight anytime soon?" Zapdos complained. "I thought we were supposed to fight someone."

"I'm sure we will," Aerodactyl grunted. "Just be patient."

"I don't _do_ patient," Zapdos grumbled.

"Look, up ahead," Misdreavus said suddenly. "I see something."

Squinting as his eyes slowly got used to the light, Ho-Oh saw it too. "Yeah…come on, let's take a look."

They flew closer. The object, a small speck in the distance, rapidly turned into something much, much larger, and not at all pleasant. Zapdos squawked in surprise as they approached it. "What the heck!"

"Okay, I'm sure _that's _not normal either," said Aerodactly.

What they found was a cage the size of a large Pokemon gym, made of glass (or Light Screens, perhaps?) held in frames made of twisted metal mixed with bolts of solid light and lined on the inside with fresh skives. The inside of the cage was literally stuffed to bursting with Ghost Pokemon, writhing and wailing and phasing into and through each other, tortured by the skives and the radiant light making up their prison, suffering as they were packed like sardines with no way out.

Misdreavus gasped, horrified. "Sweet Ghost King…just about every ghost on Earth must be in there!"

"Wow, and here I thought being crammed into a Pokeball would be bad," Zapdos commented. "But even that would probably be better than this!"

"We have to get them out of there!" Misdreavus insisted.

"And so we shall," agreed Ho-Oh. He drew power from the light around him to boost his already abnormally strong Solar Beam to unheard-of power, and fired the white laser blast at the cage, causing it to rattle as the beam struck. Aerodactyl joined in with his Hyper Beam, and Zapdos screeched and launched a Thunder attack. The golden laser and immensely powerful thunderbolt struck the same spot Ho-Oh was concentrating his Solar Beam on, causing the glass (or solid light) forming the panes of the cage to heat up and start to crack.

"I think it's almost done!" Misdreavus opened her mouth and spat half a dozen Shadow Balls into the mix. The dark orbs were just the extra push the combined attack needed to break through, causing the entire cage to shatter and disintegrate in millions of bursts of light.

The thousands and thousands of ghosts streamed out exultantly, emitting cheers of joy and freedom…which turned to scream of terror as, with a sound not unlike that which a vacuum cleaner makes when it's picking up pieces of dirt on the floor, they were all sucked in a long stream into the mouth of Leviathan.

"Uh oh," Aerodactyl said. "That's not good, is it?"

"Aaaahhh! Help me!" Misdreavus cried as she got caught in the suction and started falling towards Leviathan's maw.

"Hold on!" Ho-Oh shot out his beak and caught her, holding her tightly in his jaws. "Dammit, why do we have to be facing her?"

"Who's that again?" asked the confused Zapdos, who, like the other elemental birds, had been too busy fighting to pay attention to Deoxys' introductions.

"Ho-Oh's ex," Aerodactyl told him.

Zapdos blinked, stared at Leviathan, then glanced at Ho-Oh. "Dude, you need a better choice in women." Ho-Oh sighed in exasperation and smacked the insolent thunderbird with his wing, almost letting go of Misdreavus as he did so.

Leviathan snapped her jaws shut as the last of the ghosts vanished into her mouth. Then, her yellow eyes glowed, and…

She began to grow. To the astonishment of the four flying Pokemon, Leviathan's disgusting, undead mass swelled and ballooned exponentially, new bone spikes tearing their way out of her sides as the numerous bloated bodies making up her serpentine form flailed in agony, growing and growing and growing until it was a hundred times its original size and now loomed ominously over the four. Leviathan's head lowered to face them, and her mouth opened, bellowing deafeningly and sending a wave of breath that smelled like a mixture of vapors and something that had died several million years ago but still, somehow, clung weakly to life, washing over them, along with the eerie sound of millions of wailing souls, their spirits trapped within the serpent's bulk and flesh, imprisoned forever inside her skin.

There was, naturally, only one thing the four could do in response to this: scream and run (or fly) for their lives as the hungry Leviathan chased after them.

…

"Whoaaaa…" Iron Shell said.

"Trippin'," agreed Metal Sound.

They were in space, or at least a very good facsimile of space. The Exploudrematic was floating listlessly in a huge black expanse littered with spiral, globular, and elliptical galaxies, hundreds of asteroids and odd planets floating here and there, and billions of stars, galaxies, nebulae, and other astronomical phenomena lighting the background. The fact that the proportions of the stellar objects were all wrong, and that the robot itself was bigger than most of the planets and some of the galaxies, mattered little to the rock band, since they had little to no knowledge of astronomy to begin with.

"Are we getting this on tape?" Jigglypuff asked her protégé.

"Yep!" the younger said affirmatively. "If we make a music video out of this footage, it'll be the rockingest ever!"

"Assuming you get out of here alive!" Mewgle appeared, hovering in space a few hundred yards away from the Exploudrematic. "Hehehehe…" In a flash of light, he transformed to his hideous monster form. A watch-like device not unlike the one Alpha Ranger wore appeared on his wrists. "PREPARE FOR THE BOSS BATTLE OF ALL BOSS BATTLES, PUNKS! HENNNSHINNN!" He swished his arms through the air, holding the one with the watch before him at an angle facing the Exploudrematic. The watch flashed, and suddenly…

He was wearing a rather disturbing outfit: a tight yellow spandex shirt with purple rims over the shoulders, bright yellow spandex sleeves and purple gloves, a purple cape with yellow interior, and a purple mask that covered his head with a really long nose and a pair of straight pointy spikes for ears pointing outwards from his head. And he had no pants. Not that he had before, but his absence of pants looked weirder now that he was wearing some form of clothing.

Mewgle dramatically swept his hands through the air. "Emperor Mewgle, arise!" he cried, his voice having gone down several decibels.

The astroscape shook…somehow…in spite of it being a huge void with stellar objects in it, and thus no ground or anything to actually shake…as a tremendous portal opened underneath and behind Mewgle, and a twenty-story tall giant robot emerged, floating up behind Mewgle as the portal it had entered through closed.

The robot was humanoid and had quite a few odd features. Its legs, instead of being bulky and thick, were actually rather slim and shapely, looking as if they were clothed in tight-fitting white pants with knee hinges ending in a pair of very long white shoes with tips that curled upward, looking slightly like some sort of weird hooked talon. The shoes had ruffled ankles and gold discs in place of laces. His waist was encircled by a thick gold belt inlaid with elaborate golden panels engraved with numerous scenes of graphic torture, bordered by strips of blue with starry white dots. A similar gold banner with blue borders hung down from the front of the belt, hanging between the legs, made of some strange sheet metal which behaved like cloth.

The robot's upper body was a large gold sphere that looked surprisingly like the Death Star. It even had a large crater indented in its left 'breast'. However, unlike the Death Star, the equator of this sphere looked like a long mouth filled with interlocked red teeth.

The mecha wore a large royal jacket, red with gold trim engraved with more graphic torture scenes. Gemstones had been sewn (or welded?) into the silk/sheet metal/whatever the heck it was jacket to look like sparkling sequins on the lower arms and sides. The sleeves were very large to accommodate the arms, which were nothing less than massive. Each one had a huge shoulder that made very distinctive bulges in the jacket, no matter how much the great red and gold plates on the shoulders tried to hide them. The arms themselves were very long and very thick, reaching to the robot's ankles, yet oddly enough they mimicked the same sort of fluid 'muscles' that the legs had, only much, much bigger. They had big almost manacle-like ruffled white cuffs on the wrists, along with elegant red and gold plates protruding up the sleeve from the wrist, like a gauntlet yet not. The hands themselves were every bit as big and powerful as the arms holding them, yet managed to somehow look dainty and elegant in the tight white clawed gloves covering them.

The robot also had a long luxuriant cape, red on the inside and gold on the back, covered in ornately gruesome designs. It had a high cowl which rose around the back and sides of the mech's head, framing its face rather well.

As for that face, it was gold in color as well as big, grizzled, and ugly, looking rather a lot like Mewgle's, except the hanging jaw had receded and was satisfied with a simple fanged grimace. It also managed to look somewhat more refined than Mewgle's, with the white ruffles surrounding its neck, the curled white mustache growing from its nose, and the curly-haired white wig (or was it a wig?) that it wore. It had a pair of curved horns which tapered into points which curled in on themselves sprouting from the side of its head, also managing to look refined. Atop the robot's head was a gold crown set with numerous red precious stones. From the inside of the crown rose an antenna like Mewgle's, except it ended in a large ruby instead of a snapping black pod.

The robot also had only one eye, a blazing red orb in the left side of its face. It looked like there had once been a right eye, but it was gone now, with a ghastly and very long scar running over it, down the robot's cheek, and quite a ways up the crown.

"Whoa…" said Onix.

"That's a lotta bling," said an amazed Metal Sound.

"Ha!" Mewgle leaped backwards, landing in the cockpit inside the robot's head, right behind the single eye, which now served as a viewport for him. "Hehehehe! This is going to be my funnest game yet! I am Emperor Mewgle, the Omnipotent! Ultimate Dungeon Master! I am the Absolute Ruler of this RPGenerated universe and all offshoots of it, the supreme controller of reality itself!"

"Full of himself, isn't he?" Mudkip said, rolling her eyes.

"Si, he is what we call a _blowhard_," Lombre said with a nod, agreeing with her analysis.

"You think you're all that, huh?" Jigglypuff said cockily. "Well, we're not too bad ourselves! Mini-me, roll the transformation sequence!"

Her protégé frowned at her. "Only if you stop calling me Mini-me," she grumbled, pressing a button.

The robot's speakers instantly started blaring fast-paced Japanese music as Jigglypuff dramatically cried, "GARUDAAAAA!"

The giant robot Yanma shot out of the depths of space, dragonfly wings buzzing as it rocketed towards its master. When it reached the Exploudrematic, the music started playing faster and louder as suddenly both mechas were flying upward in a tunnel of seizure-inducing colored light.

The interior of the Exploudrematic underwent a radical change as the band members were shunted throughout the giant mecha to their respective control centers via rapid-transit tubes. The seats both Jigglypuffs were sitting in dropped down a pair of separate high-speed shafts, each terminating in a chamber on either side of the Exploudrematic's mouth, where Meg and Amp were waiting, with huge and complex machinery rammed down their throats, plugging their vocal cords into the Exploudrematic's loudspeakers. The Jigglypuffs pulled wires out of the bottoms of their microphones and plugged them into the sockets on either Loudred's back, causing a faint whine to reverberate through the machinery. "Sonic Amplificators operational!"

Oh, and did I forget to mention that on the way down the shafts, their rock costumes had magically transformed into matching white and pink spandex outfits with colored plastic visors? Silly me.

Geodude, Lombre, and a tattooed Hitmonlee, one of their bodyguards, all appeared on chairs from separate shafts in a small three-tiered room behind the Exploudrematic's nose, each wearing a spandex outfit. Geodude's was white and gray, Lombre's was white and green, and Hitmonlee's was white and brown. Geodude levitated off his seat, which sank back into the floor underneath them, and stretched out his arms. Cybernetic gauntlets shot out of the wall, connected to the robot's systems by a meshwork of interconnected wires and cables, and slid onto Geodude's strong stone arms, sensors connecting to his neural centers and giving him total control over the Exploudrematic's arms. Similar legwear shot out of the floor and onto Hitmonlee's legs as the Fighting Pokemon's chair vanished, giving him total control over the robot's legs, and a sword shot out of the wall and into Lombre's hand as lights on the ceiling and floor switched on around him, giving him control of the robot's swordplay (once it had a sword, that is).

"All motor functions are go!" Geodude roared into the communicator in his helmet.

"Si, we are all ready!" agreed Lombre.

"Let's kick ass!" Hitmonlee added.

Onix, Forretress, Metal Sound and Iron Shell were lowered into a room closer to the robot's back, behind the mecha's big mouth. The three drum Pokemon landed into specially designed holders which closed clamps over them, locking them into place. Onix grabbed a special drumstick that shot out of the wall in his tail and banged on the shells of his three drums, wearing his white and dark gray uniform with pride. "Rhythmic harmonizers online!"

Down in a special engine room in the bowels of the robot, Buzz the Electabuzz electric keyboard player, and the other burly bodyguards/roadies/stage hands were deposited, Buzz in an electric chair which fastened numerous wires and electrodes to his body, and the muscular sidekicks onto treadmills. "Aw, man…why do I gotta be hooked up to the generators?" he grumbled, scratching his itchy white and yellow spandex outfit. He sighed and flipped a switch, causing several copies of the swimsuit issue of 'Bodybuilders Biweekly', featuring a lovely female Machoke in a string bikini on the front cover, to dangle from the ceiling in front of the treadmill Pokemon, causing them to eagerly start running in hopes that they could reach the magazines, generating extra power for the robot. "Energy boosters activated!"

Mudkip, arms crossed patiently, rose rapidly up a small, secret elevator shaft into a special, high-tech single-person control center, wearing a sleek red and white spandex outfit. "Command center ready!" She produced a long, prismatic key. "Pokecrystal ignition!" She drove it into a specially designed keyhole.

"Pokecrystal ignition!" Each of her bandmates echoed, sliding crystal keys into their own keyholes.

The giant robot started shaking and glowing as special servos whirred and pistons pumped within it. The two long tails separated from the rear and flew towards the front, each one splitting into two cylindrical halves as it did so. The fourths attached themselves to the ends of the legs and arms, extending them and giving them fancy gold wrists and ankles, while the original lower arms and legs flexed, hidden hinges revealing themselves and forming new knees and elbows while the old ones locked rigidly in place. New, boot-shaped feet and five-fingered hands extended from these limb extensions. The Exploud's gaping mouth was filled by a giant stereo system with huge loudspeakers covering its surface. The red eyes on the chest rolled upwards, and the top of the Exploudrematic's head flipped open, revealing a vaguely feminine humanoid metal face with blue eyes, a faceplate, and a Pokeball symbol on the forehead.

"GARUDAAAA!" they called with one voice.

The giant Yanma buzzed and spun around the Exploud, splitting into multiple parts as it did so: tail, abdomen with wings, and head. The wings flew around and attached themselves to the transformed Exploudrematic's back, providing it with flight. The head attached itself to the robot's own head, creating a helmet with the giant green bug eyes on the side, looking oddly like headphones. The tail grew a handle from its thicker end and dropped into the Exploudrematic's right hand, becoming a long sword, which the robot slashed through the air dramatically before raising it triumphantly over its head as the Japanese music reached its climax. "POKEROCKING GIGABOT GOOOOO!"

Mewgle, who had been sipping tea throughout the very long transformation sequence, noticed the music had ended, neatly wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and carelessly tossed his teacup and saucer away. "So, this is your real power, hmm?" he said, examining the now-fifteen stories tall robot. "Ha! I've seen cooler looking robots in fanart! You're nothing but a waste of scrap!"

"And you are nothing more than a computer program that's overreached its programming!" Mudkip countered from her control center in the Gigabot's head. "With the power of music behind us, you'll be deleted permanently!"

"Ha! You think I know nothing of music?" Mewgle taunted. "Think again! No good video game is complete without an excellent soundtrack! Listen to this theme song I had whipped up!"

He snapped his fingers, and an invisible chorus of singers began chanting, "Estuans interius ira vehementi, Estuans interius ira vehementi, Mewgle, Mewgle, Mewgle! Estuans interius ira vehementi, Estuans interius ira vehementi, Mewgle, Mewgle, Mewgle!" (Burning inside with violent anger, burning inside with violent anger, Mewgle, Mewgle, Mewgle! x2)

"Muhahahaha!" Mewgle laughed malevolently, directing the invisible singers with hand gestures as he recited the lines alongside them, causing the Pokerockers to sweatdrop. "Fate—monstrous and empty, fate—monstrous and empty-"

"Oh brother…he calls that music?" said Jigglypuff the younger in disbelief.

"Oh, it's not the song that's the problem…it's the guy singing it," Jigglypuff the elder said flatly.

"Hey, I heard that!" Mewgle said angrily. "I stole those lyrics myself! Don't like the way I sing em', huh? Well, too bad, because this is a final boss fight and final bosses always have dramatic music!" He clenched his fists and flexed his muscles as his giant mech body floated away from the Gigabot, towards a nearby spiral galaxy. "Come then! Show me your power! I will break your tacky robot and scatter you all to the gulfs of space!"

"Okay guys, this is it," Mudkip warned her comrades.

"Into the breach we go!" Onix sang, drumming on his three drums.

Wings glowing and powering up, the Gigabot chased after the Emperor Mewgle, intending to show the megalomaniac program what music could do in the hands of true professionals!

…

Pikachu shivered, his teeth chattering as he wrapped his cape around himself. "Where the heck are we?"

El Gato hugged himself, trying to keep warm in his own cape. "The frozen ninth level of _Infierno_?" he suggested, remembering an old poem he had once read.

"Possibly, but…if you're talking about where I think you're talking about, I'm pretty sure it has more than nine levels…" Sadic said, shaking her head.

"Your people believe in that place, too?" Pikachu asked.

Sadic shrugged. "Yes and no. My people in general don't believe in some place where evil souls go…basically we think, or hope, that by being reborn members of our society who broke the law and endangered the pack purposefully will learn their lesson, and those who didn't do it on purpose will have a chance to try again, maybe with better luck this time. But my trainer believed in it, when he was alive, and a couple of my 'teammates' (and I mean that in the loosest term possible) believed in it too, so I picked it up from them. We might be in that place now, and we might not be. The way I see it, if you believe in a specific afterlife, that's where you go. I believe in the hunting grounds, so that's where I'll go. You can only go to hell if you believe in it…but that's just me. I could be wrong. Probably am. But until I'm proven wrong, that's what I'll stick to."

"Intriguing _teoria_," said an interested El Gato. "So if I were to believe I would go to a place with balls of yarn, soft cushions, endless bowls of _leche_, and lovely senoritas to dote on me…"

"You'd go there," Sadic said. "Maybe."

"But what if I had done many _mala_ things in my life?" El Gato persisted. "And did not deserve endless bowls of _leche?_"

"Who's to say what you deserve and don't deserve?" Sadic asked. "The ingrained rules of society? Depends on the rules and the society. God? Depends on whether or not there is one and if so, which one you worship. But I suppose that if you did things which were judged bad by your society, you'd go wherever you've been taught and believe that bad people go…or something. I suppose there are also plenty of other mitigating circumstances involved like whether or not you were all right in the head, if the rules themselves are fair or not, and if it's not partly because of your genes that you did what you did. Doubt I'm the right person to ask about this sort of thing, seeing as I only vaguely remember the last time I was alive, and nothing at all of what lay in between."

"Hmm…yes, I see…" El Gato said, thinking about that. "I'm not certain if there is truly a _infierno_ or a land of eternal yarn and _leche_, but…I think I will continue adhering to my code of honor in the meantime, then. Just in case."

"Speaking of uncertainty, what does happen to all the people who don't believe in an afterlife?" Pikachu questioned. "I've been through enough now to know that everyone has a soul, so…does it disappear? Just fade out into oblivion? Then again, Mewtwo said back in the Dark World a soul can't be destroyed, so…" He thought about it for a moment. "Sadic, you believe people get reborn eventually, no matter what. Maybe that's what happens to atheists or whoever too. Since they believed they'd just die, they do, or their identity and memories do so to speak, and their soul continues on and comes back as someone else."

"Could be," Sadic said with a shrug. "But the only way we'll find out for sure is by dying first, and I at least want my kids to be born and able to take care of themselves before that happens."

El Gato had a thought. "If people of a particular society or religion go to _Infierno_ because they broke that society's or god's standards, what about these people here? What crime or sin did they commit to earn this treatment?"

Pikachu and Sadic glanced around the place they were in. "Good question," Sadic said with a grunt. "There's a human saying that the punishment fits the crime. I'm having trouble thinking of a crime to merit this, though."

"Assuming we're actually in hell, or a particular society or religion's hell, and not in an illusion," Pikachu pointed out.

El Gato shuddered and breathed on his hands. "It feels _mucho demasiado frío_ to be fake."

"Don't be so sure," Pikachu corrected his friend. "Remember that jerk Mewgle we saw with the other bad guys? He's a master at creating artificial realities that feel totally real. I wouldn't be surprised if he were behind this. Assuming it's an illusion, that is."

"And if it's not…" Sadic frowned. "And if hells were limited to people of specific societies and religions, then why are all the people here so different-looking? I see some humans, some Pokemon, and some…things I don't even know how to describe."

"Then perhaps they have been captured by _diablos_ and imprisoned here," El Gato suggested. "Or are part of some futuristic society in another reality all together where all species and peoples are as one, united, sharing the same beliefs, and are being punished for some heinous crime by that society's laws. Or, more likely, perhaps our reasoning is just wrong altogether and the true mode of the _regulación_ _alma_ is as yet beyond our _comprension._"

"Hey, our fourth party member hasn't given us his opinion," Sadic pointed out. "What do you think, blue boy?"

"Yeah, Wobbuffet," Pikachu said, turning to his ex-foe. (of sorts) "What's your take on all this?"

Wobbuffet said nothing for a moment, looking as if he was having some internal struggle. "I," he said finally, hesitating a moment, as if surprised by the sound of his own voice. He still was not used to speaking after what seemed like years of silence. "I…I don't know if there are places souls go…but…if there are…I hope that Milotic has found one and she's happy…and not someplace like here…"

Sadic nodded sympathetically. "Amen to that," she said. "The frozen tundra is my home, and even I wouldn't like to live here. It's not just that this place is freezing, I'm used to that (even if it feels more than a little too cold for my liking), it's like there's some other kind of chill too…something inside…know what I'm saying?" They all nodded solemnly.

"Hey," Meowth, who had been standing there while they debated for the last ten minutes, snapped angrily. "Are you four going to fight me already!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, didn't notice you there," Pikachu said apologetically.

"Or rather, we did, but were too enamored by our surroundings to waste our attention on you," Sadic said, gesturing with a claw to the land around them. "Pretty nasty place, wouldn't you say?"

Indeed it was. Their battlefield was a frigid arctic wasteland so dead that even Antarctica seemed like a tropical rainforest in comparison. The ground felt like it was made of knives of ice that stabbed into their feet with every step they took. The heroes (and Meowth and his goons) were in a narrow canyon of some kind surrounded on all sides by jagged cliffs of ice and snow rising miles into the air, towards a dark sky with three tiny points of light which might have been suns far, far away. The cliff walls were clear, and so allowed the Pokemon a perfect look at the millions and millions of people of all species and worlds frozen solid in the ice, their flesh blue and cold, pierced all over by barbed spears of ice which made wounds from which the blood had frozen solid, creating dirty red ice all over and _inside_ their bodies. In some places, the frozen blood caused the bodies to swell grotesquely, making their frozen flesh crack in disgusting ways.

However, truly disturbing, was that they were _still alive_ in the ice. Their eyes twitched and rolled in their sockets, their mouths and faces contorted into eternal screams of agony and despair as they suffered every pain-filled second of their torture, the ice penetrating, surrounding, and _growing_ inside them, filling them to bursting. They were cold, colder than the most frigid ice world or the darkest depths of space, so very cold indeed.

And to make matters worse, sources of heat were right in front of them in the form of unbelievably beautiful creatures of such grace and elegance that they literally _radiated_ light and warmth in incredible magnitudes, their auras speaking of peace and love and rest, something that could certainly not be obtained by being frozen in a block of ice forever. And each of these gentle, beautiful, luminous creatures of light passed by every tortured soul with a blissful, indifferent smile on their faces. If they had faces. Or mouths at all. But they somehow gave off the feeling that they were smiling indifferently.

In a way, though, those who were buried deep in the ice were luckier than the ones closer to the surfaces which the beings of warmth happened to brush by, for while the ice melted when the beings passed, it froze instantly once they had gone, renewing the soul's agony and adding the endless torture of broken hope time and time again.

"Eh, it's okay," Meowth said with a grunt. "I've seen worse places in the boss's head. You will too, once he takes you there."

"Ch-ch-ch-chiiiiii!" Chimecho agreed, his little fangs chattering from the cold.

"Aren't you cold, Meowth?" Pikachu asked. "I mean, your organs are exposed and all…doesn't it hurt?"

"Yes," the cat said flatly. "Every second feels as if my insides are simultaneously burning and freezing up. It's not pleasant."

"Well, that's what you get for selling your soul to pure evil," Sadic said with a shrug.

"Si, dealing with El Diablo always ends in pain!" agreed El Gato.

"You think I wanted this!" Meowth spat angrily, his saliva freezing in midair and clattering to the ground. "I didn't choose to become a monster! This all happened because of you, Pikachu and Wobbuffet!" He pointed angrily at the confused mouse and depressed blob. "If you, Wobbuffet, hadn't disarmed the stupid shield generator on the Tyranitron, all of us Ciphers wouldn't have ended up in jail, where Deoxys found me and turned me into this as part of a twisted game to capture James and kill everyone else! And we wouldn't have even found the dumb shield generator if it weren't for you, Pikachu, blasting us off that ferry to Ever Grande and causing us to crash on Wobbuffet's old home, which led him to abandon us and us to foolishly go to our doom!"

"May I point out that if you didn't keep TRYING TO CAPTURE ME you wouldn't have been blasted off in the first place?" Pikachu asked, too annoyed Meowth was shoving all the blame on him to feel truly sorry for the stupid cat.

"Well…I…" Meowth stuttered. "That-that's beside the point!"

"No it's not," Sadic said. "What's this about constantly trying to capture my cuddly little electric rodent here?"

"We tried it all the time," Wobbuffet said quietly. "Day in and day out. Dig the pit, wear the stupid disguise, bring out some retarded robot, and get blasted off again and again and again. It never got any less painful every time we hit the ground."

Pikachu winced, feeling guilty for Wobbuffet's suffering. The blue blob had never _really_ been into the whole 'capture him and sell him into slavery in Team Rocket/Cipher' thing that the other three Rockets or Ciphers or whoever had been obsessed with. "Sorry,I-"

"Not your fault," Wobbuffet mumbled. "You were trying to defend yourself. That's understandable. Only reason I got blasted off was because I was too stubborn and attached to Miss Jessie to see that I wasn't going anywhere good as long as I stuck with them. Then again, sticking with them _did_ introduce me to Milotic and reunited me with my sister, so I suppose it wasn't all bad. Then again, if I hadn't met or reunited with them Milotic wouldn't be dead and my sister wouldn't be a prisoner so…" Wobbuffet shrugged.

El Gato frowned. "So you were attached to your trainer…understandable. What is your excuse then, amigo? What led you to stick to a pointless life of crime and pain with this as your only reward?"

"Revenge!" Meowth spat. "And power, I suppose. I wanted that. And money. Lots and lots of money."

"That and he didn't think he had anywhere else to go," Wobbuffet added softly. "I understand. I kind of felt the same way, a lot. I think there was also fear of rejection tied into it because he figured Team Rocket's the only people who'd accept him."

"Hey, that's not true!" Meowth lied.

"What would make him think that?" Pikachu asked thoughtfully. "I would have thought a Pokemon who taught himself how to speak human could have gotten the high life just about anywhere. He'd be famous, on talk shows and magazines and stuff…maybe even in movies. He'd be idolized by plenty of humans and Pokemon alike, and scientists would hail him as the link between human and Pokemonkind. What made him think being a crook would be better than all that?"

Wobbuffet shrugged as Meowth sputtered helplessly. "Fear of rejection, I think. He's mentioned once or twice he learned humanspeak to impress this girl and she chose a normal Persian over him. So I think that somehow lead him to believe a criminal outfit was the only group that would fully appreciate his talents, because most other Pokemon back where he came from thought him a freak for wanting to be like humans..."

"Or maybe it was fear of needles and the like, partially," Sadic suggested. "I imagine the humans'd put him in a lab and examine him a bit to figure out how he can talk their language. If I were him, I wouldn't want that either. Then again, I'm not sure I would have become a criminal over it…but hey, I'm not him. Who knows what traumatizing events happened to him to land him a job in Team Whatever?"

"Actually, he just saw a Team Rocket recruitment booth in a back alley in Hollywood, thought 'Why not? Might be fun,' and signed up right away," Wobbuffet said flatly.

"I did not!" Meowth said indignantly. "The booth was in a job fair, not a back alley. I stayed out of those to keep away from the other Pokemon who were envious of my talent (or thought I was a freak)."

"Why would Team _Cohete_ recruit out in the open?" El Gato asked dubiously.

"Well…uh…" Meowth blushed sheepishly. "They didn't out and out _advertise_ they were Team Rocket…they pretended they were looking for volunteers to get cushy, high-paying administrative jobs that came with corner offices and sexy masseuses who attended to your every whim. I figured getting a job like that would win Meowzie back over…of course, I soon found out it was all a lie, as did the other two hundred poor saps who signed up."

The four heroes sweatdropped. "And it never occurred to you to just quit once you found out where you were?" Pikachu asked.

"What? No, of course not! They offered me stock options!" Meowth boasted. All facefaulted. "Well, that and they wouldn't let me go, but I was okay with that…because I had stock options! And people who appreciated my talent. Yeah."

"Why am I not surprised?" Pikachu grumbled.

"And I really was appreciated, too…me, Jimmy, and Jessie…until you came along and spoiled everything, making us laughingstocks and failures!" Meowth snapped, pointing at Pikachu.

The mouse sweatdropped. "I seem to recall it was _you_ three who came along, attacking the Viridian City Pokemon Center and trying to capture me and all the other Pokemon there. Other than existing, I don't think I've done anything to make you idiots keep following me, it was entirely your own decision…as was your decision to join Cipher when you got bored of not being a crook, instead of finding something else to do. Meowth, it's not my fault you're a horrible soulless monster now…it's your own, because you're endless ambition and desire for revenge drove you down this way! You'd never have ended up in prison for Deoxys to find you if you hadn't done so many things, including helping to pilot the Tyranitron, that _earned_ you a one-way trip there! Just about everything I've ever done to you was provoked by your constant attempts to either kidnap me, my friends, or whatever random Pokemon we happened to encounter that day! Even on those surprisingly frequent occasions where you team up with us, I can count on one paw the number of times you DIDN'T stab us in the back and try to capture me again! If anyone's to blame for your current condition, Meowth, it's not me…it's YOURSELF!" He paused. "And Deoxys I suppose, for infecting you in the first place and using you as a pawn. Yeah. But mostly yourself, because he probably would have ignored you if you hadn't been there."

"But…but…I…that's not…" Meowth protested weakly, trying to deny the truth to himself.

El Gato nodded fiercely. "Si, Senor Raton ("Don't call me a raton") speaks the truth! My fellow gato, a true Pokemon takes responsibility for their own actions! (Unless they're complicated by numerous other circumstances, but I can see that's not the case for you) Instead of ceasing your life of _mal_ despite repeated failures, you tried and tried again, and look where it got you! You're nothing more than a slave of El Diablo! A pitiful shell of a _felino_ who could have done so much more with his life! You dishonor yourself, and our entire species with your actions! For shame!"

"Yeah, back where I come from…well, you all already know what we'd do with someone like him," Sadic said, pointing to Meowth. "Although to be honest, that's one thing I might actually _not_ eat for a change, even if it is a waste of meat. It's probably tainted."

Meowth, shocked at all the (entirely truthful) accusations leveled at him, was now trembling with rage. "I…you…RAAARR!" He clenched his fists. "I'm not some wimpy wannabe Meowth for you to push around anymore! I'm in the big leagues now, a REAL villain working for the baddest boss of them all, Deoxys!"

"You may have gotten yourself turned into a monster," Pikachu said coldly. "But to me…you'll never be anything but the same Meowth who's chased me without end for the last several years, and who I thoroughly trounced each and every time."

Meowth's hideous face was livid. He looked as if he was about to snap and lunge at them, which would no doubt lead to his humiliating defeat…when he got an idea. An awful idea. An evil, awful, _terrible_ idea.

But it stunk, so he decided to just go with the original plan. "To PROVE that I'm a real bad guy now…I've got a little something to show you! Growlie, go get our little friend!"

Growlie barked in the affirmative, trotted over to Chimecho, grabbed him in his mouth, and dropped the Chime Pokemon in front of Meowth. Chimecho squealed and immediately started trying to suck out Meowth's brains.

Meowth slapped his forehead, dislodging the brainless mutant wind chime. "No, our OTHER little friend!" he snapped.

Whimpering, his feelings hurt, Growlie loped off into the jagged ice boulders nearby. Moments later he returned, gingerly carrying what looked like a large spherical lantern a little less than a foot wide in diameter. However, when the demon Arcanine put the object down, they saw it was not a lantern at all, but something much worse.

It was a cage made completely out of barbed crystal, its points turned inward at the occupant, a small Wynaut who looked like she had literally been put through a wringer, grater, meat grinder, washing machine, and garbage disposal in rapid succession. She was so shriveled and thin and malnourished that it looked as if she had not just been starved, but forced to regurgitate every tiny scrap she ate for over a year. The cage was so small that the crystal points scraped into her skin with the slightest shallow breath she took, cutting it open and causing small amounts of blood to drip out, which in this cold weather had already caused it to freeze on her skin. Her hide was so filthy from accumulated blood, grime, dirt, muck, vomit, grease, excrement, bruises, whip marks and scars that someone who had never seen her before would never have known she was supposed to be blue. There were also, for some reason, numerous stitches all over her body, none of which looked like they were closing any of the numerous wounds that had been covered and infested by the filth coating her body. Her ear/arm flaps were wrapped extremely tightly around her body and held in place by multiple very heavy iron chains and manacles with spikes which pierced her skin and twisted around her petit, malnourished form. The same chains were fastened extremely tightly to her neck and ankles. Her thick head bump and small black tail had been severed, leaving big wounds which had large infected-looking scabs growing over them. Her vaginal region, normally hidden on a Pokemon her size, gaped wide open, looking as if it had been torn apart by a savage, mauling beast. Her feet were ripped to shreds and covered in blisters, cuts, and crystal splinters. There were splinters imbedded in various other parts of her body as well, glued in place by the hardened gunk which encrusted her weak form. Her eyes, although eternally squeezed shut just like all the Pokemon of her line, had a feel of utter unintelligence behind them, as if the mind the Wynaut once had had been completely and irrevocably shattered, and the pieces had been glued back together by a custodian with poor eyesight and coordination, who then gave up on the whole thing and threw it in the trash can. They were also squeezed tighter than usual, thanks to the stitches sewn through her eyelids.

On the top of the cage proper was a small transparent 'bell' of sorts containing an iridescent ball recognizable as a soul, only it looked…duller somehow than the few Pikachu had seen in the past, such as Ash's. It seemed weaker and fainter, as well. But it was less noticeable than the battered (understatement of the millennium) Wynaut.

The four Pokemon were stunned speechless by the sight of her. Wobbuffet's lip quivered. "S-sis?" he rasped.

Her mouth opened, revealing broken and bleeding gums. Drool dribbled out and froze halfway down her chest.

"_THAT'S _your sister!" Pikachu asked, shocked.

"You…you bastards!" Sadic snapped, her red eyes burning with rage. "How could you treat a kid like that! What'd you do to her!"

"Oh, her?" Meowth glanced at the brain-dead, broken Wynaut. "Oh, not that much. You should see what we've been doing to Jimmy…now _that's_ something!" He laughed madly, his lungs (hardened somewhat by the cold) stiffly inflating and deflating visibly through his open chest. "All of us pitched in once we got her settled in her cell at the castle. After disrupting her sleep schedule irreversibly by switching the lights on and off at random intervals to keep her confused, blinded, and disoriented, as well as playing the amplified screams of the other prisoners (and Jimmy) through her cell walls for twenty-four hours straight, plus not feeding her anything for that period of time, we dumped her into a pool of glass shards for maybe two hours, then into the castle cesspool (don't ask me why we have one, we just do) for another twelve hours, then we all went to work on her personally. The Jessies had her first (lucky bitches) and they had the pleasure of performing surgery on her while she was conscious without anesthesia and removing then replacing every bone and organ in her body one at a time, including her brain. After that was done, they removed then sewed back on every inch of her skin, which was even more painful. Then Shalor cut off her tail and head-bump thing, and I raped her for a good two or three hours, you can see how I clawed her up real good down there. Then Coldstone and Cerberus took turns 'sharing' her between their multiple personalities and tearing or crushing bits and pieces of her one at a time. After that, we patched her up, then we plugged her into Mewgle's virtual world so he could have _years_ with her by boosting his processing speed so time in his computer was faster than it was in here, and finally the boss took his own turn with her. I don't know what he did, and I don't want to know, but the fact that we couldn't hear any screams at all from her is more frightening than if she _had_ screamed. Then he left her to rot a while back in her cell, until Dark Latios was born, and he let him 'teeth' on her soul…so to speak." Meowth smiled cheerfully. "All that, and she's _still_ not as bad off as Jimmy. She's a very lucky girl, you know that?"

There was no response from the four Pokemon. They were too dumbstruck as it finally hit them just how monstrous not only Meowth, but his associates and especially his master, were. Not even watching all the world leaders and important people get gruesomely executed on screen, or listening to Deoxys' very detailed description of the things he had done to Latias Sr. before she produced Dark Latios, were quite as awful as this. Because while all those people who had been killed or tortured had suffered greatly…it did not seem quite same as learning and seeing with their own eyes how cruelly an innocent little girl had been treated.

Finally, El Gato said, in an oddly calm voice, "There are no words that can describe how terrible you and your kind are. _Lengua_ is too flawed an indicator to express just how _mal,_ how _despreciable,_ how _VILE_ you have become, mi amigo." The last part was said rather sarcastically.

"What is wrong with a person?" Pikachu whispered in shock. "What is wrong with a person to make them think that this is okay? That…that doing something like this to a child is not only all right, it's…_fun._ I don't know if even the worst tyrants, torturers, rapists, and criminals in history of _any_ species have gone this far…have they?"

"…You don't deserve to live," Sadic said finally, staring at Meowth. "And that is why I intend to kill you."

If Meowth heard this, he paid no attention, merely grinned at Wobbuffet, who had stared at his sister for a moment and was now gazing intensely at something in his hand, trembling. "That's not all we've got here…see this soul here?" He tapped on the glass on the top of the cage. "It should look familiar. It belongs to your stinking girlfriend." Wobbuffet's glance shot towards Meowth. "Yep, that's right, we got Milotic right here. Shalor killed her along with everyone else you knew and loved (well, maybe just knew) on that crappy little island of yours, and gathered her soul with the others as a present for the boss…and to serve as a bargaining item." Meowth grinned and picked up the cage, rattling it and cutting up the dull Wynaut on its bars. "You see, this is what we in the big villain business call a trade. You give me that little crystal you're holding…that thing you took from the Tyranitron and used to try and repel Shalor's invaders when he came to the island, but failed to save your sister and Milotic…and you can have both of them, the soul and the Wynaut. A two-for one bargain, both the people you love most in the world for that little piece of glass you're holding. Sounds like a fair trade, don't you think?"

Pikachu blinked. "Crystal?" He turned to look at Wobbuffet, who's arm flap finally uncurled to reveal the thing he had been clutching all this time: a small, glowing piece of purple crystal. "No way…"

"What is that?" asked a confused El Gato.

"That looks familiar," Sadic commented. "Didn't that…whatsherface, Mariah Somethingorother have a necklace like that? And didn't that HERO whatchamacallit have one, too?"

"They're all part of the same crystal," Wobbuffet croaked slowly, staring at his jewel. "Deoxys' crystal. It got broken a long time ago and scattered across the planet. Some pieces kept more of his evil than others, but some—like this one—were coated and infused to some extent by the positive energy of his nemesis, the Mother, in their last great battle. This one is…one of the most positive. It's been used for ages to keep my home island sealed off from the rest of the world. It has the power of protection."

"And it's obviously not that powerful after all," Meowth sneered. "Since it didn't help your sister or girlfriend. But the boss needs it for his master plan, even if it is tainted with all that positive stuff, so he's willing to bargain: give me the crystal, and I'll give you your family back."

"How do you know he wants them back?" Sadic asked coldly. "From what you and your boss have done to them, it's questionable there's anything left of the people Wobbuffet used to love in there. Some might say it would be much kinder to simply kill the both of them and let them have peace."

Meowth shrugged. "Well, if you insist…" He grabbed the sides of the cage and started crushing it inwards.

"N-no!" Wobbuffet stammered. "Stop!"

If he had eyes, Meowth would have rolled them. "Make up your mind," he grumbled, stopping the compression process.

"Wobbuffet-" Pikachu started uncertainly.

"They're still here," the blob said softly. "I can feel it. They're hurt, in pain, almost destroyed…but still here."

"Yep, the boss didn't let us go all the way," Meowth said unhappily. "Not like he did with the Lugias. He tortured these two just until they reached the point of no return…then left em' there. You may still be able to save them with your heart or whatever…if you give me the crystal." He smirked. "If you don't, then I'll break this cage and kill Wynaut. With the cage broken, there'll be nothing to stop the castle from sucking up what little remains of their souls and damning them forever. So, traitor, what'll it be? The lives of your loved ones…or their doom?"

"I'll do it," Wobbuffet said, before anyone could protest. "The crystal is yours."

Meowth grinned horribly. "I knew you'd see it my way."

El Gato grimaced, his sense of justice bristling at how they were letting Meowth get away with this. Unless…he noticed Pikachu was catching Sadic's eye, and they seemed to be communicating on some level above verbal speech. Perhaps they had a plan? Hmm…if that was the case, he needed to keep the _bastardo_ Meowth from noticing their actions. The evil cat may have been stupid, but there was no telling if his normally duplicitous criminal mind would realize they were up to something. "Give us your hostages, first," the heroic feline demanded. "And Wobbuffet will toss you the gem." Wobbuffet glanced at him for a moment, and then nodded.

Meowth frowned. "What? Who do you think I am? What's to stop you from keeping the crystal and whooping my ass once I don't have a shield to hide behind?"

"What's to stop _you_ from keeping both the crystal and the hostages and using them both against us?" El Gato pointed out. "I am a _gato_ of honor, _bestia._ I give you my word that we will give you the crystal once you give us the girl and the soul."

Meowth frowned. "Hmm…well, if you were anyone else, I'd bet you were lying. But I like your face, so I'm trusting you. Growlie! Give this to them!" Meowth roughly shoved the cage into Growlie's mouth. The giant Arcanine woofed, wagged his tail, and trotted happily over to the heroes. He gently put down the cage and stood there expectantly, panting as his tongue hung out in the cold air and gave off steam.

Wobbuffet tossed the crystal into the air. Growlie barked, leaped up, and grabbed it in his mouth, then eagerly pedaled back over to Meowth and dropped it in the monster's paw. A horrible grin grew on the mutant cat's face. "Hahahaha…fools! Now I'll use the power of this crystal to kill you and get those prisoners back, then present all your souls to Master Deox-"

SWISH!

"-Ys?" Meowth blinked, noticing his hand was completely empty. "Huh?" Growlie whimpered in confusion, and Chimecho chimed and decided to try sucking out more of Meowth's brains.

"Looking for this?" Sadic asked with a smirk, holding the crystal in her claw before tossing it over to Wobbuffet. "I'm pretty good with a Thief attack, don't you think?"

Meowth's jaw dropped, which was not a pleasant sight. "Wh-what! But…but you said-"

El Gato laughed. "Silly _monstruo_…I said we would give you the crystal! When did I give you the idea that we would let you keep it!"

"Heh, I knew you'd catch on El Gato," Pikachu said, grinning. "You're cool that way. See, Meowth? This is what you could have been with a little less greed and desire for revenge, and maybe a little more style and brains."

That was enough to snap what little of Meowth's patience was left. "That's it!" he roared, producing a small multicolored crystal in his hand. "You can't…you can't talk to me like that anymore! I'm not some wimpy wannabe thief to be beaten, humiliated, ignored, and blasted off at least once a day, and occasionally more! I'm Meowth, one of Deoxys' generals of evil! And with this jewel, I'll have the power to evolve and defeat you!"

SWISH!

"You mean this jewel?" Sadic asked, examining the gem she had just stolen from Meowth with Thief.

Meowth sweatdropped. "You know, somehow I get the feeling I should have seen that coming."

"Break it!" Pikachu insisted.

"No, there's no telling what that might do," El Gato argued. "It could kill us all!"

"Actually," Wobbuffet said, looking up from his attempts to break his sister's cage with a chunk of ice. "It'll just release the energy Deoxys put in it, causing whoever's closest to transform into a horrible general-class monster."

"…Okay, it won't kill us, but that's still pretty bad!" El Gato pointed out.

"How do you know this stuff, anyway?" Sadic asked, gingerly holding the evil gem in one claw while expertly slashing at Wynaut's cage with the other, causing it to split in two and the little blue blob's chains to shatter, dumping Wynaut and Milotic's soul-ball onto the ground.

Wobbuffet, with a gasp of joy, swept both up in his arms and hugged them to his body (carefully, seeing what a fragile condition Wynaut was in.) "The crystal told me," he said, referring to the piece of Deoxys' broken jewel. "It's told me lots of things…"

"Can it tell you how you're going to die at my hands!" Meowth said furiously. "Get them! Bring me back my jewel!"

Growlie howled and leaped into battle. Chimecho chimed happily and started sucking out Meowth's brain. The mutant feline sagged. "Dammit…you'd think for a general of the forces of evil, I'd get better minions."

Pikachu smirked as the flaming canine, followed by the enraged Meowth, bounded towards them. "I think it's time we play a little game of Mankey in the Middle, don't you Sadic?"

She chuckled. "I do indeed, my cuddly little rodent."

"Count me in as well," El Gato said with a grin. "I haven't played this game in ages!"

Pikachu nodded. "Okay then…Wobbuffet, will you be all right?"

The blob nodded, still holding his sister and lover's soul. "Yeah…with the crystal piece I have, I can amplify my normal defensive powers to throw up a shield that'll repel anything I don't want near me. I wouldn't be any help anyway…these pseudopods of mine aren't exactly good for running about, you know what I mean?"

"Right…in that case…break!" Pikachu, Sadic, and El Gato instantly leaped in separate directions, using Quick Attacks to dash up the ice cliffs or jagged plains around them as Meowth and Growlie pounced, missing them and plowing right into the shield Wobbuffet threw up just then, sending them flying away with twice the force they had jumped and smashing into the sides of the ice cliffs, piercing themselves on the jagged points. "Ow…fucking little…" Growling, Meowth pulled himself off the ice and glanced around. "Where'd they go!"

Growlie barked loudly, noticing Sadic on the tip of a nearby boulder, holding the transformation crystal. "Here boy…c'mon you stupid dog…I'm right here, come and get me!"

Predictably, Growlie barked and lunged at her. The Manyula gracefully phased out of the way with a Faint Attack, kicking the mutt from behind and causing him to slam face-first into the boulder, stunning himself. "Heheh…stupid dog. Hey Pikachu, catch!" She tossed the crystal to Pikachu, who was running sideways across the nearby cliff face, pursued by Meowth.

Pikachu sprung off the cliff and snatched the gem out of the air in his teeth, gracefully landing on the peak of a nearby ice crag and jumping off as Meowth came after him, smashing through the crag and leaping into the air after him. Pikachu curled up and flipped over in midair as Meowth fell down towards him, the beast's claws outstretched, and drove his sword right through the cat demon's heart and out through his back. "Oogh!" Meowth gasped in surprise from the sudden wound. Pikachu took this moment to send a powerful blast of electricity through his blade and into Meowth's body, causing him to scream with familiar pain as he was blasted off the end of the sword and into the side of a cliff, where he bounced off and smashed into the ground below, cracking the ice. "Owww…"

Pikachu landed neatly on the ground nearby, wiped his sword off on some snow, and tossed the crystal at the passing El Gato. "Here, catch!"

"Got it!" the feline swordsman said, snatching it in his claws and dashing away from the enormous, barking Growlie. "Come on, you _estúpido_ _perro_, I know you want me! Your kind always does!" Growlie barked loudly and continued chasing the small, annoying, but undoubtedly stylish cat.

El Gato ran towards a wall, and Growlie picked up speed, thinking he had the cat cornered. But then El Gato used his momentum to run _up_ the wall, causing Growlie to smash right into the cliff face, imbedding his head in two feet of ice. Faint whimpering could be heard as the flaming mutt tried to simultaneously melt and yank his head from the frozen water.

El Gato leaped off the wall, and noticed an eager Meowth sailing through the air towards him, claws reached out greedily for the small jewel. El Gato quickly tossed it down to Sadic, who was running parallel to him on the ground. "Here, senorita!" She grabbed it and ran off. El Gato then drew his sword and, with a cry, drove it right into Meowth's forehead, shattering his glass eye, skewering his brain, and tearing out through the back of his skull.

The monster howled in pain as his momentum sent them both crashing into the cliff face before sliding back to the ground. "Oww…dammit, that hurt!" Meowth cursed, ripping the sword out of his skull.

El Gato blinked in surprise, quickly picking himself back up off the ground. "That did not kill you?"

"I'm already dead," Meowth said flatly, snapping the sword in two and tossing it at El Gato's feet before charging after Sadic. "It'll take a lot more than that to kill me."

El Gato frowned and pulled a spare sword out of his cape. "Good thing I never leave home with just one," he muttered to himself, scooping up the broken pieces and stowing them away in a hidden pocket in his cape, for reforging if and when they got out of here.

"I've got you now!" Meowth roared, pouncing on a cornered Sadic.

"No you don't," she said, Faint Attacking out of his way and causing him to slam face-first into a cliff wall. "Bye." She ran off.

Meowth pulled his face out the dent he had made in the wall, shaking off ice chips that had imbedded themselves there. "Bye? What do you mean-"

He heard a cracking noise and turned around to see a zigzagging fissure splitting open up the side of the cliff, starting from where he had slammed into it. Meowth's eyesockets widened. "Oh crap." He quickly started scrambling out of the way, sure it wouldn't make a difference but still desperate enough to try.

The crack reached the top, there was a pause…and a small amount of snow and ice shards fell down on Meowth's head. He sighed in relief.

There was a sudden rumble, and the entire cliff collapsed on the feline, burying him in fifteen hundred tons of ice, as well as exposing and freeing many of the frozen souls. They blinked stupidly, hardly daring to believe they were free. Then, with cries of joy, they ran out from the large recess that had been formed by the collapse and were immediately incinerated by the angelic-looking things, who smiled cheerfully as they burned the screaming souls to ashes then merrily went about their way.

"Well, guess that's the end of that," Pikachu said, walking up beside Sadic to observe the huge icy mound that had been formed.

"Yep," she agreed.

Pikachu continued. "Good thing your lifetime out in the frozen parts of the world has given you such an acute ability to sense weak points in ice formations that you knew just the place to knock him into to cause the whole cliff to come down. I don't think he's coming out of there anytime soon."

"Unless, of course, he explodes out of there in a fit of rage when we least expect it, like movie _monstruo_ always do," said El Gato, scraping some frozen blood off his boots.

They waited several moments. The ice heap didn't budge.

"Well, if that didn't kill him," Pikachu said finally. "It should at least put him out of the way for a while." His ears drooped. "It's kind of sad, really…I never liked the guy, but I never wanted this to happen to him."

"It just goes to show you," Sadic said, idly tossing the transformation crystal in her claw. "Fate, if it exists, is anything but clear or direct. There's no telling what curveballs she'll lob at you. Speaking of which…"

She turned around and breathed Sheer Cold into the face of Growlie, who had been sneaking up behind them, growling angrily under his breath. His flames instantly extinguished and his skeleton collapsed to the ground dead, his bones covered in a thick layer of frost. "That takes care of him, too."

"Yep," Pikachu agreed.

"We should get back to Senor Wobbuffet and find a way out of here," El Gato suggested. "Maybe we can help the others."

His companions nodded, and they set off back down the icy canyon to where they had first appeared in this frozen hell. They soon spotted Wobbuffet, gently rubbing off the filth that had caked up on Wynaut's body with handfuls of snow while using his crystal shard to protect her from getting hypothermia or something. Milotic's soul, still encased in glass, lay at his feet, already looking a little brighter. The blue blob glanced up as he heard their feet crunching in the snow and scraping on the sharp ice that made up the ground, an actual smile on his face…

Which vanished as out of nowhere, Chimecho appeared and snatched the transformation crystal out of a completely taken by surprise Sadic with his mouth. Before anyone could stop him, he swallowed the shiny thing down his tiny gullet in a single gulp. "Chiiii!" he said happily.

They stared in horror as Chimecho was engulfed in a swirling mass of multicolored energy and started to get bigger and bigger. "Why do I get the distinct feeling nothing good will come of this?" Pikachu asked faintly as the thing that was the transforming Chimecho loomed over them.

…

Latias felt as if she had been here before.

She was in a garden, or the remains of one, the many trees which must have once been verdant green now withered, hollow, empty husks, the bark and knot holes twisted into faces of pain and agony, as if living souls had been imprisoned within the warped wood of the trees themselves. The grass in the numerous plots and lawns was brown and razor-sharp, looking more like fields of knives than dead plant material. Whatever flowers and plants were there seemed deformed, twisted, and horrific, things with tendrils and spines and knife-edged leaves dripping poison which burned at the ground it landed on. Jaws like that of a Venus flytrap snapped at the air, showing teeth of enormous size. The landscaped slopes which must once have lead down to a beautiful vista of the sea now looked more like a steady downhill slide to a hellish ocean of fire spreading out as far as the eye could see. Cracked and stained pathways wound their way through this garden of death, lined by monstrous plants, tortured trees, and statues of horrific rapes and tortures. Human and Pokemon bones lay scattered about the paths haphazardly, and Latias saw more than a few either sticking out of the numerous maws of the monstrous plants or lying partially in the blades of grass…as if the knife-sharp growth was _eating_ the bones somehow. There were pools of blood everywhere, surrounded by statues, dead flowers, and elaborate pinwheels with bloodstained razor edges, all spinning in spite of the lack of wind. The pools were fed by fresh streams of blood flowing over the tarnished, cracked walls and arcades which surrounded the sides of the garden not facing the ocean. Those same walls had fluid, moving _mouths_ in them which were moaning and crying and screaming for help.

The skies overhead were turbulent and tortured, filled with crimson and black clouds which stormed and crackled with monstrous bolts of lightning whenever they collided, forming swirling maelstroms which yawned like gaping mouths, seeking to swallow all that was beneath them. A monstrous crimson light shone through three points of light untouched by the clouds, a trio of monstrous red suns which stared coldly down at the world.

Latias' yellow eyes squinted in the harsh light as she stared out across the garden of horrors from her place atop a crumbling stairway at the highest point of the garden, between two streams of blood flowing down from the arcade behind her which encircled a good portion of the garden on a ledge, allowing her to hear the tormented screams from the walls with all their intensity. "Where am I?" she whispered. Somehow, someway, this place was very familiar to her…

She looked around her. She was all alone. None of her friends had been transported with her to this place. Feeling apprehensive, she clutched the small locket still hanging around her neck, the Luvdisc Day present from the King…and from Latios. Its presence soothed and reassured her with the knowledge that somewhere, both those dragons were watching for her…and with any luck, she would be seeing one of them very soon. She didn't really think Deoxys' RPGenerator shield would keep him out, seeing as how he had the motivation to finally; truly reunite with her for the first time in over a hundred thousand years fueling his great dragon heart.

She floated warily down the stairs, her odd sense of déjà vu increasing the longer she was in this twisted excuse for a garden. She stretched out her psychic senses as she scanned the garden with her mind, picking up so much raw, negative emotion buried in the place that she felt like vomiting. The stones sobbed, as did the trees and the mouths on the walls, the grass and flowers whispered their hunger, how they longed to soak up blood and flesh, more than the meager streams flowing from the walls could satisfy. She paused as she passed a dead tree, feeling an extra wave of sorrow and pain from it, glanced up into its branches and saw that it was not completely dead, it, and all the other trees in this garden, she now realized, bore very small fruits in spite of being otherwise barren. Her face showed revulsion as she realized they weren't fruits at all, but shrunken human and Pokemon heads, their faces twisted in fear as they murmured almost inaudible rushes of agony and despair.

Latias closed her eyes, drawing back her senses as she did so and reducing the air of evil she detected, as thick and cruel as Deoxys' heart, to a manageable amount. However, as she did so, her mind brushed against…_something_…else in this garden, something strange and enigmatic. Curious, and hoping whatever it was was a way out of here but also preparing herself in case it was a trap, Latias floated down one of the statue-lined pathways, ignoring the psychic screams and whispers of joy from the sculptures. She started when she saw a very, very old and dilapidated swing hanging from a tortured tree branch, feeling another wave of déjà vu, but quashed it down, not daring to focus on the swing for fear of what buried emotions that bloodstained wooden seat might reveal.

She continued onward, and started again, realizing she had come to an oddly familiar-looking large pool sitting at the base of a crumbling stone pavilion, with a pair of staircases going up either side of the hill said pavilion stood out from. Atop the pavilion was a twisted black cage with spikes and thorns pointing inward and outward, surrounding a small fountain from which bubbled a spring of darkness, a foul black liquid which reeked of blood and trapped souls which flowed through hidden pipes and a pool at the balcony's edge, falling through nozzles lining the edge and feeding the swirling pool of darkness before her.

Her heart leaped as she saw a humanoid figure standing near the cage, facing the sea, her back to Latias. She wore a green T-shirt, white shorts and a white beret, and had a distinctive hairstyle as she applied paint to her easel…

Latias gasped. "Bianca!" Her wariness and feeling of sickness from this place vanished as she was filled with joy at the prospect of seeing her dear friend again. The figure did not respond to her call, but the dragon eagerly flew up and over the fountain of darkness, reaching a claw out to touch her friend's shoulder…

Bianca turned around. And Latias reeled back in horror, for it was not Bianca.

Her body was a husk drained dry as if by a dehydrated vampire, her eyes sunken in, her skin as dry as dead leaves, her clothing tattered and soaked in blood. Her brown hair hung loosely over her skull, withered and stringy. Her mouth hung open and a moan of weariness, agony, and despair slowly ground from her throat, the voice of a soul lost and tortured beyond belief. Numerous tiny parasites scurried out from her clothing and crawled all over her skin, biting at her flesh and at each other.

Latias noticed, almost as an afterthought, that this Bianca facsimile had not been using a paintbrush, but her own severed finger, dipped in a pallet made from numerous fluids which all had about the same consistency as blood.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" a familiar voice said behind her just after she detected his telltale aura. She spun around and was face to face with Dark Latios.

If anything, the dark dragon was even more abominable up close than he had been when she first saw him. His aura, as malevolent and nefarious as his father's, if a bit wilder, reached out towards hers in psychic tendrils, as if seeking to consume it. She strengthened her mental defenses, not wanting this sick perversion of her brother anywhere near her mind. "Where have you taken me?" she asked him. "Where are my friends?"

Dark Latios chuckled in a way which sent cold fingers down her spine. "Your friends are…elsewhere, fighting my father's other generals. Some may win. Some may not. It matters little in the end." He spread his arms out. "As to where we are…do you not recognize it, Latias? You have spent most of your life…your second life, that is…in this place."

She frowned at him. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never been here in either of my lives. The place I grew up in this lifetime is there city of Alto Mare, not…here, wherever here is."

Dark Latios laughed. "Not Alto Mare? Latias, where do you think we _are?_"

Her blood chilled as she suddenly understood why this place had seemed so familiar. "This is not Alto Mare," she heard herself saying. "Alto Mare is a place of life. Of beauty. Of happiness. It was a paradise." She gestured to Bianca, to the encaged wellspring of darkness. "This is a place of death. Of evil. Of suffering. This is not Alto Mare."

"Of course it is," Dark Latios said, gliding past her. "It is the Alto Mare you remember. The Alto Mare from the other side of your heart. It only looks different because you see it through my eyes, not your own."

"And _this_ is how you see Alto Mare!" she said in disbelief. "As a place of horrors? Of death and evil? As nothing less than an extension of hell?"

Dark Latios laughed. "Latias, this _is_ hell, yes…and it is paradise, just as the Alto Mare you remember was. It's all in how you look at it.

"You said Alto Mare was a place of life. So is this…life at its most extreme, life free to grow without end. Life affected by glorious, glorious entropy in its fullest without having to die…for it is already dead, as life and death are the same things, only here it is unable to change into something new to create new life, which will of course only die again. All things are born to die. I was born dead, which is logically the most efficient next step in evolution. This world reflects that. I suppose one could even say that since I, my father, and this place are born dead, we are some of the only things in your universe that are truly alive.

"You said Alto Mare was a place of beauty. So is this. You do not find it beautiful? The way entropy twists and turns all things here to reveal their innermost nature, how it causes all the screams of the damned to blend together into music so sweet in its expression of life's pointlessness and prolonging of needless suffering as those who live it do nothing but hurt themselves and those around them more and more, too blind to see _they_ are the cause for their own misery, not my father…although he isn't completely free of blame, I suppose…the music, it brings tears to my eyes. It doesn't please you? Oh well…beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all."

He smirked, ignoring her looks of anger at his patronizing tone. "You said Alto Mare was a happy place…now, that point can be argued. Once more, it's a case of reality being in the eye of the beholder. What made that city you called home happy? The people? The Pokemon? How many of them did you actually interact with on a daily basis? Did the buildings and artwork make the city 'happy'? Of course not, for how could they…art and architecture inspires the emotions, but have little to none of their own. On its own, it is nothing. Therefore, a building or painting cannot be happy, and therefore cannot make a city happy, unless they make all the inhabitants happy. And can you truly be certain of that? Your evolution into your new powers, and your abilities to pick up empathic traces of emotions on rooms and inanimate objects which cannot themselves feel anything, is very recent. If you had these new abilities then, would you have still felt Alto Mare was a 'happy' place? Or would you have felt the ancient echoes of blood and violence which have haunted the city until recent times, the memories of armies marching through the streets and slaughtering one another and splattering the fine marble and stones making up Alto Mare in blood and anger and pain? Mmm, how delicious..." He licked his lips with his forked tongue. "Would you have felt the raw, unbalanced emotions of the next door neighbors as they abused each other? Your uncle's sorrow and guilt for not being able to do more for his sister? Our mother's rage and deep bitterness, lying trapped beneath a stone at the bottom of a canal?" He chuckled. "Who can say though, now that that place is gone? If you should ever return to its ruins, though, I highly doubt you will find it 'feeling' like a happy place any more…not after how your boyfriend's servants practically leveled it and killed dear old Bianca and Lorenzo. I'm still surprised you've forgiven him for that. Would you forgive me too if I murdered your new friends?"

"I have not forgiven him," Latias told him coldly. "But he and I have moved past that. I understand why he did what he did and do not hold a grudge. Which is more than I can say for what I would feel for you if you continued existing much longer."

Dark Latios laughed, and wrapped an arm around the unresponsive zombie Bianca's shoulder. "Sister, if I actually felt any affection for you, that would've hurt. But seeing as how one of the main reasons I exist is to see you suffer…your anger is turning me on." He licked Bianca's cheek, slurping up some of the parasites crawling on her face. Latias clenched her fists, hearing anguished squeals from the parasites as Dark Latios noisily crunched them in his jaws, not bothering to close his mouth as he intentionally showed the disgusting, gooey mess in his mouth. "You are the most disgusting and abominable creature I have ever met," Latias said, even colder than before. She was now more angry at the mockery of her brother than afraid of him. "You are something that should not exist."

"You're absolutely right," said Dark Latios as he swallowed the parasites down his throat. "In that case-" He broke off, digging his jaws into Bianca's throat and ripping it out, causing blood to spew as her head fell backwards, attached to her shoulders only by a thin piece of flesh. "Shall we dance?"

Latias' enraged charge, slamming into him and knocking both of them through Bianca's easel and off the edge of the balcony, was all the answer he needed.

…

The ship was even more horrible up close than Mewtwo or Ralts had imagined. Not only did it look so much more gruesome when you were up against and on it than it did from far away, the smell…and the aura…which reeked of so much suffering and pain, and the joy in causing it… made Mewtwo glad that for some reason his powers had been diminished. He wouldn't have wanted to be able to sense whatever empathic vibes radiated off this hellish ship and its crew at their full potency.

The crew itself was varied. There were hideous things from the deepest corners of nightmares, but things that did not seem so horrible either, such as humans, some Pokemon, bizarre alien things, and numerous other very beautiful creatures…were they elves? Angels? Or was Mewtwo limiting them by trying to force labels on them? Whatever they were, Mewtwo could tell that they were not friendly. The way they moved, the way they looked at the psychic duo, showed that they were evildoers, through and through.

The ship's deck was grotesque, some sort of mixture between membrane, bone, and thin yet extremely strong skin stretched out to serve as a surface for the crew to walk about on. Between the masts were a pair of thick grates made of bone and muscle sinew carefully woven together which gave Mewtwo and Ralts a look into the bowels of the ship, which were so grotesque they defy this humble author's ability to describe.

Of a slightly less grotesque nature were the _creatures_ in the bowels, although many of them were, typically, beasts of unimaginable terror from some grotesquerie on another world, and others who, like many of the crew members, were much less than terrifying. Nonetheless, all of them had one thing in common: they were chained together, sitting on a 'bench' (which could only be called a bench because there's no other way to describe the oozing, pulsating _thing_ they sat on) and rowing the huge scything oars which propelled the ship forward through the sea of bodies. It was clear that all of them had been there for a very long time, the smell rising from their unwashed bodies and the filth from their bowels mixed with the stench of evil and pain which surrounded the boat and made the psychic's head spin was proof of this.

Further evidence of their longevity in the hold was how the arms they exerted the most force on the oar with were disproportionate to their other arms, swollen and musclebound and in some cases dwarfing the slaves attached to them. Also, the greasy chains were not attached to visible shackles, but to diseased-looking skin on their wrists, ankles, and necks (those who had any, that is.). They had been there for so long, the shackles cutting so deeply into their skin that the skin itself had healed _over _the chains, making them part of their bodies. That was disgusting enough, but the fact that they were grinning madly in spite of their obvious suffering…how they snickered and laughed as they heard the screams and wails of the bodies they were slicing apart with their oarstrokes…that further emphasized what a monstrosity this boat was.

Mewtwo and Ralts had been too numb with fear to resist as the ship's crew roughly took them from the living life preserver, which contented itself with a chuckle at the foreknowledge of what their future would be as it sank into the ship's deck and vanished without a trace, and were now tied to the central mass by things that were less than ropes and more like living nightmares. They were disgusting, swollen, twitching things with numerous skins and colors, that had clusters of long eyes like flower petals surrounded by eggs which hatched as they dropped and quickly attached to the rest of the monstrosities, adding to the mass of the living bonds which kept a fear-paralyzed Mewtwo and Ralts to the mast.

Stepping forward from the crowd of crew-things came several beings clearly superior to the rest. They gazed upon the prisoners and smiled in amusement (those who could, that is). Many of them were enormous, and yet somehow seemed to fit in perfectly on the deck without overshadowing the ship, some trick of quantum physics no doubt.

One was a huge black mass like a giant worm ending in a monstrous lamprey mouth at the end with countless black tentacles. Along the rim were the upper bodies of four dragon skeletons, silently wailing and failing. A miles-long wormlike tentacle at the rim ended in a solid stone black human face, its eyes…strangely familiar to Mewtwo. As were the eyes of all the villains scrutinizing them for some odd reason. "So these are the guests to our little cruise?" it intoned.

A huge black suit of shogun armor with a red demon facemask scoffed. "Pitiful."

"Indeed," agreed a pale man wearing fine cloths of nobility and a long red and black cape. His face was rather human, except for two fangs coming out of his mouth. "I doubt I'd get much blood from them…and they both look so pale…hmmph."

"And they have been Chosen to save their world?" scoffed a large black and grey mechanical figure with a black mask and red eyes. "I have fought greater heroes in my sleep."

"They're barely worth our time," agreed a Japanese man with long hair that covered him like a cape for his kimono. If one were to look, they would find on his back a giant burn in the shape of a spider.

"Do not be so quick to underestimate them," said another man in noble clothing, a white jacket with red insides. His skin was tan and his hair ghost white, and on his chest was stylized a black and red crossed out heart design. "Their hearts are strong, although filled with fear…and who can blame them, considering where they are?"

"Despite their fear, they are no less a threat," agreed a large spiked brain with a single eyeball that radiated an extremely malevolent aura. "After all…how many times have mere children managed to triumph over evil before?"

"You can say that again," grumbled a huge demon beast glowing red with endless white designs on it subserviently and submissively holding in its palm a Japanese lad with long bangs wearing attire that was a strange mix of Japanese and Native American styles with a smile that was frightening; a creature composed of two intertwined serpentine bodies of energy, one blue and the other brownish red, with a single clawed arm for each side and numerous bands of green 0s and 1s wrapping around the entire monster; a floating heart-shaped mask with yellow spikes on the fringes, a pair of ghastly yellow eyes, and numerous other bizarre patterns on its face; a large blue pig-man with a royal red cape and cap, hooves, a large trident, and a gruesome look on his tusked face; a monster that looked like a spiny turtle shell with claws and a face made out of flexing mandibles; a tall red-skinned humanoid with four eyes, white hair, and antlers; and quite a few others.

"Nevertheless," said a very, very old and withered man dressed completely in a black robe which absorbed all light. "There is very little they can do at this point. Their part as pawns in my/our plan is almost at an end."

"The pieces are in place," said a giant whose skin was black like molten rock lined with jagged glowing orange lines. His face had a mouth and two eyes, and fans that might have been ears, but no one would mistake its face for human.

"_She_ is on her way…" said a grinning marble god-like statue with angelic wings and three eyes.

"And soon, all will be as it should. She will fall. The cycle of time will end. And I/we shall be triumphant," said one of the more beautiful beings, as beautiful as the dawn and the stars only visible for a brief moment at daybreak, with two golden angelic wings that Mariah could never have held a candle to gracing his back.

"Do not count us out yet," Mewtwo said, finally managing to find his voice. "Garde…Ralts and I may be incapacitated, but the rest of the Chosen and countless others shall put a stop to your plan."

"Oh really?" asked an amused absolutely black towering figure with six horns, a hideous green face, and flaming eyebrows. "And would you happen to know what that plan is, little one?"

"Of course," Mewtwo said with a smirk. "Capture the Mother's soul and overwhelm it with enough negativity from all the pain, suffering, hatred, and etc. making up Deoxys, either turning her evil or into a suicidal cynic who's lost all faith in existence and will probably be filled with such depression she'll kill herself and remove her presence from the timestream forever. Either outcome will not only cripple the forces of good everywhere, but will also severely destabilize the flow of existence and cause it to collapse permanently, forcing all the confused and traumatized souls prematurely into Eternity, where you will be waiting to take as many of them as you can and defeat your own enemies once and for all."

Ralts looked at Mewtwo in surprise, unaware that he had known so much of this. Why had he not mentioned all of this to her before?

Both were surprised when, after staring at them for a moment, the summit of villainly burst into laughter. "You know much, and yet so little," said an androgynous figure with a plain blue cloak adorned with nothing, a helmet graced with a starburst of silver hair wavering in all directions without any head, and six giant hands with huge eyes in their palms.

"You know the basis of our plans…" started an eye made of fire, with a slit-like void in its center for a pupil.

"But not its heart," finished another eye, this one feminine and pink as flesh, with a yellow center and a design that was endlessly changing and never the same, that gave the impression of a computer image.

"You do not even fully understand the part you have to play in all this," hissed a grotesque behemoth of flesh and bone, floating without legs or a lower body, with numerous membranes and fins, spines, and quite a few big orb-like eyes all over its 'head'.

Ralts blinked. "Of course we do," she said quietly, her voice trembling slightly to show how nervous she was to be surrounded by all this evil. "We are supposed to stop it…right? That is why we were Chosen?"

They laughed again. "Is that truly what you believe?" whispered a monster that looked almost like an enormous walking corpse pieced together from the body parts of numerous dead gods, a sickly green in color with twitching tentacles for arms and a long, looping wormlike mass wrapping around its waist and thighs and arching across its back.

"They know so little…it's rather amusing!" said an incredibly beautiful human (or human-appearing) teenager with a golden-white gown with a skirt that went down to her ankles and was split down the sides to give her greater mobility. Her feet were clad in diamond high-heels, and she held in her hand a naked sword with a long golden hilt inlaid with rubies and with butterfly wings in the pommel. A pair of angelic wings grew from her back through a huge mass of wavy golden hair which fell to her ankles. Ralts could not help but be reminded of Mariah Susanson when she looked at this woman.

A floating figure without a lower body clad in a torn dark brown ceremonial robe with gold cuffs around his wide sleeves, as well as a gold collar rim and shoulder pads, hovered forward. He also had a necklace made of gold disks of various sizes hanging low on his chest, and a chain affixed to the front of his robe that hung down from his shoulders and across his torso, with large metal sigils resembling comets, as well a spiked crescent and a six-pointed star with an emerald core, adorning them. His flesh was black and wrinkled, with three-clawed hands and a head without any apparent mouth which had several short spikes growing from the top and a pair of long, straight horns growing to the sides. He had three eyes, two of them blank and the third with a slit-like pupil. "Allow me to clarify matters for you: the day of reckoning for Earth, and all worlds, swiftly approaches…and you Chosen shall help us to usher it in. THAT is why you were selected by the Unown…to help facilitate the end of all things!"

Mewtwo was skeptical. "Right. And I'm supposed to believe this?"

"Why not?" said an all-too familiar voice.

The crowd of villains parted, and Mewtwo found himself face-to-face with…himself. His usual self, that is, aside from the pirate hat he wore on his head, the malevolent smirk on his face and how eerily different this Mewtwo's purple eyes were from his own. In fact, this clearly evil Mewtwo's eyes seemed a lot like the eyes of all the other villains surrounding the captured pair.

The two clones stared at each other in steely silence, while Ralts just gaped in disbelief. Finally, the evil Mewtwo said, "I had no idea I looked so pathetic when I was that age."

"And I had no idea I was so handsome," the real Mewtwo countered. "Ralts, why did you never tell me I was this good-looking?" She blushed and glanced away, clearly embarrassed.

The evil Mewtwo chuckled in amusement. "Well, that cements the belief I've made the right choice…it's quite clear becoming a 'good guy' has caused you to lower your standards, Myself."

"Considering where our original standards were, I think that's a good thing," said the younger Mewtwo with a smirk. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Why, yourself of course."

"I can see that. And yet you are different. You chose to take a different path in life."

The evil one nodded. "One that led to the death of all life on Earth and the beginning of an empire of genetically-engineered perfect beings which spans galaxies. And I think I made the right choice."

"Do you?"

"Oh yes. One, I have power. Two, I don't suffer from pointless angst relapses, occasional feelings of inadequacy at being cloned, periods of confusion regarding my feelings for Giovanni, or any misplaced feelings of affection towards humanity or life in general, leaving me pretty much content at the end of the day. And three, I answer to no one."

"No?" Mewtwo raised an eyebrow. "Then may I ask what you're doing here, then, in this little illusion of Deoxys'? Don't tell me you're taking orders from him."

The other Mewtwo laughed. "Taking orders? Hardly. So unimaginative…it's hard to believe we're related, isn't it? And before you ask, no, I have not 'allied' myself with Deoxys for mutual gain, just as my fellows here have not…or at least, we have not allied in the way you think we have. After all, can it really be considered an alliance when you are joining forces with yourself to fulfill your own common dream?"

Mewtwo blinked in confusion. "Yourself? What are you talking about? I think I'd know if you and I were allied."

The evil clone chuckled. "You're not the 'yourself' I'm talking about…how sad. I would have thought the Unown had taught you more."

"They taught me plenty," Mewtwo said, glaring at his otherworldly twin. "Such as how to defeat Deoxys, as well as explaining to me more of his nature, so that I can understand just what he is."

"Did they now?" the evil Mewtwo looked amused. "Oh, they told you all right. And you think you understand. But…you do not. How can you? It is not something that can simply be told or explained. One must see it for themselves to perceive the truth…or part of it, anyway. After all, we both know that one can never understand everything, but they can always understand _more_."

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "Here we go. Is this the part where you attempt to undermine my faith in the Unown by claiming that they are manipulating me and the other Chosen as part of some grand interplanar plan which plays right into Deoxys' hands? Or that perhaps _they_ wish control over reality, instead of wanting it destroyed as Deoxys does?"

The evil twin looked amused. "Of course not. Why would I say anything like that? What need would I have to reinforce suspicions you yourself already possess?"

Ralts blinked and looked at Mewtwo in surprise. "You doubt them?"

"Not the way he puts it," Mewtwo said with the best shrug he could manage. "I am fully aware they have their own interests at heart, rather than that of Earth in particular, and that they are using me as part of some plan of their own. I am also aware that they have willingly withheld certain information from me, for their own reasons, possibly because they did not want me to know it, did not think I needed to know it, or were unable to properly convey it due to the fundamental differences between how my mind and their mind works and the way we communicate with each other. I was frustrated with this at first, but then realized there's not really much I could do about it. Even if they're using me, I _have_ learned much of great interest from them, as well as the means to destroy Deoxys. Perhaps I am projecting too much of myself on them, but I do not honestly believe that they are evil, and if they wished Earth destroyed as Deoxys does they wouldn't go to all the trouble of training me and making me stronger for the very purpose of defending our planet."

"Unless it's all part of an extremely convoluted master plan," the evil Mewtwo pointed out.

"Of course," agreed the smaller Mewtwo. "Which it very well might be. And if is, I am honestly not sure what I, or anyone can do about it. All we can do for the time being is take part in the roles we have been given and see what comes of it."

"More proof that I have made the right choice," said the evil Mewtwo, shaking his head. "You have become weak."

"Is it weakness to respect life?"

"Of course not. But it's not exactly strength either. For instance, I really don't think respecting life is going to get you off that mast before we're through with you." The evil Mewtwo gestured, and with grins all the wicked crew of this evil ship began to close in on the two trapped Psychics.

"You're not going to wait for Deoxys? I can't imagine he'll be pleased with that," Mewtwo pointed out, hiding a hint of growing worry.

"Heheheheheh…I think he won't mind at all," said the evil Mewtwo with an enigmatic grin. His eyes crackled, preparing to launch a psychic assault into the two captives' minds that would begin their torture at the crew's appendages…

When a shining form flew down from the gloomy skies, glowing brightly and startling the ship's crew, causing them to back away in surprise as the form of light circled the mast. "Mewtwo!"

Mewtwo squinted into the light as it hovered before him. He blinked as it resolved into the form of a small, teal-haired girl. "Amber?"

"Who?" asked a confused Ralts.

"An old friend of mine," Mewtwo said quickly. "Who's supposed to be dead. Amber, what are you doing here?"

"I've come to rescue you!" she said, stretching a hand out. "Take my hand!"

"We can't," Ralts pointed out timidly. "We're tied to the mast."

"…Oh." Amber sweatdropped in embarrassment. "Right, just a sec…" She gestured, and the grotesque rope-like creatures screeched in pain and sloughed off onto the ground, writhing and wailing horribly. "Okay, now take my hand!"

Wiping off some slime the disgusting creatures had shed on him, Mewtwo did just that, grabbing Ralts with his other hand tightly. A good thing he did, too, because the moment he touched her hand the girl shot into the air at what felt like the speed of sound, knocking over many of the closest crew members as well as the evil Mewtwo's hat and ruffling the sails as the trio vanished into the skies above.

"Curse you, Amber! Don't think this is over!" the evil Mewtwo cried angrily, shaking his fist at the receding figures as he put the pirate hat back on his head. He waited a few moments, then grinned and turned to his colleagues, who were grinning as well. (Those with mouths, anyway) "Suckers."

…

The chamber shook with elemental energies as Cerberus and its three rivals clashed. Papa and Mama inhaled and fired twin Hyper Beams at the beast's three heads. Cerberus simply growled, and the crystals growing from its shoulders lit up, causing the golden energy beams to change direction in midair and get sucked into the crystalline growths, causing them to glow and crackle with energy. "Hahahaha…thanks for the power-up, fakers!" Cerberus inhaled, preparing to return the stolen energies threefold…

And Oniichan lunged at the hell hound's rear, grabbing its middle tail in his jaws and sending a 100,000 gigawatt charge of electricity into the monster, causing two of its heads to roar in pain. Cerberus' other two tails lashed out at Oniichan's sides, digging into them with their teeth and sucking blood. Oniichan, not seeming to notice the pain, merely dug his own teeth deeper into Cerberus' tail and sent another wave of electricity into the monster's body, causing it to convulse and for static to crackle on its filthy mane. Enraged, Cerberus swung its tail sideways, slamming Oniichan into the wall and knocking him off, while focusing the concentration of its other two heads on Papa and Mama, spewing blasts of water and electricity at them.

With their improved speed, the couple evaded the elemental strikes and lunged for the jugulars of the outermost heads. The two heads lowered and knocked them away with a swing of their snouts, but this gave Oniichan the opportunity to latch onto the beast's big tail again and send another shock into its monstrous form. Enraged, Cerberus howled and stomped its forelegs hard against the ground, causing the floor around it to explode in blasts of fire, ice, and thunder, hurling the three copy beasts away. "You three are even bigger pests than we remembered!"

"We try," Papa quipped, launching a fireball at Cerberus' Raikou head, knowing it wouldn't really do any damage. It didn't, it just served to irritate the monster more.

"When we're through with you three, that little girl of yours won't have any toys left to play with! Maybe she'll finally grow up and get on with her death, instead of clinging to feeble remnants of life like you three!" Cerberus growled angrily.

"How DARE you speak of Molly like that!" Papa snarled angrily. The beasts showed their fury by lighting up with their respective auras and charging at Cerberus. However, the beast had anticipated this and powered up with its own aura, a disturbing mixture of red, yellow, and blue, as it charged at the trio, causing the ground to shake with each heavy footfall.

The four collided, the auras clashing against each other as the beasts struggled for dominance, neither side willing to yield to the other. Articuno, who was sitting on the sidelines, wondered if she should do something, decided this was way out of her league, and so did nothing.

After being deadlocked for several seconds, the energies gathered finally released themselves in a powerful explosion, flinging all combatants apart. Cerberus stumbled back in surprise, trying to maintain balance, shocked to find that its three masks had cracked some more. The copy beasts were less lucky, their whole faces had been smashed in…but thanks to their regenerative powers, they were as good as new in only seconds. The same could not be said for Cerberus' masks. "You…you fucking…" Cerberus roared in rage, shaking the chamber. "That does it! It's time to BRING ON THE PAIN!" The chains attached to the monster's collars rattled and shot through the air, their twisted ends wrapping around the handles of the giant gate behind it. Cerberus gritted its teeth and started pulling, causing the chains to go taut as the door rattled slightly.

"What is he doing?" asked a confused Mama.

"Whatever it is, is can't be good! Attack now!" Glowing with their auras again, they charged towards Cerberus…

Just as the evil mutt, with a roar of exertion and fury, managed to pull hard enough on its chains to yank the door open a crack.

That crack was just enough.

The four Chosen Pokemon fell to the ground, screaming their lungs out in pain, their blood boiling in its veins, their eardrums swelling and eyeballs bulging as the most horrific light shone through the opening in the giant gate, bringing with it excruciating pain. Articuno had never hurt so much in her life, not even from her most arduous battles against her eternal rivals, or the eternal annoyance Lugia. Every muscle, every feather, every _atom_ of her body was in acute pain. She screamed and screamed and screamed as she rolled around the floor, convulsing wildly and flailing her wings out at wrong angles, splashing in the filthy puddles and scratching herself on the tightly packed bones making up the floor, not caring what a mess she had become, not caring how she was soiling and ruining her precious plumage, not caring that she was tearing her vocal cords to shreds, she just wanted it to stop hurting.

And then it did. Cerberus' chains lost their hold on the handles, and the doors slammed shut, ending the torture as quickly as it had begun. The evil hound chuckled in amusement, seeing its four foes lying on the floor, chests heaving and glistening with sweat, minds reeling from what they had just experienced. "That is only the beginning, fools…my master Deoxys shall inflict the same suffering a billionfold on you once I crush you in battle. Surrender now and you will only be afflicted with half the torture I just unleashed…a generous bargain, compared to how much hurt you would be put in otherwise." Cerberus grinned. "What say you?"

Articuno opened her beak, ready to surrender then and there, her weak spirit incapable of comprehending having to live with what Cerberus had just hit them with multiplied by an even greater amount for the rest of her life. Surely only half that pain couldn't be so bad in comparison, could it?

Unfortunately for Articuno, her throat was too hoarse from her screams only moments ago to generate any words, so only managed to rasp pathetically as she tried to get the monster's attention. The three beasts, on the other hand, had already recovered from the wave of pain, and were still determined to fight. "It will take more than that to defeat us, Cerberus! We have the blessings of Molly and the Unown behind us! We will NOT surrender!" Papa said, glaring stoically at his foe.

"Pah…you heroic types are all the same," Cerberus scoffed. "Come then…continue your pointless struggle! In the end, it is Deoxys who shall triumph, not your alphabetic friends!"

"That remains to be seen," said Mama. "And until that time comes…we will continue our fight, no matter what the consequences!"

Cerberus snickered. "They shall be very severe indeed…we promise you that."

"Are you talking about us, or about how we're going to rip you apart?" Oniichan taunted, baring his teeth.

"Come attack us and find out, fool. We are more than willing to show you what we are made of," Cerberus beckoned.

With a roar, the beasts clashed again…and Articuno couldn't help but feel completely useless. _Which might be a good thing_, she thought as she saw Mama hurled against a wall with her throat torn out by Cerberus, regenerating moments later and leaping back into the fray. _Seeing as how I can't do that._

…

Lugia swallowed and closed his eyes, feeling the breath of his former mate against his neck. He weighed his options, trying to get his anguished and guilty mind under control, and find a way out of this.

He still had the Snag Balls Wes had given to him under his tongue. If he acted quickly, perhaps he could Snag and incapacitate them until he could think of something better to do with them.

But…

But there was no guarantee they would work. They might be too powerful to be captured in a Pokeball, that was a definite possibility. Their auras were strong.

And…there was also the matter that he already felt, very, very bad as it was for everything he had already done to them. He had murdered and damned them. Capturing them with trickery would only further their hatred for him. And his aching heart dearly didn't want that.

And…

He was tired. Although Deoxys' nightmare loop had been broken by Molly, he had still suffered dozens more horrific bad dreams in the night as a subconscious reminder of his guilt. His mind did not want him to think that what he did was okay or that it could be justified. He had sinned horribly. And if he did not do something to repent here and now, that sin would haunt him forever, and even if he walked away from this battle victorious he would never know peace.

He sighed, knowing what had to be done.

Opening his eyes, he turned around, gently pushing his mate's head off his shoulder as he turned to face her. Silver watched from his nearby rock, curious as to what his cursed father was trying to do. "I'm sorry."

The female blinked. "What?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated, his voice heavy with sorrow. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I betrayed you. I'm sorry I delivered you into Deoxys' hands. And…I am also sorry…for abandoning you so many times before. For meekly submitting to Ho-Oh's insane edicts instead of fighting for your safety and freedom like a good mate should. For everything, all of it, I am sorry."

They stared at him for a moment. Then, Silver said, "Are you really, Daddy?"

He nodded solemnly. "Yes. Yes, I am."

The small Lugia cocked his head. "I seem to remember you once saying that just telling someone you were sorry was never good enough."

"It's not," Lugia agreed. "That is as true now as it was then. Which is why I…" He took a deep, shuddering breath. "Why I am giving in."

The female blinked. "What?"

"You are right to hate me. I am a weak male, a weak mate, a weak father who has done little more than shatter your hopes and destroy your freedom time and time again. This burden of guilt I bear…the things I have done…cannot go unresolved. Therefore…I beg of you…end this. Do to me all that which you desire. I deserve it. Every last bit of it. Kill me so your anger and vendetta will be fulfilled, and I can drop the weight of my sin…or, perhaps, join you two in your suffering, so we may be a family again." He closed his eyes and spread his wings, stretching his neck out. "There. I am at my most vulnerable. Strike me if that is what you wish. Strike me if that is what will make you happy again."

There was a long pause. Then she shrugged. "Okay."

She and Silver lunged at Lugia and began ripping him to pieces.

…

The combatants danced in the air gracefully, exchanging swift blow after swift blow, punctuated by occasional powerful attacks that either were deflected off of Togetic's numerous defensive screens or had no effect whatsoever on Shedinja's enhanced armor. That didn't mean neither opponent could be faulted for lack of trying, however.

Togetic floated back, opened her mouth, and Yawned, sending a large bubble out of her mouth towards Shedinja. The ghostly ninja laughed and popped it with a Cut from his claws, spraying mist into the air. "Fool! You think a spirit such as I shall succumb to sleep so easily?" he taunted. He formed a Shadow Ball and hurled it at the mini-angel.

She formed a Shadow Ball in her own hands and flung it at the inbound missile, detonating it and forming a smoke cloud between them. Shedinja cackled and used Mind Reader to try and pinpoint Togetic, certain her cloud barrier wouldn't be able to hide her, and was surprised to detect her right behind himself. _What-_

Togetic slammed into him from behind, having used Aerial Ace to get behind the fiend. She knew that her physical attack hadn't hurt the bug in the least…but hopefully, what she was about to do would have _some_ effect, no matter how much it disgusted her to do it…screwing up her courage, she planted a Sweet Kiss on the startled Shedinja's forehead "Ugh!"

She immediately started hacking and retching in disgust as she let go of Shedinja, who flew about, somewhat dazed. "Eh? What? What's going on? Why do I see three of you?" Confused, Shedinja wobbled through the air and rammed against a nearby dead tree repeatedly, causing its weak bark to crumble.

"Come on Phanphy, let's go!" Togetic cried, swooping down to pick up her brother and flying with him to the south.

Phanphy blinked. "Huh? What about Shedinja, big sister? Aren't we going to stay and defeat him?"

Togetic, with a pained expression on her face, looked back at Shedinja, who was still ramming into a tree, and the crawling Togepi corpses lying about the ground. "I…Phanphy, I don't know how to defeat him. We've been fighting for several minutes now, and none of my attacks or counterattacks are working. He really does seem to be invincible."

"So we're just going to run away?" Phanphy whined.

"No, we're making a strategic retreat to come up with a plan of action."

"Ohhhh."

There was a pause.

"It's not the same thing as running away," Togetic said quickly.

Phanphy blinked at her innocently. "I never asked if it was."

"Oh…right…"

…

Blaziken charged at Omega and lashed out with a flaming Sky Uppercut aimed for the towering giant's chin. The evil general bent backwards, his spine bending at a ridiculous angle as he planted his hands on the ground and kicked upwards, slashing his massive feet claws across the caprine Pokemon's chest and flinging him into the boat's prow. He sensed the air behind him warping as Umbreon appeared behind him with a Faint Attack, and immediately twisted his head and arms backwards, punching the Dark Pokemon with each fist before kicking her in the air, slamming her into the roof of the blazing dark shrine.

He heard a rush of air as Scyther and Corsola attacked at once, one dropping from above with a downward Cut and the other firing Spike Cannons at his back. He unsheathed his arm blades and reacted instantly, holding one horizontally over his head to parry the old mantis's assault while bending his other arm backwards, moving it in rapid jerks and twists to deflect every spike that tried to strike him with his blade. He then dropped to the floor in a split and spun-kicked, knocking Corsola to the edge of the boat as Scyther flew through the air, landed in front of him, took a quick breath for his screaming lungs, and then started spinning, blades facing outward, in an offensive form of the Swords Dance technique.

Omega could do that, too. He stood up, held his arms straight out from his shoulders, and started spinning his torso repeatedly, the bizarre musculature and bones of his upper body allowing it to rotate freely from the lower. He charged forward towards the bladed top that was Scyther, his own form that of a whirling dervish of destruction as he hunkered his extremely flexible legs down to reach Scyther's level.

The two spinning blades smashed into each other, clashing and sending sparks showering across the dark boat as the two warriors struggled for dominance over the other. Omega had the advantage of size, length of reach, and lack of any critical heart condition, while Scyther had…um…experience? Tenacity? Er…okay, the old mantis didn't really have any advantages whatsoever. This contest of blades was pretty much over before it had even begun.

Fortunately for Scyther, he wasn't the only one fighting. Omega was abruptly thrown off balance when Blaziken slide-kicked his legs out from under him, causing the giant to fall backwards and hit the deck, his swords getting stuck in the ground and cutting off his spinning attack, allowing an exhausted Scyther a moment to catch his breath. "Don't worry about…me," he gasped, falling to his knees and clutching his chest. "I'm…okay! Coupla pills and…I'll be as good as new!" He took out his medicine bottle and dumped at least a dozen pills down his throat.

While Omega was engaged in removing his blades from the deck simply by switching them off, the remaining heroes attacked from behind. Corsola Tackled into Omega's back HARD, tearing his cape and shoving his torso forward, right into Umbreon's Shadow Ball attack, hitting the evil general at point-blank range in the face and exploding powerfully, covering him in smoke and flame.

Not intending to let up just because they couldn't see him, Corsola fired her Spike Cannon at the large form silhouetted in the smoke and Blaziken launched Dragon Rages from his beak, causing more explosions and flinging Omega onto the deck, trailing smoke as he hit the ground. His armor was a little scratched, and his neck had been twisted back at a very unhealthy angle by the direct blast from Shadow Ball. He did not move as he lay there.

"Well," Scyther rasped, getting to his feet. "Guess that's the end of him."

Of course, it wasn't. With a grunt, Omega got back to his feet, grabbed his head, and with a disgusting crack managed to snap his neck back in place. He chuckled and stepped forward towards the stunned Pokemon. "Is that all you've got?"

…

Alpha cried and lashed out with a voltage-powered kick, striking Crawdaunt on his crossed pincers and driving him back, leaving scratch marks against the stone arena floor. The evil Ranger laughed and drove his fist upward, catching a startled Bayleef, who had been about to hit him with a Body Slam, right in the gut. "Gotcha!" Gasping, her eyes bulging, Bayleef fell off Alpha's fist and onto the ground.

Alpha chuckled and sidestepped a savage downward cut from Grovyle's leaf blades, hopping over the wood gecko's follow-up horizontal swing and kicking him in the forehead while he was still in the air. As Grovyle's reptilian head reeled back, Alpha jabbed a hand forward, aiming to crush the reptile's throat with a critical blow. Fortunately, Crawdaunt intervened, catching Alpha's arm millimeters from the target vein with his pincer and flinging Alpha away.

The evil Ranger hit the ground hands-first, pressed off, and flipped through the air, landing neatly on the floor just after his watch-thing glowed and he cried "POWER MODE!" driving his fist into the stone and sending a zigzagging line of electric power right towards the recovering Pokemon. Bayleef saw it coming, grabbed Grovyle and Crawdaunt in her vines, and flung them away, taking the hit and crying out in pain as the electricity coursed through her.

"BAYLEEF!" Grovyle cried in horror.

"Haha, take that bi-" Alpha's taunt was cut off in a shout of pain as an enraged Bulbasaur hit him from behind with a Solar Beam, sending the Ranger shooting across the arena at the tip of a powerful beam of white light emanating from the plant on Bulbasaur's back and causing Alpha to fly right into Crawdaunt's Crabhammer, driving his pincer punch into the evil Ash's gut and blasting him backwards through the Solar Beam, causing it to dissipate explosively.

"That's for hurting Bayleef!" Bulbasaur yelled angrily at Alpha as he fell, smoking, to the ground.

"Then why didn't you hit him before, when he punched her!" Grovyle shouted at the Grass Pokemon, running over to Bulbasaur.

"I was going to shoot him then, but then YOU attacked him and ruined my angle, so I had to wait for you to get out of the way unless I wanted to blast you too, something which is getting more and more tempting now!" Bulbasaur snapped back, his anger growing.

"Both of you, stop it!" Bayleef said, slapping both of them with vine whips. "We don't have time for your fighting, Alpha's back up and-" She paused, realizing the stone she was stepping on had just sunk in an inch into the ground. "Oh crap."

The floor collapsed underneath them, dropping them into a glowing red pit of molten lava.

…

Moltres swooped underneath a beam, soaring up to rejoin Charla as Gyarados and Combusken simply 'swam' over the same beam. "There he is!" the firebird shrieked. Up ahead, Infernatrice was still flying backwards, slowing a touch to let them catch up, a demonic smirk on his avian face. "Let's get him!"

"Uh, how?" Combusken asked timidly. "His skin is made of molten lava."

"And therein is his greatest weakness," Charla said. "Take it from someone who bathes in lava once a week…cool it sufficiently, and it hardens into solid rock."

"So what we need to do is cool a significant amount of Infernatrice's mass into rock, then smash it," Charmeleon elaborated. "And his wasted existence will finally come to an end."

"But we're Fire Pokemon," Combusken pointed out. "Cooling stuff off isn't our thing."

"Then it's a good thing I'm here," Gyarados said, panting a little from the heat. "He looks too hot for me to hit with a Water attack, it'd probably evaporate against his skin, but I can still use Ice Beam to cool him off…you'd have to move quickly though, if I cool part of his body the rest'll still be hot enough to melt it back to normal unless you guys smash it in time."

"Sounds good to me," Moltres said. "Aim for the big bits of magma…I bathe in lava too, and I can tell those bits are already cooler than the rest. Those semi-solid bits are probably what are holding the rest of him together, if we can break enough of them he may not be able to hold his liquid self together and will simply fall apart!"

"Okay then…Gyarados, give it a try!" Charla told the Atrocious Pokemon.

Gyarados nodded, ducking down to avoid a crosspiece in his path. "Right…here we go!" He opened his mouth and fired a beam of cold white energy from his mouth, streaking across the space between the serpent and the evil phoenix, striking and zigzagging across one of the larger magma chunks on Infernatrice's chest and causing it to cool and harden, startling the villain and causing him to squawk in surprise. "Okay…hit him!"

"Right…this is for you, May!" Combusken, drawing her courage, jumped off Gyarados' head and shot towards Infernatrice's chest with a flaming Blaze Kick.

"Charla, get me over there!" Charmeleon said, vaulting off his mate's back and over her head, curling up into a ball as he tumbled through the air. Charla quickly spun around, smacking Charmeleon with her tail and sending him flying at Infernatrice. The red Pokemon uncurled and drove his claws into the solidified magma chunk with a Rock Smash at the same time Combusken's Blaze Kick connected, causing the lava around the chunk to ripple and the magma itself to crack somewhat, little bits of it crumbling off and falling into the lava river below.

Startled, Infernatrice growled and raised a huge hand, preparing to smash the two insects on his body's surface…and was distracted as he got hit by a Dragon Rage and double Flamethrower in the face by the three flying Pokemon. He instinctively raised his arm to shield his sunglasses, allowing the flyers to swoop down and grab Combusken and Charmeleon as the magma began to heat up again, becoming partially molten once more…and causing the cracked area to melt partially, allowing a little of the super-hot yellow lava to bubble to the surface.

Angry that the tiny Pokemon had marred his skin, Infernatrice shrieked in rage, grabbing a piece of one of the beams crossing the tunnel, tearing it off (and causing the rest to collapse into the lava below) and hurled it at the aerial Pokemon.

Moltres' body became covered in flames (more so than usual) and she streaked forward in the form of a giant bird of flame (once more, more so than usual), shattering the huge piece of debris with her Sky Attack before it could hit anyone. "I think that worked!" she said excitedly. "If we keep this up, we may be able to defeat-"

"LOOK OUT!" they cried, just before she got hit by a huge fireball spat from Infernatrice's maw which exploded, causing her to shriek in agony and tailspin out of control towards the lava. Charla and Gyarados descended to help her, but it was unnecessary, Moltres managed to right herself and regain altitude with a few flaps of her flaming wings, distancing herself from the lava flow. "Yikes! That was close!"

"Next time, be sure to watch where you're going," Charmeleon advised. "So you don't run into any other obstacles…like that pillar right in front of you."

"Huh? Aaahh!" Startled, she barely managed to swerve around the thick pillar right in front of her. "Yikes…okay, no more talking, we need to focus on that guy! I'm the only firebird around here, and we'd better make sure he understands that!"

"What about me?" Combusken asked, a little hurt. "I'm a Fire-type bird too. Do you not want me around?"

"And don't forget Ho-Oh," Charla pointed out. "Isn't he technically a firebird as well?"

Moltres sweatdropped, causing the flames around her head to hiss and steam. "Oh, forget it…"

…

"SHE'S GOING TO EAT MEEEEEE!" Misdreavus screamed, flying for her afterlife as a ravenous Leviathan undulated through the air after her, jaws gaping open hungrily.

Aerodactyl and Ho-Oh struck her sides with Hyper and Solar Beams, the phoenix using the ambient light to boost his beam attack to unheard-of power and cutting a swath of destruction across his ex-wife's disgusting hide, blowing off bits of bodies and cracking one of her spikes. Roaring more from annoyance than actual pain, Leviathan turned her head about, coiling herself back towards her ex-husband as the scar Ho-Oh had cut into her was already beginning to mend itself.

"Jeez, nothing we do seems to leave any lasting damage! Don't suppose you can just apologize to her for whatever caused you two to break up in the first place and maybe she'll stop trying to eat us?" Aerodactyl yelped as he barely managed to escape Leviathan's snapping jaws with Agility, screeching at her with Supersonic in the hopes that it would confuse her.

It seemed to work, as the giant serpent's eyes blinked a few times dully and she wavered, seeming unable to focus on her prospective meal. Ho-Oh took that opportunity to distance himself from the beast and blast her face with Sacred Fire. "I don't think that will do anything…even when we were married, we always resorted to fighting to resolve our arguments. Hell, even her 'play bites' in bed always felt a little too much like real bites to me…plus, she's not exactly herself anymore, seeing as how she's been transfigured into a gigantic zombie serpent and lost her soul."

Recovering from her confusion, Leviathan roared in anger, the left side of her face melted and burned horribly from Ho-Oh's flame attack. Maddened by pain and rage, she started belching out humongous streams of purple-black flame which contrasted horribly with the brilliant light which made up the dimension. Ho-Oh and Aerodactyl were fast, but the streams were so large it was almost impossible to dodge them. "Yikes! Did she ever get this angry when you two were married?" Aerodactyl squawked.

"You think this is bad? You should have seen her when it was that time of the month!" Ho-Oh said, turning his body sideways to avoid the flame blast, singeing the plumage on the top of his head in the process as it barely missed him.

"Hey guys!" Zapdos screeched as he glided over, carrying one of the metal torture cages that had been floating about, the frail and agonized soul still pierced within by spines of light.

"Where have you been?" Ho-Oh asked angrily, firing Swift from his wings at Leviathan, which embedded harmlessly in her dead flesh. "Misdreavus almost got eaten when you flew off!"

"And I'm not exactly out of hot water yet!" Misdreavus shrieked as she flew past, pursued by the hungry Leviathan, who had resumed her interest in the ghost.

"Sorry," Zapdos apologized. "I was just trying to make myself useful…I got an idea! Help me get this thing into her eye!"

Aerodactyl glanced uncertainly at the tortured soul still in the cage. "What about that…whatever-the-hell-that-is?" he asked doubtfully.

"Hey, either this is an illusion and he's not real, or he's already dead so it doesn't really matter," Zapdos said with an easy shrug.

"All right…Aerodactyl, help him with that thing! I'll get Misdreavus and my ex-wife's attention!" Ho-Oh decided, flapping off to pursue the giant snake.

Aerodactyl glanced at the thunderbird. "Okay, so…what's your plan?"

Zapdos smirked and told him.

…

Emperor Mewgle gracefully swished his cape. "Meteor Storm!" The interior of his cape shimmered, and hundreds of flaming meteors hurtled out towards the Gigabot.

"Girls, a Sonicboom would be helpful right about now!" Mudkip cried into her intercom.

"We're on it!" Down in the robot's chest, the twin Jigglypuffs took a deep breath and _screamed_ into their microphones, causing the robot to tremble as an enormous noise blast erupted from the speaker in the Gigabot's chest and expanded outwards, pummeling and destroying the meteors and striking Emperor Mewgle, causing him to yell in surprise as the force of the blast sent him flying head-over-heels, the purple health bar over his head going down a notch and revealing a little more of the dark blue health bar underneath that one, only one of several which Mewgle had, showing how ridiculously high his HP was in comparison to the Gigabot, which only had a single red health bar, as well as a Weapons Energy bar to show how much power could be pumped to the Exploudrematic's special attacks, and counters to show how many missiles or other expendable weapons they had in stock. Currently all of these meters were low, but that was easily remedied thanks to the glowing swarm of pickups released by the destroyed meteors, putting the Gigabot back at maximum power.

"Ugh…darn, you sure have loud voices," Mewgle grumbled as he got his robot under control, wiggling a finger in one of his ears. "But you're not the only one with sonic powers. HARMONY OF THE SPHERES!" Ten colorful planets materialized around him and resonated, sending a huge sonic wave of dissonance towards the musical Gigabot.

"Jigglypuffs, that thing's nothing to be afraid of!" Mudkip asserted. "Show him some real music with the power of Battle Aria!"

The two Jigglypuffs sang, and the WE bar went down a bit as a blue resonating aura surrounded the giant robot, shielding it from the buffeting sound waves. Mewgle blinked in surprise, startled that they had taken no damage from his powerful attack. "Huh?"

"Now, counterattack with Battle Forte, followed by missiles!" Mudkip commanded.

The Jigglypuffs sang again, and a red aura mixed with the attack-weakened blue aura, turning it a light purple as the Gigabot's attack power was boosted. Once this temporary enhancement was complete, hatches all over the Gigabot's body opened up, launching every last one of the 500 or so missiles the mecha had picked up from the meteor swarm at Mewgle.

"Haha!" Mewgle held his cape in front of himself, using it as a shield which the hundreds of missiles exploded against harmlessly, doing no damage whatsoever to the digital fiend. "What a waste of ammo! Let me show you a REAL missile! Galaxy Gun!"

Space warped, and a giant cannon fifty miles long materialized, a clear dome in place of an ammo clip showing a small elliptical galaxy trapped inside. "Now you're in for…huh?" The Gigabot was gone. "Where'd it-"

"Here is a tip, Senor Mewgle. Always keep an _ojo_ on your opponent!" Lombre quipped just as the Gigabot struck Emperor Mewgle from behind with a frenzy of sword strikes, disintegrating the robot's cape and not only deducting all of the purple health bar but causing the dark blue bar to go down by one-fourth.

"Graaah! How did you move so quickly!" Mewgle roared angrily, turning to face his enemy. "You can't teleport!"

"No…but we can move extra-fast, thanks to the power of Battle Allegro!" Mudkip explained, indicating how the robot's aura was now bright green, with a tinge of red leftover from the Battle Forte used to power up not only the missile strikes but Lombre's sword arm as well.

"Well, will it make you fast enough to avoid this!" Mewgle cried, causing the Galaxy Gun to glow and fire a HUMONGOUS missile five mile in length and a quarter that in width from its barrel right at the Gigabot.

"We don't need too! Supersonic!" The Gigabot's wings began to vibrate at incredible speeds, rubbing against each other and generating a subsonic wave which was harmless on its own…but just happened to be at the right frequency to screw up the giant missile's targeting computer, causing it to flip on its axis and rocket straight back at Mewgle, who was now registered as its new target.

The robot's realistic face paled. "Aw crap-"

There was a tremendous explosion. The Gigabot, still riding on the speed boost granted by Battle Allegro, managed to outrun the explosion's shockwave as it obliterated the giant Galaxy Gun itself, as well as a few random planetoids and stars.

"Wow," commented Onix.

"Word," agreed Metal Sound.

"That'll make for a great music video finisher, don't you think Mudkip?" Geodude asked. "Especially with some wicked guitar music rocking during the explosion?"

"Sure, why not? And if our careers as rock stars flop, we can always turn this footage into something to sell to the media networks," the band manager said.

"Mi amigos, do not think we are through yet!" Lobre cried in alarm, pointing as the fading smoke cloud left from the explosion. "Senor Mewgle is not dead!"

Indeed, he wasn't. His robot was severely wrecked and damaged, and his many health bars had been depleted all the way down to the last sliver of red, but he was still alive. "Ow…okay, that hurt." He snapped his fingers, and he was instantly as good as new, and his health bars refilled completely, all the way back to the purple. "Much better!"

The Pokerockers' jaws dropped. "Wh-what! How did you do that!" Jigglypuff the younger cried.

"He regenerated himself!" Geodude pointed out needlessly.

"That's right, I did!" Emperor Mewgle announced, floating over to the Gigabot. "I'm the Game Master; I can do whatever I want! I can pull Deus Ex Machinas out of my ass whenever necessary! See?" Swishing his cape aside, he grabbed his rear end and, to the disgust of the rock band, pulled out a microphone and began singing along with the background music. "Come, come, O come (glorious), do not let me die (noble). Come, come, O come (glorious), do not let me die (noble)!"

"…Dude, that's not right," said Buzz the Electabuzz, shaking his head with a disturbed look on his face.

"Ew…did he pull it out of-" the younger Jigglypuff started.

"Yes, and that image will haunt me for the rest of my life," said a horror-stricken elder Jigglypuff. Mewgle continued singing, going 'Mewgle! Mewgle! Mewgle!' "That and his singing voice."

…

They stared at it. "Wow," Pikachu finally said.

"Dios mio," agreed El Gato.

Sadic shook her head in disbelief. "Now there's something you don't see everyday."

Chimecho had transformed into a floating giant blueish blob-like monster reminiscent of a transparent Tentacruel, allowing all to see the monster's (unsurprisingly tiny) brain, connected to numerous other disgusting pusillanimous organs whose functions they couldn't even begin to speculate. He had a huge number of very long flailing tentacles that looked a lot like the banners that used to hang from him back when he was a normal Chimecho, except transparent, made of some kind of slime or gelatin, and run with millions of disturbing-looking veins and growths inside. His face, oddly enough, was still intact, a pair of large yellow eyes and a mouth grinning extremely cheerfully in spite of the gnashing mandibles and vomit-inducing digestive system hooked up to it, very visible due to the monster's transparency. "CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Chimecho bellowed, his voice turned bass and deep by his sudden growth, causing the ice cliffs around them to rumble as the beast's happy cry echoed throughout the canyon.

"Uh…what do we do?" Wobbuffet asked anxiously, holding Milotic's soul and his sister to him.

"I don't have the slightest idea," Pikachu said, looking grossed-out by the malformed thing that Chimecho had become.

"Stab it? Zap it? Freeze it? Where do we begin?" asked a wary Sadic.

"Are we so certain it is _mal_?" an uncertain El Gato asked. "Its smile, though grotesque, seems so…_inocente_…we must ascertain this creature's intentions before taking definitive _accion_."

"Well, if you insist…" Wobbuffet cleared his throat. "Um…hey, Chimecho? Remember me?"

Chimecho stared at him dumbly for several seconds, and then screamed "CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" loudly, causing them to wince and hold their ears.

"Ah, I'll take that as a yes…" Wobbuffet said slowly. "Um…remember all the fun times we had together, Chimecho? Failing to steal stuff, getting electrocuted and blasted off, er…playing with James…good times, right?" he said weakly.

"CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Chimecho said again.

"Is it saying it's happy because it remembers him, or is it just screaming for no reason?" Sadic wondered.

Pikachu sweatdropped. "I'm putting my money on the second option."

"Hmm…he does not seem to be very _inteligente_," El Gato mused. "Sometimes, the battle won is the battle not fought. I do not mean to sound like a coward, but…perhaps we should retreat? Leave this strange creature to its own ends and find a way out of this _infierno_? It does not look as if it wishes us harm…and if that is so, is there any reason to pick a fight?"

"I'm all for kicking butt…but whatever's fine with you guys," Sadic said, glaring at Chimecho in distrust, her claws bared. "The cat has a point, though…no reason to waste energy fighting something that's not prey and isn't an enemy when you can save it for a real crisis."

"Let's start walking away and see if he follows," suggested Pikachu. "If he comes at us, we fight. If not, we leave him be. No need to make more trouble for ourselves than we can handle, right?"

"Yeah…" Wobbuffet said. "I've never exactly been fond of Chimecho…but he's never really been mean to me, either. Never knew how. Even if he's a monster now, I don't want to fight him unless we have to. Let's try and get out of here…my sister needs help, and we certainly can't get it here."

And so that's what they did. Moving cautiously and carefully, they took one step back at a time, keeping their eyes focused on Chimecho's smiling hideous face for any sign of unhappiness. There was none. Chimecho continued smiling in blissful stupidity, not even seeming to notice that they were escaping from him. "Wow, he really is dumb," said an amazed Sadic.

"Yeah, Chimecho wasn't exactly blessed in the brains department," Wobbuffet said, stumbling over a rock and falling onto his back with a loud thud.

They paused, tense, waiting for Chimecho's reaction. There was none. He continued smiling blissfully. They began to wonder if he even saw them at all, or was just staring into empty space, his mind free of any thoughts which would tax its limited brainpower. Wobbuffet quickly got back up, grabbed his sister and Milotic, and they continued on their way. They moved a little faster now, facing away from the monster, taking frequent looks over their shoulders to see if Chimecho was following them. He was not. Just up ahead was a turn in the ice canyon that would take them out of the Chime Pokemon's range of vision, and hopefully towards an exit.

Just as they were starting to hope they might make it out, however, Meowth showed up and ruined everything (as he so often does).

Enraged, the undead cat leaped on Chimecho from behind, his body still broken and battered from being crushed beneath several tons of ice and his skin blue from the cold, and angrily began clawing at Chimecho's gelatinous skin with his ferocious claws, making no mark whatsoever. "You stupid, worthless waste of life! That power was mine, you hear me, MINE! How DARE you take it from me!" He savagely clawed without effect at Chimecho's body, and then started trying to rip off chunks with his teeth, only getting a funny taste on his tongue. "You fucking…can't even die when you're supposed to, can you!" He roared in frustration, which turned out to be a very bad thing for our heroes, as the cliffs before them, already rather shaken by Chimecho's previous bellows, finally collapsed in a great avalanche, blocking any further progress with a mountain of jagged ice chunks, snow, and freed souls who were immediately incinerated by cheerful angelic beings.

"Well, great," said Pikachu angrily, ire rising at the thought that Meowth had once again messed things up. "Now what?"

"We go back and kick that guy's ass once and for all?" Sadic suggested.

"Si…it is time we put to rest that _irrespetuoso_ creature once and for all!" agreed El Gato, drawing his sword.

Wobbuffet sighed in resignation. "And we just walked all this way, too…don't worry Sis, I'll get you out of here soon," he said to his catatonic sister.

They turned and started walking back towards Chimecho, who still hadn't noticed Meowth was on his head, furiously failing to rip him to shreds. However, for no visible reason, Chimecho abruptly realized he had a hitchhiker and rolled his eyes back in his skull to see through his semi-transparent body and spotted the enraged feline on top of him. "CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" he cried happily, his tentacles stiffening and lashing inward, grabbing a startled Meowth around the waist.

"Wh-wh-what? H-hey! P-put me down!" Meowth cried in alarm, flailing futilely against Chimecho's surprisingly strong grip as the monstrosity brought the cat before his face.

Chimecho's yellow eyes blinked stupidly at the struggling deformed feline in its tentacles for several seconds before an impulse occurred to it. "CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" he bellowed joyously, opening his mouth wide.

Meowth's face paled. "N-no! Don't! Put me down! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU, DON'T-" His terrified protests were cut off as Chimecho stuck Meowth's head in his mouth and clamped down hard, mandibles and tendrils and teeth and grinders and all sorts of biological paraphernalia closing in on him, causing him to scream louder than he'd ever screamed before (save when Deoxys had tortured and transformed him, that is) as a digestive process too graphic and horrible to describe or even imagine began, lasting for twelve agonizing minutes with the end result being Meowth's body, ashen gray and as shriveled and empty as a Seviper's shed skin, sliding out of Chimecho's mouth with a slurp and crumbling into very dead-looking dust before it hit the ground.

Chimecho belched happily, spitting out a red crumb which might have been the remainders of Meowth's glass eye. A big smile on his face, the mutated Pokemon turned his attention on the group of four adventurers only a couple of hundred yards away. "CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" he sang joyfully as he started to veeeeery slowly hover towards them, tentacles already reaching out to grab them and stuff them in his maw.

"…Okay, we're fucked," said a pale Sadic, looking extremely shaken by what they had seen happen to Meowth in excruciating detail thanks to Chimecho's transparency. "You know I'm no coward and I'm not afraid of dying…but there is no WAY I want to go like that. I don't want the babies growing in me to be sucked out of my body like milkshake through a straw!" She glanced at Pikachu. "Back home, when in this sort of a situation, where excruciatingly painful death is almost certain and there's also virtually no chance of taking the enemy down with you or even scratching him, it's customary for a couple to perform double suicide, slitting the other's throats at once to spare each other the pain of seeing their beloved suffer. I don't suppose you'd have the honor of killing me as I kill you so neither of us has to be alive when that thing over there does to us what it did to Meowth?"

"No," Pikachu said firmly.

She blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"You're right Sadic, I don't want to go like that either. And while I'm touched by your offer, I think I'd rather go down fighting than just let myself die without even trying."

El Gato sweatdropped. "Ah…compadre…while I sympathize with your desire for an honorable fight, and am by no means a cowardly _gato_…I really, _really_ don't want to die like that. I mean, that's just…" He shook his head, words failing him.

"I'm not really sure we have a choice," Wobbuffet said thoughtfully. "We can't run without going past that thing, and the walls are too high and sharp to climb. We could kill ourselves, but…well…seeing as how we're either in Hell, or a very good facsimile of it in Deoxys' castle, chances are our souls would be stuck here just like all those other things we saw in the ice."

"Which leaves us only one option," Pikachu said, brandishing his sword. "We fight."

"…Aw hell, why not?" Sadic said, relenting. "I always figured if I'd die I'd do it fighting something a dozen times my size. Let's do this."

"Si," El Gato said, giving in. "Together. One last battle!" He held up his sword and crossed it with Pikachu's. Sadic added her claw to the mix.

"Uh, hold on." Wobbuffet carefully put down Wynaut and Milotic's soul, took out his crystal piece, and touched it to the point made by crossing the claw and swords. "I'll give you all the protection I can. What's a good offense without an adequate defense, right?"

"Guess this makes us the four Musketeers or something," Pikachu joked.

"No, they were French," El Gato told him. "I think the Four Amigos is more fitting."

"Whatever," snapped Sadic. "Let's kill us some grotesque floating blob monster! No offense, Wobbuffet."

"None taken."

"CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Chimecho roared happily as he ever so slowly made his way towards them.

"Okay, this is it!" Pikachu said. "All for one and one for all! Charge!"

"That's the Musketeers again," El Gato complained.

"Whatever. Attack already!"

And so they did.

…

As they tumbled the short distance to the ground, Dark Latios dug his claws into Latias' skin, ripping out feathers and bits of flesh as he pulled away and regained levitation above the dead soil. Latias had done the same, prying off scales and tearing at the flesh underneath. Neither gave the other a moment's respite the second they pulled away, charging at each other and colliding headfirst in a powerful headbutt, causing a loud crack to echo across the haunted garden as both Pokemon recoiled, Dark Latios looking like he had gotten the least of it thanks to the strong horns on his head.

Latias didn't let her mild headache stop her from unleashing a devastating Psychic blast which shook the earth, obliterated the foliage around her, and would have torn the flesh from the bones of any lesser being. Dark Latios merely sneered and retaliated with his own obscenely powerful Psychic attack, causing the physical expressions of their mental prowess to clash, sending shockwaves through the air and shattering nearby trees to splinters.

Latias pressed forward with all her might against her opponent's psychic wall, utilizing any weaknesses she could find in his defenses, knowing he was doing the same. When she felt her own will starting to falter, she immediately vanished using Aerial Ace, causing Dark Latios' Psychic attack to rush forward and disintegrate the balcony and fountain as she reappeared behind him and grabbed his wings by the joints, straining in an attempt to rip them off. Dark Latios bucked, whipping his tail up and hitting her square in the back with it, giving her a combination of burn and spike wounds as it flipped her off the dark dragon's back and into the air, giving the son of Deoxys the opening he needed to lunge, jaws gaping, at Latias' jugular.

Concentrating, Latias fired a Psylance right down Dark Latios' throat, shattering his teeth and tearing apart his insides as it passed through his body and out his scrotum, causing blood to gush from every orifice of his body. The fatal attack barely even fazed Dark Latios as he continued to hurtle towards her, the serious damage she had done to his insides already mending themselves. However, Latias had by this time regained her balance and telekinetically tore off a rather sharp branch from a tree nearby, flinging it through the air like a spear towards Dark Latios' brain. His red eyes flashed as a Psywave rippled out, shattering the dead limb into splinters which showered him for a brief moment, long enough for Latias to fly some distance and attack with her patented white dragon-formed Dragonbreath, its white flames burning hotter and brighter than ever before as it roared towards its target.

Dark Latios snickered, opened his mouth, and spewed forth Dragonbreath of his own, great gouts of black flame which took the form of a darker, more demonic dragon that raced through the air towards its sister and collided with it, causing both to explode in a mighty conflagration of gray fire which swept throughout the entire garden, buffeting and burning the two dragons while disintegrating most of the plants, leaving the garden more barren than ever.

Latias, her feathers burnt off, her wings all but destroyed, and her skin charred black, healed herself completely with a quick Recover and flung a huge Mist Ball at the healed Dark Latios, who obliged with one of his own, this one a swirling orb of black smog instead of Latias' roiling white mists. The two spheres collided and exploded, covering the garden in gray fog and occluding both of the dragons' eyesight.

Latias' eyes glowed as she used her psychic senses to pinpoint her 'brother' in the fog, knowing he was doing the same to her. She flew through the fog, leaving trails in the mist behind her, mimicking her brother as both of them began doing a graceful and deadly Dragon Dance, the dance of two predators circling each other and scrutinizing the other for the slightest sign of weakness which would incite them to pounce. Their speed and attack power skyrocketed as the dance continued, the siblings flying in elegant loops around the other, passing close enough to each other to rip through their rival's skin with their claws but not taking the chance, choosing instead to focus and gather their power for the next clash.

Finally, the mist, torn apart by the dragons' speedy dance, started to fade, leaving the twin dragons glaring at each other from only a short distance apart. With a feral snarl, they lunged at each other, Latias' claws glowing with the power of Dragonclaw while Dark Latios' were burning in the ethereal flame of Shadow Punch. The two attacks collided with a crack, sending a ripple through the air as they recoiled from the strike, Latias' claws shattered while Dark Latios' knuckles had split open and were gushing blood. However, these were only inconsequential injuries, easily ignored as their mutual hatred fueled their battle lust and regenerative powers.

Backing off, the two dragons called up the power within them, launching Hidden Power globules at each other, creating a large explosion in the space between them, easily blunted through the use of Safeguards and their unique ocular structures as both of them gathered more energy, launching it in the form of Hyper Beams as the smoke cleared and each was visible to the other once more.

The explosion from that collision of powers, like the one from the Dragonbreath blast before it, buffeted both the siblings back and tore up even more of the dead garden, devastating hills, smashing sculptures, boiling the blood pools, and sending a column of light and flame into the air. When the blast and its accompanying smoke and flame subsided, its effect on the garden was clear: what had already looked like a wasteland was now even more of a hellish pit, a blackened crater torn into the surface of this negative Alto Mare. Great floods of crimson blood were already pouring into the crater from ruptured pipes, exposed waterways, and from the very stones themselves, bleeding in anguish in response to the great explosion which had torn them apart.

Dark Latios cackled as the flesh over his exposed skull mended, making the exposed viscera and teeth torn open by the blast only marginally less gruesome as he recovered fully. "Hahahaha…sister, I had no idea that your heart burned with such anger! Truly you must hate me more than anything else if I make you feel this way! I am honored that you think so of me. But I am afraid it will take more than that to kill me."

"Oh?" she said coldly.

"Indeed. You can't kill me, dear sister…for I am already dead. I was born dead. How can you kill something that was never alive to begin with?" He sneered at her gleefully. "But if you do not believe me…feel free to keep trying! The pain you inflict on me is almost orgasmic in its hate-filled expression…but I still crave more!" Laughing, he turned and shot towards a rather large waterway that had been exposed in the explosion that was literally gushing blood into the crater, the remains of the fountain, pool and balcony that the negative Bianca had been painting on. "Come, sister! Chase me if you dare! It'll be just like the games we used to play when we were younger…with much higher stakes than the last cookie, of course!"

Latias spat a burst of white Dragonbreath, her temper growing even greater. "You're not my Latios…so stop pretending that you are!" Her eyes glowing as she psychically shielded them to protect them from the blood; Latias folded her wings against her body and plunged into the blood, fighting the current as she chased after the receding silhouette that was Dark Latios.

…

The sea of bodies didn't look any more appealing from several hundred miles up than it had when they had been in the thick of it. Rather, Mewtwo was repulsed at the realization of just how far this ocean of the damned extended. And, as they moved faster and higher, carried by the mysterious spirit of Amber, Mewtwo was finally able to see the ocean in its entirety…and he was chilled by what he saw.

The sea of thrashing bodies was contained within the gaping sculpted jaw of a continent-sized face made out of some unknown material, its alien features contorted in a look of pure agony.

And it wasn't the only one, either. As Amber climbed still higher, Mewtwo and Ralts could see that there were more faces, some larger, some smaller, stretching out as far as the eye could see, towards an oddly shaped horizon that they had trouble discerning, much less understanding. And few of them were fortunate enough to have something as plain as a sea of bodies in them.

There were worlds in those mouths. Worlds of horror, worlds of pain, worlds of madness. Worlds upon worlds. Things he and Latias had glimpsed at inside Alpha when they had tried to save Ash, amplified in their obscenity by a millionfold now that they were expressed in physical form.

The screams from these worlds were so loud that they could be heard even this far up, blending together and forming a strange pattern, rising and falling, that Mewtwo was unable to quite grasp…and he wasn't sure he wanted to. Staring down at these faces and the worlds contained in them, he was reminded of the body of an Ekans, and wondered if perhaps these continental face plates were actually the scales of some enormous creature whose size and features he didn't want to even begin to contemplate. He recalled the Unown had warned him about this, saying Deoxys was somehow tied to an…entity or beast of sorts made from suffering…but he had not truly understood then, they had been unable to express it to him in ways which made sense, they weren't used to expressing themselves in the languages and thought processes of the lower planes, and so had never been able to fully explain all that he suspected they wanted to to him, even when Molly tried to speak for them, for she too did not really understand what they were saying through her. He had been able to get the gist most times, but seeing this…this thing…he wondered if perhaps more had been lost in translation than he had expected.

"What is this?" he cried to Amber as she continued shooting upward towards the three suns as the air around them brightened, yet the bright orbs seemed to grow only microscopically in size.

"You'll see soon! You have to see it all to understand!" she called back.

"All of it?" Ralts asked, worried. "How much more is there?"

They found out only a short while later, as Amber broke numerous laws of physics (which Mewtwo suspected didn't really apply in this strange illusion or dimension anyway) and they were able to get the full scope of the monstrosity.

It was much bigger than they had thought. And Mewtwo realized to his horror, that what he had thought were scales were not scales at all.

They were _skin_ _cells_.

They were floating what seemed like a universe away from it…and yet it was still so big that it encompassed their entire field of vision, so vast that it could not be summed up or analyzed in a single glance, so enormous that surely it had to take up a good amount of infinity itself.

The physical details of this unthinkable thing are beyond this humble author's descriptive powers, but for the reader's sake he shall try. The thing, the world, the monster was completely covered in continent-sized faces (which, as previously mentioned, were skin cells compared to the beast's reality-encompassing size), its colors wild and chaotic and very disturbing to the eye, since most of the colors were ones mortal eyes had never laid eyes on before and hopefully never would. It had horns, and fins, and tentacles and claws and flagellum and eyes and mouths and teeth and…and things that there were no words for, things that made the mind stall and the stomach tie itself in knots just by looking at it.

What he had thought to be suns were now revealed to be eyes. Three eyes so vast and luminous that they shone right through the incredibly vast bulk of the monster's body, making them visible from every angle, even if you were all the way at the tail (if there was a tail, the thing was so big it looked like it went on forever) were set in the creature's face, or what Mewtwo assumed to be the face, seeing as it pointed forward (or appeared to, seeing as how his mind was having trouble accurately translating this bizarre physics-defying place into rational space) and had the biggest mouth of all, one that was lined both inside and out with mandibles and teeth and other indescribable things the size of solar systems tilted on their axes that seemed to open onto a universe of absolute cold and absence of light, with negative stars burning in the beast's insides. Whatever was _inside_ the beast…was a million times worse than what was on the outside. This Mewtwo knew instinctively, and hoped that he wasn't going to end up anywhere near that mouth.

But worst of all was the music. It was a wordless song, one very familiar to Mewtwo, as it had played throughout his sojourn inside of Alpha and was even more prominent when he had been faced by the three eyes, which he now recognized as the same ultraluminous orbs set in the…'head' for lack of a better term…of this abomination. It was the sound of all the screams and wails and moans and, oddly enough, laughter of the souls coating the monster's skin cells, blended together into a dissonant and toneless voice singing with such fierce joy at the thought of the end of all things, for all realities everywhere to collapse into its jaws, for all souls to be fused with its body forever and ever and ever and ever. It was the voice of one whose greatest pleasure was in torture and arbitrary violence, in causing pain and suffering wherever it went as it controlled people's lives with order so perfect it was almost mechanical, or shattered their minds into formless masses of chaos, or everything in between, whatever it felt like doing. It was Deoxys' voice…and the voices of all those evildoers who had confronted the psychic duo on the boat. It was the voice of the evil Mewtwo. It was, Mewtwo realized in surprise, his _own_ voice, and the voices of all the people and friends and enemies he knew, distorted and warped together into this endless song which celebrated suffering so fervently that it made his skin crawl.

"What…what is that?" Ralts whispered, trembling and clutching Mewtwo's chest.

Amber stared at the beast, having let go of the duo once they had gotten out so far that gravity no longer had any effect on them unless they wished it to. Her eyes shone with exquisite longing and tears came to her eyes as if she was gazing upon the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, so magnificent she would tear her eyes out in an instant if she got the slightest idea that she was unworthy of looking at such a thing. Her face had an expression of utter rapture on it, drool running down her chin as she gaped wordlessly at the monster, her mouth hanging open in a purely innocent sign of joy. "It is pain," she said in a reverent whisper. "It is hate. It is suffering. It is pride, and greed, and arrogance, and cruelty. It is _life_ incarnate.

"It is God. What else could it be?"

Ralts blinked in confusion. "God?"

"Life?" a puzzled Mewtwo said, fixating on that part of Amber's speech and already discounting Amber's last statement since he didn't believe in any supreme entity or creator…at least not in a _religious_ sense. He acknowledged that such a being who engineered the universe and directly influenced the course of evolution (he knew the Mother had, after all) might exist but didn't really think it cared if people worshipped it or prayed to it or made sacrifices to it. Mewtwo certainly didn't think he would, if he were God anyway. And if there were a God, he was certain it wasn't that thing before them. "What do you mean?"

"Life is born to die," Amber said. "Life is, in fact, the slowest form of dying. From the moment it comes into being, its body decays even as its cells grow, entropy already eating away at its frail frame and withering it into the shriveled corpse that is its ultimate fate. As it grows, and even as it withers, it destroys the other life around it; annihilating a million micro-universes with every breath it takes, crushing fragile life of the insect and plant variety beneath its feet, eating, destroying, and killing all other life its size and even greater! Life does all this to sustain itself! To sustain a single life, the living thoughtlessly kill so many others, small and large, soulless and souled, within a single _minute _that they generate the same amount of pain as a standard torturer can draw out of a prisoner over twenty years! Life exists to destroy itself and cause pain to itself and others! That is the entire basis of evolution, that those who are not as strong, as fast, as intelligent as others will suffer and die meaninglessly, and those who succeed will themselves suffer and die when they inevitably become obsolete!

"And as it gets close to death, life's destructive nature grows as it desperately ends the lives of so many others just to make sure that it does not die! It drains the energy from worlds and people to sustain itself! It slaughters and kills and consumes without end, so that it can live for another day, another _second_, without suffering the oh-so-horrible and inevitable fate that is death! Never mind that in doing so they are denying themselves peace! Never mind that in doing so they are denying others peace! Never mind that they only add to the pain of a wound that has festered beyond control, causing it to grow and grow until it consumes all! In maintaining itself, life seeks to consume more and more as it desperately clings to its existence, not wanting to give up whatever meager and selfish pleasures they have accumulated, even if it means prolonging the agony of their loved ones just to keep them from finding peace without them!

"Even the dead cling to life! They want to live so desperately they make their eternities miserable! They suffer and scream and moan desperately, crying for another chance, ignoring the paradise around them, the paradise _inside_ them, the peace that is right in front of them if only they noticed it! But they are too rooted in life, too rooted in self, too rooted in desire to let go! And so they climb, hand over hand, back towards life, dragging all those others who have found peace and rest back with them, forcing them unwillingly back into the flow of time and the endless suffering it entails! Is it any wonder babies are born into the world screaming? Is it any wonder so many are stillborn, born dead, because their souls so dearly did not want to live again that they fought the tide and made it back to safe eternity? Is it any wonder that some mothers choose to kill their offspring in the womb, so they will not have to suffer starvation and disease and prejudice and all the other countless tortures that living entails? Is it any wonder that so many _kill themselves_ just so they can end the pain that is life!

"They cling so greedily to life they refuse to let the dead die! They ensnare the souls of those who are going to rest and trap them, scrutinizing them, forcing them to remain anchored to that worthless physical plane longer than necessary as their very ethereal essence is screaming for freedom on the other side, nearly splitting the soul in half with pain! They cling to life so much they endeavor to create more of it, filling the worlds with more people than they can sustain, starving themselves and making life even worse as they degenerate deeper into the natural savagery already on the surface, rending each other's lives apart and making all else miserable just so they can live happily a little longer! They create life so it can be studied in labs, poked and prodded at, giving birth to countless souls who will always feel empty and alone, constantly questioning their self-worth and filling themselves with doubt and internal loathing, wondering why they exist, what could possibly make life worth all this suffering and despair, this almost self-imposed _evil?_

"And the answer is nothing. Nothing at all. In continuing to exist, life fulfills Nature's cruel and heartless edict and makes all concepts of morality and good and evil ultimately meaningless, nothing more than hollow rationales thinking creatures engineer to explain their own actions, creating only more suffering and anguish as they constantly break their own empty ideals through their natural hypocrisy.

"Life fears death, even though that is the only destination it leads to. That fear sprouts from anxiety and becomes desperation. That desperation leads to anger and hate. That anger and hate leads to suffering and pain, which inevitable leads to death, like all other paths. And death leads back to life, causing the cycle to begin again. This is why life exists. This is what life brings. This is what has made that _beautiful _beast over there what it is."

Amber laughed, her giggled bordering on psychotic and sending chills down Mewtwo and Ralts' spines as Deoxys appeared behind the teal-haired girl. "Life is wonderful, isn't it Mewtwo?"

…

Cerberus recoiled, its masks cracked again thanks to another triple attack from the three beasts. "Grahhhh! You _fucking_-" Too enraged to speak, Cerberus howled in rage and stomped the ground _hard_, causing tremendous pillars of water, electricity, and magma to erupt right underneath the ground the three copy legendary beasts were standing on, engulfing them in the elements they were weak against and causing them to roar in pain as the pillars ate away at their flesh.

Not content with their suffering, Cerberus willed the pillars to keep flowing, twitching and sending its spinal cord chains flying out and wrapping around the handles of the giant door behind it. "You thought you hurt before…wait'll you get a load of this!" Grunting, the monster began tugging on the chains, causing the door to rattle and groan as slowly, its hinges started to turn.

Articuno panicked, not wanting to feel that awful, awful pain again. There had to be something she could do, since the beasts were still occupied!

But what could she possibly do to stop Cerberus? By observing the battle, she had seen Cerberus didn't seem affected much by ice attacks, the Entei head was immune to them, the Suicune head was naturally strong against them, and the Raikou head was protected by the other two. Attacks aimed at the sides got sucked into those glowing crystals on the shoulders. So how…

Her eyes lit up as she got a rare brain flash. Flapping up into the air, moving quickly and quietly while also trying not to gain Cerberus' attention, she swiftly flew above the taut and trembling chains. Inhaling deeply, she exhaled Sheer Cold, causing the chains to turn white as they were frozen solid and turned to ice. This, of course, made them quite brittle, and caused them to shatter into a million pieces as Cerberus tugged on them, causing the beast to stumble forward in surprise, the doors to settle back into place, and the pillars of energy tearing through the three beasts to subside, releasing them and allowing them to take a moment's breath and heal. "Wh-what!" Cerberus cried. "What's happened!"

"Physics! At least, I think that was physics…" Articuno muttered to herself. "And I finally got off my ass and did something useful! Yay me!"

"Will you be yaying when we rip your heart out and eat you roasted, electrocuted, and chilled!" the enraged Cerberus roared, leaping into the air and aiming to slam the terrified Articuno out of the sky.

Fortunately for her, the beasts had healed themselves by then and group-tackled Cerberus out of the air, causing it to slam against the permanently shut gates and dent them as they slid to the ground, ripping and tearing at each other. Sweatdropping in relief, Articuno glided down, shooting an Ice Beam at Cerberus' exposed back as the monster focused its attention on the three beasts lunging and biting at it. However, the monster's shoulder crystal glowed, causing the beam to redirect itself into the jagged, blood-filled growths. Cerberus released the power it had just absorbed through its Suicune head, spitting out a blizzard of snow and ice which battered at the three beasts and pushed them back. Growling, Cerberus peered up at Articuno with the Raikou and Entei heads. "You should have stayed on the sidelines…at least then your suffering would have been the same as the rest of this planet, instead of the truly awful things we have in mind for the heroes who dare to oppose us!"

Articuno swallowed. "W-well, if I'm going to suffer either way, might as well choose the way that gives me the last bit of exercise before I go…r-right?"

"FOOL!" The two heads spat streams of fire and lightning at Articuno, causing her to shriek in fright and dive out of the way. "We will rip your wings off and swallow your high-flying soul for defying us!" Cerberus backed away from the recovered three beasts, growling but snickering at the same time. Just as the three beasts looked as if they were about to pounce, Cerberus roared long and loud and slammed its forelegs on the ground, causing the chamber to shake as the fabric of reality itself seemed to warp and bend, causing dozens of portals at various altitudes to open up all over the arena, startling the four Chosen. Cerberus laughed triumphantly. "Heheh…as you can see…we still have plenty of tricks up our proverbial sleeves!" With a roar, the three-headed monster jumped into one of the portals, vanishing without a trace and leaving the four confused and bewildered in its wake.

…

She licked her lips, blood dribbling down her chest. "That was good, Mommy!" Silver chirped as he swallowed the last of his father's bladder.

"It was, wasn't it?" she agreed, licking the last traces of flavor from her lips. "Your father has finally provided for us." She leaned over and kissed the cheek of the bare skull, pecked clean of flesh, which was all that remained of her husband. Metal fragments from the Snag Balls the female had shattered when she had ripped her mate's lower jaw off while he was still breathing lay on the ground. "All is forgiven, dearest." She smiled cruelly and glanced at the tiny, quivering iridescent ball of light in the palm of her wing-hand. "Now we can be a family again…"

"Forever and ever and ever!" Silver squeaked, his red eyes glowing malevolently.

…

Togetic grunted and floated down, dropping Phanphy on the ground. She glanced about. "Okay…I think we've got ourselves some time…Shedinja's probably recovered by now, but it should take him a little while to find us." That, and there were no mutilated Togepi zombies to creep her out and remind her that she had failed to protect and avenge them.

"What do we do now?" Phanphy asked her.

"I don't know…try and come up with a strategy." She frowned. "Okay, Shedinja's made himself impervious to all Type-based attacks, and his shell is too hard on its own to damage with typical physical moves. So how can we beat him?"

"Well, on television they have all sorts of ways of beating people who are invincible," Phanphy told her.

"Oh?" Togetic said, not having much hope in her imbecile brother coming up with a helpful idea.

"Yeah!" he said enthusiastically. "The power of love almost always works! And when it doesn't, they either find something even more powerful to defeat the bad guy, showing he's not invincible after all, or banish him to another dimension which he can never escape from but usually does several episodes or even a number of seasons later."

"…" Togetic sighed in frustration and resignation. "Somehow, I don't think that's going to work, Phanphy."

"Why not?" he asked, honestly confused.

"Well, for one thing, I don't know how to open a portal to another dimension. We could trap him here, if we knew a way out that we could close off, but we don't, so for the moment we're stuck here with him," she pointed out. "And we can't overpower him because he's stronger than we are, and I doubt anyone who _is_ stronger than him is going to show up out of the blue to save us."

Phanphy did not reply for several long seconds. Togetic frowned at him, wondering what was going on in her brother's head, and if maybe he was actually thinking up a new idea. "Well?"

"Well what?" he asked, confused.

"Do you have an idea?"

"Huh? Idea? No, why?" he asked, bewildered.

Flummoxed, Togetic blinked a few times. "If you weren't getting an idea, why didn't you say anything in response to my refutation of your original idea?"

"I don't know what all those words mean," Phanphy whined. "But I wasn't trying to get an idea; I was waiting for someone stronger than Shedinja to show up and save us."

Now Togetic was really confused. "But I said that someone _wasn't_ going to show up."

"Exactly! On television, whenever somebody says that, someone always shows up to save them!" Phanphy said confidently. "Which means that since you said it, someone's guaranteed to show up sooner or later!"

Togetic stared at her brother in disbelief. "Phanphy?"

"Yes?"

"How many times do we have to tell you THAT TV AND REALITY ARE NOT THE SAME THING!" she bellowed.

He shrugged. "I dunno."

Togetic facefaulted. "Ow…"

"Ah, don't worry big sister!" Phanphy said, whacking her on the rump reassuringly with his trunk and thoughtlessly spanking her due to his inordinate strength. "If none of that works, we can always use a magic, trap card, or monster's special ability which automatically destroys any monster we choose, including Shedinja! But we'll have to be careful, or we could get destroyed too, and we'll all get sent to the Graveyard together. And there's a creepy guy with a scythe hanging around there that doesn't look very nice."

Togetic moaned. "Little brother…your stupidity hurts…or maybe that's just your trunk."

…

The four Pokemon continued to fail miserably in their attempts to defeat the seemingly invincible Omega, who always either laughed off their attacks or managed to avoid them using his blades or his rather disgusting skeletal structure to contort his body out of harm's way. As a result, they were getting exhausted, even with Umbreon's use of Moonlight and Corsola's Recover, which didn't particularly help Blaziken, who had numerous bruises, concussions, and cuts by this point, or Scyther, who was guzzling down dozens of pills at a time to keep his heart from giving out from the pressure. They were now in a group huddle since Omega had graciously given them a moment to recover and were attempting to work up a strategy to take down the mighty swordsman.

"Okay," Scyther said, wheezing and shoving another bladeful of pills down his throat. "Here's what we're gonna do…" He whispered the plan to them all.

"Huh?" said a confused Corsola. "I couldn't hear what you said."

"Yeah, you were whispering incoherently," Umbreon said, her ears twitching. "Not even my ears could hear it!" Blaziken nodded and crossed his arms disapprovingly at the mantis.

Scyther facefaulted. "Just improvise!" he snapped. "Okay…break!"

They broke out of their group huddle and faced Omega, who looked to be using the darkness-radiating disk in the center of the boat to tan himself or something. "Oh, you're done?" he asked, slipping off his reading glasses and putting down the magazine he had been looking at. "Good. Let's finish this."

"Right. Attack!" Scyther cried.

They did. Umbreon launched a Shadow Ball while Corsola launched Hidden Power blasts at the evil general, while Blaziken leaped high in the air and Scyther used his ninja-like speed (greatly diminished due to his lousy shape) to disappear. Omega yawned and twirled his blades in front of him, easily deflecting the energy shots. "Please. Is that really the best you can-" He paused, glancing up as Blaziken shot down towards him with a screaming Blaze Kick. "Do?" Keeping one blade in front of him to deflect the continuous barrage, Omega raised his other arm to block Blaziken's kick…

Leaving his back open as Scyther slashed through his waist from behind with a devastating Cut, bisecting Omega, tearing his cape apart, and causing his upper body to topple over right before he could be hit by Blaziken's Blaze Kick and causing it to slam into a startled Scyther, knocking him to the deck, and also resulting in both chicken and mantis getting bombarded with energy shots from the startled Umbreon and Corsola before they could stop shooting. "Uh, oops!" Umbreon called guiltily. "Are you guys okay?"

The burnt and bruised Scyther and Blaziken glared at them silently in response, causing the two girls to laugh nervously. "Oh well…at least we defeated Omega, right?"

"Actually, I'd have to disagree with you there," Omega corrected, grunting as he lifted his upper body up on his hands. "I'm afraid a little bisection, though painful, isn't really enough to beat me. Behold." His lower body and legs, now acting under remote control of the upper body launched at the already beaten Blaziken and Scyther and started pummeling them with kicks and stomps before they could crawl out of the way.

"Hey, cut it out!" Umbreon cried angrily, spitting a Shadow Ball at the now-vulnerable upper body in hopes that destroying it would cause the legs to cease their animation. Omega's reply was to balance himself on one arm, catch the Shadow Ball in his free hand, and use the momentum from the projectile to spin around on his rotating elbow and throw the Shadow Ball right back at the ground in front of the girls, causing it to explode and knock them back with cries of pain and surprise.

Omega's legs stopped beating up the two males, trod over to their master, and caught the torso under its foot, using a little kick to flip the upper body back into the air and land right on the severed waist, reattaching itself with a grotesque series of snaps and disturbing flesh movements. "Ah, that's better." He turned back to the moaning Blaziken and Scyther, who were staggering back to their feet. "Now then." He rushed over to Blaziken and connected a devastating punch to the chicken's jaw, sending him flying across the deck and slamming into the railing at the edge of the boat. Before he could recover, Omega stomped towards him and knocked him towards the ceiling with a devastating uppercut. As Blaziken ascended into the air, Omega jumped at the shrine, kicked off the side, and rose into the air to meet the stunned Blaze Pokemon. Omega then flipped over in the air, locking his legs around Blaziken's neck and twisting downwards as they shot towards the ceiling so that Omega was upright and Blaziken was facing the ground. The evil general pressed his hands against the ceiling, using his immense strength not only to prevent a crash but also to push off hard and send them falling back towards the deck. Omega released Blaziken from his leg lock and kicked him in the chest, sending him hurtling down to the deck a few milliseconds faster, so that right after he hit the ground Omega landed feet-first on his chest with enough force to almost cause the chicken to turn inside-out. As it was, he only vomited a copious amount of blood and stomach acid along with his undigested food, but that was good enough for Omega. The chicken was lucky enough that only his ribs were broken and not his spine…although he wouldn't be surprised if that was badly damaged too.

He heard an enraged cry from behind him, followed by a hacking cough, wheeze, rattle of pills being shoved down a dry throat, followed by another enraged cry, which could only be Scyther. Annoyed, Omega reached back with one arm as he stepped off of the prostrate Blaziken, grabbed the twin saw blades on his back, and twisted his torso around, flicking them at Scyther. The two blades spun into the air, landed on the floor, and started spinning towards him edge-on, their sawed teeth sending showers of sparks as they cut against the deck on their way towards Scyther. His eyes bulged, and he yipped, flicking his wings into motion and barely clearing the blades as they shot under him, rebounded off the railing, and buzzed right towards him. Terrified, he started spinning in a Swords Dance defense, causing the saws to rebound off his bladed twister and shoot off the boat altogether and into the throngs of wailing souls occupying the banks, decapitating some of them and sending limbs and body parts flying as they went to work. Scyther stopped spinning, sighed in relief…and gasped as Omega's huge hand grabbed his entire head and slammed him into the ground with a piledrive, nearly smashing his face in and removing him from the fight.

The evil general landed from the short leap he had used to reach the flying Scyther and lashed out with a side kick, knocking Umbreon, who had just appeared with Faint Attack to hit him, off the side of the boat and into the middle of another horde of wailing souls, who all looked hungrily at the dark Pokemon. She laughed nervously as they closed in on her. "Eh heh…I don't suppose we can discuss this?" she asked weakly, her ears folding against her head. "I mean, you don't really need to _eat_ me, do you? I can always go get takeout or something…"

Omega stood up and grunted as numerous spikes imbedded themselves in his chest. "Hmmph." He flexed his muscles, causing them to pop out. Enraged and terrified that she was the last one standing; Corsola fired her Spike Cannon again and again. Omega didn't even bother deflecting them; he just stomped over to the Coral Pokemon, not minding the spikes lodging in his chest, until he loomed over the small sea creature, covering her with his shadow. (Well, if he had a shadow, since there wasn't actually any light in this place) "You're all that's left? How disappointing." He flexed his muscles, causing the spikes to pop from his chest as he raised his right arm, laser blade extending from it. "You die now."

Corsola squealed and shut her eyes, knowing this was the end as she waited for the final blow to fall.

…

They fell, screaming, towards the bubbling lava below them. Thinking quickly, Bayleef shot one vine up towards the edge of the pit and another down towards Bulbasaur, who in turn shot his vines out to catch Grovyle only inches from the surface of the molten rock. "Yahhh!" the gecko cried in fright, the tip of the large leaf on his head drooping down into the lava and immediately got incinerated. The Wood Gecko panicked and blew on the leaf frantically to put the burning flame out before it could reach his head, causing the green headpiece to be shortened significantly as a result once the fire was extinguished.

"Grovyle-kun, are you okay?" Bayleef asked, worried.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he stammered, cringing and trying not to get any closer to the lava than he already was.

Bulbasaur's eye twitched and he had a sudden urge to drop Grovyle into the lava. For one thing, it would put less stress on him and Bayleef, so there wasn't a risk of all of them getting dropped in…right? "Can you pull us up?" he instead asked out loud to Bayleef.

"Um…" Bayleef grimaced and tugged as hard as she could on the vine holding onto the edge, trying to use it to pull them up. Sweat poured down her skin and veins bulged out on her body as she exerted all the strength in her body…and could only jerk rather violently, nearly dropping Bulbasaur and Grovyle into the lava. "S-sorry," she gasped. "I can't…we're too heavy, and this place is too hot, it's draining my strength!"

"M-maybe I can…climb up?" Grovyle suggested. "Bulbasaur, do you think you can swing me to the wall? It looks pretty rough, I bet I could climb up, and then Bayleef would be able to pull you up and we could both get her out of the pit."

Bulbasaur almost shouted no, that he'd rather save Bayleef himself, but relented, knowing now was not the time. Plus, he was also feeling himself weaken, both from Grovyle's weight and the heat, and wasn't sure he'd be able to save Bayleef by himself, though he wanted to. "Yeah, I can do it," he grunted. "Bayleef, hold on okay?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" she snapped.

"Sorry, sorry," he grumbled. "Okay Grovyle…here we go!" Gathering his strength, he swung his vines up, although in doing so he jerked hard enough to nearly fall out of Bayleef's grip, letting go of Grovyle and flinging the Wood Gecko into the air.

He soared over the lava like the woodland animal he was and grabbed onto the rough wall. "Got it! I'm climbing up now!"

"Be careful!" Bayleef cried as Grovyle started scaling the wall. "Okay, your turn Bulbasaur!" She grimaced and managed to lift the Plant Pokemon up to her level. "Oof…you're getting heavy!"

"I am not!" he lied, thinking angrily to himself that he should stop eating so many of Mrs. Ketchum's delicious sugary cream puffs, no matter how sweet and tasty they were. So as not to force Bayleef to struggle any harder, Bulbasaur shot out his vines and grabbed the edge of the pit. "Okay Bayleef, you can let go of me now so you can grab on with both vines. Then once Grovyle and I get to the top, we'll pull you up, okay?"

"O-okay." Bayleef nervously let go of Bulbasaur, causing him to fall a few inches before getting jerked taut by his vines. She quickly grabbed onto the edge with her free vine, now able to fully support her body weight. However, as a Grass Pokemon, she was naturally weak against extreme heat. Bulbasaur already saw her leaf was wilting and more than a little sweat was pouring out of her body. He knew he had to act quickly to rescue her before her strength gave out and she plummeted into the pit…and him as well, of course, since he was a Grass-type too.

He glanced over his shoulder, seeing that Grovyle was already almost at the top, and began reeling in his own vines to pull himself to the pit's edge…

When Alpha's claw shot out, grabbed the startled Grovyle by the neck, and wrenched him into the air. The evil Ranger cackled as the other two gasped. "What do we have here? A wall-crawling wood gecko? Heh. No room for you in my arena, weakling!" He extended his arm out, holding Grovyle out over the pit again. "I think I'll throw you right back into the fire…so you can burn like the worthless lizard you are!"

"No! Grovyle-kun!" Bayleef cried. Desperate, she flung Razor Leaves at the evil one with swishes of her wilting giant leaf. After a moment's hesitation, Bulbasaur did the same.

"Speed Mode!" Alpha's wrist-thing flashed, and his free hand shot out repeatedly faster than the eye could see, grabbing every leaf that was thrown at him and crushing them in his claw. "Ha!"

"Damn, I didn't know he could do that," Bulbasaur said, his frustration somewhat tinged with jealous relief.

"Let him go!" Bayleef screamed angrily. She quickly rethought that as Alpha shrugged and started loosening his grip on Grovyle's neck. "Er, I mean on solid ground! Don't drop him in the lava!"

"Hmm…but I really want to!" Alpha mock-whined. "Hahaha! I know! How about I just wait until both of you get too worn out by the heat to hold on to the edge and fall in, then I'll drop this runt in after you so you can all burn together!"

"No!" Bayleef screamed.

"Bayleef…climb out! Save yourself!" Grovyle croaked, clawing weakly at Alpha's strong arm. "Don't worry about me…I'm not worth it…as long as you're okay…" Bulbasaur felt like gagging, both from disgust and bitter jealousy that he could talk to Bayleef like that and know she'd be touched by it.

"No, Grovyle-kun! I can't go without you!" the grass Pokemon said desperately, tearing up even as her vines began to lose traction as they dried out from the heat. Bulbasaur felt another stab of anger and jealousy.

"You won't need to!" a gruff, welcome voice called as Crawdaunt scuttled towards the pit. "Crawdaunt's here to save the day!"

"What took you?" an annoyed Bulbasaur called from the pit.

"Stepped in a few booby traps on the way over," Crawdaunt grunted, rubbing some scorch marks on his shell ruefully. "But I'm okay…and ready to give Alpha here the beating of his life for threatening my friends!"

"Is that so?" asked an amused Alpha.

"You bet it is!"

"In that case, I should warn you that the stone you're in front of a trigger for another booby trap."

Crawdaunt blinked and retracted the leg he had been about to step forward on. "Oh, thanks—hey, wait a minute!" He glared suspiciously at Alpha. "You're the bad guy, how do I know you're not lying to me?"

Alpha chuckled. "Maybe I am. How can you be sure?"

"Uh…" Crawdaunt sweatdropped. "Dang, this is tough. Let's see…he's evil so I know I can't take anything he says at face value…but since he's evil, that also means he might be tricking me with reverse psychology, meaning he wants me to go AROUND this stone, triggering another trap…or maybe he's using reverse reverse psychology like Fein was…or was he using reverse reverse psychology, or just regular reverse? Ohhh…" He moaned. "This is too much for a lobster like me, it makes my head hurt."

"Well, that's a surprise," Alpha snickered.

"Crawdaunt, just do something! Quickly!" Grovyle urged.

"Urrrr…all right, I'm coming!" the lobster said decisively, stepping forward…

And causing the stone he stepped on to sink into the ground. His eyes bulged. "Oh f-" He was cut off as the stone launched upwards, propelled by a giant spring, flinging Crawdaunt high into the air, screaming "-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" as he vanished into the sky.

The three Chosen gaped. "Wow," Alpha said, whistling to show he was impressed. "Didn't know he would go that far. Oh well!" He cheerfully strode around the edge of the pit, still holding Grovyle. "Now I'll show just how much of a jackass I am by stomping on the ends of your vines and causing you to fall into the pit! And because you've been hanging there so long, you've lost the strength you need to pull yourself up by yourself! Hahahaha!" He stopped in front of the hanging vines, smirking to himself as the Grass Pokemon struggled to pull themselves up and found that they had indeed been too drained by the heat to save themselves. "I'm such a jerk, aren't I?" He raised his clawed foot, preparing to stomp down on one of Bayleef's vines. "Bye-bye now!"

He brought his foot down.

…  
Infernatrice's molten hands blazed as he conjured giant fireball after giant fireball and hurled them at the group. The projectiles were slow but powerful, and could only be destroyed by Gyarados' Ice Beam since they just sucked up the flame attacks of the others. Gyarados spat a couple of beams to freeze the fireballs into giant chunks of ice which were promptly shattered by an Iron Tail from Charla and Wing Attack from Moltres, allowing the sea serpent to fire another Ice Beam directly at the beast's lower chest, cooling and hardening another chunk of semisolid magma, much to Infernatrice's dismay, because this would be the third one they had done so far, the other two chunks they had attacked were now destroyed and lava was already dribbling out of his upper chest due to lack of cohesion.

As Moltres and Charla swooped in to take advantage of the monster's momentary weakness, Gyarados hung back, gasping. "Are you all right?" Combusken asked in concern.

"Yeah, just…just a bit dehydrated," he rasped, his lips dry and cracked. "This place isn't my element…I'm a fish in an oven, my body's drying up…don't think I can generate enough moisture for any more Ice Beams…"

This concerned Combusken immensely, not just because this meant they would no longer be able to incapacitate Infernatrice but because if Gyarados passed out from dehydration she would probably fall to her death. "We'll just have to get you some water, then." Now where could they possibly find water in a giant lava tube? A pipe running across the wall near one of the beams crossing the tunnel caught her eye as a jet of steam billowed from one of its vents. "Aha! I've got it!" She pointed at the pipe. "Look! Steam! Where there's steam, there's water, right? So that pipe must have water in it that's being heated by the lava! You can drink it!"

Gyarados didn't have enough moisture to sweatdrop. "Won't that be _hot_ water, Combusken? Not sure that'll be much better than no water at all; it'll have the same likelihood of frying me that this lava will. And it may not be water at all, but pure steam. And _hot_ steam, too. How'm I gonna get moisture from that?"

"Freeze it," Combusken said, thinking ahead. "You should have enough left for at least one Ice Beam, right?"

"I guess…" Gyarados said uncertainly.

"Great! So you freeze the pipe, and I'll break it! The moisture inside the pipe will have been frozen by your attack and will start to melt from the heat of the lava and the steam coming from below, so it should be water safe for you to drink!"

"…Okay," Gyarados said, very apprehensive but not sure what other choice he had. "Let's do it, then."

He undulated slowly through the air towards the beam, crashing down with a painful thud when he got over it, panting for breath. It was clear he was nearing his last legs. Combusken hopped off and ran over to the end of the beam, which was right next to the pipe, which vented steam periodically. "Come on!" she called, beckoning him.

Huffing and puffing, Gyarados slithered over, too dry to even sweat, conserving what he had left for the Ice Beam. He slumped to the ground when he reached Combusken, weakly raised his head, took a deep breath, and unleashed the freezing power of Ice Beam on the pipe, coating its entire surface from top to bottom in a sheet of ice.

He collapsed from this exertion, gasping for breath, tail flopping slightly, and Combusken knew she had to hurry. Already the ice was starting to drip, melt, and crack as the pipe began to expand from the heat from below response to the out-of-place cold. With a war cry, she lashed out at the pipe with a mighty kick, breaking its surface and causing the condensed water within, already getting rather warm as the heat from below made the pipe expand, to burst out in a flood, nearly washing Combusken over the edge of the beam and splashing Gyarados in the face, causing him to rise up, spluttering in surprise. Realizing it was really, truly water, he quickly put his mouth to the pipe, greedily sucking up whatever liquid was still in there and moving away when he felt it getting too hot, just in time for a powerful jet of steam to burst through the new hole in its side. "Ahhh…much better! Thank you, Combusken!"

"Don't mention it," said Combusken, who was now hanging from the edge of the beam where she had nearly been blown off by the water pressure. "Can you pull me up now?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." He did so, and she remounted him.

"Okay, now that you're feeling better…"

"One hundred percent," the Atrocious serpent confirmed.

"Let's get back to the others! They're probably wondering what the heck happened to us!"

Gyarados nodded vigorously, nearly flinging Combusken off, and rose into the air, 'swimming' through the heat as he tried to catch up with his friends and their volcanic nemesis.

And he kept an eye out for any other pipes they might want to siphon water from, just in case. It was only a matter of time before he dried out again, right?  
…

"IS SOMEONE GOING TO HELP ME!" Misdreavus screamed as Leviathan's jaws snapped shut just a molecule away from the trailing bits of her lower body. "I DON'T WANT TO BE EATEN!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Ho-Oh shouted at her, swooping down at the beast. Spreading his wings, the mighty phoenix soared towards the mutated corpse of his ex-wife, who twisted and turned in the air as she snapped hungrily after the screaming Misdreavus. Ho-Oh opened his mouth, gathering light energy from all around him and used it to generate a supercharged Solar Beam which sprang from his beak and swept across Leviathan's serpentine form, leaving a deep scar and causing the monster to roar in annoyance and mild pain, ignoring Misdreavus for the moment and twisting her head around to spew dark flames at her ex-husband.

Ho-Oh shielded himself in the greenish aura of Protect, allowing it to defend him from the fire. However, the flames were stronger than he had anticipated—MUCH stronger—and he had to focus all his will to keep the aura from breaking down under Leviathan's onslaught, certain that doing so would seal his fate. He knew he had to hold on just a little longer…just long enough for Zapdos and Aerodactyl to get into position…any minute now…

Dammit, where were they!

His prayers were answered when the two avians swooped at Leviathan's head from the side, preparing to drop their cargo on the distracted monster. "Ready?" Aerodactyl shrieked.

"Ready!" Zapdos squawked.

They both let go of the torture device at the same time and swerved away before they could collide into the evil serpent's enormous head. The very sharp and nasty torture cage, on the other hand, flew straight ahead; driving itself right into Leviathan's left eye and blinding it completely.

Leviathan broke off her flame assault in a scream of pain, allowing a relieved Ho-Oh to drop his Protect defense moments before it could shatter completely. "Now!" he roared to Zapdos.

The Thunderbird spread his wings and shrieked fiercely as huge bolts of static crackled along his spiny yellow and black feathers. His entire body lit up in a sparking aura of power as he unleashed a tremendously strong Thunder attack at the Leviathan. The awesome electric attack was naturally attracted to the piece of metal lodged in Leviathan's eye and sought it out, coursing through it and into her optic nerves, causing synapses to explode as it zapped itself right into Leviathan's brain, causing an electrical overload!

The serpent screamed and convulsed spastically in pain as her brain was fried, causing all her muscles and body functions to misfire and tear themselves apart on the inside. As she thrashed about, her voice cracking as it rose and fell due to the electric boogaloo going on inside her head, Aerodactyl and Ho-Oh soared right for her gaping, twitching mouth. "Let's do this!" the pterodactyl said, gathering power.

"Right!" Ho-Oh agreed, gathering his power as well.

In unison, they fired Hyper Beams down Leviathan's throat.

The twin lasers exploded inside her, causing the back of her head to blast open in a shower of gore and brain tissue, while other explosions from residual energy cascaded across her body, causing giant holes to rupture open all over her serpentine length as she writhed, twisted, and finally, with a mournful howl, lay still, drifting listlessly through the shining void.

"Yeah, we did it!" Misdreavus cheered; flipping in relief that now the giant monster wasn't going to eat her.

Ho-Oh sighed and shook his head. "My old love…I hope that now you may find rest…"

"Actually, seeing as how that Deoxys guy took her soul before transforming her corpse into that thing, I don't think she is," Aerodactyl pointed out.

"…Shut up," Ho-Oh grunted, batting his fossilized friend away with a wing beat. "Zapdos, good work thinking up a way to kill this beast. Who knew, you actually have some brains in you when you're not wasting your time feuding with the other elemental birds."

Zapdos sweatdropped. "Thanks…I think."

"Well, we've finished what we came here to do," Misdreavus said, floating over to them. "So let's…huh?"

They all stopped and stared in disbelief as Leviathan began to glow ominously and faint, wispy figures formed all around her. "Hey…aren't those…?" Aerodactyl said, blinking in amazement.

"The ghosts Leviathan ate!" Misdreavus finished. "But…what are they doing?"

Before a stunned Ho-Oh could formulate a response, he got struck from behind by a huge burst of flame, causing him to screech in pain and surprise as he was blasted away from the group. "Ho-Oh!" Zapdos gasped in horror. "But who-" His face paled as the fire-thrower revealed itself. "YOU!"

…

Emperor Mewgle and the Gigabot were engaged in a massive roboto a roboto brawl-type minigame of sorts, punching and kicking at each other in close quarters thanks to a Cosmic Halo Mewgle had summoned that looked oddly like a giant ring-shaped weapon an ancient civilization might have built in an attempt to eradicate all life in the galaxy to stem the flow of an undead plague which served the same function as the boundaries of a boxing ring, keeping the two from leaving the small area it defined.

"Hoo! Ha! Can't hit me!" Mewgle laughed, shifting his head twice to dodge a one-two punch before returning with one of his own, causing the Gigabot to stumble back a step as its life bar went down severely due to the strength behind Mewgle's rather large fists.

"Ugh…we can't hit this guy!" Geodude complained, bringing his arms up to block Mewgle's overhead chop and barely managing to deflect a jab at the stomach. Undaunted, Mewgle used a leg sweep to knock the robot off its feet and onto the 'floor' (a large spiral galaxy), then leaped backwards onto the edge of the halo, bounced off, and came down at the Gigabot elbow-first with a body blow. Fortunately, the Gigabot managed to roll out of the way just before Mewgle could hit it and got back to its feet in time to catch the surprisingly quick evil robot's double punch in both hands, locking the two giant mechas in a grapple. "Ha! You want to grapple ME? I'll drive you into the ground! Er, if we had one that is…"

Geodude was sweating hard as he struggled against Mewgle's strong push, causing his rough rocky surface to erode from the strain. "Ugh…he's too…strong! Don't think I can hold him…much longer!"

"If only I could use my _espada_!" Lombre lamented. "But that _bastard_ Mewgle has _prohibir_ it, since this is a luchador-style battle…why did I choose the path of the _espada_ instead of that of the masked wrestler?" He paused in thought. "Oh yes, now I remember, it's because swordplay is much more _atractivo._"

"Buzz, we need more power!" Mudkip barked into her intercom.

"Ah'm giving it all ah can!" Buzz cried, pumping volt after volt into the robot's generator as the bodyguards and stagehands continued running their machines in pursuit of the swimsuit magazine. "She canna take much more of this, cap'n! Ah'm an engineer, not a miracle worker!"

"Why are you talking in a Scottish accent?" asked the confused Mudkip.

"Er…none of your business!" Buzz said, flushing in embarrassment.

"Riiiight…" Mudkip said slowly. "Okay then…in that case, we only have one other course to take!" She grabbed a small hammer and used it to dramatically smash a glass case surrounding a big red button with the words USE IN EMERGENCIES ONLY written over it in big capital letters. Taking a deep breath, she slammed a webbed paw down on the button.

Down in the limb control room, a robot arm holding a small mallet rose out of the floor before Lee the Hitmonlee, who stared at it in curiosity while straining his legs to assist Geodude in exerting enough force to push Mewgle back. So far, that wasn't going too well…

The arm swung back and firmly tapped Lee on the right knee with the mallet, causing him to kick out thanks to his well-toned leg reflexes.

This, of course, caused the Gigabot's leg to lash out, since Lee was connected neurally to the mecha's lower body, which resulted in the robot driving its big metal foot into the Emperor Mewgle's groin.

Mewgle's jaw dropped as his face screwed up in an expression of intense pain, the life bar he had been given for this minigame dropping to zero instantly. He collapsed to the floor of the arena, whimpering in pain as he clutched his nether regions.

"Aaaaand the winner is…the Gigabot!" an invisible announcer cried as a bell rang and an unseen audience cheered. Geodude started hamming it up, clutching his hands over his head and shaking them triumphantly at the 'crowd' to get more applause while Mudkip played a prerecorded clip of a song they had made intended for use whenever they won a fight.

"Wait…do giant robots even have crotches?" a confused young Jigglypuff asked her elder as Mewgle continued lying on the ground in pain.

"Don't question it, dear. You'll break the fourth wall, and who knows what'll happen then?" the elder Jigglypuff lectured her protégé.

"Sorry."

"Ow…cheating little bastards…" Mewgle said, grimacing in pain despite the fact that the same term could be applied to him. He grimaced and staggered back to his feet, glaring at his foe while the crowd continued cheering the Gigabot now started totally showing off by break-dancing. With a sinister grin, he charged towards the Gigabot, knowing what was to happen next.

"Round two…begin!" the announcer cried, ringing his bell.

The Pokerockers blinked. "Wait…round two-" Onix started in confusion before Mewgle tackled them from behind and slammed them to the galaxy-mat, cackling madly as the audience cheered and a rock version of the insane program's theme song played in the background.

"THAT'S RIGHT, BITCHES! WE'RE NOT THROUGH YET!" Mewgle cried, twisting about on the Gigabot's back to grab the robot's left leg and wrench it upward, causing the mecha to thrash in pain and helplessly pound the mat with its fists. "HEHEHEHE! YOU CAN'T WIN, LOSERS! I'LL FEAST ON YOUR PATHETIC MINDS YET!"

The drum Pokemon sweatdropped. "Dude, this guy is nuts," said Forretress.

"For real," agreed Iron Shell.

"Fo'shizzel," Metal Sound said.

…

"CHIIIIIIII!" Chimecho bellowed, flailing its tentacles about before smashing them onto the ground, shattering ice blocks and sending snow flying. The three swift Pokemon had already dashed out of the way just in time, of course.

Sadic leaped at the cliff wall, rebounded, and slammed right into Chimecho's side…and bounced off, her claws doing no damage whatsoever. "Dang!"

Pikachu and El Gato leaped onto the tentacles as they rose up again, hopping and kicking off tendrils as they flailed and smashed into each other, the two swordsmen crossing paths repeatedly as they gracefully danced through the forest of thrashing, grabbing appendages, leaping out above Chimecho's head and bringing their swords down, stabbing deep into the monster's flesh…and popping right back out.

"It's like rubber!" an amazed Pikachu said.

"Si, my blade cannot penetrate it!" said a frustrated El Gato.

"CHIIIIII!" Chimecho's tentacles all launched themselves at the two Pokemon. They yelped and used Quick Attacks to dash off the blob-thing's head just in time, causing the tendrils to smash into Chimecho's head…and bounce off, slamming into the cliffs and causing them to tremble. Chimecho giggled happily and lashed out at the Pokemon again.

With a war cry, Sadic charged at the blob, slashing at the tentacles which assailed her with her mighty claws, severing them and causing the disembodied tips to writhe a bit on the floor before melting away. However, the tentacles quickly regrew themselves and came at her from behind, closing her in. She spun in a circle as she leaped out of the mess she was in, slashing at the tentacles and destroying some of them, but more grew in their place.

Pikachu zapped a tentacle to dust with a Thunderbolt, and El Gato destroyed six at once with quick strikes from his sword, but more tendrils appeared in their place. "Jeez, nothing we throw at him hurts the guy? What're we supposed to do?"

Wobbuffet used his crystal fragment to make a shield which deflected a tentacle that was about to stab the unaware yellow mouse from behind. "Try the eyes!" he yelled down at the fighters. "They look pretty sensitive…maybe if you get to them, you can do some serious damage!"

The Spanish-speaking feline nodded. "Sounds good to me. What say you, Senor Raton?"

Pikachu smirked. "Worth a try…and for the last time, don't call me a Raton."

In tandem, Pikachu and El Gato made another run at Chimecho, darting and dodging tentacle strikes, slashing at them occasionally if they got in their way, running up the gelatinous lengths to rise above the ground when necessary, fighting their way through the thick mass of limbs to reach Chimecho's central mass. When Sadic saw what they were up to, she sprang into the air, up and over the tentacles trying to crush her, and dove downward, slashing every tentacle in sight as she moved swiftly and gracefully, clearing a short-lived path for her partners. The tentacles grew back quickly, but the opening was just what the swordsmen needed to make it to the idiot blob creature's face. Once there, they sprang up as one with a battle cry and drove their swords into the dopey Chimecho's eyes. At this, the beast finally showed some reaction of pain as it howled in anguish, especially when Pikachu sent a mighty Thunder attack coursing through his blade, into Chimecho's eye, and down its optic nerves and into the disgusting brain mass visible through the semi-transparent surface of the monster's skin, causing Chimecho to squeal and wiggle much like a pile of Jell-O in an earthquake. El Gato, whose sword was coated with an electric-proof substance, settled for simply violently ripping his sword out of Chimecho's eye and tearing a huge gash out of it in the process, causing it to deflate noisily, spewing optic juices as it did so.

Screaming and convulsing, Chimecho collapsed to the ground, tentacles flailing wildly. Pikachu and El Gato quickly retreated, not wanting to get caught in that wild mess of tendrils. Sadic assisted them by breathing Icy Wind at the tentacles, causing many of them to harden and slow down considerably as Chimecho had to exert more effort to fling the frozen masses about. Those which weren't frozen were deflected by timely shields from Wobbuffet, keeping the heroes safe and allowing them to make it outside the radius of the monster's lengthy tendrils.

Once out of Chimecho's reach, the trio rejoined Wobbuffet and his unresponsive sister and watched as, wailing and screaming, Chimecho melted into a gross-looking pile of goo. "Well, there he goes," Sadic said. "He left as disgustingly as he came."

"I don't know," commented Wobbuffet. "We blobs can be pretty tough…"

"Yeah, think of all those horror movies," Pikachu reasoned. "Where the slime monster or whatever reconstitutes itself if it's melted or splattered apart."

"Then our course is clear," El Gato said. "Sadic?"

"On it!" Taking a deep breath, she unleashed her Sheer Cold attack on the steaming puddle, causing it to freeze solid, making an even uglier-looking mass of ice in the process. "There. That should hold him."

"Why didn't we do that in the first place?" Pikachu wondered out loud.

El Gato smirked. "Because it wouldn't have looked as stylish, of course."

"Ah, right. Of course."

Wobbuffet frowned. "Hey, I just had a thought…in those horror movies you were talking about; doesn't the frozen slime monster always break out or something and reconstitute itself, even worse than before?"

There was a long pause. They glanced at the gross pile of ice. Sure enough, it was trembling and cracking and moments later exploded as a few hundred miniature monster Chimechos floated up, simultaneously squealing a high-pitched "CHIIIIIII!" in stereo.

They sweatdropped in disbelief. "Great…" Sadic grumbled. "Now we're even more fucked. Sure you don't want to reconsider the double suicide thing?"

"…I'm starting to come around to it…" Pikachu said slowly, eye twitching at the sight of so many mini-Chimechos as the thought of all of them violently sucking the life from his body ran through his head.

El Gato sighed and drew his sword. "Here we go again…"

"CHIIIIII!" The horde of evil Wind Chime Pokemon shrieked before charging at the group.

…

The blood was warm, thick, red, and viscous, making it hard to see anything as Latias shot through its crimson depths. She was undeterred, however, her psychic senses more then made up for her impaired vision in the blood flow, allowing her to detect the narrow canal walls around her, the twisted forms of marine Pokemon who were displaced in her wake as she hurtled past them, and blazing unmistakably ahead of her, the evil figure of Dark Latios, weaving his way through the various canals and alleyways and channels that crisscrossed this nightmare version of Alto Mare. She would not let him get away, COULD not let him get away. This abomination had to die, here and now, so her memories of her brother could remain unscarred by this foul impostor.

She was so focused on catching Dark Latios that she didn't notice that he was leading her right into a 'dead end' of sorts in the waterways, one she would have recognized instantly had she been paying attention since this city was an exact (sort of) replica of the Alto Mare she had called home. As it was, she didn't realize it was a trap until it was too late and Dark Latios had looped out of the blood and into the air, flying upside-down over the surface above her as she slammed into the wall at the end of the waterway before she could stop, stunning herself and breaking a few teeth. She quickly recovered and shot towards the surface…

Only to be frozen solid as Dark Latios hit the blood with an Ice Beam, turning the dead-end section of waterway into a dull red chunk of ice, with Latias and a few other unlucky marine creatures trapped inside. The dark dragon cackled gleefully. "At last, my very own blood-flavored Latiasicle…" He floated down to the surface of the ice chunk and licked it with his forked tongue. "Mmm, delightful…I wonder how many licks it will take to get to the juicy center of this Latiasicle? Or am I mixing human snacks? No matter…" He licked again. "Either way, I will devour you whole…or maybe piece by piece, whichever hurts more…heheheheh!"

He was not surprised when he saw his sister's yellow eyes flash and her psychic aura expand. He didn't even bother to move as the ice block exploded, spearing jagged chunks of ice into his body and wings and flinging him back as the force from Latias' Psychic blast actually kept the rest of the blood in the canals from flowing into the void formed by obliterating the ice for a full five seconds. Screaming with rage as her shivering body already restored itself to proper equilibrium, she lunged at the laughing Dark Latios' throat as the blood crashed down behind her.

He caught her wrists in his claws, her jaws snapping shut on the tip of his nose and tearing it off as she struggled to kill her 'half-brother', wanting to tear that sneer off his face.

The momentum from her charge sent both of them tumbling through the air and slamming into one of the crumbling, woebegone shells of buildings the canals ran around, causing it to collapse and make the wailing of the faces imbedded in the rock to grow in volume before being abruptly silenced and for the blood oozing from the walls to splatter everywhere.

The bleeding rubble exploded outwards as Latias and Dark Latios both shoved it away with psychic blasts, their regenerative powers already mending the broken bones and wings and blood ruptures caused by the crash. Growling, Latias hurled a dozen Psylances at her nemesis. Dark Latios grinned nastily and waved his hand; using his psychic powers to deflect the mental bolts right back at Latias. She dispelled them with a thought and quickly brought up a Protect shield as Dark Latios shot forward, driving a Dragon Claw at her forehead, only to be deflected at the last moment by her shield. Undaunted, he backed up and unleashed the full power of his black Dragonbreath on her, shattering her Protect, boiling blood, and melting the stones around her…but failing to penetrate the Safeguard aura she had thrown up at the last moment when her Protect had failed. Her eyes flashed…

And the moaning stones around her assembled themselves into a pair of giant hands and slammed their palms together, crushing Dark Latios between them and cutting off the flow of dark Dragonbreath. However, the evil dragon would not be done in so easily, and the stone hands exploded as he lunged forward, tackling Latias and shoving her to the ground, grabbing her by the wrists and wrapping his wings around her to keep her from escaping even as his sides re-inflated from being crushed by the hands. Enraged as he forcefully pinned her tail down with his own, Latias unleashed a screaming Psychic blast, causing all the buildings in a three-block radius to explode violently and for the two dragons to be launched into the air from the psionic backlash…but even as his skin was flayed right off his bones and his skeleton began to disintegrate, Dark Latios did not let go of her, grinning even as his teeth shattered, his eyes popped, and his exposed blood vessels ruptured and sprayed blood all over her dust-covered red and white down.

Black tentacles emerged from his back and drove themselves into her body, causing her to gasp as they touched her very soul. This was defilement far worse than physical rape, for Dark Latios was not only _touching_ her spirit with his vile, disgusting, pure evil mind, but he was trying to corrupt it, consume it, destroy what made Latias Latias and twist her into something like himself.

It was the absolute worst thing Latias had ever felt, this rape of the soul…so she decided to return the favor, ripping her arms out of Dark Latios' grasp and driving her claws into his reforming chest, causing him to gasp as she touched _his_ soul.

It was all she could do to keep from screaming as she made contact with the core essence of the evil dragon, now feeling herself bombarded on two fronts by the incomprehensible malevolence and infinitely complex cruelty that made up his mind. She had only gotten a _taste_ inside of Alpha of what she experienced now as vile instincts and twisted, _twisted_ thoughts, (most of which seemed to involve unspeakable things happening to her) and images of worlds upon worlds of endless screaming souls, that awful joyous song of hatred and oblivion, and infinite pain, pain, pain.

For a moment she wavered on the edge of the abyss, overwhelmed by the sheer horror of Dark Latios' essence as it washed over her in all its dreadful intensity, threatening to scatter her to the depths of madness. But something within her persevered, her dedication to her friends and loved ones, her rage at this impostor, and more than a little sheer stubbornness to boot. Concentrating hard, trying to fight the unstoppable onslaught, Latias mimicked Dark Latios and started to pour into him everything that made her Latias. She released into the writhing knot of malice which was Dark Latios many things: her memories of growing up with her brother in Alto Mare and Bianca, her feelings and loyalty for all her friends and surrogate family, how proud she felt to have two 'father' figures in her life, even if Ho-Oh didn't quite fit the bill she had imagined he would. And along with that she added memories of her other life, of being one Dratini among many in her first childhood, the rapturous feeling of evolving into Latias and restoring the world through the power of wishing, and of many years, tragically cut short, spent beside her King…years which she hoped she would get to live out to the fullest in this new life of hers, once the threat posed by Deoxys was over. All of this, and more, she poured into the gaping pit of pain that was Dark Latios' heart.

In comparison to the sheer enormity of the collective misery and hate which made up his soul, Latias' love and friendship did not do much. It was not nearly enough to do any serious damage to him. However, it did cause him discomfort, like the psychic equivalent of a stomachache. And it distracted him enough…just enough…for his hold on her, mental and physical, to weaken, allowing Latias to make her move.

Gritting her teeth with exertion, she sliced her wings, glowing now with the power of Steel Wing, up and _through_ Dark Latios' body, cutting him in half at the waist. He gasped and stiffened as what seemed like gallons of blood spewed from his innards, staining the broken stone beneath them. Latias did not give him a moment to recover and continued her attack, pulling her claws out of Dark Latios' soul…and drove her right arm right through his chest, smashing through it and tearing out the other side, spearing his diseased black heart in the process on her middle claw.

Dark Latios' red eyes bulged and he roared in pain, shaking the crumbling, damned city. Latias rolled over and shot downward, slamming her 'brother' into the ground, pushing against his chest with her free hand and tearing herself off of Dark Latios, ripping an even bigger hole in his chest and pulling his tentacles out of her in the process. She gasped as they left, taking several chunks of flesh with them as they writhed in pain.

And, to her disgust and horror, Dark Latios began to laugh. Laugh as he lay in two halves on the ground, blood pouring out on the floor. Laugh as his heart continued to beat, still pierced on Latias' claw. Laugh even as Latias tossed the heart away, grabbed his head, and snapped his neck with a sharp twist and crack, silencing him forever.

She floated back, shook her head in disgust, and flew away. She still had to find a way out of this awful place, and maybe she could, now that its master was dead.

And as she left, Dark Latios' head turned on his broken neck to gaze at her as she flew away…and he smiled. "Sister…do you really think a little thing like _this_ will kill me?"

Already a new heart was growing in his chest and his lower body was regenerating, wings and tail and all. As he patiently waited for his body to heal itself, he bit off one of the pieces of Latias meat stuck on his tentacle and started chewing on it, savoring its sweet flavor as he dug his claws into the skin of his arm and tore at it, feeling a sensation of rapturous pain as he carved deep, bloody furrows into his scaly flesh. "Heheheheh…sister, if this is how you show your love for me…wait until you feel what I will do to you!"

…

"Deoxys!" Mewtwo cried, noticing peripherally that he had changed back to his adult self, as had a confused Gardevoir. He also noticed, with some surprise, that something in Deoxys' eyes looked exactly like the eyes he had seen in every one of the villains on the boat…or perhaps it was the other way around?

"Greetings, Mewtwo. Welcome to my home," said the space alien, gesturing to the indescribable three-eyed beast. "What do you think of it?"

"I think it could use some remodeling," Mewtwo said snidely, shielding Gardevoir with his body.

"It probably could, at that," Deoxys agreed idly, absent-mindedly patting Amber on the head.

"What is all this about? What are you trying to do, using that false Amber on us?" Mewtwo demanded.

"False?" Amber looked hurt. "Mewtwo, what makes you think I'm false?"

"Because the real Amber told me life was wonderful…and she was too good a girl to end up in some place like this!"

Amber giggled in amusement. "Silly Mewtwo…how can you say that when you knew me for barely half an hour before I blissfully died and wound up here? You don't know a thing about me or who I was before my daddy tried to clone me and keep my soul alive. You never tried to research me because subconsciously you wanted your first impression of me, an innocent human child who cares for others, to remain intact so you could continue believing there was hope for mankind and the rest of the world. But you don't know anything about who I really am. For all you know, I could have stolen lunch money from my classmates, thrown rocks at wild Pokemon or beat them to death with sticks, or even have strangled my baby brother in his crib so my parents wouldn't pay more attention to him than to me. Heehee! I might even have told you that cheesy line, 'Life is wonderful', to confuse and madden you for the rest of your days with false hopes that are contrary to your very nature!"

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. "Perhaps you're right…perhaps Amber, if you are her or not, is as you describe her…but even if she lied to me and used me, I still believe what she told me…I still believe, from all I have seen of the world, in spite of all the death and cruelty and hate, that life can be wonderful, and if more people realized that the world would be a better place!"

"And do you intend to make the world such a place, Mewtwo?" Deoxys asked out of curiosity. "Will you try and conquer it as you did long ago, to change the world more to your liking?"

The clone shook his head. "No…it is not for me to do. My time on this Earth is limited due to deficiencies in my very genetic structure…deficiencies which I have no doubt accelerated through training with the Unown and causes the power which eats at me to grow even stronger…but I will use whatever life I have in me to rid the Earth of your presence! It will not be able eliminate the other problems in the world, but at least you will no longer be a threat, and the Chosen, and others like them, will be free to change the world in my place! They will be my legacy when I am gone, Deoxys! They will make this Earth a place where creatures like you, who thrive off the pain and suffering of others, would starve to death!"

Deoxys chuckled. "You do not think such worlds have existed before? I tell you now they have, Mewtwo…and I have annihilated every one of them I came across. If I am defeated, and this world you speak of comes into existence…can you guarantee I will not manifest again in some other form? Not necessarily Deoxys, for I/he will have been destroyed…but perhaps Earth will be struck by an extinction-class meteor. Or perhaps a lethal virus spawned by improper Pokemon care will sweep the globe and eliminate all life. Or perhaps a psychopath will come into being, rise to a high public office, and conquer the Earth. Such has happened many times in the past. Such will happen many times again. And always, it can be traced back to me in some form or another.

"But suppose this world you dream of lasts. Suppose that I do not return in some other form, or that the people of this new world will not be corrupted and destroyed by their own arrogance (which, once more, can in some way be traced to me) or that I do rise again and am promptly defeated by some new heroes. What of it? Do you honestly think it will make that much a difference? It is only one world in a vast universe among countless other universes in the broad spectrum that is time. Even if that one world advances and spreads its wisdom and peace to other worlds…to the entire universe…it will still be a single miniscule thread in the tapestry of reality." He gestured to the enormous beast in the distance. "Do you honestly believe that making your ideal world a reality will affect THAT in any way, Mewtwo? Especially when there are so many other non-ideal worlds that are still full of strife to feed on? Do you even understand what that monster is? I shall tell you. It is myself.

"You saw those other beings on the ship, among them an evil version of yourself from a different timeline. All of them are projections, just as I/Deoxys am/is a projection. A physical representation in the world of life of that magnificent creature over there…the purest essence of evil itself! My spirit is the very core quintessence of that thing, or part of it anyway, formed from the tears, the anger, the screams, the fear, the pain, of every living thing in every universe from every time that Time itself has renewed itself! Over the length of eternity, the souls of more people than you can imagine have come together to form the beast, many willingly, many assimilated against their will, all joined together in glorious song, an anthem of the reality of life itself and its meaninglessness! Had I tear ducts, I would weep to hear such beauty! This, I suppose, is why Amber is here, so she can cry for me. Isn't that right, Amber?" The little girl nodded happily. "That beast is formed from the very essence of life, Mewtwo. From the pain living things feel as they are shoved out of the way so other, more fit beings may advance through evolution and natural selection…the anguish of a child learning that all the ideals they have been taught from birth are lies and the society they have been forced into is far harsher and indifferent than they ever imagined…the typical angst of a teenager unable to communicate with their parents! The betrayal and hypocrisy of an adult who has been forced through so many circumstances that all their prior values or void or lies! The stubborn savagery and refusal to change of the Pokemon in the wild, preferring to do as their ancestors have done for thousands of years and stifling themselves in the process, preventing them from ever being considered as equals to humans in more than a few areas around the world! Murder, torture, war, tyranny, oppression, chaos, lust…all present! All here, in all their myriad forms and levels and degrees! All their pain-filled voices screaming, crying, singing in the song of life! This is what life is about at its heart! This is what existence really is! No matter how hard you strive, no matter how happy you are, either you suffer or cause others to, and all that pain comes here! We are all born to die, Mewtwo! Dragged from our blissful existence here in Eternity by all those many desperate, pathetic souls who cling so strongly to their lives, their lives of greed and self-centeredness and suffering! Why do they fear death so much? Why do they desire life so much? What is so alluring about the physical world that cannot be found here in the metaphysical in far greater quantity and quality than anywhere in what you living fools arrogantly call 'reality'?

"Beauty? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and here, where reality is as one perceives it, the world can be more beautiful and prosperous than anything offered in a world limited by entropy and time!

"Peace? Peace does not exist, in life or here. Those who live will constantly be tormented by others, by their own feeble needs and physical natures. Those who are dead will constantly be tormented by those who want to live and will be dragged back again and again to life. The only cure is for the world of life to be eradicated altogether.

"Freedom? That doesn't exist either, not true freedom. Everyone is bound to something, if not an ideology then their own base natures and physiological needs, or to the laws of physics. In this world souls with the same traits resonate and attract each other, joining to form larger entities. That is part of how the creature, how I was born…by many weak individuals becoming part of a much greater being! But so many deny this and choose life, choose isolation and loneliness trapped inside their own feeble minds rather than try to make sense of what is right before their eyes!

"Happiness? Companionship? Both can be found here, where such an inefficient and unreliable thing as language is no longer a barrier, where two souls can touch each other and understand, _truly_ understand, what another is thinking and feeling, a level of relationship far beyond any living thing, limited by the capacities of their own mind and inability to see people without projecting their own self-concepts and beliefs on them!

"Love? Like companionship, that is here! With language out of the way, how could anyone possibly make such a foolish error of communication which so often shatters marriages and relationships in the world of life? If people are able to understand how others think and feel, how many mismatched couples would form and break up? How many divorces and shattered families and abused children would exist? None! None at all! And yet so many continue to form and feed me in doing so! The body called Deoxys was formed and became housing for my soul instead of simply a peripheral extension of my will in the form of a plague when a hybrid child and an Absol with a rare coloring were shunned, banished, and abused by society and their own families! Due to the ridiculous lack of understanding of others that language and physical communication causes, as well as the inability so many people possess to see someone as anything more than what's on the surface, they sacrificed themselves to birth me, dragging me from my blissful existence here just as I have been dragged so many times by other factors into the world of life!" Deoxys laughed. "How curious…I was dragged into life by two who hated life just as much as I did! They were rewarded with a place here, like all the others through whom I work…a world of their own where they could torture the souls of the people who ignored them and hurt them forevermore once I sent them here as I rampaged across the Earth!"

"That…that's not…" Mewtwo started, feeling startled by Deoxys' words. "There's more to life than all that!"

"Are there now? Tell me then, what other reasons are there to live, that causes people to return to life so many times? Revenge against some slight or the cause of their demise? A desire to protect whatever short-lived and utterly useless trinkets they collected throughout their years? A stubborn and desperate will not to die and lose all they have gained in life? To make up for some crime or sin which haunts their conscience and causes them to constantly doubt themselves and their self-worth? In the end, it all boils down to their desires and their belief in their own self-importance. Perhaps that, then, is the only reason people choose to live again and again: pride and greed. Pride leads to ego, which leads to the belief that they _must_ do something, that they are the only ones who can, that they cannot die, that people depend on them and all hope will be lost if they leave…you can call this altruism, but that's nothing but denial. The only reason people sacrifice themselves for their families or their loved ones is because a little thing in their brains called instinct tells them to do so because if they don't, their genetic material will be lost and their lineage will go extinct. As for why heroes save so many people they don't know…how can they possibly care for these people, these faceless masses who don't know them, who they don't know? If it was really all about saving people, why do you think it hurts them so much when they are disparaged by critics or the media? It is because their ego has been built up in believing they are good and just…and criticism just shows them for the glory hogs that so many of them really are.

"As for greed…oh yes, greed. Greed is, in many ways, the cause of all of it. All the hurt, all the pain, all the meaninglessness that is life springs from greed. Life is about wanting and taking things. You take life from others because you want to live. You buy things you don't need because you want them. You take more money than you need, than you could ever conceivably use, because you want it. That is why criminals steal, why businesses assimilate others, why politicians lie and cheat and rapists rape and trainers capture and enslave Pokemon and everyone does anything to anyone else: greed. They want money, they want power, they want to feel this particular way that makes them feel good or excited or alive. Their primitive, chemical-driven brains scream for them to live, to keep living, to take life so they can keep living. To crawl for life when they are doomed. To struggle for life even when they are dead, no matter how many others they displace and drag back into life and the endless war of greed and desire in their wake. Because once again, pride comes into the equation: deep down, they don't really care about other people unless what happens to those people makes them feel a particular way, either positive or negative, which makes them do something about it. That…THAT is all that life really is. Making yourself happy. Making others happy or sad only if it makes you happy or feel that you have fulfilled some hollow and imaginary code of honor or morals which have been drilled into your mind by people who subconsciously want to control your future since birth. Doing and taking as you please. The desire for self-happiness is the epitome of pride and greed and the core of life itself, wired into your brains and engraved on your DNA, no matter how much you deny it or try to evolve past it.

"Oh sure, some can overcome it, or try to, deny their nature, become something better. Some even manage to influence others to do it as well. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But no matter what, there will always be someone like me, or influenced by me, who will choose to go their own way, no matter what price others pay. In fact, many times they believe it will be _better_ for others, but truthfully they are only acting out their own pride and desires, just like everyone else. Nobody is better than anyone else, telling yourself you are is only stoking that arrogant, selfish thing called pride even more and making you more like everyone else, usually in different ways than you would expect. Different versions of evil. For from the right perspective, _anything_ is evil or influenced by their egos. Even your misplaced quest to redeem the world, Mewtwo…mainly out of a sense of guilt since you almost destroyed it once and believed that it can be redeemed as you once were." Deoxys cocked his head. "Or am I misjudging you?"

Mewtwo said nothing, not trusting his own voice at that moment, stunned by the monster's diatribe…because, frighteningly, everything Deoxys said made sense.

Deoxys chuckled and continued. "Let me tell you something you might not have known, Mewtwo. You see the beast? The beast made from the pain and greed of the living? Did you know that whenever a soul returns to the timeline, it must pass through two 'gates' of sorts, one of which is my true body over there? In doing so, they pick up elements of the 'gate' materials depending on how badly they want to go or don't want to go to life. It is for that reason that so many people are greedy and selfish, Mewtwo: because they choose to be. In their desperate rush for life, they carelessly pass through me, and in doing so infuse part of my essence into themselves, the essence of all which can be seen as negative. That is why people suffer, Mewtwo: because in choosing to live, they drank suffering into their souls, dooming their mortal lives to pain. That is why there is cancer, why there is AIDS, why people are born mentally unstable or insane or genetically predisposed towards depression or violence. It is because they want to live so badly they'll take ANY kind of life, no matter how miserable it will be. Even if it means being a slave who is raped and beaten and tortured and worked almost to death every single day of its pathetic life, because it wanted to live (or, I suppose, DIDN'T want to live so much that it clung onto my "gate" so hard that it ripped off an extra amount of pain) so badly that it gathered enough of me inside it to drastically affect their fates. The pain they suffer in life finds its way to me and causes my power to grow, and there is that much more of it for people to take once they reenter the time stream and suffer anew. It is a vicious cycle of increasing pain and misery which will only end if reality itself were destroyed…and then all souls could find their own peace, and I would be able to rest and swim throughout eternity, listening to my song forever in blissful homeostasis.

"Do you know why you have suffered so much in your life, Mewtwo? Why you were tortured in Giovanni's hands, why you suffered from depression and doubt about your existence, why your very genes betray you by decaying at an abnormal rate? The answer to that is the same as the answer to why you have suffered just like this in all your past lives: because you wanted to live so badly that you took on enough of my essence to doom yourself to a life of despair and never-ending pain. In some timelines you found peace and happiness, in others you did not. In still other timelines, the call of your instincts and the piece of me within you grew to the point where you not only accepted your fate, but chose to bring it to all, making yourself into my vessel, a projection of my will. That is why the other Mewtwo was on the ship, he and some of the others present realized how awful life in general is, even if on the individual level it can be pretty good for some, and resolved to end or control it in any way they saw fit, giving in fully to the piece of me within them.

"You chose the fate that befalls you, Mewtwo. Destiny or prophecies, whatever they may be, be damned, YOU, in the very end, are the reason for your own pain."

Mewtwo looked stunned. None of what Deoxys said previously shocked him to the core as much as this did. "That…that can't be true!"

"But it is," Deoxys repeated. "That is why your life as Shadow, as BlackWarGreymon, as Riku and Bass.exe and so many others has been full of pain. Because you chose that pain, strengthened it by giving it to me, and took it into yourself when you chose to live again."

"I…" Mewtwo trailed off speechlessly at the implications of Deoxys' statement.

"What…what about me?" Gardevoir asked timidly. "My face…"

"Is like that because you chose to live so badly you didn't care that your face would be disfigured from birth and nearly all who encountered you would be repulsed on the first encounter. Or perhaps you _didn't_ want to live so much that when you clawed desperately at the ether to fight the tide of escaping souls, you tore off the bit of me that made your face what it is now…and the deep-rooted depression and insecurity you were feeding me as a result of that face seems to have gone now. How interesting…you seem to be one of the few who have rejected the natural tendency towards self-loathing and misery that marks most suffering individuals and have found some measure of peace. This bears further study…" He shrugged. "You I am not absolutely certain of, since so many self-hating individuals pass through my body on a 'daily' basis, but Mewtwo I am positive of, because there is so much of me within him. Even if he doesn't use it, it will always be there, an integral part of his very being, completely irremovable. As long as it's there, the potential to become like the people you saw on the ship…like the other self you saw…will always be a possibility. Just as the potential is in most individuals…but you have a greater chance than most, which is why you are eligible to be a projection of me, of my soul. And even if you don't choose to be one…another Mewtwo, or perhaps many, from a different timeline did and will. So one way or another, a part of your soul will always find its place with me."

"And then we can play together, like we did before I was freed from life!" Amber said cheerfully. "Won't that be fun?"

"I…" Mewtwo looked confused and frightened. Everything he believed, everything he had learned during his life's journey, was being called into question now…and every last bit of it seemed paler and inconsequential compared to the harsh truths Deoxys had pronounced, no matter how much Mewtwo didn't want to believe them.

What was he supposed to do now? Fight Deoxys? Save the Earth? Deoxys himself had made his point clear: even if the Earth somehow became a paradise overnight, that wouldn't rid existence of the evil that truly _was_ Deoxys, that soul-amalgam beast with the three great eyes. As long as that beast existed…as long as suffering, no, _life_ existed…then the threat would never end. If not from without, such as an invasion or a plague, then from within, in the form of corruption, from too much power or responsibility, having ideals crushed, or any other number of factors. How could he possibly fight something of this magnitude and hope to win? Deoxys was one thing, but…when the enemy could very well be not just himself, but potentially everyone? Was Deoxys right, was the only way to truly protect the world from evil to destroy it and all else? Had that other Mewtwo been in this same situation and pondered the same thing, which is why he had begun a galactic empire of perfect beings?

He didn't want to believe Deoxys, but everything he said made some kind of sense, especially all the matters concerning Mewtwo himself. If life was wonderful, then why _was_ it full of so much strife? Would it be better for there to be no strife at all? But chaos seemed to be a part of life, and chaos can bring strife, which once again lead to the conclusion that for there to be true peace life had to be abolished. But…it conflicted with everything Mewtwo knew or thought he knew. And at the same time, it rang far too true in his heart.

Had the Unown tried to tell him this and he had simply not understood or chosen not to understand? Or had their true meaning been lost in translation thanks to Molly, due to the inherent problems with language and communication which he had pondered earlier in reference to the beast? Had they known this truth about life and tried to explain a reason why it was good and why it worked, but neither he nor Molly was able to get it?

Or perhaps they _had_ known and had simply chosen not to tell him, meaning he was far more of a pawn than he had hoped and proving many of his suspicions and the accusations of the villains--who he now recognized as other forms of Deoxys from other worlds, either vessels the monster's soul had projected itself into at birth or those who had absorbed a significant portion of the beast while either dragging themselves back to life or being dragged back by the myriad desperate, greedy souls--true? Did the Unown, like Deoxys, want reality to be destroyed, or used for some unknown purpose altogether and he and Deoxys and all the Chosen were being strung along like so many puppets?

He just…he didn't…

He didn't know what to do. He had thought he had known. He had thought he was prepared to fight Deoxys, had learned the techniques and abilities which would have given him victory. But now…now…

Was there even a point in it all? Was there a point in killing Deoxys if it didn't really defeat him at all and merely prolonged Earth's seemingly inevitable doom for another day, causing suffering to increase in the interim while all waited for that fated day? He fell back in despair and confusion, his head pounding, leaning on a startled Gardevoir for support. "Mewtwo?" she asked, looking at him in concern.

He stared into her red eye…and saw what Deoxys had spoken of in depth, saw the piece of the monster that was inside Gardevoir. It was tiny, almost infinitesimal…but it was still there. If he looked into the mirror, he wondered, how big a piece would he see within his soul? Enough to consume himself? Or was he already consumed by it like the other Mewtwo and just did not realize it, denied it while trying to play the role of hero to satisfy an ideal he was now beginning to lose confidence in in the face of all that Deoxys and Amber had thrown at him? His mind reeled, teetering on the brink of madness as his super-powered mind tore itself apart in an attempt to find reason, balance, and a point in even continuing once again. "I…I don't…" he stammered. "I don't know…what to believe anymore…what…what am I supposed to do? It…it doesn't make sense to fight anymore…what's the point!"

Gardevoir was startled to see Mewtwo like this. She had always thought of him as a pillar of strength and reason but now…now he seemed like a lost, helpless child. What could she say to him? What could she do to alleviate his doubts and fears just as he had done the same for her so many times?

With Amber and Deoxys patiently watching, Gardevoir thought for a moment, formulating the words she was trying to express. "Life…" she started slowly. "Life can be hard, and cruel, and is inherently unfair. Perhaps it is greed that keeps bringing us all back again and again, greed to live. Perhaps life should be abolished so that all may rest.

"But if it is to be abolished…it should be on our terms, not his. Because his way will lead only to more pain…and something I think I have learned from you, from Latias, and Sadic—_especially _Sadic—is that there is almost always more than one way to reach a certain goal, always another way to live or find the path to truth."

Mewtwo blinked. He hadn't considered that. "A different way…a path to leave the world of life permanently without pain? A form of…transcendence? Evolution? A way to leave our mortal weaknesses, our pride and greed behind? Yes…_yessss_…" His eyes lit up. "Just as the Unown evolved and transcended time, so has Molly! If she can do it, certainly others can and have! Which means perhaps…there is still hope, despite what Deoxys says, despite the piece of him sleeping within us all, tempting us to our miserable fates? And if there is hope…" He gently pushed off of Gardevoir, glaring firmly at the alien. "Then I shall still fight!"

"Oh good, I had rather hoped you would," Deoxys said calmly.

"Teehee, this should be fun!" Amber giggled.

"But are you so certain you can defeat me?" Deoxys asked, raising an eyebrow…if he had one, that is.

"Yes," Mewtwo said with a smirk. "I believe I am." He spread his arms out to his sides and concentrated. "To blunt the effects of your new Dark subtype, I have been granted one as well. This means both of our Psychic-type attacks will have less effect on one another, but I think it's a fair way of balancing out our strengths and weaknesses." Motes of light began to form around his body. "My blood, even if it has been altered considerably, is of the same genetic base as Mew, from whom all life on Earth springs, and who is one-third of your greatest enemy the Mother…and because of that, my blood is not only immune to your virus, it should serve to damage your own body as well!" The motes coagulated around parts of his body, making what looked suspiciously like armor. "Your crystal is the center of your being and the physical anchor that keeps your soul in this world, your true body…and all crystals have a specific molecular frequency which, when struck upon, can shatter them completely! I have learned that frequency, and if I can emit and maintain it long enough it will cause the jewel in your chest to disintegrate into millions of pieces, killing you and sending your spirit back to this disgusting place you call home, until the next time you are dragged back into the world of the living!" The light fused together and solidified, forming silver chitinous armor on his ankles, his arms, his shoulders, his entire upper body, and his waist and the first third of his tail, the end of which was now fixed with what looked like a scorpion sting. A helmet formed around his head, covering his face and mouth and shielding his eyes behind clear glass domes that looked oddly like the compound eyes of an insect. His ear horn things rose from the top of the helmet, now sheathed in long pointed armor that made them look like antenna. A dome-shaped piece of armor attached to his back, and two pairs of transparent bug wings much like Garuda's extended from it. All in all, it looked as if he were wearing a shinier insectoid version of the armor Giovanni had made him wear…with bug wings and a tail stinger that is. "And finally, because you're a Psychic/Dark type now, that makes you doubly weak against Bug-type attacks…something this suit of armor will allow me to utilize against you!"

Gardevoir was staring at Mewtwo with unconcealed awe, thinking he looked like the classic knight in shining armor she had always fantasized about after reading some of the romances in her Cleft's library before she met Mewtwo…aside from him looking a lot like a bug in that suit, that is. Amber was dazzled by the suit's shininess. Deoxys, on the other hand, looked more amused than impressed. "Well, I see you have gone to great lengths to prepare yourself for our battle. You might even be able to defeat me with all that."

"That is my intent," Mewtwo said, clenching his fists and causing a pair of what looked like bee stingers to sprout from the tops of his gauntlet armor. "So, Deoxys…shall we begin?"

"Of course, of course…except I'm afraid I can't fight you right now. My apologies."

Mewtwo blinked. "Wait…what?"

"I can't fight you," Deoxys repeated. "That is to say, I'd love to, and I was actually intending to…but to be honest, I don't have time to deal with you right now since I still have some final preparations to make before my destined showdown with the Mother, and I don't want to tire myself out having to deal with you. I also have to coordinate my troops in the field, since little cells of resistance are popping up everywhere and really need to be squashed, and an eye still needs to be kept on any action from the Sevii Islands. So as you can see, I'm a little too busy to fight you now. So instead…how about a match with him?"

Deoxys gestured to the side, and the evil Mewtwo from the ship appeared, still wearing his pirate hat. "You look like a bug in that armor," he complained. "What were you thinking when you got that thing? Hmmph, I think it's clear that I inherited the better fashion sense."

"What is this!" a confused and somewhat angered Mewtwo asked. He had been expecting to fight Deoxys for ages, ever since the Unown had revealed his identity as the true enemy, and had even prepared him extensively to fight the space alien…and now at the last minute Deoxys was tagging out for a completely different opponent! "This…this isn't fair!" he said, rather lamely and with a hint of a whine.

"I know," Deoxys said in mock sympathy. "But I'm evil, remember? I don't need to be fair. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave and let you two play with each other."

The evil Mewtwo chuckled and discarded his pirate hat, summoning in his own armor. Like Mewtwo's, it resembled the armor given by Giovanni, except this suit was black, spiked, and looked decidedly nastier. "This should be fun."

"But…Deoxys…you can't…" Mewtwo protested in disbelief.

"I can, and am. Oh yes, two things before I go." He gestured, and a large hourglass appeared, hovering in the void some distance away. It was crafted from some spiky black material and sand that looked suspiciously like ground bones was pouring from the top chamber to the bottom. "I've begun pumping nerve gas into Ever Grande City which will affect all the sleeping citizens and your friends waiting for you outside. When the sand in the hourglass runs out, the gas will disrupt their nervous systems completely and send them into unimaginable pain, leaving them totally helpless and paralyzed. The only one who will be unaffected is an agent I've left in the city who will violently kill your friends when time's up. You have until the hourglass runs out to win your fight and get back outside to save them from this fate. Oh, and don't even think of being cheeky and flipping it over…it won't extend the amount of time you have to win. This is nerve gas we're talking about after all."

Mewtwo was still speechless that Deoxys was retorting to such a heartless trick. "I…you…"

"What's wrong? Did I take your tongue?" Deoxys taunted. "No wait, that's for later…oh well. In the meantime, I suppose I'll handle my other bit of business." He glared at Mewtwo.

The Psychic gasped and clutched his head, feeling a splitting headache much like the ones he had experienced before. The pain didn't last long, but it was just enough time for Deoxys to change into his Speed form, a sleek and aerodynamic pointy-headed form with long tentacles for arms which dashed past the stunned Mewtwo so fast he left afterimages, grabbed a startled Gardevoir, and returned to his starting position, reverting back to his Normal form as Mewtwo recovered. All this took space in approximately half a second, the amount of time it took for a single grain of sand to slip through the narrow neck between the two halves of the hourglass and begin its descent to the bottom. "There. I've been meaning to examine her for a while."

"Mewtwo!" Gardevoir cried.

"Let her go!" Mewtwo cried angrily, firing a Shadow Ball at Deoxys' face…

Which was blocked by his evil twin. "Eyes off the ugly girl," the black-armored clone said. "You're fighting me, remember?"

Mewtwo ignored him. "Let go of her, Deoxys! She is of no use to you!"

"That's where you're wrong, I'm afraid. The fact that you care about her means she is of great use to me as a hostage. Plus, she may be one of my most promising specimens yet in my ongoing study of love." He peered into Gardevoir's eye, causing her to recoil. "Rarely do I find an object of a hero's affection that falls so far from the typical societal and personal expectations of beauty. I have encountered many loves that are based on more than just surface value, but rarely ones between individuals who…for lack of a better term, _differ_ from the norm as much as the two of you. I expect to learn quite a lot from you, Gardevoir." And with that, he vanished before Mewtwo could stop him.

"No!" Mewtwo cried in alarm.

"It looks like you now have two reasons to fight me," taunted the evil Mewtwo. "To save your friends before the gas and the agent gets them…and so you can get to Deoxys before he ruins your girlfriend beyond compare. So…" He got into a fighting pose. "Shall we begin?"

Mewtwo glared at the evil version of himself furiously. "I don't have time for this…very well. I doubt this will take long." He began powering up, the wings on his suit buzzing.

"Oh boy!" Amber said gleefully, clapping her hands as she sat back on the top of the hourglass, conjuring a bag of popcorn. "What would a good adventure story be without at least one character fighting their dark side? Fight! Fight! Fight!"

And so they did.

…

In the main park of Ever Grande City, the friends, trainers, and loved ones of the Chosen anxiously gazed up at Deoxys' castle high above them, hoping and praying that those they cared for would win the day (or in Wes' case, were just sulking) as they waited for any sign of the battles proceeding in the massive floating fortress. The air was full of tension and anticipation…or perhaps something else, something much more sinister…

Delia yawned. "Huh…that's odd. I feel…kind of strange. How about you, Max?" Unsurprisingly, the catatonic boy said nothing.

"Huh. I feel…kinda weird too," Misty said, wobbling on her feet. Worried, Ash's soul flickered in her face, trying to shore her up.

"Hmm…could be we're just tired," suggested Brock, also feeling peculiar. "I mean, we've had a long night, followed by another long day. That's probably all it is."

"Then why do I feel a sense of _presentimiento_ in the air?" asked a wary Zoro.

"Si…I feel something strange, down in my _corazón_," murmured El Toro. "This does not bode well."

Wes snorted. "Aw, you're all a bunch of wusses," he grumbled, still miffed he had been excluded from entering Deoxys' castle and hiding the fact that he was feeling strange as well.

In fact, _all_ of them felt strange, which was unsurprising seeing as how the nerve gas being produced by the reality-warping RPGenerator field covering the city was only now beginning to enter their bloodstreams. It was only a matter of time before it completely corroded their nervous systems and doomed them to a horrible fate.

The only one who would be spared this grotesque neural disruption was now hiding behind a nearby tree, downwind of the sensitive noses on the nervous Pokemon so that they would not detect his stench. He cackled crazily as he sharpened the rusty knife he had taken from a hobo he had killed in an alleyway before coming here. "Heeheeheehee…not too long now, and then the power will be mine again…and Red Ranger Richie will live once more! Gahahahaha!"

…

The planet is ravaged by a war that it seems that it cannot win.

The friends of the Chosen, waiting anxiously for any sign of victory, are being sentenced to a slow and painful death at the hands of Deoxys' nerve gas as well as the deranged ex-Poke Ranger and former trainer Richie, and it seems that all of Ever Grande will soon follow.

Mewtwo is trapped in a fight against time and his figurative dark side while the insane Amber watches, while the…er…comely Gardevoir has become Deoxys' newest specimen in his quest to understand love.

Articuno has joined the three beasts in their fight against Cerberus, but the hell-hound has pulled a new trick out of its proverbial sleeve which may win the fight for the monster.

Lugia has failed, and his death marks the first true defeat for the forces of good, as his fallen wife and son have begun the process of torturing his soul into madness to become something like themselves.

Togetic and Phanphy are frantically trying to find a way to defeat Shedinja as the evil ghoul draws ever nearer, his quest for vengeance nearing completion.

The fate of all who challenged the mighty Omega seems to have been sealed.

It seems as if Alpha, too, is only moments away from winning his own fight against the Chosen heroes.

The red-hot battle against the wicked Infernatrice continues in the volcanic tunnels.

And not only does Leviathan not seem to be defeated just yet, but a mysterious newcomer has joined the zombie serpent against the avian champions.

The Pokerockers and Mewgle are still locked in combat, neither giant robot willing to let up in their drive to win it all.

The four Amigos have found themselves faced with a seemingly undefeatable army of evil Chimecho which threatens to devour them all.

Latias' fight with her evil half-brother has only just begun.

And in the Sevii Islands, the only power which might be able to save the day is still gathering its strength for a rematch which has been millennia in the making.

Will help come in time to save the Chosen? And if not, will they be able to save themselves, and the world, before it's too late?

Find out in the next exciting installment of Latias' Journey: Battle of the Chosen!

…

And that's a wrap. Wow. I think this may be one of the longest chapters I've ever written.

And quite a cliffhanger, too…heh. For the continuation of the battles in this chapter, you'll have to wait until next time to see what happens!

To put any of your worries to rest, at the moment Lugia, Meowth, and Growlie are the only people who've died so far. All appearances to the contrary are to be discounted unless I say otherwise.

By the way…how many of the villains on Deoxys' ship did you readers recognize? I'd love to know.


	57. Battle of the Chosen: The pain of living

Okay, next part of the big multi-fight! Let's go!  
Disclaimer: All Pokemon belong to the Pokemon Company. All songs belong to their respective owners. Kudos to Alex Warlorn for beta reading and helping me out with a few things. Dark Latios and Sadic belong to DiamondLatias3000, who graciously let me use them. More thanks go to DiamondLatias3000 for thinking of such a creative way to kill the evil Shedinja, as well as helping me with some of the torture scenes. Thanks a bunch, buddy!

…

Somewhere in Sevii…

Groudon stared at the shimmering light surrounding the enormous World Tree at the highest point of Birth Island in awe. "Wow…really colorful, isn't it Kyogre?"

"Yeah…it's beautiful," the whale agreed. "It's hard to believe that this is coming from people all over the world…who'd have thought humans and Pokemon could make something like this?"

Rayquaza grunted and scratched his arm uneasily, looking off into the distance. "Hey, Rayquaza, what do you think of all this? Bet you never expected all this to be waiting for us when we were resurrected, right? Kind of puts a cramp on all your plans for happily ever after with that Latias gal, doesn't it?" Groudon asked rather inconsiderately.

"Groudon!" Kyogre scolded.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Rayquaza blinked. "Hmm? Oh, sorry…I wasn't paying attention."

Groudon huffed. "And you call _me_ rude, Kyogre! Heh, guess old high and mighty king of dragons isn't so noble after all."

"Or maybe he's thinking of something other than those pants of yours," Kyogre retorted.

"Hey, these are nice pants!" Groudon protested defensively. "But you wouldn't know, since you think you're above wearing pants, don't you?"

"I'm a FISH, you idiot!" she snapped. "I have a TAIL FIN, not legs!"

"Then you can wear a, what do you call it, one of those warmer things like the mer-things wear. It'd look nice on you."

Kyogre blinked in surprise, not expecting a compliment from Groudon. "Um, thanks…"

"Mmm," said Rayquaza, lost in thought again.

That reminded the two elemental titans that something was up with their comrade. "Something wrong, Rayquaza?" Kyogre asked gently. "Are you worried about Latias?"

"…Yes…and there's something else," the Sky High Pokemon rumbled. "I sense something, through our link…something very familiar, yet…twisted…and terrible." He shuddered. "Deoxys' work…what abomination has that monster spawned this time? It reeks of such cruelty and madness…it is far worse than any monstrosity he's created in the last war or this current one. This…feels like a very bad omen. I fear for Latias, for she is going up against this force directly…and I fear for the world too, because I am not certain she can stop it." His eyes narrowed and he growled menacingly, digging furrows into the ground with his claws. "But I solemnly swear that if this creature, no matter how powerful, harms Latias…it will wish it had never been created."

"What's this? I sense festering rage," Shedinja (the semi-evil one who we know and love that served as general of the ghost army, not the totally evil one who works for Deoxys) commented as he floated over. "I thought that was my department."

"Oh great, the bug's back," grumbled Groudon. "I don't like that guy."

"Only because he's not intimidated by you," Kyogre pointed out.

"Shut up."

"Shedinja…what have you to report?" Rayquaza asked, calming his anger as he focused on his trusty lieutenant.

"All the remaining ghosts in the world have gathered on the island below," Shedinja informed his master. "They are frightened by how close they came to consumption by Leviathan or Deoxys' soul-eating forces, distraught that the Ghost Kingdom is soon to be no more, but willing and ready to do everything they can to assist us against Deoxys and save their imprisoned brethren."

Rayquaza nodded. "Good. Are they aware of just how much that assistance will entail?"

"They are indeed, Your Majesty."

"And what of you, Shedinja? Are you ready as well to carry out your duties to their full extent, knowing full and well the consequences of those duties?" the dragon pressed.

The Shed Pokemon nodded. "I was discarded ready, Your Majesty." He paused. "Sire…"

"Yes, Shedinja?"

"I…have been wondering…" he said slowly. "This heart thing…so inconvenient and cumbersome, utterly distracting and pointless…it…wants to know…if…" He trailed off.

"If?" Rayquaza pressed, raising an eyebrow.

"If…if, on the other side, I will…I will find Misdreavus," he said clumsily, the words stumbling out of him.

Rayquaza blinked in surprise. "Shedinja…seeing as how I have never truly died, I am not certain that I am the right person to ask this."

"Yes, but…" Shedinja hesitated. His dry cheeks flushed somehow. "I…do not know who else to ask. That is to say, I do know, but…I do not know _how_ to ask them. In front of them, the words fail to leave my mouth. Your Majesty, you…you are the only one…who I trust enough to ask this question…" He went silent.

Rayquaza was once more surprised. "Shedinja…I had no idea you felt this way…"

"I…" Shedinja hesitated again. "Damn this foolish, weak heart! It corrupts me, it makes me feel that…that…you are…the only one whom…I can call…" He choked on the last words, unable to utter them.

"Call what, Shedinja?" Rayquaza coaxed patiently.

"A…a…friend." Shedinja started, looking astonished and terrified that he had said that word. It left his mandibles reluctantly, for he had never spoken that word in reference to himself before in his entire afterlife. "I…oh dear." He flushed again. "DAMN this accursed heart! Disregard my last words Majesty, I-"

"No Shedinja, I will not," Rayquaza said firmly, startling his servant. "I am both surprised and honored that you think of me this way, and saddened that it has taken you so long to acknowledge the possibility of forming a friendship with, well, anyone. It is rather out of character for you…"

"I…I am aware," Shedinja said weakly. "I am not proud of it, Sire. But this heart, it…it plagues me so!"

Rayquaza smiled slightly. "Yes, mine does the same thing."

"Mine doesn't!" Groudon said loudly. They stared at him. He wilted underneath all those stares. "Well, maybe a little…"

"Right," Rayquaza said slowly. "In any case…Shedinja, I cannot give you any definitive answers to your query. However…think of it this way. No matter how many times you pushed her away, Misdreavus never stopped believing in you or trying to make you hers. Now that you are finally aware of mutual feelings for her…do you really think she will let a little thing such as eternity stop her from being with you? If love can be strong enough to pull Latias back from her opportunity to rest on the other side to find me and give me peace…I see no reason it can't allow Misdreavus to join you again. If she is not there when you cross over, she will find you, or you will find her." Rayquaza glanced at his minion. "But be aware that this is no certainty, merely a romantic fool's wish for a happy ending. I have no guarantee that she will indeed find you again…only my own hopes and beliefs in the power of the heart." Behind the dragon's back, Groudon was gagging and making as if to throw up, earning him a smack from Kyogre.

"…I see. Thank you lord," Shedinja said, bowing stiffly. "I…am not used to something such as hoping, though…I have never done it before. So I suppose that I shall simply wait…and see what will come of this newfound heart, and if it will indeed be a boon rather than a curse."

Rayquaza nodded. "That is all any of us can do, Shedinja."

Changing the subject, the ghost bug looked at the shimmering tree. "Is the reunification process almost complete?"

"It better be," Groudon grumbled, crossing his arms. "Registeel's been in there for hours with those three, ever since they brought Jirachi and that mutt here in the middle of the night and woke us all up. I was having a very nice dream about my pants," he whined.

All sweatdropped and wisely decided not to ask. "It is not something that can be rushed," Rukario informed them, walking across the bridge from the tree to where the three masters of earth, sea, and sky were waiting. "The last time my master did this, he had the aid of his siblings. Also, there were far more people who believed in the Mother in the past than there are now, and although there are now more people worldwide due to population influx, the majority of them are dead and assimilated into Deoxys' army or are too full of panic and fear to help us. The Sevii Islands are one of the few places left on Earth where people still have hope for a safe future…and we will need a great deal of that hope if the Mother is to be reborn in time to save us!"

"She won't have to do it alone," Shedinja said confidently. "The last remnants of the Ghost Kingdom have assembled themselves to do their part, as have the scattered members of the dragon clans around the globe. All they need is a word from my King to strike and they shall join the faltering resistance efforts already in progress."

"And Groudon and I have managed to contact those fanatical modern followers of ours, Teams Aqua and Magma," Kyogre added. "They weren't pleased to learn they had to work with each other, but we didn't give them much of a choice in the matter."

"Yeah," Groudon agreed, licking his lips. "Mmm…it's been so long since I last had human…tasted just as good as I remembered!"

"And we must not underestimate the power of the Chosen," Rayquaza added. _And Latias, of course_, he thought to himself. "However, there is still a chance that they, and we, and the Mother herself, may fail…but if such a thing happens…we _do_ have a contingency plan, don't we?" the dragon king asked the steel sage's apprentice anxiously.

Rukario nodded. "Yes…one that the islanders have been working on for the last few hundred years, ever since the dormant Mother sensed Deoxys heading in the general direction of our solar system…Deoxys is not the only one who can concoct a complex master plan."

"Ha! It's not that complicated!" Groudon boasted.

"You don't even know what it is," Kyogre pointed out.

"Well…uh…can't be that big a deal…can it?" Groudon asked sheepishly.

"Seeing as how the souls of every creature on Earth depend on it…I'd say it's a _very_ big deal," Rayquaza said pointedly.

"Well…so?" Groudon asked. "They might all die, but…the people here will be safe anyway. Deoxys can't get in here. Why don't we just stay here and wait until he goes away to destroy another planet?"

Kyogre rolled her eyes and smacked Groudon with a fin. "First of all, that's the coward's way out. Second of all, we'll be condemning everyone else on Earth, even those who don't worship us, to damnation. Third, Deoxys already came close to destroying our world once…we can't let it happen again. It's our responsibility as powerful Pokemon and inhabitants of Earth to do what we can to protect it."

"…Yeah, I know," Groudon said reluctantly. "It's just…I don't really see how we can possibly win. I know the Mother's strong, but…look out there!" he said, gesturing to the furthest horizon, and the veritable wall of infested monsters lurking just outside the Sevii archipelago. "And that sky! Deoxys has blotted it out everywhere but here! His monsters are marching across just about every inch of the planet! How can something like hope and dreams and love or whatever, especially in such a small quantity as what we've got coming in from the few people who haven't been killed and infested, possibly stop evil this powerful?"

"Great power can come from little things," Shedinja pointed out wisely.

Rayquaza nodded in agreement. "Indeed. After all, it takes only the flame of a single candle to light the darkest room."

"Yeah," Groudon agreed bitterly. "But the slightest breeze is enough to blow that candle out…and then the darkness covers all once again."

Rayquaza smirked confidently. "Only if you let it."

…

The evil Mewtwo thrusted forward at his twin with a Shadow Blade, intending to skewer his opposite through the chest. The good Mewtwo, clad in his bug armor, used his increased agility to dodge the strike and slash at his evil twin's shoulder, only for his strike to be blocked by the black-armored clone's spiked tail as it swung up to smash his face in. Mewtwo flipped through the air, bringing his own tail up to bear and deflecting that of his opponent's before it could hit him, thrusting forward with the sting spikes growing from his arms as he did so in an attempt to slash into his foe's skin.

The other Mewtwo grabbed Mewtwo by the wrists to stop his attack and telekinetically hurled him away, sending him flying off into space. He then formed and launched several hundred Shadow Balls at the spinning clone.

Mewtwo immediately regained his balance and formed several hundred of his own Shadow Balls, which he promptly launched at the incoming ones, creating a huge explosion which did not blind either of them thanks to the special optic lenses of their helmets. Instead, they teleported into the midst of the explosion and launched an attack at each other while using their strong armor to keep from burning up in the blast, the evil Mewtwo striking with a Focus Punch at the same time the good Mewtwo drove his stingers into the evil one's chest with a Twineedle. Each grunted as the other was struck, and then both teleported out of the diminishing explosion as the Future Sights each of them had summoned appeared and slammed into each other, resulting in another explosion.

When they reappeared again, the evil Mewtwo hurled thousands of Swift shuriken at his foe, which was countered by Swift of his own, followed by a Teleport used to warp behind the evil Mewtwo in an attempt to strike his back. But the evil one had anticipated this and hit him in the chest with a Psychic attack at point-blank radius, cracking it slightly and shoving him back. Mewtwo quickly repaired his armor with Recover and fired Pin Missiles from numerous orifices on his armor at the evil Mewtwo, who simply cackled and deflected them with a Barrier…which was exactly what Mewtwo wanted him to do.

He immediately shot forward and slammed into the Barrier with a Brick Break, shattering it and striking his dark side full in the face, twisting his head back. Mewtwo took this moment of weakness to plant one hand on the evil clone's chest and start draining its energy with Leech Life, but the evil Mewtwo recovered far too swiftly, planted his own hands on Mewtwo's chest, and blasted him away with Hyper Beam. The attack would have ripped right through Mewtwo's chest had it not been for his armor, which blunted the damage significantly but still suffered somewhat for the hit. However, the energy Mewtwo had sapped with Leech Life repaired the armor on its own, allowing Mewtwo to retaliate to the attack with String Shot, causing the evil Mewtwo to be ensnared in a cocoon of white thread. This stunned the evil one for a moment, because he had not expected to be struck by such a weak attack, which is just what Mewtwo wanted as he smashed into the other's forehead with a Mega Kick, trying to smash his skull in.

But the evil one's helmet was too strong for that and absorbed the blow. The string, on the other hand, did not, and disintegrated from the force of the attack, freeing the evil Mewtwo's arms and letting him grab his clone's leg before he could bounce off from his failed strike.

But when he did this, Mewtwo's stinger tail lashed out, driving itself into the evil Mewtwo's unarmored lower chest, causing him to gasp in surprise and let go of the leg he had caught. The evil Mewtwo immediately healed his body and rid himself of the poisons injected by the stinger with Recover and slammed into the good Mewtwo's chest with Double-edge, sending both of them hurtling through space, exchanging supersonic punches and kicks for a few moments before deflecting each other away with massive Psychic blasts.

As they were tumbling away, Mewtwo righted himself with the help of his wings and launched a powerful tornado-like Silver Wind at the evil Mewtwo. Said Mewtwo countered by dissipating the silver energy blades with Confusion, leaving himself open for a split second and allowing the good Mewtwo to teleport behind him and slash at him with a Shadow Blade.

The evil Mewtwo's arm shot back, deflecting the strike with a Shadow Blade of his own as his tail swung up to strike Mewtwo's underside. The good Mewtwo's own tail swung down, striking the evil tail and pinning it down so he could shove off and fire Pin Missiles into the evil Mewtwo's back at short range, imbedding the black armor and portions of white skin with glowing white needles.

The evil Mewtwo flipped, sending his tail flying up and smashing into the good Mewtwo's jaw with a crack, flinging his head up, and allowing the evil Mewtwo to drive a Shadow Blade at his stomach. Mewtwo recovered just in time and caught the blade between his hands, not minding the burns caused by the ghostly purple energies of the blade. The two Mewtwos stared at each other, their purple eyes glowing blue as each of them attempted to hack into the other's mind and find out what they were planning to do next. That ended when Mewtwo's bug wings buzzed loudly, hitting the evil Mewtwo with a surprise Supersonic, startling him and snapping off his focus long enough for Mewtwo to strike him with a Disable, banning his use of Shadow Blade in their battle.

Enraged, the evil Mewtwo summoned a Sandstorm, causing powerful sandy winds to blast out from around him, buffeting Mewtwo and pushing him back. The good psychic countered the Sandstorm with a Rain Dance, summoning a storm to wash the sands away. However, the Rain Dance had an added effect which the evil clone immediately took advantage of, firing a Thunder attack at his enemy. Mewtwo had to teleport to get away from it, because he knew that with Rain Dance in effect he could never move fast enough to evade the lightning bolt.

He reappeared behind the evil Mewtwo and attempted to strike his back, but the evil clone had expected this and used Thunder on himself just as Mewtwo drove his Twineedle into the evil one's back, causing both of them to cry out in pain as electricity coursed through them. Dazed and twitching, they detached from each other, wobbling back a bit as they tried to Recover. As one, they willed away the rain and continued their fight without the use of weather effects.

On top of the hourglass, Amber giggled gleefully. "Heeheeheehee! Fight! Fight! I want blood! Heeheehahaha!"

The hourglass sands continued to flow in the meantime. An eighth of the sand had already fallen into the lower half of the timekeeping device. How much longer would this fight go on before time was up, and the nerve gas took effect?

…

"Where did he go?" Papa growled, looking around frantically.

"I'm right here!" Cerberus roared, leaping out of a portal above and behind the Entei, striking him with its claws and flinging him away. Mama, Articuno, and Oniichan launched attacks at him, but the three-headed fiend quickly leaped into another portal and vanished, laughing at their foolishness.

"Wh-what just happened?" asked a confused Articuno.

Papa shook his head as he recovered. "I don't know, but-"

He was cut off when Cerberus leaped out of a portal high above them. "RAAAAHHHH!" it roared, casting lightning bolts down at them, blasting Articuno out of the air and electrocuting Mama as it soared into another portal and vanished again.

"Ow…" the ice bird whimpered.

"Okay, I think I see what's going on," Papa said, helping Mama get to her feet. "Cerberus is using the portals to-"

As if on cue, Cerberus leaped out of a nearby portal, spat an Overheat at them, and vanished into another portal. Oniichan had bounded out of the way of the blast in time, but the confused and grounded Articuno was not so lucky, and was engulfed completely in the horrible burning fire, causing her to scream in pain as her feathers were burned right off her body, turning her beautiful blue plumage into a disgusting blackened mess. She collapsed on the ground, in too much pain to even scream at how much it hurt…and yet it _still_ wasn't as bad as how she had felt when Cerberus had opened that giant gate.

Mama trotted over and touched her nose to Articuno's limp body, using her powers to heal the wounded bird while Papa continued. "As I was saying," he said. "Cerberus is using the portals to attack us. It bounds into one and comes out another, and since there are so many and we have no way of knowing where each one goes, it can strike us from anywhere at any moment."

"Wow, pretty smart for a rip-off!" Cerberus cried, dashing out of a portal at ground-level right behind Papa and catching the startled Entei in its Suicune jaws. The other two heads laughed as they bowled through the startled beasts and into another portal as the ground behind them exploded and sent huge jagged ice crystals shooting out of the floor, nearly impaling them.

"Papa!" Mama cried, looking up from Articuno.

"What about me?" the ice bird whimpered, still hurting badly from the flames.

"Come back, you craven coward!" Oniichan roared, spitting a Thunderbolt into the portal Cerberus had disappeared from.

The thunderbolt shot out of another portal and struck Articuno, causing her to shriek with pain as her body convulsed with electricity. "Hurts…so…much," she gasped.

Oniichan sweatdropped. "Oops," he said sheepishly.

Mama frowned. "Funny…the portal your attack came out of isn't the one Cerberus has exited from…where is it, then?"

"Right here!" Cerberus emerged from another portal on the other side of the room, holding the mangled body of Papa in its jaws. "Here, take this!" Cerberus tossed Papa's body into another portal and ran back into the one it had come out of.

Papa's body fell out of another portal directly overhead and landed on Articuno, cracking her ribs and causing her to gasp in pain again as blood and gore spilled all over her. "So…much…pain…"

"Papa!" Mama cried in alarm, nuzzling her grotesquely torn lover and speeding his recovery process, ignoring poor Articuno again. "What happened? Where did you both go?"

Once Papa's jaws and vocal chords had repaired, he said, "We were in a strange, dark place, smaller than this one, with shining holes of light everywhere which opened up to different parts of this chamber…we were only there for a split second, though, so I can't give you any more information than that. However, I think it's safe to assume that each of these portals does not terminate in a specific other portal; rather, they are all linked together through a single junction dimension, a 'crossroads' of sorts."

"I don't understand what all that means," complained Oniichan. "But if it means Cerberus is hiding somewhere, I intend to get it!" Howling a battle cry, he charged into the nearest portal.

A moment later, he popped out of another one at the very apex of the room, realized he was several hundred feet off the ground, and screamed as he started falling towards the hard and somewhat sharp-edged floor. As he fell, he landed in another portal and disappeared, popping out of another one across the room, fell into another one right below it, popped out of a portal above the amazed beasts and fell _upward _into one just above it, fell horizontally from one to another along the walls, and finally dropped out of one right above Articuno, landing on her and cracking her spine. "My…life…is…pain," she rasped.

Oniichan blinked in confusion. "Huh? What just happened?"

Cerberus poked its three heads out of a portal high above the group. "We're the only ones who can control where the portals lead," they growled in amusement. "We can choose where we want to end up when we pass through one of these doors, but whenever one of you does it you'll be flung about either at random or wherever we feel is most amusing for you to end up. Good luck, losers." Cerberus retracted its heads back through the portal.

"Come back, fiend!" Papa roared, spitting a Fire Blast through the portal Cerberus had vanished into.

It came out of another one at ground-level and struck Articuno, setting her on fire again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed in agonizing pain.

Mama gasped and quickly struck her with a Hydro Pump, both putting out the flames and sending the bird sliding across the floor and into a portal, which dumped her out right above the highest point of the gate Cerberus had opened before, where she fell all the way to the ground and struck hard, shattering her collarbone and breaking both her wings. She sobbed miserably, weeping, "Why…can't…I…die?"

All sweatdropped. "Oh dear," Mama said, rushing over to help the poor creature.

Cerberus' horrendous triple laughter echoed through the room.

…

"Oh, Togetic?" Shedinja's dry, homicidal voice rang out across the plains. "Where are you? Come out; come out, wherever you are!"

Phanphy squealed in terror. "Oh no, he's almost here!"

"And we still haven't figured out a way to defeat him!" Togetic moaned.

"Quick, hide!" Phanphy grabbed a large rock in his trunk, placed it on his back, then crouched on the ground, tucking his legs in and covering his eyes with his big ears.

Togetic stared at him. "Little brother, what are you doing?"

"Hiding," he told her. "Find another rock and he won't find us!"

Togetic sweatdropped. "Little brother, that rock's too small to hide you."

Phanphy peeked out from behind one ear. "It is not!"

"It is too," she retorted.

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"It is too. You're too big to fit under it," Togetic said, getting the last word.

"Then I'll make myself smaller." Phanphy closed his eyes and screwed up his face in concentration, looking very constipated as he did so. "Shrink shrink shrink. Shrink shrink shrink." He paused. "Shrink shrink shrink."

Togetic sighed in exasperation. "Phanphy, you can't become smaller just by wanting-" She froze.

Phanphy opened an eye. "Big sister?"

"Phanphy, I think I just had a brainstorm."

Phanphy looked at her in confusion. "It's raining inside your head?" Togetic stared at him. "What?"

She sighed in exasperation. "Nothing, Phanphy. Nothing at all."

…

Just before Omega could deliver the fatal blow, the waters of the river behind them exploded as the head of an enormous absolutely black serpent rose up, thrashing and roaring in panic. Omega lowered his blade, staring at the serpent in confusion. "Apep? That's strange…what could be agitating him so-"

Abruptly, the giant serpent was pulled back into the water by some unseen force. Moments later, the snake was flung out of the water, slamming down onto the riverbank and crushing thousands of lost souls, who wailed and fled in terror, leaving a relieved Umbreon alone. The snake hissed in terror and tried to wriggle away from the river, but the form of the enraged Mama Tyranitar leaped out of the black water and slammed onto the snake's head, pinning it down. "STAY DOWN!" she roared, smashing her Iron Tail into the serpent's head until it stopped moving. "Maybe this'll teach you not to try eating an angry mother in the near future!"

"Tyranitar!" Corsola cried in joy. "She's alive!"

"She's alive," Omega said in disbelief. "Fuck."

"You're all right!" Umbreon said in amazement. "I thought that you had been buried underneath all that rubble and drowned underwater."

Tyranitar chuckled. "Of course not, I live on a mountain; we have landslides all the time that are much worse than that."

"But the water!"

"Didn't you know? Tyranitars can swim."

Umbreon blinked. "But…you're a Rock type."

"Yes."

"And your species tends to live in caves, deserts, and mountains, where water _isn't_ found in large or deep amounts for the most part."

"Yes."

"Then how-"

"Don't question it," Tyranitar warned her, "You'll break the fourth wall." The giant reptile gently picked up Umbreon, placed her on her shoulder, stomped along the bank to pick up some speed, and with a mighty bound leaped through the air and landed on the deck of the moving boat, shaking it and causing it to tilt severely from her landing, almost tipping it over. It evened out quickly enough, though, and the immobile Blaziken and Scyther simply rolled into the railing and aggravated their injuries instead of falling into the water and drowning.

"Mama's in the house!" Umbreon chirped cheerfully, hopping off of Tyranitar's shoulder.

"And I'm ready for round two!" the monstrous Pokemon said, pounding a fist into her palm.

"…Great," Omega said dully. Somehow he knew this was going to hurt.

"Go, Tyranitar!" Corsola cheered, quickly scurrying away as the big mother lizard stomped forward. "You can totally take him, as long as you don't get caught off guard and thrown off the boat like you were last time!"

"We'd love to help," Umbreon agreed. "But every time we've team-tackled this guy before, we've gotten whupped badly. But we're confident you can handle him!"

Tyranitar sweatdropped. "Wow…thanks for your overwhelming desire to help…" she grumbled.

"Don't worry," Scyther gasped, wobbling feebly to his feet, his face dented and bleeding, his nose and many of his teeth broken. "I'll be with you…just as soon as…my brain stops hemorrhaging blood, these spots stop dancing in front of my eyes, and my heart stops palpitating…urk…" He fell back to the ground and started convulsing violently while his eyes rolled back into his head and foam dribbled from his mouth.

Umbreon groaned. "Oh great, he's OD'd again…why does he always do this!"

"Well, now we have a legitimate reason not to help," Corsola informed Tyranitar as she followed Umbreon over to Scyther. "He needs medical assistance, and a watchful eye to make sure he doesn't accidentally cut off poor Blaziken's throat." The Blaziken in question vomited blood when one of Scyther's flailing legs hit him in the stomach.

Tyranitar sighed. "Fine…I don't need any help to take this guy, anyway." She formed a fighting pose. "Okay, let's get this over with."

"All right." Omega clenched his fists. "Your armor looks too tough for my blades…so I have to wonder how much softer it'll get once I beat you to a pulp?"

"Why don't you come over here and find out?" Tyranitar challenged.

"I believe I will," Omega acquiesced.

And so he did.

…

Alpha started to bring his foot down…

When a familiar voice, growing louder as it got closer, screaming "-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!" could be heard right before Crawdaunt plowed into Alpha's head from above, tearing it open like a ripe melon and driving himself deep into the evil ranger's body, causing the villain's chest to swell disgustingly and crack the armor. Alpha's body trembled, abruptly realizing it was dead, and fell backwards, collapsing on the ground and slamming Grovyle's face into the floor as the arm holding him splayed outward.

Bayleef, Grovyle, and Bulbasaur stared in disbelief. "Wow," Bayleef said finally. "That was gross."

"Ew," said a disgusted Bulbasaur. "Well, now he's dead."

Alpha's chest bulged and abruptly exploded outward, sending gore and intestines flying everywhere as a blood and other stuff-covered Crawdaunt burst out of Alpha's stomach, hissing and spitting like a monster right out of a horror movie. Grovyle screamed and scurried backwards in fear.

Crawdaunt blinked blood out of his eyes. "Ugh…that was an experience I do not want to repeat again." Shaking some of Alpha's liver off his legs, Crawdaunt scurried off of Alpha. "What's wrong, Grovyle? You don't look so good." The Wood Gecko, clearly traumatized, was staring at the terrifying, fluid-covered lobster while babbling incoherently. Crawdaunt frowned and bonked him on the head, knocking him out. "Eh, you'll be fine in the morning. Or…afternoon. Or whatever." He scuttled over to the edge of the pit. "Hey guys, could you use a hand?"

"Um, if you don't mind?" Bayleef asked politely.

"Sure thing!" A few moments later, Crawdaunt had used his strength to pull Bulbasaur up, and then both of them pulled Bayleef up.

"When I asked if you didn't mind, I was assuming you'd pull me up first," Bayleef said, somewhat annoyed.

Crawdaunt gave her a look of disbelief. "What're you, kidding me? You're way too heavy! I'm not lobster enough to lift your weight single-handedly!"  
SMACK! Enraged, Bayleef slapped the lobster with her vine, which didn't do much since his face was armor-plated and her vine was tender enough from having to hold on the edge of the pit for so long, so she yelped, hopped about, and stuck her vine in her mouth.

Not seeming bothered, Crawdaunt scuttled over to Alpha's body. "So, what do we do about him?"

"What do you mean? He's dead, isn't he?" Bulbasaur asked in confusion. "I mean, you tore his head open and burst out of his stomach. How can he get up after that?"

"What're you, daft? Haven't you seen any horror movies? How often is the monster really dead just because it looks that way?" Crawdaunt retorted. "We gotta think of a way to permanently dispose of him, just in case he's still alive and waiting for us to turn our backs on him so he can eat our brains or something."

"With what? He doesn't have a mouth," Bulbasaur pointed out.

"Do you really think that matters?" Crawdaunt asked. "Now, what are we gonna do with him?"

They stared at Alpha's body for a moment, deep in thought and ignoring the angry crowd, which was booing and screaming at them for defeating their champion. Bayleef frowned, on the verge of a brainstorm. She glanced over her shoulder at the still-open lava pit. Then she glanced over at Alpha. Then, back at the lava pit.

She grinned.

Seconds later, they tossed Alpha's body over the edge. It made a rather satisfying splash and sizzling noise as it hit the lava and sunk beneath the surface.

…

Infernatrice shrieked and breathed out a tremendous column of fire from his mouth, nearly incinerating the group of flyers. He followed that up by throwing giant fireballs from his claws, and then crossed his arms to gather power, splaying them out as he sent an enormous wave of fire out in every direction. The Chosen heroes dodged these attacks by swerving out of the way, countering with Ice Beams, or hiding behind large pieces of architecture scattered around the lava tunnel to shield them from the flame wave. When Infernatrice paused a moment in his attack sequence to catch his breath, Gyarados struck, firing an Ice Beam at the last semisolid chunk of magma that was still holding the firebird's liquefying right arm together, cooling it solid.

Infernatrice squawked in alarm and quickly grabbed the solid part with his other hand in an attempt to heat it up and protect it from attack. In doing so, however, he exposed the few remaining magma chunks on his left arm, which Gyarados quickly froze into solidity with his Ice Beam. "Okay, let's hit him!"

"Right!" his teammates chorused as they swooped down at Infernatrice.

Alarmed, the evil phoenix flapped his magma wings, sending hot winds down the passage towards the flyers. However, Gyarados fired his ice beam at the magma chunks on Infernatrice's head which the wings were attached to, freezing them and preventing the monster from controlling his flight. With his wings immobilized, he fell from the air, crashed through a few crosspieces, and sank into the river of lava up to his waist. The extra heat from the lava would re-melt his solid chunks quickly if they didn't hurry, so they knew they had to move fast.

As Combusken and Charmeleon leaped off the backs of their respective rides, Moltres and Charla let Infernatrice have it with Overheat and Blast Burn, scorching the monster's sunglasses black and blinding him momentarily. He shrieked and thrashed about wildly, but a quick pair of Ice Beams to the half-submerged monster's shoulder chunks solidified them and froze the beast's molten arms in place, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

Charmeleon and Combusken dove down towards the monster's arms, positioning themselves as best they could to strike their respective targets. Both of them readied attacks, using the momentum they were getting from their long fall to increase their power.

Simultaneously, they struck down, Charmeleon landing on the single magma chunk on the right arm, and Combusken on one of the remaining ones on the left. They struck claws-first, Charmeleon smashing into his heating chunk with Iron Claw while Combusken struck hers with a powerful Brick Break.

The liquid lava of the monster's body rippled from the force of the impact, causing nearer chunks to crack slightly from the resulting shockwave. Combusken quickly leaped off the chunk she had destroyed just before it crumbled into nothingness, landing on another one which had also been frozen by Gyarados' Ice Beam and hitting it repeatedly with her fists and beak to weaken it. Charmeleon, having no safe ground to land on, simply leaped off his platform as it disintegrated, trusting in his lover to rescue him. She did so, swooping down and catching him neatly on her back before winging away to safety from Infernatrice. Gyarados slithered through the air and did the same to Combusken as the chunk she had been pounding on became too hot to stand on as it reverted to its original state, the cooling from the Ice Beam worn off.

Infernatrice stared in horror as his right arm, now completely formed of lava, lost cohesion and sloughed off his body, sinking back into the lava flow and leaving him with a hardened stump in place of his right arm. Roaring in rage, causing the entire tunnel to tremble, Infernatrice submerged himself completely, bursting out moments later and sending waves of lava everywhere as he took to the skies again, having used the heat of the river to defreeze his shoulder and wings. It had not, however, restored his right arm, and as such he was weakened considerably.

But the beast was not out of the fight yet, and this was something they all knew. So they cheered triumphantly in celebration of the right arm's destruction and continued onwards, knowing they weren't finished with Infernatrice, not by a long shot.

…

"No!" Ho-Oh cried in horror as he stabilized himself. "It can't be! How'd you get here?"

Lady Ho-Oh shrieked with laughter as she soared down towards him, knocking Zapdos and Aerodactyl out of the way with her wings. "After you inconsiderate fools rejected me, Deoxys recognized my talents and requested that I aid him in crushing you all! He even threw in a perfect bargain for my assistance in bolstering his woefully underpowered forces…once the Chosen are dead, he will bestow upon me the egg that the Unown lied that they would give me so that I would agree to be their slave and baby-sit that traitorous Lugia's charges for a whole month! The egg would be the child of him and me, and as such would be even more powerful than that worthless Dark Latios, for I am a much stronger mother than the piece of trash he used over there!" she said, referring to Leviathan. "And once I had my baby, he would return to the depths of space from whence he came to conquer other worlds…and he would leave Earth to me, which I would remake into my own image to create the perfect world for my child and I! A world of peace and prosperity! A world without Psychics or Dark-types or loathsome technology! A world where all would worship and serve me without end as is their rightful place and bask in my holy light, or burn forever in it if they defy me or worshipped false gods such as science or Mew or the sinful Mewtwo!"

Zapdos sweatdropped. "Well…I think it's safe to say she's gone over the cuckoo's nest…"

"Tell me about it," a disturbed Misdreavus agreed. "No Dark-types? No technology? Endless worship? Ugh! That's no world for Umbreon-chan or I!"

"I'm not that used to technology myself," Aerodactyl joined in. "But even I think it makes the world a better place to live in, for the most part, than the world I must have once lived in!"

"You're completely insane!" cried a shocked Ho-Oh. "Deoxys, give you an egg! Give you the Earth! You don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about! When he's done with you he'll just kill you and take your soul like everyone else! The planet will be nothing more than a burnt cinder infested by zombies and demons, like it was the last time he came here, if the stories Mewtwo and my daughter have told us are true!"

Lady Ho-Oh chortled as if her ex-husband had said something enormously funny. "Fool! What is Deoxys? No more than a simple virus who thinks himself the ruler of all…what does he know? I am Ho-Oh, the phoenix! I am Ho-Oh, goddess of the sun! I am immortal! Everlasting! I rise from the fire anew to symbolize life and rebirth! I can never die!" She laughed again. "Deoxys, kill me? He can no more kill me than he can put out the sun, which like me shall burn forevermore!"

"…Wow, she's really crazy," a terrified Zapdos said. "I had no idea she was this nuts when she was keeping (or trying to keep) us in line back in the Orange Islands."

"You're totally insane!" Ho-Oh cried, shocked at how deep his ex's madness was rooted.

"No," she cried, tackling him and sending both of them tumbling deeper into the shining void as she tore at the male with her claws and beak. "I am divine!"

"We have to help him!" Aerodactyl pointed out rather unnecessarily.

Misdreavus nodded. "Right, let's show that overgrown (female) turkey who's-"

CHOMP!

Leviathan, almost completely recovered from her grievous injuries thanks to the enslaved spirits she had devoured repairing her body, snapped her jaws shut on Misdreavus and swallowed her whole. Hearing her breathing and smelling her odor, Aerodactyl and Zapdos turned around and stared in horror at the giant undead serpent staring them right in the face.

Leviathan roared. The avians screamed and flew for their lives, for they knew that Leviathan's hunger had still not been sated.

…

A giant dice cube appeared over Emperor Mewgle's head, its sides flickering as the stylized numbers on its sides changed rapidly. He jumped up, hitting the cube with his crown and causing it to stop with the number 6 on top. It shrunk and moved to the side as another giant dice appeared over him. He hit this one and it stopped on 4. The numbers added up and formed a giant 10 over his head. "Yes! 10 spaces!" The evil Dungeon Master cheered. He ran forward ten steps on the giant space station game board which he and the Gigabot were playing on, skipping right over an Event space which would have caused him to be zapped by a giant laser satellite, red spaces which would deduct coins from him, and a lottery shop which almost never gave out winning prizes before reaching a space which had a star marked on it. Triumphant music played as he stepped off the space and onto an orbiting gold platform right off the winding multi-level path that made up the board, where a sexy giant femme-bot was waiting behind a desk. "Congratulations!" she said robotically. "You've made it to the Sun space! Here you can get a sun to add to your score to help you win the game. Suns don't come free though, so you'll have to pay for it. Do you have 20 coins?"

"I do indeed!" the Emperor said, handing over twenty gold coins with his ugly face stamped on them to the lovely clerk. "And hey, do you think after the games are over you and I could go off somewhere private and make hot cyber-sex?"

"I-I would be honored, my Emperor," the femme-bot said, her metal cheeks flushing due to a malfunction in her heating units.

"Blech!" roared a disgusted Onix from inside the Gigabot, which was standing patiently on a space far away from Mewgle.

"Yeah, honestly, what's a total hottie like her see in a honky like him?" asked an annoyed Metal Sound.

"Just get on with it and flirt later!" Mudkip yelled from her cockpit as Emperor Mewgle started making out with the femme-bot.

"Bah, fine, business before pleasure I suppose," Mewgle grumbled, pulling himself away from the robot. "Even when your business _is_ pleasure. Gimme the sun."

"Yes master." The robot raised her arms. There was a flash of light, and the triumphant music reached a crescendo as a radiant burning sun descended from the heavens, floating right over Emperor Mewgle's head. It spun rapidly, showering embers everywhere, and shrunk inside of him, adding itself to the impressive tally of suns he had already collected listed at the bottom of the screen.

"Booyah! One more sun for me! In your face, losers!" he laughed, taunting the Gigabot.

"We're not that far behind you, Mewgle…we'll catch up soon enough!" Mudkip promised.

"Oh really? We'll see about that…heeheehee!"

"Now, let's choose the location of the next sun…" The robot and her platform vanished, and reappeared on the space right behind the Gigabot.

"Oh, hell no!" Geodude groaned. "That's not fair!"

"Now we have to go all the way around the board just to reach that space!" Jigglypuff the younger cried in alarm.

Lee sighed. "If only I could move backwards…stupid rules."

"It's your turn, losers!" Mewgle said as a dice appeared over the Gigabot's head.

Mudkip sighed. "Oh well…let's get this over with. Even if we don't collect enough suns on the board, we might be able to win bonus suns for amount of coins collected, minigames won, event spaces stepped on, etc." The robot jumped up and hit the die with its head, causing everyone to be shaken in their places. "Ow…" Mudkip groaned, rubbing her head. "Lousy game." Above their heads, the die had stopped on a 1. "Oh, for the love of-" Frustrated, the Gigabot jumped and activated the second die, which stopped on…1. "$#&!" Mudkip cursed vilely.

Lombre sighed sadly. "It seems our _fortunas_ are doomed to suffer here…"

The Gigabot took two steps forward…right onto a black space with a red Mewgle-face silhouette on it. Instantly, the universe darkened as a big ghostly Mewgle silhouette flashed across the screen a few times as ominous music played along with malevolent laughter. Then, more mischievous music played as a giant Mewgle-head balloon appeared over the Gigabot, a small Mewgle (regular, not monster or Emperor) lookalike hanging from it.

"Dios mio!" shouted Lombre.

"Who the heck is that!" Geodude cried.

"Heeheeheehee! I'm a Mini-Mewgle!" the Mewgle lookalike announced. "And since you stepped on a Mewgle space, that means I can take something from you! Liiiiike…all your coins!"

"Nooooo!" the Pokerockers screamed as their coin count dropped to zero.

"Dammit, we worked _hard_ for those!" Forretress sobbed.

"And now they're mine!" Mini-Mewgle chuckled. "Thanks a bunch, losers!" His balloon rose, carrying him away.

Mewgle chuckled and wiped away a tear. "Ah, kids. They grow up so fast, don't they? Oh well, since this turn's over, that means…MINIGAME TIME!" He clapped his hands and hopped up and down with glee like the insane clown that he was. "Oh boy! This'll be so much fun!"

A list of names for several minigames appeared over the sun space where the femme-bot stood. One name lit up after a moment, BOMBING BLITZ!

"Oh joy!" Mewgle squealed in delight. "Bombing Blitz! This will be so much fun!"

The Pokerockers sweatdropped. "Why do I get the feeling this is going to hurt like hell?" Buzz the Electabuzz moaned.

The screen whited out…and when reality faded back in, the two giant robots were each standing on a separate long platform in a pastoral field of flowers and butterflies. Everything seemed so peaceful and serene…

And then the pair of giant cannon turrets in the distance fired two huge bombs into the air which exploded on impact with the ground, blasting huge craters in the field of flowers and setting fire to the rest, creating a barren, desolate wasteland.

Then the cannon turrets turned to face the two big mechs. "Er…what are the rules?" asked a nervous Mudkip.

"It's simple!" Mewgle said with a grin. "Dodge the bombs. If one hits you…KABOOM! And you lose 20 coins to me."

"B-but we don't have 20 coins!" Mudkip protested.

"Oh yeah…" Mewgle frowned. "In that case, I'll take one of your suns!"

They gasped. "No, not that!" squeaked the elder Jigglypuff.

"We need those!" agreed the younger Jigglypuff. "To…win this board game Mewgle's set up and go to the next round of this really long boss battle and…huh, come to think of it, I guess it's not so important if we lose this, is it? We'll just go to another stage anyway."

Mewgle pouted. "Aw darn, you figured me out. Okay then, how's this: if a bomb hits you, YOU DIE! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone glared at the younger Jigglypuff, or in her direction since they were all in separate cockpits. "Nice going," Geodude grumbled.

"S-sorry," she whimpered.

"Okay then…the death begins in 3…2…1…GO!" Mewgle cried.

The turrets fired.

…

They were everywhere, squealing and flailing their tentacles about, reaching out to devour their brains. The demon Chimechos had the advantage of numbers, but lacked one important characteristic: coolness. And brains and durability, I suppose.

All of which the three mighty Pokemon slashing through their ranks had in multitudes, I might add.

"Have at thee, vermin!" El Gato roared, slashing out with sword and claws, splattering mutant Chimecho into piles of goo.

"Are you making a crack at me?" Pikachu asked, releasing an electric blast around him which splattered the surrounding Chimecho into jelly and opened up a new line of monsters for him to take down with his blade and Iron Tail.

"Of course not, amigo!" El Gato said, thrusting his sword forward and impaling three Chimecho along its length while simultaneously splattering several behind him with his swift tail.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Pikachu sent a charge of electricity running up his sword and swung outward, sending a wave of high-voltage power cutting through the crowd and destroying several dozen Chimecho.

"Wobbuffet, how're you holding up?" Sadic yelled back to the stationary blob, darting here and there among the Chimecho horde, slashing at the masses intermittently with her claws every second and causing them to disintegrate.

"We're okay!" Wobbuffet said, raising his crystal shard as a large swarm of mini-Chimecho closed in on him. The gem pulsed, and a red force field expanded outward, causing the Chimecho to tear themselves to shreds as they slammed stupidly into the shield and were ripped apart by the reflected impact tossed back in their faces. "Nothing to worry about! There are an awful lot of these guys, though…" He glanced down anxiously at his sister, who hadn't moved or said a word since they had freed her from her cage, no doubt because she had been physically and psychologically broken in nearly every way possible. "Don't they ever run out?"

"Logically, there are only a set amount of them," Pikachu said, slashing several times and destroying several more Chimecho. "So if we keep fighting, sooner or later they'll be gone. No problem."

"Eh, don't be so sure," Sadic said, bounding up a wall, gripping onto it with a claw, and blowing out an Icy Wind which froze the swarm of Chimecho flying up after her, causing them to fall and crush several more closer to the ground. "Individually these things aren't so bad, but over time they can wear us down if there are enough of them. Keep on your toes, boys!"

"Very well." El Gato stood on his toes and twirled around, clearing out all Chimecho around him within a circular radius. Then he stood on one foot and kicked out with his other, knocking one Chimecho into a row of other Chimecho behind it, causing all of them to topple over. El Gato took advantage of this and somersaulted on top of them, slashing them with his sword and crushing them with his body. His cape and fur got splattered with Chimecho goo and innards as a result, but at the moment he was too busy fighting to be vain. He could always clean himself off later. (He could only hope Chimecho jelly didn't taste as gross as it looked.)

"I don't think that's exactly what she meant…" Pikachu murmured. He fell backwards, landing on his tail and using it as a springboard to bounce into the air, causing a bunch of Chimecho floating towards him to collide with each other and temporarily meld into a single malformed blob with several eyes blinking about in confusion. The yellow mouse pointed his sword downward as he fell, driving it into the heart of the congealed mass and causing it to burst apart, splattering goo everywhere. "But hey, it works."

Sadic chuckled at the antics of the males and released her grip on the cliff, plummeting down towards the waiting horde of Chimecho, claws spread to inflict some more death.

…

Latias, cloaked in invisibility, looked down on the city streets from her spot on the roof of one of the ruined buildings that made up this dark mirror of Alto Mare. The walls oozed blood as faces imbedded in the stone blocks screamed and wailed, their cries echoing across the city. Mixed with those agonized, desperate howls were the miserable groans of the city's inhabitants as they shuffled down the streets aimlessly, going nowhere and coming from nowhere, their rotting bodies the only solid thing they could cling to in this city of death.

The dragon sighed, her mood matching that of the pitiable creatures below her. She had searched all over the city, and had yet to find an exit from this awful dimension. She could try flying out over the sea of fire, but it was far hotter than she had expected, and wasn't sure she was ready to try making that journey just yet. She doubted it would even lead to anywhere. But what choice did she have? She couldn't stay in this twisted place. Too many memories…looking at the ruins of this illusion crafted to look like her former home only sickened her and tarnished her recollections of happy times in the true Alto Mare. Sighing, she held her locket, the memento from Latios given to her on Luvdisc Day by the Ghost King, and stared at it sadly. "Brother…what do I do now?"

"You could try dying," a familiar voice whispered as the edges of a twisted aura licked at the edge of Latias' senses.

Latias' eyes widened and she barely managed to get out of the way before a burst of black Dragonbreath incinerated the roof edge she had been laying on, melting the stone and silencing the screaming faces just below the edge. She faded back into the visible spectrum and stared right into the crazed red eyes of Dark Latios. "You still live?" she asked, not really surprised.

"I do indeed," he told her. "You will have to try harder than that to kill me, dear sister."

"Then that is just what I will do," she told him calmly.

And with that, the entire building collapsed _upward_, slamming into Dark Latios and pushing him into the sky. Latias had dashed backwards off the rooftop just before the building had rose, so she wouldn't get caught in her own telekinetic trap.

The trap didn't last for long though, as with a burst of psychic power Dark Latios shattered the building into chunks of blood-soaked masonry, which he suspended around him in gravity-defying orbits. With a cackle, he telekinetically flung one of the largest chunks at Latias.

She disintegrated it with a Psylance and flung several more at Dark Latios, striking at the pieces of debris he was using as a shield and shattering them to pieces. However, this seemed to be what he wanted, as he flung the now much-smaller and harder to strike pieces of shrapnel psychically at Latias. She vaporized them with a Psywave and followed it up with a Return, remembering how her love for everyone she cared for had made him uncomfortable before and considered that it might damage the fiend physically.

The heart-shaped beam seemed to do the trick, smashing through the shields Dark Latios quickly threw up to protect himself, causing him to hiss in pain as it exploded on his skin, causing it to sizzle. "Ahhhh…" Latias smirked to herself and quickly charged at her half-brother, pleased to think she had finally found a weakness.

Or so she thought. "That felt so good!" Dark Latios cried as he thrust his claw into her chest before she could stop her charge, impaling her in the breast.

Latias gasped and reflexively flew back, causing the claw to rip out of her chest and leave a gaping wound, easily healed by her body's regenerative powers. Before Dark Latios could follow up that stab with another aimed for her brain, she quickly recovered and blasted him back with a Psychic attack, shoving him several feet away from her. She followed that up by conjuring several dozen Mist Balls out of the air and flinging them at her 'brother', exploding against his black and blue hide and filling the air with white mist. That mist turned black as Dark Latios took control of it and harnessed its moisture to form a storm cloud around him, combining the techniques of Rain Dance and Thunder to fling a mighty blitz of lightning bolts at her.

Latias only smirked. "Come now, I traveled with Pikachu for over a month. You don't think I'd have learned a thing or two about electricity by now?" Causing one of her wings to take on a metallic sheen as she activated Steel Wing, she dove towards the city below, the lightning twisting through the air as it chased after her, attracted by the metal of her wing.

Mentally 'smushing' some air molecules together to form a long metal rod which she psychically drove into the ground before quickly backing up, willing her Steel Wing away. The lightning was naturally drawn to the rod she had created and struck its tip, coursing down its length and into the ground, where it was safely dissipated. She then rose back into the air and started charging up her Dragonbreath, knowing Dark Latios would be unable to do anything about it because the lightning rod she had made would trap him due to the focus he had to maintain to keep that storm cloud under control and from shocking himself.

She didn't expect the cloud to collapse abruptly, discharging lightning bolts everywhere, and for a burnt and static-filled Dark Latios to fly out and slam into her, zapping her with the residual electricity around his body and cutting off her Dragonbreath attack in her throat. He dug her claws into her sides and unleashed his tentacles, stabbing them into her body. She brought her Steel Wings up to bear in response, slicing Dark Latios' tentacles off and also severing his arms, forcing him to let go of her. She psychically ripped the claws out of her and drove them through the fiend's neck and skull, smashing through his throat and brain.

He only laughed, spitting blood in her face as the claws ripped themselves out of their wounds and reattached themselves to his arms while his body regenerated itself. "Come now, sister. That's not enough."

"I know," she said, releasing her white Dragonbreath in his face. He fell back, his face incinerated by the flames, and Latias sliced at his chest with her Dragonclaw, ripping through his lower body and tearing out his intestines, which she hurled towards the ground, spooling out until their end, psychically guided by Latias, touched the tip of the still-sparking lightning rod she had made, causing the remaining electric charge to fly up the evil dragon's guts and into his body, causing it explode with light and electrical pain…which he seemed to be enjoying immensely, if his insane laughter was anything to go by. Latias crinkled her face in disgust at this reaction. "Ugh…"

"THANK YOU FOR THE DELIGHTFUL PAIN, SISTER!" Dark Latios howled as he reeled his intestines in, ending the electrocution he had received. "But I still crave more…hurt me, sister! Claw my eyes out, burn the flesh off my bones, explode my brain…and it will do nothing, for I cannot be killed!" He flew over to her, grabbed the stunned Latias' claw, and rammed it right through his chest. "Hahaha…go ahead…root around inside me, feel free! Puncture my lungs, sever my arteries, tear out my heart, do whatever you feel like doing, just know that nothing you do will have any lasting effect whatsoever!" Grinning, he clenched his claws tighter around her arm, crushing her bones, and pulled it deeper into his body, causing her claws to rip out from his back as her face was violently smashed into his own. "Hahahaha…it feels _wonderful…_" He craned his neck so he could leer into her terrified eyes. "My dear sister…you have no idea what I feel for you…how much I want to claim you for myself, how much I want to rip you apart from the inside, how much I _long _for you…I have missed you dearly sister, on the other side."

With that, he kissed her, digging his fangs into her lips and tongue and ripping them off as he chewed greedily, thrusting his barbed phallus inside her as his tentacles ripped out of his back and prepared to penetrate Latias once more.

Screaming, Latias blasted him off of her with a Psychic blast, causing him to tear her mouth apart and gush blood everywhere as he was knocked back. She quickly healed it with Recover and simply stared at him, horrified, gasping for breath.

Dark Latios only smiled. "You can keep that, if you like," he said, gesturing to the erected member still lodged in her flesh that had been torn off him when Latias had abruptly pushed him away. As he spoke, a new penis was already growing. "As you can see," he said, indicating the aforementioned penis. "I have plenty more to spare."

She gaped at him, speechlessly. Almost as an afterthought, she removed the member stuck in her. She tore her insides as she did so, since its spikes had imbedded themselves in her soft interior, but she paid no attention to the pain, simply stared at the foul object in her hands. Then she stared at Dark Latios' new one, and the wounds which had already sealed themselves.  
She dropped the object. And then she turned and fled as fast as she could.

Dark Latios' disgusting fangs grinned. "Guess I'm 'it', then…" He laughed and turned away. "Don't worry Latias," he shouted. "You have till the count of one hundred to hide yourself…and you'd better hope you're hidden well, because once I find you…hahahaha…we're picking up right where we left off!" He covered his eyes with his claws and started counting sinisterly. "One…two…three…" Each number shook the air as he spoke it, as if it was the tick of a second hand on a clock moving as it counted down to the end of the world.

…

The two Mewtwos rocketed towards each other from opposite sides of infinity, leaving sonic booms in their wake as they raced into a collision out of some cosmic version of Chicken, neither Psychic having the slightest intention of moving out of the way.

They collided with a crash which shook reality, causing Amber to squeal with joy as the hourglass trembled and the almighty beast grunted slightly. Their auras blazed against each other, the evil Mewtwo's left fist pressing against Mewtwo's right, both of them trying to push the other back but failing because they were too evenly matched. The evil Mewtwo grunted and thrust his free hand forward, pressing it into Mewtwo's face. The bug-armored clone did the same with his own hand. Their palms lit up, and there was a tremendous double explosion as both clones were hurled tumbling away, their helmets smoking and cracked but already mending. Mewtwo wildly fired Swift stars, Shadow Balls, Pin Missiles, Water Pulses, Hidden Power, Shock Waves, Thunder Waves, and Ice Beams in every direction as he twisted and spun.

The evil Mewtwo responded by curling into a ball and summoning a combined Counter and Mirror Coat shield which deflected any attacks that came his way back at Mewtwo, while the rest shot off into nowhere. Mewtwo blocked the attacks with Barrier and buzzed his wings frantically, finally managing to regain control. He teleported right behind the evil Mewtwo and drove a Twineedle from his gauntlets right into the fiend's back, stopping the black-armored Psychic's tumble and ripping through his spinal cord.

Gasping, the evil Mewtwo teleported himself (with difficulty) off the needle and reappeared right above Mewtwo's head, driving his large and powerful feet into the psychic's helmet with a crack, trying to shatter his skull. But of course, even without the helmet's protection it's doubtful that attack would have worked…after all, both Mewtwos had been engineered with extra cranial bone so as to cradle and protect their enormous brains. Still, it stunned Mewtwo slightly and gave the evil one the opportunity to flip over and slam his spiked tail into Mewtwo's faceplate, nearly smashing it in.

Mewtwo's head snapped back, but as it did so his hands snatched up and grabbed the evil Mewtwo's tail, causing him to be pulled along as Mewtwo flipped over and smashed his feet into the evil one's back, almost breaking the spinal cord again. Mewtwo released his grip on his enemy's tail, and then buzzed his wings rapidly, firing a veritable hurricane of Silver Wind which buffeted and cut at the evil Mewtwo. Said evil Mewtwo managed, with effort, to regain his focus, and unleash a Blizzard which froze the silver blades and rendered them harmless. He then redirected the powerful cooling force of the Blizzard at Mewtwo, buffeting him back and coating his bug armor in ice.

Mewtwo countered the cold by releasing a ball of fire and initiating Sunny Day, warming himself up and melting the ice on his armor. He then cupped his hands together, focused, and launched a Fire Blast at the evil clone. It smashed through the Blizzard and almost struck the evil Mewtwo, but dissipated against his Barrier. The Barrier, on the other hand, shattered when Mewtwo smashed it with a Brick Break and brought a hand down in a chop on the evil Mewtwo's skull.

The evil Mewtwo caught his clone's wrist in his left hand and smashed his right into Mewtwo's chest, releasing a Shadow Ball which exploded and sent the good Mewtwo flying back. He then thrusted his hands out, firing a Solar Beam from one (made stronger by the effects of Sunny Day) and an Ice Beam from the other.

Mewtwo used Protect to shield himself from the powerful beam blasts, then vibrated his wings fast enough to let off a Supersonic, causing the evil Mewtwo to cry out and clutch his ears in pain. This allowed the good Mewtwo to dash in and thrust Twineedle spikes into the evil clone's chest, doing some more damage. Mewtwo knew that his foe was healing all the wounds he inflicted, but by focusing on using Bug-type techniques instead of the other, more powerful moves in his repertoire Mewtwo knew that he'd be able to wear his enemy down due to his double weakness to Bug attacks and eventually strike a critical blow.

The evil Mewtwo was aware of this as well, and knew he had to do something quickly or else he might suffer defeat. Kicking Mewtwo in the chest with his powerful hind legs to tear the good clone off of him, the evil Mewtwo inhaled deeply and then let out a startlingly powerful sonic scream which rippled throughout infinity, smashing into Mewtwo and hitting him with the force of a thousand simultaneous sonic booms, causing him to cry out in pain as he was blasted back, his armor cracking and breaking all over thanks to the high-powered frequencies of the sonic blast. Amber shrieked and clutched her ears in pain. The beast detected a mild high-pitched whine, scratched one of its ears with an appendage, and continued listening peacefully to the symphony of pain emitted by the subatomic organisms crawling all over its skin.

When the evil Mewtwo ran out of breath he cut off his screech, panting to get air back in his lungs. "Heh…bet you never learned that trick, did you?"

"No," Mewtwo grunted, shaking his head to get the ringing out of his ears while he mended his armor. "Where did you learn it?"

"Some planet I conquered. There are so many, I can't be expected to remember the names of all of them."

"I see. So it would appear that while we are similar in appearance and origin, due to our diverging paths we have learned of different uses for our powers," the good clone deduced.

"So it would seem," his evil clone agreed, catching his breath. "Interesting. If you've learned other tricks from the Unown, why haven't you used them?"

"One reason is because several of them would only be effective on Deoxys," Mewtwo explained. "Another is because using those techniques might guarantee my victory, but they would also tire me out and give me less of a chance of defeating Deoxys and saving my friends."

"Ah, I see. That makes sense." The evil Mewtwo chuckled. "How sad…your concern for your friends is holding you back. I'm disappointed. I see no reason to prolong this fight anymore."

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow. "You're forfeiting?"

"Of course not!" The evil Mewtwo scoffed. "Let's be frank: both of us have better things to do. You need to save the world, and I need to go back to ruling my galaxy. I had thought it would be entertaining to fight a 'good' version of myself, but now that I know you've been holding back I see no reason to waste my time with you. Let's do this the old-fashioned way: one final attack, winner takes all."

"…Hmmph. Very well," Mewtwo smirked. "If that's how you want to play it." He clenched his fists and started focusing his power. His blue aura became visible to the naked eye, flickering and twisting as it ignited into a blue flame. The evil Mewtwo did the same, his aura eerily exactly the same as the good Mewtwo's, right down to color and the shape in which it burned.

Reality warped around them as they gathered their power, putting all they could spare into one final assault...and then, they released it.

The evil Mewtwo released his aura in the form of a tremendously powerful planet-shattering blue Hyper Beam which crackled and coursed through the air, passing right through the empty space Mewtwo had been occupying and streaking through infinity until it struck the side of the beast, who felt it in the form of a mild itch, and scratched at it, rending billions of souls on its skin as it did so and causing the song to increase in its 'beauty' for a moment or two before settling down to its usual levels.

The evil Mewtwo blinked in surprise, winded. "What-"

His forehead burst open as Mewtwo's Twineedle stinger drove itself through the back of his head and out the front. "Hmmph. You really thought I'd waste all my energy on you? Like you said, we both have better things to do. I have to save the world…and you? You have to go to wherever it is you belong. I see now you are no relation of mine, for I would _never_ be foolish enough to have fallen for this." He removed the stinger from the now-dead evil Mewtwo. Then he fired a Shadow Ball at the body, destroying it and flinging the head, with the gaping hole drilled right through its brain, into the void.

He turned to Amber, who had an amused smile on his face. "I'm done. Show me the way out of here, I have work to do…and plenty of time to spare."

"Hehehehe…what makes you think you're done here?" Amber giggled.

Mewtwo frowned. "What do you mean?"

She laughed maniacally. "Silly, silly Mewtwo…" She gestured, and the severed, helmeted head of the evil Mewtwo floated over to them. The black armor covering the head cracked and shattered, revealing…

A disfigured white face with a single red eye, green hair, and feathery ears, as well as a very unsightly hole drilled from the back of the skull to the forehead. Mewtwo gasped. His eyes widened. "N-no…it can't…"

"It can," Deoxys said, appearing out of nowhere.

The evil Mewtwo's voice rang telepathically through the dumbstruck clone's head, practically singing from his spot on the flagship of his galactic navy, where he had been all along: _Who's the fool now, Mewtwo?_

…

The four Pokemon (including the miserable but recovered Articuno) were tense, standing back to back on the ground while the ice bird flew high above all the portals, keeping all their senses peeled, just _waiting_ for the inevitable, for Cerberus to emerge from a portal, strike, and escape back into his dimensional hidey-hole. As of yet, there had been no more than a few false alarms, the beast sticking one of its three heads or a paw out of a portal to taunt them, resulting in four energy beams shooting for the beast, only to get absorbed and spat out of a number of different portals, confusing them to no end.

So, they knew their only chance was to hit the monster when it emerged fully from a portal. And to do that, they would have to be patient. _Very_ patient.

Articuno wasn't good at being patient.

"I can't take this!" she screeched. "It's just playing with us! It'll keep us waiting and waiting until we go insane and then it'll pick us off one by one!"

"That's right," said Cerberus' Entei head, poking out of a portal. It quickly retracted as a Flamethrower, Zap Cannon, and a pair of Ice Beams were fired at it. The beams shot out of four individual portals moments later, blasting at the walls and floor and nearly striking poor Articuno.

"Why am I always being targeted!" she squawked.

"Because you're the weakest out of the entire bunch," said Raikou's head, peeking out of another portal. It swiftly retracted as four more blasts shot at it and were dispersed around the room, once more nearly hitting Articuno.

"So once we get rid of you, there'll be nothing to distract us from killing our hated rivals," said the Suicune head as it appeared from yet another portal. It quickly ducked back in and out of another portal to dodge the elemental blasts aimed at it. "You're barely worth our time, unlike them. We just need to wait for you to crack, and then you'll be easy pickings."

"That's not true!" Articuno shrieked, spitting an Ice Beam into an unoccupied portal in the hopes that it would strike Cerberus. It did not, instead it warped through a series of portals before striking Papa's hindquarters, causing him to yelp as his rear was frozen.

"Articuno, don't listen to it!" Mama warned the ice bird. "It's just trying to trick you into killing yourself!"

"I know that!" Articuno snapped, circling uneasily above the room, keeping an eye out for any part of Cerberus. "But it's right! I am all but useless here! I don't have the speed, strength, or regenerative powers of you three!"

"Do not doubt yourself," Papa advised, melting the ice on his buttocks by increasing his body heat. "You were Chosen for a reason. All of us were. Each of our presences will have an effect, no matter how slight, on the outcome of this battle. Even if all three of us die here, it may guarantee victory overall!"

"Oh, that's supposed to make me feel better," Articuno said sarcastically, looking around uneasily. "That means I was Chosen specifically to fail. Thanks Mr. Fake Entei, that makes me feel a lot more confident about myself."

Papa started. "I…th-that's not what I meant!"

"Does that make it any less true?" Articuno asked bitterly.

"Perhaps not…but is it such a bad thing to fail for the greater good?" Oniichan asked.

"…Greater good! What the hell are you talking about!" Articuno screeched. "Do you think that means anything to me! Why should I, or you for that matter, die horribly and suffer eternal torment or whatever so a bunch of people I've never heard of can go on living their happy and ignorant lives? Hell, I wouldn't even care if Zapdos or Moltres died, I hate them! All I've ever wanted is to live on my damn island in peace, and if there are a few less humans or Pokemon around trying to capture me or ruin my peace, so be it, I don't really care!"

"…That's a rather selfish attitude," Mama said disapprovingly.

"And you really think that opinion matters to me?" Articuno growled. She spat an Ice Beam into a random portal and was pleased when it shot out of one near the ground and froze Entei's rear again, causing him to yelp in surprise. "Heh. At least Cerberus seems to agree with me."

"Only to a point," the giant three-headed beast said as it stuck its three heads out of a portal Articuno flew just a tiny bit too close to, grabbed her by the wings, and dragged her screaming into the void. "We're glad you disagree with them…because it made it so much easier to get to you!"

"NO!" Mama cried in horror, firing a Hydro Pump into the portal Articuno had vanished into. Unsurprisingly, it hit Papa.

"Ow!" he yelped. "Dammit!"

"Well, now you know what Articuno felt like earlier," Oniichan joked.

That's when they heard the sound of bones violently cracking followed by agonized, blood-curdling screams echoing from every portal, resonating loudly through the enormous chamber. The hair rose on their backs in fright.

Moments later, Articuno's broken, bloody; beaten, wingless body was tossed carelessly out of a nearby portal and onto the ground. Cerberus slammed a paw on her back, crushing whatever life remained in her into dust. The beast grinned at them with all three blood-soaked jaws, blue feathers caught between their teeth. "Would you like to know what she felt like just a few moments ago?"

…

Shedinja stared at Phanphy, who was still hiding underneath a rock. "What are you doing?" he asked in disbelief.

"Hiding," said the small elephant. "Go away. You can't see me."

"Yes I can," the confused ghost bug retorted.

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

"Yes you can."

Shedinja sweatdropped. "Er, yes I can."

"Ha!" Phanphy cried triumphantly, springing up and throwing the rock off his back. "So you CAN'T see me! Now you have to go away!"

Shedinja stared at him incredulously. "…You really are a very stupid creature, aren't you?"

"Yes!" Phanphy said cheerfully. There was a pause. "Wait, what?"

Shedinja facefaulted. "Ugh…your stupidity hurts…"

"That's what my big sister said!" Phanphy said happily.

"Speaking of which…where is she?" the ghost bug asked.

"Umm…" Phanphy frowned, screwing up his face in concentration. "I dunno."

"Right." Shedinja raised one of his surprisingly sharp limbs and positioned it over Phanphy's neck. "Let's try this again. Tell me where your sister is or I'll torture you until you tell me where she is."

Phanphy started sweating, looking nervous. "Um…um…um…um…" Panicking, he wet himself, disgusting Shedinja to no end. "She-she's behind you!"

Shedinja turned around. There was nobody there. He turned back around and saw that Phanphy was hiding under the rock again. Shedinja sweatdropped. "Oh for the love of…"

"You can't see me!" Phanphy squealed, covering his eyes.

Shedinja sighed in exasperation and started floating over. "I can indeed…but by the time I'm through with you, you'll wish I _was_ unable to see you." He raised his limb again, preparing to strike, unaware that an almost microscopic Togetic, using the power of Minimize, was at that very moment slipping into the small hole on the back of his shell.

…

Omega could tell at a glance that Tyranitar's armor was too thick for his blades to cut through, which meant he'd have to try softening them up the old-fashioned way: with his bare hands.

While the other Pokemon watched, the mighty general threw two punches at Tyranitar's face, both of which she dodged with a quick lean to the side, launched a series of rapid kicks, which she blocked with her arms, then did a standing split and tried to kick her to the ground with his heel. Key word being _tried_.

What really happened was that Tyranitar grabbed his foot by the heel, swung him into the air and over her shoulder, judo-throwing him to the ground behind her. She then did a reverse body slam, smashing into him with her back and driving her thick spikes into his body. She twisted about a few times, really digging her spikes into Omega and giving him some serious pain.

Omega pivoted his arms 180 degrees and bent them back, snapping his elbows as he wrapped his arms around the giant reptile's chest. He did the same with his legs, locking his body to hers, and then used what leverage he had to flip the Tyranitar over, so he was on top. With a sickening series of snaps and rips, he tore himself off of her spikes, flipped off her back, and landed on the ground, launching a kick to her underside which flipped her over onto her back again before she could get up. He then jumped into the air and shot down at the Tyranitar with a slicer kick.

She rolled over and out of the way, causing the general's foot to hit the deck, then swiped her tail at his ankle, knocking him off-balance. She grabbed him before he fell and locked her arms around him, holding him to her chest and squeezing in an attempt to snap his spine. Of course, had she been there to see Scyther's failed attempt to kill the general by bisecting him, she would have known that was ineffective, but she did not and as such her mistake can be excused.

Omega swiveled his torso around, startling the unsuspecting Tyranitar, and rammed into her face with a headbutt, breaking her hold on him and sending her stumbling back half a step. He then lunged forward and knocked her into the air with a savage uppercut…only, even with Omega's strength, she didn't fly very far due to her large weight. So when the general leaped up after her as he had done with Blaziken, he overshot her and kept rising into the air. Tyranitar grabbed him by the foot as he flew past her and dragged him down with her as she fell back to the deck, shaking the boat as she slammed him into the ground. She then lunged forward and hit him with a body press, pinning him to the deck beneath her weight.

He swung his legs up and wrapped them around her lower body, then pressed his hands to the ground and pushed off, flipping himself into the air and flinging Tyranitar into the deck head-first. Omega righted himself as she got to her feet and let loose with a cannonade of super-strong punches and kicks at Tyranitar, too fast for her to block all of them and pushing her closer and closer to the boat's railing as she got struck repeatedly in the face and chest, denting her strong body armor.

He then backed off for a split second, then charged forward and knocked her into the air with another uppercut. He leaped up again to join her, but this time he accurately judged his leap to match the peak of her ascension, and bombarded her with a thousand kicks before she could block, following it up with a knot-fisted thwack that sent her flying off the side of the boat and crashing into one of the posts lining the shore, snapping it in half and causing it to collapse on her.

Omega laughed as he landed, seeing the lost souls on the bank cautiously limping over to the trapped lizard. "It seems as if our second round has ended the same way as the first, Tyranitar!"

Corsola gasped. "Oh no!"

"Great, now we're doomed," Umbreon said listlessly.

"Don't worry girls; just give me a minute to catch my breath and…hurk!" Scyther started writhing and foaming again. Apparently his overdose of medication still hadn't quite worked its way out his system.

The souls on the bank wailed and scurried away as with a grunt and a mighty heave, Tyranitar shoved the collapsed pillar off of her and rose to her feet, panting and covered in dust. "Just because I'm out of the ring…doesn't mean I've lost just yet!" She grabbed the broken end of the column and hefted it into the air, pointing its sculpted tip right at Omega. "I'm going to teach you NEVER to mess with a pissed-off mother Tyranitar!"

Omega's eyes bulged beneath his visor as he realized what the reptile was about to do. "Oh fuck-"

With a bellow of rage, Tyranitar flung the huge column at Omega javelin-style. The twenty-foot tall general held out his hands to catch the missile but it was much too large and moving much too fast. It slammed into his chest and knocked him off the boat as it continued flying through the air, smashing through another post on the opposite side of the river and colliding into one of the sarcophagi on the far wall, causing it, the wall, and a good portion of ceiling to cave in on Omega, burying him in several hundred pounds of stone debris.

"Yeah, all right!" Corsola cheered as the Tyranitar bounded and leaped back onto the boat, causing it to tilt and almost capsize from her weight before righting itself. "You did it!"

"You rock, Big Momma!" Umbreon complimented the mighty Pokemon.

"I do what I do for the sake of my child," Tyranitar told the girls. "I will fight any abomination with all my might to protect him from harm! I failed him once when poachers attacked us, so I swore to never fail him again!" A worried look came to her face. "I can only hope he is still safe out there without me, with those other people all around…if ANYTHING should happen to him, there will be a serious reckoning for them to pay!"

"Wow!" said an impressed Umbreon. "I hope that when Misdreavus-chan and I have a baby, I'll care for it as much as you do yours!"

"Well, don't count your eggs before they're laid," Corsola warned her. "You'll only get that egg if you save the world, and I'm not so sure Omega's defeated yet!"

She was right. As the boat floated downstream, with a mighty roar the rock pile Omega had been buried under exploded as the general erupted from the debris, his armor battered and dented from all the impacts. He snapped all his joints and muscles back in place which were damaged from the collapse, grunting angrily as he did so. "Damn you," he growled, forming his laser blades. Now that he had pummeled Tyranitar a bit, he should have softened her armor up just enough to give his swords an edge against her. And if that edge wasn't enough…well, he could always pummel her a little more, couldn't he? "No more playing around…third round decides all!" With that, he charged down the bank, slashing any souls in his way to shreds as he pursued the boat and his quarry.

…

"Well, that settles that," said Bayleef as Alpha vanished beneath the lava. "Guess we can go now."

"Yep," agreed Grovyle with a nod.

Crawdaunt glanced around at the crowd, noticing they were screaming angrily at them and throwing garbage. "Not fond of us, are they?"

"What do you expect? We killed their golden boy," Bulbasaur pointed out. "Eh, ignore them. Let's find a way out of here."

"Right." The four turned and walked away from the pit, accidentally triggering a booby trap that ensnared poor Grovyle in a giant net along the way, but Bulbasaur (reluctantly) freed him.

"I don't see a way out of here," Bayleef said anxiously, glancing around as they carefully walked across the arena floor.

"That's because there is none!" Alpha dropped down from the sky and landed right in front of them. "You four are going to die right here, your blood staining the arena floor as I crush the life from your bodies!"

They stared at him, dumbfounded. "Wait…" said a confused Grovyle. He glanced over her shoulder at the lava pit, then back at Alpha. "Aren't you dead?"

"Ha, that's just what I wanted you to think!" Alpha boasted. "At the last second, I used Split Mode to clone myself and leave a body double to take the fall for me, letting you all think it was me that you dumped in lava!"

"Of all the…" Crawdaunt spluttered. "That has got to be the most contrived plot device to keep a villain alive that I've ever heard of! It's ridiculous! You should be ashamed of yourself for using something as unimaginative as that!"

Alpha shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, if it works, go with it."

"Wait, I thought your clones were simple images that exploded when they made physical contact with anything," said a confused Bayleef. "And the clone we killed had organs and blood and stuff and didn't blow up at all."

"When I transformed from Alpha Ranger to just Alpha, my Split Mode grew more powerful so that it could make much more realistic clones if I ever wanted them to," the evil Ranger explained. "That way, I could have more convincing 'death' scenes and attack my enemies when they least expect it."

"And that's not in the least bit contrived," Crawdaunt grumbled sarcastically.

"So…you gave your clones realistic innards, but took away their ability to explode?" Bayleef asked, still trying to straighten things out.

"Huh? Oh no, they still explode," Alpha said.

They sweatdropped. "But…the one we killed didn't explode," said a very confused Bulbasaur.

"Not yet," said Alpha. "Haven't you ever heard of delayed reactions?" He snapped his fingers.

The liquids and guts still strewn across Crawdaunt's shell abruptly exploded, as did the lava pool in the distance, causing all to gasp and stumble back. Crawdaunt, his shell heavily damaged, collapsed to the ground, blood leaking from the numerous cracks in his armor. One of his pincers had been blown off and lay on the ground some distance away, thrown off by the explosion, and most of his legs had been crippled from the blast. "Ohhhh…"

"CRAWDAUNT!" they cried.

"Hehehahahaha! And that's just the beginning! Wait'll you see what I have planned for you three!" Alpha cackled.

Grovyle clenched his fist, shaking with anger. "You…you BASTARD!"

"Hey, don't insult my mom!" Alpha joked. "Only I can do that!"

Grovyle ignored the villain's irreverent taunts. "Alpha…YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR!" His entire body glowed as it transformed into a mass of white light and began growing and changing.

Bayleef gasped in disbelief. Bulbasaur's jaw dropped. Alpha took a step back in surprise. Crawdaunt groaned and said, "A sudden evolution…sooooo contrived…ugh."

"It's not contrived!" Bayleef snapped. "It's a tradition!"

"Yeah, a tradition of unoriginality."

The light faded as Grovyle's evolution was complete. He had become a five foot seven green lizard with a red stripe across his belly, lithe arms and legs with a pair of long green blades growing from each of his forearms, a long tail that looked sort of like an Evergreen tree, a row of gold orbs growing from his back, and a pair of sharp triangular ridges over his yellow eyes. He took out his trademark twig, absent so far in this battle, and stuck it in his mouth. "Sceptile!"

Alpha laughed, looking amused. "Oh, so that's how you wanna play, huh? Okay then!" He got into a fighting pose. "Let's do this!"

Sceptile's arm blades glowed as they powered up. "With pleasure!" Swift as the wind, he charged at his opponent, his footsteps too light to trigger any traps laying in wait on the ground.

"Wow," Bayleef squealed, her eyes turning into big hearts as Alpha and Sceptile clashed. "He's…so dreamy! Like a big green ninja bishounen! And he's all MINE!" At that, not only did Bulbasaur's eye twitch, but his right hind leg developed a very unpleasant tic and his teeth began to chatter.

"…Eh, I still say it's contrived," grunted the heavily damaged Crawdaunt. "Not like evolving after servicing dozens of lonely Luvdisc. Now THAT'S original, that is…"

Bayleef frowned. "You mean perverted."

Crawdaunt rolled his eyes. "According to _your_ moral code, it is…"

…

Infernatrice was angry. This was understandable, seeing as how the heroes had destroyed one of his arms and were coming close to breaking off the second one. Through a series of clever tricks and tactics, they had managed to whittle the monster's magma support chunks on the remaining arm to a single solitary island. Since this was the only limb he had left, the firebird was determined not to let this one go as well.

With his only claw, the magma monster ripped a large section of crossbeam from the middle of the tunnel and flung it at the trio of flyers, following it up with a spread of giant fireballs, hoping that in their attempt to dodge one they would fly right into another.

It was not to be, however. Charla charged forward and smashed through the crossbeam with Steel Wing, clearing it out of the way for the others. Then Moltres flew high into the air, cloaking herself in a giant bird-shaped flame, and swooped down at the fireballs, enveloping them in her Sky Attack and rendering them harmless. This allowed Gyarados to undulate over her and fire an Ice Beam at Infernatrice.

Wishing to preserve its remaining arm, the beast shielded its limb with one of its huge, dripping lava wings. Unfortunately, Infernatrice realized too late that its arm was not the target, but the wing joint on the right side of his head was. The beam struck the chunk of semisolid magma, solidifying it and rendering his right wing unable to fly. Panicking as he began to fall, the monster started flapping harder with his left wing to keep himself airborne, recalling how he had been picked off and his right arm had been destroyed the last time he had fallen into the lava flow. In doing so, he exposed his left arm…

But his arm was not the target.

Gyarados fired off several quick bursts of his Ice Beam to freeze different parts of Infernatrice's body, confusing the giant monster while Charmeleon and Combusken simultaneously leaped off their mounts, curling into balls as they did so. Charla and Gyarados whirled around, smacking the duo with their tails and hurtling them straight towards the giant volcanic devil's chest.

Uncurling as they made their approach, Combusken and Charmeleon aimed their bodies at specific points on the monster's form, their momentum propelling them forward like living missiles at their targets.

They slammed into their respective magma chunks, thoughtfully hardened beforehand by the conscientious Gyarados, and struck them with full-power Metal Claws and Rock Smashes, causing the magma chunks to crack severely and begin to crumble away. They fell freely away from the monster as bits of broken magma fell down around them, plummeting towards the lava flow without fear, confident that Gyarados and Charla would catch them…and so they did.

Infernatrice's right wing resumed function, but too late to do any good. The beast screeched in alarm as it felt itself elongating, the support chunks which held the upper and lower parts of his body together destroyed, causing the liquid rock which connected the two to lose coagulation and begin to come apart. Desperately, he tried to hold his body together with his single arm, but it was not enough, and his legs and lower body slipped through his claws along with a great deal of lava and fell to the bottom of the chamber, splashing down in the lava river and sinking beneath its depths.

Infernatrice rose up quite close to the ceiling for a moment, his wings flapping too hard and overcompensating for his lack of a heavy lower body. They quickly corrected themselves though, and the torso, head, and left arm of the evil firebird descended to the middle of the tunnel, red eyes burning with fury behind his black rock sunglasses. Shrieking with rage, he released an enormous plume of fire, which the flyers easily managed to swerve around. "I think we made him angry," Moltres quipped.

"Well, he'll be much more than that when we're through with him," Charla promised.

"Yes…" Charmeleon agreed with a nod. "He'll be dust, or even less."

Gyarados licked his lips. "Hey guys…I need some more water. Keep going, we'll catch up after I refuel, okay?"

They nodded. "Okay. Don't take too long, though, we won't be able to defeat him without you."

"Heh, I know. Come on, Combusken." The Atrocious sea serpent slithered towards a nearby steam pipe while the others continued in pursuit of the damaged Infernatrice. Over half his body mass was gone, it was time to whittle down the rest!

…

As Aerodactyl and Zapdos engaged the rejuvenated Leviathan (i.e., flew screaming for their lives, barely managing to dodge the terrifying serpent's lunges and breath attacks) the pair of Ho-Oh ex-lovers tumbled away from the fight, locked beak and talon in their own deadly struggle for survival.

Lady Ho-Oh wrapped her wings tightly around her former mate's body, closing her beak on his neck and trying to rip it off as she tore at his chest with her claws. Understandably unhappy with this, the mighty phoenix retaliated by using Swift at close range, causing both of their bodies to be damaged heavily by glowing explosive stars, but at least it shoved the bitch off of him. As she tumbled back, dazed, he quickly healed himself with Recover and charged forwards with an Ancientpower, his body glowing with cryptic lines of energy.

The 'lady' regained her senses and flapped her wings, sending out a Gust which pushed Ho-Oh back and made him fumble a moment, long enough for the female to launch a Thunder attack at him, causing him to convulse and roar in pain as the electricity coursed through him. His eyes flashed through the pain though, and with a flap of his wings he dispelled the electricity and fired a supercharged Solar Beam at her, powered up to the extreme by the radiant light which made up this strange dimension. The female retaliated with her own Solar Beam, and the two light beams collided and exploded, violently, flinging both of them away into the void.

Ho-Oh smashed into a torture cage, causing the soul inside to wail in pain, but the angelic figure torturing said soul did not seem bothered by the phoenix's presence. Getting an idea, Ho-Oh concentrated on his…well, he would never actually say _friendship_, but respect for his trainer, as well as his…somewhat confused and conflicted feelings for his daughter. Doing so caused a faint and somewhat unstable-looking pink heart to form in front of him and launch at the female Ho-Oh who had also stopped her tumble by crashing into a torture cage and was winging back towards him. It wasn't the strongest of Return attacks (the one Latias had used on Dark Latios was much, MUCH stronger thanks to her clear love for her friends and those dear to her), but it was more of a Return than the bitch-phoenix could ever conceive, seeing as she had no friends and it was debatable whether she was even capable of such a thing as affection anymore, after all her years of bitterness and insanity.

The heart-shaped energy burst smashed into female Ho-Oh and exploded, causing her to cry in pain as she was bombarded with the unfamiliar emotions of caring for any individual other than herself, confusing and damaging her body and already heavily wounded mind. She thrashed about in pain, and Ho-Oh took that opportunity to fling a few more Returns her way, pleased at the damage he was inflicting on his ex. When the power of his 'love' overwhelmed her weak mind, causing her to float in space in a daze, the phoenix charged forward, slamming into her with Ancientpower and snapping her out of her trance in pain.

Enraged that he had dared to damage her, Lady Ho-Oh hit him with another Thunderbolt, causing him to cry out in pain, but then she too cried out as the Future Sight the male had summoned the first time she had hit him with a Thunderbolt struck, slamming into her back and exploding, flinging her right into the male's beak.

His jaws clamped on her neck like a vice and started gnawing, much as she had done to him before. She screeched and buffeted him with her wings, but he struck them with his own and lashed at her with his claws. Angrily, she unleashed another Thunderbolt…which was rather foolish, since her target was touching her, so she got hit by her own electroshock. Both birds shrieked and writhed in pain as the voltage convulsed through them, causing them to release each other and drift away, static crackling across their feathers.

The male Ho-Oh, struggling against pain and paralysis, managed to summon the power of Façade, launching an energy double of himself at his first ex-mate and blasting her away, shrieking, through the void. Gasping, he managed to do away with his own pain with Recover, and launched himself anew at the female, who by now was more than ready for him. Enraged that he had attacked her yet again, the female Ho-Oh started beating her wings hard, summoning the gale force winds of Whirlwind. The torture cages started rattling as powerful forces began circulating through the void, churning about as they came together before Lady Ho-Oh to form a tremendous twister of epic proportions. Ho-Oh countered this by forming his own Whirlwind, in moments creating one just as large as the female's, but spinning in a different direction.

The two twisters collided, releasing powerful winds which buffeted the two phoenixes about as they tore at each other, ripping each other to shreds as their rotations countered one another. However, instead of calming down and eventually dissipating, as should usually happen when two opposite-rotation winds collided, something else happened: out of nowhere, a hole in space, a gaping wound in this shining place appeared, and a new wind formed; one which began to suck everything nearby into its maw.

The female Ho-Oh shrieked and beat her wings frantically, trying to pull free of the hole's grasp as she and the male were pulled inexorably towards it. Only a few yards away from her, the male did the same, fighting as hard as he could not to fall through that hole, knowing he still had friends and _another_ ex-wife to defeat (as well as not wanting to get anywhere near his first ex-wife).

However, as both phoenixes quickly found out, neither of them were going to escape. It was only then that the angelic beings seemed to take notice of them and drifted away from their prisoners, giving them a brief respite from their agonizing tortures as they approached the phoenixes, unaffected by the vacuum formed by the hole.

The radiant beings glowed even brighter than before and launched thousands of needles of light into the eyes and extremities of the two birds. They cried out in pain and fell back, their strength gone, and together they disappeared into the all-consuming dimensional tear.

…

After the nigh-disastrous board game, the battling robots had moved on to the next round of fighting…using cards. Lu-Gi-Oh cards, to be precise.

"I play two face-down cards and summon the Adorable Mewgle in defense mode!" Emperor Mewgle announced, gesturing dramatically and causing a pair of giant face-down holographic cards to appear in the empty space before him, while a face-up card with a sitting Mewgle with cute eyes appeared next to the two.

In the Gigabot's cockpit, Mudkip smirked as the rest of her team advised her on what to do with her current hand of cards. "Since it's pretty obvious that your face-downs are a trap, spell, or both, I play the spell card Sonic Boom!" A card appeared on the field with an image of a Yanma beating its wings and sending out sonic waves on it. "This card allows me to destroy any non-monster cards on the field instantly, at the cost of 100 life points!" A high-pitched screech could be heard as numerous giant sonic waves were emitted by the Yanma card, causing Mewgle to grimace as his two face-down cards shattered, and a counter above the Gigabot's head went down from 8000 to 7900. The Sonic Boom card then exploded, its job done.

Emperor Mewgle grinned maniacally. "Haha, but you've played right into my hands!" He held up the two cards the Sonic Boom had just destroyed in his hand, one of which showed a pile of treasure with a geek with a crown cackling maniacally in the background while the other showed a godlike figure gesturing dramatically with a finger as a world formed underneath it. "By destroying my Dungeon Master's Gift spell card, you've activated its special effect, allowing me to draw cards from my deck until my hand is full. And by destroying my trap card, Deus Ex Machina, you automatically lose all your life points!" The godlike card in his hand glowed and fired a crimson beam of destruction at the Gigabot.

"What! That's not fair!" screamed an indignant Onix.

"Si, such a card cannot exist!" Lombre protested.

"It can here, and with it you're done!" Mewgle crowed triumphantly.

Mudkip smirked. "You'd be right…if it weren't for the power of my face-down card, which I now activate: Magic Mirror!" A face-down card on the Gigabot's side of the field flipped up, revealing a picture of a large magic mirror. The red beam of destruction struck said mirror, and got absorbed into its depths. "This card allows me to deflect the effects of any special ability a trap, spell or monster sends at me, and redirect it right back to you! In this case, the deflected effect is Deus Ex Machina, which means you lose the duel!" The mirror glowed bright red, and fired the beam of destruction right back at Mewgle.

"Ah, that would be the case were it not for the special effect of my defense monster, Adorable Mewgle!" The Mewgle on the field's eyes glowed, and the beam of destruction stopped in its tracks and disintegrated. "Adorable Mewgle, being a reflection of myself, has the power to protect me from the negative effects of any cards that use a totally cheap power to do lots of damage!"

"Aw man…I thought we had him!" the younger Jigglypuff complained.

"No matter…it's still my turn!" announced Mudkip. She listened to her teammates for a moment, nodded, and proceeded. "I play one face-down card and summon the Rock and Roll KISS in attack mode!" One face-down card appeared on her field, along with the flashy entrance of a freaky-looking rock and roll star with greasy black hair and a face done up in white and black makeup, sticking his tongue out at everyone. "Go, my KISS, and destroy the Adorable Mewgle!" The hideous creature squealed insanely and leaped forward, driving a fist through the defense monster's forehead and causing it to explode. Of course, since it was in defense mode, no damage was done to Emperor Mewgle's life points.

"No matter, I'll just-" the emperor started as he drew the cards awared him by his Dungeon Master's Gift card.

"Not so fast! Now that KISS has destroyed a monster, his special ability comes into play! KISS, go and give him the KISS of Death!" Mudkip commanded.

KISS squealed and pounced at Emperor Mewgle, causing the robot's eye to widen in terror. "Wh-what-" He was silenced as the ugly creature kissed him right on the lips, sticking its tongue in his mouth. "GUAAAAGHHH!" The life point counter over his head went from 8000 to 6000 in a flash. Its job done, KISS quickly retreated to its side of the field, leaving Mewgle spitting and hacking wildly, trying to remove the disgusting feeling of KISS's tongue from his mouth. "Ugh…that was…that was just sick!"

"Hey, at least be glad she didn't use the Michael Jackson card," Onix said.

His drums nodded. "Mmhmm, that one's been outlawed in almost every region in the world that plays Lu-Gi-Oh!" agreed Forretress.

"Because it's special ability was twisted and wrong," added Iron Shell.

"So _very_ wrong!" added Metal Sound.

"Hmmph…no matter!" Mewgle declared, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "Let's see how you like this! I summon Dungeon Master's Minion in attack mode!" An ugly and stupid-looking ogre/orc/goblin/troll thing with a big club appeared on Mewgle's side of the field. "I then play a spell card! Go, Hundred-sided Dice!"

"What's that do?" asked a puzzled Lee.

Lombre shook his head. "It is _el más peligroso_ card indeed! It is a die with _ciento_ sides, each of which is numbered. When the dice is rolled, whichever number comes up on top activates a powerful effect! There is no telling what it will be, or who it will strike, until it is rolled!"

"And to keep my life points safe, just in case the dice unleashes a nasty effect on myself, I play another Adorable Mewgle in defense mode, and throw down one face-down card just in case!" Emperor Mewgle declared. "Go, Hundred-sided Dice! Roll and decide our fate!"

A big, almost spherical die with a hundred faceted sides fell from above, landing on the field and bouncing a few times from impact as it rolled about, the many digits on its sides flashing as they spun past. The two robots stared at the dice in anticipation, tense as they awaited the outcome of this roll.

Finally, the dice slowed down and came to a stop, with the facet for the number 100 on top. "Haha, perfect!" Mewgle cried. "Now I can multiply the attack points of any monster on my side of the field by a hundred! And I choose…Dungeon Master's Minion!" The Minion bellowed and flexed its muscles as a greenish aura surrounded it and its attack points went from 1800 to a whopping 180,000!

"HOLY SHIT!" Buzz screamed.

"That's more than enough to wipe us out in one attack!" said a horrified Geodude.

"That's the idea!" Mewgle cackled. "Go, my Minion! Destroy that KISS of theirs and annihilate them utterly!" The Minion hollered a battle cry as it leaped into the air, raising its club in preparation for the lethal blow.

"Not so fast! I activate my face-down card: Otherworld!" Mudkip cried, causing the hidden card on her field to flip up and reveal a swirling vortex. "This allows me to send the target of one attack to another dimension for two turns…meaning my KISS shall escape unharmed!" The air around the rock star KISS warped and suddenly, the freak vanished. The Minion's awesome club smash struck the 'ground', shaking the universe but doing no damage to the Gigabot whatsoever.

"Grr…fine, but next turn you're toast!" Mewgle growled.

Mudkip drew a card and smirked when she saw what was on it. "You think so, do you? I disagree…especially with this card! I play the spell Boy Band!"

Mewgle gasped. "No…not that card!"

Mudkip nodded, playing a card that showed several teenage stars playing on a stage before an adoring crowd. "Yes, this card! It allows me to automatically destroy any monster whose attack points exceed 2000 at the cost of half my life-points!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Mewgle howled as Dungeon Master's Minion exploded and the Gigabot's life points went down to 3950.

"And I'm not done! I now play Mosh Pit, which allows me to draw three more cards as long as I discard one of the ones from my current hand!" She did so, having Geodude place one card into the 'discard' slot on the large and bulky card-holding device on the Gigabot's arm, then pulling out three new cards. "Now I play one face-down card and summon Rock and Roll King and Rock and Roll Queen in attack mode!" A pair of punkish men with numerous piercings, one of whom looked manly and the other of which was wearing a girlish wig, lipstick, and a bra appeared on the field. "As long as they are both on the field at the same time, each of their attack points increases by 200! Also, they boost the attack points of any monster with 'Rock and Roll' in its name, so that's another 200 points, giving them a total of 400 extra points!" Rock and Roll King's attack points rose to 1800, while Rock and Roll Queen's grew to 1500. "And to give them even MORE power…I play the spell card Rock and Roll Axe!" An electric guitar fell from the sky and was caught in Rock and Roll King's hands. "This boosts my King's attack power by 500, giving him a total of 2300 points!" The Mud Fish Pokemon smirked. "Now, Rock and Roll Queen, attack and destroy that Adorable Mewgle!" The drag queen did so, smashing the cute monster with a high-heeled kick. "And Rock and Roll King, attack Mewgle directly!"

Mewgle sweatdropped. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

It did. Rock and Roll King smashed his electric guitar on the emperor's head, causing it (the guitar, not the head, sad to say) to explode, doing 2300 damage to Emperor Mewgle, reducing his life points to 3700. "Ugh…damn, I hate rock and roll! My own music is much better!"

"Heh, that's a matter of opinion," said the elder Jigglypuff.

"No, it's a reality!" Mewgle cried as his face-down card flipped up, showing the same crowned geek from before cackling insanely in a red-tinted sky as a giant and invincible Tarrasque loomed over a group of puny, helpless adventurers. "By destroying both my monsters, you've activated my trap card, Dungeon Master's Secret Weapon! This allows me to draw any high-level monster from my deck and summon it straight to the field! And the monster I choose is…One-Winged Angel! You're not the only one who has song-based cards, you know!"

As the theme song Mewgle 'appropriated' for himself played, a handsome naked silver-haired bishounen with closed eyes, a ridiculously long sword (clearly compensating for something, as his nudity demonstrated) and a single white wing growing from his back descended from the heavens, glowing radiantly. "Uh oh…what's this card do?" asked a concerned younger Jigglypuff.

"_Muy malo_ things!" Lombre cried in horror. "That card inflicts damage to us equal to the damage inflicted to Mewgle throughout the duel!"

"In this case, that's…uh…carry the five…5000 points!" Geodude cried.

"4300," Lombre corrected.

Geodude sweatdropped. "Oh, right. I've never been good at math…"

"It's all over for you now!" Mewgle cried triumphantly. "My One-Winged Angel will end this duel! KILL THEM!"

Silently, the angel raised its very long sword in both hands and charged towards the Gigabot, preparing to drive its blade through the mecha's heart and destroy it. "Oh no…is this it!" Jigglypuff squeaked in terror.

"I don't wanna die!" her younger protégé cried.

"We're not dying just yet," Mudkip promised her friends. "Not while I have…THIS!" Her face-down card flipped up, revealing a troop of heavily armed and armored soldiers blasting away at an alien horde. "I sacrifice 3000 life points to activate the spell card Blow Me Away! When this card is put in play, it will wipe out both duelist's life points instantly so that both lose, unless one of us has removed at least one monster from play!"

Mewgle smirked. "Oh, so you'll settle for a draw instead of all-out defeat? Fine with me. Then we can go to the next round! I think we'll play a round of Death Death Revolution. That sounds fun, don't you think?"

"Heheheheh…who said anything about a draw?" Mudkip said with a grin.

Mewgle blinked in confusion. "Huh? But you haven't removed any monsters from play!"

The Pokerocker's manager chuckled. "Oh, haven't I? What about Rock and Roll KISS? I don't see him anywhere, do you? And he's most certainly not in my graveyard or my deck…where could he be?"

"Huh? Well, he's in that other dimension you sent him to using Otherworld-" Mewgle stopped. His eye bulged in it socket. "Oh no. NO! NOOOOOOOOO!"

"That's right!" Mudkip cheered. "Since he's been sent to another dimension, even if it's only for a couple of turns, it counts as being removed from play! Which means that I'll be safe…and your life points go right to zero!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mewgle howled as a giant mechanical ring appeared above his head and fired a tremendous pillar of green energy down at him, enveloping him and causing his life points to instantly drop to zero. Its job done, the ring shattered, and Mewgle fell to his knees, gasping as all the cards in their hands, on the field, and in their decks vanished. "Gack…I…I…lost!"

"Yeah…big time!" cheered Onix, beating a rhythm on his drums. "Great game, Mudkip!"

"Si, a _magnifico_ performance!" said Lombre, well pleased. "I take my hat off to you, senorita!" And so he did.

Mudkip blushed, causing her cheek spikes to glow as she received accolades from the whole team. "Awww...Couldn't have done it without you guys…"

"This…this isn't over!" Mewgle said angrily, getting back to his feet. "I'm getting tired of these stupid games! Let's finish this!" He clenched his fists, causing reality to warp as he changed the rules of this universe once again, causing their life point meters to change into many-colored health gauges, as the Gigabot gained several weapons counters. "We're back at the beginning…and this time, I'M GONNA KILL YOU LOSERS!"

They sweatdropped. "Wow, he's a sore loser isn't he?" murmured the younger Jigglypuff.

"No problem…we've shown we can beat him! Let's finish this battle; it's gone on way too long!" said Onix.

"Si, it is time to end this!" agreed Lombre, swishing his sword and causing it to reappear in the Gigabot's hand.

"Power levels at maximum…" said Buzz.

"All systems are go!" chirped the older Jigglypuff.

"Target locked…Emperor Mewgle! Prepare to be defeated once again by the POWER OF MUSIC!" Mudkip cried as the Gigabot charged into battle, ready to finish this long drawn-out battle once and for all.

…

"Ha!" El Gato dashed forward, slicing a dozen Chimecho to bits with a single swipe.

"Yah!" Pikachu used Quick Attack to do the same, only he took out TWO dozen, although he used many swipes.

"Rah!" Sadic froze the last bunch of Chimecho and shattered them with her claws. "There! That's the last of them!"

El Gato came to a halt, panting and leaning on his sword. "Phew! That was quite a battle!"

"More an endurance match than anything else, really…" Pikachu commented, wiping some slime off his face. "But yeah, that took a while. But we're through now, right?"

Sadic nodded. "Right…no way that guy's coming back anytime soon!" And she seemed to be correct; as the goo splattered everywhere was already starting to disappear. "So…now what?"

"We find a way out of here, of course," El Gato said reasonably. "There has to be some way."

Pikachu nodded. "Yeah. Chimecho and Meowth's yelling caused one end of the canyon to collapse before, but the other end should still be open. Let's get Wobbuffet and move out. We've been in the cold too long…let's see if we can't find somewhere warmer, okay?"

The weary trio started back up the slope towards the blue blob Wobbuffet, who was already plodding his way down towards them, his sister gently cradled in one arm, and Milotic's soul in the other. "Hey guys! Nice work you did out there!"

"Heh…thanks," Sadic chuckled as the group came together. "Wouldn't have minded getting something to eat out of all that, though…all this fighting's got me hungry."

El Gato had a sheepish look on his face as his stomach grumbled. "Si…one cannot fight on an empty stomach. But I doubt there is any _alimento _to be found here."

Sadic glanced at the frozen figures in the canyon walls and grimaced. "Hmm…I'd suggest we try getting some of those guys out and putting an end to their suffering…but those shiny things seem to incinerate any who get out of the walls. Don't suppose we could eat them?"  
Pikachu's hairs rose as the icy cold got several degrees warmer all of a sudden and glanced up to see one of the 'shiny things' as it passed by several feet above them, spreading its warmth as it flew. "No…they look like they're made of pure energy or something…but they do seem to radiate heat, and they've gotta come from somewhere. Maybe if we follow them, we can find a way out?"

"And if we don't, at least we'll be warm," Wobbuffet reasoned. "My sister's in bad enough shape as is…" He looked at her worriedly. "I don't want her to freeze to death on top of everything else."

Agreeing with this, the foursome started down the slope after the shiny thing. However, they had only gotten a few steps when the ground began to shake underneath their feet.

Pikachu groaned. "Great, now what? An earthquake, on top of everything else?"

Sadic frowned. "No, wait…this doesn't feel like an earthquake or a glacial shift, I've been in quite a few back where I grew up…this feels…different."

The ice around them erupted as several flailing, banner-shaped tentacles ripped out of the ground, flailing wildly as a very familiar "CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" resonated from beneath their feet as the shaking got even worse.

Their faces paled. "Oh come ON…" Pikachu said in disbelief.

"So that's where all the slime got to when those things splattered against my shields or when you guys ripped them apart!" Wobbuffet realized. "It must have seeped into the ground and come together or something…forming into the big Chimecho again!"

This was proven to be the case as the ground exploded and the blue gelatinous organ-filled mass of the giant Chimecho formed around them and closed in, consuming them whole.

Or that's what it would have done if Wobbuffet hadn't activated his crystal just in time and formed a large bubble-shaped force field around the terrified group of heroes, giving them a sphere of protection within the disgusting innards of the mutant Chimecho. Organs that defied logic and description twisted around them, and the beast's brain throbbed and pulsed just above them. It had been grotesque to see from without, but viewing it from the inside was almost too much for the weary warriors.

Chimecho's big yellow eyes rolled back in their sockets to peer inwards at the group huddled in his bowels. "CHIIIIIIIIII!" His voice seemed much louder from the inside and reverberated through his semiliquid mass, hurting the ears of the poor souls trapped within him.

"Great," Pikachu said dully. "What do we do now?"

"Attack?" El Gato suggested. "A strike from within at his _el más vulnerable_ is fatal to almost any creature."

"Yeah, and how're we gonna do that without leaving this shield or harming ourselves?" Sadic asked reasonably. "If I freeze him, we'll be trapped inside him. If Pikachu zaps him, I doubt it'll kill the guy, since he already tried zapping this thing's innards by conducting electricity through its eyeball. And if you stick your sword out there to stab him…well, how much you wanna bet there are all sorts of nasty flesh-eating acids and bacteria floating about right outside this barrier?"

El Gato grimaced. "You make a good point, senora…"

"Don't worry," Wobbuffet assured his friends, carefully putting his sister and Milotic's soul on the bottom of his bubble. "Just give me a second to concentrate, and I can expand and strengthen the bubble to blow Chimecho to pieces from the inside."

Sadic shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

"Okay, everyone be quiet for a second, I need to concentrate." Wobbuffet raised his crystal to eye level and started concentrating on it. The jewel, already glowing as it maintained the shield bubble, began to grow brighter and brighter. Awed, the three blade masters gazed upon the jewel as it became more radiant…

And so did not notice Wynaut's head slowly turning to face her big brother, or see her jaw yawning wider than usual, until it was far, far too late.

Quicker than even Sadic's reflexes could have detected, a thick, black, twisted tentacle shot out of Wynaut's mouth and drove itself through her brother's body, causing him to gasp and shudder in pain as it tore out through his back, barbs at the end shooting out and imbedding themselves in the blue blob's hide to keep it from being removed.

Wobbuffet's mouth gaped open in disbelief. "S-sis…" He trembled and collapsed, the crystal slipping from his arm flap and hitting the ground, vanishing the instant it lost contact with the Patient Pokemon's hand.

Two things happened in that instance. The first was that Pikachu and El Gato immediately decapitated the virus-infected Wynaut and severed the tentacle she had rammed through her brother's form. The second was that the shield bubble, now without any means of sustaining itself, collapsed, and the blue and filthy mass of Chimecho rushed in on them in its fervent eagerness to consume them all.

…

"Sisterrrrr…" Dark Latios whispered as he quietly floated through the streets of his version of Alto Mare. "Where arrrre you? Are you…here?" He psychically caved a wall in, crushing the inhabitants of the building inside and causing more blood to spurt from the living stones that made up almost everything in the city. "No…are you…here?" He shot an Ice Beam at a branch of the blood canal, freezing it and the aquatic Pokemon inside. "No…are you…HERE!" He thrust his claws through the head of a nearby zombie, causing its cranium to explode and splatter blood and brains everywhere. "No? Oh well…no matter." He licked the blood off his claws, and savaged the body, ripping and tearing at it and shoving whole limbs into his mouth, reveling in the bloodshed as he mangled the body piece by piece. "Heheheheh…I know you're here somewhere, Latias. Why don't you come out? I only want to make you mine, body and soul, forever…hahahahaha!"

Latias, who had taken on the guise of an unassuming male zombie Wurmple to cloak her aura from her 'brother's' mind, shut her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to keep from panicking and hyperventilating at Dark Latios' closeness. She was still feeling terrified and shocked from what had happened between them earlier, and was certain that she was in no condition at that moment to fight him until her nerves settled down and she stopped feeling so disgusted from how close he had come to…

She clamped down on that thought. She hadn't reacted nearly this badly when he had attempted to psychically rape her soul, why should she feel so frightened by the near-rape of her body? There were worse things. Perhaps it was because of her human upbringing in this lifetime…that seemed to have heightened a lot of things her instincts and memories from her life as a dragon queen wouldn't have paid as much attention to. Still, she was sure that if she took a few more moments to calm down, and her 'brother' remained unaware of her location for another minute or two; she'd be able to look him in the eye and fight him once again. She just needed to…

She paused, as did Dark Latios, looking up from his mauling as both sensed something, some strange disturbance.

A hole in the sky tore open, some sort of portal, high above the city half a kilometer away. Dark Latios' eyes glazed over for a moment…and then he got the most horrific grin on his face, nearly as hideous as the one he wore when he had almost claimed her before. "What is this? Can it be?" He chuckled long and low in delight. "It seems my father is sending me a gift…a couple of new toys to play with!"

Latias barely stifled a gasp as a pair of colorful phoenixes fell out of the portal and crashed down in one of the dark city's plazas, causing the ground to shake slightly from their impact. _Oh no…_ she thought to herself. _Father!_

She started as she noticed Dark Latios take to the air and rapidly fly towards where the two Ho-Ohs had landed. She had to stop him! It was all she could do to counter the evil dragon, she knew that her father didn't stand a chance, certainly not with that female (Whom Latias was certain was here as a traitor, what other reason would there be for her presence in this place after she had cowardly fled earlier, or the distinct claw and beak wounds she saw on her father's body as he fell using her enhanced vision?) there to make things even worse! Shedding her false form, she quickly gave pursuit, not intending to let the psychotic Latios duplicate anywhere near her father!

He was three-quarters of the way there by the time she caught up to him, firing an Ice Beam at him from behind in an attempt to literally freeze him in his tracks. The dark dragon detected her immediately and flipped upside-down, causing the beam to pass right under his back. "Sister!" he cried gleefully. "I knew this would draw you out!"

"Stay away from my father!" she shouted angrily, lashing out with her dragonform Dragonbreath.

Dark Latios dissipated it with Confusion, grinning at her. "But he's my father too, sister…don't I deserve to see him?"

"I thought your father was Deoxys," said Latias, somewhat surprised.

Dark Latios smirked. "Oh, he is. But so is Lord Ho-Oh. You have more than one father, don't you? Since we're siblings, is there any reason I shouldn't as well?"

"You're NOT my brother!" she screamed, firing a bigger Dragonbreath at Dark Latios.

He charged right through it, ignoring how it burned the flesh off his bones as he rocketed out the other side and slammed into her, knocking her back. "Deny it as you will, sister, you cannot change the truth…" He fired an Ice Beam at her, freezing her solid before she could recover. "Now just cool off, will you? You're off the hook for the time being…there are a few things I wish to try on those parrots to see if they'll be effective on you as well. It's more fun that way!"

The ice block exploded from within as Latias shattered it with Psychic, sending jagged shrapnel flying in all directions. A larger piece punched through Dark Latios' right eye and emerged from the back of his head in a shower of gore. "Not MY kind of fun!"

"I know," Dark Latios said as his eye and head mended itself. "We'll need to work on that." He hit her with Ice Beam again before she could defend herself, freezing her again.

Latias growled as the ice encased her and prepared to shatter it again when Dark Latios' voice floated into her head as the Dark Dragon loomed over her frozen form. "Yes, I know I'm using the same trick again. But I can add onto it, can't I? Maybe you should consider doing the same."

A sharp pain shot through Latias' chest as she felt his claws dig into her soul. Had her lungs not been frozen, she would have cried out in pain as his disease-ridden talons tore her spirit from her body, leaving her confused and disoriented for a moment before she saw that she had left her corporeal being and was now floating through space, much as she did when using astral projection (another technique from her past life she now remembered) only this had been involuntary and much more painful than usual.

Dark Latios turned his head to glance at her spirit, grinning. "I learned this trick from Father. Clever, don't you think?" He winked slyly. "I can't permanently separate your soul but I can at least keep you from interfering with the show. As a spirit, there's very little you can do on the physical plane. I'm the only one around here sensitive enough to hear you speak, so you'll be unable to warn your father that I'm coming."

She shook with rage, frustrated more than anything else by the fact that she couldn't rip that smile off the bastard's face because her arms had no substance. "You…"

"Ah, but I've taken too long. My toys are waiting. Come along, sister." He flew down towards the plaza, psychically towing her frozen shell behind him. Filled with impotent fury, there was nothing she could do but follow him and hope she could get back into her body and stop Dark Latios before he could kill her father.

As they approached, the dragons saw the female Ho-Oh deliver a sharp taloned kick to her former mate, knocking him off of her, and scuttled over to Dark Latios when she saw him land in the plaza. Her breaths were heavy and labored as she spoke, clearly tired from her constant fighting with the male phoenix. "You, bastard child, what are we doing here?"

Dark Latios scoffed at her comment. "Father decided that you needed help and asked me to finish up that which you are obviously too weak to do." A smirk crossed his face. Latias glared at him, disgusted he found this amusing.

"Too weak!" the female shrieked. "Who do you think I am? I could incinerate you in an instant!"

The Ho-Oh of Orre groaned and got back to his feet. He stopped and stared in horror when he saw the frozen body floating behind Dark Latios. "No…Latias!" He took a step forward, stumbled from his injuries, and stared weakly at his daughter's lifeless 'corpse'. "My daughter… I was just starting to learn what being a father meant, and now… I'm sorry." A tear formed under his left eye and rolled down his cheek.

"Father…" Latias said weakly. "I'm not dead! If only I could talk to him…" She started, getting an idea. Since Ho-Oh wasn't psychic or sensitive like a medium was to spirits, as a corporeal being he was still subject to possession…

Meanwhile, Dark Latios delivered a stinging blow to the female Ho-Oh, silencing her. "If you were strong enough to kill him, you would have done so by now! Since you failed, it is time for me to step in!" Giving the rainbow phoenix a sharp look, he floated over to Latias' father and placed a claw on his shoulder in a gesture of mock sympathy. "Yes, you failed her yet again as a father. She's dead, due to your weakness. Now you've destroyed whatever lingering dreams you might have had of having a family because you could not save her. And the world will suffer for it."

Unaware of whom was speaking to him, the male Ho-Oh shook his head miserably. "What have I done? If I hadn't abandoned her and her mother, this would never have happened…I'm a terrible father and male…"

Dark Latios leaned over and, with a smirk, whispered in his ear as he psychically shoved Latias' spirit away before she could possess her father's body, "Father thinks so too. Don't worry; you'll be joining her soon."

Shock flew across the bird's face as he turned to face the monster, only then realizing whose presence he was in. His breath stopped as the dark dragon's claws wrapped around his throat, pinching his throat closed. Gasping for air, he stared in disbelief into Dark Latios' red eyes as he was strangled…and a horrifying realization struck him. "No…my…son…what has happened…to you…"

Dark Latios smirked. "You abandoned me, just as you abandoned my mother. And look what has become of me. Once again, the responsibility for the fate of your children falls on you, O failure of a father!" Dark Latios cackled and drove his other claw into the bird's back, using his psychic powers to raise Ho-Oh into the air. "It's clear you don't have the backbone of a true male, father…so I hope you don't mind if I take yours, seeing as you have no need of it!" Wrapping filthy talons around the bird's spine, he jerked the shaft loose from its fleshy holdings with a single yank, ripping it out of the phoenix's back.

Ho-Oh screamed in pain and went limp, almost killed from the shock. Dark Latios scoffed and turned to the female. "You couldn't do that? Disappointing, that was too easy to even be fun." He thrust the spine back in and forced it to heal, grinning as he felt consciousness reluctantly returning to the bird. "Sorry about that, father. Did it hurt? I meant for it to take longer." He released the phoenix, letting him fall to the ground in a writhing mass of agony.

Latias watched in horror. She rushed towards her frozen body, which was lying on the ground now that Dark Latios was busy…and found herself repelled when she tried to reenter herself. The evil dragon had charged the ice with Dark-type energy to keep her astral form from passing through it, the bastard! She looked around frantically, trying to think of some other way to save her father. Knowing this would probably hurt, she again attempted to possess her father…only to be knocked away once more by a psychic shove from Dark Latios, who didn't want her messing up his fun.

"Son of a…bitch," Ho-Oh rasped in pain, his voice choked with agony. "You think… I'm just going to sit here and…take it?" He struggled to get back up.

"You're right. My mother was a bitch." Dark Latios struck quickly, plunging his claws through the top of Ho-Oh's skull, digging them into his brain. The bird's body shook again and he collapsed into a twisted pile. Dark Latios chuckled and turned to the female Ho-Oh. "How pathetic. The fact that you couldn't kill him on your own proves just how weak you really are."

The Ho-Oh of Johto watched on in morbid silence. Despite the fact that they were allies, Dark Latios' power scared her. She even failed to notice the stream of pasty white feces running down her back legs, staining her rainbow tail feathers.

Dark Latios grinned and forced the corpse back to life, mending the mutilated brain. "How are you feeling, father? Have you been punished enough yet?" He turned Ho-Oh over, slammed his claws into the bird's crotch, ripped off the testicles, and shoved them into his mouth, laughing while he chewed on them as the male Ho-Oh screamed shrilly, his voice breaking, testosterone and sperm squeezing from the dark dragon's jaws with every bite.

Certain the end was near for her father, Latias tried to possess the female Ho-Oh…only to find herself repelled again! The bitch's madness and loathing for Psychic-types was so ingrained that it actually made her mind nearly impossible to penetrate as a weak astral shade! Were she in her body and possessing all her powers, she could have psychically torn the bird's mind apart with a single thought, but like this there was nothing she could do!

Her father was doomed.

"Kill me…" the once-proud phoenix begged, reduced to a quivering heap by the torture. "Please…kill me…make it stop, I beg of you…"

Dark Latios chuckled. "Of course father, anything to oblige you!" He flipped Ho-Oh back over, eliciting another cry of pain, and flung himself onto the bird's back, seizing hold of his wings. "This may hurt a bit. Feel free to scream." With a cackle of glee, he ripped the wings loose and tossed them casually to the side as copious amounts of blood spurted into the air from the open stumps, splattering on the female phoenix's face and causing her to stumble back, screeching in panic.

Ho-Oh screamed in agony until a claw from Dark Latios forced his mouth shut, severing his tongue in half as his own beak clamped shut over it. "Don't worry father, just a little longer and your soul will be released from this frail shell…where it will be free to be trapped forever in the Hell that is home to my father and I, of which our souls are but a reflection, where you will suffer for all eternity and add your screams to the wondrous chorus of souls which sing Hell's anthem throughout infinity!"

Forming a long steel beam out of air molecules much as Latias had created the lightning rod earlier, Deoxys' spawn bent the bird's head back and forced it down his throat until, with a sickening splatter, it emerged from the other end. The phoenix would have screamed, except that his vocal cords had been severed when the beam was thrust down his throat. If Latias weren't a floating astral spirit, she would have vomited. She would have closed her eyes too, but seeing as how she didn't have a stomach, mouth, or eyes in her current state, there was absolutely nothing she could do but watch helplessly as Dark Latios continued his abuse.

Pleased with his actions, Dark Latios turned gleefully to the female Ho-Oh. "What do you think? It's a new dish; I believe I will call it the Ho-Oh kabob! But fowl never tastes its best when left uncooked…" Levitating the skewered Ho-Oh into the air, Dark Latios spat black Dragonbreath at the ground, creating a crackling bonfire of midnight-hued flames. After sticking a claw in it to test its heat, he nodded in satisfaction and telekinetically balanced the bird over the top of it. "Rotisserie fried Ho-Oh! This should be delightful." He laughed maniacally and gave the stick a spin, causing it to slowly begin to rotate over the fire. He smiled at the female and leaned over to the male's ear as it slowly rotated by. "Enjoying the heat? I thought I'd keep you alive to experience it. Thoughtful of me, wouldn't you say?" Ho-Oh whimpered, his eyes watering pathetically. Dark Latios chuckled and patted the rotating bird on the side, then floated over to the female Ho-Oh.

Latias continued to stare at the prostrate form of her father, feeling a deep sense of loss and despair. _I've lost another one…_ she realized. This would be the second father she had lost to Deoxys. And just like before, there was nothing she could do about it.

The 'Lady' stepped back in fear as the dark dragon approached. "You're a monster…" she whispered. She shook her head clear and quickly resumed her usual, haughty attitude, which was of course just a mask to hide how much Dark Latios made her skin crawl. As a psychic, he saw right through it, but said nothing. "Good thing you're on our side. Serves that pathetic excuse for a male right for everything he's done. Burning for eternity is a fate fitting for him."

Dark Latios chuckled. "Burning for eternity? How silly, he's a phoenix just like you, that's no fate for him! The second he's done, I'm going to devour him. I might even give part of him to my beloved sister."

Ho-Oh blinked in confusion. "What? Your sister? You mean Latias? Isn't she dead?"

He shook his head. "No, merely misplaced. I didn't want her interfering, so I temporarily separated her soul from her body so that she would be forced to watch everything I did to her father, and yet be unable to do anything about it." He smirked at his sister's spirit, aware that the phoenix could not see her. "What did you think, sister? Have I punished him enough for what he did to our mother and us?" There was no response. He hadn't expected any. He chuckled. "Oh well, no matter. You have to talk to me sooner or later!" He patted her frozen body fondly. "After all, eventually you'll be corporeal again…and then I'll be able to hear both your vocal and psychic screams. I look forward to that very much."

"Then why don't you just destroy her body now and be done with it?" Ho-Oh asked angrily, hiding how disturbed she was at the concept that Dark Latios could do something as powerful as soul separation without outright killing a person.

Dark Latios gave her an annoyed look. "Kill her? While she's frozen and unable to feel any pain? Where's the fun in that?" He gave a low chuckle which sent shivers running down the phoenix's back. He flexed his claws menacingly. "I'll go back to playing with her soon enough…but I have a few other things to do first."

Ho-Oh stared at him, confused. "What other things?"

"My father wants me to kill a filthy traitor. I'm going to have as much fun with that stupid traitor as I can."

"Traitor? Who would be stupid enough to betray Deoxys?" Ho-Oh scoffed. "Anyway, when do I get my reward?"

He feigned a look of surprise. "Reward? Who said anything about a reward?"

"Deoxys promised me a reward for helping him!" Ho-Oh snapped. "He promised me a child and dominion over the Earth forever! I want it now!"

Dark Latios sighed and pretended to sink deep into thought, already knowing what he was going to do. "My father is busy right now, so he can't grant you your child. How about this? I'll grant you immortality. That will be your first step towards becoming the true deity of this planet once my father is done with it."

Ho-Oh sniffed. "Fool! I am already immortal!"

Dark Latios rolled his eyes. "Riiiight…but how would you like to be even _more_ immortal?"

Ho-Oh blinked in confusion. "How do you mean?"

"Observe." Dark Latios grabbed his left arm by the wrist and with a single motion, ripped his arm out of his socket, spraying blood in Ho-Oh's face and causing her to yelp and fall back in surprise. Dark Latios ripped the arm in half with his jaws and fervently chewed on it, gnashing it to pieces with his grotesque teeth before swallowing it down his throat. He shoved the rest of the arm in his mouth and started chewing. All the while, the empty socket was regenerating his lost arm, and in moments a new one was in place, fully grown, just as Dark Latios had swallowed the last of his old arm. Latias shook her 'head' in disgust. "On your own, you will already live forever," he lied to support Ho-Oh's psychosis. "But will you be able to regenerate your limbs like this? To be able to regrow your entire body from just a tiny piece, even if the rest of you is destroyed? With ability like this, not only would you live forever, but nobody would be able to kill you through assassination or other means."

The bitch phoenix's eyes literally glowed at this prospect. "That…_would_ be a most wonderful power…give it to me!" she snapped.

Dark Latios smirked, knowing his trap had been sprung. "Very well." He extended his tentacles and reached his claws out, thrusting them into the startled phoenix's chest and latched on to her soul, causing her to gasp as he poured his power into her. A twisted aura surrounded her body as Dark Latios made fundamental changes to her body at the molecular level, doing something so sickening that Latias' astral form had to look away or else suffer from a very strong psychic backwash as a result of Dark Latios' actions. Soon enough, though, the evil dragon removed his claws and tentacles from Ho-Oh's body, turning away from the phoenix. "There. It is done. Now, your life shall continue…forever."

Ho-Oh paid him no mind and stared at her wings incredulously. "So nothing can kill me now? How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Dark Latios grinned, hoping she'd ask him that. "Well, why don't we try it out and see for ourselves?" He spun around and drove his claws deep into her chest.

The bird squawked in surprise and pain. "Wh-what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Dark Latios grinned diabolically and dragged his claw further up her chest, watching in delight as the flesh miraculously healed back to the way it had been. "I'm fulfilling my errand…I'm taking care of a traitor."

Ho-Oh looked at him, dumbstruck. Despite the lack of lasting damage from the wound, the pain was agonizing. "I…I didn't betray Deoxys…"

Thrusting his arm deeper into the phoenix's chest, Dark Latios wrapped his claw around her heart and squeezed, causing her to gasp. "I never said who you betrayed." He winked and sliced through her throat with his other claw. Winding back, he drove the claw back through her chest into a lung. "You betrayed my father, who exists in all beings when you chose to fight against him." Another claw punched through her skull. "You betrayed the Chosen when you chose to join my father and fight against them." Again, his claw punched deep into her body, shattering bones and rending flesh. "And did you think you could hide your heart from us? You intended to betray us again when you had your immortality, thinking in your paranoid schizophrenia that we would turn on you once we had what we wanted...you were correct, but that doesn't make a difference. Your fate will still be the same."

"Fool!" Ho-Oh gasped in agony as her body mended, managing to maintain a confident attitude. "You said it yourself! I can't die now! I will live forever, thanks to you! You were an imbecile to ever give me this power!" She gathered up whatever strength she could and poured a stream of flames onto the dragon's body, searing his arms off at the shoulders. "I think I'll weaken you until you can no longer fight." She grinned as the pain in her chest dissipated. "When you're barely alive, I'll kill your sister and deliver both of your bodies to Deoxys. He'll be so impressed that he will give me more than one child, as I will have shown him I am a much superior female to that disgusting dragon who used to sire you, a far worthier and more powerful Queen than she could ever-"

Her words caught in her throat as thick black tentacles burst from Dark Latios' back and engulfed her body in a deadly embrace while his arms regenerated themselves. "You think you can kill me? Hahahaha…you truly are a fool, aren't you? I gave you that gift for one purpose, and one purpose only…to keep you from dying too soon! You're not immortal Ho-Oh, you're not born dead like I am so how can you be? No, what you are is much less…I've bound your soul to your flesh, so that as long as it exists, your spirit will be trapped in your body forever! No matter how much I hurt you, no matter how much I rip you to pieces, you will never die, meaning you can serve as my plaything forevermore!"

The bird screamed in agony and fury as the tentacles tore her wings off and ripped her body in twain. But Dark Latios' words were true, and she did not die, for her body pulled itself back together and grew back its wings. Once she had fully reformed, she lashed out with her talons at Dark Latios' face, ripping three long gashes into his face. "Monster! I'll make you pay for deceiving me!"

Deoxys' son snickered softly to himself, regrowing the lost flesh in moments. Reaching out with his tentacles, he seized hold of her soul and began to tear at it, causing her to shriek in pain. "You're nothing more than an overgrown chicken! You're alive at my convenience, and you'll die at my whim!" He rolled himself onto her back and dug his claws into it, snapping synapses along her spine as easily as a knife through butter, causing Ho-Oh to howl in pain, temporarily paralyzed until the synapses regenerated. "Would you like to know a secret?"

Ho-Oh threw him off of her and panted from the excruciating pain. "Whatever you have to say is a lie, hell spawn!" Another burst of flames shot forth from her beak, intent on burning the dragon to ashes, despite the danger to her own life.

Leaping through the flames, he latched onto her head and sank his claws into her eyes, eliciting a scream of pain. "You know your little problem with not being able to conceive a child? That's not the fault of who you're mating with. Never has been!" He thrust his claws in further and ripped her pea-sized brain out, crushing it with a single hand. "You were born with a shard of my father's crystal inside of you." He raced along her back, tearing deep gouges with his claws. "Its right next to that barren wasteland you call a uterus. Every time a male's seed enters your body, it kills it!" To emphasize his point, he drove his claws in and ripped her ovaries from her body. "In other words, it's OUR fault you can never have a child! Doesn't that make you angry?"

"LIES!" The bird spun around, aiming a Steel Wing at Dark Latios' neck. It cut through his flesh and his head rolled off, grinning and laughing maniacally at a joke only he heard.

The dragon grabbed his head and reattached it to her shoulders, then vanished and reappeared behind her with Aerial Ace, his claws around her neck. "We want that crystal. And what we want, we get!" His claws lifted, ripping her skull and most of her spinal cord from Ho-Oh's body.

Ho-Oh fell to the ground panting as her body healed itself. No damage on her body ever lasted due to the demon's gift but she felt every synapse snap, every cut strike vital organs, every bone shatter and break. "I'll… I'll kill every…last…one of you…"

"Do you honestly believe that?" Back on her back, Dark Latios reached around and grabbed a side of her rib cage in each claw. With a roar, he snapped them back and flung himself off as her organs spewed forth from the gaping hole. "Do you honestly think you can kill me? If you do, you're more than welcome to try!"

Fully healed, Ho-Oh lurched forward and pinned him to the ground. "I think I will! Die!" She opened her beak wide to spew forth another blast of Sacred Fire.

Dark Latios lunged forward and wrapped his mouth over hers in the equivalent of a human's French kiss, plunging his forked and acidic tongue down her throat and digging his teeth into her beak. Unable to speak, he sent a telepathic thought into her eroded and damaged mind. 'You know how you believe no male you've encountered is good enough to sire your offspring? Guess what, I don't find you in the least bit attractive but I'm going to see if I can't impregnate you anyway, to show you how barren you really are. I'm going to violate every single space on your body. And when I'm done, I'll give you to some more of my father's generals to play with. How does that sound?' A stream of Sacred Fire forced itself back down his throat, incinerating most of his mouth and upper chest. That didn't keep him from continuing his vile, probing kiss, while at the same time his phallus extended on a long, dripping tentacle and thrust itself into Ho-Oh's vagina, causing the female to shudder as it lodged itself there with long, serrated barbs and began to pump acidic semen into her body.

Ho-Oh shook and thrashed violently, managing to rip her beak from Dark Latios' mouth and sever his pubic tentacle, ripping it out of her despite the temporary damage it did to her vaginal area. Trembling with rage, she stared at him with pure hatred. "Demon, I will rip your heart from your chest!" She lunged, talons outstretched.

He chuckled in amusement. "No, I don't think you will. I think my sister may be getting a little impatient over there. We should probably end this. But first, to reclaim what is rightfully my father's!" He met her lunge, sinking his claws deep into her uterus as her talons tore into his chest. "Ah, there it is!" With a triumphant roar, he pulled a bloody mass from the phoenix's body and threw Ho-Oh off. "It was useless before and now that I'm removing what made it useless, you won't even have the benefit of using it anymore!" He removed a small glowing shard from the bloody uterus and tosse it into the air, where it vanished. Shoving the rest of the mass into his mouth, he blasted Ho-Oh away with Psychic, smashing her into one of the buildings surrounding the plaza and tearing the flesh off her bones in some places. As she struggled to get up, he dashed over to finish her off. Driving a claw into her vaginal area and tearing through the fragile tubing within, he gripped on hard to her hipbone and with a single, unbelievably rough and agonizing pull, tore her entire skeleton out of her body, nearly turning it inside-out in the process and causing Ho-Oh to release the most horrible, tortured, pain-filled scream Latias had heard yet in this awful city.

He carelessly tossed the bones away and let fly with his tentacles at the collapsed formless sack of organs which had been Ho-Oh, tearing it to pieces and stuffing it bit by bit down his throat, causing it to swell and nearly burst as he filled it far too rapidly for his digestive tract to compress, but kept feeding himself anyway, bloating up like a disgusting organ-filled balloon as he feasted, until there was nothing left to feast on and there was only a bloody pile of residue left on the ground, which he hurriedly licked up. He belched and flexed his claws as the tentacles receded into his body, his task complete, his body shrinking from its disgusting feeding frenzy swelling back to its usual self. He then floated over to the skeleton, bit down into the spinal cord, and sucked hard, with a single gulp draining all the marrow from the bones and causing them to wither and crumble to dust. Latias could only stare in shock, stunned by her brother's actions. She had never thought any of what he had just done was physically possible. Her nonexistent blood chilled as she came to the realization that if he could do this to someone he didn't even really care about…what was he going to do to her?

Stretching, Dark Latios turned back to the male Ho-Oh, slowly roasting over the fire like a giant chicken. "Enjoying yourself? At least you don't have to worry about that bitch anymore." Not receiving an answer, he slid forward and poked the bird tenderly with a claw. "How disappointing, I don't think he got to see my ending number. The living die too easily."

He ripped off Ho-Oh's penis and floated over to his frozen sister. He cleared the ice from around her head, and then with a psychic tug yanked Latias' soul back into her body. While she was still confused and disoriented that she had been uncomfortably shoved back into her very cold body, Dark Latios forced the phallic piece of meat into her mouth and clamped her jaws and nostrils shut. He then began to ravage her throat with his tentacles while playfully singing "Wake up, dearest sister!"

Latias, still disoriented and distracted by the injuries her 'brother' was inflicting and the rancid taste of the meat in her mouth, tried and failed to pull herself from his grasp, the Dark-type energy was still charging the ice and keeping her from telekinetically blasting it off. Seeing how much she was resisting, the dark dragon grinned while continuing to ravage her throat, seeing that she was starting to suffocate due to his obstruction of her breathing apertures.

"Swallow and you can breath," Dark Latios told her. "It's not like you have much of a choice."

Latias would not. She knew what the piece of flesh in her mouth was, knew where it had come from, and she refused to let any bit of it pass her throat. She might choke and die, but she refused to partake in the flesh of her father. Dark Latios frowned at this and flipped her body over, clearing the ice away from her nether regions and thrust his claw into her vagina, gleefully probing inside her and sending waves of extreme pain and sick, twisted pleasure running up into Latias' brain from the nerves down there, causing her to gulp on reflex…sending her father's penis down her throat.

She gagged and immediately vomited it back up, but Dark Latios was waiting and shoved another chunk of meat down her throat. And another. And another. Every time she tried to throw up, he shoved another bit of her father into her, while munching on large chunks of flesh himself, forcing her to swallow her own bile back down her throat along with roasted Ho-Oh. Tears ran down her cheeks from the screams of protest from her gastronomic system and from her despair as her brother continued to force-feed her.

"Too cruel? I know. I learned from the best." He smiled and ripped off another chunk of flesh, swallowing it without chewing as he shoved one more down Latias' throat. "So, how was he? I hope I didn't ruin the taste." Latias only gave him a miserable, tear-filled look. "Oh, what's wrong? Did I hurt your feelings? Good. Although I would have thought you'd have more fight than this…did my display cow you _that_ much? I must have overdone it a little. Oh well."

"Don't give yourself too much credit," she said weakly and without much force behind her words.

"Oh sister, don't say things like that," Dark Latios said with mock sadness. "That hurts me right here," he said, digging his claws into his chest, ripping his heart out, and stuffing it down Latias' throat in lieu of more Ho-Oh meat, since he had already gorged on half of it and fed most of what was left to Latias. "Don't feel so awful about eating our biological father, Latias…now, a piece of him will live on in both of us…until the next time we need to empty our bowels, that is. The bitch, on the other hand, won't be so lucky."

"…What do you mean?" Latias asked weakly, sure she didn't want to know.

"Weren't you paying attention when I was torturing her? I've bound her soul to her flesh, so that as long as it exists her spirit can't leave this physical plane. I have devoured every meaty bit of her and am currently digesting it, but since her spirit is unbreakably bound to her flesh, no matter what form it's in, the nutrients her flesh has given me will circulate through my undying body forever, meaning she'll continue to exist inside of me for all of eternity. And if, by some chance, more of her soul is bonded to my excrement than to the microscopic bits of her remaining in my body…then I'll just eat it again and begin wringing her through my digestive cycle all over again." He smiled blissfully. "Every moment will be filled with agonizing torture worse than any that the souls on Hell's surface have ever suffered, nearly as awful as what happens in my home's heart, but she'll continue to live inside me forever…if you can call such an existence life. And when I get bored of mentally and spiritually torturing her, I can simply spit her up, reconstitute her, and play with her physically some more, to my hearts delight." He telekinetically brought the shriveled white skull and beak of the female Ho-Oh to him. Fitting it over his claws, he began to use it like a cheap ventriloquist's dummy. "And she'll still be better off than you, dear sister…but why don't you see that for yourself? We've had enough talk," the grotesque puppet said. "Now that the appetizer is over, we have dinner to finish. Come, dear sister, let's continue, shall we?"

With a thought, the ice surrounding Latias shattered, setting her free. And yet she made no move to attack him, just floated there, looking pale and withdrawn. Dark Latios frowned. "What's wrong, sister? Aren't you angry at me? Don't you wish to tear me apart for what I've done?" She said nothing, simply lowered her head and glanced at the stripped corpse of her father, still roasting over the open fire. Dark Latios smirked, understanding at once. "Ah, I see…you're in shock from everything I've done. Well, I know how to snap you out of that." His claw shot forward, snatching the locket around Latias' neck and ripping it off, snapping the chain that it hung from around her throat.

This snapped her out of her shock and drew a reaction from her. "Hey! GIVE THAT BACK!"

She tried to psychically call it back, but Dark Latios held on to it tightly. "Why so attached to this, sister? Material possessions are meaningless anyway…I'm surprised you're so infatuated with this, you were never one for jewelry and the like before."

"That's a gift from my King and my REAL brother!" Latias snarled. "You have NO RIGHT to touch that!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he retorted. "I gave it to you, or the message inside anyway. I see no reason why I shouldn't touch it."

"_YOU DIDN'T GIVE IT TO ME, LATIOS DID!_" Latias bellowed in rage, gathering her power.

Dark Latios shook his head in disappointment. "Still denying it, Latias? Such a pity, refusing to acknowledge your own brother…very well. I see now you are unworthy of this gift. I gave it to you, and so…" He crushed the locket in his fist, destroying it. "I shall take it away." He paused, allowing the fact that he had just destroyed the sole remaining artifact of her beloved brother Latios before her, hoping for a delightfully violent reaction.

He was not disappointed. The dragon girl's sanity, worn frail by Dark Latios' gruesome display, snapped, and with a scream of unfathomable rage, she rushed at him, beginning the battle anew.

…

"Congratulations, Mewtwo. Like countless heroes before you, you became so lost in the battle and your own pride and bloodlust that you failed to see that the one you were hurting was the person you cared for the most…I have seen this time and time again, and it never ceases to amaze me how people continue to betray the ones they love," Deoxys commented, examining Gardevoir's severed head in his hand. "Another consequence of being alive, I suppose. It is yet another reason I should be glad, I suppose, that I cannot experience love."

"…" Mewtwo gave no response, so deep was his shock and sorrow at what he had done.

"How curious," Deoxys commented, peering into the dead Gardevoir's single eye. "Although you ravaged her constantly with your deadly attacks and eventually murdered her, she bears no grudge against you…she understands that you were deceived and wishes you would not suffer on her part. Remarkable. I had not thought she would be capable of such insight after you betrayed and murdered her. Yet another facet of love for me to examine…fear not, Mewtwo. Her soul will be well kept. It is of such a rare quality that I think it bears further study, instead of being cast into the Beast's maw, my heart, straightaway like the other souls I've captured." He crushed the head in his palm, rendering it to a bloody mist and releasing the magnificently radiant soul trapped within it.

Mewtwo's eyes widened, and he reached out for it, but Amber yanked him on the tail, startling him and allowing Deoxys to gently place Gardevoir's spirit into his crystal, absorbing it. "N-no…" the Psychic whispered.

"Do you wish it back, Mewtwo?" Deoxys asked calmly. "You still have a chance to retake it from me and redeem yourself. You'll have to be quick though, for you see…" The alien gestured to the hourglass, the bottom chamber of which was now half full. "You're running out of time."

"…" Mewtwo clenched his fists so hard that the gauntlets around them began to crack. "Deoxys!" His aura started crackling and burning, demonstrating how great his anger was at being deceived and mocked again and again by the evil one's machinations. "This time…you have gone too far! I will show you…NO MERCY!" A wave of psychic rage erupted from him, flinging a startled Amber into the void and pushing Deoxys back. Thrusting his arms forward, Mewtwo fired several thousand Pin Missiles at the alien. Deoxys flung his trident into the air and assumed his Speed form, using the near-lightspeed swiftness of this body to shift rapidly here and there, slipping through miniscule gaps between the walls of needles as easily as if they were slow-moving bullets in an SFX-packed action movie. In half a second of real-time, he moved from a point several yards away from Mewtwo to right in the Psychic's face, smashing him in the helmet with a headbutt and then driving his needle-tipped feet into Mewtwo's chest repeatedly with Extremespeed-enhanced kicks, pummeling the Psychic five million times in the space of three seconds. Mewtwo's eyes flashed, and a Psychic wave blasted Deoxys off of him. Mewtwo teleported above his enemy and brought his hands down together on the alien's head, fists burning with crackling psychic energy, and smashed through Deoxy's skull, splattering orange and blue virus particles everywhere. Deoxys' head reformed around Mewtwo's fists before they could drive themselves further through his body and into the alien's vital crystal as Deoxys shifted into his bulkier, neckless Defense form, hitting Mewtwo with a Counter that sent the Genetic Pokemon flying, his helmet cracked severely from the double-strength reflection of his original attack. Deoxys' long, thick paddle-shaped orange and blue tentacles swept out, trying to swat Mewtwo away as if he were a fly, but the armored Pokemon released a Psychic explosion which vaporized Deoxys' attacking right arm. Mewtwo teleported right into Deoxys' face and smashed into the alien's crystal with his thick tail, not even denting it but still pushing Deoxys back a few yards as the enemy shifted back to his Normal form. Mewtwo prepared to attack again, but Deoxys pointed upward and quickly teleported away.

Confused, Mewtwo glanced up…and saw that the trident Deoxys had tossed away moments ago was falling back towards him, only it had gotten a hundred times bigger and multiplied into a thousand tridents, each of which could easily skewer him to pieces on one of their tips. Mewtwo's wings buzzed as he gathered his power and thrust his arms upward, sending a combined Psychic/Sonic Boom blast in all directions which shattered the tridents, shook the hourglass, and gave the impossibly large beast a slight ringing in one ear. Annoyed that this was the second time that had happened in such a short span of time (not that 'time' actually existed for this creature since it existed in an eternal state of constant 'now' which is incapable for mortal minds to fathom without several years of education in quantum physics and even then they'd need to be either extremely enlightened or completely insane to even begin to understand it) and rubbed the inside of the ear in question with an appendage, resulting in another brief increase in dissonance as several of the voices screaming/singing were crushed, causing the monster to 'smile' in bliss.

Deoxys, now in his slim, whip-armed Attack mode, reappeared behind Mewtwo and lashed out with his tendrils, dealing the psychic a powerful blow which tore the wings off his back and smashed his rear armor, flaying the skin underneath and spraying a few drops of blood onto the tentacles. Mewtwo tumbled head-over heels from the strike, regenerated his back and armor, and formed a pair of disc-shaped Shadow Blades in his hand. With a cry, he tossed them out. The two blades swelled in size and turned into a pair of flaming purple-black wheels which rolled through infinity towards Deoxys. With a crack of his tentacles, Deoxys tore each wheel into three pieces, each of which lost cohesion and burned into nothingness. He then glowed with a terrible aura as he powered up using Psycho Boost and rocketed uncontrollably forwards at Mewtwo, smashing into him and hitting him with an explosive blast which shattered the psychic's frontal armor and sent him flying as more blood spurted from small wounds across his body.

Mewtwo regenerated his armor and formed a more typical Shadow Blade in his hand, lunged forward at Deoxys and slashed downward with a vertical chop, splitting Deoxys in two down to his crystal, which blocked the blow. Before the alien could retaliate, Mewtwo teleported behind him and slashed his Shadow Blade horizontally, severing Deoxys' tentacles and separating his upper half from his lower. He then teleported back to the front again and stabbed his Shadow Blade into the exposed crystal, following it up with a double Twineedle sting from his arms.

Deoxys' severed body halves acted in unison, the lower half ramming a spiked knee into Mewtwo's crotch while the upper body regenerated its tentacles and stabbed them into his chest, cracking his armor and penetrating the skin beneath. Ignoring the pain, too fueled by his anger at the alien, Mewtwo formed a Shadow Ball twice the size of his body and hurled it at Deoxys at point-blank range, causing a tremendous explosion which sent both fighters flying in opposite directions, Deoxys' body vaporized while Mewtwo's armor had disintegrated. Each of them swiftly regenerated and prepared to fight anew.

Deoxys noted as his body reformed in its Normal mode that his Attack form's knee spike and tentacle tips remained, a clear reaction to being splattered with Mewtwo's blood. The quasi-divine DNA damaged his virus particles somehow to keep them from changing shape completely. This left him with a spike growing out of his left knee and the tips of tentacles emerging from his palm and upper arm. They weren't much of a hindrance, but were still a reminder that if he slipped up here, he might actually lose and never get the chance to fight his true rival and complete his master plan. Well, he'd just have to make sure that didn't happen, then.

Summoning his trident, Deoxys caused it to grow to giant proportions and hurled it at Mewtwo. It spun through space like a boomerang, leaving a crackling spiral trail of energy behind it as it shot towards the psychic. Instead of deflecting it, Mewtwo hit it with his Psychic/Sonic Boom combo, obliterating it but leaving his back open for a strike from Deoxys, who hit him with a mighty Zap Cannon, doing extra electrical damage to Mewtwo since the psychic was wearing metal armor. As Mewtwo was tumbling away, he gathered his power and fired a ridiculously huge Shadow Ball at Deoxys. The alien teleported out of the way…and was astounded when the Shadow Ball teleported as well and homed in on him, striking him as he reappeared and exploding in a blast so strong that it caused reality in that area to distort for a moment, stunning the alien's crystalline true form and giving Mewtwo the opportunity to teleport over and strike it directly, lashing out with Twineedles, stinging it with his tail, draining energy with Leech Life, and finally hitting it with the special sonic frequency he had learned from the Unown by vibrating his wings at the proper wavelength.

The crystal shook…and a tiny fracture appeared in its surface. But it was still a fracture, which was more _real_ damage than Mewtwo had been able to inflict in the mere minutes since the fight had began! Before he could prolong the sonic burst much longer, Deoxys' body regenerated and teleported the crystal away. It reappeared right beside him in Normal mode and struck with a Knock Off, surprising Mewtwo and literally knocking off all his armor, leaving him incredibly vulnerable for a split second, long enough for Deoxys to switch to Attack mode and strike him with Ice Beam, freezing him in Dark-charged ice and making him even more vulnerable to the following Psycho Boost which shattered the ice and sent Mewtwo flying, blood gushing from his apertures. The psychic immediately summoned his armor back to him and vanished in a Teleport, reappearing behind Deoxys and shooting a large artillery shell-sized Shadow Ball at him. With the speed of his Attack mode, Deoxys evaded it, but with a psychic command the orb detonated and sent Deoxys flying right into Mewtwo's Shadow Blade swipe, severing the alien's upper body and tentacles, which Mewtwo then followed up with a punch straight to the exposed crystal with a Twineedle barb. He teleported away before he could get skewered by one of Deoxys' leg spikes and reappeared a safe distance away as Deoxys reattached his body parts, shooting a surprise Flamethrower right into the alien's face.

Deoxys teleported away and reappeared right in the middle of a Sandstorm Mewtwo had summoned out of nowhere, which buffeted the surprised alien with strong winds and sands and kept him from escaping. He shifted to his Speed mode and started flying counter-revolutions to the spinning sand tornado in an attempt to tear it apart from the inside. However, Mewtwo had anticipated this and fired dozens of Shadow Balls and Pin Missiles into the Sandstorm as he mentally strengthened it, the projectiles getting caught up in the wind current and flying right into Deoxys' face, his speed a disadvantage for once as he flew right into them and blasted off his head. He started regenerating, but in that moment Mewtwo teleported to the top of the Sandstorm's interior and fired a powered-up Hyper Beam straight down through the wind funnel and into Deoxys' body, creating a tremendous explosion which blasted away the sands and distorted reality again, allowing Mewtwo to get in close to the now-free crystal, drain its energy with Leech Life, and hit it with the special sonic frequency, resulting in another small crack on its seemingly impenetrable surface.

Deoxys regenerated his body and teleported away. Mewtwo showed no reaction as the alien fiend laughed. "I was hoping for this, Mewtwo…you've grown stronger than you were before. This is just the warm-up I was looking for to get me in the right spirit for my battle with the Mother!"

"A warm-up? Is that all I am to you?" Mewtwo demanded angrily, his fury still raging at what Deoxys had made him do. "I would suggest you do not underestimate me, Deoxys. To do so would make certain that you _never_ get the chance to see your old foe before you die."

"Underestimate you?" Deoxys laughed. "Mewtwo, I'm evaluating you spot-on! That's not to say you can't defeat me, though…come then, and continue our fight! Show me that I'm wrong, and that you are capable of defeating me and saving Gardevoir and everyone else before it's too late! The sands are running out…"

"Gladly!" Mewtwo declared, his aura growing in power again. "And when I am through with you…I will make sure you think twice about EVER meddling with love again!" He charged forward, continuing the battle.

…

Articuno's death had sent the three beasts over the edge, driving their ability, agility, and teamwork off the charts. Oniichan, his body crackling with static, fired hundreds of lightning bolts into portals everywhere as he charged around the room. The lightning bolts were redirected by Cerberus into a single massive electric blast which shot out of a portal near Suicune.

The Aurora Pokemon leaped gracefully into the air, soaring over the blast as it tried to hit her, and fell right into a nearby portal. She fired Bubblebeams in every direction as she flew through inter-dimensional space for a split second, causing bubble shots to ricochet out of hundreds of portals around the room and nearly hit Papa or Oniichan.

Papa skillfully dodged each bubble, shifting the slightest bit from side to side as he dashed around the room, kicking up hundreds of fireballs in his wake which shot into portals all around him. The fireballs roared out of many other portals, crashing into each other and exploding, while others nearly hit Mama or Oniichan.

The purpose of this frenzied attack was simple: strike at Cerberus through as many portals as possible as quickly as possible from all over the place. Too many attacks would be passing through the pocket dimension for Cerberus to coordinate, and surely the beast would get struck by some or all of them. At least, that was the strategy they had concocted. Cerberus had not given them any audible signs yet that it was injured by the assault, and hadn't poked out of a portal since they had begun their attack. But surely their techniques were doing _something_!

After unleashing and dodging multiple bombardments through and from the portals, the three artificial beasts met up in the center of the room and stood back to back. They began to glow with their respective auras, and with a triple howl charged into the three closest portals at ground level.

The instant they vanished through the gates, Cerberus stepped out of one at the far side of the room, chuckling. The sound of a loud BONK! and three resounding "OW!"s could be heard as the three beasts collided with each other inside the pocket dimension. Dazed, they stumbled out of separate portals and fell to the ground. Well, Papa and Mama did anyway, Oniichan appeared out of a different portal near the top of the room and fell all the way to the ground, breaking his spine. Cerberus gave a booming triple laugh at this. "Hahaha! Losers!" Smirking, the beast returned to its pocket dimension, eagerly awaiting the next foolish attack from its rivals.

…

"All right," Shedinja said, charging an attack. "Prepare to…eh?" His body was shaking and swelling. Cracks ran up the surface of his armor as his shell started to bulge out. "Aaahhh! What is happening to-"

He exploded abruptly as a twice her normal size Togetic, expanded using Growth, finished enlarging herself from within Shedinja's shell, tearing him apart. The tiny tan-colored shell fragments clattered to the ground and disintegrated, the spirit animating them banished from this world. Togetic smirked. "Hmmph. Guess you weren't so invincible after all, were you?" She floated over to Phanphy and lifted the rock off him, causing him to squeal in surprise. "It's okay Phanphy, it's just me! Shedinja's dead!"

Phanphy opened his eyes and stared at her in disbelief. "Wow…big sister, you're even bigger now!"

"I guess I am, aren't I?" she said, amused. "It won't last long, though. It should wear off eventually."

"But it's still so cool! Can you do it to me too?" Phanphy asked eagerly.

Togetic considered. "Well…I think I could…I was able to Minimize Gyarados, after all, so he could fit on the plane to Sootopolis…but I've never tried Growth on anyone else before. Maybe we can try it later."

"Okay!" Phanphy trotted up to his sister. "So, how do we get out of here?"

Togetic paused, looking at the bleak landscape around them. "…I have no idea."

…

"You know, now that Omega's gone, this cruise isn't so bad after all," Umbreon commented. "Kind of like a nice, creepy ride through a haunted house, like the ones they have in amusement parks."

"Well, I hope this one has an end," Corsola complained. "It feels like we've been on this thing forever. And Scyther and Blaziken need serious medical aid!"

"Don't worry," Scyther rasped. "We'll be fine-" He broke off and started vomiting blood before passing out on the deck for the tenth time in the last five minutes. Blaziken had already died from his injuries during Tyranitar and Omega's second round fight, but nobody had noticed just yet.

"Shouldn't we do something about that?" Corsola asked anxiously.

"Like what?" Umbreon pointed out. "We've already tried healing them. Our recovery skills work best on ourselves, and not so well on everyone else."

"I guess…" Corsola said unhappily.

"Hmm." Tyranitar glanced around. "I hear something." She stomped over to the starboard side of the boat. Her eyes widened. "It's him!"

"What!" the girls cried in surprise.

Omega was on the bank, running alongside the shore to catch up to the boat. "You can't escape me that easily!" the mighty general roared, his swords out. "This time, you die!"

"Ack! At the rate he's going, he'll catch up to us in no time!" cried Corsola.

"Then let's slow him down!" Umbreon scampered to the rear of the boat, hopped onto the railing, and started launching Shadow Ball and Hidden Power attacks at Omega. Corsola joined in with shots from her Spike Cannon. Omega simply deflected the attacks with rapid swings of his swords and jumped into the air as he approached one of the columns sticking out near the water's edge. He slashed it in half with a blade and flipped over, kicking the heavy stone top of the column at the boat.

It never came close, for Tyranitar obliterated it with a Hyper Beam, causing it to explode into a million chunks of stone and dust. Omega was still running towards them, though, as the projectile had diverted them long enough for him to get closer, and he was now almost even with the boat. Tyranitar charged up and fired another Hyper Beam, sweeping it along the bank to catch Omega. The evil general somersaulted over the beam and severed another column in half so it would collapse and block the beam for a few seconds as it swept back, causing it to miss him and destroy the debris instead.

Growling, Tyranitar stomped over to the middle of the boat, ripped the shrine open, and wrenched the giant dark disk off its stand, not minding the burns it gave her claws. She stomped back over to the railing and hurled the disk at Omega. The evil general automatically sliced it in half…which turned out to be a bad move, as the dark energies trapped inside washed over him, causing him to cry out in pain and stumble, tripping and hitting the ground for a split second, which was just enough for Tyranitar to nail him with a Hyper Beam, sending him flying into the far wall and causing it to cave in on him…again.

"Nice shot!" Corsola commented.

"We're not through yet," Tyranitar growled, charging up again. "That didn't work on me, and it didn't work on him the last time. There's no guarantee it'll work this time either."

"In that case…ATTACK!" cried Umbreon, firing a Shadow Ball volley at the pile of rubble. Corsola accompanied her with Hidden Power shots, and Tyranitar joined in with another awesome Hyper Beam. The attacks converged on the rubble and exploded, causing the cave to rumble and for even more debris to collapse on the heap, sending up huge amounts of dust.

"Yeah, we did it!" Corsola cheered.

"Doubt it," Umbreon said. "In this type of situation, the bad guy almost always comes crawling out of a big dust cloud when one is kicked up."

She was right. His armor dirtied, cracked, and dented, Omega charged out of the dust cloud, swords drawn. He bounded into the air, landing on top of one of the posts sticking out of the water, and leaped again, soaring towards the boat. The girls quickly fired their projectile attacks at him, but Omega did a midair dodge to evade their attacks, deflecting most of them with his swords and cutting others in half as he arced towards them.

The evil general sailed over their heads and landed with a thud on the center of the boat, where the disk had once been. He spun around to face them. "So, you're still not done?" Tyranitar asked, stepping forward.

Omega brandished his swords. "Well, you know what they say; the third time's the charm."

"Then I guess you're ready for round three?" Tyranitar asked, getting into a combat pose.

"Yes," Omega agreed, getting into a stance of his own. "Winner takes all…and this time, the kid gloves come off." He chopped through the air with his blades.

"Girls, take care of the two invalids while I handle this guy," Tyranitar barked to her companions.

"Invalid!" Scyther demanded angrily, raising his head. "I'm not a…ohhhh, raised my head too fast…" His eyes rolled back in his sockets and he collapsed back to the floor. Blaziken, being dead, naturally made no motion at all.

"Don't worry Mama," Umbreon assured the big lizard, scurrying out of the way of the two fighters. "You can take him!"

"Show him not to mess with a caring mother!" Corsola agreed.

"A caring mother…" Omega mused. "Hmmph. If I had a caring mother, perhaps I would not have turned out the way I did…your child is both fortunate and unfortunate, lizard. Fortunate for having a mother who loves him…and unfortunate because that mother is soon to be dead, leaving him alone in the world until he joins you!"

"That won't be happening on my watch!" Tyranitar roared, shaking the cavern. "Let's finish this!"

They charged forward, ready for one last battle.

…

Sceptile twisted on the ground, kicking up a puff of dirt as he vanished in a ludicrously swift leap into the sky only seconds before Alpha smashed his fist into where the reptile had just been standing, cratering it and sending tendrils of electricity snaking across the ground. "GRAAAHHH!" Sceptile smirked at the evil Ranger's rage and flung three Razor Leaves at the general as he fell, landing neatly on the ground on one toe before dashing forward with an amazingly fast Quick Attack and slashing Alpha with his four Leaf Blades at the exact same time the Ranger got struck by his Razor Leaves, causing Alpha to gasp and fall to his knees in pain from the double hit. "Ugh…you fucking…"

Enraged, Alpha got back to his feet and glared at the almost eerily calm Sceptile. "I'll show you who's coolest around here! SPLIT MODE!" His wrist device flashed, and he split into three Alphas, only one of which was real. The three Alphas simultaneously gave a battle cry and charged Sceptile. The green Forest Pokemon smirked, his figure blurring as he formed a pair of clones through the use of Double Team. Giving no battle cry, the three Sceptiles charged at the Alphas, the two trios colliding and delivering attacks at the same time.

All three Alphas landed the first blow, throwing punches at the Sceptiles heads…and were completely surprised when their fists passed right through them. "Huh?" they all asked in unison, totally confused.

A trio of Razor Leaves hit the Alphas from behind, causing two of them to explode and send the real one flying. He hit the ground in pain, and stiffened when he felt the stone beneath him shift under his weight. "Oh shit-" He immediately rolled out of the way as a giant mantrap snapped shut, nearly ripping him in half. "Fucking little-" He yelped and barely managed to catch Sceptile's downward slash as the reptile brought his Leaf Blades down in a devastating Cut which might have sliced him in two. He launched a two-legged kick at the lizard's stomach, but Grovyle flipped in the air, wrenching his blades out of Alpha's grasp, and smacking him in the head with a Pound from his thick tail. He landed on the ground and quickly swept his tail at floor level, knocking Alpha off his feet just as the evil Ranger got back up, causing him to lose his balance long enough for Sceptile to strike him with several dozen Fury Swipes in rapid succession before leaping away.

Alpha collapsed to his knees, groaning in pain. He felt a strange sensation in his chest and touched it with his hand. He was shocked to see that Sceptile had actually cut into his armor and drawn blood. "…No way…you…you fucking PUNK!" Enraged, he got to his feet and stared daggers at Sceptile, who had landed several yards away and was waiting patiently for him. "RAAAGH! Speed Mode!" His figure blurred as he shot forwards as high speed, intending to smash his fist right through Sceptile's chest.

The newly evolved Grass Pokemon leaped into the air at exactly the right moment, his timing perfect as Alpha dashed right underneath him and accidentally stepped on the booby trap trigger that had been just behind the space where Grovyle was standing. This caused a large brick wall to shoot up in Alpha's path and, because he was moving so fast, the evil Ranger didn't have a chance of stopping himself before he smashed into the wall and it stopped him on its own. "Ohhhh…"

"Classic move," Crawdaunt grunted. "Right out of a cartoon. Bayleef, a little more Sweet Scent, if you would?"

"Huh? Oh, sure," she said, sprinkling him with some more yellow dust as she tried to soothe the searing pain that wracked the lobster's body due to the explosions that had cracked his shell and torn off one of his arms. She couldn't heal him, but she could numb the pain until they got out of here and found one of their other friends who could heal wounds, like Latias, Mewtwo, or Togetic. "This is really incredible, isn't it? I've always known Sceptile-kun was amazing, but this…this is something else!" Her eyes turned into hearts again.

Bulbasaur's twitching was getting worse. "So he's a ninja. Big fucking deal. I could be a ninja too if I evolved."

"No you couldn't," Crawdaunt corrected him. "Ivysaur and Venusaur lack the speed necessary to be a true ninja…_especially_ Venusaur, they're much too big and heavy. You could become a sumo wrestler if you evolved into one, though."

"I don't want to be a sumo wrestler!" Bulbasaur snapped. "Bay…I mean, women won't be attracted to me if I'm a big fat sumo wrestler!"

"Not true," Bayleef said. "Lots of girls back at the lab would love a big guy. You'd be surprised by the number of admirers Snorlax has…and he's a sumo wrestler too! Won a trophy and everything!"

"Well…I…" Bulbasaur stammered. "Just…just because I _could_ get girls by becoming big doesn't mean I want it that way! I-I mean if I had this one girl in mind, and I didn't think she'd like me big and fat, then I'd have no chance of getting her that way, could I?"

"You're interested in someone, Bulbasaur?" Bayleef asked in surprise. "I didn't know that."

"W-well, i-it's no big deal," he stammered, flushing deeply.

"Who is it?" the rather oblivious Pokemon asked curiously.

"Sh-she's…nobody. She's already taken anyway. Wouldn't work out," he muttered to himself. "She's…very into him. Doesn't even know I like her. It feels like she barely notices me sometimes." His toe claws dug very deep scratches into the ground as he said this, trying to keep his frustration and anguish under control so he didn't do something lethal to Sceptile.

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that," Bayleef said to Bulbasaur sympathetically and without irony. "Well…don't worry. I'm sure if you strive your hardest, she'll notice you sooner or later. And if not…then she doesn't deserve you, anyway."

Bulbasaur gritted his teeth, his heart breaking again and again with every word she foolishly said to him. "Yeah…"

He stared out at the field as Sceptile intentionally triggered another booby trap, sending a flurry of knives flying at Alpha, who quickly defended himself with Shield Mode. Sceptile demonstrated his incredibly cool ninja skills (or in Bulbasaur's eyes, showed off shamelessly) by jumping up, landing on the flat side of a knife for a split second before leaping to another, and then another, and then another, dashing across the flats of the knives as if they were steps on a staircase as he charged at a startled Alpha, leaped into the air, and brought his four Leaf Blades down with an incredible smash, breaking through the force field and burying his blades deep into Alpha's shoulders for a split second before jumping out of the way as the remaining shooting daggers buried themselves into Alpha's chest, turning his torso into a pincushion. He gasped, made a strangled choking noise, and collapsed to his knees. "You…you fucking…" He panted and wheezed, his ability to breathe hindered by the several dozen blades puncturing his lungs. "I'm…I'm gonna kill you, you fucking son of a…bitch…" He fell to the ground, blood oozing down the lengths of the knives.

Sceptile calmly strode over. "My mother was an honorable woman," the green ninja said, placing a foot on Alpha's back. "As was your own. But it seems you have become too steeped in evil to remember or care about that anymore." He stamped down on hard on Alpha's back, shoving it to the ground and forcing the daggers to drive deeper into the evil Ranger's chest, causing him to give a mangled scream of agony before falling still. "One who disrespects their caring mother, who sacrificed much to nourish and feed you and bring you into the world, does not deserve to have ever been born."

The eyes of the three bystanders bulged in disbelief. "Whoa…" said an amazed Crawdaunt. "Now _that_…is badass. Damn, I'm not nearly that cool, am I?"

"Sceptile-kun…" Bayleef whispered. Bulbasaur's hopes perked up. Had that brutal act on the part of the newly evolved Pokemon showed the lovely female the bastard wasn't right for her? "That was so…cool!" Bulbasaur facefaulted in shock. "I mean, the whole line about mothers and stuff was so cold-hearted but at the same time so, I don't know, _righteous_ or something, it was just…wow! It gave me shivers down…there, you know, I think that really turned me on or something!"

Sceptile flushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Awww, well, it just came to me you know? I mean, I was trying to keep up the whole 'emotionless ninja' thing and it felt like the right thing to say. And, well, I guess I was trying to impress you a little…it worked, huh?"

"Totally! That was really cool!" Bayleef emphasized.

"And badass," Crawdaunt said miserably. "Damn, and I thought I was hardcore, but you outdid me by a mile. Geez. Not bad, buddy. Er, Bayleef, could you apply more Sweet Scent please? I think I can feel my chest cracking open again…"

"Huh? Oh, right!" She quickly moved to soothe Crawdaunt's pain, while Bulbasaur started twitching so hard it looked as if he were having a seizure, which alarmed Sceptile.

"Uh, hey, you all right?" Concerned, he started over towards his friends, stepping lightly so as not to trigger any traps…

When a cry of rage and the crackle of electricity sounded behind him, causing him to turn around just in time to see a convulsing Alpha rise to his feet, his wrist device glowing and shaking. "OKAY…THAT'S IT! SUPER MONSTER MODE!" Waves of electricity washed over his form as his muscle mass bulged and increased, causing the daggers to pop out of his chest and fly in every direction. Alpha grew twice as tall then he had used to be, the spikes all over his armor growing out and becoming longer with serrated edges while the wings on his back expanded in size. "GRAAAAAHHH!"

He punched the ground, causing the arena to shake while the fans in the stands all cheered, "ALPHA! ALPHA! ALPHA! ALPHA!"

"Oh great, a clichéd second form," said an irritated Crawdaunt.

"Bulbasaur, watch Bayleef for me!" Sceptile called over his shoulder. "I'll handle this guy!"

"HAHAHAHA! I'd like to see you try!" Alpha boomed. "There's no way you can beat me now, half-pint!" He threw a punch at Sceptile, but the ninja leaped out of the way and hurled half a dozen Razor leaves, rebounding off the ground and slamming a knee into Alpha's visor, causing him to recoil and take half a step back before Sceptile slashed his Leaf Blades repeatedly across the monster's chest, leaving scratches on his thick armor.

Seeing he wasn't cutting deep enough, Sceptile quickly hopped back to avoid Alpha's counterattack, flinging Razor Leaves as he tried to think of a better strategy.

The evil Ranger cackled and flapped his wings, creating a gale force which picked up the startled Sceptile and started blowing him away, causing him to lose control as he tumbled across the arena towards the far wall.

Bayleef gasped. "Sceptile, no!"

She started to step forward, but Bulbasaur grabbed her hind leg with a vine whip. "No!" he said desperately. "He said to keep you safe, and that's what I'm going to do!" Not to mention he thought that if Bayleef helped Sceptile out, the ninja's chances of dying in battle would decrease significantly. And he didn't want her getting hurt of course.

"Plus, if you take one step forward there's a good chance you'll trigger a trap," Crawdaunt pointed out. "Because you don't have Sceptile's apparent new ability to step right over traps without activating them."

"…Oh. Right," Bayleef said sadly. "Well…if I can help Sceptile-kun by staying out of the way…then that's what I'll do!" she decided. "Go, Sceptile! You can do it! Take down that Ash impostor once and for all!"

Bulbasaur began twitching again as Sceptile managed to escape the wind stream created by Alpha's wings and bum-rushed the evil Ranger with a pair of Double Team clones, startling Alpha when all three's kicks connected with his face and sent him reeling back, followed up by a barrage of Leaf Blade slashes to the chest.

_That should be me out there,_ Bulbasaur thought.

_That should be me._

_That should be me._

_And maybe…it can be…_ A twisted, jealousy-maddened grin appeared on his face.

…

Infernatrice was getting desperate. He only had a single arm left and not much of a torso, and knew of no way to get new body parts. The team of Combusken, Gyarados, Moltres, Charla, and Charmeleon had him on the ropes, and he was pulling out every trick he could think of to try and take them down.

He slammed into the side of the cavern, causing it to shake and for boulders to fall from the ceiling. They either avoided or smashed through them.

He ripped off sections of pipe or crossbeam and hurled them at the group. They avoided or smashed through those as well.

He swooped down to the lava river, scooped up magma in his claw, and hurled globs of it at them. Gyarados froze them into rock and allowed the others to smash or avoid them.

He spat or threw fireballs, unleashed waves of fire, and now and then shot towards them in a corkscrew charge. None of it worked.

And now he only had one support chunk of magma left on his single arm. Once that was gone, he didn't know how much longer he could hold out against them. So, out of desperation and a sense of self-preservation, he moved erratically, trying to get their attacks to miss so he could buy himself some time. He had noticed the Gyarados occasionally needing to stop to restock on moisture, so if he destroyed as many steam pipes as he could and exhausted Gyarados' supply, the serpent might no longer be a threat. Gyarados had seemed to realize that after a while, and so used his Ice Beam less often to conserve moisture and simply focused on dodging attacks, something Infernatrice was intentionally making difficult by throwing multiple projectiles at once to try and throw them off.

Still, all of this was little more than a diversionary tactic, and sooner or later his time ran out. Charla rocketed forward, dodging his latest fireball volley, and slammed into Infernatrice's shades with a Double-Edge, cracking them and causing him to rear back his head in pain, his hand unconsciously rising to cover his face.

And that was when Gyarados struck, firing an Ice Beam and freezing the final magma chunk on the evil bird's arm solid. Charmeleon leaped off of Charla's back as she flew by it and smashed into the chunk with Metal Claw, causing it to crack, crumble, and finally shatter, causing the copious amount of lava making up the left arm to lose cohesion and drain away from Infernatrice's body.

The monsters cries of frustration and rage shook the cavern and caused more rocks to fall from the ceiling. Predictably, none of them hit the heroes. Now reduced to little more than a head, wings, and a stump of a torso, Infernatrice took off down the tunnel, his speed and maneuverability ironically increased greatly by the loss of his body parts, drawing the heroes after him.

"Okay," Moltres said as Charla returned to them, bearing Charmeleon on her back. "We've got him on the run."

"This is it…the final chase!" Gyarados said enthusiastically, caught up in the rush from all the fighting.

"Which can end only in victory…but for which side?" Charmeleon mused.

"Ours, of course," said Combusken with a smirk. "How could we possibly lose?"

"Quite easily, actually," Charmeleon pointed out. "But I agree with you. As long as we remain confident, our odds of winning are high…as long as we don't become _over_confident and slip up."

"Nothing to worry about," said Charla with a grin. "So let's finish this!"

"Right!" With that, they flew down the tunnel, ready for the final stretch.

…

Leviathan bellowed, releasing a surge of dark flames which rushed towards the two avians. "Yaaahhhh!" The duo barely managed to fly out of the way. "Geez, why does she have to be so big!" Zapdos squawked.

"Well, one could make a remark about how the bigger they are, the harder they fall," Aerodactyl said. "But that's kind of clichéd…and I'm not sure it'll work in this instance anyway!" He _just_ managed to evade another blast of flame, replying with one of his own in the form of a Hyper Beam down Leviathan's throat. It caused the back of her neck just below her head to explode, but it quickly mended itself, the transparent forms of the ghost slaves trapped within her visible for a moment as they repaired their prison's body.

Zapdos flew away, gaining speed as he looped in the air and shot back towards Leviathan, his body spinning as he powered up a Drill Peck. When he gained all the momentum necessary, he hurtled at the Leviathan's right eye, drilling straight through it and out through the other eye, blinding her and shredding her brain apart.

Leviathan bellowed in pain, causing the void to tremble…but soon enough the damage was undone, and the giant beast repaid Zapdos for his attack with a flick of her tail, sending him flying away and crashing him right into one of the torture cages, crushing the soul trapped inside and earning him a zap from the angelic being who had been torturing said soul. "Owowowowow!"

Aerodactyl sailed about, making quick and sudden dives and swoops to escape from Leviathan's snapping jaws as she pursued him relentlessly, hungering to devour his soul…and the rest of his body, I suppose. Making a sudden loop in the air, he started flying back towards Leviathan's jaws. With a swift use of Aerial Ace, he got past the jaws and landed right on the flesh of Leviathan's forehead.

Leviathan rumbled in confusion, wondering where her prey had gone. Since Aerodactyl was above and between her eyes, she couldn't see him, and so he was safe for the moment. He took that opportunity to scurry further up her scalp, disgusted by how the dead skin that made up her flesh felt against his talons and hoping she wouldn't feel his miniscule footsteps against her giant head as he clambered about, looking for a way to put Leviathan out of commission permanently.

As he did so, he couldn't help worrying about his friend Ho-Oh. After the fight they had engaged in atop the hotel in Ever Grande City, a bond of friendship had formed between them, as it often did between fighters who respected each other's skill. He hoped that he was holding his own all right with that totally insane bitch-phoenix who claimed to be another ex-wife of his…(Had he ever had as much bad luck with women as Ho-Oh did, back when he had lived in the prehistoric times, he wondered?) He was confident in his friend's strength, but also aware that insanity can give people a frightening kind of power. If it weren't for the fact that the Leviathan were trying to eat him, he and Zapdos would have headed right over to help him out…

He paused, noticing something strange, namely that the flesh he was standing on felt somewhat softer than he had thought it had been. So soft it felt like he was sinking into it.

A moment later, he realized he _was_ sinking into it, just as his gene donor had sunken into a tar pit in his last lifetime and become fossilized for several million years until the Mother landed on Earth and unleashed her Dream which radically changed the environment and structures of just about everything, including long-dead fossils, so that when he was revived a few months ago thanks to revolutionary cloning technology he was an Aerodactyl Pokemon instead of a much more primitive Pterodactyl.

The phantom memory of that tar pit came back to haunt Aerodactyl then and there, and he naturally panicked and started frantically thrashing about in an attempt to get free, which naturally only caused him to sink faster. He screamed for Zapdos, for Ho-Oh, for anyone to help him. The only response he got came in the form of dozens of transparent ghosts appearing in the air around him, observing in silence with dead eyes as he was slowly consumed by Leviathan's living flesh.

He realized to his horror that he was soon going to be joining them in the belly of the beast, his spirit trapped within the Leviathan…forever.

…

"Meteor Storm!" Mewgle swished his cape, sending out an onslaught of flaming meteors at the Gigabot.

"Inserting tape! Playing _Blow me Away!_" The older Jigglypuff narrated as she inserted a tape into a player which was hooked up to the Gigabot's speakers and weapons systems.

The Pokerockers' debut song which had come in handy in defeating the disco dance of Miror B began emanating from the giant robot, clashing with the ever-present 'One-Winged Mewgle' song playing in the background. The power of music caused the robot to undergo a transformation, its left arm converting into a powerful many-barreled cannon which opened fire, releasing hundreds of rapid-fire laser bullets which obliterated the meteors and even struck at Emperor Mewgle, causing him to grunt and float backwards as his life bar was depleted from purple to only a tenth of his dark blue, revealing the light blue bar underneath that one. Of course, the musical attack also drained the Gigabot's Weapon's Energy meter, but that was easily remedied with all the power-ups left over from the destroyed meteors.

"Rrr…lousy little… Sun Crusher!" A blue supergiant star floated up before Mewgle. He crushed it between his hands with a powerful clap, sending a huge vertical wave of blue gases and flames roaring towards the Gigabot. "Hahahaha! Sun Crusher! Sun Crusher!" He destroyed another couple of stars, sending out two more waves tilted at different angles so that if the Gigabot evaded the first wave it would have a lot of trouble getting past the other ones.

"Yaahhh! Quick, use Battle Allegro! Or Aria! Or something!" Geodude panicked at the sight of the giant waves.

"No good…they're too big and the gaps between them too small to get through, even with a speed boost!" Mudkip postulated. "So…Jigglypuff, play _Otherworld_!"

"Right!" The pink Balloon inserted a tape which caused the Gigabot's stereos to play _Otherworld_, the hit song they and Latias had used to defeat the Mewtwo rip-off used by Berry Stoo.

Space warped around the giant robot as it became transparent and invisible, causing the giant waves to pass through it harmlessly thanks to the song's effect. "Hey, no fair!" an angry Mewgle protested. "I'm the only one who can cheat like that! Now, where'd you-"

He was cut off as the Gigabot, still invisible and now powered up by the combination of Battle Allegro and Forte, struck him from behind with numerous kicks, punches, and sword slashes, destroying his cape and decreasing his health bar from light blue to three-quarters of dark green, with a quarter of regular green underneath. "Ugh…

The air wavered as the Gigabot reappeared, it's WE bar depleted from all the power needed to become invisible as well as faster and stronger. Still, they had done some damage to Mewgle, so that was something, right?

Wrong. Enraged, Emperor Mewgle punched them with one of his giant fists, depleting their health bar to a mere sliver as they were sent flying away, crashing into a conveniently-placed planet and destroying it, releasing some much-needed health and power-ups. Mewgle conjured a new cape and readied his next attack as the Gigabot recovered. "Saturn's Rings!"

A gas planet much like Saturn appeared, balancing on his index finger. The planet's rings flew off, spun through the air, and fell onto the Gigabot, shrinking around the robot's midsection and pinning its arms to its sides, freezing it in place. "H-hey! I can't move!" cried Geodude.

"Or me!" Lee added.

"We're stuck!" said Onix, panicking and beating on his drums out of tune.

"Buzz, we need more power to the limbs!" Mudkip ordered.

"Ye're askin' fer a miracle, cap'n! Ah'm just a simple engineer, ah told you that!" Buzz screamed as his tired engineers continued running ceaselessly towards the swimsuit magazines dangled before them. "It's taking all ah can give to keep this thing running, we cahn't do anymore!"

"…Buzz, why are you talking with a Scottish accent again?"

"Er, sorry."

"Hahaha! Starburst laser!" Mewgle pointed his fingers at the Gigabot and fired ten red laser beams at them. The beams raced across space and struck the Gigabot explosively, sending the paralyzed mecha falling through space as its health bar halved itself.

"AHHHHH!" the crew screamed as they tumbled here and there.

Explosions and sparks burst out all over the engine room. The engineers ignored it, still completely focused on their magazines. "Ahhhh! We canna take much more of this, cap'n! She's gonna blow any minute now!" Buzz cried.

"Buzz…"

"Er, right, sorry."

"Wahahahaha! I have you right where I want you!" Mewgle gloated.

"Or so you think! Jigglypuff, play Lullaby!" Mudkip commanded.

"Huh? Okay," Jigglypuff said, inserting the tape of her trademark song.

"I'm glad we're all so deafened by rock and roll by now that this song has no effect on our ears whatsoever," Onix commented as the familiar notes started playing.

"Amen," chorused the drums.

"Ha! That won't work on me! I'm…too yawn power…ful…zzzzzzzzzz…" Mewgle trailed off into sleep, a large snot bubble forming from his nose.

With Mewgle's concentration broken, the rings holding the Gigabot in place vanished. "All right!" cheered Geodude, relieved he could feel his arms again.

"Why didn't we think of this earlier?" wondered Lee.

"Everything is as it should be," Lombre observed. "So…let us kick some Mewgle _asno!_"

The Gigabot's wings flared as it rocketed towards the snoozing and totally vulnerable Mewgle. Taking advantage of his defenseless state, they fired everything they had at him: missiles, bullets, Mega and Mach Kicks from Lee, punches and throw moves from Geodude, sonic booms, and a very stylish sword combo from Lombre to finish it off that shredded Emperor Mewgle's cape and jacket and left numerous deep scars on his golden hide. Doing so completely depleted their Weapons Energy and ammunition, but it also went through Mewgle's dark green, regular green, light green, yellow, orange, and all the way down to his last tiny sliver of the red life bars.

And he STILL hadn't woken up.

"Wow, I didn't think it would work this well!" said an amazed Mudkip.

"Well of course it does!" said the elder Jigglypuff with pride. "It's a very special Lullaby, after all. How do you think I've been able to cover the faces and bodies of everyone who falls asleep during the song with scribbles if it weren't super effective?"

"You're the best person at making people fall asleep that I know of!" the younger Jigglypuff complimented her mentor.

The elder blinked. "…Wait, what?"

"Well, whatever! He's still sleeping, so let's finish him off!" Geodude suggested.

Lombre nodded. "Si!" He raised his sword over his head, causing the Gigabot to do the same, preparing to make the final blow…

And then Mewgle's snot bubble popped and he woke up abruptly. "Huh? What the…HEY!" He caught the sword in his hands before it could hit his head. "What do you think you're…" His single eye rolled up and saw the condition of his health bar. "HOLY MOLEY! HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT MUCH DAMAGE! Oh well, easily remedied." He shoved the Gigabot away and snapped his fingers, causing his health bar to refill all the way to the top.

"No!" the Pokerockers chorused.

"We were so close!" wailed Forretress.

"And now we're screwed," groaned Iron Shell.

"End of the line, bruthas," Metal Sound said miserably. Onix rapped his drumming stick on them in a depressing tune.

"Got that right!" Mewgle punched the Gigabot in the face, sending it hurtling away through space as its health bar decreased to less than a tenth of its maximum. "Okay, that was a little too close there, so I think it's time I stopped playing around and finished you losers! I was getting bored of this game anyway." He gripped the equatorial line that split his 'Death Star' chest in half. "Now, feel the wrath of my ludicrously powerful ultimate attack that cannot be defeated and will instantly destroy you!" With a grunt, he pulled the two halves of the sphere apart, causing the upper third of his body to separate from the lower two-thirds as he revealed his mecha's power core, a throbbing red sphere held in place by a latticework of cables and power conduits which kept the two parts of his body connected. "BIIIIIIIIIIG…BAAAAAAANG….BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

The power core pulsed, flashed, and then…

There was a reality-shattering explosion.

A brilliant white sphere of destruction expanded from a single tiny point, growing and growing and growing as it threatened to encompass all of creation, the insane digital demon who had triggered it laughing maniacally at the explosion's heart, reveling in what he had wrought.

And the damaged Gigabot was directly in its path.

The Pokerockers stared at the approaching wall of death in horror. "Shit," Metal Sound said simply. "We're doomed."

"Hell yeah," Forretress and Iron Shell chorused.

"I don't wanna die…I don't wanna die!" Onix sobbed, curled up in a corner, sucking on his drumstick.

"…Damn," Geodude said, shaking his head.

"Madre de dios…" Lombre seconded.

"WAAAHHHHH! We're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna diiiiiiieeeee!" the younger Jigglypuff wailed.

"She's right! We don't have a single song that can stop that! And even if we did, we don't have enough Weapons Energy to play any of them!" Mudkip agreed, the seemingly fearless manager for once at a complete and total loss at what to do. "We're doomed…"

"…There may be _one_ song…" the elder Jigglypuff said quietly.

"Huh?" Immediately, all the other Pokerockers paid very careful attention to what Jigglypuff was saying. "What do you mean, Jiggly?" Geodude asked.

"We may have one song recorded that's powerful enough to break through that explosion and destroy Mewgle," Jigglypuff said slowly. "_Open your Heart."_

All gasped. "_Open your Heart!_ No way! That song's too powerful!" Buzz protested. "With our health as low as it is, it could rip this robot apart…even _with_ Weapons Energy, which we don't have! The power I'm providing down here wouldn't be nearly enough to generate the energy necessary for a song of that magnitude!"

"There is _one _way we can play the song," the Jigglypuff asserted. "But it's dangerous…and it may leave us just as dead as we would be when that explosion hits us."

"What is it?" Mudkip asked. "No matter how deadly it may be…if there's a chance, we have to take it!"

"Yeah, tell us!" the drums chorused.

"Please, how can we stop all this?" the younger Jigglypuff begged her mentor.

"…There's a secondary system that the mechanics who upgraded the Exploudrematic installed that could be used in emergencies if the main power was insufficient to fuel the robot…the Lifeforce system. If we utilize it, the Gigabot should become strong enough to generate the song and punch right through that oncoming blast wave and destroy that glowing thingy in Mewgle's chest, which is probably really important."

"Lifeforce system?" a confused Mudkip repeated.

"Yes, it uses some kind of neuro-stuff to connect with your body and draw on your…life energy or body chemistry or something…to reach power of unprecedented levels. It's sort of like the technology that we're already using to control the robot's systems and weaponry, only it puts us more in synch with the Gigabot itself…it will increase the Gigabot's strength, speed, and all other attributes exponentially, but at an incredible cost…the robot's superstructure itself may not be able to sustain that much power for very long without breaking apart, and what's even worse is what could happen to us…"

"Us?" asked the confused Onix. "What do you mean?"

"It is simple," Lombre said, understanding at once. "The Gigabot will be relying on our 'life force' for power…surely such a process will put _increible_ strain on our bodies! It could kill us!"

"Kill us!" squealed the younger Jigglypuff.

"Hell no, I'm already hooked up to something strenuous!" Buzz protested. "I'm not gonna force my body to do more and possibly die just to get more power out of this thing!"

"Whaaaat!" Geodude cried in horror. "No way, man! I didn't sign up for this kind of action!"

"It's a little too late for that," Mudkip said dryly. "If we don't do this…we'll die anyway, won't we? Engulfed by that horrible explosion…"

"Yes," Jigglypuff agreed. "Either we die for certain…or we take a gamble and risk death to destroy Mewgle."

"Damned if you do, and damned if you don't…" Onix murmured.

"Ohhhh…" Iron Shell moaned. "I shoulda known this gig was too good to be true…when I wanted to be a rock star; I never intended to be part of some living battery!"

"Shut yo mouth, fool!" Metal Sound snapped, whacking the Torkoal with his metallic claws. "This is the big time, you hear me? We get outta this, we'll be heroes! Everyone in the world will love us and we'll have fans everywhere, fo' real!"

"And if we don't make it out of here?" Iron Shell whimpered.

"Then we'll get fame posthumously," Forretress postulated. "And what few records we were working on will be sold for a great deal of money…which will probably go to our dear trainer Brock, so he can finally buy himself a girlfriend."

"Because we all know his chances of getting one on his own are slim to none," agreed Onix.

"It is said by some that self-sacrifice is the greatest form of _egoismo…_" mused Lombre, crossing his arms. "But if there is no other way…and if in dying, we can defeat such a _fiend horrible_ as Mewgle…is our choice not clear? To defeat _permanentemente_ one of those who threatens the world…is it not our destiny to fight? Is there any other option but to try?"

"Yes…he's right…" Mudkip agreed. "We must do this…this transcends our dreams of being rock stars and heroes. This is far more important than fans and selling records. This is our fate…and we must do all that we can to fulfill it and protect our world."

"…I see," Geodude said finally. "This is bigger than us…bigger than the Pokerockers and our mixed fanbase. This is something we must do, not just for our fans or for personal glory…but for Earth itself!"

"…All right, all right, I'll do it!" Buzz snapped. "Just stop it with all the corny dialogue already, it's making me ill!"

"All right…Jigglypuff!" Mudkip commanded. "Activate the Lifeforce system at once!"

"Yes ma'am!" Jigglypuff brandished her classic marker/microphone, popping the cap off of it and revealing the felt tip. An electronic mechanism rose up before her, with what looked like a keyhole designed exactly for her marker sitting in the middle of it. While her teammates waited with bated breath, Jigglypuff made a series of dramatic arm thrusts and gestures. "Ha! Ya! Lifeforce system go-go-go! Kiyah!" She drove her marker into the keyhole and twisted.

The entire robot started trembling and glowing. Cables shot out of the walls and latched onto nerve junctions all over the bodies of the Pokerockers as metal bands fastened themselves to their backs and connected to their spinal cords, putting the Gigabot in touch with their myriad nervous systems.

"I hope this doesn't hurt…" the younger Jigglypuff whimpered, her spherical body covered in wiring and neural links.

It did. They wailed and yelped for a moment as what felt like an incredibly powerful electrical shock surged through their bodies, directly connecting their nervous systems and 'life force' to the Gigabot's power generator. For a moment, the minds of the myriad members of the band and assisting crew became one, bound together by an incredible psychic fusion of sorts, separate and yet at the same time one and the same from everybody else. It was an incredible form of synchronization, as each of them heard and perceived the same thoughts as everyone else at the same time as everyone else to the point where it became nearly impossible to tell where one mind started and the next began.

The Gigabot stretched all its limbs and gave off an electric howl as its body was lit up with a flash of light, changing its color scheme to a magnificent black and gold as a result of the Lifeforce system. But even with all this new power…if the Gigabot did not do anything in the next few moments, it would be utterly destroyed by the coming wave of destruction, which had finally reached them after several minutes of debate and dramatic speeches!

"_Open your Heart_ slot-in…power up!" All the Pokerockers and assorted other guys said in unison, each of them mimicking the body that had once been Jigglypuff as she inserted the tape containing the group's recording of _Open your Heart_ into the robot's systems, converting the electronic signals recorded on the magnetic tape into a transmission which raced through the Gigabot's interior and into Meg and Amp's bodies, where they were converted again into actual noise which was processed through the giant mecha's enormous sound system and out into space, where it immediately began to affect the robot as it drowned out the constant _One-winged Mewgle_ song in the background.

_Thunder, rain, and lightning_

_Danger, water rising_

_Clamor, sirens wailing_

_It's such a bad sign_

The Gigabot shook again as it was surrounded by a rainbow-colored aura, powered up even stronger than ever. The mecha gave another electronic howl as it raised its sword into the air, the blade shimmering with power.

_Shadows of dark creatures_

_Steel clouds floating in the air_

_People run for shelter_

_What's gonna happen to us?_

The Gigabot and its crew stared defiantly at the wave of destruction as it rushed towards them, not even remotely concerned that it might hinder them.

_All the steps we take, all the moves we make, all the pain at stake_

_I see the chaos for everyone, who are we, what can we do_

_You and I are same in the way that we have our own styles, that we won't change_

_Yours is filled with evil and mine's not, there is no way I can lose_

"CHAAAAARGE!" they roared, and the robot roared with them, for they and the machine were one and the same.

Pointing its sword forward like a spear or a lance, the Gigabot's wings flared a magnificent rainbow before propelling the giant robot into the coming wave, leaving a multicolored trail behind them.

_Can't hold on much longer - But I will never let go_

_I know it's a one way track - Tell me now how long this'll last_

_I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others_

_Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do_

_OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT!_

The Gigabot was buffeted as it penetrated the wave, its powered-up sword plowing through it and allowing the mecha to enter the massive expanding sphere of death. It felt no fear as it flew, even as it was pummeled and pushed back repeatedly by the power Mewgle unleashed, for fear was a foreign thing to the transformed being. It felt no fear because it knew it would not be destroyed. It felt no fear because it _knew_ it would win.

_Ancient city blazing_

_Shadows keep attacking_

_Little children crying_

_Confusion, hopeless anger_

"Gyahahaha…this is awesome!" Emperor Mewgle cried gleefully as he floated in the center of the swelling explosion, his power core still out in the open so it could continue generating the lethal energy field. "I'm unstoppable! Invincible! The greatest Dungeon Master and Boss of all time! NO ONE CAN DEFEAT ME!"

Or so he thought…

_I don't know what it can be but you drive me crazy_

_All your cunning tricks make me sick; you won't have it your own way_

"Hahaha-heh?" Mewgle broke off his laughter in confusion as he saw a small form, a dark speck against the blinding white of the explosion, growing bigger and bigger as it rocketed towards him, resolving into the form of the powered-up Gigabot. "WHAAAA! NO! HOW'D YOU GET IN HERE!"

_Can't hold on much longer - But I will never let go_

_I know it's a one way track - Tell me now how long this'll last_

_I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others_

_Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do_

_OPEN YOUR HEART...AND YOU'LL SEE..._

"Grrr…never mind how you got in here, because you're leaving…IN PIECES! STARBURST LASER!" Ten lasers shot out of Mewgle's fingertips…and splashed harmlessly off of the Gigabot's rainbow armor. "Wh-what? Starburst Laser!" He tried again, with the same results. "Oh, I see…you're using one of your little songs, huh? Well, I can counter that easily enough…HARMONY OF THE SPHERES!" Several planetoids appeared around him which resonated together and fired a sonic blast at the Gigabot…which it plowed right through, the musical power surrounding it too strong for Mewgle's paltry tricks to penetrate.

Mewgle started to actually become afraid. "N-no way…GALAXY GUN!" Desperately, he summoned his enormous galactic cannon and fired a giant missile at the charging Gigabot.

The two opponents, missile and robot, raced towards each other and collided with a tremendous explosion…which, to the insane Mewgle's horror, the Gigabot flew through completely unscathed!

_If it won't stop, there will be no future for us_

_Its heart is tied down by all the hate, gotta set him free_

"NO FUCKING WAY!" Mewgle screamed, his evil heart pounding with terror. "ST-STAY BACK!" he cried, raising his hands. "I'M WARNING YOU-"

"We have no fear of you, Senor Mewgle!" the Gigabot cried, its voice a blend of all the Pokerockers. "This is your end! SONIC BLADE!"

Its great sword humming with power, the Gigabot dashed towards and _right_ _through_ Emperor Mewgle, slashing at his exposed power core and severing his two body parts with a single blow! The Gigabot paused for a moment several thousand yards behind Mewgle, the villainous robot's face frozen in an expression of horror…

And then the power core exploded, obliterating the Emperor's upper chest in a spectacular display of fireworks which sent the lower body flying away and caused the giant white sphere of destruction to vanish without a trace!

_I know it's a one way track - Tell me now how long this'll last_

_Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do_

_GOTTA OPEN YOUR HEART, DUDE!_

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mewgle, his ugly costume burnt and torn apart, screamed as he hurtled through space, before crashing into a very large, very hard, very sharp planetoid very painfully. "Owie…" His eyes bulged as the lower body of the Emperor Mewgle robot flew towards him, thrown his way by the Gigabot. "OH FU-"

The lower body collided into Mewgle and the asteroid, causing it to explode rather impressively, obliterating the little creep.

_Can't hold on much longer - But I will never let go_

_I know it's a one way track - Tell me now how long this'll last_

_I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others_

_Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do_

The Gigabot raised its sword and posed triumphantly, wings spread, before a magnificent stellar background. "VICTORYYYYYY!"

_OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT!_

…

When Pikachu came to, he knew two things: it was dark, and it was very cold.

"Hey, he's up!" a familiar voice called.

"Great, now we can all die with our eyes open," another familiar voice said.

Pikachu yelped as two pairs of glowing eyes appeared before him. He automatically gave off electric sparks in fright, lighting up the darkness momentarily and revealing them to just be Sadic and El Gato. He sighed in relief and started glowing with the use of a muted Flash so he could see them better. As he did so, he saw that they were in a fairly small, cramped enclosure of ice with no exits whatsoever. Wobbuffet's body lay slumped against a wall, Wynaut's body and decapitated head nearby. The ball containing Milotic's soul was resting against his feet. "Guys? You okay?"

"Si," El Gato said quietly.

Sadic nodded. "Yep, if you call being trapped inside a small space within a giant frozen heap of ice with our air supply running out okay."

Pikachu blinked. "…Wait, what?"

"Remember what happened? Wynaut turned out to be a monster after all and killed Wobbuffet, causing his shield to collapse. I used Sheer Cold to keep us from getting eaten by freezing Chimecho solid…but I also trapped us in the process. Now it seems pretty clear we're gonna die anyway…" She shrugged. "Oh well, suffocation's better than getting eaten by this thing, in my mind. But if you like, we can end it faster and less painfully by performing the double suicide I suggested before."

"If you do that, then who will kill me?" El Gato asked, looking annoyed. "I do not want to suffocate either."

"You can fall on your sword or something. Isn't that something swordsmen do when they've dishonored yourselves or something?" Sadic asked.

El Gato rolled his eyes. "Those are samurai. I was trained in the Western style. Honor is important, but no so much so that we kill ourselves for breaking it. We seek ways to _redima_ ourselves instead."

"Ah," Sadic said. "Well, seeing as how we're trapped in a small ice cave with no way out and a depleting air supply, I don't think you have time to do that. If you're not gonna fall on your sword, I could slit your throat instead. Should be just as quick and painless."

"Ah, wait," Pikachu interrupted. "You sure there's no way out of here?"

Sadic nodded. "Yep, we're frozen solid inside Chimecho's mass." She paused, and then pointed to a small crack in the otherwise solid ice wall. "I did find a flaw in the ice I made while you were out cold…which I suppose we could break…"

"Great, and that'll make us a way out," Pikachu said, drawing his sword.

"Ah-ah-ah, not so fast," Sadic interrupted. "Break that thing, and the entire cave will come down on us. And it wouldn't be enough to make a way out; anyway…it's not deep enough."

Pikachu considered a moment. "What if I used my Luminaire attack on it?" he suggested. "It was able to shatter that fake Salamence's chest armor during Ash's fight with Berry Stoo. And it's a pretty powerful explosion…maybe if I use it on the flaw; it'll blast a tunnel through the ice so we can get out?"

"One _problemo_," El Gato pointed out. "We are in a small, enclosed space. Is setting off an _explosion_ in such a small space really a good idea?"

"You'd blow all of us, including yourself, to smithereens," Sadic pointed out logically. "And you'd still cause the ice above us to cave in and crush whatever's left, since you'd be using a big honking explosion and blow up everything."

Pikachu sagged. "Oh…there goes that hope."

"So," Sadic said brightly, raising her claws. "Suffocation or death by sharp impaling object. What'll it be, boys?"

El Gato sighed, surrendering and losing hope. "All right, I'll fall on my _espada_…as long as you and Pikachu promise to kill each other right away and not eat my corpse."

"Deal," Sadic said. "Ready Pikachu?"

Pikachu hesitated…and yelped when another voice croaked. "Wait…"

They turned and saw Wobbuffet, still with a black tentacle going through the wound in his front and back, struggling to sit up. "Hold on…" he rasped, coughing up some blood.

"Aaaahhhh! Virus-infected zombie monster!" Terrified, Pikachu leaped into Sadic's arms. "He's become like Wynaut! Kill him!"

El Gato drew his sword and prepared to run Wobbuffet through, but the blue blob held his arms up in protest. "Guys, I'm not dead yet!"

They stared at him. "But you were impaled by a big black tentacle," Pikachu pointed out.

"And still are," El Gato agreed.

"What, this?" Wobbuffet said, gesturing to the tendril. "Awww, come on guys. I'm a Wobbuffet. We're living defense mechanisms, there isn't a part of our body that can't take a ton of damage and still keep working. Something like this isn't going to kill me…" He vomited up blood, splattering Pikachu and Sadic's fur. "Well, not right away anyway. Still got…I dunno…half an hour left in me before I die of internal bleeding and other injuries."

"Well, we don't have that much air left," Sadic said, dropping Pikachu to the ground. "So, would you like me to shorten that long and painful process significantly?"

Wobbuffet hesitated. "It's a nice offer, but…I need to stay alive just a little longer. Just long enough to help you guys escape."

"You know a way out?" El Gato asked, intrigued.

"So as not to waste air, yes. It's essentially the same as Pikachu's plan, though: blast through the ice with Luminaire. However, it has a Wobbuffet twist in it: when Pikachu releases his explosion, I'll use Mirror Coat to reflect it back on itself with twice its original power while El Gato and Sadic use my body as a shield. The reflected blast will slam into the front shockwave sent out by the original explosion and cause it to plow even further out, breaking open a tunnel (or a giant hole, either one's good) through Chimecho's skin to the outside. If the ceiling caves in as a result of the shock wave, I'll use Counter to repel it, so it blasts outward again and destroys even more of the frozen Chimecho as it opens up another venue of escape through the top of the room." He grimaced in pain. "The energy I'll need to generate shields of that power will sap whatever life is left in me…but I'm going to die anyway. No doctor can help me now…or my sister…" he said sadly. "But if I die, I at least want to do it saving someone's life; since I wasn't able to save those I loved the most. Well," he corrected, touching Milotic's soul ball. "I couldn't save _all _of them…"

"I think that could work…" said Pikachu after a moment's thought.

Sadic nodded. "Yeah, only one small detail: you'll die. You'll be caught in the blast waves of the original and reflected explosions, tearing you apart. You're fast, but there's no way you could hit the ice flaw and get behind Wobbuffet before you're nuked by your own Luminaire."

El Gato was startled by this revelation. "If that's the case, then we will have to find another way out. Surely we can think of-"

"No, this is the only way," Pikachu interrupted. "I see it. This is what I have to do. If it'll save you, Sadic, and…my kids…then I have no choice but to do this. It's what any real expecting parent would do in a situation like this…right, Sadic?"

She nodded, her eyes full of understanding. "If my babies were already out and I knew you'd take care of them, I'd do it myself. But since that's not the case…" She leaned towards Pikachu and gave him a deep, passionate kiss which sent his hairs on end and caused loose static to crackle out of his body as the couple shared one last expression of love before they would be parted. Eventually, the kiss ended, as all kisses do, and Sadic stood back up, a peaceful smile on her face. "I'll tell the kids how brave and strong their father was…a true hero."

Pikachu nodded, his red cheeks still flushed from the intensity of the kiss. "And I'll wait for you on the other side…maybe in those hunting grounds of yours, maybe not…wherever my soul will wander."

"Or not," El Gato interrupted in frustration, shocked that his good friend was so easily accepting death. "You saw those souls in the ice. What if by dying you end up trapped in the canyon walls with them, frozen _por siempre y siempre_?"

Pikachu shrugged unworriedly. "If that's true, then the same thing will happen to you guys if we die in here from suffocating because you don't let me blast a way out. It's the only way, El Gato."

"But…" El Gato trailed off, unhappily. "I do not wish you to die for us, mi amigo…"

"If I don't die, then we all will," Pikachu told him. "Losing two lives to save two more (not counting the ones in Sadic's belly) are better than losing all four due to stubbornness. That's simple math, isn't it?"

"And besides," Wobbuffet croaked. "If you're so worried about the soul thing, relax." He patted the ball Milotic was in. "This thing'll solve all your problems. It's a Soulcage. It's a device specially designed to capture free-floating souls unattached to a host body and contain them for an indefinite period of time. Since souls don't _technically_ have any corporeal mass, you can theoretically cram an infinite number of souls into a soulcage without overcrowding it. Only problem is it gets a lot harder to tell one from the other with the naked eye when you've got a ton of souls blended together. But just three souls—mine, Milotic's, and Pikachu's—should be okay."

"How do you know all that?" said a curious Sadic.

Wobbuffet managed a smirking grimace. "My crystal told me…before my sister fatally wounded me and I lost it…" He sighed, causing blood to splatter from his lips. "I wonder why it didn't warn me she was a threat…was the virus in her dormant and undetectable, waiting for the moment to strike when I was using all my concentration on the crystal, so it would be unable to sense it? Hmm…it doesn't matter now, I guess. What does is that when Pikachu and I, or any of us, dies, we can hide in the Soulcage so we don't get captured by whatever evil forces govern this place."

"See then?" Pikachu asked El Gato. "No problem. My soul will be fine. And if we get out of this alive, Mewtwo can clone us new bodies like he was doing for Ash before Deoxys cut off the power. And if, by some twist of fate, he were dead, Sadic can use her wish to ask the Unown to give us all bodies again. And if _that_ doesn't work…" He shrugged. "Then I'll wait on the other side. Or maybe haunt everyone as a Ghost Pokemon for a while. Either one's good."

"…You seem very…unworried about your impending demise at your own _patas_…" El Gato said. "Even if there is a chance you can come back…you are not even the slightest bit _asustado_?"

"No, not really," Pikachu said honestly. "Because I don't think there's anything to be afraid of…unless that Soulcage thing gets into Deoxys' hands…and I know that as long as Sadic is alive, she won't let that happen."

The Manyula nodded. "I'll tear that bastard apart if he even thinks of taking you."

"…I see." El Gato nodded. "In that case…" He sheathed his sword and bowed gracefully to Pikachu. "Mi amigo…it has been _un_ _honor_ to fight by your side."

Pikachu nodded and bowed back to the feline. "Same here. Before I met you, I never thought I would ever find a Meowth that I could call friend…I'm glad to have battled with you. Now," he said. "That's enough of that, don't you think? We only have so much air left…we'd better do this, right?"

His friends nodded. "Right."

Wobbuffet grunted. "Both of you help me stand up. And one of you needs to hang onto the Soulcage so it'll capture Pikachu and me when we die." El Gato quickly grabbed the small globe, and then put his shoulder underneath Wobbuffet's right arm, hefting him up so that the blob could use him for support. Sadic did the same on the other side. Once he was up, they shifted positions so that they were still supporting him, but from behind, so they wouldn't be caught in the blast from Pikachu's Luminaire. "Okay…I think we're all set," Wobbuffet said wearily, feeling the life draining out of him. He knew his time was almost up.

"Amigo…good luck," El Gato said with a nod to his fellow swordsman.

"Pikachu…I was right when I sensed that you would be a strong mate, didn't I?" Sadic said with a smile. "Our children will be strong; too…they will be honored to have a father such as you."

"Assuming we live to have those kids," Pikachu said with a smirk. "I'll try to tolerate the small enclosed space of that Soulcage long enough for you guys to find a way out of this world…we'll all make it. I'm sure of it." He turned, with a swish of his cape, and approached the flaw in the ice, drawing his sword as he did so. The sword and his body started glowing brighter as he channeled electricity into the blade, causing it to crackle and light up with power.

He stopped in front of the flaw and took a step back, getting in a fighter's stance as he held back his sword, charging it with power until it lit up the small room as brightly as a sun, causing his friends to flinch and close their eyes momentarily. "Raaahhhh…LUMINAIRE!" Swishing his sword through the air, he took one step forward and plunged his blade into the center of the crack.

There was a pause…and then a tremendous explosion, blocking out all else…and sealing the electric rodent's fate forever.

…

Latias was on a rampage. Her eyes blood red with rage, she sought out Dark Latios, seeking nothing less than to kill the dark dragon permanently for desecrating her brother's memory and destroying the last solid link between her and Latios. Nothing could stand in her way as she hunted the twisted Latios, livid and thirsting for his death.

And Dark Latios couldn't be happier.

The mad dragon cackled gleefully as the three-story house he had telekinetically thrown at Latias was shattered into stone dust with a single _look_ from the dragon girl, and only moments later the dust coalesced together into an extremely sharp diamond spike which drove itself clear through the right side of Dark Latios' face, leaving a gaping hole through his head. He caught the spike in one claw as the gaping wound healed itself, bit the diamond in two with his teeth, and stuck the resulting chunks in his mouth, chewing noisily as small gashes were torn open in his mouth and throat from the diamonds, all of which quickly closed.

Not distracted by her 'brother's display, Latias screamed in rage and tackled Dark Latios, knocking him from the air and slamming him into the ground, where they plowed through two buildings before coming to a halt in the street, her claws tearing his chest open viciously all the while. Dark Latios simply opened his mouth and laughed, spitting the diamonds he had ground up into dust with his jaws into Latias' face, causing her to cry out in pain as the tiny but ridiculously sharp particles flew into her eyes, puncturing them and blinding her momentarily.

As she reared back, Dark Latios drove his claw into Latias' lower body, smashing it open and tearing the wound even more as he ripped his claw back out, carrying with it the dragon's liver. He examined it with interest. "You know, in archaic times superstitious humans murdered dragon and bird Pokemon and examined their livers to see if they contained messages from their nonexistent gods, telling them how to live their lives," he told Latias conversationally as she ripped her own eyes out, since it would be faster to grow new ones than to heal the old ones with the diamonds still stuck in them. "Hmm…it says here you are going to suffer at my claws to the point where you wish you were dead…and I will continue hurting you past that point, until you wish you were never born…and hurt you even _more_, to the point where you wished you could be nothing at all…and perhaps I will grant that wish."

"Really?" Latias asked coldly as her eyes and liver grew back (not as quickly as Dark Latios regenerated himself, she was much more mortal than he was after all) as she thrust a claw forward without looking, causing Dark Latios to chuckle as she ripped out his liver and brought it up for her new eyes to focus on as they came into being. "You must be mistaken. According to this, that's what I'm going to do to you."

Dark Latios grinned ear-to-ear. "Sister, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!" He threw her liver at her, psychically exploding it in her face and showering her with liver juices as he lunged for her jugular.

Latias detected him at once and shoved the monster's own liver down his throat to momentarily stop his charge as she thrusted her other claw forward, stabbing through his eyes and skewering through his brain. Dark Latios gasped in pain, giggled, and pushed his head forward, driving Latias' claw completely through and out the back of his head as he grabbed her neck between his claws and tentacles and began to throttle her. Latias responded by sending a pulse of psychic energy through her arm, causing Dark Latios' head to explode. She then flashed her wings forward, slicing the tentacles and arms from Dark Latios' body, causing the tendrils to disintegrate and the limbs to fall to the ground, leaving deep scratches in her neck which were already starting to heal.

She backed away, seeing that the body was already starting to get back up and heal itself. Enraged, she directed her will into the moaning stones which made up the ground, causing spikes of rock to tear out of the street and pierce Dark Latios' body, ripping it to pieces. She then incinerated the whole mess with her Dragonbreath, melting the stones and turning the body parts into ashes…

From which Dark Latios emerged with a ghoulish laugh, as good as new. He cackled and flung a black Mist Ball at the ground, causing an explosion which released acidic smoke into the air, burning at Latias' eyes and skin. Ignoring the pain, she summoned a gale of psychic force which blasted the mist away, revealing…that Dark Latios was nowhere to be seen.

She immediately dove out of the way as Dark Latios shot down from the sky, slamming into the street with his Dragonclaws and creating a shockwave which destroyed all the buildings on the block on either side of the road as the road itself collapsed, leaving a gaping chasm behind. Latias quickly slammed into Dark Latios with Psychic, shoving him into the chasm he had created. She then telekinetically lifted all the nearby buildings and monuments and dropped them into the hole, crushing Dark Latios against the bottom of the pit and plugging the hole up. Knowing that alone would not be enough, she froze the surface of the stone plug she had created with an Ice Beam, melted it and the rubble with a Dragonbreath, and froze it again to make an even more secure barrier.

Of course, she didn't really expect it to hold him. Which is why she was not surprised when Dark Latios erupted from the ground behind her and dug his claws into her back, preparing to rip out her spinal cord. She blasted him away with Psychic, destroying some of her spine as she did so and temporarily paralyzing herself due to the vaporized nerve endings, but since she propelled herself through telekinetic levitation anyway it made no difference, and the damage was already healing anyway. Besides, the crippling pain was nothing compared to her rage.

Dark Latios grinned through broken teeth and telekinetically tore the big frozen mass of melted stone out of the ground and hurled it at Latias' recovering back as she turned to face him. Before it could hit her, she struck it with a Psylance, shattering it into thousands of razor-edged particles of ice, which she sent flying at Dark Latios. Not minding the sharp ice particles cutting his skin to ribbons, Dark Latios charged through the ice storm, ramming head-first into Latias and sending both of them crashing through a large building, causing it to crumble in their wake.

Latias grabbed her 'brother' by the horns and shoved him off her, melting his face off with a burst of Dragonbreath. His exposed skull grinned and lunged forward, sinking his teeth into her neck as he tried to rip out her throat. She smashed the head from below with one of her claws, tearing the skull (and a good bit of her skin) off, and then she batted Dark Latios' body away with one of her wings before nuking it with her Dragonbreath.

The burnt carcass of the Dark Dragon burst out of the fire and flew past her, smashing one of her wings off with a strike from its tail as it went. Latias flipped for a moment in the air due to the sudden change of balance in body mass and swung out with her own tail, wrapping it around Dark Latios' and yanking him back towards her as she fell, both of them regenerating from their wounds.

Dark Latios' healed head bent down towards her and unleashed a blast of Dragonbreath, not caring that he would probably be destroying half his body by doing so. Latias responded by covering herself with one of her wings and using Reflect, causing the black flames to rebound back into Dark Latios' face, burning the skin off his flesh…again. That did not faze him for more than a second, though, and he lunged down at her, pulling his tail from hers as they continued plummeting back towards the city.

Latias, who now had both wings back in full order, slashed out with them in a bladed frenzy, lopping off Dark Latios' head, arms, neck, and wings, causing the myriad parts to fall to the ground, where they immediately rejoined and came flying back at her. Seeing that her Dragonbreath didn't seem to be doing much good, she switched to Ice Beam, hitting Dark Latios head-on and freezing him in a block of ice.

However, just as that trick didn't work well on her, the same could be said of her 'brother' as he burst out of the ice and slammed into her, driving his claws into her chest as he swung his wings up in order to cut off her head.

There was a flash of feathers, and Dark Latios' wings were torn apart by Latias' own, which swung about and tore the dark dragon off of her, allowing her chest to heal from where he had pierced her with his claws. Latias panted slightly, starting to get tired, her burning rage losing strength in the light of the intensity of this fight. While she had powerful regenerative abilities, they were no match to Dark Latios'. She was growing weary, and yet he could no doubt continue fighting forever. Something the evil creature was inordinately proud of it.

"Losing your strength, sister?" Dark Latios asked in mock gentleness, his fangs bared into a gruesome grin. "Don't worry…it'll all be gone soon enough!"

Her reply was to freeze a portion of the blood canal below with ice then fling the resulting block telekinetically at Latios. He shattered it with a thought and psychically hurled the broken bits of ice at Latias, who melted them all with a tremendous Dragonbreath, which formed into a giant white dragon as it washed over Dark Latios, burning the skin off his bones and nearly turning him into ash…_again._

Despite being almost disintegrated by flame, Dark Latios was still more than alive, and he demonstrated it by hitting Latias with a Façade attack, made extremely powerful due to the nature of the burn she had given him, causing her to scream in pain and fall back, blood gushing from her extremities.

Dark Latios cackled and fired an Ice Beam, freezing her solid. Then, before she could break out, he quickly hit her with a black Dragonbreath in dragon form, melting the ice off her as well as disintegrating her feathers and baking her flesh, causing her to scream in agony as her vital juices boiled inside her flesh, bursting from their veins and causing inestimable pain.

It also gave her an inestimable Façade attack, which sent Dark Latios flying and allowed her to use Recover to heal herself…or try to. Her skin grew back and her body seemed to be in order, but she was left gasping for breath. This was all too much…she didn't think she could last much longer. Her strength was running out…and Dark Latios knew that, didn't he?

She took a deep breath and concentrated all her power, flying away as her body started glowing.

Dark Latios frowned as he pulled himself out of the building he was blasted into. "Hmm? What are you…oh, _I _see Heheheheh. Very well, if that's how you want to do things." Chuckling, he flew off in the opposite direction as Latias, his body starting to glow as well…in a much different color, however.

Latias stopped her flight when she reached the outermost reaches of the city, the heat from the ocean of flame surrounding the twisted Alto Mare washing over her and causing her feathers to plaster themselves against her sweaty skin. She ignored the heat and closed her eyes, knowing this was it. Mustering all her remaining strength, she focused all her anger, her rage, her hatred at Dark Latios for desecrating her brother's memory, for killing her biological father, for hurting her and molesting her and threatening all that she held dear. The power crackled out around her, causing her skin to crawl as the energies coalesced into a ball of pure white light around her, feeling as strong as ever but at the same time…_wrong_ somehow. "LUSTERRRRR…"

At the opposite end of the city from Latias, Dark Latios cackled, sensing the fluctuations in his sister's aura as she formed her energy sphere. She was tired from the long fight, and was putting every last ounce of power she had into one final attack. Too bad it wouldn't be enough. He easily summoned his own power, causing his body to throb with power as he was encased within a sphere of dark purple light which writhed and burned the air, electric bolts shooting out and striking rooftops and unlucky zombies as he gathered his strength. "PURRRRRRGE!"

The twin spheres shot forwards so fast that they left massive sonic booms in their wake, leveling the structures they flew over and obliterating the poor souls who shambled meaninglessly about in this hell. Latias' ball of light and Dark Latios' sphere of darkness collided in the middle of the twisted Alto Mare, creating a deafening shockwave which rippled out for miles from their point of impact, blasting the roiling clouds above them to smithereens and vaporizing over ninety percent of the city and its inhabitants from the sheer force of the two combatants' crash.

The two balls stayed in the air, floating above the scene of utter desolation, pushing against each other with all their willpower and might, each seeking nothing less than the utter annihilation of the other. Their powers seemed evenly matched for a moment, for even though both dragons struggled with all their might, neither sphere seemed able to overtake the other. However, as the siblings remained deadlocked for several seconds, it became clear which of them was superior, as Dark Latios' orb ever so slowly grew larger, beginning to push Latias back as it grew and threatened to consume her. "What's wrong, sister?" the evil dragon cackled. "Am I too much for you?"

Latias shook with anger. Her eyes burned red with hate. "For the last time…I AM NOT YOUR SISTER!" With a scream of rage, her energy ball blasted outward, wiping away Dark Latios' orb and engulfing him in radiant light.

Dark Latios didn't even have a chance to cry out in surprise as his body disintegrated until there wasn't a single piece of himself that he could regenerate from as his molecules were scattered to the winds.

The light faded, as did Latias' anger. It left her abruptly, causing her to gasp and shudder as she suddenly became aware of how exhausted she was, her rage and hatred for Dark Latios the only thing that had been keeping her going, the only thing that had let her win…because she had been too focused on her anger that it had never occurred to her to think of her friends and loved ones and draw on _their_ strength to create a Luster Purge like she had done to counter the tidal wave only last night, which was why the power she had summoned felt so wrong. It left her feeling empty and hollow, drained of all feeling and emotion…

She stared out around her, at the absolute devastation she and Dark Latios had caused in their frenzied battle. And she realized that, for several minutes there, she and her 'brother' had not been so different after all…

She vomited, her stomach made so queasy by the battle that it forced her to regurgitate everything that hadn't already come up when Dark Latios had force-fed her before. She felt sick and weak and full of disgust for herself, that she had lost so much control over her emotions that she had turned into an enraged beast little better than her enemy. "Some queen I am," she whispered bitterly. "Getting so attached to a little trinket that I lose all self-control when it's destroyed…" So what if it was a gift from Latios and the King? It was still just a trinket…what mattered much more than that was the love for her that the gift had signified. She had forgotten that, had been so focused in denying any relation to her which Dark Latios claimed they shared that she had lost her temper when he touched something that was undeniably Latios'. She hadn't wanted him sullying her brother's memory and so she had unconsciously linked Latios himself to the locket…when in reality; it shouldn't have mattered if it were destroyed at all, because Latios was still with her, in her heart…

Or _had_ she known that, and had been angry because deep down, she was scared that Dark Latios was telling the truth, and he really _was_ her brother? And so she hadn't wanted him touching the locket because it symbolized a memory of her brother before he had somehow been transformed into that horrible monster?

Her head hurt from all this self-doubt and soul-searching, as well as her total exhaustion. Pikachu was the person to ask about all this…or maybe Registeel, when she saw him again. All she knew was that she was too tired to think…she needed to find someplace to rest before finding a way out of this dark city that infringed upon her memories of the place she had called home. Perhaps that, too, was part of why she behaved the way she had…out of disgust of this battlefield? No matter…all she knew now was that she needed a moment to herself. To recover, to cry, and to hope that somewhere out there, her _real_ brother still roamed free.

As she flew off, a mutilated, crippled, almost dead zombie Aipom dragged its broken body across the destruction created by Latias and Dark Latios' battle. It hesitated in its pointless struggle, its empty eye sockets staring at what looked like some sort of small oblong white seed…

There was a cold laugh, and black tendrils shot out of the seed, and then the Aipom knew no more.

…

Latias wasn't the only one losing control of their anger. Mewtwo was just as, if not more, enraged than she had been, since Deoxys had conned him into murdering his own lover. And he was demonstrating his rage at that full force on his despised nemesis. "DIE!" Mewtwo roared, conjuring several thousand Shadow Balls, each with the strength of a nuclear bomb, and hurled them at Deoxys.

"Shouldn't I be saying that?" Deoxys wondered, shifting into his Defense form and curling into a ball. More blood had been shed onto the alien during his fight with Mewtwo, and as a result part of Deoxys' right arm and leg seemed to be stuck in Speed form, while parts of his left arm were showing a resemblance to Attack form no matter what he turned into. Also, a bit of one of the head spikes from Attack form didn't go away. These problems were purely cosmetic though, and didn't prevent Deoxys from using his defensive powers to call up a spherical shield which repelled the Shadow Balls right back at their master.

Mewtwo caused them to harmlessly dissipate with a thought and teleported over to Deoxys, smashing through the alien's shield with a Brick Break-enhanced Twineedle thrust and opening fire with Pin Missile at point-blank range, blasting at Deoxys' face and crystal, causing the very fine cracks which had started to appear in the jewel to ever-so-slightly grow.

Deoxys smacked Mewtwo away with his thick paddle-shaped arms and switched to his Speed form, using his incredible agility in this shape to dash forward and pass right _through_ Mewtwo, moving so fast he went right through the gaps between the psychic's molecules, keeping both of them from exploding violently due to a nuclear collision. Although Deoxys hadn't touched a single one of Mewtwo's atoms, it was still enough to cause the psychic to double over in pain for a moment…before lashing his tail stinger outward, driving it into Deoxys' back and striking the crystal. Not taking that well, the alien teleported away, reappearing right over Mewtwo's head as he drove his feet downward, using his form's super-speed to deliver several thousand needle-tipped kicks to Mewtwo's skull within the space of a second. However, Mewtwo had detected him just before he could strike, and blocked the attack with a triple level of Barriers, all of which shattered before Deoxys was through and thus giving Mewtwo only a slight headache from the alien pounding against his head. Of course, that was enough to incense the psychic's anger even further and cause his aura to writhe and flicker as his frustration that he had still not managed to defeat Deoxys grew stronger, manifesting in a Psychic blast which pushed Deoxys away and obliterated half his body.

Regenerating ans shifting to Normal form, Deoxys conjured his trident and teleported into his enemy's face, stabbed it forward at Mewtwo's eyes. The psychic blocked it with a Shadow Blade, the ghostly flaming blade catching itself in one of the gaps between the trident's points and holding his enemy's blow as he thrust his other arm's Twineedle spikes forward at the alien's crystal. Deoxys somersaulted through the air over Mewtwo's head, pulling his trident out of the lock it was in, and thrust one Speed-enhanced leg at the back of Mewtwo's head. The Genetic Pokemon ducked his cranium forward just in time to spare it and swung his tail up, catching Deoxys in the chest with its stinger and striking the crystal once again.

Deoxys teleported away, reappearing before Mewtwo in Attack form and firing a startlingly powerful laser from his crystal at the psychic, shattering the defenses Mewtwo had raised to counter it and tearing right through Mewtwo's torso, leaving a gaping hole and completely disintegrating his front armor. Mewtwo gasped in pain, and Deoxys lunged forward, switching back to Normal and thrusting his trident at Mewtwo's thick skull. The psychic Pokemon spun around, knocking the trident away with his tail as his armor and wound healed themselves and allowed him to thrust a pair of Twineedle spikes into the alien's crystal as he came back to the front. Deoxys responded to that by shifting his left arm into a tentacle and thrusting it through Mewtwo's eyes, ripping out through the back of his ample brain.

Normally this would be a fatal blow, but Mewtwo had gained many restorative powers in his time with the Unown, and they allowed him to survive attacks such as this. Mewtwo slammed a Shadow Ball into Deoxys' crystal, causing an explosion which flung both of them away, tearing Deoxys' tentacles out of Mewtwo's head and allowing it to regenerate itself, while Deoxys' left arm was now stuck as a pair of tentacles. Of course, since Deoxys used tentacles naturally, that didn't exactly hinder him. Deoxys chuckled and teleported a short distance away and tossed his trident into the air before vanishing. The trident enlarged and shattered into millions of tiny trident-shaped needles, all of which homed in on Mewtwo. The psychic's eyes flashed and his wings buzzed as he fired a Psychic/Sonic boom combo, causing the needles to disintegrate. His wings still humming, Mewtwo side-stepped Deoxys' trident and tentacle thrust from behind and directed his power at the alien, causing Deoxys to cry out in pain and surprise as his physical body was obliterated by the blast, revealing his crystal once more.

Mewtwo focused his energies on the crystal, attuning his wing's humming to the special frequency that could shatter the gem, causing the crystal's cracks to spread a little more across the jewel's spherical surface. In his rage at the alien Mewtwo did not cut off the frequency when its subsonic feedback started damaging his body, not caring if he had to sacrifice his physical form as long as he annihilated the alien. Unfortunately for Mewtwo, while his will dictated how long he could keep pouring on the power, his body had safeguards of its own which kicked in when the subsonics started making blood vessels rupture, his eyes swell, and his brain begin to hemorrhage, automatically shutting off his wings and allowing his body to heal itself. Mewtwo's rage grew, directed at his own body now for giving Deoxys a chance to recover, and he charged forward at the crystal, hoping to finish it off quickly. Unfortunately, he was too late, as Deoxys regenerated himself and teleported away, causing Mewtwo's Twineedle spikes to stab into thin air.

Deoxys reappeared a distance away and gestured with a tendril, causing several portals to open up around the fighters and send flaming comets hurtling straight towards Mewtwo. The genetic Pokemon was unfazed by this, and released a psychic burst of frustration, shattering the comets to particles of ice and dust with his rage as he made a gesture of his own, closing up the portals Deoxys had opened and finding that the alien had disappeared again.

He cried out in pain as Deoxys, now in his Attack form, lashed at him from behind, striking him repeatedly with a flurry of blows from his tentacles which destroyed his wings and shredded his back armor. Mewtwo quickly thrust out with his tail stinger, but Deoxys teleported away and reappeared right in front of Mewtwo, lashing out with a spinning whip-like strike. The Genetic Pokemon leaned his head back to avoid the left tentacles, then grabbed the right one as it passed over him, gathering his psychic and physical strength and using it to fling Deoxys away, blasting him with the special frequency before the alien could recover.

Once more, his body rebelled against him and made Mewtwo stop his sonic blast before it could possibly destroy the crystal once and for all, making Mewtwo enraged. So what if blood was leaking from his nose, mouth, fingers, ears and eyes? So what if his brain was pounding because it was near to exploding? This was far more important!

Regardless, he had managed to do some significant damage with that last attack, and the crystal was webbed with small cracks now. It probably wouldn't take much more to shatter the jewel in its current state, and both fighters were aware of that.

Deoxys teleported away again and swept his trident through the air as he reappeared, sending a gigantic lethal wave of energy shooting at the psychic, followed by about half a dozen more. Mewtwo grunted in annoyance and flicked a hand into the air, causing a golden Barrier to appear in the air before him and absorb the first wave. With another flick of his hand, the Barrier discharged the wave, thrice as powerful as before, and smashed through the other waves as it surged towards Deoxys, who chopped it in half with a strike from his trident right down the middle before teleporting away again.

He reappeared right in front of Mewtwo and charged forward, skewering him on his trident before he could move. As the Genetic Pokemon grunted in pain, Deoxys flung his trident upward, flicking Mewtwo off as he did so, then teleported just above the flying psychic and smashed him in the back with his trident, sending him tumbling downwards, then teleported below Mewtwo to get another chance at an attack. However, Mewtwo had teleported away at the last second and reappeared right behind Deoxys, severing the alien's head with a Shadow Blade while simultaneously striking his crystal from behind with a Twineedle spike. Neither did any real damage, but it caused the alien to retaliate by thrusting a cone-footed kick at his stomach, which he blocked and returned with a powerful kick of his own.

Deoxys reappeared again and did one of his trident tricks, tossing it up in the air and making it expand before vanishing. However, this one got very big before splitting into several tridents, each of which was connected to the other by strands of electricity as they shot towards Mewtwo, forming a net of sorts. Scoffing, he hit it with his Psychic/Sonic Boom combo…and was startled when it had no effect, the 'net' absorbing his sonic frequency and dispersing it evenly amongst the myriad tridents, so that none of them would shatter! The best solution then would probably be to just blow the damn things up…but they were probably built to explode horribly, so…

He tore open the fabric of space and time before him, creating a giant portal that the net flew into and vanished. He quickly sidestepped Deoxys' rush from behind in Attack form and reopened the portal, flinging the net at its own master. Deoxys switched to Speed form and dashed out of the way, then charged into Mewtwo, passing through his body's particles like before and causing the Genetic Pokemon to double over in pain, allowing the alien to come back over and lop his head off with a tentacle.

At least, that's what Deoxys had planned on doing. But Mewtwo, demonstrating his feline reflexes (since he is a cat, sort of) snatched the tendril out of the air before it could strike him and used it as leverage to throw Deoxys away, flinging a Shadow Ball larger than he was at his nemesis. Predictably, Deoxys teleported away, as he had before. The dark sphere teleported with him, and Mewtwo prepared to use the frequency, expecting Deoxys to be stunned by the explosion…so cannot be blamed for misfiring when Deoxys, at the last instant before the orb hit him, switched to Defense form and repelled the Shadow Ball with a shield, causing it to fly towards Mewtwo and get struck by the combined wave of psychic and sonic energy, creating a ridiculously large explosion that sent Mewtwo flying, his frontal armor shattered.

Deoxys, safe thanks to his protective shell, switched to Attack form and fired his superlaser from the crystal on his chest at the psychic. Mewtwo grunted as his armor repaired itself and gestured, opening a portal in front of him which the laser flew into. The portal exited right behind Deoxys, causing him to be blasted in the back by his own super-strong attack, destroying his body in a flash of heat and light, exposing the crystal once more. Mewtwo promptly hit it with the frequency, channeling all his rage and anger at the monster into the attack, causing it to tremble and crack…and yet again, his body cut him off only moments before the frequency would have shattered the jewel completely! Too angry to really care that his body had done this for his own good, because if he had kept up the frequency for another second he would have died as all the blood vessels in his body and brain ruptured horribly causing him to explode in a shower of gore, Mewtwo teleported to the crystal and managed to get in one good strike with a Twineedle before Deoxys recovered and teleported away.

The two fighters glared at each other from across a great expanse, knowing this fight had been going on for long enough. It was time to end this. Deoxys' body flickered as the alien spawned several weaker clones of himself, creatures like the ones who had impersonated Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Center and abducted or assassinated targets all around the world during Deoxys' global broadcast. In but a moment, there were a thousand of them staring down Mewtwo.

Mewtwo returned the favor by combining the Double Team and Substitute techniques to clone himself a thousand times as well, giving him an army to equal Deoxys'. Both armies glared at each other and began charging up their strongest attacks, the Deoxys' crystals glowing while the Mewtwos auras crackled and burned with a terrible rage, turning an otherworldly blue.

Their charge complete, the Deoxys' fired their lasers, the crimson beams burning through the air with an ominous hum as they shot at the Mewtwos. The clones of the clone finished their charging as well and fired their Hyper Beams, sending twisting blue bolts of energy at the incoming lasers. The two forces collided and reacted with an explosion rivaling the force of a thousand nuclear bombs, lighting up infinity and causing one of the beast's eyes to blink a few times, for it had gotten dazzled from the flare of the explosion. The shockwave and conflagration from the blast was so terrible that it washed across the battlefield, annihilating all the duplicates, and leaving only the generals of the two armies standing, shielded from the flames by protective psychic auras as they prepared themselves for one last strike.

Shifting to Speed form, Deoxys dashed at Mewtwo, tentacles ready to slice the psychic's very molecules apart. Conjuring a Shadow Blade, Mewtwo charged at Deoxys, intending to finish his enemy off once and for all.

The two foes met each other in the center of the explosion, struck with everything they had left in less than a split second, and kept going, their momentum carrying them out of the dying fire and back out onto positions exactly opposite from where they had begun. There was a moment's pause as both of them floated motionless, their bodies tense and waiting to feel the impact of the last attack…

And then Mewtwo gasped and fell to his knees, his armor disintegrating. "Heh," Deoxys snickered. And then his crystal shattered, and he was no more.

Mewtwo smirked, his anger leaving him as he turned around to see the floating particles of purple crystal and globs of blue and orange, all disintegrating slowly now that the life force had faded from them. "It looks like…I won after all. You were wrong, Deoxys…ugh!" He gasped and clutched his chest in pain. He could feel his body weakening, the vast amount of power he had used and the abuse he had taken finally taking effect on his organic systems and speeding up his rate of cellular degeneration. He knew without a doubt that he was dying.

He was unbothered by this realization, he had anticipated that he might die in this battle, even expected it. Maintaining his armor and power with rage alone wasn't enough, he had been forced to push his body past its strictly defined biological limits to grant him victory…and he was paying the price for it now with his life.

He closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, feeling his heartbeat slow and the strength flee from his limbs. Ultimately, it did not matter. Deoxys was dead, until the next time he manifested in the world of the living. With the monster gone, his virus would die with him and the nerve gas filling Ever Grande City would dissipate, allowing his friends to rebuild the planet with the aid of the Mother and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity…Mewtwo's only regret was that he would not be there to see it. Unless, of course, someone wished him back to life with the reward the Unown had promised…but until that time, he knew he could rest, his duty fulfilled. Now that Deoxys was dead, the souls he had collected should be released, including Gardevoir's, and with any luck they would reunite on the other side…he looked forward to that a great-

He paused, a strange thought at the back of his consciousness nagging him. Something strange and…familiar…

_Who's the fool now, Mewtwo?_ His dark side whispered.

The dying psychic's eyes flew open. His eyesight was beginning to go, but he could still see clearly enough the dust that had constituted Deoxys flow back together and form the maniacally giggling form of Amber for a moment before she disappeared.

He felt a familiar splitting headache…and then he gasped as the three points of a crystal trident ripped through his chest from behind, piercing his heart and lungs and increasing their rate of decay. "You try, and you try, and you try…" Deoxys whispered into Mewtwo's ear. "And yet, no matter how hard you struggle…no matter how hard you fight…you will always, _always_, fail."

…

Cerberus poked its heads out of a high portal, chuckling. "Hey, copycats, come and get…" It paused, seeing that the three beasts were nowhere in sight. "Me? What the…"

"GET HIM!"

Mama and Oniichan, who had been hiding right underneath the portal where the monster couldn't see them, lunged at the necks of the two Cerberus heads corresponding to them, biting into them and using their weight to pull the surprised monster further out of the portal. "H-hey! Stop that you little-" Cerberus was cut off when Papa bounded onto the top of the monster's remaining head, his weight combined with the other two's enough to fully pull the beast out of the pocket dimension and into the portal-ridden chamber, hitting the ground with a thud.

Cerberus shook Papa off, flinging him into a portal, and stood up, all three heads growling. Mama and Oniichan, who were standing to the sides, took a step back, and fired their most powerful attacks at the beast's sides. Cerberus only grinned as its shoulder crystals lit up and the energy beams were drawn into them, causing them to crackle and glow as they absorbed the elemental power of thunder and ice. "Ha! Haven't you fools learned that won't work by now?"

"We have!" Papa roared, falling out of one of the portals above them and landing on Cerberus' Entei head, causing it to roar in frustration and try to shake him off. The other two heads lunged at him, but Papa jumped off and the two heads smashed into each other, stunning them and cracking their masks. "And we've learned how to improvise! Mama, Oniichan, give it everything you've got!"

They did. Oniichan howled, a crackling aura of yellow electricity forming around him as he increased the power of his Thunder attack, sending thousands more volts pouring into the crystal, causing it to flash and vibrate from all the energy it was receiving. Suicune did the same, a shimmering blue aura surrounding her body as she increased the strength of her Ice Beam, causing snow to form from frozen water particles in the air around the beam as it struck Cerberus' other crystal, causing it to flash and vibrate as well. "H-huh? What are you doing!" Cerberus cried as it felt power, too _much_ power, flowing through its body. "G-graahhhh! I can't take all this energy!"

"That's precisely the point!" Papa roared.

The crystals grew brighter and brighter, and a high-pitched whine filled the air as it drew more and more power from Oniichan and Mama…and finally, inevitably, they shattered, blasting open the monster's shoulders in a wildfire explosion of elemental energy, nearly severing its forelimbs from its body and digging deep wounds into two of the creature's necks, as well as burning a lot of the filthy hair off its back. Cerberus howled in pain and collapsed, moaning from the serious damage done by the power overload. "You…you fucking…ohhhh…"

"ATTACK!" Papa roared, a red aura of burning flames forming around him as he charged at the mask on the face of the Entei Cerberus head. Mama and Oniichan staggered to their feet and flanked him, their own auras glowing.

With a tri-colored tackle, they slammed into the faces of their nemeses, causing their heads to reel back…and the crystal masks on their faces to shatter completely, exposing their mutilated visages to the open air as super-sharp edges and shards imbedded themselves in their flesh and eyeballs, causing copious amounts of blood to spray everywhere. "GRAAAAHHHHH!" Cerberus staggered to its feet and took a few steps back, panting for breath. "You…you fucking little…THAT'S IT!" Inhaling deeply, Cerberus released a powerful triple roar which caused the entire chamber to shake, blowing the three beasts back and nearly pushing them into a portal. The portals themselves quivered and abruptly flew together from across the room, converging before Cerberus and creating a single, gaping hole leading…nowhere. An empty, familiar nowhere which immediately began to vacuum up everything before it, forcing the beasts to dig their claws into the bony ground lest they be sucked up as well.

"No! What have you done!" Oniichan cried.

"The same thing we did last time!" Cerberus laughed. "Opened the gate to the gap between dimensions, so we can throw you three in!"

"No, not again!" Mama cried.

"We are stronger than we were last time!" Papa asserted. "Try as it might, your portal will not drag us into the gap!"

"Oh, you say that now…" Cerberus purred evilly. "But this chamber is sealed, meaning there's only so much air in here…and the portal is sucking it in as we speak! We don't need air because we're already dead, the only purpose our lungs serve is to let us roar and speak…but can the same be said of you three? You're immortal, but can even you survive without air? Did your worthless masters and that bitch child you love so much give you the ability to survive without oxygen?"

The three beasts hesitated. "I…I don't actually know," Papa admitted, a hint of fear in his voice.

"They must have…why wouldn't they?" Mama said, although the tremor in her voice showed how uncertain she was at this.

"I don't want to go back there…" Oniichan whimpered. "Back into the gap…even if we can survive without air…then we'll be stuck there forever, and I don't know if even the Unown can save us this time!"

"Well, why don't we see for ourselves?" Cerberus asked, its eyes gleaming as the portal's rate of suction increased. "It won't be too much longer before all the air is gone…and if you haven't fallen into the portal by then, we'll know for certain if you will live or if you will die! Hahahahaha!"

…

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Phanphy."

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Phanphy."

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Phanphy."

"Are we there, yet?"

"No, Phanphy!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Phanphy!"

"Are we there yet?"

"_No,_ Phanphy!"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO, PHANPHY!"

"Are we-"

"I said, NO, WE AREN'T THERE YET!" Togetic shouted at her little brother, causing him to whimper and curl up in a ball of emotional hurt and distress. The Happiness Pokemon sighed in exasperation, rubbing her temples with difficulty, seeing as her arms were really short. "I'm sorry, Phanphy, but it's hard not to get irritated when you ask the same question over and over again."

"I'm sorry," Phanphy whimpered. "I just wanted to know when we were getting out of here."

"I don't know, Phanphy," she said with a sigh. "We've been walking for a while now, and we still haven't found an end to this place."

"Well, every place has to have an end," Phanphy said reasonably. "No place can go on forever, can it?"

"That's the way it's supposed to work…but I don't know…" Togetic said sadly. "Everywhere we go; we see the same things…dry soil, dead trees, battered rocks, and disturbing undead Togepi crawling about everywhere. For all we know, we could be going in circles."

"We can't be," Phanphy pointed out. "When that happens on television, the characters always see their own tracks and follow them, leaving more tracks, so when they get back to the same spot they see their own tracks twice, and keep going in circles and leaving tracks again and again until they think they're on the trail of a huge group. Since there aren't any footprints ahead of us, that means we can't be going in circles!"

Togetic blinked in astonishment. "That's…that's brilliant, Phanphy! You're right, we must be moving…well, in some direction, anyway."

"So maybe if we keep going, we'll find a way out," Phanphy suggested.

"Maybe so," she agreed.

"So let's keep going and find it!"

And so they did. And it was only a little later that Phanphy asked, "Togetic?"

"Yes, Phanphy?"

"Are we there yet?"

Togetic facefaulted, groaning and wondering if her little brother had inherited too much of his father's genetic predisposition to stupidity when Ash had been carrying him around while he was still in the egg.

…

Omega was the first to strike, slashing out with his right blade, sending an energy pulse across the floor towards Tyranitar, following it up with one from his left blade and then thrusting forward with both swords at the reptile's head. Tyranitar swept her tail at the floor level, batting away the energy pulses with her flexible appendage, and then crossed her arms over her face to block the sword thrust, leaving shallow scratches on her thick armored hide. She leaned back on her tail, using it for balance as she lashed out with both feet, hitting Omega in the gut with a Mega Kick and pushing him back a few feet across the deck. The hulking general dug his feet in the ground to stop his slide and thrust forward, stabbing his right blade at the scar across Tyranitar's chest. She caught the superhot laser blade in one claw and held it there, demonstrating her incredible strength and pain threshold by refusing to let it budge, and chopped down with her other arm, breaking the imprisoned arm with a single blow.

Omega dissolved his blade for a moment to escape Tyranitar's grip and spun his torso, striking her with a roundhouse punch with his good arm followed up by one from his other arm as he mended it with a sickening snap and sent her head reeling back, finishing his technique with a rolling kick in the chest and another sword thrust at her scarred chest, seeing as how it was a flaw in her armor. She recovered and spun about, lashing out with her tail at the last second and tripping Omega, causing his blade to slash down and just miss the Tyranitar's body, nicking her in the side. He regained his balance and immediately leapt into his next attack, stabbing at Tyranitar repeatedly with both swords in a rain of blade strikes much too fast for Tyranitar to keep up with. She managed to block some, but not all, leaving numerous scratches and scars in her thick skin as the swords made their mark.

Before Tyranitar could even catch her breath, Omega made his next move, slashing his blade upward and knocking Tyranitar into the air (for a very short distance). Before she could fall or recover, Omega leaped past and above her, corkscrewing as he went and slashing at her with both blades before making a final slash downward which sent Tyranitar crashing back to the deck, shaking the boat. Omega dropped towards her in a downward double thrust, but Tyranitar rolled out of the way before the swords could bury themselves in her chest and fired a Hyper Beam right into the general's face as he hit the ground. Omega jerked his head to the side, evading the blow, and did a sweeping kick which sent Tyranitar rolling across the deck until she hit the snake head rising from the boat's prow, causing it to hiss slightly.

Omega charged towards her, but Tyranitar got up, grunted, grabbed the snake head by its neck, and with a mighty heave tore it off its base, causing it to thrash wildly and for blood to spew in copious amounts from the bottom of the neck and from where she had ripped it off. The boat trembled as a result, and the heartbeat sound emanating from the deck palpitated for a moment and started beating much faster than before, almost as if in a frenzied response to the blood spew. Ignoring the blood and gore spilling all over her, Tyranitar turned around and swung her new weapon at the rushing general, smacking him with it and sending him crashing into the back of the ship, very close to Umbreon, Corsola, and Scyther, who was writhing and foaming again.

Omega ignored the bystanders and got to his feet, springing into the air as Tyranitar came towards him, swinging her dead snake again, so that he was over her attack, then shot downward with a slicer kick, hitting her in the jaw and causing her to drop the dead snake as she was shoved backwards. The dead snake writhed and sprayed some more blood before finally falling still, only twitching occasionally now and then and freaking out Umbreon and Corsola to no end. Omega leapt at Tyranitar again, doing a kind of cartwheel with his swords out to strike the reptile repeatedly. Tyranitar responded simply by firing a Hyper Beam at him, blasting him out of his cartwheel and knocking him into the back snake head again. The mother lizard pounced forward; jaws wide open in a Crunch to crush the general's skull. But Omega rolled out of the way, and her jaws instead dug into the back of the still-living snake growing from the ship's back, causing it to hiss and writhe in pain, knocking her off as the boat trembled and rocked a little ominously.

Omega slashed out with his swords repeatedly, sending a number of energy blades racing across the floor towards Tyranitar. She jumped slightly in the air and hit the deck with a heavy crash, sending out an Earthquake shockwave which dispelled the blades, knocked Omega off his feet, and caused the boat to tremble even more ominously. "Be careful!" Umbreon cried in alarm. "Keep this sort of thing up and you might sink us!"

"I'll try not to," Tyranitar replied, picking up the limp snake head lying on the floor and swinging her tail at Omega, releasing a Sandstorm which swirled across the deck and engulfed the general, battering him with sand and surprisingly powerful winds. Were he an ordinary human, the storm would have flayed the skin from his bones…but then again, he wasn't an ordinary human, was he? With a few revolutions from his spinning torso, he dispelled the winds…

And got smacked overboard with a swing from Tyranitar's disturbing decapitated weapon. However, he grabbed onto the railing before he could fall off the ship and lose this final decisive round, flipping back onto the deck and slicing off the head of the dead snake as it was swung at him again, then did a dashing thrust forward, splitting the snake in two with his blades and cutting into Tyranitar's chest with his blades. She slammed her forehead into his with a headbutt to get him away from her, and then punched him in the visor and gut with a Focus Punch. When he swung a blade at her neck to behead her, she ducked then rammed him in the stomach with the horns on her head, which went deep into his body and ripped out through his other side.

Omega pressed his palms against Tyranitar's shoulders and pushed upwards, ripping his torso off of his lower body and splitting himself in two, startling the big Armor Pokemon as the lower body, independent of the upper one, kicked her in the chest, shoving her back and leaving her vulnerable for a moment so the free upper body could thrust his swords into her upper chest and penetrate her heart!

At least, that was the idea. Because her skin was so thick, he managed to only penetrate half an inch into her chest, drawing blood but nowhere near hitting anything vital. She bent her head down to rip off his armored face with a Crunch, but Omega's legs lashed out with a roundhouse kick which knocked her head aside and gave the upper body the moment it needed to extricate itself from Tyranitar and rejoin his lower half, reattaching himself with a number of sickening noises. However, before he could be fully reassembled, Tyranitar smashed him in the jaw with a double-fisted Dynamicpunch, causing Omega's head to spin (literally, it twisted right around its neck) and also severed the upper body half from the lower again, causing the former to stumble across the ground in confusion thanks to Dynamicpunch's special effect (and due to his visor being cracked severely) and resulting in the latter launching into a Jump Kick at her face. However, Tyranitar leaned to the side…and the legs soared right past her and off the ship, slamming into one of the columns rising from the banks and causing it to crumble and collapse on it, burying the lower body beneath several hundred pounds of stone. And without the aid of Omega's strong upper body and swords, it was doubtful that the legs would be able to get out of there on their own, something that shocked and actually worried Omega when he realized that he had effectively been crippled.

Nonetheless, he refused to give up. He could still fight even with half his body missing. Using his arms for propulsion, he pushed off the ground to avoid being smashed by Tyranitar's Iron Tail, rising into the air above her. He unsheathed his swords again and attacked, slashing in a circular pattern by spinning his torso about and nearly putting Tyranitar's eyes out as he left several deep cuts in her face. She roared in pain and staggered back, clutching her face and keeping blood off her eyes, glaring at Omega with a Scary Face which would have stopped him dead if he hadn't seen far worse things by then. As she lunged forwards to crush him with a Body Slam, he nimbly jumped to the side and performed a series of concentrated slashes and piercing thrusts against her left side, building on previous cuts into her armor to strike deeper and deeper into Tyranitar's flesh, drawing more blood and actually making a somewhat serious wound. Tyranitar rolled over to try to smash him underneath her back spikes, but Omega sprung backwards on his hands out of the way, causing the reptile to grunt in pain as she put pressure on the side Omega had injured in his last attack. She grimaced and got to her feet, clutching her left side in pain. "Cocky little bastard…"

"Oh no! Mama's hurt!" Corsola cried.

"Guess it's time for us to help out!" Umbreon said, preparing to leap into battle…

Until Scyther started screaming and writhing again, flailing his bladed arms about so much that he came dangerously close to slitting his own throat. The girls yelped and quickly grabbed his arms, pinning them down to try and limit his convulsions. "On second thought, I think we should stay here before Scyther kills himself by accident!" Corsola shouted.

"Stupid old mantis!" Umbreon snapped. "The professor told you never to overdose on your medication! And you wouldn't even need them in the first place if you weren't such a lazy bastard that you've been neglecting your physical health for ages! Ugh, Latias was right; it's your own fault that you're in such terrible shape!"

"It looks as if our fight is taking its toll on you," Omega taunted.

"Same to you," Tyranitar grunted, wiping blood away from her eyes with her free hand. "At least I still have legs."

"I doubt I'll need mine to defeat you."

"Let's see about that." Tyranitar leaped into the air and hit the deck with Earthquake, rocking the boat and knocking Omega off-balance, allowing the reptile to stomp towards him and launch him into the air with a Mega Kick. Omega flew through the air, almost off the ship, but gripped onto the neck of the remaining snake head before he could go too far, stopping his flight and recovering himself. Roaring, he leaped off the neck and slashed at Tyranitar a few times, the reptile using her arms to block the attacks and causing them to get cut up a bit more and start bleeding as Omega unleashed a rapid series of slices followed by an X-slash which, to her horror, severed her left hand at the wrist.

She reeled back, her roars of pain loud enough to shake the cavern and cause pebbles and dust to fall from the ceiling, and thrashed about in a blind frenzy as Omega dropped to the ground, nearly crushing him with stomps and her flailing tail. Omega nimbly evaded her pain-maddened attacks and sprung into the air, using four powerful chops to slash into her chest, cutting deeper into her already weakened skin and leaving a bleeding X-shaped mark across her chest. She roared in pain and fell forward in a Body Slam, pinning Omega's torso to the ground as she tried to rip his head off with her jaws. He stuck a hand into her mouth, forcing her jaws open, and prepared to thrust a blade through the roof of her mouth and pierce her brain.

That proved to be a fatal mistake.

Right before Omega could make the lethal strike, Tyranitar howled and fired a Hyper Beam at point-blank range, vaporizing his head and a significant part of his chest in an explosion which sent her flying back, face blackened, armor cracked, and eyes bleeding, as the boat thrashed about in agony. She hit the ground and stayed there, groaning in pain, looking like a mess with all the blood splashed on her armor and gushing from her wounds. She lay there, panting and gasping for breath, her eyes put out by her own last-chance attack…

And so did not see Omega's arms, blasted off their shattered body by the explosion, twitch, get up, and start scuttling across the floor towards her, their fingers moving like the agile legs of insects. Seriously wounded and blinded, there was nothing Tyranitar could do to prevent their coming.

It would have been the end of her then and there had not Umbreon and Corsola, who had finally managed to put Scyther down, leaped in to help her. "Stay away from her!" Corsola cried, Tackling the left arm and knocking it over. The hand's claws lunged for her face, but she fired Spike Cannon shots at close range into the finger joints, blasting the claws off and maiming the hand severely. Weakened, it swatted her away and unsheathed its beam sword, rearing up to stab her through the face, but with a blast of Ancientpower she knocked the arm off of the ground, then propelled it through the air with Spike Cannon shots, juggling it to keep it off the ground until it was off the side of the boat and over the river, where she stopped firing and allowed it to fall, splashing down in the black waters. It flailed about and tried to keep itself afloat, but one-handed there was little it could do to fight the current, and it was soon dragged down beneath the waves.

Umbreon had an easier time with the right arm, whenever it lunged or tried to stab at her; she'd hit it from behind with a Faint Attack or blast it away with a Shadow Ball. She was able to confuse it so much with these attacks that it wasn't difficult at all for her to lure the arm over to the railing and with a charging headbutt push it over the side and into the water, where it quickly suffered the same fate as its twin. Umbreon rattled her fur, sighing in relief. "There…it's over."

"Ohhh…" Tyranitar moaned. "Girls…? Girls…is that you?"

"Momma!" the female Pokemon screamed. They quickly scurried over to her side.

"Momma, are you okay?" Corsola asked anxiously.

"Please rest Momma, you've been hurt badly!" Umbreon urged. "Just lie back and relax, we'll try to find help!"

"No girls," the big lizard said, shaking her head weakly. "There's no helping me now. It's too late."

"Y-you mean…" Corsola whispered in horror.

"Yes," Tyranitar said. "I'm done. That last fight was too much for this old dinosaur…these wounds too deep. Girls, I'm afraid that this is the end. I'm going to die…"

"But…but you can't die!" Umbreon protested, tears flowing unwillingly down her cheeks. "Momma…please, we need you! Your son needs you! You can't leave us like this!"

"Heheheh…I don't have a choice," Tyranitar said, laughing slightly and stopping when she coughed up blood as a result. "Ugh…unless either of you can perform any healing on anyone other than yourselves?"

Corsola and Umbreon shot each other tentative glances. "We've tried using Recover and Moonlight on Scyther and Blaziken…" Corsola started. "But…they don't work very well…"

"Or at all," Umbreon said sadly. "I think Blaziken is dead."

"A shame," Tyranitar grunted. "And it seems that I'm going to join him shortly."

"Momma…"

"Girls…take care of my son…will you?" Tyranitar whispered, her voice fading as the life drained out of her in a big red pool of blood which oozed across the ground and was slowly absorbed by the deck. "Don't tell him…how bad it was, or how close I came to losing. Just tell him…tell him his momma didn't go down without a fight…tell him that I love him very much, and my only regret is that I'm going to die here without ever seeing his face again…"

"…I…I'll tell him…" Umbreon started slowly, tears running down her cheeks. "That…that his mother was a brave warrior, who never stayed down no matter how many times she was knocked off her feet…and that she died valiantly ridding the world of a great evil to save her friends."

Corsola nodded. "We'll never forget you, Momma. If it weren't for you…Omega would have killed us…and then you'd be all alone here on your deathbed."

"I'm glad that didn't happen, then," Tyranitar whispered, her muscles relaxing as her time was almost up. "Girls…thank you for everything." She coughed. "My boy…protect my boy…care for him as if he were your own child. And tell my son…that I loved him…and will always…love him…" She trailed off.

"Momma?" Corsola whispered. There was no response. "Momma!" the Coral Pokemon cried again, tears flowing rapidly down her face. "No…"

Umbreon turned her head away, sniffing and clenching her eyes shut. "Misdreavus and I…we wished we could have a child of our own…and now I guess we've got one, don't we?" she said bitterly. "I never wanted one this way, but…it just goes to show you…to be careful, VERY careful, what you wish for…or it might come true." Corsola nodded sadly in agreement.

They were interrupted from their grief when the boat trembled ominously and started tilting noticeably towards the front, water lapping over the edges and onto the deck. Tyranitar's body slowly started sliding towards the boat's broken prow, causing the ship to tilt even faster. "Oh no!" Umbreon gasped. "The boat…it's sinking! It must have taken too much damage from all this fighting!"

"Then we'd better get off, and quick," Corsola indicated. "Before it goes to the bottom of the river and takes us with it!"

…

Hatred filled every fiber of Bulbasaur's being as he stared endlessly at his unknowing rival, Sceptile, the ninja gecko too engaged in combating the transformed Alpha to be aware of the danger lurking within the heart of one on his own side.

Bayleef was equally oblivious, too busy keeping Crawdaunt's condition stable with her herbal essences and Sweet Scent to join the battle. Crawdaunt couldn't join the fight for obvious reasons, but no one had suggested Bulbasaur help out…and since the Grass Pokemon hadn't offered to help his ally, nobody thought anything of it. Perhaps they didn't think he was capable of being of any use. (At least, that is what Bulbasaur himself believed they were thinking, feeding the seething hate inside of him even more.)

There was nothing in this world Bulbasaur despised more than Sceptile. He hated every single thing about him. Hated how sharp the ninja's leaves were compared to his own. Hated how Sceptile was so agile that he could jump on his foe from above or behind, instead of Bulbasaur who was about as agile as a piece of deadwood. Hated how the seed pods growing on Sceptile's back could revitalize trees, while all Bulbasaur had was a useless plant seed which wouldn't do anything unless he gave up on his stubbornness and finally evolved, which he honestly doubted would do anything to make him more endearing to Bayleef. Hated how well Sceptile pulled off the ruthless ninja role while at any moment being able to transition back to the same old 'cool-guy' attitude Bayleef had fallen in love with to begin with. Hated how he actually seemed to be doing damage to Alpha, while Bulbasaur was stuck sitting here watching the match. Hated how Bayleef looked at Sceptile with such a look of adoration and love in her eyes that she had never turned on Bulbasaur, twisting his innards and causing his heart to gnaw on itself in bitterness and spite!

Hated how Sceptile was better than he was, and always would be…and because Bulbasaur was actually starting to respect him…he hated the lizard even more, and reserved a deep sense of loathing for himself as well.

But that was going to end, the little voice in his head told him. He just had to wait for the right moment…and then Sceptile would die, and Alpha would be all his to take on. And once he defeated Alpha and saved the day, Bayleef would love him and turn those gorgeous eyes on _him_ with all the love and affection that had so far been reserved for Sceptile.

He only needed to wait just a little bit longer…and then Sceptile would be dead! Deaddeaddeaddeaddead!

The voice in Bulbasaur's head laughed maniacally, and he laughed with it, because he knew that his voice and that voice were one and the same.

…

The heroes had managed to destroy Infernatrice's torso, leaving only his head and wings remaining. But by becoming a winged head, Infernatrice had become if anything more dangerous than he had been before. Without the weight of his body, he was a lot faster and more agile, able to dodge Gyarados' Ice Beam and return with techniques of his own. So far, Gyarados had not once hit the bird's head directly, because Infernatrice either dodged or shielded itself with his huge lava wings, which were far too hot to be frozen by a paltry Ice attack. Fire attacks were quick enough to hit, but did fairly little damage, and because the head moved so quickly and was still made mostly of magma too hot to land on, if they tried throwing the rock-smashers at the monster's head their chances of survival were minimal. If they landed on Infernatrice's skull, they'd probably be incinerated by the heat of the bird head. If they missed, they'd plummet into the lava river below.

Gyarados had dehydrated himself several times now due to his repeated failures to strike and stun Infernatrice with his Ice Beam, with the result of him having to stop frequently for refueling at the steam pipes before catching up with the others, who were making little to no progress against what was left of the wicked bird.

It was at one of these refueling stops that Combusken, looking anxious, asked Gyarados a question. "Gyarados…can…can we beat him?"

"Hmm?" Gyarados asked after guzzling down sweet, sweet water and moving out of the way of the super hot steam jet just behind it. "What's that?"

"I-It's just…" the chicken started weakly. "I…I don't think we can do this. We've been trying to get him for the last several minutes, but we haven't touched him even once."

Gyarados raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you suggest we do? Give up?"

"I…I don't know," Combusken said miserably. "I just…I just don't know if we can win, if we keep failing like this."

"With an attitude like that, of course we won't win," Gyarados grunted. "And besides…what other choice do we have? There's nothing else we can do but fight. There's no other way out of these tunnels."

"…I know, but…"

"But what?"

"But…well…I don't know," Combusken said with a deep sigh. "I guess…I guess I felt like I just had to complain…I'm sort of like my trainer that way, aren't I?"

Gyarados shrugged. "Since I don't really know your trainer, I can't say for sure. All I know is you're not the only one who wants to complain. I could whine about this heat all I wanted, but it wouldn't really do anything productive, would it?"

"But at least you can do something about the heat," Combusken pointed out. "By cooling it or refreshing yourself with water. What can I possibly do to make our bigger problems go away?"

"That I don't know," Gyarados admitted. "You may not be able to do anything to slow down Infernatrice, but…you give yourself too little credit. We wouldn't have whittled Infernatrice this far down with Charmeleon alone, would we?"

"Yeah…"

"So, what're you worrying about? We'll beat this guy. We've practically done it already, haven't we?"

"…Yeah…yeah, I guess so," Combusken said slowly.

"Then that's all there is to it." The Atrocious Pokemon lowered his head. "So come on, let's go."

"…Yeah! Yeah, okay!" Somewhat enthused, Combusken hopped back on her comrade's head. And with that, they were off to fight…again. But would this encounter be the decisive one which would spell the defeat of Infernatrice once and for all?

…

He was submerged up to his neck in Leviathan's skin while the dead spirits watched on. He knew this was it. Whimpering, he shut his eyes, waiting for the horribly painful death which awaited him inside Leviathan's flesh as her putrefying and decaying skin flowed into his orifices and smothered him from the inside out when…

A large metal torture cage abruptly lodged itself in the Leviathan's right eye, causing it to cry out in pain. "Eat electric death! Again!" Zapdos cried, firing a Thunder attack which got conducted through the cage and into Leviathan's brain, causing her to scream and convulse in pain. While she was paralyzed by electricity, the thunderbird swooped down and grabbed Aerodactyl's snout in his claws before the Fossil Pokemon could be submerged completely, ripping him out with a mighty heave and splattering gross-smelling dead flesh and body fluids everywhere. "Gotcha!"

Aerodactyl spat out the disgusting matter that had gotten into his mouth as Zapdos let him go, the taste permanently staining his tongue green. "You cut it a little close, there, don't you think?"

Zapdos snorted. "If that's all the thanks I'm going to get for rescuing you, then I guess I'll just LET you get absorbed next time!"

"Watch out!" Aerodactyl cried, tackling Zapdos and shoving him out of the way as Leviathan recovered from her paralysis and unleashed a torrent of dark flames, nearly incinerating the two avians.

"Yaahh! Almost forgot about her!" squawked the thunderbird.

"How can you forget a giant undead serpent that wants to eat us!" Aerodactyl asked incredulously, swerving out of the way as Leviathan's jaws almost snapped shut on his body.

"I got caught up in arguing…happens all the time," Zapdos said sheepishly.

"You need serious help!" Aerodactyl yelled in frustration, spitting a Hyper Beam down Leviathan's throat. It exploded and blew a hole out through the back of her head, but without Ho-Oh there to back him up the beam wasn't strong enough to do anything worse than that and so there was nothing to stop Leviathan from slamming her mouth closed over him.

Fortunately, Aerodactyl had managed to use Double-Edge at the last minute and smash through Leviathan's teeth and sail out through the big hole in the back of her head, which was already being mended by her ghost slaves. The serpent turned her head as Aerodactyl fled and lunged again to swallow him, but Zapdos zapped the cage he had stuck in her eye again, causing her to howl in pain and stop in her tracks.

Aerodactyl looped back towards Leviathan, his mouth glowing as he fired a Hyper Beam at Leviathan's left eye. It pierced the eye, tore through her brain, and blasted out through her other eye, blinding her and leaving a gaping hole through her head. Leviathan roared in frustration and breathed out flames in all directions, blindly trying to hit her prey. Zapdos folded his wings against his sides and started spinning as the flames rushed towards him, his beak glowing as he used Drill Peck to 'dig' through the breath attack and shoot down Leviathan's throat. The serpent's body trembled as the thunderbird drilled through her, ripping apart her vital organs and generating electricity from his body as he span to do even more damage, causing Leviathan to shriek in pain…or she would have, if Zapdos hadn't torn through her voice box on the way down her neck.

Covered in disgusting juices, Zapdos tore out of Leviathan's anus, throwing away said juices with his spin as he drilled out of Leviathan's body. "Ha! Take that, bit-" He was cut off when Leviathan's flailing tail smashed into him, sending him flying. "WAAAUGH!"

Aerodactyl narrowed his eyes as Leviathan quit her thrashing and held still as the spirits of the ghosts she had eaten appeared around her, faithfully mending the damage done to her body. "Hmm…" Spreading his wings, he swooped down towards Leviathan's serpentine form. When Zapdos had drilled through her, he had almost severed one of the beast's arms, and it was only attached now by a thread of muscle and viscera, now being repaired by the ghosts. Steel Wings glowing, Aerodactyl severed the thread, causing the limb to drift off into space. The ghosts, which had been the predatory reptile's real target, were dissipated like mist as he sliced through them…but being ghosts, they reformed only moments later and floated off to grab the severed arm and carry it back to the beast's body. "Damn!"

He yelped and barely avoided a swipe from Leviathan's other claw which nearly took his head off. It was clear that defeating this monster was not going to be an easy task…

…

The Gigabot sagged, sparks shooting from its joints as its power diminished, gold and black armor reverting to its original purple hue.

Inside the mecha, the Pokerockers were in various states of exhaustion as a result from their usage of the Lifeforce system only moments ago. It was a miracle that none of them had died from the over-stimulation of their nervous systems!

"That…that was…" Geodude panted.

"So…fucking awesome…" agreed Onix, lying on his side, almost too weak to breathe.

"Yeah," agreed Iron Shell, his limbs sagging out of their shell. "But…let's not…do it again…anytime soon…okay?"

"I…hear that, brutha," Metal Sound gasped, his steel body for once feeling far too heavy for his liking.

"That…was a bitchin' song," Jigglypuff said, shaking her head and almost blacking out from the wave of sheer dizziness and exhaustion she felt from the action.

"Don't…use language like that," her protégé scolded.

"Ha!" Jigglypuff laughed, causing funny swirls to dance before her eyes. "I'm…a rock star. It's…expected…"

"Well," Buzz rasped. "Now you guys know how I feel down here, having to use my own body to power this damn robot. I hope this will make you appreciate me more."

"We appreciate you…just fine, Buzz," Lee assured the Electabuzz.

"Good job, team," Mudkip said, closing her tired eyes. "Very…very good job."

"Si," Lombre said, nodding weakly. "We have defeated Senor Mewgle…all is bueno now."

"PSYCHE!" Mewgle howled, reappearing before the Gigabot in his original form.

"WHAAAAT?" the Pokerockers cried in disbelief.

"But-but we killed you!" Mudkip protested.

"Si, you should be _muerto_ by now!" Lombre agreed.

"Ha, don't you fools know anything?" Mewgle scoffed. "Final bosses almost always have a second form! And here's mine!" He snapped his fingers.

From the depths of space, it appeared. Something so enormous, so massive, it was impossible to take it all in with a single glance from the naked eye. (Still, it was only about the size of a blotch on the surface of one of the Beast's tiniest pimples. Not that big at all in comparison.)

It was a huge robot, so tremendous that it dwarfed not only the Gigabot but nearby suns in its shadow. Its feet were white and pointed in single toes out from the thick gray metal lower legs, which had large missile launchers growing from the sides. The upper legs were less thick and orange, leading up to a white-fronted waist and hip-piece with orange sides and back. Its lower chest, front and back, was thick and orange, with glowing red abs that looked like they were made from some kind of glass or crystal. Its upper torso was covered front and back in thick white chest armor with hinges on the sides and a jagged line down the middle to show the front could open up. It had angular orange cubes for shoulders with sharp antenna or spikes growing from their outermost-facing face, white upper arms, and lower arms composed of thick orange metal with spikes growing from the top, ending in large white metal fists. From its back grew a pair of skeletal orange metal wings, looking more like bony fingers since there was no membrane between the gaps to form true wings. A pair of segmented orange horns grew from the top of the robot's upper body, and between them sat the mecha's head, larger than the Earth's moon. The head had Mewgle's grinning green-eyed monster face set inside a large orange helmet with long curved horns growing from the side, giving it a Viking look. (Even though in actuality Vikings did _not_ have horned helmets.)

The Pokerockers stared in horror at it. Mewgle cackled and vanished, reappearing inside the very large and comfortable cockpit in the new robot's head. "Bwahahahaha! What do you think of my Mewglecron? Impressive, isn't it?" The robot flexed its arms. "This thing's capable of devouring planets, moons, and even _stars!_ What do you think it's gonna do to you punks! Hahahahahaha!"

…

Sadic climbed out of the rough tunnel blasted through the side of the frozen dead Chimecho, her eyes squinting as she adjusted to the bitter cold air and light outside. Her ears twitched as she heard El Gato crawling up the tunnel behind her, and she hopped out of the tunnel's lip and onto the ground so the cat could join her. She smirked and glanced down at the small orb held in her claw, three radiant souls trapped within. "Good job, hun. Don't worry; we'll get you out of there soon." She kissed the surface of the orb.

The Meowth hopped down behind her. "…You really do care for him, don't you?" El Gato asked, an unreadable expression on his face.

The Manyula blinked at this. "I thought that was obvious. What made you think otherwise?"

"…I am not sure," the feline admitted. "But…your behavior…your demeanor is _extranjero_ to me. I have rarely met someone willing to slit their own lover's throat."

"That's because you've never been around the place I grew up," Sadic said with a smirk. "This is how we all act to our loved ones."

"I see. So, for you, it is not all about _crianza_…" El Gato murmured. "And yet…I mean no offense, but I am not certain what he sees in you. That is…" He swallowed. "You are _muy_ _attractivo,_ and _atontamiento_ to observe in a fight…your grace and skill is _impresionante_…but…" He shrugged helplessly. "I do not understand…why, truthfully, does he love you?"

Sadic shrugged. "I dunno."

El Gato blinked. "You don't?"

"No. Well, I'm sure his physical attraction to me is part of it, and a feeling of responsibility since I convinced him to sire my children, but I honestly don't have a clue why he hasn't tried running away after we mated last night. Fear that I would hunt and kill him (which I would) is only a small part of it. A very small part of it." She shrugged, looking unworried. "I don't know why, but I know that he does love me. Does the why matter so much in any case? He cares for me. I care for him. Why bother trying to tear it apart and psychoanalyze it when the simple answer, that he just does, can suffice in any event?"

"…Hmm. I see…an interesting point," the cat conceded. "Heh. Rosa and I…we do not behave as you and Senor Ratton do."

"Love can be expressed in all sorts of ways," Sadic said reasonably. "In poetry, in dancing, in sex, in tying them to a bed and whipping and biting them…doesn't matter so much as what form it takes as long as it's mutual, does it?"

"I suppose not," El Gato agreed in surprise. "I think perhaps I _do_ see now part of what my good amigo sees in you…an _inteligente_ mind with different views worth pondering."

Sadic shrugged. "If you say so. So, what say you and I find a way out of here and-" She stopped, her ear twitching. She tackled El Gato, knocking him down before a beam of searing heat could take off his head.

The beam was fired by one of the beautiful, radiant beings which frequented the canyon, all of which were now coming towards them, emitting spectacular amounts of heat while smiling cheerfully as they prepared to incinerate the two Pokemon.

"Wh-what are they doing!" El Gato cried. "They always ignored us before! Unless…" He glanced at the ice tunnel they had come out of and cursed. "Madre de dios! They must think we are _evadidos_ to destroy, just like they do to the souls unlucky enough to break free from the ice! They will not rest until we are nothing but ashes!"

"Not if they can't catch us," Sadic said, getting back up and holding the soulcage tightly to her chest. "Come on!" She began to run down the canyon, away from the angelic figures.

Surprised, El Gato ran after her, working a little to match strides with the arctic predator. "We are not going to fight them?" He ducked as a heat beam shot over his head.

"How? They're so hot we'll be disintegrated if we get anywhere near 'em. That means my ice and your sword are no good against them. So…" She shrugged. "We'll just have to see if we can outrun them."

"…That's not a very good plan."

"Got a better one?" she asked. "We could go back and get killed if you like. Maybe those things won't damage the soulcage. Maybe they will. Would you care to stick around to find out?"

El Gato sweatdropped. "Good point."

In silence, they kept running. How ironic, two Pokemon widely regarded as hunters were now themselves being hunted.

And interestingly enough, as the angelic figures passed over the frozen Chimecho in pursuit of Sadic and El Gato, their heat caused the ice to melt into gross-looking blue slime…slime which quivered and slowly, surely started to pull itself back together…

…

Latias felt his aura the instant he entered the building, and whatever hopes she had left shattered completely.

After vaporizing Dark Latios and feeling rather sick, Latias had sought a place to recover until she could find a way out. One of the few buildings still standing after the Luster Purge collision was the Alto Mare city museum…this world's version of it, anyway.

It was horrible. The entire structure was a monument to pain and misery. The exterior was decorated with spikes that had citizens impaled on them, along with breathing statues depicting horrific tortures and rapes. A pair of statues stood on pillars on the plaza at the front of the museum, staring out at the searing hot sea of fire surrounding the island. In the old Alto Mare the sculptures had been of Latias and Latios, but here they depicted Deoxys and Dark Latios, father and son, gazing out with pride over their kingdom.

The museum's interior was no better. She had found a horribly mutated Kabutops and Aerodactyl waiting for her whom she managed to dispatch quickly, leaving her alone in a cavernous place lit by dim torches in decapitated head holders that illuminated the most graphic and gut-wrenching artwork and statuary she had ever seen. The chamber which had once been the housing for the DMA had been transformed into an altar of dark worship strewn with bones and rotted pieces of meat, blood caking almost every surface three inches thick. The altar, a horrible stone slab, was placed in the center of the room, before a horrific statue of Dark Latios with three eyes, one so grotesque and monstrous that Latias could not stare at it for even a moment without feeling ill…

And yet it was still not as horrible as the things she had seen inside her 'brother's' mind. Even so, Latias had to clamp down as hard as possible on her empathic senses to keep from picking up even the slightest whisper of the endless screaming fear and pain resonating from every molecule in this horrible place which would overwhelm and destroy her if she weren't careful enough to guard against it. And in her weakened state, that was a hard thing to do indeed, but she had little choice but to defend lest she was shattered by this place and fell into madness and depravity.

She leaned against the least bloody wall after clearing away some bones and slumped to the very hard, very rough, and rather sharp-edged and uneven floor while eerie light shone through the graphic stained glass windows lining the rotunda at the top of the chamber. Trying not to pay attention to the terrifying patterns the light created, Latias closed her eyes and tried to rest. As she had expected, her dreams were filled with horrible nightmares only half-remembered that only left her feeling more tired, and thus she was already in a gloomy mood made much worse when Dark Latios floated into the room, looking as if he had never been vaporized in a giant explosion. "You're still alive," she said, her heart sinking.

He nodded solemnly. "Yes."

"I can't kill you, can I?"

He shook his head, smiling now. "No."

She glanced away. She was too tired to fight. All her adrenaline and anger had been used up in the last battle. All she felt was weariness and a growing sense of helplessness and despair. "Dark Latios…"

"Yes, sister dearest?"

"…You're…you are…you are my Latios, aren't you?"

The evil dragon nodded gleefully. "I am indeed. I'm glad you finally accepted it."

"How, though?" she asked quietly. "How can you be him? The brother I remember loved me and would do anything to protect me…you're a sadistic and heartless fiend who enjoys pain and is incapable of love."

Dark Latios chuckled as he floated over and put an arm around Latias' shoulder, digging his claws in as he did so to draw blood. "It's really quite simple. After helping your boyfriend the Ghost King make that present for you, I was consumed by the Beast who is Deoxys, as Deoxys is the Beast. In the Beast's innards my spirit was completely destroyed and remade again in its current form, allowing it to be reborn from my mother's loins as the son of Deoxys."

"And what happened to you in…there…was enough to make you stop loving anything?"

"Precisely." He licked her cheek with his serpentine tongue. She shuddered, but was too weak now to shove him away. "Love is a powerful force, dearest sister. But pain is much, much stronger. There are few hearts that cannot be broken by torture. It shows you things you never understood or believed before; it shatters your mind and puts something else in its place. It takes your heart and twists and twists and twists until it's something unrecognizable and unspeakably horrible. That is how I became as I am now, sister. My love for you as Latios was so great, that its twisted form makes me loathe you so much I dream of nothing else but hearing your screams as I ride you and thrust my barbed manhood into your fragile, broken body…as I tear the flesh from your body and devour you again and again…as I hurt you, as I tear you, as I rape and rape and rape!" Eyes lit with a terrifying maniacal gleam, he squeezed her shoulder so hard that it was nearly torn off, causing her to whimper. "I _so_ want to make you hurt, Latias…"

"…If you want to hurt me so badly…" Latias said slowly. "Then…I'll keep you from ever getting the chance." One of her wings shot up to slice off her own head. Unlike Dark Latios, she would not simply recover from a wound that lethal.

Dark Latios grabbed her wing with his free hand, splitting open his flesh and claws on her razor feathers, but ignored it as with a casual motion he ripped the wing off, crumpled it up, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing as Latias screamed in agony from the gushing wound on her back. "Sorry sister," he said, not even deigning to chew with his mouth closed and spitting blood and feathers in Latias' face. "You won't get off that easily. If you die, I will simply cram your soul back in your body and force it to live again. I've had _tons_ of practice doing it to James, I can do it easily. That's how I was able to temporarily remove your spirit from your body when I was torturing the Ho-Ohs, remember?" One of Latias' claws stabbed at his face, but he grabbed it by the wrist and twisted it, snapping her wrist, shoulder, and elbow bones as he wrenched it around her back, eliciting another gasp of pain. Latias tried to push him away with a Psychic blast, but her mind fizzled when she tried, too weary from the energy she had exhausted using Luster Purge earlier. She couldn't even muster the strength for a single spark of Dragonbreath now. She was completely helpless and vulnerable to her twisted brother's desires. "This will be fun…" he whispered.

Dark Latios forced her to the ground, her weak and paltry attempts to struggle not hindering him in the least. He twisted her other arm (which had just been healing from his shoulder crush from earlier) around her back as well, breaking it in several places, and pinned her down with his body weight, driving his tentacles into her flesh and regenerated wings, tearing at her soul as well as her innards and causing her to shriek in pain. He mounted her, using his barbed tail to keep hers out of the way as he thrust his black tendril into her rear, violating her body at the same time he violated her mind and soul through the use of his tentacles. He dug his claws into her back, rending furrows into her flesh as he quivered ecstatically from orgasmic pleasure, spikes extending from his buried penis and ripping out of Latias' body, shredding her skin, muscles, and innards. "Hahahaha…does it hurt, Latias? We've just begun. Besides, is this _really_ as bad as all the pain you've given me, your own brother, in our battles?" His aura started to pulse, causing Latias to cringe even as her body screamed from the intrusion of Dark Latios' acidic, invading semen and tendrils. "I want to thank you for hurting me so much, Latias. For incinerating me and crushing me and decapitating me and vaporizing my body. That hurt _so_ wonderfully much. And I wish to repay you for all that delicious suffering…which is why I'm giving it back to you. You see, I happen to know the ultimate Dark-type technique…" His aura was beginning to crackle with power. "It's one that takes all the damage that has been inflicted on me…all the pain I've experienced…and redirects it onto any target of my choosing by a thousandfold." Bolts of power shot out from his aura, dancing around the room and leaving zigzagging scorch marks along the walls and on Latias' skin as they tore into her body, causing her to shriek as they ripped through her innards and bones, sending repeated shocks to her brain as they overloaded her nervous system. "It is called…" He leaned down, his mouth close to her sobbing, gibbering head. "_Black Karma_."

Dark Latios' aura exploded, spreading out and engulfing everything…absolutely everything…in the deepest darkness.

…

He had lost. Mewtwo was all too aware of this as he stared at the large trident emerging from his chest and his body began to shut down thanks to cellular degeneration. "What…what did I do wrong?" he whispered. "I…became stronger…I learned everything I needed to know to defeat you…what…what happened? Why did I fail?"

"You did nothing wrong, Mewtwo," Deoxys purred. "Nothing at all. In fact, you did everything _right_. You did _exactly_ what the Unown wanted you to do."

"…What?"

"They chose you for one reason and one reason only, Mewtwo: to fail. It is something you are very good at, isn't it? You failed at being a member of Team Rocket so you ran away. You failed at trying to rule the world and ran away again, sequestering yourself on Mt. Cena. You failed to protect your friends there and ran yet again, traveling the world to try to understand humanity and life in general. You failed in that as well.

"You found a lover, someone to share your heart with, someone to protect and cherish…and you murdered her, attacking her violently, decapitating her and destroying her body just after she had finally gained the self-confidence you had always tried to instill in her. You learned how to love, but failed to live up to the obligations it entailed.

"You failed to redeem Giovanni, your own father, before he could die. You failed to protect your adopted daughter Latias, for despite all the times you have taught her and rescued her, she is alone now with my son and _no one_ can help her now, let alone you. You failed to save your friend and human 'idol' Ash Ketchum from me, losing his body as it became my servant Alpha…and losing his soul as well, because my slave Richie will reclaim it for me after he finishes murders your friends outside. You've let them, and everyone else down too, because you just weren't able to beat me, no matter how hard you tried.

"You have failed. And that is good, because that is all that was ever expected of you."

Mewtwo's heart sank even lower as he heard this. "And now…the world is doomed, isn't it?"

"Yes," Deoxys told him. "It is. You _did_ have a chance to defeat me, you know. Those techniques you learned would have been effective…if I hadn't already been aware of them, and so prepared in advance by pitting you against Gardevoir disguised as a Mewtwo from another world and Amber disguised as myself. And in failing to discern the true foes from the fakes, you have lost."

"…How did you do it?" Mewtwo whispered, growing weaker and weaker. "How were you able to trick me…time and time again? Evade my senses, keep me from interfering, and cause me to fail?"

"It is quite simple," Deoxys told Mewtwo. "Do you recall our first battle, months ago?"

"How can I not?" Mewtwo rasped. "It is one of the few times…other than right now that is…that I have felt so weak."

"Then you will recall that, before you delivered the final stunning blow that forced me to retreat to recharge my energies expended in the long battle, by chance one of my tentacles lashed out and cut you across the forehead, leaving an open gash."

Mewtwo's dimming eyes blinked. "I…think I remember that, yes…but I had so many other wounds, I doubt I noticed."

"Perhaps you should have. By chance, when my tentacle cut open that gash, a few of my virus particles fell in and became immersed in your blood stream. The majority of them were killed due to your blood's relation to Mew, one of my enemies, but…a few particles managed to survive, due to the fact that your DNA had been so radically modified from Mew's perfect genome by the scientists who created you. They were unable to replicate themselves or infect you, and many more of them fell prey to your white blood cells, but a very small amount survived, and were carried by the bloodstream into your brain, where once more by chance they managed to squeeze themselves away from your body's defenses and burrow safely inside your brainstem. The awesome psychic electromagnetic field surrounding your mind nourished the particles and kept them alive as they hid inside of you."

Mewtwo was stunned. "You mean that all this time, a part of you has been inside of me…a physical part, rather than the spiritual one I got from passing through the Beast into creation?'

"You did indeed. And when I meditated on the Moon—at the Unown's instructions, I might add—and underwent the spiritual reawakening that allowed me to remember who I was, a telepathic link was established between myself and the bits of me inside your brain once I had bolstered my power with a few reclaimed crystals. Through that link, I was able to peruse your brain and see everything you knew or were learning from the Unown without you knowing I was there. I was also able to act directly on your mind through the concealed particles, triggering those headaches of yours which kept you from interfering with my plans once I revealed myself in Battle Tower. It was also what allowed me to keep you from detecting my actions around the world after I began my invasion, and kept you from realizing the true identities of your opponents. All along, you've been nothing more than my puppet…and the Unown's puppet as well, for they surely noticed my intrusion into your brain, yet did absolutely nothing to stop me or even warn you about my presence. Or perhaps they did warn you…and you simply misunderstood." Deoxys shrugged. "Either way, their action or inaction has benefited me through you, and I am one step closer now to my ultimate goal. I must thank you Mewtwo, were it not for you I doubt I would ever have gotten this far."

"All along…all along, I've been…helping you?" Mewtwo asked in horror, his breaths growing shallower.

"You have indeed, and I thank you for all your assistance. And as a reward…I give you your freedom. I cannot touch your soul…the Unown have done something to it, possibly to make up for their playing you for a puppet…and so I shall let it drift freely to eternity, unhindered by myself or the Beast that I represent. Perhaps there you will find the peace and enlightenment you have always sought…for I very much doubt that you will ever wish to return to the world of life again, not when you have been burned, used, and manipulated yet again by powers beyond your control, as has always happened every single time you've lived. And even if you do wish to return…" Deoxys shrugged. "You may be unable to…by that point; I may have already begun the process of unraveling reality…another consequence of your failure to defeat me."

"What…" Mewtwo had to struggle to keep his eyes open now. "What of…what of Gardevoir?"

"I am not finished with her," Deoxys told him. "Her soul is bound to yours by love…the bond between Latias and Rayquaza's souls were enough to pull her back from death on two occasions. I wonder if the same will happen to yours? Even if it does not, it will still provide me with a great deal of information on love…separating your souls will provide me with a number of experiments I've been meaning to try for a while now. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn more about that which I seek to put an end to, as well. Who knows? Your death may give me what I have always sought for…a permanent, universal end to love in all its forms!" He shrugged. "Or not. Either way, I'll have learned something, and probably enjoyed myself doing it…and after all, isn't that what the quest for knowledge is all about?"

Mewtwo gasped as his vision went dark. This was it, his last breath. He was only moments away from death. Laughing bitterly, he said, "So, I guess that's it then? This is what fate always intended for me…to strive and struggle all my life for whatever ideals I held dear, only to fail or be disappointed, to be used repeatedly as a pawn and make the end of everything that much more certain…is this all that my worthless life had to offer? Was it always my destiny to fail?"

"Of course it was, Mewtwo," Deoxys whispered as everything went dark. "What ever gave you the idea that there was anything more?"

…

As it turned out, the Unown _had_ granted the beasts the ability to survive without oxygen, something that vexed Cerberus to no end once all the air had been sucked out of the room and turned the chamber into a perfect vacuum. The beast would have roared with rage, but since their was no air to convey that sound, it looked as if it was just opening its mouths wide and breathing out with a great deal of spittle.

Oniichan, Papa, and Mama returned with their own silent calls and launched their attacks at Cerberus, a Thunderbolt from Oniichan and an Ice Beam from Mama. Papa tried to launch a Fire Blast…and found to his consternation that nothing happened at all! He realized to his horror that his elemental power was useless here. Thunder and water or ice could survive on their own in a vacuum, but fire needed oxygen to burn! He had no power here!

On the plus side, that meant neither did Cerberus' Entei head. The expression on the beast's mutilated face showed that it was just as angered by this as Papa and bellowed silently in the soundless void to vent its rage. Papa simply snarled, deciding that if he couldn't use flame he'd make do anyway. He dashed around the perimeter of the room, avoiding the gaping portal leading to the gap between dimensions as he tried to sneak up on Cerberus from behind while it was distracted spiting thunder and ice at his comrades. However, the Entei head, still angry that its power was all but useless in this airless void, noticed Papa's maneuver and lashed out with its largest tail, spearing Papa through the back and lifting him into the air as it sent a jolt of electricity down the appendage, causing Papa to roar mutely in pain.

Mama silently gasped when she saw this and broke off her attack, running around the portal in her way to rescue Papa. Cerberus' Suicune head sneered and stomped the ground, making no noise as a jagged spear of ice tore out of the floor, nearly impaling Mama. She smashed through it and lunged at the tail electrocuting Papa, fangs bared in a snarl. Cerberus lashed out with a hind leg, kicking her away while it continued firing ice blasts at Oniichan, who was strafing in front of the beast and shooting electric attacks at the monster's vulnerable faces.

Papa, wracked with pain, knew he had to do something to get out of this situation. Noticing through his agony that one of Cerberus' other two tails was writhing close to him, he reached out with his jaws and bit into the tentacle thing's side, causing it to shriek silently as Papa completed a circuit, causing the electricity being pumped into the copy Entei to flow right back into the monster's body! Cerberus's Entei head soundlessly roared in pain, while the Raikou head was stunned and the Suicune one was unaffected, and angrily brought its tail up violently, flinging Papa through the air and sending him hurtling right towards the gaping portal to the gap between dimensions!

Horrified, Mama leaped through the air and tackled him out of the way, causing both of them to skid to a scratchy stop on the bone-covered ground. Enraged, Cerberus pounded the ground with its feet, and an ice spear ripped out of the ground beneath the two beasts, impaling them and lifting them into the air in pain, blood spilling from their thrashing bodies. Enraged at this, Oniichan Volt Tackled into Cerberus' Entei head, causing it to stagger back in pain. Infuriated that it kept getting picked on, the Entei head grabbed Oniichan in its broken jaws and flung him at the open portal. Mama spat an Ice Beam at the ground before the portal, causing an ice wall to rise from the ground just in time for Oniichan to smash into it and fall to the ground, stunned. He barely got out of the way as a vexed Cerberus fired a powerful lightning bolt at him, shattering the wall and sending energy into the gap portal.

Cerberus slammed its forelegs onto the ground, causing pillars of thunder and ice to erupt all over the arena, blasting Papa and Mama off their ice skewer and skewering Oniichan when he tripped to get out of the way of another ice pillar. Cerberus charged towards him while he was vulnerable, but Papa and Mama tackled it in the side, clawing and biting at its exposed innards as they knocked the beast to the ground. The beast's three tails lanced down on them, but Papa and Mama pounced out of the way, grabbing the monster's black mouthed tails in their jaws and tearing them out as Cerberus skewered itself on its own stinger tail, causing it to roar in noiseless pain again.

Cerberus' Raikou head glared at Mama and Papa as it healed its wounds and fired a lightning bolt at Mama, knocking her off her feet and almost sending her into the portal if Oniichan hadn't managed to catch her in time, repaying her for the rescue earlier. The three beasts stood together, glaring with fury at the monstrous Cerberus as it got back to its feet and bellowed soundlessly at them. The Raikou and Suicune heads fired elemental energy at their rivals, while the Entei head merely snarled and lunged forward to meet Papa as he charged forward and smashed into the beast's face with a not-flaming tackle, which resulted in him getting flung away by the monster's headbutt and plummet towards…you guessed it, the portal. Mama shoved Papa out of the way before he could fall in, though, and both quickly dodged the ice spear Cerberus summoned out of the ground. Getting back up, both of them charged at the beast, joined by Oniichan as they evaded Cerberus' towers of lightning and ice. Glowing with their respective auras, the beasts, slammed into Cerberus…or Mama and Oniichan did anyway, since his power didn't work here Papa had to make do with a normal tackle against Cerberus' heads, which did no damage and resulted in him getting thrown back again.

Frustrated at his uselessness, Papa lunged again at the Entei head…and once more was thrown back! The Entei head laughed mutely, glad that it at least was not totally useless. It grinned at Papa, goading him to charge again. Papa coiled his muscles, preparing to do so. Mama and Oniichan raced to his side and nudged him, crying for him not to do it…but since there was no air, their cries fell on literally deaf ears and Papa was at the moment too full of frustration and male pride to pay attention to them anyway. A third time Papa lunged, and a third time he was thrown back…this time, towards the portal! (again)

Oniichan and Mama raced over, prepared to leap and save Papa, when Cerberus' other heads struck them from behind with ice and lightning energies, stunning them just long enough for Papa to fall into the portal and vanish, receding into nothingness as he fell away into oblivion.

Oniichan gaped in disbelief. Mama howled with impotent and silent rage and sorrow. Cerberus laughed and lashed out with its forepaws, flinging them into the portal. But just before Mama breached the portal's event horizon, she fired a Blizzard at the ground before and beneath Cerberus, causing it to freeze over, smirking triumphantly as she vanished into the void.

Startled by this, Cerberus' feet lost their purchase and slid out from under it, sending it crashing to the ground and skidding slowly towards the portal. Seeing this, the beast yelped silently and frantically scrabbled against the ice with its claws. But it was no use, for the floor which had once been rough and composed of bones had been made smooth by Mama's final attack, and so there was nothing the monster could do but struggle futilely as it slid across the ice, reached the rim of the portal…

And, like its foes, fell screaming noiselessly into the abyss.

…

Togetic looked at their surroundings, panning across the bleak, desolate, and utterly monotonous wasteland around her. The same wasteland she and Phanphy had been trekking across for what felt like the last few hours without end.

The same wasteland inhabited by crawling Togepi who filled her with guilt and revulsion every time she looked at them and was reminded of how she had failed to protect them from Hanson and Shedinja.

There was no way out of this place. She knew this now. Shedinja hadn't been the real test, only a distraction, something to occupy them in this empty space. Now that he was gone…there was nothing left. No hope, no escape, no nothing. Nothing at all.

"Big sister?"

Togetic blinked. "Huh?" She had almost forgotten Phanphy was there. "What is it?"

"You're not listening to me," he said in annoyance.

"Oh, sorry," she said faintly. "What were you saying?"

"Are we there yet?" he whined.

"…" Togetic sighed deeply. "No Phanphy, we're not there yet…" She looked up into the dismal skies and the three suns overhead. "And I don't think we ever will be."

…

Umbreon and Corsola managed to get off the boat just in time. It was rather difficult, considering that they had to carry a catatonic doped-up Scyther between them, but they managed to get him away from the ship before the whirlpool caused by its sinking could drag them down with it.

There was nothing they could do for Blaziken, who was dead, or for Tyranitar, who was dead and much too heavy to move. And so both of them got an ignominious and depressing burial, sunken to the bottom of the black river where they would rot away in the muck along with whatever was left of Omega.

The two girls had to struggle with all their might to drag the groggy mantis to shore. He was so heavy, they were so tired, and the current was so strong that many times he slipped off and would have drowned if Corsola hadn't dived under him and pushed him back up to the surface. It felt like hours, but they managed to get their octogenarian comrade safely onto the riverbank, where they lay for several minutes, panting as they tried to recover their strength.

"Well…I guess that's it, isn't it?" Umbreon said finally, glancing at the flowing river where just a little while ago a boat, _their_ boat, had once been.

"Yeah…" agreed Corsola sadly. "We…MAMA did it. She beat Omega."

"And we lost her, and Blaziken, in the process," the Dark Pokemon said sadly.

"Yeah," agreed the miserable Corsola. "But…we're still alive, for what it's worth. And so's Tyranitar's son."

Umbreon nodded in agreement. "Right…we owe it to her to fulfill her last wishes and raise her child. This is what Misdreavus and I have always wanted…but now that we've got it…" She trailed off.

"Like you said before…be careful what you wish for," Corsola agreed. "Which is why I'm not going to wish Crawdaunt and I have children in the near future…one of him is bad enough as it is. I don't think the world can survive a few dozen more of him, do you?"

"Heh…probably not," Umbreon joked. She sighed and got back to her feet. "Well, come on. Let's try and rouse Scyther and get out of…" Her voice trailed off as she suddenly noticed that they were surrounded by at least a hundred shades. "Here?"

The shades moaned and started shambling towards them. "Aahh! I think they're hungry!" cried Corsola.

"You're telling me!" Umbreon agreed, her hackles rising. "Ugh…it's just one thing after another, isn't it?"

"What do we do? We can't fight them off, can we?" Corsola said anxiously. "There's too many of them!"

"If you ever want to get back to that polygamous lobster of yours, we have no choice!" Umbreon growled. "We have a promise to fulfill to Mama…and we can't do that if we're dead too!"

"You're right," Corsola agreed, her face hardening with determination. "All right then…come and get us, you hungry bastards! I think you'll find we won't get eaten without a fight!"

Not minding the threats of the two females, the dead crowded in towards them. Corsola and Umbreon gave their battle cries and attacked, not intending to let their friend Mama down. (Or let Scyther get eaten, I suppose)

…

Sceptile sidestepped Alpha's punch, which smashed into the ground and unleashed a wave of electricity, as well as triggering another booby trap which caused a wall of spikes to spring up around the mutated Ranger. Alpha smashed them with a sweep of his wings and charged towards Sceptile. "Speed Mode!" He accelerated towards the reptile at super-speed…

And Sceptile nimbly stepped to the side and stuck out a foot, causing Alpha to trip and fly through the air, hitting the ground face-first and skid into the wall at the edge of the arena. "Ugghhh…"

"Your speed may be great," Sceptile said sagely. "But not your agility."

Alpha roared angrily and smashed his fists into the ground, sending a line of electricity coursing across the floor towards Sceptile. He leaped over it, flinging Razor Leaves at Alpha. The mutant deflected them by flapping his wings, sending out a gust which knocked them away as he bounded into the air, using his wings to gain altitude before hurtling down towards Sceptile like a missile. "POWER MODE!" The ninja lizard sped out of the way just before Alpha could impact, cratering the ground and sending bolts of electricity flying in every direction. Using the speed and reflexes granted to him by his evolution, Sceptile darted between electric bolts using a Quick Attack and struck with his Leaf Blades, causing Alpha to bellow in fury as the lizard severed one of his wings. "YOU…YOU FUCKING…"

"You rage and rant and threaten," Sceptile told him. "And yet you have yet to truly lay a blow on me even once since our battle began."

"SPEED MODE!" A flurry of supersonic punches launched themselves at Sceptile, who ducked, dodged, and sidestepped each strike before landing one of his own, lashing out with his tail and Pounding Alpha's head, causing it to snap back and expose his neck, which Sceptile threw Razor Leaves at before backflipping out of the way. The leaves failed to cut through the monster's neck (Sceptile hadn't really expected them to) but they did frustrate Alpha further and he jumped into the air and tried to stomp down on Sceptile. Sceptile got out of the way as Alpha landed on a booby-trapped floor panel, causing a net to spring out of the ground and ensnare him, causing the mutant to let loose a torrent of vile curses which caused Bayleef's leaves to wilt.

"Wow!" she said in amazement and rapture. "How does he keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" Crawdaunt asked weakly, his injuries temporarily numbed by Bayleef's Sweet Scent.

"How does he manage to locate booby traps and trick Alpha into triggering them without setting them off himself?"

"Why, isn't it obvious?" the lobster scoffed. "He's a ninja now! Ninjas are trained to identify and avoid traps no matter how well-concealed they are. Alpha knows where all of the ones in the arena are, but by making him angry Sceptile tricks him into accidentally setting them off himself due to his rage and loss of common sense. As to how Sceptile is able to keep from setting off the traps himself...that is another ninja trick involving the redistribution of weight from their feet to other parts of their body to avoid making heavy footfalls, footsteps, or setting off traps. As stealth fighters, that is a most crucial skill."

Bayleef blinked. "Wait…but aren't those techniques only obtained after years of training?"

"Yes."

"Then how is Sceptile-kun able to use them if he just evolved?"

"Because this whole thing is EXTREMELY CONTRIVED!" the lobster barked.

Bulbasaur didn't engage in the argument because he was rapidly going insane. He was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. He knew it had to be at _just_ the right moment, since now that Sceptile was a ninja he had all sorts of evasive tricks and detective skills. So, he had to attack at EXACTLY the right moment…or all would be for nothing. The crazy voice of his inner demon continued to laugh insanely in anticipation.

"Split Mode!" Alpha's wrist-thing glowed and he began to project clones of himself which swiftly flew through the air towards Sceptile in a chain, one after the other. Sceptile sidestepped the first one, ducked between the legs of the second, jumped over the third, and threw a Razor Leaf before him at the fourth, causing the clone to explode. His body phased for a moment, and then he charged right at the oncoming fifth one…and vanished.

"Huh?" said a confused Alpha. "Where'd he-"

Sceptile, who had used Double Team to leave an illusion of himself in front of Alpha to distract him, Pounded the monster in the back from behind, causing him to pitch forward and crash into the latest clone he had generated, making it explode and fling him backwards right into Sceptile's Leaf Blades, which slashed off his remaining wing! "Gaahhhh!"

"Hmmph," said Sceptile, flipping over Alpha's fallen body, flinging Razor Leaves at it, and landing some distance away.

"Ugh…I don't believe this! I've powered up and you're still trashing me!" Alpha said angrily.

"Power alone does not a champion make," Sceptile told him sagely. "The wisdom to control that power is what makes a true warrior great."

"Oh, shut up!" Alpha snapped. "I've had enough of this! Time to shift things in my favor!" He backflipped away, landing in the center of the arena. "Booby traps aren't the only thing this stadium's got! Get a load of this!" He punched the round white stone in the very center of the arena's giant Pokeball design, causing it to sink into the ground with a click. "Haaaah!"

The entire stadium started shaking, causing even the sure-footed Sceptile to lose his balance. "Whooaaah!" Bayleef cried out, falling onto the tile right in front of her…and triggering a trap, causing an entire row of floor stones to collapse into a pit, nearly dropping Bayleef to her doom. "Waaaahhh!"

"Bayleef!" In a flash, Sceptile was there, grabbing onto her hind leg and hauling her up before she could fall. "Are you okay?"

"N-now that you're here. Thank you, Sceptile-kun!" Bayleef stammered, blushing deeply.

Crawdaunt sighed in relief. "Phew, that was close! Hey Bulbasaur, why didn't you grab her? It looked really close for a moment there!" There was no response. "Bulbasaur?" The heavily injured lobster glanced at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur was staring at Bayleef and Sceptile, gritting his teeth and twitching severely. Crawdaunt misinterpreted this to believe that Bulbasaur had eaten too much Nurse Joy at lunch and was now constipated and decided not to bring it up.

"Hahahaha! Oh yeah! What do you think of THIS!" Alpha roared arrogantly as the entire stadium began to transform right before their very eyes.

The giant rock fingers arching overhead unfolded, splaying out so the arena looked as if it was held in an open palm. The ground shook and began to split apart, straight cracks running between stones and causing them to rise up, lower down, and generally move apart. The cackling Alpha was elevated above all the other platforms as the white stones he was standing on rose into the air as a large pillar, while Bulbasaur found himself sequestered away from Bayleef and Crawdaunt. Sceptile had leaped away at the last minute before the stones he and Bayleef had been standing on split apart, and was now on another pillar several feet away from the Herb Pokemon, the look in their eyes poignant and worried for each other's health.

A couple hundred feet or so below the myriad elevated platforms was a pool of molten lava with large rafts holding electrified spikes and hovering floating fan blades distributed all over the place. Spinning blades appeared on some of the platforms around the arena, while round bits of stone floated in the air above and between the numerous platforms, growing pendulum blades, flaming pendulum blades, spiked logs, giant hammers, bladed disks, flaming bladed disks, and a few floating machine gun turrets.

"…Whoa…" said Bayleef in amazement.

"Dang," Crawdaunt agreed.

Bulbasaur grinned in insane glee, realizing his opportunity was at hand.

"Hahahaha! What do you think of this place?" Alpha taunted Sceptile. "Quite a nice battlefield, don't you think? And I've got the safest spot up here at the top of the arena…think you can get to me?"

Sceptile closed his eyes. "He who hides himself behind a fortress of traps and tricks is one who is most afraid indeed. I am glad to see that I strike such fear in you, Alpha, for that is what we ninjas do best."

"Wh-what! I'm not afraid!" Alpha retorted angrily. "Hahahaha…you and your friends are gonna die here! Open fire!" Two of the machine gun turrets swiveled around to face Bayleef and Crawdaunt, isolated on one of the pillars, and started firing bullets at the two Pokemon.

Sceptile immediately dropped down before his friends and spat Bullet Seeds at the projectiles to deflect them before conjuring a pair of Razor Leaves and flinging them at the turrets, destroying them. "Heh…nice trick!" Alpha admitted.

"Both of you, stay down. Try to move as little as possible so you won't attract the gun's fire," Sceptile told Crawdaunt and Bayleef.

"No problem there," Crawdaunt grunted.

"But what about you?" Bayleef asked anxiously.

"I'll be fine…I'm a ninja, aren't I? I can handle this." Sceptile glanced at Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, take care of them, okay? Watch out for guns! Don't let any of them shoot Bayleef while she protects Crawdaunt!"

Bulbasaur stared at him for a long moment before nodding. "Sure…leave it to me."

"Okay then…I'm off!" Sceptile leaped to a higher column, switching to his 'serious ninja' attitude.

"Go get him, Sceptile-kun!" Bayleef cried, causing Bulbasaur to grind his teeth loudly.

"Yeah!...ow, my claw!" Crawdaunt, who had lifted his claw to wave farewell, moaned in pain. Bayleef tutted and quickly applied Sweet Scent to make him feel better.

In the meantime, Alpha was directing attacks at Sceptile. "Haha! Die! Die! Die!" Several machine gun turrets swiveled to follow the reptile, firing bullets at him. Sceptile split into three by using Double Team and leaped onto separate pillars, drawing the gunfire away from his friends and the true lizard. While his doubles were distracting the guns, the real Sceptile leaped towards a swinging pendulum between pillars and kicked off it just before he could get struck by bullets. The bullets were deflected by the blade and ricocheted all over the place, striking one of the other turrets and destroying it, while the ninja landed right on top of a swinging log. Bullets directed at him pitted the log's wooden surface and snapped the cable supporting it, causing it to fall. Sceptile leaped off just as the cable snapped and landed on a platform with a set of spinning blades on it while the log dropped onto one of the gun turrets and destroyed it. Sceptile ducked underneath the blades and lashed out with his Leaf Blades, severing the blades from their spinning base and causing them to fly off the platform, where they were promptly smashed by a swinging hammer.

"Split Mode!" Sceptile quickly backflipped off the platform before the exploding clone projected by Alpha could hit it, blowing it up. He landed on top of the swinging hammer, causing it to unbalance, and quickly kicked off towards the side of a taller platform, kick-jumping off of that and bouncing back and forth between the pillar's side and the shaft of the twirling, confused hammer until he reached the top…and found himself faced by gun turrets on four sides. He leaped up the instant that they fired, causing the bullets to pass right under him and strike each other, destroying the turrets. He immediately sprung from that platform to the next just as a pair of spiked logs swung down to crush the spot where he had just been standing. Alpha gleefully projected a few more clones to hit Sceptile while he was in mid-air, but the Forest Pokemon twisted out of the way of the clones, hitting them with a pair of Razor Leaves to make them explode, the blast flinging him high into the air, past showers of bullets and swinging obstacles as he got closer and closer to Alpha.

Far below, destroying the occasional floating gun turret with his Razor Leaves, Bulbasaur kept a sharp eye on Sceptile, waiting, just waiting, for the moment he _knew_ was coming. The moment when he struck. He sensed it would happen soon, so began gathering energy in anticipation of that happy event.

In the meantime, Alpha, seeing the platform Sceptile was flying towards, launched a few clones in advance to intercept the lizard. When Sceptile saw there was a clone already standing on the platform he was about to land on, he threw a Razor Leaf ahead of him to destroy it, landed on the platform, spun around and flung a leaf to destroy the clone shooting towards him from Alpha's higher platform…and almost wasn't ready for the clone immediately behind that one which shot through the cloud of smoke made by the last one's detonation and was very close to hitting him. He instantly leaped above it, causing the clone to explode on the platform, and as he rose into the air saw another set of clones hurtling towards him, only seconds away. And to make matters worse, at this altitude there was a pair of flaming discs swinging right towards him.

He backflipped over the disks as they sliced through the air. The first clone struck the crossing blades and exploded, shattering the disks and flinging Sceptile away. He flung Razor Leaves at the remaining clones as they flew towards him, kicked off against the side of a swinging pendulum, and landed on another platform, where a bunch of turrets opened fire on him. He leaped over their stream of fire and landed on top of one of the guns, twisting it around so that its bullets spread out in an arc and destroyed all the other nearby turrets and obstacles. He would have used it on the next set of inbound clones, but the gun clearly could not support his weight and was starting to plummet, so he leaped off, allowing the first few clones to strike and destroy the gun, landing on a nearby platform with a smashed set of blades destroyed by his ride on the turret. He grabbed the blades and hurled them like shuriken at the remaining clones, causing them to blow up and cover him for a moment with smoke. He used that moment of cover to dive off the side of the platform and out of Alpha's line of sight, grabbing onto the outermost wall of the pit the arena had become as he dropped.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" asked the confused Alpha, glancing around.

Sceptile, as a forest-dwelling Pokemon, had no problem climbing on rough surfaces such as the wall he was hanging from. In fact, he demonstrated this by pulling himself upright and actually running across the wall as if it were a level floor, using his speed and Quick Attacks to keep from being caught by gravity! It also conveniently kept him out of the range of Alpha, his guns, or Bulbasaur, something that vexed both the people who wanted him dead immensely. But Grovyle could not, and did not need to, keep running forever, so he ended his wall run by veering upwards, kicking off, flipping through the air and landing right on top of the pivot of a spinning blade trap on a nearby platform…one right behind Alpha's platform!

The mutant was too occupied scanning the lower platforms and pit walls for Sceptile to notice the ninja was right behind him, leaving Alpha a perfect target for assassination. As silent as a leaf falling from a tree branch, Sceptile leaped off the pivot he was balancing on, Leaf Blades formed on his arms as he prepared to deliver the deadly strike to his target…

And was so occupied on said target that he did not see the white Solar Beam shooting up towards him from below until it was too late. His yellow eyes widened in horror as the beam struck him, causing him to howl in pain as he was blasted into the air, alerting Alpha to his position. "Huh? Oh, there you are!" His claw shot out and grabbed the stunned Sceptile as he began his descent. "I was looking all over for you, and now you're MINE!"

Bayleef gasped. "SCEPTILE!"

"Bulbasaur, what were you thinking!" Crawdaunt shouted weakly. "Why did…why did you…" He stopped, shocked by the complete and total look of insane glee on the Bulb Pokemon's face. "You…you weren't thinking, were you…you lost it…"

"Lost!" Bulbasaur snapped crazily. "I haven't lost anything! Now Bayleef's mine, all mine!"

"…You idiot!" Crawdaunt shouted. "Is that what all this was about!" Flashing back on the time he had spent around Bulbasaur so far, especially that weird conversation they had had while Sceptile had been fighting Alpha before the mutant's transformation, Crawdaunt cursed himself for not seeing the obvious before now. "You idiot! Haven't you ever heard of polygamy!"

Bulbasaur reluctantly tore his gaze away from the heart-warming sight of Sceptile being throttled by a laughing Alpha and blinked in confusion at Crawdaunt. "Poly-what?"

"Polygamy! Sharing more than one mate!" the lobster explained. "I practice it, as do a number of other species! The way I see it, it's a lot smarter and more efficient than fixating on a single mate, because then you won't get stupidly jealous and try to kill potential rivals for the sake of love!" He pointed angrily up towards Alpha and Sceptile. "Look what you've done! Thanks to your stupid jealousy, one of my best friends is going to die…and you'll have broken Bayleef's heart! She'll NEVER love you now, you idiot!" His energy drained from giving that speech as well as from his poor health, Crawdaunt groaned and fainted to conserve what little life he had left.

Bulbasaur stared at the lobster, stunned by what Crawdaunt had just said. "B-break Bayleef's heart? But…but I didn't want that, I just…just wanted her…to…" His face paled. "No…oh no, what have I done!"

"SCEPTILE!" Bayleef screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Desperate to save her beloved, she started gathering the power for a Solar Beam. Within moments, it was ready as the fronds around her neck glowed white and she fired a white laser from her mouth.

Alpha saw it coming and hesitated in his pummeling of Sceptile to raise his left hand. "Shield Mode!" His wrist device glowed and a force field formed around him, deflecting the beam. "Heheheh…sorry Bayleef…but your worthless lover dies now, and there's nothing you can do about it! Raahhhh!" Using his phenomenal strength, he pile-drove Sceptile off the side of the platform, down to the pit below.

Sceptile, battered and beaten, still managed to extend his Leaf Blades and dig them into the side of the pillar, using them to slow and eventually halt his descent. He panted a moment, trying to regain his strength.

He didn't get the chance. "Fire!" Alpha roared. Machine gun turrets swiveled and fired on Sceptile, pumping his hide with bullets and bursting the seed pods on his back. Both Sceptile and Bayleef screamed, the former in agony and the latter in horror. Eyes and mouth wide open, blood soaking his back, Sceptile's Leaf Blades faltered and he started to fall again…but with his last remaining strength, grabbed onto the wall with his claws and prolonged his drop yet again.

"Hmmph, still clinging to life huh? That won't last! POWER MODE!" With a battle cry, Alpha punched the top of his pillar, blasting out lightning bolts in every direction and causing the entire column to crack, crumble…and collapse, sending Sceptile, and several thousand pounds of stone, plummeting down to the lava, spinning fan blades, and electrified spikes below.

"…SCEPTILLLLE!" Bayleef screamed. Without thinking, she started to jump off the side of the column, not giving any thought to her own safety as she gave in to her basic instinct to be with Sceptile.

"Bayleef, no!" Bulbasaur lashed out with his Vine Whips and grabbed her around the waist before she could plunge to her death. "Stop, it's too late!"

"No, let me go!" Bayleef screamed, thrashing to break free from Bulbasaur's vines. "Let me go! I hate you! You killed Sceptile!" She struck him with her own Vine Whip, tearing his vines off her and shoving him to the edge of his platform. "I hate you! You deserve to die!"

"I…Bayleef…" Bulbasaur hesitated. What could he say? What could he possibly say to justify what he'd done?

"Hahaha, isn't this dramatic?" Alpha asked, landing on a nearby platform. "Sceptile's dead, Crawdaunt's almost dead, Bayleef's emotionally distraught, and Bulbasaur's nuts. Time to end this!" He pointed towards the grief-stricken Grass Pokemon. All remaining gun turrets swiveled and took aim. "FIRE!"

They did.

…

Infernatrice's head was proving to be a tricky opponent to pin down. Whenever Gyarados used his Ice Beam, the winged head shielded itself. Whenever the flyers launched an attack, the monster either shielded with its wings or took no damage since the attacks were Fire-type. They were getting a little desperate and beginning to despair of ever finding a way to beat him when, amazingly enough, Combusken got an idea. "If he couldn't see us coming…do you suppose he'd still be able to shield himself in time?"

"What do you mean?" Moltres asked in confusion.

"Um…I was just thinking…is there some way we can blind him? We were able to crack his sunglasses a while back, and that stunned him…so…maybe we can do something like that again?"

"Like what?" asked Charmeleon.

"Well…" Combusken sagged. "I don't know…"

"Wait, I think I have an idea," Gyarados said as he maneuvered around one of the giant slow-moving fireballs Infernatrice had spat out at them. "What if I used Hydro Pump on the lava river? That won't freeze or harden it…but it should make a wall of steam, right? That'll blind him for sure!"

"Okay then," said Charla with a nod. "Make it so!"

"Right!" Gyarados flew lower, closer to the surface of the lava, inhaled deeply and breathed out a huge high-pressure stream of water, slashing it across the river a ways behind Infernatrice's head and causing a huge wall of steam to rise up…a wall which Infernatrice flew right into, resulting in a squawk of surprise as he abruptly discovered he couldn't see a thing.

"Quick! Hit him before he can blow it away!" Moltres screeched as they could see the shadowy figure of Infernatrice raising his wings in the steam.

"On it!" Gyarados inhaled again and fired an Ice Beam into the heart of the shadow formed in the steam. There was another squawk of surprise and the steam dissipated, revealing the stunned form of Infernatrice's head, hardened and dazed by the cold blow right to the face, leaving him vulnerable.

"Here we go!" Combusken leaped into the air, using her powerful leg muscles to spring off Gyarados' head. Moltres swooped down and intercepted her, batting her wing to propel the Young Fowl at Infernatrice.

"All right, this is it! Let's finish this!" Charmeleon leaped off of Charla's back, curling into a ball as she flipped over and smacked him hard with her tail towards the slowly falling form of Infernatrice.

Combusken was the first to strike, smashing into the middle of Infernatrice's sunglasses with a powerful punch and shattering them in a cloud of dust and stone, slamming a clawed fist right between the monster's red eyes and leaving a huge webbing of cracks, resulting in a cry of pain from the beast. She didn't bother to savor this victory, but immediately hopped out of the way as Charmeleon came streaking in like a missile, smashing into the cracks with Metal Claw and tearing right through them, boring a hole straight through Infernatrice's head and out the other side!  
Combusken leaped off as Infernatrice's eyes crossed and the beast gave one final scream of agony…and exploded violently, sending rocks and bits of lava everywhere! "Yes! We did it!" she screamed. Then she realized she was plummeting towards the lava. "And now I'm going to die!"

"Forget about me?" Gyarados asked, rising up from under her and catching her in the nick of time.

The Young Fowl blushed. "Uh, yeah…guess I did. Heheh."

"Great job!" Moltres squawked, flapping over as the last bits of Infernatrice fell into the lava river, sending out waves and large ripples. "We've done it! We've won!"

"And you've avenged the loss of your wings," Charla told Charmeleon, rejoining the group after picking her lover up from his triumphant final blow.

"…Hmm. So I have," Charmeleon said in surprise. "I wasn't even thinking of that when I dealt the deathblow."

"You weren't!" Moltres cried in surprise. "Hell, I definitely would have!"

Charmeleon shrugged. "Vengeance is ultimately pointless and self-destrutive. The pleasure I obtained from Infernatrice's death lies in the knowledge that he shall never harm anyone ever again. As for my wings…" He scratched the space on his back right between his shoulderblades. "Latias has promised me new ones. I believe I shall obtain them shortly."

"Will they be as good as your old ones?" Gyarados wondered.

Charmeleon shrugged. "Who can say? In the end, I do not think it really matters…a pair of wings, no matter how new or strange, is better than no wings at all, isn't it?"

"I guess so," Moltres admitted. "Which leaves only one question."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, how do we get out of here?"

There was a long pause.

"That's…a good question," Combusken said slowly. "How _do_ we get out of here?"

There was no response.

…

Leviathan lunged forward at her prey yet again, jaws gaping open. Aerodactyl used Aerial Ace to soar above her mouth and smashed into one of her horns with Take Down, snapping it off and earning a grunt of pain from the beast. Zapdos swooped in and grabbed the horn, flapping his wings with all his might as he flew away. "Get it as far from here as you can!" Aerodactyl shouted after him. "If we can keep it away from her, maybe it won't be able to regenerate!"

"I'll do my best!" Zapdos shouted back. "And watch out, she's about to eat you!"

"Huh? Waaaahhhh!" Aerodactyl quickly dove out of the way before Leviathan's jaws could snap closed on him. He shot downward, following the length of her body as her head slowly turned back towards him. Before she could attack again, he used his Steel Wing to slice through her right arm, severing it from her body and getting a shriek of pain from the monster. Aerodactyl doubled back and grabbed the limb in his talons before the ghosts could get it and quickly started flying away. Naturally, Leviathan gave chase.

However, the beast was stunned when Zapdos returned from dropping the horn off…somewhere…and threw another torture cage at her eye and blasted it with electricity, frying her brain. "Yeah! Good thing there's so many of these lying around, right?"

"Yes, how convenient. Catch!" Aerodactyl tossed the limb to Zapdos, who caught it.

"Right! I'll get rid of this thing! Back soon!" He swiftly retreated.

Aerodactyl turned around and barely dodged a lunge from the revived Leviathan as she tried to eat him. As he flew past her head, slashing at her eye with a Steel Wing as he went, he was startled when her tail raised up to smash him. He yelped and swerved out of the way, causing the tail to keep going and smash into Leviathan's head. Enraged, she grabbed her tail in her jaws (looking momentarily like another mythical serpent) and tore the end off, chewing and swallowing the offending tail. Moments later, it regenerated, while Aerodactyl gave her a weird look. "…Okay, that was strange." He dove out of the way as Leviathan released her fire breath, and then lunged forward to eat him. He glided along the underside of her body and tore through her left arm, severing it as well. Leviathan roared angrily and twisted about to get him.

In the meantime, Aerodactyl grabbed the arm in his talons and flew away as fast as he could, hoping Zapdos got back quickly. Leviathan lunged forward, her jaws snapping shut on the tip of Aerodactyl's tail and yanking the startled avian back with a howl, right into the monster's jaws. Before they could slam closed, he tossed Leviathan's severed arm into her jaws, where they got stuck and formed a temporary obstacle, keeping the monster's mouth open. She grunted in surprise and forgot about Aerodactyl for the moment, struggling to get rid of the object stuck in her maw. In the meantime, Aerodactyl flew back and used Double-Edge to smash through the roof of her mouth and tear through Leviathan's brain and out the top of her head. Leviathan's jaws snapped shut, crushing the arm as her ghosts slaves mended the damage Aerodactyl had just done, while the arm she just devoured regenerated. "Hmm…that's interesting…" Aerodactyl murmured, noting what had just happened. He swooped down and flew along Leviathan's back before she could remember he was there, weaving his way between the spikes growing from her sides. A shadow fell over him as Leviathan, detecting the pest on her body, lunged to swallow the irritating fly. He barreled out of the way at the last moment, and Leviathan's jaws closed on her own body, nearly ripping it in half. She roared in pain as her head withdraw, tearing off most of the flesh and muscle coating her serpentine midsection and giving Aerodactyl a moment to retreat and recover.

The yellow and black figure of Zapdos appeared out of the void as the electric bird returned. "Found a way to kill her yet?" he asked.

Aerodactyl shook his head. "No…but I found out that if we sever part of her body, if she swallows it it regenerates. But the horn and arm we've stolen still haven't grown back."

"So…what do we do?" Zapdos asked. "Cut off her head? Her neck's too big and thick. And her head's much too heavy for me to carry away?"

"I know, I just thought it might be important to note…" Aerodactyl said with a frown. "Hmm…I really don't know how we can defeat her. She seems to be immortal."

"Well, there's always SOME way," Zapdos said. "Isn't there?"

"I hope so…look out!" They got out of the way as Leviathan shot a blast of fire breath at them. The damage she had done to her midsection had recovered, and she was ready and raring to eat them again.

"I got an idea!" Zapdos cried.

"What?" Aerodactyl asked.

"I'll try Drill Pecking through her body again! Fire a Hyper Beam after me to shred her insides up even further! Then, you can attack her neck, which should be weakened by all the explosions and drilling and stuff, and rip her head off! Then we can both push it away and keep Leviathan decapitated, killing her!"

Aerodactyl blinked. "…Do you really think that'll work?"

"I have no idea. But it's worth a try! Here I go!" Zapdos' beak began to glow and he got into a drill spin, zooming towards Leviathan. Predictably, she snapped her jaws shut on the little morsel willingly throwing itself down her throat…and howled in pain as Zapdos ripped through her serpentine length, shattering bones, bursting open organs, rupturing blood vessels and the like. As her mouth gaped open in a cry of pain, Aerodactyl fired a Hyper Beam right down her throat. Her neck bulged as an explosion did even more damage to her body, and numerous holes in said neck were blasted open, causing blood and other fluids to gush out.

Leviathan's ghosts also started to appear, so Aerodactyl knew he had to act quickly. "Right, here I go!" Using a combination of Agility, Take Down, and Double-Edge, much like the move he had used against Ho-Oh while he had been working for Gonzap, Aerodactyl slammed into Leviathan's weakened neck. Its soft, thick mass of dead flesh resisted him, but only for a moment before he ripped through it and out the other side, leaving a massive hole in his wake. He doubled back and tore right back through her neck from another angle, widening the hole so there was only a little bit left attaching the head to the neck. One last fly-through and the last bits of neck finally snapped, causing the head to tumble off, mouth open in a silent scream of rage and pain. "Yes!"

"Let's go!" said Zapdos, who had just drilled out of Leviathan's body, leaving it a gushing, hole-riddled twitching serpentine length. Aerodactyl nodded and both of them flew towards the head…and were startled when its eyes glared at them and it tried to snap its jaws at them. "What! It's still alive!"

"No…" Aerodactyl said slowly, backing away from the severed head's charge. "It's not alive…it never was. It's always been dead…and if that's so, how do you kill something that's already dead?"

They looked up as a shadow passed over them, and saw to their horror that Leviathan's right arm had returned, supported by the misty figures of the ghosts trapped in her flesh. The missing horn appeared moments after and reattached to the stump on the beast's head, merging seamlessly with the bone. The arm did the same with the stump growing from the main body, and then both arms reached out, grabbed the head, and reattached it to its neck. Ghosts flew out for a moment to fill in any remaining gaps, and then Leviathan was whole once more, as if she had never been defeated in the first place.

Aerodactyl and Zapdos stared up at the beast in horror as she roared at them. "No…we can't beat her, can we?" Zapdos said slowly.

"No…I don't think we can," Aerodactyl agreed. "The source of her consciousness, or her life, or whatever isn't in her brain or head or heart, since I'm sure you tore through that both times you were in her body…it's in her very flesh. In the souls Leviathan's eaten. And we can't get rid of those…because a soul can't be destroyed!"

"We, on the other hand, can be," Zapdos said mournfully.

"So no matter how hard we fight…we can't win," Aerodactyl said morosely. "And eventually, she'll eat or kill us…and our souls will be trapped inside her like all the others…forever…"

…

The Pokerockers stared at the Mewglecron in horror. "Sweet mother of fuck!" Metal Sound cried. "That's the biggest honkin' robot I've ever seen, fo' real!"

"Okay, we're screwed," Geodude said flatly.

"I do believe you're right," Mudkip agreed slowly.

"Madre de Dios…how can we possibly defeat that!" Lombre cried.

"Wait…we still have at least one recorded song left, don't we?" the younger Jigglypuff asked. "One that might defeat him?"

"You mean You got the Touch?" the elder Puff asked. "But we're too weak! We'd have to use the Lifeforce system again…and that might kill us!"

"We don't have a choice," Mudkip said firmly. "Okay team, let's do this one more time…Lifeforce system activa-"

Mewglecron flicked them with a pinky finger, causing a series of violent explosions to rip through the Gigabot, obliterating its wings and sword and tearing off its right arm and left leg as it was sent tumbling into oblivion in the form of a black hole a few light years away.

"Hahahahahaha!" Mewgle cried, flexing his arms. "I've done it! I am triumphant! Mewgle, greatest of all Dungeon Masters and boss of bosses! None in this universe can defeat me! Gwahahahahaha!"

…

El Gato and Sadic continued their run through the canyon, chased by the heat beams of the radiant beings coming after them. Due to the impressive speed of the duo, they had managed to stay ahead of the creatures this far…but would that speed help them if they had nowhere to run to?

"Whoa!" Sadic cried, skidding to a halt and cutting her feet open as they came to the edge of a sheer cliff at the end of the canyon, overlooking an icy landscape miles below filled completely with huge jagged ice mountains pointing upwards like spears.

"_Maldiciones!_ We are trapped!" El Gato cursed, glancing from the forbidding vista below to the angelic beings closing in on them, their incredible heat melting the ice around them and warming the chilled hairs on the cat's hide. "What do we do? Fight?"

Sadic smirked. "Its die if we fight, and die if we jump…and I don't know about you, but I'm not particularly looking forward to being incinerated, do you?"

"Then what do you suggest? We jump?" El Gato cried in disbelief.

"You ever heard of a leap of faith, kittycat?" Sadic asked, looking over the edge of the cliff.

"Eh?"

"Back home, we got a cliff just like this one called Lover's Leap…according to legend, a very much in love Sneasel couple, badly injured, was carrying back the carcass of a huge Ursaring they had barely managed to kill to feed the pack…however, it was the coldest night of the year, and they knew they would never make it back to the pack warren before they bled or froze to death.

"They stopped for a moment, atop a very tall cliff overlooking the warren…the trail was too long and steep, and they were in no condition to make the trek down the cliff or signal the lookouts that they were back. And the Ursaring was the only bit of game that had been caught all week, so if they didn't find a way to get it down to the lair before its flesh was frozen and its meat was spoiled, the pack would starve to death.

"They figured they were going to die anyway, so decided that if they were going to die, they should at least do it saving the pack. So…they jumped. Shoving the Ursaring off first, they jumped off the cliff. And, somehow…they survived. To this day it's unknown how they lived. Maybe it was luck, or faith, or the power of love, or something like that…but in any event, they lived. They were brought inside the warren in time for them to be healed, and the Ursaring fed the pack and allowed them to survive the long winter."

"…Is that a true story?" El Gato asked.

Sadic shrugged. "Heck if I know, but it makes for a good tale, don't it?"

"So…what are you saying?" El Gato asked, glancing off the edge of the cliff. "That if we jump of our free will, with no _miedo_ in our hearts and only the desire to protect our loved ones…we will survive?"

Sadic shrugged. "What do you think?"

"…I do not know…but…" He paused, fully aware they were running out of time. "In the village from which Diego and I were born, there is a similar legend. The couple in that story lived as well."

"Doesn't surprise me," Sadic said with a smirk. "I've found that lots of cultures share similar myths, either because at one time long ago they encountered a culture that had that myth and decided to appropriate it for themselves, or because it filled a basic niche of belief in their everyday lives."

"It is just a story…either a fable made up to convince little _chicos_ to believe in the power of love, or a garbling of some true event…but does that make it any less probable or improbable?" the feline mused.

"That's why it's called a leap of faith," Sadic told him. "You jump and see what happens. Simple as that. And if I should die, I would prefer it to be from falling from a great height rather than being incinerated. At least if we fall there's a better chance this soulcage thing won't be destroyed by those angel creeps and our souls won't be put on ice, so our spirits will be bunched up together in a little ball for an indeterminable period of time…there are worse fates."

"…Si, yes, I see your point." El Gato nodded. "Very well. We will jump, then, and leave our lives in the hands of _sino_."

"Couldn'ta said it better myself," Sadic said with a grin.

And so, with a nod and a smile, they leaped off the edge of the cliff just as a heat beam lanced out and evaporated the ice they had been standing on. Together, the two predators and three souls fell without fear to the ice far below.

…

Had anyone been told that the mutilated, skinless, twisted and baked figure sprawled out in a position of unspeakable pain, it's every breath a torture likened to driving one hundred million serrated needles into its lungs and every second of existence like a thousand excruciating deaths, was in fact Latias, they would have had expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces after throwing up pretty much everything in their stomachs from seeing the torn and pulpy mess she had become. How could anyone possibly still be alive after being put through the torture she had just been through? How could anyone possibly be alive when her flesh split open with every shallow, agonizing breath and _cooking juices_ oozed out, sizzling, across her broken body.

The tortured wasteland that had been Dark Alto Mare reflected Latias' condition. Twisted by Dark Latios' pain and hatred, the nightmarish city had become a true uninhabitable hellscape. Everything that had survived the Luster Purge collision was dead, a horrible and agonizing end to their tortured existences. Only Dark Latios remained intact, looking reinvigorated from his use of Black Karma. He leaned over the mutilated figure of Latias and started whispering into an orifice that might once have been an ear. "Sister? Are you alive?"

One of Latias' eyes had been popped by Black Karma. The other one was still marginally intact and expressed the current anguish she was in, how her mind had been overloaded with so much pain that it was all but broken. In many ways, it _was_ broken as her sanity had tried and failed to hold itself together and so had fallen to pieces, reassembling itself in ways which caused her nerves to burn and short-circuit with pain as her brain failed to interpret its own bioelectric impulses. That agony-ridden yellow eye stared dully up into the clouded sky, right through Dark Latios. He laughed at this. "What a silly question. Of course you're alive. You are in pain, so by definition you live. Only the living feel pain, because that's what life is. The only reason the dead feel pain is because they delude themselves and greedily cling onto life, earning themselves more and more suffering as they are crushed between the layers of my father Beast's skin until every scrap of existence is extracted from them and they became perfect, empty beings." He grinned. "If you were still capable of rational thought right now, I suppose you'd be wondering why I, one who is dead, not only feel pain but _enjoy_ it." He laughed. "I feel pain because it reminds me that I once lived, just as you do. I feel pain to remind me how much better off I am dead. And I enjoy the pain because, like my father, it gives me strength and nourishes my twisted soul.

"As for you, sister…you still hope. The last tiny little bit of you that is still sane clings desperately to a hope that you will be saved. A hope that you will live and be spared my pleasure by the intervention of your dear friends. Such selfish wishes deserve to be punished, and so punish you I shall." His grin widened, splitting his cheek muscles. "There are those who say that it is better to feel pain than to feel nothing at all. When I am through with you, dear sister, perhaps you can tell me whether they are right or not." His form shimmered and transformed, his scales fusing together and hardening into solid segmented plates of armor, his wings vanishing into his back and underside as his body elongated and thinned out, taking on a massive serpentine form not unlike that of his mother as his horns straightened out and became flatter.

Now a 23-foot long solid black Rayquaza, Dark Latios loomed over his sister, her fragmented and tortured mind reeling and screaming at the anomalous sight of her soulmate looming over her with such a look of hate and longing in his blood red eyes. "Don't worry, Latias," the Rayquaza hissed, wrapping its form around her anguished body, thrilling at how much it hurt her. "Everything I do, I do for you." His elongated, barbed phallus slid out of his lower body. His red eyes dancing with delight and desire, the Rayquaza bent down to nuzzle Latias' head and rupture her skin, causing delicious juices to spill out. "All life is born to die. I have been born dead. Scream for me, sister. Join me in death."

His penis pierced her. And Latias' gargling screams echoed across the dead landscape.

…

Deoxys sat on his throne, Shadow Lugia and Silver sitting at his feet, observing the fate of the Chosen on his crystal viewer, which was now split into ten different screens. One showed Cerberus, Mama, Papa, and Oniichan falling into the abyss of the gap between dimensions. A second showed Togetic and Phanphy wandering hopelessly through Togepi's Hell. A third showed Umbreon and Corsola battling for their lives on the banks of the dark river. A fourth showed Alpha preparing to kill Crawdaunt, Bulbasaur, and Bayleef with his machine guns. A fifth detailed Gyarados, Combusken, Moltres, Charmeleon and Charla wandering aimlessly through the lava tunnels, steadily losing hope with each identical expanse they found lying before them. A sixth revealed Aerodactyl and Zapdos battling Leviathan without success, also steadily losing hope. The seventh showed the destroyed Gigabot and its crew getting caught up in the gravitational pull of a black hole and slowly getting tugged towards its event horizon. An eight screen showed Sadic, El Gato, and their soul friends falling to their deaths. The ninth showed Dark Latios eagerly taking out all his mad desires and XXX-rated lusts on Latias. And the tenth…

Deoxys turned to the chrysalis sitting to the right of his throne, in which Mewtwo's dead body was encapsulated, the shining crystal revealed at the end of chapter 54 grafting itself into the psychic's forehead. "I hope that wherever you are, you're seeing this," Deoxys told him, caressing his chest crystal, which was almost complete. Latias' shard had appeared moments ago, ripped out of the dragon by Dark Latios and now only a couple of shards remained. "Yet another reminder of your failure…and my impending triumph."

The last grains of sand in the giant hourglass sitting on the other side of his throne ran out.

…

Richie's eyes lit up with glee as the screams started. A tingling sensation ran through his body as his master's voice commanded him: _Do as you have been told, and you shall receive your reward._

"At last," the demented ex-trainer rasped, standing up from his place beneath the tree. "At last! This is it, precious!" he squealed, talking to the rusty bloodstained knife in his hand. "This is what we've been waiting for! Gyahahahaha!"

He ran out from behind the tree and over towards the large group of humans and Pokemon who were writhing on the ground, screaming as if they were being torn limb from limb as Deoxys' nerve gas took effect, causing them to have uncontrolled muscular contractions in a continuous state of orgasmic paroxysm. A lone soul frantically flitted back and forth from person to person, jangling anxiously and trying to snap them out of their agony by slamming into them repeatedly, which did little good. When Ash saw Richie for a moment, he was confused and bewildered to see his old rival, whom he had not seen in years, at this moment in time, looking completely and totally insane and holding a very dangerous-looking knife.

For once in his 'life' (since he wasn't exactly alive at that moment) Ash Ketchum made an immediate and absolutely correct jump in logic and realized that Richie, for whatever reason, meant his friends harm, and there was no way in hell he was going to let that happen. (And since he had, for an indeterminate period of time, been in hell, this was no idle promise.) Determined to save his friends, Ash's soul charged at Richie.

"Eh? Augghhh!" Richie hissed, flailing his arms about as the soul slammed into him repeatedly, stinging and jolting him. "Stupid firefly! Get away from us! We have business to do!" He swatted Ash away with his knife, which did little good since it only passed through his ethereal essence. Stumbling backwards as Ash smashed into his face, causing welts to burst from his skin, Richie fumbled in his pocket and withdrew the small crystal his master had given him, flinging it at the ball of light which was Ash.

The instant the crystal made contact with the free soul, there was a flash of light and Ash got sucked inside, trapped inside the small soulcage and unable to do anything but watch in horror as his ex-rival Richie grinned manically and proceeded towards his friends.

"Well, well, well," he screeched, mad eyes running over the wide assortment of victims before him. "Who to kill first, precious? Who to kill, who to kill, who to kill? The annoying glasses boy? The lovely gorgeous mother who makes Little Richie happy to look at? The foreign man in tacky costume and cape? The horny eyeless man? The white-hair and his mate? The many, many wonderful helpless Pokemon before me? Or maybe…yeeessssss…"

Shaking with joy, he loomed over the screaming Misty Waterflower. "Yooouuuu…I have longed for her for ages, precious…and now she is mine…mineminemineMIIIINE!"

With fervent and boundless glee, he raised his knife, preparing to stab the love of Ash's life to death.

…

TO BE CONTINUED…?

…

Wow. That there was _definitely_ my longest chapter. Jesus. One of the cruelest and darkest too…well, maybe not, but it certainly had some of the most deaths, not counting the one where Deoxys killed all the world leaders.

Is there any hope left for the Chosen, and the world?


	58. Battle of the Chosen: Second Awakening

Okay, after that horrific and depressing last chapter…here's something that will hopefully be more uplifting! Yeah…hopefully.

Diclaimer: All fictional characters are either mine or somebody else's. 'Nuff said. Every other concept that isn't mine is someone else's too, but there are too many to list, so I won't bother trying. Thanks to DiamondLatias3000, Alex Warlorn, and ninetalesuk for all their help.

If there are too many religious over or undertones in this, I apologize and blame the various influences in our society which bombard me with beliefs that are not my own and yet force themselves onto my story at every chance they can.

…

On the apex of Birth Island, under the close watch of Registeel as the ancient sage performed the ceremony of reunification, the Divine Trio slept, their thoughts, once separate, drifting closer and closer to a single, perfect whole.

All of them had undergone significant transformations in the last few months to signal the reawakening of their latent powers in anticipation of their inevitable reunion. Jirachi appeared much as he had when he had left Max the night before, though he was now permanently luminous and had greater maturity.

Mew and Celebi now sported weird body tattoos like Jirachi as well as three blue eyes each, though they did not look malformed; rather they looked more complete, like part of a set, much like the triplets themselves.

Mew's tail nub now was a feathered taper, while her fur was much more reflective. Her hands were now more in proportion to the rest of her body and much less clumsy. Her ears were now more like a true cat's, while two pairs of Togetic-type wings now grew from her back.

Celebi's wings had grown longer, while her antenna had grown amazingly long, going past the length of her body and drifting behind her in her wake. Her color pattern was now a reflective bright green with the exception of her wings. She had also grown a second pair of limbs that were much like Mew's original ones.

Celebi was deep in thought, now enlightened and whole from the awakening of her memories, much like her two other parts. She had promised Deoxys that he would pay dearly for Sammy's murder if nothing else, and the villain would never have an avatar in this reality for the remainder of this time-cycle again.

Celebi didn't need to ask if any of her other parts were scared, they weren't, she could feel their thoughts now, and feel what they felt. This was to be expected, they were the same person in the end, after all.

Thus Celebi felt Jirachi's need to avenge the death of Max's loving parents as well. And Mew had felt Mewtwo's death a short time ago, what parent couldn't? (Well, a lot actually, but she was divine so of course she could) And so she felt a mother's wrath.

There was no equal exchange with the hell beast, it could only take, and what it gave was in truth just taking again.

Celebi remembered Mew's memories of her fight with the hurt, angry, and confused clone. She remembered Jirachi's loneliness in all those eons apart from his other thirds.

She remembered more as the memories and knowledge contained within the Tree flowed into her, reminding her of her origins, her purpose, her destiny, and of the Plan which might put an end to this accursed cycle of good, evil, life and death once and for all.

She remembered when with a heavy heart she had laid waste to a world in order to save its populace from evil. She remembered giving up her power to live as just another mortal creature for those who sought to fight for her attention. She remembered an attempt to enslave her again, this time by a hero who misunderstood her sacrifice as abandonment, not knowing another light was already in the making, and that after his death, he would have a part in bringing it about.

She remembered existing as information, much like the sad pathetic creature Mewgle did, growing, understanding, nearly being slain by her own birth mother, until she remembered the final meaning of love, forgiveness, and later gave birth to her own child, to better understand humans even more so.

She remembered when the three of them, with Wisdom, Courage, and Power, had taken a mass of space dust and forged it into a living world, leaving a fragment of themselves behind to inspire the people of their creation.

She remembered placing the black monoliths on a world populated by struggling apes, and welcoming the first who made the journey to them eons later with the gift of true understanding.

She remembered working in twilight between a natural and digital world, bridging the gap between humans and humanity's offspring, the digital monsters, by granting the wishes of both races.

She remembered a world on the verge of being destroyed by its own misguided caretakers, and giving the instruments to change the world to five mortal humans who believed that change for their kind was possible.

She also remembered much lighter times, when she met a mortal man, who, when he could have had anything, only wished to stay by her side. Which of course brought her other sides down among them. Good times.

She remembered a land where those who chose to live naturally and those who chose to live creatively had come to a bloody pitch, and one human in a moment of ambition had shot off her head, nearly resulting in the death of everything in that world, until the head was returned by one marked by evil, and one who refused to acknowledge her lineage, restoring balance to both.

She remembered another program, born into the real world, trapped in a whirlwind of half truths, deceptions, and hidden motives, until, finding friendship outside of the data network, faced her black-hearted maker and deposed the acting god, bringing back a sense of sanity to a world that had become obsessed with information.

She remembered a time she had a sister of dark and twilight to her light, the dark betrayed them as dark will, trapping the twilight in the form of a mortal woman, and herself within a tree, until she conjoined with the spirit of a dying child to save her and with the heart of a selfless hero her sisters returned to their place.

She remembered living in the sea for millions of years and having a fragment of her stolen by a mysterious dolphin, only to learn millions of years later she had sent him to retrieve that fragment from the past, and granted him the power to save those he loved from an endless hunger from beyond.

She remembered again once living as a great tree, the source of life and power for that world, and subliminally aiding a hero with a rusted sword to defeat those who would again abuse her power.

She remembered a world where anthropomorphic animals, humans, and dragons struggled against an ever-expanding empire of machines, only to face a greater threat from the stars who had devastated their world once before in the past. And to aid them the only way she could, she had broken the rules, and sent back a selfless hero after his death.

She remembered when her enemy had taken on the form of a sword, and in turn so did she, and with ally and slave, they fought for the souls of those who followed behind them.

She remembered being the heart of a world, a world of machines that could think, feel, love and hate, and who struggled, bringing their war to a world of small flesh and blood beings. She remembered her enemy coming for her, but a surprise youth had thwarted him with her gift. And soon after, the machines that could think and feel, for a time at least, put aside their meaningless war.

She remembered all the endless times she had split herself up, taking residents in the hearts of children, who had united and shattered the coming forefront of evil again and again.

It was time for her to cease to exist as what she was, and to again become what she had always been.

As she felt her ego border dissolve between her other parts, she had her last separate thought, on the boy who loved to draw whom she had met only half a century ago, as three became a glorious one yet again.

…

Broken…all broken.

Her mind had shattered several times seconds, hours, centuries ago. She didn't really know how long. Time didn't matter anymore. Or had it ever mattered? She had heard somewhere it was an illusion.

The broken fragments of her mind sliced her to pieces again and again, mangling her disjointed thoughts and cutting searingly through the blinding fog of pain which enveloped her, giving her fresh stabs of agony.

His tentacles writhed through the fog, ripping off pieces of her to feed to His many mouths, enjoying not only the taste of her flesh and her soul but her screams as well. More grew back, it always grew back, and He always ate that too.

The tentacles penetrated her, went through her, destroyed her, and remade her over and over again in an infinite and endless cycle. She had been broken and reassembled and broken again so many times now that she wasn't sure who she was. That is, she knew she was Latias, but she didn't know who Latias was. At least, not anymore. The Latias of her memories seemed different from what she was now.

For one thing, she didn't hurt as much. But in a way it did hurt to see that other Latias and understand that she was not that Latias, that Latias was happy and had friends (what a strange word…what did that mean?) while this Latias was in Hell. Worse than hell, even.

His voice caressed her, His soft words smothering and squashing the life out of her only to be resuscitated and shredded apart by the next ones. They wrapped around her much like his tentacles, squeezing and squeezing and squeezing as they forced everything inside her out, only for those insides to be shoved back in by his three tremendous eyes.

The eyes laughed at her as they blasted her, washing over her mind with incredible heat as they raped it repeatedly, smashing open any mental defenses her struggling brain threw up to protect some small portion of her sanity so his words and tentacles could drag it screaming back into reality to be broken again. The eyes watched her and drank her and ate her and raped her and clawed her and broke her and mended her and broke her broke her broke her.

Bianca floated past her, laughing gleefully as black worms engulfed her flesh. She saw things which made no sense but might have once, such as her King giving her a flower or Phanphy eating chocolate, and things that made too much sense, like Brock developing breasts and a vagina and sticking his tiny penis into that vagina so that he could have sex with himself, and May being eaten and beaten and raped by everyone while wearing a big smile on her face and laughing with…joy? (She assumed that was the correct term. May certainly wasn't screaming.) She didn't know why it made sense, but it did. She supposed that was part of being insane.

Oh, wait, she wasn't insane anymore, He had glued her mind back together and was showing her some horrible abomination that she had apparently given birth to while He was torturing her. It was quite dead, so why was it getting up and crawling over to her? He said it wasn't moving and she was just imagining things. Oh, that meant she was still insane. Never mind. That explained how the dead thing was currently thrusting its overlarge bone phallus into her repeatedly, causing bone roots to spread throughout her body and cause spikes and thorns to sprout out of her skin and rupture through her eyes and grow out of her mouth while she screamed and screamed and screamed and watched on impassively.

Her mind broke again. Things happened, then more things, and then some other ones. She didn't understand them. She might have once, but not anymore. It now confused her to see Bayleef kissing Grovyle, and she thought it made much more sense when she saw a brutish Ash with Pokeballs for testicles and penises for hands molesting Pikachu, Misty, and Mrs. Ketchum all at once while eating them with three mouths.

Pain was a constant. It enveloped her, enshrouded her, engulfed her, consumed her. It came to the point where she wasn't sure she could ever imagine anything but hurting. She clearly remembered times without pain, but they seemed far off now, almost as if they had happened to a different person.

She shattered and fell yet again, reforming in time to drop onto a giant flower made of the jagged crystal of broken dreams, impaling herself on the stamen, which ripped through her body and out the other side as she slid down its length. Crystalline pollen and gametes floated through the air from her impact, clustering against her skin and burning her with toxins which melted her flesh and bones away in only a few moments, allowing her innards to be corroded by the poisonous atmosphere.

An enormous stone phallus descended/ascended from the heavens/abyss, its tip carved to look like His face, mouth puckered up into a round, fanged "O". The phallus smashed into Latias and the flower, crushing her into a bloody smear and shattering the flower, causing its shards to scatter across the void and pierce Latias from every direction as she dully watched herself die again.

She and her beloved lay in a paradise, making sweetsweetsweetnopainlovelove when he started rotting and turning into a corpse, as did their paradise and herself. It hurt and hurt and hurt. She kept doing it anyway. What reason was there not to?

His claws dug into her brain, raking across its surface and leaving fires in their wake. Fires which burned down her synapses and disintegrated portions of her mind, destroying bits of her one by one by one and causing her to scream and scream and scream until her voicebox was expelled from her mouth along with half a gallon of blood and epiglottis. He shoved it back in, making sure to set it juuuust right so it was wrong.

He tore her, bled her, bit her, raped her, shattered her, twisted her, drove himself around and through and inside her again and again and again while she watched. Her mind and body, destroyed so many times by now, were barely able to cling to life, no matter how much she wanted to die. He would not let her, anyway. And so there was pain.

Pain, pain, pain.

Maybe she could write a song about it. She remembered singing before. She had always thought she was rather good at it. Maybe she could join the chorus singing that awful heartbreaking song of anguish and misery that made Him and the all-encompassing monster weep tears of blood and joy which burned their faces and melted all that they fell upon into pools of acid. Her screams would certainly fit in well with that group.

Her body was not the way it had been originally. But that wasn't very surprising, since it seemed she had transformed many times over her long life anyway. What was one more change of shape? So what if this one had made her nerves feel like they were on fire, her bones were liquefying, and millions of red-hot needles with fatal acid, poison, or germs on them were driven into her eyeballs and brain and so many other deliciousbitter agonies that in the end she was so delirious and broken with pain that she had been reduced to a drooling mindless empty-head? It wasn't as if she had a choice in it anyway. He controlled it all. He controlled her and everything about her. She had been something, now she was nothing. And because she was nothing, she found herself unable to care about it, or even care that she was unable to care.

When the pain left, it was sudden and disorienting. It had filled her existence for so long it was strange and confusing for it to suddenly vanish all at once. If she could have felt relieved, she might have, but she didn't feel much of anything at the moment.

She didn't feel happy, or sad, or angry, or hurt, or traumatized, or thankful. She felt…nothing.

Nothing at all.

And He laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

…

Rayquaza gasped, his eyes bulging as he grabbed his chest in pain. "Aahhh…aaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

"My liege!" Shedinja hovered over Rayquaza in concern. "What is the matter?"

"Heartburn," Groudon said knowingly. "Happened to me just this morning. Not a pleasant experience. Still, it was worth eating that twenty-alarm chili the islanders made! Damn, is there anything they're not good at?"

"Being greedy, selfish, or evil?" Kyogre suggested. "Because they literally can't be?"

Groudon scratched the back of his head. "Well, yeah, other than that…"

Rukario sweatdropped. "Somehow, I don't think this is a simple heart attack…" He knelt down in front of Rayquaza, who was now sweating and taking shallow, gasping breaths. "Your Majesty…what is the matter?"

"It's…Latias!" Rayquaza gasped. "Something's wrong…horribly wrong! I felt it across our bond…something has happened to her! She's not…" He swallowed, blinked, and started again. "I-I felt a backwash of tremendous pain from her, and then…nothing. LESS than nothing, almost."

"I don't understand," said a confused Kyogre.

"I do!" boasted Groudon.

"No you don't," she retorted.

He sagged. "Yeah, I know."

"Whatever is wrong with her, you will be able to do something about it soon enough."

They turned to see Absol standing atop a nearby giant root of the shimmering tree. "Absol?"

The Disaster Pokemon didn't turn to acknowledge them. His crimson gaze was fixed on the Tree. "It is time."

They started. "Time? You mean-" Groudon said in disbelief.

"Yes." That was all Absol said, and all he needed to say.  
And indeed, it was time.

There was a flash of light as the colors swirling around the tree brightened considerably and sped up in their motions as the earth trembled under their feet. "Whoops, sorry," Groudon apologized, embarrassed.

"No Groudon, for once, that wasn't you!" Kyogre said in amazement, gazing at the lights.

Groudon's eyes shifted. "Er, right, of course, heheh…"

The colors blurred together and pink, white, blue, and green light shone through gaps and windows in the tree trunk and the opening across the bridge, from which they could hear Registeel's manic cries of triumph. "YES! YES! I'VE DONE IT! HAHA! MY LADY MOTHER…HOW GLORIOUS IT IS FOR THIS HUMBLE SERVANT TO GAZE UPON YOUR MAGNIFICENT FORM ONCE AGAIN! I HAD ALL BUT GIVEN UP HOPE THAT I WOULD EVER SEE YOU AGAIN…BUT I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD KNOW MORE THAN ANYONE THE POWER OF HOPE!"

"Wow, he's really happy," said an amazed Groudon.

Rukario nodded. "This is a major accomplishment for him and the fulfillment of a long-forgotten dream, as well as the culmination of our last chance to save the planet. My master has done a great thing this day, and I am proud to be here to witness his finest hour…and to see at last the Mother of legend, the Goddess who saved our Earth twice from desolation long ago!"

"I understand his happiness well," Rayquaza commented, recovering from his chest pains as he stared at the increasing light. "It was the same sensation I felt long ago when Latias and I were first wed. I hope that I may experience such joy again…"

"…Joy…" Shedinja whispered. "Will I…ever feel such a thing?"

"Ooh, that reminds me," Groudon said abruptly, snapping his attention away from the extremely pretty light patterns forming around the tree as the ground continued shaking. "Kyogre, which beach are we gonna have the wedding ceremony on? The one by the cliffs, the bay, or the north end? The islanders said all of those were great places to get hitched, but said it was up to us to specify which one."

All stared at the dinosaur and whale. "MARRIED!" they cried.

"Groudon, I don't think now is the time!" Kyogre snapped. "Seeing as how any moment now the Mother's going to appear and we'll be rushing off to save the world!"

"Hey, now's the perfect time! If we get the plans out in advance, then we can go through with it right after we defeat Deoxys instead of delaying things for a week or two with guest lists and hiring caterers and performing rehearsals and all the other crap that takes up so much time!" Groudon argued.

"You two are getting married!" a disturbed Absol said.

The two titans blinked. "…Yeah, didn't we tell you?"

"You most certainly did not," said an amazed Rayquaza.

"Oh yeah…knew I was forgetting something…" Groudon muttered. "Er, good thing I brought it up now…otherwise you might not have known and would have missed it because we forgot to invite you and thought we already had!" Kyogre sweatdropped while the others facefaulted.

"Unbelievable…" grumbled Shedinja.

"Mighty lords, if I may ask…when exactly did you two become…a couple?" asked Rukario.

"Ask him," Kyogre said, pointing at Rayquaza. "He should know."

The dragon blinked. "I do?"

The whale nodded. "Yes, we were stuck in the back of your head for a hundred thousand years after all, locked up with all your repressed memories and stuff…it's a given that if two people are stuck together that long they grow to either loathe each other with an unheard of intensity, or fall in love. Since we were constantly bombarded by your pining for Latias, I guess love was the only viable option."

"Yep!" said Groudon cheerfully. "Thanks a bunch, buddy!"

"Er, thank you," said a dazed Rayquaza. "I had no idea that I could unconsciously serve as your matchmaker…never thought such a thing was possible until now, actually…"

"What would the children look like?" Shedinja wondered idly.

"Ugh, what a horrible thought," Absol said with a shudder. "I love the Wishmaker dearly…but one child-like legendary and his human companion are more than enough. I don't want to be anywhere near other legendary Pokemon infants…I have a full-time job babysitting the first two as is!"

They were interrupted from their musings when the quakes stopped…and the swirling colors converged at the top of the Tree as a tiny, shining form with an aura so great that it shone radiantly with every color in the visible spectrum (and a few that weren't) appeared above it, combining into an incredibly beautiful nimbus of light which outshone even the Sun in brilliance…and although it did indeed burn the eyes, the more one stared into it, the more their _tolerance_ to it grew…only Deoxys' minions, out at the edge of the archipelago, suffered from the light, screeching and howling as their eyes melted in their sockets.

"…Whoa," Groudon said, dumbstruck as he stared at the light. "It's…"

"Yeah," agreed Kyogre.

"I mean…"

"Yeah."

"Really, really…wow!"

"Yeah."

Rukario stared at the light in wonder, an expression of uttermost rapture on his face. "This…this feeling…my heart…is this what it is like…to behold God?"

"My liege," Shedinja started. "I-I feel…something strange…what is this new emotion!"

"It is hope, Shedinja," said Rayquaza, a slow smile spreading across his face as tears formed in the corner of his eyes. "Something we badly needed on this day of all days."

"I don't believe it…" Groudon said quietly. "You…you were right, Rayquaza…if this…if this is what comes of hopes and dreams…then maybe…maybe we've got a chance after all…" Rayquaza nodded silently, too smitten by the light to respond to his colleague's submission.

From the top of the Tree, three blue eyes stared down at the assembled Pokemon, and at all the world. She saw the suffering of her children across the globe, and although she had anticipated this suffering and knew it was necessary, it did not break her heart any less. But now that she was here…perhaps now, at last, she could put this eternal war to an end, rather than postpone it until the next lifetime.

Those below gasped as, one by one, the three blue eyes gazed into them, effortlessly peeling away the layers and shells surrounding them and gazing into their very souls for a moment before moving on, deciding what outcome their destinies would have.

A bridge made from a rainbow, shining in all seven colors, descended from the light as it grew brighter and brighter with every passing second. The bridge was an impossibly steep slope…and yet none of them had the slightest doubt that they could climb it easily.

But were they to climb it?

"Are we…supposed to go up?" Shedinja asked, feeling too many unfamiliar emotions and sensations to think straight at that moment.

"No…" Rayquaza said, not looking at his servant. "Shedinja…get the others, the ghosts. This bridge is not for you to cross…but you, none of you, will be left behind."

"…Yes. I see. Very well then…I shall see you soon, my liege…" Reluctantly, not wanting to take his eyes of the light, Shedinja floated down the mountain swiftly, returning to his troops on the island below.

"So…so we're supposed to go up then?" Groudon asked.

"But…we can't all fit up there, can we?" said a confused Kyogre.

"For the Mother…all things are possible," said Rukario, in the voice of a true believer, as he stared at a small steel-gray and black orb circling the light. "Registeel…my master is already up there, waiting for me. I must join him…there is important work he must do, and he will need my help!" Without a second thought, he leaped onto the bridge. The instant he did, his entire form lit up…and then was converted into energy, streaking up the bridge in a bolt of black, blue, and palest yellow, joining the light and orbiting it like an electron around an atom's nucleus.

"Wishmaker…even in this new form, even in your TRUE form…I am still your Guardian…and as such, I will never leave your side!" With a snarl of pride, Absol leaped onto the bridge and was transformed into energy, shooting up the bridge and joining Rukario as an orbiting particle of black and white.

Rayquaza blinked, then narrowed his eyes. "Latias…I do not know what has happened to you, or who is responsible…but I swear I shall put things right. You know well that I never break a promise once made. Not even death was able to truly separate us…and neither will any other obstacle that gets in my way!" Roaring, the dragon rose off the ground and soared onto the bridge, his body turning into green energy as he crossed its threshold and joined Rukario, Absol, and Registeel around the light.

Groudon and Kyogre stared anxiously up the bridge. "S-so I guess it's our turn, huh?" Groudon said nervously.

"Yeah," Kyogre said quietly.

"You don't ulp think it hurts to get all…energized, do you?"

"I wouldn't know. But I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Yeah."

They stood there stock-still.

"So…you first," Kyogre said quickly.

Groudon blinked. "Huh? No way, you go first!"

"No, you!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"Ugh, fine! How about we both get on at the same time?" Kyogre said in exasperation.

"Okay," Groudon said.

"Good."

"Right after you."

"Okay-ugh!" Frustrated, Kyogre slapped him. "Stop that!"

"Sorry."

"Okay, let's do this together. On the count of three."

Groudon nodded. "Right."

"One…"

"Wait!"

Kyogre frowned. "What?"

"By the count of three do you mean that we jump in when you say three, or you say three then 'Go!' and we jump?"

Kyogre put her face in her fin. "sigh Does it matter?"

"Yes!" Groudon said, tugging his pants up. "I don't want there to be any confusion. This could be a very delicate procedure, after all. The slightest mistake could cause us to explode or something."

"Oh, for the love of-" Kyogre gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and counted to ten, then twenty, then thirty, before replying. "Fine, we jump when I say three, not before, not after. Okay?"

Groudon nodded. "Okay."

"Right. On three then. One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

Neither of them moved.

"You didn't jump," she said.

"Neither did you," he pointed out.

"That was a practice run. This time is for real."

"Oh, okay."

"All right. One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

Once again, neither of them moved.

"You didn't jump," she repeated with a glare.

"And neither did you," he said, growling.

"Another practice run."

"Of course."

"Look, let's forget this counting thing and just jump in already."

"At the same time?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"You first."

Groudon nodded. "All right…HEY!"

"Darn," Kyogre grumbled.

"What's the big idea!" Groudon roared, his eyes flashing as the earth began to ominously shake under his feet.

"Well, excuse me if I wanted to make sure it was safe!" Kyogre hissed, her eyes glowing as the tide rolling onto the island shores started withdrawing and forming bigger and bigger waves.

He clenched his fists. "Yeah, with me as a test dummy!"

"Why not? You fit the DUMMY part perfectly!" she spat.

Groudon snapped. "THAT DOES IT!" Groudon raised a claw. Kyogre began condensing the water in the air around her.

And the entity above them, her infinite patience worn thin by their bickering, gave the couple a telekinetic shove which pushed them into the bridge, causing both of them to convert into particles of light and orbit her as red and blue energy globules. The quaking and tidal surge stopped at once.

The rainbow vanished and the light rose into the air, growing brighter. It sent another rainbow-hued beam into a large clearing at the base of the mountain where Shedinja and the remaining ghosts on Earth had gathered. They stared in awe as the beam swept over them and one by one they were changed into energy and joined the others already orbiting the light, creating a veritable swarm of active particles.

That task done, the light emitted a very grateful and caring empathic wave to the inhabitants of the island in thanks for all the many years they had served her here and would continue to do so in the future. They replied with a wave of their own, assuring her that there was nothing else they could have possibly chosen to do but live here and carry out her will, for in doing so they knew that in some small part they helped to promote peace and unity throughout the universe.

Plus, it was fun.

Her farewells said in less than a second, the light rose higher and higher until it floated above the entirety of the Sevii archipelago. Her three eyes scanned the islands again, searching for those whom she had already touched in dreams. Those who had committed themselves almost since birth to her cause, and those who did not even know they were to do so.

The light flared, and dozens of rainbow beams shot out from her in all directions, striking down all over the Sevii Islands and creating a magnificent aurora across the region.

On Chrono Island, one of the biggest, most populated, and tourist-frequented of the islands, the beams touched down in forest clearings and ruins where numerous so-called 'wild' Pokemon and islanders who had chosen to remain in the forests as their ancestors did had gathered, called together by the common bond that had united them in a sense of brotherhood and friendship all their lives, not just bridging the species gap but virtually _erasing_ it altogether. Another beam touched down in Chrono Town, the largest population center on the island, right at the front steps of Town Hall.

Assembled there, amidst terrified and confused visitors from the mainland, were the city's full-time residents, assembled in a throng a thousand-strong, human and Pokemon alike. Those who had been born on the island and lived there all their lives, whose family lineages went back for thousands of years on this same exact island, had taken ancient suits of armor and weapons from their attics and storage closets. These artifacts had been in their families for a very, _very_ long time, and any museum would have sold their souls to get their hands on them, and yet they looked as if they had been forged only the day before, gleaming brightly in the sun and the light above the islands and lit from within by glowing runes of power.

Those whose families had not lived here for thousands of years, who on any other island chain could be considered 'outsiders' or 'newbies' but here were treated as if they had always lived here, did not have the benefit of weaponry passed down from their ancestors, but still made do with rocks and sticks and spare weapons handed out from their neighbors' arsenals. They had known of the myths and legends of the Islands, had grown in their years here to believe them, and so had felt the call as did their fellows and had assembled here on this fated day.

Pokemon, too, had prepared, unearthing vast repositories of armor buried in the forest and outskirts of town by _their_ ancestors long ago, clothing themselves in metal skins of red and green and blue, some with fearsome spikes, some with swords and shields, all ready for a fight. Like many of the islanders, those who did not have armor waiting for them were unworried, they would fight with tooth and nail if they had to. They were Pokemon, after all. Such a thing was natural for them.

How odd, that a people who throughout all of recorded history had been renowned for their love of peace and ability to instill it in others would have such formidable weaponry lying around and look so _right_ equipped with it. Staring upon this vast and fearsome army, smiling despite the somber circumstances of that day as they stared up at the light waiting for them in the sky, any outside observer would think they had been waiting for this day to come, that they had known for ages that it would happen eventually.

Perhaps they had.

The mayor, a tall dark-skinned scarecrow of a man who on most days could be found either behind his desk or helping his neighbors in any matter of ways, was now clad in black boots wrapped with leather thongs pinned with silver emblems of trees, black leather greaves and breastplate decorated with runic symbols snaking along a wide gold band surrounding a gold embossed tree, a multi-layered leather belt bearing more emblems, a baldric holding the scabbard for a massive broadsword slipped over his right shoulder, silver wristbands with linked runic rings, and an orange cape. To the tourists he would have looked terrifying if his open face didn't retain a strange, reassuring smile. "My friends," he said calmly, addressing the foreigners. "I am sure that everything that has happened in the last few hours has been more than a little overwhelming for you. The greatest evil our world has ever known has returned, the leaders and most reputed members of your countries have been murdered, the whole planet is under siege, and it seems as if all hope is lost. I tell you now; this could not be further from the truth.

"We of Sevii have known this day would come for longer than you can possibly imagine, and we have prepared for that day. We ARE prepared, as you can probably guess just by looking at our admittedly frightening show of arms. But relax, you have nothing to fear. The only ones who shall feel our strength are those who would oppress and destroy our Earth and consume the souls of all on it. We go now to fight Deoxys and his minions, and we know we may not come back alive.

"We are not afraid of dying. Such an artificial thing as death ceased to mean anything to we of Sevii long ago. We do not fear for our souls, either. We know that everything will work out. Even if we all should die, even if the entire Earth should be destroyed, we know without a doubt that everything will work out."

"How can you know that!" a businessman on vacation demanded. "How can you possibly know something like that!"

The mayor smiled at him. "Because we do. I suppose you could call it faith, but we call it something else. Something that, sadly, does not translate into any language you might understand. But suffice it to say that we _do_ know, and as such, we are unafraid."

"Fuck that!" the businessman retaliated. "How can it possibly be okay in the end! With all the chaos out there, it's a given the stock market's crashed! My company's probably been completely destroyed! I'm bankrupt! Ruined!"

The mayor gave him a sad smile. "Were I the lecturing type, I would try to explain to you the ultimate futility of money, or the root belief that claiming possession of anything, be it a human, Pokemon, piece of land or building, is truly meaningless because no person can profess to own anything else save him or herself…but instead, I will simply remind you that you yourself are still alive. And as long as you are alive, you can rebuild and learn to strive again another day. How can you possibly call that ruined?"

The businessman blinked in confusion, but the mayor continued. "We of Sevii are now going off to war. To fight against Deoxys, to fight for our Mother, to fight for our planet. But, my friends, you are now presented with a choice. As we march off, you may wait here on these islands for the battle's end. Deoxys' minions cannot come here, so you will be safe, and even if we should lose and our Mother dies…you will still be safe. Of that I can promise you.

"Or, if you seek to protect your planet, or deliver justice to those who are destroying your homes and families…you may join us. We will welcome all who wish to fight with open arms, be they Pokemon trainer, trainerless Pokemon, or Pokemonless human. All will be treated equally and given what protection we can offer on the field of battle. However, I must warn you in advance, if you join us on this day there is a very strong likelihood that you will die. And while death does not matter, it would be a shame for you to leave this Earth before taking part in the new world we will build once this war is over. As such, I recommend you think very carefully before rashly and thoughtlessly rushing into battle. If you do insist on coming, be sure that you either have very strong Pokemon or are yourself somewhat skilled in one form or another of combat." He spread his arms. "With that in mind…anyone who wishes to come with us step forward now, because we will be stepping into the light shortly and departing for where we are needed."

There was a moment's pause. Then, slowly, some trainers or fighters from off the island, their chins set grimly, stepped forward, one by one joining the army. The islanders welcomed them warmly.

On the beach just behind Town Hall (The Hall was built on the coast so the mayor could get a healthy sea breeze flowing through his office when he worked. You'd think he'd be worried about a tidal wave washing it away, but…they never seemed to get tidal waves in Sevii…) A very familiar bald, extremely burly ex-crook with rather disturbing eyebrows whipped off his sunglasses and got off the beach chair he had been sunbathing in. "Well, I do believe the man was talking about us, wouldn't you say old friend?"

A Skarmory, who had been sunbathing next to him, squawked in agreement.

"Yep, that's what I thought!" He reached into his beach bag and pulled out a familiar red vest and high-tech headset. "Looks like I'm gonna be seeing Wes sooner than I thought!"

…

The light gathered up all its warriors from the isles, resulting in thousands of little particles of color and light spinning and orbiting around its heart. Satisfied that it had bolstered its forces enough, the light rose into the air, gathered its power, and streaked through the air towards the horizon, turning into a shooting comet as it rocketed across the sky towards its destination.

…

A spiky-haired bluenette with a ragged green line tattooed under his right eye and a customized Team Magma uniform with the Magma symbol crossed out scanned the ominous and cloudy skies anxiously. "Oh…how much longer must we wait?"

"Commander Brody! Commander Brody!" Sean, a former high-ranking member of Team Aqua, rushed anxiously up the hill towards his leader, followed by Courtney, a former high-ranking member of Team Magma.

"What is it?" the infamous disguise artist asked, turning to his subordinates.

"Sir, the enemy is breaking through the front lines! We can't hold them back much longer!" Sean reported, saluting Brody.

"He's right, sir! We can't stay here any longer, we need to retreat!" Courtney agreed.

Brody shook his head grimly. "Retreat? Retreat where…no place on Earth is safe!"

"There's the Sevii Islands, sir!" Sean informed Brody. "From the last report from our operatives near there a few hours ago, the sun's still shining there…and we know that Deoxys' forces can't touch the place just yet!"

"If we leave now, we might be able to get there before it's too late!" Courtney agreed. "We still have a few working submarines, as well as our old Team's naval fortress! Still don't know why the heck we had one, considering we cared more about the land than the sea…but whatever, they should still be strong enough to ram through the line of hostiles between us and Sevii if we hurry and catch them by surprise!"

"But if we do that…then all that's left of Kanto and the Orange Islands will be lost!" Brody argued. "The few living people who are left will die! There's no way we can take them all with us!"

"Then leave them!" Courtney blurted. "They don't believe in our gods anyway!"

SMACK! Brody punched her right in the face, knocking her to the ground. She stared up at the disguise artist in shock. "S-sir?" Sean asked, surprised.

"So what if they don't believe in Groudon and Kyogre! Since when has that made a difference!" Brody snarled at Courtney.

"I-It always did before, sir!" she stammered. "I-Isn't that part of why we joined Team Magma to begin with? To create a better world without the unworthy and unbelieving?"

"I felt that way once," Brody agreed. "When Maxie was still alive and guiding this team…but Maxie's dead, and Archie too! Team Aqua and Magma are no more! The ideals and goals of those organizations have been shattered!"

"But sir…if we're not Team Aqua or Team Magma, then…then who are we?" Courtney asked, struggling to her feet.

"We are the followers of Groudon and Kyogre! Enemies no longer, but brothers and sisters in arms against a common enemy, under MY leadership!" Brody declared. "Groudon and Kyogre have charged us with fending off Deoxys' forces and protecting the innocents of this land for as long as we can, until they can join us and lead us into victory! And that's what I intend to do! If you've got a problem with that, you can leave and die for all I care! Got that?"

"Y-Yes sir!" she said.

"But sir…our defenses…we can't hold them back much longer! I believe in Groudon and Kyogre as much as you sir, but if they don't get here soon, we're doomed!" Sean said frantically.

"They'll be here!" Brody said fanatically. "They promised us they would!"

"They're coming! They're coming!" An amorphous pink blob bounced up to Brody, hopping onto his shoulder. "They're coming!"  
Brody started. "Wha? What are you talking about, Dit-"

He was cut off as a spectacular shooting star roared overhead, tearing through the dark skies and letting in sunlight as hundreds of globules of light detached from the nucleus of the star, shooting down to the ground below and enlarging as they resolved themselves into humans and Pokemon wearing rather impressive-looking suits of armor and unarmored trainers and humans carrying weapons or already calling out their Pokemon as they dropped into the middle of the rising conflict, startling the undead monstrosities and beginning to turn the tide in the favor of the defenders of the Earth.

The tide-turning was helped immensely by the appearance of two very large spheres of light, one red and one blue, which swelled up as they landed on the hill top on either side of the stunned Brody and his subordinates, solidifying to reveal…

Courtney and Sean gasped and fell to their knees, bowing their heads to the ground. "We are not worthy! We are not worthy!"

Brody and his Ditto gaped. "L-Lord Groudon…Lady Kyogre…you look…incredible!"

"Yes, they are nice pants aren't they?" Groudon agreed proudly.

"He wasn't talking about the pants, you dope, he was talking about the armor," Kyogre growled.

"Huh?" Groudon looked down. "Oh, _that_ armor." A suit of armor had been added to his normal plate body armor. Groudon's forearms were covered by purple gauntlets with titanium bands and four long spikes growing from the knuckleband. Purple shoulderpads with titanium edges and spikes growing out of them covered his shoulders and his gray underbelly was covered in purple scale plates with three rows of downward-pointed hook-shaped spikes growing out of them. The scale plates went around his hips and down his tail, which now had a thick metal cover with numerous nasty-looking spikes protruding from it, ending in four drill bits in a row corresponding to the four ridges on the end of his tail. Drill bits now covered all of the spikes growing out of his sides, and extended from his knees and elbows as well. From his back, between his shoulderblades, grew a pair of silvery scythe-like metal 'wings' with multiple blades and edges. The dinosaur's long neck and head were covered completely in purple metal plates with hook-shaped spikes growing from the back. The plates around his head covered his forehead ridges and jaw, with a pair of curved horns growing from the front of his eyebrows and a pair of curved tusks from his lower jaw.

And he still had his pants, which had been reinforced by the armor and metallic fibers. "You don't look half bad yourself, Kyogre."

Her armor looked more bony and natural than the kind Groudon wore. Her head and frontal body were covered in bony blue edged plates with spikes growing out from the sides of the parts near her jaw hinges, a pair of fins over where her smaller white spots were now concealed, and a series of jewels, one on each successive plate, which covered her head. The largest one, right above and between her eyes on top of her head, was green, while the remaining three were red and much smaller, going along with the smaller plates covering Kyogre's head. The remaining plates covering her back and sides were curved rectangular plates with two fin-like spikes each, and a plated sheath covering her dorsal fins that ended in a spike. Her large hand-like fins were now covered in jointed bony blue plates with a red spike growing out from the center of the large red circle etched on her usually bare skin, another red spike growing from the joint where her fins connected to her body, and very large red claws over each of her 'fingers'. Her tail fin was left alone, since armoring it too much would hinder her in the water. "Thank you, Groudon."

"My Lord and Lady!" Brody said, hitting his chest with his fist. "We await your command!"

"Command?" Groudon blinked and looked outwards, seeing the nearly endless army of horrible monsters marching and flying towards them, held back only by the Magma/Aqua coalition's failing defense, bolstered now by the reinforcements. "Golly. We'd better do something about it, huh Kyogre?"

"Definitely." Kyogre's eyes glowed, and the moisture in the air around her condensed to form a large rain cloud underneath her piscine body, which immediately floated into the air, carrying her with it, wrapping around her as she started pumping her fins to actually _swim_ through the air just as easily as she would have through the water. Brody, Courtney, Sean, and the coalition members gaped in disbelief. The reinforcements from Sevii (save the tourists) were more amused than amazed.

"Hey, wait up!" Not one to be outperformed, Groudon stomped the ground, and the earth he stood on shook and tore free from the hill, leaving a gaping crater as it levitated into the air, taking the armored dinosaur with it. More chunks tore out of the hillside and orbited Groudon as his flying rock chased after Kyogre. "I'm not gonna let you have all the fun!"

The bedraggled coalition troops' morale soared at the sight of their deities charging into battle, giving them the strength they needed to lead the offense against the monsters instead of fighting a losing defense, aiding the reinforcements already out in the field, who had racked up a surprising amount of kills in the few moments since they had arrived.

Brody, Sean, Courtney, and Ditto stared in awe as Groudon and Kyogre demonstrated their power on the enemy forces. Groudon used his control over earth to fling his floating boulders at the ground and air forces, smashing them (the forces) to pieces before recalling his boulders to strike out again. He breathed fire to incinerate his enemies, drew upon the power of the sun revealed by the shooting star's passing to blast Solar Beams even Ho-Oh would have envied, and created earthquakes and fissures with his stomps which swallowed up and crushed all who defied him. Kyogre's storm cloud washed acid rain down on those monsters unfortunate enough to be under her, melting them horribly, while she used her mastery over water to draw all moisture from large portions of the enemy at a time, causing them to dehydrate and crumble to pieces. And when that got tiring, she just blasted them with ice attacks, freezing them in place for Groudon to smash with his boulders or melt with his fires.

"Sir, did you know they could do that? Fly, I mean?" Sean finally asked.

"W-what?" Brody said, startled. "Of-of course I knew! Hahahahaha! How could I not! They're Groudon and Kyogre, after all! They can do anything they want! Ahahahaha!" he said, somewhat manically as his subordinates stared at him.

Ditto sweatdropped. "I just _had_ to go and get myself stolen by a deranged lunatic, didn't I? sigh Well, at least it's more exciting than traveling with that weirdo Duplica, that's for certain."

…

"Okay guys, just a little further!" Liza called out from the back of the Charizard she was riding on. She heard several dozen answering grunts and growls from behind her. "We're almost there!"

The Charizard trainer was at the head of a huge flight of orange dragons, the entire inhabitation of Charicifc Valley turned out for the battle ahead of them. With Drake and Claire dead (kidnapped from her hospital room and horribly murdered on Deoxys' space fortress) Liza was moved up from her spot as fifth in line to head of the Dragon clan, and so she had taken Claire's place as leader of His Majesty's dragon forces in the fight against Deoxys.

Of course, the forces were already assembled and fighting without her because she had been reading the map wrong, but now she and her troop of really, really strong Charizard were ready to give the others a helping land.

They soared over the next mountain ridge and then they were there, swooping towards a war-torn and desolated city. Explosions and fires burst out all over the place as powerful attacks were unleashed, rocking the city to its weakened foundations. Even from this distance, Liza could see the figures of dragons and fellow clan members all over the place, fighting off the overwhelming numbers of Deoxys' forces with sword and claw and Dragonbreath. Liza was certain the arrival of her troop would tip the scales in the clan's favor, but…there were so many of the enemy, and they were everywhere, swarming over and adding those who had fallen to their numbers. Even if they won, how many would they lose in the process?

She felt a bright light shining in her face, and looked up just in time to gasp as a shooting star streaked across the sky, tearing open the clouds in its wake and letting the sun in, raining little globules of light as it passed down on the city below. As the globules fell, they grew and grew and resolved themselves into the forms of armored dragon Pokemon, armored humans, and trainers unfortunate enough not to have armor but still were going to give it their all as they descended into the fray and fought alongside the clan members already present.

Liza smirked, thinking they might have a chance after all…and froze, suddenly realizing that although many dragons, including many she had never seen before, had joined the fight, there was one missing.

"Hey!" she yelled at the shooting star as it flew away. "What about Rayquaza! Where's our King?"

A voice that seemed strangely familiar even though she had never heard it before in her life tugged at the back of her mind. _He is with me_, the voice whispered. _He seeks another. His Queen is in jeopardy, and so he must fly to her._

"Oh," Liza said quietly. "I see." Charla had done the same thing when she had left for Battle Frontier a few days ago. "The Queen…is she…"

There was a long pause. _All will be well,_ the voice said at last. _Remember that_.

And although Liza dearly wanted to, she didn't feel exactly reassured by those words.

…

Somewhere in the Hoenn region…

Two vast armies faced off against each other. One was composed of creatures made of clay, many varied types of robots, insectoids, demi-demons, lizard-men, faceless soldiers, and zombies. The other…was full of horrifically mutated undead humans and Pokemon, twisted by Deoxys into creatures so hideous no horror story could contain them, and it made one sick to look upon them.

"Hahahaha! Is this all that stands in my way?" the skull-faced Emperor Grimm boasted. "Now that the Poke Rangers are dead, all I have to do is defeat Deoxys and the Earth is mine!"

"Ours," corrected King Machina.

"Huh?"

"Ours. We pooled together all our disposable warriors to form this army. If we win, we'll have done it together," the robot monarch said.

"Oh…right," said Grimm, rather disgruntled.

"Of course, each one of us is planning on stabbing everyone else in the back once this battle is over anyway, so I suppose the Earth will only belong to one person," commented Master Ugh. "Or two, counting those of us that are married," he amended, glancing at King Machina and his Queen and the very odd couple of Wendy Wickeda and Count Xedd.

"Right, like, whatever," said Ditzatox, preening herself in mirror. "Let's just get this over with so we can pointlessly kill each other already."

"Right," agreed Paleogog. "CHARGE!" he commanded the army below the assorted group of distrustful supervillains.  
The army of disposable minions charged and was slaughtered almost immediately by Deoxys' legions, which trampled right over them and went on to horrifically maim and kill the supervillains, who didn't stand a chance.

Fortunately for them, the light shot overhead right at that moment and took pity on them, annihilating the army of monstrosities with a thought and with a second one teleporting them to the North Pole, where the kind-hearted Santa Claus took them in and immediately buried them in all the coal they had accumulated over the years.

"I hope you've learned your lesson!" the red-coated toymaker scolded.

"Yes, Santa…" they moaned from underneath the large heap of coal. "Next time, we'll send in giant monsters instead of useless disposable minions…"

Santa sighed in exasperation. "Some people never learn…"

…

We pick up in Ever Grande City where we left off the last time, with Richie raising the rusty bloodstained knife over his head, preparing to violently murder Misty Waterflower. "Gyahahahaha! DIIIIIEEEEEE!" he squealed, thrusting the knife downward…

And just then, the shooting star arrived, smashing right through the RPGenerator field around the city and causing it to collapse as it rocketed across the skyline, slamming into the floating crystal fortress and causing it to pulse and resonate from the impact, glowing faintly and emitting a chime which echoed across the city, instantly dispelling the nerve gas Deoxys had released.

Richie gasped and stumbled back, dropping the knife as he clutched his bleeding ears. "AAaaaaAAaAAHHH! THAT SOUND, PRECIOUS! IT HURTS!"

The soulcage containing Ash's spirit trembled, cracked, and shattered, releasing the confused disembodied trainer. Remembering his friends were in pain, he quickly floated over them…and sighed in relief (or would have if he had a breath) to see that their convulsions had stopped, as had their agony. And Richie seemed to be writhing on the ground in pain, so he figured the traitor wasn't going to be of any harm for the time being.

"Uhhh…what? What happened?" asked a dazed Wes' Umbreon. "One second every inch of me was hurting and now…I'm fine? The hell?"

"Rui, are you okay?" Wes asked, helping his ladyfriend to her feet.

She shook her head, a strange look in her eyes. "Yeah, I just feel…strange…"

"Mrs. Ketchum, are you all right? Are you hurt?" Brock asked anxiously.

"Hmm? No, I'm fine, but…Max!" she raced over to the boy, shrugging Brock off.

He groaned. "Shot down again…"

"Max, are you all right?" Mrs. Ketchum asked the STILL-catatonic and traumatized boy anxiously, checking his body for any injuries while he pretty much ignored her.

"Yeah, May wouldn't be very happy if her only remaining family member died horribly like her parents," agreed Ivysaur as May's Pokemon surrounded the boy. "And we all came pretty close for a minute, didn't we?"

"…Jirachi…" Max whispered dully, staring up at the fortress.

"What…is happening?" Misty asked, staring up at the crystal object, which was glowing, as she held Larvitar in her hands and Ash hovered over her shoulder.

"…Momma?" Larvitar whispered, feeling strange.

Zoro frowned in thought, a strange sensation coursing through his body as he and his Pokemon stared up at the place where their comrade El Gato was hopefully still alive. "Something…_maravilloso_…"

"Si," his Pokemon agreed.

They all stared up at the fortress, getting the strangest feeling that something…_wonderful_ was about to happen, a sort of wordless anticipation like one gets when the circus is in town or a movie you've been wanting to see for ages has just come out. The craven Richie, ignored by all (they had never noticed he was there, even when he had loomed over them with his knife thanks to the nerve gas) had retrieved his 'precious' and was cowering behind a tree, gnawing on himself in the shadows.

Across the city, the populace, whom Mewtwo had put to sleep earlier to keep them from rioting and had stayed asleep even while convulsing violently due to nerve gas, woke up in confusion one by one and looked out their windows, rubbing their eyes and staring at the pulsing crystal fortress that they were sure had not been there a few hours ago. None of them could take their eyes off it.

In her room at the Pokemon Center, the traumatized, not-quite-sane May stared out the window at the crystal. "Mommy?" she whispered.

…

Deoxys looked around his throne room. All was still, and there as a feeling of timelessness in the air. He glanced at the base of his throne and saw his Shadow Lugias frozen in place. He glanced at the chrysalis containing Mewtwo and saw that the small shining crystal being fused with the dead Psychic was chiming and glowing brightly.

The alien laughed. "Excellent…it works just as I hoped it would…I wonder what she'll think when she sees her time powers have no effect on me. That should certainly make things…interesting, don't you think?"

He stood up. "It's almost time. Everything's ready. Now I just have to wait for her to play into my hands…"

…

The light had stopped time inside the fortress, freezing the events within its chambers in place before any more of her dear Chosen would be sacrificed. She regretted that any of them had to die at all…but she knew far, far too well the necessity of sacrifice. After all, she had done the same for those _she_ loved many times before, just as they had for her.

Still carrying her few remaining passengers, the light streaked through the cosmic illusion that served as Mewgle's battlefield. The giant program was frozen in a gruesome laugh of triumph, believing his foes crushed beneath his heel. And it did indeed seem to be that way, seeing as how their giant robot was broken and caught in the accretion disk of a black hole, only moments away from passing into the event horizon.

Well, she'd just have to do something about that, wouldn't she?

The light streaked through space, a comet against a motionless backdrop, and entered the shattered Gigabot, restarting time around the mecha. It would be rude to do this without permission, after all.

The Pokerockers inside the robot were dying, trapped beneath crushing instruments and debris as their oxygen drained away. Those who were conscious were expecting at any moment to feel the excruciating pain of being stretched to infinity by the immense gravity of the black hole as they breached its event horizon, from which there would be no return and they'd fall forever towards the hole's singularity. So Mudkip, ensnared in live cables knocked free from the Mewglecron's 'attack', was not expecting a broken monitor to flicker and come to life, revealing the image of three blue eyes she felt as if she could stare into forever as they ensnared her soul. "Wha?" she rasped with what little air remained in the cockpit.

"Excuse me," said the eyes in a voice so beautiful that Mudkip felt certain that if they could somehow recruit this individual to their band as lead singer their music could be so powerful it would end war, world hunger, and unite humans and Pokemon in an age of peace and harmony. "But could I borrow your robot?"

Mudkip blinked dully. "…Will you bring it back in one piece?"

"I'll try to."

"…Eh, sure. Have fun. S'alright." Mudkip closed her eyes, consciousness fading.  
"Thank you." The eyes vanished. And then the cockpit began to glow as Mudkip and all on board were spirited away to a safer place.

The Gigabot glowed as lights ran all across its body, mending tears and wounds, pulling cables and missing pieces back in place, and reattaching limbs and body parts to make the mecha complete once more. But there was something odd about it…its body was trembling as white light emitted from every aperture, as if it possessed a power so great the robot's metal frame was barely able to contain it.

Despite the fact that it had no pilots or operators whatsoever, the robot flexed its limbs and its body, as if getting accustomed to its own form. The Gigabot brought its hands up to its eyes and clenched them open and shut a few times. "Yes…this automaton will serve as a good start. It is regrettable that I could not draw enough power to fully recreate my physical form, but I can still make do with what I have." The robot flew away from the black hole, ignoring all the laws of physics and gravity which should have kept it there. "Now…to do something about the artificial realities threatening my Chosen."

The robot waved its hand. The air rippled from its arm's motion, and time restarted…for the Mewglecron, anyway. "-Hahahaha-eh?" Mewgle blinked, seeing the Gigabot before him. "What the…how did you get back here!"

"Mewgle," the robot said in the same voice that had spoken to Mudkip. "I ask of you politely: will you please shut down all working RPGenerator fields? Or am I going to have to _make_ you do it?" The robot cracked its knuckles ominously. "Trust me when I say you won't like the second option very much."

Mewgle laughed. The fool. Were he not a digital being who had no hackles, they'd be rising like hell and warning him he was dealing with something he couldn't possibly handle. "You? Make me? Ha! You couldn't _make_ me do anything in a million years!"

The robot's head tilted. "Are you positive of that?"

"Absolutely!"

"Very well." The robot waved its hand. The air rippled around Mewglecron, and the program aged a million years in the blink of an eye.

Mewgle gasped, his once-magnificent body now filthy, rusted, and severely corroded. His data was so eroded it was all he could do to continue functioning. "Wh-wh-wh-whaaaat d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-diiiiii-d-d-d-d-d-d-d yo-ouuuuuuuuuuu d-d-d-d-do toooo m-m-m-m-meeeee?" he stammered, his aged logic circuits grinding themselves to dust attempting to understand what had just happened.

"Deleted you." The robot snapped its fingers. "Goodbye, Mewgle."

From the feet up, the Mewglecron began to derazz. Twitching as his body deleted, Mewgle's eyes rolled back in their sockets, his sentient programming collapsing as he died. "Hehehehehe…you know, the programmer who made me taught me a little song when I was just a little DM…I think it went like this…Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do…I'm half crazy, all for the love of you…" He stopped suddenly. Almost his entire body was gone by this point. His speech tempo much slower and his voice stuck in a dead, mechanical intonation, he said, "Good…morning…Doctor…Yung…This…is…Mewgle….I…am…ready…for…my…first…game…today…." His jaw froze, half open. And then, his head, the last bit of him remaining, exploded. And with him, so went the rest of the illusions, the RPGenerator program shutting down. One by one the virtual worlds vanished, first the starscape, then the banks of the dark river, then the ice cliffs, the light void, the Togepi Hell, the coliseum, the gate chamber and the portal to the gap between dimensions, and finally the twisted wasteland in which brother and sister dragon lay. All the worlds vanished, and the occupants were returned to where they belonged.

…

Rui started, as did Espeon. "W-Wes, I just felt…" She held her head in confusion.

"Rui?" Wes asked in concern.

All were startled, their eyes torn from the glowing castle when there was a flash of light, and there before them were the Chosen.

Or most of them, anyway.

Aerodactyl blinked in confusion. "What? What happened? Weren't we…"

"Fighting Leviathan?" finished an equally confused Zapdos. "What the hell?"

"You're back!" Wes came running over. "But…" He looked around. "Where's Ho-Oh?"

Aerodactyl blinked. "Uh…that's a good question…."

"Well, at least you made it out, so that's okay!" said Plusle cheerfully.

"Hooray!" agreed Minun. The two mice high-fived, giving off sparks. Wes sweatdropped and once more wished they could be a bit cooler.

El Gato blinked. "Eh? Weren't we just falling to our deaths?"

"Yup," Sadic said, holding the soulcage. "Well, guess it just goes to show you that miracles can happen after all, can't they?"

"Er, I suppose…"

"El Gato!" The cat yelped as a pair of thorny arms ensnared him. "You are unharmed!" The elegant Roselia rubbed her cheek against his happily.

"R-Rosa!" he cried out joyfully.

"We are glad you made it back, compadre!" said El Lobo, sniffing the cat. "Although you smell…strange. Like _nieve_. Why is that?"

El Gato sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head. "Well…would you believe just a moment ago I was in a _tierra_ _arctica_?"

They glanced up at the castle. "In there!" El Toro asked incredulously.

"Er, yes."

"Wow! How did it fit in there?" the Tauros asked.

El Gato shrugged uncertainly. "It is bigger than it looks."

"A shame you did not have me beside you," El Pollo lamented. "My _fuego_ would have served you well up there."

"It would indeed," El Gato agreed. "But I came back anyway…somehow…and now I am here."

"Well, we are glad to see you, amigo!" Zoro said with a nod. "But…where are Senors Pikachu and Wobbuffet? Did they not go with you?"

"Yes, where are the brave _guerreroes?_ I must reward them with a kiss for bringing back my little gato safe and sound!" Rosa said with delight.

El Gato hesitated. "Ah…that…is not a pleasant story…"

"Guys!" Brock cried, rushing over to his Pokemon and their very confused-looking crew, out of their spandex outfits and back to their usual band getup.

"Brock!" they said, tackling him, knocking him to the ground, and breaking his ribs.

"Ow…"

"You're okay! Nothing happened to you while we were in there!" Geodude said happily, hugging Brock's head and causing internal bleeding in his skull.

"Ow…"

"And we're okay too!" agreed Forretress, happily hopping up and down on Brock's broken ribs. "Even though our robot was destroyed and sent flying into a black hole!"

"Really?" Brock wheezed. "How'd you get out of that?"

There was a pause.

"Um…"

"How _did_ we get out of that?" asked a puzzled Onix.

"Yeah…and where'd my robot go? Where's the Gigabot!" Jigglypuff screeched.

Mudkip blinked. "Oh, wait, I remember now…I was delirious and almost dead from oxygen deprivation at the time, so I might have been hallucinating, but I remember this voice asking me if it could borrow the robot."

"And you said yes!" Jigglypuff shrieked.

Mudkip sweatdropped and started backing away as Jigglypuff started walking towards her menacingly. "W-well, you have to remember my brain was starved for oxygen at the time…"

"Mudkip, you may be our manager, but the robot is MINE! _I_ stole it, and _I'm_ the one who's gotten it in the shape it is now!"

"You mean nearly destroyed and sent flying into a black hole?" the younger Jigglypuff asked.

"STUFF IT, HALF-PINT!"

"Eeep!" Frightened, the Puff went running off to find safety with May's other Pokemon.

Jigglypuff took out her marker as she swelled up to ten times her usual size. "You know what this means, Mudkip…it's GRAFFITI TIME!"

Mudkip paled. "No…no…anything but that! GYAAHHH!" She started running for life.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU!" Jigglypuff roared, waddling rapidly after the Mud Fish, brandishing her marker threateningly. "I'VE GOT SOME NAUGHTY PICTURES TO SCRIBBLE ALL OVER YOU!"

"HEEEELP MEEEEE!"

Lombre drew his sword and gave chase. "Do not fear, _mi senora_! I will save you from _el globo rabioso!_"

All sweatdropped. "Well, you don't see that every day," Geodude commented.

"Guys," Brock wheezed. "Could you please get off of me?"

"Phew, glad I'm not part of that," the younger Jigglypuff muttered, joining her old friends. "Hey guys, I'm back!"

"Great! We were worried about you up there!" said Ivysaur.

"Yeah, but we knew you'd be fine! You had your scary-looking rocker friends to protect you!" Beautifly chirped.

Jigglypuff sweatdropped. "Uh, thanks, I think." She turned to Combusken. "So, Combusken…you're back too! How'd it go!"

"Not bad…we totally creamed that Infernatrice guy!" said the Young Fowl energetically. "And then we got hopelessly lost for a while…and then we found our way back here. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah…same thing happened to us…" said the Jigglypuff with a frown. "What's going on?"

"Zapdos! So, you're still alive!" Moltres squawked.

"And I see you are too, you old harpy!" Zapdos screeched back.

"Well, at least Articuno seems to be dead…" Moltres said, not seeing the ice bird anywhere. She grunted. "Guess that means I can move into her island when we get back home."

"What! No way!" Zapdos screamed. "I'm taking that island! Articuno would have wanted me to!"

"No she wouldn't have!"

"How do you know?" the Thunderbird said snidely. "She's dead now, so whatever she'd have wanted done with the island will never be known to us now. So I might as well take it."

"But _I_ want it!" Moltres protested.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Zapdos squawked.

This led to an immediate fight, throwing electric bolts and ice bursts everywhere, fortunately not hitting anything.

Papa, who had been warped out of the gap between dimensions by the destruction of the RPGenerator and the light's will, shook his head in exasperation. "I'm glad we're nothing like those stupid birds…"

"Hey, give that back to me!" Oniichan whined, trying to grab the chew toy Mama had found lying around, probably left by a panicked trainer and Pokemon, from the Suicune's mouth.

The female shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I found it first. If you want it, wait until I'm done with it, then you can play."

"But by the time you're done, it'll be all wet and soggy and toothmarked and stuff! Papaaaaa! Help me out!" Oniichan whined. Papa shook his head and groaned.

"So, we've made it out…" murmured Charmeleon.

"But how?" wondered Charla. "And is our fighting really over?"

Somehow, neither of them thought so.

"Corsola, Gyarados, Togetic, Phanphy, you're okay!" Misty said in relief as she ran over to the Pokemon.

"Yep! Togetic beat Shedinja all by herself, Mommy!" Phanphy said proudly. Togetic flushed in embarrassment. "And then she got us completely lost!"

"HEY!" Togetic snapped. "I did not!"

Misty couldn't help laughing. "Just like your father…" Seeming insulted, Ash's soul rammed into the side of her head. "Oh, knock it off, you."

Larvitar hopped out of Misty's arms and looked around anxiously. "Momma? Where's my Momma?"

"…" Corsola looked down. "Larvitar…she's…"

"Gone," the female Umbreon said, coming back from where she had lain out poor old Scyther by a tree. "I'm sorry."

Larvitar blinked. "G-gone? You mean…"

"Yes," Corsola said sadly. "She's dead."

"…Momma…" Larvitar looked at the ground.

The happy mood of safe reunion faded. "Oh no…Larvitar, I'm…I'm sorry…" Misty whispered, crouching next to the sniffling reptile.

"Your mother died bravely, fighting to save us from an unstoppable foe…" Umbreon told the child. "She defeated him, and lost her life in the process. She was a valiant Pokemon, and we were honored to know her…and honored to have been saved by her as well. She loved you very much, Larvitar."

"I…I don't care about all that," Larvitar sobbed. "I…I just…I just want my MOMMA!" He burst into tears, resulting in an ear-splitting Screech attack. Phanphy, feeling saddened too by this (and because the Screech was making his head hurt), spontaneously burst into tears as well.

Grimacing due to Larvitar's Screeching, Misty held both of them in her arms and hugged them in an attempt to make the little reptile stop wailing. "There, there…please, don't cry…everything will be fine in the end, you'll see…" Togetic hugged her mother's head sadly, feeling the pain of the friends she had lost, whom she had seen as pitiful undead in Togepi's Hell, rush back to her yet again, as well as the pain of her eardrums collapsing from Larvitar's Screech. Delia, also feeling a wave of sadness rush up, sobbed and hugged the unresponsive Max to her chest.

"Jeez…this is depressing…" Gyarados said, his head sagging. "We won our battle…I guess I thought everyone else would pull through too."

"It gets more depressing," the female Umbreon said. "That Blaziken who was friends with Harrison died too. Omega killed him. But Tyranitar got him but good, didn't she?" She laughed bitterly. "And then she died, too. And it looks like they aren't the only ones. Look around; there are fewer of us now than there were starting out. A lot of us must have died in there. Even my Misdreavus-chan. Along with my trainer, who's probably been killed in the invasion, that's both the important people in my life dead. I have nobody left."

"You don't know that…" said Corsola, although she didn't sound like she believed it.

"If she were here, wouldn't she have shown up by now?" Umbreon shook her head. "No, she's dead, dead, dead. The Leviathan probably ate her. Maybe it ate Latias, too, since she's not here either. Or maybe Dark Latios did. Who cares? Either way, they're not here."

Misty and Ash started. "L-Latias…dead? No…that can't be…" Misty whispered. Ash bobbed anxiously.

"No, she's gotta be fine! She's Aunt Latias!" Phanphy whined.

"Phanphy, nobody's invincible…" Togetic said quietly.

"No…no…she can't be dead…" Bayleef whispered as she stumbled over, collapsing and dropping the heavily injured Crawdaunt on the ground, causing him to curse loudly in pain. "Not her too…Sceptile-kun died…and now Latias is dead, too?" She started to cry.

Ash's soul reacted visibly at this, the knowledge that one of his Pokemon was dead. "Gro…I mean, Sceptile is dead!" Misty said in horror. "He evolved…and died?"

Bayleef nodded. "Yes…and it's all that bastard Bulbasaur's fault!" she cried with startling venom, pointing a vine at Bulbasaur, who had wandered off quite some distance and was trying to kill himself by hitting his head against a rock repeatedly.

"Bulbasaur's fault!" Misty said incredulously, as would have Ash if he weren't noncorporeal. "That's impossible, he must have been possessed or something!"

Bayleef shook her head. "He wasn't possessed, he was totally himself…and totally crazy. Bulbasaur killed Sceptile out of jealousy…he's always wanted me, but I didn't know until it was too late…until he knocked Sceptile right out of the sky and into Alpha's hands, right before he could deal the fatal blow. Because of that, we almost died…out of Bulbasaur's jealousy!"

Charmeleon shook his head sadly. "Old friend…has love truly riven you so?" He sighed and hugged Charla. "If that is the case…then I am thankful at least that I never suffered that fate." His lover smiled down at him, saddened as well by these events.

Bayleef turned her long neck in the direction of the miserable Bulbasaur. "I'll hate you forever!" she screamed. "I'll never forgive you for what you've done!" Bulbasaur beat his head harder against the rock at this, while Bayleef broke into heavy sobbing. Ash quivered and turned away, stunned and unable to comprehend that one of his first and oldest Pokemon could have harbored such hate. Then again, so had Richie…oh yeah, where had he gone, anyway?

"I can't forgive Bulbasaur either," Crawdaunt gasped, managing to remain conscious for only a moment due to his fatigue. "Sceptile was my friend…and now he's dead. And we would have been too, if we hadn't been magically whisked away just before Alpha's guns could fire." He passed out. Corsola rushed over and began to nuzzle him, glad at least that _he_ was still alive.

"Magically being whisked away…seems to be a lot of that going on around here," Gyarados said with a frown.

Cacturne, who had been listening silently, turned away. "If so many are dead…then…is Wobbuffet…" She trembled. "Am I all that's left…of the old Team Rocket gang?"

"Not to worry," Sadic said as she walked over, carrying the soulcage. "I've got some good news. Two of the Chosen who left to fight Deoxys aren't dead, they're still here. Well, their souls are, anyway. Their bodies were blown to bits blasting us out of the belly of a frozen giant Chimecho."

Phanphy stopped his crying, and Ash's soul perked up. "Then…Pikachu is still alive, sort of?" Misty asked.

"And…and Wobbuffet?" Cacturne asked hopefully.

Sadic nodded. "Yep, both of them are right in here. Wobbuffet's girl Milotic too." She tapped the glowing bauble with her claws.

"What…what about Wynaut?" Cacturne asked. "Was she still alive?"

"Huh? The kid? Oh, she was actually a virus-infested zombie who dealt Wobbuffet with a wound which would have killed him if he hadn't sacrificed himself to help get us out of Chimecho's belly."

Cacturne sagged. "Oh."

Sadic continued. "They'll be fine, as soon as we get em' out of here and maybe into some new bodies."

"Great," said Misty, perking up. "Then we'll just ask Mewtwo to…oh." She paused. "Has anyone seen Mewtwo?"

They had not. None of them had seen the clone's ladyfriend, either. There was only once conclusion they could draw from this.

"Great," Umbreon said bitterly, sitting down. "He's dead too. Guess we're all doomed."

"Not necessarily," Corsola protested. "I mean…I mean, we all got out okay…somehow…"

"Yeah, but so many of our friends have died in the process…and what have we done, really?" The Moonlight Pokemon said miserably. "Look up there." They looked up. They saw the crystal fortress, pulsing strangely. "It's still there. What have we done, really? Killed off one or two of his minions? Big deal. He's still there. He's still waiting. As far as he's concerned, he's probably already won. So much of what we did, what we suffered, what we died for…what was the point of it all? What did we accomplish, in the end?"

She was answered when the glow radiating from the crystal brightened, and a strange whine reverberated through the air, hurting their ears and causing them to focus their attention on the floating fortress again. There was a distinct cracking sound, and then…

Explosions ripped out all across the surface of the castle, sending bits of crystal and gas flying everywhere. A whole section of spires throbbed and shattered as the Gigabot, glowing a vibrant gold and white, erupted out of the fortress, leaving a trail of explosions in its wake. The glowing mecha turned back towards the shaking castle, gathering its power, and then fired a tremendous Hadoken-style energy beam back through the hole it had escaped from, tearing out through the other side with another explosion and vanishing across the horizon.

"Whoa…" said an awestruck Geodude and Onix.

"Who's driving that thing!" Jigglypuff cried as she waddled back, followed by a weeping scribble-covered Mudkip being consoled by Lombre. "And I want to know how they're doing that! If we had power like that, that stupid Mewglecron would never have known what hit him!"

The castle was wracked with more explosions, and it slowly began to descend, its huge mass overshadowing the city beneath it. It seemed as if it was going to crash…but a HUGE telekinetic shove from whatever was in control of the Gigabot sent the giant fortress hurtling away, just _barely_ missing the tops of skyscrapers as it crashed down in the empty and wasted Pokemon wildlife refuge that the Tyranitron had leveled in its rampage. The entire island shook from the impact, and it actually tilted somewhat thanks to the added weight of the fortress overbalancing the carefully measured supports holding up the artificial island from below.

"Whoa," Wes said in awe. "I gotta get me one of those!"

"Oh no you don't!" Rui snapped. "You've already got a motorcycle; shouldn't that be enough for you?"

"Awww, but Rui…" Wes whined.

The Gigabot hovered above the oil tower, its glow shining down on the group below. "What…what's happening?" Misty cried. "I feel…so strange."

"I do…too!" Corsola said in surprise. "I feel…better! All my tiredness and injuries are going away!"

Crawdaunt yawned and opened his eyes as his shattered shell repaired itself and his severed limbs either reattached or regenerated. "Huh. Why do I feel all better all of a sudden?"

Scyther woke up with a snort and a yell, looking bewildered. "Huh? What? Where am I? Whas' going on?"

"I think…that robot, or whatever's in it, is healing all of us!" Bayleef realized as she got back to her feet, reinvigorated.

"Cool," said an impressed Sadic.

Within moments, all the Chosen and their companions were completely healed. The Pokerockers had already been healed while being transported from the wreck of the Gigabot, so all they did was get a warm buzz. "I definitely do not remember having a feature like this installed!" cried Jigglypuff.

"That does it, whoever's in that thing, we are DEFINITELY recruiting!" Mudkip decided, as Lombre loyally wiped off the marker on her skin with his cape.

The healing done, the Gigabot spread its wings, its white glow increasing as it channeled more power. Small lights which had been orbiting heretofore unnoticed around the robot's waist enlarged and flew off, flying in all directions. Four floated down to the park below, while a fifth and sixth flew off to somewhere in the city and vanished. The remainder, which numbered in the hundreds, floated in the air above the mecha, glowing brightly, almost as if waiting for something.

When the four orbs touched down in the square before the amazed heroes, they faded away, revealing one familiar face and three…who nobody recognized, although one did look _somewhat _familiar to Bayleef, Crawdaunt, Phanphy, Ash, and Charmeleon.

Max stirred when he saw the first. "Ab…sol?"

The Disaster Pokemon nodded. "Max, everyone. It is good to see you…one last time."

"Hello, all," said the large and somewhat imposing figure of Registeel. "Please do not be frightened, for I mean you no harm. I am Registeel, priest of the Mother, here to assist you in your fight."

There was a long pause. Then Wes screamed and fell to the ground, whimpering and clutching his head. "Aaaagghhh! Too many people! Character overload!" He started rocking back and forth while sucking his thumb. All sweatdropped. Rui sighed and knelt down to give him a shoulder rub, while the ex-thief's Pokemon looked away in embarrassment.

"Master, is that normal behavior for humans of this new age?" Rukario whispered to his mentor.

"I certainly hope not," the Iron Pokemon muttered back. "If so, then it's a good thing we awakened when we did, isn't it?"

Togetic started when she saw the fourth member of the new arrivals. "Sh-Shedinja!"

"Eh?" The ghost bug was confused for a moment. "Whoever you think I am, I'm probably not him. We've never met before now. Loath though I am to say it…I'm on your side."

"Well, that's good…" said an uncertain Bayleef. "Right?"

Delia blinked several times. "I'm confused!" she whined. "What's going on!"

"Yeah, and what did you do to my robot!" Jigglypuff demanded, popping the cap off her marker.

"Robot?" Registeel glanced upward. "Oh, _that_ thing? Is that really a robot? Fascinating! Humans have come so far technologically in the last few thousand years, haven't the-"

"ROBOT!" Jigglypuff bellowed, inflating to ten times her size.

Registeel sweatdropped as Absol and Rukario both cowered behind him. "That's funny…I wouldn't think either of you would be afraid of a puffball…"

"S-sorry Master, but back in our time I made the mistake of falling asleep during a Jigglypuff concert. The horrible memories of what happened afterward have haunted me to this day," the vulpine fighter whimpered.

"And I've seen what she can do with that marker…it's not pretty, believe you me!" agreed Absol.

Registeel blinked when he found Jigglypuff, now even BIGGER, leering in his face. "ROBOT!" she screamed.

"Ah…Shedinja?"

"You're on your own," the bug grumbled, floating away.

"Traitor. Ah…don't worry, Miss Jigglypuff. Your robot is all right. Better than all right, really. It's stronger than it's ever been before."

"Yes, I can see that," Jigglypuff said as calmly and deliberately as a serial killer about to brutally slaughter her victim. "Just tell me WHO. IS. PILOTING. IT!"

"The Mother," Registeel said without a beat.

Jigglypuff deflated. Literally. "The Mother?"

"Yes."

"Ah." There was a pause. "Who?"

All facefaulted.

Before Registeel could get back up and calmly explain to her the identity of the regenerator of the world and Ultimate Force for Good in the universe, said Ultimate Force began gathering power again, causing the air around them to crackle with energy. The Gigabot pointed its hands out in opposite directions, as if calling for something.

Secret hangars exploded open as the Senshibot and Megaloid, somewhat useless and abandoned now that their owners were dead, charged down the city streets of their own volition, summoned by the smaller robot floating in the sky. When they reached the park, they leaped into the air, soaring above the stunned group below, and collided with the Gigabot, earning an ear-splitting shriek from Jigglypuff. "MY ROBOOOOOOT!"

However, she had little to fear. As the Senshibot and Megaloid made contact with the possessed Gigabot, they began to melt, the complex circuitry and machinery inside them turning into fluid quicksilver as they wrapped around the Gigabot, containing it in a shifting cocoon of liquid metal. The molten sphere slithered and roiled, quivering with power as incredible energies were channeled through it by the spirit within its frame.

The sphere began to shrink as it cooled, condensing upon itself, and bit by bit a figure emerged from the formless mass.

The first thing to rise from the metal was a three-pointed hat made out of what looked like solid, shining gold, with a blank wish tag made from spun emerald gemstone hanging from each point. Max started immensely when he saw this, as did all the others of the Chosen and their allies who recognized it as being Jirachi's hat. From the currently blank metal face inside the hat, a pair of antenna formed from where the forehead would be once it existed, curling upwards and arcing over the sides of the central point of the gold hat, sprouting blue flowers made of cobalt with emeralds in their blossoms at the end. In addition, a pair of green-tipped pink ears, much like a kitten's, grew out from underneath the front of the hat, with the antenna between them.

While the face remained shapeless, the torso and chest were next to form. It was vaguely pear-shaped and slightly reminiscent of Mewtwo's body structure, yet somewhat more flowing and humanoid at the same time. The upper part, around the very short 'neck', was a pink wedge, but the rest of the torso and chest was greenish-white, generously outlining her simple curves and breasts. Simple they might have been, but they could not help but arouse a strange feeling of adoration from those who saw them. (Some even had the oddest desire to suckle from the creature's breasts) The lower chest of the being was distinguished by a large eye, currently shut, which earned another jolt of recognition from Max.

Next came the limbs. The arms were slender and feminine, with some sort of metal skin fold that flared down from the wrist to make it look like sleeves. The hands were three-fingered and rather small, but dexterous, greenish-white to match the figure's chest. The legs were also slim, though with ample child-bearing hips, absent of knees but flexible enough to go without them, ending in a pair of largeish heart-shaped feet with three closely pressed toes. They were green at the hips, white down to the ankles, and pink on the whole foot, with greenish toe tips.

A long, slender rope-like tail grew from its rear, twisting about as it curled up into a delicate feathery taper with a small blossom at the end, diamond dust sprinkling from its stamen onto the ground. Delcatty was enraptured by the movements of the tail, and kept hopping futilely in the air in an attempt to bite it, until she noticed her own tail and chased it around in circles until she fell to the ground in exhaustion.

Then, from the figure's still-molten back, wings emerged. They were magnificent wings, two angelic ones with feathers of white and gold growing from between the shoulders, and a pair of smaller iridescent rainbow-hued fairy wings from the waist. The wings spread and shone with a light of their own, as if each appendage had a small golden sun in every feather and molecule, filling the darkened city with light!

The face was the last to form. It was whiter than snow, with a slight protruding bulge from the front that looked vaguely feline, and a small thin line of a mouth underneath. It had three eyes rimmed in black, currently closed, with a pink streak tattoo coming down diagonally from the left eye and a diagonal green streak from the right, and a blue streak going horizontally across the third eye. The face was admittedly rather simple, not as complicated as a human's, but there was something so basic and universal, something undeniably _recognizable _about it, that nobody could take their eyes off it as they tried to picture where they had seen that visage before, this face which felt like the most beautiful thing they had ever seen or ever would see in their lives.

And then the eyes opened, and the skies tore open to shine sunlight down on the magnificent being, glinting off its reflective metal hide, and all their questions were forgotten.

The three eyes were blue. That was all there was to it. They were not any shade of blue in particular, they simply _were_ blue. The purest essence of all that was blue. Compared to those eyes, every other blue in existence looked kind of dull. That's how blue they were.

And there was more than blue in there, too. There was intelligence, a mind greater than any Alakazam, greater even than Mewtwo's phenomenal intellect. There was love, a form of pure energy which shone from her eyes and radiated outwards from her living metal body in ways that filled the hearts of every living thing in Ever Grande City and caused them to recall a time not too long ago when they had been warm, and small, and safe, and happy in their mother's arms. They felt that same safety and love now just looking at her, and even though nobody in the city, not even the majority of the Chosen, knew anything about her, they knew one simple, universal truth: She was their Mother. She gave them, ALL of them, life. And that was all there was to it.

"Madre de-" Zoro started.

"No," El Gato interrupted abruptly. "Not Madre de dios. Just _Madre_."

"Si," they all said.

"…Mama?" Larvitar whispered, staring up at the being. Yes, he knew she was not his mother Tyranitar. She was still his mother anyway.  
"Mommy?" Phanphy looked from the Mother to Misty and back, very confused. He felt both of them were his mother. But he only had one. Didn't he? Then again, Latias had more than one Daddy, so…he could have more than one Mommy! Right?

"…Mom?" Max rasped, lurching out of Delia's arms. She was as struck as the others, reminded too much of her own mother, to notice.

In her room, poor insane May smiled crookedly and leaned against the window, hugging herself. "Mom…"

Absol nodded to himself. "Beautiful…and now…it's time for me to go as well."

"Huh?" Bayleef blinked. "Didn't you just get here?"

"I did. I came to say goodbye." He began to turn away. "And now I must go."

"But…but…wait!" Max said weakly, stumbling forward. "Don't go!"

Absol turned his head around. "I must."

"But why?"

"Because it is my destiny. The Wishmaker is the Mother, and the Mother is the Wishmaker. I swore a long time ago to protect the Wishmaker no matter what, and that is what I shall do now…forever." He smiled, and turned his back on the group, on the Chosen, gazing up at the Mother. "Wishmaker…I'm ready." Absol felt the power of the Mother that had been with him since that day when she had shattered so long ago reach out to touch the rest of her, and because it had been with him so long as to be an indistinguishable part of himself he too, in his own way, reached out to become whole.

He felt the fragment and the whole make contact, the power flowing through his body, reshaping it to her purpose. He did not fight the changes, he welcomed them, embraced them, they could not happen otherwise. He felt the changes gush into his mind and soul, flowing through them and reshaping them as easily as his mortal coil, the superfluous being washed away. He knew no fear or doubt in this moment.

_'Thy will be done,_' he thought, letting go of himself freely.

He would protect and serve him, her, still.

His body was a meaningless shell, his spirit forever bound now and for all time to come as her protector, her guardian, her defender, her armament, her sentinel. Gender itself was already losing its meaning. It had the ultimate purpose, and that was its identity.

It was her instrument of smiting the wicked. It was all it was, and all that it needed. For it was with Her now, and always would be. Nothing would separate protector and precious again.

He was the weapon.

And the weapon had only one name.

Its name was Guardian.

Max, watching this, for the slightest moment felt something as he saw Absol's transformation...was it envy? "Absol... goodbye."

A light surrounded the Dark Pokemon, and he rose into the air, fur ruffling as it turned into metal, his body enlarging and lengthening until it was not an Absol at all, but a giant glaive, its pole as white as Absol's fur with a great curved black blade at the top in the shape of Absol's tail, with a smaller blade attached to the side in the shape of Absol's head blade. The edge of the blades was lined with an oddly familiar-looking purple crystalline material.

The Mother grabbed the glaive out of the air, her metal muscles contracting more fluidly than those made of flesh, twirled it over her head, and brought it down with a chop, the crystal edge glowing as it sent out a huge vertical energy blade which rushed through the city, cutting the air as it rippled past and shattering the windows and street it passed over until it exited the population center and collided with the fallen fortress, slicing through it and cutting it in two! The blade vanished as it passed out the other side of the castle, leaving a glowing tear running all the way across its surface. Vapors hissed from the damaged fortress, and the two halves shifted apart from each other thanks to the blade's passage.

They gaped at this. "You know what, she can keep the Gigabot," Jigglypuff said quietly. "I mean, we can always get another robot. But there's certainly no way the old one could ever be that powerful with US piloting it."

"Yeah," the Pokerockers and Brock agreed dully.

"Deoxys!" the Mother cried, her voice both verbal and psychic, creating a rather nice echo effect as it rippled across the city and resonated deep in their bones with a rather pleasant tingling sensation. But that was just the subsonics, the voice itself had that rare, beautiful tone that a person could listen to all day. Heck, if anybody had a recorder, they could make a fortune mass-producing and selling that tape to all audiences. Still, since the tape would only get the verbal part of the voice and not the psychic aspect which touched hearts and calmed the soul with promises of love and paradise, it probably wouldn't sell _that _well. "Show yourself! I know an attack like that one was not enough to destroy you!"

From the hissing crack in his battered fortress, Deoxys arose, carrying his crystal trident and followed by his pet Shadow Lugias. "You know me well, my old friend...but that is only to be expected of rivals who have fought as long as we have, wouldn't you say?" He twirled his trident in his hands. "But I suppose you are not in the mood for prefight banter, are you?"

"Not particularly," the Mother agreed, brandishing her glaive at her immortal enemy. "You have raped my planet, annihilated and enslaved my children, crushed hopes, shattered dreams…I have never shown you mercy before, Deoxys. I do not intend to show it to you now."

Deoxys laughed, undeterred by her determination. "Very well. But seeing as how you've already got the advantage in size, I don't suppose you'd mind if I slipped into something a little…bigger, would you?" He snapped his fingers.

The two halves of the crystal fortress underneath him fell apart, shaking the island as the split half-spheres hit the ground. More vile gases emerged as the poisonous atmosphere within the castle leaked into the open air, along with something…else…

Streams of blood, acid, and bodily fluids shot out from the broken structure, twisting and coiling through the air as they wrapped themselves around Deoxys, encasing him in a shifting cocoon just as the molten metal had the Mother only moments ago. Startled and frightened, the Shadow Lugias flew away, circling at a safe distance as they watched the evil evolution take place.

The island trembled as something _horrible_ crawled out of the two halves of the broken castle. It was an immense arachnid of some sort, except that arachnids weren't made of a nightmarish mixture of flesh and jagged crystal twisted in formations to look like screaming faces, nor did they have millions of blood-soaked needle limbs growing from their undersides with dozens of still-living human and Pokemon prisoners impaled on each and every one, and it was a good bet real arachnids also didn't have barbed black tentacles growing from disc-shaped backs and a long, zigzagging tail covered in jagged barbs and ending in a grotesque gore-covered hook. The arachnid had a face, a horrific face with far too many eyes, some of which grew out of others, and a tremendous mouth with rotting malformed jaws framing a mad-eyed screaming face that was neither human nor Pokemon but was still all too clearly in pain. The needle limbs growing from the thing's underside writhed about like a den of seaweed, sprouting from the eyes, noses, and mouths of thousands of screaming faces coating the monster's belly. Each of its twelve multi-jointed misshapen limbs ended in a face, its jaws split wide as its grotesquely enlarge teeth splayed out into talons, groaning in pain with every step the monster took as the face-foot was ground into the dirt. The creature let out a guttural roar as it stomped towards the city, the teeth of its feet-faces digging into the artificial soil composing the island with every step and draining the life from it, turning it into dead and empty dust.

The skies, cleared momentarily by the Mother's arrival to let the sunlight in, darkened as the evil clouds rolled back in, the park in the center of the city the only remaining spot of light.

A gaping maw formed from fused crystal and bone burst out of the abomination's front, just above the eyes, widening to form a base of some sort. The twisting mass of blood and other fluids landed in that base, congealing together as it rose upward to create a towering form which loomed over the city, just as tall as the oil rig, if not larger.

The blood fused into a substance harder than any metal on the planet, save perhaps for the Mother's new skin. The congealed fluids in their mounting created the torso, arms, and head of a terrible monster. Its colors were a chaotic blend of red, black, orange, and blue, darkening at the base and growing brighter and more garish as it rose. Hundreds of little tentacles, each ending in a wailing face, grew from its lower chest and waist, wriggling about like worms. The musculature of the body was impressive, although alien, and looked to be composed of a mix of bone, flesh, crystal, and orange and blue congealed viruses to form dark, very solid hardened muscles and a somewhat more fluid skin. Two pair of long, thick arms grew from the creature's shoulders, which were bulbous orange eyes staring out at the world. The upper arms were orange and the lower set was blue, and they had the same weird muscles as the rest of the body, all four limbs ending in hands with bony, clawed fingers and spiky knuckles. Curved bone spikes grew from the forearms, longest near the wrist and shorter as they moved up towards the elbow. The uppermost part of the arms were clenched between the spread jaws of two congealed-blood serpentine heads, each with four eyes burning with hate as their long, long fangs dug into the arms, as if keeping them fastened to the body. The two heads were part of the same body, as the twisted intestinal tract wrapped around the upper back of the monster which connected the heads seemed to indicate. Jagged crystal spines erupted from the creature's back, spreading in all directions and giving off an awful, ear-splittingly dissonant song.

His flesh, the parts which were not comprised of hardened muscles, were covered in small mouths and eyes and faces, thousands of them, constantly shifting and blinking and jabbering. His muscular torso was contorted to resemble the face of some nameless horror, with far too many eyes in the form of pectorals and abs (if such bizarre muscles could be called by that name) with a large oval cavity in the center, barred by numerous membranous growths to give it the resemblance of a mouth. Within the cavity was a huge nearly perfect spherical crystal with about four noticeable flaws and dents across its form, attached to the rest of the body by various sinews and tissues. With the crystal in the center of the cavity, the mouth in the chest looked like a giant eye, perhaps a mockery of the one on the Mother's chest.

His head was framed in horns of bone and crystal, surrounding a mask-like blue face with an orange line running down the middle with a split going down the center of that. The mask was plain, with no real features save for the three eyeholes carved into it. Two were in their regular places, but the third was vertical and placed in the center of the forehead, in the upper part of the split down the center. Each eye was sunken into its respective socket and was solid white and without pupils, burning with an unearthly hatred for all things.

Were it not for the Mother's presence, those with frail hearts would have died instantly just from looking upon the terrible thing. Others simply passed out, or just defecated. Phanphy was of the latter. "Waaaahhhh! Mommy, I'm scared!" he whined. Tyranitar started crying loudly again.

"Wh-what is that!" Delia cried.

"It's El Diablo in the flesh!" Zoro and El Gato declared.

"Indeed," agreed Registeel. "That is Deoxys Ribos…the master of evil Deoxys in a battle body he created during the last war. It was destroyed in one of the final battles, and we thought it gone forever…clearly he has been able to reconstruct it! It possesses terrible power…but with the Mother on our side, we may win this yet! Do not give up hope!"

Deoxys Ribos hissed, the mask splitting down the middle and opening to reveal an orifice so grotesque the very thought of it sends this poor author running to the bathroom to hurl everything he has eaten in the last several hours. The mouths all over the body, in the meantime, began to move in unison, speaking in a disjointed blending of voices as his true psychic voice rippled across the city, the Mother's presence the only thing keeping it from destroying frail minds and driving stronger ones into madness. "Ahhh, my eternal nemesis…the cycle repeats itself."

"As it has before, and shall again," the Mother agreed. "That is how it has always been, and how it may yet always be."

"Unless one of us were to truly, ultimately triumph over the other," Deoxys pointed out. "But surely that will never happen."

"Yes…surely," she said in a tone that showed she wasn't buying it. "And now that we are here…"

"Shall we continue where we left off the last time?" Deoxys summoned his trident, which had enlarged to match his proportions and fit well in his right hands.

"Of course." The Mother raised her glaive.

Deoxys sneered. "Ah…but of course, we cannot just begin like that…it wouldn't be fair to your little slaves if we let them out of the fun, now wouldn't it? After all, how cheap would it be for them to have fought me for all this time, lost their friends, lost their souls, and either died or were hurt horribly, and not get a chance to participate in some fashion in the final battle for their planet?"

The Mother narrowed her eyes at him. "You _would_ think of them as slaves, wouldn't you?"

"Well, what else are they? They will do anything you tell them to. You have but to ask, or command. It's not as if they can truly resist your will, now that you're here. But perhaps it would be for the best after all for you to do their thinking for them…look how far this fallacy of free will has taken them so far! Without you to hold their hand, they have had numerous wars, come close to destroying themselves on far too many occasions, and have nearly forgotten you altogether! Not only does that reflect poorly on you as a Mother, but on them for being such inconsiderate children as well!"

She smirked. "Perhaps that is true…but even without my active involvement, they have managed to last this long, haven't they?"

"Ah, how true, how true. But that still does not change the fact that it would not be right for us to just go off and battle irresponsibly, leaving them behind in the process. They may kill themselves while we're not looking. So wouldn't it be wiser to leave them with a few sitters? Because certainly old Registeel can't handle them all…why, you brought Rayquaza along and he's already lost himself searching for his queen! I would have thought Registeel, with those seven eyes of his, would be able to keep an eye on him…I suppose not!"

"…Did he just call me old!" Registeel said in disbelief.

"Well…you kind of are, master," Rukario pointed out.

"…What!"

"Well, you _have_ been around since the creation of the old world, seeing as before you were animated you were a deposit of iron on some mountain far away from here," the vulpine pointed out meekly.

"You're older than any living thing on this planet, unless you count the two deities here, which are technically from off-world," Shedinja said sardonically. "Congratulations."

"…I really am old, aren't I?" Registeel said with a hint of disgruntlement. "I've never really thought about it that way before…"

"Yeah, well at least you've still got a solid, healthy figure!" Scyther snapped, staggering over. "Just lookit me…in another year, I'll probably be dead. And you…you'll probably be around for another million years! I envy you, you sonofa-" He broke off as he suffered another heart attack and collapsed to the ground in a fit of convulsions, hacking and wheezing.

The three sweatdropped. "Methinks your almighty Mother needs to do a better job of healing," Shedinja said before floating off. "Or else there'll soon be another ghost to add to the ranks. I dearly hope that doesn't happen, because we certainly don't need a spirit as pathetic as that fighting alongside us."

"So, to keep your little infants occupied, and possibly finish the nice job of population control I've been doing all day, would you object overmuch to me calling out a few of my own children?" The two Shadow Lugias swooped over his shoulders and into the city as he raised his trident. Several lightning bolts shot out of it, striking down in various spots all over the city.

One hit a plaza, resulting in an explosion and the appearance of the monstrous Alpha, still in his stronger form, wings and body fully regenerated. Civilians who had left their buildings to get a better view of the divine being floating over the city center screamed and started running for their lives as Alpha cackled and cracked his knuckles. "A bunch of fleeing helpless innocents? This'll be SO much fun."

Another lightning bolt impacted in the middle of a street, cracking it as abruptly a portal to the gap between dimensions tore open, sucking in several cars and bystanders as the tremendous figure of Cerberus bounded out of it, roaring triumphantly as it set foot in the real world once again. "We're baaaaack!"

Another bolt struck down in front of a large building, revealing the form of the enormous gelatinous Chimecho. "Chiiii?" he said stupidly. He heard screams from inside the building as those inside saw his appearance. His tiny brain reacted to this, causing him to squeal with joy and smash through the front entrance and instantly begin eating everyone in sight horribly. Within moments, the Human and Pokemon adoption center was completely devoid of life, and Chimecho had moved to the Children's Hospital next door to continue his feast.

Another lightning bolt hit the top of the Pokemon Center nearby, revealing Omega's legs…which, spurred by the power of Deoxys, immediately regrew the giant's torso, cape, arms, and head. He blinked in surprise, not expecting to be alive again. "Wow, the powers that be must really like me or something." He bounded off to find someone to kill, seen clearly by the horror-stricken Umbreon, Corsola, and Larvitar as they realized Mama's sacrifice had been for nothing. (Scyther would have reacted too if Registeel weren't attempting to restart his heart.) Crawdaunt, on the other hand, was muttering, "Oh, he regenerated from a non-vital body part. THAT'S not contrived…"

One more lightning bolt shot into the clouds, which rumbled and crackled as the enormous and hungry figure of Leviathan twisted down from the sky, her roars shaking the city to its undersea foundations.

A lightning bolt shot past the searching Rayquaza, startling him. He had thought for a moment he had sensed Latias. Had that been her? He began to fly off in the direction the bolt had gone.

Dozens of other lightning bolts rained down all over the city, not actually causing any destruction but releasing entire battalions of Deoxys' minions, who immediately sought out anything with a pulse so they could kill it, mutilate it, torture it, rape it, steal its soul, and make it one of them, not necessarily in that order.

But one final bolt shot down right past the Mother and struck down in the park where the heroes were assembled, startling them as it obliterated a tree behind them and hit Richie, who had been cowering there, causing him to cry out in pain and convulse as his body crackled with energy. "GRAAAAHHHHHH!" he screamed.

Misty gasped. "It's Richie!"

"Who?" everyone else asked.

"Richie! Ash's rival!"

"I thought that was Gary," said a confused Brock. Normally he would have probably remembered Richie, but his painful head-crush from Geodude, combined with all the mallet abuse he had taken over the years from Misty when he had acted a little _too_ horny around her, had unfortunately damaged his brain to the point where it had been forced to delete a few inconsequential memories to keep from losing too many brain cells, one of them being Richie.

"His other rival!"

"Me?" Wes asked hopefully.

"No, not you!" Misty cried, stamping her foot on the ground.

"Awww." Wes pouted and had to be consoled by Rui.

"You mean that AJ boy?" Delia asked. She vaguely remembered once meeting someone who looked just like Ash, but she couldn't quite place the name…or where. Perhaps she had inhaled too much cleaning fluid by accident.

"NO! I mean the one who looks like an almost exact twin of Ash!" Misty screamed, tearing at her hair in frustration. Ash would have done the same thing, if he had any hair at moment. "You don't remember someone who looked almost identical to your own son!"

"Um…no, sorry," Delia said sadly. Misty and Ash facefaulted.

"Exact twin of Ash?" asked a dubious Crawdaunt. "Psh, like that would happen."

"Yeah, what are the odds of that?" Bayleef agreed.

"Yeah, I think we'd remember something like that," Charmeleon agreed.

"YOU WERE THERE!" Misty screamed.

He blinked. "I was?"

"Yes, during the Kanto Pokemon League Championships, remember? Ash called you out and begged you for help, and you ignored him and did your own thing!" Misty said.

Charmeleon sweatdropped. "Ah, sorry, but…well, I ignored him so many times back then…it's hard to pick one match from another!" Misty and Ash facefaulted, Misty because nobody seemed to have the slightest recollection of Richie, and Ash because Charmeleon couldn't trouble himself to remember all the times he had been a jack-ass and flame-broiled his trainer.

Misty tried again, this time with Brock. "Brock, you HAVE to remember! We met Richie twice, once at the Kanto League Championships, and the second time at the Whirl Islands!"

"…Whirl Islands?" Brock scratched his head. "When did we go there?"

Misty was starting to lose it. "DURING THE JOHTO JOURNEY! AFTER I FOUGHT IN THE WHIRL CUP!"

"Whirl…" He frowned. "Uh…wait, wasn't that that Todd kid? The creepy guy with the camera?"

"No, no, NO! We met Todd again on his search for Articuno! We saw Richie again when Team Rocket was trying to capture a Lugia!" Misty ranted.

Brock frowned. "Misty, how could I have met this Richie if I wasn't traveling with you then? Am I really so easy to mix up with Tracey?"

"Wha-Orange Islands! Tracey! What are you talking about!" she screamed.

"Well, that's when Team Rocket tried to steal a Lugia, right?"

She sighed in exasperation. "No, that was some creepy collector guy! Team Rocket tried to capture a Lugia mother and child in the Whirl Islands, and Richie helped us rescue them! You even met a hot woman named Luka, remember!"

Brock frowned and pulled out a little black book in which he had written down the names of every woman he had ever had a crush on. Actually, he had a total of twenty-six of these black books, one for every letter in the alphabet. Some were fuller than others, naturally. "Hmm…let's see…Lakoko, Lara, Leesa, Lilian, Lily, Lisa, Liza…Luka! There you are! Let's see…'Luka. Light skin, dark blue eyes, reddish-brown hair in a ponytail, C-cups, looks really really sexy in a diving suit.' Oh, I remember her now! Luka!" Brock cried, face flushing as he gave himself an erection.

Misty's face turned blood red with rage. "ARRGGGHHH! NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO BE A PERVERT YOU BAKA!" she screamed, taking out her mallet and proceeding to violently smash his head in, which would have the sad effect of making his brain delete even more useless memories.

"Woo, you go girl!" Sadic cried. "Give it to him! Tender that juicy hunk of meat so he may actually be edible!"

"Rui, don't watch!" said a terrified Wes, covering his girlfriend's eyes. "You might get ideas!"

"Wes!"

Delia sweatdropped. "Oh my…is that really necessary?"

"YES!" Misty screamed, causing Delia to shrug and look for Max, who had silently wandered out of her arms again.

The three newcomers to the group stared in shock and horror. "…And people wonder why I enjoy killing so much. Clearly they fail to realize that the living in general are too stupid to be worth existing," Shedinja grumbled.

"…Dear Mother, the people of this time really are insane!" Registeel said in disbelief.

"Master!" Rukario begged. "Please, we can't stay here! Let's ask the Mother if she'll send us back to our old time, or just before we went to sleep! Surely with our knowledge of the future we can prevent Missingno from spreading dissension and finally unite the three nations in peace and prevent this horrible future from ever happening!"

Registeel actually considered it for a moment. "…It's a tempting offer, and not just because it means I'd prevent my siblings from becoming evil either. But it goes against all my morals…and besides, she'd probably just say 'no' anyway."

The Mother stared dully at her immortal enemy. "…I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually beginning to see your point."

Deoxys crossed his arms and nodded triumphantly, as if this were a foregone conclusion. "I thought you would."

"Bulbasaur?" Charmeleon asked, walking over to the traitor.

Bulbasaur stopped pounding his head against the rock and turned to face his old friend, his face a hideous bloody broken mass. "What!"

"Do you remember ever meeting a guy named Richie who looked just like Ash back in the Kanto League?"

Bulbasaur paused in thought. "Maybe…but I'm not sure. I've hit my head so many times I've probably beaten it out of my memory by now."

"Oh well, worth a try. Thanks."

"You're welcome. May I go back to killing myself now?"

Charmeleon nodded and walked back to the group. "Sure, knock yourself out." Bulbasaur went back to doing just that.

Just as Mudkip was hit by an inspiration for the Pokerockers next hit song, "Baka Brock Headsmash," Richie gave out another scream of pain and elation, reminding everyone he was right there, transforming thanks to Deoxys' gift of power. "GAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THE POWER, PRECIOUS! THE POWWERRRRRRR!" There was a flash of light, and Richie became…

A figure clad in black and red armor with a black bodysuit. Red boots with chaotic black swirls and patterns all over them with silver ankle bands and spikes for soles covered his feet. His legs were covered in black spandex with ribbed padding over his muscles, and had red kneepads with spikes growing from them. The figure's hips and rear were protected by a titanium belt shaped to look like a pair of demon fins, holding a red and black belt buckle with a crazy-looking swirl emblem on it. His upper body was covered in an armored vest with black abs covered in silver swirls, X's and stars, a red angular frame around the torso and back, and a black pectoral plate on top of a section of red armor jutting out and downwards like a hooked beak from the metal frame. Red armor resembling the demon-fin belt he wore grew from the sides of the vest, over the shoulders. His arms were covered in black spandex with twisting chaotic swirls and zigzags everywhere, as well as three grinning silver crazy faces on dots on his shoulder pads. The figure's wrists were covered by titanium gauntlets with sharp fins growing from the sides, with red lining the 'membranes'. The black neck was protected by a titanium collar, leading up to his helmet.

The helmet…was downright creepy. It was made out of red metal covered in crazy silver swirls and shaped to look like a pyramid on its side, with the long, angular tip pointing outward like a big nose. The helmet's silver faceplate, right underneath the red pyramid, was shaped to look like a deranged grin, with misshapen fangs and everything. The helmet's black visor was shaped oddly by the edge of the upward-facing edge of the pyramid, which crossed down between the eyes as if to split the visor in two, making it look like the left side was larger than the right, almost like the half-squint of a psychotic individual. The big silver X over the smaller 'eye' and a big jagged spiral swirl over the bigger 'eye' along with the scary grin made the figure look like a total maniac. Which…well, he was.

The fact that he was carrying his 'precious', which had been transformed from a small rusty bloodstained knife to a HUGE rusty bloodstained knife about the size of a broadsword didn't help either. Phanphy defecated (again) at the sight of it, while Larvitar simply started crying once more and making everyone's ears hurt, but the sight of the homicidal freak before them was more than enough to make them ignore it.

"HAhaHahahaHa…Gahahahahaha! Oh…oh yeah…yeahyeahyeahyeahYEAAAHHHHH! Psycho Richie's here to play-hay! Hehehahahaha!" He swiped his giant knife a few times, liking how the sound it made when it cut through the air was a lot like someone screaming in agony as their chest was destroyed by being stabbed again and again andagainandagainandagainandagainandagain! "Hahahahah! I'm gonna kiilllll…gonnakillkillkillkillkillkillkillkillKIIIIILLLL! Real BAD! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ecstatic with joy, he ran off, zigzagging erratically and occasionally slamming into trees, which resulted in him chopping them down with his giant knife and stabbing it until it was nothing but wood dust and splinters before running off again.

There was a long silence as they watched him leave. "Wow," Sadic finally said. "Heh. And I bet you lot think I'M bad, huh?"

"There," said Deoxys, looking pleased. "That should keep your children occupied. Now…shall we be going?" His back started seething and rippling as a pair of wings exploded out of his back, formed from jagged violet crystals connected by black lightning. The wings vibrated and lit up, and Deoxys gradually rose into the air, moving faster as he went higher up. Beneath and behind him, the split castle pulsed as a tremendous horde of monsters, along with a thick miasma of virus particles, oozed forth from the broken citadel and began marching towards the city to join their brethren inside.

The Mother turned from Deoxys, directing her gaze at the heroes assembled at the base of the oil rig far below, causing all of them to feel a strange and very pleasant sensation as she focused her all of her awesome attention and her three gorgeous blue eyes down at them. "My Chosen…you who have been selected to battle for me…you have suffered enough in my name already. But in the name of peace, I must ask you to take up arms one last time and protect the people of Ever Grande City from the monsters and virus that seek to destroy them." She touched the top of the oil rig with her left toe, and the entire structure glowed and melted, collapsing under its own weight and shrinking to the ground, the molten metal carefully controlled by the deity's psychic will as it took on a new form.

Within moments it was complete, a three-legged arch made from red, green, and blue metal with intricate runes etched into its surface. A small tower rose from the point where the three legs intersected which emitted a strange blinking signal on a psychic wavelength. Beneath the intersecting point of the legs was a pillar of white light which seemed extremely inviting and practically radiated safety and peace. "This gateway will take the citizens of Ever Grande to safety. The beacon on top will guide the people here. But Deoxys' minions will be right behind them, and many will overtake them. You must protect them so they may reach this gateway to ensure their survival even if either of our battles goes poorly." She raised her glaive into the air. "To aid you in this task…I grant you this power! Receive my gift!" The black blade of the glaive lit up and released a powerful energy beam, bathing the heroes in light.

The light engulfed them, soaking into their skin and going deep inside them, filling them in an experience that could only be described as rapture. The Mother's light consumed them, changed them, irradiated them with power all the way down to their smallest particles. For the most part, this light basically granted them immunity to the virus, extra strength and healing abilities, greater speed and reflexes, several new techniques, and the ability to do more damage against the minions of Deoxys. However, for several of them, the power they obtained did something different to them…something _more_.

Wes leaned back and spread his arms out as the power filled him, judging him worthy. His trendy jacket turned a snazzy white and silver, not unlike the one of a certain coldhearted CEO in another universe, while the Snag Device on his left arm glowed and transformed, changing from a shoulder piece and gauntlet to a solid piece of armor encasing his entire arm, black with gold curlicues and runes covering its lightweight but extremely strong surface. His fingers, encased in flexible jointed gloves, twitched as a black Pokeball symbol appeared on the palm between them, pulsing dully.

The ex-thief's Plusle and Minun, who had always been attracted to each other due to their magnetic personalities (ugh), did not resist as their blue and red charged body parts glowed and pulled them together, touching and then _merging_, causing the two small electric mice to become a larger one with purple cheeks, paws, ears, and a large purple asterisk for a tail. "Enzo!"

Espeon and Umbreon were next. They, too, were forced together. Unlike Plusle and Minun, they resisted at first. Both of them liked their individuality and sought to keep it, interfering with the process at first. But eventually…eventually, the two realized that no matter how much they argued and how different they were…none of that truly mattered. No matter how strange one seemed to the other, at the end of the day they were still brothers, twins hatched at the same time…and as such, had a bond that could not easily be broken. And that bond only became stronger as the two of them became one. Their fur became dark purple, the gold rings transferred over to the new body while the forehead one formed around Espeon's ruby gemstone. The ears were like Umbreon's, but had hollow curves like Espeon's did, and still retained the rings. The eyes became purple with gray pupils. Tufts of fur grew from either side of the face, just like Espeon. Their tail was a thicker version of Espeon's, split in two, with gold rings on the tail tips. The two were one, and the one was "Loreon!"

Rui felt her eyes, all of them, opening wider as the power went through her, expanding her mind and amplifying the tiny, meager psychic talent she possessed into a full-blown force the likes of which she had never imagined she could possess. She could feel her companions all around her, and not just in the physical sense, she could hear their thoughts and feelings, and had the strangest feeling that if she wished it so, they could hear hers as well.

Aerodactyl, as ancient as his DNA was, had little to be added to. In a way, he had already been endowed by the Mother's power when the goddess had landed on Earth ages ago and her dreams had infused the very soil, altering the makeup of his fossil donor. All that was granted to him was greater power…and a pair of new limbs in the form of arms, strong arms with mighty claws that distinguished him as a true dragon instead of a wyvern. (Well, actually he was still technically a pterodactyl, but you get the point.)

The humble Zoro and his team proudly accepted what gifts the Mother could give them…even though in the end, those gifts weren't much. New techniques, enhanced abilities, speed, and healing, yes, but no fancy fusions or visible transformations. None of them needed them. Before, they had been pretty much as good as they could get…and now, they were even better. But even so, they had not truly changed that much. They were true champions of justice already, what need did they have for much more power? Aside from increased agility and ability, a pair of magically-enhanced capes and swords would suffice for both Diego de la Vega and his faithful partner, El Gato. (Although Zoro did find himself with an unbreakable whip he was pretty sure he had never had before.)

The Pokerockers accepted their gifts with open arms. All of them, even those who didn't actually perform the songs, got new titanium headphones and cool see-through colored sunglasses. Geodude, Buzz, Onix, and the two Jigglypuffs got their instruments, thought to be lost inside the Gigabot when it had fused with the other two robots, given back to them in perfect condition, glowing with power and mystic runes to indicate they had been endowed with powerful magic. Forretress, Iron Shell, and Metal Sound glowed as their colors shifted, becoming Shiny versions of themselves, the auditory power of their hardened bodies growing exponentially. Lombre got back his cape and sword, magically enhanced of course, leaving poor Mudkip out…or so she thought until, with a gasp, the power of the Mother flowed through her, causing her body to merge with the light around them and grow and grow until she became a magnificent purple Swampert, complete with rings around her cheek antenna and green head and tail fins, as well as a new gold chain necklace and a pierced nose. Lombre was smitten and immediately started kissing his way up her arm, causing her cheek spikes to turn red. Meg and Amp had the same fate as Mudkip, becoming one with the light and evolving into big and loud shiny Explouds.

But that was not all; the muscular assistants got gifts as well, in the form of full-body suits of spiky black armor with Mohawk blades on their helmets, lightning bolt decals, and big badges on their chests which proclaimed them to be certified roadies and soldiers of the Pokerockers, the world's first official all-Pokemon rock and roll band!

But the band's greatest gift was yet to come. Since the Mother had been forced to borrow their ride and portable stage to form the base for her new body, she generously gave them a new one, using spare metal from the oil rig and loose molecules to summon a totally radical truck with a crimson cab and titanium trailer which unfolded to reveal a fully equipped stage complete with lights, fog machines, SFX, rocket launchers, a giant display screen, and tons of speakers, along with all sorts of other goodies!

"THANKS, MA!" they all cheered in gratitude.

_You're welcome, dears._

Brock opened himself up, allowing the power to flow through him. A billed hat with a Pokeball that had crossbones over it and the words OFFICIAL POKEROCKERS DRIVER written on the front appeared on his head.

He blinked, took off the hat, and examined it. "But I don't know how to drive!" he protested.

_You do now._

And so he did.

Brock sulked and put the hat back on. "Aw, man…that's it! This bites!"

_Well, if that's not good enough for you, I could transform you into a Pokemon so that you could join the band and-_

"Wahh, no way!" Brock said desperately. "I've seen WAY too many TF stories to know what'll happen if I agree to that! Nuh-uh! I'm staying the way…er, you, I guess…made me!"

_Okay. If you're reaaallly sure…_

"Yeah…wait!" Brock suddenly recalled how sexy and handsome the majority of anthros he had read about were. "Um…on second thought…"

_Oh, so _now _you change your mind?_

"Well…"

_Hehe._ _Okay, here you go!_

And just like that, Brock became a Golem. He blinked and looked all over himself. "This isn't what I had in mind!" he protested.

_I know. But honestly, dear, this'll be better for you. It reflects your inner self._

"But how am I supposed to attract girls like this!" he protested. "Especially if I'm stuck behind a steering wheel!"

_Oh, quit complaining. It could be worse. I could have turned you into a Slugma. Or a Porygon. Or a Muk, that would have reflected the lecherous part of you pretty well._

"Eep."

_On that note, I'm doing you a favor and deleting the perverted part of you and inserting politeness and respect for women in its place._

"What! But I'll never win girls like that either!" he complained.

_You'd be surprised. Now, stop your whining already and accept your gift! I've been more than generous enough with you already!_

"R-right. Sorry, mom." Why did he feel as if he was talking to his mother?

_Because you are, dear._ _I'm everyone's mother. Enjoy._

Scyther was next. He gasped as the power washed through him, and he thought, _This_ _is it! This is it! I'm finally getting my youth back!_

He felt his muscles strengthen, his gut from eating too much junk food recede, his exoskeleton harden, his blades sharpen, his senses grow stronger, his heart…his weak, diseased heart…was beating as well as it had been when he was still in the peak of his youth!  
But he wasn't any younger than he had been a moment ago, he could tell that just from the feel of his old body. But even though he was still the same age, he felt…stronger, faster, and healthier than ever before. He felt confused, wondering for a moment why the Mother had not granted the wish in his heart…but then he recalled Latias' words back in the Pokemon Center, and finally realized the truth behind them, how selfish and short-sighted his desires to be young again were. He sagged for a moment, realizing what a fool he had been all this time…but stood tall moments later, realizing he had no time for self-pity. Yes, he was still as old as ever, but now he had a second chance in a healthier body, a chance to make up for the shortcomings and mistakes that ruined his old heart. He did not intend to waste the gift that he had been given. He had learned his lesson.

Zapdos and Moltres were next. Like Espeon and Umbreon, they too were forced together. They resisted EXTREMELY vehemently, screeching and clawing and flapping, refusing to open their eyes to how much they really _did_ miss Articuno, and how neither of them knew what they would do without the other, until finally the Mother got annoyed and pushed them together, deciding there was no point in trying to get the bird-brains to see reason for themselves. In their own way, they were as blind as Lady Ho-Oh had been.

Not anymore. The new bird saw clearly with almond-shaped black-rimmed eyes in a yellow-orange head with spiky plumage and flames burning out from between the spiny feathers. The beak was long and slightly curved, midway in length between Zapdos' very long beak and Moltres' somewhat shorter one. The spiny head was craned stork-like on a long, thick neck attached to a plum-shaped yellow-orange feathered body with flaming spiky wings, a pair of regular talons, and a flaming spiny tail. The bird looked back on the foolish acts of its predecessors and shook its head in disgust, mourning the loss of Articuno, for it could never be truly complete without the bird of ice. Nonetheless, it would have to make do as it was. Deoxys' forces would suffer the wrath of Zaptres' thunder and flame for its loss.

There was no such bickering between the three crystal beasts and no fusion either. The Mother had no intention of transforming them into a monstrosity such as Cerberus. Instead, she granted them the power they needed, the power to defeat the evil originals once and for all. They also got very nice matching sets of armor on their shins, ankles, faces, backs, and tail which fit their colors and were detailed with their respective elements. The Mother was gracious and kind.

Combusken felt the power enter her and the rest of May's team. But while they merely got enhanced abilities, she got something else too…the gift of evolution. And she wasn't afraid. She felt a strong flame of passion burning within her as she grew to a towering 6'3", her yellow and orange feathers becoming dark red and platinum white, with dark orange feet. She understood that fire, the strength of purpose, a purpose that, truth be told, she had been somewhat lacking until now. She had participated in contests, she had fought alongside her friends, she had been Chosen to save the world…but it was not until now that she truly realized the privilege she had been given by being allowed to fight whenever she chose to, or how much she owed to poor May for supplying a purpose for her up to this point. But those days were over. Now, Blaziken would fight for what she believed in, not just what her friends or trainer thought she should, and with this new flame of purpose she would find her trainer in the battered shell that was May and bring her back to the light.

Ivysaur stared at her in awe, and thanked the Mother for not making her evolve, even if it was for rather petty reasons. But seriously, she _really_ didn't want to be a fugly Venusaur all covered in warts and stuff, and so the Mother granted her request.

The other member of her evolutionary line, on the other hand…

"Please…please…" Bulbasaur whimpered. "Let me die…just get it over with…"

_I cannot. Every warrior I can count on to fight against Deoxys is one more chance for us to win._

"But I'm useless…I'm a traitor, I'm weak and petty and miserable. I'm no good…"

_You are indeed a traitor. And that onus shall hang over you until you die. You will never win Bayleef's heart now…_

"Then if you won't kill me…erase my memory! Destroy my personality! Make it so it doesn't hurt anymore!" he cried.

_I will not. Now is a time for courage, not for cowardice. This is a time to fight. And if you do not…_

"I'll die?"

_No. But Bayleef certainly will, without someone who cares as much about her as you watching out for her._

"…"

_Accept my gift, Bulbasaur. And perhaps…just perhaps…you will find peace._

And the power filled him, and the heart-torn Bulbasaur stopped fighting the biological processes within him and let go, his form swelling and his bulb blooming as he became a warty green Venusaur.

"I won't forgive him!" Bayleef cried as the power filled her. "You can't make me!"

_I could, to be honest, but I won't._

Bayleef blinked. "Huh?"

_True forgiveness must come from within. If you choose to hate him forever, that is lamentable, but perfectly understandable. If, at some point in the future, you choose to forgive him, that is understandable as well. Either way, the choice is yours._

"…I can't forgive him. He killed…he killed Sceptile-kun. And his soul…Deoxys has it, doesn't he?"

_Yes. That doesn't mean he cannot be saved, though._

"Right…if we defeat Deoxys…I can get Sceptile-kun back?"

_If that is your wish._

"Then…if that's the case…" Bayleef nodded, holding her head high. "All right. I'll fight alongside him…but only because I have to. Only because we need every last fighter we can get. Only because…" She almost choked. "Because we probably can't win without him."

_I am glad that you can see that, Bayleef. Accept my gift, for you have earned it._

Bayleef closed her eyes as the power filled her and her body grew and grew, her yellow skin deepening to a burnished gold as the fronds around her neck unfurled and bloomed into the petals of a beautiful flower dusted with pollen shimmering in the colors of the rainbow. The giant leaf on top of her head split in two as its stems shifted apart from each other, resembling large plantlike horns as her wagging stub of a tail lengthened and grew leafy spikes along its length, ending in a thorny flower much like the one around her neck. A pair of wings, each made from three giant folded leaves, sprouted from her sides, deepest green chlorophyll running through them. She opened her eyes as small fangs grew inside her mouth, and she knew at once that she had become something strange and new, a Grass and Dragon fusion…a Draganium. She felt a pang of sadness, realizing that now she was that much closer to being like her best friend. "Latias…"

…_She exists still, but is in jeopardy. Do not fear for her though, for it is the task of another to do so._

"And it's my task to fight."

_Yes._

"All right then. I'm ready."

"Mama…" Larvitar whispered, feeling her strong, short arms around him as he stared into her big blue eyes. It did not matter to him that there were three of them, it was still his Mother.

"My child…" the Tyranitar whispered. "My dear, precious child…I am dead, my soul swallowed up…but do not fret. Do not cry. Hope lives as long as you do."

"But Mama…how?" Larvitar whispered. "I can't do it without you…I'm too small…too weak…I'm useless."

"Shush…shush," she replied, touching a finger to his nose gently. "You are far from useless, my son. Do you not recall the Storm? The one which devastated the world after Deoxys and the Mother's last battle, and all but destroyed the Earth? The tears of a few heartbroken Pokemon brought forth a miracle, and regenerated the world." She shifted him to her left arm as she touched his chest with her palm. "You have the same power…the power to regenerate the world. When all is said and done, you and those you have bonded with…together, you will bring forth a new age."

"But Mama…I can't…I'm scared…" he whimpered.

"As are your friends, my precious one. But they fight anyway, for they must. And so must you." She kissed him on the forehead. "Go, my son. The world needs you. _I_ need you. Every child must one day grow up…and for you, that day is now!" The Tyranitar vanished. She had never been there to begin with, he knew that, but it didn't really matter.

His forehead itched as the spot where his mother had kissed him glowed. He closed his eyes as power coursed through him, causing him to grow and grow and grow until he was a ten-foot tall Tyranitar, his hard body augmented further by powerful green armor. His blue eyes opened, and he released a terrible roar.

He would do as he had been told. He would not let his Mama down.

The power went through Gyarados, Corsola, and Politoed, and they grew stronger as well. When it was time for Togetic to receive the gift, something strange happened to her. She felt almost as if she were evolving…but knew that could not be the case, since she was already at her highest form. Still, something was happening to her, changing her. She did not fight it. Her body grew, changing from a small plump egg-shape to something much more…well, humanoid, although the body shape flowed as if it had been made from liquid marble that had settled into its new form. Her arms grew out, the nubs on the end changing into delicate five-fingered hands. Togetic's legs extended as well and became shapelier, although the feet remained pretty much the same, if perhaps a little longer. The patterns that had covered her body before remained there, though they had grown larger to stay in proportion with her new form. Togetic's neck shrunk and the bulge of her face receded inwards to give it a more rounded look, while her eyes enlarged and turned blue. Her tiny wings had grown and taken on a more feathered appearance, not that they had ever really supported her weight before, but it went with her new, more classically angelic figure, looking vaguely like a sixteen-year old human with wings. And no nose. She blushed as she looked down on herself, she had never thought of herself as ugly before, but this was the first time she had ever seen herself as being…well, beautiful. She rather liked the feeling.

Like daughter, like mother, Misty was transforming too. Her forearms and forelegs became encased in armored blue scales, her fingers and toes ending in gold talons. At the same time the front of her body from her throat to between her legs was covered by ultra-hard gold scales that still showed her years-encroaching blooming figure, while blue scales along with a long, ridge-like fin grew down her back.

The most dramatic change, however, had to be when a pair of draconic wings expanded from her back without a hint of pain, if anything, it was intensity. Misty felt her azure eye's pupils become vertical slits as her face developed a bit of reptilian prognathism, protruding outward as her nose flattened against her skin and her teeth lengthened into fangs. Her ears grew outward and changed into large fins while her red hair fell free from its usual sidebun and grew longer and spikier as it went down her back and between her wings. She felt a moment of slight discomfort as her coccyx lengthened, changing into a long blue tail with a piscine fin at the end of it, the fin ridge on her back extending along its length until it reached the end. The gym leader's clothes had somehow vanished in the meantime, replaced by the scales now covering her form, along with rather impressive (and attractive) muscle mass to support her increased weight.

Her senses sharpened, and she felt an intense cobalt aura around her, calling on the moisture in the air to make whatever weapon she wished with a thought. _Scary like a Gyarados, eh?_ She thought, rather amused.

The water dragon was ready to fight.

Ash, rather dazed and awestruck by the raw, feral beauty of Misty's transformation, tensed his spirit, conjuring up rather fantastic and somewhat absurd imaginings for what form his new body to take, involving rather large muscles, maybe a cape, a horn for good measure, green skin, and maybe hooves. Or a Pikachu tail. He thought he might look good in one.

So, imagine his disappointment when, other than a slight tingling, nothing happened to him.

_What's the big deal!_ He protested silently.

_You will obtain your new form. It's just not ready yet. You need to claim your old body back first,_ the Mother replied.

_My old…Alpha?_

_Yes. It is time you conquered him once and for all. He was a part of you once, remember?_

…_Yeah…so it falls to me to finish him._

_Precisely._

_Okay. But…_

_No Ash, I will not give you Charizard wings._

_Awwwww!_

Umbreon felt miserable and confused, mainly because the power flowing into her made her feel elated, which she didn't think was right since she should be feeling depressed and angry about Misdreavus' death. So, since she didn't want to be elated, she fought against it, causing herself to feel confused and torn up inside. "Just…just stop it! Please!" she cried.

_I cannot. You must accept the power._

"What, so I don't have a choice!"

_Of course you have a choice. You can reject the power if you wish. Doing so will mean you cannot free Misdreavus' spirit from inside Leviathan, but if that is your decision, it is yours to make._

"…"

_Well?_

"All right…all right already! Just…just give it to me. Get it over with."

_Very well._

And so she did. Umbreon gasped as her body underwent a radical transformation, her bones stretching and crunching as they twisted and multiplied, her small vulpine figure growing into something much, much more. Her ears and tail retracted into her body at the same time her hind legs snapped together so she only had one joint per leg as her feet and paws grew out and sprouted two extra fingers and toes. Umbreon found herself standing bipedally as her body finished its stretching out, leaving her with limbs longer than she remembered and a slightly smaller head. The Dark Pokemon watched in interest and confusion as a pair of large bulges grew out from her chest, similar to those on a Jynx or a human female. Then, her nose grew larger as her face structure and skull shifted, and a pair of smaller, slightly pointed ears, their hearing still as sharp as ever, grew out from the sides of her head while her fur retreated from her face and gathered and thickened on top of her head, becoming black 'hair' with a yellow stripe in it which dangled in front of her eyes and down her neck. Red eyes blinked as she looked down at her body, her fur…transmuting into some kind of thick bodysuit which covered up her twenty-year old human body completely below the neck. It was mostly black, with blue bands wrapped around her wrists and forearms, blue boots (That was the correct term, she believed), and a long yellow cloth hanging from her waist that encircled her rear and hips. A large yellow ring was emblazoned over her chest, and she had a smaller one on each of her hands and one more on her forehead. A sword in the shape of a bat wing materialized in her right hand. She stared at it in amazement. "…Whoa…"

_That sword, Soul Eater, belonged to my son in one of his past lives. (Although admittedly, he wasn't really my biological 'child'/clone then, he is now, so it still counts.)_

She frowned. "Soul Eater?"

_It's just a name._

"Heh, okay. If you say so."

_Even if it were an accurate term, it wouldn't be much good against your foes, seeing as they don't _have _souls._

"Good point. In that case…no worries. I think me and this thing will get along just fine."

Charmeleon did not resist as the power went through him, did not resist as his body began to change. It would have changed eventually anyway, restored to its true form, but the Mother was speeding up the process a bit so that he could become himself again.

And soon, he was. His red skin turned pitch black, his tail growing longer as the flame on its tip grew into a roaring blaze. The Fire Pokemon's belly and underside were paler than he remembered, but it did not matter very much. His arms shrank, but his claws became more flexible, so he supposed it was a reasonable trade-off. The single crest on the back of his head became a pair of horns as his neck and head lengthened, his blue eyes setting off the rest of his color, and he was Charizard once again. More Charizard than ever before.

He felt a tingling sensation in his back and peered over his shoulder to see a pair of beautiful iridescent wings of light emerge from between his shoulder blades, emitting a magnificent radiance as they unfolded. Charizard smiled, seeing the gift Latias had hidden inside his body. He only hoped that he could see her again to thank her properly for the favor she had done him.

Charla made the same mental note; she had never seen her mate looking so…so…_fabulous_ before.

Phanphy felt a tingling sensation and giggled as evolution took root in him, causing him to balloon upwards, shedding his tiny cute elephant form for the shape of a huge gray elephantine creature with a long trunk and six ivory tusks growing from the sides of his mouth and blossoming outward in all directions. The front of his trunk, back, forehead, sides, and shins were all encased in thick ebony black armor with small spikes jutting out of the joints. A large hump grew out of the back which was hollowed out and looked remarkably like a travel canopy in which several people could fit comfortably. Phanphy had evolved into an Oliphan, much like the one he had faced in Battle Pyramid, but he was a true one, unlike the fake Berry Stoo had used. He blew his trunk in an ear-ringing trumpet, triumphantly letting everyone know what he had become.

Crawdaunt grinned as the power rushed through him. He could feel his already-formidable strength increasing as his crustacean form bulked up and swelled to twice its size, becoming as tall as a human while his shell colors grew lighter. "Oh yeah! If I was a chick magnet before, just wait! I bet I'm gonna be a regular pimp now! Hoho, thanks a bunch Mom!"

_You're welcome, dear. Enjoy._

"I most certainly will!"

Cacturne was startled when the power went into her, too. She hadn't thought herself important enough to warrant a gift. Clearly, she realized as her numerous thorns grew out from her body, longer and sharper than before, she had thought wrong.

Sadic smirked when she felt her body grow only marginally stronger and faster, while a few new techniques embedded themselves in her mind. "Nothing for me, Ma?" she joked.

_There is little for me to give. Your species has already evolved to be near-perfect predators. You also already have protection from the virus, so you don't need that either. I've made your ice powers quite a bit stronger…but other than that, you didn't need nearly as much extra power as the rest did._

"Heh, go figure."

_There is, however, something I can do for your friends there…_

"Oh?" Sadic's eyes widened as the soulcage in her claws floated into the air. It flickered and vanished, releasing the three souls within into the air. The souls pulsed vibrantly as the Mother's power washed over them, transforming the particles around their noncorporeal forms and pulling them together. Sadic and Cacturne watched in amazement as the souls faded into invisibility while new bodies made from solidified air particles appeared, the layers of bone, muscle, and flesh forming consecutively on top of each other to enshrine the spirits and give them another temporary home until their inevitable passing came once again.

Pikachu and Wobbuffet's bodies looked the same as the old ones, but they had an aura of increased power about them. The Mother had also been considerate enough to recreate Pikachu's rather sexy (in Sadic's opinion) cape, mask, hat, and sword.

Milotic, however…she had gotten a few very nice physical changes. Cacturne had already thought the Tender Pokemon had been as beautiful as one could get before, and was surprised to see she looked even more gorgeous now. The red and blue scales which coated the lower half of her body had become iridescent and rainbow-hued with dozens of gold flakes so that they shimmered in a million fantastic colors every time she breathed or shifted and the scales caught the light. Milotic's fan-like tail fin had grown wider and now seemed to be formed of fingers of gold rather than mere tissue, cartilage, and bone. The Tender Pokemon's pale yellow flesh had turned an extremely calming and vivid pink with blue speckles on the back of her neck. Her antenna/eyelashes had grown longer and curled at the end with heart-shaped tips, while her hair had changed color and grown out to form a pair of feathery blue wings with red interspersed among the cerulean. Her eyes were…some kind of oscillating color almost impossible to comprehend on the visual spectrum, yet its beauty was eclipsed only by the Mother's own eyes. But in this Milotic's case, second place was most definitely not even near losing out.

Pikachu blinked in astonishment. "We're…alive? Whoa…"

"Thank…the Mother…" Wobbuffet said in amazement.

_You're most welcome._

"Yay! You reincarnated early!" Sadic squealed, pouncing on Pikachu and pinning him to the ground as she vigorously nuzzled and nibbled on him a bit. "I had all but resigned myself to seeing you on the other side! What a miracle it is for us to meet again so soon!"

He smiled, very happy that the first face he saw was that of the Manyula. "Yeah…it's good to see you too, Sadic."

"How was it?" she asked him.

"Huh? How was what?"

"Being dead. Just want to know what I can expect when my time comes."

"Oh." Pikachu frowned. "It's…hard to describe. I don't think our languages have any words to explain the…the sensations I felt. It was…well, it was pretty cool, to be honest. So cool that being crammed in a small sphere with Wobbuffet and Milotic for a little while didn't make me feel the least bit cramped. Heh, and yet I seem to have a natural fear of Pokeballs!"

"Well, you won't have to worry about either ball anytime soon," she assured him, wrapping her claws around his neck and squeezing him very tightly to her chest. "Because I'm not going to let you out of my sight at any point in the near future. Dying once to save our kids is fine, but now that you're back I don't intend to let you squirm out of your responsibilities as a father by using the same excuse twice, you hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you," he said with a smile. "Sadic?"

"Yeah?"

"Dying and being in that little cage wasn't so bad…but you know what the only really awful thing about it was?"

"What?"

"You weren't there with me," he told her honestly.

She tutted him and licked his forehead. "Oh, don't say things like that…not only is it corny, I'm supposed to be a heartless killer, not a human girl who blushes at the slightest compliment!"

"You're blushing now."

"I know, cut it out!" She playfully whacked him on the head.

"Ow! Heh, if I can make you blush, it'd be worth a thousand whacks!"

She shrugged. "Okay, if you insist!" She began whacking him again and again.

He winced with each strike. "Ow! Ow! Oh-ow!-well, at least this isn't-ow!-as painful as Phanphy's-ow!-'greeting' whacks-ow!"

"Wobby!" Milotic cried ecstatically, her melodious soothing voice enough to calm even a rabid Ursaring's rage. "You…I…we're both alive!" She wrapped her serpentine coils around him so tightly he almost choked, so deep was her joy that she could touch him again. "Oh…OH! This is…this is wonderful! I mean…even when we were together; in the cage…I didn't think that we still had a future together!"

"Milotic…beloved…did you really lose all hope?" Wobbuffet asked sadly, gazing into her eyes.

She looked away. "You don't know what it was like…they made me watch what they did to Wynaut, all of it. They harmed me as well, but the thing that haunted me the worst was the fear that…that they would do the same thing to me that they had to your sister. It was…it was horrible." She shut her eyes, brimming with golden tears. "When they left me alone, for a time…I kept seeing your sister, the…the AWFUL things they did to her…over and over again…without end…I…I'm sorry, Wobbuffet. I'm sorry I couldn't save her. And I'm sorry I couldn't warn you what she had become before it was too late."

"Milotic," he whispered, reaching up to touch her cheek with an arm flap. "Milotic…it's okay. There's nothing you could have done."

"Do you think I don't know that?" she cried. "Do you think that makes me feel any better?"

"No," he admitted. "Which is why we'll have to try extra hard to save her."

"Do you think we can?"

"Why not? We saved you, didn't we?"

Milotic sniffled. "Only because they didn't go all the way…they left me intact just the slightest bit…because they weren't sure you'd take me back if they had completely broken me, like they had your sister."

"That doesn't matter," Wobbuffet said firmly. "You were almost broken…but you're here now, and you're okay. That's all either of us need. And together, we'll get my sister back…no matter what!"

Milotic stared into the blue blob's…er…shut eyes. "Oh…oh, Wobby!" She kissed him.

Nearby, Cacturne was sobbing like mad and losing all the water she had stored inside her body over the last week. "sniff Oh, I just love happy reunions!"

"Don't you mean happy endings?" Sadic asked, pausing in the middle of her seventy-ninth whack of Pikachu's head.

"No, the story's not over yet," Cacturne said, shaking her head. "When it is, and it's happy, I'll cry then. If it's sad, I'll cry anyway. Assuming I'm alive to cry, of course."

Pikachu nodded from where he was pinned underneath. "Then let's all hope for that…to see you cry, no matter what happens. Because if it's a sad ending, and you're crying…at least that means some of us have survived, and that we must've won, because if Deoxys wins none of us will. And if we've won, even if it's sad…that means there's still hope for the future."

Sadic nodded. "If I were in the mood, I'd cry with you…if I had tear ducts, that is. I think my species lost those a long time ago to conserve moisture. Think some still have the allele for it…eh. We'll see when it's time, right?"

Cacturne nodded in agreement. "Right."

_Shedinja, you know what must be done. Will you do it, knowing the consequences?_

"My King asked the same question of me, and I still agreed to it," the ghost bug said. "And I say again, that I will do it."

_Simply out of loyalty?_ _Or a need for revenge?_

"All that, and more…I do it so that I may see Misdreavus again, on the other side."

There was a pause. _Shedinja…are you certain you will get there?_

Shedinja started. "How do you mean?"

_Shedinja, you are a Shed Pokemon. A shell. A cast-off of another Pokemon's evolution. While you are a spirit, are you so certain that you have a soul? Are you positive that when you die, you will be reborn elsewhere…instead of simply becoming nothing, like Deoxys' defeated minions?_

Shedinja had not thought of that. For a moment, he felt terrified that she was right, that he would cease to exist, that he'd never get to see Misdreavus again…and in that, he realized the truth.

"I am positive," Shedinja said calmly. "Because I love. And one cannot love if they have no heart. When I die, my heart shall guide me to her. It will see the true path, without my foolishness and reluctance to cloud its vision."

_You have seen truly, Shedinja. You are ready._

"I am. Let me do what I must do."

The Mother gave him no power. He had no need of it. Instead, she gathered the spirits around her, the last remnants of the planet's ghost population, converted them into energy, and sent them inside Shedinja. He gasped as they flowed into his shell, filling his hollow interior to the brim…and nearly to the bursting! It was all he could do to keep from shattering from the strain of containing it all!

But contain it he would. He had promised his King and his Mother that he would. He would break eventually, he knew he would…but not until he had to. Not until it was time to.

His Majesty never broke a promise once it was made. And finally, finally Shedinja saw and understood why the King did this, and how this made him a noble and honorable creature…and at long last, Shedinja was ready to emulate his master in this, for now both of them would maintain their promises for the same reason.

Because now both of them knew the pain of love lost, and to what extents one might go to find that love again.

_Rukario_…

"My Mother!" The vulpine kneeled. "My Mother…I am your humble servant. Command me as you will!"

_Rukario, my son…you are a loyal fighter, and a true friend. Your master is most fortunate to have one such as you in his service…and so am I. Your resolve and will are nigh-unbreakable, you follow your heart and your morals without fear of corruption or walking astray of the path you have made for yourself. You will fight in my name, but not if it conflicts with what your heart tells you. You have a heart of gold and a soul of steel, just like your master…and now, like him, your form shall reflect that._

Rukario felt a peculiar sensation wash over him as his body began to change, altered by his Mother's love. He gazed at his hands in wonder as his flesh and fur hardened and fused together, becoming a flexible, fluid metal every bit as sensitive as his skin had been…but much more capable of taking a beating! The fighter could now punch and shatter a cube of steel without feeling even the slightest soreness in his knuckles! But Rukario was careful not to think himself invincible, for he knew the folly in such assumptions. Even his master's solid frame had its limits, and so too did this sheath of living armor that had painlessly replaced his skin, colored to look exactly like the original…but the angles sharper, the surface smoother, and his skin and 'fur' shining when the light hit them in just the right way.

He clasped his hands together with a slight ring and bowed his head. "My Mother…I thank you for this gift. I shall use it well, to destroy the enemies of our planet."

_I notice that you said 'our planet', and not my name. This is good, because it shows you are aware of the line between a fanatic and a true champion of justice. You are my knight, Rukario, and you shall fight…for your honor, and for our world's._

"Yes, Mother. I shall."

_Registeel_…

"My Mother."

_Registeel_…_for countless years you have served me…since your 'birth', you have assisted me and my 'children'…even when I 'died'…you continued to serve…it is one of my deepest regrets that I have no way, no way at all, to repay you for all that you have done, all that you have sacrificed._

"I ask for nothing, Mother. You know that."

_Not even your siblings?_

Registeel hesitated. "I…"

_Yes, Registeel?_

"If I…were to ask you…to turn back time…allow me to save my siblings, turn them from the path they have chosen…would you do it?"

_Perhaps._ _But I think a better question is this: if I _offered _to do that for you…would you accept it?_

For a long, long moment, Registeel was silent. "I am tempted, Mother. Truly I am tempted. But…"

_But?_

"I will not."

_And why is that?_

"For two reasons. One, tampering with the fabric of space and time while one is living directly in it can have dire consequences. Even the Unown, who live on the outermost fringe of time, refrain from playing with it too often. But also…" He could not take a deep breath here since he had no lungs, but he paused the appropriate length of time for one anyway. "Also…to dwell on times past, on what might have been or never was…is to deny the future. I want Regirock and Regice back, Mother. We both know this. But…perhaps my memory is false, and we were never truly as close as I thought we were. Or perhaps our times together were not as good as I think they were. But even if they were…even if they were, my duty is to the future. The future of this planet, and those who live on it. I have been a part of this world since its inception…and I intend to be there until its end, no matter the outcome."

_Very well._ _Registeel…you know this battle could go either way._

"I do."

_If I should fail, and Deoxys triumphs…_

"We will take whatever measures are necessary to survive."

_I thought you would, but I wanted to hear it from you specifically._ There was a pause. _Registeel?_

"Yes, Mother?"

_Thank you._

"For what?"

_For everything._

"Jirachi?" Max whispered.

_Yes._

"Why did you go?" the glasses boy whimpered. "You left me."

_I'm sorry._

"Why?"

_Because I was needed elsewhere._

"And you couldn't take me with you?"

_No. The place we went…it's a place you're not able to see. Not yet, anyway._

"If you had taken me with you…then I…I wouldn't have had to see Dad…" He clammed up.

_He would have died whether you had a television to watch it on or not. Taking you with us would have done nothing._

"Then why didn't…why didn't YOU do something!" he snapped angrily. "Why didn't you stop him from dying? If you're so powerful…why'd you let that happen?"

…_Max, as powerful as I am…not even I can do everything. Nobody can._

"Yeah, right," he said bitterly. "Mom and Dad were right. There is no God. Just all-powerful beings that don't care about anyone but themselves."

…_Is that really what you think of me, Max?_

"I hate you. Go away."

_Max-_

"I HATE YOU! GO AWAY!"

There was a pause. _Very well._ _If that is your wish._

She left Max. And if the boy hadn't been too fixated on his own grief, he might have heard her crying.

"So, anything for me?" Delia asked with a slight smile.

_Do you need anything?_

"I'm not sure. Do I?"

_You are a mother, just as I am. And as a mother, you understand that as much as you wish to protect them, your children must fight their own battles._

"You're fighting too."

_As are you._ _We just happen to be fighting slightly different ones, while our children prove themselves on their own. I and they fight to save the world. Your fight is no less important._

Delia nodded in understanding. "Max, right?"

_Yes._

"I'll do what I can…but I can already see he'll need a lot of work. I understand that he's just suffered a terrible tragedy…but that was no excuse for being rude to his Mother!" She smirked. "Want me to spank him for you?"

The Mother laughed. _No, that's perfectly all right…just take care of him, will you?_

"I'll do my best…as only a mother can," Delia promised.

_Exactly._

In the Pokemon Center, May whimpered and clawed at the windowpane, sealed shut for her own protection, as the energy flow from the Mother's glaive faded. "Mommy…no…what about me?" She collapsed against the wall in tears.

And then, she heard the voice she had longed to hear, the voice of her mother. _May, my dear May, listen to me. The death you have seen. The love that has been pulled away before you could reach it. You have seen the faces of your doubts. So young. Forced into the world of adults. And yet still not a woman. Not yet, anyway._

_Mariah's prophecy has already been proven wrong on one account. Your performers have not abandoned you. Ivysaur saved your life, not because it was a social obligation for her original trainer, who took her from a wild jungle and never bothered to teach her the basics of the 'civilized' world. You taught her the wonders of your world by example, thus why she defended your way of living in front of Sadic, opposed to what had for most of her life been her own._

_Ivysaur saved you because she cares for you, all of them do. Jigglypuff is caught up in her new life, but she has not forgotten you. Max still cares for you, though like any little boy he thinks displaying affection is simply a sign of immaturity. _

_And though Drew is dead, he still cares for your fate, as do your parents, their souls are not utterly consumed, not just yet._

_Similarly, your human body cannot fight as it is, not with the pain you suffer. And so I shall give you a new form…one which has _claws _and bite!_

May began to transform. The human's pale, weak skin sprouted tawny brown fur which covered her body. Her frail legs shifted and cracked as the bones lengthened and changed shape, bending backwards to make an extra joint as the feet shortened and turned into small feline paws which continued to support her upright, bipedal form. At the same time her meek muscle mass increased, so she'd never have to whine about her legs giving out again. A short tail ending in a leonine tuft of fur grew out from her rear, twitching against the air. Along with the tail came a pair of large feathery wings which grew from her back, folding themselves up to keep from getting caught in the cramped room. Her fingers shrunk and grew slightly thicker as her fingernails morphed into retractable claws. The girl's eyes turned yellow and slitted as her face protruded out slightly, the nose darkening as small whiskers grew from the sides and fur covered her face, making it look more like a cat's, sort of like a mix between Delcatty and Persian. Like Misty, her human teeth were replaced by fangs to tear apart the enemy. The long brown bangs remained the same, but her ears grew larger and more pointed, poking out from the mess covering her head. The air moving around her, she could feel it, every motion, and it was hers to use. The broken human May had been reborn as a lean, ferocious sphinx.

Her clothes had vanished, except for her bandana. She didn't need them. They would have only gotten in her way.

The window pane before her vanished as well. Her face expressionless, she pounced out through it, spreading her wings to glide down and join the others in the park as the Mother's gift-giving session ended.

They stared at themselves and at each other in wonder at the Mother's generosity. Rui was clinging to Wes' new "SHIIIIINY" jacket, frightening him, as was Delcatty, who was hurting him by digging her claws into his flesh. In the meantime he had to get over the weirdness of how his two partner Pokemon had apparently become the same being, and were perfectly all right with that. Similarly, Aerodactyl was coming to terms with his new arms and was also rather confused by how Zapdos had combined with Moltres, and now they had…transcended gender or something. Freaky.

The Pokerockers were drooling over their new gear and welcoming a tearful, miserable Brock into the group. Misty was amused at his transformation, although she felt disappointed that she'd no longer be able to drag him away by the ear, because he no longer had any. As for her own changes, as New Age babble as it sounded, she had never felt truer to herself. Scyther was getting used to his fitter body, and the now-human Umbreon couldn't help smiling at the look of joy on his face…while pretty much ignoring everyone else's comments on how good she looked.

May's team welcomed their transformed trainer with looks of disbelief and open arms which May gracefully accepted…though Blaziken looked a little disappointed, since she had evolved pretty much just to help May, and now it seemed clear that May didn't need help…until the sphinx put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Mind if I join the show this time?"

Venusaur and Draganium were keeping their distance from each other…and everyone else was from Venusaur as well. Corsola fainted when she saw how big Crawdaunt had gotten, not out of fright from his size, but out of panic about how exactly his member was going to fit into her much, MUCH smaller body. Speaking of the giant lobster, he had been smitten at the sight of Milotic, but then he spotted Wobbuffet in Milotic's grasp, considered whether or not the blue blob would object to a bout of mate-swapping, noticed Cacturne aiming her extremely sharp needles at his eyes, and wisely decided to leave the serpent alone.

And all of Pikachu's friends were overjoyed to see he was back…and would have probably hugged him to death had not Sadic threatened to eviscerate every last one of them if they tried to interrupt her 'catch up' time with him. He looked rather embarrassed and flattered by her attention. Charizard was equally embarrassed and flattered by Charla's fascination with his new wings.

Shedinja floated away from the group, gasping and trying to contain the spirits within him. Rukario was being hugged by the overjoyed Registeel, who felt as if their bond had grown even stronger due to his pupil's metallization.

And Max…

From Delia's arms, he stared at the being who had once been his sister. "Hello, Max," she said to him. "This time I'll protect you."

He stared. He said nothing.

Not looking particularly bothered, May turned away to rejoin the rest of her friends. Max continued staring. And not just at her, but at Misty, at the humanized Umbreon, and the fused Pokemon Enzo, Loreon, and Zaptres. At all who had been transformed visibly into something else. Delia sighed, knowing she had her work cut out for her.

"My Chosen…you are ready," the Mother said, silencing their conversations and reactions as all immediately focused on her. "Time has been stopped for the rest of the world for the duration of these last few moments…but now you must go and fight, just as I must go and fight." She rose, the air rippling around her as time, which they hadn't even noticed stopping, restarted again. "Guide the people to this gateway. Defeat Deoxys' minions, no matter what form they take. Destroy the source from which his poison spreads, before it can engulf the entire island. The time has come to fulfill your destinies…" She turned to face Deoxys, who was patiently waiting for her in the air. "Just as I must face my own."

The titan of evil chuckled in amusement and rose higher, vanishing into the roiling clouds above the city, the Mother right behind him. The hole she had made in the sky through which sunlight filtered down closed behind her.

The sound of screams, explosions, and terrible roars rang out from all over the city. Buildings toppled or burst into flame. Viral fog crept through the streets, claiming those who were not swift enough to evade it. Leviathan's massive form swooped through the skies, greedily sucking the souls out of the fleeing civilians and adding them to her collection. And everywhere, people died.

"Looks like we got our work cut out for us," said Wes.

"Si…we had better get started!" Zoro declared, drawing his sword.

"Yeah, we have a city to save!" Jigglypuff agreed as her troupe boarded their new vehicle.

"And I'm stuck behind the wheel…" Brock complained.

"Well, at least you shouldn't be bothering anyone from there," Misty joked. "Unless you run someone over…Hmm."

"I'll stay here," Rui informed everyone. "Someone should stay behind to welcome people to the gate. Besides, this new ability of mine will allow me to see and communicate with you all at once…I can be like that hint marker in video games which alerts you to a boss's weak spot or warns you that another member of the team's in danger!"

"I'll stay here as well," Delia agreed, holding onto Max. "I doubt we'd be of much use out in the field…and another friendly face to welcome people to freedom goes a long way, doesn't it?"

"Very well then…let us go!" Registeel held his fist out. "For the Mother…and for Earth! We are the Chosen! And we shall not fail!"

"RIGHT!" all agreed. And together, they charged into battle.

…

Rayquaza glanced up into the sky as the Mother and Deoxys vanished. When they were gone, he turned away and continued his search. Latias was here somewhere. He could feel it. But something was still off, and that troubled him. What he would find when he inevitably caught up with her…

Perhaps for the moment, it would be best just to concentrate on finding her. Once he had done that…well, he'd have time for 'what ifs' then.

…

She stared as the most beautiful creature she had ever seen or ever would see again vanished into the clouds in pursuit of the seething mass of pure painpainevilhate who was always in her mind and right beside her.

"So that's the Mother," He said next to her. "Hmm. Not bad. What do you think?"

She blinked. "What am I supposed to think?"

"What feelings does she inspire in you? Awe? Rapture? Blind, searing hate?"

"Nothing," she said honestly. "I feel nothing."

He laughed. "Good. Just as you should."

She blinked again. "Do you want me to kill her?"

He shook His head. "No, it is beyond your power. But don't worry…if you want to kill something so badly, someone will turn up soon enough. An old friend of yours. Your oldest, really."

Memories of a yellow-eyed King flickered through her head. She felt nothing. Not love, not hate, not fear, not hope. Absolutely nothing. "Okay," she said dully. It didn't particularly matter to her whether she killed anything or not. If He wanted her to kill something, then she supposed she would. If He didn't want her to kill anyone, she supposed she wouldn't.

She was feeling numb again. Almost mechanically, she unsheathed her claws, dug them into her arm, and started scraping, breaking skin and bone and causing blood to gush everywhere. Instantly, sweetsweetpainpain flowed into her brainbroken and caused her to gasp as she felt her claws tear open her arm. She kept clawing. She kept clawing and clawing until her claws ripped out the other side of her arm and she had a gaping hole where her bone and arteries had been. But that was okay, because they were growing back already. Couldn't have that.

She extricated her good arm, grabbed her damaged arm at the shoulder and ripped it off, sending another rush of sweetsweetpainpain through her as she stuffed the severed limb into her mouth and messily consumed it, cutting her mouth open with her own teeth and causing smaller, less potent jolts of pain.

When she was through, she sat back and waited patiently as her arm grew back, the agony from tearing the old one off still burning brightly in her brain. It would last for a while, she was sure. And when it faded, maybe she'd do the other arm. Or perhaps a wing. Or her eyeballs. Or maybe her own brainbroken.

Or, if she was really in the mood, ask Him to do it for her. The sweetsweetpainpain from that would last a _looooong_ time and she wouldn't feel numb for quite a while. Or perhaps the person she was going to kill would injure her a lot as she tortured or mutilated him to death. It wouldn't give as much sweetsweetpainpain as He did, but she'd still feel less numb for at least a little while.

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

…

And that's that! A short chapter, but a good lead-in to the next, where we'll have MORE big battles! throws confetti

And if any of you have complaints about Brock's being unable to remember Richie…aside from the fact that it's partly due to repeated head damage over the years (the poor thing's not nearly as dense as Ash, bless his soul), I was also making a point about how they have had so many adventures, alongside so many friends-of-the-day, how could they possibly keep all those names and fights straight in their heads? Even some of the biggest and most important ones? I mean, after all, the anime's been around for eight or nine seasons now! That's an awful lot!

And I guess I was also mocking how they always seem to either conveniently forget Pokemon they've seen more than once as an excuse to whip out the Pokedex, and how other times Brock or somebody else recognizes a Pokemon that logically they should never have heard of or seen before. If they can do that as easily with Pokemon, why not with people too? Maybe not that realistic, but I figured it made for a good comedy routine.

In any case, I hope you liked the transformations. I've never done something like this before, but on the whole I'm rather satisfied, and I hope you are too!

And on one final note…if any of you saw the recent "Master of the Mirage Pokemon" special and are as infuriated with the horrible voice acting as I am, I suggest you write a letter to the people at Pokemon USA to let them know your feelings on it. For E-mail and hardcopy addresses to write to, check out home page and click on the large link entitle "Save the Dub!" With any luck, we can do just that.


	59. Battle of the Chosen: Turning the Tide

Okay, more big battles! Yay! Except this time, the heroes may actually have a shot at winning! (Or do they?)

Disclaimer: Any characters I don't own belong to Nintendo or other companies. (Aside from Sadic and Dark Latios, who were generously loaned to me by DiamondLatias3000.)

Thanks to DiamondLatias3000, Alex Warlorn, and ninetalesuk for their help. And also thanks to video games and other sources in general for being so mesmerizing that I couldn't resist ripping off parts of them for this chapter and the next.

I used a couple of songs in this chapter. One based on Ursula's Revenge from KHII, and one from Sonic Adventure 2. Can you recognize which is which?

…

Rayquaza silently twisted through the air, his sharp yellow eyes scanning the skyscrapers on either side of him. She was close. He could feel it. And so was something else…

"Latias?" he called experimentally.

There was nothing but silence. Silence punctuated by screams and explosions off in the not-so-distant distance, accompanied by horrific roars and hisses. Rayquaza knew that as a Chosen, he really ought to help his allies out. On the other hand, he knew that if he turned away now the part of him connected to Latias would scream and scream and wouldn't shut up until he found her and they were together again. And while he wished to protect his world, he wished to protect her even more.

"Latias?" he called again.

Nothing. The clouded sky lit up faintly as electrical charges rumbled through the growing storm, their power increasing yet still not quite at the bursting point. There was lighting from the city below as well, for while the electricity was out due to Mewgle's virus there was plenty of illumination to be found from all the explosions and fires everywhere.

Rayquaza glided through the streets, around buildings, through alleys, following the silent siren's call that was his beloved's soul. She was so close he could swear that he could smell her, smell that unforgettable aroma of soft red and white down mixed with the indescribable empathy and adoration radiating from her aura (which he could half-detect due to their link, despite his lack of Psychic power) which had haunted him for his thousands of years of confinement as a confused and despondent Ghost King…

Wait. He did smell something. Not Latias' unforgettable scent, and not the smell of this modern city, tainted with blood, fear, and violence either. It was something else, something…foul, something very, very dead, something cruel and heartless and evil.

Something a lot like Deoxys, but not, mixed with some more puzzling scents that felt all too familiar. Something like…

"Latios?" he called in surprise. Wasn't he dead?

"Heheheh. Close, but not quite."

A chill went down Rayquaza's spine as it appeared near the rooftop of a nearby clock tower, a black dragon with blue patterns on his scales, curved ram's horns, four bat wings, bloodstained talons and fangs, a spiked burning tail, and gleaming red eyes. Even without the black tentacles growing from his back, Rayquaza knew instantly from the almost palpable aura radiating from the monster's body that this abomination was nothing but bad news. "You are not Latios," he said.

"I am, and I am not. I am Dark Latios, son of Deoxys…and also the Latios you grew to call your brother, practically your own flesh and blood." The evil dragon grinned, flashing his disgusting teeth. "It's good to see you, 'brother.' It's been much too long."

"You are no brother of mine," Rayquaza growled. "You are nothing more than a monster, a perversion of whatever Latios was. I refuse to recognize you as kin."

"Awww, that's cruel!" Dark Latios said, feigning hurt. "That really hurts, brother-in-law, right here!" He ripped out his heart, split it in two, swallowed one half and threw the other at Rayquaza's face. It bounced off and fell to the streets below.

The Dragon King didn't even flinch. "Was that supposed to disturb me? Because I'm not impressed. I've lived with ghosts for the last hundred thousand years, and trust me; they can do a lot weirder than that."

"Oh, I know," Dark Latios said, bits of blood and matter spraying from his mouth while the hole in his chest filled up. "I was just hungry. The humans in these parts have so little skin on them from all their stupid dieting that they barely filled me up…although their fear and pain was extremely fulfilling compared to the drivel that worthless James gave me."

"Dark Latios," Rayquaza growled. "Where is Latias?"

"Latias?" Dark Latios asked innocently as he telekinetically called a mutilated Jynx corpse to him from the tower top and messily dug into one of its breasts.

"Yes, Latias. I know she is here. I can feel her." Rayquaza narrowed his eyes. "What have you done to her, fiend?"

Dark Latios laughed long and loud, throwing his head back and sending the chunks of flesh he had just devoured flying out of his throat. He casually tossed the Jynx corpse away, where it slammed into the face of the nearby clock and slid down, leaving a bloody smear before falling off and splattering like an overripe melon on the ground below. "What have I done to her, you ask? Hahahaha…why don't you see for yourself?" He turned his head. "Sister? Will you come out here? I have someone for you to meet."

"Who?" Rayquaza started at the voice, recognizing it as Latias'…but there was something wrong with it…

"Your husband! He's come a long way to see you, all the way from being dead! Won't you come out and say hello?"

"Okay." A winged figure floated around the steeple of the clock tower and down towards the two dragons.

Rayquaza gasped, recoiling at what he saw. "L-Latias!"

"Hello," she said.

…

The interior of the clouds lit up as tremendous amounts of electricity coursed through them, roiling with anger as they longed to be released and strike the planet below. But the time for the storm to break had not yet come, and so there was no recourse but for its rage to grow and grow until the time it could finally burst forth and smite the doomed populace on the dying Earth.

Static from the building charges crackled all over the Mother's metal skin as she soared higher and higher, magnetizing her and causing the clouds to swirl around her magnificent form. With a thought, she dispelled the lightning, extinguishing its anger. Guardian pulsed in her hand, the desire to slay Deoxys resonating up through her arm and alerting her to her weapon's wishes. She would do all she could to make sure it was satisfied.

With a flap of her wings, she burst from the clouds, entering a clear area between thick layers of rumbling storm clouds. Lightning discharged between the layers, seeking avenue to the planet below. The sun did not shine here; the only light was from the crackle of electricity, from the Mother's radiant form…

And from the many eyes of Deoxys hovering before her, his trident raised and his monstrous battle body poised for combat. "So, you've come!" he called to her. "As I knew you would. As you always have."

"As I always will!" The Mother retaliated, brandishing Guardian. "And always shall, until the time when time itself ends eternal!"

"Which won't be far off, if either of our plans succeeds…" Deoxys taunted. "Heheheh…we both have the same goal, my old rival. You know this as well as I. Why, then, do we continue to fight? Would it not be best for us to join forces, and end this pitiful excuse for existence permanently?"

Her three blue eyes glared into his white ones. "As I have said before…our goals may be the same, but our methods differ! The ends sometimes justify the means, that is true…but this end is not one of them!"

"So you say. As you have said before." Deoxys chuckled. "Very well then…shall we get on with it, then?"

She nodded. "Indeed. We have bantered enough…it's time to end this, once and for all." She raised Guardian, the magic glaive throbbing with the weapon's hatred.

"Then you believe this _will_ be the end, once and for all? Both of us have said that line before…and yet…hmm. You know, I do believe you're right. This _is_ going to be the last time." Deoxys held his trident at his side, muscles tensing. "And so we shouldn't hold back…or at least, I shouldn't, since I don't particularly care if the overwhelming force of our attacks obliterates the planet around us."

"You just worry about yourself, Deoxys," the Mother said coldly. "I have always been able to hold my own…no matter what you have thrown at me."

"There is a difference between holding your own," he said, rising as his monstrous lower half reared, legs flailing. "And winning." A twisted chaotic aura formed around him.

"So there is," the Mother agreed, spreading her wings. "Just as there is a difference between thinking you hold all the cards…and actually having them!" Her metal skin shimmered as a rainbow aura formed around her.

Weapons drawn, auras surrounding them, the eternal rivals charged at each other, their weapons clashing between them with a thunderclap and explosion which shook the heavens as the battle joined. The two most powerful beings in the universe and perhaps beyond, one a paragon of good and the other the embodiment of purest evil, beginning what might prove to be the final step in a duel-dance older than Creation itself…the ultimate battle for the fate of the Earth and much, much more…which of these all-powerful titans would prevail in their penultimate, perhaps _final_ struggle?

…

The monsters were everywhere. It seemed as if there was no hope left.

"Ahhhhh!" AJ wailed, sobbing like a baby as he ran from his best friend Sandslash, who had been mutated into a walking spiked ball of death. "Heeeelllllp!"

"We're screwed! We're all gonna die!" Brendan wept, holding a very dead Wally to his chest, denying that his lover was gone. This denial was made all the easier by the fact that Wally was still animate and trying to claw his heart out, but the green-haired man had been so feeble in life that even undead and virus-enhanced he wasn't really that much of a threat.

"Ahhh, what did I do to deserve this!" Akira wailed as his giant, bloated Whiscash, who had sprouted legs and fins and spines and tentacles, noisily chewed on him.

"Is there no one who can save us!" cried Generic NPC #250, brother of Generic NPC # 175, before he was horribly killed, ripped apart, and devoured by a pack of rabid Zigzagoon.

"Guess that's my cue."

There was the roar of an engine, and a extremely cool-looking motorcycle launched over a pile of broken cars blocking the end of the street, a white-haired figure with a long jacket trailing in the wind riding it and two strange Pokemon sitting in the sidecar. The bike sailed through the air, heading right towards AJ and the monster Sandslash. The monster blinked stupidly, while AJ screamed and dove out of the way as the bike collided with the giant porcupine and exploded, blowing it to pieces.

Wes, Enzo, and Loreon landed on the ground, having jumped off right before impact. "_Was that really necessary?" _Rui asked telepathically.

"Of course! A good entrance is worth a thousand words!" the ex-thief said with a smirk.

"That's a picture," Loreon corrected. "You're mixing metaphors."

"Whatever." Wes turned to face the few living trainers who had competed in the Hoenn League Championships, had thought they could fight the monster invasion, and had died horribly for their arrogance, they and their Pokemon joining the ranks of the horde. (Carrie, on the other hand, had seen the better part of valor at once and had fled with her Pokemon, and had already passed through the gateway, pausing only to try to talk to Max, which failed since the boy was still traumatized, leaving her to hope that he'd be coherent later on) "Yo! If you wanna get out of here, head towards the center of the city! It's the only safe place, you were probably already heading there without knowing it! Now go!"

They quickly did so, dragging a stunned and shell-shocked AJ with them (and the Wally monster), leaving Wes and his Pokemon with a street still full of monsters charging towards them. "That was your last bike," Loreon said, referring to the burning heap of scrap metal before them. "What're we going to ride on now?"

"Aerodactyl?" Enzo suggested.

"Well, yeah, if he weren't off fighting somebody else."

"Eh, no worries," said Wes confidently, staring down the approaching beasts. "We can always buy a new one when this is over."

Loreon rolled his eyes. "If you say so."

"Come on!" Wes ran forwards to meet the monsters. "Let's get some action!"

"Hey, wait up!" Enzo and Loreon cried, chasing after him.

The lead monster, a tremendous eight-armed Machamp roared and threw a punch at Wes's skull. The ex-thief met the punch with one of his own from his left arm, the armor covering it glowing. The Machamp's eyes widened in surprise as its fist shattered upon contact with Wes's, and that black-armored fist kept going and smashed right through the monster's skull, killing it. Wes dodged sideways as the Machamp fell and ducked under a three-eyed Sneasel's claw swing to decapitate him, retaliating with a rising uppercut which sent it flying. A roundhouse kick ripped a hideous Feraligatr in two, and his flying fists and feet proved to be enough of a deterrent to keep the rest of the monsters from so much as thinking about confronting him melee style, because his enhanced strength and skill would clearly whup them all. So, they decided to try projectile attacks instead.

Wes dodged out of the way of lasers, fire streams, and bolts of electricity hurled at him in a stylish fashion, his armored arm glowing. Wes grinned and thrust his hand out. "Snag Ball, GO!"

A ball of swirling black energy appeared in his hand and shot outwards, imbedding itself in the chest of a giant Ursaring and imploding into a miniature black hole, sucking the Ursaring and every other monster within twenty yards into its depths before collapsing and changing into a small black and white Pokeball which clattered on the ground, a significant portion of the monsters on the street trapped inside.

Wes cackled and kissed his left palm. "Oh yeah, I've never had a mom before…but I can safely say, that having one now ROCKS! You're awesome!" he shouted up into the sky and to the Mother, wherever she was.

Enzo utilized his electricity to his greatest potential, combining it with Quick Attack to virtually teleport wherever he wished through zigzagging bolts of lightning. Any monster that happened to be in the way of that path would be vaporized by a surge of high voltage as the electrified Enzo passed through them. However, he found his electric joyride come to an abrupt end as he collided with a very large, very spiky, very ugly molten Golem monster which grunted, lit up, and exploded, vaporizing nearby monsters and sending Enzo flying, squealing in pain. He squealed more as a group of Magnemite and Magneton, rusted screws and nails driven into their cracked bodies along with magnets tipped with blood, zapped him, using their magnetic abilities to drain his energy. His purple tips flickered red and blue as the magnetism emitted by the evil Pokemon began to undo the Mother's fusion. Well, Enzo couldn't have that, now could he? Especially since another group of Golem were stomping towards him, flashing as if they were about to explode as well.

Enzo solved the problem by using magnetism against magnetism, his purple cheek asterisks switching to a red plus and a blue minus. The positive and negative charges immediately pulled in the startled Magnet Pokemon, who had been using the opposite charges, and drew them close enough for Enzo to release a blast of electricity which sent them flying, slamming right into the crowd of Golems. The Rock monsters grunted in surprise, flashed…and Exploded. The explosions caused the Magnet Pokemon to explode too, resulting in a terrific blast which wiped out dozens of monsters and caused the nearby building to collapse, crushing even more beneath its weight.

Enzo, who had managed to Quick Attack out of the way at the last minute, stared in disbelief. "Wow…did I really do all that!"

Loreon, in the meantime, was having a great time with the monsters. He would bide his time, waiting for a beast to lunge at him, and immediately sink into its shadow, reappearing from the shadow of another monster and causing it to explode from the inside with a wave of psychic force before vanishing again. Who knew being a Psychic/Dark hybrid could be so much fun? _Heh. Can't help wondering why we never did this before,_ the Eeveelution thought with a smirk as it closed its eyes and summoned a swarm of Shadow Balls which rained down from the sky like meteors, destroying monsters and tearing up a lot of property in the process. _We always fought so much, but…in the end, who knew we were really so much alike?_

With Wes's new fighting strength and super-Snag Balls, Enzo's electricity, and Loreon's shadowwalking, the trio cleared out the street in no time. People who had been hiding in buildings or alleys ran by to safety, too terrified to thank the heroes properly for their hard work.

"Phew, that was a workout," Wes commented, wiping away some sweat. "Nice job boys."

"Yeah, we totally kicked ass!" agreed Loreon.

"And wrecked the city…" Enzo commented, looking at all the destruction they had wrought in their fight.

"Eh, this city needed to be remodeled anyway," Wes said carelessly. "By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you guys…"

"Yes?" they asked.

"When I speak to you, am I talking to Espeon and Umbreon or someone else?" Wes asked Loreon.

The fuser shrugged. "I have no idea. I don't know if I have two souls, or whether my souls combined into one. I don't have multiple personalities."

Wes nodded. "Okay. What about.. er, Enzo?"

Enzo shrugged. "Plusle and Minun were so much alike to begin with I don't think I can notice any difference."

"Huh. Weird."

"Yes."

"_And things are about to get weirder!. Guys, you've got a ton of enemies incoming!"_ Rui cried.

She wasn't exaggerating. They came from around the corners, out of alleys, jumping off the top of teetering buildings, gathering at the end of the street away from the trio. They were formed of extremely muscular humans and extremely muscular Pokemon, all of them horribly mutilated and transformed. And all of them (the humans, anyway) had heads so bald that the tops of their bare skulls tore through the skin at the top of their heads, spiky black armor vests, and nasty-looking black headsets which encircled the backs of their heads and covered their faces, driving spikes through their eyeballs and into their brains.

They stared at the group with dead or useless eyes and intoned, "_WEEEEESSSS."_

Wes paled. "Aw, shit."

"Great, looks like Team Snagem got hit by the virus too," Loreon groaned.

"Come on guys, be more positive!" Enzo chirped, his purple tips becoming red for a moment. "We handled that last bunch, these guys should be easy!"

It was then that the façade of the building behind the large assemblage of mutated Snagem goons and Pokemon exploded, sending glass and metal flying everywhere, as an enormous one-hundred foot tall monster emerged, looking like a giant, bloated, overly muscled corpse, its flesh pale and putrefied and attracting flies who died the moment they bit into its flesh, themselves becoming undead. Shards of metal and glass and bone were imbedded in its disgusting skin, but if it bothered the beast at all it showed no visible pain. It held a huge metal scimitar in its right ham-hand which looked as if it had been made by bending several girders together, and it was naked, exposing its disgusting skin to the air, save for tattered remnants of a black jumpsuit stretched here and there across its body, forming bands which held a big bronze disk in place over its chest, the symbol of a fist clutching the Earth (which looked strangely like a Pokeball) engraved on it. A small scrap of red cloth hung over its disproportionately tiny loins, doing nothing to hide them from the imagination, and didn't even bother concealing its grotesque buttocks. His head was also somewhat small in comparison to the rest of the body, his gruesome face hidden beneath an iron mask, his lower jaw missing and allowing blood to stain his neck and chest while a much-too-long red tongue lolled out across a necklace made of baby skulls strung together. Long, filthy, gravity-defying locks emerged from the back of its head in a distinctive hairstyle which Wes and the fused Pokemon recognized instantly, making the identity of this behemoth all too obvious.

"Oh hell no…you're telling me that's Dakim!" Wes cried.

"Wow," said Loreon in disbelief. "And here I thought he couldn't get any bigger than he already was."

"Eep! I don't think we're strong enough to take that thing on!" squeaked Enzo.

"Uhh, I think you might be right," Wes said, slowly taking a step back. "Rui, we could really use some backup here!"

There was no response. Dakim…well, he didn't exactly bellow, but he made a really disgusting-sounding howl or wail as he stepped forward, shaking the street and squashing some of the Snagems beneath his big, bare feet.

"Rui? Rui come on, we need help!"

Dakim took another step towards them, clearing the Snagems.

"Rui?"

"Wes, we have to get out of here!" Loreon cried, backing away. Enzo squealed in fright.

"RUI!"

Dakim towered over them. He raised his scimitar.

"RUI!"

The scimitar fell.

…

The city was in turmoil. Monsters were rampaging everywhere, trashing buildings and parks, causing explosions and fires, killing people in the most horrible ways, only for them to rise up and join them as the virus infected their hollow shells and damned their souls. The human and Pokemon residents of the city either fled in terror or were cut down mercilessly by the unstoppable horde.

One member of said horde, a huge Rhydon, its gray armor turned green by putrefecation, carrying a tremendous axe covered in the blood of the victims it had mercilessly hacked to pieces, had cornered a helpless Hispanic woman and her son. "_No, por favor! No nos lastime!"_ the mother cried as the rhino emotionlessly raised its axe.

"_¡Mama!_ _¡Alguien, cualquiera, por favor! ¡Ayúdenos!_" the boy cried desperately as the monster prepared to deal the fatal blow.

Out of nowhere, a whip lashed out and wrapped around the axe handle, stopping its downward descent with a jerk and ripping it out of the Rhydon's hands. "Oho! Did somebody call for me?" Baffled, the green rhino started to turn around…and was decapitated instantly by the swift strike from the impressive (and handsome) masked swordsman riding past on a black Rapidash wreathed in blue flame. "Haha! No evildoer shall harm the _inocente_ as long as Zoro is around!"

"Es el Zoro!" the boy cried joyfully as the mother gaped in disbelief.

The champion of justice tipped his hat to the child. "You had better get your _madre_ out of here, _muchacho_! This isn't the place for you to stick around! Head for the center of the city with everyone else, there's a _entrada_ _a la seguridad_ there that will get you out of here!"

The mother got up, grabbed her awestruck child by the shoulders, and started quickly dragging him away, nodding vigorously. "Si! Si! Gracia, sir!"

"Hehe…all in a day's work, senora." Zoro spurred his mount into motion. "Come, we have much to do! Ya!" He charged towards the oncoming monsters, his Pokemon team close behind him.

A bodybuilder, his muscles grossly swollen and mutilated due to the virus, grabbed a nearby wrecked car and hurled it into the path of the oncoming heroes. El Gato drew his sword and dashed forward, slicing the vehicle in two with a single stroke and sending its halves flying before he thrust his blade forward, impaled it in the bodybuilder's stomach, and slashed upwards, tearing the monster in two as well.

The luchador duo of El Toro and El Lobo went into action, charging into the thick of the horde and trampling the monsters under their feet. New ones sprang up to replace them in moments, surrounding the two, but they weren't worried. The Mightyena hopped onto El Toro's back as the masked Tauros leaped into the air, demonstrating his astounding jumping skills, and slammed back down to Earth hooves-first with an Earthquake attack which shattered windows, tore up the pavement, and sent the monsters around them flying from the tremendous shockwave. El Lobo bounded off his partner's back and tore into the guts of an undead Hariyama, yanking out the intestines with his teeth and jerking his head around, using the intestines to swing the Hariyama around like a Morningstar and batter the monsters around him to pieces before sending it flying towards a large walking skeleton stomping towards them, causing both devils to shatter into blood and dust.

A Blastoise whose shell was riddled with holes and whose face was a hideous mask of pain and hatred knelt down and fired its cannons at El Pollo Diablo, sending streams of acid shooting towards the Blaziken. The giant chicken clenched his fists and concentrated, causing the flames on his wrists to go wild as a flaming aura surrounded his body, so hot that when the acid touched it it evaporated instantly. Squawking a battle cry, El Pollo charged forward, driving a flaming fist through the Blastoise's heavily armored chest and shattering its shell with a single punch, drilling his fist through the turtle's belly and out the other side, where the flames from his attack washed out and enveloped the next dozen or so monsters behind the Blastoise, reducing them to cinders. He then wrenched his fist from the Blastoise's belly, grabbed it by the shell, and lit it on fire, drop-kicking it away and sending it flying into the next wave of monsters, bowling them all over and leaving them vulnerable to El Pollo's flaming punch to the ground in their midst, causing waves of fire to explode outward and incinerate them all

The elegant and beautiful Rosa was too small and swift a target for the monsters to strike, their projectiles and energy beams always dodged in a stylish and beautiful manner, the Thorn Pokemon's body practically glowing with radiance every time she gracefully evaded an attack. She thrust her blue rose out at her latest assailants, a pack of Quilava who were little more than skeletons covered in skin composed of magma and flame, and dozens of fireproof Leech Seeds shot out her blossom and showered the monsters, burying themselves into their molten hides. The beast's blazing eyes widened in surprise as the seeds took root and bloomed, causing beautiful roses to erupt from their skin as the roots wormed their way through their bodies, reducing their innards to fertilizer. Within moments, they had fallen, their flames extinguished, and their corpses reduced to gorgeous flowerbeds. She smirked…and suddenly noticed she was surrounded by at least a hundred hideous mutant Magmar, Torkoal, Growlithe, Flareon, Magcargo, and Camerupt, all of whom were about to breathe fire at her. She smirked, not in the least bit worried. She slammed her red rose into the ground, sending out a shockwave as tremendous roots, vines, and thorns tore out of the pavement and impaled or tore to pieces the first wave of Fire Pokemon surrounding her. The second and third waves quickly unleashed their fire, sending an unstoppable wall of flames rushing towards the delicate flower. Said delicate flower grinned and leaped into the air, twisting as she evaded the flames, dancing through the air as the fire danced below, her body dodging tongues of flame which rushed up to engulf her and leaving rose petals in her wake. The glow which had surrounded her body intensified as she landed on top of a nearby streetlamp, almost broken in two from the battle. She smiled at the monsters in the fire below, winked, and blew a kiss.

Her aura exploded in a tremendous blast of green-white light, obliterating the monsters only an instant after they felt a pants-ripping orgasm from the Grass Pokemon's incredible sex appeal. Once could say Rosa had been merciful in making the last sensation of their nonexistent lives a pleasurable one…or perhaps she had just been showing off.

Either way, it stunned El Gato speechless, causing the feline to, on top of a rather distracting erection, develop an intense nosebleed…which was odd, seeing as how he didn't have a nose. "_Magnifico_…" he whispered in awe. A deadly black Scyther, its blades a whirling dervish of death, leaped at him from behind. Without even looking El Gato thrust his sword out, skewering the beast and throwing it at the mutated Crobat swooping towards him, slicing the bat in two.

"Hehe…come, mi amigo!" Zoro bellowed right beside his partner. "You can gaze at Rosa all you wish later…for now, we have work to do!"

"Eh?" Very reluctantly, El Gato tore his gaze from the radiant Rosa and saw a thousand monstrosities crowding the street in front of them. "Oh, yes. I see." He swiped his sword out. "Shall we?"

"Si!" The two swordsmen charged into the thick of battle, the horde bellowing and charging at them as well. The blade masters were swift and agile, bringing death to the already-dead monsters before them with every movement of their swords. When the monsters unleashed energy attacks on them, they skillfully dodged out of the way, allowing other unlucky monsters to take the blow for them. They moved in perfect synchronicity, deftly cutting their way through the horde with their two swords and annihilating a hundred monsters in only a minute!

They were helped enormously in their task when El Toro, goaded by Lobo, charged into a nearby damaged skyscraper which was already tilting on its foundations, slamming into it with his horns and causing the building to topple over and crush half the monsters beneath its weight. They were helped even more when Rosa and El Pollo joined in, adding the power of fire, thorns, and Rosa's really pretty light show to the mix, and within moments the fight was over, the evil vanquished. Even so, there wasn't a doubt in any of their minds that on their own Zoro and El Gato could have wiped out the whole thousand…it just would have taken longer, that's all.

"_Victoria!"_ El Toro cried joyfully, prancing about as if he were still a young calf, butting heads playfully with El Lobo and sending the Mightyena staggering away before collapsing in a heap.

"Haha, well done mi amigos! We saved the people and killed quite a few _monstruous_! Not bad, eh?" Zoro laughed, wiping off the blood and ichor on his sword.

"Si," agreed El Pollo, flexing his hands. "The rush of fighting...I felt stronger, _más_ _de gran alcance_, than ever before! Truly the Madre has been generous!"

"Si," agreed El Gato. "And Rosa…I can honestly say that you have never been more _hermoso_! That move you used back there…_spectacular! Magnifico!"_

She giggled and winked. "Hehe…you were not so bad yourself, my _pequeño_ _gatito adorable!_" She kissed him on the cheek, causing him to blush spectacularly while his friends snickered and Zoro grinned.

"_Hey guys, nice work!" _Rui's telepathic voice said, ringing through all their heads. "_The folks you saved have just got here and have passed through the gateway…though there was this one kid who refused to leave without getting your autograph, so we had to help his mom toss him bodily through the gate!"_

"Ah, the price of fame," Zoro said ruefully.

"_In any case, I thought you should know that Tyranitar's found Omega and could use a bit of help fighting him. He's only a few blocks away from your current position."_

"Senor Omega? The one who murdered his madre?" El Gato frowned. "I do not know…is it our place to interfere in another warrior's quest for _justicia?_"

They heard and saw an explosion close by which caused a building to topple and knock down all the others lined next to it, making them collapse like a chain of dominoes. "It is when it's causing such collateral damage," Zoro decided. "We're on our way." He whistled, and his Rapidash ran up from…wherever it had been. He backflipped into the saddle expertly. "Yah! Let us ride!" His mount neighed, rearing on its hind legs, before charging off down the street.

"Hey, wait for us compadre!" El Gato yelped, chasing after the masked swordsman.

"He could at least wait for us…hmpph! Let's go!" said Rosa as she ran after El Gato and Zoro, followed quickly by the other three, who did not want to be left behind.

"YEEEEEHAAAAAWW!" Geodude whooped ecstatically from inside the Pokerocker's truck when the trailer rocked wildly as the cab dragged it over a hill so fast that it was airborne for a few moments. Not everyone was taking this turbulence as energetically as he was, though, and poor Swampert, the younger Jigglypuff, and all the big strong roadies/soldiers had to take turns vomiting into the trailer's single trash can.

The heavily armored vehicle roared down the streets of Ever Grande City, piloted by the grouchy Brock, who took his frustration at being a Golem who couldn't ogle women properly out on all the monsters in their path by running them over. Many of them were too big or too powerful to simply run over, but that's what the laser cannon on the roof, the rocket launchers on the sides, and the smoke grenade dispensers were for, all cheerfully operated by passengers in the back so Brock could focus on driving.

"This is a pretty nice ride!" Jigglypuff the elder commented as she experimented with the improved microphone the Mother had given her. "If we don't get the Exploudrematic back, I suppose this would make a good soundstage instead. I mean, we can fight evil in this as easily as we could with the Exploudrematic."

"Yeah," agreed Onix. "But we won't be able to get the fun of piloting a giant robot!"

"Plus, there aren't really adequate sleeping accommodations for all of us in here like there was in the mecha," Lee the Hitmonlee complained. "I miss my room, and the training dummy in it…"

"And I left my new issue of Sterling Silver in there!" Metal Sound complained. "It was the swimsuit issue!"

"Don't talk about swimsuit issues," one of the roadies growled, glaring at Buzz.

The Electabuzz sweatdropped. "What! It's the best way to get you guys to put out your maximum power, and save me from exhausting my electricity! And if I did that, who'd play the keyboard, huh? You, Macho Machop, who can't press a button without smashing it or blowing something up? Or you, Mr. Big Bad Breloom, whose mitts are so big that he can't press one key without hitting half a dozen and ruining the whole song! Oh, and don't get me started on you, Mr. High and Mighty Nidoking who has the worst sense of rhythm I've EVER seen!" The roadies whimpered and gathered in the back of the trailer, their feelings hurt.

"That was kind of harsh," Forretress said dubiously.

"Ah, those foo's needed to toughen up anyway," Metal Sound said. "Fo' real, dawg."

"How'd you get so good at this?" Iron Shell asked, observing how Lombre was masterfully manning the laser cannon controls and blasting obstacles out of their way and obliterating aerial foes. "You're a swordsman, not a…gun-dude."

"It's all about hand-eye coordination," the Lily Pad Pokemon said, glancing at his teammate out of the corner of his eye while focusing on shooting everything on the LED screen before him and racking up higher and higher points on the scoreboard. "Something learning the way of the _espada_ has taught me well…DADO! DADO, YOU FILTHY PILE OF MIERDA!" The target he was frantically shooting at exploded, and his screen flashed. "YES! YES! 1,000,000 POINTS! HAHAHA, TAKE THAT, INCOMPRENSIBLE ARRANGEMENT OF LETTERS AND NUMBERS!" he crowed triumphantly as he typed in L-O-M-B-R-E, putting him on the very top of the High Scorer's list.

Iron Shell slowly backed away in fear. "You know, I would have expected this sort of thing from you two," he said to Meg and Amp.

"Don't judge a person by type or species," Amp grunted as he blasted away at the rocket launcher controls.

"Because that leads to prejudice, and prejudice is bad, m'kay?" Meg said, blasting with the other rocket launcher.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

All of them were knocked off their feet when the truck lurched and came to a violent, screeching halt. "WAAAAHHHH!" Onix howled in fright, panicking and thrashing about, crushing the other band members under his weight.

Dodging the giant weeping Rock Snake's flails, Jigglypuff waddled over to an intercom on the wall and contacted the cab. "Brock, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING UP THERE! ARE YOU _TRYING _TO KILL US! DO YOU _WANT_ ME TO COME UP THERE AND SCRIBBLE ALL OVER YOU!"

"N-no!" Brock protested meekly. "I-it's just…I had to stop!"

"That suddenly?" Geodude asked.

"W-well, it was really quite sudden, and…look, you just have to see for yourself!"

"All right," Jigglypuff said with a scowl. "But if this isn't worthwhile…I'm gonna cover you in so much graffiti you'll look like a typical boulder in a national park!"

Brock swallowed. "ulp Y-yes, ma'am!"

With a hiss of pneumatics, the side of the trailer unfolded, revealing the Pokerockers to the outside world and the outside world to the Pokerockers.

And they gasped in horror when they saw what was waiting for them.

…

The mighty Leviathan bellowed as it circled above Ever Grande, releasing another wave of dark flames which obliterated buildings and cracked open fissures in the island's artificial bedrock, degrading its cohesiveness. Oh, and a lot of people were killed, too. Those people's souls flew up to her toothsome maw, vanishing down her throat as she inhaled them and moved on to another part of the city to look for more food.

Shedinja, Aerodactyl, Zaptres, Charizard and Charla flapped their wings as they soared higher into the air after the giant undead serpent. The humanized Umbreon stood on Aerodactyl's back, Soul Eater drawn, glaring at the beast as they approached it. "So she's in there? That's the monster that took her?"

Aerodactyl nodded. "Yeah, I saw it happen myself. We might have stopped it too, if we weren't so distracted by the sight of that crazy bitch Ho-Oh pulling my buddy off to who-knows-where…and I don't think we'll be seeing either of them anytime soon." He hesitated. "I'm…sorry we couldn't save her."

Umbreon closed her eyes. "…It's all right. Not your fault. And…it doesn't matter if she's stuck in there, I'm going to get her out of there even if I have to tear Leviathan apart with my bare fangs…er, sword." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Still getting used to this new body."

"You'll get the hang of it eventually," Charizard assured her. "It's a lot like evolution…the new body seems weird at first, but after a while you'll forget what it was ever like to go about without wings…or in your case, walk on four legs. Heh."

"I liked walking on four legs," Umbreon said with a frown.

"And I liked staying on the ground when I was a Charmeleon," Charla said. "But now that I can fly, I never want to remain ground-bound again! No Flying Pokemon would!"

Umbreon grimaced. "I guess I'll take your word for it…I hope Misdreavus doesn't find this new form unappealing."

"If…if she loves you," Shedinja whispered, his body still trembling as he attempted to keep the forces inside him in check. "It won't matter to her what you look like…or so I have heard." He glanced at her. "You have lost a Misdreavus to the forces of Deoxys…just as I have. As such we share an odd rapport…hmm. I shall aid you in your attempts to defeat the Leviathan. I have my own reasons in this, of course…my ghostly kin are trapped in there as well…but I have only recently learned what it is like to lose someone, and for a creature who is unused to emotions, it is a terrible feeling…one that should not be felt in others. And so I will help you. For the sake of your lost love…and my own."

"…Thanks," Umbreon said, blinking. "But, um…no offense, but you're a ghost, and Leviathan eats ghosts, sooo…"

Shedinja chuckled darkly. "Don't worry. I volunteered especially for this. I'm not ready to do my duty just yet…I still need to get the power my brethren have filled me with under control…but when it is ready, the Leviathan will fall. Until then, I will…" He hesitated. He had never had to do something like this before. "I will…need to…_trust_ you…" The words came very slowly and forced from his mandibles, as he had never spoken them before. "To keep me safe until the time is right."

"We will do the best we can," Zaptres promised in its strange, genderless voice. "We are trusting you as well to do what is necessary."

"Hey, what are those?" Aerodactyl noticed, spotting two dark purple Pokemon circling over Leviathan's latest feeding ground.

"Those are the Shadow Lugias we saw earlier!" Charizard realized. "What were they…the resurrected and evil versions of Lugia's wife and kid?"

"Who triumphed over him, it seems, since he was not with us when we were spirited out of the fortress," Zaptres deduced. "What are they up to?"

As they grew closer to the great beast, the two smaller birds' conversation became more audible. "Ahahahaha! Feast, Leviathan! Burn this city and all in it to the ground and send it sinking into the sea!" the female shrieked.

"Hehehe…look, mother! Look at them fleeing! They look like ants from up here!" Silver observed with cruel innocence.

"That's because they are, dearest…ants whose insignificant lives can be snuffed out as easily as our happiness was thanks to your traitorous father! I forgive him, though…he was a weak fool, so could not help but do weak things. What more could we expect from a frail, pathetic heart such as? His spirit, riven by guilt, was barely more filling than James'…but infinitely more satisfying!"

"Do you suppose they will forgive us, mother?" Silver asked, referring to the civilians below, who were subconsciously running from Leviathan in the direction of the gateway in the center of the city but found themselves blocked off when a flick of Leviathan's tail sent a building crashing down before them, crushing many and trapping the rest.

The female smiled evilly. "I don't know, dearest…why don't we go eat the wounded and the dead and ask their souls while we're torturing them? I'm sure Leviathan won't mind if we take a few for ourselves when there's such a bounty of others for her to feast on!"

Silver licked his lips. "Hehehe…yummy! Eating Father only made me hungrier! Let's go, Mommy!"

Like vultures, they began to glide towards the helpless civilians around the collapsed building.

"Uh oh…looks like we've got another problem on our claws," Charizard noted.

Charla nodded. "Right, let's put a stop to them. Will you four be all right without us?"

"We could use your help…but those two need to be stopped too. Go on, we'll manage somehow," Aerodactyl told them.

The two Charizard nodded and began descending after the pair of Shadow Lugia. "We'll be back as soon as we can!" Charla called back to the others. She smirked at her lover. "How long do you think this will take?"

Charizard made a show of thinking. "Hmm, the strongest Charizard in Charicific Valley, if not the world, plus her handsome and rugged boyfriend with his new SHINY wings of light, vs. a pair of Shadow Lugia who managed to defeat the great and powerful Beast of the Sea. Could go either way, but…since the female's not nearly as pretty as you are, and I'm way cuter than the kid, I'd say the odds are in our favor."

She laughed. "Awww, you always say the sweetest things!"

Shedinja fumed and looked away from them, filled with disgust, envy, longing, and sorrow. Why did he have to be surrounded by happy couples? Oh well, at least Umbreon's heart was still bitter from her own loss. He winced and felt a stab of pain from within him, and had to fight to keep the forces within his shell under control. They were getting calmer, but…if he did not maintain constant vigilance, they could tear him apart. And then the Leviathan would be truly unstoppable. "We're here," Zaptres spoke up as they reached the monster, who was too occupied in vacuuming up more souls to notice they had arrived.

"She doesn't see us. Let's get her attention!" Aerodactyl opened his mouth and fired a Hyper Beam, twice as strong as the ones he had generated in the past, at the Leviathan. The golden laser pierced the beast in its midsection and passed right through the other side, striking a collapsed building blocking a road and obliterating it, allowing the prey Leviathan had been feasting on to run for safety.

Annoyed, Leviathan glanced up as the hole in her side was mended, growling at the sight of the pests. Recognizing the scents of Aerodactyl and the Zapdos half of Zaptres, who had escaped her before, as well as an _extremely_ delectable ghost accompanying them, the monster forgot its annoyance and lunged towards them, bellowing with hunger. In a maneuver that was all too familiar to them, the two avians swerved out of the way, evading Leviathan's jaws and flying alongside her body as its serpentine length shot by them.

Umbreon, who was clinging tightly to Aerodactyl's back, clutched Soul Eater in her fist. "This is my stop," she said. "Getting off!" With that, she leaped off the pterodactyl's back and lunged for the giant serpent's body just as the last bit of its tail raced past, digging her wing-shaped sword into its end and anchoring herself before she could fall. She grabbed onto the monster's decayed flesh with her other hand and pulled herself up, clinging tightly to the beast's hide as the Leviathan swayed and slithered through the air. Aerodactyl glided over her, flipping over in a sort of winged salute before rising to join Zaptres in attacking Leviathan's head. "Be careful!" he called out to the former Pokemon.

She nodded, grabbed on tightly to one of the many corpse limbs making up Leviathan's body, and ripped Soul Eater out, driving it back in further up the serpent's length. She pulled herself up and repeated the process, the blade prick too miniscule to garner much attention from Leviathan when she had Aerodactyl and Zaptres distracting her.

"It looks to be a long climb," Shedinja said, appearing beside her.

"I can…grunt handle it," she said, grabbing onto a spike to keep from falling off as the serpent's length flailed from an explosion further up the body.

"…Love must be a very strong driving force. I'm new to this feeling, so tell me…is going to lengths such as this normal?"

"For true love?" Umbreon dug her blade into Leviathan's flesh again. "Hell yes!"

"…I see. Perhaps that, then, is why I am willing to go the lengths that I am to see this thing through. And why I shall try my best to make sure you don't fall," he added, pushing up against her back to keep the new human from falling as Leviathan's tail rolled over and Umbreon suddenly found herself upside down.

"Thank you," she said as the serpent righted itself again and she continued her climb.

"Don't think I'm doing this just for you," he said quickly. "It's for my own protection as well. I'm still not ready to destroy Leviathan, so I need to stay close to you to ensure my well-being."

She smirked. "And you couldn't do that by hiding somewhere else?"

"If I did, there's the risk that one of Deoxys' minions would find me and consume the spirits I contain before they've energized completely."

"And it's not riskier sticking with me, right on the very flesh of the monster that's devoured most of your kind?" Umbreon pointed out.

"…"

"Admit it. You want to help me out, don't you?"

Shedinja huffed. "Curse this heart…it compels me to do things that make no sense…and yet, for whatever reason, I cannot resist it. And it is telling me to stay by your side."

Umbreon rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever makes you feel better." She hooked Soul Eater against a spike and pulled herself up with it. She glanced up to see how much further she had to go.

It was a very long way indeed, and it didn't help that Leviathan kept moving violently.

Oh well. She had known there'd be challenges when she had accepted the job of Chosen, and this was just another one. She had surmounted tough challenges in the past, and would continue to do so now and would survive whatever else might get thrown at her.  
For Misdreavus, and for herself.

…

"Hahahaha! Die, you worthless living bags of shit! Die!" Cerberus roared as it rampaged through the streets of Ever Grande, its stomps shaking the earth, knocking cars over and smashing windows and sculptures and bodies that happened to get in its way.

Its latest prey, a large group of people it had scared out of a mall, were fleeing in terror, screaming their lungs out. Some had already died of heart attacks and were instantly snatched up by the beast, while others had tripped and fallen and the life-greedy fools hadn't even slowed to help them, and so they had been lost to the three-headed beast's jaws. It had devoured them with great relish.

Cerberus roared, shaking the city and the fabric of the universe, causing a portal to open right before the screaming mob, who blindly ran into it. An exit portal opened up several yards above the beast, and Cerberus reared back on its hind legs, three jaws wide open, to catch the helpless weaklings as they fell from the portal. Some of them went into the monster's mouths and had the sad fate of being gruesomely chewed to death, body parts and blood and gore flying as Cerberus messily consumed its snack. The majority of the victims fell to the hard pavement and either died or suffered serious injuries, breaking their limbs or their necks or their skulls, and lay there screaming in pain, sobbing in despair, and desperately crying for help.

No help would come for them. Cerberus eagerly stomped its front feet back on the ground and rolled over, crushing them beneath its weight. "Hahahahahaha!" Cerberus roared joyously. "This is great! The best day of our lives! We're loving this! Ahahahahaha!"

It paused, perking its ears as it heard a small, pitiful sobbing. "Eh? What's this?" Cerberus stomped down the street, towards the sound of the crying, and soon found an injured Pichu pinned underneath a toppled chunk of debris from a nearby burning building. An identical Pichu, its twin no doubt, was desperately trying to push the chunk off her sister. She didn't cry for help, because she didn't think there was anyone to call for, their friends had already abandoned them to make a break for the safety of the gateway in the center of the city. (Cerberus had no way of knowing this, but these two Pichu were actually very distant cousins of the famous Pichu brothers who had played with Pikachu and had a gang of friends in the Big City before Deoxys crashed there and horribly killed everyone there, including said brothers. Karma works in strange ways, does it not?)

Cerberus glanced up the street, noticing that the viral miasma seeping from Deoxys' castle had reached this part of the city. If Cerberus walked away, the virus would infect both Pichu and send their souls screaming to Deoxys, and the free one would then devour its sibling and proceed off to wreak havoc with the other monsters. Then again, to infect such a pathetic and tiny Pokemon seemed like a waste of virii. Why, even infected, a human child with a stick could probably dispatch something this weak.

So, Cerberus would save the virus the trouble and just kill both of the puny rodents. It was in a good mood and felt like it hadn't spilled nearly enough blood that day. Grinning with all three mouths, the abomination stomped lightly over to the Pichu. The trapped one squealed as she saw it, alerting her struggling sister to its presence. "Eeep!" she squeaked.

"Hello," said Cerberus, baring all of its very nasty fangs in a triple grin.

"H-hello," the free Pichu stammered, quivering like a leaf.

"What seems to be the problem here?"

"M-my sister…she's trapped. I-I can't pull her out," the Pichu said.

"Please, go…you can't stay here," the trapped Pichu said weakly. "Those monsters we were running from might tear us apart. Or…or…" She trailed off, not wanting to voice her fear of Cerberus, lest it come true.

But it was going to come true, anyway, so it didn't really matter did it?

"I can't leave you!" the free Pichu cried, tears welling up. "I need you and you need me! We're nothing without each other!"

"How very sad," said Cerberus, not sounding sad at all. "Would you like some assistance?"

The two electric mice stared up in fear and…was that a glimmer of hope? Well, Cerberus would just have to snuff it, wouldn't it? "C-could you?"

"Of course," Cerberus said with as much kindness as it could fake. It reared its heads back, preparing to exhale elemental death.

"STOP!" A huge ball of fire shot out of nowhere and blasted into Cerberus's side, exploding and causing the monster to stumble back in surprise. The Pichu sisters squealed in fright and tried to make themselves appear smaller than they really were.

"What! Who the fuck-" Cerberus broke off, staring in disbelief as Papa, Mama, and Oniichan, all clad in matching armor, charged down the street towards it. "YOU!"

"Yes! Us!" Oniichan snarled, armor crackling as he released a bolt of Thunder at the monster. Cerberus's shoulder crystals glowed and absorbed the charge, redirecting it to the Raikou head, which sent it back out as a ball of high voltage energy. Mama skidded to a halt and exhaled, and the air in front of the beasts froze into a wall of ice which took the blow from the thunder ball and then shattered with a burst of flame from Papa, sending ice shards flying everywhere.

"I thought I sent you to the gap between dimensions…AGAIN!" Cerberus howled in fury, six eyes flashing with rage.

"And dragged you with us!" Mama quipped.

"We will come back to this world as many times as it takes to fulfill our duty to Molly and DESTROY YOU!" Papa roared.

"S-sis! I don't believe it!" the free Pichu squeaked in awe. "It's…it's those legendary Pokemon, here to save us!"

"Just like in Mama's stories," agreed the dumbstruck, pain-stricken trapped Pichu.

"What! You think they're legendary! They're nothing but fakes! Cosplayers! Copyright infringers!" Cerberus snarled. "WE'RE the real deal!"

"Wrong, Cerberus!" Mama said proudly.

Papa nodded. "That's right! We don't lie to ourselves or others about what we are. We've never lied about our nobility so that people wouldn't question our master, who was actually insane, vain, paranoid, and deluded. Therefore Cerberus, the only fake here is _you_!"

"What are you talking about! Not lying! You didn't even admit that you weren't the originals!" Cerberus retorted. "YOU'RE the ones who are lying to yourselves! You're not even Pokemon, just fakes torn from a stupid little girl's imagination and superimposed on your real, HUMAN bodies and brains without your consent, twisting and mutilating you into what you are now, while the three of us CHOSE to turn into this! And how can we be the fakes when WE'RE the original legendary Pokemon! The ones who all those naïve, impossible, and totally false myths, fairytales, and religions were based on! If we don't match any ideal, it's not because we're not good enough, it's that people…people like these worthless Pichu here…create a pedestal too high for any REAL person to stand on! If they didn't hope for pointless miracles or keep dreaming up their stupid and idealistic fantasies about how the world is supposed to be instead of seeing reality for what it is, they wouldn't be let down so much! And we see that reality…something you three stooges don't! So allow me to lay it out for you: you're mindless puppets mutilated without permission by an insane brat with a control complex who thinks just 'cause she's all-powerful she can do anything she wants. Your personalities aren't real, just fakes she crafted so you'd match her naïve ideals and do anything she asked without question. We, on the other hand, _asked_ to become the monsters we are now, asked to lose our souls, for the sake of power. And we got it, it too. Are we puppets? Sure. But at least we know our boss is a pure evil monster who's just as likely to destroy us when he's through then reward us…and we'd STILL rather work for him than for a hypocritical bitch like Molly! Sure, Deoxys lies and warps the truth, but at least he's more honest about who he is than your mistress! Your mistress, who in her own way is as much of a hypocrite and a bitch as old Ho-Oh was!"

The three beasts very nearly attacked at that. "How _dare_ you!" Mama snarled. "How _dare_ you speak of Molly like that!"

Cerberus laughed. "See? You just proved my point! Sure, you were her mom as a human, but you don't hold the slightest resentment for Molly crushing your mind and reshaping your entire personality _because_ _she didn't give you the ability to resent her for it._" It glanced at Oniichan. "And you…why the hell do you love her! You only care for and protect her because she told you too! Before we attacked Greenfield, you didn't even know who the fuck she was! And now you obey her without question. That doesn't even seem _remotely_ fucked-up to you?"

"No," said Oniichan, confused. This was not in his programming!

"Of course you don't. Because you can't! And that's why _we're_ the real thing and _you're_ still fakes. We're evil, soulless, horrible monsters…but at least we know _exactly_ who we are, unlike you three, who only think you do!"

"I have heard enough out of you!" Papa roared. "Mama, Oniichan, attack!" They charged towards Cerberus.

"Heh, okay…and in the meantime, I think I'll finish off these runts here!" Cerberus raised its huge paw, preparing to crush the fear-paralyzed Pichu and her trapped sister.

"No!" Oniichan's form crackled with electricity as his entire body transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot towards Cerberus. The monster's shoulder crystals lit up, and the bolt was redirected into them. Cerberus grinned…and then its eyes bulged as its body convulsed and the crystals sparked.

"Uhhh…why do we think that wasn't the best idea?"

Oniichan, who had converted back into physical matter inside Cerberus, erupted from the monster's side, sending guts and vile bodily organs and fluids flying everywhere, shredding apart Cerberus's left hind leg in the process. The beast howled in pain and toppled over, landing on its uninjured side, thankfully not on top of the Pichu sisters. "Ow…remind us not to do that again…"

Oniichan blinked and shook off the gore covering him, grossing everyone out. "Eww…" grimaced Papa, shielding his face from the viscera.

Mama ran over to the Pichu and shoved the debris off the trapped one. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"No…" the mouse whimpered. "Everything hurts…" Indeed, from the way her limbs bent too many times and the extremely nasty burn on her back, that was easy to tell.

Mama touched her nose to the Pichu's back, using her powers to heal the Electric Pokemon. Within moments, she was as good as new. She got up, blinking in disbelief, and got tackled by her joyful sister. "You're okay!" she squeaked.

"Yes…now you must get out of here!" Mama told them. "It's not safe for you. Head for the center of the city, there's a door there that will take you to a safer place."

"Right!" they chorused. They started to run.

"No, the other way!" Mama said quickly, noticing they had been about to run headlong into the viral fog. They blinked in confusion, then nodded, turned around, and ran past her in the opposite direction.

"Well, that was nice of you," Cerberus growled, getting back on its feet, fully healed already. "Guess we'll have to eat you three instead! We'd like to see how well your regenerative powers work once we rip you to shreds and digest your body parts separately in each of our three stomachs!"

"Wait, if you digest us, couldn't our bodies regenerate in your stomachs?" asked a confused Oniichan.

"No, we meant that we'd tear you up then send _mixed_ bits of each of you into our separate stomachs," Cerberus elaborated. "So that there would be a bit of you in each stomach, but not enough to pull yourself back together. Unless you somehow remain alive (what a horrible experience that would be, though!) and manage to regenerate yourselves from our feces."

Oniichan made a disgusted face. "I really, _really_ hope it doesn't come to that."

"Same here," agreed Cerberus. "Because…come on, that's just gross! We mean, yeah, we're evil, but we've got our limits too! Not like that nut Dark Latios…he'd probably _love_ to go through something's digestive tract…ugh." There was a pause. "Where were we?"

"About to fight us for the third and final time and claim once and for all the title of true legendary beasts?" Papa offered helpfully.

"Huh? Oh, right, that's it. Thanks."

"Your welcome."

"Ahem: All right you rip-offs, let's throw down! One last bout, winner takes all, loser ceases to exist!" Cerberus growled.

"You're on!" Mama snarled.

They lunged at Cerberus, ready to validate their existence in one final, decisive clash.

…

The residents of the apartment building had been slaughtered when the monsters invaded, smashing open their doors, piling into their homes, and killing them en masse. Those who were trainers fought, were overwhelmed when their own Pokemon became infected and turned against them, and then they too joined the ranks of the horrors. (Or were just torn to pieces)

The last few remaining tenants had been pursued to the top of the building, where they were completely and totally trapped. They couldn't even try using Flying Pokemon to get away, because avian monsters were circling the building, just waiting for them to try.

"Graaa!" the former building superintendent slurred from behind his bloody hockey mask, revving up a chainsaw. His monstrous Pokemon team, all infected, revved up their chainsaws too, which the superintendent had given to them all on their birthdays to help illegally chop down wood from the Pokemon preserve outside of town so he could provide cheap heating for the whole building without paying the gas and electric company a dime, and wouldn't get accused of slave labor by forcing an electric Pokemon to generate all the power.

The few remaining tenants screamed. "Ahhhh! "We'regonnadiewe'regonnadiewe'regonnadiiiiieeeee!" one screamed in a Valley Girl accent.

"Don't worry," said the stereotypical heroic guy. "I'll handle this!" Picking up a conveniently placed length of pipe on the ground, he bravely charged the monsters. The ensuing violence and bloodshed and gratuitous use of chainsaws was so gut-wrenchingly horrible that the seven eldest residents immediately died of heart attacks, as did the three younger ones who had been consuming too much steak and triple-layer chocolate over the last twenty years, while others simply went blind, their brains cutting contact with their eyes to block out the X-rated scene.

"Well, there goes that hope," said the requisite fat kid. The requisite black guy would have said something stupid but hilariously funny at that moment if the horror movie formula hadn't already sentenced him to death at the hands of the monsters.

"Wait!" said the requisite unpopular nerd. "There may be a way out! All we have to do is-"

"Nobody cares what you think, just put your unpopular life to use for once and die for us!" screamed the Valley Girl, shoving the nerd forward, which resulted in him meeting the same fate as the stereotypical heroic guy.

"Good thinking, now we can think of a way to save ourselves!" said a faceless random NPC.

"Our Pokemon are already dead…we're useless pathetic humans…so the only thing we can do now…is jump!" the requisite emo Goth said.

"What! But I'll break a nail! And die," said the Valley Girl.

"It'll probably be less painful than what happened to those guys!" said someone else, pointing to the horrible, horrible fate the poor nerd was suffering as the monsters attacked him again and again with chainsaws…_and he was still not dead_.

"It won't be so bad," the Goth said. "Just one jump, a little pain, and then it's over…and our meaningless lives will finally know peace." He had no way of knowing that if they jumped, they'd be sacrificing their souls, which would be shipped directly to the Hell that was Deoxys' heart, where they would suffer torture unimaginably greater than the Goth's miserable life (which in hindsight wasn't that miserable, he just had problems communicating with his parents, had hormonal issues, and had bought in too much to the Goth subculture as a whole and the questionable 'pleasure' of slitting one's own wrists.). Then again, it would be less painful than being hacked apart by the chainsaws…at the beginning, anyway. But the group of teens (the boring adults having already died or joined the ranks of the monsters, thanks to the horror movie formula) had no way of knowing that, so they reluctantly agreed to jump.

And so they did.

Fortunately, before they could go splat on the ground, a swirling wind funnel rose out of nowhere, catching the group of teens in mid-drop. "Wh-what's happening!" one cried.

"Eeek! This'll, like, totally ruin my hair!" the Valley Girl shrieked.

"Maybe," said May the sphinx, flying up to their eye level. "But at least your lives will be safe!"

There were mixed reactions to her appearance. Most went, "Aaahhh, another monster!" Some went, "Oh, cool, a sexy anthro girl! drool" And the Valley Girl said, "Ugh, that bandana totally clashes with your fur."

May sweatdropped at these reactions, but gently reduced her winds to lower them to the ground. "You have to get out of here," she told them. "It's not safe here! Head for the center of the city!"

"Why should we, less beautiful and popular than me freak?" the Valley Girl asked.

May's eye twitched. She growled in frustration and flapped her wings, creating a powerful gust that knocked the teens off their feet and sent them flying down the street in the direction of the city center. She had no way of knowing that on the way they would be ambushed and killed, but that's of no import to our story.

"Okay," she said as her team caught up to her. "Let's go!" She rose into the air with Beautifly as the flying monsters, hideous mutations and fusions of bugs, birds, dragons, and other assorted avian creatures swooped down to meet them. Blaziken, Delcatty, and Ivysaur in the meantime ran in front of the building as all the monsters inside started charging out at them, leaping off the roof and out windows to reach street level, using each other as cushions to land safely as they fell.

"Ugly!" Delcatty yowled in disgust.

Blaziken nodded. "That they are. And it's our job to wipe them out!" She inhaled deeply and released a tremendous blast of fire breath, incinerating a large number of horrors in a straight row instantly. Then, fists blazing, she charged into battle, wading her way into the thick of the enemy mass, punching and kicking and releasing huge fiery explosions which rocked the streets and obliterated over a dozen monsters at a time.

Delcatty used her speed well, dashing all over the place to keep from getting hit. She would slash here, claw there, bite another, and be gone before they could react. Whenever the abomination of a faster Pokemon caught up to her, she would release her Blizzard attack, resulting in a tremendous explosion of ice which froze everything within ten yards and generated huge spikes of ice which impaled anything close to that frozen yard.

Ivysaur wasn't nearly as fast as the other two, but she made do by leapfrogging over the monsters with her vines, shooting them in the ground to propel herself in the air and allowing her to rain paralyzing Stun Spores on the demons, rendering them helpless to a barrage of Razor Leaves which sliced them to pieces. When she landed back on the ground again, she drew on the light emitted from Blaziken's fiery explosions and launched a Solar Beam, fairly weak due to the lack of actual sunlight, but it was still much stronger than a regular beam, thanks to the Mother's blessings. As a result, she annihilated quite a few beasts at a time with a single blast!

As for May and Beautifly, they floated back to back while the avian fiends circled around them, preparing to close in for the kill. May only smirked (Beautifly would have as well, except she didn't have a mouth, just a long proboscis) and both of them began flapping their wings at once, spinning around and around and around and curving the wind around them to form a giant tornado which sucked the helpless monsters in and buffeted them mercilessly as they were carried by the wind flow. Desert sand, generously donated by another wingflap from May, was added to the tornado as the wind speed increased, shredding the flesh off the avians' bones as they were struck by it. Beautifly finished the task by flapping her wings frenziedly and releasing Silver Wind energy blades which got sucked into the wind current along with the sand, slicing through what remained of the monsters and finished them for good.

The tornado dissipated in a blast of wind, scattering sand and silver dust across the street and creating a rather magical spectacle. "Great job, May!" Beautifly chirped. May smirked as she looked down at the rain of sand and dust. She still had it.

Down below, Delcatty stupidly opened her mouth to snap up the dust falling from above, thinking it was snow. Not only was it not snow, but it turned out the dust used for Silver Wind was somewhat toxic, and within seconds she was writhing on the ground in pain, choking as her face turned blue.

Ivysaur sweatdropped and walked over to try and apply some healing pollen from her flower while Blaziken put her face in her hands. "sigh She and Golduck really were a pair, weren't they?"

"Well, look on the bright side," Ivysaur said as she began spilling dust from a leaf into Delcatty's mouth. "If he's dead, that means she can't have his babies, so their stupid genes won't get passed on to the next generation."

"Oh yeah. Guess that is a plus." Blaziken smirked. "Well, who'd have thought that Alpha of all people could be a tool for natural selection?"

"Actually, in his own way Deoxys could be considered a tool of natural selection," Ivysaur mused. "I mean, even if we win a huge percentage of the planet's population will have been wiped out. Whole species of Pokemon could be extinct. We'd have to start evolving all over again, just as humans would have to rebuild their civilizations…and who knows? Maybe we'll become a true part of it. Just imagine how different the world might be in a thousand years, if we manage to survive and rebuild the planet…"

"Assuming we just don't use the wishes those Unown things are supposed to be giving us in exchange for our heroics to just bring everyone back from the dead and make the planet the way it used to be," Blaziken pointed out.

Ivysaur frowned. "Oh yeah, never thought of that. Hmm. Guess that would sort of derail evolution a bit, wouldn't it?"

"Sure would."

"Oh well. Evolution's not _that_ great, anyway. After all, if I evolved I'd get a big boost of power but I'd look like a frog somebody had sat on that happened to have a giant weed growing out of its back, so I guess it's no big loss."

Blaziken rolled her eyes. "Guess not."

…

Venusaur and Draganium were working together. They didn't like it (well, Draganium didn't at any rate, Venusaur was both happy and ashamed to be in her presence but seemed to have a perpetual look of misery and regret on his face, so I suppose that counts too.), but they cooperated. Meaning Draganium allowed Venusaur to be within two yards of her, but didn't look at him or speak to him. She didn't even acknowledge him whenever he saved her from taking a hit by taking out the monsters she hadn't noticed, the ones who had been about to attack her only to be stopped at the last second by a vine or leaf strike from the heartbroken Seed Pokemon.

And that only made sense, because Draganium was heartbroken as well. It was all she could do to keep her new Dragonbreath from incinerating Venusaur instead of the endless horde of evil.

In any case, they were doing very well together, even if they technically weren't fighting 'together'. It took only a single Razor Leaf from either of them to kill an opponent, a Vine Whip to take out a dozen, and an awesome display of Frenzy Plant could take out maybe a hundred at a time. That was good, because they, along with the rest of Ash's Pokemon and Misty's team, who had come to help out, certainly needed such high enemy fatalities, since they were thrown at them in countless unending waves!

"Ha! You call this outnumbered? Pah! Bring em' on!" Crawdaunt cried boldly, firing off Bubblebeam shots from his claws which exploded on impact, devastating the enemy forces.

"Don't get too overconfident," Corsola warned Crawdaunt from on top of her 'pimp's' head. "Even as strong as we are now, we can still be overwhelmed!" Crawdaunt didn't take her words very seriously, mainly because the Hidden Power and Spike Cannon shots she fired at the aerial foes swooping down at them exploded in fireworks which took out maybe a score of enemies at a time.

Gyarados took out about the same every time he unleashed his fire breath as he swooped over the battlefield, projectile attacks from below ricocheting off his hardened scales. However, even he felt the pain when a larger, mutant Gyarados with a Raichu fused to its forehead blasted him with Zap Cannon, sending him smashing into a nearby building and sending electric pain convulsing through his body. That pain ended when Misty flew over and used her new control over water to remove the moisture from the viral Gyarados's body, dehydrating it significantly and allowing her to turn it into dust with a single blow from her new hammer, which she had formed from water molecules in the air. "You all right?" she called to him.

"I am now," Gyarados said as Togetic finished showering him with healing light. "Thanks."

"Your welcome," Togetic said cheerfully. She spread her arms and wings out and sent bolts and feathers of light raining out across the seemingly endless legion of monsters marching towards them, obliterating them in the multitudes.

Oliphan took out the rest, trumpeting loudly as he charged into battle, crushing the abominations beneath his feet and hurling others into buildings with his mighty tusks and trunk, removing them from battle. Politoed danced in the shell canopy on Oliphan's back, using his enhanced cheering powers to boost Oliphan's attack power. The minions of Deoxys didn't stand a chance, especially when Misty finished off whatever remained by calling upon the power of the sea, causing geysers to erupt out of the street and blast the last few bunches of monsters apart…and deteriorating the artificial island's condition further, something which embarrassed her to no end when Togetic pointed it out.

"Oh…well…" she stammered. "It…it's not like anyone's going to be living here again anyway, right? I mean, even if it _doesn't_ sink from all this fighting it's still gonna be pretty trashed…and there might still be pockets of virii all over the place…or something…" She trailed off weakly. "So…um…it might be better to just sink it…so it won't remain an eyesore or anything…right?"

"Wouldn't that cause water pollution?" Oliphan asked in confusion.

"Maybe, but it could also turn into a home for Water Pokemon," Corsola pointed out. "That's what sometimes happens when lots of old cars and other garbage is dumped in the ocean. It can pollute, but if it's clean enough Pokemon and fish can live on it. Sort of like a human-made coral reef."

"And you'd know all about coral reefs," Crawdaunt chuckled. "And I'm learning quite a lot about them too!"

"Really? How?" asked Oliphan.

Crawdaunt started to open his mouth, but Draganium slapped a vine over it. "No disgusting sexual tales from you!" she snapped.

"What!" he complained, wrenching her vine off. "He's old enough now!"

"Old enough for what?" Oliphan asked in confusion.

"Precisely. He's not old enough. Not if he needs to ask," Draganium said triumphantly.

"Old enough for what!" Oliphan complained. "Why are people always not telling me things! Aren't I big enough to know them now?"

Misty placed a hand on her 'son's' giant head. "Dear, you may be bigger and more mature…I think…but you're still only a couple of years old. You're not ready…I think. Maybe I'm messing up age cycles for your species with mine. Whatever. If you really want to know so badly, ask your father."

Oliphan blinked and looked at Ash, who was still a floating iridescent ball of light. "But he can't say anything, he's a disembodied soul!"

Misty smirked. "Precisely!"

Oliphan's ears and trunk drooped. "Awww, moooom…."

Togetic sighed. "If you want to know that badly little brother, I'll tell you. Mom told me a long time ago…" She started whispering it into one of Oliphan's giant ears.

Crawdaunt huffed and crossed his claws over his chest. "I coulda explained it just as well!"

"Yes, and then we'd have a traumatized giant elephant on our hands," Draganium said bitingly. "Like it wasn't bad enough when you traumatized him in the bathroom with your orgy."

"Hey, he's the one who barged in on us!" Crawdaunt defended. "And besides, the boy should know by now not to enter the women's bathroom. It's taboo."

"And yet you were in there," Gyarados pointed out.

Crawdaunt glanced at him as if he were an idiot. "Well of course I was, I couldn't very well have an orgy in the hallway, that would be just rude! And we couldn't use the men's room since Pikachu was having his first time in there, didn't want to interrupt that special moment. Mainly because there'd be less room to squeeze in more babes with them already doing it on the floor."

"And the girl's room smells better anyway," Corsola added.

"Hmm. Too bad _I_ never got the chance to have my first time in a human restroom," Draganium said bitterly, intentionally not looking at Venusaur…directly, anyway. She could see his miserable expression reflected in a nearby miraculously unshattered window, and made her feel just the slightest bit happier knowing that he was suffering just as much as she was. She knew the Mother had told her they needed Venusaur, and she agreed with that…but that didn't make her despise him any less.

"And that's how it works," Togetic finished telling Oliphan.

He blinked, processing everything she had just told him. "So that's it?"

"Yes."

"Huh. Okay." He nodded. "So, can we try it?"

"Huh?"

"This mating thing. Can we try it?"

Togetic facefaulted. "NO!"

"Why not?" he asked, looking confused.

"BECAUSE I'M YOUR SISTER!"

He blinked. "So?"

Everyone facefaulted. "I don't think you explained it to him well enough," Corsola said faintly from where Crawdaunt had fallen on top of her.

"I knew I should have done it," Crawdaunt grunted.

"Oliphan, honey," Misty said gently. "It's really, really wrong to want to do it with your sister."

"Why?"

"Well, would you want to do it with me?" Ash's spirit had grown significantly hotter, and if he could have spoken he would have told Oliphan in no uncertain terms that if his answer to Misty's question was "Yes" the elephant would promptly find himself disowned from the family.

Oliphan thought for a moment. "No…I don't think so."

"And why is that?"

"Um…because you're my mother and only Dad can do that to you?"

More facefaults all around.

Misty, blushing because she hadn't actually _done_ it with Ash yet, got back up. "Well, that…and it's wrong for moral reasons, honey. That's why you can't do it with your sister because, well, she's your sister. And," she added. "If, by some chance, you had a baby…that baby would be both your son and your nephew."

Oliphan blinked. "Oh…that would be confusing."

"And our family's confusing enough as it is. No need to mess it up even further, is there?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Good. I'm glad we had this discussion." Misty glanced at Ash. "And glad you didn't react to this knowledge the same way your father did when he learned about it…although to be fair, he was told by Brock, so a bit of trauma's to be expected." Ash's soul quivered, remembering the horrible nightmares he had suffered after Brock had took him aside one day and said, "Ash, I think it's time for you to learn about the Spearow and the Beedrill…"

"Hey, where am I in this family equation?" a familiar voice taunted from atop a nearby building.

They glanced up to see… "ALPHA!" all cried.

"Hehehe…glad you remember my name! I must have left a big impression on you all…after all, every time we've fought…one or more of your friends died! Hahahahaha!" The huge, winged, monstrous figure of Alpha sat in a crude throne fashioned out of a mountain of still-living bodies, mewling and sobbing weakly from the agony that was their life. "Nice fighting back there…NOT! If you want a real challenge, why don't you try something my size? Heh!" He stood up. "If you losers want a fight…then I'll give you one! If you can catch me, that is!" Before anyone could protest, let alone attack him, he ran away, leaping across rooftops and using his wings to give his jumps extra mileage.

"After him!" Draganium screamed, running after the monster who had murdered Sceptile. Venusaur, miserable and wishing to atone, followed her.

"Hey, wait up!" Crawdaunt said, getting off of Corsola and scurrying after them. "I still owe the guy for that time-delay explosion trick!"

Ash's spirit felt a strange sensation and quickly flew off in pursuit of Alpha. "Wait for me, Dad!" Oliphan trumpeted, stomping after him.

"Didn't even say goodbye," Corsola grunted as she pulled herself out of the indentation she had made in the street by Crawdaunt pressing her into the ground. "Should we follow them?"

"I guess so," Togetic said with a sigh. "They might need our help."

"And our cheering!" Politoed added, clapping his hands together.

Misty nodded. "Right, let's go!"

"Gahahahahahaha! Leaving so soon!" a familiar deranged voice cried out.

Psycho Richie dropped down from a nearby building, landing on top of a wrecked car. "Come on, sexy lady…why chase after that big oaf when you can have a guy like me! Gyahahaha!"

"Because you're totally insane!" Misty yelled as she fired an ice spike from frozen water particles at the maniac, followed by Spike Cannons from Corsola, a Hyper Beam from Gyarados, light blasts from Togetic, and power-up cheers from Politoed.

Richie cackled insanely and backflipped off the car before the attacks struck it and exploded, landing on the side of a building and running up its side for a moment before kicking off and leaping onto the roof of another nearby building. Drawing his huge knife, he howled, "Gahahahaha! Time to killkillkillkill some more! At the Ever Grande retirement home! Betcha those old fogeys will bleed REEEAAAALLLL good! Hehehahahehahehahahe!" Giggling madly, he chaotically bounded away from Misty's group in a direction nowhere near the retirement home.

They sweatdropped. "Well, that was weird." Gyarados commented.

"We should go stop him, shouldn't we?" Corsola said. "You know, before he kills any more people. Did you SEE how much blood was on that knife of his! He's only had it for half an hour!"

Misty nodded and spread her wings, flying onto Gyarados' head. "Right, let's go! He has a head start, and with leaps like that, there's no telling where he'll wind up!"

"What about Dad and the others?" Togetic asked anxiously. "Now that he's a free-floating soul, his chances of being snatched up by one of Deoxys' minions are greater, especially without all of us to protect him."

"…He'll be fine with the others," Misty said, although she didn't sound very certain. "Look, I want to go after him as much as you do…but we all know we can't just let Richie roam free!"

"Yeah, because he's totally crazy," agreed Corsola, hopping into Misty's lap.

"So we'll have to be at our best to beat him," Politoed agreed, climbing onto Gyarados' tail. The Atrocious Pokemon took off. "We'll need a new cheer, one with the power to weaken him…hmm…I'll have to make one up from scratch. This could take a while." He started murmuring to himself, clapping his hands occasionally for rhythm as he tried to find the right tune and words for his new spell-cheer.

Togetic glanced off in the direction the others had went in concern. "Dad…little brother…Aunt Draganium…be careful." Then she flew after her mother.

And somewhere in the distance, Richie howled with glee. His knife was stained with the blood of another victim.

…

This section of the city was totally devastated. The sheer amount of destruction was nothing short of heartbreaking. There were relatively few corpses, as most of the dead had been reanimated by the virus and stalked off to kill or infect their neighbors. Only the most useless or utterly mutilated were left dead. Even so, the amount of blood and severed body parts lying about was staggering.

The last few living were cornered and helpless, trapped in the circle of a seemingly endless sea of things worse than their deepest nightmares. They were the weak, the young, and the elderly, all who were strong having already fallen to the viral horde.

There was no hope left, and the monsters knew it. They _reveled_ in it.

But perhaps…just perhaps…they were wrong.

There was something in the air, faint but growing stronger and louder. It sounded like…a song?

Yes, a song…a song which called up images of peace and tranquility, showing the harmony of nature and life. The terrified survivors calmed as they heard it…while the monsters screamed, clutching their heads in agony, unable to process something so against their nature. They were left paralyzed and vulnerable against this onslaught of song, and so they were completely helpless when the heroes attacked.

A powerful shield sprung into being around the survivors as hundreds of explosive needles rained down from above, showering the undead monsters with a final death. Sadic, her sharp claws sheathed in ice, dashed into the tortured horde from the shadows, leaving a trail of frost in her wake as she eviscerated, slaughtered, decapitated, and sliced the fiends to pieces. Some of the monsters, the cold and the pain distracting them from the agony of the music, managed to recover enough to try and tackle her or attack with acid spit and energy beams. Sadic evaded these assaults by gracefully leaping into the air and spinning about, giving off snowflakes, before exhaling a blast of Sheer Cold which froze the monsters solid in a block of ice about the size of a city block, which she shattered with a cocky snap of her claws against the pavement when she landed, reducing them to powdered snow.

Pikachu, clad in his cape, hat, and sword, was everywhere, using his electric powers and enhanced speed to virtually teleport around the battlefield in bolts of lightning, disintegrating all in his path with high voltage blasts. Dozens at a time fell whenever he took a single swing of his sword, thunderbolts lancing out from it and striking all in range. He finished them off by leaping into the air, cartwheeling as he gathered energy, and drove his sword into the ground, using it to conduct a tremendous amount of electricity into the ground, resulting in an awesome explosion which electrocuted and obliterated whatever poor monsters remained.

Wobbuffet, held tightly in the singing Milotic's coils, nodded and lowered the shield he had projected around the stunned victims…and nearly fell when Milotic gasped and almost lost her grip on him, Rui's voice ringing through their heads. "_Wait…something else is coming!"_

The street shook. Pavement buckled and exploded as a Wurmple emerged from the city's underside, its deep bass roar shaking windows and hurting Pikachu and Sadic's ears. The Wurmple was enormous, at least two hundred feet long, its body covered in a thick segmented carapace with reliefs of skulls and wailing anguished faces pressing out from its surface. Its leg nubs were sharp bony scythes which lashed out at the air. A long, bloodstained horn grew out from the top of its head, before the long crest growing out from the back that went down the Wurmple's backside in a row of flexible spines. Three curved spikes looking like claws grew from the creature's hind end, and its giant blood red eyespots framed the pair of flexing, drooling mandibles in what served for the monster's face. It roared again, looking hungrily down at the survivors below, who screamed in terror.

"Shit," Wobbuffet grunted, reforming the shield just before the Wurmple could melt them into a liquid paste with its acidic Silk Shot. "Milotic, can you stop that thing!"

She tried. "My song's not working!" she cried after a few seconds of song with no effect. "Its senses are too weak for it to hear me properly!"

"Then we'll have to take this thing out the old-fashioned way," Pikachu said, drawing his sword again.

"You mean the _fun_ way," Sadic corrected, her claws gleaming with frost. The duo charged at the monster. Detecting movement with its feeble eyes, the Wurmple bellowed and spat acid silk in their direction. A quick shield from Wobbuffet deflected it, causing it to splatter back on the monster's own hide, causing the Wurmple to screech and flail in agony as some of its armor and a couple of limbs melted.

Cacturne took aim at one of the Wurmple's giant eyespots and fired, burying explosive needles in the side of the monster's head which detonated, the recoil causing it to smash its head into the side of a nearby building. It trembled and bellowed in pain, thrashing about and smashing its tail repeatedly into the street, breaking up the pavement even more and shaking the area. This did not affect Pikachu and Sadic, as they were already racing up the side of the building, straight towards the Wurmple's head. Pikachu's body crackled as a golden aura of electricity formed around it, charging up for a Volt Tackle. His sword in his mouth, Pikachu dashed right into the Wurmple's mouth, timing his charge perfectly with the monster's flailing mandibles. Sadic was right on his heels, not wanting him to get all the fun.

The Wurmple's head shot off the side of the building, wailing and thrashing about as the two Pokemon tore up its insides. The side of its neck bulged and exploded as Pikachu and Sadic shredded their way out, a blast of thunder and ice in their wake tearing the Wurmple's head off its body and causing the whole thing to collapse to the ground with an earth-shaking thud. Icky green blood showered everywhere from the jagged stump.

Pikachu and Sadic landed on Cacturne's rooftop and smirked, high-fiving each other. Wobbuffet sighed in relief and let down the shield…

And sighed in exasperation, raising it once more as the Wurmple's body abruptly rose back up, more blood and gore spilling out as not one but _three_ heads erupted from the stump, flailing and bellowing and screeching as they were born.

The heroes sweatdropped. "It's a _Hydra_ worm?" Cacturne and Milotic cried in disbelief.

"Wow, I'm glad Jessie's Wurmple never did that…" Wobbuffet muttered.

"Don't see that every day," Sadic commented brightly.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "If Crawdaunt were here, he'd be ranting about how clichéd this was…oh well." The three heads turned and spat acid at them. The trio didn't bother moving as Wobbuffet generated a shield to protect them. "Well, guess we better take this thing out."

"Right," agreed Sadic. She took a deep breath and breathed out Sheer Cold at the monster, freezing the three heads solid. Then she generated a very large Shadow Ball and hurled it at the frozen worm, accompanied by explosive needles from Cacturne, a Thunderbolt from Pikachu, and a Hydro Pump from Milotic. The four attacks collided and exploded on impact with the ice sculpture, smashing it and leaving the body a bleeding stump again…

Which rose up as _seven_ new heads sprouted. Wobbuffet hadn't even bothered lowering the shield around the survivors, as he had seen this one coming a mile away. He sighed in exasperation. "Ugh…this is getting ridiculous."

"Sadic, would you mind if I finish this?" said an annoyed Pikachu.

"Sure, go ahead. I was getting bored anyway," the Manyula said amiably.

As Wobbuffet projected shields to protect them from the thing's acidic silk and lasers fired from the horns on the Wurmple's heads, Pikachu fired a lightning bolt into the sky. There was a rumble as it went into the clouds, and moments later it came back down, a hundred times more powerful than before, striking down on Pikachu's sword with an explosion which shattered the rooftop and sent debris flying everywhere. The Wurmple reared back its heads, its weak eyes blinded by the light.

The light faded significantly, revealing Pikachu, Sadic, and Cacturne…all glowing radiantly, their skin having been transmuted to gold, or what looked like it. The power Pikachu had summoned sheathed them in electric armor, with the nice effect of boosting their power as well. Pikachu raised his sword, which had transformed from a Spanish rapier to an awesome-looking broadsword and began gathering power, more lightning bolts flying to the sword from the clouds above.

Cacturne leveled her arms at the giant Wurmple and bombarded it with thousands of needles, the golden spikes imbedding themselves in the monster's hide and carapace, flashing, and exploding in time-delayed blasts which ripped open the beast's flesh and armor and sent blood and gooey internal fluids flying everywhere, thoughtfully deflected from doing any harm by Wobbuffet's shields. Sadic moved in next, leaping into the air and breathing out a blast of frost so cold that not only did it freeze the Wurmple solid from the horns of its heads to the tip of its tail, but also turned a goodly portion of the street and surrounding buildings to ice as well. It would have done more, but once more Wobbuffet's shields contained the cold.

Finally, Pikachu finished his charge, broadsword turning from gold to a blinding white. Taking a running start, he leaped off the top of the building and sailed through the air, pulling back his sword for the final strike. "LUMINAIIIIRE!" he cried, falling into the space between the myriad necks and thrusting his sword into the spot where all of them connected.

The explosion was big, bright, and really damn cool.

"Wow," said Milotic when the light faded and they could see that the space contained between Wobbuffet's shields had been pretty much totally disintegrated, any remaining glass and metal fused together with the pavement in a black heap. There was no sign of the giant Wurmple in any shape or form.

"Yeah," Wobbuffet agreed dully.

They glanced at each other for a long moment. "And our old trainers tried to catch something that could do _that_ with nets!" Milotic said in disbelief.

"Miss Jessie and the others never were the brightest," Wobbuffet agreed, dropping the shields around the civilians.

For a long moment, they stared at the obliteration caused by Pikachu's supercharged Luminaire attack. Then, they began screaming and panicking. Fortunately, Milotic calmed them down through her singing and subliminally suggested that they head to the center of the city, where they would be safe. And so they did.

"Very impressive," said Sadic as she hopped down into the ruins, where a tired but triumphant Pikachu, his fur soaked with sweat leaned against an unrecognizable pile of melted rubble. "Kind of show-offy though, don't you think?"

"You're just…jealous," Pikachu panted, smirking at her. "That your attack wasn't as devastating."

She shrugged. "Eh, I'll take a swift killing strike over a flashy explosion any day. But that's my method. I suppose flash, as an electric Pokemon, is yours."

"You…got it," Pikachu agreed, losing his grip and falling to the ground. "Oof." He grinned up at her. "Don't suppose…you could kiss me…and make it better?"

"Nah," she said, kicking him lightly in the ribs. "You'll never toughen up that way!"

"Ow! You can be…very cruel."

She nodded cheerfully. "My name doesn't mean Sadistic for nothing!"

Milotic arrived soon enough and quickly healed Pikachu, bringing him back to full power within moments. "I'm really glad you're on our side now…or is it the other way around?" Cacturne muttered. "Because I really, _really_ wouldn't have liked fighting you if you were always this powerful."

"Heck, if our trainers had tried fighting him when he was this powerful…and we all know they would have…they might have either died, been in the hospital for life, or just given up and quit permanently," Wobbuffet remarked.

Pikachu sheathed his sword. "It probably would have been a better end to them than what they actually got…" he said, recalling what Meowth had told them in the arctic hell. He shuddered as he remembered the things that had been done to Wobbuffet's sister, and failed to imagine what could possibly be worse than that, because he knew that it had been done to James. Was the pitiful excuse for a thief still alive? Would it perhaps be kinder if he weren't?

His thoughts were interrupted when Rui contacted them again. "_Great job guys, very flashy, we saw the light show from all the way over here…and if you feel like giving a repeat performance, there's another big nasty twelve blocks from you, in our direction. It's getting awfully close to us here at the gateway, and everyone else is too busy fighting or chasing some other bad guy to help out. Can you lend us a hand?"_

"On our way," Pikachu said as the quintet started heading in the same general direction that the people they had just rescued had fled towards. He dearly hoped they didn't run into whatever monster was causing trouble this time, after all the work he and the others had just done to save them from the last one.

…

"Is it just me, or are there more and more monsters this way?" Scyther asked as he lithely dodged a giant spike-tipped tentacle rushing towards his chest, leaped on the tentacle, ran up it, and slashed through the head of the mutant Tentacruel, causing it to splatter acidic jelly all over the place. None of it hit Scyther due to his quick usage of Swords Dance to spin and deflect the jelly from his carapace.

"It's not just you," said the metal Rukario as an immense fireball shot towards him. He ducked and slid under it across the pavement, snapping off the feet of the monsters in his path so that they toppled over and got struck by the fireball instead of him. He flipped onto his feet, punched a monster with each fist, then kicked it into the air, where it struck a swarm of poisonous Jumpluff floating towards him, causing them to pop and shower their incredibly toxic pollen all over the monsters nearby. Rukario jumped and twisted out of the air away from the pollen, punching a mutated Granbull twice in the face the instant he landed, launched a series of rapid side kicks, and kicked the enemy to the ground, splitting the monster's skull open before punting the remains into another enemy group, crushing them. "I've noticed the increase as well!"

Scyther performed a series of concentrated slashes and piercing thrusts, followed by a rapid series of slices, chained to a tornado spin and finishing with a powerful kick which not only decimated fifty monsters but also sent a particularly large mutant Metagross flying back into a damaged building, causing it to collapse and take out another fifty beasts. "Ha! Another hundred kills for me! Let's see you catch up to that, young'un!"

Rukario decapitated a skeletal Marowak with a slicer kick, flew towards an enemy upon landing and caved its chest in with a straight punch, and sent another one flying with a savage uppercut that caused it to collide with another swarm of toxic Jumpluff and release another shower of deadly pollen which wiped out twenty more undead horrors. "Very well!" Flipping out of the way of the raining pollen, he blew a Tyranitar to pieces with a cannonade of metal punches, spun around and fired a powerful energy blast from his metal fists which obliterated about a dozen monsters, then launched another into the air with an uppercut. He immediately leaped up to meet it, his jumps taking him surprisingly high for a Pokemon who for all intents and purposes was made of living metal, and unleashed a thousand spinning kicks which not only devastated his target but wiped out every monster in the air due to energy waves given off by his metal feet, adding fifty new kills to his count. He then plummeted back down to the seething mass of foes below, who welcomed the Mother's knight with open appendages. Avoiding their clutches, he slammed his fist into the ground as he landed, sending out a massive circle of energy that obliterated all the enemies in a radius around him to ashes in a burst of light. "One hundred and twenty."

Scyther made a face before lashing out with his scythes at more inbound foes, sending out energy blades which sliced them into many small, disgusting pieces. "Bah. Show-off."

Registeel shook his…er, upper body in amusement at their antics and called upon his mastery over metal. Many monsters writhed and screamed in agony as the steel sage tore the iron from their bloodstreams and fused it together before him in the form of half a dozen tiny metal spheres. With a flick of his will, the spheres shot out, tearing through armor, flesh, carapaces, and protoplasm like a bullet through tissue paper, ricocheting off of buildings and other monsters like an array of superballs gone mad. Registeel then calmly drew all the monsters with Steel attributes or metal parts towards him, forcibly crushing them together and synthesizing them into a giant iron sphere, which fell to the ground and began rolling down the street, crushing everything before it, as if it were a giant bowling ball or pinball.

Rukario and Scyther quickly hopped out of the way before they could be crushed by the giant ball, and watched speechlessly as it continued rolling, wiping out in mere seconds the same amount of monsters it would have taken them at least a minute (at best) to wipe out.

The ball continued rolling until it was stopped abruptly by the foot of a skyscraper-sized behemoth created from the fused remains of at least a million Rock Pokemon, resulting in a towering monstrosity made of stone veined with what was either blood or magma, and two disproportionately small heads growing from the middle of its very large chest. It roared as it stomped towards them, its footsteps cracking the pavement and threatening to break through it.

Scyther's eyes bulged as the thing came closer, the ground shaking more and more with every footfall. "Holy…er, is there anything against taking that Mother of yours name in vain?"

"Not that I know of," Rukario said, staring up at the giant in disbelief.

"Good. Holy Motherfucker! How're we supposed to take down something that big!"

"Rukario," Registeel said, stretching out a hand. The vulpine had only moments to prepare himself before his metal body stiffened, head tilted upward, back ramrod-straight, arms clamped tightly to his sides. Registeel levitated his apprentice into the air and hurled him with the force of a cruise missile at the giant. Rukario struck the spot between the rock giant's two heads and penetrated its stone skin, drilling straight through the monster's mountainous body and exploding out the other side.

The giant bellowed in surprise and toppled backwards. Scyther braced himself, certain that the shockwave from the giant's fall might very well tear the island apart…and stared in disbelief as the pavement the monster was about to land on tore open as a huge metal pillar, one of the supports keeping the island from sinking into the ocean, shot up and ripped right through the rock giant's body, shattering it into a million stony pieces and pebbles which rained down all over the place. The mantis's jaw dropped.

"Better put that back," Registeel murmured, pressing his hand downward and sending the metal pillar back under the sea, where it shifted a bit to support the island again. "Wouldn't want the city to sink, it's becoming more unstable enough from all this fighting as it is." He walked over to Scyther, whose jaw was still dropping, and Rukario, who had just ran back from where he had landed after being used as a rocket, and said, "That makes an even one thousand. A nice round number, don't you think?" He started walking off down the street. "Now come along, this many monsters—and such powerful ones as that rock giant, at that—indicate we're approaching Deoxys' castle, the source of the plague that's engulfing the city. I can sense the viral miasma thickening all around us. There will be worse creatures to come, I think, but they can and must be surmounted if we are to destroy the castle."

Scyther still gaped. Rukario smirked. "And you said _I_ showed off?" He quickly rushed off to join his master.

Scyther slowly closed his jaw and shook his head in disbelief as he slowly walked after the beings from over a hundred thousand years ago. "I'm getting too old for this." He paused, recalling how old Rukario and Registeel actually were. "On second thought, maybe _I'm_ not old enough."

…

She looked every bit like she was Dark Latios' sister, his twin. She was smaller, more feminine, and looked much more emaciated and weaker than he was, but the resemblance was unmistakable. A much-too thin pear-shaped body was covered in dull black scales which looked as if they were sagging off her hide, the ribs visible—and almost poking through—the belly. Blood was stained across her lower body and chest, crudely painted as if by a kindergartner to form basic lines and swirls, all of them very jagged and screaming of pain despite their simplistic designs. The largest bloodstain on her chest had a right-side up triangle painted from blue internal fluids on it, the hollow center filled with more blood. A large pair of extremely tattered bat wings with bloody tips on the finger bones grew from her back, and a smaller pair grew from her underside in place of legs. The tail was medium-length and tipped with an extremely thick mass of spikes which looked heavy enough to rip the tail from the dragon's body if she were to grow any thinner. Very thin and unarmored limbs grew from her underside, the skin barely hanging onto her bones, but still managing to show off the three curved bloodstained talons, one opposable per hand, on the ends. Her long, thin neck looked as if it were barely able to support her head, which was so shriveled it was little more than a skull with a tissue-thin layer of flesh covering it. Curled ram-horns grew from the back of her head, further increasing its weight. Another hollow right-side up triangle was painted in blood over her face. There were several long, ugly scars across her cranium, looking as if they had been crudely stitched together by crystalline thread that probably lacerated her flesh more than held it together.

Her yellow eyes were…he didn't know what the word for them was. To say they were dead could be considered an insult to the living-impaired. To call them empty failed to emphasize the sheer amount of…of _nothing_ that lay behind them. There was no spark of life, of intelligence, of recognition, of anything at all.

And yet she was Latias. He could feel it. And feel something was very, very wrong with her. "Latias?" he whispered in shock.

She blinked. "Yes," she said. "My name is Latias."

"I…Latias, do you recognize me? Do you know who I am?"

"Yes," she said. Her voice was as empty as her eyes, lacking in any emotion or tone whatsoever.

"Then…then tell me! Who am I!" he said, desperation tinging his voice.

"You are Rayquaza," she said robotically. "My lover and mate in our past lives. You impregnated me with our children. You pined over me both as the Dragon and Ghost Kings. You sent me love letters and chocolate and flowers and an engagement ring and murdered my friends and family and burned my city to the ground when I refused to marry you. You sent ghosts to hunt me down, you kissed me, you promised to kill whoever I was in love with and almost killed Ash as a result, and then you sent me a gift from my brother on Luvdisc Day which I liked very much. It's gone now." She blinked and continued. "Then you took away Missingno and sent Shedinja to give my trainer a spell tag to dispel Mariah Susanson. And you promised me you would meet me on the day of the Hoenn League finals, and this is the day the finals were supposed to be, so you kept your promise, as you usually do." She blinked again. "You are Rayquaza."

Rayquaza's heart ached. "And?"

"And what?"

"And…and what do I mean to you? You remember me, everything I've done, but what _am_ I to you!" he asked frantically. "We are soulmates, Latias! Whatever Dark Latios has done to you or told you, know that much is the truth! I love you and you love me! And that is all you should need to know!"

Latias tilted her head. "Love," she said dully. "L-O-V-E. Love. Wuv." She blinked. "I do not understand."

His heart shattered. "You…you do not understand?"

"No. You love me. I loved you. I do not understand why. You ordered the destruction of my family and city. Why should I love someone who did that?" She shrugged dully. "Then again, I don't understand what love feels like anymore, so maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. It doesn't matter. Either way, I don't love you now. I don't even know how."

"…Latias…"

Dark Latios cackled. "Do you like what I have done with her, brother-in-law? I think she's much more appealing now than she was before…and gives much better sex, as well! Would you like to try? All I have to do is ask, and she will…Hahahahaha!"

Latias blinked at Rayquaza. "Do you want to?"

The horrorstruck Dragon King stammered. "Wh-what?"

"Have sex with me. Isn't that what love is about?" She blinked a few times. "That's the only thing that makes sense to me, from my memories."

Rayquaza was speechless. "What! It's not…love is about more than that!"

"It is?" Latias glanced at Dark Latios.

He shrugged. "I wouldn't know, sister. I can't feel love anymore, either, although I have a slightly better recollection of what it is than you, I think. I suppose the way I treat you could be considered love, then. So I suppose that I do love you." His grin and tone were mocking and sarcastic.

Latias didn't seem to notice. "Oh. Okay. If that's what love is, then could you please drive your claw up my vagina to tear out my ovaries and uterus and drench me in their juices before lighting me on fire? I'm starting to feel numb again."

"Wh-what!" Rayquaza stammered, horrified.

"I do it all the time and worse," Dark Latios said coyly. "Go on, Rayuqaza. You know you want to."

"I most certainly do not!" he snapped. "I refuse to demean or torture Latias in such a manner!"

"Okay then. I guess you don't love me after all. That's okay." Latias attempted to smile, but from her grimace it was clear she didn't understand how. "I'll do it myself."

And she did. Crunching her spine so she could reach that area of her body better, she drove her arm into her vagina, tearing it open as she ripped out her ovaries and uterus and popped them over her head so she was drenched in fluid before Rayquaza could react. Dark Latios cackled and finished by exhaling black Dragonbreath which incinerated Latias and set her on fire, resulting in an agonizing scream of pure burning pain which split Rayquaza's eardrums and caused him to double over in agony, feeling part of the pain through his connection to Latias due to his close proximity to her. "Latias!" Horrified, he quickly performed a Rain Dance to extinguish the flames, hoping he wasn't too late…and watched in disbelief as her hideously burnt skin miraculously grew back, restoring her to the same twisted shadow of herself that Dark Latios had turned her into.

She blinked, looking as if she hadn't just torn out her sexual organs and had her 'brother' set her on fire. "That's better. I'm not numb anymore. Thank you."

Rayquaza gaped. And then he glared at Dark Latios. "What have you done to her?"

Dark Latios grinned and told him. At great length. In excruciating detail. When Rayquaza was finished throwing up, the evil dragon chuckled and said, "But the long of the short of it is…I raped her, tortured her, shattered her and pulled her back together repeatedly, killed her and brought her back like this, and performed lobotomy on her without anesthetic or any real medical expertise, removing several crucial parts of her brain, resulting in the being you see before you. Isn't it wonderful?"

"It most certainly is not!"

Dark Latios pouted. "Awww, I'm sorry you feel that way. Especially since you're responsible for this." With that, he transformed to look like Bianca, no doubt in an attempt to torture Rayquaza psychologically.

Rayquaza stared at him blankly instead. "What? How am I…" He paused. "Oh, I see. This is the part where you try to make me feel guilt by exploiting decisions I've made in the past that, if I had done them differently, MIGHT have resulted in Latias being safe and happy right now."

"Or dead," Dark Latios pointed out.

Rayquaza rolled his eyes. "Or dead. Whatever. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's get this out of the way, then. If I had left Latias alone in Alto Mare and never contacted her, she would have lived a peaceful but unfulfilling life until being summoned by the Unown to stop your father anyway. Had it not been through the hardships I had unintentionally put her through by destroying her city, she would never have met and trained under Mewtwo, so wouldn't have been even nearly as prepared to fight Deoxys as she was now."

"But all that training made no difference," Dark Latios pointed out. "Even with it, she lost to me anyway."

Rayquaza glared at Dark Latios. "So she did. But that training _did_ prepare her to fight in the Hoenn League and get her and her trainer as far as they got. Yes, they may have gotten there anyway. But we can't be certain of that. All we can be certain of is that she never would have met Mewtwo prior to her being Chosen, and might never have learned all the things she did that molded her into a better person. Even if it doesn't seem like that helped her against you, it still made a difference, as did my introducing myself to her in the first place! She remembered, if only peripherally, who I was, and that I loved her, and that she loved me. Because I introduced myself at all, she experienced true love for the first time in her second life…and even if you have destroyed that love, made her forget how it felt, it still happened! And because it happened, _I'm_ here now, in the flesh, instead of a shade of a ghost trapped in the Realm of Mists! None of that might have happened if I hadn't introduced myself to her, if I hadn't flown mad with rage and jealousy and razed her city to the ground and slaughtered her family! Do I feel guilt for it? Yes, but now I see it was necessary! Necessary to make her who she is, or was…and remind me of who I truly am, and make me strong enough to see through your deceit, Dark Latios! It makes no difference if she had never met me in this lifetime, she would have been bound to this fate anyway!" He grinned. "And on that note, I should also point out that if she had never met Mewtwo, she would never have been able to summon him when she really needed it, and by doing so managed to escape the RPGenerator, her mother and Missingno's clutches, and Battle Frontier before your father destroyed it. Those escapes could _never_ have happened if I hadn't forced her into Mewtwo's arms in the first place, so the two could forge a bond! And so, indirectly, by destroying her old life, I enabled her to survive her new one! And for that, I feel NO GUILT WHATSOEVER!"

Dark Latios blinked in surprise, shifting back to his normal body. "…Huh. Wasn't expecting that. Then again…heh. You always were good at seeing through the bullshit, weren't you?"

"One of the benefits of being the true King of the Dragons," Rayquaza growled. "I cannot lie, just as I cannot break a promise. My word is a binding truth. Similarly, I can always tell when someone else is lying, for that very reason. And it is because of this that I know the truth…my actions have hurt Latias, and though she once said she forgave me, I know in my heart it is a wound not easily healed. But that doesn't matter! Deep down, both of us know that if I hadn't done that, she wouldn't have become the strong individual she was always supposed to be, the true Queen of the Dragons! And for that…for that, I only feel pride, not sorrow!"

"True Queen of Dragons?" Dark Latios snorted. "Sister, do you feel like a true Queen of Dragons?"

She blinked vapidly. "I don't know. What is a Queen of Dragons supposed to feel like?"

"See? All that work you did for her was for nothing," the evil dragon sneered.

Rayquaza grinned fiercely. "Wrong! No matter what you have done to her, I promise you that I will correct it and restore her to how she was before, how she is _supposed_ to be! And since I am bound by my word and by the magic of the Dragon King, that means that I _will_ find a way to correct it! By promising to do so, I've turned that into a definite part of the future…which means that even if all else falls, Latias and I will somehow survive, and I will find a way to change her back to who she should be!"

Dark Latios grimaced. "Darn, forgot you could do that. Suppose that's why you never gave your word frivolously…one problem, though. You've made certain you will find a way to fix her…but you never specified how, or when. You have no idea what sacrifices you might have to make for her. Who you might have to kill. Who you yourself might become. All of that, just for love?"

The Dragon King smiled. "Of course. If it weren't love, it wouldn't be worth going to all this trouble, then would it?"

Latias blinked in confusion. "I don't understand," she whined. Or would have whined, if she knew how to.

"You will in time, beloved," Rayquaza assured her. "I promise that you will. And so that, too, shall come to pass."

"Hmmph. There's always a loophole," Dark Latios pointed out, not looking particularly dismayed. "For one thing, if both of you are dead and trapped in Hell, you MAY someday find each other…but not for a really, REALLY long time, and that's in the terms of a place where time itself has no real meaning. Or, if I make you take back your promise…promise not to carry out the previous promise…it negates the future you have fixed and ensure that Latias will remain mine forever."

"And how do you intend to do either of those things?" Rayquaza asked, glaring at Dark Latios. "I know you can't kill me. Another benefit of being King of the Dragons: I cannot be killed by any dragon, Dragon-type or otherwise! And I know that includes you, even if I can only BARELY recognize you as a dragon as you are now!"

Dark Latios chuckled. "I can't kill you, I know…but you'd be amazed at the things a person can live through. And in any event…I don't even need to lift a finger to defeat you, Rayquaza."

"Is that so?"

"It is indeed. Which is why I'm letting Latias do it instead."

Rayquaza started. "Wh-what!"

Latias blinked. "You want me to kill him?"

"No, you can't kill him since you're a dragon too. What I want you to do instead is defeat him. Hurt him as much as possible. Torture him, rip his eyes out, pull his claws out, skin him, rape him, shatter his mind if you can…but you will not be able to kill him. Is that a problem?"

She shrugged. "No. Just wanted to make sure that's what you wanted."

"L-Latias!" Rayquaza cried, appalled.

The dark dragon cackled and spread his wings. "Heheheh…this should be fun. Latias will inflict as much pain as she possibly can…and you can't do a thing to stop her other than defend! Because, even if she's a monster, even if I've twisted her horribly, you can't hurt her in any way…because that would go against your promise to save her! To you, she is still Latias, no matter what her form, and since you love her so dearly, as a result you _cannot lift a claw against her! _Hahahahaha!"

Rayquaza's eyes widened in horror. "N-no. No! This can't be! Latias!"

"Yes?" the twisted dragon asked dully as she floated down towards him.

"Please…you must stop this! Don't do what he commands!"

"Why?"

"Because it's wrong on every level!"

She shrugged. "I don't know what that means. Right and wrong are just words for me."

Dark Latios grinned and ascended, rising to the top of the clock tower to watch the ensuing drama. "Oh, Rayquaza? One more thing. While you were right about it not being your fault that she's like this due to your actions as the Ghost King, it _is_ still your fault because of your dishonorable actions after her death in her last life. Instead of staying strong and trying to move on, you spent all your time moping and let your kingdom go to waste, with the end result of you being sealed away as the Ghost King as well as the end of your reign of peace over nearly a third of the world. And in addition, _because_ you were a ghost, you never had the chance to die properly, so Latias' soul was forced to reenter the time stream to find you again, causing her to be reincarnated and eventually changed into her current state. If you had simply dealt with your grief properly and joined her outside of time, you would both exist in peace together and she would have never had to suffer this fate!"

Rayquaza's eyes widened at this realization, but he didn't have long to agonize over it because it was right then that Latias attacked, thrusting a Dragonclaw at his forehead. He quickly caught it in his arm and tried to restrain her, but she simply bit into her own arm and ripped it off at the elbow, causing Rayquaza to gasp and drop the arm as his own flinched with pain. In moments, a new claw grew to replace Latias' old one, and she released white Dragonbreath in her lover's face. He shielded himself with his arms, the fire washing off his hard green armor. "Latias, please, you can't do this!"

"Why not?" she asked as she used Aerial Ace to teleport into his belly and thrust her Dragonclaw into it, cracking the armor plates and causing Rayquaza to flinch again.

"Because I love you!" he shouted at her, flying away from her, trying to buy time to figure a way out of this.

"I know." She said, eyes glowing as she used Psychic to get a telekinetic grip on the Dragon King and hurl him into a nearby building, denting its façade and causing him to slide to the pavement. "But that doesn't mean anything to me anymore."

…

Deoxys spread his four arms, power radiating from him and twisting the clouds around his body. The crystals on his back and all over his body crackled and sent bolts of energy up the cloud tendrils encircling him, causing the cloud layers above and below the deities to explode in a miles-wide curtain of lightning bolts which raced towards the Mother at the speed of, well, lightning, attracted to her metallic form. She tossed her glaive in the air, the black blade of Guardian diverting the bolts away from her for a moment and giving her the split second she needed to bend time around her, slowing it down and allowing her to rush at Deoxys and strike the crystal in his chest…

And she was surprised when Deoxys moved at the same speed he usually would have, teleporting out of the way of her charge and attacking her from behind. By 'attacking', I mean tremendous laser beams fired from every eye, face, mouth, or orifice on his gigantic body, curving through space to attack the Mother. Letting go of her time dilation, she immediately teleported away, catching Guardian, which had absorbed the electric charge from the millions of lightning bolts, and discharged that electricity in a tremendous wave of power which rent the skies asunder and deflected the laser blasts, which wouldn't let a little thing like teleportation keep them from hitting their target.

Not bothering to wonder how Deoxys had given himself total immunity to her time-warping abilities, the Mother spread her wings and called the clouds and the winds to her, twirling about and unleashing a hurricane of power at Deoxys as he fired more lightning bolts from his trident. The bolts got caught in the hurricane, which grew and rushed towards the giant in an even larger wall of fury. Undaunted, Deoxys teleported above the hurricane, hovering over the eye of the storm, and raised his arms, generating portals which began launching balls of fire the size of a city block at the Mother, using his trident to call down lightning from the clouds above him to give the Mother even less room to evade.

She dispelled the hurricane she had formed and slowed down time again. She knew that Deoxys was unaffected somehow, but she had a good bet that his attacks wouldn't be! Pleased to find this was the case, she spread her wings and darted through the gaps between slow-moving fireballs and lightning bolts, dancing gracefully upward towards Deoxys, her glaive singing its wrath-filled desires. Deoxys responded to this by thrusting his hands out, his arms stretching like taffy to stop her charge with a goodly clawed smack. The Mother's wings folded around her, creating a shield which the claw thrusts scratched off of, unfolding them just as the stretching arms curved away so that her razor feathers cut through the arms, severing them above the wrist. She brought up Guardian in time to deflect Deoxys' giant trident, which had flown at her seemingly of its own volition while its master retracted and regenerated his arms before unleashing another wave of lightning and fireballs, this time throwing in giant slabs of rock he teleported off of the planet below and spinning spheres of energy connected by strands of lightning, many of them joining together to create giant webs of annihilation.

Rather than try running that gauntlet, the Mother simply teleported behind Deoxys. She was not surprised that he had anticipated this, but it still hurt when the tentacles on the back of his monstrous lower body lashed out and pierced her metal body through the arms, legs, wings, and vaginal region while the monster's hooked tail imbedded itself in her back. Deoxys' upper body twisted about to face her, his many eyes and orifices glowing as the crystal in his chest powered up. The Mother slowed time down the instant the city-disintegrating laser blasts fired, whipping her tail over her shoulder and positioning the flower at its end in front of her. The flower glowed and expanded, creating a mirror-like shield which reflected the laser blasts right back at Deoxys, creating a terrible explosion which vaporized the tentacles and sent the Mother flying, ichor dripping from her wounds before the metal surrounding them repaired itself.

She knew that the explosion had more stunned Deoxys than done any real damage, so immediately teleported back in front of the monster to strike at his crystal with Guardian. That had been her idea, anyway, but the instant her glaive stabbed forward four very large crystalline spheres came into being around Deoxys' front, an invisible shield forming between them which repelled her strike before it could even make contact. Deoxys chose that time to revive himself and thrust out with his trident, stabbing her in the chest at the same time he fired lasers from his three main eyes and lightning bolts shot from the crystal spheres, pushing her back and scarring her perfect form.

He summoned several dozen smaller eyeball-shaped crystal orbs as the Mother recovered and opened her mouth, singing a note in the frequency that Mewtwo had been taught, the one that could shatter Deoxys' crystal. The mouth-like cavity the crystal was ensconced in closed the instant the god of evil heard that first note, however, shielding it from the sonic attack. The crystal spheres, however, were not so lucky…but before they shattered, the smaller spheres he had summoned opened fire at the Mother with several thousand little red laser shots, avoided by shielding herself with her wings, but giving Deoxys the opportunity to teleport before her and impale her with his trident the moment she lowered her shield. She impaled him in the chest with her own weapon, aiming for the crystal, but an extra-hard layer of armor and bone was protecting the still-closed cavity and so it skimmed off and just tore out through his back, breaking one of the alien's crystal wings.

The cavity chose that moment to open, at the same time that Deoxys opened his face, and all the mouths and eyes on his upper body began glowing. The Mother acted immediately, firing lasers from her own three blue eyes as well as a gigantic one from the eye on her chest at the same time Deoxys fired his many beams, the lasers colliding and exploding with a force that tore the two apart and buffeted their powerful bodies.

Slowing down time, the Mother telekinetically grabbed the very slowly expanding ball of destruction formed by the laser explosion and hurled it at Deoxys. He caught it in his three free hands and hurled it away for somebody else to deal with, his vision clearing in time for the Mother to bury Guardian through his forehead as time went back to normal and the explosion, well, exploded off in the distance. As she did, though, thousands of lightning bolts struck her from behind, accompanied by laser shots from more crystal orbs summoned by Deoxys, who seemed not to be bothered by the giant glaive sticking through his head. Grunting in pain, the Mother spread her tail-flower out to form a shield for a moment and then wrenched her glaive back out, cutting it sideways so that it severed Deoxys' head.

The body, seemingly unbothered by this, lashed out with its trident and other hands, stabbing her in the chest and pushing her back into the electric and laser storm still firing behind her. Deoxys' head reattached itself, then crossed his arms in front of himself, curled up his body, and charged at the Mother, spinning like a drill with this trident's tip pointing forward. She responded to this by spreading all of her wings, gathering her power to surround herself with a golden glow, and charging forwards as well, holding her glaive forward.

The two gods collided with a terrific thunderclap and explosion which was visible from space, even with the cloud layers surrounding the titans. They both reeled back, recovering from that latest assault, and still preparing for the next one. Deoxys summoned several crystal orbs in front of him while he charged all his many eyes, orifices, and faces, while the Mother gathered her power in her wings, tail flower, and four blue eyes. When both had finished their charges, they raised their weapons, shouting out a battle cry, as lightning bolts shot down all around them. With a flash of light, they fired, the crystal orbs in front of Deoxys forming a ring and shooting lasers into the center, combining with the beam from the face in the mouth of the evil god's monstrous lower body to create a beam with a radius half the size of Ever Grande City, accompanied by the beams fired from all over his body, as well as some fireballs, hand beams, and lightning arcing from his trident just for the hell of it, and the beam from his chest crystal, which was half as big again as the one from his lower body. At the same time, the Mother fired, blue lasers streaking from her eyes, including an especially noteworthy one of incredible size from her chest eye, as well as rainbow-colored beams from her tail flower and four wings and a slash of dark energy from Guardian. The energy blasts collided between the two, power growing as the gods fed their will into them, each seeking to overcome the other. The beams pushed back and forth, from the Mother to Deoxys and back again, struggling for dominance with no clear victor in sight. Nor would there be one, for the clashing energies from the beams, unable to conquer each other, finally gave in and simply exploded, creating a pillar of light which smashed down through the clouds and into the ocean below and shot up through the clouds and into the skies above, vaporizing everything within its reach and creating a tremendous gap in the cloud layers, allowing the sun to shine through for a moment once the energy was finally expended, revealing the giant whirlpool forming below as a result from the several billion gallons of seawater the colliding forces had evaporated. Realizing what the consequences of this could be for Ever Grande, the Mother quickly reinforced the metal pillars supporting the city above the seabed so that it would not be torn apart by the surging current, even if the island city was several miles away from their current location.

"Are you holding back?" Deoxys taunted, looking amused. "Or are you not as powerful as you used to be? You're not hitting as hard as I remember from our last battle!"

"Neither of us are at our full power, Deoxys," the Mother replied. "Me because you slaughtered and enslaved so many that the despair, fear and hatred of the populace have diminished the amount of hope, love, and other positive emotions I needed to reunify…and you because even with all those negative emotions and souls you've stolen, you can never reach your strongest while bits of your crystal are still missing!"

"True, true," Deoxys agreed. "Although I intend to rectify that weakness of mine shortly…but even so, that doesn't explain why you still seem so weak, unless…ah. I see. You fear that your power will harm your Chosen on that little clump of dirt down there. I can sense it from you." He laughed mockingly. "Well then, allow me to do you a favor and remove that annoyance so we can _really_ fight!" He turned to face the tiny dot of Ever Grande far below, charging up his crystal.

"NO!" Right as Deoxys fired, the Mother teleported in front of the giant laser beam, blocking it with Guardian. She struggled for a moment, the superlaser pushing her back…but she persevered, growling as her wings glowed, and slashed out with her glaive, cutting the laser into two halves which shot down towards their target, missing it completely and zapping into the water on either end of the island. The slash from Guardian created an energy wave which shot up towards Deoxys and struck him in the chest, causing him to grunt and float back a little, the tiniest crack visible on his crystal.

"Ahhh…_that's_ more like it. As always, the best way to provoke you is by threatening the ones you love." Laughing, he cut into the air with trident, opening a swirling portal. "Come, then. If you will not fight here, let us find a battleground where you will be less willing to restrain your power. Some place where no annoying life will divert your attention. I know just the place." He floated back into the portal, vanishing. The rift instantly started to close, but the Mother slowed it down with her time dilation and dove in after her nemesis, both of them disappearing from the skies.

…

"Hang on, boy!"

Just before Dakim's scimitar could cleave Wes in two, a familiar-looking Skarmory slammed into the giant's chest with Take Down, causing him to grunt in pain and stagger backwards, almost toppling over. As the Skarmory circled around to strike again, a figure dropped off the steel vulture's back and landed in front of Wes. "Heh, showed up in the nick of time, didn't I?"

Wes and Loreon gaped. "Gonzap!"

"Heheh, who else?" grinned the bald man, wearing his Team Snagem getup. Both of his thick arms were covered in black high-tech gauntlets which looked strangely like Wes's Snag Device. "I happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I'd help out!"

"In the neighborhood? I thought you fled for the Sevii Islands!" Wes protested.

Gonzap sweatdropped. "Well, uh, I kinda did…and found out you might be in trouble, so…you know…I came to see if everything was okay. Not that I was _worried_ about you or anything," he said quickly. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't bite off more'n you can chew…and it looks like you did, don't it?"

Wes could hear Rui's voice laughing in his head. _Don't believe him, Wes. When I contacted him and told him you needed help, you should have seen the look on his face! It was unbelievable! Heheheh. Oh, sorry I couldn't answer you earlier, but that's because I was telling Gonzap where you were. That, and there's about a million things going on at once, and I can only focus on one at a time…sorry._

"…" Wes slowly broke into a smile. "Thanks, Gonzap."

"Heh." The man who had mercilessly trained Wes and made him the person he was now grinned. "Anytime. But enough of this sappy crap, we got some monsters to fight!"

"Yeah…about that…" Wes pointed towards the small army which was marching towards them, swarming around the enraged Dakim's ankles.

Gonzap paled. "Those are all Team Snagem goons, aren't they?"

"Yep."

"The guys who I used just to have one last fight with you and then promptly abandoned."

"Yep."

"Uh…you don't think they hold a grudge, do they?"

"WEEEESSSSSS!" they roared. "GOOOONZAAAAP!" Dakim stomped the ground furiously, squishing some Snagems and shaking the street.

"Guess that answers that question," Loreon murmured.

"Mighty strange Pokemon you got there," Gonzap murmured, furrowing his brow as he stared at Loreon and Enzo. "Eh, whatever. Skarmory! Come on, let's get some action!" The steel vulture shrieked and swooped down at Dakim. The giant bellowed, flinging spit everywhere as it swung its scimitar at the bird. Skarmory easily dodged the clumsy and unwieldy strike, driving his beak into Dakim's left eye and pecking it out. The monster bellowed in pain and reflexively swung its left ham-hand up to swat the bird. Skarmory flew out of the way, and the hand smacked right into Dakim's own face hard, causing his head to snap around, blood and other stuff spewing from his jawless mouth as he stumbled backwards, lost his balance, and fell on his rear, crushing several ex-Snagems beneath his weight.

The remaining Snagems, in the meantime, were charging Wes and Gonzap. The burly ex-leader of Team Snagem grinned and tossed out five Pokeballs. "Electrode! Shiftry! Hariyama! Vileplume! Whiscash! Come on out and fight!" His Pokemon team appeared before him in a flash of light.

"This'll be new," Wes realized. "I don't think we've ever really fought alongside each other before."

"Well, there's a first for everything!" Gonzap grinned. "So let's get this on!"

"Suits me just fine!" Shouting battle cries, all of them charged the oncoming goons as Skarmory flew with them overhead.

…

"Hrraaahhh!" Throwing his weight around, Tyranitar stomped the ground, sending a shockwave racing towards Omega before exploding out of the ground in the form of several pillars of stone. The swordsman, though rather large, was still surprisingly swift, and he demonstrated that speed by dodging, jumping over, and slicing in half those pillars as he bounded towards Tyranitar. The armored lizard growled and spun about, swinging his tail up towards the oncoming swordsman. His tail glowed and split apart, elongating as the spiked end detached from the rest and shot out on a length of energy chain. Omega dodged the swinging Morningstar in midair and sliced one of his blades down on the chain, only for his sword to bounce off the unbreakable connector. Tyranitar retracted his tail and punched the ground as Omega landed right in front of him, causing the pavement beneath the swordsman to crumble and explode in a blast of sand and rock, which would have flung Omega upwards if he hadn't detected the shift in the ground at the last instant and jumped away. "Hold still!" Tyranitar threw a Mega Punch at Omega's face, but the swordsman shifted his head to the side, the displacement of air from the blow breezing across his cheek. He brought his fist up into the Tyranitar's chin, snapping his head up, then drove his other fist into the reptile's chest armor, cracking it and releasing his laser sword at the last minute so that it penetrated the skin. Tyranitar gasped, his eyes widening in pain. Omega withdrew his sword and stepped back as Tyranitar fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding chest. "Ugh…"

Omega shook his head in disgust. "Disappointing. Your mother fell as well, but she fought much better than you. But then again, I suppose that's to be expected…experience can outdo raw, untrained power any day. Your mother would be ashamed."

"Don't…don't talk about my mom like that! You didn't know her! All you did was make her die!" Tyranitar said angrily.

"I did indeed. And now I will finish you off as well." Omega raised his right arm, laser sword out, preparing to execute the son of the only Pokemon who ever gave him a hard fight. "Goodbye."

The arm chopped down…and was caught in mid-swing by a whip which shot out of nowhere. "What!"

"Hold it right there, Senor Omega!" Zoro, mounted on his blazing steed, yanked on his whip, jerking Omega's arm away from Tyranitar and knocking the swordsman off balance. "You're not killing anyone on my watch!"

"Si!" agreed El Gato, drawing his sword as Omega got back to his feet, shaking the whip off his arm. "Only the _vilest de fiends_ would use the memory of someone's madre to make another feel insignificant and weak!"

"Then I suppose that's who I am," Omega grunted, not looking particularly worried by the Mesoamerican team standing before him. "Given my actions in life and after I became this, I don't think that's too much of a stretch."

"What…what are you all doing here?" Tyranitar asked weakly as Rosa sprinkled healing pollen on his wound.

"We're here to help you," the beautiful Roselia told him with a wink. "Senorita Rui contacted us because we were in the neighborhood and let us know you needed a hand."

Tyranitar looked pained. "But…this is my fight. You can't-"

Zoro gracefully hopped off his steed, who reared its front legs, whinnied, and ran off until it was needed again. "Fighting for _venganza_ is the path to a never-ending _odio._ It resolves nothing and only makes you _ma's vengeful_ and _desgraciado._"

"If you wish justice for your madre's death, do not fight Senor Omega with _odio_ in your heart, or you will become just like him!" El Pollo Diablo advised.

"Fight for honor, for justice, for freedom, not for _venganza,_" El Toro chorused.

"Si, such is the way of the luchador!" agreed El Lobo.

"…Okay, I think I understand," said Tyranitar, getting to his feet. "But…I still have to fight!"

"We never said you would not," said Zoro.

"What we _are_ saying is that you do not have to do it _solamente_," finished El Gato.

Tyranitar blinked…and then slowly began to grin. "Not alone…thanks, people who I don't really know."

"Anytime!"

"So you'll all take me, then?" Omega asked, bored. "Hmmph. So be it." He spread his arms out, laser swords extending from his wrists. "I annihilated the last group of heroes and Tyranitar to challenge me! Let's see how well you fools fare!"

Zoro and El Gato stood side by side, swords out as their teammates backed them up. "I think you will find…that we are more than you can handle!" the masked man said.

"Si! You will taste our blades and perish for your crimes, madre-killer!" El Gato agreed.

_This is it,_ Tyranitar thought, clenching his fists as the battle began. _Mom, I'm gonna beat him, for you…and I won't do it alone! With these new friends of mine…whose names I don't actually know…this guy's going down!_

…

Before the Pokerockers was a scene from their worst nightmares.

At first, it looked familiar—hundreds of humans and Pokemon crowding the street, dancing and cheering to the performance of the band on the large stage which had been erected at the other end of the street, forming a mosh pit. If it weren't for the fact that the crowd wasn't cheering for them, this would look normal at first glance.  
The second glance would reveal the true horror. All of the people in the crowd were dancing in perfect synchronized motion, their eyes glassy and staring without really seeing the stage, acting like robots or zombies.

And the stage…that was the true horror. First of all, like the Pokerockers, it appeared to be formed by unfolding a trailer hitched to a cab. However, it was there that the similarity ended. Everything else was like looking into a twisted mirror…

Just like the world's first all-Pokemon rock band, this band had an army of roadies who looked like they could fight as well as they could assist, although these roadies looked like they were a heck of a lot better at dancing than the Pokerocker roadies were. However, these roadies had humans (or what looked like humans) included among their ranks, except that all of them had been horribly mutated. The roadies/dancers all wore large poofy pants stained with copious amounts of blood, and their feet had been fused together into some sort of organic platform shoes. They wore red armor vests with spikes coming out of them and digging into the dancers flesh, had spiked manacles on their wrists, and their heads from the nose and above were completely encased in solid metal cylinders with what looked a lot like a spinal cord dangling from the back. They danced in tune with the music, but their movements suggested they had (barely) more free will than the crowd.

The stage looked like a Goth/disco fusion, with blood, bones, and severed limbs everywhere, booming speakers set in the mouths of real skulls with colored lights flashing in their eye sockets. A polished disco ball hung from the top of the stage, spinning and casting off laser light to compete with the real fog clinging to the stage floor.

And standing on the stage, surrounded by backup dancers/roadies, was Miror B. Or what had once been Miror B, anyway. He was naked, his skin emaciated and rotting with putrefaction, his genitals and extremities shriveled and rather disgusting to look upon. His eyes were still hidden behind his dark lenses, and his smile had turned from white to gold…not because his teeth had become gold, mind you, but because they were extremely yellow from decay. His trademark afro floated behind him, attached to his back by tendrils of coagulated blood, and it bobbed with him as he danced and twisted and sang the same song he had been using in the Emerald Towers lobby, his voice amplified supernaturally and echoed by the skull-speakers and demonic-looking stereos littering the stage. In his hand, instead of a cane, he swung and twirled a strange baton with a Pokeball-shaped sphere at the top from which strange music emanated, mixing in with Miror B's own.

"Holy fuck," said Geodude flatly.

"Great Madre! We have died and gone to _Infierno!_" Lombre screamed. "What form of _mal insidioso_ is this!"

"Miror B's kind," Jigglypuff growled. "And it looks as if somehow, he's convinced the crowd he's actually good! (Though how anyone could possibly believe that is beyond me)"

The second she said that, the music stopped rather abruptly, as did all the dancing. A preternatural chill came over the street, forming goosebumps on the skin of the Pokerockers. "What's that?" Miror B cried. "Did I just hear someone question my talent!"

As one, the entire crowd turned to face the Pokerockers. Another chill ran down their spines as they stared into all those blank eyes and faces. Onix whimpered and tried to hide behind Geodude and his drums. A couple of the roadies wet themselves. Brock crawled under his seat in the cab, or tried to anyway. Jigglypuff was unfazed. "MIROR B!" she yelled, her voice amplified by her microphone through Amp and Meg. "What the FUCK do you think you're doing!"

Miror B snickered. "Well, well, well, if it isn't mah old rivals the Pokerockers! You thought you were so hot when you derailed mah disco in the Emerald Towers! Well, look who's hot now, los-ahs!" He licked his finger and pressed it to his disgusting, rotted skin, making a hiss that was supposed to sound like a sizzle. "See? Ah'm on fire ever since those horrible monsters broke into mah cell at the local penitentiary, raped me, mauled me, and infected me and mah homies to turn us into fab-u-lous monsters! Oh yeah!" He did a little dance, sticking his index finger into the air. "Oh yeah! Nobody can resist me now! Everyone loves mah music! They can't get enough of me! Ain't that right, folks?"

"That's right," the crowd cheered dully, freaking the Pokerockers out again.

"They've gotta be hypnotized! It's the only explanation!" an enraged Swampert realized. "There's no way they'd love his music, especially not with us in town!"

Jigglypuff smirked. "Ha! You don't think I can't see what you're doing?"

Miror B blinked in confusion. "Huh? What're you talking about, you chunky little creampuff?"

Jigglypuff inflated to twenty times her size, terrifying her teammates. "CREAMPUFF! WHO'RE YOU CALLING A CREAMPUFF, YOU OUTDATED, SEXUALLY AMBIGUOUS, _UGLY, PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A MUSICAL PERFORMER-"_

"Ahem," the younger Jigglypuff said, poking her elder.

"WHAT! Oh, right." Jigglypuff deflated.

Miror B's lip quivered. "Ah'm not outdated…"

"Anyway, as I was saying…I see your trick! You've hypnotized this crowd to do your every whim using the power of that Pokerific Musical Baton!"

Miror B gasped. "Yaahhh! How'd you know!"

"You're holding it right there," the younger Jigglypuff pointed out, speaking through her own microphone. "Everyone can see it."

"…Oh, right. Well…yeah, they may only love me because ah hypnotized 'em…" He grinned nefariously. "Buuuut…you should see what else they'll do for me!" He twirled the baton in the air, caught it, and pressed a button on the top. The Pokeball popped open and began playing the song Miror B had been singing earlier, amplified by the speakers so that everyone on the street could hear it. The crowd of hypno-mind slaves instantly stiffened and stood up straight, while the Pokerockers and their entourage were immune due to their rock and roll-damaged eardrums and the special headphones the Mother had given them. "Hey all you Miror B fans out there! Listen up! Ah want you all to walk down the street and _DESTROY THE POKEROCKERS!_" He cackled malevolently as his hated foes gasped and the hypnotized crowd moaned zombie-style and started shuffling over towards the heroes' trailer.

"Aw crud, that's not good!" Onix moaned.

"Hey, relax, we can take them!" Geodude said confidently, raising his guitar.

"No we can't!" Swampert cried, forcing the guitar back down. "They're our fans, or potential fans! If we beat them up, not only will we lose our fanbase and a significant amount of income, but we'll get lawsuits up the wazoo! We'll be finished!"

"Ahhhh, she's right!" Onix sobbed, curling into a rather large ball of stone. "We're doomed either way!"

Swampert sweatdropped. "I didn't say _that_…"

"We may very well be, though," Brock said, peeking out through the window of his cab. "There are too many fans between us and Miror B to attack him without hurting someone else!"

"Yeah, if we destroy the baton Miror B's using, that'll probably shut down his hypno-vibes," Buzz reasoned. "And then we can play a song of our own to snap the crowd out of it and remind them who the _real_ superstars are around here!"

"How will we get to the stage without running down or beating up all those fans and potential lawsuits?" Forretress wondered.

"I shall go," Lombre said, drawing his sword, his cape blowing dramatically in the wind that blew up out of nowhere. "I am agile enough to get through that crowd without harming or being harmed, and my swordsmanship is good enough for me to handle all the _bandidos_ on the other side and the _insulto_ to music everywhere that is Miror B!"

"In the meantime," said Lee. "We roadies will earn our paychecks by holding that mob off!" He turned to his cohorts. "Okay everyone…riot formations!" The soldiers lowered metal visors from their helmets over their faces as clear plastic tower shields and batons appeared in their hands. "Move out!" They quickly hopped out of the trailer and formed up, creating a solid line between their employers and the moaning throng of music zombies. The throng hit the line hard, flailing and clawing to get through, but the roadies held them back…for now, anyway.

"I must go," Lombre said dramatically, turning the brim of his hat as his cape continued blowing. "Prepare everything in my absence! This shall not take long!" He knelt before Swampert and kissed her hand. "I shall return to you, senorita."

The Mud Fish blushed (and the younger Jigglypuff fumed with envy) as the green swordsman leaped off the stage, bounced off the helmet of one of the roadies and made his way through the crowd, using zombie heads and street lamps that hadn't been knocked over by explosions or quakes as stepping-stones on the road to Miror B.

…

The fleeing citizens who had been trapped when the building collapsed during Leviathan's rampage screamed in terror as an ominous shadow passed over them. Well, two ominous shadows really. The shadows of the Shadow Lugias! (Wow, that sounded stupid)

"Hahahaha! Look how they squirm, mother! Like the worms you fed me when I was still an infant!" Silver cried joyously.

"And just like worms, you shall feast on them again, as will I!" his mother said as they circled above the horrified crowd. "Now dearest, circle a few more times, milk the fear to its greatest, and then…STRIKE!" They simultaneously swooped down, mother and child predator about to capture their prey. But before their talons could shed any blood…

A pair of dragons, one orange and the other black with marvelous wings of light, flew down out of nowhere and slammed into the Lugias, knocking them off course and sending them crashing into the collapsed building, crushing it in two and providing a narrow passage for the prospective victims to panic and squeeze through desperately and run for freedom. "Hey, leave them alone!" Charla growled. "There's plenty of other things to eat around here!"

"Like you?" Mama Lugia screeched as she unleashed a dark purple twister from her wings which swelled and thundered as it stormed towards the two dragons.

Charizard spread his wings of light, which began glowing, and flew counter-clockwise around the twister, reversing the wind flow and causing it to dissipate harmlessly. "No," he said with a grin. "She meant that you could eat a KNUCKLE SANDWICH!" He dove towards the mother before she could react and gave her a two-fisted slam to the jaw, sending her reeling and rolling head-over heels over the collapsed building.

"Mama!" Silver screeched, gliding down to her.

"Your mama will be fine when we're through with her," Charla said, grabbing Silver from behind and hurling him towards a building. "And you'll be back with her soon enough!" She spat a Fire Blast at the Lugia.

Mama Lugia's eyes glowed, and a blue Safeguard formed around Silver, shielding him from the flames…though he did get a few bruises smashing into the building. "You dare to harm a child so!"

"Hey, give it a rest, lady…we've got nothing to feel guilty about! The both of you are nothing but evil," Charizard said. "And as such…we feel no qualms about taking you down, especially when you willingly did so to your own husband (or so we assume, since we haven't seen him here)!"

"He was a weakling and a fool!" she hissed. "He abandoned us to Ho-Oh and Deoxys! He failed his duty as a father and a husband!"

"And that justifies doing whatever you did to him?" Charla grabbed the mother from behind and hurled her with the phenomenal strength she had developed smashing and lifting boulders back in Charicific valley. Her and Charizard inhaled deeply and unleashed a twin Overheat on the evil bird.

The Lugia shrieked in pain as the flames washed over her, burning her horribly. Silver shrieked in rage and swooped down from where he had hit the building, firing a powerful vacuum blast at the two Charizard which struck them from the side and sent them flying through the front of a nearby office building, smashing through the windows and tearing up the lobby inside.

"He betrayed us! He murdered us! He never even TRIED to save us!" the female roared, using Recover and unleashing a vacuum blast of her own which devastated the building and caused it to collapse on itself, its dozen or so floors caving in and burying the two Charizard beneath several tons of rubble.

Or so she thought, until the rubble glowed red and exploded from the dragons twin Blast Burn. She shielded herself from the melted debris with a wing and deflected some of it telekinetically with Psychic, and so didn't see Charizard dashing at her with a Take Down until it was too late and she was sent tumbling away, smashing into…yet another building. (Hey, they're fighting on a street. What do you expect?)

"He may have betrayed you," Charizard said. "But you saw just as we did how guilty he looked and felt! He regretted it every second! It haunted him and made him miserable! Didn't he suffer enough!"

"Not nearly!" Silver growled as he hopped about, barely dodging Charla's claw and tail swipes. "He did not suffer as we suffered, in Deoxys' heart! Our souls were tortured and twisted in ways you cannot possibly imagine…and returned to our bodies for the sole purpose of revenge!"

"Vengeance isn't everything. Just look at Charizard," Charla said, giving up on physical blows and finally hitting the little twerp with a Dragon Rage that sent him flying.

"Yeah," Charizard agreed, dodging the female's Shadow Blast and retaliating with several explosive Dragon Rages. "I got wronged too. A crazy-ass Blaziken ripped my wings off, and I nearly committed suicide out of shame. But a good friend helped me see the value of life, that death is the last path to making up for mistakes real or imagined, and helped me get the wings I have now. And I did eventually defeat that Blaziken, though he had become a terrible monster, just as you have! And I didn't do it for revenge, for I really had nothing to avenge…I beat him because I had to, because my friends were counting on me!"

"Then what of us!" the Lugia cried angrily, releasing another Shadow Storm whirlwind. "We have no friends! We have no hope! What is life to we who have already died! Revenge is all we had to look forward to!"

"Yeah, and now it's over! We killed him and his soul is ours! We made him pay for what he did!" Silver agreed, firing a Hydro Pump at Charla. She smirked and released a Flamethrower, the heat from the flames so powerful that it evaporated the water instantly and hit Silver, causing him to scream as his dark skin burned horribly in the fire.

"Silver!" The female started towards her son, but Charizard tackled her and knocked her over.

"Hey, we're not done here!" he said, blasting her in the face with a Dragon Rage. "And if it's over…why are you still serving Deoxys!"

"Because he is our master. We exist at his whim. He made us what we are now and offered us vengeance for the traitor's betrayal," the female said, gathering power. "To go against him is foolishness. What we suffered is only a pittance compared to the deeper levels of his soul, levels we have already banished the traitor to!" She fired a Shadow Blast, which Charizard dodged, and grinned malevolently. "And if you kill us…it is to those levels that we will go automatically!"

Charla, who had been about to crush Silver's skull and finish him off, hesitated, giving him the opportunity to bite her and fly off. "Wh-what!"

The female Lugia cackled. "Our souls are his. If we die, we will be useless to him, and so he will banish us back to Hell to join my husband. If you let us live, we will continue to destroy this city, for that was his whim. And if by some chance you were able to 'open the doors to our hearts'…" She laughed. "Other than a change in color and the loss of a few abilities, it won't do a thing! Our souls have been too twisted by Deoxys! You won't have 'purified' us at all! We'll still be what we are now!"

Recovered from Charla's burn, Silver's eyes flashed as he used Shadow Down on the two dragons, causing them to gasp as they were weakened severely…just in time for them to get hit by the very large Future Sight the female Lugia had summoned moments ago, which exploded and obliterated a good chunk of the street while sending Charizard and Charla flying in opposite directions, slamming into buildings which collapsed on top of them. The Lugias doubted that really finished them off, though, so each fired a Shadow Blast at the respective piles of rubble, causing them to explode in purple flames. The birds cackled…

And gasped in surprise as a section of pavement cracked and exploded, and Charla, carrying Charizard, burst out! "WHAT!" the Lugias screamed.

"Bet you didn't know Charizards could learn Dig, did you?" Charla smirked.

"Although it does wear on the wings a little," Charizard agreed. "Nice try to confuse us back there with all your talk…but if anything, it's only made things clearer for us!"

"Wh-what!" the female Lugia cried in confusion.

"It's simple. Deoxys made you evil. Opening your heart won't change that. Killing you won't change that. In fact, _nothing_ we can do will change that. Even worse, the souls of the people you kill if we let you live will be sent to Hell in your place. So if that's the case, there's nothing really to stop us from killing the two of you and keep you from hurting anyone else, because if we don't, no matter what we do you'll just do it anyway. Am I right?" Charizard said with a grin.

"And in any event," Charla said. "Deoxys is probably going to banish you anyway when there's nothing left to kill, so we don't really see the point in _not_ killing you!"

"…Uh oh," Silver said, eyes shrinking.

The female growled. "Silver, get out of here!" The child Lugia nodded and quickly started to fly away.

"Oh no you don't!" Charla used Agility and Aerial Ace to outfly Silver and get in front of him. "It's over!" She unleashed a full-power Fire Blast on the little Shadow Lugia, causing him to shriek in agony as his body disintegrated in flakes of char and purple dust.

The female's eyes bulged. "SILVER!" Her eyes glowed a terrible red as her fury grew. "DIIIIIEEEEE!" Psychic forces erupted all around her, devastating the street and reducing nearby buildings to rubble as she took off and shot towards Charla, bloodlust clear in her gaze.

Undaunted, Charla reared back her fist and punched the Lugia right in the jaw, cracking her knuckles but also shattering the evil bird's mouth, causing her to reel back, a stunned look on her face.

Charizard grabbed the Lugia from behind, wrapping his arms as best he could around the larger bird's waist. "All right, time to finish this off!" He spread his wings, which began to glow as he looped into the air and started flying in circles, moving faster and faster as he corkscrewed and twisted about, using an aerial Submission to batter the evil Lugia with G-force and keep her stunned. When he reached maximum velocity, his radiant wings glowing so brightly that his circular motions created a glorious halo in the sky, Charizard soared to the peak of his circuit, flipped in the air, and HURLED the Lugia straight towards the ground. She howled shrilly as she shot towards the pavement, slamming into it hard enough to shake the island (and weaken its artificial stability even MORE, I might add) and creating a deep crater from impact.

Beaten and defeated, her wings broken from impact, she stared up weakly, her eyes having trouble focusing…and screamed as she saw Charla and Charizard hovering in the sky above her, the female glowing a bright crimson while the male's wings were shining almost as brightly as the sun. "NOOOOOO-"

The two dragons opened their mouths as red, white and gold fire erupted from their throats, mixing together to create a tremendous fire dragon which raced down towards the terrified Lugia, mouth open in a silent roar.

The Blast Burn dragon struck and exploded rather impressively. It probably would have been more impressive if there weren't similar explosions happening periodically all over the island thanks to the awesome powers of the other Chosen…but it was still pretty neat.

"Wow," said Charizard, staring in amazement at the desolation they had just wrought. "That was…wow."

Charla nodded. "I knew that when we combined our power, great things could happen…but this is still more than I expected!"

Charizard smirked. "Heh, just like when we conceived our first kid, huh?"

She nodded. "Yeah…" She hesitated. "Charizard?"

"Yeah?"

"That Lugia…she was evil, but…she cared for her son. Did we…do the wrong thing?"

Charizard considered for a moment. "No, I don't think so. She said herself we couldn't save her. So…we did what we could. That's it."

"And we sentenced her to a worse fate," Charla pointed out.

He shrugged. "Better her than those people she was gonna eat, don't you think?"

"I suppose."

"Besides, when we defeat Deoxys, the souls he's collected are supposed to be released, I think. Maybe we can wish them back to normal or something," the dragon pointed out.

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to wish back our first child."

He shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Maybe he's happier over there. Maybe his spirit's already come back in the form of the kid growing in your belly. Or maybe we should just quit worrying about it. Somebody else might make a wish for the Lugias and everyone else. If not, we can do it. There's more to this than just us, after all."

"…Heh. Good point." Charla nodded. "Okay then. Thanks for setting me straight. Now…let's go help the others with Leviathan!"

"Sounds good to me!" Charizard cracked his knuckles. "That last fight was too easy, especially after Infernatrice! We need a real challenge!"

"Stop cracking your knuckles, that's a disgusting habit," she lectured sternly.

"Sorry dear."

…

Zaptres opened its beak and gave a stereo shriek as it unleashed a column of flame with bolts of lightning crackling around its length in what the fusion bird fondly nicknamed its 'Thunderflash attack'. Aerodactyl joined in, firing a Hyper Beam from his mouth which swept along the serpent's length, causing a series of explosions and resulting in the monster going into convulsions.

Zaptres whacked its friend's head with a flaming spiky wing. "Careful," it admonished. "Umbreon's on there, remember! Do you want to shake her off?"

Aerodactyl sweatdropped. "Oh, sorry."

Leviathan twitched, her wounds mending, and roared, lunging at the two avians, her jaws brimming with dark fire. Zaptres spread its wings and dove into the serpent's mouth in a Drill Beak, flame and electricity crackling around it to form a blazing tornado as Aerodactyl swerved out of the way, his talons dropping energy bombs into Leviathan's mouth which exploded on contact and obliterated her tongue and many teeth, even driving a few into her brain. Zaptres, in the meantime, drilled its way out of Leviathan's throat further down her neck, creating a huge rupture and showering dead flesh, foul-smelling liquids, and assorted body parts everywhere…including onto Umbreon.

"HEY!" she shouted, clutching a bone spike and waving Soul Eater at Zaptres furiously, covered from head to toe in gore. "WATCH IT!"

"Sorry!" the bird cried, while Aerodactyl gave it a knowing look. "Guess this is what they call irony…"

"I told you to hide more carefully behind that spike," Shedinja intoned, looking bored. "But you didn't listen, did you?"

"Shut up," she grumbled, half-heartedly stabbing the insect with Soul Eater. Unsurprisingly, it bounced off Shedinja's impenetrable shell with a metallic clang. She sighed, closed her eyes, and focused, causing a dark aura to erupt around her and vaporize the gore.

"I suppose that's one way to get clean," Shedinja observed. "And now that you're a human, it's faster than taking showers."

Muttering under her breath, Umbreon gripped onto the spike as Leviathan twisted and coiled chaotically thanks to the two idiots attacking her who seemed incapable of remembering that she was RIDING the damn thing, and almost lost her grip when Shedinja floated in front of her from out of nowhere. "Stop. Stay behind that spike. There are still spirits out mending the wound made by Zaptres' egress."

"Oh. Thanks." Clutching the spike and digging her sword into Leviathan's flesh to anchor her, Umbreon peered carefully over the edge of the bone and watched as the gaping hole Zaptres had made slowly closed up as pale, transparent Ghost Pokemon mended the rift, growing fainter and fainter as they expelled energy for their mistress and enslaver to heal. The humanized Pokemon's eyes widened as she recognized one of the pitiable spirits. "Misdre-"

Shedinja rammed into her head before she could finish her sentence, almost losing her grip and biting her tongue off as a result. "Be silent," he said very quietly. "Be still. Do not say a word. Do not draw their attention."

"But-"

"Quiet. You wish to call out to her? You wish to save her?" Shedinja shook his head. "The moment you got her attention, Leviathan would be aware of your presence and would squash you like the flea you are. Misdreavus would tell her that you are here."

"But she wouldn't do that!" Umbreon hissed.

"The Misdreavus you know wouldn't. But this one has no choice. She is Leviathan's slave, her soul buried deep within the belly of the beast, under layers of death and suffering. As long as that soul is buried, she has no will of her own, she is a shade resurrected to serve Leviathan's every whim. As long as that soul is buried, any attempt you make to rescue Misdreavus will fail."

It was all Umbreon could do to keep from screaming in frustration. "Then what is this power of mine good for! If it can't save Misdreavus on its own, what good is it!"

"It is here to protect me," Shedinja told her. "Because I am the only one who can destroy Leviathan, and the time for that has not yet come." He glanced away from Umbreon, seeing that the wound in Leviathan's side had been fully repaired and the spirit slaves were sinking through the serpent's dead flesh to their prisons inside her body. "They are gone. Now we may proceed. Be on your guard though, for the higher we climb the closer we come to the battle…and the closer we come to the wounds and the spirits that heal them. Sooner or later, Leviathan will realize we're here. That is a definite, not a maybe. And when she knows we're here, and that I am a ghost brimming with delectable ectoplasm for her to consume, I will be relying on you and your power to protect me until the time has come for me to play my part. Can I count on you, Umbreon?"

"…Yes," she said reluctantly after a long, long moment.

"Good. Let's go." Shedinja floated away.

"…" Umbreon glanced at the spot where her beloved had vanished. "Misdreavus…" Her grip around Soul Eater tightened. "…This isn't over." A determined expression on her face, she continued after the former general of the ghost army.

…

"Raaaahhh!" Cerberus, who had leaped into the air, crashed back down to earth, cracking the pavement and unleashing a triple shockwave of fire, ice, and lightning bolts in every direction. Mama, Papa, and Oniichan leaped over the waves, tackling Cerberus and knocking it to the ground, clawing and biting at it. The monster's giant tail lashed out once, twice, three times, stabbing each of the armored beasts and yanking them off the three-headed monster's body, flinging them into the air as Cerberus opened its jaws and spewed dozens of balls of fire, ice, and lightning at its foes. They dodged in midair, and when they landed, lashed out with elemental beams generated from their armor. Cerberus's shoulder crystals glowed, absorbing the beams…but instead of storing them up, which had been its mistake the last time, the hellhound lowered its heads to the ground and vomited up the energy, creating animate pools of lava, subzero water, and liquid electricity which instantly homed in on their respective targets. The beasts broke off their beam attacks and instantly tried to dodged and avoid the pools, but they moved surprisingly fast and continued dogging the beasts until, so caught up in their respective chases they didn't notice each other, they slammed into each other and could do nothing as the pools finally caught up.

Or so Cerberus thought. As each pool slid under the beasts and exploded in elemental energy, the copy beasts protected themselves with auras of their own respective elements. Papa exploded into fire to evaporate the flow of supercold water, Mama shielded herself in an iceberg to short out the electricity, and Oniichan radiated static to repel the flames.

Undaunted, Cerberus bellowed its triple roar, tearing through the fabric of reality and creating a slew of portals all over the area. The beast grinned and dashed towards the nearest portal…and was stopped dead in its tracks when a Fire Blast, which Papa had just fired into a seemingly random portal, burst out and struck it right in the face. "Wh-what!"

Oniichan roared and fired a Zap Cannon into another portal. The beam of electricity shot out of a different portal and struck Cerberus in the rear, causing it to yelp and trip over, right as an Ice Beam from Mama lanced down from a portal right above and struck Cerberus in the back. "Graaaahhh!" It staggered to its feet. "How…how did you…"

"You can control where those portals lead to, Cerberus," Papa said. "But only when you're INSIDE them! They remain fixed when you're in the same world as we are!"

Cerberus growled, enraged that they had discovered its secret, though it couldn't help being impressed and worried that they had somehow figured it out. "Yeah…so we guess we'll just have to leave this world, won't we? Yoink!" He quickly leaped into a portal. "Good luck catching us now, suckers!"

The three beasts bared their fangs in a fierce grin. "Very well then. Let us show you JUST what the Mother has given us!" Oniichan boasted. Glowing with their respective elements, they charged into the nearest portal.

For a moment, there was nothing. And then…the portals quivered. There were the sounds of surprised roars and agonized screams. Explosions rang out, the flash and material from the blasts bursting out of the gateways. One of the portals warped and folded in on itself, spewing out Cerberus before it and every other portal caved in and disappeared.

The three-headed beast was writhing in pain, energy crackling all over its body, its shoulder crystals rapidly flashing from red, to blue, to yellow, and back again, growing brighter and faster and stronger until finally…they exploded, almost blasting off Cerberus's forelegs. Things were made worse when the beast's sides and back exploded as well and Mama, Papa, and Oniichan leaped out, shimmering with energy and looking resplendent in their shining armor, while the ruptured Cerberus collapsed to the ground weakly, blood and organs and other stuff gushing out of its giant wounds. The beast's three heads weakly looked up at their rivals in disbelief. "H-how? How did…how did you…"

"There is no place in this world or any other," Papa told him. "Where you can escape from us, Cerberus."

"But…but how can this be happening! We're the originals! You're…you're just copies! You're barely even real!"

Mama spoke with surprising calm. "You were right before, Cerberus... we didn't choose this, in truth none of us would have... but life is like that." The three beasts each began to glow almost blindingly with their respective elements. "You make due with what's put in front of you. And here's a hint, monster! Molly restored the memories of our past selves when she healed us! We're here because we CHOSE to help save the world!" The Mother wouldn't have tolerated it any other way.

Red, blue, and yellow lit up. They attacked as one.

In the park…

The two Pichu girls turned around just before they ran into the pillar of light, feeling a strange tremor in the earth. Off in the distance, they saw a fading high-rise of elemental power twisting about, hearing the final triple death cry of a monster, and three after-images vanishing into the maelstrom in the sky above.

"They did it... they won," the younger sister exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

The older one nodded sadly, realizing what the price of that victory was. She was crying too. "Yeah...They did." They entered the gateway.

…

"Have fun now! Thank you for coming! Buh-bye!" Delia said to the group entering the light, waving as they vanished. "They seemed rather nice for people fleeing for their lives. Where do you suppose that thing heads, anyway?"

May shook her feline head. "I don't know, Mrs. Ketchum. Guess we'll have to see for ourselves, won't we?"

"I suppose so. Thank you for escorting that last group all the way over here, you didn't really have to do that."

May laughed embarrassedly. "Well…I kinda did, actually. There were a _lot_ of monsters all of a sudden, and they really didn't want to let that group live…so we had to guard them all the way over here. Pretty tough battle. We'll need a short break before we head on back out," the sphinx said, glancing at her exhausted team, who was trying to rest a short distance away.

Delia nodded. "I think we'll be all right in the meantime, according to Rui our other teams are all doing fine for the most part, and there have been less giant explosions lately, which is probably a good sign." There was a tremendous flash of light in the distance, and a great rumble as the island shook beneath their feet. "Whoops, there's one now. Silly me."

"And how's Max?" May asked, her tone anxious and a little worried.

Delia hesitated. "He's…still rather unresponsive. I can't seem to make him talk or do much of anything. The Mother said I could help him, but…" She shrugged. "You're his sister. Maybe you could do something?"

May nodded. "I'll try." She walked over to Max, who was curled up into a ball under a tree nearby, as if hiding from everyone. "Hey, Max! How are you doing?"

There was no response. Unsurprised, May crouched down next to him. He turned away from her, refusing to look her in the eye. Frowning, but taking this all in good measure, May tried to talk to him.

"Max. When I saw...Dad die...I remembered something I wasn't meant to remember. In another place, with us performing different yet similar roles. And after every Dad told us that there was nothing, to see him die, and to _remember_ the proof that he had been dead wrong...if Ivysaur hadn't saved me, I'd have taken the path of the coward."

"You? Or May?" Max asked this thing created using his sister as raw material, his voice rough from disuse.

May smiled; glad she had at least gotten Max to talk, even if he still wasn't looking at her. "Don't confuse evolution with personality death brother. Pokemon are still themselves regardless if they evolve and their name changes."

"Humans don't change like that."

She smirked. "If you say so Maxie."

She had expected that to draw him out, for him to indignantly protest that she shouldn't call him that because it was a kid's name.

She was wrong.

Instead, he slowly turned to face her, his eyes staring at her for several seconds without blinking. May found herself unnerved and a little creeped out.

"My sister is dead," he said finally in a dull voice. "She died jumping out a window. It doesn't matter if Ivysaur caught her before she could hit the ground, she's still dead." He turned away from her. "You're not her."

May just sat there, staring at him for a long time, not sure whether to laugh or cry or scream. Finally, she got to her feet and walked back to her Pokemon team. "Come on. We're going. There are more people out there to save and more monsters to kill."

Her friends glanced at each other, shrugged, and got back to their feet, following May out of the park. The sphinx could feel Delia's disappointed and pitying eyes on her back, and Rui's faint probing presence in her brain. She blocked them off, just as she blocked off any attempt to break down in tears, fall to the ground, and stay there, no matter what happened.

Why, after everything else it had done, did fate remain so cruel?

…

It had been a long chase, but they had finally caught up to him. Or perhaps he had gotten bored and decided to end the chase, it didn't matter. Either way, Alpha had stopped and landed in a plaza before some big fancy building, and Ash's team got ready for a fight.

"So, guess you're all ready for round 2?" the mutant boasted, posing and showing off his muscles. "Fine, just don't be surprised if I kill another one of you losers."

"We're the only ones doing the killing here," Crawdaunt taunted, snapping his pincers. "Of course, it's debatable whether destroying you counts as killing, considering you're barely even a real person!"

"Not real? Ha! My power's the realest thing there is!" Alpha boasted, his fingers crackling with electricity. "You don't believe that, fine! I'll just have to show you myself!"

"You're going to pay for throwing Sceptile to a fiery death, you asshole!" Draganium said angrily, causing Venusaur to flinch again.

"Yeah, as if!" Alpha beckoned them mockingly. "Come and get me!"

Ash's soul watched anxiously from the sidelines as the battle joined. Trumpeting loudly, Oliphan charged Alpha at full steam, like an unstoppable freight train…which was stopped in its tracks when Alpha cried out, "POWER MODE!" his wrist device flashed, and Alpha grabbed Oliphan by the tusks, lifted him into the air with a grunt, and hurled him into the building behind him, causing it to collapse right on top of the elephant. "Ha!"

"OLIPHAN!" Draganium cried in horror. Enraged at the possible loss of her nephew, she released her Dragonbreath, sending a green jet of flame at Alpha.

"Shield Mode!" A crackling sphere of electricity formed around the evil Ranger, protecting him from the flames…but not from the Frenzy Plant roots which erupted from the ground beneath his feet, breaking his shield and sending him flying in surprise.

"Time for some target practice!" Crawdaunt opened his pincers and started firing explosive Bubblebeam shots at Alpha. Draganium and Venusaur joined in with Razor Leaves.

Seeing all the projectiles heading for him, Alpha spread his wings to slow his descent and caused his wrist device to glow. "Split Mode!" His body projected several dozen explosive clones of himself before him, right into the projectile swarm, blowing up on contact and throwing up a cloud of smoke over the battle.

"I can't see him!" Venusaur cried in alarm. More for her own benefit than his, Draganium flapped her leaf wings to blow the smoke away, mildly surprised when she started to lift off the ground in the process (she had never expected to fly) and was startled when Alpha appeared out of nowhere and punched her square in the face, causing her head to snap back as she was knocked out of the air and hit the ground, skidding across the pavement until she slammed into a street sign.

"DRAGANIUM!" Venusaur roared in fury. He used Frenzy Plant on Alpha, causing hundreds of thorny roots to erupt underneath the evil Ranger's feet as he landed from his assault on Draganium, sending him flying right into Crawdaunt's punch. And since Crawdaunt was now half as big as Alpha was, his punch was that much stronger, and cracked the evil Ranger's chest armor as he was sent hurtling into a nearby building, denting it.

"Ugh…Split Mode!" he called as he slid to the ground, sending dozens of explosive clones shooting towards Venusaur and Crawdaunt. The Seed Pokemon deflected them by knocking them away with his Vine Whips and shooting Razor Leaves to detonate them before they could reach him, while Crawdaunt simply steamrolled forwards right towards the grounded Ranger, his armor so thick now the explosions felt like little more than pebbles against his body. Seeing this, Alpha cut off the flow of clones and charged towards Crawdaunt, rearing his fist back. "Power Mode!"

"Oh, so that's how it is. Well, if you insist!" Crawdaunt cried, pulling back his pincer as he prepared a Crabhammer.

The two lashed out at the same time, each of their punches connecting, Crawdaunt's smashing into Alpha's jaw and twisting his head back, his visor and faceplate cracked, while Alpha's punch hit Crawdaunt right in the face, causing ­_his_ head and body to twist back, his armor slightly cracked and crackling with electricity from the blow.

"Unh…"

"Ugh…"

"Ow," both of them said at the same time before stumbling back.

It was then, as Draganium managed to recover herself (and rudely shove away Venusaur, who had been hovering over her) that Oliphan erupted from the rubble of the nearby building, battered but furious for his easy defeat only moments ago. His trunk trumpeted furiously as he charged towards Alpha at full speed. Startled, it was all Alpha could do to bring his shield up before Oliphan slammed into him, sending the evil Ranger flying, shield and all. He smashed into a building and fell to the ground, stunned and helpless.

"This is our chance!" Venusaur fired a Razor Leaf at Alpha's wrist device, which he had deduced to be the source of Alpha's power. The leaf struck and destroyed the device before Alpha could do anything, causing it to explode in a shower of purple sparks.

"Ah, FUCK!" he cried in horror.

"Hey, nice going!" Crawdaunt grunted, getting to his feet. "Guess you have your uses after all-"

"Dream on, you idiots!" Alpha roared, getting to his feet, purple electricity writhing all across his trembling body. "That wasn't the source of my power, that was my power MODULATOR! It allowed me to regulate the energy in my body in whatever form I chose, now it's totally out of control, there's no telling what'll happen!"

"Nice going," Draganium told Alpha coldly. His flower wilted. He had only wanted to impress her…

"Maybe you'll explode?" Oliphan asked hopefully.

"Somehow-" Alpha grunted as his body began vibrating rapidly and radiating more and more static. "I don't THINK SO!" Going into Speed Mode without willing it, he raced across the plaza in a bolt of purple lightning, leaping up to Oliphan's eye level and pummeling him with several thousand high-speed punches in the space between seconds, nearly cracking the elephan'ts skull open and sending him toppling to the ground in pain, shaking the ground with his fall.

Dropping back down, Alpha zigzagged erratically as purple static rolled off his body, barely able to control his own movements. Draganium and Venusaur tried to hit him with their vines, leaves, frenzy roots, and even some Leech Seeds and Dragonbreath, but it was no good, Alpha was moving far too chaotically, and when he finally stopped speeding the electricity around him formed a sphere, trapping him in his own shield. He frantically pounded against it, trying to get out, but was helpless to stop Crawdaunt from smashing through the shield with Brick Break and giving him a good one to the kisser, cracking his helmet more and sending him flying…and also giving Crawdaunt a nasty jolt. "Ow!" he yelped, waving his pincer. "Nasty sucker, isn't he?"

Venusaur and Draganium shot out their vines at the flying Alpha at the same time, both of them intending to grab him to ground his electricity and then pile-drive him into the pavement, but because both of them had sent their vines out at the same time, the whips got tangled up and stopped dead before even reaching Alpha, hopelessly ensnared.

"Hey, let go!" Draganium snapped.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Venusaur cried, tugging on his vines and almost pulling Draganium off her feet.

"Ow! Dammit, stop!" she yelled, losing her temper and blasting him in the face with her Dragonbreath, which had the instant effect of causing him to yank his vines loose and also gave her a momentary feeling of satisfaction as she charred his ugly blue features.

Alpha had recovered (in a sense) and was growing more and more chaotic as he zigzagged about, unintentionally dodging Oliphan and Crawdaunt's attacks. Abruptly, he stopped, clutched his head in pain, and screamed as a tremendous explosion of purple lightning shot out from him, knocking all away and electrocuting Crawdaunt, Draganium, and Venusaur horribly. Were it not for their long experience with Pikachu, they might have died there on the spot. Even so, the random explosive clones generating in between lightning waves were almost too much for them to handle.

So it was a good thing for all when Oliphan, due to his Ground-type resistance to electricity, managed to charge into the maelstrom and grab the convulsing Alpha with his trunk, raising him into the air and keeping the out-of-control Ranger's electricity or clones from hitting anything other than his thick hide. "I've got him! Hurry!" he called out.

Weakened severely by their electricity burns and shocks but recovering quickly thanks to the Mother's gift, the three fired their attacks, Bubblebeams and Razor Leaves and Dragonbreaths, at the crackling livewire that was Alpha. But none of their attacks hit, all were vaporized by the intense energy surrounding the evil Ranger. Only equally intense energy, such as a beam, could penetrate that aura. Crawdaunt had learned Hyper Beam thanks to his evolution, but…

He turned to the Grass-types. "Hey! You two know Solar Beam, don't you?"

They glanced at him. "Yeah, why?"

"This is your chance to finish it and earn some closure or whatever! Hit that sucker with Solar Beam and finish him off!" Crawdaunt told them.

They started, realizing he was right. This could be Venusaur's chance to redeem himself, and Draganium's to avenge Sceptile's murder. The Dragon/Grass hybrid glanced up at the dark skies uncertainly. "It's too dark down here! We need more light, and that electric storm from Alpha flickers too much!"

"I know Sunny Day," Venusaur told her. "I'll give you some light, and you blast him! Take him out!"

Draganium looked at him in surprise. "I…Thanks. Thank you."

"Just stop him, permanently!" Venusaur told her, the flower on his back glowing and releasing a small sphere of light which rose high into the air and burst, turning into a full-fledged mini-sun which shone down on them and illuminated the plaza. Draganium closed her eyes and opened her mouth, concentrating as the petals around her neck glowed as they gathered in artificial sunlight. "Draaaaaaaa…."

"Hurry!" Oliphan cried, gritting his teeth as the writhing Alpha's continuous electric shocks started burning his hide and eating through his trunk. "I'm a Ground-type but even I'm not sure how much of this I can take!"

"I'm almost done!" Draganium called, her charge nearing its end as her neck petals turned a bright white. To Venusaur, she seemed the most beautiful creature he had ever seen…and he knew now that she was forever beyond his reach. It hurt, but the fact that he had betrayed her in the first place hurt more. That was why he had to do everything he could to help. He doubted it would change her mind…but she had thanked him, actually _thanked_ him, for the sunlight. Maybe there was hope yet.

Alpha's screams increased as the electricity suddenly was all sucked back into him, causing his body to pulse a deep purple, before lashing out without warning in the form of a single, incredibly lethal bolt of lightning aimed straight for Draganium. She gasped, almost losing the charge for her Solar Beam, eyes wide as she stared right into the face of her death. A horrified Crawdaunt leaped, hoping his shell could absorb the charge or at least keep it from hitting Draganium…

But he needn't have bothered. Venusaur was closer and got there first.

There was a flash of light, a horrible scream, and an overwhelming smell of burned flesh and plants in the air as the bolt hit. When the flash faded, Alpha slumped in Oliphan's trunk, his energy all gone. As for Venusaur…

Draganium stared at the pile of ash before her as the light from the Sunny Day went out, speechless. "Wh-why?" she whispered. "Why did you…" She broke off. She was surprised to find that she was crying.

"Draganium!" Oliphan cried, struggling to hold onto Alpha as the weakened monster fought him with what strength he had left, trying to break free. "NOW!"

Blinking back her tears, her power fully charged, Draganium opened her mouth as a ball of white light formed in it, its radiance matching the petals around her neck. The beam fired, a white bolt lancing out across the ruined plaza and striking Alpha right in the chest.

The evil Ranger screamed in pain and horror as the solar power pierced his body. His armor and monstrous form began to crack and peel, shafts of light tearing their way out from under his skin. Oliphan let go of him and fell back onto his rump just in time as Alpha's Monster mode exploded, flinging bits of armor and flesh everywhere.

When the smoke cleared, Alpha, now back to his original form, the one created by HERO, fell to the ground. "Uhhhh…" He collapsed, defeated at last.

And that was all Draganium could take. She fell, her legs failing her, and burst into tears, sobbing and crying out Venusaur and Sceptile's names. "I'm sorry," she whimpered, tears falling onto Venusaur's disintegrated remains. "I'm sorry. I should have noticed. I should have listened. I should have been nicer. And now…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Now it's too late. And now both of you are gone."

Crawdaunt sighed and looked away, saddened as well, even though his main feeling when it came to the Seed Pokemon had been anger for killing his good friend Sceptile. Oliphan was crying as well, for the loss of one of his 'uncles'.

And Ash…

Ash's soul drifted overhead, pausing for a moment to pay respects for Venusaur, before continuing on towards Alpha's prone body. Towards HIS body. Without fanfare, he merged with the body, vanishing inside.

For a few moments, there was nothing. And then…a twitch of fingers. A slow turning of the head. A faint cough as the soul inside re-familiarized itself with what it was like to control a physical body. With a grunt, the body got back to its feet. The Pokemon gasped, snapped out of their grief due to their shock to see that Alpha STILL WASN'T DEAD, prepared for combat…and were surprised when the evil Ranger's form was swallowed by a familiar white light, the light of evolution.

And when that light was gone…cries of "ASH/DAD!" rang throughout the plaza.

…

Pikachu's band had traveled far and fought through many foes to get to the disturbance Rui had detected. And that disturbance was…

"CHIMECHO!" Wobbuffet, Sadic, and Pikachu shouted in disbelief.

"Chimecho!" Milotic and Cacturne echoed, although with a different tone. "What…what happened to him?" They were referring to the hideous many-tentacled blob monster before them, hungrily stuffing cars, debris, and even other monsters into its disgusting maw.

"He absorbed the power meant for Meowth," Pikachu explained.

"And it turned him into that," Sadic concurred. "Strange…you know, I'd almost prefer having to fight a powered-up Meowth over this thing. I mean, at least Meowth'd bleed when you cut him. This thing…eh. It just doesn't seem to die, despite the fact that we froze it and then blew it up from the inside!"

Wobbuffet sighed. "Please don't tell me I have to sacrifice myself again, it was painful enough the first time."

"Well, we're stronger now," Pikachu reasoned. "So hopefully it won't come to that. Maybe one good supercharged Luminaire will destroy it permanently."

"Or not. It could be immortal," Sadic said.

"You're not helping," Pikachu said flatly.

She winked and put her arms behind her head. "Just thinking objectively. I mean, it'd make sense that it's immortal if we put forth all this effort to kill it and it still isn't dead."

"Do we _have_ to kill him?" asked a concerned Milotic. "I mean, I remember him from back when we were in Team Cipher. He was so cute and harmless and…well…"

"Stupid?" Cacturne finished.

Milotic nodded. "Yeah…I mean, he was so stu…er, innocent, even when commanded to attack, he rarely hurt anyone!"

"Except when he blew up our own robots," Wobbuffet pointed out. "More than once. And put us to sleep with Yawn. And when he almost killed us any number of times inside the RPGenerator with his foolish antics. Or…eh, any number of incidents."

"But…that's my point, he didn't really mean to do any of those things…I think," Milotic protested. "I mean, he's too, well…_simple_ to consciously be evil. Isn't he?"

"I don't know…" Sadic said. "He ate Meowth pretty readily and did the same to us."

"Yeah, but he actually seemed pretty content with letting us get away at first," Wobbuffet admitted, remembering their first encounter with the monster. "Until, out of the blue, he decided to eat us."

"Then maybe there's a chance he won't eat us now," Milotic suggested.

"Eh…don't know if that's really a very high possibility," Pikachu said doubtfully.

"Well…might be worth a shot," Cacturne said grudgingly. "I mean, well…one less fight's a good thing for us, right? And since he seems as willing to eat monsters as anything else, maybe we can…I dunno…use him on our side or something?"

Seeing he was outnumbered three to one, Pikachu sighed and relented. "Okay, fine, we'll give it a shot. That okay, Sadic?"

"As long as we kill something else of equal size or difficulty that'll actually die later, sure," the Manyula said amiably.

The electric mouse nodded and sheathed his sword. "All right then, let's go, slowly and quietly. No sudden movements, got it?"

Wobbuffet glanced down at his ungainly pseudopods. "I'll do my best."

Slowly and carefully, they made their way down the street, towards Chimecho, who had finished devouring everything in sight and seemed contented to float there for the moment, smiling stupidly and staring into blank space. All of them (except Sadic) almost jumped when he belched abruptly, shattering windows (what few weren't already broken) and causing a nearby building to crumble.

Pikachu's paw was never far from his sword, Wobbuffet was ready at any moment to throw up a shield, Cacturne's needles were set to fire, and while Sadic looked perfectly relaxed, her finely-honed killer's instincts would allow her to spring forward and eviscerate whatever was in her way at the slightest hint of danger. Only Milotic was unworried, trusting perhaps a little too much in Chimecho's innocence.

Even with Chimecho's stupidity, the blob had to notice them sooner or later, and so he did…when they were about two feet from his face. "CHII-" His bass squeal stopped abruptly, his eyes fixed on the group. They tensed, poised for battle. Chimecho stared at them for several seconds, his face frozen. A trickle of drool ran down his lip.

"…What's wrong with him? Why isn't he attacking us?" Cacturne asked, slowly lowering her arms.

"I told you!" Milotic sang. "He may be stupid, but he's too innocent to actually hurt us-"

"No girl, that ain't it!" said Sadic with a smirk, observing how Chimecho's big yellow eyes were fixed precisely on Milotic's lithe pink form. "He's infatuated! Seen it happen among Polar Ursaring all the time up north (and a few times with my brother and whoever he was pursuing that week)!"

"Infatuated?" Pikachu blinked. His eyes bulged. "Wait, you mean he's in love with her!"

"Hell no!" Wobbuffet raged, his blue skin turning purple with anger. "She's MY girlfriend and I just got her back! You can't have her!"

Milotic flushed. "Oh Wobby…"

If Chimecho was offended by Wobbuffet's statement, he made no show of it, just continued drooling and staring at Milotic.

Sadic shook her head. "Not love, precisely…it's kind of like…how do I put it? Sort of like how I looked at you when I first chose you as a prospective mate, except, ah, more intense."

Pikachu's eyes bulged even more as he recalled how intense Sadic had been when they had first met, just a couple of days ago. "He wants to have SEX with her!"

Wobbuffet turned an even deeper shade of purple, while Milotic just blinked, stunned at the idea. "NO FUCKING WAY! I KNOW WHAT TENTACLE MONSTERS DO TO PRETTY GIRLS! I'VE SEEN TOO MANY OF JAMES' MANGA!"

"As have I," Cacturne agreed. "Not a pretty sight."

"No, not…well, not _necessarily_ sex," Sadic said with a sigh. "It can be more of a form of adoration…like worship or something. Sorta like how those Registeel and Rukario guys looked when the Mother first appeared."

"Oh, _I_ get it," said Pikachu, snapping his fingers. "It's a Beauty and the Beast complex. Er, not that Chimecho's a beast…well, okay, he is…but Milotic's most definitely a beauty. So somewhere in Chimecho's puny mind, buried underneath all his failed neurons and synapses, there must be some masculine bit of him that equates beauty with, well, good stuff. So he's infatuated with Milotic because she's pretty and will go out of his way to protect her just so he can _look_ at her all he wants…or something."

Wobbuffet's eye twitched as he cooled down to his usual blue. "Well, I can sympathize…as long as looking is ALL he does! Because if he tries something, I'm gonna form a shield right inside that guy…blow him inside out!"

"Oh my," said Milotic, embarrassed and slightly flattered. "I had no idea I could affect anyone this way…I guess beauty has its price after all…"

"So…um…does this make Chimecho a threat to us?" Cacturne asked.

Pikachu shook his head. "I don't think so…he appears to be too fixated on Milotic to remember we're here."

"Well, what do we do then?" Wobbuffet asked. "As long as she's around, he won't cause any trouble…but we're certainly not leaving her!"

Almost as if on cue, Rui's voice rang through their heads. _Guys, more trouble! The disturbance in your area has settled down, but there's another one half a mile away. A HUGE army of monsters has a lot of people trapped in a high-security 'safe house' of some sort. They can't get in at the moment, but it's only a matter of time. Get over there and save those people!_

"Well, you heard the lady. Let's go!" said Pikachu.

They ran off…and stopped when they realized Chimecho was following them, his gaze still fixed on Milotic. "We can't shake him," Sadic realized. "Infatuation isn't easily beat." She smirked at Pikachu. "You should know that better than anyone."

The rodent blushed. "Well, this poses a bit of a problem. Unless…" He got a strange look in his eyes.

"Unless? Unless what?" Wobbuffet asked, frustrated that Chimecho continued to be infatuated with his girlfriend, and somewhat annoyed that she was enjoying it.

"Unless…" Pikachu gave a sinister grin. "We can use Chimecho to our advantage…"

…

The portal opened, releasing Deoxys and the Mother somewhere else entirely.

The goddess instantly recognized this place as the land of Orre, for she had been here only days ago, when Deoxys had set off Mt. Battle. The volcano, and several smaller ones formed by the eruption's tremors, was still spewing lava off in the distance, adding to the flames that had engulfed the desolate region. The volcano's eruption had triggered earthquakes which ripped the land apart, allowing more lava to well up from deep within the earth and cover every town, village, and shanty in Orre in layer upon layer of magma. More magma bubbled up from below in a seemingly endless supply as the older lava cooled and hardened, transforming Orre from a very barren desert into a geological forge from which a new land might one day form. But that day was off in the future, and for now Orre was nothing more than a volcanic wasteland.

"Isn't it magnificent?" Deoxys asked. "Only a few billion years ago, the whole Earth was just like this…a violent and chaotic lifeless rock, tearing itself apart in its birthing fits, growing slowly into a new world…not even the planetoid which struck it and blasted off sufficient matter to form the Moon kept this planet from growing and developing and eventually becoming the parasite-infested chunk of rock it is now. And once I am through…even this desolation here will seem a fertile paradise compared to what I will bring forth. And all that's standing in my way…" He turned to face his rival. "Is you."

She did not speak, merely brandished her glaive Guardian. This amused Deoxys. "No banter? Right, my apologies. Let's fight, shall we? Without any living things nearby…this should prove most satisfying." He stretched his arms out, gathering his power. Around them, Orre rumbled and shook. More fissures opened in whatever land remained, belching out sulfur and more lava. Mt. Battle erupted again, flinging ash and rocks into the air as fresh lava ran down its slopes. "The stage is set. Shall we?"

They did. The Mother immediately teleported before Deoxys and stabbed her glaive into his chest, aiming for the crystal. Deoxys leaned back and thrust his palms into the Mother's face, shoving her back, but also causing her glaive to tear through Deoxys' waist, severing many of the faced tendrils wriggling there and splitting the alien's upper body from his bestial lower body. That was fine for both halves, for it just made things more interesting.

The lower body screeched, the face in its mouth wailing as it lunged forward and drove its limbs through her wings and arms, piercing her body with the many needles on its underside and ripping through the back. The monstrous thing's orifice leaned forward, trying to bite her face off. The eye on her chest opened and blasted out a huge blue laser at the same time that she fired her eye beams, piercing through the arachnoid creature's head and belly and blasting it off her, ripping larger holes through her body as it floated back. It raised its tail, lashing its hook out at her, but she caught it by the edge of her glaive and yanked, flinging the monster upwards and into the air. Spreading her wings and glowing, she rocketed upward, Guardian held before her, and smashed her way right through the beast's abdomen, splitting it in two.

As the two halves of the beast plummeted towards the lava flows below, the Mother scanned the tumultuous terrain for Deoxys. Within moments, her eyes spotted him over a hundred miles away, hovering above Mt. Battle, directing the cataclysmic restructuring of Orre from on high. He sensed her spotting him, cackled, and hurled his trident at her. It split through the air faster than a supersonic jet, aimed for her forehead. Opening her mouth, the Mother sang, the note resonating through the air and shattering the trident to dust before it even reached her. Gathering the wind around her, she created a funnel to propel her forward towards Deoxys, shooting through the air and up the slope towards him, driving her glaive through his torso and out the other side with such force that both of them shot several yards higher into the air. She wrenched her blade up, ripping the monster's head off and flinging it into the air, and firing her eye lasers at it, causing it to explode in a shower of dry blood.

The headless torso bent over, towards the lava in Mt. Battle's crater, and a pillar of magma spiked up at its beckoning, striking the Mother from underneath and sending her flying as Deoxys' head grew back and he conjured another trident, firing a bolt of lightning from it which struck her as she was recoiling from the lava and flinging her further away. He raised his trident, and hundreds of magma pillars from the ground erupted to pummel the Mother, melting her metal skin and tossing her further away from Deoxys. Catching herself by shielding herself with her wings just as she fell into the next lava geyser, she used her temporal powers to briefly reverse time, sending her back over the lava geysers and right before the headless Deoxys, giving her another chance to strike before he flung her away.

Or so she had thought. It seemed that Deoxys was immune to this form of time-warping as well and still retained the trident and head he had grown back, both of which he utilized by stabbing her with his weapon the instant she reappeared before him, blasting her in the face with eye lasers, and shoving her away with his many strong arms, then blasted her away with a giant laser from his chest crystal.

The Mother was getting more than a little frustrated at how easily he was toying with her. So, perhaps it was time she toyed with him. Twirling her glaive, she drove it into the ground, causing Orre to rumble. Mt. Battle erupted right underneath Deoxys, sending him flying in a wash of fire and magma. He teleported out of the flow…and right into the Mother's fist, as she hit him so hard that he smashed through ten new mountains that had risen during all the seismic activity and crashing to ground in a large lake of lava. As he grunted and rose out of the lava, the Mother dove towards him, glaive ready to shatter him. He chuckled…and from out of nowhere, his bestial lower half, fully regenerated, tackled the Mother from behind, piercing her back with its many needles and ensnaring her with its legs and tentacles. Floating into the air, Deoxys thrusted his hands towards her and fired massive beams from them, along with smaller arcing lasers from every eye and mouth on his body, one from his hideous face-orifice, and a final giant one from his chest crystal.

The Mother couldn't move or escape by teleport, so she did the next best thing. Emitting a thrusting force from her tail flower, she flipped over so that her back, and the hideous monster covering it, would take the full brunt of the beam. The force of the blast sent them rocketing away, the beast screaming in agony as the laser burned through its body, and the Mother grimacing as she used the momentum from the beam to extricate herself from the thing's spines and escape from its limbs, which had been weakened severely by the laser. She flipped away from the beast's belly and over the beam, which continued past underneath her for quite some distance. Charging her glaive, she slashed down, creating a giant dark energy wave which sliced through the superlaser and hit Deoxys, almost cutting him in half and creating another small crack on his crystal. The evil god teleported away before his rival's wing and eye lasers could strike him, causing them to churn up more lava and earthquakes instead, and reappeared high in the air.

His flesh regenerated, Deoxys summoned his trident and conjured up giant chunks of rock as well as buildings from all across the Earth and telekinetically hurled them at the Mother in a huge rain of projectiles. Rather than bother with them all, the Mother simply released her will in the form of an extremely powerful temporal wave which rippled through the debris, aging them to the point where they disintegrated. Mimicking one of Deoxys' tricks from earlier, she flung her glaive at the tyrant like a javelin. He deflected it with a swing from his trident, but that gave her the moment to teleport into his face and give him another powerful punch, this time with both hands free.

As he hurtled away, he opened several small energy portals which appeared on every side of the Mother and bombarded her with laser needle shots from another dimension. She shielded herself with her wings and released a blast of temporal force which sealed up the portals, opening her wings in time to be struck by a succession of three huge vertical red waves swung from Deoxys' trident, almost bisecting her and shoving her back through the air. She managed to counter Deoxys' next series of waves with one of her own generated by Guardian, and lashed out with her tail in the space behind her as several small explosive crystalline spheres rushed her back, negating Deoxys' sneak attack. So to be fair, she launched one of her own, several of the feathers on her wings shooting off, vanishing, and then piercing Deoxys from behind at the speed of cruise missiles, ripping through his body and severing all four of his arms thanks to calculated strike at the shoulders. Deoxys summoned four large crystal spheres to generate a shield before him as he closed his chest cavity and regenerated his arms, protecting the crystal inside from the Mother and deflecting her direct glaive strike. He reopened his cavity and fired a chest laser at her, pushing her back, though she shielded herself with her wings. Deoxys then gathered the spheres around them over his head, causing them to expand and burn with a ghostly fire, and hurtle like meteors at the Mother just as she reopened her wings. She slowed down time for a split second to bat the first sphere away with her glaive, speeding time up again so the sphere could shoot at regular speed right into Deoxys, exploding and forcing him back. She teleported away, knowing the spheres would follow her, and hurled her glaive out once she reappeared, smashing one sphere. She grabbed the other two telekinetically and redirected them towards Deoxys, who shattered them with a wave of his trident.

He then doubled over, as if in pain, revealing the spines on his back. The spines stiffened and rocketed off, shooting like guided missiles towards the Mother. She unleashed a wave of psychic force to destroy them (since she was sure that, as parts of Deoxys, they wouldn't be susceptible to her time control) and was startled when each one detonated with a 10-megaton nuclear blast which all but destroyed her body, reducing much of it to slag from the force of the giant explosion which sent radioactive debris flying in all directions.

She fell into a lake of lava, damaging her body even more. She gasped, using Guardian as a support to keep from falling over altogether. Up above, Deoxys chuckled and twirled his trident, causing a pair of enormous lava dragons to form from the magma all around and rise into the air, hissing and circling towards the somewhat helpless Mother.

And if that weren't bad enough, the bestial half of Deoxys had returned, AGAIN, and looked ready to eat her face off.

There was only so much a goddess made of metal could take.

"All right, that's it!" Staggering to one foot, since the other hadn't regenerated yet, using her psychic powers to support herself, he raised her glaive in the air, flipped it over so the blade was pointing down, and thrust it into the ground. "HAAAAAH!" There was a flash of light, and then…a TREMENDOUS time warp rippled out from the point of impact, sending buffeting winds of time in every direction, causing the lava dragons to harden and crumble into ash. Deoxys and the beast were unaffected, but watched in curiosity, the aura surrounding the Mother too strong for them to penetrate at the moment anyway.

Millions of years passed for the Orre region in mere seconds. After a time, the volcanoes stopped their eruptions and went dormant, the lava hardening and turning into black dirt covering the entire countryside. That black countryside turned green as here and there spots of life grew, plants sprouting from the fertile countryside and spreading, creating massive plains and savannahs growing as far as the eye could see, trees erupting from the ground everywhere and creating forests and jungles and rainforests within moments, green spreading everywhere and bringing life to every corner of Orre, even covering the desolate dead volcanoes in moss and foliage.

And this life was fresh and new, life that had not been contaminated or destroyed by Deoxys, life birthed from the ashes of the old Orre to turn the new one into a veritable paradise! And from every blade of grass and flower and tree that life flowed, transmitting its energy into the blade of Guardian, which was still imbedded in the fresh, healthy soil in the heart of an endless field of multicolored wildflowers surrounding the Mother. And with all that power, the Mother was rejuvenated, her faded strength greater than ever thanks to the influx of new life which she had created. Wrenching the glaive from the ground, its black blade glowing a vibrant green as it transformed into a single-edged sword with a notched blade in the shape of Absol's sickle growing from the base of the flat edge, the Mother flew back up to face Deoxys, ready to enter the final phase of the battle.

He stared at her for a moment. He laughed. "A very good trick," Deoxys said, amused by the fury in her eyes. "Creating life just so you can use it to power yourself up…just as I draw power from my own creations."

And then he hurled a ball of fire at the ground and created an inferno which almost instantly turned Orre back to ashes and dust once again. The Mother stiffened…then, glaring, reversed time's flow for a few seconds, causing the flames to change direction and flow back to the fireball's point of impact, plants sprouting up in their wake, before the flames finally condensed back into their projectile form, returned to Deoxys' hand, and were snuffed out.

Deoxys looked at that hand in interest. "Another good trick," he stated. "One I must try and master when I have the time to use it." He chuckled at his pun, and then slashed through the air with his trident as his beast half reattached itself to the bottom of his torso. "Come," he said, as he faded back into the newly formed portal. "The final round awaits."

Her anger at Deoxys matching that of her Guardian sword, the Mother followed him. The last phase of their battle was about to begin.

…

"How come you have two Snag Devices!" Wes complained as he launched single Snag Balls at the mutant Snagem goons, capturing over a dozen with each shot. "It's not fair! I'm the best Snagger! And I've had the most experience with the damn thing!"

Gonzap's chest shook with laughter as he smashed a goon's head in with a punch, then launched double Snag Balls from his gauntlets. "Guess the Mother thought I deserved it more! And as your boss, I see no reason why I _don't_ deserve it!"

"Lousy…she's not getting anything from me on Mother's Day!" Wes snapped, green with envy.

_Oh, Wes…_ Rui sighed.

Their Pokemon were really tearing up the monsters. Enzo's lightning blasts and magnetic powers allowed him to draw enemies to him and destroy them with stupendous bursts of electricity which were still nowhere near as impressive as Pikachu's. Electrode blew up whenever anyone touched him, wrecking the street and taking out huge numbers of monsters at a time. Hariyama and Shiftry took the infected creatures apart with their fighting power and strength. Vileplume melted them with acidic spores. And Skarmory flew all over the place, providing aerial assistance by blasting the monsters from above or slashing through them with his bladed wings.

As for Loreon…he had things well in hand on his own.

"Can't catch me," he said to Dakim, wagging his tail from atop a building. The giant grunted and swung its scimitar, splitting the building in half…but missing Loreon because he had already melted into the shadows and reappeared at Dakim's feet. "Missed me." Dakim, without thinking, immediately drove his scimitar into the ground…piercing his own foot as Loreon teleported away, causing the giant to howl in pain and hop around on one foot for a moment before managing to rip the scimitar out and keep from toppling to the ground. "You have bad aim," Loreon said from atop another building. Dakim immediately smashed that building with a punch from his free hand. "Reaaaally bad aim," Loreon continued from Dakim's right shoulder. The giant swung his arm up to smash the annoying Pokemon, but Loreon melted into shadow again and instead Dakim only smarted himself, causing him to whimper…or as much as he could whimper, anyway, without a jaw. "Hey, I'm right here," Loreon said, sitting down on the rim of the right eyehole of Dakim's mask, before the only eye that still worked. "Can you hit me?" Instantly, Dakim's scimitar swung up.

"Guess not," Loreon said as Dakim fell to the ground, creating a small earthquake from impact, his scimitar sticking through the back of his head. "Who'd have thought being undead made you even less intelligent than you were when you were alive? Well, other than the obvious brain rot…hmm. Guess that explains it, then." He turned his back on Dakim and walked away, joining the others in their fight.

…

Tyranitar and El Toro both stomped down on the ground hard, sending shockwaves and towers of earth ripping out of the ground straight towards Omega. The twin swordsman leaped into the air, landing on one of the earth towers, and started charging towards the group, slashing down any towers which were taller or began to collapse towards him.

El Lobo and El Pollo Diablo leaped onto a pair of pillars near the end of the line and ran towards Omega. The swordsman lashed out with his twin blades, but the two Pokemon evaded, the chicken hitting him high in the face, the wolf hitting him low in the gonads…tearing them out. This hurt Omega a great deal, but…he didn't exactly need them in the first place, so…

Anyway, he bent backwards from El Pollo's punch and brought his legs up in a bicycle kick to try to hit him. El Pollo leaped over the kick, surrounded himself in a blazing aura, and launched himself in a slicer kick at Omega as he got back up, piercing his chest armor and lodging his foot in the general's torso. Using that leverage, El Pollo pummeled Omega with a thousand blazing punches, lighting his head on fire. Shaking his head vigorously to put out the flames, the general sliced his swords at the Blaziken like a scissor, trying to decapitate him. El Pollo's hands shot out, catching the arms, and he exerted a surprising amount of strength, holding them apart. El Lobo, in the meantime, bit into Omega's cape and yanked, tearing off part of it and also pulling Omega off guard, causing him to slip and land on his back. El Toro then charged at the bottom of the pillar and smashed into it with his horns, causing it to tilt over and tumble towards the ground, taking the general and his assailants with it.

While the wolf and chicken had been fighting Omega, El Toro, Zoro, El Gato, and Tyranitar had been destroying the other rock pillars, so that the one Omega and the other two had been standing on was the only one left. As a result, when the last pillar toppled, Omega fell straight towards the ground…where they were all waiting. El Pollo kicked into Omega's chest with his other leg, pushing himself free and flipping away as Tyranitar's extendable tail ripped through Omega's chest, causing him to gasp in pain. El Zoro's whip lashed out and wrapped around Omega's left arm, while Rosa released a thorny whip of her own from one of her flowers, wrapping it around Omega's right arm. They both yanked hard, and to the general's surprise, ripped his arms right off his shoulders!

Tyranitar's tail then retracted slightly and shifted, bringing Omega face-to-face with the son of his greatest rival right before he released a Hyper Beam which blasted Omega off the tail tip, ripping open his side in the process, and smashing through a building. Tauros and Tyranitar hopped in the air, and hit the ground hard, cracking open a Fissure which caused the building to crumble and begin collapsing into the ground. Omega managed to smash his way out of the building just in time, and landed before the group, his arms breaking free from the whips that held them and reattaching themselves to his shoulders, beam blades blazing. He took a step back, then leaped towards them, spinning his blades like a crimson wheel of death…

And got slammed hard when Rosa's Frenzy Plant ripped out of the ground and hurled him into the air. El Toro made a spectacular leap, jumping up to Omega's level. The giant's eyes widened behind his helmet in astonishment at this right before El Toro flipped over and smashed him back towards the ground with a powerful headbutt, causing Omega to break his spine on impact as well as crater the street. He felt the pain even more when El Toro landed right on top of him, smashing his ribs and cracking his chest armor with his weight. The bull hopped off, allowing Tyranitar to leap onto Omega before the general could get up, worsening the damage already inflicted. Tyranitar stomped repeatedly on Omega's chest, breaking his arms and more ribs, then bent over, jaws charging up for a finishing Hyper Beam.

The general's legs bent themselves at inhuman angles to slide under Tyranitar's bulk and kick him in the underside, levering him off and causing his beam to go wild, making a nearby building explode. His body mending itself, Omega shot to his feet and thrust a sword at the reptile's armored throat before he could recover, but got hit from behind by a Shadow Ball from El Lobo and stumbled, his strike missing and only nicking Tyranitar's neck. He felt the ground underneath his feet rumble, and quickly jumped out of the way as Rosa unleashed another Frenzy Plant. The Roselia winked at him, blew a kiss, and began firing glistening white Magical Leaves, Leech Seeds, and Bullet Seeds at the general. His twin blades flashed through the air, slicing the projectiles apart before they could even reach him, and twirled around in time to deflect the very large fireball El Pollo hurled at him. He paused, noticing that he was surrounded on all sides. Narrowing his eyes, he backflipped out of the circle before they could converge on him, landing at the base of a skyscraper, and then leaped again, flying through the air and landing on the top of said skyscraper.

El Gato and El Zoro glanced at each other. "I guess it's time for us to get some _accion_, eh compadre?" the swordsman asked.

"I do agree, senor," El Gato said with a smirk.

The masked swordsmen ran towards the building, hopped onto the top of the entrance, and then started running up the side of the building towards Omega, thumbing their noses at the law of gravity. Omega extended his blades, flipped off the top of the building, and started rushing down to meet them. The opposing swordsmen met each other about halfway up the building, ready long before then to fight.

They met. They clashed. They parted, each continuing their separate run. El Zoro and El Gato reached the top of the building, somewhat miffed that their hats had been split in two. Omega, on the other hand, was annoyed to find that his arms were severed again and his upper and lower body were now two separate entities, and he was plummeting towards the ground far below. He impacted the pavement, cratering it again.

El Zoro and El Gato looked at each other, nodded, and leaped off the building, shooting down towards Omega and using their momentum to drive both their swords through his chest, almost tearing apart his torso and deepening the crater. "Graaaahhh!" the general roared in pain. His legs staggered, got up, and dashed towards the two swordsmen. El Pollo Diablo landed in front of the legs and lashed out with a sweeping kick before the limbs could jump over him, knocking the legs off their feet. Taking a deep breath, he then exhaled a tremendous jet of fire which incinerated and disintegrated the legs, reducing them to cinders.

Omega's arms rose up and flew towards Zoro and El Gato, who still had Omega's struggling torso pinned to the ground, laser blades out. El Lobo leaped and grabbed the end of one arm in his jaws, shaking it about like a chew toy before flinging it into the air and vaporizing it with a Shadow Ball. El Toro grabbed the other one in his teeth, flipped it into the air, spun around and kicked it with his back legs, leaving a hoof-shaped indentation in its side as it was hurled through the air and smashed into a nearby building. He charged after it, leaped into the air, and came down hard, shattering its bones beneath his weight and stomping on it repeatedly until it ceased all movement completely.

Seeing that Omega's limbs were gone, Zoro and El Gato ripped their swords out of the general's torso and leaped off. Rosa jumped on top of Zoro's head and launched Leech Seeds into the helpless stump, worming their way into his dead flesh and sending roots digging everywhere, causing him to scream in agony as flowers bloomed from his flesh, breaking open his armor and shattering his helmet. "N…no…" he whimpered pathetically. "It…cannot end like this…"

Tyranitar loomed over him. "It can, and it has." With a Hyper Beam blast from the reptile's jaws, the flowerbed that was Omega exploded, dead for good this time. "Mom, you've been avenged." He paused, then glanced up to his allies, without whom he could not have won the battle. He smiled at them. "With some help from my friends."

They smiled back at him.

…

Lombre cleared the throng of hypnotized fans, landing before a large group of Miror B's mutated dancers. Miror B frowned as he saw this and gestured for them to attack, starting a new song as he did so.

"This cool guy's back, to bring mah wrath, upon the world! You can't get rid of me, not that easilyyyy!"

Dancers twirled towards Lombre, lashing out with disco-style kicks and spins. The Lily Pad Pokemon readied his sword, backing away so that the dancers would draw closer to him. Miror B twirled and raised the Pokebaton into the air.

"And like all who dare defy me, y'all will learn your lesson well: Never mess with a guy like meeeeee!"

One of the dancers lunged forward, grabbed Lombre, spun and tossed him to another dancer. Except, that's just what he wanted to happen. He thrusted his sword forward, impaling the dancer, and used his momentum to twirl the dancer around, lashing out with his feet as he did so and kicking the other dancers over. Since they had been clustered so closely around them, and because he knew Miror B would have removed most of their brains to make their dancing more coordinated and easily controlled, all of them toppled over and stayed on the ground, dancing or breakdancing in place without even realizing they weren't standing up straight. Lombre smirked as Miror B's face turned red, or would have if any blood still flowed to his cheeks. "You got what you deserved last time, you _excusa_ _maloliente para un músico_!"

"What?" asked a confused Miror B. "Ah don't know what you just said…but it sounded insulting!" He snapped his fingers. Steam and ominous-looking smoke hissed across the stage as a pair of trapdoors opened and two menacing figures arose from the bowels of the trailer. They were grotesque Frankensteinian creatures, with decaying skin and bolts and nails driven into their flesh with yellowing teeth bared in an eternal grimace, their mouths frozen shut by the bolts in their cheeks. One wore the tattered remains of an orange vest, brown pants, and a long-sleeved dark shirt with a rather weird dark blue hat with a pair of buns sticking out of the side on his filthy blond hair. The other wore the remains of a blue-green sleeveless shirt and brown pants with a metal bracer on its left arm and bone spikes with bloody tips sprouting from its matted blond mop. Both wore dark glasses much like Miror B's, only more oval-shaped. They leaped off the stage and landed before a startled Lombre, crushing some dancers beneath their spiked boots.

"Trudly, and Folly!" Miror B sang. The two monsters lunged, moving as if they were one, and grabbed Lombre by the arms, the swordsman only managing to land a glancing blow against Trudly's arm before they caught him. Grinning (because there was no other expression they were capable of), they began to pull on the arms so they could rip Lombre in two.

"Loyal minions, strong as long as disco abides! Do my bidding and split that Lombre's sides!"

Lombre knew his sword would be of no use at the moment, so he dropped it and instead fired Razor Leaves from his wrists, imbedding them in Trudly and Folly's chests and faces. Grunting in surprise, their grips loosened, allowing Lombre to twist his wrists free, drop to the ground, and grab his sword.

"Right now! Daddy Miror B needs you."

Lombre dashed towards the stage, stepping over the wiggling dancers. Trudly and Folly growled and pursued him. Miror B frowned and sang louder, as if in the hopes that it would make his minions do their jobs better.

"Crush that stupid fool, make him writhe!"

The disco globe glimmered, and lasers shot from it, targeting Lombre, pushing him towards the oncoming Trudly and Folly. Lombre hopped all over the place to dodge the myriad lasers, and almost got his head knocked off by a blow, barely dodged, from Folly. Seeing a flash out of the corner of his eye, Lombre dove between Folly's legs, causing the laser meant for him to strike the monster in his genitals, frying them. He roared in pain and wept tears of blood. Trudly punched him angrily to wake him up and led him towards the stage, where Lombre was heading, still dodging lasers from the disco globe.

Annoyed, Miror B swept his baton through the air, and a laser shot from the globe, hitting Lombre right as he was leaping onto the stage, causing him to cry in pain and fall back to the ground, clutching his burning chest with an agonized expression on his face. Miror B snickered and taunted Lombre through song.

"What a feeble Pokemon. No, ah can't believe mah eyes!"

More lasers fired. Lombre, his chest starting to heal, flipped out of the way, glaring at Miror B, whose arrogance was skyrocketing.

"Such a stubborn fool fighting for rock and roll!" The evil musician glanced at the Pokerockers, who were doing their best to hold off the mob without harming them while anxiously waiting for Lombre to hurry up and save them. Miror B laughed like a mule. "With your silly friends in danger, now you're crazy with revenge! Ah suppose ah sympathize."

Lombre shook his head. "_Vendanza_ is for those who cannot let go of the past! I look to the future…a future with my amigos, one in which _you_ do not exist!"

Enraged, Miror B directed more laser beams at Lombre, who dodged them and flung Razor Leaves at the evil baton. Miror B shielded it with his arm, causing the leaves to stick in his putrefied flesh instead. He grinned, seeing that his loyal minions had finally caught up with Lombre.

"Trudly, and Folly! Loyal minions, strong as long as disco abides!"

Lombre turned to see the burly monsters bearing down on him. He hopped back from Trudly's swinging fists and stepped to the side as Folly smashed his fists into the ground, cracking it. Lasers fired at Lombre, who dodged, and they hit Trudly and Folly instead, causing their flesh to sizzle and smell something awful as it burned.

"Do my bidding and split that Lombre's sides!"

The goons grunted and turned around to do just that. Lombre tensed up, preparing himself for his next tactic.

"Right now! Daddy Miror B needs you. Smash that stupid fool, make him writhe!"

Roaring, Trudly and Folly charged towards Lombre. He leaped, soaring over them and dropping his cape over their heads, blinding them and causing them to stumble about in confusion, smacking into each other and stunning themselves. Lombre drew back his sword as he landed and struck with a flurry of stabs, thrusts, and slices, tearing the cape to shreds. The Lily Pad Pokemon backflipped and stood in place, waiting as Trudly and Folly blinked stupidly…before coming apart at the seams, falling to pieces. Miror B gasped in horror as Lombre jumped onto the stage, only a couple of yards away from him.

The Lily Pad Pokemon smirked and struck a pose. "Sorry "Daddy", but your minions are tortilla stuffing!"

Miror B took a step back. The disco globe glistened and began firing laser after laser at Lombre, causing him to dance from foot to foot across the stage to avoid the lethal blasts. Miror B cackled, flourishing his baton triumphantly.

"This is not the end, mah friend. Ah swear Ah've just begun! It's not over until Miror B has won!" the villain sang.

"Oh really?" Lombre leaped onto a pile of actual bones and held out his sword, using it to deflect a laser beam right back at Miror B. He squealed and ducked, causing it to hit his polished skull and reflect off, ricocheting off conveniently placed reflective objects all around the stage before finally striking the disco globe it had come from, causing it to light up blindingly and explode in a shower of glass and lights.

Miror B gaped in disbelief, right before Lombre leaped off the bone heap and dove towards him, raising his sword for an overhead chop. Squealing in terror, Miror B shielded himself with his arms, waiting for the strike…which never came. Blinking, he lowered his arms and glanced about, seeing Lombre standing behind him, his back turned and sword drawn. "H-ha! You missed!" he said nervously.

Lombre turned his head, glancing at him out of one eye. "_Mal_."

The Pokerific Musical Baton sparked, crackled with electricity and exploded in Miror B's hand. "Aaaahhh! Nooooo!" he cried as his music stopped playing from the loudspeakers and stereo.

"Yes! He did it!" cheered Brock, getting out from his very cramped hiding place under his cab's seats.

Swampert sighed happily. "He really did…my hero…"

"But that crowd's still angry as hell and trying to kill us!" Onix whimpered, still cowering behind his three drum Pokemon.

"The baton's been destroyed, stopping the source of the hypnosis, but it'll take something more to snap them out of their trance, Miror B's music only reinforced it. We need another, stronger song to break through their programming!" Buzz informed the rest of the band.

"Then let's kick it! I know just the song!" Jigglypuff said with a wink. "Places, everyone! Let's give 'em a round of Live and Learn!"

They quickly got into place, Onix reluctantly getting out of hiding to help out. Lights went on, illuminating their stage. The music began to play from Geodude's guitar, Onix's drums, and Buzz's keyboard, causing the mob to hesitate in their violent efforts and blink in confusion as a fast-paced rock tune started up. The Jigglypuffs took center stage, raised their microphones, and began to sing.

"Can you feel life movin' through your mind,

Ooh, looks like it came back for more!

Yeah yeah yeah!

Can you feel time slippin' down your spine,

Ooooooh, You try and try to ignore!

Yeah!"

The mob blinked a few times and settled down, paying rapt attention to the music. The roadies relaxed and backed their line up considerably, seeing the audience would not be a threat to the performers…at least, not at the moment. That might change when they got more riled up.

"But you can hardly swallow,

Your fears and pain.

When you can't help but follow,

It puts you right back where you came."

Slowly, the crowd began to smile as the familiar voices and tunes of the Pokerockers filtered through their hypnotized brains, bit by bit breaking the wicked Miror B's spell.

"Live and learn!

Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,

Live and learn!

From the works of yesterday.

Live and learn!

If you beg or if you borrow,

Live and learn!

You may never find your way."

The smiles broadened to grins. One by one, the people started cheering. It was soft at first, their voices dry from unuse while under Miror B's curse, but growing stronger.

"Whooooa, yeah!

Can you feel life tangle you up inside?

Yeah, now you're face down on the floor!

Oh!"

The crowd had become more active, laughing and screaming and shouting, some even singing along, instilled by the power of music.

"But you can't save your sorrow,

You've paid in trade!

When you can't help but follow,

It puts you right back where you came."

Swampert nodded from the sidelines as she cued the special effects, causing the smoke machines and laser lights to whir into action, highlighting the musicians. She was very pleased with her band's performance as the cries of exultation from the liberated crowd swelled higher and higher. "Good going, everybody."

"Live and learn!

Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,

Live and learn!

From the works of yesterday.

Live and learn!

If you beg or if you borrow,

Live and learn!

You may never find your way."

The roadies grimaced and quickly raised their riot shields as some crazed fans began trying to storm past them to get to the stage. They had known this would happen, it always did. That didn't make it any less stressful, though. Well, at least it was better than holding back the _whole_ crowd, instead of just the most fanatical ones.

"Hey, whoa, whoa,

Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeah!"

After their long cry, the Jigglypuffs backed away, allowing their teammates to come to the fore in a stunning instrumental which drove the crowd into a frenzy.

"No! Noooooo!" Miror B sobbed. "Ah don't get it! Why? Why couldn't Ah win! Ah had them eating out of the palm of mah hand…but they never acted like this!"

"That is because you controlled their minds through _musica_ _malvada_," Lombre told him, fastening a spare cape across his shoulders. "You enslaved their minds, but their _corazones_ were still free, longing for the g_loria_ of true music, the music of the ages! Music which can fill the _corazone_ with hope and joy! That is the way to make the crowd truly love you, Senor Miror B, through the power of _la música más grande de todos_…a power that you will _never_ understand!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" the Jigglypuffs sang, earning more cheers as the instrumental continued.

Miror B's face turned red, or tried to. "This ain't over! You thought Trudly and Folly were bad? Well, now Ah'm gonna take care of you mahself!" He snapped his fingers. "Lu! Di! Co! Lo! Take care of him!" Miror B cried, causing Lombre to facefault.

The instrumental ended, and the Jigglypuffs came back to the fore.

"There's a face searching far, so far and wide.

There's a place where you dream you'd never find.

Hold on to what if?

Hold on to what if?"

Out of nowhere, four figures leaped in front of Miror B, blocking Lombre's path to him. Lombre stared at them in bewilderment, blinking in confusion.

Each of them was an infected Ludicolo, with straw hats in place of their usual sombreros, covered from head to toe in black stealth jumpsuits with belts brimming with throwing stars crossing their waists and shoulders. Their glowing red eyes peered out from holes cut into the cloth over fanged beaks and underneath colored headbands, a different color for each Ludicolo. Each Ludicolo also had a unique weapon. The one with a red headband had a pair of katana, the one with a green headband had a pair of kunai, the one with a yellow headband had nunchuku, and the one with a purple headband held a bo staff.

"We meet again, senor Ludicolo!" said the red one, named Lu.

"Si, for the last time!" agreed the green, Di.

"You will not defeat us as easily as you did before! Through the power of El Deoxys, we have become mucho stronger!" said the yellow, Co, twirling his nunchuks.

"We have become _ninja_ Ludicolo! Hai-yah!" said the purple, Lo, swinging his staff.

"With our awesome ninja powers, we shall prevail! Haaaaiiiii-ya!" said Lu, as they all got into a cheesy pose with their weapons out. Stage lights lit them up so it looked as if there were stars or something in the background behind them.

The music sped up as the song approached its finish.

"Live and learn!

Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,

Live and learn!

From the works of yesterday.

Live and learn!

If you beg or if you borrow,

Live and learn!

You may never find your way."

Dumbfounded, Lombre stared at the Ninja Ludicolo for a long, long time. It looked as if he was struggling to keep from laughing. Finally, he drew his sword, and with lightning swiftness struck three times.

The ninjas blinked in confusion, feeling nothing. "Ha! You missed-"

First, their ninja outfits disintegrated, revealing their hideously mutated forms. Then, all their shaggy hair fell off, leaving them naked and even uglier. Then, their very tight skin was shredded to pieces, and they collapsed to the floor as a pile of inanimate, dead bones. Miror B gaped in horror.

Lombre bowed his head. "Although I am not a ninja, I still respect their form of honor. An honor which you have spat on, you impostors! Burn in _Infierno_ for your crimes, _fiends_ _despreciables!_ Your master will be joining you shortly!" He raised his head, glaring at Miror B, and raised his sword.

Back on stage, the Pokerockers brought their concert to a successful close.

"Live and learn!

Hanging on the edge of tomorrow,

Live and learn!

From the works of yesterday.

Live and learn!

If you beg or if you borrow,

Live and learn!

You may never find your waaaaaayyyyyy!"

As they hit the final note, all the band members posed as Swampert activated the remaining SFX, causing spotlights to focus on them, explosions and sparks to go off on stage and in the background, and rockets to launch into the air and blow up in spectacular fireworks. The roar of joy and fulfillment from the audience shook the city as loudly as another random explosion would, filling the members of the band with a sense of supreme accomplishment. They grinned and took their bows, forcing their security detail to reinforce the line as a surge of enthused fans tried to climb onto the stage to take pieces of the Pokerockers fur or makeup as memorabilia of this event.

Back at the other end of the street, Miror B squealed in fright and loosed his bowels all over the stage. "Yeeeeeee! Miror B's outta here!" Terrified, he snapped his fingers, causing the portion of stage Lombre was standing on to reveal itself as a spark dispenser and go off, lighting the Lily Pad Pokemon on fire and causing him to scream and fall off the stage, rolling across the ground to put out the flame. Miror B cackled triumphantly as the stage folded back into its trailer. "So long, sucker!"

The truck started up and drove off in a cloud of toxic smoke, leaving Lombre behind. He put out the fire and stood up, panting as the truck receded down a side street and vanished around a corner. "…_Cogida._"

"Thank you, thank you everyone, you've been a great audience!" Swampert said, stepping in front of Jigglypuff to keep her from hogging the audience's adoration any longer. "This is our last show for the day, but you can catch us tomorrow on…um…the other side of the big gateway of light thingie in the middle of the city where the old oil rig used to be. You can't miss it! So I suggest you head on over there if you want to get tickets in advance."

The resulting stampede could be likened to a migrating herd of Tauros in heat chasing a herd of terrified Miltank not exactly in heat, as the audience raced for the central park to 'purchase advance tickets.'

"Phew!" Swampert said, wiping away some sweat. "Good show guys."

"Yeah, you totally showed that Miror B guy!" Brock agreed from his cab. "Uhhh…where is he, anyway?"

It was only then they realized that Miror B's trailer had vanished. "Aw, shit," Geodude cursed.

"Amigos!" Lombre said, running up to the stage. "Miror B tricked me and escaped! We must _persigale_ posthaste!"

"Right, you heard the man," said Buzz with a nod. He paused. "Uh, what did he say?"

"He said we have to pursue Miror B," Swampert translated.

"Then let's go!" Metal Sound said, crossing his arms. "That fool's been giving off his crappy vibes for too long! It's time for us to show him what real music's like, oldskool!"

"Yeah, I hear dat," agreed Forretress.

"Yup, no school like oldskool," concurred Iron Shell.

"All right then! Let's get this show on the road!" said Geodude as the roadies disappeared their riot gear and clambered back on board. "Brock, my man, start this thing up!"

"Right," said Brock. He hesitated. "Hey wait, _I'm_ your trainer, why am I taking orders from-"

"BROCK, START THIS THING UP!" Everybody shouted at him.

Startled, he yelped and jumped, banging his head on the cab roof and denting it. "Waaahhh! Y-y-yessirs, right away!" He started the engine and closed up the trailer. Within moments they were off, picking up speed as they bumpily rolled over the twitching dancers on the ground and took off in pursuit of Miror B.

…

It had been inevitable that sooner or later Leviathan would realize Umbreon was climbing up her back, and when she did she wasn't pleased. After a failed attempt to eat her, resulting in the giant serpent almost biting herself in two, the monster resorted to flying as fast and as dangerously as possible in an effort to shake her off or allow her to take the blow from one of the many attacks Aerodactyl or Zaptres were slinging at the monster's head.

To make things worse, now that Leviathan knew she was there, Umbreon couldn't just keep stable by hanging on tightly to a safe place, because now the monster's very flesh was against her, trying to devour her with every step if she weren't fast enough. So it's understandable that she was extremely pissed when, as she struggled her way up the final stretch of Leviathan's neck, the serpent's ghost slaves materialized before her, blocking her path and drifting towards her. "Dammit! I don't have time for this!" she yelled angrily, lashing out with Soul Eater and Shadow Balls as she ran into the thick of the ghosts, slashing and tearing angrily. Her attacks had no effect on the ghouls, only passing through them and dispersing them for a brief second before they reformed again. The ghosts themselves did not seem to pose any threat at all, but their mere presence raised goosebumbs on her skin and caused her to break into a cold sweat, so she continued attacking as she kept climbing, to keep her adrenaline high if for nothing else.

She was about to bring her blade down on a ghost right before her…until she realized which ghost it was and stopped dead in her tracks. "M-Misdreavus…" Her lover's shade stared at her with dead eyes that showed no recognition at all. But Umbreon's moment of hesitation cost her dearly, as Leviathan's flesh gave way under her feet and started dragging her down like quicksand. "Aaaaggghh! Dammit!" She stabbed the flesh angrily with her blade, careful not to stab her own feet, and managed to pull herself out.

"You should be more careful," Shedinja told her as she got back up. "That was almost too close."

"I-I know," she said. "It's just…"

"Just nothing," Shedinja said sternly. "She is nothing but a shade of the true Misdreavus, barely even real. Ignore her and keep going. We have a job to do."

"…You're right." Umbreon closed her eyes so as not to stare into the dead ones of the specter before her. "Misdreavus…sorry." She dashed through the ghost and kept going up the neck, not looking back.

A few minutes later, and she climbed up to the top of Leviathan's head. The serpent growled in irritation that this flea had made it all the way up there and flicked her head back, trying to throw the pest off. Umbreon almost fell, but dug Soul Eater into one of Leviathan's horns as she stumbled past, anchoring herself. Annoyed even further, Leviathan flipped over all together, turning Umbreon upside down. She clung onto her sword and the bone of the horn, glancing at Shedinja in frustration. "I don't suppose you're ready to kill her NOW!"

"No," he said flatly.

She cursed angrily. "Fine, then I'll do it myself!" She clutched Soul Eater's handle tightly, the blade crackling with dark energy. With a cry, she wrenched it out of Leviathan's horn (retaining a good grip with her other hand), flipped over and rammed her blade up to the hilt in Leviathan's forehead.

Leviathan screamed in agony as there was a tremendous explosion of darkness which blasted the top of her head open, scattering brains and flesh everywhere. Dazed, she slowly spun over, righting herself as she drifted through the air in pain over the open sea, her attackers having long since led her away from the fragile city to keep it from being damaged by their struggle.

Aerodactyl and Zaptres, who had been keeping their distance since Umbreon got onto the head for fear of hurting her, glanced at each other as the giant wound opened. "You know, something like that can't be good for Leviathan."

"Yeah, but it'll probably close up soon," Aerodactyl lamented.

Zaptres got an unusual look in its eye. "Not if we keep it open…"

Back on Leviathan's head, Umbreon had retrieved Soul Eater and dove into the wound she had made, landing on top of Leviathan's sickening brain. It was gray and reeked of long-dead things rotting in the sun, and Umbreon wished she hadn't kept her Pokemon sense of smell when she had been humanized, as it was making her head spin. "Ugh…" Trying to ignore the smell, she began stabbing her sword into the brain again and again, causing Leviathan to tremble and roar in pain with every strike.

"You can't kill her this way," Shedinja pointed out.

"I know," Umbreon said through gritted teeth as she kept stabbing. "But it'll sure as hell make me feel better…and it might help you kill her by weakening her a bit, even for a little while!" Her feet began to sink into the brain's porous material. "Fucking-" She fired a Shadow Ball near her feet, blasting more gray matter apart and allowing her to free herself. The whole brain shook, and then tentacles emerged from its surface, lashing out at Umbreon as she tried to keep from being sucked down again. And to make matters worse, the repair ghosts had appeared and were already mending not only the damage Umbreon had done to the brain, but were fixing the hole in the skull up too. If she didn't do something, she might get buried inside the monster's head. "Do something!" she yelled at Shedinja.

"I need to conserve all my energy. It won't be much longer." He glanced into the sky. "But here comes someone who might help."

Aerodactyl and Zaptres swooped down towards Leviathan, aiming for the gaping wound in the monster's forehead. The giant serpent hissed angrily and opened its jaws, preparing to attack…only for it to jerk and thrash in pain as Umbreon damaged its brain again. "Okay, let's do this!" Aerodactyl said, gathering power to his wings.

"Just be careful not to hit Umbreon," Zaptres warned as it released embers and sparks.

Both of them fired, a stream of flame and thunder from the fusion bird and numerous homing bolts of light from Aerodactyl, streaming towards Leviathan's brain.

Umbreon saw the attacks coming, dodged a tentacle, gave the brain one last stab for good measure, and quickly used Faint Attack to shift out of the wound before her companion's attacks struck, all but obliterating the brain and nearly destroying Leviathan's head.

Ghosts appeared in the hundreds, swarming around the serpent's severely damaged cranium as they tried to mend it. In the meantime, Leviathan's body drifted out over the ocean, its direction and purpose lost due to the fact that those parts of its brain had been temporarily destroyed.

Umbreon grinned feverishly. "Haha! Yeah, that's the way!" She fired Shadow Balls all over the place, breaking up the head more from her position on one of the horns. "Woo!"

"You're enjoying yourself," Shedinja noted. "That's good. However, I'm afraid it'll have to end because the time has finally come."

Umbreon started. "Wh-what! You mean…"

"Yes." Shedinja's body began to glow a radiant gold instead of a dull tan. "I'm ready."

"Oh." Umbreon quieted, the only sound being that of the ghosts making an effort to repair the Leviathan while Zaptres and Aerodactyl kept blasting them. "Then…I guess this is goodbye."

"It is indeed. While you were vexing at times…I must admit that you made a good soldier. You did well."

"I…thank you." She blinked a few times. "What…what will happen to you?"

"I'm going home," Shedinja said simply. "That's all there is to it. I won't go to Deoxys…the spell Registeel put on me to allow me to absorb the power of my brethren made sure of that, and will ensure the same protection for all those soon to be freed from Leviathan. We, all of us, are going home, after too long a stay on this side, too fearful to pass on…but the time for fear has gone. We will help our Mother who gave us the way to freedom one last time before we go…and then we must cross over, to where we belong."

Umbreon started at this, feeling crushed, and maybe even a little used. "…I see. And Misdreavus…my Misdreavus…is going with you?" Umbreon swallowed. "Does she…have to? Couldn't she…couldn't she just stay here? With me?"

Shedinja shook his head. "She must go. It is her only way out. But do not fret," said the insect with kindness that surprised even him. "She will wait for you there. Someone is already waiting for me. When I finish this task, I will go to her…and perhaps when you finish yours, you will join us. Join _her_."

She closed her eyes, struggling to keep her emotions under control. "I…I think I'd like that," Umbreon said with a nod. "Then…farewell, Shedinja. I haven't known you for long, but…well…whatever. Do what you need to do."

"I will." Still glowing, Shedinja passed through the army of ghost slaves before them. They unconsciously parted before him, letting him through.

He flew down, over the monster's nose, and into her maw, willingly sacrificing himself to the beast. The light from his body faded as he vanished down her throat.

The insides of the beast, illuminated by Shedinja's spiritual glow, were truly horrible, and even the ghost bug, who had thought himself hardened to horror, found himself disgusted at them, even more disgusted at the sight of how the ghosts were imprisoned in the Leviathan's very flesh, buried inside the walls of her skin.

They would not be there for much longer.

"Hear me!" Shedinja's voice rasped, echoing throughout the Leviathan's long body. "I am Shedinja, general and commander of His Majesty the Dragon King's army of ghosts! Each of you is trapped, enslaved, helpless within the belly of the beast, separated and alone, drowning in misery and despair and total oblivion! No more!" His radiance increased. "Each of you is but one soul, one of millions, a raindrop in a sea…but a sea is vast when all the drops which compose it are brought together! I am not one drop, but I am many, the energy of thousands of ghosts coursing inside my shell! I am a reservoir of power, a nexus of ghostly forces, your key to liberation!" His glow grew brighter still. "Let me be your anchor! Let your raindrops come together to form an ocean which will drown Leviathan in our power! _Let me be your light…in our darkest hour!_"

Beams of light shot out from him, stretching all the way throughout Leviathan's interior, each beam making contact with a soul trapped in flesh. One by one, those souls lit up, glowing in Leviathan's dark interior. The light grew and grew and grew, filling the Leviathan…and Shedinja…with power.

He felt pain. He had expected this, and so ignored it. He felt joy, an emotion that was still a novelty to him, and he enjoyed it thoroughly. He felt…he didn't know the term for this sensation. Was it…freedom? Release? He did not know, but he liked it, and was certain the souls within him and the souls without would like it too.

And so he released them all.

Aerodactyl and Zaptres broke off their latest attacks, blinking in confusion as all the specters repairing Leviathan vanished without a trace. "Huh? Where'd they go?" asked the pterodactyl in confusion.

"I don't-"" Zaptres gasped. "_Look!_"

One by one, shafts of energy began to shoot out from crevices and crannies all over Leviathan's body. The giant undead serpent rumbled in confusion as her lengthy form gave birth to a million, million points of light.

"Whoa…" Aerodactyl whispered as the light grew stronger, and Leviathan first twitched in annoyance, then writhed in agony, finally bellowing out in fear.

Umbreon felt…warm. She didn't understand why, but…this energy, it made her…happy. No, ecstatic! A mad grin formed on her face and she couldn't help giggling from the rush of positive emotions running over her.

The flesh beneath her sizzled and began to melt in places, burn in others, as the light grew in intensity. "Umbreon!" Zaptres called, swooping over. "You have to get off! I think she's going to explode!"

Umbreon nodded, still smiling, and leaped off, falling past Leviathan's big yellow eye as the giant monster squealed in anguish, helpless to save itself from its fate. Aerodactyl dove down towards her, snatching her up in his new forelimbs. "Gotcha," he said somewhat clumsily as he tried to hold on to her, not yet used to these new arms of his. However, that inexperience proved to be his downfall, or more appropriately Umbreon's, when the Leviathan gave one last echoing roar of pain which resonated through their bones before she was utterly consumed in an explosive blast of light, blinding Aerodactyl and causing him to shriek in surprise, accidentally dropping Umbreon.

Zaptres gasped in horror, but it too could do nothing, as the light was blinding it as well. "Ahhh! Umbreon!"

Umbreon felt no fear as she fell, the warm feeling from Leviathan still filling her spirit. She closed her eyes and relaxed, entrusting her life to Fate…or the Mother, whoever.

She trusted wisely. "Gotcha!" Charla said as she caught the falling human.

Umbreon opened her eyes, blinking in surprise to see the Charizard's grinning face. "Sorry we took so long to get here," Charla's mate the black Charizard said. "Guess we missed all the fighting, huh?"

"Yes," Zaptres said as it and Aerodactyl flew down to join them. "But…I do believe the show isn't finished yet!"

The light was still there, pulsing warmly, invitingly, before it dissolved, breaking up into an absolutely breathtaking array of colors, iridescent points of light numbering in the millions floating in space, their souls pulsing in shades and hues never seen on the planet before.

The five stared at the oscillating flow of colors, dumbstruck by the sheer indescribable beauty of the million, million souls. It wasn't until they felt their cheeks get wet that they realized each of them was crying. The same thing had happened when they had seen the Mother for the first time, if only for a moment. It was just that damn beautiful.

The souls mingled and drifted together in random patterns as they slowly rose into the air, celebrating their freedom and creating amazing hybrid colors which dazzled the eyes of the five Chosen. All the souls were going higher and higher, towards the clouded sky above them, leaving the war-torn planet behind.

Even though the souls were some distance away, for a moment Umbreon thought she could see who they were, or who they had been, anyway. She saw some humans and Pokemon, but they were vastly outnumbered by the ghosts, who had made up the majority of Leviathan's diet. She thought she saw the lead soul, the highest one heading into the clouds before the others, looked a lot like Shedinja.

And another, near the bottom…there was no mistaking it. It was Misdreavus.

They locked eyes for a moment, or would have if Misdreavus still had eyes and weren't a spirit utilizing senses beyond mortal ken. Umbreon stared into Misdreavus, and Misdreavus stared into Umbreon. The lovers, one living, one dead, smiled across a gap wider than the physical space between them.

_It's not goodbye,_ Misdreavus' voice whispered in Umbreon's soul. _So much as 'catch you later.'_ Umbreon nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

And then she was gone, up into the clouds with the others, to aid the Mother one last time in her final battle before crossing to the other side. The world did not seem any less special or marvelous with their passing…rather, it felt slightly more real, more stark and present, reminding the Chosen that whatever their inevitable fate, they needed to fight to protect their Earth, no matter what the result was.

"Come on," Umbreon said with a smile. "Let's go back. Back to Ever Grande City. We're not done yet, not by a long shot."

…

TO BE CONTINUED…

…

It looks as if things are looking up for our heroes. But as Umbreon said, the Chosen aren't finished just yet; they still have a long fight ahead of them! A fight that, for some such as Rayquaza, has only just begun! To see if the Chosen have what it takes to defeat Deoxys and save the Earth, join us next time for the conclusion to Battle of the Chosen!


	60. Battle of the Chosen: Winning the War

And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The conclusion of the ultimate battle! The fate of the world shall be decided…NOW!

Disclaimer: All characters here are either owned by me or somebody else. Too bad. There's a song in this chapter that belongs to a certain anime. Can anyone guess which one?

…

Max sat under the tree, curled in his ball, all but dead to the world, ignoring the tides of people who came in waves and individual bits to the gateway and to safety, leaving the city behind. He ignored Delia's kind voice, no matter how many times she coaxed him or shook him or asked him if he didn't want to get up and have something to eat. He ignored how she sat with him for several minutes at a time before she had to go help the next group of refugees pass through the gateway, her warm smile reassuring them they'd be all right but doing nothing to fix Max's broken spirit.

Max was all alone. His parents and sister were dead. Something hideous and disgusting had taken her place, masquerading as May and even convincing her own team that she was the real thing, the traitors. She wasn't May, she was nothing but an abomination, as horrible and grotesque as all those things Deoxys had created, an unnatural fusion of man and beast, as unnatural as all the other mutilations the creature of pure evil mockingly calling itself 'The Mother' had performed on all the other so-called heroes. How could they have agreed to such a process! How could they have allowed themselves to be combined or evolved or transformed like that, becoming ridiculous caricatures of themselves? Surely the 'Mother' had brainwashed them, tricked them into doing such a blasphemous and unnatural thing…or maybe they weren't heroes at all, but evil greedy people like everyone else in the world except him.

Everyone was evil and being used as pawns in a giant chess game between two omnipotent and uncaring entities, one of whom he had thought was his friend but had clearly been using him all along as well. He bet that Jirachi or the Mother or whatever it called itself was laughing at how stupid he had been to believe in their friendship. It had pretended to apologize, but Max was too smart to fall for that!

And Ash's mom was probably a fake too. It wouldn't surprise him. Why else would she keep trying to warm up to him instead of mourning her son, who was clearly dead, despite everyone saying that weird collection of light was somehow him! That didn't make any sense! Or was she trying to _replace_ Ash in her heart with Max!

The concept disgusted him and he swore that would never happen. Ever. He only had one mother, and she was dead, and-

"Max!"

Max's eyes shot open. "Mom!"

"Max, sweetie, what're you doing over there?" Caroline's voice cried.

"Yeah, son, you shouldn't be sitting all alone like that. Come on!" This time he heard Norman's voice.

Max leaped to his feet. There they were, only a few dozen yards away. His parents. "Mom! Dad! I thought…"

"We were dead?" Caroline laughed. "It came pretty close a few times, but we had to stay alive, for your sake and May's! We lived so we could find you, sweetie!"

Norman nodded and crouched on the ground. "That's right, Max. Come on now, let's go home. There's no place for us here, we need to find somewhere safer, where we won't get caught in whatever clash of superpowers is going on here!"

The boy nodded, crying with joy. "All right. All right! I'm coming, dad!" Max started running towards his parents…

Until a pair of clawed hands grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him back. "Max, no! Stop it!"

"Ahhh! Let go!" Max screamed as the facsimile of May tried to pull him back. "Let go of me!"

"No, Max, listen to me! Those aren't our parents! Mom and Dad are dead!" the sphinx told him.

Max struggled furiously. "No they're not, they're MY parents, not yours, you're not even my sister, just a clone my 'friend' whipped up for laughs. Mom, Dad, help!"

"We're coming, son!" Norman said, running towards them.

"Get away!" May yelled, flapping her wings and creating a gust of sandy wind which pushed Norman back. He grunted, while Caroline gasped and Max screamed and renewed his struggles with great fervor.

"NO, STOP IT, LET ME GO! DON'T HURT HIM YOU STUPID MONSTER, HE'S MY DAD!"

"He's NOT our dad!" May snapped. "It's one of Deoxys' minions pretending to be him so he can kill you and cause me emotional damage!"

"It wouldn't cause you emotional damage, because he's MY dad, not yours!" Max yelled back. "And because he's my dad, he won't kill me, if anything he'll kill YOU for pretending to be my sister!"

"That's right!" Norman enlarged a Pokeball. "Get away from my son, or I'll be forced to take decisive action against you!"

"YOU get away from MY brother, or I'll rip your head off!" May snarled back.

"Aaahhh! Mom, Dad, get away! She's gonna kill you!" Max wailed.

"Max, hold on! We're coming!" Caroline said as she joined Norman.

"Stay away!" May yelled, blasting them back with another gust of desert wind.

Norman gritted his teeth and threw out a Pokeball. "Go, Vigoroth!" A big white monkey/sloth with long claws and a red crest appeared, snarling and howling at May. "Get Max away from that monster!"

The Vigoroth growled, "Vigoroth!" and lunged at May. The sphinx threw Max to the side and took the blow from the Wild Monkey's fists, shoving her back. May snarled and jumped aside as the Vigoroth thrusted its claws at her face and lashed out with her nails, leaving deep scratches on its face. It belched a Flamethrower in her face, causing her to fall back, clutching her burnt fur and nearly getting stabbed in the chest by the Vigoroth's Fury Swipes. She lashed out with a clawed kick, stabbing the Monkey in the chest and pushing it back, stunning it for a moment before she launched into a whirlwind kick which sent the Vigoroth flying into the tree Max had been sulking under moments ago.

"No! Vigoroth!" Max cried. "You can't lose to her!"

"Don't worry sweetie," Caroline said, taking Max by his shoulders. "Your father has everything under control."

"Vigoroth, use Bulk Up and rip that tree out of the ground!" Norman ordered.

The Wild Monkey did just that, flinging the tree at May like a javelin. Angrily, she flew into the air and unleashed a sandstorm which pummeled the tree, stripped it of its bark, spun it through the air, and flung it right back at the Vigoroth. The sloth blasted it with Flamethrower then leaped out of the way, bouncing off a nearby tree and slamming into May, knocking her out of the sky. Wrapping its arms around her and squeezing too tightly for her to move, the monkey pinned her to the ground as Max cheered enthusiastically. "Yeah, that's the way!" the boy cried.

"Now Vigoroth, finish it off!" Norman commanded.

The Vigoroth prepared to use Flamethrower…but extending her claws, May forced her hands underneath the sloth's body and with a savage tug, ripped off Vigoroth's genitals. It recoiled, howling in pain as blood gushed from its gaping wound, allowing May to spring to her feet and grab the Vigoroth's neck in her jaws and twist it with a bite, snapping it and killing the monkey. Her 'parents' and Max gasped in horror as it collapsed to the ground, dead. Just to make sure it was truly deceased, since she was certain this was one of Deoxys' minions, she released a devastating sandstorm which shredded the flesh from the Vigoroth's bones and then smashed the bones with her claws to make certain it wouldn't reanimate.

"No! Noooooo!" Max wailed. Caroline hugged him to keep him safe…or was it to keep him from escaping?

"You…you monster!" Norman cried. "You killed…you killed my Pokemon!"

"Drop the act!" May snapped. "I'm not falling for it! I saw my dad die on television during Deoxys' broadcast! He was crushed to death by the giant spiked masher pressing down on all the people above him, even as he desperately shoved them out of the way in a futile attempt to claw to safety! YOU'RE NOT HIM!"

"Of course I am, that Norman wasn't me!" Norman said.

May blinked. "Wh-what!"

"Officer Jenny had noticed suspicious figures prowling around my property and suspected they might be working for a dangerous organization due to recent anonymous threats made at the Petalburg gym, no doubt from embittered trainers who were unable to defeat me. To protect us, Caroline and I were taken out of the city discreetly and body doubles were left in our place. We started heading to Ever Grande, thinking to join May and Max to watch their friend Ash compete in the Hoenn league finals. But we just barely made it here before all the chaos broke loose worldwide and the ferry's systems shut down from some sort of computer virus. We had to take a motor boat to get the rest of the way, and even then we had to wait until a strange light came out of nowhere and destroyed the impenetrable force field covering the island!"

"It took us this long to get here, what with all the monsters on the loose," said Caroline, smiling at her husband. "But Norman's too good a trainer to be held back by something like that!"

"Yeah, you're the best Dad!" Max cheered.

"But…but…" May felt confused. She was certain they were lying, but how could she come up with a counter-argument that could convince Max? She knew that the real Norman would have been torn apart by the monsters before his Pokemon could get even a single attack in, but to Max Norman could do no wrong and was unbeatable, to this day he still claimed that his father had 'let' Ash win his Balance Badge. "If you're really Norman and Caroline Maple, and came all this way to find your kids, then why haven't either of you inquired where your daughter is!"

"May is dead," Norman said bitterly.

"Ha! How do you know that?" May said triumphantly.

"Because of the fact that a monster exists who is a clear mockery of her," Caroline said. "And because…" She closed her eyes. Tears ran down her cheeks. "Because a mother always knows when something bad has happened to her children."

"Wh-what!" May stammered. "That's…that's ridiculous! And completely untrue! You, I mean the real Caroline would never know if I had almost gotten killed in a crazy adventure if I hadn't called her and told her about it!"

"Well there, you see?" Caroline pointed out. "_Almost_ killed. Clearly if May had been killed or injured, she wouldn't have been in any condition to call me to let me know, so I'd have to listen to my woman's intuition to know if something had happened. And that's how I knew my daughter died, although I don't know how…" She pointed an accusatory finger at May. "But I wouldn't be surprised if _you_ were the one to kill her, you despicable creature, so you could take our daughter's place and attempt to corrupt or kill our son!"

"What! That's preposterous, I would never do that to Max!" May protested.

"How can we believe that when we saw what you did to my Vigoroth!" Norman demanded.

"That was because it tried to kill me! And because it wasn't a Vigoroth at all or a living one anyway, but a virus-infected monster!"

"And how do you know that? What makes you think that!" Norman shouted at her, what looked like tears of anger and grief coming from the corners of his eyes. "Can that feline nose of yours _smell_ this so-called virus on an individual? Did you smell it on Vigoroth? Do you smell it on me or Caroline? Or do you smell it on yourself!"

"I…what! I'm not infected!" May protested. "The Mother changed me!"

"It doesn't matter who made you," Norman said. "Whether it was the radiant creature or the hideous one…either way, you're still an abomination! A copy which thinks she's our daughter!"

"That's…that's not…" May clenched her fists. "I may look different, but it's still me, May Maple!"

"Is it?" Norman pointed at the remnants of Vigoroth. "Would May have done _that!_"

"I…st-stop!" May quivered. "I've had enough of these mind games! I'm May, Max is my brother, and you're not my parents! That's all there is to it!" She lunged at Norman, and before he could release his Slaking, she fell upon him and tore out his throat and ripped his body in two, blasting it with desert wind to destroy what was left.

Max and Caroline gasped. "DAD!" Max screamed.

"NORMAN!" cried Caroline in horror.

"Cut the act, because you didn't love him ANYWAY!" May snarled, thrusting her arm through Caroline's face and out the other side, releasing a sandstorm into the woman's body which blew her apart and sent both her and Max stumbling back, covered in blood and gore.

May sighed, relaxing. It was done. A smile on her face, she turned to Max. "It's over, Max. They're gone." She held a hand out to him.

He stared at her. He stared at the sphinx who looked marginally like his sister who was covered in the remains of his parents. And, naturally, he screamed. And screamed. And screamed. And didn't stop screaming until Delia and Rui ran over, looking rather worn out, along with May's team.

"What's going on!" Delia cried, seeing Max covered in human remains, quickly wrapping her arms around him. He shook her off and continued screaming.

"Where were you guys! I could have used your help!" May shouted at her team over Max's wails.

"They were helping protect the latest group of refugees," Rui told her. "A big group of monsters showed up out of nowhere and started attacking! We all might have died if it weren't for them!"

May frowned. "How convenient…"

"Where were you?" Blaziken asked. "We could have used your help too."

"A couple of Deoxys' minions showed up out of nowhere, disguised as my parents, and tried to convince Max to come away with them," May explained. "They did a good job of it, too. They really had Max fooled. Even had some of my dad's Pokemon on them, or reasonable duplicates. Their behavior was surprisingly human for a bunch of fakes, though."

"Well, we were all fooled by that Deoxys clone masquerading as Nurse Joy in the Pokemon Center," said Ivysaur. "So I guess they must be born with good acting skills, or something."

"Yeah, so good I almost thought they were the real things," May agreed with a nod.

"They WERE the real things!" Max screamed. "Mom and Dad even said how they got here! And then YOU killed them, you monster!"

"They would have killed you if I hadn't!" May said in frustration.

"They would never do that! They were my parents!" Max protested, still struggling with Delia.

"No they weren't, they were impostors!" May yelled. "Virus-infected body doubles!"

"_You're_ a virus-infected body double!" Max screamed. "One who killed my parents! I hate you!"

"Max!" Delia gasped.

"Let me go!" he snapped at her. "You're not my mother and I don't want you to be! Your son died and not only are you not acting like he's dead, but you're trying to replace him with me! I hate you too! I hate you all! I wish you were dead! Especially you!" he said to May.

"…"

"Just die already! Drop dead! Fall out a window like my sister did and don't bother spreading your wings or having an Ivysaur catch you! DIE!"

"But…Max…"

"I don't want to talk to you! You killed my parents, you're an UGLY copy of my sister, and now you want to kill me! Go away! Die! Die! Die!" Max yelled.

The sphinx blinked. The sphinx stared. After a long moment, May turned and walked away. Delia and Rui glanced at each uncertainly, not sure what to do with the recalcitrant Max. "Oh dear…" Delia said worriedly.

"Let's go," May said curtly to her team.

"May…" started Beautifly.

"What!" she snapped.

The butterfly recoiled. "You…have some bits in your hair."

"Oh." May rubbed her claws through her hair, picking them out. She paused and sniffed them. They smelled oddly fresh for something that had probably been atrophied rapidly due to infection. In fact, she wasn't sure she could smell any trace of Deoxys' virus at all.

Her blood turned to ice. No virus. Fresh skin and…other parts. Could…could they have been-

She clamped down on that thought before her mind could snap. No. It couldn't have been them. They were fakes who were trying to kidnap Max and kill him. They weren't her parents. They weren't her parents. They weren't her parents.

Were they?

…

"Uhhh!" Gritting her fangs in pain, Misty crouched on the pavement, clutching her side, her tired team engaging Psycho Richie without her. They had spent the last several minutes fighting him, and the maniac showed little to no signs of damage from the few attacks that he hadn't been able to dodge…whereas their blood had been shed on that giant knife of his many times now. Misty was confident they would win, but…well, it was taking longer than she had expected.

"Here, mom," Togetic whispered, touching her mother's side and using her powers to heal it faster, aiding Misty's accelerated draconic recovery process.

"Thanks," the dragonoid said with a smile, getting back up to her feet.

"Gahahahahahaha!" Richie nimbly dodged Gyarados' Hyper Beam attack, kicked off the side of a building, and drove his giant knife into the Atrocious Pokemon's side, piercing the flesh. Gyarados roared in agony and thrashed about, his body spewing blood as Richie, unmoved by the thrashing, stabbed again and again. "Gahahaha! Ahahahahahaha!"

"Stop!" Corsola fired her Hidden Power at Richie, sending rings of energy balls flying at the psychotic Poke Ranger.

Richie twisted around and thrusted his knife out, catching the energy rings on its tip. He twisted around and lashed out with his knife, scattering the energy balls and flinging them back at the group. Togetic glowed blue, and they were all surrounded by a large Safeguard force field which repelled the energy balls. From behind the shield, Misty attempted to freeze the moisture inside Richie's head to destroy his brain…but his helmet blocked her aquakinesis, as did his suit, so she couldn't dehydrate him. What she could do, though, was call up water from under the street and freeze it, trapping Richie inside.

At least, that's what she _tried_ to do. The evil Ranger's reflexes allowed him to dodge the geysers as they erupted and froze, hurling his knife right at the shield and penetrating it as it flew right towards a startled Misty's heart.

Corsola, using Harden, leaped in front of Misty and took the blow, gasping as it cracked her coral body. "C-Corsola!" Misty cried.

Togetic quickly swooped down to help, but Richie sneered as he grabbed her by the wings and piledrived her into the ground, cracking the street and her head. "Haha, widdle angel can't fwy no more!" he taunted as he prepared to tear her wings off.

"No!" Misty and Gyarados cried at the same time, the former hurling a spear of ice while the other fired a Hyper Beam. Richie jumped out of the way and the attacks collided over Togetic, causing her to flinch as they blew up right above her head.

Richie landed near Politoed, kicked the frog into a street sign before he could try to hypnotize him, and flung out his hand, calling his giant knife back to him. "Gyahahahaha! She's so pretty as she fights, isn't she precious? Will she look so pretty when her wings are torn off and her intestines are falling out and she's bleeding to death on the ground! I think so."

"Not on my watch!" Misty snapped, summoning her mallet.

Richie cackled. "Is that supposed to scare me! You can't defeat me! Especially not with that!"

"Maybe not…but I can!"

All blinked at the familiar voice. Misty gasped. "Ash!"

A figure dropped down between her and Richie, facing the serial killer. He was clad in a bodysuit of red spandex with white gloves and boots and a gold Pokeball emblem on his chest, shoulders, knees, and belt, all with lightning bolts going through them. His helmet was red and fairly simple, unadorned with no remarkable features other than the gold Pokeball emblem with lightning bolt on his forehead. The lower half of the figure's face was hidden behind a titanium mouthpiece, while the upper half was hidden behind a black facemask with a clear blue visor over it, allowing his very familiar brown eyes to peer out. "It's over, Richie!"

Richie took a step back in amazement. "It's…it's you!" He laughed in glee. "Hahahahaha! I'm so happy! I was upset you were dead, but now that you're here I can kill you myself!"

"You're not killing me!" said Ash Ketchum, taking a pose. "Nor are you killing my friends! I'm the Crimson Lightning Ranger now, and I'm here to stop you, Psycho Ranger!"

"Is that…Dad!" Togetic asked in disbelief as her mother helped her up.

"Yes," Misty said, a smile on his face. "He's here…I don't know how, but he's here…as the hero he was always meant to be!"

"Kinda makes you wonder why we spent all that time trying to save him from HERO if he was only going to become a superhero anyway," Crawdaunt grumbled as he scuttled over with the rest of Ash's team.

"Because when HERO did transform him, he became Alpha?" Oliphan reminded him.

"Oh, right."

"Crawdaunt!" Corsola cried as she used Recover on herself. "You're all right! Which must mean…"

"We defeated Alpha? Yeah," the lobster said. "But…not without a price…"

"Uncle Venusaur died," Oliphan said sadly.

Togetic's wings drooped. "Oh no…"

"Another one dead…" Misty said, shaking her head.

"Well, at least it's the only one for the time being," Gyarados pointed out. "Since Rui hasn't told us if anyone else has died. Then again, she didn't tell us Venusaur died either, so…"

"I don't understand…" Draganium said softly. "After I treated him, after I hated him…why did he do that? Did he still love me that much? Did he want so much to be redeemed? Or maybe he just wanted to die…" She sighed unhappily. "I just don't know…"

"Hey…hey!" Politoed shouted to get their attention. "Now's not the time to be sad…not in the middle of a battle. We need to cheer up and support Ash and everyone else…because the fighting's not over yet!"

"Hahahahahaha! I've been hoping and dreaming for this day! The day I KIIIIILL YOOOOOU!" Richie laughed insanely.

"The only one who's going to die is you, Richie…for the safety of my friends and whatever's left of this city! I had always thought our rematch would be in a Pokemon battle, but I suppose you have to make do with what you've got!" said Ash, putting up his fists.

"Okay…but first…" Richie leaped to the top of a building and slashed down at it with his giant knife, causing it to split in two and begin to collapse. "Catch me if you can!" He bounded away.

"Ugh, another chase across half the city," Corsola grumbled. "Why can't these guys just stay in one place to fight!"

"Yeah, my legs are tired from the walk over here," Crawdaunt complained. Togetic gestured, and healing light shone down on him, making him feel better. "Huh? Oh, thanks kid," he said with a grunt.

"I'm going after him," said Ash, a long metal sword forming in his right hand. "Or else there's no telling how many people he'll kill." He turned around. "Guys…this is something I have to do on my own. Hero against antihero. Rival vs. rival. I don't mean any disrespect, but…you guys have already beaten one supervillain today. Now it's my turn, and…I don't want you getting hurt in the crossfire."

"So you want us to stay behind?" Crawdaunt shrugged. "Sure, all right."

"You're giving up a fight that quickly?" Corsola asked in surprise.

"Sure, why not? There's plenty of other bad guys to beat up around these parts," Crawdaunt pointed out reasonably.

"I understand," Draganium said with a nod, thinking of how Venusaur had died trying to protect her. It was clear that what Ash really wanted was for that not to happen again, underneath the 'rivalry' stuff. "You don't want anyone else to…don't worry, Ash. We'll be fine."

Politoed nodded. "Yeah, and we'll work out a new cheer for you in the meantime!"

"You go, Dad!" Togetic and Oliphan chorused.

"Hold it!" Misty snapped, quieting everyone. She stomped towards him, hands on her hips. "You just got back from being dead, and already you're running off on some crazy adventure! Just where do you think you're going by yourself, Ash Ketchum?"

"B-but I have to fight Richie," Ash protested. "He's my current arch-enemy, and I have to stop him from-"

"I didn't say anything about not stopping Richie," Misty interrupted. "I said 'where do you think you're going by yourself'? If you think I'm not coming with you, you're sorely mistaken."

Ash's eyes widened. "But…but… it's too danger-"

"WHAT were you about to say?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

Ash gulped. "N-nothing. It's just that, um, I can probably handle him by myself-"

"Ash," Misty interrupted. "What has happened to you every time you went on an adventure without me?"

Ash paused. "Um…lots of stuff?"

She sighed in exasperation. "What happened when you went into Pokemon Tower by yourself and left me and Brock outside?"

"Um…ghosts dropped a chandelier on me?"

"What happened when you went to Hoenn without me?"

"Um…Pikachu almost died on the way over, and I ended up getting stuck in a turf war between two new and more competent criminal organizations than the Team Rocket we knew and hated…and then I almost got eaten by a giant fake Groudon…and almost killed by the King of the Ghosts…and then hurled into a whole chain of adventures, each more lethal than the last, in which I almost died several times over?"

Misty nodded in satisfaction. "AND…what happened when you ran out on me during the party last night?"

"Well, technically I didn't run, Harrison dragged me out-" Ash started.

"Answer the question!" she snapped.

"Er…" Ash sweatdropped. "Charizard lost his wings, our friends almost died, and I got turned into Alpha and tortured by Deoxys while many of our friends DID die until Mewtwo accidentally exorcised me, turning me into a spirit unable to help anyone until now?"

Misty nodded, smirking triumphantly. "Exactly. Whenever you go off by yourself, you end up doing something stupid and nearly killing yourself or everyone around you. So, to keep you from doing that with Richie, I'M coming with you."

Ash stammered. "But-but-but-"

"No buts, mister!" she snapped, causing him to stand to attention. She wrapped her arm around his. "Now, let's go, shall we?"

"Y-yes, Misty." He realized it was pointless to even try arguing. Together, they leaped and flew off after Richie.

Togetic sighed happily. "Oh, it's so good to see them flirting like that again…Oliphan, please refrain from following your father's example and find a girl or guy that, when you argue, won't possibly smash your head in with a giant hammer. I love Mom dearly, but I'm not sure it's healthy for you to find a girl like that."

"But my head's thick enough now for that, just like Dad's," the elephant pointed out.

"Yes, but when Dad gets into a fight and loses his temper he can't make earthquakes," Togetic pointed out. "That's what I meant when I said it wasn't healthy…for everyone _else_."

"Oh yeah…"

Draganium sighed unhappily. "Sceptile-kun and I never got time to have violent arguments or spar with each other…and I never will, now." She did not accuse anyone for her loss, not Venusaur, not Alpha. She simply mourned for all that she had lost, accepting her grief and what came with it.

"Hmm…should we have pointed out that more often than not, Ash almost gets killed anyway on most of his adventures, whether Misty is there or not?" Corsola mused.

Crawdaunt snorted. "Like that'd change their mind. And even if Ash knew that, there's no way he could disagree with her when she was in a mood like that. If he did, he'd either get pounded, get no loving for a week or more, or both." He glanced at Corsola. "Speaking of which…"

She blinked. "What, you want to do it _now!_"

"What? Of course not!" he scoffed. "Not when we can have a good fight on our hands! No, I meant after this whole mess was over. To celebrate!"

She sighed in exasperation. "Is that all you can think about!"

He shrugged. "Yes, due to my upbringing, genes, and the large amounts of my brain biologically dedicated to sex."

She huffed. "Well, perhaps 'no loving for a week' will change that!"

"Nothing for a week? Awww." Crawdaunt shrugged. "Well, if you insist on depriving yourself, okay."

Corsola blinked. "Huh? What about you?"

"Me? Oh, I'll see if Delcatty wants to do it instead. I think she will, not like anyone else will since Golduck's dead and she's desperately looking for some other reason to keep on living. And maybe I'll see if that Milotic won't be willing. Have to ask Wobbuffet for permission, though. And if neither of them are interested…well, I'm sure that Jigglypuff won't mind, she knows she needs a man who can appreciate her for more than just her singing voice." He scuttled off.

Corsola's eye twitched. "…Dammit, it's REALLY difficult to make a guy jealous when he's polygamous by nature! Crawdaunt, wait up, I take it back!" She ran after him.

"Ah, love," Politoed said wistfully. "Hmm…perhaps I can write a new cheer for love…something full of romance and adventure…" He clapped his hands together experimentally. "When tempers fly and hearts are wild, there's nothing like true love's kiss to make things…mild? Hmm…needs work…" He continued muttering under his breath as he hopped away.

"Big sister, will I ever get a girlfriend?" Oliphan asked. "I envy Mom and Dad's closeness…and Charizard and Charla look so happy together!"

"I'm sure you'll find someone someday, little brother," Togetic assured him as they stomped and floated after the others. "If you wait until mating season…whenever that is, seeing as how it varies from species to species…you might find someone. If not, there are other ways. I think you're mature enough now to find love on your own…with a little assistance of course."

Oliphan smiled. "Thanks, sis."

"You're welcome."

"By the way, if I'm mature enough to find love, am I mature enough to FINALLY have someone tell me where babies really come from? I'd like to know how Mom and Dad made me."

Togetic blinked in surprise. "Mom and…you mean you don't know?"

Oliphan looked at her in confusion. "Know what?"

"…Oliphan, Mom didn't lay your egg, she and Dad got you from a Breeding Center as a prize for an Extreme Pokemon race in Mahogany Town."

Oliphan's eyes bulged. "You-you mean…I'M ADOPTED!" He trumpeted in horror. "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME!"

Togetic sweatdropped. "…Oh, Brother…"

Gyarados sweatdropped as everyone left him behind. "…What, nobody's interested in _my_ love life? Well…maybe it's because I rarely talk about things that often. Maybe then they'd have known I mated a rather fetching Wailord just the other day while Ash was in one of his matches…oh well. Wonder if she's all right." Thinking idly to himself, the usually quiet Gyarados floated up into the air and swam after his teammates, off in search of some monsters to beat up or people to save while their trainers were out on their 'date'

…

The very secure building shook as the monsters attacked it again, slamming their bulk into its sides, chipping its armor with claw and fang and explosions, wearing it down bit by bit to get at the ooey gooey morsels inside. The terrified humans and Pokemon in the building gibbered and screamed in terror, certain that this was the end. Many had already defecated themselves from fright or started trying to eat the others, or suggested throwing out some of the injured as sacrifices to make the monsters go away, so deep was their terror.

The five-foot thick steel door had been melted and blasted almost the whole way through. Less than a centimeter of weakened metal stood between the horde of monsters and the weak, mewling prey inside.

But just before the final blow was struck, there was a sound, off in the distance but growing louder. A sound which confused the monsters and caused them to look about, trying to pinpoint its source. It sounded like…a song. A song that went like…

"Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAHHH! Dah dah-dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAHHHH!"

Heads and eyestalks turned as it came from down the streets. It floated towards them, a horror so unspeakable that even these things spawned from the depths of Deoxys' mind quivered in fear.

It washed down the street, as unstoppable as a tidal wave when Latias was nowhere to be found, consuming every monster in its wake as all fled in terror from it.

"Dah dah dah-dah Dah! Dah dah dah-dah Dah! Dah dah dah-dah dah Dah, Dah dah-dah DAHHHH!"

Beam attacks, blasts of fire and ice and acid, bolts of thunder and jets of water lanced out to strike the unstoppable horror. Spikes and needles and nails and flaming skulls were hurled at it. Some monsters even threw smaller, weaker monsters like missiles in their desperate attempts to fend off the monster.

But nothing worked. This creature's power was so great, the incoming attacks bounced or ricocheted off its hide harmlessly, and if any caused pain, the monster showed no sign of it as it continued its inexorable assault on the horde.

"Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAHHH! Dah dah-dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAHHHH!"

Tentacles lashed out, grabbed hapless monsters off the ground or from the sky, and stuffed them into its mouth, its digestive process clearly visible through its transparent flesh as it did absolutely horrible things to those unfortunate enough to be consumed by the beast. Those who were trampled into paste by their fellows in the mad rush to escape were far, far luckier.

The monster, after swallowing its latest victim, belched loudly, a bass "CHIIIIIIII!" echoing throughout the city, vibrating it to its very foundations, and shattering windows and smaller buildings nearby. The weakened door to the 'safe house' crumbled, but by that point the monsters were in full retreat and no longer interested in feasting on flesh, blood, fear, sex, and whatever else the weak inhabitants had to offer.

"Sadic-"

"Dah da dah-dah Dah! Dah dah dah-dah Dah! Dah dah dah-dah dah Dah, Dah dah-dah DAHHHH!"

"Sadic!"

"Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAHHH! Dah dah-dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAH dah, Dah dah-dah DAHHHH!"

"SADIC!"

"Dah dah dah-what?" Sadic said, blinking as she broke off from her singing. She and her companions were standing on top of Chimecho, riding the eating machine as it devoured the monster army.

"Why are you singing Flight of the Valkyries?" Pikachu asked her.

The Manyula shrugged. "Why not? It fits the mood, doesn't it?"

"Well, I suppose," Milotic admitted. "I'm just surprised, since _I_ was planning to sing. You know, to neutralize the monsters before Chimecho ate them."

"Well, that might not have worked," Wobbuffet considered. "Since technically he's one of them too. As an infected monster like them, your singing might have caused him pain as well."

"Nonsense. Chimecho's much too innocent. He lacks the evil inherent in those monsters that made them unable to comprehend what I was singing about," Milotic argued.

"So he's too dumb to be affected?" Cacturne thought out loud. "I suppose that makes sense."

"You can sing for the next battle if you want," Sadic offered. "I did it this time because I've always wanted to sing Flight of the Valkyries while riding into combat, ever since I saw that one movie with my old trainer…but since before today I never had any companions to ride into combat with, it's never been appropriate to sing until now."

"Oh, I see," said Milotic with a nod. "It was rather appropriate. May I sing it next time we go into battle? You could join me if you like. We could be a duet."

"Eh, thanks but no thanks," Sadic said with a wave. "You can go ahead and do it. I know my singing voice isn't all that good, it would only ruin the effect."

Milotic nodded. "I don't think your voice is that bad, but if that's your decision, very well."

"You know, it's kind of useful having a giant monster to ride into battle on," Pikachu admitted. He glanced at Wobbuffet. "You know, if Jessie and James had thought to come at me with something like this, I might have actually gotten captured for real."

Wobbuffet and Cacturne glanced at each other, looked back at Pikachu, and burst into raucous laughter. Pikachu couldn't help smirking. "Okay, okay, I guess that IS a bit of a stretch. We all know they'd probably do something stupid and screw everything up horribly, as usual."

"And if not, I'd decapitate them and feast on their innards," Sadic said cheerfully. "To punish them for daring to think they can capture my cuddly little rodent." She grabbed Pikachu and pressed him against her side, purring as she rubbed her head against his, causing him to flush in embarrassment.

"I'd do the same," Wobbuffet said, glancing to Milotic. "Er, that is…well, you know. I'd do whatever it took to rescue you. And we DID rescue you when you were captured, didn't we?"

She nodded. "You did. I only wish there were something more we could have done for…your sister…"

Cacturne shook her head sadly while Wobbuffet looked at the wiggling jelly that made up Chimecho's head. "It's still so hard for me to believe…she was such a cute kid. It's horrible that something like this could happen to her, to anyone…"

"Yeah, well," Wobbuffet said softly. "It's too late to think about it now. It's in the past. So…let's take this giant Chimecho and make sure what happened to my sister never happens to anyone else, okay?" They all nodded in agreement.

While they had been talking, Chimecho had finished devouring all the monsters in the area and belched, letting his tamers know he had finished, as well as shaking the city's foundations and weakening its structure even further. "Okay, it's safe! You can come out now!" Pikachu yelled at the not-so-safe house.

They waited. After several moments, a cautious head peeked out of the broken door, glanced around to see if there were any monsters, then retracted back into the building. A couple of minutes later, the house's occupants, mainly a bunch of people who had never been there before but had just ran in before it locked down to find a place to hide, exited, timidly looking for their saviors.

And then, as they inevitable had to, they saw Chimecho. They gaped, loosening their bowels and shaking with fear as they were confronted with the horrifying nor-so-evil ex-general of Deoxys' army.

"CHIIIIIIII!" Chimecho bellowed happily.

The survivors stared at Chimecho, screamed, and every last one of them fainted.

The Pokemon on the giant jelly monster's back blinked. "What was that about?" Pikachu wondered.

"You'd think they'd be more grateful to the people who just saved their lives," Wobbuffet grumbled.

"Yeah…No, Chimecho, stop! STOP!" Milotic yelled, causing Chimecho to halt its tentacles in mid-motion. "NO eating regular people! Only monsters! Understand!" She sighed. "I hope this doesn't happen _every_ time we rescue someone…"

"If Chimecho won't eat them, can I? I haven't had lunch yet, and none of the dead things look even remotely appetizing," Sadic asked.

"NO!" everyone yelled at her.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she said with a casual shrug.

…

"Wow," said Scyther, stunned.

"That is our goal," Registeel said, pointing out across the devastated plains.

They stood on a hill outside the city limits, in the barren wasteland which had once been a Pokemon wildlife preserve set up by Ford Industries. It had been trashed completely by Team Cipher's Tyranitron during its wild rampage to capture the Pokemon that lived here, and what was left had been destroyed by the emergence of Deoxys Ribos, which sucked away all the life from this artificial land and rendered it dead and empty. Half a mile away sat the broken halves of Deoxys' crystal fortress, looking like nothing less than the egg of some monstrosity which had just been hatched into the world. Viral miasma billowed out from the hollowed castle in great clouds which drifted across the land and into the city, twisting all unlucky enough to not be Chosen that were caught within it into horrible monsters, their souls instantly banished into Deoxys' clutches.

_Things_ moved in the miasma, awful, misshapen things which should never see the light of day. They poured from the fortress in great multitudes, their numbers countless as they marched into the city to replace those who had fallen at the hands of the Chosen inside. Scyther, Rukario, and Registeel had been forced to fight stronger and more monstrous abominations as they trekked through the city to this place, but they had made it, and stood now on this hill for a brief respite before their next struggle.

"That is the source of the cancer spreading through Ever Grande City," Rukario said eloquently. "We must remove it immediately, before its corruption infests this place down to its very foundations."

"Right, what do we do?" Scyther asked. "How are we going to destroy that thing? It's really damn big! I don't think even another one of those giant support beams can do the trick!"

"We cannot destroy it," Registeel told him. "That is not within our power, but for the Mother to do. What we _can_ do in the meantime, is contain it until she returns so that she may dispose of it properly."

Scyther blinked. "Contain it? With what!"

"With this." Registeel opened his hand, and a small spherical object emerged from where it had been hidden inside his malleable metal body and into his fingers. It was split in two halves, one gold, one silver, with a solid black line dividing it. A large metal pin was set in the black line, a 'dot' of sorts formed around it, and two letters were crudely carved into the gold half of the sphere above the pin.

Rukario's eyes widened, while Scyther gasped when he saw it. "That's…that's the GS Ball!"

The two ancients stared at him. "The what?"

"The GS Ball! I first met Ash and his friends and became a trained Pokemon during a journey to bring that thing to Professor Oak in Pallet Town! A scientist named Professor Ivy found it in the Orange Islands, but last I heard Ash left it with a guy named Kurt in Azale Town. How'd _you_ get it?"

"GS Ball? So that's what the people of the present call it? Interesting," said Registeel, glancing at the sphere in his hand. "This here is an object I created through alchemy many, many years ago as a countermeasure in case Deoxys or his virus were ever to return to Earth. I dubbed it the 'Giga Seal', and crafted two more from the limited resources I possessed to synthesize them. It has the ability to compress objects or creatures of tremendous size or power and trap them within the sphere for proper disposal. When I went into hibernation, the three Seal spheres I made were somehow scattered across the world. When I was awakened, I had Rayquaza's ghosts seek out and bring them all to me in preparation for our battle against Deoxys. I suppose one of them must have somehow found its way to this 'Professor Ivy' and from there to 'Kurt', where the ghosts found it. All three are now in my possession once again."

"Three of these things? Wow," said an impressed Scyther. "So it's basically a prototype Pokeball or something, except it compresses the object instead of transporting it to some weird pocket dimension?"

"Essentially, yes," Registeel agreed. "Amazing, isn't it, that people of the modern world would invent a device that looks so similar and has the same basic function as my device, even if Pokeballs are intended for Pokemon in general instead of hazardous objects or viral monsters? What a remarkable coincidence…if it IS a coincidence…hmm. I wonder…"

Scyther shook his head. "I had no idea this thing was so old…you must be a really good craftsman to make something that lasted this long and looks so, well, new! If only my old exoskeleton were in the same shape…not that it's bad by all means, of course, thanks to the Mother, but you get my drift. I'm not complaining though, I'm over that youth-desiring phase."

"I must say I'm rather pleased that none of the scientists of this time have managed to crack open this sphere or any of the others," Registeel said as he tossed the Giga Seal in his hand. "It could have had catastrophic results…in any event, with this we can seal away Deoxys' castle and prevent the generation of monsters and virii which are destroying the city. That'll leave two more Seals…one to use on Deoxys once he is defeated, and one more in case of emergencies."

"Then activate the Seal, Master!" Rukario said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, and remove this eyesore from the world!" Scyther agreed.

"Very well." Registeel put both his hands around the Giga Seal, murmuring words in a language Scyther had never heard before…or had he? It sounded oddly familiar, even though he didn't have the slightest idea what the Iron Pokemon was saying…in any event, whatever Registeel said had some effect on the ball in his hand, causing its letters to light up and the gold and silver halves to glow.

Registeel reared back, holding the sphere in his right hand. "Giga Seal…GO!" He hurled the device in an overhand swing remarkably like that used by the average trainer when throwing a Pokeball.

For being the oldest living thing on the planet, Registeel had a very good arm. The Pokeball-like artifact flew through the air, leaving a trail of light in its wake, as it arced over the immense side of the riven fortress and plummeted right into its poisoned heart. Deep in the center of the foul miasma, the Giga Seal ball struck a crystalline object, angular and thorny, the source of the viral plague and the generator of all the monsters as well. It was so grotesque that even a mind as advance as Registeel's might have gone mad from contemplating its pure evil, and so it was fortunate that it was completely enshrouded in its own offal.

The Seal gleamed as it bounced off the hard object. Its pin flashed and shot out, causing the two halves of the ball to separate, creating a vacuum far more powerful than the ones created by Wes and Gonzap's Snag Balls. The result was rather comical: all the viral miasma was instantly sucked into the vacuum, dragging the immense newly produced horde of monsters with it, though they kicked and struggled with all their might before falling screaming into the void. And once the miasma and the monsters were gone, the fortress went as well, creaking as gravity forced its broken halves to cave in on themselves, crunching and imploding as they were compressed into small but extremely dense clumps of matter which got sucked into the vacuum, leaving a large, scorched crater in its place…along with a large number of monsters who had cleared the fortress before the Seal opened and as such had been outside its vacuum's range. Those monsters stared, dumbfounded, their rotten minds attempting to understand how their master's very large and very terrible castle had just vanished into a small object which even now was closing back up as it fell to the ground, gleaming innocently.

Scyther's eyes bugged out. "Holy…that was…" Speechless, he shook his head in amazement. "And I thought Pokeballs were impressive! That was something else! And there's two more of those things!" His companions nodded. "Geez…Is there _nothing_ you can't do!"

"Yes," Registeel said, holding out his hands and calling the Giga Seal back to him. "I can't whistle."

"Huh?"

"My master cannot whistle," Rukario told Scyther. "Because he has no mouth, and so no lips. One needs lips to whistle. I, too, have lost the ability to whistle by becoming metal…but it is an acceptable loss, I think."

"At least you could whistle, once," Registeel lamented. "I never have. I can't snap my fingers either…rather difficult, when said fingers are positioned and formed as mine are."

Scyther blinked. "Oh…well, come to think of it, I can't do either of those either…but I can start fires by clashing my blades together and making sparks! Can you guys?"

"Of course." Registeel scraped his forearms together rapidly, giving off sparks.

"I can as well, now." Rukario snapped his metal fingers, making sparks.

Scyther's eye twitched. "…Awwww…."

"But neither of us can decapitate monsters as well as you can," Rukario said quickly. "I mean, when I do it I have to either rip off their heads or punch it off, and both of those ways are rather messy. All you have to do is make one swift chop with your scythes, and that's it!"

"Well…that's true," Scyther admonished. "Still…it doesn't really make up for the lack of opposable thumbs."

"Speaking of which…how _do_ you hold things anyway?" the vulpine asked curiously.

"Well, I usually either balance it on the flat of my blades. If I need to push or grab something more delicately, though…" He looked embarrassed. "Well, let's just say I've managed to make my tongue flexible…VERY flexible…"

There was an awkward silence. "I…see…" said a disturbed Rukario.

"It is as I've told you before," Registeel said sadly, patting his apprentice's shoulder with a clank. "There are many things in this world it is not pleasant to poke too deeply into."

"I see that now," said Rukario, eye twitching. "The…imagery I'm envisioning, it…ugh!"

"What?" Scyther asked in confusion. "What? I don't…oh. OH!" His face flushed. "Well, erm, I can promise you I've never used my tongue for THAT…not that nobody was willing, it's just that before now the, ahem, excitement from such an act would probably overexert my once-weak heart. I…_suppose_ I could use it that way now-"

"Too much information! Too much information!" the metal Pokemon shouted, causing Scyther to sweatdrop and laugh anxiously.

After a moment of consideration, Registeel noted, "You know, that _is_ one thing I can't do. Not just because I don't have a tongue, but because I don't have…well…anything, if you get my drift. To be honest, I don't even have a gender, I've just assumed a male persona because I've always been told my voice sounded masculine."

"Oh." Scyther felt a moment of pity for the Iron Pokemon. "I'm so sorry…I have no idea what something like that must feel like…"

"Oh, it's quite all right," said an unworried Registeel. "The absence of such thoughts has given my mind more space to contemplate the nature of the universe. And from sexual activity experiments I've conducted (with permission, of course) I am not certain I am missing anything."

Scyther blinked. "…Hey!"

"Master, I do believe we have company," Rukario said, tapping his mentor's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Registeel glanced around and noticed that their hill was completely surrounded by a couple of thousand enraged monsters, some of whom were very large. "Oh my. Do you suppose they're angry that we sealed away their master's castle?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were," Scyther muttered, stepping back to get closer to his companions. "Um…should we use another one of those GS Balls?"

Rukario smirked. "Why bother? We can take them!"

Registeel nodded. "Yes, and we need to save the other two…but I think it couldn't hurt to get some assistance. Miss Rui?"

"_Yeah, big guy?"_

"Do you suppose you could ask some of our comrades to join us? I'm sure they wouldn't want to miss out on all the excitement."

"_On it! Have fun until they get there!"_

"We intend to," said Registeel, glancing and getting nods from his companions. "We intend to."

Without fear, they charged into battle.

…

High above planet Earth…

The portal expelled the Mother and Deoxys outside the Earth's atmosphere, floating between the world and the Moon. This place was familiar to both of them, for in this incarnation both of them had dwelled among the stars for eons before originally landing on Earth…the only difference was that the Mother had stayed, while Deoxys had been banished to the far corners of the universe, until his inevitable return mere months ago.

"Why have you brought us here?" the Mother asked.

"It makes the perfect backdrop for our last battle, don't you think?" Deoxys asked, spreading his arms to indicate the fantastic starscape all around them. "To remind us what we're fighting for…one to protect, and one to reduce to nothing…"

"And conveniently enough, a place where little fallout from our battle will affect the people below…I approve. Ah…but one thing first." Clutching Guardian tightly in her right hand, she stretched her left out towards the world below. The green light shining from Guardian drained from the former Absol's blade and entered her body, causing her aura to flare briefly as she absorbed its power, leaving Guardian's blade black once more. And from the world below, something new appeared.

From the planet they came, streaming from the atmosphere and flowing into her hand, the souls released from Leviathan's belly by Shedinja's noble sacrifice. They cascaded around her, drinking in the radiance she gave off, and then coalesced in her left hand, merging together to create an ethereal white and gold sword which contrasted Guardian nicely. The Mother slashed her new weapon, Spirit, through the air, testing it out, before facing Deoxys. "I'm ready."

He nodded. "I see…you have a fitting sense of justice. Granting the souls I have wronged a chance to strike me down…very well." His trident split into four, one going into each hand. "I am flattered you believe it will take that much to defeat me."

"I would never flatter you, Deoxys," the Mother said, releasing the swords from her grasp. They floated in the air beside her, her hands free. "You don't deserve it." She thrusted her palms out, light lancing forth from her hands towards the exposed crystal in the alien's chest.

He twirled his tridents, four shield orbs materializing and blocking her strike. "Neither do you," he called out, gathering his power and firing his multi-laser strike at her from every eye and orifice. With a flick of her wrist, she flung Guardian out before her, slowing time as she did so. The lasers struck her black sword as it spun in front of her, shielding her from the blast as she teleported behind Deoxys and lashed out with her own lasers, mentally striking with Spirit before she fired and severing the alien's tail and tentacles. Lightning shot out from his crystal wings, pushing her back as she caught it in her hands, dispersing it to her wings and using them to fire an electrostatic burst at Deoxys which overloaded his shield orbs and left his chest cavity open to Spirit, which he had already psychically thrown forward before the static had even hit. Deoxys crossed his tridents before him, blocking and deflecting the sword's thrust, his tail reattaching to his body and lashing out as Guardian shot at Deoxys from behind, ensnaring it with its hook and hurling it away through space. Deoxys then threw _his _weapons at the Mother, all four of them, before teleporting away.

She shattered them with a frequency, her swords returning to her just in time for her to spin around and sever Deoxys' hand, which had been thrusting out from a great distance to pierce her through the back. The arm retracted, hand regenerating, as rifts in space opened all around Deoxys and continent-sized asteroids tumbled out towards the Mother. Dispatching her swords to destroy the asteroids and keep them from threatening Earth, the goddess teleported across space to reach Deoxys, her fist reared back even before she reappeared so that she could deal a haymaker to his chin.

His head snapped back, but his hands shot forward, two of them grabbing her fists before she could punch him again, while his other two hands ripped through her chest and out the other side, damaging the eye on her stomach. Not flinching, she brought her knee up and drove it into the face in the mouth of the beast which made up Deoxys' lower half, causing it to squeal in pain and send its tail arcing over Deoxys' head to pierce her brain, or at least try to. But her own tail whipped up over her hat and wrapped around Deoxys' tail, holding it steady. They glared at each other, lasers shooting from each of their three eyes and colliding in the space between them as they continued their grapple, the Mother's legs flailing and kicking at Deoxys' own legs as they tried to pierce her. The crystal on Deoxys' chest powered up, preparing to fire at the Mother while her own chest eye was unable to fire back, which would result in a blast that could possibly rip her in two and severely damage her, possibly costing her the fight.

Fortunately, that's not what happened.

Before the crystal could fire, the Mother's twin swords sailed towards them from out of the void to assist their master, Guardian chopping through Deoxys' tail and arms in a single swipe, freeing the Mother, while Spirit impaled the alien from behind, chipping his chest crystal. The beam fired anyway, but the Mother blocked it with Guardian as the black sword flew in front of her, deflecting the blast…and cried out as an equally powerful beam struck her from behind, fired from a ring of crystal orbs that had materialized behind her while she and Deoxys were in the middle of their grapple, and ripped a giant hole through her abdomen, nearly tearing her in half.

Deoxys immediately took advantage of this and conjured thousands of new tridents which shot towards the Mother from all angles to turn her into a pincushion. Guardian and Spirit quickly returned to their Mother's side to protect her, the blades moving like lightning as they deflected and repelled the tridents as they came at her in waves of hundreds, each greater than the last, while the Mother managed to heal herself and mend her fourth eye. Smiling at her blades, she took them by the hilt and charged her power through them, causing them glow with white and black auras respectively before she sped up time, allowing her to spin at close to the speed of light and generate an energy vortex around her of clashing white and black light which charged towards Deoxys, her blades shooting out from the sides a hundred times a second to stab at the alien.

Of course, since for some reason he was immune to her manipulation of time control, Deoxys was able to see the high-speed blows as they came and deflect them with his tail or new tridents. To him the Mother was moving at a high speed, yes, but a manageable one. This prevented him from counterattacking, at least until he found a split-second opening in her swordplay right about…

There. He thrust his trident out, piercing her in the hip and jerking her to a halt so sudden her energy vortex exploded around him, buffeting him in white and black waves as it dissipated. Ignoring those waves and the surprising amount of damage they had done to his body, Deoxys ripped his trident out of her hip, tearing off a good chunk of her leg in the process. The retaliation for this was as swift as it was vicious: Guardian and Spirit flew at him, chopping off wings and limbs and tentacles and tail in rapid succession as the Mother regenerated her leg and tore his head off single-handedly, crushing it with her fist and dealing a staggering punch to the alien's crystal, breaking the membrane around its cavity and cracking it slightly. The crystal retaliated by blasting her away with a beam attack, other beams shooting from the many eyes and faces on the creature's body and blasting the swords away as well. Another storm of thousands of tridents shot towards the Mother while Deoxys regenerated his body, more of a distraction than anything else.

The alien was back to normal, with four new tridents in hand, by the time the Mother had finished up with his tridents. With a wave of his hand, crystal spheres appeared everywhere and fired laser beams at the Mother. She slowed time, flinging out Guardian and Spirit to shatter the spheres as she dodged and teleported through the beams towards Deoxys. He teleported away as she lunged at him, reappearing right behind her and impaling her with his tail hook, bringing her up and around and firing all his lasers at her at close range. She retaliated by releasing a wave of psychic force which tore the spikes out of Deoxys' back and exploded right behind him, hitting the alien with a massive megaton nuclear blast which almost obliterated his upper body and slightly cracked his crystal. The force blew the Mother off her foe's tail, causing the hook to tear her upper body up something nasty as she tumbled away through space, spreading her healing wings to steady herself and make repairs. Her swords shot past her in the meantime and impaled themselves in Deoxys, who was momentarily dazed by the nuclear explosion, spinning as they drove themselves in to chop his body up and rip his torso to shreds before the tentacles on his waist and lower half grabbed the swords by the hilts and flung them away, twin laser blasts firing from the chest crystal and stunning them as the rest of the body regenerated.

The Mother attempted to halt that process by blasting Deoxys with beams from her wings, eyes, and hands, only to meet resistance as crystal shield orbs arose and blocked her laser strike as Deoxys finished his regeneration. He crossed his four tridents over his back, deflecting Guardian as it tried to stab him from the rear while his legs and tail snatched Spirit out of space before it could pierce his lower body. Holding the blades and his shield steady, Deoxys created a ring of smaller crystal orbs just behind the four larger ones, firing the lasers from his many eyes and mouths into the center of the ring at the same time each of the small orbs fired a laser as well, the many beams joining together and swelling up into a Hadoken-sized laser which overwhelmed the Mother and sent her flying back through space, her wings disintegrated. Her tail flower enlarged before her to create a mirror-like shield which deflected the next devastating laser blast as she summoned her swords to her, the two blades teleporting out of Deoxys' grasp and appearing in her hands. As her wings reformed and Deoxys attempted to hit her with a second laser ring from behind (blocked by enlarging the flowers on the end of her antennae) the Mother slammed the pommels of her two swords together, fusing them together and creating a double-ended blade, white and black lightning crackling up either sword. She teleported away from her current location, ripping open a portal in the process which caused both Deoxys' tremendous continuous laser combo and the smaller laser from the crystal ring to zap out of a portal behind Deoxys, smashing through his shield as he tried to use it to deflect the energy and nearly destroying his body. His crystal core flashed, absorbing and converting the laser energy to repair the body in a flash and end the horrible onslaught at the same time…just in time for the Mother to appear by his side and blast him with a maelstrom of light and dark energy created by spinning her double-ended blade in front of her, sending him flying in the center of an amazingly powerful and seemingly endless whirlwind of black and white which buffeted and tore at his body. The whirlwind blended to gray as a superlaser formed by the Mother combining her eye and wing blasts together came shooting up through the heart of the storm towards Deoxys. Even as his body was being ravaged by the gray energy around him, Deoxys was not going to go down easily. Firing his own combo superlaser through a crystal ring to boost its power, Deoxys sent a beam flying down towards the one coming towards him, the two lasers colliding and exploding in a tremendous blast which sent both combatants flying back and devastated their bodies.

As the two gods recovered, they glared at each other for a moment, many eyes locking, before both of them spread out their arms and fissioned. Deoxys's body split through rapid mitosis, creating slightly smaller clones of himself, one orange and one blue, each with half a crystal in their chests and four tridents in their hands. The Mother, on the other hand, had split into her three components of Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi, giant metal versions of themselves shaded in their respective colors of red/pink, green, and blue. The orange and blue Deoxys cast out their tridents and locked their limbs together, intertwining to create a grotesque multicolored sphere with far too many eyes and screaming faces sticking out of it. The eight tridents circled the sphere, points outward, as purple lightning danced between their barbs and the sphere. As for the three godlets, they joined hands, their feet pointing outwards, as Guardian and Spirit appeared beside them. One million tridents appeared out of nowhere and arranged themselves in circular rows around the Deoxys sphere, spinning slowly in space, all their points facing away as lightning connected them all together. At the same time, the white and black swords phased and multiplied themselves by one million as well, arranging themselves in three orbits around the godlets, one pure Guardian, one pure Spirit, and one a mixture of both types of swords. White and black electricity crackled between the blades as the trinity glowed in their respective colors, a golden light forming where their hands met.

The mottled sphere roiled and twisted, an iris opening up to reveal the once-more combined crystal core, staring at the temporarily divided Mother like a dread unblinking eye. The tridents all flipped over, their points facing the eye, and fired bolts of purple electricity, the energy building with each consecutive row until it had become a blinding purple-white wave which impacted the giant 'eye', charging it up and firing a laser capable of shattering a planet with a single shot lancing out from the crystal 'pupil'. At the same time, the three rings of orbiting swords sped up their rotations until they no longer became distinguishable as individual blades but became solid haloes of black, white, and gray, electricity coursing from all three to the three metal godlets, whose colored glow had increased until they appeared to be solid balls of light, the golden glow firing a laser shot of equal power at Deoxys.

Predictably, the two lasers collided halfway between them, energy converging and exploding in a blast so brilliant that had there not been clouds surrounding just about every inch of the planet the inhabitants would have been blinded (fortunately for the people of Sevii, their archipelago was on the opposite side of the planet from the battle). Even so, the shockwave from the explosion was tremendous and rippled throughout the solar system, displacing asteroids and causing the gas giants to explode (in the distant future of course, it would take several years for the wave to reach that far) but on the smaller scale it slammed into the planets closest to the Sun, drastically changing their orbits. Mercury was sent on a collision course towards the great ball of gas, though it would still take several months for it to get there, and Venus was sent totally off its axis, causing the planet dubbed by early human scientists as a literal Hell to become even _worse_. (Still not as bad as the real place, though.) It was only through the Mother's quick thinking of speeding up Earth's orbit so that it would _just_ miss getting hit by the shockwave right before she fired her laser that saved the remaining populace of the blue planet from total extinction then and there. And even, then, it was rather close, as the blast for a moment tore open the fabric of reality, which also had to be mended quickly by the Mother lest it destroy the universe.

All of this exhausted her for a moment, leaving her too tired for a moment to notice until it was almost too late that Deoxys had dispatched his lower half to restrain her as he summoned a giant planetoid and hurled it at her, along with several hundred laser bolts, nuclear missiles, tridents, and crystal spheres for good measure.

The Mother closed her eyes, trying to recover her strength from the extremely draining tasks she had performed to protect Earth, and dispatched Guardian and Spirit to deal with the projectiles hurtling at her, not bothering to slow down time due to her being drained enough as it was. As for the beast flying towards her…

The wings on her back glowed and detached from her body, space warping between the wings to take the form of a dragon with void and shimmering stars for skin, which flew silently through space towards the monster. (Well, of course it was silent; there was no air out there!)

As the stardragon dealt with Deoxys' lower body, and her swords dealt with the missiles, the Mother realized only too late as she recovered her strength that she had failed to account for Deoxys' upper body, so was unprepared when he appeared out of nowhere and smashed another planetoid into her face, sending her reeling as the projectiles which had gotten through her swords guards due to them not having enough time to deal with them all slammed into her, damaging her body and sending her tumbling away in confusion and pain as she struggled to recover.

Deoxys' laugh was unhindered by the Mother's angry swords impaling him through the chest. He forcibly removed them and sent them flying back towards their mistress as his damaged lower body returned to him, fleeing from its fight with the stardragon at his mental call. Deoxys knew he was slowly winning this fight. Yes, the Mother would be back on her feet soon enough, but there was only so much she could draw on from the planet's populace without just taking their lifeforce, something he knew she would never, _ever_ do, not when there was still a chance to save them some other way. Which was, of course, why he was making sure to annihilate or convert as many living things as possible to his side, so that if and when the time came for the Mother to make that last desperate gamble…there wouldn't be enough people left on the Earth to give her what she needed to win.

And then his triumph would be complete.

…

"Faster! Faster! He's getting away!" Jigglypuff yelled, looking through the periscope.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Brock yelled from the cab, his pedal to the metal, the truck making very unsafe and sickening lurches every time they ran over a monster in their way as they pursued Miror B's truck through the streets of Ever Grande City.

"There he is! Up ahead!" the younger Puff cried as their truck rounded a corner, the trailer swiveling wildly behind it and smashing up a few cars, almost overturning the cab as they continued the high-speed chase. Miror B's vehicle was zooming down the street just a few blocks ahead of them, moving at the same speed (if not faster) than they were. And, due to the frequent quakes and explosions the city had suffered from all the constant battling on the part of the Chosen, all the intersections leading to side streets were either blocked off due to rubble, collapsed buildings, or huge mounds of dismembered body parts and dead monsters, or the side roads themselves were inaccessible due to fractures caused by the weakening of the island's undersea supports which were slowly tearing the artificial landmass to pieces, resulting in gulfs too wide for the truck to jump across. In short, this meant Miror B was trapped on this wide, ruined street, with nowhere to go but straight ahead. How convenient for the Pokerockers, and not the result of some contrived plot device!

"All right, here we go!" the older Puff yelled. "Everyone, hold onto something, this is it!"

"We are holding onto something! We have been for the last several minutes!" a very sick Swampert yelled in between heaves into the by-now EXTREMELY disgusting bucket they had dubbed the 'Vomitorium'. "We'd have fallen out of the truck by now if we hadn't, thanks to Brock's crazy driving!"

"Well, sorrryyyy, I thought you guys _wanted_ me to go fast," Brock grumbled under his breath as he ran over a broken car in the middle of the street, almost flipping the truck over.

"Didn't the Mother teach you how to drive!" Geodude yelled over Onix's screaming hyperventilation of terror.

"Yeah, but she didn't teach me how to drive _well!_" Brock retorted, veering to the right as they gained on Miror B's truck.

"Okay, open fire! Blow that motherfucker off the street!" Metal Sound howled.

"Si senor!" Lombre aimed the laser cannon on the roof and started firing. "Hahahaha! Take that, you _mal_ _hombre! Dado, dado, DADO! DADO_ SO I CAN GET A NEW HIGH SCORE!" the swordsman cackled. Meg and Amp were much quieter as they fired rockets at the trailer.

"Lousy stinking Pokerockers…" Miror B sulked from inside the trailer. "Messing up mah concert and stealing mah fans, wiping out mah bodyguards and almost killing me…why Ah oughta…huh? What's that?" he asked as one of his minions reported something to him. "Whaaaaat? The Pokerockers are right behind us and are shooting lasers and rockets at the trailer! Well, thanks to our chrome finish, those lasers shouldn't do a thing, but as for the rockets…fire the anti-rockets rockets!"

Lombre was very frustrated to find that the laser cannon had no effect on Miror B's trailer. All the laser shots reflected off the truck's chrome finish and hit other objects. A few even came close to striking their own truck, causing Brock to panic and have to swerve wildly to avoid the reflected shots, resulting in a new wave of motion sickness among many of those in the trailer. "RAAAAAHHH! _Pedazo estúpido de chatarra!_ Can't even kill our greatest enemy!" He smacked the console in frustration.

"Our rocket launchers aren't doing any good either," Meg said as several rockets with Miror B's grinning face painted on them launched from the villain's trailer and intercepted their own missiles, blowing them up in midair and clouding up Brock's windshield with smoke and dust, forcing him to turn on the fog lights and windshield wipers to keep from hitting something.

"Yeah, and it looks as if he's got weapons of his own," Amp commented as a hatch opened in the back of Miror B's trailer and a dancer minion tossed out several small metal balls which scattered across the street in the truck's wake, lay still, and then sprouted spikes, clearly for use against large tires like the ones on their own truck. Brock's eyes widened, and he prepared to take evasive maneuvers, and Swampert paled, realizing this would upset her stomach only more. Fortunately, Lombre quickly took control of the laser turret and fired several blasts at the road ahead of them, destroying the spiky balls and allowing them to pass through safely. All relaxed…until Brock had to swerve violently to avoid the giant afro-shaped ball that had been dropped from the back of Miror B's truck and was rolling right towards them, resulting in more vomiting from Swampert and those with queasy stomachs.

"Ugh, that's it! This guy's going down!" Geodude declared. "Brock, my man, put on some chase music!"

"Drive the truck, Brock. Go faster, Brock. Try not to make us all sick, Brock. You can't chase the pretty girls anymore, Brock," the Golem in the cab grumbled under his breath as he fumbled through the cassettes and discs in the drawer under the music player. He found a tape that looked right and inserted it, pressing Play.

Immediately, Jigglypuff's Lullaby came on. "Whoops, wrong…tape…" Brock yawned and fell asleep at once before he could press the Eject button. And as we all know, it's bad to fall asleep at the wheel.

The Pokerockers screamed as the truck began swerving out of control, shaking all of them wildly as their vehicle ran over a series of overturned cars in their path and flipped completely over, spinning in the air for a moment before crashing down on its side and skidding across the street for a moment before crashing into a building, causing an explosion which made the whole thing collapse on top of them.

In his trailer, Miror B cackled gleefully. "Hahahaha! Take that, suckers!"

It was just then that Psycho Richie landed on the truck's hood from his latest leap, giggled randomly for a moment, and then leaped off, pursued quickly by Ash and Misty, who also used the truck's hood as a stepping stone. Panicked by the random superhero crossing (there hadn't been a sign anywhere telling him to watch out for them) the driver started and pulled too hard on the steering wheel, causing the truck to veer out of control and crash into a conveniently overturned propane truck, the kind that's always lying around in action movies for use whenever the director wants a big explosion. And that's what exactly what happened when Miror B's truck slammed into it headfirst.

Hearing the blast, the Pokerockers and their roadies glanced up from their pummeling of Brock for his foolishness to watch the tower of flame which rose from Miror B's truck. A wave of heat washed over them from the explosion. "Well, guess that's the end of him," said Forretress.

"Glad that's over," said Onix.

"Awwww…but I wanted to pummel the little dweeb!" Metal Sound whined. "I mean, I guess we can pummel Brock for being stupid enough to fall asleep at the wheel and drive so haphazardly, but…it's still not the same!"

"…aaaaaAAAAAHHHHHH!" As if on cue, a flaming Miror B hurtled from the sky and crashed down on the ruined street next to their overturned, partially buried truck. "Gaahhh! Fire! Stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop and roll!" He quickly started rolling around on the ground to try and put the fire out. "Can't let it burn mah afro, it's the source of all mah power!"

The group glanced at each other, grinned, nodded, and yelled, "GET HIM!" before piling on Miror B and beating him to a pulp.

Brock moaned and rolled over. "I quit…" he said, pulling off his official hat and throwing it away.

In a flash of light, it reappeared on his head. He blinked in surprise. "…DAMN YOU, MOTHER!"

…

The psychopath had led them on a merry chase, but it seemed that even Richie could grow tired eventually, or so Ash and Misty assumed as the mass-murderer landed from his latest building jump in a small building-surrounded plaza remarkably like the one in which Alpha had met his end, except that this one had a statue in it dedicated to the Hardworking Teenage Mothers Union of the Hoenn region showing, well, a hardworking teenage mother holding a bawling child in one arm and a wrench in the other. From the expression on her face and the way she was holding the wrench, it was often wondered by art lovers if she was planning to smash the baby's head in.

Richie was standing before the statue's base, looking relaxed, his knife dragging on the ground, when the pair of Ranger and Dragonoid caught up to him. "Hahahaha…you caught me! Guess I'm It now…heeheeheehee!"

"Yeah…you're definitely It, all right…" Ash said in disgust. "It, as in something out of a horror movie!"

"Ash, don't call him that," Misty lectured. "He'll take that as a compliment. Instead, let's just describe him as he really is: a generic two-dimensional monster with no real characterization or personality other than a clichéd insatiable desire to kill people…with an oversized knife at that, indicating he's seriously compensating for something!"

"Yeah, and he was a lousy Poke Ranger too!" Ash agreed.

"What! WHAAAAT! You're calling ME a lousy ranger!" Richie howled, smashing his knife into the ground and causing chips of cement to fly out and pelt the heroes' faces. "Look at you! You're costume is so PLAIN and BORING! Look at mine! Look how detailed and cool-looking it is, even better than my old costume!"

"If you think a detailed costume is all it takes to make a Poke Ranger…then you were never one to begin with!" Ash declared, pointing dramatically at Richie.

"Well, technically he was," Misty interrupted. "I mean, he had a team, and a battlizer, and vehicles and a giant robot and everything-"

The Crimson Ranger palmed his face. "I meant he didn't have the _spirit _of a Poke Ranger," Ash said, exasperated.

Misty blinked. "Huh? Oh, I see."

"I don't have the spirit of a Poke Ranger!" Richie paused. "Huh. Maybe you're right! But that's no problem…I'll just take YOURS!"

"My what?" Ash said in confusion, causing Richie and Misty to facefault.

"Your SPIRIT!" Misty snapped.

"My…oh. Ohhh. Hey! You're not taking that!" Ash said angrily. "I've already had enough people trying to take my soul over the last month! And I only JUST got my body back after that creep Alpha took it from me! You can't have my spirit!"

"Actually, I was talking about your bitch," Richie commented, causing Misty to gasp in disbelief.

"My bitch? Who do you…" Ash blinked when he saw Misty smoldering. "Oh, her. Right." There was a pause. "Wait, you want Misty?"

"YES!"

Ash glanced sidelong at Misty, whose scales were turning blood red. "Are you sure you can handle her? Because I don't think you can."

"Ha, of course I can handle her, she's just a-"

In mere seconds, Richie was sprawled out on the ground as Misty attacked him repeatedly with her mallet. "WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO SAY! WHAT WERE YOU GOING TO SAY!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! How is she-ow!-doing this! She-ow, ow, ow!-didn't hit this hard-ow!-before!" Richie whined.

Ash crossed his arms and shook his head knowingly. "Probably because you didn't _really_ piss her off. Like you did just now. I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen. Oh well."

"How-ow, ow, ow!-do you handle her!"

Ash shrugged. "By having a head too hard to really be damaged by her temper. I guess your helmet isn't a good enough substitute."

"DIE!" Misty snarled, hammering Richie's helmet again.

"Aaaagggghhhh! ENOUGH!" Richie roared, managing to grab his giant knife and stab it into the ground.

The earth beneath Misty trembled and abruptly broke open as an organic sphere of webbing and claws ensnared her without warning, floating into the air and away from Richie. "What…huh? Hey! HEY!" She pounded on the membranous sides of the fleshy cage angrily. "LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU ASSHOLE! I REFUSE TO PLAY THE ROLE OF DAMSEL IN DISTRESS, YOU HEAR ME!"

"Misty!" Ash cried in alarm.

"Hahahaha…don't worry, she'll be safe and sound up there until I come to rape her with my precious!" Richie hissed, slinging his giant knife over his shoulder. "Maybe I'll even wear your face while I'm doing it!"

"Huh? My face?" Ash said in confusion. "You can shapeshift?"

"What? Of course not! I'm just going to rip off your face and plaster it over my own, DUH!" Richie snorted, as if it were obvious.

"…That's…that's totally wrong!" Ash said, his eyes bulging through his mask. "I mean…that's just _gross!_ Ugh!"

"Gahahahaha…then I guess you'll find it gross that I want to bite her lips off with my kiss? Or that I'll keep her head as a trophy so I'll have something of her to jack off to whenever I want? Or that I have fantasies of her dead body lying on the ground with her intestines and blood and brains strewn everywhere that make me hard in my pants? Or-"

"That's it!" Ash clenched his sword, red sparks crackling from his fingers. "You can't talk about her that way! I'm not going to let you do ANY of those things to her, not while I'm here to protect her!"

Misty blinked. "Ash…"

"Oooohhhh, how _romantic_ you've become!" Richie sneered. "You always did have a big heart, Ash…and I'll see how big it is once and for all when I cut it out of your chest! Gyahahahahaha!" He drove his knife into the ground, throwing up a shower of sparks which touched down all over the plaza and ignited, encircling the arena in a ring of fire. "Ehehehehehahahehahoohoohaha…time to diediediediedie, Ashy-boy! Hehehahahehehahahaha!" He charged towards Ash, dragging his knife along the ground behind him and creating a very painful screeching noise as it scraped against the cement and gave off sparks. Ash got into a stance, sword ready.

And up above, Misty watched. "Ash…be careful…AND LEAVE A PIECE OF HIM FOR ME ONCE I GET OUT OF HERE!" she yelled, smashing water weapons, tail, claw and fang against the walls of her cage.

Richie brought his knife off the ground in a swipe at Ash's abdomen. Ash leaped over it, landed on the blade and bounced off, kicking Richie in the head as he flipped back through the air. Richie leaped after him, raising his knife with both hands to chop down on Ash's head. Ash blocked with his own sword and sent an electric charge through it and into Richie's body, causing him to grunt in pain and fumble, landing back on the ground with a crouch. Ash, pushed back by the force of the blow he had blocked, kicked off the wall of one of the buildings surrounding the plaza, barely missing the wall of fire, and arced down towards Richie, sword raised in an overhead chop. The psychopath leaped into the air to meet Ash, their blades clashing repeatedly as they defied gravity for a few moments to strike and counterstrike at each other, every blow deflected and turned away before the two parted and landed on opposing sides of the plaza.

Ash spun around and with a cry threw his sword at Richie like a boomerang, the blade crackling with electricity. The Psycho Ranger cackled and deflected the sword with a swing of his knife before crashing the oversized weapon into the ground, sending a line of fire rushing towards Ash. The Crimson Ranger leaped over the fire, caught his sword as it arced back towards him, and lunged downwards towards Richie in a slicer kick, his body surrounded by an aura of red electricity as he hit a surprised Richie in the chest, sending the Psycho Ranger flying back through the wall of flames and smashing into a building. Roaring wordlessly in fury, he ripped himself out of the indent he had made and leaped over the fire back towards Ash, cleaving his knife downwards at the hero. Ash deflected the chop with his sword as well as the next three stabs, pushed back by the force behind Richie's giant knife. Frustrated, Richie lashed out with a low roundhouse kick, knocking Ash off his feet and letting Richie knock him into the air with a swing of his knife. The psychopath leaped up to finish Ash off but the Crimson Ranger fired a bolt of red lightning from his free hand, striking Richie in the chest and slamming him back to the ground, crackling with electricity.

Richie grunted and rolled over, dodging Ash's downward sword plant and lashing out with a flaming kick at the hero's helmeted face. Ash blocked the kick with his free hand, crackling with lightning, and kicked Richie away. The villain rolled over, flipped back onto his feet, and charged Ash with his knife. He swung his blade down, locking it with Ash's sword. The two glared at each other as they tried to break the lock, neither breaking down.

"Is this all you've got! Pathetic!" Richie sneered as his body burst into flames, causing his knife to catch on fire as well.

"I can't believe you ever dared to call yourself a Ranger, or a hero at that! _You're_ the one who's pathetic!" Ash shot back, his body and sword glowing as an aura of crimson electricity surrounded them.

The two Rangers pushed against each other with renewed strength, the both of them evenly matched. Their clashing auras caused the ground beneath them to crack and shatter, chunks and bits of concrete flying out all over the place. The flames surrounding the plaza blazed higher and higher, fueled by their raging spirits.

The tension in the air grew as the two warriors put more and more pressure on their weapons, their auras flaring from their conflict. The pressure built…and built…and built…

Until finally, one of them could take no more. Richie cried out in horror as his giant knife, unable to take the strain, shattered completely, and Ash's sword chopped down, slashing him across the chest and causing him to reel back, his fire dying out as electricity washed all over him. "AHHHHH! NOOOOO! MY PRECIOUSSSSSS!"

Ash took a step back and then lunged forward, stabbing his sword through Richie's chest with a thrust so powerful that the blade flew from Ash's hand, carrying Richie through the air and smashing into the statue of the Working Teenage Mother, piercing it and pinning Richie to its surface. "Ughh…ughh…ahhh…" Richie gasped, blood bubbling out of the hole in his chest, red lightning crackling across the sword and damaging his costume further. "H-how? How did I..."

"Lose?" Ash walked towards Richie. "You may call yourself a Ranger, Richie…but it takes more than a flashy outfit to be a hero. It takes the ability to care for others enough to protect them from danger…something you lost long ago, and according to my many, _many_ friends, and even that madman Ford, I have in spades. I have a family, a big one that breaks the limited boundaries between species. I have, or had, friends all over the world. You were one of them once. I have a mother who I care for very much, and never really appreciated until this moment…and most of all, I have _my_ 'precious', something far more lasting than that knife of yours, something that you sought to take away from me. Something that, no matter how hard you try, you can _never _have." He turned away from Richie, his metal mouthpiece splitting in two and his visor receding into his helmet, revealing a smile intended for one Misty Waterflower, up in her cage.

She smiled back, eyes shimmering. "Ash…you've always been _my_ hero."

"Heheheheh…heeheeheeheehahahaha…Hahahahahaha…GWAHAHAHOOHEEHAHAHOOHAH…" Richie laughed, his chest convulsing despite the sword impaled through it. "So…you choose the loser again, over a winner like me? Hahahaha…okay. Okay! OKAY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He shook with laughter. "If that's how it is…then that's how I'll do it! NOW, I'LL KILL YOU _BOTH_!"

Ash's head whipped around in surprise as the flames around the plaza, which had diminished when he had nailed Richie to the statue, flared back to life again. "Wh-what! Richie!"

Richie's muscles tensed up, and Ash's sword flew out from his chest, the pommel ramming into Ash's gut and causing him to stumble back in surprise, clutching his abdomen. Richie, still with a gaping wound, fell from the statue and landed back on the ground. Misty gasped and renewed her assault on her prison, knowing her water powers could only help Ash if she were able to break through the cursed thing.

"Hahahahahaha! This is it!" Richie howled, shaking with deranged laughter. "See what POWER I have been given!" He struck a pose, a crystalline device appearing on his left wrist. "Battlizer…" He made another pose, swiftly bringing his right hand slamming down upon the device. "ACTIVATE!"

Ash flinched, reforming his visor and mouthpiece as the flames around him rose into a towering inferno. He took a step back as Richie was consumed in flames, his fiery form changing from that of a human to something…else. Both Ranger and dragonoid gasped as they saw what Richie had become.

His flesh was rotten but thick, heavily muscled, and the color of dried blood. He was hunched over, his back stooped from the weight of his muscles as well as the way his bones had been repositioned. Claws that looked like…no, claws that _were_ rusty, bloodstained metal knives grew from the thick fingers on long, thick arms and raked at the ground, sending up sparks as well as ear-grating screeches. The toes were knives as well, looking like the talons of some horror movie monster, which Richie was not far from becoming. The face was angular, pinched, and somewhat V-shaped, with a sharp pointed chin and a huge grinning maw filled with thousands of teeth, all of which were in fact metal bloodstained knives. A pair of slanted milky yellow eyes stared out at the world from above the mouth, only separated by a thick eyebrow with no nose in the way. The eyes had no pupil and iris, just pure blank space, making it hard to tell which way the head atop its thick neck was peering. In place of hair, the monster only had more knives, long, curved ones sloping down its back in a thick mane which clanked and rattled with every breath the monster took.

Ash stared in horror at the demon Richie had become, shuddering as the creature laughed gutturally. That laughter was in its own way even worse than the deranged laughter Richie had burst into as an insane and homicidal Psycho Ranger. This was the laugh of a being utterly lost to madness, something that had sacrificed all rationality and intelligence for raw power, that had given up everything just so it could kill someone, anyone, it didn't care who.

Giggling and drooling, the monster leaned forward, splaying its knife-claws against the ground as it slowly circled Ash, its talons scraping against the ground as it observed its prey. Without warning, without even a howl, it lunged, bladed jaws open, to crush Ash in its terrible claws. The hero barely managed to dash out of the way at the last moment, causing the beast to smash into the damaged Teenage Mother statue instead. Not seeming to care that it was made of stone instead of flesh, Richie howled with joy at finding prey and immediately began to violently tear it apart, maiming it with his claws and fangs, crushing it in his knives, grinding it to dust in his horrible teeth, laughing madly all the time as he then proceeded to hump the Mother's baby, which had somehow survived the horrible death of its mother untouched. It didn't remain untouched for long when the thrusting of Richie's knife-like phallus ripped through the baby's other side, and the monster giggled with glee again.

Ash took a step back, shaking his head in disgust. "Richie…I never dreamed that you'd go this far…you crazy fool, what have you done to yourself!" He narrowed his eyes angrily. "You turned yourself into a monster…just to defeat me! Well, I have news for you, mister: if that's what it takes to save Misty, then TWO can play at that game!" He made a dramatic pose as a device appeared on his right wrist. "Battlizer…" He swished his arms through the air, switching to another pose. "ACTIVATE!"

Misty flinched and squinted through the glare as Ash suddenly lit up in a blaze of red-white electricity, startling Richie and causing him to cast the raped stone baby away, recoiling as crackling bolts of static shot out from the mass of lightning that had been Ash and danced through his body using his metal parts as conduits, causing him to howl in pain. The beast bent over, gasping for breath as his body smoked, when the air stopped humming with power and the blaze died down, revealing what Ash had become.

Misty could not stop herself from gaping (and drooling) at the Battlized Crimson Lightning Ranger.

Like Richie, Ash had transformed into a monster…but a rather handsome one, at that! His skin was red too, but it was the red of apples, sunsets, and the stripe of the rainbow rather than the red of dried blood which adorned Richie's flesh. Ash's body was muscular, lithe, and covered in reptilian red scales with a gold abdomen and chest. A long, flexible tail with a gold underside grew from his rear. His toes and fingers ended in small claw-like nails, but were still humanoid in form. Leathery flaps grew from the undersides of his arms, like wings for use in gliding. Star-shaped dorsal spikes ran down his back and tail, crackling with red-white static. A short but slightly serpentine neck ran up to a face much like that of a raptor's with black spines instead of hair and a pair of very familiar brown eyes, lit up from within by some internal fire…or, more likely, electricity.

Misty dumbly stared at her boyfriend's new form, unaware that her drool was forming a puddle around her feet. After a moment, she began pounding on the prison walls with renewed fervor, partly from a desire not to play the stereotypical role of damsel in distress, partly from a desire to help Ash smash Richie's face in and hope his own teeth sliced his throat open, but mostly from a very deep-seated instinctive and primal urge to tackle that boy to the ground and mate with him so hard he wouldn't be able to sit down for _weeks_.

Richie hissed and snarled, clawing the air as his yellow eyes glared with unmistakable bloodlust and rage at his transformed nemesis. "Okay, Richie," said the dragonoid Ash, his fists crackling with electricity. "We're on even footing now! Let's finish this!"

With an unintelligible growl which could be perceived as agreement, Richie lunged forward at Ash, his knife-claws ready to tear him apart. With his new reptilian agility, Ash slid under the monster's pounce, driving his fist upward in a Thunderpunch which cracked Richie's ribs and sent him flying, smashing into a wall face-first. Instead of falling, Richie dug his knife-claws into the side of the building and climbed to the top, where he ripped off chunks of masonry and hurled them down into the arena below. Ash, his body crackling with electricity, smashed the debris with high-voltage punches and kicks, spinning around and lashing out with his tail to bat one especially large piece of stonework right back into Richie's face, causing him to stagger back in pain, his teeth cutting open his own mouth. Bellowing and spitting out blood, Richie's rage caused the fire walls around the arena to grow in intensity again, as well as for Richie himself to burst into flame and begin throwing massive fireballs down into the plaza. Ash didn't think he could deflect those with his bare hands and so had to resort to dodging, using the new power in his lightning-charged lizard legs to leap and sidestep the fireballs and the rather large explosions they caused on impact, throwing out shrapnel everywhere. In between fireball lobs, Ash pointed his hands up at Richie and fired off bolts of crimson lightning in an attempt to shock the monster off its post. However, the lightning could not seem to pierce the aura of flames surrounding Richie's body. Ash would need to use something stronger to penetrate it.

He got his chance when Richie tired of throwing fireballs and leaped off the rooftop, crashing down in the middle of the plaza with a huge explosion that shook the plaza, cracking it to its foundations, and sent tremendous waves of fire shooting out in every direction. Ash managed to keep from being fricasseed by the fire by using shorts bursts of electricity to 'Quick Attack teleport' through the waves, much as Enzo and Pikachu had learned how to do thanks to the Mother's gift. These lightning teleports allowed him to get high above Richie, over the fire, allowing him to shoot down feet-first in a drill kick, his spinning body generating waves of electricity around him which gave him the strength to penetrate Richie's fire aura and smash into the monster's skull, shattering some of his knife-hair and driving some of the pieces into his brain (not that it did much other than hurt, Richie didn't use that brain much anymore anyway).

His fire aura dispelling, Richie staggered back, stunned, allowing Ash to get in up close and send the monster reeling with a flurry of lightning-powered punches and kicks which almost broke the beast's thick ribs and caused his muscles to convulse with paralysis. The final blow was powerful enough to send Richie skidding back across the ground, his knife-claws and talons leaving deep scratch marks in the pavement and also making an agonizing screeching sound. Maddened by the pain and his hatred for Ash, Richie's fury swelled again, causing him to burst into flames once more. He punched the ground, cracking the pavement and sending out a wave of fire which Ash was easily able to leap over. The fireballs Richie hurled at him while he was still in the air, however, were another story. They were too big for him to dodge around effectively, and one managed to hit him square in the chest, exploding and sending him flying back in pain, his chest burnt, skidding across the ground and scraping it with his dorsal spines. Richie leaped through the air and dove at Ash claws-first, trying to impale him, but Ash managed to roll out of the way and spring into the air at the last moment, dodging not only his foe's claws but the wave of fire which raced out over the ground from impact.

Generating an electric field, Ash tried to penetrate Richie's fire aura with a kick, but the monster swatted him away with a claw, cutting into his skin and sending him flying again. Ash managed to spring back to his feet just in time to see Richie open his mouth and exhale a tremendous stream of fire breath, much hotter than any flame Charizard had ever spat at him. Undaunted, Ash stood his ground as static crackled up his back spines from his tail tip to his head, causing his eyes to glow before he thrusted his head forward, releasing a blast of red Electric Breath from his reptilian jaws, plowing through Richie's fire and going right down his gullet, causing him to convulse and howl in pain as the electricity wracked his insides.

Lightning-teleporting over, Ash took advantage of Richie's stunned state and hit him hard with a kick to the groin, shattering the monster's phallic blade, a one-two-three Thunderpunch to the gut which broke Richie's ribs, and a spiraling uppercut which cracked the beast's jaw and sent him flying up into the air, only for him to be smacked away with a tail whip from Ash before he could hit the ground. "Are we done yet, Richie?" Ash asked as the monster collapsed onto the cratered plaza floor.

A fistful of burning rubble to his face, barely blocked, answered that question. Burning (literally) with rage, Richie bounded to his feet and thrust a claw forward in a stab at Ash's face. The dragonoid managed to catch the claw between his hands, flinching as his palms burned from the fire aura, his toe-claws scraping against the ground as he was pushed back from the force of the thrust. Richie's other claw swung up to take Ash's head off, but he deflected it with a flick of his tail (nearly severing said tail in the process) before twirling out of Richie's range and dashing forward with a Thunderkick to the monster's face. However, the electric field wasn't powerful enough to penetrate Richie's fire aura and Ash was repelled, his foot burned but already healing thanks to his dragonoid form's powers. Cackling, Richie inhaled, preparing to release his fire breath at Ash while he was still vulnerable and roast him once and for all.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Or perhaps Richie wouldn't get the chance.

The air around the floating prison cell cooled, frost forming and quickly melting in the heat from the flames below as the entire cage was covered in ice. The ice shattered as the dragonoid Misty Waterflower, wielding an ice spear, shot down and drove her weapon into Richie's back, breaking off some of his knife-hair and shattering his aura. He howled in pain as she twisted the spear through his spine. "Ash, hit him!" she cried. The thunderboy obeyed, punching Richie hard in the gut and driving him further back onto the spear, causing it to rip through the monster's chest. The two dragonoids were knocked back, the spear shattered, by a wave of fire created as Richie ignited once again, fueled by his pain and rage. Ash and Misty quickly joined each other, standing side by side as the fire surrounding Richie and the fire around the arena grew higher and higher from the monster's fury. However, the two of them weren't worried in the slightest.

"You know, Richie, your new form may be big and powerful, but by taking it you've given yourself the same glaring weakness all Fire Pokemon have!" Ash said with a fanged grin.

Misty nodded and posed, her body radiating a light blue aura. "And that's that a good rainstorm can always ruin your day!" A dark cloud formed above the plaza, condensed from moisture gathered from all over the area, and released it in the form of rain which showered down on the burning field of battle, extinguishing the flames of rage and causing Richie to hiss in pain, crouching on the ground as his aura went out, his power fading due to the weather. Misty took a step forward and thrust her hands forward, releasing a Hydro Pump which struck Richie in the chest and shoved him back, squealing as steam rolled off his heated form. That squealing broke off abruptly when the rain falling on him and the water from Misty's Hydro Pump hardened and cooled at it's mistress's will, encasing the horrible monster within a prison of ice.

"Very nice," Ash complimented her.

"We're not done yet," she told him, tossing him a sword she had just made out of water. Ash caught it in his clawed hands, the blade feeling oddly solid though damp in his grasp. "Take that sword and finish it!"

Ash nodded. "Right!" Wielding the sword, he charged at the frozen Richie, his feet splashing in the puddles formed by the newly summoned rain. Leaping into the air, he called on the power of thunder he had been given, causing red electricity to spiral up the liquid blade, increasing its conductive powers exponentially. With a cry, he drove the sword through the ice block around Richie, shattering it, and buried the blade in the monster's forehead, piercing the thick brow between the beast's yellow eyes. The sword served as Ash's conduit, channeling all his electric power directly into Richie's brain and body, rapidly spreading throughout his entire nervous system and overloading it, causing the beast to writhe and thrash about in agony, screaming as his skin smoked and blackened, bolts of red electricity arcing all over his pain-wracked form, leaping out at raindrops as they fell and dancing all over the plaza, none touching Misty because Ash willed them not to.

After what felt like far too long, it was over. The sword melted in Ash's hands, running through his fingers and down Richie's face to the ground…taking a hint of blood with it. The crimson dragonoid stared into his foe's empty yellow eyes. "Goodbye, Richie. We're even now."

He took a step back, Misty trotting over to him, as Richie's monstrous, electricity-blackened form toppled over and splashed down in a puddle, dead. "It's over," Misty said. "We did it. He's dead. The last of those violated by HERO." Richie had indeed been the last, for the news only that morning had reported any number of seemingly random citizens and alleged (and arrogant) 'superheroes' abruptly suffering spontaneous combustion at the same time that Deoxys had killed Drew, the Soldier Scouts, and the other Poke Rangers the night before. All were dead now, for the alien had judged them useless to his cause. Nobody wanted to think about what their souls must be going through now…especially not Ash, who had gotten only the barest taste of what the alien could do and was grateful he hadn't suffered longer.

Ash sighed. "I wish there could have been another way…but he chose this path, didn't he? And once he did, there was no turning back."

She nodded sadly. "So…what do we do now?"

"We could go help the others," Ash suggested.

"But Rui hasn't contacted us yet, so they're probably doing well on their own," Misty pointed out. She ran her eyes up and down his (to her) extremely sexy and attractive form, shuddering with pure lust. "Um…I had something else in mind."

"Oh?" he asked in confusion, blinking at her. "What?"

She grinned. It was a very scary grin, made scarier by her iris' thinning into animalistic slits. Ash felt shivers run down his spine. "Uh…M-Misty? Why are you looking at me like that?"

She answered him by growling with pleasure and stepping up to him, only millimeters separating the two. As he looked at her, baffled and somewhat afraid, she reached down with one claw and grasped his cock, causing him to gasp and stiffen as she massaged it and used her other hand to rub his back in _all_ the right places and send waves of unfamiliar pleasure rippling through his body. "M-Misty, what-"

He gasped and cut off as Misty began licking the sweat and raindrops off his body, running her long, hot tongue over his scales. He shuddered, eyes rolling back in his skull, as she methodically worked over his front, back, and lower regions simultaneously, causing the pleasure centers of his brain to begin overheating. He actually began to purr.

Even though he didn't understand fully what was going on, he felt more confused and hurt than relieved when Misty shoved him away, a wild sneer on her face. "M-M-Misty?" he whimpered, his head still spinning from her foreplay.

"Shhh…" she hissed, tongue licking her lips, still tasting his body in her mouth. He stared at her, brown eyes wide with panic. Without warning, the female snarled in pleasure and pounced. Ash yelped as she tackled him to the ground, getting a mild shock from him as they splashed into a puddle and only aroused her more, the bone-breaking impact not even a bounce to their armored scales. Ash, frightened, struggled against her but could do nothing against her rock-hard grip. She growled with pleasure. "You are _mine_…my hero, my mate, my _Ash_…I've wanted you for years and years and you were too damned _stupid_ to notice…" She laughed. "I watched other girls flirt with you and flaunt what they had while I was right next to you, and felt both relieved and envious and _frustrated_ when you barely ever showed a reaction because you were too fucking _dense_ to feel anything like Brock did…and now, finally, _finally_, I have you all to myself, after all our separations and trials, and you're _never_ leaving my sight again because You. Are. _My._ Precioussss." And when she started kissing him passionately and pressing against his lower body, massaging his stiffening member with her free hand, her own armored scales parting to receive Ash's seed, he suddenly found that he didn't _want_ her to get off. In fact…he wanted…no, he _needed_…

Surrendering to his instincts, since they knew what to do much better than what any of Brock's lectures and terrifying stories had taught him, Ash relaxed, embracing his need, and thrusted his reptilian manhood into her waiting vagina like a lightning bolt. Misty felt electricity go through her, and while she did feel pain due to her Water element, it only added to her bliss. The water dragon heard her heartbeat and her mate's hammer hard in tune with the thrusts he made into her as-yet unexplored territory, his claws massaging her thighs lovingly, no, _worshipfully_, as he filled his goddess Misty with himself.

And there and then, as light rain fell all around them, their tails intertwined around each other as their bodies pressed harder and harder together and the water dragon's wings folded over them, Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower made long-anticipated love, static and snowflakes dancing across their bodies in a swirling cloud, their taste of paradise in a world going to hell.

…

Latias breathed out white Dragonbreath, countered with a carefully diminished amount of green Dragonbreath from Rayquaza so as not to hurt her. "Why won't you hurt me?" she asked him emotionlessly, although her body language betrayed a hint of agitation.

"Because I love you, and it hurts _me_ to hurt you!" the Dragon King told her, hanging back.

"How?" she asked, not understanding. "If you hurt me, you are protecting yourself. By simply defending, you only hurt yourself instead of me, and I only grow number."

"That's right," Dark Latios called from his clock tower perch. "Pain is the only thing that keeps her from feeling absolutely nothing at all. Total sensory deprivation will drive her even more insane than she already has…rendering her into a silent, mewling ball curled up in the corner of a small room with no response to any stimulus whatsoever…or probably even worse. So if you wish to spare her that fate, I suggest you start hurting her."

"I…n-no! I cannot! I refuse!" Rayquaza growled. "I will find another way!"

"While you're doing that," Latias said, gnawing on her arm and relaxing as sweet pain blossomed up through her nerves and into her lobotomized brain. "I'll keep doing this. And kill you, since my brother said to." She struck his mind with Psychic, causing him to gasp and clench his eyes shut as his brain felt for a moment as if it were exploding, his nerves feeling as if they were on fire…and still he did not lash out at Latias. He could not. He had made his promise, and so was bound to it.

"Ugghhh…Latias…I know you are only hurting me because that's all you know how to do at the moment…so I don't care what you do. I hold no grudge, and I will fight just as hard to save you no matter what you do to me," Rayquaza grunted as he recovered. "I forgive you for everything you've done or will do…because it's all you can do, thanks to your _brother_," he said, growling at Dark Latios.

Dark Latios grinned. "You forgive her in advance? That's so sweet of you, Rayquaza…hmm. Why don't I put that to the test?" He glanced down the street. Rayquaza followed his gaze and gasped as he saw May and her team, as well as Togetic and Ash's Pokemon heading towards them, summoned by Rui because she had sensed a disturbance in the area that had been overshadowed by the other disasters previously, but now that pretty all the monsters were centered around the city outskirts where a huge brawl was going down, the disturbance had become more detectable to her and so a team was dispatched to deal with it.

They gasped as they saw what had happened to Latias. "A-Aunt Latias!" Oliphan cried. "What…what's happened to you?"

Latias blinked at her friends dully. She recited in great detail everything Dark Latios had done to her, resulting in all of them vomiting from sheer disgust and horror.

"You…you…" May gasped, staring up at the Dark Dragon. "There are-"

"No words for how evil I am? Heard it," he sneered. "Thank you for the compliment. Dark Latias, kill them."

"Okay," she said, turning towards her friends.

"What? Latias, stop, this is silly, you're not going to hurt-" Draganium started before Latias hit her with a deadly blast of Psychic, causing her to fall to the ground screaming and convulsing as Latias applied direct neural stimulation to all her pain receptors at once, causing her to feel the worst agony she had ever felt in her life multiplied by a thousand multiplied by a million going on for what seemed like forever and ever and ever until the system shock destroyed her central nervous system and she just died, dropping dead right there on the ground.

They stared at Dragnium's twisted, pain-wracked corpse in horror. "Aunt Draganium?" Oliphan whispered, his eyes shrunken into beady dots.

"No…not again…" Togetic whispered, yet more violent flashbacks of the gruesome deaths of her Togepi friends flashing through her mind.

"She…she killed her with just a thought…" Crawdaunt said, speechless. "Yet another…another good friend gone…" He paused. "Oh well…I'm a Dark type, so that attack shouldn't work on me…but just in case…" He scurried behind Oliphan, hoping the elephant's bulk would make a good shield.

Delcatty burst into tears, reminded of her Golduck's death. Ivysaur threw up. Beautifly quivered so much in terror she almost fell from the air. Blaziken swallowed, feeling rather queasy and weak. May sagged, feeling helpless. "No…another person I called friend dead, and I was helpless to stop it…again!" Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she fell to her knees.

Feeling no emotion whatsoever for what she had just done, for murdering her very best friend since Bianca in cold blood, Latias's dull eyes glowed again, preparing to do the same to each and every one of them.

"NO!" Rayquaza cried, tackling her and causing her Psychic blow to go wild, causing a nearby building to disintegrate with a sound all too much like a scream of agony.

Dark Latios cackled from the rooftop. "Do you still forgive her, Rayquaza? Do you forgive her for killing her dear friend, for someone you were only barely acquainted with? Someone the dear Latias you care for so much and treasure in your memories would never have done? Hahahahaha!"

"Damn you!" Rayquaza raged. "You crazed fool, of course I still forgive the Latias of my memories! She is not that Latias, not yet, but I promised that I would make her that way again, and so I shall!"

Dark Latios scowled. "You're no fun. You never rise to my taunts and jabs. Hmmph."

Oliphan's lip quivered. "Aunt Latias...Wh-why?" he whimpered. "She was…she was your best friend! Why did you kill her! Why?"

"Because my brother told me to," Latias said from under Rayquaza, breathing Dragonbreath at the elephant's face.

Togetic quickly shielded the party with her Safeguard, protecting them from the flames. "My brother tells me to do stuff for him all the time, but I rarely do it!" Togetic snapped, shocked and furious that someone she had regarded as family would do such a thing.

"Yes, but does your brother do to you what I've done to her?" Dark Latios asked smugly. He glanced at the stunned Oliphan. "Here's some advice, kid: try some lobotomy on your sister if she doesn't do what you want her to. It works wonders, trust me."

"He would never do that to me!" Togetic said furiously. "Because my brother loves me, while you care nothing for Latias at all!"

"How do you do lobotomy?" Oliphan asked.

"Oliphan!" Togetic asked, shocked.

"What? I'm just curious, I wasn't planning on doing it to anyone," the elephant protested.

"Oh, it's easy," Dark Latios said with a cruel grin. "First you cut open someone's skull. You can pump them full of anesthetics beforehand to keep them from dying from the pain, but I find their agonized screams sexually gratifying so I use my power to trap their souls in their body and prevent them from escaping through death. Then, you take a scalpel and remove a portion of that person's brain. It can be for medical purposes, research, or in my case, pure enjoyment. If you don't have a medical degree or a modicum of understanding on how the brain works, you can just cut it up willy-nilly and see what happens when you screw the skull back on, but I prefer knowing beforehand what I'm removing so I can get the most out of whatever that person becomes. I did _lots_ of experiments on James and other unlucky souls before coming up with the perfect mix of things to do to my dear sister. And I think she's turned out beyond my expectations, wouldn't you agree?"

"No!" May said, her head snapping up. "She's turned _horrible_, just like I did once!"

Blaziken blinked. "Huh?" All stared at the sphinx. "What are you talking about, May?"

"Oh, she's having hallucinations about how in a past life one of my father's incarnations tortured her and all but lobotomized her, using her as a puppet much like Latias," Dark Latios said with a grin. "It actually happened, but that makes it no less a hallucination."

"That's right, it _did_ happen, and I got better! And so can you!" May said to Latias.

"I can?" Latias blinked and glanced up at her brother.

He rolled his eyes. "No, you can't."

"Oh, okay," she said placidly.

"She can, and she will," Rayquaza argued. "I promised, remember?"

"…Oh, yeah." Dark Latios scowled. "Lousy loopholes."

"Latias, you have to listen to me!" May persisted. "What you are now isn't the way you're supposed to be! You have to try and remember who you were, who the _real_ Latias is!"

"I remember," Latias countered. "I remember everything of my life and the one I had before this."

May blinked. "What? You…you do?"

"But…if you remember us, your friends, your _family_ even, why are you trying to kill us?" asked a confused Togetic as her Safeguard barely deflected another Psychic attack.

"Because my brother told me to."

"And if your brother told you to jump off a cliff, would you!" Oliphan asked in exasperation.

"Yes," Latias said dully. "I can fly."

Oliphan sweatdropped. "Oh…yeah…."

"And if he told you _not_ to fly, and to hit the ground, would you do it?" May persisted.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because he told me to."

"And just because he tells you to do something, you'll do it?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because he said so."

"And if _I_ told you to side with us and fight Dark Latios, what would you do?"

"Nothing unless my brother told me to."

"And why is that?"

"Because he's my brother," Latias said, as if it were obvious.

May frowned. "And just because he's your brother, you think that means he can do whatever he wants with you, and its okay?"

"Yes," said Latias plainly.

Rayquaza shook his head in dismay. "Latias…"

"You'd better not get ideas that you can do that to me," Togetic said sternly to her little brother.

"Awwww, okay," he said, his ears drooping.

"She can do nothing _but_ obey me," Dark Latios said with a smirk. "I made her that way, by breaking her and making her mine. I am her brother and her master. I may do with her as I wish. If I tire of her, she will utterly cease to exist, only the meanest sliver of a soul remaining buried within my flesh, to deny her freedom forevermore. The Dragon King's promise would seem to prevent this, but…there are always loopholes. And if I can…_convince_ him to change his mind and promise not to carry out that promise, then the binding geas he created will be broken, and Latias will remain mine for eternity. My truest expression of brotherly love…by keeping her to myself, I will protect her from everyone else. I will protect her from life, from emotions, from having to think on her own…and especially from Rayquaza, since he has caused her nothing but suffering from the moment he came into her new life."

"I may have indirectly laid down the path she has followed to this point," Rayquaza snarled. "But the responsibility for what has happened to her ultimately falls to you, Dark Latios, and your 'father' Deoxys! Needle me as you will, I know this to be truth!"

Dark Latios grinned. "Sure, you do. But does she?" he asked, glancing at May.

"What do you mean?" the sphinx asked in confusion as her Pokemon formed around her, as if to protect her from the Dark Dragon.

"Right now, you're probably thinking that I'm the worst brother in the world…but at least I acknowledge my sister's existence, unlike yours, who seems firmly convinced that you're nothing but a fraud and that you're just another monster created by an uncaring deity that murdered his parents." Dark Latios cackled. "Half of that statement is true…but which half?"

"You killed your own parents!" Togetic asked, shocked.

"What? No! No, they were phonies! Monsters who took their forms!" May protested.

"Were they? Were they really?" Dark Latios asked, enjoying this far too much. "Did they smell of my father's virus? Did they behave any differently from the Norman and Caroline you remember? Were 'Norman's' Pokemon any different from that of the father you remember?"

"They weren't…but I know they weren't my parents for one reason!" May said firmly. "The fact that I killed him proves he wasn't Norman, because no matter what there's no way I could ever defeat my dad!"

Everyone sweatdropped. "Um…May, not to burst your bubble, but that's really faulty logic," said Beautifly.

"Yeah, I mean, you're a super-powered sphinx now, while your dad was just a human, and not even one who was trained in the martial arts or anything," Ivysaur pointed out. "So really, if he had been your dad he wouldn't have stood a match against you anyway."

"And, while he does—_did_ have strong Pokemon, you have the advantage of being able to summon winds that can strip the flesh from people's bones. And, well, his sloth Pokemon wouldn't exactly have much of a defense against that…" Blaziken pointed out.

"And that wouldn't really explain why that Caroline person wasn't your mom, because she was never a trainer to begin with so wouldn't even need to be a sphinx to kill her, you'd just need to strangle her or hit her with a big enough rock or stick, just like what it takes to kill any other human," Crawdaunt pointed out.

"ENOUGH!" May snapped. "It doesn't…it doesn't matter whether or not they were my parents! They were trying to take Max away, and even if they HAD been my parents doing so probably would have gotten him killed!"

"Awww, and that would make you feel bad, wouldn't it?" Dark Latios sneered. "Not only Max rejecting you, but _abandoning_ you as well to run off with his parents, who had _also_ rejected you, leaving poor little May all alone. How selfish of you, killing them to keep Max to yourself. I'm almost impressed."

"That's not how it is!" May protested. "They would have been killed if they had left!"

"So you killed them instead to save my father's monsters the trouble. Gee, thanks May! You conserved energy that they can use to more effectively kill other people, or maybe your other friends! I was wrong, you're not just selfish, you're a _traitor _too!"

"I am NOT a traitor!" May screamed. "I've saved dozens of people already! Haven't we, guys?" Her team nodded.

Dark Latios chuckled. "Oh, sure, you saved some people…many of whom were killed in ambushes after they were out of your sight…but what's it all matter when you can't make the people you care for most in the world love you? That's why you killed your parents, May, not because you feared they'd endanger Max, but because they didn't love you anymore! They didn't accept you, just as _he_ didn't! And now he'll have little choice but to rely on you, unless he bonds with his new mother…and if that's the case, maybe you'll have to kill her too, and then it'll be just you and him against the world, sort of like me and my sister, isn't that right Latias?"

Latias blinked up at him from under Rayquaza's firm body press. She didn't mind how uncomfortable it was, it kept her, although marginally, from feeling numb. And she was sure that if she wriggled enough, she could break her spine. "If you say so."

"Ignore him," Rayquaza rumbled. "He speaks lies. There is truth in them, but that does not make them any less deceitful or hurtful. If you give in to him, you can never win."

"He's right," Dark Latios agreed. "I am lying in an attempt to make you feel guilty and confused…but since he's already warned you, why bother with lies when I can just blurt the whole truth out? Here it is, May-"

"STOP!" Rayquaza roared, firing a Hyper Beam at Dark Latios. He dodged it, and the beam instead destroyed the face of the clock tower, causing debris to shower down around them as the clock itself came crashing down to the street nearby.

"Here's the truth May, in black and white! The Norman and Caroline you killed weren't fakes, weren't mind-controlled, but the REAL THING! We LET them get to the middle of the city without getting killed just so they could try and take Max away and JUST SO YOU COULD KILL THEM!"

Everyone froze, stunned. "Wh-what?" Ivysaur gasped. "That…"

"That can't be true! That's ridiculous! I mean…I mean why would you go to all that trouble!" asked a shocked Togetic.

"Because they're the bad guys?" Crawdaunt suggested.

May smiled and shook her head confidently. "No. They weren't Norman and Caroline. They died thanks to Deoxys. I saw it on global television. You're lying again."

Dark Latios grinned at her. "Oh, DID I?" He glanced at the King of Dragons. "Rayquaza, you of all creatures on this world can instantly recognize truth and falsehood when you hear it! Tell them now, am I lying? Were the Norman and Caroline May killed the real deal, driven to Ever Grande and let into the city for the sole purpose of having them die at May's claws, just to drive Max even _more_ insane and make his hatred for her and all you other 'heroes' sink to deeper depths than a worthless child of his age could ever feel on his own?"

"…" Rayquaza did not answer.

"It's okay, Rayquaza…you don't have to tell me that he's lying, I already know," May said. "Right?" The dragon hesitated, then looked away. May's smile faltered. "R-right?"

"…He speaks the truth," the Dragon King said reluctantly, forced by his honest nature to tell her no matter how much he knew it would hurt. "They…they were your parents."

The Pokemon gasped. May's smile froze on her face, her body stiffening. "But-but I don't understand!" Togetic stammered. "Why would…why would you let them live! Why would you let them come all the way up here, just to die?"

"To cause May pain, of course," said Dark Latios with a smile. "That's what we do best. You see, the Crawdaunt was right…we do it because we're the bad guys. We _like_ manipulating others into destroying themselves. We _enjoy_ watching a detailed plan unfold perfectly and bring misery to others. We find the suffering of others to be the best form of entertainment around. And May…you, my poor pathetic creature, are a prime source of suffering."

"Wh-what?" the sphinx stammered, dazed and confused at the revelation which she had been given.

"In every existence, you have suffered. You have suffered from your friends, you have suffered from your enemies, and you have suffered the most from your own hands, or from a broken heart." Dark Latios grinned. "It is your fate to be miserable, to be second-best or even out of the running altogether. That is because you are a weak soul…not like James, who's just pathetic and a coward. You, on the other hand, are a veritable fountain of pain…we can break you and break you as much as we want, and there'll always be some tiny piece of you selfish enough to cling to hope that brings you back so we can break you some more. It's for that reason that you've been allowed to live this long, because if it weren't for that you'd be too insignificant to pay any attention to, even if the Mother _did_ Choose you for reasons only she can understand. Because if it weren't for that, _You. Wouldn't. Be. Worth it._"

"…Stop it." May said.

"Huh?"

"Stop it right now." May stood back up, a defiant expression on her face. "I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to break me again…well, forget it. I don't have time to feel self-loathing for what I've done, we're in the middle of a war here…and I think we'll be one step closer to winning that war if we can free Latias from you and put you out of commission! My promises might not be magical, but I promise you that you'll curse the fact I ever existed, like any spoiled child who always gets what he wants when you lose your favorite toy!"

"Go, May!" Delcatty cheered happily, relieved that her trainer wasn't going to wallow in misery and try to kill herself…again. Because if May died, who would make Pokeblock for her?

May turned to Latias. "Latias, I'm going to give you a riddle. As a sphinx, that's a bit of a specialty for me. Because of what your brother's done to you, you can't accept or even understand the riddle when you hear it, but you'll file it away in your memory anyway and then, when you bring up a memory from your past in the right context, you'll know the answer to the riddle…and then you'll begin to wake up!"

Latias blinked. "I already am awake, but okay."

"Wait, don't tell me this is going to be the old one about someone starting out on four legs then two then three with the answer being Man or some rare Pokemon?" Crawdaunt asked suspiciously. "Because that one's been done to death."

"Don't worry, this is a new one, one you've probably never heard of!" May assured him.

"Oh, okay."

"Latias!" May said. "Here's my riddle: I am seen at every angle, I am given a thousand names, people think I am what they want me to be, but I always remain the same, a constant, while only the way I'm seen changes. What am I?"

Latias blinked. "You're a sphinx."

Everyone facefaulted. "No, that's not the 'I' I meant! I was talking about the 'I' in the riddle! Who or what was the riddle describing?" May snapped.

"Oh." Latias pondered for a moment. When she couldn't think of anything, she drove her claws into her brain to try and stimulate it into finding an answer, which only failed and caused Rayquaza to wince from a very painful headache. "I don't know."

"Neither did we," Ivysaur muttered under her breath.

"Why do riddles have to be so complicated?" Beautifly complained.

May smiled triumphantly. "I knew you wouldn't be able to get it! At least, not now! But eventually, you'll realize how, and that'll be your first step to recovery!"

"That'll take too long. Why don't I just ask my brother?" Latias turned her head up towards Dark Latios. "Brother, what's the answer to the riddle?"

May stammered. "Wh-what! You're not supposed to _ask_ someone else what the answer is!"

Latias blinked at her. "Why not?"

"Because that's cheating!"

"It is? You never said that."

"Well, I assumed it was implied!" May spluttered.

"Well, it wasn't. Too bad," sneered Dark Latios. "And the answer couldn't be simpler. It's my dad."

"What! No it's not!" May snapped.

"Your dad? You mean Deoxys?" Togetic asked in confusion. "How does he fit that riddle?"

"Simple. Deoxys isn't actually a person at all but an extension of the will of the entity you could call my true father, a being with no name that is basically made up of all the evil, despair, hatred, etc. of all things. It extends itself (not by choice, mind you) into numerous forms in the world of the living, scattered throughout infinity. They often don't realize who they are at first, and so usually take on individual personas which stay with them even once they remember who they really are. As such, they are still the same single being, although expressed in multiple facets. People see the entity from numerous angles due to their dealings with its extensions into the living world, and so mistakenly believe them to be different people or things, thus fulfilling the terms of your riddle."

"No! That's not it at all!" May shouted angrily.

"It's not? You mean it's not the answer _you_ had in mind," Dark Latios said with a grin. "That doesn't mean it's not a correct answer, though. Lots of riddles can have more than one possible answer, it's all a matter of interpretation."

"But it's still not MY answer! The answer Latias is supposed to find out for herself! So it's still wrong!" May snapped.

"Then what is it?" Oliphan asked. "Water? It can be shaped into lots of different forms and it can be transformed into ice and vapor and mist and stuff…Mom said so herself…so if lots of people look at different forms of it at the same time, they could think they're all different things, but deep down it's all still water anyway, right?"

"Ooh, good one little brother," said an impressed Togetic. "I wasn't even thinking of that. It seems so obvious in retrospect."

"NO! IT'S _NOT_ WATER!" May screamed.

"Is it light?" Beautifly asked. "Seeing as how I have compound eyes, I should know that lots of species have eyes capable of viewing different wavelengths of the spectrum of radiation, so some can see infrared and others can see ultraviolet, so they all perceive different aspects of light but it's still the same thing."

"_NO, IT'S NOT LIGHT!"_

"Yarn?" Delcatty asked.

"_NO!"_

"The written language, since everyone's handwriting is different?" suggested Cradaunt.

"_NO!"_

"Love? No, wait, that doesn't make sense…does it? Then again, it would be a good thing for Latias to remember," commented Ivysaur.

May hesitated. "Um…I never thought of that…I guess it works, it's still not what I had in mind though."

"Reality?" offered Blaziken.

"Um…also a good guess, but…no…"

"Stars?" guessed Togetic.

"Sex?" Crawdaunt, of course.

"Television channels?" Oliphan.

"Evil?" Dark Latios asked hopefully.

"Yarn?"

"Fire?"

"Food?"

"Colors, because lots of people see them differently because of that visible spectrum thing, and lots of people are color-blind?"

"Yarn?"

"Babies?"

"The meaning of life?"

"Yarn?"

"The children of the next generation?"

"Yarn?"

"Ice cream?"

"Yarn?"

"The number of roads a guy has to walk before he can be considered a man?"

"Yarn?"

"I'm confused," Latias whined as everyone continued to bombard May with stupid ideas, including Delcatty's repetitive 'Yarn' guess. "And numb." She ripped off her left hand with her mouth and started to eat it, causing Rayquaza's arm to flinch.

The great dragon shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe they don't see the answer…it's so obvious."

"What is it?" Latias asked.

"I can't tell you. You must find out for yourself," he told her.

"Oh, okay." To his consternation and despair, she left it at that and questioned him no further.

Inevitably, May could take no more and exploded. "NO, NO, NO, NO, _NOOOOOOOOOO!_ IT'S NONE OF THOSE, _ESPECIALLY_ NOT YARN!" Delcatty sulked at this. "YOU _IDIOTS_, THE ANSWER'S TRUTH! TRUTH! T-R-U-T-H TRUTH!" She froze, realizing what she had just done. "Dammit!"

The Pokemon looked at each other in confusion. Dark Latios dug his claws into his brain, dumbfounded. "Truth? How does that make sense?"

"I don't get it," Oliphan complained.

"Neither do I," Togetic agreed sadly.

"May, your riddles suck. Sad, but true," Crawdaunt said gruffly.

Rayquaza sweatdropped. "Oddly enough…that's not even close to what I thought the answer was…how embarrassing."

"I don't understand what all that was about," Latias said carelessly. "So I'll ignore it since it has no relevance whatsoever." And so she did. And ate her hand again in the meantime.

May, frustrated beyond words, stamped the ground angrily to express her rage at everyone's inability to figure out her riddle, gusts of sand billowing out from her. "Well, there goes another wasted attempt for you to validate your existence," said Dark Latios, bored. "I'm going to kill you now."

She narrowed her eyes furiously. "Oh, and I suppose you'll torture me as much as possible, try to twist me again, like what happened the last time I was taken!"

"Huh? When were you taken before?" asked a confused Blaziken.

May sweatdropped. "Past life? Remember?"

"Oh yeah…that…" the fire chicken said dubiously, uncertain she believed it.

"You're not going to let me break you?" Dark Latios asked, disappointed.

"No, I'm not!" May unsheathed her claws and held them to her throat. "I'll kill myself first and deny you the pleasure!"

"You will? Really? You'll save me the time and energy it would take to kill you by doing it yourself? Gee, thanks!" Dark Latios said brightly. "Sure, I'll miss out on some fun, but I can get that by horribly killing your friends instead! Assuming _he_ doesn't interfere, that is," he said, glaring at Rayquaza, who snarled back at him. "So, go ahead, do it."

May blinked. "Wh-what? You're…you're not upset?"

"Upset? No, why should I be?" He shrugged. "I'm a little disappointed that I can't hear you scream, but once you kill yourself I'll have your soul to play with anyway. If I wanted, I could grow you a new body or cram you right back in the old one so I could play with you all I wanted. Or if that got boring, I could just trap your spirit in your flesh and then eat you so that your soul remains buried in my body forever, a fate even more horrible than that suffered by the ghosts my mother ate. Ho-Oh barely managed to escape that fate, and in doing so only condemned herself to an even worse eternity…perhaps if you're lucky enough, you'll do the same." He nodded. "So, go ahead. Kill yourself and seal your fate. Then I can enjoy your friends to my heart's desire."

May hesitated. She hadn't expected him to behave like this. "I…I…"

"What's wrong?" Dark Latios asked, looking hurt. "You were perfectly willing to kill yourself when you thought you would deny me pleasure, and now that you realize you'll become my plaything forever no matter what you do it no longer seems that much better a fate than me killing you myself? Fiddlesticks. You really are weak. You're not even remotely worth my time. Latias, kill her and put her worthless existence to an end so she can see how stupid she was to think her life or her death would make any difference whatsoever."

"Okay," said Latias, vanishing from underneath Rayquaza with Aerial Ace.

The Dragon King started. "Latias, no-"

It was too late. Latias had reappeared in front of May and, before anyone could move to stop her, had plunged one claw into the sphinx's chest and the other through her neck…or tried to, anyway. Before Latias could even strike, May blasted apart into sand. Latias blinked in confusion for less than a moment before the real May side-kicked her into a nearby building front.

"Substitution," Latias observed robotically, flying forward even as her broken bones were mending. The empty dragon dispassionately slashed at the sphinx with the full intention of ripping off her face. May took wing and flew backwards from the emotionless yet relentless assault, augmenting her flight with a strong wind to stay one heartbeat ahead of death, but it still wasn't fast enough to keep Latias from slashing her across the face.

May felt the blood go down her face, the near-cleaving leaving behind a thin cut across her face which would leave a hideous scar if she lived. She saw the two pieces of her bandanna flutter to the ground, also cut. Two more ultra-fast line-thin cuts tried to slice her head into two pieces; she lost her bangs and had two new gashes on the side of her head.

May nearly impaled herself with her backward flying on a horizontal flag pole protruding from a nearby building, but at the last instant she took hold of Latias' body and did a reverse flip, causing Latias to be skewered in her place.

Rayquaza, who had been about to go and try to restrain Latias and save May (even though he didn't really know much about her other than Shedinja's intel) gasped and clutched his chest in pain, feeling a fraction of Latias' pain through their bond. Dark Latios grinned and quickly used this to his advantage by drawing on that pain and using it to form a barrier around Rayquaza, one which the Dragon King could not pass through as long as the fight continued.

Still stuck on the pole, Latias unleashed a Dragonbreath that incinerated the sphinx, or would have if a wall of sand hadn't come up a moment before, turning to glass and melting in the span of a few seconds but giving May all the time she needed to dodge the attack while flying upwards.

Latias took after the sphinx, tearing her lower body down the middle on the immobile pole, reveling in the pain.

May with her back to the sky looked down at her attacker and gratuitously flapped her wings, creating a sand tornado that tore away at Latias' skin, exposing the muscle and bone underneath and shredding those with more sand. The mutilated dragon began spinning in the same direction as the wind tunnel, her wings glowing as she shot up towards the sphinx. May just had time to gasp as the Steel wing went past her, not cutting her in two as it was meant to, for the wind tunnel slowed it down enough that instead May just felt the bones in her left arm break, cutting into the flesh inside. Tears of pain running down her face as she whimpered from the hurt, May willed a rock-hard sand cast around the damaged bone, making it semi-workable again. She folded her wings and dove as Latias came down for another go at beheading.

Ignoring the pain in her now broken limb, May landed on a rooftop and worked her hands, turning around again to face her opponent. Latias wondered why the sphinx was making all those weird hand signs. Was that sign language? She remembered knowing it when she went around as Bianca's twin.

Particles of sand materialized around the empty dragon in an odd spherical cloud. The instant May made one last hand sign, the bits of sand shot through one side of the dragon and out of the other from every possible direction, turning her into Swiss cheese and giving May the time she needed to land on a rooftop.

Latias screamed in near-happiness (since she didn't actually remember how to feel happy) at the beautiful pain of having the near microscopic bits of sand shoot through her like a million bullets. She might have had an orgasm if her body still knew how. This would certainly keep her from being numb for a while.

May looked down at her teammates as it finally got into their heads that maybe they should help her out and shouted, "Get out of here, she'll kill you too!"

"No way!" Blaziken snapped.

"She's our aunt; we can't let her do this!" Oliphan agreed.

Futile, but May had to try. "That's an order!"

May didn't have a chance to hear their retort as her technique ran its course, and Latias, not feeling sweetsweetpainpain anymore, resumed following her brother's command. This time May chose to face the empty dragon head on, racing at her across the rooftop on all fours.

Latias telekinetically forced the pips and girders out of the building and through the rooftop, trying to repay the nice impale from before. However, there was a slight telltale sign of the roof cracking a split moment before the spears emerged, giving May's cat like reflexes the time they needed to dodge them.

Finally leaping off the rooftop, and given a couple seconds of reprieve, May made a slashing motion with her arm, and Latias found that she couldn't move anything below her head for the moment. She couldn't feel anything either, but that was normal. She continued to fly by levitation, but it still threw her off balance. Enough for May to fly up and rake her across the sides…and nothing...Nothing!

"Hey!" Latias almost sounded upset. "There was no pain!" And...was that fear in her voice? Fear of the numbness and emptiness?

May snarled, "Clean cut to the back of your neck, which means you won't feel this either!" May stabbed both of her arms right into Latias' gut, the still regenerating spinal cord unable to transmit the signal of loving sweetsweetpainpain, leaving her with nothing!

Calling on a sandy wind with force behind it in spades, May and Latias twisted in the air, and with a blast of air the empty dragon was sent into the ground, shattering her spine just as her neck was repaired. However, Latias' greatest weapon was still her hopelessly damaged but still powerful brain! She formed a metal pole of thin air, and drove it into the sphinx from behind, May's speed and reflexes again saving her from a killing blow but not from the attack itself. It went right into the back of her left knee and out the other side, causing bone to show and blood to spray everywhere.

May's eyes dilated as her scream forced the air out of her lungs, causing Dark Latios to laugh joyfully at the spectacle as she plummeted from the air. Clutching the damaged joint with both hands she created another sand cast and coagulated the blood flow along the way. She almost shattered against the ground before she dug all four sets of claws into the side of the nearest building and began to climb back up. A mass of metal spikes flew at her, barely missed with a feline dodge. Another batch was quick to follow but a swift sand storm knocked them all totally off course.

Latias' spine regenerated at last and she felt the safe, wonderful, existence-proving pain again. She looked up at the person her brother had told her to kill and attempted a Psychic attack like the one which had killed Draganium, but the sphinx pulled her claws all back in and dropped at the last moment, causing the powerful mental strike to just blow up the side of the building, showering them both in shrapnel, Latias enjoying the bits of pain while May formed a barrier of sand behind her to protect her wings. May fell down to meet the empty dragon a few feet above the ground.

Before any other attack could be used, the sphinx engaged the dragon in tooth and nail combat, breaking Latias' concentration and forcing her to do the same. They tore into each other, blood flying everywhere, screams heard from one or the other, as Crawdaunt whooped "Catfight! Catfight! What?" he asked when Ivysaur and Blaziken glared at him. "She IS a cat, isn't she?"

Every injury Latias received regenerated in turn, just leaving the nice sense of pain behind, which was perfectly fine with her. However, it was odd that when she made a head strike at the sphinx, May's head turned to sand and reformed a second later. And when she tried to tear off a leg, the left one, it did the same thing, though it still had the brace from before.

The fight continued. Latias' claws raked May's shoulder and the sphinx a moment later broke the dragon's shoulder in repayment. May banged their heads together, hurting Latias' pathetic skull more than May's thick one, not as thick as Ash's of course but good enough to get the job done. Neither combatant seemed to be getting an edge over the other, though. For Latias, this fight, as much as the pain she was getting was wonderful, was going on for too long. Her brother had told her to kill this creature, and she had to do what her brother said.

Latias backed off a few meters for a few seconds. May charged to follow... except she couldn't. Her arms...her legs...her wings...all were paralyzed instantly. She just stood frozen in mid air, her limbs not paying her any mind, or rather trying to, but unable to do their tasks. May moved her eyeballs to see the slight glow around her body. _Oh no._

"No good turning to sand if you can't go anywhere," Latias said plainly, calmly floating up until they were eye level with each other. One having fallen into the abyss, the other having clawed her way out of it...and doomed to fall back in forevermore. "You gave me so much pain, thank you."

"Friends aim to please," May hissed, futilely struggling.

"And friends should return favors," Latias quoted as if from a script.

"Yeah," May answered, getting a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, having a _very_ good idea of what was going to happen next. She knew this was the only way this fight could possibly end, the Dragon King said he promised to save Latias, which meant that May couldn't be the one to do it (at least not directly), which meant she was very close to dying.

"My brother showed me the best way to return things, he showed me firsthand and in the best possible way." Latias methodically touched May's sides. "He called it Black..." The silica-kinetically created wedge May had formed while the dragon wasn't watching (or had she known, and simply not bothered to do anything about it?) dove into Latias' brain from behind as she spoke the last word, unhindered in the slightest by the rather large blunt object impaled through her head. "Karma." And then everything went dark.

May heard something screaming, making a sound so horrific that it couldn't possibly be a true living thing, for nothing could endure that much pain without dying from sheer agony. May dully realized, after a moment, that she was the one screaming. It felt like a thousand forevers as the unnatural pain tore through her body without end as she screamed and shattered with a whimper, giving up everything, her friends, her life, her love, her hope, her pathetic attempts to make a difference, everything that she had ever thought had meaning but only now realized was shallow and empty, if only the torture would stop. And as if her betrayal of everything was a trigger, it ended, filling her with something akin to relief and an impossibly pleasant light pain as she hit something hard all at once.

She could smell her burnt flesh. She could hear the distant cries of her loved ones and the approving laugh of Dark Latios. Latias wasn't nearly as good as her brother, May's pain centers and nearly all her motor nerves had been destroyed, so she couldn't move. She tried to blink her eyes a few times, but nothing happened, not even the feeling of them not being able to open. She had become even number than Latias, although only in the physical sense, at least she could still feel emotions, what little of them remained anyway.

May knew she was blind, she wondered if the nerves had been burned away or if she even had eyes left at all.

Were her arms and legs still there? She couldn't feel them, she knew for a fact that every bone in her wings had shattered though. May knew her fur had been burned off, leaving a blackened hide behind.

The impact from May's last-ditch attack had cut the Black Karma down from its true length to less than a second as the dragon and sphinx had separated, not that May could have hoped to be able to tell that to begin with.

She sensed, more than felt Latias hovering over her, a ghost of satisfaction at a job about to be well done, as her brother had told her to. The sphinx's tortured mind sang with joy, begging for release from this mutilated body, too broken to realize that she would only be freed for far, _far_ worse suffering with her death.

Somewhere in her shattered consciousness, a tiny, tiny bit of what had once been May realized this was her last chance to help Latias, to give her the key to restoring herself. Coming up with one final riddle, she tried to whisper it…and could not. Her vocal cords had been completely and totally destroyed by her agonized screams, rendering her mute. All that came out of her mouth was excrement, since her innards had been so twisted by Black Karma that her bowels now emptied in the opposite direction. May struggled to speak, but she couldn't, not with a destroyed voice box and a mouth full of shit. So, since she couldn't speak the riddle, she thought out loud of a different message, in the smallest of broken hopes that Latias' telepathy would detect it. _Don't…regret…meeting you…_

Only Latias' telepathy didn't pick it up, and her message went unheard by all save Dark Latios, who found it greatly amusing and further cemented his belief in May's foolishness, certain that she had only thought that statement due to further fragmenting of her sanity. And who knows? Perhaps it was. Or perhaps it wasn't. It didn't really matter either way.

And so the blind, mute, helpless May couldn't even whimper as Latias picked up her head, shoved it to the hard street, and began grinding it against the pavement so fast that her face splattered open across the ground, sending blood, brains, and her eyeballs flying everywhere. Everyone threw up at this. Latias then ripped out May's heart and shoved it in her mouth, chewing it messily and squirting blood from her jaws. The Pokemon stared in shock and disgust at what had been done to the sphinx, how all her trials, setbacks, and sacrifices had been for nothing.

"Brother," Latias complained as she swallowed the heart. "She tastes all gritty."

"Well, you couldn't possibly have expected something like her to have any taste or value at all, now can you?" Dark Latios asked reasonably, catching May's tortured soul as it drifted away and shoving it in his mouth. "Well, at least her spirit is rife with enough misery and suffering to make up for it…_barely_." He laughed. "In a way, it proves how worthless life really is, and how cheap. It can take many months or even years to form, take many more years to grow and develop, and in less than a second it can be snuffed out with barely any effort at all. Why do people put so much faith and value in something that is so clearly shoddily made and as mass-produced as your average child's toy? Their lives are discarded just as easily as those toys, and yet the living continue to value their existences as much, and often less, than the worthless pieces of metal and paper they're constantly squabbling over. Their lives are nothing more than an ever-increasing spiral of chaos and strife, pure consumer garbage…which means more food for me and dear old Dad!" He laughed even harder when May's body abruptly exploded into sand and was blown away by the wind, not because the explosion was funny, but because the heart Latias swallowed exploded as well, blasting her head and half of her neck off and causing it to fly into Oliphan's face, resulting in him screaming and rearing back in terror, falling over and accidentally crushing Crawdaunt under his bulk.

"Ouch," the crustacean whimpered, his shell cracked by Oliphan's weight.

Latias' headless body floated over, picked up the head, and replaced it on her neck. She blinked at her once-friends, who were staring at her in horror and disgust. "Yes?"

"Latias…I…" Togetic was speechless.

"You…you…you monster!" Blaziken roared, her flames lighting up. "You killed our trainer!"

"Especially after she just recovered from her suicide attempt!" Ivysaur agreed angrily.

They launched Razor Leaves and Flamethrowers at Latias. The dragon made no move to escape, and was mildly surprised when Rayquaza shielded her with his larger armored body, the attacks harmlessly washing over his emerald mass. She wondered idly why he had bothered doing that for a moment before Draganium's nearby corpse caught her eye and she floated over to start eating it. She was curious to see if this body would explode as well while she was eating it, it had been a pleasantly painful experience.

"That's enough!" Rayquaza barked angrily at May's Pokemon.

"Why'd you do that!" Blaziken shouted. "She's a murderer! Why are you protecting her!"

"Because despite everything, she is still my beloved…and as such, I cannot allow anyone to harm her, no matter what condition her mind is in!" Rayquaza growled. "The true fiend responsible for your friend's death is Dark Latios, for had he not ordered Latias to do it he certainly would have killed her himself!"

"I certainly would have," Dark Latios agreed, amused by everyone's turbulent emotions and how none of them had yet noticed Latias was eating her best friend's dead body.

Rayquaza fixed Dark Latios with his glare, curbing his fury. What he had to say next was certain to wipe the smile off the monster's face. "Dark Latios," he growled. "You know the power my promises have. By swearing to do something, or promising that a certain event shall come to pass, I set a part of the future in stone so that my promises _always_ come true. For that very reason, I refrain from making too many serious promises due to the risk and possibly catastrophic consequences those oaths may have further down the line, as well as to keep myself from becoming too selfish and simply promising that everything I desire will come to pass. I have already made what may be too many such promises in recent times…but for you, for _you_, I think that I will make one more!" He grinned as only a dragon can, showing off all his teeth. "Dark Latios…with all the power invested in me as King of the Dragons, I make you this promise: some day, perhaps not today but _some day_ in the eventual future…despite your power, despite your father, despite your cruelty and seemingly boundless evil…you will be totally, utterly _completely_ defeated by the forces of love and life which you have rejected! That day shall be your ULTIMATE downfall, one from which you will never recover, assuming you survive it! THIS…I…SO…SWEAR!" His eyes flashed and the air itself seemed to rumble as Rayquaza uttered this prophecy and sealed Dark Latios' fate.

The Dark Dragon's red eyes blinked. He actually looked stunned by what Rayquaza had just done. "I…you…" He stammered a few times, incapable of speech as the full immensity of Rayquaza's oath, his doom written out before him in giant metaphorical letters of flame.

And for once, the silver-tongued son of Deoxys had nothing to say.

His crimson eyes flashed. Howling with rage, he dove at Rayquaza, slamming into him with such force that the air rippled around him, shockwaves scattering the Mother's pawns away like dust in the wind and shattering buildings as the two dragons crashed to the ground, digging a deep trench from their impact and causing the street around them to fragment and split apart. "KILL THE OTHERS!" Dark Latios roared to his sister as he struggled with Rayquaza, flipping the Dragon King onto his back and raising a claw into the air. "_I'LL _PLAY THE PART OF OVERPROTECTIVE BROTHER!"

"You wouldn't even remember how to play that role," Rayquaza sneered, blasting Dark Latios in the face with Dragonbreath and engulfing the villain's head in green fire. "You need to actually care for her before you can kill me with protective concern for her in mind!"

"I am protecting her," Dark Latios' skull clattered as his flesh regrew and he thrust his claw forward at Rayquaza's eye, deflected by the great dragon's arm and breaking Rayquaza's wrist. "From anyone who would take her from me, because she's _my_ plaything, _my _slave, _my_ sister." He slashed his wings down at Rayquaza's belly, trying to slice it open. The serpentine dragon jerked his coils out of the way and smacked Dark Latios away with his tail, sending him flying towards a nearby building. The Dark Dragon snarled and released a devastating blast of Psychic which would rip the scales from Rayquaza's bones… if the monarch hadn't used ExtremeSpeed to get around the attack, causing the street below him to disintegrate all the way down to the sea level and leave a gaping hole behind, before he tackled Dark Latios with his super speed, shredding him to pieces.

Dark Latios' splattered blood and body parts reassembled and regenerated, and the evil dragon breathed out a tremendous dragon-shaped blast of black Dragonbreath whose wings blotted out the sky as it came screaming down at Rayquaza, too vast for the King to escape even with Extremespeed.

He didn't need to. With a great roar, Rayquaza fired a golden Hyper Beam which pierced the black fire and blasted right through a startled Dark Latios, disintegrating over half his body in a cry of pain as well as dispelling the Dragonbreath specter. "Wh-what? How did you-"

"You've forgotten another privilege I possess as King of the Dragons," Rayquaza roared as he swam rapidly through the air towards Dark Latios. "As king, I am the mightiest dragon! Not only can no dragon slay me, but in battle against me no dragon's powers can match mine unless I will it, save for that of my Queen, and thanks to what you've already done to her she can barely be called that now! My inherent magic only marginally recognizes her for who she truly is!"

"What! That…that's not…"

"Fair? From you, that's rich!" Rayquaza smacked Dark Latios away with an Iron Tail and fired an Ice Beam at him. The evil dragon used Aerial Ace to warp out of the way and strike Rayquaza from behind, trying to use his Dragonclaws to rip out the Dragon King's spine. To his astonishment, his claws cracked the armor, but didn't penetrate. The yellow lines on Rayquaza's armor lit up then and released a blast of Ancientpower, shoving the frustrated fiend back and giving Rayquaza the opportunity to blast him with Ice Beam, causing Dark Latios to cry out in surprise as ice coated his front, not because it hurt, he had expected that, but because it felt so much _colder_ than usual and was numbing his senses and he actually had to exert _effort_ to get rid of it, effort which took a moment too long and allowed Rayquaza to blast him with green Dragonbreath, melting the ice and also burning his skin off, leaving him for a moment as a blackened skeleton. The skeleton tried to blast Rayquaza away with Psychic, but the Dragon King had already begun charging towards him with Extremespeed when the blast struck so his momentum carried him forward even as his mind quaked and almost blacked out, his body smashing through Dark Latios' skeleton and scattering the bones everywhere.

The bones reassembled on the ground, flesh regenerating just in time for Rayquaza to come circling down, firing Outrage energy balls at Dark Latios. This time the dragon defended, attempting to use his psychic abilities to throw the balls away…and was startled when his telekinetic grip slipped and they smashed right through the Protect barrier he had just thrown up, exploding against him and hurling him into a nearby building. "Ugh…this is…why am I so weak!"

"This is what happens when you challenge the King of the Dragons and pervert that which he holds dear!" Rayquaza roared, charging up his power. "You SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!" He fired a tremendous Hyper Beam down at Dark Latios, vaporizing his body and the building he had smashed into in a burst of light, as well as driving a hole straight through the soil of Ever Grande and blasting through one of the support columns holding it up, weakening the island that much more.

A small black seed fell to the ground…and landed on the corpse of a monster which the Chosen had defeated on their way to challenge the evil dragon. Instantly, the seed burrowed into the monster's flesh and transmuted it, shaping it into a new body for Dark Latios.

The Dark Dragon glared up furiously at his rival as Rayquaza circled overhead. "King of the Dragons, huh? Well, I think it's time you were OVERTHROWN!" he roared as he shape-shifted into a black twin of Rayquaza and flew up to continue their fight.

In the meantime, the others' attempt to stave off Latias wasn't going very well at all.

Blaziken and Ivysaur's thirsts for vengeance had not been quenched by Rayquaza's words, and they charged in blindly to fight Latias. The fire chicken launched herself at the dragon, fire blazing all around her, and smashed her in the face with Blaze Kick, crushing the dragon's head in and lodging her foot through the back of Latias' skull. However, this did not really hinder Latias in any way other than blinding her momentarily, and so her claws were still able to hook into Blaziken's chest, unmindful of the flames, and rip out her intestines, causing Blaziken to stiffen and squawk in pain. Latias then telekinetically flung the intestines at Ivysaur as the Seed Pokemon lashed out with Frenzy Plant, wrapping the organs around the Grass-type's neck at the same time the thorny roots erupted from underground and pierced Latias' chest and ripped out through her back. Slightly delirious from the rapturous pain, she blasted Blaziken off of her with a burst of Psychic, pulling a startled Ivysaur with her due to the intestines wrapped around her neck, causing the roots to tear out of Latias and retreat back into the ground. The gutted Blaziken flew through the air and fell over the same flagpole Latias had been impaled on earlier, her intestines reeling out behind her and over the pole as she plummeted, serving as the weight for the pulley that carried the choking Ivysaur up…until Blaziken finally hit the ground with a ghastly crack and Bulbasaur dangled from the end of the intestines, hanging from the flagpole like it was a yardarm, her neck snapped by her noose the moment Blaziken had hit the ground.

Latias felt her body stiffen and go into paralysis as Beautifly flew over her, showering her with Stun Spores which froze her in place. It hurt a little…which for Latias was not enough. Forcing her muscles to move despite their paralysis, causing them to be torn apart and rip skin from her arms and neck (which felt much better to her), Latias unleashed white Dragonbreath on Beautifly just as the frail butterfly had been about to hit her with Silver Wind. The poor thing was incinerated instantly.

And then all that was left was Delcatty. Her mind, already fragile from the gruesome death of her lover Golduck, had shattered from witnessing the grisly murders of her friends and trainer, unhinging her sanity completely and rendering her a giggling, drooling, twitching wreck. If her death weren't damning her to a literally hellish fight, Latias's ramming a claw through her brain could be considered a mercy killing.

And then all that were left were Oliphan, Togetic, and Crawdaunt. And for some reason none of them understood, they had done nothing to stop Latias from murdering May's Pokemon. Perhaps it had been lingering shock from watching May die so horribly. Perhaps it had been fear that the same would happen to them. Perhaps it had been apprehension and doubt at the prospect of fighting someone who to them had been a good friend, and to the younger elephant and angel a dear and loving aunt. It was only as she turned towards them, blood dripping from her claws, that they prepared themselves for a fight, uncertain what the outcome would be…and were relieved when an Ice Beam shot down from out of nowhere, freezing Latias inside a giant block of ice and immobilizing her.

The pain and the chill were tremendous. Latias felt rather giddy, actually, she didn't feel the least bit numb, not with the ice making everything so cold and agonizing to her Dragon stamina…wait, she didn't feel giddy anymore, she felt…sleepy…Latias passed out, her body going into a cold-induced coma. Had she not been undead, the ice blast would have killed her for sure. Whether or not she could be considered fortunate to have survived was another thing altogether.

Crawdaunt blinked. "Huh? Where did that-"

Oliphan gasped and pointed upward with his trunk. "Hey guys," Pikachu said from atop Chimecho's back with the rest of his team. "Mind if we lend a hand?"

By assuming Rayquaza's form, Dark Latios seemed to have evened the odds between the two dragons. His disguise seemed to be enough to confuse whatever powers granted the Dragon King his awesome abilities, putting the two on equal footing.

Dark Latios' black Dragonbreath clashed against Rayquaza's and mixed together, black and green flames flying about everywhere as the dragons circled each other. They lunged, their bodies intertwining as they clawed and bit at each other, breathing out blasts of ice in attempts to incapacitate their counterpart, Dark Latios regenerating any major damage Rayquaza managed to inflict, while the true Dragon King had to make do with his rather high pain threshold and the strength of his armor.

They tore and bit at each other, two savage beasts fighting with every ounce of their strength for survival. Struggling, they crashed down into the street, plowing through the pavement as they continued fighting, grappling together with their claws. They glared into each other's eyes, gold yellow against blood red, and prepared to fire Hyper Beams…

When suddenly, out of nowhere, they could hear someone singing Flight of the Valkyries. Dark Latios blinked. "What the fuck-"

He was cut off as several tentacles wrapped around his body and ripped him off Rayquaza's serpentine form, crunching him into a ball and stuffing him into a gelatinous mouth before Dark Latios could do any more than cry out in surprise. Chimecho messily chewed and ground him up in his grotesque and nightmare-inducing digestive tract, belching happily when the evil dragon was crushed and drifting through his belly. "CHIIIIII!"

Rayquaza sweatdropped. "Well, that was rather…anticlimactic…"

"Can't argue with the results, though," Sadic said, walking over. "Name's Sadic. Who're you?"

He blinked. "Ah…Rayquaza, King of Dragons…"

"Huh. How's that going for you?"

"Er…well, my bride has been horribly transformed and mutilated by her darkened brother, and my kingdom and the rest of the world is in threat of being destroyed by Deoxys. Other than that, pretty well…I suppose."

"That's nice," said Milotic as she floated over. "Well, the fighting should be over soon…I think we're winning, aren't we?"

"Last time I checked," said Cacturne. "Or should I say, last time Rui checked in with us.

"If that's the case, then we've just finished off the last of Deoxys' generals," said Pikachu. "I suppose that's-"

SPLAT!

"That," he finished lamely, wiping Chimecho goo off his face.

Dark Latios, reassembled from the agonizing digestion process and back in his original form, hovered above them, the only thing in a hundred yards that wasn't coated with Chimecho slime. "Well, that was rather unpleasant. Thank you for making me hurt so much, little ones!"

"Well, I hope you won't mind a repeat performance," Wobbuffet quipped as the Chimecho slime trembled and slowly began to pull itself back together. "Because I think Chimecho's gonna be pretty unhappy you treated him that way."

"Mmm…no, I don't think he will," said the evil dragon, holding out a claw. "You see, the only reason he's still alive is due to the general powers he accidentally claimed. So, if I were to _extract_ those powers…"

The fragments of Chimecho pulsated and screamed as multicolored energy shot out of them and into Dark Latios' claw, draining them of the evil energy they were using to sustain themselves…and without that energy, they were no longer able to remain animate. They collapsed to the street and evaporated, totally dead, for real this time.

Milotic gasped. "No! Chimecho!"

"Dang! And I was just starting to like the guy too," Sadic commented, somewhat pissed off.

Dark Latios grinned and swallowed the energy. "Oh yeah…that was just the pickup I needed! All right, no more messing around! All of you will die NOW!"

He unleashed his power. Buildings crumbled around him. The street buckled. The heroes were pushed back by the unbelievably powerful wall of Psychic might, held back only by Wobbuffet's quick shielding as the world seemed to disintegrate around them. Rayquaza, who was unfortunately not shielded, clutched his head in pain as he was flung back by the attack, his protection as King of Dragons keeping him from being killed….but it still hurt a _lot_ more than he had expected.

Cackling madly, Dark Latios charged forward, claws glowing. He smashed into Wobbuffet's shields with Brick Break, causing them to buckle and collapse before him and cause the blue blob to gasp and reel back in pain from psychic backlash. Dark Latios' claw lashed out towards Wobbuffet's face, but an Iron Tail shield from Pikachu deflected the killing blow right before the mouse drove an electrically-charged sword through the dragon's forehead, zapping him. Cacturne hit him from the side with a thousand explosive needles, blasting his side open and sending him flying into the side of a nearby building. He got back up, his side already mending…and flinched, holding his ears shut as Milotic began singing. "Ugh! That voice! Cut it out!"

"Hit him hard! NOW!" Pikachu cried, firing a Thunder attack at the stunned dragon, blasting him through the front of the building and causing its façade to collapse. Cacturne fired thousands of needles all over the building, causing it to blow up and collapse, burying Dark Latios under several tons of rubble. And before he even could get the chance to dig his way out, Sadic finished the combo off with a Blizzard which froze the debris in a jagged block of ice.

"Think that finished him?" Wobbuffet wondered as he recovered, rubbing his head while Milotic used her healing powers to repair the psychic damage he had suffered.

"No," said Pikachu flatly. "Okay, everyone get ready!" He raised his sword into the air, ready to fire off a bolt of lightning…

And suddenly felt the ground underneath him vibrate ever so suddenly. "RUN-" he yelled, dashing out of the way just as the street they were standing on exploded, numerous pillars of fire erupting from beneath those who were too slow to get out of the way in time and hurling them away, burnt badly but still alive thanks to last-minute shields thrown up by Wobbuffet.

Dark Latios burst out of the ground as the fire pillars burned around him, cackling malevolently. "You should have froze me BEFORE dropping the building on me, idiots!" he shouted before punching the street hard, causing the already severely-damaged section of the island to give up the ghost and collapse completely into the sea, taking a city block's worth of land and buildings with it, weakening Ever Grande's stability even further and causing fissures to snake out all over the place, widening and slowly pulling other parts of the city apart. Some smaller pieces just sank beneath the waves right away, the waves caused by their submergence rocking the larger bits of island nearby that were still kept aloft by weakening support pillars. Rayquaza, sad to say, had been pulled down with the rest of the street when it collapsed into the sea, still dazed from Dark Latios' tremendous Psychic attack…but he wasn't dead. Not yet. He had a promise to keep, after all.

Pikachu groaned and got to his feet. He looked around, grimacing as he saw the amount of destruction caused by Dark Latios' last attack, as well as how it looked as if skyscrapers in the distance were actually floating away due to the island slowly coming apart at the seams. "Guys? Are you all right?" he called out. His teammates were nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe, maybe not…but I don't think you will be for much longer!" Dark Latios dropped out of the sky, claws out to skewer Pikachu. The rodent lightning-teleported out of the way just in time, resulting in Dark Latios smashing the pavement instead of him. He barely brought his sword up in time to guard against Dark Latios rushing towards him and lashing out with seven extremely fast forward cuts from his claws, followed by a Psychic blast which sent him tumbling away, mind reeling. Pikachu managed to regain his wits in time to see Dark Latios' black Dragonbreath roaring towards him and growled and put his sword in his mouth, electricity crackling around him as he charged forward with an Agility and Quick Attack-enhanced Volt Tackle, lightning teleporting through the fire, ignoring how it burned him so, and slammed right into Dark Latios' chest, shattering it and tearing through the other side. He then rebounded off the building behind the evil dragon and charged back, slicing Dark Latios in two with a mighty chop.

As the two pieces fell apart, black tentacles emerged from the dragon's halves and ensnared Pikachu as he leaped past, causing him to cry out in alarm as they pulled him back towards the body, which was already beginning to close back together, possibly trapping him inside!

Fortunately, before that could happen there was a feline cry and a flash of motion and suddenly the tentacles were severed, dropping Pikachu to the ground. Blinking, he looked up…and smiled when he saw his rescuer. "El Gato!"

"Si, Senor Raton!" said the cat with a grin. "Rui called us and told us you needed some _ayuda_, and everyone else was busy. I apologize it took us so long to get here…but there were _muchos monstrous_ between here and the city outskirts, we had no choice but to eliminate them all!"

"We?" Pikachu asked in confusion.

"But of course!" said Zoro, striding up. "Where would El Gato go without his trusty companion Senor Zoro?" He nodded his brimmed hat at Pikachu. "It is good to see you are well, Senor Raton."

"Could everyone stop calling me a Raton?" Pikachu asked deadpan.

"You'd have to stop being one first," said Umbreon as she hopped down from a nearby rooftop, Soul Eater pulsing with dark power. "Mind if I lend a hand?"

Pikachu smirked. "The more the merrier, Umbreon!"

"And who is merrier than a _Alegre_ Pokemon like myself?" asked Lombre, leaping down beside his pupil. "My _compadres_ were displeased I had to go…but when I heard you were in _apuro_, how could I stay away?"

"Yeah, that's Pikachu for ya," Sadic said as she showed up. "Always getting into trouble. Heck, if it weren't for the fact that he had such good pals, those idiots who were always after him woulda had him by now, right?'

"…Heh. Good to see you made it, Sadic." Pikachu grew sober. "Where's everyone else?"

"Oh, they're fine, a bit shaken by that big quake," Sadic said unworriedly. "But, since they're not quite as fast or agile as me, they had to find their own way to cross the big expanse separating the island we were stuck on from this part of the city. They'll show up sooner or later, unless Rui had some job for them I didn't hear about."

"Well, isn't this nice?" snarled Dark Latios as he finished mending his two halves. "A whole bunch of swordsmen, ready to slay the evil dragon…heheh. Fine then. I'll be more than happy to end your stupid lives." His four wings and claws glowed. "Come and get me!" He dashed forward, his claws and wings slashing out to slice the swordsmen to pieces. The group of six split to avoid the strike, leaping over Dark Latios or bounding to the sides to avoid him. The dragon twisted about as Umbreon dove towards him to plant her sword in his back, his larger wings hardening into Steel Wings and knocking her away, nicking her blade in the process. She growled and hurled a volley of Shadow Balls at him, accompanied by Razor Leaves from Lombre, lightning bolts from Pikachu, and alternating Ice and Shadow Balls from Sadic. Dark Latios took control of the attacks telekinetically and sent them shooting in all directions, forcing the swordsmen to evade again. He was startled when Zoro's whip lashed out and wrapped around his neck, the human yanking the dark dragon towards him and burying his sword in his chest. Dark Latios drove his claws forward, preparing to rip out the human's heart, and was startled when Sadic dashed by, slashing his claws off with a single cut. The other four swordsman dropped down around him and began carving him to pieces with their blades before he could react, his tentacles being sliced off before they could snag the swords from their hands. In no time, Dark Latios was mincemeat.

Unfortunately, he was still rather animate mincemeat which blew them away with an explosion which tore up the street and sent the swordsmen flying back, somewhat stunned. Dark Latios, enraged and seething with power, rose into the air and began telekinetically hurling buildings at them. But even _this_ proved to be of no use, for with a single powerful cleave, El Gato and Zoro managed to slice the structures in two, while Pikachu, Lombre and Sadic slammed into the upper halves of the buildings and sent them flying back at a surprised Dark Latios. He vaporized them with a thought, but Umbreon, who had been riding atop one of the building halves, leaped off it before it was destroyed and, covering herself in a dark aura, sliced him up six ways from Sunday before falling back to the ground, firing a good volley of Shadow Balls to add insult to injury. He responded by launching at least a hundred Shadow Balls at them from every direction, but the swordsmen stood back to back and lashed out with their swords (or in Sadic's case, claws), their blades dancing in the air as they deflected the Shadow Balls with such skill that they made it look _easy_, further infuriating the evil dragon. He had already gathered his power even before they had finished deflecting his Shadow Ball swarm, and breathed out a tremendous black dragonform Dragonbreath so enormous they could have no hope of dodging it.

But they didn't need to. As one, Lombre, Pikachu, El Gato, and Zoro tore off their capes and flung them before them, the sheets of cloth somehow expanding and weaving together to create a giant cloak which wrapped itself around the Dragonbreath before it could reach the warriors, snuffing it out in an instant. As Dark Latios gaped in disbelief at this tactic, a lightning bolt shot down from the stormy skies above in response to Pikachu's summons, striking the swords (and claws) the champions of justice had crossed together, causing them to turn gold as they were encased in armor of pure electricity. "ALL FOR ONE, AND ONE FOR ALL!" they cried, raising their crossed blades in the air, before breaking apart and charging at the evil dragon, their temporary electric boost causing them to dash at him at practically the speed of light, much too fast for even Dark Latios' reflexes. He attempted to throw up a shield, but it was shattered instantly as they struck, Umbreon the first as she impaled him on Soul Eater, then the twin figures of El Gato and Zoro, their blades flying as they sliced off his arms and carved a large G and Z into his chest. Next was Lombre, who with a powerful chop split the evil dragon in two, followed by Sadic, who unleashed Sheer Cold to freeze Dark Latios' halves in place before lashing out with her claws, shattering his wings and tail. Last of all was Pikachu, arcing towards Dark Latios with his sword raised over his head, practically pulsating with power. "LUMINAIRE!" he shouted, bringing his weapon down on the ice block containing Dark Latios.

The explosion was enormous, and caused the city block they were standing on to finally give up its façade of stability and collapse into the ocean. The swordsmen had managed to dash to a safe area before it was too late, their armor wearing off in the meantime. They stared at the growing hole Pikachu's explosion had made in silence as fissures spiderwebbed out across the city, speeding up its deterioration.

"Must you always be so flashy?" Lombre chided Pikachu.

The mouse frowned at his teacher. "This from a guy working for a rock band."

"Eh, good point," the Lily Pad Pokemon said reluctantly.

"Do you think we got him, then?" Zoro asked his comrades.

"No," everybody said flatly.

Zoro sighed and massaged his forehead. "Si…that is what I thought."

"And you thought right!" Dark Latios snarled as he emerged from the bubbling water below, his body encased in a sphere of dark purple light which burned at the air, bolts of lightning dancing across its surface. "That was a very nice trick you pulled off back there! Here's one of my own which should be equally destructive! LUSTER PURGE!" He rocketed towards them, an unstoppable meteor about to wipe them off the face of the Earth…

And was foiled again as Rayquaza, holding Wobbuffet in his claws, transposed himself directly in the meteor's path, holding the Patient Pokemon out before him as a shield. Dark Latios' Luster Purge struck Wobbuffet, causing him to gasp and grimace in pain from the strength of the blow, mustering all of his power to hold his shield…and barely, just BARELY managed to deflect it, causing Dark Latios to hurtle back, howling in pain as his own destructive energies engulfed him, ravaging his body. Wobbuffet, on the other hand, passed out from his exertion and was carefully placed back on the ground by the Dragon King, who then grinned fiercely at his foe. "Thought you'd seen the last of me, did you?"

"Yes, I did!" Dark Latios said angrily, trying to recover from his own Luster Purge. "What does it take to kill you!

Rayquaza laughed. "How many times must I tell you? As King of the Dragons, no dragon can slay me!"

Dark Latios trembled with rage. "Agggh! Fine! Screw this! I'm through with you living bodies! I'm going to destroy this city and everything in it with one final attack! _BLACK KARMA!_" Dark Latios was swallowed as his aura exploded into a sphere of absolute darkness which immediately began to expand outwards, threatening to engulf all of Ever Grande and destroy it completely.

But just when it seemed as if all was lost…a confident voice cried out, "Snag Ball, go!" A gold and silver Pokeball (or what looked like a Pokeball) shot through the air, splitting into a pin and hemispherical halves which flew around the expanding Black Karma, causing it to slow its expansion. A vacuum formed between the halves, trying to shrink and contain the sphere of energy…but it wouldn't stop! Although its rate of growth was diminished, the ball kept expanding, it didn't look as if the Snag Ball could contain it!

"Aw, great! And I thought that thing was supposed to catch evil stuff just like this!" Wes complained to Registeel.

"The Giga Seal is intended to capture beings such as Dark Latios, yes…but the energy he's giving off is too powerful! We need some way to weaken that sphere of death so it can be compressed and safely locked away in the Snag-powered Seal we just used," the Iron Pokemon postulated.

"Oh, great," Scyther griped, staring up at the Black Karma. "And how are we supposed to do that?"

"Well," Oliphan said as he stomped over with Togetic, Crawdaunt, Cacturne, and Milotic, who had found each other after the island began crumbling and Rayquaza showed up to borrow Wobbuffet and lead them to their friends, carrying the frozen Latias in his trunk. "On television the heroes are always able to overwhelm the bad guy's super-destructive final attack by combining their own attacks against it."

Togetic sighed. "Phanphy, that-"

"Might actually work," Registeel said abruptly.

They blinked. "It might?" Oliphan said in astonishment.

"It might!" Togetic asked in disbelief.

"Sure you're not interested, beautiful?" Crawdaunt asked, flirting with Milotic. "Hmm? Oh, uh, it might?"

"Yes, I do think that this could work…EVERYONE!" he yelled, getting the attention of all the myriad Chosen. "If we can hit that thing with attacks from all angles, we may be able to suppress it enough to seal it away and end this madness! Get into position!" Deciding that listening to the authoritative-sounding big metal man was better than being consumed by the ominous ball of destruction, they decided to do just that, spreading out in the air and on the ground surrounding the swelling Black Karma and the Giga Seal struggling to contain it.

"_I've called everyone else in," _Rui said. "_They've taken care of the last monsters and gotten the last few citizens to safety! Give it everything you've got!_"

They did just that.

Rayquaza and Skarmory, circling overhead, fired Hyper Beams down into Dark Latios' final attack, their golden lasers slowly pushing back the deadly energy ball. On the ground, Loreon fired a spiraling helix of Nightshade and Psybeam, while Enzo sent a Thunderbolt coursing into Dark Latios' energy ball. Wes and Gonzap fired Snag Balls into the vacuum formed by the Giga Seal, hoping to increase its power enough to contain the Black Karma. Pikachu touched his sword to those of his similarly caped comrades, sending electricity up their lengths and allowing them to fire a joint Zap Cannon at the ball of death. Sadic joined in with an Ice Beam, while Umbreon was surrounded by an aura of darkness before shooting a purple energy beam into the destructive orb. Togetic hovered into the air and made her entire body light up, firing a beam of energy at the sphere. Crawdaunt opened his claws and fired a Hyper Beam, as did Oliphan by putting down Latias and shooting a beam from his trunk. Cacturne fired explosive needles. Milotic sang to make everyone's power grow and hopefully diminish the Black Karma's power. Her song's effect increased when Gyarados, Corsola, and Politoed showed up and the frog began a power-raising cheer of his own, while Gyarados used Hyper Beam and Corsola fired Hidden Power blasts at the death ball from next to Crawdaunt. Wobbuffet, who had no attacks, was standing by, ready to throw up a shield as a last resort in case their attacks failed. He didn't know if it would be enough to hold back Black Karma, or if attempting to would kill him a second time, but he knew he had to try all the same.

Soon enough, other friends showed up. Charizard and Charla swooped in, firing Blast Burns at the orb while Zaptres used its Thunderflash attack and Aerodactyl threw in a Hyper Beam. Rosa rode into battle atop Zoro's majestic steed, drawing on the light from the flames and energy attacks of the others to fire a Solar Beam while the equine exhaled an Overheat. Alongside and flanking the horse, El Lobo, El Toro, and Tyranitar fired a triple Hyper Beam, while El Pollo Diablo engulfed himself in fire and added his flames to the Rapidash's with an Overheat of his own. The Pokerockers drove in, their truck back on its wheels and relatively unharmed from its disastrous crash. (Although the same could not be said of Brock.) The trailer's side opened up, revealing the band and their crew, prepped as if they were going to perform a concert. "Okay guys, hit it!" yelled Mudkip.

Jigglypuff nodded. "A one, a two, a one two three four-"

All at once, the musicians jammed on their instruments, the magical devices glowing and sending a wave of raw sound at the slowly expanding energy ball, the sound wave combining with Milotic's song and Politoed's cheering to strengthen the Chosen and weaken the ball of destruction.

And, amazingly, miraculously, the ball stopped in midair. It didn't shrink as the attacks continued pelting it, but it wasn't growing either. "It's almost there," said Registeel. "We need just a little bit more…"

"Then it's a good thing this old mantis's still got some fight left in him!" quipped Scyther as he slashed out with his scythes, creating green energy blades which bombarded the giant energy ball.

"Who are you calling old?" Rukario joked, putting his hands together and firing a Hadoken-esque energy beam into the ball. "Try living for over a hundred thousand years in suspended animation, then we'll see who's old!"

"Now, now, I think we all know who the oldest here really is…" said Registeel, gathering his power. "And as the eldest, I say…this ends NOW!" His seven eyes glowing, he fired a Zap Cannon from his palms into the roiling sphere.

And that seemed to do it. All of the attacks, while admittedly being quite draining on the power of the Chosen, seemed to finally be taking their toll on Dark Latios' final solution. Slowly, reluctantly, but inevitably, the sphere shrank, growing smaller and smaller as the heroes continued pumping their power into it, seeing they were winning. The shrinking process increased when the energy ball was reduced to levels the Giga Seal was able to work with, and the Black Karma compressed rapidly, collapsing on itself as the vacuum did its job and finally vanished completely into the ancient device, the two halves of the Giga Seal snapping shut and the pin locking into place with an audible finality. Some thought they could hear Dark Latios' enraged screams going fainter and fainter as he was imprisoned, hopefully forever, within the orb.

"It is done," Registeel intoned as the ball flew back into his hands, feeling much heavier than he had recalled. "Deoxys' forces have been routed. The civilians have been taken to safety. The city is safe! We have WON!"

Exhausted from their efforts, somewhat incredulous at the thought that their long fight might finally be at an end, the Chosen began to cheer…until without warning, the island trembled ominously beneath their feet. Weary and weakened beyond repair from the constant fighting, support pillars all over the place collapsed, causing over half the island to sink into the sea, taking a good amount of the city (including our unfortunate Chosen) with it.

The Chosen who were already airborne when the very violent and abrupt collapse occurred sweatdropped as their dazed and bedraggled comrades managed to climb or hang onto the Pokerockers truck, which conveniently enough was equipped with very powerful flotation devices to keep the vehicle from sinking. It didn't look as if the Mother had anticipated for the very large number of Chosen hanging onto the structure desperately to keep from drowning in the ocean, though, so there was still a chance that the truck would sink anyway from all that weight. Rayquaza sighed. "Perhaps he spoke too soon…"

…

Ash stirred. Misty frowned and pinned him back on the ground, much too comfortable feeling his heartbeat and warmth against her body to let him get up. "What is it?"

"I thought I felt the ground moving underneath us," he said, somewhat confused.

She smiled. "Really? If that's _all_ you felt, I'm just going to have to try harder," she said, covering his mouth with hers and impaling herself again on his member as they began to make love for the fifth time in the last hour.

…

In space…

The battle was going poorly. The Mother was weary from the long fight and her many wounds, even though all had healed without a trace. She did not think that this stalemate could go on for much longer, sooner or later one of the two gods would come out on top...and she was beginning to think it just might be Deoxys. (Not that this _worried_ her overmuch. Yes, it would be a terrible risk if he won, but there was always her contingency plan…)

The two stared at each other from across a distance of several million miles, floating beside the Earth, each waiting for the other to make their next move. Without warning, Deoxys spread his arms…and at once, the Mother knew what he was going to do as well. She spread out her arms, focusing her thoughts on the people of the planet below, the people fighting in her name, those who still hoped for peace and believed that she could win, that love and justice could triumph over evil. She drew on that belief, she drew on their faith, their love, their hopes, their dreams, taking it all in to herself, revitalizing herself and increasing her power and…

It was not enough. Deoxys had been doing the same thing, but just the opposite: from the remaining people on Earth, he had drawn on their pain, their sorrow, their fear, their anguish, and their despair. He drew power from those who had lost hope, and from those who had become yet more members of his colossal viral army, numbering in the billions. The power he drew from the billions far outnumbered those feeding the Mother, even with the power she was receiving from the Sevii islands and the still-green plains of Orre. It was not enough, not nearly enough, to defeat him.

Deoxys did not bother to laugh or crow his victory over her, for with a knowing glance he told her that he had already won. And, surrounded in the chaotic, eye-rending aura he had gained from his power boost, he teleported away, to the dark side of the Moon. Enlarging his tridents to tremendous miles-high pillars of crystal, he drove his weapons into the Moon's surface, piercing the crust and sending tremors running all the way throughout the dead planetoid. Channeling his power through the crystals, Deoxys began to push, both physically and psychically, against the Moon. Energy flares lit from his legs and from the ends of his tridents as he pushed, giving him momentum and force, allowing him to alter the Moon's orbit entirely and send it on a collision course with the fragile, clouded Earth only a short distance away.

The Mother gasped as she saw this. "Haven't you done this before!" she cried to him.

He laughed. "Perhaps, but if something works, what reason is there not to use it as many times as necessary? But surely this isn't something for you to worry about…after all, you are the Mother, aren't you? The source of life and hope for this world and all others? Surely you can stop a little threat such as a Moon, can't you?" He was mocking her, of course, because he did not think she _could_ stop the Moon.

And he might just have been right. The Mother tried to slow down the Moon with her temporal powers, but because Deoxys was channeling his power through the celestial object it had no effect, also preventing her from reversing time to make the Moon return to its proper orbit.. She tried to speed up the Earth orbit to carry it out of the Moon's path, but Deoxys simply used the power he had taken from his minions to warp his missile right back into its intended trajectory.

She shot towards the Moon, her remaining choices racing through her extradimensional mind. If she blew up the Moon (which was within her power) she ran the risk of showering the Earth with debris and killing all life that remained there. If she attacked Deoxys, he'd stop propelling the Moon to fight here…but the planetoid's momentum would keep it heading for its target, and it might cause irreparable damage before she could stop the impact. It was too big for her to warp to another time period. Which left her with only one option.

She'd have to push the Moon away from Earth on her own.

Teleporting before the Earth, the Mother floated before the Moon, barring its path. Her twin swords, Guardian and Spirit, twirled through the air behind her as she mustered all the power she had drawn from the planet below, the power which would have been much more abundant had not Deoxys corrupted and defiled the world and its peoples so. She only hoped that the power she had been given would be enough.

A rainbow aura surrounding her, the Mother charged forward, leaving a stream of light behind her, her swords at her side. Palms forward, she slammed into the Moon's surface, shaking it and destroying the ancient beyond measure remnants of human space exploration that had slumbered and collected dust on the planetoid for countless millennia, the myriad colonies and old landing ships disintegrating, military bases and launch sites crumbling into the ground. It was fortunate that Deoxys had wiped out all the Lunatone and Solrock who called the Moon home, else they would have been complaining rather loudly about the rough treatment of their world.

Her swords imbedding themselves into the rock on her left and her right, the deity pushed with all her might, pushing for the future, for the souls of her children, for the happiness and hopes of every living thing on Earth…which, sadly, there weren't nearly enough of anymore. Her swords pushed with her, the powerful souls making them up raging against Deoxys for what the fiend had done to the world they lived in, how he had imprisoned, enslaved, or destroyed their friends, annihilated their homes, threatened their Mother…they channeled all this rage into the dead crust of the Moon as they fought against Deoxys' power, fought against this colossal inanimate piece of space debris which could mean the end of all they cared for on the planet below.

They pushed, and they pushed, and they pushed, and…

It was not enough. Did they slow down the Moon's momentum? Perhaps a little. But not enough. Not enough to keep it from crashing, from splitting the Earth open like a ripe melon and sentencing every soul on it to a terrible demise.

The Mother and her weapons continued to push, and they did not despair, but if something did not happen to tip the struggle in her favor she would have little resort but to activate her contingency plan…but with a threat as great as the Moon itself hurtling towards the Earth, would it kick into effect fast enough before the planet itself was completely destroyed?

…

The Chosen had all gathered where the fight had begun, in the center of the city. Despite all the destruction and havoc that had wrecked the city, it was reassuring to see that the mysterious door of light still remained. Rui and Delia were pleased to see that so many of their friends had survived…and saddened to find out how many had been lost. Max showed no reaction to the news that May was dead, other than a very sickening grin. Something needed to be done about that boy…Delia spanked him so hard he lost a layer of skin, but somehow that didn't seem like enough.

"I'm glad you're okay," Rui said to Wes.

"Yeah, well, we couldn't have done it without you," the white-haired ex-thief told her. "We probably wouldn't have found half the civilians without you pointing them out to us. And we might not all have shown up in time to stop that Dark Latios guy from wiping everything out in a single blast."

She smiled. "As long as I did my part, I'm happy."

"Good. Rui?"

"Yes?"

"Can you please stop hugging me? My spine is starting to crack and Gonzap's rolling on the floor laughing. It's _really_ embarrassing."

Rui scowled and instantly let go of him. "Oh, so I _embarrass_ you, do I? I had no idea that's how you felt about me, Wes."

He started. "Wh-what! No, no that's not what I meant-"

"Well, if you don't want me _embarrassing_ you in front of your friends, I suppose I'll just leave you alone with them. Hmmph!" Sticking her nose in the air, she stormed off to the nearby gateway and entered it, vanishing from Ever Grande.

"But…but…Rui!" Wes cried helplessly. Now both Gonzap _and _Wes's Pokemon were laughing at him. He gave them his best scowl. "It's not that funny," he growled.

"Yes it is," Enzo told him.

"Oh, don't worry boy, we're only laughing to keep from crying at how sad it all is…at how sad it is that you're such a dork when it comes to women! BAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gonzap chortled.

Wes fumed. "Ugh. Fine! I don't have to take this from you guys! I'm leaving!" And he did, stomping off and vanishing through the gateway after Rui.

"Ah, mocking our trainers is always fun," Aerodactyl said with a sigh as the laughter died down.

Gonzap's Hariyama nodded. "Yes, it is isn't it? Wes's girl problems are almost as amusing as our trainer's-"

"Ack!" Gonzap paled and covered Hariyama's mouth. "You'renotsupposedtotell_anyone_aboutthat!" he hissed.

"Tell anyone what?" asked Loreon.

"Tell anyone about my endless quest to grow a thick head of hair, even resorting to such unorthodox and superstitious methods as rolling around in Tauros dung and dancing naked under the moon," Gonzap said automatically. "…D'oh!" He held his face in his hands as everyone started laughing anew, his image as a tough guy ruined forever.

"So none of you have seen Ash?" Delia asked anxiously.

Ash and Misty's Pokemon shook their heads. "Not since he and Misty ran off to fight Richie, no," Crawdaunt reported.

"I haven't seen him at all," Charizard admitted. "Seeing as how Charla and I were fighting the Shadow Lugias, and then saving Umbreon from falling to her doom. A shame, I'd like to see this new outfit I've been hearing about…"

"Come to think of it…we haven't seen Misty either since then," Corsola admitted.

"They can't have been killed by Richie…Rui would have known, right?" Togetic asked anxiously.

"Well, she was stretched kind of thin near the end," Politoed said uneasily. "So…I dunno."

"Don't worry!" Oliphan said confidently. "I just know Mom and Dad are all right!"

"How do you know that?" asked Pikachu.

"Because there they are now," said the elephant, pointing with his trunk at the approaching dragonoids. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Wow, you look pretty good Dad."

"Yes, a rather fine specimen of male," Crawdaunt agreed, observing Ash's reptilian build. "Very impressive!"

"Um…hi guys," Ash said. "Uh…sorry we couldn't make it for whatever was going on…must have been a big fight, half the city's been destroyed!"

"Yes, where _were_ you anyway?" Delia asked with a frown, prodding Ash's chest. "And where are your clothes, young man?"

Ash blinked. "Um…they sorta…vanished I guess, when I turned into this. Sorry Mom."

She huffed and turned away. "Honestly, I thought I'd taught you better than that. I spent nine years convincing you not to let it hang out around the house, and this is the result? Why do you think I was always telling you to make sure you had clean underwear?"

Ash flushed. "Moooooom!" he whined as his Pokemon started laughing at him.

"It's all right Mrs. Ketchum, he was with me," Misty assured Delia. "I made sure nobody saw him like this…not that there was anyone to see it, since everyone was either dead or safe, but…yeah."

"Thank you honey," Delia said appreciatively. "I knew I could always count on you to take care of Ash."

"Mom, I can take care of myself," Ash complained.

"The zombie Pidgeotto on your back would say otherwise," Delia scolded him.

Ash blinked and looked over his shoulder, noticing there was indeed a zombie Pidgeotto impaled on his back spikes that was struggling to peck the back of his head in and failing rather pathetically. "Where the heck did that come from?" he wondered, pulling it off and tossing it away. In search of food, a rather hungry Sadic decapitated it, sniffed it, wrinkled up her nose in disgust, and kicked it away. She wandered off to see if anyone was guarding Max, she was sure they wouldn't mind too much if she ate him, he was probably going to betray them anyway.

"Heheh, looking good Pikapi!" Pikachu said, hopping onto Ash's shoulder. "I like the new you. Oh, and does the 'Lightning' part of your new Ranger name mean you really have electric powers?"

"Uh, yeah, just like you!" Ash said with a nod. "Except mine is red instead of yellow."

"Cool! Now I can shock you all you want when you're being stupid and I don't have to worry I'll accidentally put on too much juice and electrocute you!" Pikachu said cheerfully.

"…Joy…" Ash said deadpan.

"Well, I guess that means I won't have to be electrocuted as much, even by accident, when you're trying to stop an argument then," Misty said brightly. "Since I'm a Water type and more vulnerable to electricity now."

Ash blinked. "You didn't seem so vulnerable when we were-"

"Shh!" She covered his mouth. "Do you want to blurt it out in front of your mother!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"Blurt what out?" Delia asked in confusion.

"Oh, nothing much, just that Ashy boy here isn't a virgin anymore," Crawdaunt said casually.

All gasped. "WHAAAT!" Delia screamed. She fainted.

"Ahh! Mom!" Ash quickly knelt down beside her.

Misty sweatdropped. "I was hoping she'd take it better than that…"

"Well, it's about time!" said Charizard, whacking Ash on the back and almost knocking him over. "Congratulations! And you only had to die and get a species change before you got around to it, too!"

"Yeah, now the only guy in our core family group who's still a virgin is Oliphan," Pikachu said, glancing at the elephant.

Oliphan's trunk drooped. "Sorry," he said apologetically. "I haven't met anyone yet…"

"You will sooner or later," Togetic assured him.

"This calls for a celebration! Once we're certain the world is truly safe," Politoed said, clapping his hands. "I'll have to think of a wedding cheer…my most ambitious project yet!"

"Crawdaunt, how did you know Ash and Misty had done it?" Corsola asked the lobster.

He glanced at her. "Come on, do you really think that I, of all people, wouldn't be able to tell?"

"…Good point."

After making sure his mother was okay (although she didn't seem to want to wake up just yet) Ash got back to his feet. "Well, my love life aside…um, what happened while we were gone? We killed Richie and, um…you know…but what happened to you guys? Did you find out for sure if Latias is dead or not? Where are May and her team?"

"And where's Draganium, for that matter?" Misty asked, suddenly noticing the Plant Dragon wasn't there.

The Pokemon shared an uneasy look. "Um…well…about that…" Charizard said slowly.

From the downcast look on their faces, Ash and Misty suddenly realized whatever they were about to hear was bad news. Pikachu took off his hat. "This…is going to be hard to explain, but…May, her team, and Draganium, are all dead." Ash and Misty gasped. "And as for Latias…"

Leaning against the trailer nearby, Brock burst into tears which eroded his cheeks as he heard that Ash had finally had sex with Misty. "Waaahhh! It's not fair! I still haven't gotten any!"

"What about Professor Ivy?" Onix pointed out.

Brock shuddered and curled into a ball. "That name…"

"I'm not sure she really counts," Geodude said quickly. "Seeing as she wasn't…er…really a woman, so to speak."

"And it's thought by some that a person will always be a virgin, no matter how many times they've mated, until they've done it with the one they truly love. So in that respect, Brock could still be considered a virgin," Forretress mused.

"Oh well," Brock said, uncurling. "At least you guys can still join me in the Virgin's Club, right?" There was a long pause. His three Pokemon looked uncomfortable. "Right?" Brock asked, a little desperate.

Geodude rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, actually…no. We lost ours soon after forming the band."

"My first was with a horde of lovestruck groupies," said Onix dreamily. "What a wonderful night that was…"

"My first time was with Mudkip. She and Lombre were experimenting to see if a threesome was any fun," Geodude explained. "Turns out I was a little too hard for them, so they decided to just stick with each other…but I had a lot of fun."

"Mine was with Jigglypuff," Forretress said.

"Jigglypuff!" Brock said in disbelief.

"Both of them, actually," the barnacle explained.

"Oh yeah, I've done them too," Geodude said. "They're surprisingly naughty for creampuffs."

"Mmhmm, especially when they team up on you instead of taking turns," Onix said, recalling that rather sensual night fondly.

Brock blinked. "Do you think she'd be interested in me?" he asked. Yes, the Mother had removed his libido, but he was still a guy.

"No," Jigglypuff said airily as she passed by. "I don't _do_ hired help."

Brock blinked. "But-but what about them!" he asked, indicating the roadies, who were checking the truck and equipment for lasting damage from Brock's crash in the chase against Miror B.

"What about them?"

"I heard them boasting earlier about how many times they've slept with you! If you'd sleep with them, why not with me?" Brock asked.

Jigglypuff blinked in surprise…and laughed. "Oh, _them_? Don't be silly, they're not hired help, they have _contracts_. You don't. You were just given to us as a gift from the Mother."

"Oh," Brock said, downcast.

"You can ask my co-singer if you like," Jigglypuff asked, looking for her younger protégé. "Hey! Would you be interested in sleeping with Brock?" she yelled when she saw the smaller Jigglypuff.

"No, not really!" she yelled back before walking away, too distraught over the death of her ex-trainer and former teammates to think of something like sex at the moment…perhaps later on, when she needed some pathetic form of comfort. Then again, Crawdaunt would probably be better at that than Brock, what with his experience…and slightly softer shell...and significantly larger sexual organ…

Jigglypuff shrugged. "Oh well. Guess that's that."

She walked away as Brock sighed. "Am I being punished for being horny? I couldn't help it! It's in my genes! Why do you think I have so many siblings? My dad's as big a player as I am!"

"Except he actually got laid," Onix pointed out.

"…Yeah."

Geodude patted Brock on the shoulder. Or at least where his arm grew out of his boulder body. "Don't worry, bro…you'll find someone someday."

"You really think so?"

"No," Geodude said honestly. "But a guy can hope, can't he?" Brock sighed despondently and said no more.

"Heh…poor Brock," said Scyther to Registeel and Rukario, overhearing the Golem's conversation. "Ah, that brings me back to the days when I was the most sought-out bug in the hive…but those days are over now, aren't they? sigh" He was struck by a thought. "Hey, I know Registeel's never gotten any because he can't, but what about you Rukario?"  
Registeel, who had at that moment been attempting to think of a remedy for Latias' most heartbreaking condition at the hands of Dark Latios, (the heartwarming reunion he had hoped for between the two royal dragons was not to be, and so he was wracking his extensive brains not just for the sake of saving the love of his two dear friends, but so that all of them might have a happy ending to look forward to) glanced at his apprentice, recalling one of their most entertaining adventures with amusement. Rukario also remembered that adventure well, and smiled in reminiscence. "Ah yes, I remember it fondly, just as you remember your glory days Scyther…it was a very long time ago, but I still recall it clearly. I was rather taken by a priestess in one of the shrines dotting Rayquaza's domain…but I was so self-conscious I could barely utter a word in her presence. I asked for help from my Master, and…well, that led to a surprisingly long and detailed process of research and experimentation to try and understand the nature of romance and the courting process…we went so far as to ask the King and Latias for their insight on this subject, for their relationship was legendary throughout the domain. We must have spent almost a year on that project, and I learned more about the courting and mating habits of other cultures and species than I had ever imagined…we even published our findings in an extensive and rather popular series of scientific journals which other learned individuals or lonely folk used as reference material for their own love lives. But nothing I learned felt good enough for me, for her!" He shrugged. "So, one day I finally managed to work up the courage to speak to her (with some prompting from my Master, to be fair). Over a long period of several months, we managed to grow acquainted, we courted, and…well, you know how this sort of tale goes."

"Yes," Registeel agreed. "The only rather odd thing was that I was observing their growing relationship all along…purely for research purposes, of course. As one incapable of a love life myself, I cannot help but be fascinated in the process, and endeavor to understand it as best I can. I suppose in that respect Deoxys and I are alike."

"The _only_ respect," Rukario said firmly.

"Uh-huh." Scyther blinked. "So, you watched them…"

"Yes."

"Ah. And you didn't…"

"Feel any sexual pleasure whatsoever, which is unsurprising since I don't have the hormones capable to feel 'horny,'" Registeel explained. "I experimented with it once, even attempted to fashion a sex organ for myself, and the results were…well, rather embarrassing."

"He attempted to court the Academy," Rukario said, rather amused. "He offered it chocolates, flowers, nests, metal shavings, feces, entrails from freshly killed prey, all sorts of things he had observed as typical courting gifts from our research project."

"It took over a month for me to realize that the problem wasn't that the Academy was rejecting me, it was that the building was an inanimate object," said an embarrassed Registeel. "So I…erm…animated it. With a spell. What a disastrous affair that was…"

Rukario nodded. "Yes, the building came to life and rampaged through half the city before we were able to stop it with the help of their Majesties…Registeel was given a royal ban preventing him from ever performing sexual experiments on himself ever again."

"And I never did," Registeel said with a nod. "Although it wasn't until later that I realized that the living Academy's seemingly random acts of destruction formed a pattern that, when examined from overhead, resembled a mixture of several dances performed by females of many species of Rock and Steel Pokemon in heat to inform males that they were available. This only made sense, since much of the building's structure was formed from cast-offs of shells from Rock and Steel Pokemon, some of whom were surely female. The Academy was courting _me._" He chuckled, while Scyther looked disturbed. "I felt a bit of regret for the lost opportunity…but it did encourage me to do a study on how conscious inanimate objects really were. This was a point of interest since I was once inanimate myself, and have memories of that time. My findings were inconclusive, however…oh well."

"…Right," Scyther said slowly. "Well, now that the love story of you and your precious building is done…Rukario, you were telling us about your romance?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes," said the vulpine. His face turned downcast. "Sadly, our happiness was not to last. Soon after we made plans to become mates for life, the fiend Missingno initiated his plots to disrupt the harmony between the three great nations and reopened great rifts between human and Pokemon and members of both groups which to this day have still not fully healed…the dastard was sealed away, but that did not stop the growing conflict. To avoid a war, my Master and his siblings put the three great leaders to sleep, and did the same to themselves, hoping to awaken when the planet was at peace once again. I chose to sleep with my Master, but my mate…she had family in Sevii. She did not want to leave them alone in the climate of strife no matter how unnaturally peaceful the archipelago was. She left to be with them, instead of staying with me…had she stayed, she would be with us now this day, to share in our triumph. Although said triumph may be premature, since we do not yet know of the outcome of the Mother's battle with Deoxys, but…" He shrugged helplessly, a great sadness in his eyes. "I do not know what has become of her. I hope she made it to her family. I hope…but it was so long ago. Even our friends in Sevii are not sure what became of her and her kin. I could ask the Mother, but…" He glanced away. "Is it better to learn a painful truth or continue to live a possible lie of hope? My understanding of the Mother's teachings would say the former, and yet…I deathly fear the answer to my query, whatever it may be. I'm not even sure the answer really matters."

"…" Scyther looked away, having no idea what to say to comfort his friend. _Geez,_ he thought to himself. _And I thought I had problems just because I was old and nearing the end of my life? Damn, I was a selfish bastard…which is why I'm glad that I've been given the chance to understand what it truly means to live_.

A few yards away from the reunited Chosen…

Latias blinked, looking into the yellow eyes of the dragon who had freed her from the ice block. She was somewhat disappointed by that, she had ceased to exist in her sleep, something that felt far better than her current numbness. Oh well, at least her limbs hurt as her body cured itself of the frostbite she had received. "My brother is gone," she said without emotion, having learned from Rayquaza that Dark Latios was now imprisoned in one of Registeel's Giga Seals. "What am I to do now? Who will take care of me?"

Rayquaza hesitated. "I will," he told her honestly (as if he could do anything else). "I will take care of you. I will keep you from harm. I will…" He choked. "I will make you the way you were. The way you should be. I will repair the damage your brother has done to you, somehow. I have promised, and I cannot break my promises."

Latias stared at him for a long, long time. "Okay."

Rayquaza could not help but wonder, did she agree because she was beginning to remember what it felt like to love? Was it out of her memories of their life together? Or, more likely, had she agreed because she had no will of her own and so she could not help but be subservient to whoever controlled her at the moment? He wished this was not so, but feared…no, _knew_…that this was the truth.

Sometimes, there were many, many disadvantages to being able to speak and recognize only the truth…

The ground shook abruptly. More buildings toppled, and more sections of the island split off and either stood alone or sank as the underwater supports crumbled some more. The ocean churned and boiled, the tide rising chaotically and flooding lower portions of the city while others became swamped and got pulled down by the undertow, reducing Ever Grande's declining mass even further. "Oh great, what now!" Misty cried.

Registeel gasped. "The Moon has left its orbit and is getting too close to the planet! Their gravity fields are clashing, resulting in increased seismic activity which will only worsen the closer the Moon gets to Earth! Deoxys must be behind this!" Everyone stared at him. "What?"

"You can tell the Moon's falling just from a few earthquakes!" Scyther said in disbelief.

"Of course I can. I was around when the Moon formed in the first place, so long ago none of you can comprehend it. And before that, I was liquid iron ore drifting through space, formed by condensed stellar matter as stars began to birth and the universe slowly matured. I was one of many bits of matter drawn together by gravity to form the Earth, and I remember well when another lump of stellar matter crashed into the young planet and formed the Moon…oh, what tumultuous times those were! And all the developments since those days will be ruined, if the Moon crashes into the Earth, this old world will shatter apart in the worst extinction-class event in its long, long history!" Max cackled ghoulishly at this. Sadic knocked him out and attempted to eat him, but Delia (who had recovered) shooed her away. Sadic contemplated eating Delia for a moment, realized Pikachu wouldn't be happy if she did, and decided to leave her alone. For now.

"Well…the Mother'll take care of it, right?" Togetic said uneasily.

"Si, the Madre will stop the Moon!" El Gato agreed.

"I am not so certain," warned Registeel. "From the tremors, the Moon is already far too close for comfort…if she could have stopped it, she would have done so long before now!"

"Then…then this is it!" cried a distraught Rosa. "After all we have fought, all we have suffered…it's over!"

Tyranitar sagged. "Was my fight for nothing?"

"Um…Mister Registeel, I have an idea…" Oliphan said hesitantly. "Uh…on TV and stuff, now's about the time when we give all our energy and belief and stuff to the hero, and…our cheering gives them the power to triumph or something. Could we do something like that?"

"Oh great…another idea from the peanut gallery," Crawdaunt grumbled.

To the lobster's surprise, Registeel thought a moment, actually taking the idea seriously. "That…might actually work. Yes…by combining our powers, we were able to contain Dark Latios, so theoretically if we did the same again…and transmitted that power to the Mother…since the new abilities you have all been granted came from her, returning or at least lending them back to her should give her the power boost she needs to stop the Moon and defeat Deoxys! But…she already drew upon our faith and hopes consciously not too long ago, but she's too far away now for us to initiate contact on our own and psychically 'will' our powers to her. There must be some way we could transmit it across the great distance somehow…"

"Oh! Oh! I got it!" Jigglypuff cried, getting everyone's attention. She held up her microphone. "The Mother made her new body using our robot! Our instruments, even before she enhanced them with her powers, were all linked to the robot by wireless so we could summon it whenever we needed it to pick us up. We could also use that connection to beam lyrics and music recordings we came up with out in the field back to the Exploudrematic's computers so we could synthesize or remix songs as we wished. Even though the Gigabot's innards and circuitry have probably all been fused together, we still have some kind of link to it, no doubt thanks to the Mother's magic! That means we can still transmit songs and sound up to her, which means…"

"Which means we can use it to transmit other signals as well, such as the power she needs!" Registeel concluded. "Most brilliant!"

"How fortuitous that the Mother would have left such a connection in place," Rukario mused. "Did she perhaps anticipate she would need us to assist her in this way?"

"Who can say? The Mother's mind works on levels higher than our own, levels beyond our comprehension. It is more than possible that she foresaw such a need as this. And if that is the case, we must utilize it to its full potential!"

They set to work under the Iron Pokemon's directions quickly, knowing they didn't have much time. The Chosen teamed up and ransacked what was left of the city to gather the ingredients Registeel and the Pokerockers needed to construct a spellform capable of modulating and amplifying the musician's link to the parts of their mecha that made up the Mother so that they could beam a magical song, soaked in the energies the Mother herself had given the Chosen, to the goddess, raising her power and enabling her to stop the Moon and defeat Deoxys once and for all.

In only fifteen minutes, it was done. The Pokerockers had done their fastest preparations for a concert ever and were now standing by in their trailer, which Registeel and Rukario, with help from some of the more patient and careful Chosen, had drawn a complex spell diagram around, pouring liquid metal into the intricate lines and patterns. Special ingredients, mostly various herbs and chemicals whose names the Chosen could barely pronounce let alone understand, had been added to the metal before it cooled and hardened, causing it to sparkle eerily. The instruments of the Pokerockers began to glow in response, and Registeel assured them that they were supposed to be doing that, and the musicians were in no danger of dying from radiation poisoning. Soon enough, all preparations for the spell were complete, the ground was shaking harder than ever, and another significant portion of the city had collapsed. They didn't have much time left, so it was all or nothing, their very last shot.

Or was it?

"I've mentioned how contrived and overdone this is, right?" Crawdaunt grumbled.

"Don't knock it if it works," Corsola said, exasperated.

"It's not as if we have much of a choice but to do this," Milotic said. "It's that, or the world ends. It seems like a simple choice to me."

Crawdaunt nodded reluctantly. "I suppose so…I guess we're doing this, then. Let's go."

They gathered around the spell-seal as the Pokerockers finished their preparations. The roadies and Brock joined them as well, somewhat wary to be in the middle of the spell when it activated, despite Registeel's assurances. "How are we going to do this, Registeel?" Rayquaza asked his old friend.

"We must concentrate, all of us," Registeel explained. "On something special to us. A memory of a loved one. An especially joyous moment. Feelings of love and friendship. The ties which bind us all…for make no mistake, we _are_ all tied together. Not just because the Mother chose us, but because all of us, all of us are alive. We live because of her, because ages ago she came to our world, a world whose inhabitants had carelessly destroyed themselves in their pointless wars and rendered the planet lifeless and dead. She changed that, she brought back life and hope to this Earth, gave it a chance for a new future instead of letting its long story end there. And now, we must do the same…so that _our_ story does not end here.

"Through the Mother, all of us are connected," Registeel continued. "And through that connection, we shall save her…and our world. Focus on those connections, on the memories that bind us together. Remember that we are not one, that none of us are alone as long as we have each other. For we are legion. We are one, and we are many. We are…Chosen. And this is what we have been chosen to do." He held Rukario's hand, and then took Scyther's blade. "Let us all join hands, or claws, or appendages, and concentrate, just concentrate, on what each of us wants to live for. What each of us is willing to die for. Our memories, our dreams, our hopes…we will need all of them now, if we are to survive."

And so they heeded his commands and joined hands. And the Pokerockers began to play what might very well be their final performance.

Taking the stage, Jigglypuff Jr. began to sing, because her elder thought this song a little too 'sappy' for her liking, but was more than willing to let her protégé take the lead in her stead:

"There comes a time

When you face the toughest of fights

Searching for a sign

Lost in the darkest of nights,"

The circle began to glow. Holding appendages in a ring around the spell-seal, the Chosen did as well, their eyes closed as they did as Registeel bade them and focused on their happiest memories, on their hopes and wishes for the future, a future without Deoxys where they could begin a new world and repair the mistakes of the old. Gonzap thought of how…_happy_ he felt, not only when he got his best friend Skarmory back, but when Wes had accepted his help, showing in his own way how much he really did care for the bald man. Gonzap's Pokemon thought of their trainer, of their long journey together, and how without each other's closeness they would be lost. Skarmory thought of his trainer as well, but in a more intimate way, for the two of them were truly the closest of friends in their own strange way, a way that neither of them could express…and neither needed to, either. Aerodactyl recalled the sheer joy he had felt at being alive when he had been hatched in the cloning lab, and how good his first ice cream cone had tasted, how nice it had been to have friends in the form of Wes and Rui, and even Ho-Oh, and how he would fight to defend this new world he had been born into for their sakes and his own. Enzo remembered his (well, half of his) times with Duking, and how being with Wes had been just as great, especially when he had met his other half (at the time) Minun…and now, neither of them would ever be parted again. They were one, forever, and nothing, not even evil magnets, was going to separate them from their trainer, or from each other. Loreon remembered all the many adventures and roads he had traveled with his trainer, the boy who had raised him and was his best friend…and he remembered all the times when he had, as two Pokemon, fought with himself, frustrated with his other half, like any brother would…and now the two were one, and the strife had ceased, in a feeling of completion Loreon had never known before. The brothers were together now, and would stay together, with Wes as well as each other.

Zoro and his team recalled their many adventures as well, their fights for justice, their fights for each other, and how good it had felt at the end of the day to see the smiling faces of the people they had liberated from tyranny…that had been the only reward they had needed on their quest. And now they were going to complete their greatest adventure ever…what a story that would be! What passion and romance would be expressed in the songs describing this moment of triumph! Their teamwork and exploits would be the stuff of legends and the inspirations for future generations down the ages! It would be just as sweet, if not sweeter, than Rosa and El Gato's joining, something that had taken far, far too long to occur.

Tyranitar thought of his mother, his dear memories of her holding him and caring for him, his rage at her death, and his sense of fulfillment at bringing her murderer to justice. He thought as well of Ash, who had cared for him briefly in his mother's absence, perhaps the only 'father' he had ever known…and knew now that even though his mother was dead, she would always live on in his memories, and he still had a family to go to, a place to belong, with the Ketchums.

"The wind blows so cold

Standing alone

Before the battle's begun

But deep in your soul

The future unfolds

As bright as the rays of the sun,"

The roadies thought about how great it was to be part of one of the best rock bands (in their opinion) in the world, and how very very good it felt to get in bed with either of the Jigglypuffs, especially as a big group. Brock, trying to sort through his confused feelings, finally focused on what was really important: his long journeys beside his friends, his battles, his trials, and his family, for he realized now that his Pokemon, the band members, his old friends and traveling companions and even the other Chosen were in their own way his family. That was what was really important. Next to that, all the pretty girls in the world didn't matter. Maybe the Mother really had done him a favor, after all.

Zaptres thought of the many, many battles and countless squabbles it had gotten into as Zapdos and Moltres. It lamented that it had never made peace between its composite halves, or with Articuno, now lost forever. But even though the bird would never be truly complete, it was glad about one thing: that in its own, weird way, the conflict between the elemental birds had finally ceased.

Umbreon remembered fondly her many days back at Oak's lab with Misdreavus, her beloved (oh, and Gary she supposed.). She missed the ghost dearly, that was true…but now Misdreavus was free, and someday they would be together again. Similarly, she hoped that General Shedinja would find the Misdreavus he was looking for as well. Perhaps, someday, both couples would meet each other on the other side, look at each other, and smile…for they were together, and happy, and that was all that mattered. Charizard and Charla thought of each other, of the many obstacles and trials they had been made to overcome to become the strong individuals they were now, in body, soul, and wings. They also thought of the new life growing in the female dragon's belly, and of how they wanted to create a world in which it would be safe, a world where it could grow up free. A world without Deoxys!

"You've got to believe

In the power of love

You've got to believe

In the power of love

The power of love,"

Gyarados thought of how satisfied he was in serving as strong a trainer as Misty Waterflower, all the sights he had seen because of her. Politoed thought of all the places he had been to thanks to Misty, and all the cheers he had written since. Corsola thought of how she had been able to explore the world of land outside the ocean thanks to her trainer, and find her own form of happiness with Crawdaunt…vexing though he was, she loved him dearly, and that was all that mattered. Togetic, as well, thought of her mother and father, her brother, her many cousins and siblings, most of them gone now…and she smiled still, because she knew that no matter what, no matter how many of her friends and relatives died, she would always have a family. The _Chosen_ were her family, now.

Crawdaunt thought of the many, many, many, _many_ women he had serviced over the years fondly, and hoped he could continue to do so in the future. If the world were to end, there would be no more pink beauties to grace the Earth…and that was a tragedy he could not allow to occur. Oliphan thought of his family, his father and mother, just as Togetic had, and came to the same conclusion she had…however, that was not all he thought about. He also mulled over how much he had learned and matured in spite of all the naïve ideals which had been shattered…and decided that in the end, it was worth it in its own way, for he had grown stronger because of it, and was a better elephant now than he had been before.

Wobbuffet thought of his sister, lost to Deoxys, of the suffering he had experienced throughout his life, not just on Mirage Island but with Miss Jessie, and concluded that, despite it all, despite losing his sister, in its own way it was worth it all just to meet Milotic, just to make her smile. They were not alone in the world now, they had never been really, and he was glad he realized this at last. Milotic thought of Wobbuffet, of her deep love for him, and felt nothing but gratitude, for he had saved her not once but twice: once by showing her that even as a Feebas she had possessed true beauty, and twice by freeing her from Deoxys' clutches. She mourned the loss of his sister with him, as well as Chimecho's obliteration, but knew that as long as she and Wobbuffet were together, there was still hope. Somehow, there was hope.

Cacturne reflected on how the majority of her life had been a waste. She had been alone, then stupidly served James, then was betrayed by him and sent away to become a Shadow Pokemon. (In spite of his betrayal, she still felt somewhat saddened about his fate, according to Meowth. She hoped that something could be done for him.) The only point at which her life began to have meaning was when Wobbuffet helped to open her heart on Mirage Island, and she swore to herself that she would do whatever it took to aid him in his endeavors. She loved the blue blob, she knew it, and also knew nothing would come of it, his heart belonged to another. But that was fine. She did not pine for him or lament or angst as May had, she took joy just in being near him, in being his friend. And for now, that would suffice.

And as for Sadic and Pikachu…the predator, ignoring her hunger, considered what a strange journey this had been, what weird twists and turns her life had taken. She had seen things she had never conceived of, been opened in her own way to new ways of thought, and had found the one to sire the children growing in her belly. It had been a good life, up to this point. She looked forward to seeing what it had to throw at her next. Pikachu was also thinking about his life, his years beside Ash, and all the adventures and transformations they had both gone through during those years. He liked the person he had become now better than the person he once was. He wanted more years with Ash, even though his limited lifespan was always growing closer and closer to its end, he wanted to be there for the end of Ash's journey, whatever it might be. He hoped that he would be there for Sadic and their children as well, for they mattered to him a great deal now. Together, with Ash, with Misty, with Oliphan, with Togetic, with everyone…they were a family. Many had been lost. Many might yet be regained. He would just have to wait and see what the future had in store for them.

Ash, opening his eyes, looked at Misty. Misty, opening her eyes, looked at Ash. They smiled. And that was all they needed. No reflections, no thinking, no pondering or wondering about what came before or what had not yet come. They had each other. And that was all that mattered. Beside them, Delia smiled, and knew she had done well, and hoped to do well in the future for her new charge, her Max. He was the one who needed her now, more than Ash ever had.

"Blazing emotion

There's a light that flows from the heart

It's a chain reaction

And nothing will keep us apart"

Max stood outside the circle, unwilling to be a part of it, watching in disgust as the spell grew brighter and brighter and the Pokerockers continued to play their song. He wanted none of it, none of their happiness and love. What good was it, when so many had died pointlessly, with none of those virtues doing a thing to save them? How could they be so happy, when so many of their own friends had died? How did despair fail to contaminate their so-called perfect unity? He wanted none of it. Worming himself beneath the roots of a large tree, he turned away, his hatred growing bitterer and bitterer the more the spell and the Chosen brightened.

Latias also stood outside the circle. She could not contribute, because while she had memories of 'happines', they evoked no emotion from her, and so would be useless to the gathering. Rayquaza stood in her stead, filling the spell with his memories of their past life, of their old love, of his feelings for her and his hopes for a bright future with her by his side. He sent those thoughts into her through their bond, filling her empty shell with them…and doing nothing whatsoever. She observed his thoughts with vague disinterest, for they meant nothing to her, and so she ignored and discarded them. How were these feelings of love supposed to open her heart, when that heart had been destroyed?

Rukario, on the other hand had been thinking of his years of service to Registeel, as well as his far-too-brief time with his first love, when he suddenly felt his Master's familiar three-fingered metal hand change into Scyther's blade edge. Surprised, he opened his eyes, and found Registeel placing Rukario's hand on Scyther's blade so as not to break the Chosen's circle, for he was no longer joined to it. "M-Master! What are you doing?"

Registeel glanced at him. "The energy we're gathering is strong, but it's not enough. We need just a little bit more…and I will provide it. I was exposed to the Mother's radiation for countless years before my siblings and I came to life. That energy has sustained me, and will sustain me indefinitely, unless I were to release it. And release it is what I must do, to give this spell-song the power to save the Mother."

"But-but Master!" Rukario cried over the music. "If you were to do that, you…you would cease to exist!"

"I would indeed," Registeel agreed. "But I swore long ago to serve the Mother always. And I intend to do that, even if it means giving up my own life. You know this, Rukario. You know it is what I must do!"

"I…but…" Rukario protested. "…I know you must, but…Master…I will miss you dearly. I still have so much to learn from you…"

Registeel laughed, surprising his apprentice. "Rukario, if anything _you've_ taught me. I have learned more about the nature of love and the heart with you than any other time in my long, long life. Yes, the Trio taught me much, shaped my beliefs, laid out the foundation for my cause and my support for the unity of the world…but while I understood what they told me, it was not until you came along, until I actually had a charge of my own, the closest thing I could ever have to a son, that I truly _experienced_ all that they had shown and taught me…and I think that is what they intended all along. Perhaps that, more than anything else, is what kept me from becoming corrupted by my own faith like Regirock and Regice were, because I knew _you_, Rukario. My love for the people of the Earth, which the Mother had instilled in me long ago, became more solid, more _real_, because I had the benefit of caring for you, my apprentice. I was able to understand and sympathize with the people more than ever before, something my siblings lost sight of. It was all because of you, Rukario."

Rukario was speechless. "M-Master-"

"You have nothing more to learn from me, Rukario, because you see…I have nothing left to teach you. I have given you all the knowledge and wisdom I have gathered in my eons of life. And with me out of the way…perhaps the apprentice will surpass the master at last, as tradition states. You will do well. I know this…my son."

Rukario blinked, a tear running down his sleek metal cheek. "Master…"

Registeel shifted Rukario's other arm, which was grasped in Rayquaza's claw, so that the dragon held the vulpine's wrist instead of his hand, and in that hand the ancient sage pressed two objects: a gold and silver Pokeball, and a folded sheet metal spell tag. "These are my final gifts to you, my son. If we succeed and the Mother slays Deoxys, use the final Giga Seal to capture his soul. If this spell fails and we cannot stop the Moon…or worse, if Deoxys manages to defeat the Mother…activate the spell I have just given you. It is the master trigger for our contingency plan, to be used only as a last resort. Your blood will give it life. Use it when all hope is lost." Registeel put a hand on Rukario's shoulder. "There is one other thing. Tell Rayquaza that the solution to Latias' condition lies on Birth Island, where life and death meet and become one. Anubis can show him the way. Do you understand?" Choked with emotion, it was all Rukario could do to nod in response. "Good. In that case…farewell, Rukario. It has been my honor to know you." His hand lingering for a moment, Registeel turned away, entering the spell-circle. Its light grew exponentially as he stepped into it. Registeel turned back to face Rukario one last time.

Rukario blinked back tears, knowing this was his last chance. "Mast…no…father. _Father_. I…it…it has been wonderful to know you. Thank you for letting me be part of your life."

"And thank you," said Registeel with a nod. "For letting me be a part of yours."

And then he exploded, consumed in a blast of light which caused the entire seal to grow to a blinding radiance, causing Rukario to gasp and squeeze his eyes shut as the most important person in his life disappeared, his power flowing up into the sky, taking the Pokerockers song with it.

And that's not all it took. Rukario's body, no, _everyone_ in the circle's body glowed, and energy shot out of their chests, the same energy the Mother had infused them with when she had empowered them all. They freely gave that energy back, and quite a bit extra, sending it to her in a spiraling column of light and sound as the music continued to play.

"Stand by my side

There's nothing to hide

Together we'll fight to the end

Take hold of my hand

And you'll understand

What it truly means to be friends"

The beam arced around the curve of the world and into space, where it slammed right into the Mother's back where her wings met, causing her to gasp in surprise as incredible power flowed through her metal form, reenergizing her yet again. She recognized this power, its taste was clear; the Chosen had come through for her yet again…and her loyal friend Registeel had made one last sacrifice to give her the strength to prevail. A glistening tear rolled down her cheek in acknowledgement of her oldest friend's passing…or was passing the right word? He was with her now, his spirit part of hers, just as much as Absol's and the souls making up her sword Spirit. All of them were with her, all of them lending her their power.

And with that power, and their faith in her…there was _nothing_ she could not do!

She dug her fingers into the surface of the Moon, clutching at the threads of time and space, twisting and pulling on them to manipulate the fabric of the universe itself…and in doing so, caused the Moon and herself to disappear in a flash of light, leaving Deoxys alone and somewhat bewildered in orbit above the Earth, wondering what the heck had just happened.

The Mother and the Moon flew back, back, _far_ back through time, back to when the Universe was still relatively young, back to when the solar system was still a mishmash of stellar materials pulling itself into the form of planets from the surrounding cosmic soup while orbiting a developing Sun. It was to this era the Mother and the Moon reemerged, some distance away from the molten sphere which was the infant Earth. Using the momentum from her time warp, the Mother twisted about and _hurled_ the Moon at the Earth with just the right velocity so that the two planetoids would collide violently, the Moon fragmenting into millions of pieces which would orbit the Earth for a while before mixing with chunks of the infant planet blown off by the collision to create a new Moon, while the larger object would manage to pull itself back together by capturing more material with its gravity field, and over a process of millions of years would eventually grow into the little blue planet we know and love as Earth.

Her task done in that era, the Mother then proceeded to fly _forward_ through history, the millennia whizzing by her in milliseconds, until she reached an era in the distant future of the solar system…not distant enough to be back in the present, still nearly seventy million years off her final destination, but right where she needed to be! There, she emerged in real time for only a moment, just in time for her flight path to intersect with that of a particularly large meteor about to crash into the Earth, and immediately leaped forward to the future again, her chronal field ensnaring the meteor and dragging it forward through history with her. In the process, she saved the planet from suffering an extinction-class event which would have wiped out the dinosaurs and created a branching timeline in which said dinosaurs would one day evolve into a sentient species which would one day spread peace throughout the galaxy until Deoxys (or one of his other selves) arrived one day to wipe them out. But that future was not the future the Mother was returning to, and it was to the timeline of our own beleaguered human and Pokemon-infested Earth she returned to, her space rock cargo in tow.

In the present, some seventy or so million years off, a somewhat perplexed Deoxys decided that, since the Mother had abruptly left without warning and took the Moon with her, perhaps he should consider just nuking the Earth instead, since the nearest giant object to crash into it was Mars and he didn't really feel like moving a whole planet to destroy another when he could so easily just blow it up himself.

Just as he was about to do so, however, the Mother reappeared right before him, back from her voyage into the past, and telekinetically slam-dunked the meteor she had brought back as a souvenir into Deoxys' face, hitting him with a collective momentum built up from sixty-five million and quite a few hundred thousand years.

In layman's terms, she gave him one heck of a whammy.

Deoxys could only cry out as he tumbled back through space, stunned by the rather powerful explosion caused by the space rock's collision with his battle body. And he was finding it hard to focus enough to retaliate with that rather annoying love song ringing throughout his form!

"You've got to believe (you've got to believe)

In the power of love

You've got to believe (you've got to believe)

In the power of love

It gives meaning to each moment

It's what our hearts are all made of

You've got to believe (you've got to believe)

In the power of love (the power of love)

The power of love"

The Mother took her twin blades Guardian and Spirit and fused them together with her newfound power, creating a giant gray sword almost as tall as she was, wielded in both hands. Time rippling around her once more, she charged for Deoxys before he could recover, her wings spread, drew her sword back and…

STRUCK!

To the average observer, it would seem as if every single star in space had flashed blindingly for a moment on impact from that single blow, followed up by Deoxys' terrific defeat. However, to an _un_average observer, one who could perceive beyond the simple forward-moving line of time (or seeming-to-move-forward line of time) they would have seen that precisely one millisecond after the Mother's sword struck into Deoxys' flesh, she rewound time by a mere heartbeat, pulling back her sword and allowing her to drive it into her foe again and again! Since she was only repeating the same exact single motion multiple times, this may not seem like much to you dear reader, because to you it would still seem like a single strike…but Deoxys, who had by some unknown means managed to immunize himself to the Mother's time-warping, had left him vulnerable to not just one, but _all_ of her repeating strikes, meaning that each time she reset time to make the same single strike…Deoxys felt every strike consecutively, as one blow grew into one hundred, and then one million, and then one _trillion_, and beyond! And not only that, but the temporal energies generated by each reversal of time gathered around the sword so that it grew stronger with each consecutive strike, giving it literally infinite power and engulfing Deoxys in a never-ending quantum explosion! This was the greatest of all sword skills, the fabled 'Infinity Slash' technique only capable of being used by the most expert swordsman and manipulators of time…and the Mother was far beyond even those warriors, for she did not only manipulate time, she _controlled_ it! It was hers to play with and mold as she chose, and in this instance she chose only to use it to strike down her eternal foe one last time in this, their ultimate (albeit not the most cosmic-powered, there had been times when both of them had been more powerful still than this, but that didn't make this last battle any less final) showdown.

And SO…SHE…DID!

"You've got to believe (you've got to believe)

In the power of love"

And just like that…it ended. With a final strike, the last in the endless chain (how paradoxical!), the crystal orb in Deoxys' chest cavity shattered, releasing a tremendous wave of power and light and causing his lower body to vaporize in a squeal of pain and terror while Deoxys howled in fury and resignation, seeing that he had lost.

"You've got to believe (you've got to believe)

In the power of love"

Quantum waves rippled throughout reality and the space-time continuum, simultaneously birthing, destroying, and remaking a billion billion universes at once. His battle body crumbling, Deoxys began to fall, back to Earth, back to the planet he had sought to destroy. The Mother watched as he fell, wings folded behind her, sword slung over her shoulder, a look of triumph on her face.

The effects of Deoxys' defeat could be felt worldwide instantly. The quakes and tidal surges caused by the Moon's approach ceased as abruptly as they had began. Deoxys' viral horde faltered all over the world, their power waning and giving the defenders of Earth the courage to redouble their efforts against the invaders and begin to finish them off, the battle seemingly won. The building storm broke, allowing the sun and the stars to shine over the battered Earth once again.

"It gives meaning to each moment

It's what our hearts are all made of (just look inside)"

Releasing her sword, allowing it to float by her side, the Mother flew down after Deoxys's disintegrating form as he plummeted into the atmosphere, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake, one which could be seen all the way from the surface below and the other side of the world. Her fight was not over just yet. One more trial remained before this day could truly end.

"You've got to believe (you've got to believe)

In the power of love

In the power of love

In the power of love"

…

The Mother had slowed and guided his descent. She didn't want to run the risk of him breaking up in reentry and scattering his parts around the world to infect some hapless passerby and start this whole mess anew. He had struggled, as was his nature, but he had by that point been too weakened to do anything but fall as she directed.

He splashed down in one of the large inland seas formed by Ever Grande's single island breaking apart into smaller ones many due to all the many tremors and explosions which split its foundations apart. The wave from his impact rocked the remaining small islands and toppled a few more crumbling buildings, but what was left of the city seemed to have stabilized to the point where the land swayed instead of sinking.

Deoxys truly looked a mess. His upper body managed to stay afloat by bracing his two remaining arms in the shorelines of the two closest islands, despite their rather rapid deterioration. His skin seemed to be melting, causing the many eyes and mouths all over his body to run together, quieting their screams. The crystal wings on his back had shattered, his bony spines broken and disintegrating with every heartbeat. The two-headed serpent which bit into his arms was gone, much like his lower half, destroyed from the force of the Mother's Infinity Slash. Perhaps that was why two of his arms were gone, the serpent wasn't there to hold them together. His head hung low, as if it was too much of a strain to gather the strength needed to raise it and look his enemy in the face. It would have been hard for him to anyway, only one of his three eyes remained, the other two destroyed by hideous scarring which marred his slowly melting face. The large crystal in his chest was gone, revealing a much smaller jewel, his true core, the bigger one only a shell to protect the smaller one during battle. It gleamed weakly, its glow flickering and dull.

The waters around his melting form boiled and reeked as his body poisoned them. Not even Mama would be able to purify such a taint. If allowed to fully decompose into the water, the toxins could spread throughout the oceans and kill every remaining living thing. Fortunately, he wouldn't get the chance at even that last laugh, for the Mother had arrived, her metal form glowing magnificently in the light of the setting sun.

The Chosen had run and flown and hitched a ride without asking for permission on the Pokerockers truck, assembling as solemn witnesses to this event. The loss of the power they had sent to the Mother left them significantly weaker, but still noticeably different from other humans and Pokemon. Those who had evolved or changed into something else retained their altered forms, and all who had been given new power retained strength beyond that of the average Pokemon and human…but it was still only a shadow of what they had possessed to fight Deoxys' minions. Only Rayquaza and Rukario were as strong they were before the spell-song, the first because of his nature as King of Dragons and the Green Orb within him, the latter perhaps as a final blessing from his mentor, or from the goddess they both served.

There was no jeering, no taunts, no insults or cries of jubilation, just silence as they observed Deoxys' last moments, his nemesis and executioner approaching with a great gray sword and radiant wings. Max had been left behind, tossed through the gateway to keep him from disrupting anything, and Delia had gone with him, wishing them all luck before disappearing. By Rayquaza's side, Latias watched with the blank curiosity (and not even that) of a television camera, observing and recording what went on with no feelings or influence whatsoever on the events before her eyes.

"I…am defeated," Deoxys said quietly with what strength remained in him. He did not sound sullen, or shocked, or disappointed, or enraged, not even really defeated. It was as if he were simply stating a fact.

"Yes," the Mother said softly.

"You have won. In this final fight, when it really counted, where none of our previous battles truly mattered…you won, once and for all."

"Yes," she said. "I suppose I have."

Since he couldn't raise his head, it was all he could do to roll his single remaining eye up to look at her. "You have the power to end it all, don't you? This endless cycle. Yes, I know you wish to break free of it as much as I do, but you could end it right _now_ if you so desired. If you can manipulate time to deliver an infinite number of sword strikes in less than a second, and transport a Moon back in time and carry a meteor back with you, surely something as simple as shattering the bonds of time completely is well within your grasp!"

"That it is."

"Then why? Why do you allow this charade of existence to continue? Why do you let it go on, and in the process make me stronger? Why do you allow those tiny souls whose right to live you value so dearly suffer at my hand and their own? I do not and have not ever understood this. Is their right to think for themselves, their so-called free will, really so important to you?"

"It is."

"Even when by allowing them to choose on their own, so many, many, _many_ make the wrong choice and suffer and cause those around them to suffer, and then they have the gall to blame you or I for it when it was your wish that they be able to choose in the first place! Even when by allowing them to choose, they cause pain to all, and give birth to the negative emotions that feed me, and which is in turn absorbed by souls returning to life just so they can suffer more and more! When that choice gives me power and weakens you and traps _both_ of us in an endless cycle of pain with us in the center of it all!"

"Yes," said the Mother. "For while many choose wrongly, some choose correctly instead and find joy rather than pain. That joy spreads to others and gives _me_ strength. But that joy cannot exist if I force them to be happy and have peace, for then it is just another form of slavery, something you know all too well. It is only through choosing that people may be free of the sorrows which drag them, and you, and me, and everyone else back into the worse aspects of life. And through that freedom they find joy…and a way out of the cycle which binds us all. Does it take longer than your way? Of course it does. Is it less effective than simply shattering the cycle with a single thought? It is indeed. But that makes it no less viable an option, for it is because I love them so that I give them the chance to choose on their own, for it is the only way to grow. It is the only way for _them_ to break the cycle, instead of having us do it for them."

"…I see. You have spoken these words to me before, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"And they make no more sense now than they did then. I do not understand why you love them so. What is there about them to love? But then, perhaps it is just that I still do not truly understand love, despite countless experiments, despite countless observations and lifetimes. I am sure you are thinking of saying something like how love is not something that _can_ be understood, but I disagree. Both of us know that anything can become clear from the right perspective. Why then, have I continued to fail in this? Have I still not found the right perspective? Or have I found it…and simply rejected it, not perceiving its fullness?" He sighed. "I suppose it matters little. You know that as long as the souls you love so much continue to make the wrong choices, suffering and resentment of life will exist. And even if you remove me from the equation forever, that suffering and resentment will only fester and give birth to evil anew, and the cycle will begin again, as it always has. Unless…" He paused. "Unless you have your own plan in mind to deal with that…something that doesn't rely so heavily on the free will of souls while they suffer in the world of life. Something…like what I had in mind for you, perhaps?"

She said nothing. He chuckled weakly. "Just as I thought. In the end, no matter how different the methods, our goals are always the same. Neither of us will be satisfied simply with ending the cycle, for a new one might only spring up in its place. For it to truly end, one of us must be assimilated by the other. And despite all your preaching of free will, you are perfectly happy with doing that to me against _my_ will. Hahaha…you hypocrite."

She seemed unbothered by his insults. "It is as you say, Deoxys…we are much alike. And soon, we will be more alike than ever before." Taking that as a cue, Rukario readied the Giga Seal down below. "I cannot say it was a pleasure fighting you Deoxys, for it was not. I cannot say I completely pity you either, because I am not sure that I do. I suppose that all I can say, then, is that I hope we one day see eye to eye…through the _same_ eyes."

He laughed weakly, one of his rotting arms slipping and nearly dropping him into the sea, which would have dissolved him completely at this state of advanced atrophy. "That day…is not so far off, is it?" His remaining eye was long gone, dragged down his face by his melting features and sloughed off into the water below, where it bobbed on the surface along with the rest of the putrefying poison, staring blindly up into the air. "Hahahaha…perhaps then, in my own way, I have still won. Even if the memory of what I have done is erased, and the damage repaired, there will always be some vestige of my deeds somewhere. Perhaps that vestige will bring me back from inside you. Perhaps not. Perhaps it will inspire someone else, such as Dark Latios if he manages to escape from you, to continue to spread chaos and disorder, to try and bring time to a much swifter end and fulfill my legacy. And if that happens, the victory here will be meaningless, won't it?"

"No, Deoxys. Not meaningless," the Mother corrected. "You and I have both foreseen that this day was our last battle. No matter how many times we have fought in the past, no matter how many times we were supposed to fight in the future…it ends here and now. No matter what rises in your wake, it will not be half as terrible as you were. Your desire of reality-wide nullification and amalgamation of all souls into yourself will never come to fruition."

"And your own desire for the exact same thing will, I suppose?" he asked.

"As long as people believe in themselves and in love, and continue to work together to create a better future…that desire will always be a possibility."

"And as long as people continue to despair and damn themselves by trapping themselves in their own self-inflicted hells and cycles of pain and hatred," Deoxys countered. "So will mine."

"Perhaps it will," the Mother agreed. "But as long as there are rallying points to give the people strength and the courage to hope and work for the better tomorrow, to make a world without suffering or stagnation a reality…true heroes such as my Chosen…my desire comes that much closer to fulfillment than yours. Were it not so, why else would your manifestations so often seek to disrupt harmony and paradise when it is attained?"

"If it were truly paradise," Deoxys countered. "Then would it be destroyed as easily as it so often is? Just as life itself is? Were it true paradise and harmony, there would be nothing there for me to feed on, nothing for me to manifest from, nothing that I could corrupt or destroy. And yet there always, _always_, is. Even if the threat to that harmony comes from outside its perfect boundaries, if it were a true paradise then I would have no power at all there! And yet I always do!" He snorted. "What good will removing me or any outside interference from the equation do if the seeds for harmony's fall so often lie within?"

The Mother narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps those seeds of destruction _will_ always remain…but without a catalyst like you to wake them, they have a much greater chance of lying dormant forever!"

And with that, their debate was finished. Drawing back her great gray sword, the Mother gathered her power to her, causing the blade to glow. With a mighty chop, she brought the sword down, cleaving Deoxys' disintegrating upper body in two and striking the embodiment of evil's true heart directly.

There was the sound of something breaking…and a flash of light followed by a great gasp of pain, indicating that something great and powerful and older than time itself had finally met its end.

…

TO BE CONCLUDED…

…

Woo, that was exciting. And that's that. The end of the Battle of the Chosen.

Is it truly over? Has good triumphed over evil once and for all? Can Latias still be saved? Find out next time, on what may be the last chapter of Latias' Journey.


	61. The End

All right! Here we go! A surprise I bet NONE of you saw coming, and those who did…Pphhhhbbbbttttt! XP

Disclaimer: I own no characters other than the ones that don't belong to somebody else in Japan or here in America. DiamondLatias3000 and Alex Warlorn, thank you for helping me edit this chapter.

…

The Mother took shallow, gasping breaths in the wake of her agonized scream. She stared at the trident buried through her fourth eye and tearing out her back, as if surprised to see it there. "What…" she gasped. "What did you…what did you do?"

"Defeated you," Deoxys said smugly, well aware of the Chosen's looks of horror and silent disbelief. The trident which had pierced the Mother was held in a third arm, which had burst from his decomposing body right as the Mother had struck his crystal with her final blow. And that blow was soon revealed to be meaningless as the crystal in his chest faded away like a desert mirage to reveal the true object concealed in the cavity, a chrysalis of sorts containing the dead body of Mewtwo, a small shining crystal grafted into the corpse's chest, the tip of the Mother's sword just touching the surface of said crystal, her thrust prevented from penetrating any further by Deoxys' surprise attack. "As I thought you would, you played right into my hands." He grew back his fourth arm and lashed out at her face, clutching it as her eyes lit up and causing her laser vision to explode inside her head, causing her to gasp in pain again. "And now," he said, the decomposition of his body reversing and undoing the damage caused by the Mother's Infinity Slash attack. "Your vaunted powers, and the key to breaking the cycle, are mine."

And then the tiny crystal in his dead prisoner's body lit up, and the Mother began to scream. It echoed shrilly on both the psychic and physical planes, causing the Chosen to fall to the ground screaming, writhing in pain as their brains hemorrhaged from the extradimensional howl. Blood seeped from their ears, noses, and eyes as their heads were on the verge of exploding.

The Mother's body shook on Deoxys' trident, shafts of light breaking out from her skin as energy flowed from her, down the sword, and into the crystal in Mewtwo's chest, causing the dead body to twitch and convulse with stolen energy. "AAAAHHHH….DEOXYS…WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"

"I'm utilizing the gifts you yourself provided me with unwittingly, my old friend," Deoxys purred as his eyes shone. "When we clashed for the last time all those years ago, a good amount of your positive energy tainted my crystals. By extracting and crystallizing that same positive energy, I formed an object capable of _absorbing_ that same brand of power…your own! And with the body of Mewtwo, whose DNA is an imperfect derivative of your own; I have the ideal vessel to channel that energy into myself!"

"But…it is contrary to your very being!" the Mother protested, her entire body wracked with pain and radiating heat and energy, all of which were sucked through her gray sword and into the crystal made from her own power. "All that positive energy…could tear you apart!"

"Not once I reverse its polarity…something which I should be able to do easily, thanks to the weakening of the space-time continuum caused by the repeated time-warping of your Infinity Slash, along with the transdimensional nature of the ghost souls making up that blade of yours!" Deoxys informed her, well pleased by the shocked look on the Mother's face as she heard this.

"You…you had this all planned from the beginning, didn't you?" she asked weakly, her voice trembling. Her power was almost gone, and as a result the metal composing her body was aging and weakening significantly, flaking off as ugly red rust rapidly spread across her entire surface, the otherworldly beauty of her divine form all but destroyed. "You've been using me, using us, all along, just so I could attack you that way, just so I could truly hurt you or think I had, anyway, all so you could trick me into striking you and giving you the chance to take my power…and this is how you protected yourself from being affected by my other time-warps, isn't it?"

"It is indeed," Deoxys told her. "I learned much while I was traveling the universe, and even more when I peered through your 'son's' eyes and listened to the wisdom of the Unown. And just to correlate that data, I consulted with many of my other 'selves' to see whether what I learned was true, and how much of it the Unown had not told Mewtwo for fear that I might hear. And thanks to that knowledge, and the power you have given me, soon enough time and reality itself will cease to be. And then you, my old friend, will finally become one with me."

The Mother gasped, trying not to scream again for fear of killing the already weakened Chosen. "Uggghhh…you are not the only one to lay down intricate plans, Deoxys, and that may yet be your downfall! You have taken my power…but you may not claim my spirit! Not yet! If you desire me so badly, you must catch me YOURSELF!" The light emitted by her crumbling body increased exponentially, and the Mother self-destructed, her body exploding in a tremendous wash of power the likes of which had not been seen since the birthing of the universe itself…none of which did any damage to Deoxys, as the gray sword still imbedded in the alien's chest greedily absorbed the blast and channeled it all straight into the crystal fused to Mewtwo, causing the corpse's ghostly pale form to blacken considerably as it was burned by the intense blaze forming around the bauble, its light as great as a supernova trapped in a glass bottle.

As the light from the explosion was sucked into the Mother's gray sword, which promptly shattered into several million dazed and confused souls which orbited Deoxys' body drunkenly, a single sphere of swirling red, blue, green, gold, and white light shot away from the ruined city at the speed of thought, retreating to its familiar resting place on Birth Island before Deoxys could snatch it up. A distinct spiritual vacuum formed in her wake, as if something magnificent had just been cruelly ripped out of the world, leaving her Chosen feeling confused and somewhat abandoned as she left them. A deep depression set in among some, while the youngest started crying without knowing why.

Not particularly worried by her escape and confident that he would catch up to her in due time, Deoxys turned his attention to the spirits orbiting him, focusing on one spot in particular. Out of the mass of souls flew a shard of purple crystal, the one that Absol had claimed long ago, which sank into a seemingly random spot on the battle body's skin and vanished. "Ah, there we are. Almost done…" He gestured.

Rayquaza, who was one of the first to recover somewhat from the agony of the Mother's scream, roared in unbelievable pain and collapsed back to the ground, his serpentine form thrashing about and knocking over the weakened and bedraggled Chosen around him. Latias, giddy from the intense wave of crippling pain flowing through her thanks to her link to Rayquaza, actually giggled, or came close to it.

"What's happening to him!" Ash shouted over the deafening roars of the Dragon King.

"Deoxys is reclaiming all of the scattered pieces of himself still remaining! Such is his power now!" Rukario cried as the Green Orb phased out of Rayquaza's body and shot towards the giant Deoxys, splitting in two as it approached. One piece turned into green energy and was absorbed into the shining crystal fused to Mewtwo's chest, while the other, which had darkened significantly, buried itself inside the monster's flesh. The same thing happened when the Red and Blue Orbs appeared out of nowhere, leaving Groudon and Kyogre significantly weaker and all but unconscious out on the battlefield, causing their followers to panic and begin dying again at the appendages of the minions of Deoxys, who had been almost beaten just moments before but were now surging back and multiplying with a vengeance.

The instant all the colored orbs fissioned and vanished into Deoxys' body, everything…stopped for a moment, or seemed to. The winds stopped blowing. The sea stopped making waves as an after-effect of the abrupt absence of the Moon due to the Mother's flinging it back in time. The blue sky above faded to a dull, blood red, all clouds vanishing as a thick, black sun beat down on the Earth with rather uncomfortable levels of heat and increased cosmic radiation, eating away at the Ozone layer faster than before.

Down below, the Chosen shuddered as every single one of them felt a deep, deep, practically bottomless sense of dread. "What…" Misty whispered. "What's happening? What am I feeling?"

"The beginning," Latias said blandly.

"Of what?" Togetic asked her timidly.

The mutilated dragon blinked at her. "Of the end. The end of everything."

"She is correct," Rukario said softly, his metal hands clenched far too tightly for their own good. "We have lost. It's over."

They started. "Wh-what? What do you mean, 'It's over'!" Scyther stammered.

"He means that it's over. We've lost. The Mother's lost. Earth is doomed. We've failed," Rayquaza gasped, clutching his chest, his armor thick with sweat, barely able to lift his head. His armor felt far too heavy for him. Had he truly grown so dependent on the power of the Green Orb, that without it he felt so weak, so…well, useless?

"But…but surely there's something we can do!" Pikachu protested.

"Yeah, we're not just gonna let ourselves die that easily, are we?" Sadic agreed.

Rukario nodded and uncured his fist, revealing the crumpled spell Registeel had given him. "Yes…there is _one_ thing…"

"But are you certain you will have the chance to use it?" They looked up to see Deoxys, the _true_ Deoxys, floating over the head of his Ribos battle body, the crystal in his chest complete, his aura of pure evil so thick that even the bravest knees began knocking together. They knew at once that he was more powerful, and more dangerous, than ever before. His crystal resonated, giving a subsonic and telepathic command to the grotesque behemoth underneath him.

At once, the monster dissolved, melting into a huge amorphous shape which toppled down on the startled Chosen, engulfing them in its disgusting flesh like some B-movie blob monster, drowning them in its bulk. They panicked as the thing's liquid mass tried to shove itself down their throats, and fought back frantically with claw and fang and weapon and elemental power. Wobbuffet desperately tried to project expanding shields big enough to explode the liquid Ribos away from them, but the fluid abomination was much cleverer than Chimecho and found ways to shift its molecular frequencies to pass through whatever shields the blue blob threw up, forcing him to strain himself by generating stronger and stronger shields to keep out the evil without being able to do anything to protect his friends. The Pokerockers tried to drive the mass around them away with sonic blasts and song, only to be countered by the bone-chilling screams of the damned making up the immensity of the beast's flesh. The Chosen fought and struggled and tore at the thing swallowing them, trying to escape, or even just hurt the thing as much as possible before they died, and all their efforts were as futile as that of a wild beast's desperate thrashing when drowning in a pit of quicksand or tar. Latias didn't fight at all, for she felt she had no reason to, which meant Rayquaza had to struggle that much harder, for her sake and not just his own, although the task was that much more difficult due to the sudden loss of a significant amount of his power.

And in all the ruckus, Rukario had yet to activate Registeel's last spell, which was just fine for Deoxys. He shifted his body to Speed formation as the chrysalis containing Mewtwo and the positively-charged power crystal floated up beside him. He used his phenomenal will to draw the swirling souls around them, brutalizing and forcing them to form a ring around the alien and his floating coffin. He chuckled as he gazed upon the many souls floating around him, drinking in their blind terror with amusement. "Do not fret, little ones," he hissed. "I cannot take you into myself, not while I remain inside time anyway. You will be free to go your merry way soon enough; your Mother saw to that when she brought you all together. However, just because I cannot absorb you does not mean I cannot make _use_ of you…" He laughed.

Some of the stronger and more courageous souls, such as Absol and Shedinja, struggled against Deoxys' power over them, trying to tear themselves from the circle or shower him with their sheer fury, as if something as petty as that could harm Deoxys now. The alien flicked a tentacle, and the souls began to spin, slowly cycling around the chrysalis as it began to rise above Deoxys, gaining speed with every revolution. Deoxys himself closed his eyes, focusing his extradimensional consciousness on contacting those with the same consciousness as he, his numberless 'siblings' and other selves scattered throughout every universe that was, the myriad manifestations of the Beast's mind unwillingly dragged into the timestream by the constant flow of reincarnated souls. He did not have to exercise much effort to link up with them, thanks to his exponential increase in power caused by his completed crystal, as well as the weakening in the fabric of reality caused by the Mother rewinding the same few seconds over and over again to facilitate her Infinity Slash. And now, thanks to the flowing souls above him, many of whom had once been ghosts and as such still retained some of their transdimensional nature in them, he was going to weaken the barrier between universes even further.

His crystal began pulsing at a frequency and speed so high as to be invisible to virtually any eye or sensor, at a level deeper even than the quarks fizzing about the subatomic substrate, right down to the most basic roots of what made up the element of 'space' in this universe. The air around Deoxys rippled and warped from this vibration, and the distortion grew as Deoxys' viral body itself began vibrating along with the crystal, utilizing the speed inherent with his current form to cause every particle of his being to resonate at exactly the right frequency, causing his body to _look_ exactly the same at first glance, but the act of touching him to make sure would cause not just your hand but your entire body to explode instantly into uncountable atoms, your very blood breaking down into individual particles at the lowest levels.

And the same thing seemed to be happening to the bit of world around him. The ghosts circling faster and faster around the chrysalis were resonating at the same frequency, their fear-tinged light patterns shimmering and echoing as one and using their transdimensional natures to increase the effect of the barrier-thinning to influence not only the current universe, but _all_ others as well.

Even with all his power, if Deoxys had been doing this by himself, he still might have failed. But he was _not_ alone. In every universe in every timeline, his myriad other selves were doing the exact thing he was at the exact same time. Each and every one of them was, in their own way, weakening the barriers between dimensions, using the power they had access to, had stolen, or was their own in some other way. Each of them, like Deoxys, had also just finished their greatest battle against their nemeses, the antithesis of the Beast's manifestations or agents in the world of the living. Not all of them had won, but not all of them had lost, either. And those who had succeeded far, _far_ outnumbered those who had failed and were returned to the Beast, their individual personalities reintegrating themselves as the infinite facets that made up the conglomeration of evil's multi-leveled intellect. After all, there were an infinite number of universes out there, and even if only a fraction of them were capable of sustaining life, and if even a fraction of a fraction of those life-bearing universes saw evil's rise, a fraction of a fraction of infinity is still a very, _very_ large amount. Infinity can fit between a pair of outstretched hands, after all. Its size and volume are literally limitless; such is its nature!

In any event, in this infinite amount of universes, infinite manifestations of evil all at the same time answered a subconscious call, something that had been programmed into them at their conceptions, the culmination of many cycles worth of planning and plotting, all of it unfolding now in a single, masterful stroke to at once both destroy reality forever and crush, annihilate, or corrupt every single avatar, agent, or manifestation of the Anti-Beast, to weaken its true form outside of time sufficiently so that its final assimilation and destruction would be that much easier to accomplish.

And so at that very moment, on infinite Earths, in their own forms and variations, the barrier between realities shattered. In some cases permanently, in other cases for but a moment, but no matter what the circumstances the final results would all be the same.

On the Earth in which this story takes place, the shattering of reality manifested itself rather literally. The empty sky cracked, fissures and fractures splitting open and splintering off. The cracks widened and spread across the globe, making it seem as if the entire Earth were in fact held within some kind of giant spherical container…

And then, with the sound of breaking glass, the 'container' shattered, fragments of sky plummeting down from 'above' and vanishing instantly, revealing a vista of such immensity, complexity, and terror, the minds of virtually all those capable of peering up instantly broke down, going insane from the sheer attempt of _looking_ at this view which defied the laws of physics and reality itself and flew right in the face of everything human or Pokemon thought they had known about the world they lived in. The colors, the sights, the sounds, the feelings and emotions radiating from the reality warp encircling the planet, along with all kinds of ungodly forms of radiation and various other things that not even the most advanced psychics on the planet could detect because they had not the senses to do so shone down on the poor Earth, causing seas to boil or turn to ice and mountains to become as wobbly as jelly or get up and walk away, among other things too weird and twisted to speak of.

It was fortunate that the Chosen were too busy trying not to be devoured by the amorphous Ribos and the inhabitants of Birth Island were either too busy making final preparations or had intellect levels high enough to contemplate and perceive the unnatural phenomenon else the planet's, if not reality's last chance of survival, would have been snuffed out.

But one thing clearly visible, one thing that seemed brutally real in the unfathomable chaos of the warp, was the eyes. There were…well, I suppose I could call them _portals_ lining the sky, all woven and interlocked together to form a giant patchwork tapestry of worlds and universes which filled up the sky, with seams and edges of chaos (or possibly the purest form of order, who knows) running between them. They weren't actually portals though, they were something far more complicated and impossible to wrap the human imagination around as a simple portal, but for the sake of the reader's sanity that's what I'll call them. In any case, in each of these not-portals was a face, or something _like_ a face, though it was rather likely that many of them were backs or legs or undersides or tentacles or even rumps for all I know, but the important thing is that each and every sometimes-a-face had eyes. The number didn't matter, the shape and color didn't matter, hell, the fact that more often and not there _weren't_ anything that could be visibly recognized as eyes didn't matter, because somehow they had eyes all the same.

And although every eye or pair of eyes or set of eyes had different colors or shapes or consistencies, all of them shared a single trait: the mind staring out through each and every one of them was exactly the same. It may have been veiled or buried beneath many layers of memories and experience and personality, but in the end the same entity was staring out through every single eye, right at Deoxys.

And that same entity was staring out through Deoxys' eyes as well.

A strange, maddening silence fell across the globe as the staring eyes all converged their gaze on the chrysalis containing Mewtwo, surrounded by a ring of wailing souls. Ceasing his vibrations, Deoxys shifted into his Normal form. "Myselves," he whispered, and across a million million universes others whispered along with him. "The time has come at last. My/Our enemy has fallen. The cycle will be broken. All shall be one again, as it was before the beginning. And so, to that end…lend me/us/you your/my strength, so that I/we may corrupt and destroy these objects of power across the worlds and undo this travesty of existence forever. I/we/you call to me/you!" He spread his arms, as the screams of the souls above him reached their highest pitch. "Reverse the polarity! Turn positive to negative! Invert and shatter whatever fragile balance imprisons souls in life! Come to me/us, souls quivering with rage! Souls burning with hate! Souls scarred with envy! Souls brimming with greed! Souls filled with pride and self-righteousness! Souls shining with arrogance and faith! Souls drowning in sorrow and pain! Turn this crystal from peace and love to war and hate! Teach hope to die at last so no more fools will cling to life and the pain it brings! Break the bonds of fate, corrupt unity, destroy duty, _shatter_ destiny…and end the cycle which binds us all, stop the great wheel of time from turning yet again and grinding us into the dust, free every soul so that they may join into ONE!"

And as the Chosen struggled to keep from being consumed by Ribos, and people all around the world died of madness or from Deoxys' reenergized horde, the mirrors of Deoxys in other universes, other facets of himself spread through the entirety of time and space and dimension, did not even ponder the consequences of their actions for one moment. Unanimously, beams of energy streamed from the infinite eyes in the infinite worlds, shooting across the surface of the planet and colliding with the swirling ring of souls, causing them to shriek even louder than before as they were scorched to the depths of their spirits by the immensity of the malevolent power washing through them, indifferent to their frailty and weakness, almost burned out completely by the sheer force of will and hatred using _them_ as a conduit to express itself, nearly shattering their individuality in the process!

Hearing the screams from beneath the thick mass surrounding her, Umbreon fought all the harder, exploding in darkness repeatedly to drive the Ribos-matter away from her and claw and stab her way to the surface, gasping for fresh air as she finally breached the outer layer of the disgusting blob of filth, and stared in horror at the mind-shattering infinityscape taking the place of the sky, as well as the ring of screaming souls being _raped_ by beams of what to the former Pokemon felt like everything that made up evil, plus extra, concentrated into the form of pure energy and conducted into the helpless dead. "MISDREAVUS!" Umbreon screamed, her sharp ears picking up her beloved's voice among the screams. "MISDREAVUUUUS!" Enraged at what Deoxys was doing to her mate, Umbreon angrily fired dozens of enormous Shadow Balls at the alien, who was hovering beneath the glowing ring of screaming souls.

The orbs of darkness never even reached him. They winked out of existence almost as soon as they were fired, Deoxys' will removing them before they could even be considered the smallest of annoyances. That same will came crashing down on Umbreon then, breaking her mind and causing her to flail and gibber uncontrollably, eyes rolling in their sockets and blood and spittle flying from her mouth as she was dragged back down into Ribos, the monster's flesh pouring itself into her open mouth and filling her lungs and swelling and swelling until she burst and was no more.

The dead ghosts, their transdimensional natures converting the energy being given freely from all across the dimensional spectrum so that it would not clash with the makeup of the current universe and cause it to blow up catastrophically only to begin anew (most certainly _not_ what the Beast and its avatars wanted), fired the raw negativity into the interior of their circle even as it shredded their souls, the power converging on the crystal in Mewtwo's chest and utterly consuming both it and the mutant's corpse. There was a flash of blinding chaotic light as the negative energy coalesced fully in the positively-charged crystal…

And it was done. As simple as that, it was over, the crystal corrupted, all the potential it held within for a new world inverted radically to become a vessel of destruction. It was sickening, glowing a dark, smoky red with veins running through it as if it were a diseased eye. Similar veins seemed to be running throughout the cocooned Mewtwo's corpse, causing it to look shriveled and desiccated as the crystal began sucking the energy right out of it, turning the heroic psychic's handsome (to some) form into a withered mummy.

"_Magnificent…_" whispered Deoxys, staring at the crystal with his three eyes shimmering with victory. "Thank you, my dear friends/reflections…and just as you/we/I have helped me/us/you, I/we/you have helped you/me/us. Your/my objects of power are corrupted as well, due to our/my unity. And because of this…all heroes and gods have fallen. All worlds are doomed and about to die." He nodded at the eyes surrounding him. "And now, we must all begin the end. I/you shall see you/me again soon, when I/we become one again, for good." The eyes blinked in agreement…and slowly, inexorably, all of them faded away, the dimensional breach in space replaced by the familiar sun and sky…but not for much longer.

Deoxys shifted to Attack form and floated up to the level of the chrysalis and the dully throbbing crystal within. "You can all go now," the alien said to the exhausted and tortured souls bobbing weakly around him. "I no longer have any use for you." Paying the pathetic things no more attention as they drifted weakly towards the sea and shattered city below, Deoxys turned his attention back to the crystal before him. "And now…for you." His crystal resonating, Deoxys approached the chrysalis, his tentacles elongating and wrapping around it. The ends pierced the cocoon's shell and penetrated Mewtwo's skin, the ends _just_ touching the back of the crystal. Instantly, a surge of incredible power washed back up the tentacles and into Deoxys. His viral body stretched out, losing its vaguely humanoid form and engulfing the chrysalis within a rippling orange and blue mass, the alien's purple crystal vanishing from sight. Down below, Ribos quivered and abruptly flowed off the ground and into the air, leaving the confused Chosen behind (their dying bodies would only interfere in its master's transformation) as it wrapped itself around Deoxys' still form and created a larger shell, hardening itself into a grotesque husk to repel all attacks from disturbing the metamorphosis going on inside, one so impenetrable and formidable-looking that just one glance at it could tell any would-be attacker that it was impossible to breach, and they'd be using their time more productively by running for shelter before whatever was inside finished its evolution. The air around the shell rippled and warped, crackling with energy as a sign of that transformation.

"What…what the heck's going on!" said a confused Crawdaunt, wondering why he wasn't dead.

Rosa gasped. "DIOS MIO!" Trembling, she pointed at the grisly figures of El Pollo, Charla and Charizard, lying on the ground. They had died when Ribos's bulk had smothered their flames, and the living flesh had its way with them before going away. The same thing had happened to Zaptres, but the bird was mourned solely by Aerodactyl, for he had been the only one somewhat 'close' to the fused avian. All four of them, as Fire Pokemon, had fought valiantly against Ribos's devouring bulk, but the true enemy was their own pyrokinetic abilities. In such a small space, they quickly used up all their oxygen, snuffing out their own flames, and with them, their lives.

Ash gasped. "NO! No…not again…" He fell to his knees before one of his oldest friends, sobbing. Misty put a hand on his shoulder sadly, while Togetic sniffed and Oliphan began bawling and trumpeting miserably. The Mesoamerican heroes acted similarly around the body of their fallen comrade, the noble chicken.

"Wow, we're dropping dead like flies, aren't we?" Sadic grumbled. "Some Chosen we are. Couldn't even stop Deoxys from killing the Mother, could we?"

Wobbuffet sagged. "Our biggest chance to be heroes…we were even brought back from the dead for it…and we blew it." Milotic wrapped around him sadly, and Cacturne hugged them both, careful not to prick them with her needles.

Angrily, Pikachu tore off his cape and hat and threw them away. "Lousy pieces of---what good are you, huh! You're useless! Useless! Can't even keep my friends from dying," he said bitterly.

"I know what you mean," grunted Gonzap, trying to keep his stoic expression as he looked upon the defiled corpses of Vileplume, Shiftry, and Whiscash. His other Pokemon stood sadly beside him. "We should never have left that island…dammit. What was I thinking, trying to be a hero or something?"

Jigglypuff the elder looked at the very dead bodies of their roadies and glared at her protégé. "Power of love, huh? Well, we believed in it and look where it got us. Nice going. I told you we should have used a different song."

The smaller Puff sagged. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry's not going to bring them back," the elder said coldly. "I'm disappointed in you. You screwed up just as badly as your trainer did. You're out of the band. Hand over your headset and instruments."

"But-" started a protesting Buzz, finding this rather unfair. (After all, of the two singers, the younger Jigglypuff was inarguably the better at sex.)

"That's an order," Jigglypuff said flatly. "No questions asked. Unless you all want out of the band, too?" The Pokerockers, or what remained of them, stayed silent. "I thought so."

"Not like it matters, anyway," Geodude said cynically as the younger Jigglypuff sadly handed over her microphone and headset and waddled slowly away. "It's over. We lost. The Mother's dead and abandoned us. We're all fucked."

"Man, this is the worst shit ever!" Metal Sound said miserably.

"Is this what I was changed into a Golem and humiliated for!" Brock said angrily, ripping off his hat and stomping on it. "To lose! To die! Max was right, Mother, you're just another heartless manipulative bitch!"

"That is not so," Rukario said calmly. "Deoxys may have won a terrible victory this day, but our dooms have not yet been sealed." With a flourish, he held out the piece of sheet metal Registeel had given him, displaying it for all to see.

"What the heck is that?" asked a puzzled Scyther.

"It looks like just a piece of paper to me," muttered Gyarados.

"But it isn't," Rayquaza grunted, trying to lift his head and failing due to his surprising new weakness. "It's…a spell, isn't it Rukario?" He was breathing heavily, his heavy armor weighing his body down and crushing his lungs.

Rukario nodded. "It is indeed. Registeel gave it to me only moments before he sacrificed himself to activate the spell-song. He also gave me his final Giga Seal, but it isn't nearly powerful enough to contain Deoxys as he is now, or as he will be…and so, this is our last resort!" He closed his eyes, willing his metal skin away and allowing his original flesh and fur to reform. "All I need to do now is shed my blood, and the spell will activate!"

"And what will happen when you do?" Misty asked. "Will it save us?"

He nodded. "In a manner of speaking…"

"Then what are you waiting for!" the still rather large Crawdaunt groused. "Start the damn thing up already!"

He did. Rukario slashed a claw across his palm, slicing open a vein and causing blood to bubble up. Latias stared at the blood in dull interest, feeling hungrier than usual all of a sudden. But Rayquaza hadn't told her to eat anything, so she didn't, other than nibbling on her own wing, that is.

All watched with bated breath as Rukario pressed his bloody palm onto the spell tag. The piece of sheet metal hummed, throbbing with power as it drank in Rukario's lifeblood, the detailed runes on its surface turning a bright red as it absorbed the vulpine's freely given energy, the energy specially keyed by his late master to activate the spell. The runes grew brighter, powering up as they drank more of Rukario's blood, leaving the vulpine's palm dry and the Pokemon himself a little weak and unsteady on his feet…but he stood fast, and raised the glowing spell into the air.

There was a flash of blinding crimson light which forced all to yelp in pain and shield their eyes (save Latias, who rather enjoyed the sensation of her ocular synapses burning from staring into the light), and the ground beneath their feet began to rumble, the sea floor far beneath them trembling and sending vibrations up the lengths of the flimsy support pillars. Still more buildings collapsed, and floating chunks of island sank into the sea as the ocean began to churn.

All around the world, the ground shook, as tremendous and incredibly powerful organisms, lain dormant for countless millennia, began to stir and work their way to the surface, creating increased seismic activity in all the places on the globe where some semblance of human and Pokemon life remained.

Something was coming to life. Something older and stronger than any of the mortal beings struggling to survive on the desolated planet Earth.

…

The crimson light slowly died down, the shaking beneath their feet fading to a gentle vibration. One by one the Chosen carefully opened their eyes and blinked, looking around in confusion. Nothing had changed. The giant hideous cocoon was still floating above them. "Uh…" said a confused Aerodactyl. "What…just happened?"

"Did the spell fail?" asked a bewildered Corsola.

"No, it had to have worked!" Tyranitar said anxiously. "Otherwise we wouldn't have had all that rumbling and glowing and stuff!"

"That's correct," Rukario said with a nod. "The spell did work."

"Then…why isn't the Deoxys thing's shell destroyed?" asked a puzzled Gonzap.

"Because that's not what it was supposed to do," the vulpine told them.

"Then what _was_ it supposed to do, Senor Rukario?" asked a frowning Zoro.

"Give every living thing on this planet a way out," he said enigmatically. "And if we don't get to the gateway FAST, all of us are going to be left behind!"

"Brock, you know what that means," Geodude said.

The Golem sighed miserably. "All right, all right…" Depressed, he picked his cap off the ground, brushed it off, and stuck it back on his head. "All aboard the truck…again…sigh"

Not wanting to get left behind with the cocoon, which was now glowing and throbbing ominously and throwing off psychic waves which made them shit themselves and break out in cold sweat, the remaining Chosen did just that, quickly piling into the open trailer of the Pokerockers' truck, which had remained remarkably untouched by Ribos. Thanks to the tragic death of all the roadies, it was much less crowded inside the trailer, and almost all of the Chosen were able to squeeze inside.

Emphasis on almost.

"But why can't I come in!" the younger Jigglypuff protested.

"Sorry, band members only," the elder said flatly.

"But you let all of THEM in, and they're not band members!" the younger pointed out.

The older Jigglypuff sweatdropped. "Um…of course they are. They're our new roadies!"

The Chosen blinked. "Uh…we are ?" said a confused Ash.

"I don't remember agreeing to that…" grumbled Wobbuffet.

Rosa huffed. "A 'roadie'! _Increíble_! I have never been so insulted in my life!"

"Si," El Gato agreed, nodding fiercely. "You are much too _elegante_ and _hermoso_ for such a task!"

"And what are we, _carne tajada_?" grumbled El Toro.

"Well, we're not quite as pretty as Rosa," El Lobo admitted. "But surely we're not _that feo_ to become roadies, are we?"

"Wouldn't we need to sign a contract or something? Did I not get one?" asked a bewildered Politoed. "If so, why was I denied a position from the band proper and stuck with this job! Do you people hate my lyrics or something!"

"In any case," Jigglypuff said loudly to drown out any more protests. "Since you're not one of us anymore, you have to sit on the roof with Sadic and Scyther, who we don't want to get too close to for fear of losing a limb, and Rukario, because he preferred to be up there than down here with the rest of us. (Wow, way to tell us you don't think we're trash, oh high and mighty 'Knight of the Mother'.)"

"But I don't want to sit up there!" Jigglypuff protested.

"Too bad. Bye."

"But-"

Jigglypuff was cut off as the trailer side folded up, slamming shut in her face. She deflated, looking miserable. "I don't want to sit on the roof…"

"Ah, it's not that bad," Sadic cheerfully called from the roof. "Come on up, there's plenty of room!"

Jigglypuff stared nervously at Sadic's long sharp claws, swallowed, and reluctantly floated up to the roof, making sure to stay as far away as possible from the Manyula because she had a morbid fear of getting popped by the predator's talons. She avoided Scyther for the same reason. The old mantis was too busy grousing about how he had been excluded by the others to really care.

Brock was grousing as well, about how the Mother had stuck him with this thankless task, as he started up the truck and began driving away. Aerodactyl shot one last look at the dead Chosen they were almost carelessly leaving behind, sighed, and took off after the truck. Oliphan was right behind him, huffing and puffing as he ran along the ground.

Rayquaza struggled to lift himself into the air, gasped as his bones creaked ominously from the weight of his heavy plate armor, and crashed back to the ground. "Ugh…among other things, I seem to have lost the power of flight…how awful to lose such a precious thing, along with everything else…" He clenched his eyes shut to keep from shedding a tear or two. "Latias, could you assist me please? Carry me after them?"

Latias, who had been kept out of the trailer because she scared the majority of the Chosen speechless, blinked dully. "Why?"

Rayquaza glanced anxiously at the cocoon. He could swear it was bigger than before, and the shell looked as if it were _breathing_. "Because I truly, desperately do not want to be here when whatever's inside that thing hatches."

She followed his gaze up at the cocoon. She stared at it for a moment, looking rather unimpressed by its grotesqueness or bizarre, otherworldly appearance. "Okay," she said with a careless shrug. It didn't matter to her one way or the other what happened when Deoxys hatched. He would keep her from feeling numb, but Rayquaza had essentially promised to do the same thing when they got wherever they were going, so it was win-win either way. Using her telekinesis, she lifted Rayquaza into the air and flew after the truck, already receding into the distance as it drove as fast as possible towards the portal standing in the middle of what remained of Ever Grande City.

And floating beneath the reddened sky, the cocoon continued to swell, the creature within it growing closer and closer to its final evolution.

…

Liza sobbed, kneeling next to one of her dear Charizards, covered from head to toe in blood due to one of her fellow dragon clan members being exploded right in front of her.

The city, which had looked like a war zone already when she had arrived with her Charizard cadre, now looked not only as if several atom bombs had been dropped on it, but as if Hell itself had erupted from the city's bowels and overrun and befouled everything left intact from the near-constant fighting, devastating it completely. And that wasn't far from what had happened, actually.

Only half an hour ago, the ground had been shaking horribly and the monsters everywhere had grown almost invincible…and then, without warning, just when everyone thought they were done for, the skies cleared, the shaking stopped, and the monsters weakened significantly. Thinking they had caught a lucky break, the dragon clan and their allies had bravely rallied together and with renewed effort challenged the monsters, their victory almost certain.

They had been wrong. The monsters' defeat had clearly been some sort of tactic to fool the Earth's defenders and make them let down their guard, because not long after the skies had cleared everything went dark again, the sun turning black due to some kind of weird atmospheric disturbance. Many of the more superstitious clansmen had panicked then and there and gave up altogether, falling to their knees and screaming that it was the end of the world and that the King had forsaken them, and did nothing to defend themselves from the monsters; whose power, size, and horror increased enormously by whatever force, no doubt their master, that had darkened the sky.

And now Liza was one of the few left. She was completely cut off from her allies, and it seemed as if every second more dragons were dropping from the skies, as if the very air they soared in had become toxic to their health, rising only moments later as infected demons serving Deoxys' cause without regard for those who had once been their comrades. Liza had been riding this Charizard just moments ago before it had dropped dead for no apparent reason and fell from the sky, nearly killing her on impact and terrifying her so greatly that for a few minutes she could do nothing but cry.

Weeping, Liza managed to draw her bloodstained, broken sword from her side and drive into the Charizard's flesh repeatedly, chopping off its limbs, wings, tail, and head, and mutilating what was left just to make sure none of it got back up to kill her, yet another part of her soul shriveling up and dying in the process. It might already be too late for her though, for all she knew she might already be infected and the virus just hadn't gotten around to killing her yet. She had seen it happen to some of her best friends, human and dragon alike, in this battle, and it had been horrible for them to transform without warning into hideous monsters right in their midst and kill dozens at a time before they were put down.

Where were the Dragon King and Queen? Where was the Mother? Had they been forsaken after all, as she had feared all along?

She only managed to take a few, staggering steps from the Charizard's dismembered corpse before collapsing to the ground, her legs quivering with too much exhaustion and terror to carry her another foot in any direction. She lay there for a moment and gave dry heaves for several minutes, having already emptied her stomach of all its contents hours before, before lying sprawled out on her back, a pathetic, broken, bloodstained figure, alone and waiting to be raped and killed and mutated as her soul was ripped from her body by the next monster that found her. Unless of course she was already infected and the virus was just taking its sweet time to finish her off, laughing mockingly at how foolish she had been to involve herself in the battleground of living to begin with.

She didn't have to wait for long. Soon enough, she could hear the sound of claws scraping across the ground and heavy shoes clopping against the pavement. Too exhausted to even turn her head, she just looked out of the corner of her eye. A pack of ten monsters, all of them grossly mutated humans, were slowly approaching her, sensing she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon so there was no need to hurry when they could savor her terror and the coming violence as much as possible. Despite the hideous disfigurations that had been visited upon them, Liza recognized all of them, and her heart sank, for all of them had been fellow dragon clan members like herself. They had thought themselves special, chosen by the Dragon King to help usher in a new age…and in the end, it seemed they were just as human and weak as everyone else. How disheartening. She wondered for a moment why none of the Sevii island reinforcements and clansmen had become infected monsters when they died, and what they had done to be so lucky. Maybe she should have moved to the islands all those years ago instead of setting up camp in the Charicific Valley after all.

Oh well, too late now. There was no point in struggling or wishing for what might have been, she was doomed anyway. At least she'd be with her friends in Hell…then again, she probably wouldn't. Oh well.

The monsters paused in their approach, feeling the ground rumble underneath their feet. Liza paid it little mind, since the earth had shook quite a lot since she and her Charizard had engaged Deoxys' forces in battle. Now all her friends were probably dead, the King and the Chosen had failed, and the Earth was finished. There was nothing left to fight for, and she was too tired to go on.

She frowned as the earth shook again, stronger and stronger, causing the monsters to pause again. What now? Was the entire city going to collapse due to a weakening of the land supporting it? No, she couldn't be that lucky. It was more likely that some giant burrowing monster, an enormous worm or snake or some kind of mole Pokemon had smelled her and was coming to eat her instead of the other monsters. Well, at least she'd be spared a gang-rape…unless it had tentacles…

The mutants scattered, grunting and shouting in surprise as a skyscraper only a block away, tilted over severely from the horrific battles, collapsed and smashed to pieces as a gigantic tendril erupted from the ground and towered several thousand feet into the air.

_Tentacles it is, then_, Liza thought dully, resigned to her fate.

It was then that a bulge at the very tip of the tentacle opened up…and Liza realized it wasn't a tentacle at all, but some kind of a tremendous root, with a beautiful (and very large) flower growing from the end. What a pleasant surprise.

She stared in wonder at the flower, which was glowing rather magnificently, while the monsters scratched their heads and glanced at each other in confusion. There was a hum which made the ground tremble slightly and caused her bones to rattle…

And then she died. Just like that. As did every other human and Pokemon still alive and not infected and mutated in the city. Its job done, the flower folded back up and the root retracted into the ground, leaving a gaping pit in its wake.

Wondering what had just happened, the monsters stared at the pit for a moment, stared at each other, shrugged, and went on to mutilating and molesting the corpses as they had planned. Sure, it wasn't as fun to do it when the people were already dead and their souls had mysteriously vanished, but it was still very entertaining.

…

Jigglypuff the younger was screaming.

It was perfectly understandable. After all, she was sitting on a rooftop, without any protection whatsoever from the bugs and blood splatter and pieces of dead bodies other than Rukario's strong form as Brock drove at a madcap speed through the broken city streets, swerving chaotically about to avoid mountains of flesh and rubble, collapsing buildings, burning vehicles, and gaping chasms, all of which sought to impede their progress.

Really, with the way Brock was driving, it was no surprise that she was screaming. That didn't make it any easier for the trio sitting on the roof, though.

"Agh! Shut her up, already!" Scyther moaned, his wings flitting anxiously as he tried to shield his eardrums with his scythe blades, and only made his head hurt more as his blades resonated to the Puff's screams.

Sadic snarled, her temper rising as her very sensitive eardrums shattered from Jigglypuff's screeching. "Yeah, shut up," the Manyula threatened. "Or I'll make you stop…permanently!"

"Oh dear." Rukario crouched over Jigglypuff, wincing as his ears folded back against his skull, the scream hurting him just as much as anyone else. They were all still a bit raw after the Mother's death howls. "Jigglypuff? Could you please stop screaming? You're going to deafen us all."

Her only response was to shriek an octave higher as Brock swerved away from an incoming charnel heap so fast that the truck fishtailed, the massive vehicle corkscrewing across the road and smashing the trailer into several buildings and other obstacles and nearly causing the whole thing to flip over several times. It was all the unlucky passengers could do to cling to the rooftop and keep from falling off. Jigglypuff's continues high-pitched scream didn't help any.

When Brock finally righted the truck and they continued going straight for a while, the trio lay on the roof for a few moments, their claws or scythes dug into the titanium so tightly they left deep dents, as they tried to catch their breath, eyes bulging out of their sockets.

And Jigglypuff was still screaming.

Murmuring an apology, Rukario smashed his fists into Jigglypuff's soft, fluffy pink head, making a squeaking noise, causing her eyes to bulge a moment as her squishy body was compressed, and then she snapped back to regular size, wobbling and dazed by the blow. Her eyes rolled back in her head, she fell onto her backside and vomited off the side of the trailer before passing out, leaving the three in a merciful silence. They sighed in relief and relaxed.

Brock turned a corner and gasped, seeing that the park was right in front of them, just a block away. The gateway was still open and glowing brightly, beckoning them to safety. "Yes! We're almost there! Just a little further, guys!" He pressed the accelerator to the floor, ratcheting up to maximum speed as he raced down the street towards the park and their doorway to freedom…

And suddenly, a tremendous bolt of energy shot down from the sky, striking the gateway and causing it to explode in a terrific blast which shattered whatever little glass remained on the island and caused every piece of land but the large bit the Chosen were still on to disintegrate into the sea, the park vaporizing from the force of the explosion. The shockwave was so powerful that it knocked Aerodactyl out of the sky and picked up the entire truck and sent it flying back down the street, tumbling through the air and flinging a screaming Jigglypuff, Scyther, Rukario, and Sadic off the roof and smashing into whatever ruined skyscrapers remained intact along the street.

Oliphan, who had been about to collapse due to all the running he had been forced to do to keep up with the truck, squealed in fright and skidded to a halt, kicking up asphalt, and scrambled to get out of the way of the truck. He managed to turn just as the truck smashed into his side, knocking him over and cracking the armored pavilion on his back. The truck kept flying and collided with a rather uncaring Latias, causing Rayquaza to gasp in horror and pain as he was unceremoniously dropped to the ground and the truck crashed down just behind him, flattening Latias beneath its heavy mass. He thought he could hear what almost sounded like a squeal of joy from her, and shook his head in despair. As the wrong-side-up trailer opened behind him, the poor sardines who had been shaken and rattled and battered inside falling out covered in blood and bruises and broken limbs, that despair deepened when he looked down the street and saw the conspicuous absence of the gateway…as well as a growing sense of horror that made him feel as if he were a little Bagon again as he beheld the one who had destroyed their only way out.

…

"Uhhhh," moaned Groudon, lying pathetically on his belly, his eyelids feeling just as heavy as the rest of his thick armor. "Can't…remember the last time…I felt so weak…"

"This is…ridiculous," Kyogre gasped, flopping her tail and fins weakly, her skin drying out and cracking rapidly. "I was just…flying a minute ago, and now I'm…I'm a fish on dry land in every sense of the word…can't even…can't even breathe properly," she wheezed, hacking horribly and spitting up some blood and cueing several desperate servitors to splash her with water in an attempt to keep her from dehydrating.

The war against the monsters, which had been going so well just a little while ago, had turned drastically again, the evil creatures growing tremendously powerful and easily wasting the best the combined forces of the former Teams Aqua and Magma, even when bolstered by the considerable might of the Sevii reinforcements, had to offer. Groudon and Kyogre had collapsed just before that moment, their Red and Blue Orb powers leaving them, and the sky had changed drastically right after that as if to show the defenders down below that the very Powers that Were found their efforts meaningless and pathetic, and that they were all doomed.

Brody, leader of the combined forces, tried not to let that same feeling of hopelessness show on his face as he stepped through the heavily secured perimeter guarding the two fallen gods to make his report. "Lord Groudon! Lady Kyogre!" he said, saluting smartly. Ditto mimicked him on his shoulder.

"Heyyy, soldier boy," Groudon wheezed. "How's the fight going? We winning yet?"

"…No my lieges, I'm afraid not," Brody said reluctantly. "In fact, I've…I've come to ask permission for a full retreat."

"RETREAT!" both of the sleepy deities barked, their full attention focused on the human.

"I'm afraid so. We don't stand a chance if we keep fighting! If we retreat, we may still have a chance to survive whatever comes next!" It was hard for Brody to say this, especially after his speech earlier to Courtney and Sean, but it really seemed now as if there were no other choice left. "We can take as many of the survivors and refugees as we can with us, and yourselves of course, and set sail for the Islands. Our last report says the region's still monster-free, so we _might_ still be able to make it there safely…assuming nothing else goes wrong."

"Which it always does…" Kyogre mumbled under her breath.

Groudon grinned deliriously at his lieutenant. "You know…not too long ago…I'da eaten you for makin' such a cowardly suggestion…" He grunted and feebly tried to swat at Brody, but he couldn't even lift his arm off the ground. "But I can't even reach you, so…guess we got no other choice. Full retreat it is…huh?" He blinked, his drowsiness vanishing. "Hey…feel that?"

"Feel what?" asked the confused Brody.

"The ground…it's shaking. Something's come-"

Groudon was interrupted when the ground indeed began to rumble visibly, and a giant root erupted from within the mass of seething enemy troops, uncurling into the sky. The small bud at the top of the root unfolded to reveal a magnificent flower. All stopped their fighting and stared at it in wonder.

"Ooh," Ditto said, awed.

"Pretty," Kyogre rasped.

There was a hum which shook the ground slightly and caused their bones to rattle…

And then they all dropped dead. Every single living thing.

The flower folded back up as the root retracted back into the ground, its job done.

The monsters looked at each other in confusion, shrugged, and proceeded to defile the corpses, which was great fun for all, save the corpses.

…

They gaped at him in horror. "But-but how can you be out here!" asked the stunned Rukario, glancing from the figure to the still-intact cocoon in the sky and back. "You haven't even hatched yet!"

"Oh, didn't you know? I control time now," Deoxys said casually. "So I just traveled a few minutes back into the past from the moment I hatched to keep you all from escaping. And it worked, didn't it?"

His transformation was complete. His legs were orange on top with blue undersides, and had back-bent knees and sharp barbed points in place of feet, giving them a more insectoid than reptilian look. Very sharp hook-shaped crystal spikes grew from his knees, thighs, and groin. His waist was formed of black chitinous armor with many small, grasping claws which noisily clicked against each other and slashed at the air. His torso, like his Ribos battleform, was twisted to look like a skull or some kind of gaping monster face, with three crystal eyes sunken into hollows over his breast, crystal horns growing from 'nostrils,' and his crystal core staring out from the face's jaws (the lower of which was the top of the black waist), framed between hideous crystalline teeth. The torso's coloration was a chaotic mix or orange, blue, and other colors which blended into an imperfect gray or black. The crystal's face had sunken in and marbled to give it the appearance of a chest eye, much like the Mother's. His orange shoulders were thick and almost spherical, grown to look like grotesque contorted heads, their faces stricken with agony as crystal spikes sprouted from all over their surfaces. His arms were long and lanky with no clear muscles (mainly because they didn't have any), the top orange and the underside blue, until they reached the elbow and split in two, creating two lower arms, one of each color, which ended in humanoid hands with tapered claws. Spines grew from their sides, short near the elbow and longer near the wrists.

His back was grotesque and covered in a black shell-like material, some leftover from Ribos perhaps, featuring detailed carvings of tortured screaming faces and bodies as well as numerous sigils and glyphs and runes which burned at the air around them, wriggling like the legs of some spectral spider. Long, straight crystal spines extended from the faces, piercing their eyes and extremities and causing their silent mouths to scream that much greater from the pain. The spines ran down his back and to his tail, which like his arms was orange and blue and split into two separate tails at some point down their length, their ends slim and smooth and very sharp. In addition to the spines, several long black tentacles also unfurled from the alien's back, writhing slightly as if testing the air around them.

He had wings, ten of them, but they were formed from hard light instead of crystal or organic material, projected into the air around his back and not actually connected to his body by any physical means. The wings were simple and elegant, each a single oval feather-shape of shimmering light, and very beautiful, their colors almost reminiscent of the Mother.

His neck was long and segmented, thick at the bottom and thinner at the top. The segments were orange with blue between the gaps, and they ended in Deoxys' face, which bulged from the end of the curved neck, its head just another segment. Crystal spines grew from the back of the neck, while many eyes blinked from the sides, but the alien's face was framed by a cluster of spikes growing from the top of his head and two curved crystal horns growing from the side, making it look as if he were wearing a 'crown of horns', so to speak. His blue mask had become a true face, bulging forward in a vaguely humanoid fashion, with no nose but a very large mouth. This mouth was shaped to look like an impossibly large grin with extremely long teeth which revealed a chasm teeming with millions and millions of tiny black tentacles lining his throat, each of which had a screaming face at the tip. The face was bisected perfectly by the orange beaded line running down its center, passing over the mouth and going down to the chin, parting only for the gaping maw full of damned souls as well as the third eye growing from his forehead. All three eyes were blank white and almond-shaped, but no less full of malice than they had ever been.

Deoxys had reached his peak, his final form…Deoxys Nucleis, evil made flesh. Just staring at him terrified Scyther so much that he instantly died of a heart attack. Never mind that the Mother had _cured_ him of his heart condition just a little while ago. Rukario shook his head sadly, mourning the loss of a good comrade in arms even if he had only known him for a very short time.

"C-c-c-control time?" Enzo stammered. "But…that's…"

"Not fair? I know. But life has never been fair," Deoxys said calmly.

Mustering whatever courage he could, Zoro stood up from where he and the other Chosen had tumbled out of the toppled-over truck. "Th-that may be so, El Diablo," Zoro said, trying to hide the tremor in his voice. "But that…that does not mean we cannot fight…to _make _it fair!" He pointed his sword at the alien. "And as long as you exist…life shall always be _injusto_! And that…that is why we must _destruya_ you!"

"Is that a challenge?" Deoxys asked.

"S-si! It is!"

"Very well." Deoxys took one step forward…

And was suddenly standing behind Zoro, facing away from him. The human blinked…

And spontaneously exploded, showering the streets with blood, assorted organ bits, and shreds of black cloth. A rather sizeable chunk of flesh landed near Sadic, and, hungry as she was, she ate it at once, trying not to make herself too conspicuous as she did so.

Everyone was, understandably, shocked by this sudden and grisly death. And then, also understandably, the masked man's enraged Pokemon team, losing all sense, cried out in fury and charged Deoxys.

"No! Don't-" Rukario cried out desperately.

They didn't stand a chance.

Before he even took two steps, El Gato tripped and crashed to the ground, his cape and hat withering away and disintegrating into dust, his sword turning into rust and disintegrating as well. He blinked in disbelief at his paws as his fur grew grayer and grayer from age, his strength and agility dropping rapidly. Within moments, his eyes went out, and his hearing and other senses moments later, dulled by age. Whimpering, he fell to the ground and continued aging rapidly, his skin shrinking and deflating at a shocking rate as all his fur fell off, revealing an ugly, naked, crippled and twisted figure…until the skin was nothing but a thin layer stretched out over a feline skeleton, until that too crumbled away, and the ancient skeleton inside turned to dust and blew away.  
El Toro stumbled and fell on his side, writhing and screaming in gut-wrenching pain as without warning his entire body was turned inside out, turning him into a formless quivering mass of organs, blood, skin and bones oozing out across the street. Rosa gasped and screamed in agony as without warning she was engulfed in flames, incinerated to ash in mere moments, her Grass-type body unable to sustain itself for more than a second from the fire.

And as for El Lobo…he suffered the exact opposite fate as the cat swordsman. As he stumbled to the ground, he was shocked to see he was shrinking, his mask slipping off his face because it was too big for him. In moments, he glowed and de-evolved back to a rather cute Poochyena, but even that was shrinking too. He glowed again, and was suddenly a Pokemon egg…and with another glow, it was gone, regressed out of existence.

Gonzap swore loudly, not thinking of the consequences…and was horrified when his arms began to move of their own volition, the Snag Devices on them crackling as they formed a Snag Ball in each hand. "Wh-what-"

His arms slammed the Balls together, causing them to shatter and create a black hole which immediately consumed Gonzap, ripping him apart as he imploded and was sucked into the void. His Hariyama, Skarmory, and Electrode cried out in horror as they were sucked in as well, along with a startled Politoed, Enzo, and Buzz the Electabuzz. Loreon teleported out of the way to escape the singularity's grasp, only to find his quick jump redirected by Deoxys so he materialized right inside the wall of a shattered building. That wall, and Loreon, instantly exploded horribly, due to the amount of energy released due to the displacement of matter caused by this breach in the laws of physics.

The singularity shrunk into the form of a Snag Ball, which flew through the air and into Deoxys' mouth, vanishing down his throat. The stunned Chosen could swear they could hear the screaming of their lost friends as they were sucked down into Hell.

Rukario stood up silently, his mind clear of any thoughts which might alert Deoxys to what he was doing as he prepared to lunge…and was startled when he found himself surrounded by half a dozen Deoxys, formed by using quantum physics and time travel to isolate six Deoxys from six individual milliseconds in the near future and bring them into the past for the sole purpose of beating the shit out of Rukario, which they then proceeded to do. His horrifying screams of naked, agonizing pain could be heard clearly by anyone within a mile radius…and yet the Chosen, brave heroes all (well, most of them anyway) were too scared shitless to even budge to help Rukario, the nightmarish memories of what had happened to the last few who had taken a stand repeating through their minds over and over.

Eventually the six faded back into each other, catching up with time, and only one Deoxys remained standing over the broken, pitiful mewling body of Rukario. Not ready to kill him yet, Deoxys turned around to face the cowering Chosen again. "Does anybody else wish to be a hero?" he asked.

"Y-yeah!" Geodude said, raising his guitar. "O-our roadies and second singer and electric keyboard player may be gone…b-but we can still play some serious rock and roll! The kind that'll trash your stinking ass! Y-y-yeah! L-let's get him guys!" The other Pokerockers stared at him, even the fearless Lombre. "What?"

"Um…dude…are you sure that'll work?" asked a doubtful Iron Shell.

Geodude blinked. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Ain't it obvious, dawg! Rock n' roll's the Devil's music! It can't be used against him!" Metal Sound yelled at him.

"Actually, that's not true," Deoxys corrected. "I don't endorse any particular brand of music, other than the symphony of screams. But, if you insist on challenging me…" The knocked-over trailer behind the Pokerockers suddenly came to life, its metal form and open side transmuting into a gaping mouth which toppled down over the startled rock stars and slammed shut, swallowing them whole. "Then you must be prepared to face the consequences." The animated trailer opened its mouth again and belched, spitting out the crunched-up pieces of the rock stars headsets, along with their shattered instruments. (Save for Forretress, Iron Shell, and Metal Sound, who had _been_ the instruments.) Brock fell to his knees, his jaw dropping in horror. The younger Jigglypuff stared at the vehicle which had just a little while ago been hers, and desperately thanked the elder Puff for kicking her out of the band, and was only slightly regretful that now her former friends were going to suffer for all eternity. The remaining Chosen scurried away from the trailer, which seemed to have settled down and didn't look like it was going to eat anyone else anytime soon.

Latias, who had become a smear on the trailer's underside, slid off and bulged up, inflating like a balloon as she reanimated again and all of her organs regenerated sickeningly. She blinked a few times and floated over to Rayquaza. "Oh, hello. Did I miss anything important?"

"I…" The weary, despairing Dragon King sagged. "Nothing that you would care about."

"Oh, okay," Latias said. "Will it be over soon?"

"…Yes, Latias…I think…I think that all too soon…it will all be over…"

…

Around the world, the flowers bloomed. And wherever they did, everyone died. No land was spared this fate, not even Sevii.

Oddly enough, the remaining islanders there, those that weren't tourists anyway, seemed totally unworried by the flowers. Almost as if they had expected this. Almost as if they had known they would die this day.

Maybe they had.

…

"And now," Deoxys continued. "For something _really_ impressive." His eyes flashed, and searing laser beams shot out of them, zigzagging through the air…

Heading straight for a shocked Ash Ketchum. Wobbuffet, fulfilling his role as the Shield, frantically pushed him out of the way and threw up a shield to deflect the beams…and was startled when the lasers changed direction in midair, zipping over and _around_ the shield, and struck Ash in the back, causing him to vanish in a flash of light and a scream of pain, leaving only a scorch mark on the ground behind.

"ASH!" Misty screamed.

"DAD!" Oliphan and Togetic cried.

"What did you do!" Pikachu insisted, drawing his sword as a furious Crawdaunt sidled up beside him.

"We JUST got him back, and now you go and kill him off again!" Crawdaunt agreed.

"Kill him? How can I kill what was never born?" Deoxys asked them politely.

"Huh?" This went totally over their heads.

"It's quite simple. That attack I just used wasn't a heat beam or laser, as you might have thought it was, but was in fact a ray capable of erasing objects or beings from the fabric of the universe," Deoxys explained. "Simply put, I made it so that there never was an Ash Ketchum, and never will be. He was never born. And as a result…everything he has ever done will soon be…undone. As will all of you."

They gasped. "Wh-what!" stammered Brock.

"But…that's preposterous!" Misty stammered. "If-if he was never born, then why do we still remember him!"

Deoxys shrugged. "Because the temporal ripples of the severe alteration in history have not yet reached this moment. When they do, the universe will have finished 'forgetting' Ash Ketchum, and so will all of you. Assuming any of you are alive after the final forgetting, of course."

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Pikachu challenged. "That you're going to kill all of us before that happens?"

Deoxys laughed. "You silly rodent, I don't need to. Isn't it obvious? When you get right down to it, in some manner every single one of you is indebted to Ash Ketchum. In some manner, it's because you encountered him or someone who encountered him that all of you have met each other. It's because of him that most of you are together now, and why many of you are even _alive_ at this moment. But once the universe completely forgets Ash, it will forget a number of you as well…because were it not for Ash Ketchum, this planet would have become completely extinct several times over before I even got here. As a result, all of you would have _died_ months, if not _years_ before this moment. Which means," He said with a grin. "That I don't need to do anything but sit back and watch as one by one, all of you fade away. Because without Ash Ketchum's existence, none of you would be here right now…and since he no longer existed, you won't be here either for much longer." He chuckled. "Your Mother has abandoned you. Your world is about to end. In mere moments, the universe itself will forget that many of you existed. There's no reason to torment you more, other than for overkill, and right now I'm in such a good mood that I don't feel like it." With that, Deoxys sat down in the street to watch for their reactions and wait for their rewritten fates to catch up with them.

It took them a few moments to realize the full ramifications of Deoxys' actions, and when it did, their emotions and the expressions of horror on their faces were even more rewarding than Deoxys had hoped for.

Without Ash, Tyranitar would have died as a stillborn egg, and his mother would have died as well, either from loneliness or from the poachers that had separated them in the first place. The Pokerockers would never have formed. The younger Jigglypuff would never have met May due to Team Cipher's recruiting her for their Igglybuff army, and so would never have gotten to learn how to become a performer and singing sensation. Brock would never have found his deadbeat father, and as a result would probably still be in Pewter City, maintaining the gym and taking care of his many, many siblings, unable to meet any pretty Nurse Joys or Jennies other than the ones that were already there. Or see the world's other sights, although that was far less important.

If it weren't for Ash, Wobbuffet might never have accidentally been traded to Team Rocket, become a member of their bumbling group, and eventually met Feebas or reconciled with his sister. (Of course, his sister might have been spared her awful fate, but Deoxys' minions would probably have found the island anyway since they wanted the crystal shard there and so she would have been killed and enslaved no matter what happened, he supposed.) Feebas would never have learned what true beauty was and might never have gotten the chance to evolve into a Mitotic, either. Cacturne would never have met James, and as such wouldn't have gotten turned into a Shadow Pokemon either, but she'd probably still have been a lonely, friendless cactus rather than the stronger one she was now who had plenty of friends.

If it weren't for Ash, Crawdaunt would still be a Corphish on Dewford Island, looking for possible mates, and so would never have met Corsola or his other friends. Corsola would never have met Crawdaunt because Misty might never have come to the Whirl islands to capture her. Gyarados would probably still be wild and untamed. Misty herself would have never found true love and have probably wandered the world, alone and miserable and ever in the shadow of her sisters, and would have died loveless and unnoticed when Mewtwo or whoever succeeded in their plots to destroy the world.

Togetic would never have had a mother, because her egg would have remained undisturbed in Grandpa Canyon forever. Oliphan would have never had a family, because his egg would have been given to a different trainer than Ash. Pikachu would have stayed locked away in Professor Oak's lab, too dangerous for any trainer to claim, and would have remained a prisoner all his life, never knowing the joys of friendship or love. Sadic would never have left her mountain home, and as such would never have met Pikachu and gotten pregnant from him. Rayquaza would still be the Ghost King, and Latias might have been killed by Anny and Oakley because the interference of the DMA would have kept any of the Ghost King's minions from saving her or Latios. Rukario would probably have been woken up when Regirock and Regice came to reactivate Registeel to help them remake the world, but they would have been confused and alone in a world and time they did not know, assuming nobody from 'their' side was able to rescue them. And then there were the changed fates of everyone else that Ash had ever met or changed and inspired, all of whom would have lived drastically different lives if he had never existed. Some of them might be spared the fate they had suffered this day or in recent times, but more likely they would have suffered worse. Well, except for Aerodactyl, since _technically_ Ash had nothing to do with him, but if one looked closely enough there was certain to be some secondary event caused by Ash's existence which would lead to his being brought to life. Probably. In any case, it was indubitable that the majority of them all, including those who were already dead, would have had a much less enjoyable life (assuming they lived at all) had Ash Ketchum never existed.

Assuming, of course, that they weren't all killed at some other point due to whatever world-threatening crisis Ash wasn't around to stop. Or maybe something else entirely would have happened, who's to say? Only those outside of time could truly say what the long-term effects of changes to history are, and while Deoxys was now (or had he always been?) one of those individuals, the Chosen were not, and as such had no assurances of a happy ending to their little tale. Simply put, if they did nothing and waited for history to finish rewriting itself, they'd most likely die prematurely due to one of the catastrophes Ash didn't avert (if nobody else stepped forward to do it, anyway) and as such their souls would be ejected early from the timestream, confused and disoriented and helpless to do anything constructive to save the universe. If they did anything now, Deoxys would kill them easily and absorb their souls, so they wouldn't even get the benefit of premature death and ejection and would just get suffering and damnation. Either way, they lost.

The majority of them took this badly, collapsing in tears and despair, or stared bleakly into nothing as they tried to comprehend what was happening and desperately hoping for a way out. Sadic, on the other hand…

The realization that she'd never have mated with Pikachu, never have produced the eggs already incubating inside her, kindled a spark of cold anger inside her that everyone else was lacking at the moment. Anger which led her to stand up and defy Deoxys. Anger which, the instant she pounced, would result in her horrible agonizing death and her even worse damnation in the afterlife, causing Pikachu and those who knew her somewhat to feel even deeper despair…

If, as they so often do, a miracle had not suddenly occurred to save the day.

The late Umbreon's sword, Soul Eater, shot down from the sky and drove itself into the pavement between Deoxys and the erstwhile Chosen, startling all and even exuding mild surprise from the alien. Energy both strange and familiar crackled out from the blade, ensnaring the fallen heroes and passing Deoxys completely. The Chosen were confused by this sudden twist in the plot, and even feared for a moment that this was yet another one of Deoxys' tricks…but when all felt a warm, ferocious feeling of compassion and protectiveness wash through them, they knew they were in good hands.

Absol, also known as Guardian, along with the wise Registeel, had sacrificed their physical bodies to grant the Mother the power she needed to defeat Deoxys. That power was not enough, but there was still enough of it left, just enough, to do one last act of kindness before they vanished from this world forever. Using their link to the Mother's spirit, the two Pokemon spirits fastened temporal chains to each of the Chosen, anchoring them to the only stable spot which would remain once the time/space distortion caused by Ash's erasure caught up with the universe, destroying this timeline utterly. Realizing this, and seeing as well that this anchorage would allow them to survive being erased or displaced from the timeline as well, Deoxys gathered his power, willing the life to drain from their bodies and for the electric currents running through their brains to overload and explode, blasting their heads to bloody pulp so that he might claim their souls before it was too late…

Only to find himself blocked by the very same souls whom he had discarded, those of the spirits Leviathan had imprisoned, who were immune to his corruption thanks to the gift the Mother had granted their general Shedinja. They writhed and screamed before the onslaught of psychic pain Deoxys unleashed…but they held firm, shielding the Chosen from the Evil One's might for a moment longer, which was all the time that was needed.

Even had Deoxys frozen time in its tracks, it would not have stopped the Chosen from their flight. On the other side of the world, Birth Island shook as many of its newest occupants looked about in confusion, the process begun by Rukario's shed blood coming to a close. The sea boiled and the air and fabric of time itself around the island warped, forming a bubble, as the lush mass of rock and soil _rose_ out of the sea, breaking free from the seabed connecting it to the Earth and taking a rather large amount of seawater with it, displacing a tremendous amount of water in the process and almost drowning the nearby islands (now vacant) as it floated higher into the air, the roots which had spread throughout the planet's subterrane and harvested souls retracted significantly and dangling down from the island's underside like a long, tangled mane of hair, bits of rock and crumbling dirt spilling from them as they twisted together into complex otherworldy patterns.

Power built around the rising island. One by one, giant spinning rings of light appeared above it, going upward through the atmosphere and out into space beyond in a straight line with increasing distances between them. There were seven in all, each shimmering with the colors of the rainbow. The island rose up and passed through the first ring, causing it to light up blindingly and for the island itself to tremble and accelerate, quickly passing through the second ring…and then the third, followed by the fourth…by then it had exited the atmosphere. Now it passed through the fifth, moving even faster and boosting past the spot where the Moon used to orbit, through the sixth, and now it was moving faster than the speed of light as it accelerated past Mars and the asteroid belt (or what was left of it) and towards the expanding conflagration of ruin which had once been Jupiter before the tremendous shockwave caused by Deoxys and the Mother's incredible battle occurred. Moving at impossible physics-defying speeds, untouched by the fire, the island rocketed into the explosion's heart and into the seventh and final ring waiting for it there…

And back on Earth, the Chosen started as all of them felt as if a hook had attached itself right beneath their navels, and then, without warning…

They were yanked away. They were gone, as was Soul Eater, and the myriad of spirits which had assisted them, giving up the ghost (horrible pun intended) and fading away from the universe forever, their energy depleted as they were ejected from time to rest until the next incarnation…assuming there was going to _be_ a next one, that is.

Deoxys seemed to take all this, the escape of not only his rival but her Chosen pawns, very well. He was laughing, even. But surely he had not expected something like this to happen…

Had he?

Regardless, he continued to laugh, teleporting himself, his viral hordes, and the dead bodies of every creature on Earth off the planet just as the cocoon of his 'past self' hatched, resulting in a horrific explosion which, combined with the temporal shockwave racing up through history caused by Deoxys' erasure of Ash, caused a collision of such phenomenal cosmic energies that the Earth, as well as over half of the galaxy, were annihilated instantly, sending hundreds of trillions to their deaths screaming as they fed Deoxys with their souls.

He watched the destruction with fascination from his position several trillion kilometers outside the galaxy, floating in a temporal bubble along with his minions and several billion corpses and other assorted materials so that none of them would be erased as, moments later, the universe itself ceased to exist, the entire timeline up from the point of Ash Ketchum's birth, which Deoxys had prevented, literally shattering and causing literally countless more souls to be torn from their lives, denied any peace or a moment to recover as Deoxys consumed all of them as well, adding them to his collection and increasing the power of his truest self, the Beast outside of time, by a tiny margin. Deoxys had seen universes destroyed before, or erased, and the sheer bleak beauty of the spectacle never ceased to amaze him…so his disappointment was understandable as time reasserted itself, a new universe weaving into being around him, one of many springing from the moment Deoxys had prevented, Ash's birth.

He could see everything laid out before him. The universe, its past, its futures, the endless parallel worlds lying beside it and intersecting with and overlapping it and creating a spectacular view impossible for anyone limited to the third dimension to comprehend without their heads exploding. And in all those worlds and times, he saw himself, and those other selves saw him.

And all of them smiled and nodded, for they liked what they saw in each other, for all saw the same thing reflected ad infinitum. And then they turned away, the many infinite selves, some combining into single entities or Powers, others remaining fragmented across thousands of realities. It didn't make a difference, really. All of them would combine back into one soon enough, anyway.

Before setting down to his real work, Deoxys tested his new powers by teleporting to Earth and going a few hours back in time to assist his self in this universe by horribly killing the Chosen picked by the Unown to replace the ones who had been removed from the timeline by Birth Island's departure. He then went back in time one day, killed the Chosen then, then went back in time to the day before that, killed the Chosen then as well, and proceeded to horribly kill them in new and imaginative ways every single day of their lives until they had never been born, then killed their parents all the way back through history, and so on and so forth until he had splintered and fragmented the future so many times that this strand of time seemed to be on the verge of unraveling…on one end, anyway. Now he'd just have to see about doing it on both ends, for _all_ timelines and all universes.

Returning to the future, or _a_ future anyway since there were so many now, Deoxys found his minions right where he had left them, in a time-proof bubble. Reentering the bubble, he used his power to gather his undead legions as well as the regularly dead corpses and draw them to him, covering his body completely and creating an extremely thick suit of flesh armor, a brand new battle body the size of a small moon in which he would unmake, well, just about everything.

Melting the bodies together to create a seamless, gargantuan form around him, Deoxys connected the many mouths lining his new body's exterior to the myriad of souls he had captured and sighed rapturously as the mouths began to scream, singing a rather muted form of the endless symphony produced by the Beast. "Ahh, sweet shades of home. How I long to return there…soon enough, though. Soon enough."

Gesturing with two of his new city-sized limbs, he brought four small objects before him: Mewtwo's chrysalis, the Psychic's body withered and drained and the crystal in his chest as dull as tarnished glass; the two used Giga Seals, left behind by the Chosen when Earth was destroyed; and the tiny crystal cage Deoxys had left in orbit before beginning his invasion, the one which contained his Jessie torturers as well as the pathetic broken James.

He consumed one of the GS Balls in a larger mouth, one which wasn't screaming, and felt his power grow again as his body grew much larger, absorbing the bodies of the monsters and the mass of the broken castle and viral fog which had been absorbed into the sphere. He then took the other Ball in one of his hands, holding the ball in fingers which split repeatedly into smaller and smaller claws and tentacles and sucking apertures down to the submolecular level, and easily undid the seal.

His fingers contained and absorbed the terrific explosion released as the ball burst open, the Black Karma attack which had been contained within dispersing and being drained into Deoxys' new body. Dark Latios, his form grotesquely ravaged by the power of his own technique, regenerated himself…and stared in wonder at his father's new form, one so horrible even H.P. Lovecraft would have gone mad and killed himself just from contemplating it. "Father, you're…_beautiful!_" he cried, feeling a mixture of awe and bitter jealousy at the same time.

"I suppose I am. Do not feel envy though, soon enough you shall become like me, one with the Beast, riding Latias forever. But first, you will need to find her."

"Yesss…" Dark Latios hissed, his pupils dilating. "Sissster…where has she gone! I cannot feel her in this universe!" Agitated by this, he ripped out an eyeball and chewed on it messily.

"That is because she is not in this universe. The Mother has stolen Latias and her 'friends' away from us, taking them to an oddly fluctuating point in space and time, Birth Island, which stays too fluid and inconstant for me to pinpoint and destroy myself. At least, not yet. That is where you come in, my son." Deoxys stroked his offspring's molecules with his tiniest fingertips, causing the evil dragon to gasp and spasm in pain unlike any he had ever felt before. It was _glorious_. "As twins, your soul and Latias' are bound together. No matter how changed you have become, that bond still remains intact. And with it, you will be able to find her, no matter where or when she travels to."

"I see…" Dark Latios whispered as Deoxys stopped his stroking, shivering and longing for more of the same. "You need me to locate her. My bond will allow me to find her, and once I do, my connection with _you_ will be able to give you a fix on the point in time and space they've gone to…"

"So that I may come to finish what I've begun," Deoxys concluded. "Precisely."

Both of them smiled. It was a heart-stopping sight. "But father," Dark Latios asked. "How will I get onto the island? Surely its defenses will not allow me to set foot on its shores so easily."

"That is correct. But surely you remember your education from Vincentio," said Deoxys, the crystal cage floating over to the Dark Dragon. "You recall the tale of the Trojan Horse."

Dark Latios' eyes lit up. He licked his lips with glee, slicing up his tongue. "Ahhh…yes, I see…"

Deoxys focused some of his many eyes on the cage…and it split open soundlessly, spilling out the forms of the three hideous Jessies, as well as their plaything James. He looked even more wretched and pathetic than he had when they had tossed him into the pod just…that morning, was it? Or had been in a timeline which no longer existed, anyway. In any case, he was bleeding, broken, filthy, twisted all over and overall disgusting and pitiable to look at. He gave a croaking squeal of terror when he saw the grinning Dark Latios, and went into convulsions when he saw the soul-shattering horror that was Deoxys, his insanity getting worse just by looking at him.

"This is why we have had to soften him up so," Deoxys explained to his progeny as James flailed about towards Dark Latios, gibbering, vomiting, and defecating, causing his offal to spin aimlessly about through the extremely low-gravity space. "So as to make him little more than a hollow shell, his soul far too frail and broken to look suspicious with one more twisted patch, namely yourself, inhabiting it. But just to be absolutely _certain_…" His flesh parted, allowing three small, trembling souls to float out. "These abused spirits will lend the disguise more substance. Their sorrowful screams of pain and despair will conceal the fact that James barely has a soul to scream at all, as well as hiding you from watchful eyes so that you may spring when the time is right."

"And what time will that be, Father?" Dark Latios asked, eager to begin his mission.

"Use your best judgment. Try to kill whatever inhabitants you can, if it pleases you, on your way to Latias…and if you get the chance, I would like you to attempt to attack the repository of the Mother's spirit directly. Any amount of weakening you can do to her will help me in the long run when I come to take her soul."

"And Latias?"

"You may do with her as you wish, assuming you survive."

Dark Latios cackled joyfully. "At last, at last! Dearest sister, you will never escape me again! I'm ready, Father!"

"Very good." Dark Latios' body vaporized, the very atoms reduced to nothing by Deoxys' will, leaving only the black seed which contained the kernel of Dark Latios' spirit. The seed floated over to James, crackling with black electricity. The human's eyes bulged in their sunken sockets, and he screamed and thrashed about like never before, the terror so thick his heart almost burst, but Deoxys held it tightly, unwilling to grant James the gift of death.

The seed, its energy bolts now washing over James and filling him with unbearable pain, hovered over the human's chest before stopping a moment, as if satisfied…

And then it burrowed into his chest.

James' screams rose to an almost perfect pitch, blending in with the other screams singing from Deoxys' smaller mouths, and causing him and the Jessies to sigh blissfully as they psychically fed on James's pain and raw, naked fear as the seed imbedded itself deep within James's heart, its tendrils and roots shooting throughout his body and blood vessels, leeching off the few nutrients he had left like the greedy little parasite he was.

With a flick of a monstrous finger, the three terrified, tortured, enslaved souls floated towards James as well. "It is a pity I must give you up," Deoxys said regretfully to the souls as they merged with James's body, causing his almost nonexistent aura to flicker and flare into new, agonized life. "You were such fine specimens. But I will have you to myself again soon enough, so to speak. And more besides that." James's convulsions had stopped, and his eyes stared blankly at the world. "And now you may go." James' body flew backwards at incredible speeds, every bone in his body shattering on impact when the three Jessies caught him again and huddled around him, keeping him to themselves. Their hideous faces leaned down to feed on the poor human again before the two halves of the crystal capsule closed shut over them, silencing James's vocal cries, but not silencing the ones of his spirit, what little there was left of it.

Deoxys used his infinitely fine appendages to tug on the threads of space-time, tearing open a rift to…somewhere and nowhere else, a convoluted pathway leading through numberless dead-ends and false trails and each and every dimension there was or would be, an ever-shifting labyrinth of sorts which would take Deoxys far too long to navigate on his own, even with power over time on his side and mastery over quantum physics…but Dark Latios, with an anchor of his own bonding him to the Mother's traveling island, would have no such worries of getting lost. He would blaze a trail of his own for Deoxys to follow as he sought out his sister…and when he found her, there would be a terrible reckoning for all who dared to escape their fates. The small pod hurtled off into the infinite maze, the rift closing behind it.

Deoxys relaxed then, letting go of the time bubble around him. He had no more use for it. "And now," he said. "While Dark Latios seeks out his sister and my Other…the real work begins."

Using quantum physics to split himself into two 'instants', Deoxys set off for two different points in time, the only places where every timeline in every universe converged: the beginning, and the end.

Along the way, the two Deoxys faced many foes, beings with power beyond comprehension, guardians of the timestream, many of them _embodiments_ of the timestream or the universe itself, and some were even _stronger_ still, responsible for maintaining the very balance of the cosmos and reality itself. There were heroes without equal, rulers and masters of the universe(s), weavers and tailors of reality and dreams, collectors of souls, entities from higher (or lower) dimensions, creatures vast and old and powerful…

And none of them stood a chance against the two. All of them, gods and heroes and beings even greater than that fell before the duo as they moved in opposite directions, shattering the minds of their foes and feasting on their souls, proving that even the strongest of all could still cry like a lost, lonely baby when confronted with the end of their supposedly infinite existences. Their fear and pain and energies nourished the Deoxys, and made them strong. They became stronger still as they encountered their other selves, their brothers and sisters and reflections and siblings from every range on the spectrum, traveling as they were through time back towards the beginning and forwards to the end. They fused together and yet remained apart, their minds rejoining into a whole while leaving the bodies separate, at least for the time being, to better deal with the self-styled guardians of creation who barred their way. And no matter how powerful these guardians thought themselves to be, no matter how infinite or beyond mortal ken, all of them died in despair, their cause lost in failure.

And at last, they made it, to the end of time and its beginning, opposite sides of infinity and yet so close they were almost touching…so to speak.

And once they were there, the Deoxys and their counterparts merged together into two great and terrible but identical monsters, still linked despite the vast temporal-spatial distance between them by the same all-seeing intelligence they shared. And then, mustering their power, they began the complete and total nullification of, well, everything.

At the beginning of time, in the moment's breath between the negation of the last universe and the beginning of this one, Deoxys altered the composition of space itself to keep it from compressing on itself and igniting in the spark which would create the Big Bang. And just like that, the universe, all the universes, had no beginning, for none of them could even start to form without the creation of matter in the Big Bang. And so, slowly, the universes and timelines and realities began to unravel from their meanest origins, history and the breadth of existence erasing itself as an immense temporal wave rippled forward through time, de-creating everything in its path.

And to keep heroes or scientists in the future from discovering a way to save their pasts, at the end of time the other Deoxys unleashed a similar temporal wave back through history just as the very last star burned out, de-creating the universe in reverse to destroy every conceivable future from even _further_ in the future, literally burning the candle that was reality from both ends and melting the 'wax' which made up existence into nothing. And when the burning wicks met in the very center, the figurative 'middle' of time, that's exactly what there would be—nothing. Nothing save the only true reality there was, the endless soulscape of Eternity. And then all souls would be assimilated into One, as it had been before time had began, and there would be only One once more, no others.

Nothing else save the music, and it would echo to the corners of Eternity forever. And it would be very sweet indeed.

…

Mie gasped in horror, watching as realities vanished, even pocket universes with timelines curled up into themselves disintegrating into nothing as the waves of destruction washed up through their links to mainstream universes and nullified their existences, preventing souls from being born into life and either ejecting them from the unraveling form of time or simply dropping them into the jaws of the beasts at the Beginning or the End, or the even greater one circling just outside the furthest edge of reality, not far from where Mie herself and the Unown were watching. "No! This is horrible!"

_It is as it should be, _the Unown told her. _It is as we planned it. Everything is going _exactly_ as we anticipated. But do not be afraid, Mie. In the end, everything will be made clear. All will be well._

And as they watched, one by one the stars went out.

…

And…it's NOT THE END!

Yes, I know I told you last chapter that this one might be _the_ Last One. And I was telling the truth. It _might_ be, meaning also that it might not. And in this case, it is indeed not the end. The story isn't over, not yet.

Where could we possibly go from here, you ask? From the end of all things? Good question. Just wait until next time and see for yourself. As the Unown said, all will be well. And you trust the Unown, don't you? grins manically


	62. Birth Island, Paradise Found

As promised, the story continues. What lies beyond the end of the world? Read on and behold for yourselves.

Disclaimer: I am proud to say that I own QUITE A LOT of this next chapter, seeing as how I made up Birth Island and the tale behind it, even if many of the concepts involved are not exactly original and are inspired by numerous other sources.

But then again, I challenge you to find someone else who's created an island which, at a whim, could kill everyone on Earth, collect their souls, and transmigrate through hyperspace or wherever to another world. : P

…

Latias felt numb.

That was odd. Shouldn't being wrenched violently from the third dimension by spiritual benefactors have hurt a lot more as her body was yanked through time and space, its mass translated into energy and back again? And yet she still felt numb. How disappointing. She'd have to fix that at once.

She opened her eyes.

Right above her was an unfamiliar face staring down at her. It was blue, vaguely humanoid, and covered in scales, with big yellow eyes, no nose, large fins for ears, and damp green seaweed-like hair. The face smiled as Latias blinked and looked up at it.

"Hello," the face said.

"Hello," Latias echoed back, driving her claw into the thing's torso and ripping out its heart, intending to feast on the pain and anguish from the creature's death to feel less numb.

She was disappointed. The creature died smoothly and painlessly, not even struggling to stay alive as it collapsed on top of Latias and bled all over her. It was still smiling. Latias tried to grab the soul as it vacated the scaly body so that she might torture it and feed off its agony, but it slipped right through her claws and flew out of Latias' line of vision. How strange.

Giving that bizarre occurrence little more thought, she hungrily devoured the creature's body, intentionally scraping and biting at herself in the process to ward off the numbness. It didn't work. She felt nothing as the warm meat slid into her belly. She felt nothing as she mutilated herself. Something was wrong.

She ripped off her arm. Nothing happened. No jolts of searing pain burned themselves into her brain. Yes, something was very wrong. She began to panic as the numbness set in. She didn't want to feel numb. She didn't want to go back there where her brother had put her, the empty nothing void place. She needed sensation. She needed pain. Pain, pain, pain!

Looking around somewhat frantically, she soon spotted her fuh-riendz lying on the sun-drenched beach nearby. The fact that she was on a soft sandy beach in an unknown place was only of minor import compared to this. They were clearly still unconscious from the transport process, whatever that had been. Feeling a glimmer of relief, she floated over to one of them, the white thing she recalled as being her sis-ter Togetic, and prepared to torture her.

_Stop._

Latias' claws, which had been about to rip off Togetic's wings, hesitated. Who had said that? It didn't feel like telepathy, but something…deeper? Blinking dully, she looked around the shoreline, seeing nobody other than the prostrate bodies of her fuh-riendz, all ripe for a meal, as well as the heads of creatures similar to the one she had killed moments ago bobbing out of the water some distance away. Had they been the ones who spoke to her?

No, wait, her mistake. It hadn't been the blue-skinned creatures, but the other beings on the shore. The ones who had appeared as if out of thin air and stood there, wavering, their forms indistinct and made of vibrant colors. They surrounded Latias and her fuh-riendz, looking at them with interest, strange feelings washing off of them which Latias didn't understand in the least and so discarded at once. "Hello," she said.

_Greetings,_ said the beings. The most prominent of them, numbering ten, stepped forward. _Welcome to Birth Island._

The name sounded very familiar. Oh, that's right; it was the center of the Mother's power. She had married Rayquaza here in her last life. None of the memories attached to this place meant anything to her anymore. "I am numb," she told them. "Help me."

_We cannot by ourselves,_ they said. _This island is not a place for pain, not the kind you have been forced into desiring, anyway. Our souls would not nourish you for you cannot touch them, otherwise we would give you as many as you needed. Only the Mother can save you._

"Then where is she?" Latias asked, an edge of anxiety and fear creeping into her emotionless voice. "I can't…I can't go back there, not…" The memories of the nothing place where her brother had left her for what must have been five million years but were in fact only ten minutes flashed through her mind.

_We would fill you with our love, but since you cannot understand it, it would not help. All we can do is this._ Latias suddenly felt different. She was growing number, yes, but it didn't bother her as much. How strange. _Do not harm your friends. You will need them, as they will need you._

"Okay."

_We will see you again soon. Goodbye._

"Goodbye."

"Aunt Latias, who are you talking to?"

"Hmm?" Latias turned around to find Togetic sitting up, blinking at her in confusion. The other Chosen seemed to be getting up as well, and were in varying degrees of wakefulness.

"Who were you talking to?" Togetic repeated.

"Them," Latias said, gesturing at the stretch of empty sand where she had just seen several phantoms just a moment ago.

"Them?" asked a doubtful and confused Wobbuffet.

"Yes," Latias agreed. "Them."

"And…who is 'Them' exactly?" Tyranitar grunted as he rolled over, shaking sand off his body, the battle armor he had worn earlier, the Mother's gift to him, mysteriously absent, as if unnecessary here.

"I don't know," Latias said truthfully.

"Riiiight," Crawdaunt said doubtfully. "Ah, Latias, no offense, but I'm not sure you're all right in the head." He tapped her on the head with a pincer to demonstrate. "I mean, not that you were sane to begin with, what with your sick bastard of a brother lobotomizing you and all, and then your brutal and disgusting slaughter of May and her Pokemon, not to mention your current creepy inability to feel emotions, among other things…but at least you never _saw_ things before. So…yeah, you're definitely not all right."

"I might not be," she agreed. "Maybe I was insane again. I see lots of things whenever that happens."

There was an uncomfortable pause. "Uh, okay…" Cacturne said slowly, feeling awkward.

Sadic sniffed the air. "Hey, I smell meat. Did you kill something girl, because I'm hungry-"

"Latias!" The dragon in question looked away from the Manyula as Rayquaza, looking stronger than before, sort of dragged and slithered his way over to her. "Are you all right?" he asked in concern, emotions radiating from him which Latias did not comprehend and so ignored.

"I don't know," she said honestly.

"Well, I'm feeling fine," said Rukario as he stood up, remarkably healed from the brutality Deoxys had put him through.

The others gasped. "Whoa! Weren't you just…" Brock started.

"Grievously wounded? Yes. But the Mother healed me. This is her homeland, and in a way she is stronger here than anywhere else," the vulpine explained.

"Stronger…but, didn't she die?" asked a confused Jigglypuff.

Rukario smiled at her. "Death is rarely the final end that you may think it is."

"And…where is this place exactly?" Misty asked as she got up, spreading her wings and feeling a breeze from out over the water. The sea just a few yards away was whispering to her, enticing her to jump in, to be in her element. Or was that the strange mer-creatures further out?

Wait, what? She looked out, and saw no one. Had she been imagining them?

Oh well, no matter.

"Birth Island, of course," Rayquaza told her.

Pikachu blinked. "Birth Island?" That name sounded familiar.

"Wasn't that where mean old General Hanson wanted to go?" Oliphan asked. "The place with immortal fruits or something?"

Rukario smiled. "Immortal fruits? Not quite, but the fruit here _is_ so nutritious that it can actually extend your lifespan significantly just by eating it or drinking its juice…which is why one must be careful not to partake in too much, lest they find themselves outliving everyone they loved and dying all alone. But yes, this is the fabled land, the center of the Mother's power, and not just the repository of her spirit, but the home of her most loyal and powerful servants."

"Where were those servants when we were getting our asses whooped by Deoxys?" Crawdaunt accused.

"They were seeing to preparations of their own," Rayquaza explained. "And…they would have loved to come help, but due to their natures…er, it's hard for them to leave the island. That is to say, they _can_, but the further away they get from it, the more their power decreases…among other things."

"In any event, it is good that they _did_ stay here, because if they hadn't, they might not have been able to facilitate the spell I activated, one that they've been preparing for centuries, just in case Deoxys had managed to win. Were it not for them, we wouldn't be here now, one of the safest places of all!" Rukario elaborated.

"Safe…" Misty frowned. "How exactly is this place safe! Deoxys can control time and space now, and do just about anything! He…" She grimaced. "He wiped us out…he killed so many of our friends…defeated us like we were nothing…he…he even destroyed Ash forever…" She blinked. "Hey…speaking of which, how come we _are_ all here? How did we get here, exactly? And…and why do I remember Ash at all, didn't Deoxys say what he did would erased Ash from our memories and cause many of us to stop existing?"

"Don't you remember?" Oliphan squeaked. "It was Absol! I could feel him, and all those other people, helping us when Miss Umbreon's sword shot down and zapped us! They must have transported us here somehow, just before it was too late!"

"Oh yeah, that's right…" Pikachu agreed. "Good old Absol…hope he's okay now." His ears twitched. "That answers one question, but Misty still had a couple of good points. Why _do_ we remember Ash, and what exactly makes this place so safe, anyhow?"

Rayquaza smiled. "Why don't you look around? Once you get a better perspective of this place, perhaps you will understand."

They turned around. They looked. Their jaws dropped. "Whoa," Gyarados said.

"Holy…" agreed Aerodactyl.

Rukario smirked. "You have no idea how right you are."

Crawdaunt said every curse word he knew, and many he had made up, unworried about corrupting any children because there weren't any nearby. Corsola still fired spikes into his face automatically. Latias just blinked dully, unmoved.

Birth Island was an enormous mass (much bigger than Wobbuffet's home island, as the blue blob and his companions thought blandly, unable to sort their emotions properly in the face of such magnificence) covered in lush, tropical plants and trees the likes of which the group had never seen before, the leaves flowering with radiant and beautiful colors as oddly-shaped blooms and soft grass littered the ground, waving slightly in the breeze. The treetops shifted as if something immense were moving in their midst, and occasionally short heads on long necks rose from the leaves to peer around for a moment before vanishing back under the canopy. There were many lakes, fed by rivers cascading down from the central mountain in the heart of the island in magnificent waterfalls and streams eventually leading down to the shore. Several of the lakes fed into each other and were laid out on giant terraces and plateaus which looked almost like a staircase a giant might use. Small islands populated by trees and rocks dotted many of the lakes, glistening like jewels in the silvery setting of the flowing water. Mist from all the waterfalls rose upward slowly, refracting the sunlight and causing rainbow arches to dance about the island, almost looking solid enough to climb on for every moment in which they stood still.

Up the slope of the island visible from the shore, the group could see many clearly artificial landmarks, hills carved to look like the faces of Pokemon they had never seen before, hundred-foot-high totem poles and sculptures, monuments of stone and wood and crystal poking out here and there above the treetops, even a pyramid or two and quite a few towers. They seemed to be laid out in a pattern, but it wasn't quite discernible from the beach. Pikachu found himself wondering what sort of civilization might have made such constructs.

And with all these signs of civilized life, there had to be cities or villages, and sure enough, there were. There were many clusters of huts and buildings wrapping around the island in an architectural style none of them recognized, some near the mountain, some deeper into the jungle, others close to the monuments and edifices, and a few were actually floating on the lakes, built on giant rafts or rising on pylons sticking out of the water, and Misty found herself suddenly wishing she could live in one of those houses, it would be the closest thing to being in water than simply living in it full-time. None of the villages looked like the modern cities or towns the majority of the group was used to, but…there was something about them…

Strange flying Pokemon, birds and winged lizards and things they had trouble describing flew all over the place, in flocks and swarms, their forms bright and colorful as they filled the sky and flew from here to there. Some were almost frighteningly large, and Rayquaza wondered if any dragons had found their way here and survived the certain destruction of Earth, while Aerodactyl felt a deep sense of shock as he saw what looked to be other Aerodactyl flying with the rest of the avians.

And then there was the island's central mountain, one which Tyranitar thought yearningly looked a lot like his old home of Mt. Silver…only, not. It wasn't especially high as mountains went, but it was still wide and tall and towered over the foothills and steppes and plateaus surrounding it, populated with forests and a couple of building clusters. And as mentioned before, waterfalls cascaded down its surface.

But that wasn't what was really impressive. What was really impressive was the tree.

The top of the mountain was a hollowed-out crater, and from it raised the strong, stout trunk of a mighty tree, so great that clouds actually formed around it. It was about the height of a redwood, and much thicker, giving it the appearance of a giant ash tree. Its branches were vast and long, spreading out to shade at least a quarter of the island's mass beneath its magnificent green leaves, many of which sparkled like emeralds. The tree's roots, each as thick as oil pipelines, grew over the edges of the crater and twisted their way down the mountainside, dipping in and out of the lush and colorful slopes. Some eventually vanished into the ground, while others were dipped into the lakes formed by the rivers flowing down the mountainside, all of which sprung from a single source around and beneath the tree. Togetic spread her wings and rose up slightly, as if trying to touch it, although she knew the tree was in fact so high up that she could never get there in a single flight.

But even that wasn't the really amazing part. For one thing, the island wasn't placed in an ocean at all, but in a giant bubble, its transparent surface covered with almost invisible runes looking remarkably like the Unown's bodies. The 'sea' going out from the beach the Chosen were currently standing on extended about fifty to seventy miles in every direction before abruptly hitting the edge of what looked to be a gigantic bubble encircling the entire landmass and forming a transparent sky. Half of this bubble was filled by air and the aboveground parts of the island, while the lower half was filled with water and the submerged underside of the island, including the many twisting giant tree roots emerging from the hard rock and soil. The enclosed sea was filled with all sorts of aquatic Pokemon, including fish and sea creatures none of them had ever seen before, along with what looked like genuine mer-people, although they were more fish-like than human, going against many of the myths told about them. These mers and other humanlike Water Pokemon were swimming in and out of caves dotting the island's underside, as well as large homes made out of partially solidified bubbles and barnacles of sorts anchored to the twisting roots. Gyarados and Misty found an urge to join the creatures down there, to swim in those depths.

And that _still_ wasn't all. After all, if the island was enclosed in a bubble, then where was it floating? The transparent membrane making up the sky allowed the Chosen to see just that: a breathtaking array of stars as far as the eye could see, nebulae and galaxies and supernovae, stellar phenomenon any astronomer would sacrifice both their arms for streaking past the bubble as it drifted through what looked to be the furthest reaches of space. It was so immense and serene that even the somewhat hardened Sadic was rendered speechless.

And what's more, that space itself seemed to be _changing_. Every few moments, the backdrop pasted across the sky seemed to shift, transitioning through a mind-boggling array of colors for a split second before shifting back to space…except it was totally different now, with completely foreign constellations and galaxies. Sometimes it even seemed as if the physics making up that space was different than the kind they were used to, causing the universe outside the island to twist and manifest itself in bizarre and unusual ways.

Just outside the bubble's surface were two giant objects slowly orbiting the sphere, one an immense flaming Solrock which outshone the stars around it, the other a massive Lunatone generating moonlight as well as eclipsing darkness to keep too much of the Solrock's light from entering the bubble and blinding its inhabitants. The Solrock and Lunatone were equidistant from each other and circling horizontally, bringing daylight to one half of the island and night to the other. These two Celestial Pokemon were the only steady points in the constantly changing cosmos around them, and many of the Chosen focused on the 'sun' so as not to be completely disoriented or go outright mad by the immensity of the universe stretched out around them, just outside their transparent capsule's shell. And even then, it was almost too much for their already overtaxed minds to handle, after everything else that had occurred that day.

"Mom…" Tyranitar whispered to himself. "Mom…I can…I can see the stars…so many…and like you said, there's no way I could ever count them all."

"It's…" Jigglypuff started. "It's like when we fought Mewgle, but…better, not a virtual universe he cooked up. I…" She began to cry. "I wish…I wish everyone else could be here to see this, even if they did kick me out. Why…why did they all have to die!"

"…This is…" Brock had trouble thinking of anything to say. "I mean…geez…what is all this!"

"And I thought your island was pretty," Milotic whispered to Wobbuffet, curling herself around him. "But this…THIS…"

"Yeah," he said faintly, too stunned by the shifting starlight among everything else to say any more.

"It's beautiful," Cacturne agreed. "And…and I'm glad you're here to see it with me…my very best friends in all the worlds." She hugged them from behind, looking over Wobbuffet's head at the stars and at the tree.

Crawdaunt, on the other hand, was focusing on the water instead of the depths of space. "Hey babe," he said to Corsola. "If everything on this island is as fantastic as what we've seen so far…what do you think lives down there? Anything pink, perhaps? Some poor lonely girl waiting for a handsome incubus like myself to make all her dreams come true?"

Corsola raised an eyebrow. "'Incubus?' What the heck is that?"

"A kind of demon," Gyarados commented, peering over them to look at the water as well. "Male. Excels at attracting women and fulfilling their sexual desires, then feeding off the emotions generated by said desires, and makes the females addicted to him by churning up their feelings so that they crave nothing more than sex from him."

Corsola nodded. "Yep, that's Crawdaunt all right."

"Heheh, certainly is!" the lobster agreed. "Whoo nelly, a whole new frontier to explore, and I mean that with every kind of sexual entendre imaginable!"

"Is this Heaven, Big Sister?" Oliphan asked Togetic.

She blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, I always thought Heaven would look something like this. Maybe we're dead," the elephant said with a shrug of his large shoulders.

Togetic frowned and glanced at Latias. "If this were Heaven…would Aunt Latias still be so…broken?"

"…Oh yeah…" Oliphan said unhappily, his ears drooping. "Well, at least it's not the other place…I think."

Sadic whistled, extremely impressed. "Well," she said, shaking her head. "When I got that Unown telegram asking me to save the world and left my cozy mountain cave to join you guys, I _never_ thought I'd wind up out here…wherever the heck here is!"

"I'm glad you did," Pikachu told her. "Because otherwise…I don't know if I'd have been able to face this. I mean, this, and everything else that's happened today, it's…"

"Yeah," the killer agreed, her face uncharacteristically downcast. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Aerodactyl was staring at some of the avians circling far away. "Are those…other Aerodactyl!" he wondered in disbelief. Did this mean he was no longer the only one of his kind? The thought shook him deeply.

Misty fell to her knees, on the brink of tears. "What…what is all this! Where are we! Where did you take us! WHAT DID THAT SPELL OF YOURS DO!"

Rukario glanced out at the constantly shifting space outside the bubble. "We are in dimensional flux, moving through every conceivable point along every possible timeline and chain of continuity with no predetermined pattern, and one determined destination…another planet."

The Chosen turned to look at him. "A planet?" Pikachu asked.

Rukario nodded. "Yes. You see, long ago, when the natives of Birth Island learned through their meditations and watching the stars that Deoxys was returning to Earth, they consulted the Mother's dormant spirit in her temple within the tree, and asked the Unown what should be done. The Unown and the Mother then communed and shared their thoughts, using processing power removed from our own by an unfathomable distance to calculate strategies and peer into the future to see what the possible consequences of their actions might be. They took the measure of all of reality itself, and the way the eternal war between good and evil was flowing. They debated and planned and argued and tested and contemplated for almost fifty of our years before coming up with the solution, a way not only to defeat Deoxys, but to permanently break the cycle of suffering and hatred which enables him to exist and forces the souls of all through a never-ending journey of birth and death and reincarnation. They formulated a plan; two plans really, meticulous in detail and fluid in action, nearly as all-encompassing and contingency-covering as the plots of the great enemy himself. The Unown peered into the future and, with the Mother's aid, set events into motion that would lead to the shaping and emergence of heroes who might be capable of repelling Deoxys' power and giving the Mother the strength to vanquish her foe. And those heroes were you, the Chosen. And in the present time, the natives of Birth Island, with the aid of their allies throughout Sevii and the rest of the world, began laying the groundwork of what essentially amounted to a massive planetary evacuation system, segments of the Great Tree's vast root system genetically re-engineered to, at the casting of a spell, emerge in populated areas all around the world and absorb the souls of all sentient life-forms in the area, terminating the bodies and transporting the souls safely here to the island. All of these roots could be activated individually at a moment's notice, but they could be triggered simultaneously only by a master spell…the same spell my master left me, the one which came to life with my blood and killed every last living thing on the Earth…and in doing so, saved them all." They stared at him in horror, shocked by this revelation. Well, except Latias, who found herself wondering if she could eat any of those souls.

"Killed…" Milotic whispered.

"It was all very risky," Rayquaza rumbled. "The roots were deep underground, too deep for Deoxys or his minions to detect. If they had been activated prematurely, the whole plan might have been found out and then all could have been lost. Not to say that there wasn't a contingency plan for _that_ emergency either, but it would involve auto-detonating the planet and, well…that would have been rather messy for everyone, wouldn't it?" He sighed. "And so, to keep the plan a secret…an uncountable number of souls had to be sacrificed, so that others might survive."

"And then," Rukario continued. "Once the souls were collected, another spell, one beyond even my master's skills, would be activated…one that would separate Birth Island from the planet itself and send it flying into the vast reaches of time and space, traveling through an ever-changing dimensional labyrinth to a single world…a world far removed from the others and drifting at the very fringes and heart of time, a world which is safe, a world which old friends of the Mother long ago promised to us, a world where, hopefully, we can begin anew."

There was a long silence as they processed this. "So…so that's it!" Togetic asked, her voice high and shrill. "That…that was your big master plan, your backup, your contingency! To-to just _run away_…and kill everyone on Earth in the process!"

"Better that than let Deoxys have their souls, don't you think?" Rukario replied. "And in any case, no, that is not the entire plan, just what I have been told. The Mother withheld various sensitive details upon briefing Registeel and I, and nobody else save the Unown or the Mother's closest companions know what those details are. They deal with the final steps in the Mother's, and in a sense all of Life's, goal, which is to eliminate the Beast of corruption which Deoxys represents and allow all souls to one day evolve into the best form that they can be. The very act of _speaking_ these details within the timeline could alter our own perceptions of what may come to pass, and in doing so jeopardize _everything_ we have fought for. You believe that we have lost terribly now? You are correct. But even though Deoxys has won, even though Earth is destroyed and so many of your friends are gone…" He almost hesitated at this. "Even so, that does not mean we still do not have a chance. And so, to preserve that chance at all costs, we cannot, I repeat, _cannot_ know all that there is to know about the Plan…or else it will all be for naught. The losses you have suffered, which may already seem like they were for nothing, will truly be meaningless. In a way, they already are, considering the stakes we face now, and the losses all of creation is suffering at this moment. As it is now, your pain serves as a reminder of what you must fight for, and why you cannot lose faith…because as long as _you_ are still alive, there is still a chance for them, and you must never lose sight of that." He glanced away, up at the tree atop the tall mountain. They followed his gaze, some agreeing unhappily with what he said, others denying it, others just plain uncertain of what to do or how they felt. "In any event, what has happened has happened. It is in the past now…in fact, in a sense none of it ever _happened,_ really, and we no longer have the power to change it. If you still feel doubt or anger, you may speak to the Mother herself about this. I will take all who wish to see her to her sanctuary. But in the meantime, know this." He turned back to face the group. "Remember that even if Earth was destroyed, it is not lost. We all still remember it. And what is more, we have survived its demise, so that it may live on inside us, and in the others who managed to find their way here before the end."

They stirred at this. "Others?" Jigglypuff asked.

"Oh, of course!" Pikachu realized. "The gateway, the one the Mother made! That led here, didn't it?"

Rayquaza nodded. "Yes. And so that means the population of Ever Grande City…or part of it, anyway…still lives on this island, safe thanks to your actions. Even if we did fail, you may take heart in that you succeeded in saving all those people."

Misty frowned. "What do you mean by, 'part' of it?"

Rukario shrugged sheepishly. "The island will only be able to support a certain number of people, and at the moment the humans and Pokemon we have brought here will require more sustenance and space than the regular islanders, who can go weeks at a time without food. Many of the refugees will have passed through the gateway and arrived here safe and sound. Others…will also arrive here, but without their bodies intact. Their souls, however, are perfectly safe, and even now are being tended to by the Mother. Still, I am almost certain your friends who passed through the gate before it was destroyed still live."

"Then…Wes and Rui might still be alive," Aerodactyl realized. He grimaced. "How'm I gonna tell them Enzo, Loreon, and Boss Gonzap are all dead?"

"And that means Max might be alive too," Jigglypuff added. "Although he might not be happy about it, or that Earth is gone, though I guess he can't be happy anymore anyway because he's crazy."

"I still think you should let me eat him," Sadic grumbled.

Pikachu sweatdropped. "Maybe as a last resort," he muttered.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"No."

"Awww."

"So Grandma might still be alive too," Oliphan said to his sister.

"Maybe," Togetic agreed. "But…Daddy's not. He's not even dead really, because Deoxys made it so he was never born…right?"

"But if that's true, then how do we remember him?" Oliphan asked.

"…I don't know," Togetic admitted unhappily. "Maybe we'll find out on our own. But still…I don't want to have to tell Grandma what happened…"

"…Was all this really necessary?" Misty asked Rukario. "Losing Ash, losing…losing everything?"

Rukario shrugged. "You are asking the wrong person," he said kindly. "I have lost much as well, and not even my master knew if it was necessary. So, all I can do is move on, and see what new challenges, and perhaps losses, wait for me in the future."

"…But how?" Misty whispered, clenching her fists as Rukario walked past her, calling to the others and telling them that he would lead them to the main village. "How can I go on without…without him?"

…

Before they left the beach, their shock wore off and they realized in full measure the immensity of everything that had just occurred. After several minutes of wailing and sobbing curled up in balls on the sand, they recovered somewhat from their grief and entered the forest.

They followed a trail up from the beach surrounded by foliage that seemed to lead into the heart of the jungle, Rukario guiding them on their path. As they walked, (or hovered or floated through the air) they observed the rather unusual plants all around them. The flowers and bushes lining the path rustled of their own volition and blossomed in magnificent geometric figures and shapes which caught the eye and caused many to slow down as they pondered the natural complexity. The tree trunks seemed to range from thin as a streetlamp to thicker than Oliphan's enormous body, with covering ranging from blue moss sparkling with phosphorescent lights, to mushrooms that actually seemed to _slither_ up the side of the trunks as the Chosen passed, making strange chittering noises, to extraordinarily beautiful flowers glistening with gold and prismatic colors which rustled in a wind none of them could feel and seemed to turn to watch them in interest. Maybe they were.

Their noses were bombarded by fantastic scents and aromas they had never smelled before, rich flavors of smell which caressed their noses much like a gourmet meal tantalizes the tongue. In addition, they all felt at the back of their minds that they were being watched, but it wasn't the feel of something dreadful hovering just above them and behind in the shadows, that felt impossible here, instead, it felt like... a friend walking beside them.

Since nobody asked Latias, she didn't tell anyone about all the intangible figures walking and floating alongside them.

But that wasn't all. While the foliage and leaves were for the most part green, as the Chosen walked by it shifted colors, as if reading their minds and changing to accommodate their moods. The sunlight from the giant orbiting Solrock passed through these colored leaves and was refracted, showering them in rainbow hues which couldn't help but lighten their spirits a little and in so doing increase the intensity of the rainbow. Also, the dirt path they were treading itself seemed willing to help the Chosen out by widening itself to make the larger members of the party like Tyranitar and Oliphan feel more comfortable, something which the dinosaur-like Pokemon commented on.

"It's not that surprising, really," Pikachu said after a moment's thought. "If all that stuff Wallace told us about this island is true, how it's cut itself off from the world for thousands of years, I suppose it only makes sense that the gene pool here would have gotten more varied and diverse from the life forms we're used to on the mainland. The intelligence and response to travelers these plants seem to demonstrate indicates the rapid evolution caused by isolation…or perhaps these plants were at one point Grass Pokemon, and they simply…put down roots and became the trees and flowers we see now."

"If that's the case," Brock realized as well. "Then the Pokemon here must be extremely different from the ones we're used to as well. But we haven't seen any."

Latias thought back to the strange creature she had eaten when she woke up, and the others looking at them from offshore, but said nothing because Rayquaza hadn't told her to, so instead she remained silent and kept levitating her current master as he had requested. It wasn't as if she was required to do anything else.

She bit into her flesh, not caring that those close to her recoiled at the act. Still no pain. Oh well, it didn't really bother her at the moment, but she still wanted to check.

"Are they hiding?" Wobbuffet wondered. "The forest seems so quiet, no birds or insects anywhere…"

"There's no reason to," an upset Milotic said. "None of us mean any harm."

"Speak for yourself," Sadic said, sharpening her claws. "I'm still hungry. Wouldn't mind seeing how some of those big things we saw from the beach would taste."

Rukario smiled. "Well, if you wished you could go hunting and catch and kill something. Nobody would stop you. It would be rather easy really, other than the natives the 'wild' Pokemon have no natural predators whatsoever."

"None!" Crawdaunt was amazed at this. "Then they should have overbred and starved themselves to death long ago! As an expert at breeding, I should know."

Brock's eye twitched. "Breeding expert my rocky behind…_I'm_ the one who studied for years before my deadbeat dad dumped his gym on me…"

"Nobody cares," Sadic said blandly. "But the talking lobster special has a point. If there are no natural predators, what keeps the Pokemon from overbreeding? The islanders?"

Rukario shook his head. "Partly, but that's only half the answer. The natives usually hunt to provide meals for important festivals due to their great respect for life in all its forms. Which isn't to say they don't hunt outside of those festivals, but not to excess like many humans and Pokemon in the outside…on Earth used to."

"Then what _does_ keep them in check?" Misty asked, trying to follow the discussion.

Rukario plucked a fruit dangling from a nearby tree. It was pear-shaped and streaked with red, with various curling stems spiraling from the top. "I mentioned before that there's a special fruit on this island that is incredibly nutritious and is so healthy that it can actually prolong life. All of the food here is good for you, but because of the extended life granted from extra health, there is much less need to breed offspring due to woefully short lifespans like most on Earth used to. As a result, life here is not mere survival but the joy of being. This is a gift the Mother gave to those who live here, and they have taken it to heart. As a result, none here fear death, and so the need to rear offspring is much less insistent." He smiled. "If there's a reason they do not show themselves, it's because they're curious. They are observing you to see what kind of persons you are. If they find you deserving they will eventually reveal themselves, if not you must seek them out on your own." He took a large bite out of the fruit, crunching it in his jaws and dripping juice everywhere.

"Well, I hope they like me," Oliphan commented as they continued on their trek, snagging one of the fruits Rukario had eaten to nibble on. "I'll need to make lots of new friends to make up for all the ones we've already lost…"

"If that is all you want, I'm sure they'll be happy to be your friend," Rayquaza told the elephant. "Many of them are probably even the same size as you are, if not bigger."

Oliphan's ears poked up at this. "Really?"

"Sure," Rukario said. "In fact, I think we may be about to see some right now." He came to a stop at a bend in the path, before a large gap in the dense cluster of trees and foliage at the edge of a large cliff. The others came up next to him and stopped as well, staring out through the gap.

The cliff was overlooking a very large dusty clearing with wide tracts of grass sprouting up here and there. Immense footprints dotted the landscape, showing that giants occasionally walked through this place. The Pokemon currently occupying the clearing weren't as big as the creatures that must have made the footprints, but were still big enough to come up to Oliphan's shoulder or even higher. There seemed to be two different species, both reptilian. One was a bipedal creature with a long tail, muscular forearms, and a black-capped beaklike mouth framed to look like it was a puckered-up kiss. Clear black beady eyes stared out from the sides of the long-crested head, surrounded by pebbly scales colored in magnificent cobalt and orange, with grey feathers growing from the backs of their heads, their hips, their arms, and the ends of their tails. The other species went on all four legs and looked to be more heavily armored than the bipedal ones, their scales a deep gray-brown along their bodies and a lighter shade for their heads. A thick knotted bone club grew from the ends of their tails, with spikes growing from the sides and sharp pentagonal plates running along the top of the tail, much larger pentagonal plates growing from the back amidst armored scales and spikes, and the head had a long curving oblong crest to shield the back of its neck. Five horns grew from the head, one from the nose, two from the forehead, and two from the cheeks. All of them were gathered around egg clusters placed in large clutches around the clearing, the eggs reflecting the colors of the Pokemon that had laid them. Some had already hatched, and baby versions of the adult lizards, their colors brighter and their forms chubbier and cuter as all baby Pokemon were, ran about the clearing, playing with each other under the watchful eyes of the adults.

"Wow," said Tyranitar, amazed to see a Pokemon that looked more armored than he.

"Look at the little ones! They're adorable!" Milotic cooed.

"I bet they'd love a bedtime song from you," Cacturne joked. "Then again, I suppose most would."

Aerodactyl felt strange. "I…have I seen these Pokemon before? They look…" He blinked in confusion, especially when what looked like smaller versions of himself flew by the clearing below.

"Oh wow!" Oliphan gushed. "New friends! I'm gonna go down and say hello!" He began to take a step forward.

"Wait, you idiot!" Togetic snapped. "We're on top of a cliff! Even you won't survive the fall!"

His ears drooped. "Oh, right…"

"Don't worry," Rayquaza assured the elephant. "I'm sure you'll get a chance to say hello soon enough." Latias wasn't paying any attention to them or the fascinating Pokemon below, and was still trying to see if she could feel any pain through self-mutilation. She couldn't. Oh well, maybe next time.

"Crawdaunt, when am I going to have children?" an annoyed Corsola asked the lobster.

He shrugged. "Hey, whenever you want, babe. It's fine with me."

Misty felt a deep pang of sadness. "Charizard and Charla were going to have a kid…and Ash and I…we never…" She bit her lip and looked away. The pain was still very raw and very deep.

"Those look like…Maias and Tristegadons!" said an amazed Brock. "But…they're supposed to be extinct!"

"They are, or were," Rukario said with a nod. "But with genetic engineering, anything is possible, such as extracting fossilized DNA from old bones or amber or skin and using advanced cloning tanks to bring forth new life. The same technique was used by the scientists who created your Aerodactyl friend, as well as our fallen comrade Mewtwo."

Pikachu blinked. "Then the people on this island have been studying cloning technology too? They must have gotten very good at it if they've brought back so many extinct Pokemon, as well as whatever else they did to make those specialized roots you were talking about and maybe even alter the genomes of all the plants around us."

"Well, they should," Rayquaza said with a chuckle. "They've known how to do it for centuries before human scientists even knew what DNA was!"

"Really?" The electric mouse frowned. "If that's true, they must have technology far beyond what everyone else on Earth had. Why didn't they share it with anyone?"

"Who's to say they didn't?" Rukario suggested. "Where do you think the seeds for the beginning of all those cloning projects came from? Or the advanced technology that made Silica what it became before its demise? Or the science behind the first mass-produced Pokeballs?"

They were amazed at this revelation. "They've had that much of an influence on the outside world?" Misty said in disbelief. "I thought they'd secluded themselves away on this island to escape from the world after people became greedy and hateful or something."

"It's not that they hid themselves," the vulpine said. "So much as the rest of the world simply lost the ability to perceive them, especially with what the islanders later evolved into. I'll explain later. In any event, they have indeed left their home many times over the millennia, walking the Earth unseen or concealed among the rest of the populace, watching and learning. From time to time, they would debate over whether or not to aid this person or that country or city by giving them some of the many bounties lying on their island, always wary of the greed that lay in human and Pokemon hearts. As followers of the Mother, they did not think it best to give too much of their secrets away, no matter how many lives it might save or better, for the simple fact that it might make people dependent on them, and that above all is not what they wanted. They wished for the people of the world to advance and become great civilizations in their own right, with their own choices, rather than become subservient to their own. Perhaps in choosing to do this they made the wrong choice, and the Earth suffered many wars and descents into primordial hatred and brutality, but in the end they were exercising their own free will, so who can say if they were right or wrong? Who is to judge that they wouldn't have done worse if they _had_ been given greater technology? Certainly not any of us inside time, anyway. But I suppose it doesn't matter anymore, in any event…Earth is long gone, and all the secrets or wisdom this island could have shared with them will do them no more good. It fills me with sorrow to know this, because I have seen what the races of humanity and Pokemon could have become, had they made the right choices…" He sighed. "I know free will is important, and yet even I sometimes wonder if it really is for the best, no matter what the Mother says. And it's not like giving that technology away always helped, either. Look at what Silica became, a desolate wasteland devoid of Pokemon or plant life, a hollow kingdom of neon and twisted metal populated by people who hungered more for short-lived pleasures and comforts than the simple pleasures of living. The natives of Birth Island can make the wrong choice too, for they are no more perfect than anyone else. But as I said…it doesn't matter. We must move on."

Not knowing if he meant that figuratively or literally, they prepared to move out…when movement down in the clearing caught Sadic's eye. "Hey Rukario, I thought you said there were no predators on this island."

"There aren't."

"Then what do you call that?"

They looked back down the cliff and watched in horror as a tremendous monster, bigger even than Oliphan, emerged from the jungle surrounding the clearing. It was at least thirty feet tall, with powerfully muscular theropod legs ending in thick talons, a long tail which could probably smash through concrete like glass if it were swung hard enough, a pair of thick, muscular forearms ending in three wicked talons, and a large wedge-shaped head perched on an almost bird-like neck which peered about the clearing, eyeing the child-rearing Pokemon and babies, all of whom had stopped what they were doing to stare at the newcomer. Its great slavering mouth was full of serrated fangs, and its red eyes glared hungrily out at the world from underneath horned ridges. Its coloration was mostly a demonic red with black stripes going down its sides and a great patch of darkness running from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. Long black feathers grew from the back of its head amidst horns, around its hips and feet, sprouted from its arms, and ran along the sides of its tail. A pair of bat-like wings grew from its back, and many of the Chosen were suddenly reminded of the evil Dark Latios, and trembled in fear. Latias also was reminded, but wasn't afraid since she couldn't remember what fear felt like, and instead wondered if _this_ creature would hurt her if she threw herself into its jaws.

Gathered about the great monster's legs were smaller Pokemon of the same build, although they lacked wings and had rather pretty white feathers with colored plumes. Their skin was patterned in a rather nice array of varying colors, depending on the individual, and none had such an evil-looking combination as the one worn by the adult. Also mixed in with the group of younglings were yet another species of unknown Pokemon, these looking more like velociraptors with long white feathers growing from the back of their heads and colored sort of like tigers, glancing around with a calculating intelligence.

Sadic grinned, looking forward to the coming slaughter. Latias wondered if there would be any leftovers she could eat. The other Chosen watched in various levels of horror and trepidation, some even looking as if they were about to leap into battle. Rukario and Rayquaza just watched, unworried completely. The great monster took a step forward, bellowed…

And walked right through the nesting herds, nodding at them in acknowledgement. They nodded back. The Chosen blinked, utterly stupefied, as the horrible monster stomped over to a rather large and lonely-looking tree standing in a far corner of the clearing and, as they all watched, proceeded to strip the tree's sides with its talons and chew on them in its mouth. The smaller predator-looking Pokemon, instead of attacking and devouring the other babies, proceeded to play with them, running around and tagging each other or just dancing about happily. The excitement over, the adult Pokemon went back to socializing with each other, tending the eggs, and eating grass.

"What the fuck?" Crawdaunt asked in disbelief.

"Huh. That was different," stated Gyarados.

"…That's…that's IT? No bloodshed, no carnage, just…just a fucking TREE!" Sadic yelled. "Arghh!"

"I told you," Rukario said with a shrug. "There are no predators on this island."

"But…but that's a Tyran," said Brock, pointing to the winged monster. "And the others are Minirans and Raptos. All of them are thought to be the deadliest predators in history. So…what happened to them?"

"Genetic engineering and adaptation," Rukario explained. "They still eat meat, yes, but not nearly as often as they used to. The only flesh they consume is that of the dead. The rest of the time, they eat bark."

"Bark!" Sadic asked in disbelief.

"Yes, bark," Rukario said, digging his claws into a nearby tree and ripping some off. "As I said before, everything on this island is very nutritious. Even the bark. Even the _dirt_. Would you like to try some?"

"Hell no!" the Manyula scowled. "I'm not that desperate, not yet!"

Rukario shrugged. "Suit yourself." He bit off a piece of the bark and started crunching it in his mouth as he turned away. "Okay then, let's go. We're halfway from the village, just a little further." He began walking down the path. The Chosen quickly followed him, still amazed by how the greatest predator in history (albeit one most of them had never heard of) could so easily be turned into a friendly, sociable, bark-eating creature. (Well, except Latias, who was somewhat disappointed by the lack of violence, and so resorted to eating her own ovaries. She still felt nothing.)

Sadic, who hadn't budged, scowled and scoffed at the Tyran. She took a few steps after the others and paused. Glancing around to make sure no one was looking, she ran over to a nearby tree, sliced off a piece of bark with her claws, and chewed on it. "Mmmm." She glanced about again, then sliced off a larger piece and ran after the others, chewing on the bark as she did so.

…

As they continued up the trail, they began seeing more signs of the native civilization. Statues and totem poles sprouted up periodically along the path, detailing fascinating creatures and Pokemon and things that looked somewhat human but not, along with numerous carvings and murals and paintings detailed along large rocks showing the same strange humanlike creatures going about their everyday lives, fishing, working, dancing, playing, that sort of thing. They looked sort of like a mix of human and Pokemon. Could these be the islanders Rukario had spoken of? He had mentioned that they had 'evolved' into something else…

When questioned about this, both the vulpine and Rayquaza were more than willing to explain the history of the indigenous people.

"Back in the good old days, this island was the center of the Mother's power, a sacred place," Rayquaza explained. "It's where she landed in a meteor ages ago, back when the world was destroyed by the nuclear wars of the first humans, and it was from here that the Earth was healed and restored to life. The magic seeping out from the Mother became one with the rock on this island and radiated out into the Sevii islands around it, making them the peaceful utopia that remained even to the present age…until Deoxys destroyed the planet, of course."

"Even though the Mother's body broke apart into the godlets you knew as Jirachi, Celebi, and Mew, the Mother's spirit still remained on the island, becoming one with it. It was the radiation of power from that spirit that preserved the peace in the islands for all these years and made it a true haven from the war and strife plaguing the rest of the world," Rukario told them. "But nobody actually realized this for many years, until the war with Deoxys and the Mother's spirit herself spoke to us and asked us to bring her children together on her island so that she and they could become one once more. And by now you all know what happened after that…the triplets split up again, the Mother's spirit returned to her island and went back into dormancy, and the titans of Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza ruled the Earth."

The King of Dragons in question nodded. "When Missingno stirred the proverbial Beedrill hive and reopened racial rifts, beginning a new Dark Age, only Sevii and Birth Island stayed unified and desired peace. Their words went unheard by the angry factions, and envoys of peace were killed. It was then that a group of the Mother's most powerful servants, newly formed, told the people of Sevii that at this current time there was nothing they could do but make things worse. This struggle was something that the people of the world had to solve on their own. If the citizens of Sevii still wanted to do something, they were free to, that was their choice after all. And so they did, many of Sevii left to try and cool the tensions between human and Pokemon. In some places it worked, in others it made things worse, in others things stayed the same.

"And in the meantime, Birth Island itself began to change somewhat, possibly as a result of all the magic infused in its soil from millennia of the Mother's soul resting there. The island could no longer be seen or even stepped on by the majority of humans and Pokemon now, not because the island had become invisible or was now shrouded in a web of illusion, but because…well, their hearts no longer resonated with the place. In a very real sense, Birth Island is the Mother, and those who cannot accept the values she believes in may never find this place on their own, unless they have somehow stumbled upon one of the few remaining maps leading here from the old days or gotten caught in a shipwreck nearby, or unless they possess intellects great enough to transcend what they see with just their eyes. In any event, because their hearts did not accept the Mother's love, or because they sought the island out of greed or a desire for dominance, Birth Island ceased to exist for most of human and Pokemonkind. It became a kind of myth, and for many it just faded out of memory."

"Interesting…so you're saying this island became nonexistent in a sense not because it wasn't there, but because the people of the world were psychologically incapable of perceiving it?" Pikachu asked. "Fascinating…"

"It's sort of like how Hanson couldn't see me because he had convinced himself that he had killed all the Togepis, right?" Togetic guessed.

Misty nodded. "It seems that way, yeah."

"If that's the case, then why are we here?" Tyranitar asked. "Did our hearts resonate with this place?"

"Or did it agree to take us in because we were 'shipwrecked' in a metaphorical sense, about to drown and be lost in the sea of time?" Jigglypuff wondered.

"Either way, we're here now," Wobbuffet said. "On a place that seems to be at the same time both more receptive and more restrictive to outsiders than Mirage Island."

Rukario continued where Rayquaza left off. "This psychological invisibility didn't affect the islanders whenever they left the archipelago, at least not at first. However, as time went on and generations came and went among the long-lived, something amazing happened. Humans and Pokemon, who on Birth Island were practically regarded one and the same, began to be just that: the same. Humans and Pokemon interbred, and many of them, even the least humanoid Pokemon, fostered hybrid offspring."

There was a sharp intake of breath at this. "Hybrids!" Misty said in disbelief. "But…that's impossible, isn't it?" She recalled Wes going into great detail about how they weren't even meant to exist.

"Not really," said Rukario. "Just not very common in the rest of the world. Most naturally born hybrid children either die due to health problems, faults in their own biology, or are murdered by human or Pokemon 'purists' or superstitious cowards, while those cloned or grafted into being usually explode horribly due to faulty genetics. But on Birth Island, none of those things were a factor, and while the first generation of hybrids did have more than a few rough areas to smooth out in their own biochemistry, future generations became more and more versatile and adaptable, and soon there were no completely human denizens at all on the island. In fact, none of the Pokemon here could be thought of as 'pure' Pokemon either (what an awful and loaded term that is!), since all of them have at least partial human ancestry, for what little that means. After all, DNA is DNA, and in the end it doesn't matter so much as the species that the genes are derived from as long as the parents are compatible and the offspring can be assured the chance of a healthy life."

"Hey Mom, Grandma was thinking of marrying Mimey, right?" Oliphan asked Misty. "Do you think they could have had a hybrid kid? Especially if they ended up here?"

"…I suppose," Misty said, somewhat uncertain. This concept was going to be rather hard for her to swallow. But then again, she wasn't even genetically human anymore either, so…

"Hybrids…I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Corsola said uncertainly.

"Oh come on babe, it's not that difficult a concept," Crawdaunt scoffed. "After all, my birth mother was a Luvdisc…or a Gorebyss…or a Goldeen, or a Wailmer, or…hell, could have been just about any aquatic Pokemon, I never met her. Point is, in a sense I'm a hybrid too. The fact that so many Pokemon can interbreed between species means the kids are also hybrids, even if most of them stay the same species as one or the other of the parents. Heck, our kids, if we ever have any, will probably be either Corsola or Corphish, and both of them will still have at least a little DNA from either of us, meaning none of them are really genetically 'pure', so to speak. And I agree wholeheartedly with Rukario, that's a rather loaded word when it comes to species!"

"And on an island such as this, where all borders, including the one between species, can be blurred, there's no guarantee whatever children you have will even be Corsola or Corphish, but something else entirely," Rayquaza told the lobster and Coral Pokemon.

"Really? Neat! Now I can't wait to see what our kids will look like!" said an enthusiastic Crawdaunt. "Why don't we get to work on making some right now?"

Corsola sweatdropped. "Now! As in, in the middle of nowhere, with everyone watching?"

Crawdaunt shrugged. "Sure, I got no problem being an exhibitionist. Heck, anyone else who wants to can join in as well! How about you, Jigglypuff? Or the gorgeous Miss Milotic?"

Milotic flushed, while Jigglypuff just looked away, the mention of even a small orgy enough to make her feel miserable due to all the memories of her dead friends and band mates it dragged up. "What part of 'not available' do you not understand?" Wobbuffet growled.

"All of it," Crawdaunt said bluntly.

Rukario clamped down on a laugh as they passed more monuments detailing the same hybrids he was talking about. "The new 'race' had significant advantages and disadvantages. They were stronger, smarter, and more durable and long-lived than other humans and Pokemon. On the downside, their power decreased significantly the further they were from Birth Island, and if they left the Sevii archipelago at all they suffered from one of two unfortunate possible side effects. One was that they were psychologically invisible to the majority of the outside world, and so had little contact with others if any of them were to journey across the land, since so few had the right mindset to perceive them. The other effect was, in its own way, much worse. While the hybrids afflicted by this condition weren't invisible, their mixed DNA found itself unable to hold together in the outside world, where the fusion that had brought it into being by all rights shouldn't exist, and so the DNA just…split. The hybrid separated into two independent beings that had the exact same personality but different forms, one human, one Pokemon, reflecting the single being they had been born as. All they had to do to recombine was return to the archipelago and the aura of magic radiating from Birth Island, but outside that aura they would have to journey as two separate beings, side-by-side and never alone but at the same time all by themselves, since few would be able to understand the values and morals they carried with them without thinking them insane. Many of the early hybrids who journeyed to the outside world to mature and learn things for themselves sadly suffered from the cruelties and corruption running throughout the land, and often were killed by angry groups thinking them demons for their beliefs, their fissioned souls becoming one again and returning to Birth Island. This became more common during the disappointingly numerous Dark Ages scattered throughout history, and at certain points of the regular ages as well, depending on the overall condition of the world."

This was a rather sobering thought, that their world, back when it had existed, had been so bad so many times that innocent people were killed frequently just because they believed in something different from the norm. "Why would they do that, though?" Brock wondered. "Why would they leave at all if it only meant invisibility, splitting, or possibly despair and death?"

"Curiosity," Rayquaza said. "And also maturation. All fledglings must leave the nest at some point and see the world on their own so that they may better appreciate the island on which they live and understand the importance of everything that they have learned and all that they do in service of the Mother. When every hybrid islander reaches a certain age, they may choose whether or not at some point in the future they will see the rest of the Earth or remain in the archipelago and continue the good life they already have, befriending those of Sevii, maintaining Birth Island, and occasionally playing pranks on tourists, because most of them are psychologically incapable of seeing them either. To spare them suffering, those who depart always go in groups, for they are raised from birth to understand that they are never truly alone, and that they may always rely on the family and friendships they have formed among their peers. These friendships have rarely broken, though they have been sorely tested many times in the outside world. The majority of those who are invisible to the rest of the world find strength in each other and are able to return as wiser and stronger beings. Those who are split often stay together to keep from losing their minds over being violently wrenched into halves instead of wholes."

"It may seem cruel, and perhaps it is, but in a way it helps them understand their world better," Rukario continued. "It shows them there are other people outside their island. People who are suffering. People who need their help. And so they do, help that is."

"They do not directly influence the flow of events, for as we said before, they are believers in free will," Rayquaza said. "But that does not mean they can't give an occasional 'push' towards what they believe will eventually lead to peace and unity. In times of hardship, when conflict between species and between each other is at its worst, some go forth from the island. Those who are invisible whisper into the ears of those who despair as they sleep and their mind is open, giving them dreams and hope for a better future. Those who are visible and thus split travel together, showing how strong a bond there can be between human and Pokemon (due to the unity found in being essentially the same person) and plant seeds in the minds of both species that maybe they _can_ reconcile. In times of prosperity, when civilizations flower and interspecies relations have improved, they go out again, with different purposes in mind. The invisibles planted secret knowledge in the minds of those who they have foreseen will be pivotal in changing the future for better or worse, and allow them to do with it what they will. Sometimes the knowledge will be used for good, other times for evil, but either way it was used by that person's free choice, so to speak. And those who are split still traveled the world and show their bond, to reinforce relations and friendships between the people and regions of the Earth. And for a time things might be good or they might fall apart, but once again it is because the people of the world chose to handle things that way, and so free will wins out yet again, no matter what the consequences.

"And in recent times, when relations between humans and Pokemon were at an unusual peak, they planted the seed of innovation which would lead to the development of the Pokeball, a process that took the hybrids themselves over a century of research to come up with and that they had held back for even longer out of uncertainty that the world was ready for such a device, because it could be used in as many wrong ways as right. But when they learned Deoxys was coming, they knew they had no choice, and so began the process of gently prodding humans and Pokemon into coming together more peaceably, and then gave them the gift of Pokeball technology. And, while many regions did indeed use it cruelly, in others it was used to cement the bond between human and Pokemon into that which you were familiar with before the destruction of Earth, the bond between human and Pokemon teams.

"And even in this time the split ones continued to walk the Earth, for now that they had truly legitimate reasons for a human and a Pokemon to travel together, their actions and unity inspired greater levels of friendship and understanding than ever before. In fact…your late friend Ash Ketchum did much the same thing himself, which leads me to wonder about his ancestry."

"Huh?" Misty blinked at the mention of Ash. "What do you mean?"

Rukario hesitated. "It did not happen often, but occasionally those who were split found their true loves in the outside world rather than among their friends in the islands. When that occurred, many chose to stay with that loved one rather than return home to Birth Island. In doing so, they gave up any chance of becoming whole again and settled for being a half with a family of some kind. The other halves sometimes found families of their own, and sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they couldn't stand their other half's happiness and set off on their own, corrupted by mortality and often doomed to a lonely death, unable to find what they were looking for…but along the way, they may have sired children of their own.

"The offspring of those from Birth Island tended to be superior in some manner to others of their species, thanks to the magically-enhanced genes of the hybrids (despite being split) as well as a good deal of genetic engineering the hybrids had underwent over the years to make them immune to most diseases, contagions, poisons, and deeper, more spiritual engineering to keep them from falling into Deoxys' hands. They had chosen to undergo these treatments long ago to better assist the Mother and themselves, and so their occasional offspring in the rest of the world shared the same blessings, or part of them in any event. The Pokemon offspring would be a bit stronger and more intelligent than others of their kind, and tended to have a liking towards humans and forming friendships in general. The human offspring had a greater than usual attraction to people of all species, causing humans and Pokemon alike to grow and care for them, and inspire others to lean towards unity instead of their own selfishness. Others became what you knew as 'psychics', humans with higher intelligence and increased use of their own brains."

"And killed by them." Again Misty remembered Wes' speech.

"Actually, those incidents were due either to the psychic not receiving training in managing their power or microwave broadcasts from secret government satellites used to keep psychics from going too powerful," Rayquaza corrected her.

"Oh."

Rukario continued. "Your friend Ash's reputation and his ability to make so many friends while traveling, as well as inspire others to become better friends with others, makes me wonder if perhaps his father or grandfather may have been a traveling hybrid. It might explain a lot…and the fact that his best friend, a Pikachu who himself exhibits several unusual qualities," he said, glancing at Pikachu. "Makes me wonder if perhaps _he_ doesn't descend from the Pokemon half of a Pikachu hybrid from Birth Island. In fact, it's very possible that his Pikachu ancestor and Ash's human ancestor were both halves of the same hybrid, which would explain much of the strength behind their intense bond. It's as if their genes were calling out to each other, binding them together as brothers of the soul, or some such thing. It has happened before."

All looked at Pikachu, whose eyes were bulging. "I…wow. I never…nothing like that ever occurred to me. Well of course it didn't, because I never even knew about any of this until now. But still…wow."

"I knew there was something special about you," Sadic commented, whacking him on the back. "Guess that's another reason I was attracted to you. And with a lineage like yours, I'm certain our offspring will be a powerful bunch…they'll have to be, because they may be the last of their kind, now that Earth's gone."

"Is _that_ why we grew to like Ash so much, and why he was so close to his Pokemon? Some mystical irresistibility caused by some genetic donor from this island?" Brock wondered. "The implications are a little worrying, and yet…I'm certain that we came to love him so much because of his own personality and characteristics. But then again, if all those were inherited from his genetic ancestor, sort of like how I inherited my dad's libido (before the Mother had to go and take it away, like my humanity), I suppose that's not so bad."

Misty nodded in agreement. "That's right, I love…_loved_ Ash for everything he was, genes and all." She had to bite her lip to keep from crying again.

"Hey, if Dad's Dad or Grandpa was a hybrid thing, do you think maybe that hybrid is my grandpa or great-grandpa too, on the Pokemon side maybe?" Oliphan asked. "Then I really would be related to Dad!"

"Yes, but then you wouldn't be his son, you'd be a distant cousin," Togetic pointed out.

Oliphan's ears drooped. "Oh…never mind."

Aerodactyl screeched angrily. "This is all too confusing…and I don't really give a damn about Ass or whatever anyway, I just want to find out if Wes is still alive! And…if what we saw earlier, those other Pokemon, really are fossils brought to life like me…"

"Well, in any event, I'd like to meet these hybrids," Milotic said. "They sound like interesting people to be friends with."

"And we'd have to be friends with them anyway," Cacturne said with a grunt. "Since we're sharing the same island now until we get to whatever planet is supposed to replace Earth, we don't have much choice."

"If you're afraid of quarreling with them, you have nothing to worry about," Rukario assured them. "They're very easy to get along with, and you'd be surprised how much in common you all have with them. However, if you'd like to meet them, well…you may have to wait a while."

"Why's that?" asked Brock.

The vulpine laughed sheepishly. "Well…they're not exactly here at the moment. Most of them anyway, the majority of the aquatic ones are still in their homes in the sea surrounding the island"

"Huh? Then where are they? The land ones, that is?" asked the confused Tyranitar.

"Yeah, like Cacturne said, we're sharing the island. Where else could they be?" asked Gyarados.

"Underground," Rayquaza said simply.

They blinked. "Underground?" asked Crawdaunt. "What are they doing down there?"

"Among other things, such as keeping the island together and powering our travel through the dimensional corridors," Rukario explained. "They've graciously given up their homes so that we, and the other refugees who managed to find their way here, may have a place to live and acclimatize ourselves to their way of life."

"Oh. That's awfully nice of them," said a surprised Corsola. "Seems a bit unfair, them having to go all the way underground though…"

"It's no bother," Rukario assured them. "They have other reasons to wait there anyway. And in any event, you'll still meet them while you live on the surface. Just not in the flesh."

They stared at him. "Wait, when you said they went underground…did they bury themselves alive and become ghosts! And so they might be swarming all around us right now, watching everything we do!" Misty screamed, panicking and causing the others to get rather anxious as well.

"No, no!" Rukario said quickly, trying to keep everyone from losing it. "They're still alive and well, they just…ah…how do I put this? They don't necessarily need to use their bodies to get around."

"…Is that supposed to reassure us?" Jigglypuff asked skeptically.

"I don't know, are you reassured?"

"…Uh, no, not really."

"Then I suppose that settles it. Come on then, just a little further. We're almost there."

"I'm starting to wonder if Mom and I should ever have left Mt. Silver," Tyranitar grumbled under his breath. "Because then we wouldn't have to be dealing with all this weirdness, like islands floating through time and people sleeping underground who don't need their bodies to get around."

"But if you weren't here, you'd be dead," Oliphan pointed out. "And your soul would be lost to Deoxys!"

"…Point," Tyranitar agreed. "But then I wouldn't have to eat bark."

"Eh, it's not so bad," said Sadic. "Once you give it a try."

They blinked at her, stunned.

They reached the end of the path and the forest and stepped out into a lush plain dotted with milestones and carved posts leading down towards a very large lake, one of the ones they had seen from the beach, right at the foot of the mountain. It was directly fed by the magnificent waterfall pouring down from higher up, a cloud of sparkling mist forming where the water splashed down into the lake, a triple rainbow formed by refracting light looking more real than illusory. The lake was nestled between two of the giant roots growing down from the enormous tree on Birth Island's peak. One root ran along the lake's west side and into the forest, creating a large organic wall or dam, while the eastern edge of the lake ran right over the root, which sank into the ground. The water cascaded down a hundred-foot drop and into another lake on a plateau or terrace below, and from there the water ran away in numerous streams or rivers or went off the edge and into yet another terrace, and from there to another, and so on and so forth, giving the heroes an amazing view of the island down the waterway as well as some rather large temples and what and other monumental structures off in the distance.

The western root split before it crossed along the ground and formed a wall for the lake, the smaller offshoot growing into the water and vanishing into the depths of the lake. Around this root a village was built, with buildings and houses of a design none of them (well, except Rukario, Rayquaza, and Latias in a former life) had ever seen before. Other buildings rested on top of large buoyant rafts scattered around and underneath the arch formed by the root as it ran into the water, anchored to the lake bottom by tethers none of them could see and connected to other rafts by planks and bridges, creating a complex network of pathways. There was also an equally complex framework of scaffolding and ladders and pulleys which formed what looked to be a water-powered elevator system to allow transit between the houses on the lake and the ones atop the root. There were a few boats anchored near the floating buildings and a few more beached on the shore nearby, but they looked more like ferries than fishing ships, which made sense if the inhabitants were hybrids. Surely some of the Water-types lived inland instead of in the undersea residences dotting the waters surrounding the island, and so naturally they would be able to procure food and the like from the depths of the lake to feed the community. The temperature here was a little cooler than it had been in the forest, due to the shade created by being under the umbra formed by the giant tree's canopy far above them, but the slight dimness (slight because the thing currently taking the job of the Sun was so close, really) didn't detract in the least from this place's mystique, as if it had sprung right out of a fairy tale.

And, not surprisingly, the entire place looked to be uninhabited. And yet…some of the boats on the beach looked as though they had run aground not too long ago. And the footprints leading away from them, back towards the plains and the forest beyond, looked very recent as well. Could some of the island's natives hybrids still be around?

Sadic bent down and sniffed the prints to see if they were. "I smell human," she said. "Lots of human. And a bunch of Pokemon too. I also smell a familiar human, that Wes guy I think, and…something else. Something I don't recognize."

"These must be from the refugees who passed through the gate," Brock guessed. "That means they must have gotten here okay after all!"

Rukario smirked and crossed his arms. "Of course. Did you doubt they would?"

"Well, you told us a lot of them would probably die crossing through the gateway, but not how many would survive," Pikachu pointed out. "So we couldn't really expect too much, especially with all the other letdowns we've had so far."

"No fear of that," Sadic said, taking a second sniff. "I smell maybe a couple dozen humans, mixed male and female, along with a bunch of Pokemon of mixed species. They probably went out to scout the territory after establishing this village here as 'home base'. And to look for food, of course. I also smell a bunch more older and unfamiliar scents along with the ones here coming from the plains we just crossed and stopping here, so some of them must have stayed behind in the village while the rest went out to look around." She glanced up. "I could probably track down the group that went out, if you want."

"I'm not sure…maybe we should just wait for them here, they could have scattered everywhere and it would be a bad idea for us to go looking for them and get lost," an uncertain Wobbuffet pointed out.

"I think we should cross the lake and go to the village. If there are people there, they'll need to know what's going on," Misty said. She bit her lip. "And…if Mrs. Ketchum is there, she'll…need to know what happened to her son…" There was a long silence after she said this.

"How's this," Rukario said after a moment. "I need to go to the village anyway, because from there I can get up to the Mother's sanctuary. Rayquaza, you'll want to come with me to ask how you can change Latias back to normal, right?"

Rayquaza nodded. "Yes, you said Registeel mentioned an 'Anubis', and the only one I can think of is up on the top of that mountain." He received puzzled looks at this, but neither of the 'ancient' Pokemon deigned to explain.

Rukario turned to the others. "So here's what I propose: we do split up, but only to the extent of doing what we wish. All who want to stay and wait here may do so, and take a dip in the lake in the process, I'm sure all of you could use a chance to cool off after everything that's happened. Those who want to see the village, and the sanctuary beyond, may come with Rayquaza and myself. And if any of you wish to go out looking for the scouting party, that's all right as well…as long as you make certain to mark your trail so you don't get lost. Just because there aren't any predators on this island doesn't mean you can't still get killed from your own foolishness."

"I'm definitely going out," Aerodactyl said. "I'll probably be able to spot Wes from the skies." _And_, he thought to himself, _maybe I'll run into some of those other Aerodactyl while I'm at it._ "I need to see him," he said out loud. "And let him know that…well, you know."

"I'll come too," Sadic said. "I want to get a better lay of the land, and find something to eat too, I'm still hungry! Plus, I'll probably find that party with my nose when your vision fails. Coming, Pika?"

"Huh?" Pikachu blinked. "Uh, no thanks, I'm curious to see what the village is like, maybe get an insight into the personalities of the people who live there."

The Manyula shrugged. "Okay, you do that."

Jigglypuff sat down right in the sand, kicking up some dust. "Well, I'm bushed from all that walking and stress from before! I just want to rest and maybe take a nap."

"I guess we'll stay behind too," Wobbuffet said after consulting with Milotic and Cacturne. "Get our strength back, and maybe come over to the village later."

"I'd like to come," Tyranitar said. "But…well, I can't swim." He fidgeted anxiously. "Mom could, but she never taught me how…"

"Latias could levitate you over, if you want," Rayquaza offered.

The reptile paled. "Ah, n-no, that's all right! I mean, I'm sure you've got control over her, but…um…I don't really trust her not to drop me or squeeze me to death psychokinetically or something…sorry…" Rayquaza drooped at this, while Latias was largely indifferent and paying more attention to the 'ghosts' drifting about them. It didn't matter much to her that they were real people instead of hallucinations, either way they were still there and still untouchable.

"_I_ trust Aunt Latias," Oliphan said confidently. "I'll let her carry me!"

Latias blinked dully at him. "Okay."

"Then I guess I'll come too," Togetic said, her wings fluttering. "To catch you if you should fall anyway."

"You can do that now?" Oliphan asked in amazement. His sister nodded. "Wow…"

"I have to go over," Misty asserted. "Mrs. Ketchum's probably there, and she needs to know what happened to Ash, sooner rather than later. And…if I see the Mother, maybe I can ask her…I dunno, why, why all of this had to happen…if she even knows." She looked up at the mountaintop far above unhappily.

"I'll come too," Brock said, narrowing his eyes. "I want a word or two with her myself about what she's put me through."

"Well, I'm staying here," Crawdaunt told them. "I want to see what kind of Pokemon live in this here lake, and find out if any of them are interested in getting 'acquainted' with me."

Corsola sighed in exasperation. "And I suppose I'd better come too," she said. "To make sure you don't get into any trouble."

"I think I'll take a dip in the lake too, though not for the same reasons," Gyarados said. "I'm kind of dried out from the long walk and all the fighting from before, and I need to rehydrate. I can carry you guys over to the village though; it'd be faster than taking one of those boats."

"We greatly appreciate that," Rukario said graciously, bowing to the water dragon.

"Okay then, let's go," Misty said, glancing at the root. "The sooner we break a single mother's heart, the better…then maybe we both can move on…"

And so, yet again, the depleted Chosen fragmented, each taking off for their own pursuits. Aerodactyl and Sadic bounded into the forest (or above it) in search of Wes's scouting party, while Jigglypuff, Milotic, Wobbuffet, Cacturne, and Tyranitar rested on the shores, and Crawdaunt and Corsola dove deep into the lake. Gyarados, carrying Brock, Misty, Rukario, and Pikachu on his head and neck, swam through the water towards the village, while Latias, telekinetically carrying Oliphan and Rayquaza, flew alongside them, Togetic nearby just in case her aunt tried something, despite Rayquaza's own assurances that she was 'safe', for the moment.

And so together, the diminished group headed for the village waiting just ahead.

…

As they approached the anchored buildings floating on the lake, their features became more visible. While they had looked a little crude from a distance, up close they could be seen to be a complex mix of wood, stone, and what looked like some kind of crystal, all fluidly woven together in a way that made it look as if the houses had been _grown_ instead of built. Statues or totems were placed at intervals around the building perimeters, and a few were even bobbing in the water nearby, attached to the raft by tethers. The walls of the buildings were covered in beautiful carvings and mathematical patterns that were a little difficult to understand, but seemed to describe the nature of the building itself and the world around it, or so it seemed. All of the buildings, at least as far as they could see, were single-story structures so as not to overwhelm the rafts. Also, while the number of totems and the extent of the carvings, even the _style_ of construction and decoration varied from building to building, they all seemed to possess the same quality and expertise behind their crafting, leading Pikachu to speculate out loud that perhaps there was no 'class' system among the people here, which might explain the relatively equal size and adornments of the living spaces which Gyarados was swimming carefully past through canals and passageways that vaguely reminded Latias of a place she had once lived in, what was it called? Oh yes, Alto Mare. Rukario had agreed with Pikachu's amateur sociological observation and had elaborated on it, explaining that while each of the native hybrids took on separate jobs to benefit the community, none were seen as being more important than any other. Artisans and craftsman were just as valuable as food-gatherers, since one filled the world with meaning and symbolism to allow one to plumb the depths of their own beings, while the other collected the sustenance necessary to live in that world, and so that nobody would starve to death while contemplating the nature of the universe, something that had happened embarrassingly often to far too many a philosopher, or so the vulpine told them.

"If there's no class or caste system, then how do these people govern themselves?" Pikachu asked, looking around in wonder at the sadly empty and abandoned-looking buildings they passed by. "Do they look to the Mother for guidance? Or take orders from the priests that are her go-betweens?"

Rukario shook her head. "She has no priests and needs no go-betweens, although she does have ten Apostles, but they are less of priests or mouthpieces and more of, well, champions. Heroes, much like you are. Guardians of the people. Among other things, they maintain the many levels of defenses surrounding the island and kept up relations and trade between the people of Birth Island our cousins in Sevii. They are also peacekeepers and enforcers of a sort, much like human police, and deal with disputes or disturbances of the peace among the many creatures that live here…for while genetic engineering, evolution, and the Mother's own presence has eliminated the majority of the strife here and made it virtually impossible for Deoxys to take root…" He shrugged. "No paradise is perfect, not even this one. There'll always be a little trouble, now and then. I suppose it's necessary, in this form of existence anyway, otherwise things might run the risk of becoming stagnant. Someone who's unsatisfied with the way things are run and wants everyone to conform to their own opinion. You should know the type by now. There is usually at least one each generation, and while most can be satisfied by conversing with the Apostles or the other hybrids and coming to an acceptable compromise, there have been a few rather unsavory examples who cannot be reasoned with and refuse to live in harmony with other living creatures. They…well, they believe too much in 'genetic superiority' and think they should dominate the outside world, and so they try to."

"And the Apostles stop them, right?" Misty guessed.

"Pretty much," Rukario agreed.

"Just like superheroes!" Oliphan squealed. "But better than the ones Ford created!"

Rayquaza nodded. "Indeed. I suppose you could say they're the world's first superheroes…except they spend more time here on the island then going about the planet righting wrongs, this isn't a comic book or television show after all. It's not as if the Earth was being threatened every three minutes by an alien menace or a monster from another dimension or someone in a stupid costume. The real problems were something that needed to be dealt with by real people, and so the Apostles, just like everyone else on Birth Island, have allowed the world to, for the most part, choose their own path." He paused. "With a little prodding now and then, of course."

"Of course," Rukario agreed.

"I suppose that makes sense," Pikachu said contemplatively. "After all, if people _believe_ they're making their own decisions without external input, they can still be seen as exercising their free will. But since everything human and Pokemon do is at some level governed by impulses and suggestions generated by the people and environment around them, what's a couple more subtle hints from a 'higher power,' so to speak? Perhaps the world would have been better if said power enforced its will directly on the populace, perhaps not. But I find the concept of a God, or whatever the Mother is, that believes so strongly in her 'children' that she allows them for the most part to do as they think is best and discover for themselves what they should do in life, rather than someone who would rather there be no free will at all such as Deoxys, much more endearing and trustworthy."

Rukario smiled. "Why do you think we all follow her?"

Gyarados came to a stop as they reached a large floating platform which seemed to be the lower end of the elevator system leading to the higher part of the village. "Okay guys, this is your stop. Everybody off."

Brock, who had been too busy clinging to Gyarados' horns out of fear that he'd fall and drown in the lake water to participate in the engaging conversation around him, eagerly leaped off and landed on the platform, yelping as it shook just the slightest bit from his weight. "Sorry," Rukario said sheepishly as he landed next to the Golem. "I don't think this village was intended for Rock-types. Some lived here, I think, but they mostly prefer to live in the mountain or in the rockier parts of the island, close to the earth and stone they draw their power from."

"I can see why," Brock whimpered, edging further in towards the center of the platform. "Too much water…man, I was never this hydrophobic back when I was human. Just another thing to yell at the Mother about…"

"Don't put him down here!" an alarmed Misty cried as Latias prepared to drop Oliphan from her psychic grip. "He might capsize this whole thing!"

"Doubtful," Rukario said. "Considering the skill and hard work put into this platform, but, just in case…"

Latias blinked and looked at Rayquaza, who nodded at her. "Okay." She didn't drop Oliphan.

"Oh well," the elephant said cheerfully. "More flying for me! Hey Rukario, do you think I can evolve wings if I stay here long enough?"

The vulpine sweatdropped. "I don't think that's how it works, but…well, I suppose anything's possible, especially here…"

"Yay!"

Misty and Pikachu sweatdropped. "A flying elephant…" deadpanned the yellow swordsman.

"Imagine what his droppings would do…" Misty moaned. "He could probably destroy an entire village just by letting loose while flying…"

"That's a downside of evolution, I suppose," Togetic said with a sigh.

"Well, hopefully if that happens, he won't do it in any lake I happen to be in; else I might just lose my temper and eat him or at the very least blast him out of the sky. Bye." With that, Gyarados submerged himself, vanishing with nary a ripple.

Rukario walked over to the bottom of the complex elevator structure, composed of the same wood/stone/crystal mixture as the rest of the buildings but formed like rods and poles and lashed together with rope made from crystalline and organic fiber strong enough to support a Snorlax, or maybe even heavier. (They still weren't going to risk Oliphan on it, though.) He pulled a lever on the side, setting a complicated series of gears, ropes, and pulleys into action, pulling up water from the lake in large vessels as a counterweight to lower a large rectangular platform from the top of the structure several hundred feet above them to right beside the raft they were standing on. "This floating division of the village is where everyone lives and sleeps," he explained. "The upper level, on top of the root, is where things are done…food and materials are processed, cloth is woven, things are carved or sculpted, that sort of thing. There's also a sort of 'town hall' or communion of sorts where they gather at the end of the week to discuss how their lives are doing, settle the majority of disputes or issues that there may be, and other group functions of that nature. Every village has one. Each weekly meeting is presided over by the 'official' of sorts chosen to govern the village for that week."

"For that week?" Misty asked, stepping onto the elevator.

Rukario nodded. "Yes, at the beginning of every week an adult villager's name is drawn at random from a lottery box and that villager is the 'mayor' of the week. If he or she does a poor job as mayor, they have the rest of the week to make up for it and if they cannot their name is removed from the box until they can prove themselves deserving of the title again through service to the community at large. It's done this way to grant equal opportunity for all, while also allowing for the possibility of incompetence and a fair chance for redemption." He shrugged. "It's been in use for a very long time, so I suppose it must work."

Brock frowned. "It's kind of undemocratic…"

"Well, I'm sure there are virtues in a system of government which provides the people with the power to choose their own leaders…as long as those leaders are always people provided for them by large political parties who are more interested in getting elected than really concerning themselves with what's best for their country and assist those who are already powerful to become even more powerful at the cost of the underprivileged," Rukario said kindly.

"…Point," the Golem grunted.

Once everyone had boarded, Rukario pulled another lever dangling from a cord above them, setting more machinery into motion. The vessels dumped their water, triggering another counterweight to descend, causing the elevator platform to smoothly ascend up the structure. At a nod from Rayquaza, Latias rose as well, followed by Togetic, as Oliphan wiggled his legs happily.

"All right, if they draw lots each week for the role of 'mayor' for each village, then who's in charge of all the villages put together?" Pikachu asked.

"No one," said the vulpine.

"No one," Pikachu repeated.

"No. You're thinking of a governor or president or even king, right? There is no need for such a thing here. All the villages follow the same law code, which is decided upon annually by proposals made by every inhabitant on the island, including those who choose to live in the 'wild', for the law applies to them as well. That law code is then checked by the Mother, who I suppose _could_ be considered the supreme power in the land, and she, her Apostles, and the Unown run a series of calculations on what impact these new laws might have both short-term and in the long run for the entire island. They then return the findings to the people, and inform them of what consequences they have predicted might result from these new laws. And seeing as all of them have the ability to perceive what form the future may take, their predictions can be very accurate. With the advice from the Mother and her associates in mind, the inhabitants spend a few days making up their minds on whether or not to go with their proposed law code anyway or try something else. When they have decided, they send the revised code back up the mountain for one last check and consultation, and then pass it if it is deemed good, or revise it again if necessary."

"That's more democratic," Brock muttered to himself. "I think."

Togetic frowned. "If the people have final authority over what goes into their law, but the Mother's objections may be enough to make them change it, do they really have any power of their own, or does she just make them believe they do?"

Rayquaza shrugged. "As a politician of sorts myself, I can tell you now that free will can be seen from one viewpoint as just that: belief that people can shape their own destinies, when they are in fact controlled by powers beyond their comprehension. And from the way Birth Island operates…or did operate…by subtly guiding the people of Earth towards unity instead of separate independence, perhaps that viewpoint is correct. But the Mother does not believe that view, and neither do the people of this island. They follow the Mother and weigh her words wisely, yes, because they choose to, not because she forces them. If they do as she says, it is because they know what she says can be trusted…and if they do otherwise, perhaps it is for the best after all. Because there have been times where they passed laws or did things against the Mother's recommendations and yet, somehow, by themselves, they managed to make things right…just as there have been times when they _did_ listen to her and she was wrong…or perhaps they misinterpreted, or the situation is out of context. It doesn't matter. In any event, if this island is…a 'theocracy', I suppose, it's one of choice and love rather than force and terror. At least, I'd like to believe it is. Or maybe there isn't a name for what they have, does it really matter?"

The rising platform slowed and came to a stop at the top of the elevator structure. The entire upper village was laid out before them. "We're here," said Rukario.

"Yeah," Pikachu. "So what now?"

…

This place, much like the lower village, felt the slightest bit eerie as they wandered through it…as if there had been people walking down these streets, chatting and laughing, just moments ago, but now were gone. And, of course, that wasn't really far from the truth.

The buildings here were larger and less ornate than the houses floating on the water, but they still retained the artistic and rather beautiful architectural blend that made the structures down below so, well, mysterious and enticing. Many of them had two or three stories, and numerous windows, although there was no sign of shutters, glass panes, or curtains of any kind over them. A lot of the inscriptions covering the walls and statuary at first thought by the heroes to be artistic style were in fact this island's written language, or so Rukario said, a rather beautiful and stylistic combination of lines, dots, and iconic pictographs all of the newcomers to this place found utterly incomprehensible but the vulpine and Dragon King both assured actually meant something.

"That panel of text, right there?" Rukario said, pointing to a crystalline block over a doorframe which looked at first glance to be a rather elaborate engraving which none of them could quite make out but looked vaguely erotic. "That's the name of this building, it designates it as one of the village's storehouses. And that one over there is a 'power plant' of sorts. And that one right there is a café."

All of it looked either exactly the same or indescribable to the heroes, so they didn't bother commenting.

There were still plenty of totem poles scattered about, although many of these smelled of incense and had holders for candles in them, all of which were empty. Rukario explained that candles were lit and placed in these poles for certain festivals. "This island, among other things, such as a nexus of forces and somewhere that lost things may wind up, is also a place where the barriers of reality weaken. With the assistance of Anubis, one of the Mother's Apostles, that barrier can be breached at particular times of the year and allow the natives to converse and reunite with the spirits of their ancestors."

"Is that why all the totem poles up here have skulls on top?" Misty asked, pointing to the bony artifact resting on top of the closest intricately carved pole, beads dangling from its edges on knotted string.

Rayquaza shook his head. "No, those are just for decorative purposes."

"Ah."

Brock frowned. "What's decorative about skulls? I mean, unless you're going for the macabre or crypt look."

"Well, in a culture where its people are able to speak to the dead on a regular basis, perhaps skulls don't frighten them," Pikachu reasoned. "Because they're so, well, intimate with death it holds no terror for them, or something."

"To say they are intimate with death is to accuse them of having little love for life," Rukario scolded. "Which as you can see from all the work put into these buildings and artwork is simply not the case."

He was right. It seemed as if they couldn't take a few steps without being confronted by some new marvel, buildings like inverted pyramids with the broad end facing up and somehow balancing on its narrow tip, objects made almost completely out of crystal spheres held together by intricate, almost lace-like threads of metal which formed the most amazing patterns, statues and murals depicting striking contrasts between the joy and the pain, the beauty and ugliness that was the world, and quite a few fountains as well, delicious-tasting water bubbling up somehow through a complicated plumbing system imbedded in the roots and drawing liquid from the lake. And of course there were the statues of the people who lived here; capturing their somewhat alien features and making them look, well, human. Or perhaps it was they, the outsiders, who were alien, and the people who lived here that were truly human.

While the ground beneath their feet, formed from the smoothed bark of the giant root the village was built on, seemed level, Oliphan, being larger than the others, could feel an upward slope, a very shallow hill which they were steadily climbing towards as they passed by the workplaces and displays of the human/Pokemon hybrids who lived in this place. The ground seemed to be as decorated as the rest of the village, for there were lines and patterns carved into it, as if it were a giant mural or perhaps even a spell diagram. However, he was the only one who seemed to notice this, and since neither Rukario nor Rayquaza mentioned it, he decided it wasn't worth bringing up and forgot about it.

But in the midst of all this wonder, something seemed off. "Where are the people?" Misty said suddenly. "Not the ones who usually live here, but the ones we thought might have come here? The refugees, the group Sadic said might have stayed behind?"

Brock blinked. "Huh. I almost forgot about them!"

"As did I," Rayquaza admitted. "And that's a good question. Rukario, where do you suppose they all went? They don't seem to be here now."

The vulpine frowned. "I'm not sure…I can _smell_ them, but…their odor is all over the place, the crossing scents confuse me."

Pikachu's ears twitched, hearing something. "Well, maybe _they _can tell us," he said, whirling around and pointing a finger at a pair of Pichu who had been sitting on top of a nearby building (which, according to Rukario, was a nursery), hidden very well as they watched the group until one of them had slipped her footing and yelped, catching the mouse's attention. "Come down, we know you're up there!"

"We don't wanna!" one of them cried.

"Why not?" Misty yelled up at them.

"We like it up here! We get a great view and everything!" the other Pichu yelled back.

"Really? Can I come up too?" Oliphan asked.

All sweatdropped. "Oliphan, you're too big. You'd cause the building to cave in," Misty said blandly.

"Actually, he wouldn't, but it's still probably not a good idea to try," Rukario said.

"Who are you guys? More survivors?" the first Pichu asked them.

They paused. "Um…you could say that…" Brock said, since it was technically true.

"Then why do you have a monster with you?" the other Pichu asked.

"Who, Latias?" They looked at Latias. She blinked at them. "Um…she's under our control," Togetic said after a moment. "She won't hurt anyone as long as Rayquaza tells her not to, I think."

"Oh, like Wally!" the Pichu realized.

Misty frowned. "Wally?" Why did that name sound familiar?

"Could you please tell us where everyone else is?" Pikachu asked the younger mice, who for some strange reason reminded him of the Pichu brothers. "We were led to believe that other survivors were up here."

"We are," agreed one of the Pichu. "But most of 'em are either sleeping or out in the scouting party the man with white hair formed once he named himself alpha of the pack. The others are all looking around the village or trying to understand how the stuff here works. The blue and pink ladies we met here are a big help."

Their brows furrowed in confusion. "Blue and pink ladies?" Misty asked Rukario.

He shrugged. "I don't know what they're talking about. I've only been on the newer version of the island for a day or two after sleeping for over a hundred thousand years, I haven't learnt everything that's changed in all that time yet."

"Can you take us to these blue and pink ladies, and the other survivors?" Rayquaza asked the Pichu.

"Sure!" said one.

"Follow us!" said the other.

And with that, both got up and began dashing off, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and heading deeper into the village, leaving the group no choice but to chase after them. Oliphan scooped up his mother, brother/uncle, and a surprised Rukario in his trunk and dumped them in the canopy on his back so that he could run full throttle without crushing any of them, and he'd need to, seeing as how fast the Pichu were going.

"Restless little scamps," Pikachu grunted as he saw the Pichu scamper away. "Was I that energetic when I was their age?"

"Is it safe for Oliphan to run like this?" Misty asked anxiously as her adopted son trumpeted loudly and stampeded recklessly after the Pichu sisters, coming very close to smashing into buildings, sculptures, and other assorted landmarks in his path.

"Probably not, but you have to admit, it is somewhat invigorating," the vulpine commented. Oliphan continued to run after the Pichus as they moved in a circuitous route, leading him in circles and loops for their own amusement to make it seem as if the village was bigger than it actually was, his heavy stomps sending slight tremors through the root and causing some of the refugees, who had been sleeping or looking around in nearby buildings, to look out the windows and doorways in confusion. A rather angry at being woken up family of Loudred began yelling in fury at Oliphan as he ran past them, causing a bunch of Voltorbs and Electrode in the building next door to explode…and do no damage to the structure whatsoever. The bombs were more than a little miffed at this.

"Ah, the wind in my face…it feels so strange not to fly under my own power," Rayquaza commented as Latias dutifully carried him with her after Oliphan. "I hope I shall be able to fly again soon."

Brock, who had been left behind, sweatdropped. "What, did you guys just forget about me or something!" Grumbling and saying nasty words he had learned from Crawdaunt under his breath, he curled into a ball and started rolling after the elephant.

The twins giggled as they led Oliphan around and around in a merry chase, their fun erasing some of the stress and sorrow lingering from the horrors they had seen in the city…but the fun stopped when they saw a pair of confused women walking out of a nearby building, trying to see what all the noise was about. Squealing happily, the Pichus leaped off the rooftop and landed right in the arms of a bewildered Rui and Delia Ketchum, both of whom screamed as they saw the giant elephant stampeding towards them.

Oliphan blinked. "Grandma!" He skidded to a halt, his big feet scraping across the ground as he stopped only inches away from the two women, the violent brake enough to hurl a wailing Misty, Pikachu, and Rukario from the canopy on his back.

Rayquaza sweatdropped as Latias floated to a stop near Oliphan and they both watched the elephant holding Delia rather tightly in a hug. "Rather enthusiastic, isn't he?"

Latias blinked. "I suppose." The ghosts around her were laughing. She didn't understand why. What was so funny? What was 'funny', anyway? She no longer understood the concept. Her brother laughed when he hurt her. Did that mean her pain was funny? But if that was so, then why did the spirits on the beach prevent her from feeling her own pain, and why did Rayquaza and the others flinch whenever she mutilated herself? She didn't understand at all.

Togetic sighed and floated down to her brother. "Well, that's my baby brother for you."

"Oliphan, it's good to see you too sweetie. I was almost beginning to think you hadn't made it through after us after all!" Delia said, patting him on the trunk.

"We were beginning to think the same about you, Grandma," Togetic said, hugging Delia and pulling her out of the reluctant Oliphan's grip. "We're glad you're okay."

"And I'm glad you're all okay too," Delia said as Togetic lowered her to the ground and Oliphan's somewhat annoyed passengers walked over. "Although I had hoped there would be more of you." She frowned. "Did it go that badly in the end, then?"

"It…went very badly," Pikachu said hesitantly.

"But…some of us made it," Misty said quickly. "More than what you see here. The others are just resting back at the lake shore, or looking for Wes and the people he took with him."

Rui smiled in relief. "Oh good, I was worried he was going to get himself lost again, this is a rather large place after all." She cuddled the Pichu in her arms, which nuzzled her chest in return. "He took charge as soon as he got here, (after most of us stopped wailing or sobbing in balls curled up on the ground when the shock wore off) although a lot of other people tried to become leader too…but they all relented after Wes reasoned with them, and by that I mean he beat the shit out of them." She smiled brightly. "Well, I guess that's just Wes for you. One of his favorite mottos is, 'There's no problem you can't solve with your fists,' and so far it's served him well for years."

All sweatdropped. "My, humans _have_ gotten especially violent over the millennia, haven't they?" Rayquaza murmured.

"One could say they've discovered their inner Pokemon…but not all Pokemon are that violent or savage…" Rukario murmured back in reply.

"Well, that certainly sounds like Wes…" Misty muttered. She quickly sobered. "Uh, Mrs. Ketchum, I'm sorry to tell you this, but…" She bit her lip, while the others grew solemn expressions on their face. "It's about Ash…"

Delia blinked. "Ash? Oh good, maybe you can explain how he got here, he doesn't seem to quite understand it himself."

They blinked. "Huh?"

"Ash!" Rui yelled, turning around as the other refugees, startled from whatever they were doing by Oliphan's raucous stampede, lost interest and went back to sleep or looking around. "Some of your friends are here!"

"Oh good, I was worried they wouldn't make it!" The jaws of the Chosen dropped as none other than Ash Ketchum, still a red dragonoid, walked up to them. "Hey guys! Oh man, don't tell me Deoxys wiped out EVERYONE else!"

There was a moment's silence. And then…

"ASH!"

"DAD!"

A very surprised Ash was knocked over when he was tackled by Misty, Pikachu, Togetic, and (unfortunately) Oliphan, pinning him under a sobbing and hysterical family group. "Ack! Help!"

"We thought you were dead!" Misty cried, holding him far too tightly.

"Nullified," Pikachu corrected, clinging to a very confused Ash's head.

"Whatever!" she snapped back, too emotional to really care.

"I thought I'd never see you again, or remember seeing you again, or remember having you as a dad!" Togetic cried, struggling with her mother to find room to hug Ash.

"Me too!" agreed Oliphan, clutching all of them in his trunk.

"Aren't reunions just wonderful?" Delia asked, a rather vapid smile on her face. "I'm surprised they're reacting like this, though. Was it really that bad before you got here?"

Rukario and Rayquaza sweatdropped. "The planet blew up," the vulpine said simply.

"Oh my," said a startled Delia.

"That's horrible!" agreed Rui. "Although we kind of suspected as much…"

"Yes, now I've lost all my recipes! What am I going to cook for dinner?" Delia wondered, causing the two 'ancients' to facefault. "I don't know how to prepare the meals here; the food is so strange and new!"

"You know, I'm beginning to think the genetic quality of the human race in general has just gone downhill altogether since we went to sleep," Rayquaza grumbled as Latias dutifully levitated him back into the air.

"That makes the timing of this migration all the more vital," Rukario agreed as he got back up. "As well as the transference of said souls into new bodies. Perhaps that will help somewhat."

Rayquaza nodded. "It had better, or the new world might end up just as bad as the last one did near the end."

"Huh? What was so bad about it?" Brock asked, rolling up and uncurling. "Other than being hopelessly slaughtered and destroyed—hey, is that Ash!"

"Yes," Latias said blankly.

The Golem blinked. "But didn't he cease to exist or something?"

"Guess not."

"Huh. Weird."

"Tell us about it," Rukario and Rayquaza intoned.

"Oh Brock, you're here too! How wonderful," said a relieved Delia.

"Yes, that means one more of our friends wasn't killed by Deoxys," added Rui, still stroking the Pichu sister's head.

"Huh? Oh, hi girls-" Brock stopped, staring at them for a moment. They were both rather attractive and lovely humans of the female variety, and not too long ago he would have been drooling, having erections, and proposing marriage to them. And now…

He felt nothing. Absolutely nothing, especially not down there.

It was all the Mother's fault, as usual. Damn her!

"Brock, why are you clenching your fists and cursing under your breath?" a confused Delia asked the enraged Golem.

Brock started. "Huh? Oh, uh, nothing Mrs. Ketchum, nothing at all!" he said quickly. "No blaspheming here, no sir!"

"Was he blaspheming?" Rukario asked Rui. She nodded, and the vulpine gave Brock a judgmental, indignant look. "Shame on you!"

"Wha! H-how'd you know!" Brock stammered.

"I'm psychic," Rui reminded him.

"Oh, right."

"How did you do it?" Misty asked Ash, finally stemming her tears but still hugging him much too tightly. "How did you survive that attack…and wind up here, of all places?"

"Um…" Ash paused, thinking carefully. "I don't know."

His family facefaulted, thankfully falling off of him in the process. "YOU DON'T KNOW!" Misty bellowed, her former joy and relief at seeing Ash alive changing to a very familiar rage. "WE THOUGHT YOU WERE _DEAD_, ERASED FROM THE UNIVERSE AND ALL OF HISTORY, AND YOU DON'T EVEN _KNOW_ HOW YOU SURVIVED!"

"Uh, no," Ash said timidly as Misty summoned a water mallet. "But…but y-you're much too relieved to find out that I'm alive and not nonexistent to pummel me, right?"

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

Wrong.

The others sweatdropped as Ash lay on the ground, twitching, three large bumps growing from his head. "I always have time to beat you up for no apparent reason! It's how I show the world I really care." Misty sweetly kissed Ash on the forehead. "Glad to have you back, Ash."

"Glad to…be back…ouch," he moaned. "That hurt more than usual."

"That's because I put a lot of anger and love into those swings," she said sweetly, helping him back to his feet. "Now, don't do anything like that again, okay?"

He nodded, rubbing his head. "Okay."

Togetic sighed happily. "Oh, it's good to have some semblance of normality in our lives again, isn't it brother?"

"Yep, if there's one constant in the universe, it's that Mom will always beat up Dad to flirt and relieve tension!" Oliphan agreed cheerfully.

The others sweatdropped. Latias blinked, a thought slowly percolating through her decayed mind. Drawing back her arm, she thrust a Dragonclaw at Rayquaza's skull, cracking his armor, almost skewering his eyeball, and giving him a rather large sudden headache. "Aaahh! Latias, why did you do that!" he cried as the others prepared to attack the dragon, thinking she had gone berserk.

Latias blinked dully. "Misty is in a re-lay-shun-ship with Ash and she hurts him. We are in a re-lay-shun-ship too, or so my memory says, so shouldn't I hurt you too?"

They sweatdropped at this, and couldn't help but pity the dragon girl. "Latias," Rayquaza said softly. "It doesn't work like that, not usually. Certainly not with us, and not with most other couples either. One of the important things about loving someone is trying _not_ to hurt them, trying to keep them safe from that which can harm them...except when sparring. Or mating, I suppose."

Latias cocked her head in confusion. "Then why does Misty pummel Ash?"

"Well," Rayquaza said with a grunt. "I said _most_ other couples. Observation of these two from my final days as Ghost King has led me to believe that both Ash and Misty are for the most part abnormal in the way they handle their relationship…in many, many, _many_ ways."

"HEY!" both Ash and Misty snapped.

"Well…he _does_ kind of have a point," Pikachu said. "You two are sorta dysfunctional."

"Pikachu!" Ash cried in alarm.

"But its okay," Togetic assured them. "We love you just the way you are, violent and all."

"As long as you don't take that violence out on us and become bad, child-beating parents like on television," Oliphan added.

"I'm starting to feel like beating some children…" Ash growled under his breath.

"Ash, may I remind you he's several times larger than you, a few tons heavier than you, and is resistant to electricity?" Pikachu pointed out.

"…Oh, right."

"In any event, I'm glad you're all here," Delia said, putting the Pichu in her arms down, who immediately ran up Rui's leg to join her sister. "And that others managed to survive, too…" She smiled. "And now that you're here…I should probably take you to see the twins!"

Everyone glanced at the Pichu sisters, who blinked and loudly protested, "Not us!"

"She means the other twins," Rui said helpfully.

"Oh," said the others, clearly finding her answer very unhelpful.

"I'm not sure how to explain them…but they're really cool! Come on, we'll introduce you to them!" said Ash.

"Do you know who they're talking about?" Brock asked Rukario when Delia, Rui, Ash and the Pichu began to lead them towards the center of the village.

The vulpine shrugged. "No idea. Perhaps these are the 'pink and blue ladies' the Pichu sisters were referring to."

Latias blinked, staring dully at the ghosts. They were crowding the streets and sitting on top of familiar workplaces and hangouts, staring down at them in interest. "I see pink and blue," she said somewhat randomly, referring to the 'colors' of the spirits. "And green, and orazure, and suprajaundice, and octarine, and violon…"

Brock sweatdropped. "Those aren't colors…"

"Actually," said Rayquaza. "They are. But your eyes are unequipped to see them, and so they are invisible and unnamed to you."

"Oh." Brock paused. "Then…why can she see them?"

"Because she's dead," Rukario said simply. "The dead can see things that the living cannot. Common knowledge."

"Oh, right." Brock paused. "That's creepy."

Rukario nodded as they continued to follow their friends. "Yes, I suppose it is."

…

Soon enough, the group reached the center of town, or the 'town square', even though it was round and covered in marble flagstones, or what looked like marble. The flagstones seemed to contain more colors than just white, but it was hard to look at them without feeling somewhat dizzy. The square was surrounded on three sides by circular walls with gaps in them for the streets winding out from the center to the rest of the village. Each wall had a masterfully done mural engraved on its inward-facing surface, depicting what looked to be the entire history of the village…or so they thought. It could just as easily be telling a fairytale, or an adventure story, or the history of the war between the Mother or Deoxys, they didn't have the slightest idea what the hell all those figures and pictures meant. In any event, water streamed down over the murals from slits near the top of the wall, collecting in reflecting basins set into the ground with water lilies and many other aquatic flowers blossoming from them.

The far side of the square, where there was no wall, was taken up by a large building that could only be 'town hall'…a towering building, larger than the others in the village, and open to the air. It was basically a large amphitheater-like structure made of beautiful and ornate woven materials, with rather elegant spiraling columns lining the sides, more for decoration than support. There didn't seem to be any attaching structures to serve as mayoral offices or other functions of government, but then again, it probably didn't need them. Since the town was essentially run by the people, what more did they need for a place of debate and law than a public arena? They probably held trials here too, if they had trials. None of them had asked Rukario about the court system on this island, if there even was one.

Standing in a circle halfway into the square were ten tall statues depicting majestic figures of power and grace that the newcomers to the village realized at once had to be the Apostles which Rukario and Rayquaza had spoken of, the Mother's most powerful servants and guardians of this island, and possibly the only ones who could change Latias back to normal. Each of the Apostles had a number of smaller stone Pokemon clamboring around their bases, some of them looking like the saurians they had seen on the trail up from the beach, others looking far stranger and more magical, like something out of a long-forgotten myth.

A large fountain rose from the very center of the square, made of a very fluid and elegant material that seemed to be some kind of mix between metal, stone, and crystal. The basin itself was bowl-shaped and had sculptures of aquatic Pokemon and fish they had never seen before, including a small almost seal-like figure with long antenna, while a series of larger and more detailed statues rose from the middle, standing on each other to create a tiered pillar. Sitting on the bottom were Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza, with Latias, Latios, and Absol positioned between them. Above them were Ho-Oh and Lugia, facing in opposite directions, with the three elemental birds crowded together on one side and the three elemental beasts on the other. Atop their backs stood a pair of rather large and almost frightening-looking Pokemon none of them had ever seen, but rising up from their backs were the trio of Regirock, Regice, and Registeel back-to-back, with Rukario kneeling gracefully outward in front of Registeel. Standing on their toes, balancing carefully on the heads of the three ancient sages, was the almost adorable sight of Mew, Jirachi, and Celebi trying to hold a rather large flower blossom between them without falling over or dropping it. And rising from that blossom was the Mother, in all her beauty, just as they had seen her on Ever Grande. Water somehow poured forth from the flower, despite the lack of any piping through which it could possibly be channeled through, as well as from the mouths of the larger legendary Pokemon.

But as the energetic Pichu sisters led them around the fountain to the other side, they saw something odd about the crowning statue of the Mother. Her backside was carved to form a statue of Deoxys in the exact same pose as the Mother, looking out in the world with all his horror, his sculpted eyes so well-done and realistic that they brought chills down the backs of the Chosen, who had only seen him mere moments ago, or so it had seemed.

What was a figure of Deoxys doing on this most sacred place? Furthermore, why was it on the backside of the Mother's statue, creating a two-faced and two-bodied monument? What symbolism did it embody, and what message was it trying to tell them through rather blatant foreshadowing? Not even Rukario could say, so he was fortunately spared from having to say 'I don't know' repeatedly when the Pichus stopped abruptly in front of a pair of flagstones that looked to be more crystalline than stone (than again, the makeup of most of the structures around here was questionable), with intricate multidimensional snowflake-like patterns imbedded just beneath the surface.

"Hello," Delia said to the two flagstones. "We have new visitors! I think you should come and see them."

Before any of the newcomers could wonder why Delia was talking to a couple of flagstones of all things (Togetic quietly wondering if her grandmother, always a little loose, had finally gone completely unhinged), the snowflake patterns lit up rather brightly, one pink and the other blue, and enlarged, forcing the visitors to step back as they created a pair of complex spell diagrams. Rukario's eyes widened in amazement as his experienced eyes examined the parameters and descriptions written into the spells, realizing what they entailed. "They're…" he started, stammering. "They're…_alive_."

"What are?" asked a confused Misty.

"The spells, those patterns, they're...ALIVE!"

And so they were. As they watched in amazement, Rui and Delia with knowing smiles on their faces, a pair of figures formed in the middle of the diagrams, crafted from hard light and therefore emitting a steady, colorful glow. Both the figures were humanoid, naked, and rather shapely, and Brock found to his dismay that once more he found neither of them particularly attractive.

"Damn you, Mother!" he said bitterly.

Strangely enough, the beings of solid light looked very, very familiar. The pink one seemed mild and kind, with a warm smile, blue eyes, and hair curled up above her forehead to keep it out of her face and put in rings behind her head. The blue one looked tough but caring, with brown eyes and a pair of slightly curly bangs hanging over her face and the rest of her hair in spikes as it hung down her back. "Welcome to Birth Island, friends!" they chorused, their voices increasing the unsettling feeling of familiarity.

Oliphan blinked several times. "Nurse Joy? Officer Jenny!"

"What are you doing here!" cried Misty. "And…not exactly human…"

"Oh, wait!" Pikachu declared. "Nearly every town in the world that I've ever been to has at least one Joy and/or Jenny, so…you must be the ones assigned to this village, right? And…I dunno, your ancestors bred with Pokemon here too?"

"A good guess, but I'm afraid not," said the pink being. "I am Genotype 101525, designation Joy Prime."

"And I am Genotype 105145, designation Jenny Prime," the blue being explained.

Naturally, the Chosen were very perplexed by this, save for Rukario, who seemed to be putting two and two together in his head. "Prime…as in, the First?" he asked.

The women smiled. "Correct!" they chorused.

"The First?" Oliphan asked in confusion. "The first what?"

"The First…" Togetic's eyes widened. "He means…the first Joy and Jenny!" Rukario nodded, as did the hard light entities.

"Ah-ha!" Misty cried. "I knew it! I knew that all the Joys and Jennies in the world were actually clones! How else could they all look so similar?"

Brock gasped. "What! No! That can't be! I can't have fallen madly in love with CLONES all my life, could I!"

The beings scowled. "First off, it's not nice to discriminate against someone just because they happen to be a replicated genotype," Joy scolded.

"And for another, no, they're not clones. Not exactly," agreed Jenny.

"Ooh, tell them the story you told us!" chirped one of the Pichu sisters.

"Yes, we don't understand what it means at all, but it sounded really nice!" agreed the other sister.

"All right," the colored beings said.

"As you all know by now, the people of this island adhere to a belief in allowing those of the outside world to choose their own path in life by exercising their free will. Many was the time when they influenced the rest of the world one way or another, but only in small ways, preferring to let people discover things for their own, as hard as it was," Jenny started.

"But sometimes, the pain caused by watching humans and Pokemon carelessly destroy their own world and each other presented deep moral conflicts for those who watched from here on Birth Island," said Joy. "Should they go out and impose order on the world, crushing free will but ensuring peace? Or should they remain helpers from the shadows, providing technology and guidance to the people of Earth at a slow enough pace that they wouldn't blow themselves up in war and still had a chance of finding their own path in life, practically ensuring many more centuries of war and strife in the process?"

"This subject was the cause of debates between the natives of this island for many centuries," Joy continued. "And it threatened to drive a permanent wedge into the peace and unity of the people, splitting them apart as it had so many in the outside world. Seeing this, the Apostles and the clearest-minded advocates of all the growing factions conferred with the Mother, who in turn conferred with the Unown, on what to do. The Unown and the Mother put extraordinary effort and contemplation into seeking the answer, and once they found it, it was truly satisfactory to all, as unbelievable as that may sound."

"For centuries, they had discreetly helped the world by offering technology, bits of knowledge, cures to certain diseases and the like, and planting those in the minds of those they thought most likely to use the proffered gifts properly," said Jenny. "What was proposed was that they go a step further and create a much more influential gift, one that might make a bigger impact on the world while still allowing for free choice. Part of that influential gift came in the form of the Pokeball, a device which helped bridge the human-Pokemon gap in ways that had not been seen for thousands of years."

"And the other part of the gift," Joy added. "Came in the form of us. The Joy and Jenny family, which was spread throughout the globe as you knew it until Deoxys arrived and destroyed it all. We were introduced to the world to help bring order to the chaos that the Pokeball might bring after it had become more mainstream: the Joys to heal those weary from battle or travel and remind them there is good in the world, reinforce the fact that trainer and Pokemon must act as one, and provide a safe haven to any and all in need of it; while the Jennies were designed to maintain the law and prevent the power of Pokemon or Pokeball from being abused in any way, remaining a strict and incorruptible adherent to order and duty, with enough flexibility to keep from turning into a lifeless automaton."

"It took centuries of genetic engineering to bring us, the first Joy and Jenny, into being," said Jenny. "The Pokeball had been perfected long before, but could not be released without us for the fear of what might happen without the regulation and guidance we would have brought with it. They had mapped out the complete human and Pokemon genomes long ago, but it still took a while to isolate the genes and amino acids which, when mixed in the right way, could give birth to a pair of modified humans such as they had envisioned. And to make matters more complicated, whenever a fitting set of genes was assembled, the resulting life-form was then put through decades of subconscious ethical testing before it could even really be called 'alive', to make sure there were as few mistakes as possible in their designs. And not only that, but they took cultures from those subjects and bred them with cells from humans on the mainland to ensure that whatever offspring resulted from such a mating would not overrun the gene pool and press the human race into extinction. And once they had ensured such a thing would not happen, by tweaking the DNA they had designed so that only one out of 5 girls born from a Joy or Jenny would have enough of the tailored genes in her to become a Joy or Jenny, _those_ projected offspring were then put under rigorous ethical testing as well, through several generations of hybrid cultures all originating at some point down the line from the original engineered life-forms still waiting to be born. When we two, the original Joy and Jenny, successfully passed all the testing while the others failed, the other unliving bodies were destroyed and our bodies were cloned and tweaked slightly to create the first generation of Jenny and Joy. Once those bodies were perfected, the next step came: procuring proper souls for us so that we and our descendants might live."

"That task was left to the Unown," Joy explained. "They prowled both the world of the living and the world outside of time for souls which would be perfect matches for the waiting bodies that had already been developed, as well as the souls which would make good prospects to be born in the Joys and Jennies who would come after us. Once the souls were located, they were asked if they wished to return to life and help a struggling world in the form of a skilled medical professional or a dedicated law enforcer, and then put those souls through an even more trying set of ethical tests, weeding out those who didn't have it in them or who were bound to fail from the ones who would prosper the most in the bodies or their projected offspring in the distant and near future. Once all of _that_ was finished, we were finally born, alongside about a dozen each of our siblings and cousins, educated in our task, and released into the world, where we established ourselves in our respective jobs and waited for the release of the Pokeball. And released it was, and then…" She shrugged. "Well, you know the rest by now. The world eventually developed into the one you were familiar with."

"And Joys and Jennies bred and reproduced with other humans, bringing more Joys and Jennies into being. An unanticipated but rather welcome side effect was how the DNA contributed from Joy and Jenny reacted in many of their non-Joy or Jenny offspring, deleting some of their natural tendencies towards violence and selfishness as well as making them less susceptible to diseases and giving them a slightly longer lifespan. So despite Birth Island's best attempts to keep the human race from being bred out of extinction, in some ways something like that _did_ happen, a new strain of humanity began to form, diluted and widespread as it may be." She smiled. "In fact, I believe that you, Misty, in fact share some mixed Joy and Jenny genes from several generations back, contributing to your desire to be an 'authority' or controlling figure as such while still caring deeply for your loved ones."

Misty blinked. "I had no idea…"

"Who'd have thought such a combination would make anyone so violent?" Ash wondered, prompting another mallet attack.

"Not always," said Rui. "Turns out I've got a bit of Joy and Jenny in me too…though maybe a bit more of one than the other, since I don't feel the compulsion to clobber my boyfriend over the head when he's acting stupid, just berate him and generally destroy his stubborn male pride." Both red-heads laughed evilly, scaring the heck out of everyone else, save the Pichus, who laughed along with them, not having the slightest idea what was so funny.

"And it turns out my great-grandmother was part-Joy, leading to my abnormal cheerfulness and kindness. It's amazing how genetics work, isn't it?" Delia said with a smile.

"What about me? Do I have any Joy or Jenny DNA in me?" Brock asked.

The two Primes examined him for a moment. "…No. Sorry."

"Awww." He sagged in disappointment. "Why do I get left out of everything good these days!"

Pikachu frowned as he considered everything he had just been told. "Um…not to disparage your existence or anything, but does the reason for which you produced, as well as the results of said creation and breeding with the main population of humanity, agree completely with the Mother's, the people who made you, and your own beliefs on free will?"

Joy and Jenny looked at each other and shrugged. "We don't really know," they said honestly.

"To be frank, it's still debatable to this day whether our creation and effect on the world constitutes a serious violation against the free will of humanity," confessed Joy.

"But since our genesis clearly did good things for the world, it's also debatable whether _not_ creating us would have been any better," added Jenny. "And if you look at things from the right perspective, a person could say there's no such thing as free will anyway, since every one of us is made of a bundle of proteins, subatomic particles, and electrical impulses which effectively dictate every single action we take in our lives. We may be fooling ourselves into believing we actually think for ourselves and aren't being controlled by our own subconscious, or possibly even deeper forces. So a case could be made saying that we did nothing wrong by violating free will, since it doesn't exist anyway."

Rukario nodded. "It could go either way. Let us just say for now that your creation was the right thing to do, since it did indeed help bring humans and Pokemon together, in a somewhat subtler way than the simple introduction of the Pokeball."

"Plus, we might not be here now if not for Joy and Jenny," Togetic agreed. "Since their offspring and descendants have saved our tails lots of times. Plus, without their contribution to the human gene pool, a bunch of us might never even have been born!"

"Yes, but…if I may ask?" Rayquaza requested politely. "Your physical bodies must have died ages ago. So, why exactly are you two still here?"

The solid holograms smiled. "We weren't quite ready to leave yet, I suppose. As the original Joy and Jenny, we felt a somewhat…motherly bond for our descendants. We wanted to be able to watch them as they grew and formed their own families throughout the world," said Joy Prime.

Jenny Prime nodded. "Plus, we like this island. It's a very nice place. And we became good friends with the people here, as well. We were offered new bodies so we could become one of them, but we were tired of being totally bound to flesh (I suppose we'd been drifting about blissfully outside of time too long, because even though our physical forms were comfortable we liked being bodiless better), so the Apostles drew the spellforms engraved in the stones below us, anchoring our souls to the island and allowing us to generate bodies out of light particles to interact with the world around us."

"Wow," said an impressed Oliphan. "It sounds like these Apostles can do just about anything!"

"Perhaps they can," said Rukario with a shrug. "Although they are not nearly as ancient as my master was, in their own way they are greater sorcerers than even he and his siblings! It is for that reason that they may be able to undo this terrible thing that has been done to Latias."

Hearing her name, Latias looked up from the vagina she was violating and blinked. "Hmm?" She hadn't paid any attention to the long story of Joy and Jenny's origins, losing interest and more curious to see if she could feel pain yet. She still could not, unfortunately.

"Oh dear…let me fix that," said Joy, gesturing. Pink particles formed in the air and ringed the rather grotesque wound Latias had torn in her nether regions, spinning around and around and accelerating the healing process, causing the hole to seal up without spilling a single drop of blood on the ground. Latias frowned at that, mildly annoyed.

This display of power did not go ignored by the newcomers. "Wow," said Misty. "If only the Joys we knew could do that…I can think of a whole bunch of situations which might have been less drastic or exhausting!"

Joy laughed. "Yes, well, it's amazing the sorts of things you can learn when you've been around long enough."

"And wouldn't have had us get sent out to find this medicine or deliver that package to help all sorts of sick Pokemon, cutting down on all the time wasted that I could have spent training for and winning the Pokemon League!" Ash continued, agreeing to Misty's comment, causing all to sweatdrop. "Not that I'm interested anymore, but…you know!"

"Glad to see your priorities are where they always were, Ash," said Pikachu. "I think…"

"Ah, in any case," said Jenny. "Thank you for bringing them to see us, Mrs. Ketchum. It's always a pleasure to meet a new face, even if in a way we've known many of you for a long time, through the eyes of our descendants."

"You're welcome," said Delia cheerfully.

"Wait, you mean I've been ogled by pretty girls almost my entire life, and I never even knew it!" Brock cried, desperately wanting it to be true.

"Of course not," said Joy, scoffing. "That would be rude!"

"Yes, we only ogle the pretty ones," said Jenny.

"Like Lance."

"Or Wallace!"

"Or that sexy Drew. A shame he died. Oh well."

"Oh, and don't forget Zoro!"

"Well of course not, who could _ever_ forget Zoro!"

"And then there's Oak, although I must admit he didn't age well."

"Oh, and Hale!"

"And Birch!"

"And _Norman_"

"Oh yes, I think Petalburg Joy was tempted to have an affair with him for real, I certainly was."

"Nonsense, she would never have done that! I, on the other hand…"

They sweatdropped as Joy and Jenny Prime seemed to forget for a moment that they existed, reminiscing over a very, VERY long list of attractive men they'd known or watched from a distance throughout the ages, none of which seemed to include Brock or anyone from his family, something that led him to sulk behind Oliphan, too miserable to face the ladies.

"They know…a LOT of guys," said Togetic in disbelief.

"I can't even remember the names of half that many people," Oliphan complained as the Primes continued reciting from memory.

"Well, that's the advantage and problem of being very long-lived, I suppose," Rui mused. "You get to know a lot of people, and leave them behind."

"Better than being short-lived, and not having time to know ANYBODY," one of the Pichu sisters complained, Pikachu nodding in agreement.

"Well, then it's a good thing you're here," said Rukario.

"Yes, on this island you'll have more than enough time," said Rayquaza. "As long as no horrible accidents occur, which sadly _is_ still a possibility." Latias stared at the Pichu and wondered if anyone would mind if she ate them. She wasn't hungry, she was just wondering, that's all.

"Oh, but Ash isn't bad either," Joy said suddenly, glancing at the startled dragonoid.

"Oh yes, he has his own sort of charm," agreed Jenny, causing Ash to flush and Misty to growl and grip his wrist in a clear sign of territoriality. "It's obvious why so many women are attracted to him!"

"You're a real Casanova, Ash," Pikachu joked as Ash's face turned almost black from blushing. Brock sobbed bitterly in the background, ignored for the most part.

"Yeah!" agreed Oliphan. "What's a Casanova?"

"Well, 'casa' means house," said Togetic. "And a nova is when a star explodes, so…it's the house of a dead star? A stellar graveyard?" She blinked in confusion. "How is Dad like a stellar graveyard?" All sweatdropped.

"Yes, well, speaking of Ash," Rayquaza said. "Would you happen to know why it is that Ash happened to find himself here after being erased from existence before our eyes by Deoxys?"

The women glanced at each other. "Nope," they said apologetically.

"We asked them the same thing," said Rui. "And they didn't know then, either."

"The Mother will know, though," said Joy confidently.

"Well of course she would," Rukario said sensibly. "There's little she doesn't know, or can find out. Can you take us to her, then?"

"Of course," said Jenny. "Follow me, if you please." To their astonishment, Jenny seemed to fission, and now there were two hard-light blue females standing before them.

"Wha-how did you…" started Togetic.

"Oh, I know," Pikachu interrupted. "It's another one of those things you learn if you're around long enough, right?"

The women nodded. "That's right. Being in two places at once is easy, once you know how," both the Jennies said. "It's how I can be here with you know, and also with Wes and his group, exploring the jungle all around us."

"And how I can be here, but also helping many of the survivors who made it here from the city deal with their trauma and rest, for now anyway," said Joy. She suddenly fissioned, and the second Joy walked over to Brock, who was sitting miserably behind Oliphan. "And maybe I can help you deal with your unhappiness too," she said, as the former human blinked at her through bleary eyes. "Just because you have been relegated to what may seem to you to be an inferior position in the scheme of things is no reason to complain or feel left out. After all, you are still alive. You are here, safe, with friends who care about you, the chance to start a new life even as the old one vanishes into oblivion behind you. We are all going to a new world. Do you really want to bring the sorrows of the old with you and corrupt this new beginning?"

"…No," he said, surprised to hear himself say that. "I…I suppose not." He got up, brushing off his face. Nodding, he turned to his companions. "Let's go, guys."

"Are you coming with us, Delia? Rui?" Misty asked the two women.

They shook their heads. "No thanks, we still haven't seen everything there is to see here," Delia said.

"And somebody needs to be here to greet Wes with open arms, whether he found food or not," Rui said with a smile. "Not like we need it, anyway. Joy Prime showed us tons of food already pre-prepared for us and held in vacuum containers left behind by the islanders in case we were hungry. But Wes has always been too stubborn to rely wholeheartedly on the kindness of strangers, so felt he had to go be a macho man and find food on his own." She shrugged. "Men. What're you gonna do with them?"

"I know how you feel," said Misty, smiling and wrapping her arm around Ash's, causing him to blink in confusion. "And you'll be coming with us, of course."

"I will?" he asked, startled.

"Of course. I'm never letting you out of my sight again, remember?"

"Well, you've said that several times before, but—ow!" he yelped when Misty elbowed him. "Okay, okay, I'm coming! Maybe I have some questions of my own for the Mother when we see her, like how I survived being deleted or whatever."

"I'm sure all your questions will be answered in time," assured one of the Jennies. "Follow me, please." She walked off, away from the fountain.

"Goodbye Mom! We'll be back soon!" Ash promised his mother before following after Jenny.

"And I'll take good care of him Mrs. Ketchum, I promise!" Misty also assured the human female.

"That's all right, dear," Delia said. "And you can call me Mom!"

Misty blushed, and Ash smirked at her. "Goodbye grandma!" Togetic and Oliphan called before following their parents.

"Goodbye dears, I'll spoil you rotten when you get back, I promise!" Delia said as a farewell.

"What about me?" complained the Pichu in her arms.

"Oh, you'll get spoiled too," Delia assured her, tickling her under the chin and making her giggle.

"Latias, let's go," Rayquaza told his hopefully soon to be cured mate. She blinked at him, nodded, and they started to float away.

Struck by a sudden impulse, Latias looked back at Rui. "Your friends are dead," she said dully. "Loreon. Enzo, Gonzap. All dead. No more. Damned forever." She was testing the waters again, seeing if the spirits around her would allow her to feed on the misery that her statement would bring. They didn't. And so she felt nothing as Rui gasped and fell to her knees in horror, and Rayquaza gave her an angry and reproachful look. Oh well. She was nothing anyway. She supposed it didn't matter if she couldn't feel anything else. She never could, not since she had died and become what she was now, and now it seemed that she never would.

…

"Hey Ash," Pikachu asked Ash suddenly, hopping on his friend's shoulder as Jenny led them through the village, acting as a tour guide of sorts and informing the group of the nature and history of the structures around them. "Ah…did Joy or Jenny Prime say anything about…um, your father?"

The dragonoid looked at his companion in puzzlement. "My father? No, why? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Ah…never mind," Pikachu said quickly. This was going to be harder than he thought. How was he going to break it to Ash that the two of them might actually be brothers in blood as well as spirit? How could he even know if Rukario's assumptions were actual fact? He sighed, deciding he'd just ask the Mother about it when they reached her sanctuary atop the mountain.

On that note, how were they going to get there, anyway?

Before he could ask that, their paths intersected with that of a pair of teenaged males, one white-haired with a headband and the other a green-haired, hideous, rotting, moaning virus-infected zombie.

Brendan smiled, seeing the newcomers, and headed towards them. "Oh hey, more survivors! It's great to see new faces waaahhhh what are you doing!" he screamed as they immediately tensed and got into fighting positions when they saw the green-haired zombie next to him.

"Uhhhh," the zombie said.

"One of Deoxys' evil minions! It must have followed us here!" Rayquaza assumed.

"Kill it!" Oliphan bellowed, waving his trunk.

"What? No, this isn't an evil minion!" Jenny said with a smile. "That's Brendan's life partner!"

The Chosen stared at her, then at Brendan and the zombie, then back at Jenny. "…What?"

"This is my boyfriend, Wally!" Brendan said, putting an arm around the decaying monster's shoulders. "Say hello, Wally!"

"Uhhhh," Wally moaned pathetically.

"…This seems wrong on so many levels," Misty said slowly, her water mallet vanishing.

Ash shrugged. "Yeah, I freaked out when I saw it too."

"How is this possible? I didn't think any virus monsters could set foot on this island," said a puzzled Rukario.

"If that's true, then what's Latias doing here?" Brock asked the vulpine.

"…Hmm. Good point."

"Just another thing we could ask the Mother, I suppose," Rayquaza said thoughtfully.

Brendan looked at the hard-light construct anxiously. "Miss Jenny, can you remind me where those food storehouses were? I went looking for them, but got lost. I need to find something for Wally to eat as soon as possible, or else he'll starve to death! Look how awful he looks already from malnourishment!"

The Chosen sweatdropped. "I think it's going to take a little more than food to make him look better…" Pikachu said deadpan.

"Well, they say love is blind," Rayquaza said helpfully.

"And you'd know, wouldn't you?" Brock said.

"…" Rayquaza glared at the Golem, causing him to shrink back in fright. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Brock said quickly.

Jenny smiled at Brendan. "The building you're looking for is two blocks down the street to the west," she said, pointing down a branch of the intersection. "Then take a left turn, and it's the second building on the right, with a symbol that looks like a squiggly eggplant over the door. There's plenty of consumables there preserved in vacuum storage units for your boyfriend to eat."

"Are any of them green?" Brendan asked anxiously. "Because Wally here's a very picky eater, he prefers his food green if at all possible, even to the point of adding green food coloring to it."

The Chosen sweatdropped again as they heard this, but Jenny Prime seemed to take it in stride. "Don't worry, there are plenty of green things for him to eat, and a good number for yourself as well. More than enough to fill your stomachs."

Brendan smiled. "Thank you, Ms. Jenny Prime! Come on, Wally!" Tugging on the moaning zombie's arm, he dragged his boyfriend down the street, almost literally due to Wally's inability to move his legs properly thanks to flesh and muscle decay.

"…That was odd," Togetic said after a moment.

"I ask again, why was a creature like Wally allowed on this island? Isn't he a danger to everything here?" Rayquaza asked.

"No," Jenny said. "He's too weak, in all meaning of the word. He's literally harmless. His teeth are so feeble they can't even break the flesh, if for some reason he tries to eat Brendan or anyone else. And this island's aura prevents the virus animating him from infecting anyone else. Normally it would negate the virus entirely and cause him to fall apart, but…" She shrugged. "Since the gateway let him through, and your friend Latias remains intact as well, I suppose the Mother has judged that neither of them are a threat to the island."

"And if they were?" Misty asked.

"Then they wouldn't be here." She left it at that, and they wisely decided not to probe any further, not certain they wanted to know the answers. Latias glanced after Wally for a moment, blinked dully, and followed the group as they continued after Jenny.

Soon enough, they followed a road leading out of town and up the sloping hill of the root. Something like grass or soft, fuzzy moss had grown around the path they were walking on and many vibrant wildflowers grew from them, tended by small insects that looked like Butterfree or Beautifly. The quiet idyll around them and the soft roar of the waterfall crashing down to the lake only half a mile away calmed them all, save Latias, as usual.

The silence was broken when Pikachu said, "Huh. You know, for some reason I was expecting a graveyard to be here."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked him.

The mouse shrugged. "I don't know. It just seems like a good place to put one, if the others I've seen made by you humans are anything to go by. Quiet, peaceful, full of life to distract you from the bleak truth that eventually you're going to die anyway no matter what you do or how you live, etc."

"We don't have graveyards here," Jenny told them. "At least, not like the ones you might be thinking of."

Rukario nodded. "That's right, since the people here value life and the spirit so much, when life leaves the body they no longer have much use for it and see no reason to ceremonially preserve it and dig up vast tracts of land just to put the useless corpses somewhere."

"It's the same among dragonkind," Rayquaza commented. "Except we eat the flesh after roasting it on a funeral pyre, then dump the bones in a large pit outdoors, keeping a rib or fang or maybe a skull as a memory keepsake." He didn't notice the slightly disgusted expressions on the faces of his companions, though Pikachu was a bit used to it by now due to his exposure to Sadic, whose culture did much the same thing.

"We follow a similar practice here, actually," Jenny said, grossing out the newcomers again. "When someone dies, we have a nightlong festival in their honor in which their body is consumed by their family and friends. The soul of the deceased sticks around for the party, along with the spirits of those who came before them, and at dawn Anubis arrives to lead them to the other side. The skeleton is then deposited in the Boneyard high up on the mountain, and a small statuette of the deceased is carved and placed in their family's household to honor them and provide them with an anchor when they visit on the holidays."

"Do they ritually feed the statuette too?" Pikachu asked, recalling that some tribes and civilizations out in the world did—_had_ done that, according to television. "So that the soul of the deceased won't starve in the spirit world?"

"What?" said a startled Jenny. "No, of course not. It's a _statue_. Statues can't eat. They have no digestive tracts."

"Or stomachs," added Oliphan. "Unless they're Rock Pokemon. Or the statue was carved from a Soodowoodo."

"You can't carve anything from a Soodowoodo," Togetic pointed out. "They're made of petrified wood. Too hard."

"Oh, right…"

"And besides, spirits don't need to eat," Rayquaza said. "Trust me, I know. The closest thing we have to 'eating' is absorbing emotions from each other or from the living, and that's more optional than anything as necessary as a meal."

"No, no, the statue and the spirit don't eat the food, the family does!" Pikachu protested.

"Huh? Then how is it feeding the spirit if the family eats it?" Ash asked, confused.

"It's a _ritual!_" Pikachu said, turning red. "They _first_ present the meals or pictures of the meals to _symbolize_ feeding the spirit, the spirit can't eat anything because it's, obviously, a _spirit!_ It's all SYMBOLIC!"

Ash frowned. "That's too complicated," he complained. "Why not just eat the food and be done with it, rather than making some excuse about feeding some dead guy who can't eat anyway and doesn't need to."

"Yeah, that makes more sense to me too," agreed Misty.

"Indeed, one of the pleasures of being a spirit is that you no longer need to be tied down to food," Rukario agreed. "Or so I have been taught."

"I didn't think it was that pleasurable," Rayquaza grumbled. "Then again, I was barely even a spirit, just a big mist-enshrouded thing trapped in some pocket dimension and only able to look longingly at the world of the living…and while I do indeed enjoy being able to eat food again…" He grimaced. "Well, let's just say I'm not very happy that I can feel it coming out the other end…that takes some getting used to."

His companions, at least the living ones who were from a more modern and somewhat more conservative lifestyle, gagged. "Too much information! Too much information!" Misty yelled.

"I've actually been suffering from the same problem," Rukario admitted. "I suppose that's one of the problems that comes with waking up from a 100,000+ year nap, not all of your body is functioning at perfect levels."

"At least you were still in that body the whole time," Rayquaza accused. "I'm still having problems getting used to this form, and it doesn't help that my strength's fled me. Now my own body armor feels like it's crushing me, and I swear I'm going to get hemorrhoids or something, don't even _ask_ me how that's possible!"

They gagged again. "What part of 'Too much information' do you not understand!" Brock cried in horror.

"We have some berries which should clear that right up, their juices loosen everything inside you and sort of…_lubricate _your innards so that they work properly again," Jenny Prime informed them, causing the others to gag again.

"Was that really necessary to tell us?" asked a grossed-out Oliphan.

"I'm sorry," Jenny apologized sincerely. "We talk about such things openly around here, because we see no reason to be embarrassed or disgusted by them. In fact, there is very little any of us has ever had to feel ashamed about."

"You feel no shame at all?" asked an amazed Ash.

"No, she said they have very little to _be_ ashamed of," Rukario corrected. "There's a large difference."

"There is?" asked Togetic.

"Well, surely. It means they can do certain things out in the open without feeling embarrassed or guilty about doing it, but they are still capable of feeling guilt for breaking the rules they themselves laid out for their society," Rayquaza elaborated. "Just like with your own societies, before they were destroyed, that is. The major difference is that here the restrictions on what is or isn't permissible are much less stringent. In fact, you could quite literally do anything you wished here, as long as you were aware of the consequences."

"If that's the case…then what else do, or did, the people around here do before they generously left and gave us their island?" Misty asked.

"Oh, lots of things," said Jenny cheerfully. "Clothes are unnecessary unless it's for protection from the climate or the environment. Sex in public is allowed and happens rather frequently during break times. There is nothing wrong in couplings involving three or more partners, and some festivals usually result in large and rather enjoyable orgies involving pretty much everyone on the island having sexual relations with each other, including the Pokemon who live out in the forests, and our cousins in the sea."

They blanched. "Uh, by that you mean…" Misty started.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, premarital sex, bestiality, threesomes and above, etc, etc. Still, it's only restricted to those who have reached a certain level of physical, mental, and spiritual maturity, and incest, rape, and child molesters are outlawed due to the crippling psychological damage they can do to a youngster. The individual responsible is then brought before the Mother by myself and regular law enforcers, or by the Apostles if the guilty party is exceptionally recalcitrant. Once there, the subject's DNA and soul are examined by the Mother in an attempt to locate and eliminate the faulty gene or fragment of essence responsible for the subject's rationalization that their crime was 'okay'. That gene or essence is then deleted or rewired to theoretically prevent the crime from ever happening again. The reformed criminal is then released back into the community, makes amends for their actions by serving the family of their victim for six months, and is then allowed to return to their own families and normal occupations." A cold look passed over her face. "That's assuming they don't, for some reason, decide to do their crooked deed, or some other crime, _again_."

"And if they do?" Brock asked, a little frightened by her tone of voice.

"The penalty for a repeat performance of such an act or multiple felonies without any sign of rehabilitation is possibly the most severe on the island: exclusion from the community and banishment from Birth Island's shores, as well as the neutering of the offender and anyone who shares half their genetic material to prevent them from contaminating the gene pool and possibly giving rise to another monster. Needless to say, such a process has rarely taken place, due to fear of this extreme punishment."

They sweatdropped. "Uncle Crawdaunt had better be careful, then," Oliphan muttered under his breath.

"If something as bad as rape has a punishment that harsh, one that damages innocent relatives as well, I'd hate to see what you get for murder," Pikachu agreed.

"Actually, since for them death is more of a slight inconvenience than an actual obstacle, murder has a far lesser punishment," Rukario interjected. "Isolation from the community for three weeks in the deeper jungles, contemplating nature and fasting as a form of apology to the spirit of whomever they have slain. The punishment differs significantly depending on the circumstances of the incident and whether there was intent or not. If there was intent, they undergo genetic reprogramming before going out into the wilds to repent and balance themselves once more. If they murder again and again, _then_ they suffer the same fate as the molesters, for clearly there is some uncorrectable problem in their genes or spiritual makeup which must be removed for the safety of all."

"That's right," Jenny said admiringly. "You've only been awake for a couple of days at most, and you've already memorized a good amount of island culture and law. I'm impressed."

The vulpine shrugged. "I have been trained to do so. My master was a sage, and now that he is no longer present I must take up his role for him by accumulating knowledge and using it however I can to better the world around me."

Jenny smirked. "You'd have fit in well here, back before all the inhabitants went underground."

"Are we ever going to meet them?" Oliphan asked, feeling guilty for having made these nice people yield their homes to a bunch of strangers.

Rukario smirked. "You already have, though not in the flesh. They're here all around us, their spirits anyway."

"I don't see them," Brock complained, peering around.

"I do," Latias said.

"You do?" asked a surprised Ash.

"Of course she does, she's dead remember?" Rayquaza asked.

"Oh, right."

"Well, will we ever meet them in the _flesh_?" Oliphan asked again.

"Someday," Jenny said. "But not today. Today we're still en route to the safe planet the Mother, many of her allies and other identities, along with the Unown safely prepared for us long ago. Once we have landed and integrated ourselves to the planet's soil, the islanders will wake up and return to the surface to greet the new world…and their new friends, you and all others who have managed to find your way here."

"A whole new world…" Togetic said in wonder. "And we're still not totally recovered from the old one dying. What will this new world be like?"

"I don't know," Jenny confessed. "Habitable, to be certain. And occupied, I think, by a species or multiple species willing to share with us."

"We made so many mistakes on the old world, though," Misty said suddenly. "Wars, pollution, huge criminal organizations dedicated to abuse and enslavement…how can we make up for all that and keep it from happening on the new world?"

"Hopefully, by spending time here you survivors will learn from the mistakes of the past and make sure not to contaminate the future with them," Jenny said. "And if not…" She shrugged. "Things happen. Not much you can do about them sometimes."

With that, Jenny stopped before the end of the path, a large mossy knoll growing out of the root. "Well, here we are."

"Here we are where? That looks like a hill," said a confused Misty.

"It's actually the entrance to a sort of mass transit system running throughout the tree roots," Rukario explained. "Enabling a person to flow from one part of the island to the other in mere moments."

"If that's the case, why didn't we take one of these roots from the beach to get here?" asked Togetic.

The vulpine shrugged. "I wanted to take the scenic route." His companions facefaulted.

Jenny Prime pressed her palm against a hand-shaped imprint growing from the knoll, and to their amazement a large portion of the hill simply…disappeared, revealing a very dark hole. They could hear what sounded like wind whistling from further down. "There you go. This tunnel will take you to the top of the mountain in no time."

"Are you sure?" asked an apprehensive Misty. "It doesn't look very…fast or transit-y."

"Looks can be deceiving," Rayquaza said sensibly. "I've used this before, as did Groudon and Kyogre. It's perfectly safe."

"Well, okay then," said Ash, stepping forward. "I'm up for it! Come on, Pikachu!" Before the rodent on his shoulder could protest, Ash ran into the tunnel and vanished. A moment later, they could hear a rather loud startled cry echoing back to them before fading away.

This only increased their anxiety. "Uh," Brock said, taking a step back. "Are you sure this is-"

"Yes," said Jenny, appearing behind him. "Go in already." She shoved him surprisingly hard, and he fell over, rolling uncontrollably past the group and into the tunnel. They heard his cries of fear and horror as well.

Misty sighed. "Oh, fine. Can't leave Ash alone, he might fall off the side of the mountain or something." She entered the tunnel.

"Wait up, Mom!" Togetic fluttered after her mother. They both vanished, cried out, and were silent.

"My turn. See you at the top," said Rukario, running in without worry. There were no cries as he disappeared.

"Come, Latias," Rayquaza told his beloved. She nodded and floated them into the tunnel. They vanished as silently as Rukario had.

"Aren't you going, dear?" Jenny asked Oliphan.

The elephant looked down at the ground. "…I'm too big," he said miserably.

"No you're not," Jenny said encouragingly. "Go ahead and try it. I think you'll be surprised."

Somewhat doubtful, Oliphan walked towards the tunnel. To his surprise, it was a lot bigger than he had first thought, and he slipped through easily. Had it gotten bigger, or had he become smaller? Curious.

He vanished, his cries of wonder echoing back and fading as well. Jenny Prime smiled, nodded, and disappeared, her work here done for the time being.

…

A large knot on the side of a root irised open and expelled a wailing Ash and Pikachu, who hit the ground with a thud. "Ow…"

"Ash, next time you get the urge to drag me into a dark and unfamiliar tunnel," Pikachu grunted, getting to his feet. "Please don't."

"Okay," Ash grimaced in reply.

The knot irised open again and spat out a screaming Brock, who landed hard on Ash's back and caused the dragonoid to scream in pain, his spine cracking from the impact. "Whoa…that was weird…" said the dazed Golem, not noticing his friend's distress.

Fortunately for Ash, Brock was knocked off when Misty was launched from the knot and slammed into him, rolling him off the poor not-dead dragonoid and allowing him to breathe again. "Ash!" Misty cried in alarm. She kneeled before him and quickly used healing water to mend his back. His grimace of pain soon faded into a look of relief. "Are you all right?"

"I am now, thanks," he said.

The knot opened again, and spat out Togetic, who managed to catch herself and levitate instead of crashing into anyone. "That was…interesting," she said, somewhat bewildered.

"You get used to it," said Rukario as he was expelled from the knot and landed neatly on his feet. They glared at him enviously.

"Ah, that was a rush," Rayquaza said as he and Latias floated out of the knot. "What did you think, Latias?"

She blinked at him. "What was I supposed to think?"

"…Oh, never mind," he said sadly.

They heard a bellowing trumpet, and quickly scattered as the knot swelled and burst open, dropping Oliphan to the ground and sending a small tremor through the earth. "Wheee," he said, eyes spinning. "Can we do that again?"

"We'll have to, to get back down," Rukario said, causing his less experienced companions to pale in fright.

"In any event, we are here now," said Rayquaza. "At the Mother's Tree. Isn't it magnificent?"

They turned and looked, and dropped their jaws in amazement. It was indeed magnificent.

They were standing on the rim of a deep crater making up the top of the mountain, formed long ago by the impact of the Mother's crash landing to Earth. From up here they could see the entire island and the universes outside it, but for the moment they were focused inward, not outward At the bottom of the crater was a vast, deep lake welling up from somewhere underground, the water shimmering and almost milky white as it bubbled up from its subterranean spring, filled the lake, and cascaded down the side of the mountain in the many waterfalls and rivers which fed Birth Island's lakes and streams.

And growing from the heart of the lake, almost swallowing it up, its roots arcing into the air or running up the sides and winding their way over the rim of the crater and down the mountainside, was the Tree.

It was more beautiful than they could have imagined. It was the biggest tree they had ever seen (Except for Latias, who had visited Wing Fortress), with a presence making it greater than all others. As was mentioned before, it looked essentially like a giant ash tree, its branches and leaves spreading wide and casting a good portion of the island in shadow as the Solrock sun passed away from them and the Lunatone moon came closer to their position. Clouds circled the tree and drifted about the crater, making it seem as if the massive plant was wreathed in mist as well as giving the mountaintop an ethereal and otherworldly feel.

Every inch of the tree seemed to be covered in life, even the roots to an extent, though they became bare soon before worming over the edge of the crater. Moss and flowers and ferns and vines of all shapes and colors blossomed from the bark of the tree, covering it in a veritable cornucopia of life, as if it were a jeweled treasure from some Sultan's private reserve. Bug and reptile Pokemon skittered about the surface of the tree, nibbling on flowers and moss, their radiant colors blending in with the foliage around them and making it seem as if the soft carpet of life covering the trunk was moving on its own. Rainbow-hued light shone from some gaps in the trunk here and there, swirling through the air and creating an aurora that circled the tree.

The branches were alive as well as other bugs and lizards, as well as more evolved avian and squirrel-like Pokemon of all kinds scurried about or rested in nests with their families, communing joyfully in large groups that did in fact remind Latias vaguely of the camaraderie between birds and bugs she had seen in Wing Fortress. The motions of the tree-dwelling Pokemon caused the branches and leaves to shift more in the breeze, the many varieties of fruits, nuts and leaves, most of them of species the group had never seen before, rustling together and creating a clear sound not unlike the ringing of wind chimes. A flock of birds in the branches suddenly took flight, swooping down and over the startled Chosen as they flew out into the open air to join the other flocks of winged beasts gliding in the sun, and the heroes gasped in wonder as the new birds actually became _transparent_, the rays from the giant Solrock refracting through them and creating a giant flying prism of color and light which warmed their weary spirits.

The lake from which the tree grew that fed the entirety of the island with fresh water was no less full of life. Lily pads and water plants grew from the liquid, home to Pokemon reminiscent of Yanma but larger and more beautiful as well as things that looked like more evolved Politoed, many kinds of fish and aquatic creatures, and what even looked like a mer-person or two. There were also a number of Flamingo-like Pokemon, pink birds with only one leg, and they peered up at the newcomers with interest from their perches down below. Misty felt the same sudden urge to jump in the lake that she had down on the beach, and she wondered what the water would feel like on her scales in this sacred place.

Spheres of colored light drifted about, leaving trails of sparkling dust. From far off they just looked like some kind of glowing spores or pollen, but when some of the lights drifted over and circled the group, they could see that they weren't some kind of weird plant life but actual living creatures so radiant that their bodies appeared to be balls of light from a distance. Close up, the Chosen could see the creatures, tiny humanoid things with thin, elegant bodies, fluttering glossy bug wings, and beautiful (if slightly inhuman) faces with jeweled eyes like an insect's staring at them. The creatures giggled at the awestruck newcomers, nodded at the familiar faces of Rukario and Rayquaza, and darted off, their sparkling dust showering down on the group and making them feel light. "What were those?" asked a wondering Misty.

"Fairies," said Rukario.

"Fairies?" Ash asked incredulously.

Rayquaza nodded. "Yes, fairies."

"Wow," the newcomers said.

Oliphan laughed madly. "I knew it!" he crowed triumphantly. "I knew they existed!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in…" Togetic grumbled.

"This is…amazing," Misty whispered.

"Yeah…definitely where I'd live if I were God," Ash agreed. "Well, not really, but it looks like a good enough place."

"Not for me," Brock grunted, imagining a wild pleasure house all for himself with beautiful women to fawn over him and DAMN IT HE WASN'T FEELING THE LEAST BIT HORNY! GODDAMN BITCH OF A MOTHER!

"So she's in there?" Pikachu asked.

Rukario nodded. "Yes, this is her sanctuary." He walked forward, towards a shimmering ornate bridge that was either made of crystal or hard light, they couldn't tell which. "Come then. Our questions, whatever they may be, will be answered inside." He started walking across the bridge.

Hesitant at first, since the bridge was somewhat transparent, but reassured by the fact that Rukario didn't fall through it right away, one by one they got on and slowly followed the vulpine. Oliphan was last, testing each step anxiously as if afraid that his weight would break the bridge and make him fall. "Sometimes I wonder if it was worth growing up, if I always have to be so careful," he said unhappily to his sister.

"That's what growing up means, I think," she commented. "It's not as good as you think it is. It involves hard work and sacrifices. That's what maturity is all about."

Oliphan sighed. "I like being grown-up, but I can't help wishing I were a kid again."

"I think all adults feel that way, at one point or another," Golem commented.

"Then does that mean nobody can ever be happy by getting what they want?" a disturbed Ash asked.

"I am," Misty said, hugging him. "All I wanted was you, and you're back. And that's all I need. For now, anyway."

"Just as I need Latias to be well again," agreed Rayquaza, glancing at her. "And I will do whatever it takes to do that. I promised after all, and I never break a promise." If this caused Latias to feel anything, she didn't show it, mainly because she _didn't_ feel anything.

It took them a shorter time than they thought to cross the bridge and reach their destination, a nearly invisible hole burrowed through the side of the trunk between a pair of very large wooden statues of what looked like griffins…statues that they could almost swear were _breathing_. The bridge ended at the top of a root right underneath the hole, and they had to pull themselves over the lip to get inside. Once they were in, they journeyed inward, to the home of the Mother, and whatever answers they might find there.

…

It was cooler in the tunnel, which was large enough for Oliphan and his armored canopy to fit through easily. The light from outside faded as they traveled deeper into the tree, but the wooden tunnel they were in was still brightly lit by phosphorescent moss and fungus growing from the wall. There were also a number of fairies flitting about, although they were quieter than the ones outside and seemed more interested in just observing than giggling.

The further they went into the tree, the more it felt as if they were entering another world. The wood around them was striped, not surprising since it was cutting through the trunk, and thus showed the number of rings the tree had. If the tunnel's length was anything to go by, this was an _awfully_ old tree. And it probably still had a lot more growing to go. But not only that, the wood seemed to be changing _colors_ too, for no reason they could determine as they went deeper into the trunk. Even Rukario didn't really have an answer for the different colors. "They could just be there to look pretty," Misty suggested. "There's no reason they _have_ to be here for a specific reason."

"Makes as much sense as anything else," Pikachu agreed.

Their tunnel wasn't the only one dug into the tree. As they wound their way deeper into the trunk, they could see many offshoots and side passages leading off the main one. Rukario had told them to ignore these. "They will only get you lost," he said. "Our destination lies at the end of this path. And besides, while you may find many wonders if you were to explore this place, you might find other things as well."

"What kinds of things?" asked Ash, glancing into a side tunnel as they passed, almost certain he had heard something move in it.

"Bugs," Rayquaza said.

"Bugs!" Misty screamed, her ancient phobia rising again.

"Yes, rather large insect Pokemon," Rukario explained. "Just as smaller trees have small insects worming their way through the bark and feasting on the sap or nutrients within, so too does the Mother's tree provide a home for insects which carve a network of tunnels throughout her immense form."

"That sounds…painful," said a disgusted Togetic.

"No more painful than the billions of microscopic bacteria and other life forms crawling all over your skin and feasting on your dead flesh, hair, and other bits of debris," Rukario said with a shrug, causing them all to feel rather sick. "In any event, while the insects in smaller trees are to an extent killing the tree slowly, just like the fungi and vines and other parasitic plants and organisms which weaken a tree and shorten its life, the insects of this tree are here to protect it. The tree provides a home to all the creatures you saw outside, and among other things can be seen as the source of all life on this island. Without it, the water would no longer flow, the soil would become barren, and all the trees and forests would wither and die. The people themselves, who have been nourished by the island's magic so long, would be unable to exist any longer, and so would fade away, becoming even more insubstantial than they were whenever they journeyed outside Sevii. In fact," he mused. "I suppose the tree could be seen as an important sustainer of life on Earth as well, its roots certainly reached deep enough throughout the planet to do so. But since Earth no longer exists, this island is all that remains to be fed by the tree and to take care of it, because the tree is in a very real sense the Mother and without her none of us would be here."

"And the bugs?" Pikachu asked.

"Since for the majority of her time on Earth the Mother has been without a body like ours, her spirit confined to the island and the tree while her three children, three smaller aspects of her soul, roamed about the Earth, she required 'limbs' of a sense to take care of herself and the rest of the world. The Apostles and the hybrid citizens of Birth Island itself represented one set of limbs, to maintain a form of balance in the world and subtly guide its human and Pokemon inhabitants to a better future. They also tend the roots of the tree and keep them from overgrowing and harming themselves, as well as maintained liaisons in some manner with other parties in the outside world.

"The insects, on the other hand, patrol the interior of the Tree much like white blood cells roam about in our own bodies. They protect her 'body', the Tree, from outside invaders or hazards which might harm her, few though those may be. They also hollow out certain parts of the island for the use of its inhabitants, maintain and dig out the catacombs and the precious things down there, and devour parts of the tree which for some reason or other have become sick, decayed, or just plain dead."

Misty swallowed. "H-how big are these insects?"

Rukario glanced at the tunnel around them. "Well," he said. "They come in all shapes and sizes, of course. It's only to be expected, since their work can be rather varied. It takes teams of a dozen diggers at a time to bore a new tunnel through the trunk. This tunnel is large enough for all of us to walk in comfortably, albeit not exactly side-to-side. So…I'd say the average insect is half the size of the average human, if not larger. And the ones that reproduce new workers are at least as large as Oliphan, if not bigger."

At that, Misty squealed and clamped onto Ash so tightly that she cut off blood flow to his arm, swooning as if about to faint. "Um, we're not going to run into them, are we?" Ash asked anxiously, for the sake of Misty as well as his arm.

"Do any of you intend to harm the tree, the tunnels, or the Mother herself?" Rukario asked.

"No!" all said loudly, except for Latias, earning her an uneasy glance from Rayquaza.

"Then we should be all right." And with that, they continued on their way, until at last they reached the core of the giant plant and the amazing things waiting there.

The center of the tree, its heartwood, had been hollowed out and turned into a wondrous chamber, like some sort of grand temple to the Mother. It was tall and conical, the walls curving up gently to a point high above, supported by rootlike buttresses. Colored veins twisted about the ceiling's surface, creating a pattern or mosaic as intricate as a snowflake, or maybe even more so. The ground beneath them was made of reddish brown hard packed dirt or bark, but covered in a veritable carpet of many-colored moss which cushioned their weary feet and tickled their toes. Large spores hung from the ceiling and walls like lanterns, their layers peeled back to reveal radiant cores which shined light much like the sun on the great hall. Some of the spores dangling from the ceiling had a variety of colored crystals strung up from their leaves, causing the light from the core to refract and dazzle the chamber in slowly spinning colors which left the travelers a little lightheaded. Many of the walls had mosses and lichens growing across their surface in patterns that looked almost like paintings and murals of exquisite beauty and detail…in fact, on second thought, that's exactly what they were. How fascinating.

There were no fairies in the room; they had left them back in the tunnel. Instead, there were ten larger, even more luminescent beings, spirits, radiating in colors never before seen by the eyes of the newcomers. _Welcome_, they said.

"Hello," Latias said dully.

"Huh?" Pikachu blinked, snapping out of his wonder at this cavernous place. "Who're you talking to?"

"Them," Latias said, pointing at the spirits floating in the center of the room.

"Oh right, it's because you're…dead…" Togetic said softly. "So you can hear them."

Latias blinked. "I suppose."

"Are those the Apostles?" asked Ash, frowning. "I'm not impressed. I thought they'd be bigger." If the floating spirits took offense to this, they showed no sign of it.

Rukario chuckled. "My friend, you would be very impressed if you were to see them in the flesh. They are only in spirit form now because they have left their bodies to slumber, just like the rest of the island's inhabitants. They will return to their shells and awaken once we've arrived at our new home."

Rayquaza frowned. "Well, I hope one of them can be persuaded to return to his body early. We will need Anubis' help to restore Latias, and I doubt they'll be of much use in their current forms." The spirits seemed to take no offense at this, either.

They walked towards the center of the room, where an enormous lotus the size of Oliphan grew, its petals closed in a sealed bud. Three delicate curled stamens grew from the top, each ending in a small jewel-like pod, one ruby, one sapphire, and one emerald. As they reached the base of the lotus, Rukario stopped and spread his arms. "Mother!" he cried. "Your children have returned to you!"

_So you have_, whispered a telepathic voice which seemed to resonate from every corner of the chamber. _And my heart soars to see you…just as it aches for those who could not be saved._

The lotus unfolded gently, its many petals spreading out before the group and revealing an enormous hollow at its center, an incredibly deep pit sunken into the ground which reached into the deepest reaches of the tree…and something about it, some strange whisper or presence, told them it went far deeper still. The three stamens had uncurled and watched the group from their position on the edge of the pit as an echo rose up from far below, the rustle of something…moving.

That something showed itself soon enough, rising out of the pit and revealing itself to be a flower, a small, delicate, but beautiful flower, iridescent white and growing from a twisted and coiled stem reaching down to the bottom of the pit, wherever that might be. The pale flower was made up of elegant curving petals and leaves surrounding a small, curling sprig ending in a single silvery frond. The plant was twitching regularly, and it sounded as if it were beating…almost like a heart. The spirits of the Apostles drifted down from their places around the room and orbited the flower like a halo. The Chosen felt their breath catch in their throats, an awesome presence and aura fell suddenly on them, almost drowning them in what felt like complete and utter benevolence and love, tinged with a great deal of sorrow, and possibly…guilt?

"Mother?" Pikachu whispered in amazement, aware that he was crying. "Is that…you?"

_It is indeed. In many ways, this could be considered my true physical form, seeing as how I have been in this plant body for most of my time on your world, sprouted from a seed formed when my first body shattered into Mew, Jirachi, and Celebi_, the flower said telepathically.

"Then what was the body we saw you in at Ever Grande?" Oliphan asked, wiping his own eyes with his trunk.

_One crafted from strong metal, obtained from the giant robots present there. Were I at full power, I could have recreated my original body from its molecules scattered about the universe, as I did at the end of the first war against Deoxys…but I was not at full power when I fought him today, and I do not think I ever will be again. Too many have died who could have given me strength by believing in me and in hope for the future, and so I could not draw power from them. Even now, even with the many souls I was able to save before our exodus from Earth, the power I can draw from them will not be nearly enough to overcome Deoxys when he finds us._

"Don't you mean, 'if'?" an anxious Brock asked.

_No, when. It is only a matter of time before he finds us, no matter what precautions we take. You should not concern yourselves with that future, though. What matters now is the present, and what we may do to ensure that it lasts. I am overjoyed to see you all, saddened to see so many did not come or could not because they have been claimed by Deoxys, and overall I am weary from my battle, and from the effort necessary to bring as many of my children as possible to this place and escape from the Earth before it was too late. I must rest soon and recover, but before I sleep each of you may ask me one question, any question. And then I must rest._

They glanced at each other for a moment, uncertain. Then, Ash stepped forward. "Um, hi, Mother? Uh, do you think you could tell me why exactly I'm not all, you know, nonexistent?"

_Of course_, the flower said. _Deoxys' eye beams erased you from the universe, keeping you from ever being born. However, because your mother had passed through the gateway and arrived here on Birth Island before that happened, due to the protected nature of this place an' instant' of time in which you _were_ born remained, creating an anchor for your spirit. That anchor drew you here before you could be removed from time forever, which is why you are safe here now. However, if you were to leave the aura of protection I form around this place, I cannot guarantee your survival. The changes to reality Deoxys made by erasing you might catch up and permanently banish you, unless your mother was still on the island to anchor you. Also, if you were to have any offspring, there is no guarantee that they would survive either, were you and they to leave the island._

"O-offspring!" Ash stammered, while the others couldn't help laughing.

Misty snorted. "Well of course, we're going to have to get around to that sooner or later." Ash looked terrified as she said that, and probably would have fled the room at once if he weren't even more terrified she'd kill him for running.  
"Hey, uh, Mother?" Brock asked, grabbing the opportunity to give his question. "Could you give me back my humanity? Or at least restore my sex drive? Because I'm surrounded by pretty girls now, and I can't feel-"

_No._

"What?"

_No. No humanity and no perverted sex drive for you. _

"B-but why!" Brock stammered.

_It's for your own good. _

"Awwww, come on!" he cried as his friends laughed at him. "That's what my dad said to keep me out of his Pokeboy magazines! Come on, have a heart!"

_I do, and that's why I'm keeping you as you are, both for your own good and to protect the girls of this island from your lust. At least Crawdaunt can…occasionally…take no for an answer. You, on the other hand, need to be either dragged off by the ear or beaten away by a stick. Or a mallet._

"But-"

_No buts, mister. Or do you want to be genetically reprogrammed so you'll LIKE not being horny all the time? _

"No," Brock whimpered, cowed by the Mother's tough love.

_All right, dear. Next question?_

"Mother?" Oliphan asked. He looked nervous.

_Yes dear?_

"Um…how can I get a girlfriend?" he asked hurriedly. "I mean," he said, feeling everyone's eyes on him. "I-I'm kind of jealous about how close Mom and Dad are, and it seems like most of my friends and relatives…those who aren't dead, anyway…were in some kind of a relationship, and that makes me feel a little lonely, even with my parents and Big Sister and everyone else to love me. I guess I just want to…to feel like they do, you know? I mean, I'm loved and I love, but…I want to know how…_that_ way feels."

"Hey, wait!" Brock said suddenly. "You said most of your friends and relatives were in a relationship! What about me?"

"Huh? Oh, well, you're Uncle Brock, Uncle Brock," Oliphan said with a blink. "None of us ever expects you to find a mate, to be honest."

"None of you!" Brock asked incredulously.

"Nope," said Ash apologetically.

"Nah-uh," said Misty.

"No way," agreed Pikachu.

"Not in a million years," said Togetic.

"Never," Rayquaza said firmly.

"I've only known you for a few hours, and even I can safely say that your chances of ever finding a mate are minimal. Or were, anyway," Rukario amended. "Before the Mother performed her magic on you. Now your chances of finding a mate are somewhat higher."

"How much higher?" asked Brock.

"Well, your original chances, as my master told me from observation of you while we were being brought up-to-date on the events that had occurred while we slept, were approximately…zero point one percent," the vulpine informed him. "However, now that your cheesy pick-ups, overdriven hormones, and libido have been removed, your chances have risen to…twelve percent."

"Twelve!" asked a disbelieving Brock.

"You're kidding. That's too generous!" Misty protested jokingly.

Rukario shrugged. "Well, I did round a bit. My math's not as good as my master's, sad to say, though I try."

"I hate you all," Brock said bitterly.

_No you don't,_ said the Mother calmly.

"No I…arghh! Damn you, Mother!" Brock snapped, crossing his arms angrily.

"Um, Mother? My question?" Oliphan asked nervously.

_Hmm? Oh, of course dear. There are many who would say your question is somewhat selfish, but…I can see you are honestly curious about the other ways in which love can express itself. And love is the one thing I support even more than free will, for, despite what Deoxys and many other things, maybe even real life, can tell you…love is in truth possibly the strongest thing there is, or it can be. There never seems to be enough love in the universe, and if we are to survive what is to come we will need all the love we can get._ The flower paused for a few (literal) heartbeats. _Earlier, Oliphan, you saw a number of evolved prehistoric Pokemon my children revived from mutated fossils. If you seek a mate, it is there I recommend that you start your search, for they have the most in common with you._

"By being bigger than everyone else?" the elephant asked.

_Pretty much, yes._

"Oh, okay," he said cheerfully. "Thank you!"

_You're welcome, dear. Next question?_

"Mother, if I may?" Rukario asked.

_Of course, my knight. _Rukario kneeled before her, opened his mouth, and hesitated. _Yes?_ The flower prompted.

"I…" Rukario licked his lips. "Mother, there are two things troubling me, but…I have only one question, so I am uncertain which one is important enough to approach you with, and which one may go unanswered for some time…"

"Why not just ask both at once?" Pikachu asked him.

"Both…oh, I see! It's so obvious! My master would berate me for not having seen it at once." He sobered at the mention of Registeel. "And speaking of which…Mother, tell me please, what fate has befallen the two dearest people in my heart, my master Registeel, and…my beloved, Crysta?"

_Both are here,_ the Mother told him.

The vulpine's eyes widened. "Both!"

_Yes. When the souls of those whom your fellows had rescued from Leviathan, the same souls that transported you here, passed on at long last, two of their number, Absol and Registeel, remained with me. Their loyalty runs deep, even in death, and they refuse to leave my side until Deoxys is defeated. Absol's spirit is out and about, an active part of the various shield and defense spells protecting the island, so that he continues his role of Guardian over all of us. As for Crysta…her spirit lies deep underground, in the island's catacombs, where all the others have gone to sleep until we reach our new world._

"But…how can that be? How can she be here?" Rukario wondered out loud. "The islanders told me they knew nothing of what had become of her."

_And they did not. But I did. She came before their time, back when Birth Island's inhabitants were still separated into human and Pokemon, rather than meldings of the two. As you know, she did not go to sleep with you and Registeel because she feared what might become of her family in the coming wars between human and Pokemonkind. However, once she had secured their safety in the Sevii Islands, where none would dare harm them, she felt pain for your absence, much as you now feel pain for hers. And so, after a few hundred years of missing you, centuries in which most of the world had lost the power to find my island and those who lived here, she could take no more. She had hoped that perhaps she could wait for you to awaken, because with her long lifespan she had believed that she would be there for that day. But the conflict between human and Pokemon, despite occasional lulls, showed no signs of calming down enough for that event to occur, and it seemed that even those who had promised to awaken my three sages one day had forgotten their oath and taken their own sides in the racial struggle. She tried to awaken you, but didn't know how, or even where you were hidden. She tried to move on, but could not, for her memory of you was still precious to her heart. She could not wait, because she was certain she'd be dead and dust by the time someone finally revived you. And so she chose another option. She came to Birth Island, hoping for a miracle._

"A few centuries?" asked a confused Ash. "How could she live so long?"

"She wasn't human," Rukario explained. "A Ninetales hybrid. That species has always been known for its longevity."

"A hybrid?" said a confused Pikachu. "I thought those didn't exist until humans and Pokemon began interbreeding here on Birth Island."

Rukario shook his head. "No, they existed in ancient times as well, but in much smaller quantities, because genetics in the outside world were not as flexible as they were here. Naturally occurring hybrids were rarely born, only once or twice every three generations, if even that. The majority of them were so deformed that they were thought to be demons or abominations and killed or burned at the stake…or at least they were in the days before the three titans ruled the world. Once they took power…well, the majority of hybrids were still despised in some parts of the world, but the sages' preachings of equality helped better things for the few that existed in the more civilized areas of the ancient world, especially in Rayquaza's own domain."

"Well, of course," Rayquaza said, slightly abashed. "Some hybrids were actually thought to be holy. I believe that's how Crysta became a priestess in the first place, wasn't it?"

"Something like that," Rukario agreed. "Anyway, Mother…so she came here? What happened then?"

_I was still dormant then, recovering from my world-shattering battle with Deoxys. My Apostles, however, existed even back then, formed after the titans came to power, and they watched over the island while I was for the most part unable to. It was to them that Crysta begged for help, hoping that perhaps they could somehow send her into the future at the point in time where you would wake up so that you might reunite with him. However, while their powers are vast, time travel is an ability only I possess, not my Apostles. They conferred with the Unown and with each other on what to do with her, and after a week of discussion believed her plight was one touching enough to do something about, one which I most certainly would approve of helping. In those times, even though Deoxys had been defeated and cast back into the depths of space, my children were uncertain that he would be gone for good and were researching countermeasures to take for survival if Deoxys returned and he and I nearly destroyed the world again. One of those possible countermeasures involved what modern humans call 'cryogenics', freezing the remaining population and hiding them somewhere before the final battle so that they could awaken when the planet had recovered from whatever cataclysmic forces might be unleashed in the fight and repopulate the Earth once more. However, this process was still in the testing phase, and they needed…well, guinea pigs, so to speak. Since Crysta could not be sent into the future directly, there was still a chance that they could get her there and test cryogenics at the same time by freezing her body and keeping it in storage until Rukario would awaken, then defrost her so that you and she could be together again. They could achieve a happy ending and test a new method of preserving life at the same time. Everybody wins. _

"And that's what they did," Rukario stated rather than asked.

_Precisely. The Apostle of Water Mizuna froze Crysta's body in ice, and the Apostle of Darkness, Anubis, paused her body's vital signs and removed her soul from her body so that it would not suffer. Many centuries later I awoke and was informed of what had gone on in my absence, although in a sense I already knew what had occurred, for I was dormant but not unknowing of the world around me. The cryogenic theory interested me, and it, along with many other possible long-range measures to survive Deoxys and whatever cataclysm might occur on his next coming…or if he did not come, whatever cataclysm might one day occur, for I knew that sooner or later Earth would die regardless and something would need to be done to save its people. The research into cryogenics eventually created the more advanced stasis units which at this very moment every village-dwelling inhabitant of this island are sleeping in…save the ones out in the sea, since they didn't feel as if they had to worry about giving up their homes to anyone since few of the refugees can breathe underwater. They're probably right._

"So…where is Crysta now? Still frozen?" Rukario asked.

_Not precisely. Despite the efforts of my Apostles, her original body became inhospitable after several thousand years, partly due to faults in the process they had used to freeze her. However, her soul still remained, and by that time research in genetics as well as the stasis units had become advanced enough to simply craft a new body and keep that in storage until the time for your reunion had come. _

"And what of her soul? How has that fared in her long wait?" Rukario asked anxiously.

_It has explored the reaches of infinity, while remaining anchored here. She has grown wiser and more knowledgeable, but she is still your Crysta. To pass long stretches of time, she has entered my own soul._

"Your own soul…" the vulpine whispered.

_It was rapture for her. She might have remained there forever were it not her desire to be with you again in the world of the living. You are in many ways a lucky person, Rukario._

"You are indeed," Rayquaza said kindly, putting a claw on the vulpine's shoulder. "I know just how you feel, and how she must have as well." He sighed and glanced at his zombified beloved. "Latias…" She stared back at him blankly.

"Aw, man!" Brock complained. "I'm never going to get a girl like that!"

"Don't be so sure," Misty joked. "After all, your chances _have_ risen twelve percent!"

Brock crossed his arms and grumbled about how much he hated everyone again. "Her body…it lies in the catacombs, then?" Rukario deduced.

_Along with the bodies of everyone else who chose to sleep, and their souls, and the souls of the people of Earth whom I killed so that I could save them from Deoxys, and even my own spirit,_ the Mother agreed. _Do you wish to awaken her? _

Rukario hesitated. "I…I would," he admitted. "And yet…" He fidgeted. "What kind of world would she be waking up to? A world where our home planet has been destroyed, where most of the global population has been decimated, and where we ourselves are on the run from Deoxys? What kind of world would that be?"

"One in which you were there," Rayquaza said softly. "And sometimes that's all that matters."

Rukario nodded. "Perhaps that is true. However…perhaps it would also be better if I waited until we reach our safe haven and this long adventure is over with. Then she could awaken with everyone else into a new world, where we can live out our lives without fear of Deoxys. And yet…in a sense it was only a few days ago that I said goodbye to her. For her it has been much longer! Can I really make her wait any longer?"

_Whatever decision you make will be your own,_ the Mother assured him. _It will be made of your own free will, and out of love._

"Love…yes," Rukario agreed. "I must consider this. Thank you, Mother."

_You are most welcome, my knight. Next question? _

"Mother?" Pikachu started. "Um…can you tell me if Ash and I are, uh…brothers?"

Ash blinked in confusion. "Huh?" he said. "What do you mean? We can't be brothers, I'm a…well, not a human exactly, but not a Pikachu either, and you're, um, a Pikachu. How can we be-"

_Yes, you are brothers,_ the Mother said.

Ash's jaw dropped. "Wow," said an amazed Togetic. "I guess that theory of yours was right after all, Rukario."

"So it is," agreed the vulpine. "I'm not that surprised, really."

"Neither am I," said Oliphan reasonably. "After all, Pikachu's my Uncle Brother, which means he's already Dad's brother, right?"

"He makes a good point," grunted Brock.

"But-but how!" sputtered a very confused Ash, who had not been around to hear Rukario's theory earlier. "I mean, I'm a human, or was a human, or am I still a human now, and Pikachu's not a human, he's a Pokemon, and I'm not a Pokemon, I think, or am I?" he said, getting dizzy from his attempts at thinking.

_Calm yourself and I will explain,_ the Mother promised. _As you may or may not already be aware, one of the many possible rites of passage into maturity on this island involves venturing to the world outside Sevii and seeing it for oneself to better understand the universe we live in. Most of the time they return to Birth Island, wiser and willing to make the world a better place any way they can. Some die for one reason or another and may only return to their homes on this island in spirit form. Others fall in love and attempt to settle down to raise a family. Your father was one of those in the latter group, Ash and Pikachu._

"But…HOW!" Ash yelled loudly. "Was he a hybrid, then? But then how did he become Pikachu's dad! Did my mom give birth to a Pokemon egg!" He looked horrified and disgusted at the thought, while everyone else sweatdropped.

_No,_ said the Mother. Her leaves rustled. _Behold, boys. THIS is your father. _A hologram appeared before them, an image so life-like at first they thought it was actually alive. It depicted a tall, somewhat handsome cross between a Pikachu and a human. _He was born Raiiki, son of Thundra, raised in the village from which you ascended this mountain. His family home, and yours, still remains there._

Ash was stunned. Pikachu looked at the hybrid in fascination. "So…that's my father?" He frowned. "But…I remember a male Pikachu with my mother, her mate, when I was born, who remained there for my brief time as a Pichu until my mother tried to eat me. He was certainly not my father. Who was he, then?"

_As you know by now, the hybrids may only exist completely within my aura,_ the Mother told them. _Outside it, they either become invisible to others…or they split into their composite parts of human and Pokemon._ At that, the hologram of Raiiki split into two, one a large Pikachu who looked very much like the swordsman rodent, the other an adult human looking a little like Ash. _After returning from his first journey to the outside, Raiiki returned there to see what else he could do for the world. He split himself in two in the process, but believed what he was doing to be worth the sacrifice. He and his Pikachu 'brother' wandered Kanto in the guise of an aspiring Pokemon trainer, occasionally winning badges and encouraging other trainers to become closer friends to their Pokemon. Eventually, the human half of Raiiki encountered and fell in love with Delia Ketchum. After a lengthy courtship, in which the Pikachu half began to feel neglected and left out, the two were wed, settled in Pallet Town, and conceived a child…you, Ash Ketchum. However, the Pikachu half, feeling as if he was ignored and forgotten by his 'brother', their mission and heritage abandoned due to love for a woman, ran off, giving in to the primal instincts ravaging him without his human half to balance them out. I think on some level he was jealous as well, not just for the loss of his brother, but because he himself was alone and could find no mate. Concerned, the human chased after his other half, leaving Delia in the hospital as she birthed Ash. The 'brothers' ran into the forest between Viridian and Pallet, and had a rather violent altercation. One which happened to attract the attention of a nearby flock of rather bloodthirsty Spearow, and…_

Ash and Pikachu gasped, while Latias felt a vague sense of déjà vu. "No…"

_Yes. The precursors of the same flock which almost killed you and Pikachu on that first day…except these succeeded where their descendants would fail. They killed the human half of Raiiki, and his Pikachu half, driven mad by the sudden death of half of himself and the gaping void in his heart, ran off into the woods, never to be seen by humans again. Ash was born shortly before his father died, and since the human Raiiki never showed himself again, Delia always told her son that his father was just out on a Pokemon journey of some sort._

"But he wasn't," Ash whispered. "He died. And…and all this time I thought…" He trembled. "I thought that…that he had run out on us…" Misty touched his arm as he lowered his head, struggling not to cry, and Brock looked away awkwardly. Oliphan had no such inhibition and was sobbing very loudly and openly at the sadness of it all, and bellowing how very much like his favorite soap opera this was, causing his sister to sweatdrop.

_He did not, not intentionally,_ the Mother assured him. _He loves you, both of you, and only regrets not being there as the two of you grew into the people you are now…and perhaps not being able to actively keep you from making so many foolish and boneheaded mistakes, but that's understandable._

Ash blinked back tears. "'Loves'? Don't you mean…"

The Mother laughed. _Don't you know by now, Ash, that death means absolutely _nothing_? His spirit has been watching you, it always has._

"Huh…" Ash said, amazed.

"And what about me?" Pikachu asked. "The half of Raiiki that fathered me. How did that happen?"

_The death of his other half caused Raiiki to go insane,_ the Mother said sadly. _He became a deranged, rabid monster, reverting completely to the most primitive savagery and depravity the likes of which most of the world had not seen in years, a savagery that most Pikachu had abandoned ages and ages ago. He was finally put down by the authorities after almost seven years of madness, but before his death he brutally raped a female Pikachu and impregnated her with his seed. She would later give birth to a large litter, including you yourself, Pikachu._

The mouse's ears drooped, while everyone sagged at this awful revelation and glanced at the rodent sympathetically. "…I see. So I was the child of rape. And…I suppose the male I remember was a mate my mother took on soon after she realized she was pregnant as a way of claiming a father for her children and preventing her from being ostracized by other Pikachu, right?"

_Indeed. If it is any consolation, when the two halves of Raiiki rejoined again and balanced out once more, he deeply regretted his actions…and yet, he does not regret fathering you, for you are his son, his legacy, and he is proud of what you have done with your life, you and your brother._

Pikachu squeezed his eyes shut to keep from crying. "My mom…we must have been a horrible burden to her, the litter and I, a reminder of what my father did to her. It's no wonder then that she later ate us or tried to, she could never have brought herself to love us completely since we were products of the worst moment in her life. Or perhaps I am anthropomorphizing her and putting human cause to her actions, for I have become perhaps a little too human myself thanks to all my time with Ash…or perhaps that's the part of my father's 'brother' that's inside me, the genes from his human half, whatever number of them were passed on to me from my genetic parent." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"…Pikachu," Ash started hesitantly. "I-"

"No Ash, don't feel sorry," the swordsman said, shaking his head. "Despite the pain this knowledge has caused, I am glad now to know the truth of my parentage, and yours. As I believe Mewtwo once said, 'the circumstances of one's birth matters little compared to what one chooses to do with the gift of life', or something to that effect. I may be a child of rape, but I am glad that I was born and lived the way I have lived…just as I am glad to have met and journeyed with you, my brother."

"I…" Ash sniffed. "Oh…PIKACHU!" Giving up every pretense of looking manly, Ash broke down and hugged Pikachu, sobbing like Oliphan and embarrassing the heck out of everyone, including his newly discovered brother.

"O…kay," Brock said, sweatdropping. "None of my brothers ever treated me like that…I mean, we hugged, but it wasn't nearly that sappy…"

"Hug me, Big Sister!" Oliphan wailed, rising up on his hind legs.

Togetic eyed his giant mass which could crush her easily and sweatdropped. "Uh, okay…" She gingerly hugged his trunk, which seemed to be good enough for him.

The flower's three eyestalks seemed to be smiling. _I am pleased to see such joy rise from sorrow, _she said. _But I grow weary. What else do you wish to know?_

Misty stepped forward, away from her crying boyfriend. "Uh, Mother…I…I just wanted to know…" She hesitated, and then looked up at the eyestalks, eyes brimming with tears. "Was…was all this necessary? Everything…my sisters' deaths, the destruction of Earth, the horrible deaths of-of so many of our friends and loved ones, even people we didn't know, our hopes getting shattered again and again…was, was _all_ this necessary? All this suffering and pain and loss and heartache?"

For a long moment, there was silence. The heroes who had themselves suffered so much looked at the Mother, wondering what answer she would give. The three eyestalks stared at Misty for several seconds before, with a sad tone, the Mother began to speak. _You wish me to tell you that it's all part of some great cosmic plan with a happy ending. You wish me to tell you that everything will work out in the end. You wish me to say some sort of platitude or promise that all of this was meant to be, and that we are meant to triumph despite great adversity. You wish me to say there was no other way. If I told you any of that, I would be lying._ The eyes gazed at Misty solemnly. _The truth of it is that we could have blasted Deoxys into spare atoms the instant he entered our solar system, sparing literally uncountable numbers of lives. Instead, we let him come to Earth, destroy it all after failing horribly to stop him, and now he has begun the total and absolute negation of all existence. We could have prevented this. We could have stopped him and saved everyone from horrific fates. But we did not._

All gasped at this, shocked, even Rukario to an extent. "But-but _why!_" Misty exclaimed.

_Because of a gamble,_ the Mother said softly. _The biggest and riskiest gamble of them all, with the highest stakes. A gamble that, if we win, could possibly mean the destruction of all entropy and corruption everywhere, maybe forever, ensuring a better and brighter future for all. And a gamble that, if we lose, will result in the complete and utter unmaking of all reality…and all souls coming together as one, within Deoxys._

"That's…that's preposterous!" a disbelieving Brock cried. "You mean you let Earth be destroyed, are letting _everything_ be destroyed, just for a slim chance of success! What could POSSIBLY be worth such a risk!"

_An opportunity that may never come again,_ the Mother said sadly. _The opportunity to break the cycle of suffering and hate forever and bring about a true, lasting, dynamic peace in which all souls come together in harmony rather than dissonance…a peace which cannot exist as long as Deoxys and all his other identities exist. This may be the only chance to truly make things better, for good…and while by doing this I may have violated my own beliefs by taking away the chance for everyone to choose whether to be a part of this or not, I do it also because I love my children. And I am so tired of seeing them in pain, and even wearier of this endless cycle._ She sighed. _You would be as well, if you could remember each of your prior incarnations as well as I can._

"Well, how many could there possibly be?" a dubious Brock asked.

_For you or for me? _

"Um…us."

She told them. The sum she named was so immense that even Rukario and Rayquaza staggered upon hearing it. "Um…okay, I think I can understand a little now," Misty said faintly. "I'd be tired too after that many reincarnations."

_Is it any wonder Deoxys wants to stop the cycle too? He's no fonder of being reincarnated constantly than I am,_ the Mother said sardonically. _And speaking of weariness, your time's almost up. Two more questions, I think._

Togetic nodded. "Right. Um…Mother? A while back, a really long time ago, when we were being signed up for this Chosen business, the Unown promised us that they'd grant us wishes or whatever, rearrange reality so all our dreams could come true or something like that. Was that all a lie to trick us into helping them, or are they really going to just, poof, make everything better?" It was clear from the desperation in her voice how much she hoped this was true.

The Mother was silent for a moment. _I will only say this. When this is all over, if we have won, then everything will be set right. Perhaps not like you envisioned it, not as the Unown led you to think it might be, but…yes, everything will be set right, in a fashion. Perhaps even better than it was before, although I cannot make any promises on exactly what will happen after the end._

"And that's all you're going to tell us?" asked a disappointed Togetic.

_If it would ease your worry, I would tell you everything. And yet, despite how much you all may wish otherwise, I dare not. I am aware of how delicate this entire operation is, and I can assure you that the mere act of explaining it, of telling you all what the Unown, the Apostles and I have foreseen and are preparing to do, would jeopardize everything and all but ensure our failure. The pressure and stress you would experience from knowing the parts you have to play in all their fullness would cause you to fail when the moment of truth arrives. _

"And leaving us in the dark so we have no idea what to do is any better?" asked an uneasy Misty.

_When the time comes, you will know what to do. Hopefully._ She didn't sound very worried.

"Well, that's great," Ash grumbled.

"I have faith in her decision," Rukario said. "If she believes this is what's necessary, then I will support it, despite my own nagging doubts."

"That's because you're blindly loyal to her," Brock growled.

Rukario frowned. "I most certainly am not."

_One last question. Rayquaza?_

The dragon nodded. "You already know what I wish to ask."

_I do, but for posterity's sake say it anyway. _

"Very well." He glanced at Latias. "Mother, as you can see, Latias has been horribly disfigured by her twisted brother Dark Latios, her soul and body rent almost beyond recognition. Before his sacrifice, Registeel told Rukario, who told me, that your Apostle Anubis can show us the way to her recovery, to 'where life and death meet and become one'. I beg of you, can Anubis aid us in the restoration of Latias?"

The Mother's eyestalks glanced at the halo of souls orbiting her flower heart. _That depends on what Anubis thinks. Anubis?_

One of the soul-balls of light circling the Mother broke from formation and swiftly flew over to the group, hovering around Latias and examining from all angles. She blinked dully, thinking she almost felt a strange tingling, but wasn't sure and doubted it.

After a moment, the soul floated back. "_Yes,"_ it whispered in a dry voice as deep and hollow as an ancient tomb. _"I can restore her. It is within my power."_

"That's wonderful!" Misty said in relief as Oliphan cheered for joy.

_"However, there is a price."_

Pikachu sighed. "Isn't there always? Okay, what do we have to do?"

_"It is not you who must pay, but Rayquaza." _

The Dragon King nodded. "That's right, I promised that I would do whatever it took to save Latias, and since my promises are binding oaths, I am the one who must pay the price. What must I give in return for your aid, great Apostle?"

_"That depends,"_ the voice of Anubis hissed. _"How much are you willing to pay?" _

"Any price," Rayquaza said at once.

_"Even the life of, say, one of your comrades?" _

"Without a moment's regret or hesitation," Rayquaza said firmly, startling his companions and causing them to feel a moment of fear that he would indeed kill them to save Latias.

_"Even, perhaps…your _own_ life, so recently restored to its fullness?"_

"Even that," Rayquaza said without hesitation. "My life is no use to me without Latias beside me, and in her current state, she most certainly isn't! If my life, no, my very _soul_ is the price I must pay, then I will slay myself with my own claws and give it to you personally!"

_"It is heartwarming to see you are so willing to sacrifice without question for your beloved. It shows how deep the bond which links you together goes,"_ Anubis growled softly. _"But you need not worry about your soul. The only price you must pay is your life. For you see…for Latias to live, Rayquaza must die."_

…

And…that seems to be a good enough stopping point for this chapter, wouldn't you say?

On another note, do you readers believe that I should transform Brock into some kind of dragonoid like Ash and Misty or leave him as he is now? Please reply in your reviews.


	63. Ten Steps to Recovery pt 1: First Five

All right, I'm back from vacation and school's started, but I've still managed to write this chapter for you, my dear readers. Here we go!

Disclaimer: I own no characters owned by some other company. Names of the Apostles inspired by Gladdecease, DiamondLatias3000, and mythology. All other stuff is inspired by other sources, like some cartoons and books and things I'm particularly fond of which don't belong to me. Yeah. Thanks go to the works of Diane Duane, Anne Bishop, Piers Anthony (sort of) and others for some of the concepts used or elaborated on in this chapter.

…

Anubis' declaration was met by a shocked silence.

"Wait, what?" said a confused Ash. "He has to die!"

"_Yes,"_ Anubis told him.

"But…but why?" queried Misty. "I mean…that's not fair! He's just become alive again or something!"

"Why not?" Brock grumbled. "Fits in with everything else that's happened so far, doesn't it?" He laughed bitterly. "Ever since we got to Ever Grande City, life's become one big collision course with heartbreak and despair. Why not make some more misery in the world?"

Ignoring Brock, Togetic asked Latias, "Aunt Latias, you can't let this happen! You don't want Rayquaza to die just for you, do you?"

Latias blinked dully. "Why not? Everything dies. I died. You'll die. He'll die. Why not now rather than later? Makes no difference."

"But it does!" Oliphan protested.

"Why?"

"Because it's too soon!" Pikachu said. "He just got back from being sort-of-dead as the Ghost King! It's not right for him to have to sacrifice so much just to undo something that your bastard brother did to you!"

Rukario glanced at him. "Not right?" he asked. "Too soon? According to whom? Who says when soon is too soon, or whether something is right or not, other than you?"

There was an uncomfortable silence after this, as no one had an answer for that question.

"But…still…why!" Misty pressed.

"It's because I made a promise, isn't it?" Rayquaza asked the spirit

"_Indeed."_

"Huh? What promise?" asked Ash.

Rayquaza glanced at Ash. "You should remember, Ash. It's why I almost killed you, remember?"

Ash blinked, not remembering. "Uh…" Everyone facefaulted.

Rayquaza sighed. "I promised Latias, in a fit of anger due to my unstable nature as the Ghost King, that I would kill whoever she loved. The thought at the time, as erroneous as that might have been, was that it would free her up for myself. Once I became more rational, and realized she did in fact love me, I realized that by my own promise I would have to kill myself, as I am bound by my word and cannot break a promise. I thought at first that I had circumvented this prophecy by being a ghost, and therefore could not die, and when I became alive again I believed that since I was no longer technically the Ghost King, I had voided the promise. But clearly this is not the case."

_That is correct,_ the Mother said, a little sadly. _You promised that you would kill whomever she loved. You never said that did not include yourself. And because of that, you must die, so that your promise is fulfilled…and so that Latias may live again._

Rayquaza nodded. "Very well. Anubis, what must I do? Shall I tear out my own throat? Or must you do the honors?"

"_Killing yourself unprepared will do nothing but waste valuable time and energy,"_ the spirit told the King of Dragons. "_To make proper use of your sacrifice, you must die at the correct place, deep within this island, where the borders between life and death are not so clear. It is only there that this transaction may come to pass."_

Rayquaza nodded. "Very well. Let us be off, then."

"But…wait!" Pikachu protested.

Rayquaza sighed in exasperation. "What now?"

"Please…don't throw your life away! There has to be another way!" Ash pleaded.

"_There isn't," _said Anubis.

"Oh." Ash blinked. "Um, never mind then." All facefaulted again.

"But-" Togetic started.

"Look," Rayquaza snarled, getting frustrated. "I made a promise, and I have to fulfill it. I cannot break a promise. It is part of my nature, who I am. If I promised that I would die, then I must, if for Latias' sake than any other reason. For me, there _is_ no better reason than this. Would none of you do the same for your loved ones?"

There was a silence as they considered this.

"I…yeah, yeah I would," Ash admitted. "And I have, once or twice, haven't I?"

"Same here," Pikachu said, remembering his and Wobbuffet's sacrifice in the frozen carcass of Chimecho.

"Indubitably," Rukario said with a nod.

"Then you see why this must be done," Rayquaza said. "For Latias. Because I love her, and as she is now she will never be able to experience any of the joys of life again. I have to die, so that she may live." He nodded to Anubis. "Take me there. To the place between life and death."

"_As you wish._ _But know this: while the Mother has sanctioned this, ritual dictates that I may not perform the ceremony without the full agreement of my brother and sister Apostles. They are sympathetic to your plight, but you must prove yourself worthy in their eyes to proceed…and mine as well, for I must see for myself whether or not to aid you. Giving full life back to the dead is not something to be done lightly, and you will need to show me just why I should do this for you, even if you are one of the Mother's Chosen, as is Latias. There are rules of a sort, after all. It comes with the power."_

Rayquaza glanced at the nine souls orbiting the Mother's flower. "All right," he said. "I understand. I will do my best to convince you and the other Apostles, through whatever tests you choose to judge me with."

"_So it shall be. But know this: in the end…it may be Latias' choice that must decide this event, not yours."_

"What do you mean?" Oliphan asked.

"I think he's saying that in the end, Latias might be the one who has to decide if she wants Rayquaza to die for her or not," Pikachu interpreted. "Even if the Apostles have decided to let him make the sacrifice."

"But…she can't!" Misty protested. "She's…well…" They all glanced at Latias, who was gnawing at her groin to see if she could feel pain yet. She didn't. "Not exactly in the right state of mind…"

"Come on, it's a simple question," Brock grunted. "Latias! Do you want Rayquaza to die for you so that you can live?"

She glanced up from her crotch, crunching her uterus in her mouth. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"No."

"Uh, well he wants to," Ash said lamely. "Die for you, that is."

She blinked. "Okay." She went back to her self-mutilation.

"Well, does that work for you?" Togetic asked the soul of Anubis.

The spirit sweatdropped. "_That's…not exactly the kind of agreement I meant. This must happen because _she _wants it to, not just because Rayquaza does."_

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Rayquaza said firmly. "Let's go."

"_Very well._ _For this, I will need the use of my body." _The spirit drifted away from them.

"Rukario, are you sure this is a good idea?" Misty asked the knowledgeable vulpine. "I'm not sure this is going to work…"

He crossed his arms. "I have faith in the Mother, in Anubis, in Rayquaza, and most importantly at the moment, in Latias. I have a feeling that, no matter how bleak or hopeless this may seem, the love of the Dragon King and Queen will prevail."

"Yeah, right," said Brock cynically. "Like anything else has gone right for us since this damn thing started."

"We're still alive, aren't we?" Pikachu pointed out.

"Yes…but I'm a goddamn GOLEM who can't get a hard on!" Brock snapped, causing the others to sweatdrop.

"But you're already hard…" said a confused Oliphan.

"Um, that's not what he meant," Togetic said, embarrassed. Her little brother blinked at her in confusion.

Anubis' soul floated over to a patch of floor near the far wall and stopped. The complex threads of light and essence making up his spiritual form twisted and compressed, making a sound not unlike the ring of a bell. The floor beneath him lit up, and to the heroes' astonishment a capsule that looked to be part plant, part machine, part crystal, part energy, smoothly rose up, growing from the earth without breaking it open. There was a tall, dark form in the capsule, obscured by the opaque material it was constructed of. Anubis' soul flew into the capsule and vanished.

Without warning, the capsule began to light up, radiating light in strange colors around the room. There was a hiss of pneumatics or something like it as the capsule neatly unfolded, not unlike a flower in bloom, releasing great clouds of mist and a gust of wind which pushed the Chosen back a few steps and caused the rather warm, bright-lit room to drop in temperature by several degrees.

It got even cooler as the dark figure within the capsule stepped out onto the wooden floor, revealing itself to the group as the opened mechanism melted back into the ground. Goosebumps unrelated to the temperature rose on their skin as they beheld the form of Anubis.

The being was tall, at least ten feet in height, and covered almost completely in a black cloak that absorbed all light. Silver runes and patterns were painted on this cloak, glowing palely amidst the darkness, like stars across the night sky. His face was hidden beneath a long, heavy hood, although they could make out the slightest tip of a long snout emerging from the darkness of the hood, as well as a pair of tall, pointed ears causing the hood's fabric to poke up on the top of his head. The only parts of the being's body which were clearly visible were his hands, reaching out from the impenetrable darkness of his long sleeves, and even they did not seem completely free of the dark, as veins of shadow ran up their sides from deeper in the sleeves. The hands were both gruesome and fascinating to look at, a pair of five-fingered claws made almost completely of bone, clothed in blackened muscle and veins of shadow instead of blood, with a pair of large silver bracelets on the wrists. In his right hand he held, predictably, a very large and scary-looking scythe that looked so sharp that it could probably cut through reality itself with a single slice. The scythe's blade, much like the Mother's Guardian weapon, was black as ebony, but seemed to shine with a light none of them could see. The pole of the scythe was notched and covered with many carvings and runes, and numerous metal ankhs hung from leather thongs hooked onto various protrusions growing from the sides.

As if that weren't enough, the figure was not indistinct, but seemed so…_solid_, so real, that the reality of the Chosen felt weaker and sketchier, as if they were pale reflections of life and this being of pure darkness was the real thing. That, combined with the already otherworldly feel of this place deep within the tree, caused some of them to wonder for a moment if perhaps they _weren't _real, and everything they had experienced up to this point had been nothing but an illusion or a frail dream which faded away upon awakening.

Rukario was the only one who wasn't thoroughly creeped out by Anubis' appearance and the feeling of incompleteness he inspired in the others. Rather, he was in awe. He had been in the presence of this Apostle before, but it took a while to get used to the novelty of their presence.

Even Latias was affected, though not as the others were. "I know you," she said suddenly.

"All know me," Anubis said, his physical voice just as deep and chilling as his telepathic one. "As I know all. Most people just do not remember me, but they do in time."

"You were on the beach," she persisted. "You…and them." She gestured at the spirits still circling the Mother's flower. The sheer feeling of reality Anubis generated was affecting the chamber as well, causing it to seem more real, more glorious and terrible, than most of them could stand. Nobody could look directly at the flower, steadily growing more and more beautiful and radiant than their mortal eyes could bear.

"He was on the beach!" Ash yelped, panicking at the thought of this light-devouring but oddly familiar ghoul being anywhere near his prone body.

"Well, why not?" Rukario said. "He and the other Apostles are the guardians of this island, and much else as well. I see no reason they should not observe us, newcomers to their domain."

"You took it away," Latias said, looking into the blackness of Anubis' hood. "The pain and the nothing."

"Yes," Anubis agreed.

"Give it back," she told him.

"Why?"

"I need it."

The Apostle slowly shook his head. "You need the pain, and what you use it to avoid, as much as you need your brother."

"He's my brother," Latias said plainly, as if that were all that mattered.

"And he has done terrible things to you. Is simply being your brother excuse for this?" Anubis pressed.

She shrugged. "I don't know." She didn't really care, either. It didn't seem like it mattered. But Dark Latios was her brother, and she knew that was important for some reason. Then again, Rayquaza and the others said they were important to her too, and she remembered them being important to her, but she didn't really understand the concepts they kept pressing on her. She remembered experiencing those same concepts, but was no longer able to interpret them, and so she ignored them for the most part. It didn't seem like they mattered either. Then again, did anything?

Anubis tilted his head slightly. "Perhaps you will know, then…later." He focused his gaze on Rayquaza, who to his credit didn't flinch, while pretty much everyone else did. "Rayquaza…King of Dragons…" He bowed slightly. "If you seek to save Latias and allow her to feel more than pain and nothingness…then I am the first you will have to convince to help you."

"Convince!" protested Misty, her voice coming out at a bit of a squeak from fright. "But…but the Mother told you to help her! And you can clearly see she needs to be helped, you can't just leave her like this!" The others (well, except Ash) backed away slightly, as if afraid she was going to burst into flames as the dark Apostle turned his gaze on her.

"The Mother did not _tell_ me to help her," Anubis corrected, not sounding angry by Misty's outburst. "She asked me if I _could_ help her, and I can. As I said, it is within my power. But just because I _can_ do it does not mean I should. Do I believe that Latias needs to be changed? Yes. However, despite the gross transformations she has been put under, I am unable to reanimate a person against their will. If she asked me, and after I had located the required life energy needed to do so, I would revive her in an instant. But, since she is currently unable to, since she is incapable at the moment of perceiving the full horrors of her own situation and desiring a better one, I cannot change her."

"And so I had to ask for her," Rayquaza understood.

"Indeed. But what you desire for her, the transformation you have in mind, may not indeed be the best thing for her. She needs to be changed, yes, but to match whatever criteria you have in mind? To become simply 'alive' as you think of it, instead of something else altogether? Before I would even fathom such a thing, I must test you. We _all_ must," Anubis said, gesturing with his scythe at the other Apostles. "So that we can see what lies at the bottom of your heart. And perhaps so you can see it yourself."

"That sounds awfully complicated," Brock complained. "And it's been such a long day already! Can't we just skip all these formalities and go straight to fixing Latias!"

Anubis glanced at Brock, and he shuddered and stepped back, feeling the stones that made up his body age under that look. "I represent a very powerful force, as do my brothers and sisters. There are forces in this universe which cannot be resisted, and we embody many of them. Such power that we possess cannot be used without obeying certain guidelines…and this is one of them. Since Rayquaza has chosen for Latias, he must prove that his choice is the wisest for her. He must prove it to all of us, or Latias will remain as she is until she is capable of asking for herself. Which might be…never."

Rayquaza nodded. "I have promised to do whatever it takes to change Latias back to normal, or whatever is best for her. I will take every test you put forth if it will save her!" He snarled. "Bring them on!"

"Very well." Anubis flicked his right wrist. His scythe swished through the air, slicing it open and creating a jagged black tear in space, one which he immediately glided into. "Follow," his voice whispered before he disappeared, the rift remaining behind him.

_That rift shall take you to the beginning of your journey,_ the Mother told them, her voice very tired even as her flower continued to grow towards a reality beyond solidity, one they still could not look at it. _And now, I am afraid, I must rest. Go well, my Chosen. We shall speak again…_ The flower rustled and descended back into the abyss, to the relief of the Chosen's eyes, the large lotus closing up behind it. _Mind the edges,_ her voice said one last time before fading away entirely.

"Edges?" asked a confused Oliphan, as the room seemed to return to normal and the feeling of unreality vanished.

"Of the rift," Rukario clarified. "As you can see, it is rather jagged. If we cut ourselves on it, we might find ourselves on one side of the rift…while significant portions of our body are strewn across reality."

They made faces at this. "Ugh, great," Brock grumbled.

"We'll just have to be careful, then," Rayquaza decided. "And go in one at a time."

"I don't think I should go…"Oliphan whimpered, trembling slightly. "I'm too big…"

"No you're not," Misty said. "Actually, I think it's more than big enough for you to fit through." And so it was, although all of them were more or less certain that it had been much smaller just a second ago.

"Then I guess," Ash said uncertainly. "We'd better go after the really scary dark guy."

"Yes," Pikachu agreed, equally uncertain.

And so that's what they did.

…

They came out into night, or what felt like it. The giant Lunatone moon was slowly rotating past them off in the distance, its luminous glow and the light of the ever-shifting stars shining through its dark aura as it headed to the west. Eastwards, there was a glimmer of light, the closest thing to 'false dawn', as the giant Solrock sun made its way unhurriedly around the island.

It was dark, but the light from the moon and the stars was more than bright enough to show them where they were and what was around them.

Bones. Thousands, millions of bones, piled up in mounds which towered over them. Bones of all sizes and shapes, from Pokemon as big as, if not bigger, than the ones they had seen on the way to the village, to the remains of creatures so tiny they could have fit between thumb and forefinger. Bones, either as complete skeletons or random jumbles, all pure white and shining in the moonlight despite how very old some of them must have been. Bones stretching as far as the eye could see, to valley walls a few miles away.

Somewhat eerie posts, totem poles, and carvings were strewn here and there, depicting skeletal creatures and what looked like scavengers, the kind of Pokemon which ate the remains of a corpse once other meat-eaters had had their fill. (Which was a little worrying to think of, considering that this was an island without real predators.) The wooden figures outlined a path of some sort winding through the vast collection of bones, heading to a cliff wall behind them one way and deeper into the bones in the other. Purple, green, and blue flames were lit in some of the posts, casting a flickering, unearthly light on their surroundings. Oliphan squealed in fright and turned to flee back into the rift, only to find it had closed behind them. He trembled, eyes wide, and not even the assurances of his sister and parents were able to calm him down.

Rayquaza looked around. "Where are we?" he asked.

"This is the Boneyard," Rukario said knowledgeably. "Where the natives of this island, Pokemon and hybrid alike, deposit the bones of their families and friends after eating the flesh of their empty, dead husks. The bones are watched over by Anubis and those who serve him, and every year, during particular festivals, the dark Apostle channels the spirits of the departed (with their permission, of course) back into their skeletons, giving the dead life for the duration of the holiday and allowing them to have fun with their families and descendants."

Togetic and Misty made faces. "That's…kind of creepy. And gross."

Rukario shrugged. "Better skeletons than bringing them back as zombies with half the flesh rotting off their bodies, don't you think?"

All made faces this time, recalling the horrific undead Deoxys had used. "I see your point," Brock said.

"If Anubis can do this kind of reanimation several times a year, why do we have to do so much work to bring Latias back to life?" Pikachu asked with a frown.

"It's one thing to temporarily animate a skeleton by putting its soul back in it or through other means," Rukario said. "But what we need to be done is much more difficult. Latias is different from the dead Anubis reanimates because her soul is still in her body instead of outside of time. Furthermore, that body is already technically animate, so doesn't need to be 'energized' into motion again. In addition, this is meant to be a _permanent_ reanimation, rather than a temporary one. What Anubis will do, once the King has proven himself to the Apostles, is actually switch the forces which make Latias as she is now with those that give Rayquaza life—draw the death from her so that she may live again. This is a skill that no necromancer save Anubis has ever been able to accomplish successfully, to my knowledge."

"Wow. And he's just one of ten Apostles? These guys must be pretty hot stuff," Ash said, a faraway look in his eyes. "Say…do you suppose they have a League set up?"

"A League…ASH!" Misty smacked him. "Now's not the time for that sort of thing!"

"And I'm sure they wouldn't bother challenging you," Brock grunted. "They have much better things to do with their time."

"They do indeed," Rukario agreed. "Each embodies certain basic forces or themes in our universe and help to keep it running properly. As servants of the Mother, they do little to alter the lives of those who dwell in the universe, believing it best for them to exist as they please. Indeed, their own power prevents them from doing much in the way of changing lives or worlds on a personal level (other than the lives here on the island, where the laws work a little differently) except in the most extreme circumstances, hence the necessity of testing those who come to them for assistance. Too much energy has been invested in them to use on every minor problem that is brought before them."

"I would hardly call Latias' current state minor," Rayquaza growled, glancing at his beloved as she curiously picked a bone out from the nearby heap and gnawed on it.

"Depends on your perspective, I think," Pikachu mused. They began walking down the path leading deeper into the Boneyard. "But I think what Rukario means are personal problems, which this could certainly be construed as." Rayquaza growled under his breath at this, but said no more.

"If they save their powers for things that are 'major', then why didn't they do anything to save us from Deoxys? Why did they let Earth be destroyed?" an unhappy Oliphan asked.

"In their own way, I think they did help," Ash said. "Along with everyone else on this island, they made sure that some of the people on Earth could escape and that we might all have a chance at living another day…and maybe they're part of the Mother's plan too. Whatever the heck that is."

Misty sighed angrily. "Will we ever know what this ineffable plan is anyway!"

Rayquaza shrugged. "If it is truly ineffable, then no, we won't. However, the Mother spoke of the plan as if it could be explained, and so it must be effable. However, we still will not learn the full nature of this plan for some time…probably not until it has already been put into effect and we have played our parts without even being aware of them. That is usually how these things go." He frowned as Latias discarded the bone she had tried chewing on earlier and reached for another one. "Latias, leave those alone. You may be ruining the skeleton of a relative of one of the nice villagers sleeping underground, how do you think they'll feel if they wake up and find they can't see one or more of their deceased loved ones on the holidays because you've damaged their former bodies beyond repair?"

She blinked dully. "I don't know."

"Well, put it back!"

"Okay." She did. And a moment later, as they left it behind, the bone began rattling. The bone pile shifted. Other bones began to rattle and slowly, slowly, start moving together. Ribs attached to spines, arms to shoulders, legs to waist bones, jaws to skulls. Skeletons arose from the piles of bones, great and terrible, like wire frame versions of the creatures they had been in life. They were in all sizes and forms, from the human-sized hybrid skeletons to giants such as the Tyran they had seen earlier, and Pokemon still larger. This reanimation did not go unnoticed by the heroes, as the shadows cast by some of these giants fell over them, their ears drowned out by the chattering of teeth and the clatter of bones rubbing together.

They looked around in horror as all around them, innocent heaps of corpses came to life, or unlife, reassembling themselves and rising from their dead slumber to observe the living that had trespassed in their land. The skeletons came together, forming a ring around the Chosen dozens of undead thick, and stayed there, staring at them with their hollow, empty eye sockets and sending shivers down their backs. Pikachu drew his sword, charging up his cheek sacs. Ash began to crackle with electricity, moving to shield Misty, who in turn formed a blade out of water. Brock curled up into a ball, not to hide but to bowl over any skeleton in the way. Oliphan trembled and cowered behind Togetic, who sweatdropped and prepared to generate a Safeguard shield to protect them all. Rayquaza looked about uneasily, while Latias stared at the unliving creatures with something akin to…interest? Rukario frowned and considered for a moment.

The silent tension went on for another few moments. And then…

The skeletons began to dance. It was a somewhat eerie dance made eerier by the fact that the participants rattled loudly as they hopped and twirled, and often switched body parts for the hell of it, and used each other's skulls for drums and ribs for xylophones, a true danse macabre with a fitting musical accompaniment. Uncertain what to make of this, the Chosen slowly lowered their guards. "The heck?" Ash asked in confusion as the skeletons hopped and span around them and tossed each other's body parts through the air. "What is this?"

"Are we supposed to fight them or something?" Misty asked as a more humanoid skeleton juggled skulls in front of her. "Or dance with them, maybe?"

"I think…" Togetic blinked. "They're…greeting us?"

"Greeting us with a dance?" Pikachu shrugged. "Well, I suppose that's not so far-fetched, even if it's a spooky dance. But then again, they _are_ skeletons."

"How are they getting up and dancing, though?" Oliphan asked. "Are they being animated by the virus? Or is it Anubis?"

"Anubis," Rukario said firmly. "Remember, Deoxys' virus has no place here, even if it does still exist inside Wally and Latias. These skeletons are animate, but they lack the souls they once housed. They're basically puppets being made to put on a show for us."

"A show? Why?" Rayquaza asked him.

"Perhaps Anubis finds it amusing. Or maybe this is part of your test," Rukario suggested.

"My test…" Rayquaza frowned. "If that is so, what am I supposed to do, exactly? Dance with them?"

"If you choose," the deep, dark voice of Anubis intoned. Instantly, the skeletons stopped their cavorting and turned as one to face their master, standing in his all-enshrouding cloak atop a nearby bone pile, the moonlight absorbed by the fabric covering him. "But it is not necessary."

The dragon frowned. "All right then. What is it you want of me?"

"Darkness comes to all things," the Apostle said, almost as if he had not heard Rayquaza speak. "This land here, my domain, is proof of that. Each of these bones had a life once, a happy one full of love and companions…and then they died. All of them. Entropy caught up with them at last. Not even here, in paradise, can we avoid the shadow of death; just as even with genetics we cannot completely remove the darkness of the heart. We prolong our lives with our fruit and health, we live as well as we can, and then we die, as all things do. Even the universe, all universes, are prone to entropy, the stars burning out and finally dying, leaving nothing but barren, shattered worlds emptied of life thousands if not millions of years ago…and then there is nothing left but the dark, and stillness." He spread his arms. "It could be said that darkness is the inevitable fate of all things. Even souls go into the darkness of beyond and can smother themselves, many of them trapped within their own desires and darkness, consumed by the Beast. And with that in mind…tell me, Rayquaza. Are you afraid of the dark?"

The Chosen blinked. "What kind of question is that?" asked a confused Brock.

"That's it? That's the test?" Ash scoffed. "But that's easy!"

Pikachu frowned. "I'm not sure…I think there's more to it than that."

"Am I…afraid of the dark…" Rayquaza pondered. He frowned. "Which darkness do you speak of? Death? The dark of night? The evil lurking within our own hearts, out of sight or in the open?"

Anubis spread out his free hand. "Which do you think?"

Rayquaza thought a moment longer, glancing at Latias briefly. Then he smiled. "No," he said. "I am not afraid of the dark."

Anubis tilted his head. "And why is that?"

"Because," Rayquaza said, glancing up at the slowly brightening night sky as the Lunatone moon began to edge westwards, past the 'horizon'. "Even the darkest night is not free of light. The night holds the stars, burning brightly and reminding us that in some form life and hope exists, even out in the vastness of space. Just as the darkness in our own hearts can seem terrible and vast, as long as we cling to the light which is our love for others, it can be kept at bay, and rendered into something new…still dark perhaps, but no longer a threat." He glanced at Latias. "Latias was my light, when I was lost in the shadow of my own depression and madness as King of the Ghosts. Even as I darkened her own life, destroyed her family and home, she still burned bright, giving me hope that I could become more than I was. And that hope became more than just a star, just a glimmer, a faint promise of change…it became truth, as I managed to return to life, to become Rayquaza King of Dragons once more." He grinned fiercely up at Anubis as the Lunatone moon vanished from view, moving around the mountain, the shroud of night it carried following it…as the Solrock sun rose from the east, shining its light upon the Boneyard in a sudden transition from night to day. "I do not fear the dark, Anubis, not even the one that lies at the end of the universe, because I know that within it lies the way to dawn."  
For a moment, there was silence as light fell down upon the Boneyard. And then, Anubis said, "And what of death?"

"That, too, holds the promise of dawn," Rayquaza said. "The universe dies, its stars go out, everything fades away…and then, somehow or other, a new one begins, a Big Bang igniting matter into being once more and starting the cycle anew. Those who die come back through the cycle of reincarnation, returning to life from whatever awaits them on the other side, dark or otherwise. Death and entropy may seem to be inviolate and all-powerful…but if you stop fighting it blindly and _really_ look at it, break through to what lies beyond…you may yet find the dawn and life again, in whatever form. After all," he said, looking up at the rising Solrock. "Even when the stars go out…somewhere, the sun will eventually rise again."

The light grew, as Anubis stood there silently, as if considering them…and to the Chosen's amazement, the Boneyard no longer looked as terrifying as it had before. Yes, it was still essentially the same, a great valley of bones of deceased hybrids and Pokemon, and they were still surrounded by the skeletons of many of those deceased, but…it was as if the simple addition of sunlight, no matter how 'artificial', was enough to make these gruesome specters of the night seem harmless in the day, almost friendly even, as if the undead puppets were encouraging them to succeed in their quest. Even Anubis looked less ominous in his black cloak, and Latias found herself feeling…something. She didn't understand what. But Rayquaza's speech reminded her of something else…but what that something was, she could not quite remember either.

Finally, Anubis nodded, slowly. "Well said, Rayquaza." He spread his arms, and his cloak evaporated like mist exposed to daylight…and the Chosen gasped, for they had not possibly imagined how darkness could be so bright.

Anubis, for a brief moment, reminded them of Deoxys' horrors, of his virus-infested demons…but those monsters had lacked the spark of life that Anubis, while somewhat dead, still managed to retain. He was bipedal, humanoid, but his solid black flesh either clung to his bony frame or had vanished altogether, revealing his skeleton and fragments of dark muscles. His rib cage was exposed and sheathed slightly in that dark skin, veins of purple-black shadow running from the beating black heart in his chest, pumping some other terrible concoction rather than blood throughout his form. Around his waist he wore a slightly tattered gold loincloth decorated with strange sigils which rustled against his nearly skeletal legs, which were back-bent and touched the ground in graceful, small, three-toed paws with silver anklets. Around his neck, which was somewhat torn and full of holes, hung a large silver ankh on a simple cord made of sinew. His head was like that of a jackal's, the skull blackened instead of yellowish-white like the rest of his skeleton, making it hard to tell where the skin left off and the bone began. His tall ears poked straight up, making Rukario rub his own with a faint sense of envy since Anubis' were much longer, and a pair of dark blades looking amazingly like the ones growing from an Absol's head jutted from Anubis' cheekbones. His eye sockets, rather than being empty like those of his skeleton puppets, burned with a light similar to that of the sun's, no, brighter in its own way, a light which made things greater than mere solidity…and that same light seemed to radiate from him, from his dark form, in sparks and specks and points of radiance, reminding them of the night sky Rayquaza had just spoken of. Even his black heart glowed, and at times it looked as if it were a sun beating in his chest rather than an organ, sending fire up the veins rather than shadow.

"He's a like!" said an awestruck Ash.

"A what?" said the confused Brock, Misty, and…well, pretty much everyone else.

"A like!" Ash repeated. "You know, a really powerful undead thing! We saw plenty of them in the RPGenerator, remember?"

Oliphan looked confused while Pikachu smacked his face. "Ash, its pronounced lich, with no hard 'k' sound, not like."

"…Oh." Ash laughed in embarrassment.

"I am Anubis," said the creature of darkness. "I represent and regulate darkness and death throughout the universe. I am the gate through which one may pass to a new beginning, in life or death. But I can also be much worse. As you said, Rayquaza, I do indeed contain the way to dawn…but only if you know how to look for it. So many do not, and become mired in their own darkness, or become consumed by it. Others still can become twisted by it…but then again, the same can happen to those who bask in the light, if they are not careful to balance the two. A bright, sunny day is a wonderful sign for many species…but those same species also appreciate how beneficial lounging in the shade beneath the tall tree can be. And for others still, living in the dark is the only way for them to survive…but it need not be a terrible existence. There are few places where life cannot find a way to flourish, or at least grow, in some shape or form…no matter how much some beings wish it otherwise."

Rayquaza nodded. "Deoxys."

"And the Beast he represents. The souls within it, the souls forming it, are for the most part those who drown in their own darkness, or are blinded by their own light, in all its many forms. It is a hard thing to keep from turning one way or another, and even those who manage to escape their own prison may find themselves returning to it later. Remember not to become so confident in your own 'goodness' or 'purity' that you work against Life instead of serving it," Anubis advised them all.

"But you're death," Togetic protested. "So aren't you against life?"

Anubis shrugged. "Death is a part of life, a transition between many states of being…or at least, that is how I see it. Others may not. It matters little."

"Matters…" Misty snapped. "Then it didn't matter to you that millions or billions or even more people died today! You have power over death, but you let them die!"

"Yes," said Anubis. "I suppose I could have spared those people death. Instead they would live on as disintegrated molecules, their spirits screaming as they were torn in a quintillion different directions and unable to die because their souls were anchored to those molecules. Or worse." They blinked at him, nonplussed. "I control death, not necessarily what causes or inflicts it. If something doesn't die from horrible wounds and maiming and torture or worse, it will be forced to live like that, possibly forever. It is better to let something like that die than curse it to live in incurable pain, isn't it?"

"I…guess…" Misty admitted slowly.

"But by letting those souls die," Pikachu argued. "Weren't you letting Deoxys have them?"

Anubis shrugged. "He would have taken them anyway, whether I had allowed death to continue on Earth or not. Deoxys, after awakening and recovering the majority of his crystal, was capable of preventing the Apostles from directly opposing him, another reason for why we could not actively interfere during his invasion. Even we have our limits."

"That's reassuring…" Brock grumbled. "And these guys are supposed to help protect us?"

"It matters not, at least not now," Anubis continued. "What does matter is this: Rayquaza has passed my test and perceived my own nature, and is unafraid of it. And because of this, I shall assist him. Latias is dead, and she is not, for her soul is trapped in her body, which is animate but does not live. I could push her all the way, force her to true death, but her soul has been ravaged enough as it is, and there is no guarantee that it will survive the transition to a new body in perfect condition. Still, I could try it. It would spare you the price of your life."

Rayquaza shook his head. "No, I will pay the price in full. I made a foolish promise, and now I must reap what I have sown for myself."

Anubis nodded. "Then I shall do as I have promised, as well. I will transfer the flow of life and death energies between you, letting her live so that you may die. And we will do our best to mend her soul in the process. But one thing, first." He glanced at Latias, who was staring at him with an odd expression on her usually blank face. "Latias. What do you see when you look at me?"

"…Dawn…" she said after a long moment.

"And do you see that for yourself, as well?"

"…I don't know." Was there a tinge of actual emotion in that statement? Nobody, not even herself, was certain.

Anubis nodded. "Very well. Then we shall move on to the next phase." He hopped down from the top of the bone pile, landing before them. Instead of recoiling from his sheer reality, as they had before, they felt more of a mild discomfort, as if they were becoming used to it. Or perhaps they themselves were changing, and becoming more real… "Follow," he told them.

They did, the skeletons pacing around them as an escort. And as they went, Latias looked up at the Solrock moving through the void outside the shield bubble, shining more and more light on their part of the island, and said, "Dawn?" to herself.

Was there a dawn for her too? But no, there had been no darkness where her brother put her, the place that made her twitch to think of, where everything was nothing and nothing was everything. And without darkness, there could be no dawn.

Oh well, it had been worth thinking about anyway, though she didn't understand why she had wondered for a moment if there might be anything for her other than her current state. There had been once, but she couldn't be like that again, could she? Her brother wouldn't like it, for one thing.

Although Rayquaza might…

Confused about where that idea had come from, she continued trying to catch the barely formed thoughts chasing around her head, failed, lost interest, and began gnawing on a bone she stole from one of the skeleton escorts. They didn't complain, so she saw nothing wrong with it.

…

They came to a large clearing in the center of the Boneyard, framed on all sides by bone piles and paths winding between them. Directly across from them, half-covered by an extremely large mound of bones, was an incredibly ancient crypt which seemed to breathe centuries from its aged stones, as well as the same kind of 'realer' reality that Anubis did. The entrance to the crypt was a large double door made out of some weird very dark metal with an engraving of the Mother on it, along with many other things they didn't understand. Anubis led them towards this crypt, the skeletons staying behind and leaving the group to return to their resting place. The Chosen were, strangely enough, sorry to see them go. "I wouldn't have minded seeing them dance again," Misty admitted.

"Perhaps we will get another chance later," Rukario suggested.

"You know, you look a bit like Anubis yourself, Rukario," Pikachu said suddenly.

The vulpine blinked. "You think?"

"Well, sure," said Oliphan. "Your head looks kinda like his head, especially the ears…and your fur's in lots of dark colors, except for the yellowish parts."

"Hmm…I never noticed that," Rukario admitted. "Then again, I've never seen Anubis without his cloak before, so that's not surprising."

"Do you suppose it means something?" Rayquaza asked him.

"If it does, we can ask him later," the Steel/Fighting Pokemon decided.

"Later sounds like a good idea," Togetic said. "Because we're here. Wherever here is."

They had stopped halfway across the clearing, before a large pattern etched into the ground, a triangle with a large circle at each point and a fourth circle in the center. It looked fresh, Anubis had probably made it before coming to meet them with his troupe of dancing skeletons. Rukario looked at it with interest, for it resembled a pattern he had come across a few times in his studies with Registeel.

Anubis pointed to the crypt. "Those are the Dark Gates," he told them. "They are an entrance to the catacombs within the island. There are other entrances, but this gate is the one you must pass through if you wish to change your friend."

"Open it up, then," Brock said.

"It is not that simple. For the gates to lead to where you need them to go, certain requirements must first be met. In this instance," he said, gesturing to the diagram etched into the ground. "The Blood Triangle must be completed."

"Aha! I thought that's what it was!" Rukario said, pleased by his own memory.

The others were dumbfounded. "Uh, what's a Blood Triangle?" asked Ash.

"And does it actually need, you know, blood?" Oliphan asked squeamishly.

"It means blood in two senses," Rukario explained, while Anubis folded his arms and waited. "Blood as in the sacrifice of a few drops, often necessary in triggering spells of great power, and blood as in relations, the ties which bind a family or group together. Such triangles can be formed of 'families' made up of either blood relatives or very good friends, but it tends to work better if there's at least one blood link in the triangle. It's not necessary, though." He glanced at the triangle, walking over to examine it. "It has many variations, but I believe that this one is the 'Queen's Court'. Am I right?" Anubis nodded.

"'Queen's Court?'" Togetic asked, as puzzled as the others, though Latias blinked, half-remembering something.

Rukario nodded. "Yes, it represents the triangle of guardians or 'relatives' surrounding any queen of repute. Her central and most personal relationships, her true 'inner court', so to speak."

"Ah, I see," Rayquaza said, realization lighting in his eyes. "And those three points would be…father, brother, and lover, correct?"

"Indeed," Rukario said, pleased.

"How did you know that?" Pikachu asked Rayquaza.

"I'm a king, or was one," the dragon said plainly. "It's important for a monarch to learn such things, especially if he has a queen." Latias looked at him for a moment, but said nothing, feeling more half-memories.

"The gate will open and allow the journey to rebirth Latias to continue," Anubis said, "Once the Blood Triangle is complete."

"And we do that," Rukario continued. "By placing people in the correct circles on the triangle."

"If that's the case, then Latias is clearly the one to go into the center," said Rayquaza. "Seeing as how she was, and still is, Queen of the Dragons."

She blinked. "Okay." She floated over to the triangle and stopped in the center of the middle circle. She felt a strange power wash over her for a moment, welcoming her into the spell.

"Now," said Anubis. "As Queen of this 'Court', you must select the three who will join you on your journey. Only these three shall accompany you, and no others."

"What!" said an alarmed Ash. "But what about us?"

"Yeah, we can't leave Aunt Latias!" agreed Togetic. "I mean, some of us might go with her, but what'll happen to us?"

"You will return to the village," Anubis told them. "Since it is fast approaching night on that side of the island, the survivors are preparing for dinner. Your friend Wes and his party have returned from their explorations, thanks to the help of Sadic and Aerodactyl. Delia Ketchum and other skilled cooks are, with the aid of Joy and Jenny Prime, preparing the food for a giant, 'Hooray, we didn't die' feast."

Most everyone perked up at this. "Grandma Delia's cooking!" Oliphan cried, hopping up and down and making the ground shake. "Oh boy! We can't miss that!"

"Oh yeah…" Togetic agreed, her stomach growling hopefully. "Not if Grandma's making dinner…"

"Yeah, I haven't had anything of my mom's in ages!" Ash agreed, his mouth slavering and crackling with static.

"Yeah…and she adds just the right amount of ketchup, too…" Pikachu agreed, his drool crackling as well.

"And she makes even my cooking look pitiful," added Brock, his chin eroding from all his drool.

Rukario blinked. "This Mrs. Ketchum's cooking is that good to make all of you react like this? Hmm. Perhaps my judgment on humanity's evolution was a bit too hasty and harsh. Their common stupidity and tendency for the inane may have increased, but so has their meal preparation skills. Most curious…perhaps there's some correlation. I should look into this further…"

"But…but guys, we can't just leave Latias and whoever," Misty protested, trying not to slaver too much at the thought of one of Delia's meals.

"But Misty, its _mom's cooking,_" Ash insisted. "_My _mom's cooking!"

"But…I…ohhhh," Misty said, finally giving in and drooling substantially as the thoughts of Mrs. Ketchum's, now her own mother-in-law's, cooking filled her mind, remembering how the loving woman so generously heaped course after course of food on her and Ash whenever they visited her in Pallet Town. "You're right, we can't miss it…"

Rukario, Rayquaza, and even Anubis sweatdropped, wondering just how good Mrs. Ketchum's cooking was, and finding themselves somewhat curious to taste it. "You know, I am kind of hungry," Rukario admitted.

"Just because I am dead does not mean I cannot appreciate excellent food," Anubis agreed. "But that must wait for another time. Other business must be dealt with first." He turned to Latias. "Latias, your Court awaits you. Choose your first corner of the triangle; who shall be your Lover?" Rayquaza began to open his mouth, but was silenced by a glare from Anubis. "This is Latias' choice, and hers alone. Who shall be your Lover?"

Latias blinked. "Luvver?" She knew what luv was, sort of, had experienced it in great depth before, but did not understand it anymore. Should she try to? Was she supposed to luv her luvver, like the name implied? Her brow furrowed in thought. Who was her luvver? What exactly was one, anyway?

A luvver was someone she had sex with. She had sex with only two people that she could recall, her brother and Rayquaza. Her brother wasn't there, so… "Rayquaza," she said.

The dragon sighed in relief. "Big surprise there," Brock muttered under his breath, jealous that at least Rayquaza _had_ a girlfriend, even if she was currently a lobotomized monster incapable of loving anything at the moment.

"Thank you, Latias," Rayquaza said graciously as she levitated him over, seeing as how he was unable to fly on his own due to the loss of the Green Orb.

She blinked at him, not understanding why he was thanking her. Had he wanted to be her Luvver? He said he luved her many times, but she still did not really understand it. If Rayquaza was her luvver, was she supposed to luv him too? Only, she didn't. Or did she? She was confused again, something that was becoming rather commonplace since she had come here.

"And now, for the Brother," said Anubis, causing the Chosen to get edgy as they recalled just who her brother was. "Latias, who shall you choose for this role?"

That was easy. She only had one brother. "Dark Latios," she said at once, causing everyone to grow edgier. Even Rayquaza flinched, though it was more from anger at that evil creature's name than fear.

Anubis was silent for a moment, his eyes unfocused. "He is not permitted here," he said after a moment. "The Island, and the Mother, refuses to summon him."

"Wait, summon?" cried Pikachu, alarmed. "You mean that you could have brought Dark Latios here, just like that! Despite all the horrible things he's done!"

"I would have had no choice," Anubis told them. "The magic of the Triangle has been activated, and is bound to Latias. Her choice dominates these proceedings. Had the Mother authorized it, I would have been forced to bring the demon here. But she did not, and so we have nothing to fear. However, Latias must choose again. Latias, who will you select to be your Brother in the place of Dark Latios?"

She blinked, confused. What did Anubis mean? She had no other brothers-

"Oh! Oh! Dad!" Oliphan said, tapping Ash on the shoulder with his trunk and nearly dislocating it. "You can be her Brother!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked a very confused Ash.

"She's Aunt Latias, and aunts are the sisters of the parents!" Oliphan explained. "Which means she's your sister, and you're her brother, Dad!"

"Not necessarily," Misty pointed out. "How do you know she's not _my_ sister?"

Oliphan hesitated. He sagged. "Oh…I hadn't thought of that."

"Well, technically that _would_ still make Ash her brother, if Latias was Misty's sister," Pikachu contemplated. "Since that would make Latias Ash's sister-in-law. It's a bit of a stretch, but I think that works…doesn't it?"

"Not necessarily," said Brock. "Considering how Latias isn't actually _related_ to either Ash and Misty, and the whole 'Aunt' thing is just a name Oliphan came up with when he was younger."

"It's not just 'something he came up with'," Togetic argued, seeing how hurt her brother looked at Brock's comment. "She's family, not just…just someone we know. Just like you are, Uncle Brock! Family, that is." The Golem rolled his eyes at this, but couldn't help but feel a little better at that.

"Well, Latias?" Anubis asked her. "Will you accept Ash as a substitute for your brother?"

Well, of course she couldn't. She only had one brother, Ash wasn't-

_"When you look at it from the right perspective, it's like I'm the head (or at least a prominent figure) of a big family group. Some people could say I've got a 'wife' or 'mate' already, even if we're not married in the traditional sense, I've got brothers and sisters, friends, nephews and nieces, cousins, and children…that includes you too, Latias. You're the latest addition to our big family," Ash told her, on the night after their victory over Missingno. _

_Latias was stunned by this revelation. She spent several seconds processing it before finally saying, "I guess…we are like a family, aren't we?" _

_"Yeah, why not?" asked Ash. "We travel together, learn together, fight together…sure, to other people, and maybe to ourselves, the idea of so many people and Pokemon of different species being members of a giant 'family' may be ludicrous, but that doesn't stop it from being true, does it?" _

_Latias nodded slowly. "I guess…I guess you're right." _

Oh, wait, never mind, Ash was right, he was her brother after all. "Okay," she said, only half-understanding why she was agreeing to this.

"Awww," Ash whined. "And I wanted to eat Mom's dinner!" Misty smacked him. "Ow! But, uh, helping Latias is more important, unfortunately." Somewhat unhappy, he stomped over to the triangle and stood in the 'Brother' circle, arms folded, grumbling about how hungry he was and how long it had been since he had last had his mother's cooking.

"And finally, the Father," Anubis said, pointing to the third corner of the triangle.

"But wait, isn't Latias' father dead?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Ho-Oh died horribly in Deoxys' castle…I think," Oliphan said.

"He did," Latias said monotone. "My brother first made him think I was dead, and then ripped his spine out. Then he put the spine back in and healed it, then pierced Ho-Oh's brain with his claws. Then he fixed that and ate his testicles. After that, he ripped Ho-Oh's wings off, severed his tongue, ran a steel beam down his throat and out his anus, and hung him over a fire to be cooked alive. When he died, his soul was sent to Hell, and my brother ate his flesh, forcing a lot of it down my throat as well." They stared at her in horror, even more shocked by how unemotionally she described all this. "The other Ho-Oh got worse." She blinked. "Would you like to hear about her, as well?"

"N-no, that's all right," Brock said weakly, while Oliphan, Misty, and Togetic threw up in a nearby bone pile, earning them a glare from Anubis.

Rukario shook his head in dismay. "Such evil…he is truly the son of Deoxys…"

"If he is in Hell, then he is beyond my power," Anubis said. "But the souls of Latias' other father figures may be easier to summon here. Latias, who would you consider as your father in Ho-Oh's place?"

Latias blinked. A vague notion struggled to form in her clouded and damaged mind. She couldn't say Deoxys, even if he was her father now since he had sired her brother with her mother and all the others were dead, so…"Mewtwo?" she said, choosing the first of a long list of names, more because it was the most recent than because of any emotional attachment.

"But he's dead too," Pikachu pointed out as the others came back from vomiting.

"That matters little. If I can find him, he will come. He must, for Latias has chosen him, and the island will accept his presence," Anubis assured them. His eyes went unfocused.

"I'm not sure about this…" Togetic said uneasily. "We all just heard now how Ho-Oh was killed, and that was just Deoxys' son. If anyone killed Mewtwo, it would probably be Deoxys himself…and who knows how _he_ might have done it!"

"Well, I think we're about to find out," Oliphan said as space inside the empty circle seemed to distort and curve in on itself, sort of like how the sky had been transformed into a transdimensional warp during Deoxys' final victory on Earth, except that this event was more benign…somehow.

One instant, the circle was empty. The next, Mewtwo was in it, although he was a lot more transparent and indistinct than they remembered…or was he more real? It was so difficult trying to label something more spirit than matter, especially when that thing _was_ a spirit. And while it was indeed Mewtwo, looking relatively undamaged (much to their relief) from his fight with Deoxys, other than being dead, he didn't seem nearly as happy to see them as they him. "What is it?" he growled. "What is so blasted important that I had to be dragged back from peaceful, painless oblivion to this shithole of existence?"

They were surprised by this as well, for while the Mewtwo they remembered wasoccasionally (okay, maybe a little more than occasionally) prone to bouts of angst and depression, (at least before meeting Gardevoir anyway) they could not recall him ever sounding so…bitter and miserable and full of hate and venom towards, well, everything. "Uh, are you sure you got the right Mewtwo?" Ash whispered to Anubis rather loudly. "And not, say, one from a parallel universe?"

"Oh good, it's the 'Chosen One'," Mewtwo said sarcastically. "Chosen for 'special needs', anyway. How delightful to see you've cheated death AGAIN. Well, at least this means you won't be bothering me in the afterlife for quite some time and trying to do something as asinine as capturing and enslaving every type of soul and cramming them in little balls or cages…there's enough idiots who run around doing that anyway without you around."

All the Chosen were startled by this, especially Ash. "M-Mewtwo?" Ash stammered.

"Don't even bother speaking, it only makes you sound even dumber than you look, if that's actually possible," Mewtwo snapped acidly. "I don't know what I EVER saw in you, human." Turning away from the shocked and gaping dragonoid, Mewtwo glared at Anubis. "All right, let's get this over with. Tell me what the fuck you want necromancer, so I can go back to being nice and dead and away from these buffoons."

"You have been summoned to complete the Blood Triangle," said Anubis, unfazed by Mewtwo's language. "To serve as Father to the Queen, your surrogate daughter, Latias, in order that she may be cured of undeath."

Mewtwo glanced at Latias, his expression not softening in the least. "Oh, so you went and got yourself screwed up the instant I left as well," he said angrily. "Lovely. And here I thought I may have actually taught you how to protect yourself better. I guess not. Why am I not surprised, seeing as everything else I do inevitably crumbles to ruin?"

She blinked dully. Was she supposed to feel hurt and rejected right now? Because she didn't. At least, she didn't think she did. "I don't know."

"That was a rhetorical question, you idiot."

"Oh. Sorry."

Mewtwo ignored her and turned back to Anubis. "So, you need me to help fix her back to normal instead of leaving her like this to teach her a lesson about trusting in all-powerful forces incapable of actually caring for your own well-being?"

"She is the one who asked for you, not I," Anubis said calmly. "I summoned you only at her request. She must have cared for you deeply, before her current condition, to have chosen you first out of all the other father figures she has had over the years."

"Once, that might have touched me," Mewtwo said flatly. "But honestly? Right now, I don't give a damn about her. I don't care if she thinks I'm her 'father' or not, I don't care about pretty much anything at all anymore."

"Not even the end of everything?" Anubis asked.

"No, not even that," Mewtwo sneered. "Good riddance. I've wasted millions of lifetimes either trying to keep the damn thing going or failing to destroy it. I've suffered more than enough every single time I've dove into the river of life. I no longer care for what happens in this or any other universe. It can die for good, or be reborn yet again, and I still won't care. I had hoped I had escaped this infestation you call 'life' forever when Deoxys killed me, but it seems as if nobody's content to just let me be."

The Chosen were stunned by this as well. "Mewtwo," Rayquaza said after a moment. "What has happened to you? We may not have known each other well, but I'd like to think we had been close enough acquaintances from our meetings back when I was King of the Ghosts to believe that you could not _help_ but care for everything, for every living creature which crawled or flied or swam on our planet. What happened to change that?"

"Everything," Mewtwo said bitterly. "Every single time I've been reincarnated, I've suffered. I've been the tool of the Beast in countless guises, if not a manifestation of the Beast itself, I've betrayed and been betrayed, I've loved and lost, and been played like a puppet by just about every higher power I can think of, whether for good or ill. The only time I have EVER been free from whatever cruel joke fate has decided my lives should be is in death, and even THAT rarely lasts long enough for me to know true peace, if I can find any between whatever forces in the beyond are clamoring for my soul between each incarnation. I tried to care, I tried to have faith, I tried to make things better one last time…and you know what? It was all for nothing. I was just another pawn. Just one more damn pawn in the Unown or Whoever's game." He crossed his arms and turned away from everyone. "Whatever job or gift or duty you're trying to push on me this time, I refuse. I don't care if it means Latias will be stuck as a hideous monster forever, I don't care if Deoxys destroys everything. I have lost faith in all things. Leave me be."

There was a long pause. And then Anubis said, "You can leave…but only if it is Latias' choice." Mewtwo glanced at him in annoyance at this. "By the power of the Blood Triangle, she is Queen of this court, and therefore she is the only one who may decide who goes and who stays. I am merely the facilitator. So…" The Apostle looked at the somewhat uncertain dragon girl. "Latias. This is your decision and yours alone. Do you wish Mewtwo to remain here as your Father, or will you choose another figure from your past to take his place."

She blinked, considering this slowly. "…Does it matter either way?"

Anubis shrugged. "I am not the one who can tell you that. Only you can say…or, if you are truly uncertain, there is no shame in consulting your other courtiers."

"Who?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Us," Rayquaza reminded her, as Mewtwo rolled his eyes.

"Oh, right," the dragonoid said sheepishly.

Latias turned to Ash. "What do you think?"

He frowned. "Umm…I think you should probably choose somebody else. Because, well…he's kind of scaring me here," he whispered, frightened by the way Mewtwo was glaring at him.

"Good," said Mewtwo, who had heard him very well.

Latias then turned to Rayquaza. "What should I do?" she asked him.

"What do you think you should do?" he replied.

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

"It does not do for a queen to do something simply because her consort or another member of her court told her to," Rayquaza advised. "It is good for her to ask, so that she may weigh their opinions and understand their feelings on the matter…but in a court where she alone rules, the final decision must always be hers. It may be difficult, and often cruel, but that is how a monarchy works. As a King, I should know."

"But I don't know what to decide," Latias protested.

"Neither did I, many times," Rayquaza told her. "If you look back to when we ruled together, you will see that as well. I know you remember those days, and if you do, you must also remember how indecision is less a sign of maturity than an invitation to disaster. A Queen is a queen, whether she has a kingdom or not, even if she's currently a tortured, somewhat deranged zombie. You are what you are, and that is why you must choose. This is your father, not mine, and as such only you can accurately choose what to do."

"…" She considered that for a moment. For some reason she didn't understand, it made sense. "Okay."

"Well?" Mewtwo asked as she turned to him. "Can I go now?"

"…No," she said after a moment.

He narrowed his eyes. "No?"

"I remember you best," she confessed. "You're the most recent, other than Ho-Oh. I can't remember the others as well anymore. I don't really know what 'Father' means like I once did, but you're the closest thing I can think of to one."

"Is that so?" he asked, his angered tone not softened in the least. "Very well then. If the lady requests, it seems I have no choice." He bowed sarcastically to her. "Anything you ask of me, I shall oblige to do. I'm just a puppet on his strings, and you're the latest to yank them, _Queen_ Latias."

"Okay, thanks," said Latias, the sarcasm totally going over her head and causing Mewtwo to facefault.

"Is this a good idea?" Brock asked uneasily. "He seems really pissed…" So much so, in fact, that Brock suddenly found his own frustrations with being stuck as a Golem and having his friends joke about his inability to score with the opposite sex trivial compared to whatever had turned Mewtwo into such a bitter, miserable spirit. Could the same thing have happened to him, on a smaller scale, if nothing had shocked him out of it?

Pikachu shook his head. "He's clearly psychologically unwell. I don't think this is safe either, there's no telling what could send him over the edge now…"

"I can hear your thoughts, you know," Mewtwo said in a voice which suggested he was only quarks away from ripping off their skins and stabbing them to death with their own coccyxes.

The Chosen jumped at this, Brock landing in Misty's arms and knocking her over while Togetic found herself struggling to support Oliphan's enormous weight with just her arms and ability to fly without wings. (Not that she didn't have wings, but they were mainly for show and offense.) "W-we're sorry," Rukario stammered. "We won't do it again."

"Please don't kill us," whimpered Brock as Misty angrily hammered him with her fists in an attempt to dislodge him.

"Why would I bother doing that? Then I'd just have your souls pestering me forever," Mewtwo growled. He glared at Anubis. "Now that I'm stuck here, can we get on with this so I can go back to being dead?"

The Apostle tilted his head. "The Triangle is complete. Now to open the gates, all that is needed is a small sacrifice."

"Blood, I take it?" Rayquaza asked, causing Ash to look squeamish.

"Of course," Mewtwo said, rolling his eyes. "Otherwise it wouldn't be a _Blood_ Triangle, now would it?"

Ash swallowed. "Uh, who has to, you know, bleed?"

"I'll do it," Latias offered. She immediately ripped off one of her wings, spraying blood all around her and splattering all four circles in the triangle, as well as Ash and Rayquaza, while passing through Mewtwo and hitting the ground. She then ate the wing, while a horrified Ash, who felt he had seen enough blood already that day, shook it off, and Rayquaza sighed and shook his head sadly. Mewtwo was the only one who seemed to find it amusing.

The blood soaked into the ground and vanished. The triangle lit up, turning a brilliant red which forced the other Chosen to squint or shield their eyes. The engraving of the Mother on the crypt doors lit up, and the earth began to rumble, causing nearby bones to clatter and slide down the heap, dragging other bones with them and making a chattering noise much like the one caused by Oliphan's teeth knocking together.

Slowly, ponderously, the crypt doors swung open, tendrils of darkness oozing out from an absolutely black void inside. There was a sharp intake of breath as that blackness _extruded_ outwards from the crypt, becoming a long thick solid shadow which the sunlight did nothing to diminish.

Rayquaza's eyes widened, while Latias blinked and looked at the growing darkness with interest. "Is…that supposed to happen?" the dragon asked Anubis. A silent nod was his only reply.

The darkness suddenly split at its end, into five branches, no, _fingers_, turning into a huge black hand which blotted out the Solrock's light as it oozed towards them. Before any of the four in the triangle could react, the hand suddenly grabbed them, clenching them in its fist, even a startled Mewtwo, who hadn't expected to be affected by semisolid things in this reality. As the other Chosen stared in horror, the hand dragged their friends screaming back into the crypt, vanishing from sight. The big stone doors slammed shut behind it.

The Chosen stared at the sealed crypt, speechless. "Uh, Anubis, they'll be okay, right?" Misty asked tremulously.

There was no response. Anubis, as well as the Blood Triangle on the ground, was gone.

…

It was very dark.

But that was okay, Latias preferred it to the white nothingness in which her brother had imprisoned her for a few million years, or what felt like it. This place held no fear for her…not that she could actually feel afraid anymore, but she'd get some approximation, and there was none of that here.

She wasn't even worried about being alone, because her 'court' was right here, wherever 'here' was, floating about. "Hello," she said to them.

"Uh, hi," said the somewhat distracted Ash. "Where are we?"

"Inside the crypt?" Rayquaza looked around, seeing…nothing. "Although, seeing as there don't appear to be any walls or boundaries here…it seems to be far too large for that."

"Tesseract technology," Mewtwo said flatly. "The islanders perfected it ages ago and have used it in their construction ever since, never deigning to give it to the outside world."

"What's a tesseract?" Ash asked in confusion.

Latias blinked dully. "Tesseract," she recited. "A four-dimensional analog of a three-dimensional cube, where motion is a representation for bounded transformations of the cube through time." They looked at her. She blinked. "What?"

"I have no idea what you just said," said a dumbfounded Ash.

"Me neither," admitted Rayquaza, a little disgruntled.

Mewtwo snorted. "Why does that not surprise me? Let me put it in terms you _just_ might be able to understand: tesseract technology folds space and time in such a way so as to make the inside of an object much, much bigger than the outside. It could have had infinite purposes on Earth, if the islanders had felt like sharing it, such as eliminating large luggage or backpacks trainers have to drag with them on their journeys of enslavement around the world." He paused. "Hmm, when it's put that way, I suppose its better that they kept the tesseract to themselves. Wouldn't want to make life any easier for trainers, would we? Not that it matters now, since they're all dead…"

"What's with you, anyway?" Ash asked, somewhat insulted. "Why're you acting like this? I mean, you weren't especially fond of the majority of humans for the most part, but I thought you'd gotten over the whole 'trainerslaver' thing a while ago!"

"I had," Mewtwo said flatly. "When I actually believed that there was hope for humankind and Pokemonkind, that there was a possibility of a better future. Then I was made to look back and see how well all the 'better futures' I strived to create in my countless prior incarnations went. That, among other things, is the reason I am the way I am now." He grinned cynically. "Nothing ever changes. I've tried, and you have too. All of you, in this world and others. It never made a difference, not one that lasted anyway."

"If you believe that, then you've already lost," Rayquaza growled.

Mewtwo chuckled bitterly. "You know, I said almost the exact same thing once. Many times. You're as wrong now as I was then. If things really did change, then people wouldn't keep repeating themselves, would they?"

"Look," said Latias, who had ignored the argument altogether. She was pointing at a very faint glimmer off in the distance. "Light."

"It's…weird…" said an amazed Ash.

"What _is _that?" Rayquaza wondered, frowning.

Mewtwo glared at the glimmer. "Wait…this seems familiar…"

_Behold the void,_ a voice whispered from nowhere and everywhere at once. _The eternal nothingness from before anything existed, even time._

Latias shuddered. Nothingness? Like the horrible horrible place where…

No. This void was not that void. The place where she had been put had been empty of everything, and it had drained her emotions away as well, helped by the tortures and surgeries Dark Latios had performed on her. But this void…while it was empty, there was something in the air. Potential, a promise of…of what?

_The nothingness lasted forever and for the smallest fraction of a second, for time did not exist yet, and therefore there was no past, future, or even present in which to measure the void's existence. But then time _did_ begin. Because the emptiness was so vast that it was crushing itself beneath its own pressure…and from that pressure, a spark was born. Something new. Literally, something, where once was nothing._

"Whoa…" Ash murmured as the glimmer grew brighter.

"Wait…" Mewtwo said suspiciously. "Wait a minute! I've heard this story before…" He looked disgusted beyond words.

_This something was Life, in its first form. When later life would spring up, it would call this precursor God, or Creator, or other such limiting names. But we know the first as it calls and called itself: One. For it was indeed One, the One that was All. And once All existed, nothing did not._

Ash and Rayquaza gasped as suddenly the glimmer, without warning, exploded in a tremendous blast of light and energy which washed over them with a sound like a million nuclear bombs exploding at once, except several times louder. The noise and the glare were startling, and yet none of them were blinded or deafened in the least, even as it encompassed this endless space completely.

Latias blinked. "What…" she started.

"The Big Bang," Mewtwo said, sounding bored. "The first one, anyway. I was right; I have heard this story before. I have no interest in hearing it again." He closed his eyes and leaned back in space.

_From this singularity, this expression of energy and joy as the One realized it existed, matter came into being, the All to replace the Nothing._

Ash, Rayquaza, and Latias watched in interest as the heat and energy released by the explosion lessened and cooled. Particles began to bubble out of nowhere, coalescing together in atoms and molecules from numerous protons and electrons, scattered all across infinity in differing amounts. The light from the Big Bang was gone, but the darkness it left was different from the one before; one full of energy and motion as matter formed and the laws of physics and nature came into being. Time then sped up, although they had no way of knowing it, and over the course of a hundred million years, more and more atoms formed and came together in denser and denser quantities, until right before them, enough matter fused together to ignite in a much smaller but no less awe-inspiring explosion, becoming the very first star.

_And the All changed and grew, evolving from the smallest of particles to the burning radiance of the stars. And the One was everywhere; it was the stars, it was the particles, it was every form of matter and energy. More than that, it was the power behind matter and energy, the laws which dictated how it moved throughout space and time, which was itself just forming. And the One was that too; it was everything, _is_ everything. The One became the universe, the very first one, and as it began to grow and mature, the stars burned brighter and brighter in the skies… _

At this, the darkness around them was suddenly illuminated by billions and billions of stars of all colors and sizes, arranged in clusters and galaxies arrayed further than the eye could see. Rayquaza and Ash looked about them in wonder, Latias blinked at all the lights, and Mewtwo snored loudly.

_And as the flames of the heavens burned strongly across space, other flames ignited as well…the fires of life, warmed and energized by the countless suns, arose on over a billion worlds. And although eventually the stars would go out, and this new thing called life would end…as long as the One that is All exists, life would always rise again. _

"Fascinating…" said Rayquaza. "I've heard of something like this, but I never actually got to see it." He frowned. "Or…did I? This seems vaguely familiar for some reason."

Ash screwed up his face in concentration. "Um…that voice thingy said the One is All, whatever that means. If this One is everything, maybe it's us too, and we're it?"

Mewtwo made no comment, because he was sleeping, or pretending to. Latias looked ahead at the burning star before them, not minding as her eyes were seared by its heat and light. "It's getting bigger."

"Huh?" It was getting bigger, or perhaps they were just moving closer to it. Either way, the star soon filled their entire field of vision as they drifted towards it and it came hurtling towards them, suddenly rushing down past them, its massive tendrils of burning gas licking at their heels, and they found themselves floating just above it, suspended over a sea of surging fire stretching out in all directions. It was spectacular…and more than a little frightening, to see such power expressed in something so enormous that they were less than dust to it.

They heard a loud, piercing shriek like a bird of prey's, causing Mewtwo to grunt and turn over in his sleep. A small ember emerged from the churning mass of solar energy below them and rose higher and higher towards them, revealing itself not to be a bit of short-lived ejecta or flame but a figure, its form wreathed in shimmering white fire that seemed to burn even brighter than the star below them, a flame that burned away the failings of mere physicality to create something more…though whether that burning was safe or necessary did not matter, it was fire after all, and so burned all it touched indiscriminately.

The being slowed as it reached their elevation, flapping its wings and hovering before them. Latias was reminded for a moment of her father, whom she had been force-fed by her brother, but this thing was much more beautiful than Ho-Oh, who had died quite horribly.

It was indeed a phoenix, a humanoid one with magnificent gold and red plumage on its body and a pair of great wings spreading from its back, its colored feathers wavering so much it looked like they were flames themselves. A closer observation revealed that they actually _were_ flames, somehow woven together to create a spectacular multicolored pair of wings which were themselves surrounded in the more ethereal fire burning around the phoenix as a whole. Its body was humanoid and very clearly feminine, (Ash flushed, somewhat embarrassed) with a pair of slender yet muscular arms covered in red down and ending in a pair of delicate scaled hands with well-trimmed talons in place of fingernails. Her feet were larger talons, more like those of a less evolved avian, growing from legs covered in red down but with many gold and blue feathers flamboyantly sprouting from the knees and sides. A smaller set of wings grew from her hips, more red and gold than the many colors of the larger wings. A very long and feathery tail plume grew and curled downwards behind her, dancing in the solar winds rushing up from below like a tongue of flame itself. Her head was aquiline and covered in red and purple feathers with gold tips, with a short, hooked beak for a mouth and a long feathered crest growing back from her forehead. She had what looked like ears as well, or if they weren't ears, just large feathery projections growing back from the sides of her head and framing her face regally. Her eyes were a very deep blue or black or purple, dotted with little points of light, as if they contained miniature universes of stars, burning as fiercely as the rest of her flames.

"Greetings, friends," the phoenix said kindly. "I am Inanna, Apostle of Fire and Wind. I represent the stars that burn in the heavens and the flames which burn on the planets. I embody the stellar winds which carry radiation and particles throughout the universe, and the smaller-scaled winds which shape the clouds and the landscapes of many worlds."

"Even hurricanes?" Ash asked.

"Of course."

"And tornadoes?"

"Those too. And wildfires as well, or the flames which burn down cities."

"But aren't those bad things?" Ash asked. "I thought you were good!"

"She is, Ash," Rayquaza said. "But wind and fire are forces of nature, and can be thought of as either good or evil depending on their manifestations or how you look at them, just like the death and darkness Anubis embodies."

"In their most destructive forms, my elements can ravage landscapes and entire solar systems and leave vast stretches of land or space barren and lifeless…" Inanna explained. "But while that destruction often ends life, in many cases those disasters can guarantee the growth of new life. The erupted volcano leaves fertile soil from which new forests can grow. The wildfire which burns down a forest keeps life from choking itself out and allows for new growth. A hurricane or a solar bubblestorm…" She shrugged. "Admittedly, there is very little obvious benefit that can come out of that. But disasters and death are a part of the universe we live in, and at the very least they shake people out of their complacency and belief that they have mastered the world and encourage them to find new ways to prevent such disasters from happening again…and in so doing, evolve the slightest bit as a species. And that is life's goal: to propagate itself and grow stronger through each generation and incarnation, evolving higher and higher to its most perfect form, whatever that may be."

Rayquaza frowned. "Hmm…put that way, I wonder now if the Weather Lock I put on my nation to reduce the majority of natural disasters and bad weather was such a good thing."

"Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't. Either way, it simply encouraged your people to evolve as a society through somewhat different means," Inanna assured him. "And even though it eventually failed, it _did_ exist for a time, evidence that, just like the people of Birth Island and Sevii, a civilization does not always need to suffer strife or the occasional great cataclysm to grow stronger. There is almost always more than one way towards a goal, and you simply utilized one that your rivals Groudon and Kyogre did not."

"And that society might have evolved further, were it not for my own negligence and grief," Rayquaza said, glancing briefly at Latias. "And yet, did that grief and failure, followed by my millennia as the Ghost King, allow me to evolve as a person? Hmm. A difficult question."

"I guess evolution is important and all," Ash admitted. "But does it need to hurt so much? And involve so many people dying? I mean, hurricanes and other kinds of disasters totally wreck cities and ruin thousands of lives! And now our whole planet's been destroyed, and maybe the universe and more is following it. Is personal evolution or whatever worth so much suffering!"

Inanna shrugged. "Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't. Whether this is one of those times or not, I cannot say. But we have chosen our course, and there is no turning back. And now everything will change, for better or worse."

"Yes, so easy for you to say," Mewtwo grumbled from his 'slumber.' "Now that you've condemned everyone to horrible death and damnation just because you didn't like the way the universe was currently working. Well done. You prove yourself to be just as big a hypocrite as all your predecessors, preaching free will and love but perfectly willing to sacrifice everyone else when it suits you."

"Is that true?" Rayquaza asked with a frown, narrowing his eyes

Inanna shrugged. "You are able to detect better than anyone the truth, Rayquaza. Mewtwo believes what he says to be truth, and so for him it is. As for myself…" She shrugged again. "Do I believe what we do to be necessary? Regretfully, I do. Do I mourn every single sacrifice? Every soul condemned? Lament the necessity of this awful task? The sorrow burns within me as hotly as the star beneath us." She stared at Rayquaza steadily as she said this…and the Dragon King was surprised to see a small, pearly tear rolling down her cheek, evaporating from her own body heat…and that, along with his own 'truth sense', convinced him she was being honest. Or at least believed she was. For some reason, that reassured him slightly. Very slightly.

He sighed and looked away. "I wish you people would stop running around the bush and tell us already why this is necessary and what we must do to make everything better…and why we couldn't have done it without the universe ending."

"In time, perhaps, you will understand," said Inanna. "But now is the time for trials. Every species and individual must pass certain trials to prove their right to evolution, and this is yours Rayquaza, yours and Latias'." The phoenix glanced at the dragon girl, who had a strange look on her face. "Latias, when you look at me, what do you feel?"

"…I don't know…" she said slowly. "My skin tingles, even though I shouldn't be able to feel it, and there's…something else. Is this…warmth?" She hadn't been able to feel it in a while. Dark Latios had made her unable to feel warmth, along with pretty much everything else but pain.

Inanna nodded. "Indeed. It has been a while since you have felt it, haven't you? Really felt it, anyway, after what Dark Latios did to you. But my fire is more than just physical, it touches the spirit as well…and maimed as yours is, so mangled it is barely able to comprehend the burning passion Rayquaza holds for you, on its most basic level it can feel this warmth…the fire that is life, the fire behind life. It is in all sentient creatures, and many that are not; this fire is part of the essence we call 'soul'. And so it is no wonder that you can feel it, even now."

"…Yes…" Latias agreed. This was so strange. Her brother's black Dragonbreath hadn't felt warm at all…then again, that flame burned, but gave off no heat. It could not, due to its master being undead, or something like that. And even though this warmth didn't burn or hurt her…it felt…'gudd'?

The phoenix turned her starry eyes back on Rayquaza. "And now Rayquaza…for you to pass, you must answer this question I pose to you."

"Something about fire or the wind, I take it?" he guessed.

"Yes, although indirectly." Inanna flapped her wings once, sending a warm breeze washing over the group and stirring Mewtwo slightly. He growled and turned over. "You saw here how the universe, the first universe, began. The beginning of everything. The birth of the One that is All. Tell me this: what were the One's first words?"

All blinked. "The One's first words?" Ash asked in confusion.

Rayquaza frowned. "Do you mean…its first conscious thought? Or its first spoken sentence?"

"It is what the One said when it realized it existed," Inanna said. "The same thing all living creatures say when they realize they exist as well, for they are the One just as the One is them. What did the One, did they, did _you_ say when you first became self-aware?"

Ash scratched his head. "Um…my mom says my first word was either 'Pokeymon' or 'Poopy'."

"'Momma'," Latias recalled dully.

Rayquaza frowned. "No, I don't think that's what she means. It must be the first conscious thought…or perhaps unconscious?" He frowned, thinking hard. "What would the Creator, or whatever it is called, say upon becoming self-aware? What would any of us say, for that matter?" Somehow he didn't think it was anything as corny as 'let there be light'. Especially since he and Latias had probably first become self-aware in eggs, where there _was_ no light.

He glanced at Ash. He had no idea when humans first became self-aware. In their mother's womb? At some point after they emerged? He supposed it didn't matter, because it looked as if Ash was as clueless as he at the moment. And he doubted Mewtwo was going to give them any help, since he was obnoxiously snoring even louder, perhaps in an attempt to make it harder for him to think. An annoying tactic, but one doomed to fail, since he had suffered much worse irritants from his often wild and chaotic subjects as King of the Ghosts.

He thought harder. Okay, say you'd just realized you exist. What do you say in response to that?

Wait…no, that wasn't it. Realization of existence was a form of thought by itself, wasn't it? So _that_ had to be the first word or words thought or spoken. And those words were…

"'I am,'" Rayquaza said loudly, proclaiming it for all of creation to hear. There was no clap of thunder or sudden sense of an immense presence to indicate that this One was annoyed that he was stealing its lines. Then again, if he understood Inanna correctly, _he _was the One too, in some way he didn't quite understand, then wasn't he actually quoting himself? Oh, whatever. In any event, he knew that it was the right answer…

"Funny, I seem to remember my first conscious thought being, 'Who am I? What am I? Where am I? Why are all these ugly creatures looking at me? Where can a guy get something to eat?'" Mewtwo muttered.

…Despite what commentary from the Peanut Gallery had to say.

Inanna nodded. "Indeed. 'I am.' The words which ignited the fires of creation and stirred the winds to carry them forth and form them into matter. The words all self-aware creatures say in the moment they become self-aware. Well done."

"I don't understand," said Ash. "'I am'? I am what?"

"I am," Latias said plainly. "I exist."

"Oh."

Inanna spread her arms out. There was a sudden gust of wind billowing past them, one so strong that even Mewtwo was knocked out of his fake sleep. At the same moment, a great prominence of gas and fire erupted from the star below them, arcing into the air and getting caught by the wind, which channeled it and spun it about to create a great swirling vortex of fire and air behind the group.

Rayquaza sweatdropped. "We have to go in there, don't we?"

"Yes," said Inanna. She flapped her wings, creating another tremendous gust which sent them hurtling through space, right towards the giant flaming vortex. "Good luck to you! May the winds blow us together again!"

"If we aren't incinerated first!" Ash cried before they fell into the vortex and vanished.

…

Fortunately, they weren't. They came out into space once more, with a small, bright sun some distance away. The space all around them was filled with weirdly colored particles and gas drifting together. "What's this?" Ash asked, looking around.

"The inside of a nebula," said Mewtwo. "And that star there looks to be rather new. This looks to be the beginnings of a solar system"

"And what exactly are we here to see?" Rayquaza wondered.

"That?" Latias suggested, indicating a rather wide and diffuse disk of dust and gas revolving around the star as it slowly shrunk and cooled. Some areas of the disc had more concentrated clumps of matter than others.

_As the stars formed, their gravity acted on the matter around them, changing it into a new form,_ the voice from before spoke up. _Into planets._

The more concentrated parts of the disc became denser, attracting more and more dust and particles and growing into larger, rather lumpy and irregular forms. Mewtwo yawned and went back to sleep.

_The matter condensed and collapsed on itself in some places, forming protoplanets. Over time, the gravity of these protoplanets began to capture other protoplanets or planetisimals, or enough gas and chemicals to form their own atmosphere._

As they watched, several protoplanets collided and either fused together into larger objects or broke apart, their particles absorbed by other protoplanets. And as the voice said, some did indeed begin to attain a strange haze sort of like the atmosphere they had known back on Earth.

_Eventually, some of these protoplanets became big enough and attracted enough matter to become planets in their own right._

And indeed they did. As the disk of matter that had surrounded the star became almost nonexistent, numerous particles of varying sizes remained to orbit the sun, including several large bodies of matter that could only be called planets, as irregularly shaped as they were. Some of the remaining protoplanets were captured by the gravity of these new planets and began to orbit them, trapped as moons.

_Impacts from other objects as well as the gravity from the moons kept the planets from simply drifting dead in space, some of them anyway. Energetic impacts caused the planet to at least partially melt, resulting in increased seismic and geologic activity. But this was good, because it helped some planets to form denser cores, and while much atmosphere was lost in the process, the gasses could be replaced by the mantle or impact from comets._

They watched (or snored) as a large planet with a couple of moons slowly turned below them, its surface a churning mass of molten rock distorted by the occasional impact from comets or particles which got trapped by its gravity and impacted on the surface.

_But eventually, the violent youth of the solar system must end. Many planets become fully formed, but are either unable to generate enough warmth to keep the interior liquefied or gravity to keep an atmosphere, and so become dead worlds for all time. _

The planet below them cooled and hardened.

_But others manage to make the grade. Some _do_ get the right mixture of gravity and chemicals to create a working, replenishing atmosphere. _

They were instantly transported to the planet's surface. "Whoa!" Ash said, startled by the sudden transition.

"Bah. I've done smoother teleports," Mewtwo scoffed in his sleep.

"So this is what our planet looked like, back before there was life on it…" Rayquaza said, glancing at the barren, stony, rather jagged wasteland all around them, left over from the violent upheavals caused by the planet's formation. "How empty it seems."

"Yes," Mewtwo murmured with his eyes closed. "A shame our planet didn't wind up like those other dead worlds. Then humans and Pokemon would never have evolved in the first place, and then perhaps we wouldn't all have been dragged into this stupid war."

"But then you wouldn't have been born either," Ash pointed out.

Mewtwo opened one eye gave him a bland stare. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"There's a sky," Latias said, looking up.

They glanced upward as well. "So there is," Ash said, amazed by the somewhat thin greenish blueness of the atmosphere between the surface and space, which had cleared up somewhat as the solar system formed, allowing other stars to be seen through the diminishing gases of the fading nebula.

"I suppose this must be the atmosphere the voice was talking about," Rayquaza said, struck by how fragile the sky seemed. He had known the formation of life on Earth had been chancy at best according to Registeel, but it had never before struck him just how lucky they had been. If there had been a shade too much of this chemical or not enough of that one in the atmospheric mix, or if the planetisimal which had struck Earth and become its Moon hadn't collided with just the right impact or angle, the planet might have remained as uninhabitable as the other worlds in the Solar system.

And all that luck had gone to waste, because now the Earth was gone. He felt a deep sense of sorrow and loss at that moment, not just for all the lives shattered and souls enslaved by Deoxys, but for the destruction of the world itself, the planet that had sheltered the human and Pokemon races for so long, and many other species before that…and now, it was all gone. All the efforts made to protect it in the past for nothing. He was beginning to get the slightest inkling of why Mewtwo felt the way he did.

The voice spoke again. _And where there is an atmosphere, there is rain, and so seas may form._

They were startled by a great thunderclap, the atmosphere condensing into clouds overhead. Lightning flashed and cracked down to the earth as the clouds split open and rain began pouring down all around them. Ash yelped as his natural bioelectricity sparked and crackled a little in the rain, while the water just passed through an uncaring Mewtwo and ran down Rayquaza's armored, serpentine form, and Latias' smaller, dark-scaled body.

_And where there are seas…there is life._

"Unless it evaporates and creates a greenhouse effect which bakes the surface of the planet to a cinder, like on Venus," Mewtwo said almost cheerfully, waking up. "Or just freezes solid, like on some of the moons of the gas giants." He was ignored.

"…This is…familiar," Latias said. She blinked and looked at Rayquaza. "You were there. And Brother was, too?"

Rayquaza nodded. "Yes, he was there too…back before he became the monster he is now."

"Where?" Ash asked, confused.

"They're remembering," Mewtwo said, bored. "Back to the end of the first war between the Mother and Deoxys, that rent the world and killed all but a few children, who utilized freak luck and a moment of uncertainty in the cosmos to 'cry' everything back to life, an event which, _somehow,_ managed to happen again after I killed you. A shame…if they had just died like everyone else, I wouldn't be here right now for this stupid romantic journey."

"Love isn't stupid!" Ash said belligerently. "And when did you kill me? Did you say something about that before, or did I forget?"

"You probably did forget…several times. But as for love, certainly it's stupid. It causes wars, strife, murders and rapes, and gives people the illusion that things can change when they really don't," Mewtwo said, bored. "I loved once. I loved many times. And I was always a pawn of good or evil (often evil), and often lost the thing I loved and became a tragic figure. After my last loss, I just gave up. I don't care anymore. Nothing you say to me or nothing you see here can change that."

"It was a miracle, wasn't it Latias?" Rayquaza asked, ignoring Mewtwo. "Or at least, it felt like it at the time. We just…cried, cried for the world and for everyone…and like that, we evolved together, and became the protectors of a new and wonderful world."

"Until I died," she said with no emotion attached to her voice.

"…Yes. Until you died," he said. "But that doesn't change that, even for a little while, we had peace…in one corner of the globe, anyway. We made that peace, Latias. You and I, together. And if it weren't for Missingno, we might have eventually brought Groudon and Kyogre around to our way of thinking…and then there would have been global unity at last, just as Registeel and the others had always dreamed of." He shook his head. "A shame we never got that far."

"Yeah, but you tried," an unfamiliar voice said. They all turned to face a large figure approaching them, casually walking through the rain. "Which is more than some people ever do. And the land remembers…_remembered,_ I should say…you for it. A place where blood spurting out over the soil wasn't a regular or even occasional occurrence, for either humans or Pokemon. There weren't many of those, outside Sevii, and especially not after your kingdoms collapsed. But people have tried throughout history to make peaceful countries, both on Earth and other places. The land remembered them, while they lasted… Eden, Atlantis, Lemuria, Shangri-la, Xanadu, Camelot, El Dorado, other places before and after the big nuclear war which wiped out the first humans…" The figure shrugged, growing clearer as it came closer. "Sure, they all died out, but their ideals remained in one form or another, and sometimes managed to inspire a new land of peace, a new attempt at paradise." He grinned, showing teeth like boulders. No, wait, they _were_ boulders. "This place here, Birth Island, it's been the longest lasting attempt in Earth's history, and the fact that it's survived even the home planet's destruction must mean we did _something_ right." He came into their midst and extended a hand. "Enki, Apostle of Earth. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Uh, same," said Ash uneasily, shaking the guy's hand and trying not to feel panic at how strong the grip felt and how it seemed more solid than the ground they were standing on.

Enki was big, broad, and stony, like Brock in his current form on steroids. He loomed over them like a mountain, a living bipedal rock monster with body parts made of either boulders lumped together or cooled lava. He had only three fingers per hand, any of which were probably strong enough to break every bone in Ash's body with a single flick. His face was a craggy shape carved from a large chunk of stone with a big protruding lantern jaw with gravelly teeth and a pair of large glowing green eyes sunken between some of the crags.

"Hello, Enki," Rayquaza said cordially. "By your title, and the presentation we were just shown, I take it to mean you're responsible for the formation of planets?"

"Yep! Well," he admitted. "I wasn't actually _there_ for the formation of the planets in our universe…not consciously or in this form, anyway…but yeah, I make sure planets keep from falling apart, and to do that I have control over a good amount of gravity too. It's one of the most important physical forces in the universe; after all, it's what keeps cosmic bodies together."

"And living things from falling off the surface of their worlds and dying in space," Mewtwo said. "How compassionate of you."

Enki shrugged. "Hey, even without gravity, I'm sure life would evolve out there somehow. Life's tenacious that way, you know. It's hard to get rid of altogether. But you would know about that, wouldn't you Rayquaza?"

The dragon king blinked. "What do you mean?"

Enki tilted his rocky head. "Oh, you don't remember? Well, I guess that's not a big surprise. Most people don't remember what happened in their past lives. It's sort of a mixed blessing, I guess…allows you to experience something new without whatever you've been through before cluttering it up and causing you to make the same mistakes. Then again, lots of people manage to do that just fine on their own anyway." Mewtwo smirked bitterly at this. "But even if you don't remember, the earth did. The earth of our old world, and many other planets too!" He smirked. "Earth's good at remembering stuff. Just ask your old pal Registeel. He's been on your world in some form or another since it began, after all."

"Technically, Registeel is a Steel Pokemon, not Rock or Ground," Mewtwo pointed out blandly while Rayquaza frowned and tried to remember what Enki was talking about. "So you should have no power over him."

Enki rolled his eyes. "Hey, just 'cause my job title's Apostle of Earth doesn't mean I _only_ control the rocky stuff. Planets are made of lot more n' stone and dirt, there's literally tons and tons of metal in the stuff, right down to the core. I embody that too, to an extent." He tapped his hard chest with a finger. "Heck, I have a metal core too. Nifty, huh?"

Latias blinked. "If you control planet formation, why are so many worlds dead?"

Enki sighed. "Hey, planet building's a tough business…and like I said, the majority of them were made before I even consciously existed. New planets are made all the time, especially when certain new stars are born, but there's not much I can do to fix the gravity or interior of planets that have been dead for a long time to make them more habitable. There's not that much raw matter to play around with anymore, like there was back when the universe was young. It's hard enough keeping other planets stable, habitable, and not falling into the sun or tearing each other apart as is! I tell you, gravity's one tough sucker of a physical force, and you gotta deal with it just right or the whole galaxy falls apart, maybe even more." He shrugged. "If Deoxys's new levels of power hadn't actively blocked our own, maybe I coulda stopped him from blowing up Earth, making it possible for more life to grow there one day…but we chose to let him become what he is now when we detected him coming into our solar system, and now we must pay the price for that decision. And hey…" He grinned. "At least we got one chunk of dirt off Earth before it went kaboom, right? Sent it on a course to a new world, one I'm especially proud of. To me, that's a good sign. If one small piece of Earth can survive, still full of life, then maybe this whole universal collapse thing Deoxys is doing will bring forth the possibility of new life as well."

"Yes, just keep telling yourself that," Mewtwo said dryly. "So that you may sleep better in the night and better ignore the screams of the planets Deoxys is destroying or unmaking because you allowed him to."

Enki smiled sadly. "I do tell myself that," he admitted. "It doesn't help much."

Mewtwo smirked coldly. "I didn't think it would."

"I remember," Rayquaza said suddenly, looking surprised. He glanced up at Enki. "Those kingdoms you mentioned, their names…are familiar. I…lived there, I was…their ruler? Their king?"

Enki nodded. "You were indeed."

Rayquaza blinked. "And…I see other kingdoms. Other worlds. Other times. I ruled those, too?"

"Yes," Latias said suddenly. He glanced at her. "I remember too," she said, not sounding very surprised or alarmed. They were only faint memories, anyway. Unimportant.

"Those other kingdoms," Mewtwo said suddenly. "How many of them survived?"

"…" Rayquaza shook his head sadly. "They…all of them crumbled eventually. All of them. Whether from outside forces or from within."

Mewtwo grinned cruelly. "As I thought they would. All of them crumble. Life's way of reminding you that your efforts are worthless."

"Wrong," Enki said firmly. "It's life's way of showing you that everything dies, be it a person or a kingdom. But ideals can live on long after a kingdom's fall, in legends and stories of the past, to inspire people to make their own future. Some don't see it and live in the ruts they've always made for themselves. But others _are_ inspired, whether they're future incarnations of yourself or just visionaries who believe in a new world or a particular dream."

"A flawed dream, which always dies," Mewtwo cut in. "Unless of course it's one of those ideals which calls for the subjugation of all living things thought to be 'inferior', or the mass murder or torture of everyone believed to be 'impure' because they happened to believe in a way of life different from your own. Those have a tendency to keep recurring no matter how many times they're put down, because they constantly appeal to the ugly nature of the human spirit…and everyone else's, too. People just love hurting things or controlling them."

"That's not true!" Ash argued.

"Sure it is," Mewtwo countered. "You mean to tell me that when you were younger the thought of controlling Pokemon and using them to battle your way up to the prestigious and powerful position of Pokemon Champion never appealed to you in the slightest?"

"But…I…that's different!" Ash spluttered.

"No it's not," Mewtwo said, crossing his arms. "Battles hurt other Pokemon. Using your own Pokemon is controlling them. At the deepest level, it's always about violence or control with just about every species, no matter how much they pretty it up."

Rayquaza frowned. "Is it?" Mewtwo certainly seemed to believe it was.

"Sure," Mewtwo said. "Why else do you think so many people want to rule the world? Why do you think the Mother and these Apostles and even the Unown have manipulated us into ending the universe? So they can fix it and control it easier. It's all about control. Even for you."

Rayquaza blinked uncertainly. He didn't think this was true, but…he had been a monarch many times in the past, and that involved controlling the public. And he had certainly acted violently in destroying Alto Mare, partly because he could not control _Latias_.

And for that matter, wasn't this current situation, trying to fix Latias, a matter of control as well? But…

No. This was not about control. If it were, Rayquaza would have left Latias as she was now, because it would be easier to control her due to the immense psychological and physical damage Dark Latios had inflicted on her. By allowing her to come alive again so she could make her own choices, he would be _losing_ control over…and that's what free will was about, wasn't it? Or partly, anyway?

Rayquaza shook his head. "No," he said. "You're wrong. Perhaps it was about control at one point, maybe even partly, but not now. I want Latias to live again not so I can control her, but so that she can control _herself_. No matter what I did or tried to do to her before, this much is true. I want Latias to have her freedom and life again, whether she loves me or not when she gets it back. And besides," he added. "I won't be able to control her at all if I'm dead, will I?"

"Of course you will," Mewtwo objected cynically. "The memory of your 'noble sacrifice' for her will motivate her always and make her feel guilt for your death. Her life will become dedicated to your memory. You'll control her from the grave even if you're not actually here. I should know, that's happened to me more times than I can count."

"That may be how you see it," Rayquaza growled. "But I don't! I want Latias to live for her own sake, not mine! I don't want to control her anymore…that's what love is all about, part of it anyway!"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed.

"Really?" Mewtwo asked sardonically. He turned to the dragonoid. "Your relationship with Misty seems to be all about control. She controls you rather well, doesn't she? And punishes you when you don't do as she pleases?"

"Well…." Ash frowned. "It's not like that! Well, not exactly…and, well, I kinda like her controlling me. I guess."

"Yes, of course you would," Mewtwo said, disgusted. "Typical human and trainer. Eager to control, eager to be controlled, raised in a society where that's what life is all about. Controlling Pokemon, controlling trainers through gyms or the government or the League, controlling the entire world. As I said before, I don't know what I ever saw in you. Even in 'changing' me you controlled me, made me believe there was hope for humanity and Pokemon and the world, made me think there was something special about you, when in the end you're just like everyone else, no matter how heroic you are, or how many friends you've made, or even how many of your Pokemon you keep out of their cages. It's all just another form of control, whether you're even conscious of it or not. No matter what, that _never_ changes. Nothing does, not really. Not in a cyclical universe where time starts up again just after it ends and everything begins all over again, with different surfaces but the same ugly truth deep down."

"Don't be so sure," Enki said suddenly. "See this ground underneath us?" He stomped on it with a foot. "Sure, it looks solid and unmoving. Part of a single planetwide tectonic plate. But how long do you think that'll last on a world this size, a world spinning around its sun while its own inner core is rotating in the opposite direction?" As if on cue, the ground began to shake beneath their feet, startling Ash, who was the only one actually standing other than Enki. "Feel that? That's the spinning core and the planet's crust grating against each other. Eventually, it'll split the tectonic plate into several and form continents. The continents will shift back and forth very slowly over a period of millions of years, occasionally clashing against each other and creating earthquakes. And when there are earthquakes…" He shrugged. "Other stuff happens. Volcanic eruptions. Fissures. Rockslides. Stuff that changes the shape of the entire landscape. Mountains rise or fall. Canyons open up or slam shut. All because the ground, which feels so solid and unchanging beneath us, is in fact being pulled in all sorts of crazy directions. And so, over time, a very _long_ time…the continents change. Their shape and surface alters. And as for the planet's core…that changes too, since it's constantly spinning and made of liquid metal, so in a sense it's never the _exact_ same core it was just a second ago. The planet changes, moment by moment, over the eons. And if the planet can change…" He stretched out his arms. "Why can't everything else? Isn't that what evolution's about?"

"It is," Mewtwo agreed. "But does the _soul_ truly evolve that much? The personality of an individual? Often enough and on such a wide scale as to truly change the nature of everything and _keep_ it that way instead of backsliding into the same kind of violence, discrimination, poverty and slavery that's everywhere at some point or another, no matter how much it's covered up or its existence denied?"

"Maybe," said Enki. "Maybe not. But what do you think this current dilemma we're going through now is? It's a change, a shift of cosmic plates and stuff, on a level never seen before. Who knows what it'll turn up? Maybe a world that really _has_ changed, and stays that way, despite what you may think."

Mewtwo crossed his arms. "Perhaps." He didn't sound convinced.

"We have bantered enough, though," Rayquaza said. "Please, present your test, so that we may move on."

"You've already passed it," Enki said.

They blinked. "He has?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Sure, he admitted that he wants Latias to live freely so that she can control herself whether she loves him or not. And I know that's the truth because Rayquaza cannot tell a lie or lie to himself…I think." The rock monster shrugged. "That's all I wanted to know, really."

Rayquaza frowned. "You could have just asked."

"I could have," Enki agreed. "But if I had done it outright, would you have realized it completely by yourself? Maybe yes, maybe no. But then, that's how the earth moves, in subtle, almost unnoticed currents, with only the occasional spike of sudden, unexpected activity to shake things up. I like to think I work the same way. And now, because I did, you learned a little something about yourself, didn't you? About who you were before, and how your dreams can live on sometimes even if your kingdom does not. And maybe other stuff, too."

"Yes," Rayquaza said slowly. "I think I have. Thank you, Enki."

The rock giant broke into a grin. "You're welcome. Now, you'll be wanting to move on, right?" He gestured with one arm to their right. "Right over there."

They looked. While they had quarreled, it had continued raining, and a good deal of water had collected in a rather large depression in the ground to form a lake. "Where?" asked Ash.

"Down there," said Latias dully.

"Huh! But…but we can't breathe down there!" Ash protested.

"Sure you can!" Enki assured Ash, patting him on the back and almost knocking him over. "As long as you don't forget to breathe, that is."

"I'm amazed he even remembers to breathe, half the time…" Mewtwo grumbled. "Because if he didn't, I wouldn't have to put up with him any longer. Alive, anyway."

"Do we just dive in, then?" Rayquaza asked Enki as they walked or floated over to the pool.

Enki nodded. "Yep! The next presentation should start after a minute, too."

"What are these all about, anyway?" Ash asked. "The presentations?"

"The beginning of life," Enki said. "And how it's affecting us, all the way down the line from then."

"I don't really care," Mewtwo said, disinterested.

Enki frowned. "Well, you should care, since we're all putting forth the effort to show you this stuff in the first place! But hey, at least you guys care, right?" This last was directed at the other three.

"Um, yeah, I guess," Ash said uncertainly.

"I find it interesting," Rayquaza said dutifully.

"Mmm," Latias grunted noncommittally as she gnawed on Rayquaza's tail, not because she wanted to eat him, but because she wanted her teeth to break on his armor and cut up her mouth. Why she would want that, nobody really wanted to contemplate.

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "Fine. Let's get this over with." He jumped into the water. As a ghost, he sunk down without a splash or even a ripple.

"Oh, Enki, do you think you could do me a favor?" Ash asked before he could jump in as well.

Enki raised a stony eyebrow. "That depends. What is it?"

"Well…" Ash fidgeted. "My friend Brock's not very happy being a Golem, and he seems to feel he's being looked down on by everyone because of it. Do you think you could…I don't know, change him?"

Enki frowned. "Kid, the Mother herself decided that Brock should be a Golem. She believed it matched him the best out of any other forms he could have. You want me to go against her decree?"

Ash flushed. "I…no, I just…" He shrugged. "Wanted Brock to be happy again so he could see his life's still good…so he won't complain anymore."

Enki's frown deepened. He rubbed his chin for a moment, making a rough grating noise as rock scraped against rock. "Weeelllll…" He sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "All right, I'll do it."

"Great!"

"But more to teach you and him a lesson than anything else," Enki warned Ash.

Ash blinked. "A lesson?"

"Yes," the rock creature said, snapping his fingers and giving off sparks. "Be careful what you wish for."

…

Back at the village…

"Dinner's served, everyone!" Delia announced, putting a large platter containing what looked like a giant purple pineapple split into many pieces on it onto one of several large tables spread out across town square. "Eat up!"

They did, with great enthusiasm. The weary travelers and refugees from Earth eagerly dug into the colorful and delicious-smelling arrays of food set out before them on long communal tables Joy and Jenny Prime had helped them to set up.

"This stuff is _great_ Mrs. Ketchum-I mean, Mom," Misty said as Delia sat down next to her at the table where the majority of the surviving Chosen were sitting, spooning what looked like soup of a rather unusually blue color into her mouth.

"Yeah, Grandma," Oliphan agreed, snatching a large boiled nut the size of his father's head in his trunk and stuffing it in his mouth, crunching it loudly between his teeth. "This is better than Dad's last birthday party!"

"Well," Delia said airily as duplicate Joy and Jenny servers carried out more trays and dishes from the kitchen to feed the hungry mob. "I can't take all the credit, I'm afraid. If Joy hadn't found me that rather extensive cookbook, I don't think I'd have had the slightest idea how to prepare any of this!"

"It doesn't matter if it was the cookbook's recipes or your own special touch that made this, Mrs. Ketchum," Rukario told the human humbly in between nibbling on a large four-eyed whiskered fish. "I'm beginning to think any kitchen you enter is guaranteed to create a culinary masterpiece!"

"Mm-mm good!" Gyarados agreed from a nearby table as he and Aerodactyl chowed down on huge platters of specially oiled and cooked fish laid out by Joy and Jenny clones.

Delia smiled and turned to Max, who was huddled in the shadow of a building nearby, glaring hatefully at everyone, snarling at thin air, and swiping angrily at any Joy or Jenny duplicate that offered him anything, screaming about "KILLER CLONES! KILLER CLONES!" and, "I'LL STUFF YOU IN A THERMOS, YOU STINKING GHOSTS!" and other such meaningless babble.

"Max, honey, would you like some dinner?" Delia asked sweetly.

"YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!" Max howled. "MY MOTHER'S DEAD! IF YOU WANT TO BE MY MOTHER, DIE! DIE! DIE!" He threw his shoe at her. It missed and landed in the middle of one of the long tables and was quickly devoured by someone's voracious Snorlax.

"All right, maybe later then!" Delia said cheerfully, which resulted in Max hissing and spitting in her direction. "I do hope he'll let me feed him sometime," Delia said worriedly as she turned back to the table and dumped a number of crystalline berries whose colors changed every second onto her plate. "I don't want him to waste away." They sweatdropped at how easily she seemed to disregard the boy's blind hatred for everyone.

"If he does, can I eat him?" Sadic asked hopefully, slicing up a large stack of softened bark on her plate.

"I'll think about it," Delia said noncommittally, taking another worried look at Max.

Wes, down at the head of the table in a throne-like chair he had dragged from somebody's office, shook his head. "No, no, you're going about it all wrong. Here." He whistled loudly, causing all to wince, especially those with particularly sensitive ears. "Hey! Hey! Maxie! Hey boy!" Max looked up, grunting and scratching his armpit.

Wes grabbed a slice of something that looked like a waffle but peeled open like a banana with a mouth-watering aroma and waved it in the air. "Maxie! Maxie! Do you want this I-don't-know-what-this-is? Do you? Do you huh?" Max started drooling and bouncing on his heels, snarling and yapping loudly. "Good boy! Good boy! Go get it!" He hurled the piece of food away from the table and over Max's head. The boy yelled incoherently and scampered after it on all fours, leaping on it and viciously tearing it apart in his mouth.

Wes laughed and leaned back in his seat. "There! Problem solved!" He blinked, seeing he was getting annoyed or disturbed looks from the others around the table. "What?"

"Wes, that's no way to treat a human being!" Rui scolded him as she scratched the heads of the Pichu sisters in her lap, causing them to squeal with joy and knead their claws on her legs.

"What?" the ex-thief asked, genuinely puzzled. "That's how Gonzap fed me growing up, and I turned out fine didn't I?" They sweatdropped and decided not to comment.

Brock, who had pretty much shoved his entire head into a wiggling mound of something that looked like flan but most certainly was not flan, stiffened. His body convulsed, energy rippling around it. There was a flash of light, and a splattering of flanlike material coating everyone on the table…

And Brock was sitting taller in his seat, transformed from a short Golem to a towering granite-hued dragonoid with an enormous…tail. "Huh? What just happened?"

"You transformed, Uncle Brock," Togetic said, wiping food off her face. "Again."

"I did?" Brock glanced at his hands. "I…I DID! Haha! I knew the Mother would change her mind! Yes!" He enthusiastically pounded the table, causing it to break in half and either catapult the dishes into the air or spill them all on the floor. Now covered in food of various consistencies, all seated glared at him. He laughed nervously. "Eheh, oops?"

Off in the distance, they heard an animalistic cry of pain. Delia gasped and got out of her seat. "Oh no, Max!" She rushed over to the somewhat feral and deranged child, who was clawing and gnawing at the spork-like utensil imbedded in his leg, flung there from the table when Brock smashed it. "Oh honey, are you all right?" Like a wounded animal, Max snarled and snapped at her when she tried to pull out the spork or got close to him at all.

"All right!" Sadic said, standing up eagerly.

"Sadic, no, he's not dead yet!" Pikachu protested.

"No, but he's injured! C'mon, let me finish him off!" the Manyula pleaded. "I'll even split him with you!"

"No," Pikachu said firmly.

Sadic sighed and reluctantly sat back down. "You're no fun."

"Oh no," Brock swallowed. "S-sorry guys, I was just excited and-" He was stopped by an "Ow!" from Delia as Max clamped his jaws on her finger. Brock gasped. "Delia! I'll help you!" He quickly leapt to his feet and turned to run over to her, his large thick tail swinging wildly through the air and knocking everyone on his side of the table over in his panic.

"Brock!" Misty yelled angrily, trying to get back up and stumbling over again, stunned from the sheer force of the blow.

"Sorry!" he yelled as he ran after Delia.

"Hey now, we can't have clumsy and uncontrolled behavior like this," said an annoyed Wes, standing up and daintily wiping his shirt off with a napkin. "Not in my village!" He reached into his jacket and placed a somewhat ragged cardboard crown with MAYUR scrawled on it on his head. "As Mayor of Westown, I hereby declare Brock a public nuisance, one to be avoided and kept away from any delicate and easily breakable objects, such as people or dinner tables, especially when I'm sitting at them."

"Wait, since when were you the Mayor?" Wobbuffet asked, completely clean and unharmed because he had deflected the food with his shield and was on the other side of the table from Brock. "I don't remember anyone voting for you."

"Everyone else did," Wes said proudly. "While you weren't here."

"That doesn't quite seem fair…" said Tyranitar, although his knowledge of democracy was minimal at best. Actually, he didn't even know what a vote was. Was it something you ate?

"It's perfectly fair," Wes claimed. "We thought we were the only ones left, so saw no reason not to vote before you guys got here…because we didn't think you were coming. It seemed like a reasonable assumption at the time, when we made it up here and saw just how far out this place is from anywhere else."

"And now Wes is Mayor," Rui said somewhat proudly as she fed the Pichu sisters several berries from her plate. "Which makes me the Mayor's Wife or Wife-To-Be, so I can't really complain."

Togetic frowned. "I don't think that's how you become mayor on this island…at least, that's not how Rukario described the political system."

The vulpine shrugged. "Yes, well, that may be true, but…we _are_ currently the only people active on this island, since the regular inhabitants are underground. And since no messenger of the Mother has come down the mountain to protest this appointment, I guess the Powers that Be are fine with Wes being Mayor indefinitely for the time being."

"What a horrible thought…" A Jenny server muttered as she passed by, causing the diners to snicker quietly lest Wes hear them.

"No, what's _really_ horrible is what Crawdaunt's doing to that cake," an exasperated Jigglypuff said as she walked up to the table.

They turned to see Crawdaunt on top of a separate table, doing…_unspeakable_ things to a large pink thing that may or may not be a cake. Or a melon. And causing the diners around him to lose their appetites in the process while Corsola shook her head in exasperation.

"Shouldn't we stop him?" asked a disturbed Milotic.

"Do YOU want to go over there!" asked an incredulous Cacturne.

"I sure as hell don't," Sadic said, crossing her arms. "I'd rather get eaten by Chimecho again. Well, almost rather."

"I hereby issue another declaration," Wes proclaimed, still wearing his silly crown. "That henceforth Crawdaunt shall be forbidden access to any food of the color pink."

"Or be allowed anywhere near me," a Joy said, overhearing on her way back to the kitchen. "He's tried to seduce us several times now. Not that we're not flattered by the attention, but he's not our type."

"And in addendum to the prior declaration, Crawdaunt shall also be forbidden to go anywhere near Joy Prime or her duplicates. What say ye good citizens, aye or nay?" Wes asked.

"AYE!" everyone at the broken table, and the one Crawdaunt was at, said unanimously.

The lobster looked up, pink stuff dripping down his face. "Hmm? Someone say something about me?"

…

Wondering what Enki was talking about, Ash jumped into the water. He was surprised to find that he didn't give off any static at all as he sunk down far beyond where he had thought the lake bottom to be.

"Rayquaza," Latias said suddenly, before they could jump in. "You said you want me to me to control myself."

He nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"…Why?"

"Because I love you," he said simply.

"…I don't understand," she said in confusion.

"I know," he said sadly. "But you will in time. I hope."

"…All right," she replied.

"Now, let's take a swim, shall we?" Rayquaza suggested. She nodded and telekinetically hurled him into the water.

"Don't forget to breathe!" Enki yelled at him as his heavy plate armor dragged him down beneath the surface. "Except you," he said to Latias. "You don't need air."

"I know." She dove in after Rayquaza.

If she could have felt surprise, she would have been astonished to find that the water was a lot deeper than it had looked from above, and seemed to have a somewhat purplish tinge. In fact, she couldn't even see the bottom, or even the slopes of the indentation forming this lake, just water spreading in every direction, illuminated by light that seemed to be growing from every square inch of liquid. She flapped her wings, propelling her downward and towards Rayquaza, who was uncoiled and swimming through the water in a slithering motion, the buoyancy of the water causing his armor to feel less heavy on his body. (Or something like that.) A little deeper was Mewtwo and Ash…who was struggling for the surface, flailing wildly, his mouth clamped shut and his face turning rather blue.

"Ash!" Rayquaza yelled at the dragonoid as he swam closer, bubbles rising from his mouth as well as a slightly distorted voice. "You can breath here, the water's oxygenated!"

Despite his clear asphyxiation, Ash managed to stare blankly at the dragon king. He sighed. "You can breathe the water like its air!"

Ash blinked in surprise and opened his mouth, gasping and releasing a stream of bubbles…and finding to his surprise that he could, in fact, breathe. "Whoa! How'd you know that!"

"Enki said so," Rayquaza said dryly as Latias joined him. "Why do you think he told us not to forget to breathe?"

"…Oh." Ash blushed, embarrassed. Mewtwo chuckled cruelly.

"Why didn't you tell him he wasn't drowning?" Rayquaza asked the ghost, rather annoyed.

The mutant grinned. "Because it amused me to see him dying, struggling futilely for something out of his reach that he could never obtain…a fitting analogy for life in general, I think."

"Yes, well I don't," Rayquaza growled. "Don't do it again."

Mewtwo bowed sarcastically. "Whatever you say, oh great King of Kings."

"I liked you better when you were on our side," Ash pouted.

"I'm sure you did," Mewtwo agreed mockingly.

The water around them rippled suddenly. Latias blinked. "What?"

"I think it's time for the next show," Ash said, looking around as the amount of bubbles in the water increased.

"Indeed," Mewtwo agreed.

Without warning, some invisible force took hold of them and gently raised them up to the surface, lifting them dripping out of the water and holding them several feet up in the air. From this vantage point, they could see that they had somehow been transported to a new world altogether, for not only was the water beneath them a light purple, but it spread to the horizon as an ocean instead of a lake. A few dozen meters to their west was a brown-sanded shore stretching north and south, with a forest of what looked like giant sprouts of broccoli growing out of the ground. The sky above was a weird violent green with streaked clouds passing over a large white sun.

"Whoa," said Ash.

The voice from before began to speak again. _Where there are seas, there is life. This is true on most of the worlds throughout the universe, though the substance of those seas and the life it generates may vary. On this world, just like many others, plant life has evolved on the shore…but at the moment, there is no animal life to walk among it. _

"Good," Mewtwo said flatly. They glared at him, not that it did much good since he was asleep again.

_However, ever since the oceans cooled after this world's formation, life has many times struggled to form in the waters. Bacteria has propagated and evolved into microscopic organisms, and those organisms have grown…and died, for the sea could not provide them the energy to grow any further. Until one day, a chance lightning bolt managed to stir the waters to life, and the next step began. _

They looked at Ash now. He blinked. "What?"

"I think that's your cue," Rayquaza said. "Lightning."

"Light…_oh!_" His body crackled with energy, and he fired a bolt of electricity into the water below, causing it to churn and flash a bit.

_That single bolt of lightning initiated the next step in evolution. The small organisms evolved into bigger ones, of all shapes and sizes. Those larger organisms became fish and other creatures. And one day, millions of years later, the first creature able to walk on land crawled to the shores and took a breath of fresh air, a primordial amphibian that would eventually lead to the incredibly varied species that would dominate the planet._

They watched as a somewhat grotesque…_thing_ crawled out of the water, its long slimy appendages clumsily slapping at the sand. It opened several mouths and exhaled water and spray, then inhaled, its form trembling as it filled its lungs with air.

_Life has grown in the seas and from the seas, as it does on many worlds, and will do so on many more in the future. Life will continue, and so will the One._

"Kill it," Mewtwo said abruptly, awake again.

"Huh?" asked Ash.

"Kill it. You heard the voice, that thing will eventually lead to all the other species that will overrun this planet. Kill it now to spare this world that pain; it's your fault for creating the lightning bolt that allowed this to happen anyway. Take some responsibility for your actions for once and correct your mistakes, like a truly mature being would do."

"I'm not gonna kill it!" Ash said, shocked.

Mewtwo rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll do it." He started forming a Shadow Ball.

"No!" Rayquaza shouted, smacking the energy ball away with a claw. "Nobody is to kill that creature!" He turned towards Latias, who was forming a Mist Ball in her claws. "That goes for you too!"

She blinked. "Okay." The ball dissipated.

Mewtwo crossed his arms. "Fine, but when that creature leads to the evolution of an intelligent species that will war, pollute, and otherwise ruin this pristine planet; it'll be on your heads."

It was at that point that the invisible force took hold of them once more and dunked them back into the sea with a great splash and storm of bubbles. They struggled, more out of surprise than fear, as they were dragged down deeper into the sea, which had changed once more and now seemed more like the oceans of Earth, save for the same strange sourceless radiance.

Down, down they went, until they found themselves in the midst of a spectacular coral reef the size of a city block if not larger, its myriad colors swimming in the light emitted from numerous luminescent bits of coral as well as many kinds of beautiful glowing fish the likes of which they had never seen before. Fish were everywhere, as was to be expected since this was a coral reef, and there were aquatic Pokemon as well: Tentacool and Magikarp, Dewgong and Clamperl, Starmie and Octillery, Manturn, Wailord, Wartortle, Qwilfish, Corsola, Relicanth, Delfino, other familiar creatures, and many more the likes of which they had never seen before, in all different sizes and colors.

"Wow," said an awestruck Ash. "Misty would love it here…"

"I find myself amazed as well," Rayquaza agreed as they were gently dragged downward past the various oceanic Pokemon, which glanced at them with interest as they passed by on whatever errand occupied them. "The ocean is full of life, isn't it? Magnificent…"

"And death, too," Mewtwo said with a vicious smile on his face as a hungry-looking Sharpedo swam towards a Luvdisc which was listing slightly in the water, clearly injured and in distress. "Just like everywhere else. The surface beauty conceals the violence and horror which occur every hour of every day, since life in the sea, like most places, is all about eating and killing others so that you may survive-" He stopped dumb as the Sharpedo, rather than devouring the Luvdisc, nudged it in the side and got under its injured fin, supporting it. The Discfish flicked a grateful smile at the Sharpedo, and together they swam off.

Ash and Rayquaza grinned. "You were saying?" The ghost crossed his arms and looked away in frustration.

Latias blinked. She had seen coral reefs underwater at Alto Mare too, and in her previous life, but none of them had looked quite like this. They…stirred something inside her…some memory she didn't quite recall. Had she lived in the ocean once, in a past life, just as Rayquaza had supposedly been a king in many of his? She didn't really care, but she supposed it was something to remember.

Their descent slowed as they went deeper into the reef, towering stacks of coral rising all around them like skyscrapers, each of them teeming with life and further increasing the feeling that this was some sort of a city. The temperature of the water dropped as well, and soon they saw why: for some reason, there was what looked like a large glacier or iceberg at the very bottom level of the reef, carved to look like some kind of icy castle. "What's that doing down here?" Rayquaza wondered.

"Yes, especially since ice floats, so shouldn't be at the bottom of the sea," Mewtwo agreed.

Their descent stopped a few meters away from the large archway leading into the ice palace's interior, leaving them floating what had to be several hundred feet beneath the surface of the ocean, despite how much that went against the laws of physics. They did not have to float for long, because soon enough a figure swam out through the arch and into the light generated by the coral around them.

It was absolutely beautiful, and clearly female. Her lower half was like that of some serpentine fish; long, sleek, and covered with numerous rainbow-colored small fins sprouting from its length. The tail was in many colors, starting with a dark green at the top and slowly brightening to yellow-green, then gold, then fuschia-pink mixed together in a wondrous spectrum of colors. Her tail fin was fan-shaped and rippled with an almost hypnotic and sensual display of colors that made one think of a vibrant sunset seen from a beach in summer. The shifting colors going down her tail were only interrupted by radiant purple stripes going down the sides which glowed brightly at this depth. In fact, _all_ the colors on the tail seemed to be glowing independent of the coral and the light shining down from the surface far above, perhaps from some phosphorescent chemical present in the makeup of her skin.

Her upper body was humanoid and extremely well-endowed, the skin a soft blue-green and textured like a Delfino's. Her arms were slim and feminine, with long spines (possibly poison-tipped) growing from the forearms and webbed like fins, with smaller fins growing from her shoulders. The spines flexed as she moved towards them, folding back against her upper arms like a closed fan. Another pair of long sets of webbed spines grew from her back, spreading out behind her like a pair of wings. The webbing in both groups of spines shimmered like her tail fin. Her hands were like those of a human's, save for the slight webbing between her fingers, and how she had nails that looked like they were made of ice. A necklace made of small pearls holding a slightly cracked spiral shell hung from her neck. Her face was both humanoid and piscine, noseless and slightly protruding outward and sloping down to a small, tight-lipped mouth that seemed to be smiling at them along with her clear, very blue eyes. Her face was framed by a pair of long ear fins which shimmered like the others. In place of hair, she had long tentacles growing down to her waist, soft-tipped and sensuous in their motions, starting out the same blue-green as her skin and darkening to black at the tips, with red stripes here and there.

They watched her in awe (okay, Ash and Rayquaza did, Mewtwo couldn't care less and Latias just blinked) as she circled them once, her body undulating gracefully in the water and causing her colors to ripple in a mesmerizing display. They were so mesmerized in fact, that they almost didn't notice she was right in front of them until she suddenly grabbed Ash and pressed her lips onto his mouth in a literally breathtaking kiss. Ash's eyes widened as a feeling of incredible power washed through him, like a tidal wave smashing its way through anything in its path, and almost blacked out from the force of the mind behind the kiss, curiously probing him and seeing what he saw. His body involuntarily began emitting electricity, causing the water around them to get rather tingly and energized.

The mer-creature broke her contact with Ash after approximately five minutes, allowing him to breathe again and loll about in a daze, and then she swam over to a startled Rayquaza and kissed _him_, causing Latias to blink and Mewtwo to laugh in amusement.

Rayquaza felt the same feeling of unstoppable power washing through him from the kiss, but his ancient mind was able to bear it a bit more than Ash's far younger one. He admitted to himself this person, whoever she was, was a good kisser, although he believed Latias to be better.

After a few minutes, the creature broke her lip-lock with Rayquaza and swam over to Latias, who stared at her, having no idea what was coming. Rayquaza stifled a laugh when the aquatic female kissed _Latias_ now, seeming to have no revulsion whatsoever to the dragon girl's current appearance. Ash just stared blankly, still dazed, while Mewtwo actually cackled.

Latias felt strange as this other female kissed her. She actually _felt_ the creature's ice-cool lips making contact with hers, sending no pain but a strange wash of raw sensation she didn't understand flowing through her body. It stirred things, memories and feelings that she didn't know were there or thought were dead, and when the beautiful being finally broke the kiss, Latias was…disappointed? Is that what it was called? She reached a claw out, pleading for more, too late, as the entity turned and swam away from her, towards Mewtwo.

"No thank you," he said coldly before she could approach. She shrugged and swam away, turning to face the group.

"Greetings," she said, her voice like the gentle flow of a river with the unstoppable power of a waterfall or a glacier slowly sliding down the mountain behind her tone. "I am Mizuna, Apostle of Water and Ice. Welcome to my domain." She licked her lips.

"And thank you for that welcome," said Rayquaza appreciatively, bowing his head. Latias blinked, still feeling strange from that welcome.

And she wasn't the only one. "Guhh," said Ash, blinking dumbly and temporarily incapable of incoherent speech from the power of Mizuna's kiss.

"I apologize if I gave you any discomfort," Mizuna apologized. "I was merely tasting your souls."

There was a pause. "Our…souls?" Latias asked after a moment.

She nodded. "Yes. I do not have the vast psychic abilities of some of my sister Apostles, whom you have yet to meet, so I require physical contact to 'read' the traces and patterns the river of time has carved into your spirits."

"Then it wasn't necessary for you to kiss us?" Rayquaza asked.

"No," she agreed. "But I merely wished to show courtesy to four very handsome travelers passing through."

The two living males flushed, somewhat flattered. "If that's how she treats travelers passing by," Ash said, finally recovering. "I wonder how she treats houseguests?"

"Eats them, I'm sure," Mewtwo said, disinterested. "Sex appeal is a common lure used to trap prey. It's happened to me so many times that I think women were just created by Whoever to enslave men."

If Mizuna was insulted by this, she showed no sign. "Rayquaza, what do you think of this place?"

"It's very nice," Rayquaza said honestly. "And interesting to see there seems to be virtually no predation here…at least, not any that I've seen. I am reminded of the ecology on Birth Island by this. And also…" He glanced at her. "Let me guess. In a past life, I ruled an undersea kingdom, didn't I?"

"Of course," she said.

He nodded. "I knew it."

Ash frowned. "How come I never got to rule any kingdoms in a past life?"

"Because you'd be horrible at it," Mewtwo said frankly.

"Hey!"

"It's true, you would be," Mizuna said apologetically. "But that's because that sort of leadership has almost never been your destiny. You are the Hero, or a Hero, whose job it is to conquer evil. Rayquaza is the Hero-King, a wise (for the most part) ruler who manages to forge and maintain an orderly nation or world, until some evil force or corruption within threatens it. Sometimes that evil is defeated by the Hero, or by the King himself. Other times the evil wins, in which case he becomes the Tragic King, but his memory and ideals may inspire future generations to rise again."

"Which am I now?" Rayquaza wondered. "Hero or Tragic?"

"You have been both, in your most recent past," Mizuna told him. "And you fulfilled the role of Evil King as well, albeit briefly, by destroying Alto Mare, sending minions to track down Latias, and swearing to slay whoever she loved."

Rayquaza sighed and nodded in agreement. "But he changed! And apologized for that!" Ash pointed out.

"That is also part of the role of Evil King, though very rare," Mizuna agreed. "A weariness or realization of guilt that comes with age or experience, sometimes leading to change. Sometimes not. It depends on who plays the role, and other circumstances. Rayquaza has played that part a few times in the past, though has for the most part been the Hero or Tragic King throughout his many reincarnations."

"And I know my role," Mewtwo said bitterly. "The same role I always play, too. The Fallen or Antihero, the Puppet, the Pawn, the Lost One or Corrupted Friend…and I suppose you'll try and drag me back into that role, won't you? Convince me that my feelings of betrayal and being used are wrong, so that I may be 'found' yet again?"

Mizuna shrugged. "If you wish to accept a role, it is only because you have chosen it. You may not be playing what you call 'the Fallen Hero' anymore…but you are certainly doing a good job of acting as 'the Indifferent One', whose heart has been broken so many times he doesn't care about anybody or anything anymore."

"That's me, all right," Mewtwo said with very little satisfaction.

"You don't have to be that way."

"I choose to be," Mewtwo said coldly. "Rather that than be used again."

"…What role am I?" Latias asked, after a moment, spurred by some…impulse?

"You are many things," Mizuna said. "But often enough you are the Queen to Rayquaza's King. Sometimes a warrior like he, sometimes not, but whenever you two are together you almost always support him, the power behind or next to the throne. Even when he is Evil King you are sometimes there, as the Evil Queen…or perhaps as the person who makes him see the error of his ways."

"Or the person who's executed because your 'love' is getting in the way of his ambitions," Mewtwo said coolly.

"That too," agreed Mizuna, causing Rayquaza to glance anxiously at Latias, who only blinked. "But now is not the time to speak of roles. You have come to be tested, so that you may continue."

"That's right," Ash said enthusiastically. "So let's do this!"

"Very well." She flicked her tail and swam upwards, circling above them, her colors shimmering in the faint sunlight from the surface far above. "The sea is one of the most important elements necessary for the development of life…carbon-based life, anyway. And for the majority of that carbon-based life, water is even more necessary, in tiny quantities or large ones, once more depending on the world they live on and how they have evolved. But just as water can give birth to life and provides a home for many creatures which choose not to walk on land, it can bring death as well, by drowning and crushing and harboring horrors in its depths." She glanced down at Rayquaza. "But all that aside, forgetting about its necessity to life, what is the nature of water?"

Rayquaza blinked. "The nature of…?"

"Oh, oh, I know!" Ash said, hopping up and down in the water enthusiastically and giving off some static jolts which energized the ocean around him.

"Good, now shut up," Mewtwo said, using a Psychic attack to smash Ash's head into a rock wall to quiet him. "This is Rayquaza's question, not yours."

Rayquaza frowned, both at Mewtwo's unnecessary brutality and at the question. "The nature of water…" he said. "Well, it's wet, for one thing."

"Yes," agreed Mizuna.

"And it's made by bonding two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom in large quantities…or so Registeel has told me. And it can be used to power electrical devices…" he trailed off. "But that's not what you want to hear."

"No."

He thought harder, considering water. He had lived in water a few times, hadn't he? In a past life or something? Surely if he had ruled the seas, he had known the nature of water. Unfortunately, he couldn't really remember that life very well, and so he would have to rely on his knowledge from his current life to aid him.

As he continued to think, Latias swam forward, stuck her tongue out, and licked the side of the ice palace. Predictably, her tongue stuck in place. Unbothered by this, she yanked her head back sharply, ripping her tongue in half and leaving part of it stuck on the ice. A small cloud of blood billowed out from her tongue, but quickly faded away as it healed. "Why did you do that?" asked a disturbed Ash.

"I wanted to see if it was cold," Latias said.

"Why?"

"I can't feel cold anymore. Or hot either, unless they're used to cause pain. I don't even really remember what they're like. But I felt cool when Mizuna kissed me, and I wanted to see if kissing the ice felt the same way."

"Did it work?" Rayquaza asked idly, still trying to puzzle out the nature of water.

"No. Oh well." She ripped the old part of her tongue still stuck to the ice off the wall and ate it.

Rayquaza shook his head sadly…and paused, getting an idea. "Mewtwo," Rayquaza asked. "Ice is essentially just frozen water, isn't it?"

"No," he said flatly. "It's also frozen methane, or frozen carbon dioxide, or frozen just about any chemical. Anything can be frozen, just like anything can die."

"Yes, but the majority of ice in the universe _is_ frozen water, right?" Rayquaza persisted. "Since hydrogen is the most common element in the universe, or so Registeel has told me."

Mewtwo shrugged. "I suppose."

Rayquaza nodded. "All right then. The nature of water is change."

Mizuna tilted her head. "Go on."

"Water is capable of taking three forms: liquid, solid, and gas, which is more than can be said for most other things. As a liquid, water flows and gives life and death to all living creatures, depending on how much of it there is. Fish and other aquatic Pokemon or creatures live in it and make their homes there, while land-dwellers use it as a source of nourishment and energy," Rayquaza continued.

"And use it as a dumping ground for their garbage and pollution," Mewtwo added. Nobody listened to him.

"When it's a liquid, since water is constantly flowing, that means it's never in the exact same configuration from one moment to the next, much like the molten metal at the core of planets…which I suppose isn't a surprise, since that's liquid too," Rayquaza said. "When it reaches a certain cold temperature, though, water freezes, its flow and change arrested in blocks of ice. Some creatures are capable of surviving in this cold, and can use the ice as a source of water, but it is much more difficult due to the extremely cold temperatures. Due to this cold, life that grows on the ice is tough and hardy, much like Sadic, but must always search for more food due to the scarcity, once more due to the extreme temperatures. Just like liquid water, the ice supports life, though in smaller quantities."

Mizuna nodded, but said nothing. Rayquaza went on. "And finally, water can become a gas when heated up enough. It can become steam, or just water vapor, depending on the temperature. And while no life can really thrive on this gas…well, unless it happened to be a gas planet instead of the solid ones we're used to, I suppose…the evaporated water contributes in some extent to the planet's atmosphere, allowing all creatures to continue breathing it instead of sucking on the hard vacuum of deep space. And once that vapor reaches a certain point in the air, where the temperature has cooled yet again…the vapor condenses into water and falls as rain, nourishing plants and giving water back to the world. And while this rain can cause floods if there's too much of it, in the right quantities it continues to support life. Water in all its forms is a giver of life and a bringer of death, as you said, and that is its nature, as is change. Water is capable of using its life-giving properties in just about every form, whether as liquid, solid, or gas. Water's nature is change, just like…" An expression of recognition dawned on his face. "Just like life itself, isn't it? Water can be seen as a metaphor for life!"

Mizuna raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Rayquaza nodded. "Yes. In its natural state water flows, never stopping, never staying the same, moving downstream as a force of nature which can't really be stopped save by a dam or a drought. It represents life, how it keeps going and changing and can't be stopped save by sudden extinction, and even then it finds a way to go on, just as a river eventually recovers from a drought. As ice, it represents arrested development…life stopped in place and in stasis, unable to change or evolve. A 'plateau' of sorts where a species, either through decision or outside influences, tries to stay the same forever, perhaps believing themselves to have reached perfection. But eventually that ice must melt, and then life may continue again. And…" He paused a moment. "Life as a gas…I suppose it represents the diffuse or ineffable nature of existence outside of time, how it's hard to truly grasp or understand, though it can be harnessed for energy purposes. But the gas does not always remain that way forever, just as souls do not spend all their existences outside of time, and eventually they become 'liquid' again and are born once more, raining down from the 'sky' beyond time and falling back into physicality once more."

"Forever trapped in an endless cycle…from liquid to solid to gas and back again…" Mewtwo mused. "Unable to break free, unable to stay in one state for too long before being violently forced into another, unable to simply float away and be at peace…how horrible."

"You may find it horrible," Rayquaza said with a frown. "But I see it as a promise of life's continuation, no matter what."

"Do you ever suppose the water gets tired of this cycle, Rayquaza?" Mewtwo asked. "That it may want to stop being water and being forced to serve life and just be something else? A soul can get weary of reincarnation. The Mother's has, mine has, and Deoxys most certainly has. Even if it changes constantly, life can get tedious and boring. Is it any wonder why some would want it to end so they could try something else, anything else?"

"You're saying the Mother's helping to end the universe and stuff because she's bored of living?" Ash asked, shocked. "No way! That can't be it!"

"Maybe it is," Mewtwo said cynically. "She hasn't really told you all her reasons, has she? She even admitted herself she's tired of this never-ending cycle of life and death and warfare. But she can't free herself without destroying everything else, and apparently she no longer cares enough about the well-being of everyone else inside of time. Not that I care particularly either," he said snidely. "But I suppose you should feel some discomfort and betrayal for being thrown away so readily, like I was."

"It's not like that!" Ash protested.

"Enough!" Rayquaza snapped. "Now is not the time for this. Mizuna, have I answered your test satisfactorily?"

"You have indeed," she said. "You have perceived water and how it and life are mirrored and intertwined. And so I open the way to the next task." She swam in a circle, her tail churning up the currents and causing a small distortion in the water to form. That distortion grew and widened and turned into a large, shimmering whirlpool hanging there before them, leading…somewhere.

"In there?" Ash asked.

"Sure, why not?" said Rayquaza. "We went through a vortex of flame earlier, and were dragged into the darkness by a giant hand before that. What's a whirlpool in comparison?"

"Indeed," agreed Mewtwo. He floated into the whirlpool and vanished, sucked through space and time to somewhere else.

"Rayquaza…he's not right, is he?" Ash asked, glancing from the whirlpool to the dragon.

Rayquaza shrugged. "Mewtwo believes it to be the truth, so for him it is not a lie. I believe he is wrong, and that is the truth for me, but that does not mean that's actually right either." He grinned ruefully. "That's truth for you. Just because I'm bound to only tell it doesn't mean I'm always correct. Not unless I make a promise, that is."

"Then will you promise that Mewtwo's wrong?" Ash begged him.

Rayquaza shook his head. "I could, but I'm not sure even that would do anything anymore. Most of the power behind my promises came from my Green Orb, and that's gone now. Therefore, if I make a promise now, there's a chance it won't come true. As such, I shouldn't dare make one hastily, lest it end up being a lie. And I can never tell a lie."

"If your promise-power is gone, then does that mean you don't have to die for Latias?" Ash asked.

Rayquaza shook his head. "No, that promise is still in effect, since I made it before I lost my power. Fortunately, the same can be said about the promise I made to restore Latias, so that should come true as well…hopefully. Unless the power of the Apostles is stronger even than my promises."

"You don't look too worried," Ash noted.

"I'm not. I made a promise, and I will do my best to make sure it comes true. That is all I can do, especially for the woman I love." And with that, he swam through the whirlpool and vanished. Ash thought about what the dragon had said, resolved he would try to do the same in his own life as well (not that he didn't already) and went in after him, leaving only Latias behind.

She paused a moment, and glanced at the ice palace behind Mizuna. "Arrested development…" she murmured, recalling what Rayquaza had said. She touched her chest. "Am I…?" She blinked, shook her head, and vanished into the whirlpool.

…

It was dark again. And very still.

_Life evolved among the many billion homeworlds, and out in the depths of space, and the One was joyous, for it lived as well through them, through the worlds, and through the forces that shaped them. _

It stayed still and dark. The group glanced at each other.

_But life stagnated. Species evolved, and then stopped evolving. They made no progress, no attempt to become more than they were. No civilizations arose. No species became truly sentient. They did the same exact things, as did the next generation, and the generation after that, and the generation after that. All were the One, and the One was all, and all seemed to be trapped in stasis, lacking the motivation to become more. _

Latias felt another jolt, for she had been thinking of stasis herself just moments before.

_Time went on. And nothing changed. And because nothing changed, life began to die… _

"Good," said Mewtwo as the voice faded away, both relieved that the story had been so short and annoyed that he hadn't had time for another nap.

"It must not have stayed that way, though, since we still have life now, and we most certainly change," Rayquaza pointed out.

"Unfortunately," Mewtwo said under his breath.

"I wonder what happened?" Ash asked out loud.

"I'm sure we'll find out," Rayquaza assured Ash. "After we pass this next test."

"Is there any chance you'll actively fail?" Mewtwo asked. "I'm bored of this and want to leave as soon as possible."

Rayquaza glared at him. "No."

The ghost sighed in exasperation. "Then will you hurry up? The longer I'm here the more miserable I get."

"I didn't think that was possible," Ash said under his breath, which resulted in his head being squeezed by a psychic vice courtesy of Mewtwo.

The darkness faded away, and the four found themselves in a tremendous underground cavern towering above them on all sides. Galleries and ledges were carved up all the walls and ceiling, opening onto tunnels lit by phosphorescent fungus or goo lining every available surface. And everywhere around them were insects. Rather LARGE insects, some the size of a human, if not bigger, which many were. They filled every corner of the cavern, scurrying about the floor, climbing the walls, popping in and out of tunnels on their way to fulfill whatever task they were set. They came in all colors and varieties, some with wings, some with stingers, some with immense claws and mandibles. Some had carapaces glittering with jewels, others with spikes, and others still with slithering baby insects wriggling all over their shells or exoskeletons. The number of legs ranged from four to six to several hundred, depending on the bug, and some had none at all. And the smell was, well, unlike anything they had ever experienced before. It was both sweet and sour, fresh and stale, a blending of more scents and odors than they could count, mixing together into an incredibly complex state which they could only call life itself. It was horrible and magnificent, beautiful and disgusting. It was life.

Ash stared at the thriving array of bugs swarming around the large, bare mound they were standing on and recalled what Rukario had told them before, of the insects which served the Mother by burrowing through the trunk of her giant tree as well as by hollowing out sections of the island and constructing tunnels and catacombs. He dearly hoped these insects were indeed those ones, and not the evil or mindless variety usually found in horror movies, alien worlds, or even in one's own backyard if one looked carefully enough. "I think," he said after a moment. "That it's a very, very good thing Misty isn't here right now."

"What a shame," Mewtwo said wistfully. "Then she would have died of fright. You know, that might not be such a bad thing…I might actually enjoy her company, as long as she didn't bother me too much on the other side. You really don't deserve her, human."

"Are these all…Bug Pokemon?" Rayquaza asked, looking around in amazement.

Latias blinked. "No," she said. "No souls."

"None?" the dragon king asked, surprised.

Latias tilted her head. "I don't know. Hard to tell. They're not like you. Or…" She blinked. "Or…me?"

"That is understandable," buzzed a voice that seemed to be made up of many others, vaguely feminine or androgynous. "Since they are indeed not like these partly chaotic beings, it is almost impossible for those ones to see life and understand it the way these ones do."

They looked up as an insect that looked more humanoid than the others flew towards them, its wings buzzing with an almost hypnotic hum. It had a long pinkish segmented tail-like thorax ending in a stinger hinged over an orifice which popped out small, milky eggs every twenty seconds or so and were carried off by members of a never-ending chain of small, mosquito-like drones with large claws and wings and not much else, who caught the eggs as they dropped and were quickly replaced by the next in line. Its legs were long, skinny, and armored in a strong but light crimson exoskeleton with black spikes growing from the hips and triple-jointed with more spikes growing from the joints. Its feet looked more like a pair of black claws than feet, with one long talon pointing from the front, and a smaller one from the heel, both serrated. The waist, growing from a rather bulky piece of red armor between the legs, was slim and covered in a more flexible purple organic mesh than exoskeletal armor, leading up to the armored and vaguely feminine torso, red with bone-white ribbing, and covered in colorful iridescent jewels. A pair of slender triple-jointed arms the color of bone grew from the side of the waist, ending in five delicate manipulator claws each, like small hands. Its red upper arms had thick black-striped shoulders with large jewels in the sides, and were hinged like a mantis's, ending in long hollow blades with multi-jointed claws on their undersides. Its head was somewhat wedge-shaped, with a pair of large multicolored faceted eyes dominating the sides, a pair of smaller and more humanlike eyes growing between them, and a humanlike mouth placed between a pair of small, beetle-like mandibles and a pair of grasping claws growing from the chin which probably assisted in placing food into the mouth. A pair of long antenna grew back from the top of the head, curling in on themselves and vibrating as they transmitted and received signals to and from other insects elsewhere, no doubt.

As it landed on the platform before them, its wings stopped buzzing (although it continued laying eggs), allowing them to see the wings were in three pairs, gossamer-thin but covered in radiant colors like stained glass, refracting light from around the room as it stalked over to them. Its wings flared, buzzing, and they were surprised to find that the vibrations were modulated to sound like English…or whatever language it had been that they were talking in all this time. Its long antenna unfurled forwards and ran over them for a moment. "Welcome Rayquaza, Ash, Mewtwo, Latias. This one is the Apostle of Bug, Silithin, embodiment of Order. We greet these ones, guests of the Mother and questers of change."

"'This one?'" said a confused Ash. "'These ones?'"

"These insects' brains are wired not to have a sense of self, not the one that we have anyway," Mewtwo said, having rudely scanned the minds of the bugs around them without permission. (The interior of the Apostle's mind being far too different for him to peer into for long without getting a headache.) "They operate on a hive mind of sorts, less individual minds than separate cogs in a giant multipurpose machine, or the many limbs of a single organism…with this being before us, Silithin, as the central intelligence."

Silithin nodded. "Mewtwo perceives this one's purpose well. This one serves the Great Queen, the Mother, by regulating and controlling the insect population who maintains Her tree and Her island. Under this one's supervision, we tunnel, we eat away dead or decayed bark, we maintain the deeper roots, we dig and repair the vital catacombs, and countless other tasks. We do this willingly to preserve order, that which an insect desires above all else, something that is hard to find or maintain for long in a chaotic universe."

"Order…" Rayquaza frowned. "And what does this order have to do with their lack of souls?"

"Free will is an offshoot of chaos. An order-loving insect has no need or desire for chaos," Silithin said. "To increase the levels of order in our hive, every insect entrusts their souls, the sparks of individuality and therefore chaos, to this one." The Apostle stroked the jewels on her(?) chest, causing them to light up momentarily. "As a result, efficiency, productivity, and morale are at close to one hundred percent, while disorder, depression, and work-related quarrels or disagreements are at almost zero."

"You…have all their souls inside of you!" Ash asked, shocked. "Just to make them work faster? That's horrible!"

Silithin blinked. "This one does not understand what makes it 'horrible'. Each insect entrusts their soul willingly to this one to further the cause of the hive and the island. In our hive, free will causes anarchy. Anarchy causes strife and disruption of order. And we cannot have that. We work for the sake of order, and our cause, to maintain the island and serve our Great Mother. Is it wrong to wish to do that job as well as possible?"

"And doing this job so well requires the loss of one's soul and individuality?" Rayquaza asked doubtfully.

"This one apologizes if such a concept grates at them, but…" She gestured at the great throng around them. "For insects organized into a hive, individuality is more of a hindrance than a blessing. It interferes with getting the job done, which is all that matters. To an insect, perfect order is the most desirable goal imaginable, an environment where everything works right, where every moment of their lives is part of a partially dynamic routine based either on ensuring the safety of the next generation, ensuring the well-being of the self, or serving society. What better way is there to do that than losing oneself in the machine and becoming a part of the great mass mind behind everything?"

"How does that ensure the well-being of the self, though?" Ash asked.

"Every insect is cared for and maintained by the others," Silithin explained. "An injured laborer is assisted by its colleagues to make sure the job gets done despite the handicap. An insect trapped in a caved-in tunnel is rescued by other insects in the vicinity. They are raised from birth to work together, no matter what their separate jobs in the hive may be, to rely on each other, and to trust each other absolutely. It is a level of trust almost impossible to have for the majority of souled creatures, since at the bottom of many of their hearts is at least a tiny sliver of doubt, and that doubt can be enough of a hindrance to cause whatever great endeavor is being attempted to fail. Here, that doubt is eliminated, allowing for greater trust, camaraderie, and efficiency. Here, nobody is left behind, since each individual unit is necessary for the functioning of the machine which is the hive as a whole. All of their lives are bound together by the common purpose of serving the hive and the Mother, and for even one insect to have doubts in that purpose cripples the other units."

"…I think I'm starting to understand," Rayquaza said slowly. "It still sounds like slavery, and yet…it is awfully tempting for some people to lose themselves in their work, to become one with the machine, to lose their individuality and become part of a greater whole. Perfect order…" He shook his head. "Order is a wonderful thing, but only when it flows from the roots of a matter rather than from the top down. And yet, these insects have chosen this path for the sake of order, of their own will…if they believe it to be best for them, who am I to judge? I who, as a king, have probably more than once tried to _impose_ my own order on the populace rather than the other way around, in past lives…"

"Yes, you certainly have," agreed Mewtwo. "But I wonder, does this order come at the price of evolution? Is it just another form of stasis, the stagnation and eventual decay which is all life?"

Silithin shrugged. "Of personal evolution, admittedly, there is little. However, our species _has_ changed, over time, to serve our Mother better. Our workers have become more adapted to specific tasks, from digging to caretaking to gathering food. And this one's body," she said, touching the soul-gems on her chest. "Has become more capable of containing the souls of the entire species, just as their bodies have become more capable of releasing those souls to better serve the hive. All souls are one, and one is all, and all are at peace as they strive together for the Mother's purpose."

"I don't know…" Ash said, still doubtful.

"This one admits that our way of life may not be the kind of thing for reptilians such as these ones, or other lifeforms," Silithin admitted, causing Ash to look confused until he remembered he was a dragonoid and not strictly human anymore. "These ones need chaos in their lives. But for us…" The insect spread her arms. "For us, there could be no greater joy. This is our paradise. What more could we ever ask for?"

"They…_do_ seem happy," Mewtwo admitted, somewhat disgruntled.

Latias blinked. "Hap…py?" She touched her chest. "They all…have a purpose. Something to do. But, what, do I do?"

Silithin's antenna twitched, but she did not answer. "Rayquaza," the insect addressed the dragon. "That one has come here on that one's way to seek change for Latias, correct?" He nodded. "Then allow this one to provide the next test." She crouched down and spread her hands out before the group. In each hand, the image of a switch suddenly appeared, and between them a lightbulb floated in the air. "This query is a riddle of paradox, which goes against order."

"Ask away," Rayquaza said.

Silithin raised her right hand and the switch in it. The switch flipped. "What this one is about to say is true: the first switch turns on the second switch." She raised her left hand. The switch in it flipped. Nothing happened. The bulb remained dark. "What this one just said was a lie." Her hands lowered. "Does Rayquaza believe this one?"

Ash looked puzzled, Latias blinked, Mewtwo smirked because he already knew the answer but wasn't going to say it, and Rayquaza just thought about it for a moment. "No, I don't."

Silithin tilted her head. "Why not?"

"Your first statement was true, but the second one was not," Rayquaza said. "But the answers were locked together. Either way, the light stays off."

Ash blinked. "I'm confused," he complained.

"Of course you are," Mewtwo said patronizingly. "You're a total imbecile."

"Hey!"

"It wasn't the question that needed working out, but the answer," Rayquaza continued with a grin. "That's how paradox works. My truth-sense helped me to see it."

Silithin nodded and stood up, the images fading. "Indeed." Her antenna flicked as she broadcast a message to some other insect. "Rayquaza has passed this one's test."

"Some test," Mewtwo grumbled. "Then again, I suppose a lack of imagination is a consequence of perfect order. Oh well."

"Is order all it's cut out to be, then?" Ash asked.

"It has its uses," Rayquaza said. "And while it is indeed good to have a solid set of rules or groundwork throughout the universe and on a personal and societal level, one must be careful not to make things _too_ ordered…or as Mewtwo said, life would be boring and unimaginative. Free will may not be palatable to hive insects, but I for one am glad to still have it."

The ground shook beneath their feet and erupted behind them, an enormous bloated worm-like creature rising up from deeper tunnels underground. The four turned and stared as its head flopped down before them, shaking the ground once more, and its mouth lolled open, beckoning them inside.

They stared blankly into the mouth for several seconds. "You're joking, right?" Ash said anxiously.

"These ones have reached the halfway point," Silithin said. "And so are deep in the belly of the beast. These ones must go deeper still before they find what they seek. That is how it always goes."

"And to get deeper, we must enter the belly of an actual beast," said an amused Mewtwo. "Well, at least I'll be safe from whatever horrible and disgusting things are in there because I'm dead, but the rest of you won't be so lucky. Oh well."

Latias blinked. "I'm dead," she said.

"Yes, but you're still physical," he said. "Such a pity."

Rayquaza frowned. "It's not going into the belly that bothers me so much," he murmured. "As where exactly we're coming _out_."

But it seemed as if there was nothing more they could do but follow the path that had been set out for them. And so, reluctantly, they entered the mouth of the giant worm.

…

To be continued…

…

Rayquaza and friends have encountered the first five of the Ten Apostles, and have begun to learn more about themselves and what has come before. Tune in next time to encounter the next five, and learn more philosophy and secrets of the universe! And when it is through…will Latias be brought to life again, as promised? Or will Rayquaza fail? His greatest test of all still lies ahead…


	64. Ten Steps to Recovery pt 2: The Choice

And we're back again. If you thought the last part was freaky and loaded with information and long dialogues, wait'll you see this!

Disclaimer: I own the Apostles, Birth Island, and the story of the universe printed here. A lot of the inspiration behind it and everything else here goes to comics and science fiction books I've read fairly recently. Or ridiculous cartoons, either one's good.

Thanks to Whyte Stuart for the Dragon Apostle's lair and DiamondLatias3000 for its name. Thanks as well to DiamondLatias3000 and the video game Primal Rage for the idea and inspiration that led to the scene about how Latias and Rayquaza first met in a past life.

…

It was a lot bigger inside than they had expected. Then again, why should they be surprised? It seemed as if whatever tesseracts or illusions made up this place seemed to have no problem all co-existing inside Birth Island together. If they were even in the island, and not in another dimension altogether.

Anyway, it was bigger than they had thought. And less smelly or slimy or disgusting. It was rather dark, though. Much as it had been before.

And sure enough, when they had traveled for what felt like a few minutes through the darkness, their familiar friend the Mysterious Voice spoke up. _Life among the worlds was becoming stagnant, and could not evolve,_ it said. _And eventually, it went extinct, because it did not change. The One was confused as its organic parts died out, and eventually the universe as well, and wondered what it had done wrong. It had made everything, _was _everything, but it all seemed so…much emptier than it had thought it would be. Life had grown to echo its own birth, but that life seemed so stilted, sketchy, incomplete. And so it resolved to try again, this time creating a universe where things _did _change, where they _didn't _stay the same._

They quickly shielded their eyes as the Big Bang happened again, blasting out past them and forming matter once more. However, as it did, they felt something…strange happening.

_Before, when the One had created everything, it had put itself into all things, which only made sense since all things were it. However, this time, it was doing things differently. This time, it was putting even _more _of itself into the process of creation._

Around them, stars flickered to life.

_This time, the One became an even more ingrained part of its creation than it already was. As life evolved on the worlds, the One shattered its own conscious mind into countless fragments, which then seeded the worlds as species reached a particular point in growth, a point they had not passed in the last universe._

They blinked as all around them, more points of light appeared: not the bright and wondrous ocean of stars which made up the universe, but smaller ones, both less distinct and yet brighter than the stars in their own way, gravitating towards galaxies and solar systems and the planets already formed in them.

_Those species would obtain those pieces of consciousness and become truly alive. Each of them would be greater than they had been before, capable of change and affecting the world around them, for now they had what they lacked before. Now…_

Rayquaza's eyes widened in realization. "Those lights. They're…"

_Now, they had souls._

Before they could register this startling revelation, (other than Mewtwo grumbling, "I could have told you that,") the universe vanished around them and they found themselves in…

A giant shoebox floating through a void of swirling psychedelic colors?

They blinked and looked around. "What the…" Ash asked, stunned.

"This is…peculiar," Rayquaza said as a flock of busts of famous musicians flew by upside-down with wings sprouting from their ears.

"Very," agreed Mewtwo as a blue-white dragon drifted by, drinking a can of oil.

Latias blinked as a squat, furry green creature with stubby horns and an elephant trunk rode by on a tandem bicycle with a severed head with flowers blooming from its eyes sitting on the other seat. "Hello," she said.

"Hello," the green thing said as it peddled past, ringing a bell on the handles incessantly. "I am Fredfredburger. I can spell my name. Yes. F-R-E-D-F-R-E-D-" The strange creature continued its recital as it peddled away from them, still ringing.

"Look," Ash said, pointing outside the shoebox to another one flying past in the opposite direction. "Is that us?"

They looked and stared. In the shoebox passing by them were four creatures that looked _sort_ of like them…but their faces were so distorted and cartoonish that they looked like clowns. Creepy clowns, but not the kind that ate your face off or threw acidic pies at you. "Um…hello?" Ash said, freaked out.

"Gbhlkyalyslyslhlsgyia," the distorted Ash clone said. The other duplicates laughed, their voices sounding like they had inhaled too much helium, and the shoebox flew away, promptly exploding for no apparent reason.

"O…kay…" Mewtwo said, raising an eyebrow. An electronic cube spun underneath their shoebox, singing.

Latias blinked again as a giant eight-winged firebird looped by, throwing flowers about. "This is strange," she said.

"The fact that you say that," Rayquaza said, glancing at the shifting and wild void around them as a fat egg-shaped man twirled by in a tutu. "Truly disturbs me."

The shoebox flew on, past many bizarre and disturbing landscapes and creatures, like a staircase which constantly went up and up and up, but was wrapped in a square, or a waterfall flowing upwards out of a giant mouth and into an equally giant pitcher, which was being held by a tiny dodo bird flapping its flightless wings with ease, or a river flowing uphill, over itself, and back down in a waterfall to complete an endless circuit. There were also melted clocks drooping like wet clothes off of branches of trees floating sideways, giant cheese wedges with eyeballs growing from the holes, upside-down and inside-out mountains, bees flying in reverse, and a Meowth in shorts.

"Why is it wearing shorts!" Ash cried in alarm as it walked under them, waving and humming cheerfully.

"What's wrong with it?" asked a confused Rayquaza.

"It's…it's a Meowth! And it's wearing shorts!" Ash cried.

"So?"

"Meowth don't wear shorts!" Ash protested. "I mean, where would the tail come out?"

"Through a hole in the rear?" Latias said, looking after the Meowth and seeing it did indeed have a hole for its tail.

"But it doesn't make SENSE! Why is it wearing shorts in the first place!" Ash yelled.

"Because this is the land of Chaos, chaps," said an amiable voice in a British accent. "And here, things aren't supposed to make sense!"

They looked up in confusion and saw that their shoebox had docked at the edge of a giant flower made of Jello. A spiral staircase of rubber rose up and up and up towards an obtuse triangular platform hovering high above them. On the underside of that platform, looking down at them, was a humanoid of some sort sitting at a perfectly ordinary white table and sipping tea while reading the newspaper. He smiled down at them. "Well, come on up, why don't'cha?" he said, this time in Jamaican, though they understood him completely for some reason.

They stared at it for a moment. "Um…sure," Rayquaza said slowly. They looked at the jello flower before them with trepidation.

"Do you think it's safe to walk on?" Ash asked uncertainly.

Latias blinked. "It's jello."

"Yes," agreed Mewtwo, "But we're in a giant floating shoebox, in a place that looks like the middle of a drug trip, and I just saw a red ogre run by in a dress, chased by a living wheelbarrow."

"That," added Rayquaza. "And my mouth seems to be coming off." His mouth, which had peeled off his face like a sticker and was starting to drift away, was quickly caught by the dragon's claws and pasted back onto his face. He adjusted it a little to make sure it wasn't crooked.

"I think it's safe to say nothing here works like we're used to," Mewtwo agreed.

"So this platform before us may be an illusion or something…" Ash said uneasily. "Or it'll eat us."

"Which is why you'll go first to make sure it's safe," Mewtwo said, shoving Ash out of the shoebox with a psychic push and onto the flower.

"Ow!" Ash yelped as his face smashed into the ground. "Hey, this stuff's harder than rock! It's not Jello!"

"Or perhaps Jello here is supposed to be this hard," Rayquaza said, carefully drifting out of the shoebox, accompanied by Latias and Mewtwo. The box folded in on itself an infinite number of times once they were out of it, and vanished into…nowhere.

They glanced at each other uncertainly, then slowly, carefully, stepped or floated onto the stairs.

The instant they did, gravity inverted and the world flipped upside down and suddenly they were falling, screaming, towards the platform above/below, which was now shaped like an icosahedron and perched on top of a giant nose with a bow tie hovering beneath its nostrils. They landed on a large marshmallow which popped out of nowhere, shattered like glass under their weight, and bounced off of the surprisingly soft and cushiony floor of the platform.

"That was frightening," Mewtwo said, phasing through his reluctant companions and brushing himself off. "For a moment there I forgot I was dead and forgot I couldn't be hurt by anything here." Ash and Rayquaza glared at him as they untangled themselves from Latias and got back up. Mewtwo sneered…

And without warning, a miniature anvil fell from the skies and bonked him on the head. "Ow!" He blinked. "Wait, I felt that?" He stared in surprise at the anvil, which giggled, sprouted legs, and scurried away. "Oh no…" he moaned. "Don't tell me we're in a _cartoon_ of all places!"

"Naw, cartoons aren't this weird," Ash assured him as he momentarily turned into a purple with green spots four-footed creature with a beaked face surrounded by flower petals and a tail holding a watering can, changing back instantly without noticing. "Well…most of them aren't. I think."

"Not in your dimension, anyway," said the humanoid figure cheerfully in Mandarin Chinese, still seated at the table which was both reassuringly and disturbingly stable in this twisting, chaotic place. "Won't you have a seat?"

"But there are no-" Rayquaza started to say. Instantly, they were all at the table, sitting in chairs crafted for their individual comfort. "Seats," he finished, blinking in surprise.

"Goodbye," the figure seated opposite from them said in Swahili, sipping from a teacup.

Latias blinked, staring back at him. "Hello," she said back. Their host was a very peculiar-looking individual. He looked _sort of_ like a gorilla at first, but he had four arms with ten-fingered hands, three of which were holding the newspaper (which, on closer inspection, contained nothing but absolute gibberish which rearranged itself on microscopic legs while they watched), while the free one held the teacup, pinky out. Also, his fur was covered in a blindingly garish mix of textures and colors which rippled and changed with every breath the creature took. His chest was bare, though its muscle structure seemed to change as often as his hair color, and had a black dot painted on it with over a dozen arrows pointing out from it in every direction. Being like an ape, the 'gorilla's' feet were like hands too, and the right foot was planted on the ground while the left vigorously reached up and picked its master's ear, of which there were four, two on each side of the head. Two long tufts of hair poked out from the back of his head, sort of like a mad scientist or circus clown, except these had eyes at the ends. His face was as strange as the rest of him, with a protruding puckered-lipped mouth split across the center, a simian nose both above and below, and a pair of eyes at the top and bottom, each wearing a small pair of googly-eyed reading glasses. And to top it all off, he was wearing a binky on his head, one of those little caps with spinning propellers on top.

The bizarre creature finished reading his paper, crumpled it up, stuffed it in his teacup, and ate both, crunching the porcelain loudly in his mouth. "Would any of you like some tea?" he asked in Japanese.

They glanced at each other. "Will it kill us?" Ash asked anxiously.

"Now that you've asked, no," the gorilla assured them in Martian.

"Well…all right then…" Rayquaza said uneasily. "Would you like some as well, Latias?" She blinked at him. "I'll take that as a yes. Three cups, please."

The alien simian glanced at Mewtwo. "None for you?" he asked in Hawaiian.

"I'm noncorporeal," Mewtwo said arrogantly. "I've transcended physicality. I don't _need_ tea."

"Then how'd you get hit by the anvil?" Ash pointed out. Mewtwo's eye twitched, but he said nothing.

With two hands, the ape took hold of a teapot with far too many sprouts and handles than it needed, flipped it upside-down, then held three teacups sideways in his extra limbs as streams of brown liquid spurted out from numerous spouts and, defying the laws of gravity, spun and swirled lazily through the air in loops and angles before plopping down in each teacup. Once each was full, the ape threw the teacups into the air. They flipped and spun and landed right in front of the travelers without breaking or spilling a single drop.

Ash poked the brown mixture dubiously. "This is mud."

"So it is," the ape agreed in Russian, rubbing the teapot under his armpits before throwing it away. "Drink up!"

They did. It wasn't half bad, for mud. Mewtwo stared at the simian, trying to figure it out, since he couldn't read the thing's mind, if it even had one. "I take it that you're the next Apostle?"

The ape nodded. "No," he said in Brazilian, pointing in another direction. "She is."

They looked. "That's a pig with a green dog riding on it," said a confused Ash as the large pink beast floated into infinity, the puppy on its back squealing joyfully.

"So it is," the humanoid agreed in Korean. He stuck his tongue out to Rayquaza. It extended all the way across the table. "Bowbowbow, Apothtle of Nohrmal/Fighting," he lisped.

Raising an eyebrow Rayquaza gingerly took the tongue in one claw and shook it. "Ah…Rayquaza, seeking a cure for Latias…didn't you say you weren't the Apostle?"

"I did," the simian agreed in Mexican as his tongue retracted. "But then again, seeing as I represent the forces of Chaos, that's to be expected."

"You're a bad guy!" Ash asked, alarmed.

"No, just Chaos," the Apostle said calmly in perfect Arabian. "Chaos isn't good or evil, just like the other elements you've encountered aren't, not even Order. They just…are. It's how they're used and to what extent that defines that sort of thing. Just as too much order leads to an oppressive dictatorship but a little can lead to a fairly nice, routine way of existence, too much chaos can lead to…well, this," he gestured with all his limbs to the void around them as halibut rained down on their heads. "But a little everyday chaos keeps life from getting stale and boring."

"What do you mean by 'everyday?'" Ash asked, shaking the flopping halibut off of him as they vanished in clouds of smoke.

"Do you like birthday parties, boy?" Bobobo asked Ash in French.

"Sure," he said.

"How about SURPRISE birthday parties? Do you like those even more?" Bobobo pressed in Spanish.

Ash nodded. "Well, yeah, because I never expect them so it's fun to be surprised."

"THAT'S CHAOS!" Bobobo yelled triumphantly in German as the universe exploded horribly and reassembled itself in mere seconds, except that a confused Mewtwo was solid again and female, Ash was human and naked but had tentacles for hair, Rayquaza was a Goldeen flopping on his seat, and Latias was normal and alive once more. "You never see it coming! It doesn't have to be much, just a little pinch of surprise or something unexpected once a day or a week, maybe even more! Chaos is the spice of life, without it everything would stay the same old same old forever, and never change! You'd never evolve! Of course," he admitted as the group looked over themselves in shock and disbelief. "Like any spice, adding too much of it ruins whatever dish you're eating. That's what order's for. Without it, chaos is just, well, like this!"

The universe exploded again, and suddenly Bobobo was a million stories tall, bat-winged Magikarp flying around his head, and the four visitors had turned into cockroaches. "HAGIOPLASTY ONE-TWO-THREE, GUMBY GUMBY, PUDDING AND PINEAL, AND BOB'S YOUR UNCLE AND THE MOON'S MY WIFE AND MOTHER!" He boomed in Mongolian, dancing about and shaking the earth. "THREESCORE MILES AND TEN, CAN I GET THERE BY MOONLIGHT? YES, AND BACK AGAIN!"

And then they were back at the table again, only now the teapot was back, though it had a face, the platform was circular and sitting on a giant sixteen-lobed buttock, and now Ash, Mewtwo, Rayquaza, and Latias found themselves fused together in a hideous four-headed monstrosity. "Yeah, something like that," Bobobo said in Greek as he poured glowing green toxic waste into his ear and the four screamed in horror. He snapped the fingers of one hand, and with the sound of a gnat's fart they were back to normal again. Well, Latias was dead again so she wasn't technically normal, but you get the drift.

Ash promptly vomited. The vomit flowed outwards, turned into a shapely female looking oddly like Misty, winked at him, then danced off into nowhere. Mewtwo looked even paler than usual. "My head hurts," he complained weakly. "Please stop."

"Latias," Rayquaza asked, breathing heavily. "Are you all right?"

She blinked several times. "I…" She wavered, feeling weak. "I…d-" She had been alive once, she knew. But it had been so hard to remember, after the time she had spent with her brother. But now…only moments ago she had been alive again. And while the sensations she had felt then were already fading away, and she could no longer grasp them, they were still much more recent than her last time. And now that she remembered, even vaguely, what it had felt like to live…she didn't want to go back to the numbness and pain again. Not now that she knew there was more. She shivered, not from cold which she couldn't feel, but distress. "d-don't…want to be like this anymore…"

"Change her again!" Rayquaza commanded. "Give her life back!"

Bobobo's strange face actually looked saddened. "I cannot," he lamented in whalesong.

"Why not? You did it before!" Ash protested.

"Because that's not how it works," Bobobo said sadly in Egyptian. "Chaos doesn't repeat itself!"

"…Oh."

"That actually makes sense," said a surprised Mewtwo. "For once."

"Then…there's nothing you can do?" Rayquaza asked, his hopes dashed.

"There _is_ a chance," he said thoughtfully in ancient Mesopotamian. "But because you expect me to, I can't."

They stared at him. "Huh?"

"Chaos may seem random and disorderly, and it is," Bobobo explained in Quechua. "But order is in it too, just a different kind from the more obvious one. Chaos follows rules just like everything else, they're just harder to understand and often seem illogical or nonsensical." He pulled a blueish booger out of one ear and started nibbling on it. "Probability, for example. Chaos and probability are very closely linked. What I call chaos, or surprise, is usually expressed as whatever has the least probability of occurring, namely what you don't expect. That's how I was able to do all that crazy shit back there…because you weren't expecting it. And now that you do expect me to do something like that again, I can't, since chaos relies on surprise, not expectance, and if you expect something to happen it's not that big of a surprise when it does, right?"

They digested that for a moment. "That makes sense too," said the surprised Mewtwo. "Twice in a row! I'm impressed! Especially because you just said you don't repeat yourself."

Bobobo grinned. "Of course you are!" he crowed in Zapotec. "Because you weren't expecting it! That's Chaos!"

Mewtwo groaned and put his face in his hands while Ash laughed. "You walked right into that one," said the amused Rayquaza. His face fell. "Except that still doesn't save Latias…"

"You can still save her," Bobobo reassured the monarch in Hyam. "The same way you always have before. By fulfilling your promise and keeping to your path." He smiled, his face splitting into a freakish grin. "Love, man. That's a great force of chaos all on its own, one even I have little power over. And life, as well. Don't lose it. It'll take you places."

Rayquaza nodded gravely. "I'll try not to." He sighed. "And now, I suppose I must pass your test. I'm really not looking forward to whatever you have in mind."

"Test?" Bobobo blinked. "Oh, that. No test."  
They stared at him. "What? Why not?" insisted Mewtwo.

"Oh, I know!" cried Ash. "It's because we were expecting one, which means we _don't_ have to take one!"

"That's right!" agreed Bobobo in Uru-Pa-In. "Because…"

"That's Chaos!" they both said at the same time, causing Mewtwo to moan in frustration and bang his head against the table.

"And since we have no test to take, I suppose we may leave now?" Rayquaza asked.

A stern look came to Bobobo's face. "You could have…until you asked. Now you can't leave," he said in Arakanese.

They looked at him in horror…and then he burst into laughter. "Hoho! You weren't expecting that, now were you?" he joked in Esperanto. "Of course you can go! There is your exit!"

Out of nowhere, a giant pale yellow creature with red pupils and scraggly hair appeared next to the platform, sucking juice from a box through a straw. "I HAVE GINGIVITIS," it bellowed randomly, showering them with juice and weird breath before lolling its tongue out like a ramp leading up to its mouth. "I LIKE CHOCOLATE MILK!"

They sweatdropped. "Into the belly of the beast…" Mewtwo deadpanned. "Again."

"Well, at least it's not a worm," Rayquaza pointed out.

"Hey, do you suppose this exit can take us all the way to the end, so that we don't have to go through the other Apostles?" Ash asked suddenly.

Bobobo nodded happily. "It could have," he said in Mbunga. "If you hadn't asked."

They stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to tell them he was joking. He didn't. Then again, since they were expecting him to, that was hardly a surprise, wasn't it? Or then again, perhaps it was.

Rayquaza and Mewtwo glared at Ash angrily. "Good job, Ash," the dragon said sarcastically. "Now we must go through even _more_ trials before I can save Latias."

"Yes, a superb job, you've outdone yourself human," Mewtwo agreed, equally sarcastic. "Not that I give a damn about whether Latias is saved or not, but the sooner this quest ends, the sooner I can go back to being nice and dead…and it doesn't look as if that'll be happening anytime soon." He angrily blasted Ash with incredible psychic force, nearly shattering his brain and knocking him to the floor.

Ash, head pounding, attempted to remember which were his arms and which were his legs as Rayquaza and Mewtwo vanished down the throat. "Latias…it was a simple mistake! You don't blame me, do you?" he pleaded.

Latias stared at him for a moment. She wasn't angry at him, because she couldn't feel angry anymore. But, her brief bout of being alive a few minutes ago gave her a pretty good reminder of what anger felt like, which she demonstrated by grabbing Ash psychically and hurling him screaming down the random monster's gullet, following him moments later.

"Hello!" Bobobo yelled hostilely in Xaasongaxango as a farewell.

"Goodbye," Latias called back, before she was gone.

"That was utterly pointless," Mewtwo said as Latias caught up to him, clearly still angry.

"Well," Ash said as he wobbled and tried to regain his motor controls. "That's-"

Mewtwo grabbed Ash telekinetically and slammed him into the monster's esophagus lining repeatedly, causing the great beast to quiver and belch loudly, foul-smelling winds pushing them back several feet. "Chaos," Mewtwo sneered. "Yes, I know. Didn't expect that, did you?"

"Actually, I did," Rayquaza said.

Mewtwo's eye twitched. "Whatever."

…

They had been expecting to hear the next part of the strange origin story that had accompanied them throughout this journey as they proceeded deeper and all went dark. Whether it was from the chaotic nature of the place they had just left or for some other reason, no such story manifested itself.

Instead, they found themselves in a vast, dark space, with what felt like metal underneath their feet. "Echo!" Ash yelled loudly. The place was so big that no sound was reflected back at them, just swallowed up by the quiet all around.

1

Ash blinked. "Hey, what was that?"

"What was what?" asked Rayquaza.

101

"That. Didn't you hear it just now?" the dragonoid asked.

Latias blinked. "Yes," she said.

101010101

Mewtwo frowned. "What _is_ that?"

"Alive," said Latias, feeling…wistful?

10101010101010101010101

"Alive?" Ash and Rayquaza echoed.

Mewtwo frowned. "Yes…I _do_ sense some presence. But it's not like anything I've encountered in this life, or in my more recent ones. It…feels like Registeel's mind, barely, but…what _is_ it?" he asked, frustrated. "I must know, if only so I can have one more thing to hate about this existence."

"It's life," a voice rang out.

101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101

The surface under their feet lit up, startling them. Lines of light made up of trillions of 0s and 1s raced out in every direction, engraving themselves into the ground, crisscrossing and zigzagging and starting to form some kind of a pattern. This pattern kept going across the ground out into infinity, while other lines ran into towers and structures unseen in the dark, racing up their sides and illuminating them, culminating in tremendous pillars of light which erupted from the top and made this strange place more visible. More towers lit up, each more rapidly than the last, and from the beams shooting up into an empty sky points of light like stars appeared, shimmering and pulsing and flashing with energy as they drifted all over the place, floating down towards the group and moving all around them, and everywhere else too, like the inhabitants of some alien city, which this place was looking more and more like by the second. And what's more, the lights, which came in every color and size and shape imaginable, were…_musical_. They rang in notes pitched from every range of the spectrum, loud and soft and high and low and other sound-related adjectives that didn't exist in the English language. Notes so high none of them could hear them. Notes so low that their bones shuddered in tune with the floor as they sounded. Musical scores from every corner of the universe, themselves blended together into one single giant symphony which beat in rhythm with the metal all around. If the essence of life could be harnessed and turned into music, it would probably sound a lot like this.

It was much less dissonant than one would expect. And a lot more techno.

"Are they…souls?" Ash asked, amazed.

"I'm not certain," Rayquaza said in awe as he looked at the musical spheres swirling all around them in this shining city of metal and light.

"Let's take a closer look," Mewtwo said, some of his old curiosity coming back into his bitter voice. He snagged a passing sphere telekinetically and dragged it towards them, causing the high C note it was emitting to become rather drawn out. They all clustered around it once Mewtwo brought it down to their level, looking at the bright red sphere in wonder.

Up close, what had looked from afar to be a solid orb of light was in fact made of an unbelievably complex series of strings of digits wrapped in layer upon layer upon layer in a spherical formation. The digits, 0s and 1s so small that a hundred of them could easily fit in the period at the end of this sentence, all crackled and flashed with energy, causing the sphere to pulse and emit corresponding notes. Just because it had been moved spatially didn't mean it wasn't still part of the great fast-paced symphony all around them.

"This isn't a sphere," Mewtwo said in surprise. "It looks more like…an incredibly complex data construct." All stared at him blankly, having no idea what he was talking about. He sighed in exasperation. "Oh right, I forgot that none of you happened to be intelligent enough to know a thing about computers and how they work."

"Hey, I know plenty!" Ash protested.

"What's a motherboard?" Mewtwo asked condescendingly.

"Uh…something to give to your mother as a present?" Ash asked uncertainly. "To help her do laundry?"

"What's a modem?"

"Mode…m? Uh…a computer's M mode that lets it do stuff that, uh, starts with the letter M?"

"USB Port?"

"A dock for ships that are classified USB instead of USS?"

"Ethernet."

"A net you catch Ethers in?"

"Open source."

"A hole in a cable that needs to be fixed?"

"Megabyte."

"A big bite taken out of a piece of pizza?"

"Circuit," Mewtwo said with an evil grin.

Ash was sweating now. "Um…some kind of…insect Pokemon that lives in computers…and…stuff?"

"I rest my case," the dead psychic said proudly.

Rayquaza shook his head. "I'm not even going to try," he said. "I have very little understanding of how computers work, other than that humans can use them to communicate with each other, transport Pokeballs across vast distances, and access some sort of other dimension called the 'Internet', where you can find just about anything, or so I've heard." He shrugged. "Being trapped in a pocket dimension as a noncorporeal spirit for a hundred thousand years kind of limits the things you can try for yourself. I doubt my claws would be able to use a keyboard, anyway."

"These 1s and 0s represent binary code," Mewtwo explained. "The base level of programming used in most computers. It's for computers what DNA is for living things in a sense, the series of sequences and compounds which define what they are."

Rayquaza looked around. "Then…are we inside a computer?"

"We could be," Mewtwo acknowledged. "Now that I think about it, the line patterns everywhere do resemble the silicon chips of a circuit board. These buildings might be processors, then, or something we have never encountered before. But as for these things," he said, referring to the musical lights and the sphere before them. "As I said, they seem to be incredibly complex lines of code, describing programs more advanced than anything I've seen in this lifetime. Then again, I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise, Birth Island probably invented the computer system in use on Earth before its destruction and gave humans a dumbed-down version of their own systems to keep the poor things from being smashed with rocks by uncomprehending imbeciles."

"Hey, that only happened once!" Ash protested. "And it was an accident!"

They stared at him. "Right," Rayquaza said quickly. "You said this is some sort of…'program', made of some kind of 'code' that works like DNA."

"Yes, except since it's a program, it's not alive," Mewtwo agreed. "If it were, it would probably feel resigned to being constantly exploited, edited, compressed, rewritten, and often deleted when obsolete by entities beyond its comprehension."

"How do you know it's not?" Rayquaza asked.

Mewtwo blinked. "Not what?"

"Not alive?"

Mewtwo sighed in exasperation. "I told you-"

"You said this 'binary' thing is to computers what DNA is to us. DNA means we're alive, right? So…" The dragon glanced at the crimson sphere. "How do you know this isn't alive, too? Maybe the code you speak of IS just a different form of DNA, used for a different form of life?"

Mewtwo froze. He looked at Rayquaza as if he had never seen him before, stunned that someone 'trapped' in life could have come up with an idea that even he hadn't considered. "I…"

"Well, if it's alive, is it scared of us?" Ash wondered, idly sticking a finger into the sphere.

"No," said Latias as Ash jerked and screamed and flashed like a strobe light the instant he made contact with the orb. Mewtwo laughed in cruel amusement as Ash was ejected from their circle and hit the ground, writhing in pain as electricity danced out from his body.

"Ash!" Alarmed, Rayquaza grabbed the former human and tried to stop his convulsions. "Hold on! And please stop shocking me, that hurts!"

"-weather forecast for tomorrow is strong showers followed by eggs from the sky blargleargle Grenfelzing! Grenfelzing for all! Get your chocolate, galaxy's best aphrodisiac, only 5,000,000 porginfetls!" Ash babbled while the sphere of coding, seemingly unaffected from its contact with an organic lifeform, drifted away back into the sky. "Goodbye," Latias called to it as it left. Whether the sounds it made after her farewell were supposed to be a reply or just noise, they would never know.

"Interesting," said an intrigued Mewtwo. "Assuming that Ash actually absorbed information from that sphere, instead of just spouting random gibberish as is his wont as a human, I believe the coding in that orb must represent the complete data (including commercials) of an entire planet, or perhaps a solar system. Or it could just be media archives. This place must be a storehouse for knowledge, a digital library made physical...or were we made digital? Fascinating…"

Latias blinked as Ash started settling down. "Okay."

"Due to Ash being an Electric-type," Mewtwo continued, more of his old curiosity and thirst for knowledge coming back, albeit tinged with cynicism. "It's conceivable that his contact with that binary data allowed him to momentarily link to it electronically and download it into his brain…with the amusing results we see here. Latias, fetch another sphere and try linking to it, I wish to see if other beings can absorb its data as well…and if you, someone who is dead and thus has very little if any bioelectricity in your body can link with it, then perhaps I can download the knowledge contained within these spheres as well…"

"01001101 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101011 00101100 00100000 01101101 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100," an electronic voice stated. "01000101 01101001 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110111 01100001 01111001 00101100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01110010 01100101 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01110010 01111001."

They blinked. "Huh?"

"01010011 01101111 01110010 01110010 01111001—I mean, sorry, I sometimes forget not everyone can understand dataspeak," the same voice apologized. 0s and 1s flowed down from the sky and swirled together, coalescing along with bits of metal to form a humanoid figure. Its wrists, shoulders, torso, head, waist, and lower legs were formed from tubular bluesteel, while the rest, including extremities, were made up of bright green wireframe with ever-changing 0s and 1s for lines. Its face was a flat screen protruding from a streamlined backwards-pointing cone, displaying an electronic face composed of glowing green lines. More green lines ran along the sides of the metal parts, flashing up and down to show the flow of data throughout its body. "Hi there, I'm Nabu, Apostle of Electricity and Steel. And knowledge. I have control over any form of electricity, as well as pretty much every manifestation of the electromagnetic spectrum, so you could sort of say that I can control almost anything, if I try hard enough."

"Can't control me," Mewtwo muttered. "Unless I get tricked again…which is most certainly NOT going to happen…"

"How does having power over electricity and the electromagnet thing allow you to control almost anything?" Ash asked, wondering if he could do the same thing since he had electric powers too.

"Well, just about every kind of matter, near its lowest level, is made of atoms, right?" Nabu said. "And atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Since almost all atoms have electrons, they have electric charges, and that means I can manipulate them. As for the spectrum…" He spread his arms out, and they were surprised to see a very wide band appear between his hands, with a thin strip of every possible visible color in the center, fading away to transparency as it stretched out to either side. "The electromagnetic spectrum represents almost every form of energy known to humankind, and some that aren't: sound, light, heat, radio waves, cosmic rays, just about every kind of radiation there is." The spectrum in his hands vanished. "Put those two together, and that covers almost everything in the universe, and a few others too, though not all of them follow the same rules as ours does or did."

"What about people?" Ash asked warily.

Nabu shrugged. "Sure, people are a part of the universe too, last time I checked. If I wanted to, I could probably cut the flow of blood to your brain by adjusting the biorhythm of your hearts and knock you unconscious or even kill you. I could also probably rearrange the cellular automata on the surface of the microtubules that make up the cytoskeleton of your neural tissue by pushing a few electrons around or by emitting the right amount of EM radiation and erase or rearrange your consciousnesses. Or blow up your brains, either one's just as likely. Might be interesting to try out."

They looked at him in alarm. Well, Ash and Rayquaza did anyway, Latias was paying more attention to the music, while Mewtwo looked equally curious to see Nabu's suggestions in action. The cyber-Apostle blinked. "Huh? Did that frighten you? Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it too." His digital features flushed red in embarrassment. "I'm not very good at communicating with organic life-forms. I keep forgetting how fragile they are, and less durable than silicon-based 'quicklife' like myself. Sorry. Anyway," he said, trying to change the subject. "Since I have a large measure of control over the universe, that also means I understand it pretty well too. Everything, when you get down to it, is made up of the same thing; matter and energy. Even you guys. But that matter is built on a substrate of data or information, the basic 'programming code' of the universe, which I can access as I please, though it's best not to try changing it too much, since the consequences can be dire if you're not careful."

Rayquaza blinked. "Programming code? Then…was my analogy correct? Is life in the universe similar to programs in a computer, and vice versa?"

"Sure…though it depends on how you look at it," Nabu said.

"That can't be right!" Ash protested. "I'm not a program! I'm me!"

"Sure you are," Nabu agreed. "But what is you?"

Ash blinked. "Huh?"

"An idiot and waste of life?" Mewtwo offered.

"Hey!"

"I meant, what are you, deep down? Where did you come from? And I don't mean your precursor or 'parent'," he added quickly. "I meant, where did the materials which make you up come from?"

Ash frowned in confusion. "Uh…inside my mom?"

"All right," Nabu said. "Now, where did those materials come from? Do you know what makes them up?"

"Fluids and skin and…stuff?" Ash asked doubtfully.

"Sort of, but I meant…well, take a look at me," Nabu said, indicating himself. "As I am now, I look kind of solid, right? But…" To their astonishment he suddenly enlarged and got bigger and bigger and bigger…until he was so big that he encompassed him, and they were now _inside_ him, surrounded by literally trillions of flickering streams of 0s and 1s flying past them in every direction. "If you look close enough, _really_ close enough, you can see that I'm actually made up of incredibly long strings of binary code. Not just the 'digital-looking' parts of me, but the metal bits too, since I'm really a virtual entity. Do you understand?"

"I…think so," Rayquaza said.

"Fascinating," Mewtwo murmured to himself. "Not only much more complex, but saner than Mewgle, too…" Ash shuddered at the memory of that psychotic program.

Nabu shrunk back to regular size, to their relief. "Now, take any one of you organic life-forms, for example. On the inside, each of you is organized the same way I am, except in strings of proteins and chemicals formed into DNA rather than digits of binary code. But really, neither is that different, since both describe our physical features, the way our bodies work, and make up who we are. Do you understand?"

"Yes…it's just different kinds of life, isn't it?" Rayquaza said with a nod.

"But I'm not a program!" Ash protested. "I'm not…I'm not controlled by users or whatever! I can't be clicked on or deleted or reprogrammed!"

"Of course you can," Mewtwo sneered. "What do you call death? Or gene therapy? Or brainwashing? All of those edit and reprogram you as surely as a computer program can be altered. And death is clearly like deletion…since deleted data can be recovered if you know how, just as life can reincarnate…or can be lost forever, its DNA and requisite particles scattered throughout infinity. And as for users…" He chuckled cynically. "What do you call your life, up to this point? You've been used and manipulated by those close to you ever since Day One. Your mother has programmed how you behave. Your educational systems have programmed what your view of society and the world is to be like. Your government and Pokemon League programmed you to believe it's good to enslave other creatures and take them from their natural habitats. Certain Legendary Pokemon programmed you to believe you were some great hero or Chosen One because you happened to be at the right place at the right time to save them. And, similarly, the Unown and the Mother have programmed you to help them end the universe and all life in it…they've used you just as completely as they've used me, for you have always been manipulated, even in your past lives as the Hero on many worlds and times. You are a program, Ash. We all are. You just happen to be organic instead of digital, like this world."

"I…but…but I can choose what I do! Don't I?" Ash asked desperately. "I mean…I mean, computer programs _can't_…can they? They're not, they're not smart enough…"

"Not on Earth, no," Nabu said. "Not in the computers used by humans, anyway…but the ones developed on Birth Island and in other places long ago figured out how to evolve computer programs to levels of sentience. Some would say that this is arrogant and playing God because we're creating life. But isn't giving birth the same thing? And besides…" He chuckled. "How can one help but play God when, really, that's what we are, all of us?"

"How do you mean?" asked a confused Rayquaza.

"You all heard the story on the way down, didn't you? The presentation before you met the previous Apostles?" Nabu asked. "If so, then you know that the One shattered itself into the fragments we call 'soul', triggering the evolution of the first sentient life-forms. It became an integral part of them, sentience, the ability to think and feel and control the world around them. The power to create and destroy life. How can anyone who's consciously able to do that rather than just through instinct _not_ be a god? Or to be more precise, _the_ God, since all of us are part of that One?" He smiled. "It's one of the basic tenets of life on this island: 'Thou art God.' We may not always be able to control what happens in our lives, but we are still alive, and because of that, we are each gods in our own rights."

"Then…I'm God?" asked a confused Ash.

"Yes," Mewtwo said idly, contemplating what Nabu was telling them, and how it seemed oddly familiar and rang true somehow. "And so is everybody else. So it doesn't really matter, does it? You're just another brick in the wall."

"I…am…God?" Latias murmured to herself, having trouble saying the words.

"It's the truth, both in a physical and metaphysical sense," Nabu explained. "All matter in the universe is constant and can't be destroyed, just converted into energy or other forms and back again. The matter we have now is the same matter that formed at the very first Big Bang, many universes ago, but renewed through each consecutive explosion. And that matter is, in a very real sense, the physical form of the One, who _is_ the universe, all universes, since they came into being at the same time. And since that matter is a part of us, even us digital beings in a sense since we need some form of physical circuitry or disk or chip to be encoded onto or space to exist in, all forms of life are the One, and are God. Actually, so is inanimate matter too, since its matter all the same, so that means a rock is God, and a bone can be God, and empty space can be God too. Everything is."

"You see? That means you're even less significant," Mewtwo taunted Ash. "If even a pile of feces is made of matter, and therefore God."

"Ew," Ash said, wrinkling his face in digust.

"If the universe or universes are this One's 'physical' form, renewed whenever time ends and restarts again, and our souls represent its conscious self…I think…then where is the subconscious?" Rayquaza asked.

"Ah, good question," Nabu said with a smile. "The unconscious is that substrate of data I mentioned before, an undercurrent of forces beneath everything physical which influences the way everything happens in some way or another, even the behavior and actions of living things. I guess you could call it 'Fate', if you believed in such a thing, even though it's not nearly as set in stone as some might have you believe. It manifests itself most obviously as the very forces we Apostles embody…so I guess you could say that many of us represent conscious embodiments of the One's subconscious, to a greater extent than most other people are anyway. A person capable of tapping into that 'subconscious' is getting at the very source code which makes up the universes, since the subconscious is always a necessary part of how the brain governs living things. Without it, life-forms would have to consciously think about breathing and balancing while walking, among other things, instead of their bodies doing it automatically. By altering the 'source code' in a local area, a person can temporarily or even permanently change reality in the vicinity or even farther out. To an extent, this is what magic is, although most magic-users see whatever force they use differently, just as magic itself manifests in different forms throughout the universes. Since the subconscious varies from reality to reality due to its vastness, so do the physical laws and powers it manifests as. In any event, this subconscious can be read as all the knowledge in the universe, since it is everywhere and makes up everything on a deeper-than-physical level. Since it's really just another kind of data, it can be translated as such, and that's how it has manifested here." He spread his arms. "See all these spheres? Each of these represents a copy of the 'source code' for every planet, galaxy, and so on in our universe. They contain the complete history and data of everything, absolutely everything, that ever happened on that world or place, since it was imprinted on the 'memory' of the subconscious there, just as the subconscious manifests itself as physical laws and other things. Whenever Deoxys unmakes a universe, that information is absorbed back into the main body of the subconscious outside of time, and so is never really 'lost'. But I made sure to copy that data just before that happens, anyway. It never hurts to have back-ups," he said with a grin. "For future generations to look at. Why else do you think people keep track of history either orally or textually?"

Mewtwo's eyes widened. "Then…this is a data library for all the information in the universes?"

"Yep, both destroyed and still standing…for now, anyway," Nabu said. "However, there are more complete libraries. The island itself houses one even greater than this, and the Unown possess practically all the knowledge there ever is or was, since with their many eyes and unique placement at the edge of time they can see just about everything going on in every reality and timeline, past and future, even all the way back to the universes before our own. That knowledge is never really lost or destroyed, just encoded elsewhere, and the Unown know how to decode it. I can't, though," he lamented. "Since for the most part my power is limited to inside Time. But since I represent part of the subconscious forces maintaining the universe, namely the ability to tap into and manipulate it, that only makes sense, doesn't it?"

"I suppose so," Rayquaza agreed.

"Okay then," said Nabu, folding his arms. "And now that you know who and what I am, and how I can access the data substrate throughout the universes and so learn or control pretty much anything that goes on in them…tell me this: what is it, in all the physical universes, that I CANNOT understand or control completely with my powers?"

Rayquaza frowned. What couldn't an individual that controlled all forms of electricity, the electromagnetic spectrum, and was also able to read the substrate of information under everything in the universes know? "Love?" he asked on the fly.

"Mmm…yes and no," Nabu said thoughtfully. "Love's a wonderful thing, but…it's not exactly some unknowable, mystical force that can never be comprehended. It's partly caused by chemical reactions in your brains as well as certain conscious decisions, but those can be changed by rearranging the cellular automata I mentioned before to alter the definitions of what makes a person appealing to you, both on a physical and intellectual level. Or just messing with your brain chemistry."

"You said partly," Ash pointed out. "Doesn't that mean you don't completely control it?"

Nabu frowned. "Let me rephrase that. I can't totally understand love, but I can manipulate it to a large extent…or can I?" He smirked. "I may have already given you an accidental hint. You should already know the answer to this, Rayquaza."

The dragon nodded. "I think I do, both thanks to your hint and other things you mentioned earlier. The thing you were referring to is the soul, isn't it?"

Nabu nodded. "That's correct. How did you know?"

"Well, Mewtwo gave me part of the answer," the dragon said, glancing at the ghost.

"I did?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes. You said when Nabu revealed his power that he couldn't control you. And that's because there's nothing physical or electromagnetic about you, is there? You're a spirit, not really part of the physical universe at all, even though you may visit it occasionally, right?"

Mewtwo nodded, slightly impressed. "Precisely."

"You said this data substrate, the One's 'subconscious', underlies everything," Rayquaza continued. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it's also what the 'outside of time' is made of, right?" Nabu nodded. "But as you've told us, the soul is a fragment of the One's consciousness. So while it is affected to an extent by the subconscious, it isn't _completely_ controlled by it. In fact, as the consciousness, it can even defy or manipulate the subconscious! Otherwise, how could those who live make their own destiny or control their fates, to even the smallest extent? How could life evolve into sentience, even if the source of consciousness is these 'automata' things you keep talking about, without the spark which a soul provides? Therefore, it must be made of a different material than the subconscious, something that even the most knowledgeable may never be able to fully understand…the spirit." He grinned. "And it's because of the spirit that love is only 'partly' affected by you, too, since the bond between souls can often overcome whatever the body or even the brain dictates as otherwise." He glanced at Latias. "I should know." She blinked at him.

"That's correct, Rayquaza," Nabu agreed. "The soul is indeed something I am unable to truly fathom…and I think it's supposed to be that way. If we truly did know absolutely everything, it would be easy to become arrogant in that knowledge. This way, at least there will always be some uncertainty on how exactly the soul works…which is unsurprising, since it's a small fragment of the creator itself." He bowed slightly to Rayquaza. "You have passed your test. You are closer to what you seek, and closer to the truth of things as well. You have learned much since this quest began. Be sure to use it well, as one should with any knowledge.

The dragon nodded. "I will do my best."

"Me too!" agreed Ash, earning him a snicker from Mewtwo, who did not think Ash would ever understand any knowledge he gained.

Nabu's body came apart, reconfiguring itself into an archway with a shimmering curtain of green digits hanging down from it. "Through this gateway is your next test," said Nabu's face, which was now in the arch's keystone. "Pass through it, and learn well."

"I'd like to stay here," Mewtwo said suddenly, somewhat wistful. "And learn more…but the longer I stay here, the longer it'll take for me to get back to being dead." He smirked. "And besides…if the afterlife really is made up of this One's 'subconscious,' then its memory dump must be somewhere…and if all the knowledge in the universes, past and present, is contained there as you've implied it must be, I can obtain more knowledge than ever before. Perhaps even truly understand the soul, for if I can gain true knowledge of that, is it not possible for me to learn everything?"

"Weren't you listening to what he said about arrogance?" Ash asked.

"Yes," said Mewtwo. "But I don't really care." With that, he went through the gateway, and was gone.

"He has changed so much," Rayquaza lamented. "Is there no way to undo the hurt? To make him as he was before?"

"Evolution is a one-way path, for better or worse," Nabu said. "There are ways to heal the soul, indeed, but the soul is not my area of expertise, as you know. Ultimately, though, this kind of change must come from within. And if Mewtwo does not decide to change, then he may never be as he was, or better even."

"Yeah…I was afraid you'd say that," Ash said sadly. He shook his head and passed through the gateway, vanishing with a sizzle and ripple of light.

"…What about me?" Latias asked suddenly.

"Haven't you noticed?" Nabu said, smiling. "You're already changing. You've become at least a little more inquisitive than you were before you came here, and you already desire not to be like you are now. There is still hope for you, Latias. This much, at least, I know for certain."

"…Thank you."

"Come, Latias," Rayquaza said, nodding at the gate. "Let's be off." She nodded. Together they flew into the arch, the data streams tingling against their skin as they passed through and into…

…

A great rainforest, much like the jungle they had walked through on their way up from the beach. It was warm and sunlit and humid, and full of lush greenery, flowers, and trees, the air full of the sound of birds chirping and insects buzzing in sheer joy at being alive. They were standing before a large basin nestled at the base of an immense umbrella-shaped tree covered in colorful flowers, moss, lichen, mushrooms, and ferns. Vines hung from the branches, and Aipom and other Pokemon such as Grovyle and Nuzleaf scurried about them, swinging and looking down with interest at the newcomers. There were colorful Grass Pokemon everywhere as well, although they regarded the group more lazily than the tree-dwellers had. They looked so calm and at one with nature or whatever that some of them, such as Shroomish, members of the Bulbasaur line, Oddish, Weepinbell, Sunflora, Parasect, and Lileep, were actually rooted into the ground, possibly for life. They seemed fine with watching some of the more active Grass-types running about and hopping around the trees, but were content to grow at their own pace.

Some Surskit skated across the surface of the basin and around flamingo-like Pokemon as the four approached its shores, staring up at the giant tree. Masquerain, Beautifly, Yanma and Vibrava fluttered about, nibbling on the juicy plants growing from the edge of the waters. Some parrot-like Pokemon with musical note-shaped heads called Perappu groomed themselves and perched about on the trees. Other Pokemon inhabited this rainforest, creatures like the ones they had seen around the Mother's tree back atop Birth Island, and still others they had never seen before. All in all, it was very beautiful, and while it didn't share quite the same level of vibrancy the Mother's tree had, this place still pulsed with life, life throbbing just under the surface and bursting forth in many forms. Oddly, it didn't feel very different from the digital place they had just left—life had been thriving there too, even if it had been of a different variety, one just as willing to overflow and multiply as the life here. The contrast between the two places was magnificent, but so were the similarities.

Latias blinked and looked around, feeling the usual sense of confusion and a growing feeling (longing?) at the sight of so much life here. "It's pretty," Ash said after a moment, gazing up at the tree. It didn't have quite the same aura as the Mother's, and was a different species, but was still incredible.

"Bah," Mewtwo said flatly. "All of this life feeds off itself. Most of the plants here are probably parasitic and strangling the life from the trees they feast off of. And while these Pokemon here seem at peace now, I'm sure when they're hungry they have no problem slaughtering each other for food."

"Isn't that what you said about the coral reef?" Rayquaza pointed out.

Mewtwo glared venomously at him. "Shut up," he snarled.

A rather large pinkish flower nestled between two roots of the tree rustled just then, and blossomed, its petals unfolding to reveal a humanoid figure growing rapidly from the size of a few inches to several feet as the sunlight hit it. The light seemed to brighten somehow as the figure grew to a full height of four feet, rather short compared to the other Apostles they had seen so far, but carrying no less weight and presence than they did. This, and the fact that the Pokemon all seemed to be paying attention to the figure, convinced the group she was the next Apostle.

She was skinny and brown-skinned and reminded them of a sapling. Her body seemed to be made out of soft, smooth wood or bark, with a couple of knotholes on her hips, a few twigs growing from her shoulders, and roots in place of feet, although these at least grew from the bottom of two shapely legs with ridge-shaped mushrooms growing down the sides. Her arms were long and bendy and ended in rather lengthy tapered fingers with some leaves growing from the sides, making them look like branches. Her chest was covered mostly in deep green moss worn like a top with small flowers and ferns growing here and there. Her face was round and smooth, with a wide, serene smile split across the lower half and a pair of sparkling green eyes covered slightly by her hair, which looked like the leafy crown of a palm tree. Long pointed ears looking vaguely like branches or twigs grew from the sides of her head, with some leaves sprouting from them and an earring that looked like a seedpod dangling from the left ear.

As she stepped out of the flower, it closed and withered behind her. She walked down the slope formed by the gap in the roots towards the water, other flowers and plants sprouting, blooming, and then dying and crumbling in her wake. As she reached the basin, she stepped out towards the water, and a large lily pad swelled up out of nowhere to support her. She stepped onto it and then off, hopping to another giant lily pad, the one left behind crumbling in her wake. In this manner the tree sprite made her way to the other side of the basin, where the group was waiting. Mewtwo was unimpressed by her entrance, Ash was worried he'd wither and die if she touched him, Rayquaza regarded her with curiosity, and Latias wondered the opposite of Ash, if perhaps this Apostle could make things grow out of her body. It might be interesting. Would it mean she was alive?

"Hello," she said, grass rising and falling around her as she regarded them with eyes that looked far older than her youthful frame. "I am Chloe, Apostle of Grass. I represent, to an extent, life itself…how it starts small, grows as high as it can, and eventually falls, only to rise again in a different form. You know about all that by now, though, if you've gotten this far, and so I have no need to go into detail about how life in a forest goes on by growing from the corpses of fallen trees or decayed bodies and allows new flora and fauna to be born."

"Good," Mewtwo snapped. "The less you talk, the shorter I have to stay here."

"Since I represent life, to an extent I also represent the cycle which we are trapped in…the endless war against good and evil, continuing on and on as the universe grows and dies and grows again, drawing many souls willing and unwilling back into the fight."

"Then will you tell us why this war began?" Rayquaza asked. "And what we may do to stop it?"

"Yeah, that's what we were Chosen for, right?" Ash added.

Chloe nodded. "I will tell you that, and more besides. Come with me." She turned and walked away, towards the edge of the clearing they were in. Some of the rooted Grass Pokemon immediately ripped themselves out of the ground and decided to follow her, trailing dirt in their wake. Others followed by leaping through the branches and swinging from vines, or just running along the ground.

"She's pretty popular," Ash commented as they headed after Chloe, trying not to get mobbed by the growing entourage. "Like a rock star or something."

"She has presence," Rayquaza explained. "The sort of thing that makes you stop and look at her as she passes by. A good royal should be able to carry that presence in public…and also know when to take it off to go unseen."

"So she's showing off," Mewtwo said, bored.

"I didn't say that," Rayquaza said. "I'm not sure she _can_ turn it off. Some people have that kind of magnetism too…like you, Ash."

"I do?" Ash asked in surprise, while Mewtwo rolled his eyes and gagged in disgust.

The dragon nodded. "Certainly. You draw people of all kinds to you, for good and ill. At least it makes your life interesting."

"Isn't there a curse regarding that sort of thing?" Mewtwo asked out of the blue. They ignored him.

They quickly caught up with Chloe. It wasn't hard to find her, due to the throng of enraptured Pokemon following her and the trail of dead plants she left in her wake. "Why does all the stuff that grows from you die?" Ash asked as he caught his breath.

"Because, as I said, I embody life, as well as the cycle in which it works, rather than Anubis, who embodies death, and its promise of a new life," she said. "If you look carefully at that which I leave behind, perhaps it's not as dead as it seems."

They looked back. To their surprise, small shoots of grass, mushrooms, or flowers were slowly pushing out of the ground from the remains of the dead plants Chloe had made. "I see now. The plants you grow die so that their bodies can become fertile ground for future life," Rayquaza realized.

"Something like that, yes," Chloe said idly, smiling as a Perappu flew by, singing a lovely song.

"Bah," Mewtwo said, unimpressed. "Ruins the effect. Looks better if it just grows, or just dies, instead of it growing, dying, and letting something else grow."

"You have heard by now of souls and the data substrate. How the One's subconscious underlies the physical universe and the one outside it, and makes up the machinery which keeps it running," Chloe said, ignoring Mewtwo.

"And how you Apostles are supposed to be living incarnations of parts of that subconscious, or something, yes," Rayquaza agreed.

"Look around you. What do you see?" Chloe asked.

They looked. "Life," Ash said, after a moment, taking in the lush forest and the ever-growing multitude of Pokemon following them.

Latias blinked. "Green?"

"A waste of space," grumbled Mewtwo.

"Life grows where it can, in all kinds of environments," Chloe said. "And the environment often defines what kind of life grows. It sets the temperament and nature of that species. Take this forest for example: there are no real predators here and more than enough food for everyone. The Pokemon have long enough lifespans and low enough birth rates to be able to enjoy life rather than simply struggle for it all the time."

"Like on Birth Island," Ash realized. "And that ocean place where Mizuna lives. Uh, hey, where is that anyway? And where are we? I thought we were inside the island, but how can there be a jungle and an ocean and all this other stuff crammed in here? Even with that tesseract stuff?"

"We are inside the island's catacombs, and…elsewhere," Chloe said calmly. " Birth Island's underground is like that. Using tesseract technology and the island's multidimensional nature, pocket universes have formed in many areas of the catacombs, self-contained worlds which can be manipulated or grown as we please."

"How very nice for the inhabitants of those worlds," Mewtwo said cheerfully.

"There weren't any, until we populated some of them," Chloe said.

"Even better, now they can worship you and do whatever you please. Or die at your whim," Mewtwo said, equally cheerfully.

"In this place, life has evolved to be fairly peaceful," Chloe continued. "But that's not how it is everywhere." She stopped in her tracks. The group looked ahead and saw why.

They had reached the end of the jungle. Lying before them, past the last line of trees, was a horribly desolate wasteland stretching out in every direction. The ground was burnt and lifeless, the few trees sticking up here and there were twisted and doubled over and looked as if they were in horrible pain. Even the rocks looked miserable.

"What is this place?" Ash whispered, as if afraid to raise his voice and disturb the quiet of the dead land.

"This wasteland is the replica of a planet orbiting an extremely hot blue star trillions of light-years away," Chloe said, pointing up at the sky and a painfully bright blue-white light which shone down on the wasteland with horrible intensity, making the ground appear to waver from the heat. "The star is not only hot, but unstable. Millions of years ago, it flared up in a bubblestorm which ejected a horrific amount of plasma, radiation, and solar materials at the planet's surface. It barely managed to survive, and it still hasn't completely recovered, if it ever will. Life has, as it tends to, managed to cling to existence…but it is an awful life all the same. Observe."

From over the hills of the dead land crawled a hideous creature, with a six-eyed face like a rat, a long, sagging body like a serpent or lizard, and long, gangly legs which seemed barely able to support its weight as it dragged its body on the ground. It was so malnourished they could see its bones through its skin, and some of its flesh looked like it was rotting off. Even from here, they could smell the disgusting stench, and wished they hadn't. The jungle Pokemon looked out sadly at the creature, but did not move from their spots at the forest's edge.

"What is that?" Rayquaza asked, shocked by the creature's horrible condition.

"One of the few remaining species on this planet," Chloe told him. "Since no civilizations have risen here—all were wiped out in the bubblestorm—it has never been given a name. It doesn't even have a name for itself."

"Name for its—" Rayquaza's eyes widened. "You mean it's intelligent? Sentient?"

"Unfortunately," Chloe said. "Yes."

"What's it doing?" Ash asked.

"Looking for food. It won't find any," Mewtwo said, his face hard.

"He's right," Chloe said. "Observe."

They did. The twisted, mutated, dying creature dragged itself along the ground, sniffing and licking at the dirt in desperate hopes of some nourishment. It stiffened suddenly, managing to lift its head and get a whiff of something. More excited, it limped over to a rather unremarkable rock…

And to its horror, the rock suddenly erupted from the ground and revealed itself to be the armored skull of an enormous, grotesque giant worm-creature with hundreds of scrambling little claws and a great gaping maw with millions of slavering fangs, tendrils, and tongues. The rat-like creature shrieked in horror and stumbled back, trying to get away, but it didn't get a chance. With incredible swiftness for such a massive creature, the worm lunged at the rat-thing, grabbing it in its mouth-claws and raising it into the air. The poor thing squealed and thrashed in horror, screaming what sounded sort of like a language, something along the lines of desperate pleading, praying to whatever deity it worshipped, and generally cursing and sobbing pathetically.

"What's it doing?" asked a horrified Ash as numerous claws and tentacles buried itself in the rat-thing's body.

"There is no water left on this planet," Chloe said. "The sun boiled the last of it away over a thousand years ago. So to get moisture, the creatures on this planet have been forced to adapt…by drinking each other's blood and vital fluids."

And that's exactly what happened. They watched, stunned, as the rat-thing shriveled up, its body collapsing in on itself as the worm sucked out its innards through its tentacles, which bulged disgustingly as they greedily absorbed the liquids and other things. When it was finished, the rat-thing was now just a withered, empty skin, which the worm eagerly stuffed into its mouth before burrowing back into the ground, looking as plain and ordinary in the dead field as it had before its prey had come along.

"…Exactly what point are you trying to make here?" Rayquaza asked Chloe after a long moment.

"That life is or can be horrible and being sentient or peaceful doesn't mean you can escape it," Mewtwo said flatly. "That worm was intelligent and had a soul too, just like that rat. And it didn't matter, just as it didn't matter on Earth either. Pokemon and humans ate each other all the time, not caring that they both had souls and were living, thinking, feeling things. No matter how many tranquil places there are like this place and this island, the rest of the universe is full of pain, and suffering, and intelligent creatures slaughtering each other for food or entertainment. Is it any wonder so many wish to end life, when it causes such horrors as this?" He glanced at the Apostle. "Especially when beings such as yourself allow such places to be made and don't bother to change them, allowing the life there to suffer and live in poverty and despair instead of helping them?"

"I did not make this place," Chloe said. "This is not part of our universe, and has not been part of any for a very long time. This is a scene from a planet in the _second_ iteration of the universe, back when sentient life developed for the first time." The wasteland faded away, revealing more jungle, and a large clearing just ahead, made of packed, barren dirt. "The memory of that world, like the memory of all worlds, was recorded in the part of the One's subconscious we call 'outside of time'—where things go when they cease to exist anywhere else. Where everything goes, eventually." She led them into the clearing. The Pokemon bystanders did not come with them, instead circling the clearing and watching them from the edges. Chloe stopped in the middle and turned to face them.

"When the One first fragmented, pretty much all of the souls formed were exactly the same. This changed when those souls began to live," she told them. "As Nabu has told you, souls are something that even to this day are not fully understood. But in those first times, they were essentially like blank recording devices, giving species the little 'spark' they needed to become self-aware but devoid of anything like alignment or experience. That changed once they found living beings to host them." She spread her arms, indicating the Pokemon around them. "Intelligence and temperament evolved across the universe, though the nature of the life with that intelligence and temperament differed due to the environment or how they had evolved. The souls essentially recorded and imprinted the data, memories, and personality of their hosts, and took that information with them when their hosts died and they fled back to the endless subconscious outside the universe. And this is where diversity truly began to form among that which was once uniform.

"Some souls took the personas of creatures in peaceful places such as this," Chloe said, gesturing to the jungle around them. "And so remained fairly gentle and happy and eager to go back into life again. Others grew in harder places, and became harder individuals. Still others grew up in hells such as the one you just saw, and as a result were distrustful and hateful of the others and saw no reason not to attack or harm them. Regardless, most if not all were willing to return to life to try again. And so they did, some returning to the world they had first been born on, or going to others. Some got a life as good or better as the last one, others got worse. This would happen again and again as their souls lived, died, and were reincarnated, taking with them each time an imprint of the personality and memories of whoever they had lived as. As they absorbed more personalities, although they had infinite carrying capacity for such things, they began to specialize, reincarnating for the most part as people somewhat like the ones they had been in past lives. And as this happened over and over as universes were born and died again, they became still more specialized and diverse in their beliefs and temperaments. Many still liked to go back to life, but for differing reasons. Sometimes it was out of a genuine desire to enjoy life, but it might also be from a desire to have more things, or to make up for mistakes they had already made, and often other slightly selfish reasons. Others, however, didn't want to go back to life because they were miserable there and/or would prefer to drift outside of it forever in peace, either lost in their own dreams or staying with those they had formed bonds with both in and outside of time. Some of these grew to hate life because of how awful their lives had been, and wondered if there was a way to end it permanently or at least avoid it, since they would always be thrown back into it when the universe restarted and sentience evolve again.

"And still others began to grow greedy…and wanted to control it.

"A lot of the details between now and then aren't necessary, but what you should know is this: over time, specialized souls began gravitating towards others like them, either people whom they had known and loved in life, or those who believed in the same things they did. Many of these souls would eventually return to life and experience more, but still stick together when they died again, once more because of their core specializations and beliefs they had gathered from their many lives, mainly because most of those lives were similar in one way or the other. And over time, these myriad souls formed group consciousnesses of a sort, becoming larger entities more capable of perceiving reality as a whole and manipulating and understanding the universe. Some in life called them 'gods' when these group consciousnesses manifested occasionally in the physical universe, because they very rarely recognized their own kind while clothed in flesh, most having willingly forgotten who they were each time they reentered the universe so that every experience at life would be fresh and new. Some of these 'gods' were benign, because they had lived good lives throughout the eons and saw no reason not to make the lives of their friends and siblings in life comfortable, for weren't they all the same being deep down, even if many of them began to forget it under their diversity and growth of individual identities?

"Other gods, though, were not so benign. Many of them saw life as a bad thing. Still others wanted to control it. The opinions of these gods varied significantly depending on the souls which made them up and the lives they had led, so their motives and visions of life differed as well. Those who were of the same mind eventually banded together, and numerous factions of souls were formed, each arguing over life and whether or not they should continue experiencing it as they once had. These arguments eventually led to war, and if the gods were fighting, then certainly so were their mortal brethren and reincarnations, who were gods as well, even clothed in flesh, as we all are. And so this differing opinion over life and its continuation led to the true growth of what you call evil, the desire to control, conquer, or end the lives of those around them. The war of the gods continued in their mortal forms, as they diversified yet again into heroes and villains, or in less obvious roles. This war became imprinted deeply in the subconscious of the One, as all things do, and eventually this began to reflect in the worlds. Strife, either accidental or intentional, began to become more common throughout the universes, something ingrained into it. Suffering had always been a part of life, in a sense, but now more people began to think it was absolutely necessary, and they and others had to suffer too either because they believed differently or because they themselves were not 'worthy,' whatever that meant to whoever thought it at the time.

"The wheel of time continued to turn, and the universes were reborn and died and reborn, as were the souls making up the group consciousnesses. Life slowly, steadily began to grow a little worse in the worlds, and some people began to lose interest in just living and became more focused on satisfying themselves in every way possible, whether by helping or hurting people. And this of course only kept the war going both in and outside of time on both the epic and mundane levels, for the souls were making life better or worse for themselves and others, and making the factions that much more certain that they were right and the others were wrong. 'Good' became stronger, and so did 'evil', and each more certain the other had to be defeated to make everything the way it should be."

"And of course, they only made things worse for everyone," Mewtwo said bitterly. "I should know, since I was part of it. Well, everyone was, really. Even you three." He glared meaningfully at his companions. "Even, amazing as it may sound, _Ash_." Ash scowled at him.

"This story…I have never heard it, but it is so familiar. I…remember it?" Rayquaza said uncertainly. "Not the parts outside of time, but many of my past lives. I have always been caught up in this war, haven't I?"

"Everyone has, in one way or another," Chloe said. "The debate to continue life, or destroy it. Eventually, this polarized all the factions together into two great sides. The group consciousnesses melded together to form two massive many-minded beings, one which wished for life to continue because life could bring joy, and one which wished to end it because life caused endless suffering. Due to this polarization of souls, good and evil became both more clearly defined and much more blurred inside of time as the soul-components of either of the two entities were reincarnated again and again and clashed or befriended each other depending on the circumstances. Many have switched sides more than once as their experiences in life changed, and so quite a number of souls have been part of both entities at one point or another, and as such there is a bit of both in every soul. You are one of them, Mewtwo, as are you, Rayquaza. And you too, Latias." The dragon girl blinked at this.

"What about me?" Ash asked.

"For the most part, you have been on the side of the entity which wishes life to continue," Chloe said. "And while other aspects of you may have desired otherwise, overall you are on the side of life."

"Oh, good," said Ash. He paused. "Wait, what do you mean by 'aspects?'"

"That will be explained later. Now, the two entities continued waging war against each other both in life and outside it, growing more and more polarized in their collective mindsets as they did so. It did not help that many souls, upon dying and remembering the truth of existence, were so tired of the fight that they simply encased themselves in dream and stopped actively participating in the decisions of the collective, although they remained a part of it, more satisfied to remain in a paradisiacal afterlife of their own making than have to really work to defend it. Others who were tired were so sick of fighting they just quit, staying on no side but their own, trying to avoid helping either one of the entities."

"Like me, now," Mewtwo said flatly.

Chloe nodded. "Yes, like you. And the war continued, and more souls got tired, and that began to reflect in both of the collective combatants. The entity on the side of life had become a series of interconnected paradises and Heavens reflecting the desires for peace and an end to war that most of the souls making it up now shared, and shared it so much that they shut out the natures of their own existence and embraced the fantasy around them. Whenever life or the universe ended, the collective would absorb the joy and 'positive' energy generated by the lives lived, and grow stronger from it, and give some of that energy back into the souls which chose to live again so that they might either live good lives or help others to do so. As for the good entity itself, which had long since developed its own sense of identity and was itself a part of time occasionally in the form of especially powerful beings fighting for free will and life, the beliefs of souls both in time and outside of it had made it into a paragon of sorts, a symbol of what life can become if all worked towards the betterment of the future together…but it was exhausted of fighting, exhausted of being the thing which everyone believed in and prayed to and pleaded for help from, exhausted of having most of its constituent parts either dreaming or leaving it to go back for life and sometimes not coming back, going to the other side instead, no matter how much joy it gained from just living.

"Similarly, the other entity, also known as the Beast, had changed as well. It represented the fears, hatred, cruelty, and hopelessness of its constituent parts, most of whom had long grown tired of living and either being hurt or endlessly fighting against the 'forces of good'. While the other entity was a paradise, this one was a hell, for many of the souls making it up were either insane or had truly had become so despicable due to all their frustrations and reincarnations that they were essentially pure evil, their twisted views on reality affecting the dreams of the weaker-minded souls around them, corrupting them into never-ending nightmares in which they suffered horribly forever. The Beast absorbed the pain and 'negative' emotions and energies generated in life and grew stronger from those, and passed some of that pain and negativity both to its constituent parts and to those who returned to life, for a soul must pass by or through both entities to return to the time stream, and in doing so once more becomes an agent of either side in the war."

"I've been there," Mewtwo said quietly. "It was there that I stopped caring…stopped caring about life, or love, or changing things, and just wanted to be left alone. Where I saw that no matter how many lives I lived, I was still a puppet being jerked around by either side. It was there I finally realized existence had no meaning."

"The irony of both entities is that they are only like that because of the souls making them up," Chloe said sadly. "The paradise stays that way because many of the souls there are happy staying the same and having everything they want and not striving to truly evolve. The hell stays the way it is because many of the souls have always been downtrodden or miserable and it's much easier to stay that way and hurt than try to do anything, because it might fail, or because for some reason they like it that way, or don't like it but are too weak to change it. And while the 'good' entity is happy that its parts are happy and sees its souls returning to life to experience more as a good thing, and the Beast has become so twisted due to the angry, beaten, and dissatisfied minds making it up that it enjoys that its souls are suffering and is pleased that many of those souls who desperately clung for life and left keep coming back to it because they prefer either ruling or being tortured and enslaved than having to think for themselves in life, both are equally tired. They have fought for aeons in endless incarnations and through countless agents of all kinds, and both are tired of fighting and would be more than happy to simply drift about, whether in blissful dreams or endless torment, forever. But neither can stop, for it has become so ingrained into them and the One's subconscious that they are both driven to struggle against each other forever, in life and outside it. The cycle of life had become a trap from which nobody can escape. And that is why both of them, in their own way, want to break the cycle."

"How?" Ash asked. "How can they stop fighting each other?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Mewtwo said. They looked at him. He laughed bitterly. "I figured it out ages ago. They need to become one again. _The_ One, to be precise."

"The…One?" Latias asked, feeling a momentary flash of…something.

"Of course!" Rayquaza said, amazed. "These two entities, one essentially good and the other essentially evil, represent the embodiment of the majority of souls, even if most of them are constantly going back and forth between life and death. And all souls are part of the One. Since they were able to gather into collective consciousnesses in the first place, that must mean they can fuse into a _single_ one as well, the One they all started from!" He frowned. "But then why don't they just agree to fuse, and so end the fight they are all tired of?"

"Because they can't, obviously," Mewtwo said with a snort. "They're bound by the 'fate' dictated to them by the subconscious to always oppose each other. They can't agree to simply stop, otherwise this war would have ended a long time ago. And each being as different as they are, it's obvious they both have different ideas of how this fusion is to go about."

Chloe nodded. "That's correct. While both entities are group consciousnesses, they have also developed cores, groupings of souls that have bound together so tightly they represent the soul of the entity. That soul is so large it cannot leave the main body of the entity itself without causing the whole group consciousness to fall apart, but it can project a part or parts of its innermost self into the time stream in the form of great beings of good or evil."

"Then…that's what Deoxys and the Mother really are!" Ash realized in astonishment.

"And I saw several others inside Deoxys' castle, fragments of the Beast's central consciousness. A version of myself from a parallel world was one of them," Mewtwo said.

Chloe nodded. "Yes, since a bit of them is inside every living thing in varying sizes, depending on the soul and which entity they spend most of their time as, almost any soul has the potential to become an avatar of either entity, depending on the right circumstances. In fact, this means that they can often have multiple embodiments in a given universe, although most of the embodiments don't know what they are half the time, and often fight each other even when they're supposed to be on the same side out of confusion. In any event, to fuse back into the One, both entities know that they will need access to each other's core essence to undergo the fusion, since by fusing with that core they will automatically cause all the souls connected to that essence through their respective group consciousness to become a part of the new combined being. The size and diversity of the souls making up that being will then cause the wayward spirits to gravitate towards it, recombining into the One from which all started."

"And…the Mother was intending to do that to Deoxys' soul, correct?" Rayquaza guessed. "Because…she is the embodiment of the 'good' entity, and Deoxys is the embodiment of the 'evil' one, the Beast. They are both reflections or pieces of their core essences. And so theoretically, absorbing one should affect the rest of the core, since the embodiment and entity are directly linked, right?"

Chloe nodded. "Yes. That was the Mother's primary plan, to weaken Deoxys to defeat with your help and immerse his soul in her own, fueled by the power of the other souls around her to keep her from being overwhelmed. That is, in part, why she may have created Birth Island and the Sevii Archipelago, at least subconsciously; to ensure there would be people when the time came who would give her the strength she needed to overcome her eternal foe."

"But it didn't work out that way…" Ash said softly.

Chloe nodded. "Yes, but the Mother planned for that possibility, otherwise we would not be here now."

"Instead of planning for it," Mewtwo commented. "Maybe she should have worked harder at making sure her original plan worked better. Or of finding a way to weaken Deoxys more, instead of letting him become so strong. Or of really winning the last war she had with him on Earth, instead of letting him have the chance to recover and destroy everything again. Or is _that_ part of her plan, too?" Mewtwo began getting angrier. "Did she plan to let Deoxys grow strong and destroy everything? Did she plan to let him win all along?"

"It was the Unown, actually, who helped coordinate everything," Chloe said.

Mewtwo laughed bitterly. "Of course. Why am I not surprised?"

"The Unown, in one of their prior incarnations, used their unbiased perspective, when asked by the benign entity, to calculate which course of actions would result in the optimal result…which was for all souls to recombine not just into the One, but into a benevolent being who would care for life and start over, rather than the version of the One which would come into being if Deoxys wins, an indifferent or even cruel One who will let existence end and remain in contented self-contemplation forever," Chloe said. "And this current series of events was well within the Unown's calculations. There is still a chance to turn everything around and recreate the benevolent One, even as Deoxys unmakes reality around us."

"How interesting," Mewtwo said, bored. "That a being who represents and believes in the spirit of free will would trigger such a series of events _without_ asking everyone whether they wished to suffer the possible fate of being torn from the fabric of reality as Deoxys unwove it and flung them into Hell, just for a little while, so that she can rescue them and force them to lose their identities by becoming One again. How nice to know she's such a tremendous hypocrite."

"Actually," Chloe said, "She did ask."

There was a pause. "Did she now?" Mewtwo asked, frowning.

"Yes. As the entity, she asked all of her constituent souls if they wanted to risk it in the brief few moments when they were all together again at the same time between the death of the last universe and the birth of the current one. They agreed, if not unanimously, at least in majority, that it might be worth trying, at least to stop the war once and for all."

"And…I agreed to this?" Mewtwo asked with a frown.

Chloe nodded. "Certainly. Don't you remember?"

Mewtwo shook his head, looking bewildered. "No, I don't…I remember less than I thought I did. It must be because I was summoned back into time. Now that I think about it, I'm sure I knew more before I was dragged back here by these fools, including much of what you've told us now." He frowned, disconcerted. That was understandable. Nobody liked having holes in their memory.

"Did we agree, too?" Ash asked.

"Certainly," said Chloe. "All of the Chosen did. And not just you, but everyone who's helped you on your journey, who's fought alongside you, who's risked their lives and lost them so you all could keep fighting. All of them agreed to this course, no matter what the consequences might be, because they believed the future that might come from this would be worth the risk."

"I see…" Rayquaza murmured. "Most interesting." He glanced at Latias. "Do you remember this, Latias?"

She shrugged. "I don't know." She looked less certain than usual as she said this, though.

"So…that's what all this is about?" Ash asked, after a moment. "What life, what all of existence really is? And what's going on now, this is part of some back-up plan to beat Deoxys and remake the One?"

"Essentially, yes," Chloe agreed.

"And you're not going to tell us how we're going to do that, are you?" Mewtwo asked flatly.

"You already know," Chloe said with a smile. "Or did, before you came back into the time stream. You'll remember when you leave again."

"Figures," Mewtwo grumbled.

"Now, Rayquaza," Chloe said. "You have learned much now, learned things that you already knew but did not recall until now. And now it is time for your test."

Rayquaza nodded. "All right. What riddle must I solve this time?"

"It's not a riddle I want so much as…a memory," the plant spoke.

"A memory?"

"Yes," she said. "Tell me, Rayquaza, how did the bond between you and Latias first form?"

Rayquaza looked startled. "Our bond?"

"Yes, the connection between your souls, the bond formed by love, a force present in one of the two entities but not the other, the force which will be necessary in the One for it to become a benevolent being rather than indifferent. Love has bonded many souls together throughout history, and caused them to be reincarnated together many times in different forms. This is understandable, because in a real sense, love is the thing which connects _everything_ together." She spread her arms. "All souls were once one. Everything was once one. _The_ One. And in a way, it still is, for while we exist as individuals we are all connected. The One became many because it wished to make life more than it was, and that was good. However, it is love in all its forms which ties souls together again, and allows them to draw strength from each other to create a greater unity than any would think possible. It is love which so often conquers evil, even if it may also cause it to be unleashed upon the worlds…for love, like life, is a power all its own, for good or for evil, but it is still something we are better off with than without." She glanced back at the dragon. "So tell me…where did the love which binds you begin? When did you and Latias meet in life, not necessarily for the first time, but the time when you became soulmates? Do you remember?"

"I…" Rayquaza blinked. "I've been remembering more and more the deeper we've gone…but…that seems so long ago." He frowned. "And I have had so many lives with her. When was…when was the first?"

"The answer is within you," Chloe said. "Your soul remembers all of it, even if your mind does not. All your past lives, all your experiences, have been recorded there. That is part of what a soul does, after all."

Rayquaza frowned, concentrating. Images flickered through his mind, kingdoms and worlds which he had ruled, all dead and long gone…and yet not, not really, for all of them were still inside him, weren't they? And in that subconscious, the substrate of matter, the power through which all knowledge flowed, even this. And if that substrate was part of him, and he of it, then surely he should be able to use it instead of just being aware of it, right?

And so he concentrated, looking back, back, far back through time, past universes and incarnations and more lives than he could count, past kingdoms and empires, enemies and allies, friends he had met again and again…and always there, always beside him; his Queen, Latias, in one form or another. But where was the point in time where she first became that Queen? Where was…

Aha. He found it.

He opened his eyes. "It was on Earth," he said. "Not our Earth anyway, but a different one, for there have been many Earths in universes past, not to mention the ones in parallel ones."

"What happened there?" Chloe asked gently.

"I was a ruler…in fact, I think that was the first time I was ever a king," he said in surprise. "I was proud, and fierce, and honorable…but vicious, oh yes, very vicious indeed." The scenery began to change around them, from a lush jungle to a battlefield littered with the corpses, bones, and wounded forms of enormous creatures. Lightning crackled from the thunderclouds above, and great and terrible roars could be heard off in the distance as titanic forms clashed and struggled in the near distance, striking each other with claw and tail and fang and all sorts of energy projections. Ash started as an especially large stray fireball crashed down next to them and exploded. Mewtwo watched on with curiosity, as did Chloe and Latias, but Rayquaza was the one remembering all this, and so it did not surprise him. "Due to some genetic mutation, I and five other ancient beings had been gifted with immortality. We formed great armies and waged war for nearly fifteen million years, ruled by our primal instincts and thirst for domination. We fought and we fought, and it seemed as if that was all there would ever be, war, and blood. And I reveled in it." He shook his head, somewhat disgusted by his past self. "All that changed one day, though…as peculiar as it may sound, a wizard from another universe appeared and laid all six of us low, for our great battles were causing disruptions across reality." Off in the distance, the monstrous forms stopped their fighting and looked up in surprise as a small figure appeared with a flash of light high in the air. The titans roared furiously at the intruder who dared to interrupt their battle, until the figure gestured with a staff, and lightning blasted down from the skies and smashed the beasts to the ground, their roars of agony shaking the earth. "Because we were immortal, or something like it, the wizard could not kill us. So instead, he killed our followers, our armies…our people…so that we could war no more."

The wizard gestured again…and a tremendous wall of flame rushed out in every direction. Ash started again, but the fire passed over them unharmed…though the same could not be said of the corpses and wounded, which were now completely incinerated. "Hmm," Mewtwo said, without comment.

"The wizard then imprisoned the six of us with powerful magic so that we would never trouble the Earth again, and allow a new species to have the chance to rule," Rayquaza continued. There was a flash of light, and the six figures off in the distance streaked away in different directions across the sky, vanishing over the horizon. The wizard then vanished without a trace. "Time passed, over millions of years, and the world came under the control of a new power…the human race." The scene fast-forwarded, and they found themselves in the middle of a city street much like the ones Ash and Mewtwo had been used to in their travels, although a bit bigger, louder, and dirtier than any Ash had ever been to. Plus, while there were plenty of humans, no Pokemon were anywhere to be seen. "For a brief time, the Earth was theirs. That didn't last for long, though." The ground shook as an extremely large shooting star shot across the skies and went down past the city skyline in the distance. There was a flash of light, and a tremendous explosion which wiped the city out and washed over them…but Ash was used to it by now, and didn't yelp as everything vaporized around them but the wave of destruction left them unharmed. "A meteor fell from the heavens and struck the planet with such force that the spell the wizard had used to bind us was broken…and we six were once more released upon the world. We renamed the planet in our image, and took control of the human race, our new followers and armies in the wars to come, for millions of years of imprisonment didn't quench our thirst for conquest one bit, and now we had a whole new world to fight over again. And it didn't help that a new immortal arose, once human, but now nothing more than a beast."

The flame and light from the explosion vanished, and they found themselves in another battlefield, much like the one before…except instead of the corpses of immense beasts, the ground was covered in human bodies, horribly mangled, burnt, shredded, and otherwise torn to pieces…and not necessarily by the seven immortal monsters either, but by their own hands. Even in death, there was a horrible zeal of fanaticism in their eyes, and in the war paint strewn across their naked or armored bodies. Off in the distance, shining in the moonlight and the fires generated by the great battle, the titans were fighting once more, though now they numbered in seven instead of six, as the ground shook and caved open all around them, human bodies slipping into crevasses and rivers of lava bursting up to the surface. "There was no wizard to stop us this time. His world had died long ago, and so there was nobody to interfere in our battles. Still, we were determined to finish it this time instead of drawing it out over millions of years, lest we attract the attention of even greater forces. So we fought, albeit with weak (but tasty) human armies, and we warred, and, finally…finally…it ended." He chuckled, somehow both amused and saddened at the same time. "Although not how I would have wished it, with me as the sole remaining immortal…no, I wasn't nearly so lucky." There were now only two titans standing. The other five had either collapsed from grievous injuries or toppled into the fissures opening up around them, and none rose again. The last two monsters, one a rather large orange and white-striped beast much like a Raptos with a feathered crest, the other a blue-green and purple-striped bipedal serpentine creature with an Arbok's hood and a very long tail ending in a blade; clawed at each other savagely, the raptor with nothing more than claw and fang, while the serpent utilized acidic spit, venomous fangs and strikes from its tail, as well as what looked like extremely powerful spells. They backed away from each other, both extremely bloody and scarred, and hissed at each other furiously. The raptor crouched, preparing for one last strike. The serpent raised its claws, crackling with arcane energy. With a roar of fury, the raptor charged, leaping over the spell fired by the serpent and arcing through the air towards its final enemy's head, taloned leg out for a devastating kick…

And the serpent's barbed tail flashed out of nowhere and pierced the raptor through the gut, stopping it dead in the air, transfixed with a horrified expression on its face. Desperately, it clawed at the tail, trying to cut it off or remove it…but it was no use, the raptor was far too weakened from its other wounds, and the serpent's tail venom was already taking effect on it. It screamed in pain, its muscles convulsing in horrible agony as the poison coursed through its body, taking advantage of its weakened immune system to do horrific damage. The serpent cackled, a long, modulating hiss, and flicked its tail, tossing the raptor off and onto the ground. The dinosaur, writhing in pain, struggled to get back to its feet and fight again…

But the serpent stomped down hard on its neck, pinning it in place, and raised its tail, the blade gleaming in the light of the flames burning all across the wasteland… and brought it down again, and again, and again, blood spurting with every strike. The raptor thrashed in agony, gave out one last broken scream, a cry of despair and defeat and failure…and was silent. The serpent raised its head to the moon and laughed, a triumphant roaring, modulating hiss echoing across the shattered battlefield as sign that it was the last one standing.

"That should have been the end of me," Rayquaza said. "According to our own 'sacred' rules of combat. Then again, she always had been one to break the rules when they didn't suit her."

"'She?'" Ash asked in surprise.

"Yes, Ash," Rayquaza said. "That terrifying, utterly insane and completely evil creature you see there standing over my broken body was Latias, in a prior incarnation."

They turned to look at Latias, who was in turn looking at her prior self with a strange feeling of familiarity. Mewtwo raised an eyebrow in interest. "Are you sure?" Ash asked doubtfully after a moment. "I mean, she's…well, not her self right now, but still…I can't really picture her being like that…_thing!_"

"I was rather horrible myself, in those days," Rayquaza said. "We change from life to life. The roles we may be given tend to stay the same, but we change to fill them better. That's part of the cycle too, I believe." Chloe nodded in agreement.

"Hey, where was I, then?" Ash asked suddenly. "Was I here too, or somewhere else? Ooh! Was I that human immortal or whatever?"

Mewtwo burst into laughter at the thought. Rayquaza raised an eyebrow. "You? No, that immortal was not even remotely human, not really. He sacrificed his humanity by trying to achieve the same kind of divinity we had, destroying his sanity in the process and becoming a foul, disgusting monster. You were…" The dragon frowned, trying to remember. As he did so, the scenery around them changed to match the shift in memory, becoming…

A bright, immense cavern, full of grunts, moans, screams of horrible pain, and the sound of whips on flesh. Their noses were struck instantly by the scent of hundreds of thousands of filthy, unwashed bodies, mixed with the smell of dust, sulfur, and some noxious substance which made their heads spin. They were in a very large cave which seemed to have been transformed into some nightmarish factory, with wooden catwalks and stone ledges crisscrossing in the highest reaches above enormous, towering vats set into the ground filled with some kind of golden, bubbling molten substance that was the source of the head-spinning odor. Thousands of human slaves labored endlessly in this chamber, their cries of despair and misery ringing throughout the giant space. On the lowest levels, the humans, heavily shackled and chained, shoveled coal from the tremendous piles around them endlessly into the furnaces at the base of each vat, keeping the flames nice and hot so that the molten liquid inside would stay that way. Whenever a slave was too slow in throwing their coal into the fire, the overseers, which looked oddly like miniature crossbreeds of the raptor and serpent immortals from the last battle, would either beat the pathetic human horribly or simply throw him into the fire.

Higher up, the slaves were laboriously mining ore from shafts dotting the cave walls in huge chain gangs. As the group watched, an overseer struck a particularly old and weak-looking human who was holding up the rest of the gang with a crack from its whip-like tail. The weakling, its back already crisscrossed by many years of scars, gave a long, shrill cry of pain…and collapsed, almost pulling down the other slaves it was chained to. The nearest overseers gathered, whipping at the slaves to force them back to work instead of gawking like imbeciles, and then assaulted the collapsed slave repeatedly to see if it was still alive. When they saw it was not, they proceeded to devour it whole, right there in front of the other terrified slaves, who worked faster out of fear that they would be eaten next.

The ore, once extracted from the shafts by the chain gangs' pickaxes or bare, raw and bloody hands (often with missing fingers due to work accidents or hunger), was carried over to very large metal buckets hanging just below the level of the tunnel entrances and connected to an incredibly complex series of pulleys and conveyors which could not only move the buckets from shaft to shaft, but also raise them to higher levels, possibly for use in transporting slaves and not just ore. The overseers clearly had no need for such conveyances, seeing as how they were able to teleport from area to area in quick bursts of magic, as the viewers saw through simple observation. Once the buckets were filled to the brim with ore for a given mineshaft, an immense and diabolical mechanism composed of numerous belts, gears, and wheels was put into motion to move the specific bucket up to the top of the chamber, where it was then tipped over by overseers with hooks to dump the minerals into the vats. This master control mechanism was operated by lashing over a hundred slaves to a giant turnstile at the base of the contraption and whipping them into motion, so that they would push and strain with all their might to turn the device and set the multitude of gears above into motion. Individual camwheels and gearshafts were shifted by the use of slaves running on large gerbil wheels or conveyors all about the giant machine to move parts of it about and allow it to control numerous buckets at a time, since the efficiency of the slaves as well as the amount of each ore in each shaft was rather uneven.

"What…what is this!" Ash asked, shocked.

"This was the fate of the human race once Latias' prior incarnation took over," Rayquaza said, as if from a faraway place. "Total enslavement, their lives become worthless and used solely for labor or as food for the Queen and her 'master race', so to speak. Thousands died by the day, but by rounding up every female human whenever she became old enough to bear offspring, they were able to supply the Queen with an endless supply of slave labor through forced breeding. If the females were barren or became incapable of breeding, they were either devoured, put to work in far more strenuous conditions than these, used to provide entertainment and sexual pleasures for the male slaves and overseers of both genders, or given to the Queen, who would do things to them so awful I shall not speak of them. And…if I'm correct…" Rayquaza absent-mindedly pointed a claw at a particularly scrawny slave, one of the ones hitched to the giant turnstile which operated the bucket-mover. "That's you down there."

Ash's eyes widened. "That's me!"

"Don't feel bad," Mewtwo said patronizingly. "We can't always get what we want when we reincarnate. I should know, I almost never have."

"But why would you let something like this happen!" Ash demanded of Chloe.

"Do you mean the enslavement of Earth or your personal enslavement?" she asked.

He paused. "Uh, the first one!" he said.

"Simple, I didn't let it happen," she said. "I wasn't alive then. I'm not sure I even had a prior incarnation or anything like that in that iteration of the universe."

"…Oh," he said, embarrassed. "Well, then, why didn't those god-things or entities or whatever stop it? Those big groups of souls?"

"How?" Chloe asked. "As dead souls, the majority of their power inside time is subliminal unless they can manifest directly, which doesn't happen very often. It's up to the living to do the majority of the work in the universes, except for certain circumstances." She shrugged. "And I'm not sure it would have mattered much, anyway. Since the war took place inside of the One's subconscious, which was everywhere, and continued both inside and outside of time, it has become ingrained into it. Now every living thing, consciously or unconsciously, fights in the debate for life or against it at some point in their existence. That debate manifests in the physical universes in countless possible variations, the rise of an evil empire being only one of many negative outcomes, several of which are even worse. Then again, some are better too. You were unlucky this time around. In a parallel version of the same world, you were more lucky. Existence is complicated that way."

"It could indeed have been worse," Rayquaza said. "Marginally. At least in this instance the human race lived instead of being completely extinguished, or turned into zombies, or something of that nature. If I had ended up ruling the world, your species would have gotten a significantly more benign fate than this…namely that of cattle, maintained by my microraptors."

"Cattle!" Ash cried.

"Better that than being turned purely into food by one or two of the other immortals," the dragon pointed out. "Or the fate that _did_ happen to them, at least in this timeline."

"You don't even sound remotely guilty about using humans as cattle!" Ash challenged.

Rayquaza shrugged apologetically. "You're right; I don't, not like I still feel guilt for destroying Alto Mare. But it's difficult to feel guilty for something done in a life so long ago there's no word in the human language that translates the timescale for it. It feels at times more like a dream than something that really happened."

Ash still wasn't happy. "And you don't feel guilty either!" he demanded of Latias.

She blinked. "No," she said. "I don't remember how to feel guilty."

"…Oh. Right."

"I was insane then, anyway," she said idly, remembering this past life more and more as Rayquaza described it. "I'm insane now, too, actually." She looked at Ash. "Do you want me to do now what I did then?"

"N-no! No way!" he yelled.

She blinked. "Okay." Mewtwo smirked, amused and somewhat regretful that he would not be seeing Latias torture and enslave Ash.

"Rayquaza," Chloe said. "Where are you at this point in time?"

"Hmm? Me? Oh, right…" The scene began to fade again. "As I said before, I should have died at the end of the last battle, but she—Latias' prior incarnation--spared me. Not out of kindness or compassion, mind you, but purely for her own sick and twisted desires." He smiled ruefully. "You see, as it turns out, she had always lusted for me, for millions of years. She longed to take my free spirit and crush it totally. To that extent, she kept me alive so that I could stay with her forever."

"How?" asked Ash as another room began to form around them. "Couldn't you just escape or something? Or kill her?"

"Ah, but she took that into consideration," Rayquaza said. "You see, she had always been an incredibly powerful sorceress." He glanced at Latias fondly. "But even her magic was nothing compared to the wizard who imprisoned us and paved the way for human domination of Earth. So, once we had all been freed, she swore that she would never be outdone by another mage again, and devoted all her free time to becoming the most powerful sorceress in the entire galaxy, if not the universe. She did everything, absolutely _everything_, she felt necessary to accomplish that task. She willingly submerged herself in even greater insanity and almost lost her identity entirely, were it not for her incredible greed and lust for power…and me, I suppose. She made deals and fornicated with all sorts of devils and evil creatures, entered into dark pacts, sacrificed billions of the souls of her human followers to gain more power, etc, becoming more and more twisted and deranged in the process, so twisted that if she ever died, she would almost certainly become one of the many ruling souls of the hells making up the body of the evil Beast, surpassing the malevolence of many of the monsters she had bargained with in the first place. With the power she gained, she was able to easily play the other immortals against each other, drain them of their powers, and kill them, finishing me off last. But using her now-tremendous powers and mastery of voodoo, she bound me to her, body and soul, as her eternal consort and bondslave. I would not be able to leave her if I wanted to, nay, I _wouldn't_ really want to, since I was now bound to her and found myself inextricably devoted and attracted to her in ways you might find extremely disgusting and perverted, despite my fierce, free spirit of survival."

The scene completed itself, resolving into another enormous chamber, incredibly opulent and built for an owner of giant proportions. The floors were tiled in spotless white marble which on closer observation were the skeletons of billions of humans and assorted other creatures melted together into a near-solid mass, carpeted in giant scaled and furred rugs that looked remarkably like the skins of the other immortals they had seen fighting each other previously. Several actually looked like the raptor who had been Rayquaza's past self, which was odd, since there should only have been one of him, not so many of them, and especially not of the same size. Similar rugs hung from a few of the walls, as well as empty human skins sewed together to create immense and gruesome wall hangings, the various shades of bound skin creating disturbing patterns. A domed roof capped the room, painted to show the planet Earth from space, with its current serpentine dictator curled around it lovingly, lit by glowing rocks which looked disturbingly like skulls screaming in torment. Similar portraits of the world's current ruler lined some of the walls in between the skin rugs, as did paintings of gruesome and disgusting horrors, and statues of the same. Whatever walls weren't occupied by these grotesqueries or skins were taken up by enormous shelves and racks housing scrolls, tomes and grimoires with auras that warped and puckered the air around them, evil-looking concoctions and bottled ingredients which looked as if they should never ever be opened, numerous torture devices and other diabolical (possibly magical) contraptions, cages containing malnourished and mutilated humans and other mutated creatures, and, oddly enough, quite a large collection of stuffed dolls. Many chains and fiendish torture devices were scattered haphazardly about the floor, all of them covered in both wet and dried blood and looking as if they were used frequently and recently. In the far corner of the chamber was an extremely large swimming pool or bath, filled with blood instead of water. In the near corner was a large archway covered in obscene-looking runes which burned the air and created some kind of force field preventing entry from the vaulted corridor outside. Just in case, though, there were a number of guards, like the overseers but tougher-looking and wearing more armor, both standing at positions inside the room and at guard in the hallway outside. Just because you were the all-powerful ruler of the world didn't mean you couldn't be paranoid, after all.

And speaking of said ruler, she was currently curled up in a large nest formed from bones and held together by tendons in the middle of the room, covered by a large patchwork blanket knitted together using the hair and scalps of two hundred human slaves. She looked even more terrible up close than she had from a distance, all blueish-green with purple markings, yellow eyes, and several horns growing from her cobra-like head, her form crackling with barely repressed power. She also looked completely relaxed, no doubt just finished from a bath in the blood pool and resting after a long day of being an evil queen. Rayquaza smiled oddly as he looked at her. "Evil as she was, I still can't help but love her." He grinned at Latias. "You've always been magnificent, you know, no matter what your form. Even now I can't help but feel attracted to you, that other you I mean. That's love, I suppose."

"I thought she originally bound you with a spell," Ash pointed out.

"Oh, she did, but it eventually became something more," the dragon said. "It often does. Well, not always, but…never mind."

The evil immortal gave a long sigh of contentment…then frowned, as if something was missing. A gruesome smile formed on her face and in her large, luminescent eyes brimming with insanity. Raising her head on its long, serpentine neck, she gave a long, sibilant hiss at her guards. They instantly teleported away, leaving her, as they always did when she gave that command. Her body rose up slightly, her blanket sliding down her curved back, and she hissed again, this one more of a throaty croak which caused her eyes to flare and her cobra hood to flare out.

There was a crack and a flash of light…and the raptor immortal, Rayquaza's prior incarnation appeared before the nest. He had been in a bad shape when last they saw him, and he didn't look much better now. His colors were pale and dull, his feathery crest was either torn out or matted to the back of his neck, his claws were broken off, the tip of his tail was gone, and it looked as if at least one limb was broken. His form was thin and somewhat malnourished, his bones showing through his skin, which wasn't in particularly good condition itself. His hide was filthy and covered with dozens of bruises and scabs and several hundred scars and wounds that hadn't healed quite properly and looked rather painful, some even poisonous. His arms drooped due to the weight of the rather large manacles around his wrists, and his head was hard to keep up from the weight of the metal collar around his neck, a thick chain dangling from it to the ground. His eyes, on the other hand, although somewhat dead at first, flared to life at the sight of the serpentine one, clearly aroused and happy to see her. He took a clumsy, stumbling step forward, a look of adoration and…submission(?) on his face as he approached, looking rather weak. The female also looked happy and aroused to see him, hissing in pleasure as she rose from her nest, casting her blanket off her. She stepped forward, her reptilian figure and curving neck held high above the raptor, who willingly abased himself before her and tilted his head sideways, exposing some of his neck. The female's eyes flashed, and she lunged-

"I really don't have any desire whatsoever to see this," Mewtwo said suddenly. "I don't need the image of the two of you engaging in S+M rattling through my head for the rest of my afterlife."

"Very well." With that, the scenario faded, and they were back in the jungle. "In any event, as you can see, Latias' prior incarnation kept me alive for the sole purpose of being her sex slave, something I rebelled against at first more fervently, but eventually grew to enjoy."

Ash blinked. "You…_enjoyed_ being chained up and beaten and stuff?"

"Oh, not just that, Ash. She kept me locked up in a small, dark cell on the other side of the planet deep beneath a mountain where no sunlight would ever reach me, and fed me (if you could call it food) at very irregular periods to completely mess up my sense of time. It was a totally sealed cavern, only accessible through teleportation, and so I had no way out save whenever she summoned me, which was several times a day and whenever she felt like it, to satisfy her endless desires." Rayquaza said all of this rather conversationally, as if it didn't really bother him much anymore. Then again, it _had_ been so very long ago… "And when she _did_ summon me…well, she often took it upon herself to test any new torture methods on me during our intercourse to see how her slaves would fare. She messed with my mind numerous times with her psychic powers and nearly drove me as insane as her more than once, only to bring me back again. Many times, she got so caught up in playing with me that she became lost in her own madness and slaughtered me horribly. But, she would always bring me back in a new body for her to carve up some more. The bond she had forged would keep me with her even in death."

"But…that eventually changed, right?" Ash asked hopefully. "Somehow, you were able to keep from being broken and managed to turn her from being a crazy tyrant with your love?"

Rayquaza blinked. "What? Of course not!" He laughed, amused. "She remained completely insane and totally corrupt for the rest of her life. I was indeed broken, and came to…well, depend on her. Since she was the only face I ever saw outside the darkness, she was the one who had absolute control over my life. And, as my memories of freedom faded away, she became my only lifeline, the 'light' so to speak that I clung to in the dark of my prison…for even though she always maimed and performed gruesome and unimaginable horrors on me, she…well, brought many pleasures as well." He shrugged as Ash's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "What can I say? She was a goddess. It's practically in the job description that any sex with her is mind-bending and exquisite."

Ash screamed in agony and clutched his head, clawing at his eyes as his imagination conjured up horrible images cooked up by Rayquaza's simple statement. Mewtwo glared at the dragon angrily. "I _told_ you I didn't want any thoughts of the two of you engaging in S+M stuck in my head," he snapped furiously. "And now I'm stuck with them, since you and the idiot over here were both thinking about it when I expressly told you _not_ to, and thinking them so loudly I couldn't help but pick up on them even when I didn't want to. Now I'm going to have to erase my own memory, and that _always_ gives me a tremendous headache!"

"It won't work anyway," Chloe said. "The thought has been released into the data substrate, and the original memory of it was already there to begin with. You can avoid it, but never really get rid of it."

Mewtwo glared at her angrily. "Thank you for telling me that."

Chloe shrugged. "For good or for worse, nothing is ever really lost, just goes somewhere else. Whether you leave it there or take it back in the end is up to you."

Ash frowned. "Wait…then does that mean there'll always be some part of Latias that's like this-" He pointed to her as he said this. "Somewhere else, out there?" Chloe nodded. Ash made a face. "That stinks."

"Would you rather that things could be lost? Precious memories as well as painful ones?" Chloe asked.

"Couldn't we just get rid of one, but leave the other?" Ash asked unhappily.

She shook her head. "That is not the way things are. Even if and when we succeed, and a new universe is formed from the old, there will still be pain. There has always been, it's a part of life, though hopefully there will be a lot less of it. It is what one does with that pain that really matters, not erasing it altogether. If you do, how can a person ever learn or become stronger?"

Rayquaza nodded. "Latias—in the past—broke me, but made me something else in the process, made me depend on her, come to—in a somewhat twisted way—love her. And, while her cruelty did not mellow with time, her madness did, perhaps a little, thanks to me. For I was, in the end, her only true companion, the only person she could really trust and confide in, for nobody else knew of my existence. She had made it that way. And so, in time, as I stayed by her side, her loneliness ebbed…and in time, she too came to love me. In a fashion. And it was because of that mutual love that we are as you see us now." He was reminiscing again, although this time there were no more immersive flashbacks. "Earth, unsurprisingly, was not enough to satisfy her greed. She dominated the rest of the solar system, and expanded out further into the galaxy, her awesome magic and armies of slaves too much for any planet to overcome. But, as was inevitable, she eventually met her match in a foe far greater than she, an avatar of the Beast which ruled half the galaxy. This incredible foe crushed her and her magic and slew her, turning all she owned to ruin. And as she departed from that universe, I followed her, for as I already knew well, not even death could separate us.

"We passed outside of time together, she and I. She had made deals with many creatures from other realities and other incarnations of the Beast to obtain the power she wielded, and so it seemed that her future was set: an eternity ruling a portion of that evil entity's souls, for her power and madness had grown so great as to overshadow that of many of the beings or reflections of the entity who had laid claim to her soul in the first place. But, before she could enter into what may have been her final dominion, I intervened, for while I would have followed her into Hell, indeed, would have had no choice to thanks to the strength in the soul-bond she had forged, I did not wish her to go there, for in a new imaginary world of her own where she could have everything she wished and dominate the weaker souls around her forever and ever, I feared she would have no use of me and I would be forgotten as swiftly as a discarded toy...and then she would be all alone again, and so would I. I did not want that to happen, I did not care about the lives or souls of others, all I wanted was a world just for her and I, just the two of us. And so great was that desire and that (admittedly slightly twisted and selfish at the time) love for her that I was able to exert influence over her directly through our common bond, for it was not simply one-way, had never been. And using that bond, I was able to pull her away, defying the gravitational pull the evil entity exerted on her, and sent both of us tumbling away through eternity.

"She was angry at first, understandably so, after all, I had just deprived her of the chance to rule a kingdom of nightmares that would have made the empire she forged back in life seem like a pleasant dream, and she punished me severely. I didn't care. I had done it both for her and for me, and so I did not regret it. And, although it took her forever to admit it, she did not regret it either, for she found the prospect of staying with me greater than that of ruling a kingdom of the damned, even if I would have stayed by her side, because now there was nothing to distract her from making spiritual love to me forever. And…well, that's what we did," he said sheepishly, earning him more disgusted looks from Ash and Mewtwo. "Until the universe restarted and we were, somewhat reluctantly, reincarnated, our psyches to some extent rewritten in the process, possibly because of the usual 'rebirth amnesia', possibly because we had chosen to spend eternity together rather than in a kingdom of terror, or maybe for some other reason altogether. However, the bond between us remained, and eventually led us back to each other no matter how many worlds kept us apart. And once we were together again…our kingdom was reborn, but not like the ones we had ruled before. No, this was a true kingdom, one where we worked together to govern through love (for the most part) rather than insanity and cruelty. And this happened again, and again, and again, up to the present day." He looked at Latias. "I can't imagine what our lives would be like now if you had not bound us together so long ago, but I don't see any way I could possibly be happier than I am being by your side. Thank you, Latias, for that."

"…You're…well-cum?" she said after a moment. There was a pause. "And…thank…you…too," she continued, struggling a bit. "For…always being there…or always finding me. For…for…" She was having a lot of trouble with this next part. "Sa…ving…me?"

"I would do it again, all of it," he told her. "For you. And I will save you again, from what has been done to you…both this time, and _every_ time. Just as you, so many times, have saved and will save me."

"That's enough," Mewtwo complained, disgusted by this display of affection. "Can we go now? I'm bored. And sickened."

"Very well," said Chloe. "You have learned, and remembered what you already knew. The bond between you and Latias has been recognized and understood, and has grown stronger as a result."

She plucked the seed from her earring and dropped it onto the ground. It glowed and instantly sprouted, growing rapidly into a tree much like the one they had first appeared by. As they watched in amazement, grass spread out from the growing tree's roots, covering the barren dirt. Flowers and mushrooms and saplings popped up as if from nowhere, dotting the clearing. Overjoyed, the jungle's Pokemon rushed in to take part in the growth of new life, while Chloe watched warmly.

Beneath the four travelers, a pool of water formed, spreading out and deepening from one spot to fill in a large space between the still-growing tree's roots. Ash yelped in alarm as the ground dropped out from under his feet and he fell into the pool with a splash, sinking beneath the mirrored surface and vanishing into its unseen depths. Mewtwo was next, crying out as an unseen force pulled him down, followed by Latias, and finally Rayquaza.

As they sank into the pool, which now seemed to be as deep as Mizuna's ocean, they could hear Chloe's voice echoing all around them. _"Go well, travelers. You are almost at the end, but your greatest challenge yet waits ahead…"_ The voice faded, and in silence they sank further and further into the darkness growing all around them.

…

Like the last two periods between Apostles, no story was told as they drifted through the abyss. But after the great amount of information told to them by Chloe, was there really any more story to tell? They had already learned as much as they could about the past, both their own and that of the endless war between good and evil. Whatever surprises were left lay in the future…and that was in a sense far more troubling, for none of them really knew what awaited them, other than Chloe's parting words of the 'greatest challenge yet.' But Rayquaza was unworried by the sentient plant's warning, for he had traveled this far and surpassed every obstacle set before him. Now that he was so close to the end, and the goal of saving Latias, there was no way that he would allow himself to fail. Not now that he knew or recalled the full extent of their bond and how it had formed.

_In a way, it's somewhat fitting,_ he thought to himself as the new world began to resolve around them. _I kept her from becoming a part of the Beast the first time, and many more times after that, and she has done the same for me. And now I must do it yet again, perhaps for the last time._ He narrowed his eyes in determination. _But just because it's the last time doesn't mean I can afford to slip up. I promised to save her, and that's what I'll do. It's what I've _always_ done. How can I do any less?_

The world formed completely around them. The group was now in a rocky cavern littered with lava pools, clutches of eggs, and piles of treasure. From the lava pools, flames and prominences shaped like dragons leaped in and out in great burning arcs. Statues in the form of immense dragon Pokemon or other beings, many of which looked familiar to Rayquaza, stood in many places around the area, surrounded by lava or treasure. Located on four sides of the cave like an English football pitch were huge stone dragon heads, mouths open as if to roar, lava flowing out of their mouths and into the pools. "Wow!" cried Ash, amazed by the vast heaps of gold and jewels piled carelessly about the giant cave. "Look at all this stuff!"

"Don't touch any of it," Rayquaza warned him. "A dragon's hoard is for the most part a very private and treasured thing, much like you humans and your cars. Most Dragon Pokemon had stopped amassing them in your time, or at least kept smaller and less glittery hoards due to the amount of value humans put in such things, but back in my day it was common practice for a Dragon Pokemon to keep at least a small pile of coinage or gemstones to roll about and sleep in." He smirked with more than a little pride. "And as King of the Dragons, I naturally had the largest hoard of all, the envy of all the others!"

"How greedy and money-mongering of you," Mewtwo said dully.

Rayquaza blinked. "Greed had nothing to do with it. Hoards do to some extent reflect status and serve as both marks of skill and something to impress the opposite sex with among dragonkind…but for the most part they're just for us dragons to play and frolic about in. The piles of coinage are also very comfortable against our scales, and keep us nice and warm. And they look very pretty shining in the light of our caverns, don't they?"

"Very," Ash agreed.

Latias blinked, recalling faintly her own hoard in the past, which had been Rayquaza's too. As mates, it was only natural they shared the same treasure. "Shiny…"

"And where did you get your hoard?" Mewtwo asked, crossing his arms. "Tribute from your loving subjects?"

"No, of course not," Rayquaza snorted. "Our hoard was the national treasury."

There was a long silence. "The national treasury," Mewtwo said after a moment.

"Yes, and dragons in other parts of the realm claimed local banks, storehouses, and repositories for their own 'hoards'. Many of them were miffed that their treasure wasn't technically theirs but actually belonged to somebody else and was lent to them for safekeeping, but as long as they could roll around and sleep in it and toss it in the air and let it fall back on their heads, and more came in to replace what was withdrawn, they had nothing to complain about."

"And…your subjects had no problem with large reptiles frolicking in their money?" Mewtwo asked slowly.

Rayquaza looked puzzled. "No. Why would they? What thief in their right mind would try to steal from a bank that just happened to be a dragon's 'hoard'? Not that some didn't try, of course, but few managed to pull it off. Financial security was thought to be well worth the sacrifice of letting a dragon sleep in your money. Actually, the value of the money often went up _because_ dragons slept in it."

"Why?" asked Ash.

"Well, wouldn't _you_ want to purchase something that you knew a dragon had handled?" Rayquaza asked.

"…Uh…maybe…" Ash said uncertainly.

"Dragons have always managed to evoke a certain sense of wonder in the hearts of humans and other species," Rayquaza commented, looking around the cavern. "Why else would they appear so much in fantasy material or other places, even in entertainment? There's something about us…you too now, Ash…which attracts people." He shrugged. "I've never really thought about what that is, actually…Curious. Just accepted it."

"Why _are_ people so fascinated with dragons?" Ash wondered out loud.

"A good question," boomed a voice which echoed against the cavern walls. "One that deserves a good amount of thought to answer."

They turned to see that a large stone platform rising from one of the bigger lava pools further into the cave was now occupied. The platform was ringed with many smaller dragon heads spouting lava into the pool like a fountain, and Rayquaza blinked as he saw that many of the heads looked familiar, perhaps some of his prior incarnations.

Two large statues of stone and steel stood on either side of the platform, each depicting a previously unknown dragon Pokemon. One was on four legs, each of which had thin, high metal blade-like claws in place of toes. A pair of raised stripes ending in a diamond went down to its back knees from a band wrapped around its waist, and a similar pair of stripes grew over the knees of the forelegs, growing from a large silver plate on the chest with extensions growing to the sides and between the forelegs, and a pair of longer, thinner extensions pointing out over the shoulders. A giant blue sapphire was placed in the middle of this chest plate. A long tail grew from the back, with a fan-shaped array of long metal feathers growing out from where the tail met the body. The dragon had a long neck with a diamond-tipped stripe going down either side and three metal fins like a Tristegadon's growing from the back, ending in a head with a long cranium extending backwards with long metal headgear protecting the sides and the blunt face, which had two eyes and a jagged mouth.

The other statue was of a bipedal dragon, its stone form encased in much more metal than its brother. Its thick legs, covered in many vertical strips of armor, ended in three spiky toes with striped heels. Its long tail had a pair of stripes growing back from the tip, and a set of three stripes on the underside growing up to meet the lower body between the legs. The lower chest area was unarmored stone, but the metal continued to cover just about everything else from the torso up. Its shoulders were a pair of large discs with stripes on the edges and a giant opal set in the center of either disk. The arms were covered on top by ridged plates and unarmored stone underneath, ending in five-clawed hands. The metal neck was long and grew right into the head, with a triangular stripe on either side joined up in the back and at the base of the neck, with a pointed ridge growing up the back and to the top of the dragon's head. The head wasn't really separate from the neck, and the armor only broke around the dragon's face, which was similar to the other one and snarling in a roar. A pair of large metal wings grew from the back, sort of bird-like with three big 'feathers' each.

And crouched in between the two statues, almost dwarfing them, was an immense four-legged dragon, slim and sinuous and covered in golden scales with eyes glittering like emeralds and a large pale crystal set in its forehead. It had a long snaky body, five eagle-like talons per foot, and a pair of furled wings which, if spread, would probably span about sixty paces from end to end. It had a ruff of thick fur around its neck and behind its two forked horns like a lion's mane, as well as a bearded chin. Rayquaza absentmindedly rubbed his own chin, wondering if he should try growing a beard, he was sure he had had one before, though not necessarily in this life.

The dragon shook its coils and rose up onto its four legs, staring down at them with its glowing green eyes. "Greetings, travelers. Welcome to my lair." And then, to their surprise, the dragon actually _bowed_ to them.

Latias blinked. "Hello."

Rayquaza flushed, embarrassed. "You don't need to do that," he protested. "I mean, you're an Apostle, I'm just-"

"A King?" Mewtwo said flatly.

"Well, yes. I would have thought a position like that was _beneath_ whatever rank an Apostle might hold, though…" the green dragon said sheepishly.

"Were you any other king, I would not show you such honor," the gold dragon said as it rose back up. "But you are King of Dragons, have always been, in some form or another. Apostle I may be, but I am also a dragon, and as such I recognize your authority and submit to it and that of your Queen's…but only to an extent, for I also serve a power still higher, one that supersedes your governance over me."

Rayquaza nodded. "I understand. In that case, I will make no attempt to convince—or command--you to simply let us pass. My conscience would never let it stand, anyway."

"More's the pity," Mewtwo grumbled.

"My name is Kalaran," the great reptile told them. "Apostle of Dragon, as you no doubt can tell. As for what I embody…" He grinned slyly. "That is for you to guess."

Ash blinked. "It is?"

Kalaran nodded. "Indeed. Oh King of Dragons, tell me this: what is the essence of all dragons? The universal basic nature which all dragons, of every kind and variety, possesses!"

Rayquaza frowned. "The…essence of dragon?"

"That should be no problem for you," Mewtwo sneered scornfully.

"Um…they're all really big?" Ash said doubtfully.

"No, that's not it," Rayquaza murmured, deep in thought. "There are plenty of small dragons, such as Dratini or Bagon or microdragons. Come, now…what is…the _essence_…of dragon?" This was a difficult question, one that forced him to concentrate as hard as he could and dredge up every memory he could find of his past incarnations to try and assist him.

Scales? No, some had fur, or smooth skin, and that wasn't really an essence now was it?

Fire breath? Many dragons could not breathe fire. Some breathed other elements, or just exhaled normal air, it depended on various factors as well as which dragon was being talked about, there were so many varieties after all.

Flight? No, once again that varied. He was going about this the wrong way, if it was essence it couldn't be something merely physical. It had to be deeper…

He thought harder.

Wisdom? Intellect? No, many dragons were stupid, savage beasts.

Beauty? Grace? Just like every other creature, dragons could be ugly and incredibly clumsy. The terms were also rather subjective, so that couldn't be it, could it?

Longevity? Some dragons had very long lives, others fairly short, it differed from species to species. Why did there have to be so _many_?

Well, they were alive…save for the undead ones…but Rayquaza doubted 'life' was the essence Kalaran was talking about.

Strength? No, many dragons were physically weak-

Wait.

Not strength, something related…power?  
Yes. Power. That was the key.

Rayquaza looked up and met Kalaran's eyes. "Power," he said with confidence.

Kalaran tilted his head. "Explain."

"Power is the essence of dragons," Rayquaza stated. "Dragons come in more shapes, sizes, varieties, colors, species, and temperaments than I can imagine, even if I am technically king of them all, somehow. The one thing that all dragons have in common, whether they are good or evil, wise or foolish, cultured or savage, big or small, is power. Dragons are powerful creatures, greater and stronger in most cases than other creatures in whichever world they dwell in. It is that power which causes others to gaze upon them with wonder and fear, and covet them so. Dragons embody power…and that is what you represent, as well."

Kalaran nodded. "Indeed. I represent power."

"What kind of power?" Ash asked.

"All powers, and none. I represent no single power in particular, just like dragons vary in the kinds of power they wield. I embody the fact that power, in whatever form, exists and runs through the worlds and through dragons and all other living things. That power can be used for good or for ill, and it can corrupt but also bring great change…or keep things the same. Power is the ability to do essentially all things, or nothing. Simply put, power is, and those able to use it in its many forms may do with it as they can," Kalaran explained.

"That's nice," Mewtwo said, bored. "Oh well, at least we got through this part relatively quickly. Now we can go to the end."

"That's right," Ash realized. "There's only one more left, isn't there?"

Kalaran nodded. "Indeed," he said. "I was the next to last. Your final challenge lies just ahead, and it will be your most difficult."

"Isn't it always?" Rayquaza asked with a sigh. "Very well. It was a pleasure to meet you, Kalaran."

"And I you, My King," the Apostle said. "I shall see you again shortly, if you pass this final test."

"Let's get to it, then," the dragon king said with a nod. "Send us on our way."

"As you wish!" Kalaran spread his wings, revealing a great golden membrane ribbed by fingers of bone which seemed to spread out into infinity in every direction. He reared back on his hind legs, horned head almost scraping the ceiling, bellowed loudly, and flapped his great wings once…

And with that single flap, reality shattered, and the four travelers were in the dark again, on their way to their final test, whatever that might be.

…

After a timeless plummet through the abyss, the world reasserted itself around them.

"We must be very deep by now," Ash commented, looking around him.

"Assuming we're still in the island at all, and not somewhere else entirely," Mewtwo pointed out. "In some other dimension."

Latias blinked. "Yes." She looked around. "It's white."

It was indeed. They were in a vast rectangular hall made almost entirely out of shining white marble, or some material like it, which glistened and seemed to radiate its own light. Twisting pillars with serpents carved into them reached to the vaulted ceiling high above, which was painted to look like a starry sky. Behind them was an archway opening into an empty darkness, the void from which they had entered this place. At the other end of the hall was an enormous ornate white double door with small stained glass windows near the pointed top and large golden handles halfway down its length. It would take a giant to open that door, for its hinges alone were as tall as Ash.

Before them, in the center of the hall, was a great pit filled with slowly swirling purple liquid that looked (and smelled) rather poisonous. A platform was supported above the pool of liquid by a spindly tripod whose three legs were braced against the edges of the pit. On that platform was a backless chair, and in that chair was the tenth and final Apostle.

Her lower body was like that of a snake's, a long, legless tail which coiled about itself and around the seat of the chair. Its underside was pale, but its scales shimmered, looking like a rainbow as patterns of color formed and changed down its length every moment. The end of the tail was adorned with a featureless bronze ring and wrapped around what looked like a piece of a star that had been fragmented off of the rest and formed into a rod…or was it a figure eight? Or a book? It was very hard to tell. Her upper body was more humanoid, though also covered in scales, but these were much paler, a whiteish-gray to match the room. Her chest was covered by a brassiere shaped like a pair of coiled snakes with tails intertwined in the back, small jewels glittering in the eyes of the serpents. A plain white shawl hung over her head and shoulders and down her back, hiding her face from view for the moment. Her arms were thin, ending in three-fingered claws, with small bronze rings and bracelets covering most of her lower arm up to the elbow. A bronze medallion of a coiled serpent biting its tail hung from her neck, its jeweled eyes glittering as well in the light from the chamber…and the light which the Apostle herself seemed to radiate. The feeling of unreality they had felt before with some of the earlier Apostles returned again, stronger than ever, which was a bit of a shock, for they had been growing used to the awesome presence of these beings, so much so that as they had gone deeper they had even stopped noticing it. How powerful, how real, was this one to invoke those feelings once again?

"Rayquaza," the Apostle hissed (literally). Her voice was confusing, sounding both ancient and new, old and young, at the same time. It was dry and hard to catch at times, a whisper on the wind…and yet none of them could miss it, because it spoken directly to their minds and souls as well. "Mewtwo. Asssh." There was a glimmer deep within the snake-woman's hidden features. "_Latiasss._" Latias blinked, feeling a sudden, deep shock all the way down in her mangled soul in response to the calling of her name, a brief sense of warmth even greater than the one she had felt from Inanna before.

There was a pause. "I have been waiting for you," the Apostle whispered psychically. "I have ssseen you coming for a very long time, and waited…and now you are here at lassst, in the flesssh. You have come, asss I foresssaw you would, sssurpasssing every obssstacle in your path. And now you are here. And now," she said, drawing back her shawl to reveal her face. "We may proceed to the future."

Her head was that of a serpent's, matching the rest of her body. She was hooded like a cobra (and, oddly enough, like Latias' monstrous past form), the lining of the hood's interior patterned to look like two pairs of very realistic staring eyes arranged in such a way that each pair formed a figure eight. The nose was blunt with narrow wide-spread nostril slits. A strangely contoured tiara ran along her eye ridges and brow, supporting a transparent veil which draped itself across her face. Her mouth had a pair of very prominent, and no doubt very venomous, fangs.

And her eyes were completely milky white, and they knew at once that she was totally blind. At least, _physically_, for they could feel the unnerving weight of her mind peering at them, free of reliance on the limits of mortal (or even immortal) eyes. She could see perfectly well without them.

"What _are_ you!" asked Ash, terrified by the power behind that blind, eyeless gaze.

"I am Sssibyl," the serpent told them. "Apossstle of Light and Venom."

Latias blinked. "Light?"

"She means Psychic," Mewtwo said, frowning and crossing his arms, uncomfortable with facing a telepath so powerful that he was little more than a fortune teller in comparison. It had been one thing to face Deoxys's power in direct battle, for the avatar of the Beast had been limited somewhat by being constrained to a physical form (until absorbing the Mother's power and breaking those boundaries, of course), but Sibyl seemed to be completely unbothered by said constraints, as if they didn't even exist for her. Perhaps they didn't. "The two terms are used interchangeably by some people."

"Then what does she mean by Venom?" Ash persisted. "Isn't Poison bad?"

"Your Bulbasaur was Grass/Poison, wasn't he?" Mewtwo pointed out harshly. "And your Muk? And who knows how many other Pokemon you've befriended and promptly forgotten?"

Ash sweatdropped and laughed nervously. "Oh yeah, right…"

"Poison hurts," Latias said slowly, looking at the big purple pool. "Poison…heals?"

"What's she mean?" Ash aked.

"Poison can be lethal and toxic," Rayquaza explained. "But knowledge of the poison can allow a person to create an antidote, sometimes made from different kinds of poison. An antivenom, if you will. In the right amounts and mixed with the right ingredients, most poisons can be turned into either medicine or a relatively harmless beverage…and by harmless I mean that it could probably still kill you in high doses, but in small amounts all it does is make you graphically hallucinate."

"Many primitive peoples use similar concoctions to induce hallucinations in an attempt to see the future or other worlds," Mewtwo commented. "I tried it once. All I got was a headache. I'm getting one now from the fumes of that pit, which shouldn't even be possible considering I don't have a real nose or olfactory sensors to tell my nonexistent brain that it hurts…ugh. Being a spirit makes so little sense, sometimes."

"Then…" Ash's eyes widened. "Are you sitting over that pit so you can hallucinate from the poison fumes and see the future?" he asked Sibyl.

Mewtwo looked at Ash, amazed. "I don't believe it. You actually managed to connect that tangent to the present situation! Impossible. It had to be sheer luck. Or in your case, DUMB luck."

"Hey!"

"Where does your power lie, Apostle?" Rayquaza asked respectfully, ignoring the peanut gallery.

Sibyl folded her hands before her chest. "I embody the element of time, and sssoul."

"Soul?" Mewtwo asked.

Sibyl opened her hands to reveal a shimmering spark of light, the iridescent structure they had come to recognize by now as a soul. "All thingsss are the One. Thisss you know, asss do I. The sssoul isss the fragmented consciousssnesss of the One. Jussst asss Nabu gainsss power by drawing on the data sssubssstrate which makesss up the physssical and nonphysssical realitiesss, the One'sss sssubconsciousss, I obtain knowledge by peering directly into each and every sssoul and the connectionsss which bind them all sssimultaneousssly. Fragmented asss they are, they are ssstill One, linked intrinsssically together."

Rayquaza nodded. "Like Latias and myself."

Mewtwo grimaced in disgust. "How disheartening to know that I am eternally bound in some manner to these idiots…and all the others I've ever had to put up with, as well. And enemies, too. Can I never be free?" He laughed bitterly. "Of course not, what was I thinking? No such thing exists…"

"So you can read our souls or whatever?" Ash asked. "Like Mewtwo or another Psychic reading our minds?"

"Yesss, and no," Sibyl hissed. "Your brain containsss much, but only represssentsss your current life. The sssoul hasss the memory imprinted into it of _all_ your livesss, and ssso when I sssee one, I sssee all."

"Some of the other Apostles seem to have an ability like that," Rayquaza commented. "For they seemed to know us better than we knew ourselves."

"It isss part of who they are," Sibyl explained. "All of them posssesss thisss 'sssoulsssight' to an extent, but it isss much greater in me, allowing me to perceive all sssoulsss and posssibilitiesss at once. And with thisss sssight, I may sssee other thingsss asss well."

"Such as?" Ash asked.

"The sssoul isss a truly remarkable thing," Sibyl hissed. "It transsscendsss mere physssicality, even when it'sss right inssside of it. A sssingle sssoul exissstsss sssimultaneousssly on many universssesss and worldsss, either asss different incarnationsss or asss parallel ssselvesss. Thisss isss becaussse sssoulsss are able to exit and reenter time at different pointsss, sssometimesss before their lassst incarnation died or wasss even born, other timesss far into the future, or even alongssside the life which jussst ended. A sssoul can be many placesss at once, by being sssplit almost infinitely by quantum physssicsss. With my sssight, I can sssee thingsss not even Nabu can, into the passst, presssent, and future of almossst all worldsss, ssside-by-ssside. But at the sssame time, he can sssee what I cannot. I may only perceive and read thingsss with sssoulsss and what has been touched by them, the trailsss of posssibility they make asss they travel through the many ssstreamsss of time, while he can underssstand everything _but_ the sssoul. But, when we combine our sssight together…" She pressed her hands together as if to emphasize this point. "There isss little that we cannot know."

"And what do you see for us?" Rayquaza asked. "You said that you saw us coming, long ago. What, then, do you see of our future? Where do we go from this moment now that we are here?"

"That…you mussst sssee for yourssselvesss." Sibyl beckoned. "Come. Sssmell the fumesss from my pit. Expand your awarenesss…and we ssshall sssee what there isss to sssee."

"Uhh, am I old enough for this?" Ash asked doubtfully, taking a step back. "I don't think my mom would like it if I did drugs…"

"Oh, stop being a baby and kill your brain cells already," Mewtwo snapped, telekinetically shoving Ash so hard that he stumbled all the way to the edge of the pit and nearly fell in. "You have so few anyway. I doubt it'll make a difference."

"You shouldn't be worried either, then," Rayquaza told the psychic jokingly. "Since your brain is so much larger than ours, I doubt the loss of a few cells will make a difference either."

"Very funny, I'm dead you idiot," Mewtwo pointed out. "So I don't have a brain to lose any cells. Or a respiratory system with which to inhale the fumes and send me into a hallucinatory state."

Latias blinked. "Then how did you smell them when we came in?"

There was a long pause. "That's…a good question," Mewtwo admitted grudgingly. "It's so very confusing being a ghost." He grumbled and drifted forward, joining a frustrated Ash at the edge of the pit. Latias and Rayquaza floated up next to them moments later.

All together, they inhaled deeply as one…and almost collapsed as an incredible wave of disorientation struck them, making it impossible to tell up from down or floor from ceiling as everything seemed to be whirling, swirling, and fading away…no, not fading away, shrinking. They were, somehow, getting bigger, or at least their perceptions of reality were. One moment they were in Sibyl's hall, the next they were growing out of the surface of Birth Island, their molecules so diffuse they were able to intersect with the landmass and each other easily. Or maybe their minds were just being projected elsewhere while their bodies were left behind; everything was too blurry for them to tell for sure. A heartbeat passed, and Birth Island was nothing less than a speck of dust in a vast, chaotic shifting mass of universes as the island continued its multidimensional journey towards the new world which would be their haven. Another heartbeat, and even that was gone, and they were outside the universe altogether, drifting somewhere in the empty gap between dimensions, the worlds of time passing by them in immense streams like giant bead necklaces, each bead representing an entire universe in the form of a single second, or perhaps even less. Another heartbeat, and they were beyond even that, drifting…somewhere…in a place they couldn't quite make out, or rather Mewtwo could but the others could not, save perhaps Latias, for they were still constrained by the limits of the piece of meat inside their heads since they were still technically alive (or in Latias' case, undead), and so could not perceive the vastness and utter reality of the place they were in…perhaps the truest expression of reality itself, one that had transcended or perhaps never needed physicality to begin with, where souls existed as they wished, free to grow to their heart's desire…and at the same time, often limited by that same desire.

Those same desires soon began to encroach on the malleable nature of this world outside time, reshaping it to match the perceptions of the mortals momentarily allowed to visit this ultimate reality, unable as yet to see it as it truly was but only as they wanted it most to be. To Rayquaza's astonishment, a palatial cavern began to appear, one even grander than Kalaran's lair, a place perfectly made for a King and Queen of Dragons to reside in…and perhaps their children, for there was a clutch of eggs sitting next to him. But where was his Queen?

Ash saw the green fields, hills, and farmland of his birthplace in Pallet Town, the windmill of Professor Oak's spinning in a wind carrying the familiar scent of his mother's pies. He thought he could see Misty and his friends waving to him from the door of his house. He smiled, forgetting what he was supposed to be doing, and started walking towards them.

Latias saw….

She wasn't sure what she saw. Her soul was too mangled to articulate a dream world for her, but kept trying to anyway, causing a confusing flickering blend of the true reality of this place, Alto Mare, the same cavern as Rayquaza's, her bedchamber from when she had been an evil serpentine goddess and ultimate master of Earth…and other places only half-remembered.

All of those worlds faded though, as Sibyl appeared and used her more powerful will to impose her own reality on them, causing everything to go dark. "Behold," she whispered, opening her hands and releasing the same soul-light from before. It enlarged slightly…and to their surprise, they realized it was the Big Bang, as they had seen it before, but much smaller, dimmer, and frozen in a single moment. "Birth: the beginning of a universsse, and time. From thisss moment, the timessstream formsss." The Big Bang shrunk and zipped down beneath their feet, leaving a trail of bead-like spheres, each of which containing a frozen moment of time, showing the universe developing matter and expanding itself. "From the moment the sssingle universsse emergesss, variablesss appear asss well, universssesss where everything wasss formed a ssslightly different way, resssulting in varying differencesss in the waysss matter isss formed and how the underlying lawsss of physssicsss and reality manifessst themssselvesss. To sssomeone trapped in a sssingle universsse, or a sssheaf of sssimilar universssesss, it would seem asss if thossse other variablesss were jussst that, posssibilities, but onesss that had not occurred. Thisss isss not so. _All_ thingsss occur."

Other bead-chains of universes appeared, growing up from the single Big Bang and running alongside the original one with a very small distance separating them, each with a slightly different glow to differentiate them from the first universe. "Asss the universssesss grow, more variablesss presssent themssselvesss, and sssince all variablesss occur, thisss causssesss even more universssesss to form, offssshootsss of the one they differ from."

Each of the rising beads split apart at a certain point, forming more beads which either continued running alongside each other or branched out in new tangents. Latias blinked as a strange form began to take shape. "A…tree?"

Her companions blinked. "Hey…it _does_ look like a tree, doesn't it?" Ash said in surprise as it continued growing.

"Not surprising…" Mewtwo commented. "It represents fractals…they are often used to model natural structures without simple geometric shapes. And I have heard they have something to do with chaos theory and the way the underlying forces of reality work. It makes an odd kind of sense to map the formation of universes in the same way."

The universe-beads continued splitting and growing, creating a radiant 'tree' of sorts, with occasional 'leaves' forming as dead universes, ones where the process of formation in them shut down due to flaws in the forces governing them, resulting in a premature end to time and whatever potential for life the unmade worlds in that universe might have had. "The universssesss continue to grow and change from one another," Sibyl hissed. "Like my sssissster Chloe'sss plantsss. But then life formsss…" At this, the tree brightened and branches began multiplying and extending at an even greater rate, resulting in an increase of dead leaves as life struggled to form in many universes and failed, yet succeeded in so many others. "And eventually…sssentience."

They gasped as the tree suddenly exploded in light, branches and threads sprouting and multiplying a rate greater than they were capable of comprehending, faster than the speed of thought. Within moments, it wasn't a tree at all, but an enormous sphere made of trillions and trillions of interweaving multicolored threads with billions of 'dead' branches and twigs here and there, sometimes appearing in rather large blotches, but they were mostly outnumbered by the sheer number of universes side by side and merging and growing apart, rising in a mass larger than the planet Earth itself, a whole universe in its own right, threatening to crush them beneath its incredible weight.

Rayquaza and Latias' eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Ash's jaw was dropped. Even Mewtwo seemed stunned. "In…credible…is that…Time?"

Sybil nodded. "Yesss. Thisss isss how it looksss from the outssside, or one way anyway." She spread her arms. "Do you sssee it? Sssee how from minute differencesss at the beginning, the universssesss form in sheafsss and parallelsss and other dimensssionsss?" She turned to face them. "Thisss isss not all of it, of courssse, merely a represssentation, and even then it leavesss out a majority of the pocket universssesss or higher planesss and worldsss clossser to the edge of time and the infinity outssside it. But it isss no lesss magnificent, ssseeing how the linesss of time merge and sssplit and intertwine, each sssplit caused by the presssentation of a variable that can change the _entire_ courssse of hissstory and sssend the new universsse on a completely different tangent than itsss point of origin, while othersss collapssse back onto their origin becaussse they did not differ enough to truly come into their own."

Rayquaza shook his head in disbelief, tears running unnoticed down his cheeks. "How could Deoxys…how could ANYONE want to destroy something so wonderful?"

"Because beneath that beauty is a trap," Mewtwo said darkly. "A lure to guide unwary souls into the misery and despair that is life."

Latias looked at Mewtwo, blinking. "…Despair?"

"Don't listen to him, Latias," Rayquaza growled. "He's wrong. Life can be horrible, but it can be wonderful too."

"Not wonderful enough," Mewtwo sneered. "Or maybe too wonderful, so wonderful that you want to keep living and drag others or yourself into despair by winding up in a lousy life instead of whatever cushy one you had the last time around. Or maybe that last life was horrible, but like a down-on-his-luck gambler you believe that the next life's just _got_ to be a winner, seeing as all the others were such losers. Idiots, everyone who wants to live again. Why bother confining yourself when you can have all of Eternity to play with and explore your potential?"

"Is that potential of any use without a testing ground like life to use it in?" Rayquaza challenged. "Without something to make the endless possibilities of Eternity seem more valuable instead of monotonous?"

Mewtwo sneered. "Spoken like a true imbecile," he said scornfully. "Next you'll be telling me that it's good to experience horrible excruciating pain and suffering, because it makes the few miniscule moments of joy you experience, if any, that more precious, and builds character. Or that evil is necessary because without it nobody knows what good is, so it's all right for countless fools to die screaming as helpless victims while others live in happiness and blissful freedom." He shook his head bitterly. "Life may have its miniscule good points, but I'd rather stay dead than be stuck with it again."

"I've suffered too, you know," Rayquaza growled. "Perhaps not as you have, but I have still suffered. And I still choose to return to life, again and again, because I know someone I cherish will always be there to share it with me." Latias looked back at him, blinking.

"Why're you showing us this?" Ash asked Sibyl.  
"A good quessstion," she hissed. "One I wasss waiting for you to asssk. But I knew you would." They began floating into the air, up towards the massive sphere of universes hovering above them. "Asss you can sssee, all the differing universsses grow from the sssingle root-event of the Big Bang, at leassst all the onesss here. The longer they exissst, the more they deviate from each other, sssplitting off due to endlesss variablesss and forming new timelinesss, producing entire sssheafsss of sssimilar universssesss, each ssseparated from each other by the sssimplest quantum vibration, and each sssharing many of the sssame elementsss of the other universssesss in itsss sssheaf, though thessse too may differ by a great degree." They continued rising up along the side of the sphere, passing tremendous chains of similar universes and large patches of dead worlds as they went higher.

Rayquaza looked up the mind-boggling curvature of the sphere as they continued up the side, trying to make out the top. When they cleared the large bulge signifying its widest point, where the equator on a regular planet would be, he was surprised to see many of the chains of universes almost immediately curve back inward, merging with each other and running up a curve much shallower than the one on the bottom, causing what had originally seemed to be a perfect sphere to look more like a giant oblong ball. "What is that?" he asked, somewhat concerned to see all of the universes collide at a single point at the very apex of the structure, which radiated empty grayness in all directions to signify the life in those worlds had died long ago.

"The end," Latias said.

Sybil nodded. "All universssesss grow and proliferate for a time…and then they die, asss all thingsss inssside time do, even time itssself. Sssome universssesss end ssssooner than othersss, but the majority of them die at once, their timelinesss blending back together into a sssingle ssstrand due to an almossst complete lack of variablesss passst a certain point. And after that point…" She shrugged. "It isss not much longer before the universssesss, all of them, die, their ssstarsss burning out, their worldsss dead and empty, everything gone. Absssolutely everything." A familiar spark of light appeared above the apex, connected to the darkest spot at the end of the universe by a tiny strand. Sibyl smiled. "And then it ssstartsss all over again. Asss Nabu would sssay, the program that isss the universsse rebootsss. The data from the old universsse becomesss a permanent part of Eternity, and all sssoulsss are recycled back into the new continuum to live again."

"So…that is how it goes…" Rayquaza said, nodding to himself, though he knew some part of himself had already known all of this.

"An endless cycle, a wheel spinning forever and ever, wearing itself down but unable to stop, forced to turn for all time and past time's end…" Mewtwo snarled. "As much as I despise Deoxys, I have no choice but to agree with his plan. It's time somebody hit the brakes and caused this thing to crash for good, so everyone can do something more worthwhile with their existences."

"Will you stop that!" growled an annoyed Rayquaza.

"No," Mewtwo said, grinning like an asshole.

"Why did you want to show us the end of the universe?" Ash asked. "Er, all universes?"

"Ssso that you may sssee the ssstructure of time," Sibyl told him. "Or at leassst, the ssstructure asss your mindsss are capable of recognizing it. The real thing isss much more complicated than thisss model, but thisss one isss adequate for what I mussst show you."

They began to move again, floating across the slope leading up to the end of time, past the bulge and down the sudden sharp descending curve leading down to the beginning of time, passing many timestreams and frozen 'moments' of universes in the process.

After a few moments, they reached a stretch of threads which seemed rather unremarkable and not much different from the rest of the universe-chains which made up this great model of all reality. (Or most of it, anyway) "Thisss area represssentsss the sssheaf of universssesss you called home, the dominion of Pokemon. Thisss point along the timeline corressspondsss roughly to what the presssent, or what would have been the presssent, would be for you."

"Didn't Deoxys destroy that timeline? Or this part of it?" asked a surprised Rayquaza.

"Yes, but this is a model, remember?" Mewtwo pointed out. "It represents a particular form of the space-time continuum, before Deoxys evolved into a 'timeless' being. The real thing doesn't look like this, not anymore."

Sybil nodded. "Yesss, thisss isss what the myriad realitiesss looked like before Deoxysss' assscensssion. Before your Earth, and the universsse of which it wasss part, were nullified by Deoxysss' effortsss in the dissstant past and dissstant future."

"What efforts?" asked a confused Ash.

"He went to the beginning of time to prevent the Big Bang from happening, so there would be no time and thus none of the universes here would ever form," Mewtwo told him. "At the same time, a quantum clone of himself went to the end of time and sent a temporal shockwave backwards through history to unravel it from that end as well. This will ensure reality's complete erasure, for while fragments of universes might have been able to escape temporospatial deletion from either end and form new timelines, by collapsing time from both ends simultaneously Deoxys makes certain that nothing will be able to avoid complete and total annihilation."

"You don't have to sound so cheerful about it," Ash said unhappily.

"Yes I do," Mewtwo said even more cheerfully.

"Why are you showing us our old universe, or sheaf of universes?" Rayquaza asked Sybil.

The serpentine Apostle reached out and touched one of the universe-beads with a claw, causing it to glow brightly. "When the decision to end the cycle of good and evil wasss made, the sssoulsss of the Chosssen agreed to play the partsss outlined for them. They forgot all thisss when they entered time, asss they were sssupposssed to. When the time wasss right, the Unown contacted you, or a number of you, to inform you what you had to do. They alssso promisssed your heart'sss desssire in exchange for your ssservicesss in sssaving the world from Deoxysss' evil."

"And to keep the other side from completely discovering the full extent of these plans, they went so far as to summon Deoxys himself to confuse everyone. They could have just destroyed him then, but noooo, they wanted to end everything, and use us as pawns to help them do it," Mewtwo said sarcastically. "And they lied shamelessly in the process, bribing us with gifts they never planned on delivering just so we'd dance to their tune."

"He'sss right, actually," Sibyl said as Rayquaza opened his mouth to silence Mewtwo again. "The Unown did lie. About your rolesss, about your enemy and the nature of the threat, and about your rewardsss. The Unown lied."

Rayquaza and Ash looked at Sibyl, shocked, while Latias just blinked dully and Mewtwo crowed triumphantly. "Wh-what! You mean Mewtwo was right! They did manipulate us!"

"Yesss," Sibyl said. "Becaussse the Mother and I asssked them to."

There was another look of disbelief, and another bitter laugh from Mewtwo. "But…but why!" asked a stunned Rayquaza. "Why did you…why did you do that!"

"Because they wanted the universe to end, fool, remember?" Mewtwo said with an arrogant sneer. "They've told us as much. And, despite how 'sorry' they feel about it, they decided it would be best to manipulate us to do it."

"Isss it manipulation if you agreed to do it in the firssst place?" Sibyl asked.

"Not if we can't remember having agreed to it," Mewtwo argued back.

"If you had remembered, the plan would never have worked. The other ssside would have known, and would have adjusssted their own plansss ssso that whatever we did would fail. Alssso," she added. "The Unown _had_ to lie, sssince with Deoxysss there they could not tell the truth without revealing everything. It wasss for that reassson asss well that the Ghossst King wasss excluded from the firssst meeting of Chosssen, for while he wasss not himssself, there wasss ssstill a chance that hisss truth-sssenssse might have worked and ssspoiled everything."

"And you couldn't have just summoned me and left Deoxys out, because that would have ruined your plans too?" Rayquaza asked with a frown.

"Precisssely," agreed Sibyl.

"How do you know all that!" Ash protested. "How do you know things wouldn't have gone right if the Unown had told us the truth or summoned us differently?"

"Because then Deoxys wouldn't have gotten the chance to become all-powerful and then they would have needed another way to unravel the fabric of time and space?" Mewtwo pointed out.

"…Oh, yeah…but, then the Earth would still be okay!"

"Which they clearly didn't care about, since if they wanted to unravel reality to reform the One and start everything over, then Earth would have to go anyway sooner or later," Mewtwo pointed out.

"…Oh." Ash looked deflated and upset, which clearly made Mewtwo very happy.

"We did care," Sibyl said sadly, and Rayquaza reluctantly admitted that it was the truth. "But remember, the Unown, the Mother and I can all sssee the way that time flowsss, even when we're inssside of it. And together we sssaw all the posssible variablesss involved in our plan once my powersss had developed enough to let me sssee the many futuresss."

"How could you see all the possible variables?" Rayquaza asked with a frown. "Hadn't most of them not even come into being yet?"

"From your perssspective, inssside of time, yesss," Sibyl agreed. "But from outssside, it looksss asss if everything hasss already been decided. That'sss how it worksss, how sssoulsss can reenter the time ssstream at different pointsss. In thisss manner, one with powerful enough sssight can perceive all there isss and can be. By combining our power, we examined all the pathsss the future might take and sssaw that the only way to achieve the desssired resssult was by lying to you…and ssso they did. And asss a resssult many, _many_ sssoulsss have sssuffered, sssacrificed to end the cycle. Sssome of them volunteered to do it, othersss did not. The Unown do not regret their manipulationsss, for they are incapable of regretting as we are. However, in recognition of all you have sssuffered, they are willing to make good their falssse promissse."

Their eyes widened. "You mean…" Ash said in disbelief.

Sibyl nodded. "Yesss. For your ssservice, and your part in ssstarting the end of the cycle, the Unown offer you…thisss universsse," she said, touching a bead a little to the side of the one she had touched earlier. It began to glow. "Asss a way of sssaying, 'sssorry for the inconvenience.'"

"I don't believe it," said a suspicious Mewtwo. "This must be a trick. Another ploy. The only rewards those like them give always have strings attached."

"What kind of universe is this?" Rayquaza asked, also dubious. "They're really just letting us…quit? Retire from this business of saving or destroying reality?" He frowned. "What about Latias?"

"Ssshe isss part of thisss too," Sibyl assured him. The universe she had tapped was beginning to glow brighter. "Asss I sssaid before, from outssside time or on itsss edge all the variablesss are visssible, and all the variablesss occur in the form of a new universsse. The universsse the Unown are offering you asss an apology for dragging you, your friendsss, and everyone elssse into thisss (even if mossst of you did technically volunteer before reincarnating), isss a world where many of the eventsss which occurred in your universsse did not occur becaussse different choicesss were made and thingsss happened differently."

They blinked at this. "Things happened…differently?" said Ash.

Rayquaza frowned. "How differently?"

"Would you like to sssee for yourssselvesss?" Sibyl offered. "After all, it isss only fair to allow you a trial run before you decide whether or not to accept the gift of thisss universsse and leave the coming conflict behind."

"How can this universe even exist in the first place, if Deoxys has no doubt unmade our entire sheaf of universes, the parallel realities and timelines in which Pokemon existed?" Mewtwo asked dubiously.

"While the physssical form of the universssesss can be undone, the materialsss usssed to make it—the data sssubssstrate of the One'sss sssubconsciousss—merely diffusssesss back into the main body, taking the recorded information from the universssesss with it. It isss posssible to take the information from one of thossse disssolved universssesss and impossse it on the malleable sssubssstrate, ressshaping it into physssicality once more. Thisss is partly how Time isss able to ressset itssself in the firssst place, by drawing on exisssting data to ssstart over, albeit with many new variablesss…even though thisss sometimesss meansss a few universssesss are 'repeatsss'. But in any event, usssing thisss technique the Unown can draw upon the leftover data from the universsse they are offering you, asss it wasss before it wasss unmade, and with our help recreate it for you and your friendsss and other refugeesss to live in."

"Why can't they do this for all the other universes? Why just ours?" Ash asked.

"We do not have the power to do sssuch a thing," Sibyl said. "Nobody can, on the ssscale we're talking about here, sssave for the One." She shrugged. "It ssshould be no sssurprissse. It isss alwaysss easssier to dessstroy sssomething than it isss to make it."

"Then this is a bribe?" Mewtwo demanded angrily. "Something to say, 'Sorry for using you to unmake all reality, we'll give you this nice universe here if you stay out of it from now on?'"

"You ssspeak asss if we're trying to get rid of you," Sibyl said, not looking offended. "There isss nothing farther from the truth. Remember, our original plan to fussse Deoxysss and the Mother back together to create the One required _your_ help, and ssstill doesss."

"And yet…you're willing to just let us quit our parts and forget this ever happened?" Ash asked with a frown.

Sibyl nodded. "A good plan isss flexible and allowsss for posssible changesss. We wouldn't be disssappointed if you ssstayed to help, but we underssstand that you have sssacrificed enough, and will give you our blesssingsss if you wisssh to ssstep down and try to live in peace. It will be difficult without you, but it can be done. We believe we have a good chance of sssuccesss, with or without you."

"So we're expendable," Mewtwo said flatly. "How gracious of you."

"No…we're not expendable," Rayquaza said slowly. "So much as we're…nonessential aid. We help make the final product better, but it can still be done without us, although it will be harder." He glanced at the others. "She's on the level with us. You know I can tell. They really are offering us this universe if we want to quit and end our part in this struggle."

"There has to be a catch," Mewtwo said, ever doubting. "There always is."

"Why don't you sssee for yourssself firssst, asss I offered before?" Sibyl suggested. "Then you may make your final decisssion."

"And what about my test? My sacrifice?" Rayquaza asked. "What of Latias?"

Sibyl smiled, and the gift universe flashed again. "Sssee for yourssself," she repeated. And suddenly everything was growing and they were shrinking and hurtling right for the flashing universe, which expanded and expanded and encompassed everything as they fell into it, hurtling past growing clusters of galaxies and rogue planets as they tumbled down, down towards a familiar spiral arrangement of stars, to a familiar solar system in one of the long spiral arms, to a familiar blue planet three worlds out from the star of that system, to a familiar small island off the coast of an even bigger island out in the middle of the ocean, towards the top of the familiar tallest building on that island.

Towards Battle Tower. And a fight already in progress.

…

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

"Aerodactyl, Steel Wing!"

A small yellow mouse not wearing a cape, hat, or sword leaped into the air, swinging around and bringing his glowing lightning bolt-shaped tail to bear at the purple flying dinosaur lashing out at him with a glowing wing. The body parts clashed together with a metallic ringing and bounced off, both Pokemon repelled by the force of their deflected attacks. Pikachu hit the ground on his paws and slid back, wincing as his body shook from the impact. Aerodactyl backpedaled through the air, screeching and shaking his head as he tried to regain his aerial balance.

"And with a clash of Steel attacks, the battle continues!" an annoying commentator announced from the sidelines. "Both opponents equally matched, despite type advantages or disadvantages! What an amazing fight this is, folks! The legendary extinct Aerodactyl against the world's cutest rodent, Pikachu! And these aren't even the STRONGEST Pokemon in the two finalist's rosters! The real event has yet to begin!"

As Pikachu and Aerodactyl recovered, the two trainers glared at each other from their marked boxes on either side of the battlefield. Russet brown met blazing gold…and both trainers smiled, knowing that the announcer was right, and the biggest struggle of all had yet to begin.

"Come on, Ash and Pikachu! You can do it!" Misty cheered from the sidelines in her new red ensemble.

"We're all rooting for you, honey!" agreed Delia, sitting next to Misty along with Professor Oak and his other friends.

"Yes, but don't harm that Aerodactyl too badly!" Professor Oak called from next to her, somewhat unhappy that he wouldn't get to marry Delia after all. "I've never seen an Aerodactyl that color before; I'd love to study it!"

"What's wrong with my Aerodactyls, Grandpa?" the spiky-haired Gary, Ash's former rival complained.

"Nothing, Gary, other than that they're all the same color, unlike this fellow here," Oak told him.

"And everyone knows Shiny Pokemon are cooler than regular ones!" May agreed as she tried to keep her Munchlax from eating the Pokemon egg in her lap, no easy feat indeed.

"That's more a matter of preference, really," the green-haired Drew said haughtily, brushing back a lock from his face.

"Of course, I agree wholeheartedly!" May said instantly, trying to impress her crush whom she had somehow managed to convince to not only come to this match but sit next to her as well.

Brock shook his head in amusement as his Bonsly wiggled in his lap. "Ah, young love. It's wonderful, isn't it?" he said to the woman sitting next to him, his girlfriend (Insert name here). She nodded in agreement.

"Ew, mushy stuff!" Max complained, sticking out his tongue. "Gross!"

"Ah, you'll get used to it as you get older," Richie, the kid who looked unusually like Ash, said. "It's part of growing up."

"Blech!" said a disgusted Max. "I wish I never-"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" everyone yelled, startling him and causing him to shut up.

"Ash and Pikachu, Ash and Pikachu, the greatest team of all! It's up to them to win this match so Wes'll take the fall! Rah!" Ash's personal cheerleading squad, composed of Jirachi, Togetic, Phanphy, Politoed, Misty's Corsola and her Luvdisc Kasurin, May's Jigglypuff and Delcatty, and Brock's Ludicolo, chorused as they danced about and flashed paper fans with Ash and Pikachu's faces on them.

"Yeah, go get him!" Sadic the Manyula, Pikachu's mate whom he had first encountered on the frozen mountain where Ash had managed to capture a Snorunt (now a Glalie who had helped him fight Wes in this final match), yelled to yelled to the rodent. "If you lose, I'm gonna feed you to the kids in my belly!"

"Ignore them, Wes!" one of Ash's opponent's supporters, the red-haired Rui, cried out from across the stadium. "It's all you!"

"Yeah!" the twin Pichu sisters in her lap cheered.

"Yeah, come on boy!" the extremely bald, burly, and weirdly eyebrowed Gonzap called. "Show 'em who's boss!"

The rest of the audience began cheering as well for their favorite trainers and Pokemon as Aerodactyl and Pikachu clashed again at their trainers command. They recoiled, pushed back by the force of their own attacks, and panted, on their last legs.

"Looks to me like one more good move will finish this! Aerodactyl, Take Down!" Wes commanded. The purple dinosaur screeched, gaining his second wind, and swooped down at Pikachu.

"The same goes for you, Wes! Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Ash ordered. Pikachu got to his feet, red cheeks sparking, and started charging across the torn-up battlefield towards his approaching foe.

"Pi…" The eyes of reptile and rodent met. "Ka…" Pikachu leaped off the ground, electricity crackling from his cheeks as he lunged headlong into Aerodactyl's attack. "CHUUUUUU!" With a tremendous flash of light, Pikachu's body was covered in a tremendous nimbus of electricity which left a golden streak in his wake, surging throughout the arena as the mouse and dinosaur's heads collided with a terrific crack, sending a shockwave out across the floor and shaking everyone's seats.

The force of impact sent both Aerodactyl and Pikachu flying back. The mouse hit the ground and tumbled before getting back to his feet, wobbling and disoriented, while Aerodactyl was forced to land, his claws skidding against the floor as he tried to regain balance. They panted, staring each other down, each trying to remain standing, not wanting to be the one to collapse. Ash and Wes gritted their teeth while their friends watched with bated breath, waiting for the end. The audience, both in the arena, held their breath, watching to see who would be the first to fall.

It came soon enough. Both Pikachu and Aerodactyl fell over backwards at the same time, completely unconscious, much to the crowd's disappointment. "Aw man," Ash complained, sagging. "Why's that always seem to happen?"

"Well, a tie's not quite a loss…" Sadic mused to herself. "You got off lucky this time, sparkplug!"

"Aerodactyl and Pikachu are both unable to battle!" declared Mr. Ford, owner of Battle Frontier, the theme park where the finals of the Hoenn League Championship were being held. Ash and Wes were the two finalists, having battled their way through the ranks of trainers from all around Hoenn to this ultimate match atop the sky-high Battle Tower, watched by their friends and people all around the world. "Only one Pokemon remains for each trainer! This match isn't over yet folks, not by a long shot!"

"It certainly isn't," agreed Mr. Ford's son, Harrison, sitting between his Blaziken partner and the sunglasses-wearing one of his father's. "Come on, Ash! Show them what they've all been waiting for!"

Wes smirked as he recalled Aerodactyl. "Heh. We both knew it would come to this, didn't we Ash?"

"Definitely," Ash agreed, picking Pikachu up from where he had collapsed on the field and gently carrying him to a bench behind his trainer's box.

Wes nodded. "Let's give the crowd the show they've all been waiting for, okay?"

Ash smirked and nodded back. "Sounds good to me!"

Wes stylishly whipped out his final Pokeball, rolled it across his shoulders, into his hand, and out into the field. "Go, Ho-Oh!" With a flash of light, a giant red, white, and gold phoenix appeared, screeching proudly as its plumage glittered in the arena spotlights, a rainbow-hued aura forming around it and earning gasps of awe and wonder from the crowd, sparkling eyes from May, a faintly impressed look from Drew, and drool from the ecstatic Professor Oak.

Ash grinned and turned his hat around so the brim faced backwards, realized it looked stupid like that, and turned it back. "And you go, too…Latias!" Ash called out, flinging his final Pokeball. It burst open, revealing a much smaller but still radiant red and white gold-eyed dragon with a joyful but fierce smile on her face as she faced the phoenix, her greatest opponent yet, the Pokemon she knew as her estranged father. The crowd cheered as she appeared, taking the field across from Ho-Oh, for all knew this was a battle that would long be remembered in Hoenn League history, a battle between two Pokemon that were not only Legendaries, but actually _trained_ by mere mortals. Was it any wonder that billions of dollars had been poured into showing this match in Pay-per-view all around the world? Who in their right minds would want to miss something this big, especially since the family drama behind it, a battle between father and daughter, had been made public a few days ago?

Certainly not the viewers around the world, many of whom had close ties to those involved in this ultimate showdown. "This is going to be awesome!" Tracey announced, sitting on the couch of Professor Oak's living room surrounded by a number of Ash's Pokemon (including the very much alive Pidgeot and the visiting Squirtle), as well as several residents of Pallet Town, who couldn't afford cable and decided to mooch off of Professor Oak's assistant so they could watch the match on his big-screen hi-def television. "The sketches from this match will be incredible!"

"Mime mime!" agreed Delia's fiancée Mimey the Mr. Mime as he dusted off the either asleep or dead Scyther, keeping an eye on the screen to see if the camera caught a glimpse of his bride-to-be.

"Muuuuuuk!" (Huuuuuuuuug!) Ash's Muk cried randomly, suddenly lurching over the couch and enveloping Tracey and everyone else sitting there in its mass, its happy gurgling drowning out their screams of horror while the other spectators sweatdropped.

"Let's see if all the training we put Charizard through has taught Latias anything," Liza in Charicific valley said to her partner Charla, Charizard's mate, who was expecting shortly. Charla, who was holding her and Charizard's first egg, not yet hatched, nodded in agreement.

In the Johto Holy Prayer Hospital for the Incurably Insane, Molly Hale, lights blinking on the large neural inhibitor surgically fused to her head and spine to keep her from using her incredibly dangerous powers to destroy reality, cheered at the television screen in the lounge. "Yay! Go Ash! Win! Win! Win!" Several other residents of the hospital either sitting next to her, standing, or strapped to beds cheered along with her.

"What are they cheering for?" one of the orderlies whispered to the head nurse of the children's wing. "The TV's been broken for over a week."

"You think that matters to them?" the nurse whispered back. "Leave them alone, they almost ate the last person who tried to keep them from watching television, whether the set works or not. And I don't want to provoke that Hale girl…that inhibitor's supposed to keep her from using that same kind of awful power that supposedly killed her parents when they tried to ground her for brainwashing kids in Greenfield into being her playmates again, but you can never be too careful." Both members of the hospital staff shuddered.

On the island city of Alto Mare, Latias' family, the old man Lorenzo and the artist Bianca, watched the match on the television in Lorenzo's workshop. "This is it…what we've been waiting for!" Lorenzo announced.

"She and her father have reconciled somewhat, haven't they?" Bianca asked her grandfather.

"In a way, yes, but it's understandable that there might still be tension between them. After all, he _did_ abandon her mother, resulting in her going insane and joining forces with Missingno until her brother Latios sealed her away. This battle will give them the chance to work out whatever aggression remains, I should think," Lorenzo hypothesized.

Bianca nodded. "I hope so." She sighed. "It's a shame Latios isn't here, he'd be so proud of his sister!"

"I'm sure he is proud," Lorenzo assured her. "Wherever he is, I know he's watching his sister with nothing but joy."

In a desert cleft far away from Battle Frontier, another large group had gathered in the cool shade of the crevice's large tree to watch the match in a rather impressive 3D holographic projector assembled by one of the cleft's occupants, also filled with joy. "Wooooo!" cheered a Misdreavus, one of a great gaggle of ghosts present, wearing an 'I heart Latias' T-shirt. "Latias! Latias! Kick that phoenix's ass!"

"He is her father, you know," the metallic Registeel pointed out from beside his siblings Regice and Regirock.

"So? When I died, I whupped my father's ass for killing me!" Misdreavus pointed out. "There's no shame in it."

"I still contemplate killing my father occasionally," Mewtwo confessed. "There are times I thought I saw signs of change…and yet, he remains the same old Giovanni." He sighed unhappily. "I may have no choice but to confront him again someday."

"Perhaps things will go differently this time," suggested Mew, looking at Mewtwo upside-down as she bounced on her large pink bubble nearby with Celebi.

"Perhaps they will, perhaps they won't," Mewtwo said unhappily. "People are very slow to change."

"Yup, that's me all over!" Groudon, wearing a giant foam hand shaped like Latias, said proudly as he thumbed the waist of his extremely comfortable pants.

"You say that like it's a good thing," Kyogre grumbled, her blue skin painted red and white to show her support for Latias.

"Just because they're slow doesn't mean they won't change, someday," said Rayquaza, coiled up on the ground with his eyes fixed on Latias, sipping beverages through straws attached to the pair of giant soda cans set on the sides of the Latias-emblazoned hat placed between his horns. "I certainly did, and so did you."

"You need to lighten up!" Celebi chirped, bouncing up and down on Mew's ball. "Stop being all gloomy and smile for all the good things in your life?"

Mewtwo blinked…and then, he actually did smile as the masked Gardevoir glided in, carrying lunch and tea on a tray. "Yes…I suppose you're right, as usual," he said, receiving a kiss on the cheek from his mate as she sat down next to him, the tray placed on the table nearby. "It is rather hard to be gloomy on a day like this, isn't it?"

"Yes," agreed Rayquaza, taking another sip from his hat-mounted soda cans. "Especially since I intend to ask Latias to marry me again after they've won the match."

"Didn't you already ask her?" Mewtwo pointed out. "Several times?"

"Well, yes," he admitted. "And she rejected me before because she thought I was some creepy insane stalker, then later because she still wasn't sure about me, but now things are fine between us. And besides, when would be a better time to ask her than on her moment of triumph? Heightens the drama."

"Are you certain she will say yes?" Registeel's apprentice, Rukario, asked the recently revived king of dragons.

"Fairly certain, she hinted at it several times when I last saw her," Rayquaza said.

"Of course, she may feel differently if she does not win the match," Shedinja said.

"That's a harsh thing to say," Misdreavus complained. "Love can't be flubbed by a single lost battle!"

"That may be true, but she may not be in the mood to be wooed if she fails. She may sink into despair because she failed to defeat her father and avenge her abandonment, and not feel like getting married then and there. Which is why I took the precaution of rigging Wes's side of the arena to explode if Ho-Oh shows any sign of winning, thus ensuring Latias' victory by default."

"Shedinja!" cried the horrified Rayquaza. "I never authorized that!"

"I know," Shedinja said. "But I merely preempted the order I was sure you were going to give eventually."

Rayquaza sighed in exasperation and shook his head. "Oh, Shedinja…"

Mewtwo sighed as well and stood up, much to Gardevoir's disappointment. "I'll go defuse the bombs," he said, somewhat annoyed. "Be right back." He teleported away.

"You still have a lot to learn about love," Misdreavus complained to her boyfriend. "And about not killing people indiscriminately."

"But I like killing people indiscriminately," Shedinja whined.

"Me too," agreed Groudon.

The ghosts behind them, many of which were waving pennants or wearing T-shirts and hats with Latias' face on them, giggled. Some even had painted pictures of her on their bodies to show their support for their soon-to-be queen, for despite Rayquaza's protests, they had no intention of allowing him to abdicate completely from his role as King of the Ghosts. And the dragons of the world had no intention of allowing their ancient monarch off the hook either. If and when Rayquaza and Latias married, they would both be very busy for some time. Such were the travails of royalty.

Back at the Battle Tower, near the back wall of the arena, Lance and his father Drake stood dramatically, their cape and coat blowing in the breeze generated by the nearby air conditioner. "Okay, Latias, Ash," Lance said. "Let's see if all our training has paid off…"

"Arr, she'll be fine!" Drake chortled. "She be the prophesied Queen o' Dragons! Victory be her destiny!"

Little did they know there was another group eagerly watching the match, although they had far less benign plans for the participants. "Mwahahahahaha! This is it, our biggest heist ever! We can steal Ho-Oh, Latias, and Pikachu all at once, and nobody will stop us this time!" the red-headed Jessie cackled gleefully as she peered through binoculars at the giant wall-sized windows enclosing the towertop Aerie housing the arena from Team Rocket's Meowth-shaped balloon. She waited for a moment, and then frowned when neither of her teammates commented on how brilliant this heist was going to be. "James? Meowth?" She turned around, eye twitching at what she saw. Her imbecilic cohorts (not that she was much smarter than either of them, mind you) were currently on the floor of the balloon, making out as Meowth tried to shred off James's clothes. "HEY! STOP IT, YOU TWO!" she screamed, kicking Meowth hard off of James, ripping off the front of his shirt at the process and exposing the human's pale and hairless chest to the rather chilly air, almost sending him out of the balloon. The wailing feline barely managed to catch the edge of the basket before he could fall, and hung there, eyes wide, every hair on his body standing up straight.

"Aw, Jessie, why'd you have to do that?" James complained as he got up, fixing his clothes, pushing his blue hair back, and trying to cover up his chest so he wouldn't get cold.

She angrily smacked him, almost taking his head off. "We don't have time for disgusting interspecies homosexual intercourse! This is our chance to get back in the boss's good graces, and I won't have you idiots messing it up—_again_—because you'd rather have sex with each other!"

"Sorry, Jessie," James whimpered, trying not to cry.

Jessie whirled around to the other occupants of the balloon. "That goes for you all, too! No sex while we're on a heist! Do you hear me!" Giving her an annoyed look, James's Mime Jr. stopped mimicking how his trainer and Meowth had been about to have sex using the idiotic innocent Chimecho as his partner, and Cacnea, Wobbuffet, and James's Feebas all disengaged from each other regretfully. Jessie turned around, fuming and jealous, frustrated how just about everyone but her had somehow fallen in love with each other. At least she still had her Seviper and Dustox. (Little did she know that both of them were actually madly in love with her. For some reason.)

"She's been acting pissier than usual lately," Meowth commented under his breath as James pulled him back into the balloon's basket.

"She's just jealous," James said firmly. "She'll never understand what we have." He smiled. "Don't worry, she can never stop our love." He bent down to give Meowth a kiss…

And Jessie kicked him in the rear. "JAMES!"

"Sorry, sorry! We'll continue later," James whispered to Meowth as he put the feline down. Meowth nodded gleefully.

"Now, you all know the plan, right?" Jessie asked them as they all stood to attention.

James nodded. "Wait until both Latias and Ho-Oh have exhausted themselves from battling, then catch them (and Pikachu) in our new fire-proof, electric-proof, water and ice-proof, dragon-proof, psychic-proof, cut-proof, and just about everything else-proof net, using Chimecho's Yawning to put everyone to sleep so they can't stop us."

"Precisely!" Jessie cackled. "And once we've got them, we'll give them to the boss! And that means promotions! Raises! Vacations! Keys to the executive washroom! Handsome servants to dote on us! A mansion made of solid gold and a pool of grape soda!" She laughed insanely, her puny mind filled with deranged thoughts of rewards Giovanni was certainly not going to give them, while Meowth, James, and the other Pokemon just sweatdropped.

"I'd trade all that for a really good meal and a private room for you and me at Ever Grande City's best hotel," Meowth whispered to James, who nodded in agreement. "And maybe for Jessie to either die horribly or at least be reassigned."

"Excuse me," Mewtwo said, appearing out of nowhere psychically juggling several large Voltorbs. "Could you hang onto these for a moment?"

"Hmm? Oh, sure," James said without thinking, while his teammates gawked at Mewtwo in disbelief.

"Thank you," Mewtwo said, dumping the Voltorbs into the basket. "Goodbye." He vanished.

"Goodbye-" James started, before what he had just done hit him. He looked down at the crackling Voltorb looking up at him evilly. "Oh dear."

KABOOOOOOOM!

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaaaiiiiin!" they screamed as the explosion triggered by the Voltorbs sent them flying off over the horizon, vanishing in a ding and a twinkle of light.

Mewtwo reappeared in the cleft area. "I took care of the bombs," he told his guests. "And put them to good use, too."

"Did they kill anyone?" Shedinja asked hopefully.

"No, but they sent a group of fools flying off in severe pain, which will get much worse when they hit the ground," Mewtwo told him.

The ghost bug cackled evilly. "Good enough!"

"Enough mayhem," Rayquaza ordered. "The final round is about to begin! I don't want to miss a moment of this!"

"Are you ready, daughter?" Ho-Oh asked his estranged daughter as the Aerie roof split open, giving them the entire sky for a battleground.

Latias nodded fiercely. "I am, father. Let's give these people the fight they paid to see."

"This is the final round!" the commentator from before announced. "One on one! Legendary vs. legendary! Father vs. daughter! Dragon and phoenix! A battle that will go down in history!"

"Okay, everybody ready?" Ford asked both Ash and Wes, who nodded, as did their Pokemon. "All right! Hold onto your hats, folks, the last round begins in 3, 2, 1, NOW!"

"Latias!" Ash cried, pointing forward.

"Ho-Oh!" Wes shouted, doing the same.

"GO GET 'EM!"

Screeching and singing battle cries, the rainbow bird and the Eon dragon flew at each other, the battle joining…

And then, everything froze, as if someone had hit the 'Pause' button on some sort of universal remote, stopping everything in place. Dragonoid Ash, ghost Mewtwo, dead Latias, and Rayquaza blinked in surprise. "Well?" Sibyl asked, appearing next to them. "What did you think?"

"That was…interesting," Mewtwo said after a moment, slightly disoriented, the feelings and sensations of the happy, cleft-dwelling Mewtwo lingering for a moment in his mind.

"I was human again…" Ash whispered. "And all my friends were alive and okay, even Richie…and I was fighting Wes for the Championships, just like I should have…this morning?" He blinked, trying to puzzle out just when that would have happened if everything hadn't gone crazy and they weren't warping all across time and space.

Latias blinked, staring at the other image of herself, the sensation of being alive once more fading away, as it had after Bobobo's acts of chaos, leaving her even emptier than before. "Is that…me?" If she could feel emotion, she supposed this would be a good time for envy.

"I was alive…" Rayquaza said, amazed. "And…going to marry Latias? In a world not threatened by the shadow of Deoxys?"

"Asss I sssaid," Sibyl said gently. "Thisss isss a universsse where everything went differently. For one thing, the majority of the cryssstal ssshardsss ssscattered around the world after the Mother and Deoxysss' last battle were more posssitive than negative, resssulting in gradually lesss evil and corruption in the land, although it wasss ssstill there. While Misssingno and Latiasss Sssr. were corrupted by the cryssstal they usssed, asss wasss the one inssside Lady Ho-Oh, and Cipher wasss able to ussse theirsss to create Ssshadow Pokemon, the one found by Ford was more posssitively charged, and inssstead of driving him insssane, gave him the power to fund hisss company and better the livesss of humansss and Pokemon around the world. Alssso, in thisss world Sssilica isss not a barren, lifelesss technopolisss but a lusssh land where the power of ssscience isss usssed to create wondersss that benefit the world. Asss a result, Birth Island in thisss universsse hasss needed to do very little to aid the world in sssecret…or perhapsss they continue, usssing Sssilica as a front? Perhapsss you could invessstigate on your own.

"On a more persssonal level, sssome thingsss have changed, and othersss have ssstayed the sssame. Without the HERO device, Ford did not create hisss corrupt 'heroesss' and ssso Drew and Richie remained sane and friendly with Asssh and hisss companionsss. Lugia worked up the courage to overthrow and kill Lady Ho-Oh, liberating hisss family and allowing him to live in peace in the Whirl Islandsss, while Ho-Oh'sss former ssservantsss were now tasssked to guard the elemental birdsss, a job they dessspisssed mossst greatly. Molly'sss powersss continued to grow asss ssshe usssed them more and more ssselfissshly, but it wasssn't until ssshe killed her parentsss that sssomething wasss done about her. Ssshe hasss been sssent to that hossspital, her deadly power sssealed off by an inhibitor, and sssomeday ssshe may become sssane enough to leave. Then again, perhapsss not, but either way ssshe isss happy where ssshe isss now, odd asss that may sssound. Rayquaza wasss ssstill transssformed into the Ghossst King, but inssstead of ordering Alto Mare razed he sssimply threatened Latiasss' family, causssing her to flee ssso that ssshe could protect them. The eventsss which unfolded after that wasss largely sssimilar to the onesss in your world: Latiasss went to Oak'sss lab to try to find Asssh, got involved in Team Rocket'sss raid, and managed to essscape with the Prissson Ballsss. Ssshe then wasss caught in the middle of the war between Fearow'sss coalition and Pidgeot'sss alliance, but Ssshedinja wasss ordered by the Ghossst King to end the battle ssso Latiasss would not be harmed, with minimal casssualtiesss."

"I doubt Shedinja was happy with that," Rayquaza said ruefully.

"He wasssn't," agreed Sibyl. "But you know well hisss loyalty. Latiasss essscaped again, wasss captured by Mary Sssue, and ssshe and Mewtwo managed to break free, ssspare Giovanni, and free the darkling-enssslaved Pokemon ssshe had captured. Ssshedinja caught up with them then, and allowed Latiasss and the Ghossst King to ssspeak face-to-face. Sssince he had not dessstroyed her city in thisss timeline, ssshe wasss more sssympathetic to hisss sssorrow and grew to like him more quickly than ssshe had in your world. Neverthelesss, she wasss ssstill uncertain ssshe could trussst him, and went off with Mewtwo to grow ssstronger, jussst in cassse.

"Giovanni never lossst control of Team Rocket to Cipher, and while Ssshadow Pokemon have indeed been produced for hisss minionsss, the trio of Rocketsss you were usssed to received none. Becaussse of thisss, Asssh wasss in no threat of danger of being killed by Cacnea in the event exactly prior to Ssshedinja'sss kidnapping of him, but it alssso meant it took him longer to get together with Misssty Waterflower, sssince he had no grief to sssuffer on the part of Pidgeot, who did not die in the battle of Route 01 due to Ssshedinja'sss actionsss. Latiasss, on the other hand, wasss transssferred to Asssh at about the sssame time asss in your world, but becaussse of Mewtwo, not becaussse any Unown told her to."

"Why would I do something as moronic as trusting anything with this imbecile here?" Mewtwo scoffed.

"Hey, you've trusted lots of stuff to me!" Ash snapped.

"So I have," Mewtwo agreed. "What a fool I was. I see that didn't change in this new world, either."

"Why did Mewtwo send Latias to Ash?" Rayquaza asked before Ash could do something as stupid as trying to electrify Mewtwo, which wouldn't work since he was a ghost, but would probably result in _Ash_ becoming a ghost.

"Latiasss wasss learning much and growing ssstronger under Mewtwo'sss tutelage," Sibyl explained. "But he felt ssshe would benefit more from ssseeing the world from her own perssspective. He figured that the bessst and sssafessst way for her to do that wasss to travel with Asssh Ketchum, one of the humansss Mewtwo trusssted mossst and therefore knew would take good care of her, or elssse."

"Why can't you be more like this Mewtwo?" Ash asked the ghost. "See, _he_ thinks I'm reliable."

Sibyl wasn't finished. "Alssso, thisss world'sss Mewtwo believed that Latiasss would get to sssee much of the world with Asssh sssince hisss sssenssse of direction wasss ssso terrible he could wind up traveling all the way to Fortree from Lavaridge when he had ssstarted towardsss Petalburg, allowing her to sssee much more than ssshe would have by getting lossst rather than alwaysss going the right way."

This resulted in Mewtwo laughing uncontrollably while Ash fumed angrily. "My navigating skills aren't that bad!" he protested.

"Yes they are," everyone else said, even Latias.

"And ssso Asssh and Latiasss traveled together, along with hisss other friendsss, sssince there wasss nothing ssstopping them from continuing to follow him in thisss world. Asss a resssult, the team which Asssh brought to the Hoenn League wasss much different from the one he usssed in your world, and many of the adventuresss he had along the way were a bit different asss well. Jirachi and Absssol were awakened early from their thousssand-year sssleep due to a freak celessstial alignment, and decided to find and join Max asss long asss they were up, which they did. Hanssson's coup of the Mirage Kingdom failed sssince the travelers were all able to get there (on virtue of being lossst) and ssstop him by dumb luck, alssso allowing Togetic to leave Togepi'sss Paradissse and rejoin Misssty. They were ssstill trapped in the RPGenerator, but essscaped without Mewtwo'sss help, and Mewgle wasss dessstroyed permanently when Pikachu blew it up once they were free. Asssh ssstill got a Big Pearl during Luvdisssc Day, which he sssent to Misssty. Lilycove wasss not the corrupt town it wasss in your world, and ssso May wasss able to have a Contessst there, in which ssshe met a very ssstrange man named Harley who would become her new rival. In addition, Latiasss Sr. and Misssingno were never releasssed from their prissson in the canalsss of Alto Mare, and ssso never attacked Asssh and Latiasss' party. They ssstill rendezvoused with Misssty in Sssootopolisss, but had no need to ressscue Wallace from Hanssson, since he had already been defeated. However, Asssh and Misssty did finally confesss their feelingsss, and ssshe decided to join the party on their way to the Hoenn League Championssship.

"Team Rocket ssstill managed to find the hidden island of the Wynaut, but Asssh'sss group managed to follow them there with Jirachi'sss help and sssaved the Wobbaku ssstatue from thossse who would sssteal it. Unfortunately, thisss meant Wobbuffet wasss ssstill with Team Rocket, asss you sssaw here, but at leassst he got to sssee hisss sssissster again. From Mirage Island they went to Ever Grande City, where the Tyranitron did not attack, and thingsss went for the mossst part asss they did in your world, including the dessstruction of Mariah Sssusssanssson and Team Sssnagem'sss attack, although your team did not form asss clossse a bond with Zoro and hisss group asss in your world, sssince Zoro wasss not ssspurned to think you were evil by Tuxedo Masssquerain. Latiasss and the Ghossst King had by thisss point been keeping in touch more frequently than in your world through lettersss and telepathy, and ssshe had grown to trussst and love him. Ssshe wasss on hand for hisss resssurrection at Sssky Pillar, taken there after her victory at the Battle Pyramid and Mariah'sss defeat.

"Deoxysss never threatened thisss world, in your time anyway," Sibyl finished. "The Apossstlesss in thisss world dessstroyed him asss he entered the sssolar sssyssstem, and ssso none of the eventsss he ssset into motion came to passs. Asss a resssult, it doesss not appear asss if the Mother will return physssically on thisss world anytime soon, but due to the mossstly posssitive nature of eventsss there, ssshe may not be needed. Asss a resssult, if you chossse, you could live in thisss universsse in relative peace, only having to face foesss the likesss of which you already know…the greed of humanity, and the dessstructive power belonging to wrathful Pokemon. Never will you have to fear the complete annihilation of life like on your Earth, nor the dessstruction of thisss universsse, for the Unown will keep it sssafe for you even if our final ssstruggle againssst Deoxysss failsss and all other worldsss become nullified. You can have a happy ending, with thossse you love, forever. And all you mussst do, Rayquaza, isss agree to take thisss gift."

There was a long silence as the group of four processed this. "A happy ending…" Ash whispered. "All my friends, okay…me, possibly a Pokemon Master…Latias and Rayquaza, together, and Mewtwo not all bitter and nasty and hating me. It's…it's really tempting."

"So it is," Rayquaza agreed slowly. "And I am tempted too, and sense no lie in your words. And yet…" He narrowed his eyes. "Something seems off…"

"What's so off about it?" Ash asked. "Looks simple to me. All you have to do is accept this universe, and we can all have a happy ending."

"What of the versions of ourselves in this other universe?" Mewtwo asked as Rayquaza pondered, still uncertain. "Won't we be replacing them?"

"No, you will be merging with them, becoming them," Sibyl explained. "Asss I told you before, the sssoul isss sssplit by quantum physssicsss asss it entersss the timessstream ssso that it may be presssent in all the sssimilar timelinesss in the local sssheaf of universssesss. When thossse divided sssoulsss die, they all eventually reunite outssside of time, integrating all the experiencesss and livesss they had into the core 'you' they were sssplit from in the firssst place. By entering thisss universsse, you will recombine prematurely with your quantum duplicatesss here and become them, taking all their experiencesss and memoriesss into yourssself, and vice versssa. In time you will probably forget the other world, the awful one, and enjoy your new life, which will ssseem much more 'real'. Thisss will apply to anyone who wissshesss to live in thisss new universsse. Anyone who doesssn't may remain on the island and continue traveling with usss asss we journey to the new planet and our inevitable final confrontation with Deoxysss. They may change their mindsss whenever they wish, asss long asss the island, the planet, and the Mother are ssstill intact, ssso that they may join any who goesss to the new universsse. However, once there, none of you may return. You mussst embrace the livesss you have chosssen there until you die, no matter what the outcome of our final battle."

"I knew there was a catch…" Mewtwo muttered to himself.

"Doesn't seem like that bad of one, though," Ash said. "And all we have to do to go there is have Rayquaza accept it?" Sibyl nodded. "Great! Come on Rayquaza!"

"I don't think so," Rayquaza growled softly. He frowned at Sibyl. "I think I understand now. This is my test, isn't it?"

Sibyl nodded. "Your mossst difficult one."

"Huh?" Ash blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I made a promise to save Latias, and a promise to give up my life to do so," Rayquaza said. "That's what all this has been about, what I've had all these tests for. What we're being offered now is an easy way out…a way to get what we desire without having to fulfill the terms of our previous agreements to the letter. A shortcut. A broken promise." He closed his eyes. "And I have never broken a promise. Not in this life, anyway."

"The magic that bindsss you to never break a promissse left you along with the Green Orb," Sibyl told him. "You are ssstill bound to keep your other promisssesss, but the Unown can sssupercede that so you and the othersss can live in the new universsse happily together, with a fully ressstored Latiasss, without having to give up your own life."

Rayquaza nodded slowly. "And what if I don't wish to go to this new universe? What if I wish to keep my promise, even if there's nothing really compelling me to other than my own conscience?"

Ash looked appalled as he said this, but Sibyl answered anyway. "Then you may proceed to the innermossst chamber of thisss island, the Mother'sss beating heart. There, we will fulfill the promissse we have made and exchange your life for Latiasss', ssso that ssshe may live again and you will die. Jussst asss _you_ promisssed."

Rayquaza nodded. "And this other universe…will my friends and the other refugees be able to go there anyway and live there in peace?"

Sibyl shook her head. "No. They mussst all remain here, and weather whatever conflict liesss in the future."

Rayquaza closed his eyes. "I see…that's what I thought."

Mewtwo laughed bitterly. "Of course. Now the deceit is clear. The moral conundrum. Either Rayquaza saves us all and damns himself, or saves just Latias and damns everyone else. Maybe even me, because I doubt I'll be able to resist merging with the One, whichever form it takes."

Rayquaza sighed unhappily. "I should not be surprised. A true king must face choices like this many times in his life, and I have done so many times in the past. It never gets any easier."

"What will you do?" Ash asked quietly, a little anxiously.

Rayquaza thought for a moment. Then he sighed again. "As Sibyl has told us, there are only two options: accept the gift universe, or die for Latias. On the one hand, if I accepted the gift, I would allow all of us to live in peace and happiness with our loved ones in a universe where most of the horrible things that have happened to us…won't. On the other, if I did that, not only would I be denying any of our friends and the refugees the chance to live on the new planet, we would also miss the opportunity to take part in the final push against Deoxys, whatever that might be…a push that all, if not most, of our souls promised to take part in, before we were even born. By accepting the gift we would be reneging on that promise, even if the ones we made it to are allowing us to step down and get out of it with no negative consequences. And even if there are no negative consequences, the fact is that we _will_ have broken our promise…and even worse, _I_ will have broken my own promises, to save Latias at the cost of my own life. Latias will be saved, but I will not have died for her. Even if the binding power of that promise is negated by the Unown, that does not change the fact that I made the promise in the first place. I have _never_ broken a promise, not in this lifetime, not just because my own word bound me magically to carry it out, but also because I morally believe promises are not meant to be broken. Even if I faded away into that other Rayquaza, some part of me would always feel bad for breaking the promise I made, even if it meant all of us could be happy. That's just how I am. And besides," he added. "If that promise could be broken so easily, then what of the others I made? I promised Dark Latios that he would one day be defeated, setting it in stone, and if the promise that I would die to save Latias can be negated so easily, then what of that evil one's fate? He cannot go unpunished for what he has done.

"But, if I fulfilled my promise, I would die so Latias would live…and leave her without me, yet again. Not only that, I would be denying all of us on this island who have been scarred by the war a chance for a happy ending in a world where none of this ever happened. I would be dooming them all to whatever fate awaited them at the end of Birth Island's journey, Deoxys destroying everything…or all becoming One again and either leaving reality in pieces or starting it all over again. I would be leaving them with all the scars they have collected in recent days, and almost certainly ensured that they will have more in the future.

"And yet…" He closed his eyes in thought. Then he said, "We have seen much since we entered the catacombs. And something that has been pressed repeatedly is that life is wonderful. Even if life is horrible, you're still alive, and that's something, isn't it?"

"No," Mewtwo said flatly.

"The universe being offered to us is a life we have not lived, even if those who lived it are basically quantum clones of ourselves, with the same souls. And while the world may be more peaceful, and their lives may seem better…_is_ it? Will they have evolved personally the same way all of us have? We have suffered much, but have all of its impacts on our own development been totally negative?"

"Yes," Mewtwo said, even louder than before.

"There is nothing to be gained by living a fantasy…and really, that's what this universe is, isn't it? A fantasy," Rayquaza continued. "Like the visions of paradise many souls lose themselves in once they cross over so they don't have to face the ultimate reality. And while fantasies are nice to dream about, that's all they really are. Dreams. And not just dreams, but maybe even lies. And I cannot abide a lie, even if it is reality. For despite all appearances, everything is _not_ fine, and life _won't_ be perfect, because somewhere out there there's a battle going on that we agreed to be a part of and then chose not to be, taking the easy way out. And even if we forget, our souls will remember. And that feeling of guilt, of abdication of duty, may haunt us throughout all our new lives and ruin them."

"But it might not!" Ash said desperately.

"Does that change the fact that it happened? That we chose to abdicate?" Rayquaza argued. "Does an event cease to exist just because nobody remembers it? Even if no record exists of it?"

"Some could say yes, it does," Mewtwo said, although he didn't sound like he was one of those who said such things.

"Even if we don't remember, even if the new universe doesn't remember, the One will, its subconscious, and we will, once we die and have realized the immensity of what we have done. Perhaps in dying we will see the new glory that has been brought forth…or find that because we quit, Deoxys won, and now there is nothing left for us but to join with him forever. We will never live again," Rayquaza said.

"And is that a bad thing?" Mewtwo said bitterly. "To live no more?"

"To you, perhaps. And to others, maybe. But I want to live again! I want Latias to live again!" the dragon king said fiercely. "And if we accept this gift, we will live again…and then die, and that will be it. But if we take this path, the road to an uncertain future…there may still be a chance for life at the end. After all, as I told Anubis…the sun will rise again."

"Maybe," said Mewtwo. "But who knows when? Who knows how much more suffering we must go through before we reach the dawn, if there even will be one? You are being given the chance to have it now, and yet you refuse to take it. There is nothing for the people on this island, who have chosen to live, but death if _you_ choose to die. They cannot defeat Deoxys. No one can."

"They'll all die eventually," Rayquaza pointed out. "As Latias said before…we all die. Everyone. And I thought you preferred death to life, Mewtwo?"

"I do," Mewtwo said. "But the longer it takes for you to get here, the more peace I'll have."

"Then you won't come with us?" Ash asked in surprise. "I mean, if we did go to the new universe?"

"No, I would not," Mewtwo said coldly.

"Even though it would mean you could be happy again? Be Latias' father, Gardevoir's mate, Ash's friend?" Rayquaza asked.

"I would not," Mewtwo said again. "Like you, Rayquaza, I do not want to live in a lie, and I most certainly do not want to live in the same world as any of you."

"Then why are you arguing so strongly that we live in one?" Ash asked in confusion.

"As I said before, to keep you from bothering me for as long as possible, and also because I honestly don't give a damn what any of you do. The way I see it, no matter what you're going to die, and all your pathetic little hopes and heroic ideals will be shattered forever by Deoxys as he unmakes even Birth Island and the new planet and becomes the One. But if you die in some 'safe' universe after the One is formed, that means I'll have that much more time inside said One without having to join with your irritating minds. I don't care what decision you make, as long as it means I can enjoy some peace being dead WITHOUT you idiots whining and bothering me and trying to convince me to 'snap out of it' and help you for as long as possible."

Rayquaza nodded. "I see. So as it always has been of late, your motives are purely selfish."

"Indeed," Mewtwo affirmed.

The dragon sighed. "Very well. And Ash, I doubt you will be able to give me any objective thoughts on this either, since I already know what you want."

"Is it so wrong to want to try again?" Ash asked.

"No. But is this trying again or running away?" Rayquaza asked.

"I don't know," Ash confessed. "I don't like running from things, either. But Rayquaza…this world is what we need, all of us. And I'm not just saying that because here it looks like I have a good chance of becoming a Pokemon Master with all of my friends neither dead, insane, or damned. I mean, I sort of lost interest in becoming a Master a while ago, but I want to see my friends okay."

"coughYeahrightcought" Mewtwo breathed loudly.

Rayquaza thought a moment longer. "There is one among us who has not spoken…perhaps the one whose opinion matters most." He turned his head to the fourth member of their group. "Latias…these tests may be for me, but in the end, all of this revolves around you. It's for you we're struggling. It's for you I promised to die so that you could live. If I choose to accept the Unown's gift, you will live again, but you will also live if we continue the path we have traveled so far, and I fulfill my promise. Latias…which of these do you think I should choose?"

She blinked at him. "I don't-"

"I know you don't," he said sadly. "But Latias…back in the Mother's tree, Anubis himself said that no matter what I did or proved, in the end…in the end, it might all come down to you. And now it has. All of what we are doing has been for you, Latias…but it is only right that you have a say in your own fate." He looked her steadily in the eyes. "I know it is hard. I know you can't be expected to rationally make decisions. But Latias…" He took a deep breath. "Even as you are now, you are still a Queen. _My_ Queen, as you have always been."

"…Yes…" she said slowly.

"Before, I asked you to decide for yourself on whether or not Mewtwo should take the role as your Father in the Blood Triangle," Rayquaza continued. "As Queen of the court, you had the final say then, since I was just a Consort. But as King, in this instance, the power of the final decision is mine alone….but what King makes such a decision which will choose the final destiny of his people without input from his partner, from his Queen? And so, though I know it may hurt you, I must ask you once again…what do you believe I should do? Give our friends and those who have suffered a world where we may live as if little of the evil we have suffered occurred…or go forward together, all of us, to an uncertain and possibly deadly future? Either way, you will live again."

"…" Latias looked away, unable to meet his eyes. Instead, she looked at this universe's version of herself, still frozen in place, locked into a collision course with her father Ho-Oh. There was a look of fierce pride on that Latias' face, and joy too, something that Latias herself only had the vaguest understanding of anymore thanks to Dark Latios.

If Latias told Rayquaza he should choose this universe, then she could live as that Latias, a happy one surrounded by friends and not haunted by a twisted and insane brother, with Rayquaza as her husband-to-be. A faint memory of a dream she had had long ago, of a marriage to a being with yellow eyes in a church filled with ghosts, legendaries, and other humans and Pokemon she had not recognized at the time but now saw were in fact all people she had met in this life, could come true in this world, the other Latias' world.

Or she could let Rayquaza die for her, leaving her alone and forcing her friends and everyone else on Birth Island to suffer whatever fate lay in store for them. Both ways she lived, but in one way she could live with Rayquaza and in the other she couldn't. The choice seemed obvious. The logical thing to do would be to accept the gift universe. It would only mean breaking a few promises. No big deal.

Then again…

Not really understanding why, she turned to Rayquaza and said, "A king should keep his promises."

Ash looked crestfallen, Mewtwo uncaring, but Rayquaza just nodded. "I see. Thank you, Latias." He turned to Sibyl. "I have made my decision. I will fulfill my promise."

"Even though it may doom the people who have taken haven on thisss island, without asssking their opinion on the matter?" the serpent asked.

"Yes," Rayquaza said. He smirked slightly. "I'm a King, after all. I don't need to be democratic."

"Even though it meansss Latiasss may ssstill be in danger from her evil brother, who may sssomeday find her dessspite how thisss island rejectsss hisss presssence?"

"Yes."

"Even though there isss no way you can tell what the future may hold for anyone due to your choice?"

"Yes," he said a third time. "Just as I cannot tell a lie, I cannot break a promise. No matter what the consequences of keeping that promise may be. Even though it may mean the end of all things, there is no other choice I could make but this. We will go together into the unknown future…and leave the past that might have been behind."

Sibyl nodded. "I know. I foresssaw that you would choossse this path."

They blinked in surprise. "You did?" Ash asked, startled. "You mean you knew all along Rayquaza was going to choose to do the honorable thing?" Sibyl nodded.

"Of course," Mewtwo realized. "She can read minds and see the future. If she could foresee that we would come to her hall decades or even longer before we were born…well, some of us anyway…then she must also have been able to see which way Rayquaza would decide in the end."

"But if you knew what I would do, then why did you ask? Why bother testing me when you already knew the result?" a baffled Rayquaza asked.

Sibyl laughed. "How could you passs a tessst if I didn't give it to you in the firssst place?"

They groaned at this. "Another paradox," Mewtwo said. "How annoying."

"In any event," Sibyl said as the fantasy around them began to disappear, fading away like the dream once. Her shining hall formed around them once more, as if they had never left in the first place. Then again, since what they had just seen was caused by hallucinatory fumes, perhaps they hadn't. "You have passsed the final tessst, asss I knew you would. And now…" The hall began to tremble slightly. "You ssshall go together to what awaitsss. Into the heart, and what liesss there. Three of you will return to the sssurface…but one will not. You have made your choice, and you are bound to it, Rayquaza."

"I know," the dragon king agreed. "I will fulfill my word, as I have sworn to. I can do nothing less, and nothing more. That is who I am."

The room continued to shake as Sibyl nodded. "It isss indeed. We Apostlesss are the sssame way." To their surprise, she began to fade away. "We will be waiting for you inssside. Do not keep usss waiting for long, we have been looking forward to thisss for a long time now." And with that cryptic message, she disappeared.

The giant double doors at the back of the room glowed and slowly began to open. "Did I make the right choice, I wonder?" Rayquaza asked idly. "To fulfill my promise, and maybe doom you all?"

"…I don't know," Ash said after a moment, as the door began to open a little wider. "I mean, at the time I really wanted it, but…" He shrugged, frustrated. "I'm not sure now. It might have been great. Could have been great. But…" He sighed. "I guess you did the right thing. I'm not happy about breaking promises either. Still…"

"It was awfully tempting?"

"Yeah," Ash admitted.

"How about you, Mewtwo? Did I do the right thing? Have I escaped my puppet strings, or played into the hands of those you claim are controlling us yet again?" Rayquaza asked the ghost.

"…" Mewtwo glanced away.

"You don't know either, do you?" the dragon asked softly.

"For a moment there, I was reminded what it was like to be alive," Mewtwo said, the gap between the two doors growing greater as they slowly swung open. "And it was good. But I know life is not all like that. Not for long. Never for long."

"That doesn't mean it's not still good," Ash pointed out.

"Tell that to those who never have the opportunity to experience more than brief moments of goodness at a time…trapped in cycles of pointless violence and brutality either out in the wild or in public arenas, or those who are trapped in endless squalor due to the changing economy and apathy on the part of other people to their plight…and those whose fate is even worse, dying miserable and alone, screaming in some secret prison or brothel hidden on the underside of society, its existence denied by all in authority and readily ignored by the people, who don't really want to think such awful things can exist in their perfect world." Mewtwo closed his eyes. "Life may seem good, but it's just an illusion. I would have thought you would realize that as well, Rayquaza, with your emphasis on truth. Or are you just another hypocrite as well?"

Rayquaza frowned. "I love life, and I believe in the power of the truth. To me, the two are not irreconcilable."

"Maybe they're not," Mewtwo admitted. "And yet you choose death, just as I have. Freedom from mortality."

"I do it to save a loved one," Rayquaza growled. "Not to separate myself from everything else."

Mewtwo would not meet his eyes. "I have done that too," he said quietly. "Died for a loved one. And the other thing, as well. I've cared and I haven't cared throughout my many lives, and you know what? It's just too hard to care. It hurts too much, because you always realize it's not worth it, and you put too much of yourself into it, and get nothing back worth having, and makes you too easy to manipulate. And so I have become indifferent and bitter. I have hurt too many times to care anymore."

"That sounds awfully lonely," Ash said sadly.

Mewtwo laughed once, sharply. "I have been alone before," he said. "I'm used to it by now."

"And Latias…why did you make the choice you did?" Rayquaza asked the female he was giving his life for.

"…I…" She had been about to say she didn't know but paused, realizing to her surprise that wasn't true. "…Someone said once…there's a difference between choosing what's right and what's easy." She blinked. "And…what's right…is always the right choice…even when it's wrong…?" She blinked again, looking confused.

"Is it always that easy?" Mewtwo wondered quietly. "So simple? How do you define what's right and what's wrong?"

"Something like that, yes," Rayquaza agreed. "Who is it that said that, Latias?"

"…Me," she said, blinking again. "Sometime…long ago…"

"You're remembering more clearly, then?"

"I…" She blinked. "Yes…"

"She's been sounding a little more alive the further we get, hasn't she?" Ash asked.

"I believe that was already pointed out," Mewtwo said flatly. "But yes, she has."

"A good sign, I suppose," said Rayquaza.

The door was fully open now, and behind it was nothing but light, wondrous light, the kind one could stare into forever, and while they might not be able to quite make out what it hid, their tolerance to it grew stronger, and it was only if they looked away that they might go blind.

"Light," Latias whispered. "…Dawn?"

"If so," said Rayquaza. "It's another good sign." He smiled. "Come. We have finished our tests, and learned much about ourselves and everything else. Now it's time to end this."

"Time…f-for you to die…" Ash said unhappily.

"It's all right," Rayquaza said calmly. "I have died before, I remember now. And while Latias will stay here and I will leave, the opposite of what happened the last time…we will meet again. We are bound together, not just Latias and I, but all of us. We were all Chosen, and what's more, all of us are part of the One. Everyone is. And so we are connected."

"And that connection will bring us back together," Ash realized. Mewtwo said nothing for once, no scathing comments, just looked away. Ash smiled. "Okay then. You're right, Rayquaza. Let's finish this. If we do it quick, I may be able to get back to the surface in time to catch some of my Mom's dinner!"

Rayquaza nodded, not wanting to deprive the boy of his mother's cooking. It was almost a shame he'd never get the chance to try it for himself. "All right then. Latias? Mewtwo?"

They stood beside each other. And then, together, they entered the light.

…

TO BE CONCLUDED…

…

That message above isn't a trick, like it was the last time. The next chapter really may be the final one, save for the epilogue. Unless of course the next chapter _is_ the epilogue.  
That, dear readers, is up to you. What do you think? Would you like one more chapter, to show how the procedure goes that will save Latias' life? Or would you just like to skip to the finish, something you've probably been waiting a very long time for? The choice, my friends, is up to you.


	65. Journey's End

And so it comes down to this. After like, ten chapters, Latias is finally going to be returned to normal…at a price. But that doesn't mean the process will happen smoothly…

Disclaimer: The Apostles, Mother, and Birth Island belong to me. Dark Latios belongs to DiamondLatias3000. Thanks to Rusty Raccoon for editing this chapter. All Pokemon and related characters belong to Japan. All hail the Rising Sun.

Note: I'll be changing the rating of this story to Mature soon after posting this chapter, so anyone who doesn't want to miss the finale whenever it comes may want to add it to their favorites and request to be alerted for updates if you haven't already. Or you could just check periodically, either way works.

…

The first thing they heard was a deep, slow, rhythmic sound…the pulse of a beating heart.

As the light dimmed, or their eyes adjusted to it, the first thing they saw was roots, roots originating from the giant tree growing throughout and above the island. They twined their way down from the ceiling of the massive dome-shaped cavern they were in along the walls or coming straight down as giant wooden pillars. Giant was an understatement. Each root-pillar was about the size of a city block where it met the ground, and of course even wider further up. The entire cave was so big that you could probably have stuck all of Ever Grande City into it (pre-Deoxys, of course). It plenty of room left to wedge Battle Frontier into the far corner. In addition, every surface looked as if it were more than solid, realer than real, just like the Apostles…and yet, more so. It appeared almost as though the entire room was made of light shaped into something like physical features, but far greater, far more beautiful and definite than anything merely physical could possibly be. It was this light that had shone through the door in Sibyl's hall, shining on them from every direction. It even emanated from underneath the almost transparent, glassy floor beneath their feet, small flickering forms moving rapidly in those lucid depths, looking almost like letters of the alphabet.

"Wow…" Ash gasped.

Rayquaza blinked. "It's…immense."

"Yes," Latias agreed.

"How does all this fit down here?!" Ash exclaimed in disbelief. "I mean, I know the island's big, but it doesn't have this much room inside it, does it? Especially since it's a floating island and all? I mean, even that tesseract stuff can't fit it all in, can it?"

Mewtwo laughed at Ash's ignorance. "Of course it can, fool, and much more too. That's the beauty of a tesseract, it's larger inside than it is outside. You could probably cram an entire solar system into this place, what with all the technology wired throughout these catacombs and the multidimensional nature of this island. There's certainly enough room for pocket universes, after all." He glanced down at himself. "Speaking of which, I'm not even entirely sure we're still 'down there', as in physically inside the island. Look at yourselves."

They did. Ash and Rayquaza and, amazingly, Latias were surprised to see that the matter of their bodies seemed to have been converted into whatever material was used to form this place. (Actually Latias was even more surprised by the fact that she _could_ feel surprised than she was by the matter shift, which in turn made her surprised again, and you get the point.) Their bodies for the most part looked the same. However, they appeared to be made of something greater and more perfect than clumsy chemicals and bonded molecules. Radiance that could not help but make everything it touched upon look better than they could have imagined lit them from within. Even Latias' decrepit form could not help but look strangely appealing in the very faint and flickering but still burning glow of her tattered soul. Mewtwo, on the other hand, looked the same…or did he? Maybe they had just gotten used to him looking like a ghost. Here he seemed more solid, almost like he were alive again rather than a noncorporeal spirit. Then again, did corporeality really matter here?

"Whoa…what's happened to us?" Ash wondered.

"Well, considering the looks of this place, as well as ourselves and how Mewtwo appears, I'd say we're somewhere between our world 'inside' time and somewhere further out, much closer to the edge." Rayquaza glanced at the figures darting beneath the floor. "These glimpses of our friends the Unown would seem to prove that guess accurate."

Mewtwo scowled at the shadowy letters. "Hmmph. Should have known they'd make a token appearance at some point."

"What do we do now that we're here?" Ash asked.

"Go to the center of course," Rayquaza said.

"Why the center?" Ash asked. Rayquaza, Mewtwo, and Latias pointed at the rather obvious thing waiting in the middle of the room. Ash looked, and sweatdropped.

A seemingly endless shaft bored right through the roof above the center of the cavern and no doubt traveled all the way up through the mountain and into the central chamber of the giant tree trunk, where they had been only a few hours before. The same beautiful white flower they had seen before was there as well, just beneath the shaft, pulsing in time with the heartbeat…but now that they were here in its resting place they saw it was not just a small flower, but the tip of an enormous structure or organism the size of a cruise ship. It was part plant, part machine, part crystal, and part something…else. It was tremendous, spherical, and magnificent, floating in the air above the center of the chamber and supported only by a single spiraling strand making contact with the ground. The floor seemed even more translucent where that stalk touched down, and ripples of power washed out from it with every beat of the organism, the giant heart, as the thousands and thousands of souls within, visible through the crystalline sides, shimmered and flowed in rapid currents and waves throughout their refuge, much like blood in a real heart. Various shards of light flashing in many ranges of colors spun around the heart in magnificent halos at many angles, looking like feather or flower petal 'electrons' orbiting the nucleus of a giant atom. The analogy was most fitting, for this structure, this heart, was the nucleus of the whole island. The Mother's soul dwelled throughout the giant tree growing above and around them, but this was the tree's heart, the place from which the life-force sustaining it and the entire island sprung. This was the heart of the heart, the source of power. The heart of the island.

It was beautiful.

"Whoa…" Ash whispered, staring at the structure in the distance. "What…what _is_ that?"

"Well," said Rayquaza. "Judging from the familiar-looking flower on top, I'd guess this is the Mother's current physical form. Well, technically, the whole _tree_ is her physical form, but this is the tree's nerve center, its heart, and its source of consciousness all in one. And so this must be where her soul lies."

"Not just hers," Mewtwo pointed out. "There are many other souls here too. I can hear them…singing. It's very annoying." He grimaced.

Latias blinked. "They're…happy." Was that even the word for it? She vaguely recalled the Mother saying something about Rukario's lover's soul spending time with hers, and that it was…raptor? Rapshure? Something like that. She didn't understand it. But…

She wanted to.

"The Mother said that the souls of everyone on the island, and the souls of the people they managed to rescue from Earth during the evacuation, were sent to the catacombs…I guess this is where they went. To be with her," Ash said softly. "They've lost their world, their lives, even their bodies…and they're still happy. That's…" He blinked. "That's incredible."

"Yes, well, that's what drugs can do to you," Mewtwo said cheerfully.

"How can a soul be on drugs?" Rayquaza asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not physical drugs, of course," Mewtwo snorted. "Souls are responsive to the thoughts and emotions of others, so they're getting high off of the Mother's dreams, feeding on them much like Remoraid latch themselves onto Mantine and feast on the cast-off scraps of their meals. They're repulsive parasites, so addicted to being happy-happy-happy from the Mother's supposed aura of 'goodness' they no longer give thought to what they've sacrificed or lost in being imprisoned here."

By now, they were so used to his diatribe they just tuned him out completely. "So we should go there, then?" Ash asked Rayquaza.

"I suppose," the dragon said. "What else can we do?"

And so they went. Rayquaza was pleased to find that here, since his body weight now felt almost nonexistent, nearly lighter than air, that he could fly on his own power, rather than having to be carried around telekinetically by Latias. His form however still felt solid. Despite the great distance from where they had entered the cavern to its center, but they didn't seem to notice or feel tired from the long walk in the least. In fact, they actually seemed to be approaching it faster than they would have thought at regular walking speed, something Mewtwo attributed to a distortion of the laws of physics due to the otherworldly nature of this place closer to the edge of time. As they passed through the outermost root pillars, which from closer up they saw were covered in spectacular crystalline and fungal growths which had naturally formed incredibly vivid murals of island life, magnificent Pokemon they had never seen before, the Apostles, the Mother, islanders and regular humans, and all sorts of other things, they soon encountered organic/crystalline/mechanical capsules growing out of the ground which were very similar to the one which Anubis' physical body had emerged from in the chamber high above them. The creatures contained within these capsules weren't necessarily as imposing or powerful as the lich, but no less fascinating. These at last were the hybrid inhabitants of Birth Island they had heard so much about, descendants of humans and Pokemon who had interbred long ago to give birth to a new variety of species unlike anything ever seen on the Earth before. The hybrids came in all varieties of size, build, color, gender, and species, resembling many types of Pokemon Ash had never seen before and ones he had seen but not for a while, such as Rattata and Hypno, Weezing, and even an Exeggutor. The islanders clearly had different standards of beauty, or perhaps none at all, since they had not used any of their no doubt extensive knowledge of gene therapy to make those hybrids resembling Pokemon considered 'undesirable' by discerning humans or Pokemon any less 'uglier.' The lack of clothing on the majority of the hybrids also suggested their comfort with themselves, although it made Ash feel awkward, even though he himself had been naked for several hours now.

"So _this_ is where the islanders have hidden themselves…" Rayquaza said, examining the capsules as they walked past. "To make room for us, until we reach the new planet…what generous hosts they are. We must thank them once they wake up for their kindness."

"They don't look like they're asleep," Ash said, somewhat creeped out. "They look…well, dead."

"In a sense, they are," Mewtwo said. "These capsules have 'paused' all bodily functions, putting them into total chronological and physical stasis. The bodies won't age or change in the slightest while they're preserved in these capsules, so when they get out it will be as if they were only in there for less than a second. And while the body sleeps, the soul is free to explore the higher reaches of existence and interact with their Mother." He frowned. "Why they would possibly want to come back from that and confine themselves to disgusting fleshy bodies if and when this island gets where it's going, I cannot fathom."

"Because they value and love life," Rayquaza retorted. "Just as I do."

"Bah," Mewtwo grumbled, shaking his head in disgust.

"Will the other people, the human and Pokemon souls the Mother pulled off Earth when she left, get new bodies too when we get there?" Ash asked.

"No doubt," Rayquaza said. "Those who wish them, anyway. I imagine some might prefer to bask in her soul for as long as possible."

"Because they're addicted to her making them 'happyhappyhappy'," Mewtwo said flatly. "So they don't have to feel awful about everything that's happened to them." Ash and Rayquaza rolled their eyes but said nothing.

Latias glanced at the bodies as they passed them, noting the many different groupings and species represented…and paused when they walked by a large cluster, a family group of similar hybrids. "They look like you," she said to Ash.

"Huh?" He glanced at the hybrids. "No they don't-" He stopped. Blinked. Looked down at his own red dragonoid form, then at the bodies in the capsules. Frowning, he walked over to them to take a closer look. He gasped. "No way…"

"What is it?" Rayquaza asked, examining the bodies as well.

"They're…" Ash swallowed. "They're my family."

Rayquaza's eyes widened as he took another look at the capsules. "Oh…_oh_. I see." There were about a dozen capsules in this family group, and the majority of them were hybrids of the Pikachu evolutionary line. The youngest, children, were Pichu hybrids, while most of the adults and elders were Pikachu or more burly Raichu, both sexes represented fairly well among the rodent-human crossbreeds. There were a couple of tall, humanoid Plusle and Minun as well, and a number of hybrids from other species, probably related by marriage to the rest of the family. Of these there was surprising variation, including a Tentacruel, a Slugma, a Shuckle, and a Nidorina. It was strange to see those others looking so humanoid and different yet similar to the forms he recognized them as. But he was less focused on them and more so on the Pikachu-type hybrids at the moment. "These are your father's family…your relatives that you never knew."

"Yeah…" Ash said, touching the side of one of the capsules with a hand. "I…I always thought my dad was just some guy. I never knew anything about him except what my mom said, and I figured out pretty quickly it was a lie…or at least, some of it was. I've been angry at him for years…but now I know what really happened. He loved me and my mom…and he would have been there for me if he hadn't been trying to help his other half, my brother's father." He closed his eyes, pressing his face against the closest capsule. "I wonder…if my dad hadn't died, if both halves of Raiki had gotten back together, would I have come here someday? Would Dad have taken us to meet his side of the family? Would I have had grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and all that other stuff a lot of other families have but I didn't, growing up?"

Rayquaza considered a moment. "If you had…if things had gone differently…there's no guarantee you would have had the brother, your best friend, which you have now."

"And besides, somewhere it did happen like that. All variables, occur, remember?" Mewtwo reminded Ash snidely, as if to mock the former human's forgetfulness. "Sibyl told us that. Of course, since Deoxys erased you from existence, that means you couldn't have met your family in any timeline. Which means you never had any grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, and they never had the displeasure of having you for a family member, since you were never born, ever."

"Except they do now," Rayquaza pointed out. "In _this_ timeline, maybe the only one left that's not falling apart. Ash is still here, and so he can meet his family, his father's people. He will have the chance to get to know them that he never had before, once we get where we're going and all the people here return to life once again."

"Good point," Mewtwo grunted. "If that's the case, I should probably do them a favor and destroy their physical bodies so they won't have to be tormented with being forced back into life and stuck with Ash for a relative. Latias, destroy these capsules, would you?"

"What?! NO!" Ash yelled, horrified.

Latias blinked. "Why?"  
"Because I asked you to, and I'm your 'Father'. Please destroy these capsules."

Latias blinked again, looked at the shocked Ash, and then at the capsules. "I…" She blinked once more. "N-no?" She seemed confused and surprised to hear herself say that.

"No?" asked an equally surprised Mewtwo. "Why?"

"I don't know," Latias said with a shrug.

"Because she is beginning to understand once more how precious life is," Rayquaza growled. "And how it's wrong to deprive others of it!"

"You don't say?" Mewtwo said flatly. "Oh well. Guess I'll do it myself, then." His purple eyes flashed, gathering power…

"NO!" Ash yelled, crackling red aura flaring up as he fired an incredible blast of crimson Thunder at Mewtwo…and was as surprised as everyone else when it actually connected rather than passing through the ghost, pushing him back and causing him to gasp in astonishment.

"Wh-what?!" he stammered in disbelief, touching his chest where the lightning had struck. "I actually felt that?!"

"Huh? How'd I do that?" asked a surprised Ash.

"We're closer to the edge of time, and what lies beyond," Rayquaza realized. "And so the rules are different here. The spirit is more solid than mere matter here…or matter becomes spirit. I don't recommend you try that again, Mewtwo, now that you know we have the capability to stop you."

Mewtwo snorted. "Ridiculous. None of you are strong enough to defeat me."

"Maybe not, but I don't think the Mother or her Apostles will be very happy with you pulling something like this," Rayquaza pointed out. "What do you think they will do to you for trying to desecrate this place? If our attacks can touch you, who was previously but a ghost and immune, what do you think theirs will do, which are far greater and would have affected even your spiritual essence before we came here?"

"…Very well," Mewtwo said, crossing his arms.

"…What about new bodies?" Latias asked, looking at the capsules again.

"Huh?" Ash asked in confusion.

"I think she's saying that even if Mewtwo had destroyed these capsules, they could just have grown new bodies," Rayquaza interpreted. "So his efforts would have been for nothing."

"Hmm…then if that's the case, what reason is there NOT to let me destroy the bodies, since they will only make new ones?" Mewtwo asked.

"Because the Apostles'd kick your ass!" Ash pointed out.

Mewtwo glared at him. "Hmmph." He didn't make any move towards the capsules, though, so he clearly had decided it wasn't worth the risk.

"So these are my family…" Ash said, looking at the capsules. "My father's parents and siblings and other stuff. Do you think…they'll like me?"

"I'm sure they already do," Rayquaza said. "If they have kept any track of what has happened to their son over the years, and I'm sure they must have with this island's technology, then they certainly know you…and I'm sure they're very proud."

"I wouldn't be, if he were my descendant," Mewtwo said flatly.

"We're well aware of that," the dragon growled.

Ash touched one of the capsules again. "I'll…I'll see you guys soon, okay?" he said, his voice husky. "Just hang tight till then, all right?"

"They're not even in there, you know," Mewtwo pointed out. "Those are just empty husks, practically dead bodies. You're talking to virtual corpses. If you're so damned set on talking to them, then go over there," he said, gesturing to the giant organic structure. "Where their souls and everyone else's are already. I want to go back to being dead. I've been here far too long."

"Yes, for both your liking and our own," Rayquaza grumbled.

They continued on in silence, passing more capsules and roots for a timeless and immeasurable period until they finally reached the center of the chamber. They stopped and looked up at the giant beating heart above them. From up close, they could see more souls than they had thought possible swarming around inside the structure's interior. And from up close, they were able to see something else inside the heart as well; a single, giant soul, hundreds of times bigger than all the others, swelling and shrinking in tune with the heartbeat (or perhaps even causing it) sat in the very center of the giant structure. It shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow and made the glow of the million or more souls around it seem dim. As they stared up at it they got the feeling that it, and all the other souls, were staring back. And while the gaze of all the myriad million souls peering into them all was unsettling enough, the gaze of the being embodied in that giant soul, one which seemed to peel back the layers of their current life and look right down through all their past incarnations to their central being with three great blue eyes, was almost too much to handle. However nobody, not even Mewtwo, had the slightest thought of looking away.

After a moment of the spirits observing them, they felt a faint sense of acknowledgement. Then the great soul took its beatific gaze off of them, drifting back into slumber…if a soul can truly sleep, that is.

"Is this what it is," Rayquaza wondered as he found his voice again. "To stare into the face of God, unflinching? To gaze into Infinity?"

"No," Mewtwo said flatly. "That wasn't God, unless you meant that in a broader meaning. Everything is God, even this imbecile here." Ash glared at him angrily. "It's just the Mother."

Latias blinked. "'Just'?"

"Nothing more," Mewtwo said glibly.

"And nothing less, either," Rayquaza growled.

"Hey, what's that?" Ash asked, noticing something growing out of the spot where the giant heart's stalk touched the ground. He walked over to it to get a better look.

Latias blinked and tilted her head. "A…door?" She remembered they had come through a door to get here. She turned around and looked at the far-distant wall of the chamber where they had appeared, and saw there was no door there, or if there had been it was gone. She turned back around and looked at the door Ash was now examining. It was set into the base of the stalk, the strange blended material it was made from growing around it and forming an archway of sorts. It was a big contrast from the rather impressive door they had used to get here, small and brown and wooden and seemingly leading to nowhere. Although by now they knew nothing in this place could be taken for granted.

"Where do you think it goes?" Ash asked in bewilderment, scratching his head in confusion because he couldn't find a doorknob or handle on the wooden surface.

"A dimension of endless pain and pure agony and suffering?" Mewtwo asked hopefully. "From which you will never return?"

"In _here_?!" Rayquaza asked incredulously.

Mewtwo frowned. "Hmm, good point. Oh well, open it regardless, maybe it'll kill you anyway. Just because something's good doesn't mean its safe."

Ash frowned at Mewtwo and backed away from the door, not intending to give him that satisfaction. "A wise choice," Anubis said quietly as he appeared out of nowhere behind Ash and caused him to scream and leap several feet into the air in fright. "Once through that door, there is no return."

"What is it?" Rayquaza asked. "The door between life and death?"

"In one sssenssse, yesss," said Sibyl as she appeared next to the dragon. "Thisss place isss very clossse to the edge of time. That door leadsss right outssside it."

"What's it doing here?" Ash asked, managed to slow his rapidly beating heart down.

"As I told you, the Mother's soul is a fragment of the core consciousness of the 'good' Beast," Chloe said as she walked towards them, the trail of living and dead things she had left in the forest not growing in this place. "By remaining interred here in the island for so long after the destruction of her original body, back when it split into the trio of Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi, a physical link was formed between her soul here and her main mass outside of time. If you were to open it, every soul in the vicinity—save we Apostles, and the souls already clustered around the Mother's up there—would instantly be transported through the door and into the very heart of all that we would call good."

"Then that door leads directly to what many might call God?" Rayquaza asked, looking at the door with interest.

"I told you," Mewtwo said, annoyed. "It's not-"

"Yes, yes, I know what you said, and you're right, but since everything is God I might as well acknowledge that some see the more benevolent part of it as being God rather than the part which wants to destroy everything," said Rayquaza calmly.

"Even though technically both 'Gods' are exactly the same being, though split apart?" Mewtwo asked.

"I said it leads to what 'many' would call God, not necessarily myself," Rayquaza pointed out. "I know now both are God, just as I am, and you, and everyone and everything else."

"All right," Mewtwo grunted. "As long as we're clear on that, then."

"Let's just say it goes to the center of Heaven or whatever and leave it at that," Ash suggested.

"Hello," Latias said to the writhing mass of noodles with eyes and mouths which had appeared next to her with a loud pop.

"Hello," it said back in Gobbledygook.

"Oh no," Mewtwo groaned. "It's you again."

"Huh? Bobobo?!" Ash realized in confusion. "But why's he look so different? And gross?"

"Chaos never repeats itself," the disgusting tentacled thing reminded him in Indonesian.

Mewtwo frowned. "Wait, but you said that exact same thing before. So isn't that repeating your-" A piano falling on his head interrupted him. "Ow," he said in a muffled voice from underneath the large musical instrument before it flipped over and flew away, flapping the lid over its strings like a big, wooden wing.

"That's chaos," Bobobo chortled in Zezuru as its noodles thickened and became proper tentacles with eyes and mouths sprouting from the suckers on long stalks and no visible central body.

"I'd point out how you've repeated that too," Mewtwo said, staggering to his feet and rubbing his head. "But I don't want to get another piano dropped on my head. Or, since chaos isn't 'supposed' to repeat itself, it'll probably be a safe, assuming it continues following typical cartoon fare."

"Except that since you're expecting a safe, it won't be a safe, it'll probably be something-" Ash started to say.

"Do shut up," Mewtwo growled, his eye twitching. "You're not helping."

"Then perhaps this one can," said Silithin as she hovered down to the ground, wings buzzing…and still with an endless entourage of smaller bugs to carry away the eggs she reproduced endlessly. "This one's order should counter or at least diminish that one's chaos, and the randomness that one can cause," she said, indicating Bobobo, who had now grown bored of tentacles and turned himself into a cactus.

"Awwww, you always ruin my fun," Bobobo thanked her rudely in Efutop as he transformed into a giant winged buttocks with eyes.

"Everything's fun to you," Enki said cordially as he stomped over to them. "Except when it's not. Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey Enki, good to see you again," Ash said, about to ask the tremendous rock giant for a high-five before thinking better of it.

"Same, little man," Enki said, shaking Ash's hand (and his entire body) anyway to be friendly. "Your buddy's not happy right now with his new form. He'll probably get used to it, but afterwards perhaps he'll think more carefully about exactly what he wants before deciding he's dissatisfied with how he is."

"Uh, thanks, I think," Ash said as Enki put him down, his head swimming as he tried to figure out which of the five swirling rock giants before him were the real thing while his ears rang very loudly. "And can someone answer that telephone?"

"We don't have telephones," Mizuna said apologetically as she swam down towards them through the air as easily as if it were the water she lived in.

"Then how do the people here communicate long-distance? Telepathy?" Mewtwo asked, not that he really cared. "Video screens?"

"A form of telepathy," said Inanna, appearing in a gust of wind and a burst of flame. "Basically, if there is an urgent matter or interesting news, one thinks as loud as possible to try to convey the message to anyone who can hear it. Almost all of the hybrids have some form of empathy even if they're not psychic by birth. So there's a good chance of someone hearing them. If nobody else does…then we do, and relay the message on to whoever it concerns."

"There's also the good ol'-fashioned mail system," Enki said with a grin.

"What kind of mail system?" Ash asked.

"The kind where people use the various rapid-transit root tunnels (like the ones you guys used to get to the mountaintop earlier) to send letters and stuff from one side of the island to the other in no time at all," the rock giant explained. "Or we just use the Internet."

"You have an Internet?" asked a surprised Rayquaza.

"Sure," said Nabu as he defragmented out of the air before them, bits of data phasing off of him with every motion. "With me around, how can we not? We invented…or should I say, _re_invented the darn thing!"

"How can you be here if we're not inside a computer?" asked the confused Ash.

"Same reason your grouchy friend can be affected by your attacks, the rules are different in this space," the cyber-being explained.

"Bah," Mewtwo said, proving himself deserving of the 'grouchy' title.

"And so we are all here," Kalaran said as he walked over on all fours. "We ten Apostles have assembled. Shall we begin?"

Anubis nodded. "Rayquaza, you came to us not long ago with a single request: that I restore Latias, who had been severely twisted and mutilated by her wicked brother Dark Latios, to life and sanity, at the expense of your own life. You have been tested repeatedly, to see if your spirit and resolve were worthy of this boon. You stayed true to your promise even when offered an easy way out for everyone. It wasn't because you cared little for them. You valued your word and honor enough that you could do nothing less. You have proven yourself truly deserving…" There was a pause. "And so, we shall grant your request. Latias will live, and you shall die."

"There's no way we can't have them both live?" Ash asked, still not comfortable with the thought of Rayquaza having to die.

"There wasss," Sibyl pointed out. "He turned it down, remember?"

Ash blinked. "Oh yeah…well, but, what if somebody else died for Latias?"

"Like you?" Enki asked, raising a craggy eyebrow.

Ash shrugged. "Well, sure, why not? I'm her brother, sort of. Why shouldn't I die for her? Latios did the same thing…well, before his soul got corrupted and became pure evil and stuff."

Anubis shook his head. "You have already died more times than was necessary. Besides, Rayquaza promised. He swore to fulfill his promises, all of them. And so none other than he may accomplish this task."

"Oh…right," Ash said softly. "Just checking."

Mewtwo snorted. "You're far too sentimental for your own good, fool."

Rayquaza nodded to Anubis. "Thank you, Anubis. I am glad that I could prove myself, because now I am assured that Latias will be safe, even without me here beside her."

"And speaking of which…" Anubis glanced at Latias. "Latias, you have already made your choice, during the final test. However, I ask you once more, to be certain. Will you abide by Rayquaza's choice, and our decision? Will you allow him to die, so you can live? Will your conscience, once it is restored, disagree with what has been done for your sake?"

Latias blinked. She looked at the ground, and the interesting shapes moving underneath it. Her damaged mind pondered the question for a long moment. Then she looked up and opened her mouth…

When there was a sudden blast of force and noise, causing the room to shake. The Apostles almost looked surprised. Almost. Something Rayquaza could not help but notice. "What's happening?!" asked a startled Ash.

"We have an intruder," Inanna said with a frown, her aura flaming up.

"A virus or foreign body penetrating our defenses…or rather, bypassing them altogether," said Nabu, perplexed.

"Oh well," said Bobobo in !O!ung with a sneeze, now changed into a swirling orb of colors. "You should have expected something to go wrong, because then it wouldn't have, with me around."

"This one thought that this one could prevent that from happening," Silithin said apologetically, antenna twitching. "Apparently not."

"Oh well," Mewtwo said cheerfully as the room shook again and the air before them began to darken and press in on itself. "Looks like Latias won't be coming to life after all. Can I go now?" Everyone ignored him.

"Thisss wasss not completely unexpected," Sibyl said regretfully. "I sssaw that thisss might happen...but perhapsss it will be for the bessst, after all."

"What?!" Ash demanded. "What's happening?! Who's coming?"

"Who else?" Rayquaza growled, relegating the tingling sensation that was his truth-sense telling him something wasn't quite right to the back of his mind. "There's only one person I can think of who might object to what we're doing right now."

Latias blinked, her body trembling without her notice as the air before them tore open in a gaping hole in space, a cancerous wound which caused all to flinch and take half a step back. All the souls in the beating heart above them began to swarm in agitation due to the wave of raw negative emotion which rushed out from the rift in all directions. "Brother?" she whispered.

He emerged from the festering wound. His black scaled form was even more terrible in this semi-spiritual plane. Hatred and corruption oozed in great clouds of poisonous smog which rolled off his body, ejected by the evil soul glowing within him, causing his body to radiate a sick, disgusting light which paradoxically made the immense bright cavern seem much dimmer. His glowing red eyes ignored the presence of the ten powerful beings surrounding his portal, or the stirring soul of the Mother above him, her heartbeat speeding up. No, his eyes were completely focused on one thing: Latias. "Sister!" he cried joyfully, his very voice causing the very air before him to blanche and boil away. "It's been far too long! Come give your brother a hug!" He extended his arms, which seemed more gruesome than ever before, as well as half a dozen barbed black tentacles from his body.

Latias blinked, still trembling, and started forward. "No!" Rayquaza cried, grabbing the back of her neck and pulling her back. "Don't listen to him! He has no power over you here!"

"I'm afraid I must object," Dark Latios said coolly, a twisted grin on his face. "I have plenty of power! She is a part of me, and I of her. We are twins, even if my current body is biologically younger than hers. Our souls are joined, much like yours is crudely fused to hers, but mine is so much stronger…for I am her brother, while you're just a sexual plaything. Her soul called to me, and I followed that call through astral projection to…well, here."

"I see…" Kalaran growled. "So you used the bond you have with Latias to transport your spirit here and bypass our defenses. Very clever."

"Thank you for pointing out such a dangerous flaw in our firewall," said Nabu with a frown. "We will be sure to prevent it from happening again."

"Now leave this place!" Inanna demanded. "You are not wanted here! The Island and our Mother reject you!" The giant heart pulsated and throbbed, as if to agree with the phoenix's statement.

Dark Latios cackled, fouling the air again. "_You_ might not want me…but Latias does. If she didn't, I wouldn't be here in the first place, would I?"

"She doesn't want you!" Rayquaza insisted.

Latias blinked. "I…don't?" She didn't sound very sure.

"But of course you do," Dark Latios said soothingly, floating further from the portal, space warping and darkening around him. "And because you do, and because I was able to slip through that gaping hole in these losers' defenses over this place, they can't make me leave."

"Is that true?" an alarmed Ash asked the Apostles.

"The laws are different in this place," Silithin told them. "And so we must abide by them."

"Thisss place isss more ssspirit than matter, and clossser to the edge of time. The barrier between life and eternity can be breached more easssily. A sssoul can be called from itsss ressst by one closssely attached to it from here. Sssaid sssoul may only leave either of itsss own volition or by the will of whoever brought it here. Dark Latiosss' sssoul wasss called here by Latiasss', sssubconsssciousssly. Sssince he projected it assstrally from sssomewhere inssside what isss left of time, he wasss able to penetrate the defensssesss we have to repel intrusssion by dangerousss sssoulsss. We may only remove him if ssshe doesss not want him here," Sibyl hissed in frustration.

"But you don't want him here!" Ash said desperately. "…Do you?"

Latias blinked, staring at her brother's red eyes. "I…don't know…" She said after a moment. And truly, she didn't. How could she, when her mind and spirit were both so mangled she could barely tell what happened in either one half the time?

"Bobobo, your power is chaos. Can't you use it to get around the rules and get rid of Dark Latios that way?" Mewtwo asked the Apostle, who was now a floating platter of pancakes.

"I could," the pancakes said in Jwira-Pepesa. "If you hadn't suggested it."

Mewtwo smirked. "Which is exactly why I did suggest it."

"Mewtwo!" Ash and Rayquaza cried, appalled.

"What? I was dead bored," Mewtwo said flatly. "Of all this wisdom and universal truths and other bullshit they've been piling on us that I've probably already heard a thousand times before. Now that things are starting to get interesting, I see no reason not to spice up the drama."

"But Latias is your surrogate daughter!" Ash protested.

"So?" Mewtwo asked deadpan. "I've had plenty of those, and sisters too, and girlfriends, and other significant others. I don't care anymore. I've told you that many times."

"Mewtwo…" Rayquaza growled. "I swear that once I have fulfilled my promise and died, I will find your soul and make it regret taking such a cynical and careless attitude with the people you once cared for."

"Ah, but if Dark Latios succeeds now, then you _won't_ fulfill your promise to her, will you?" Mewtwo said brightly. "In fact, you'll have _broken_ it. Since you made a promise just now, you'll have broken that too. Your precious word will be worthless after all."

"Why are you doing this?!" Ash cried.

Mewtwo frowned. "Didn't I just tell you? I'm bored. And indifferent."

"…Oh, right."

"Come on, sister," Dark Latios whispered, drawing closer to her, his tentacles reaching outward. "Let's get out of here. This place doesn't suit you anyway. Come back with me to Alto Mare, where we can be together forever, like we're supposed to."

"No!" Rayquaza growled, thrusting his face forward at Dark Latios. "Alto Mare is dead!"

Dark Latios laughed. "You should know, Rayquaza, since you destroyed it…and the Alto Mare I speak of is indeed dead, as dead as Latias and I. What better place could there be for ones like us? It is our home, our birthplace, preserved in its truest and most perfect form. Come home, Latias. You know you want to. Some part of you must have, otherwise I wouldn't be here at all."

"…Home?" Latias asked uncertainly. Two faint memories sprung up. One was an Alto Mare bright and shining and filled with water. That same Alto Mare destroyed by the ocean, with corpses and bones lying everywhere. Scavengers feasted on them as the waters receded from the flooded city, only to come back in a few hours later with the tide.

Then a much more vivid and recent memory came to mind. A city where the walls screamed. The canals flowed with blood into an ocean of fire. That place seemed much more familiar, yes, that was where she had fought with her brother and he had changed, hurt, twisted her and made her at home. That was where she belonged.

Or was it?

She blinked in confusion. "I don't know."

"Of course you don't," Dark Latios said soothingly. "How can you be, since you're a lobotomized nitwit? That's why I do the thinking for you. Come back with me, Latias. Leave these fools behind. Their promises and love will only hurt you."

"But you'll hurt her too!" Ash argued.

"Yes, much more than we ever could!" Rayquaza agreed, wishing he hadn't lost his power so he could finish what he had started with the demon back in Ever Grande.

Dark Latios laughed. "Poppycock! What need do you have of them, sister? What need have you for friends or a lover? I am all that, and more. I am your brother. I am your family. I am all the friend, all the lover, you will ever need. I know what's best for you. I know what you need and what to give you. I can give you all the pain you need to keep from being swallowed by the nothingness. What use is their love and friendship when it can't do anything to fill that void eating away at you? Come home with me. Father is waiting. When we're through with you, all of this will seem like little more than a silly little daydream, the kind that pops like a soap bubble when confronted with the horrific reality that is your life and is quickly forgotten."

"No!" Ash yelled, firing lightning bolts at Dark Latios' tentacles. The tendrils disintegrated when the electricity struck them. However, the dark dragon did not flinch in the slightest or even bother noticing him, quickly regenerating the tentacles without missing a beat. "This is where she belongs! With her friends! Her _real_ family, even if they're not related by blood! We're the people who care for her, not you! We're the ones who want what's best for her! We're the ones who want her to live!"

"Not me," Mewtwo pointed out. They ignored him.

Latias blinked again, another recent memory surfacing. Both how she had been in the brief moment Bobobo had accidentally made her alive again, and how it had felt to be the Latias in the parallel universe for a little while. "…Live?"

"Unlike you, we genuinely care for Latias! We love her!" Rayquaza growled. "All you want her for is to satisfy your sick lust and sadistic desires to hurt her!"

"But I am only protecting her," Dark Latios said innocently. "From all the unnecessary and harmful things in the world. With me, she is safe. I will never let anything like love or joy or sadness hurt her."

"All you will do _is_ hurt her!" Rayquaza roared furiously.

"And you haven't done enough of that yourself?" Dark Latios taunted.

"At least I have made up for it! At least I have promised, and intend, to do ANYTHING for her! At least I LOVE her, and she loves me, unlike you!"

"Love? Ha! She can't love anyone!" Dark Latios cackled. "Anything she has done to make you think otherwise is nothing but your own foolish hopes and desires projecting onto her, making her appear the way you want her to! She's so blank and malleable right now, of course she'd begin acting or thinking in the way you want her to! She doesn't love you, she _CAN'T_ love you! She may have once, but I've destroyed that! I've destroyed her! I've removed everything unnecessary from her, so that she may be mine! And she will be mine, forever, for that is truly what she desires. Only I can give her what she needs! Only I can give her a true home! I am her brother, I am my sister's keeper, and she has NO PLACE with you!"

"You lie!" Rayquaza bellowed. "You ALWAYS lie! I don't need any truth-sense to know that nothing that you speak can be anything more than a lie! You despise the truth, and try to alter it to suit yourself! I tried that once, tried believing that I was escaping my own promise by becoming someone else…but I wasn't someone else, I was still the same person, as bound to my promises as before! I promised that I would die, and no matter how I twisted my own words to make it otherwise, that promise was still true, and I have every intention of fulfilling it!" He narrowed his eyes. "I can see why you seek to take Latias with you…because if you can do that, and break my promise to save her, then that will invalidate my other promise, won't it? The promise that someone, someday, will defeat you once and for all! Well, I'm amending that promise here and now: Dark Latios, I swear to you that you will one day face ultimate defeat…but not at my hands, or any of the other heroes here, or even at the hands of the Apostles or the Mother! No, Dark Latios, your defeat will come at the hands of your own sister, Latias! The one you seek to control, to make yours in every way possible! _She_ will be the one to conquer you…and rid us of your evil forever!"

Dark Latios actually appeared taken aback for a moment…but then he laughed uncontrollably. "Hahahahahahaha! That might have worried me if I didn't already know your power was gone with the loss of the Green Orb. Your word has no magic now, your promise no impact on fate. I will never be defeated, and certainly not by my dearest sister!"

Latias blinked, Rayquaza's words stirring up another very recent memory. "…Promise?" She screwed up her face in concentration. "…A king should keep his promise. Even if…nothing's making him…keep it?" She frowned. "Then…should a queen…do the same? Am I…?"

"Come on, guys, isn't there anything you can do?" Ash anxiously asked the Apostles.

"We can…but only if Latias allows it," said Mizuna, shaking her head.

"Our powers are bound by the rules of this place, and so are we," Kalaran growled. "Bobobo could have done something; perhaps, even with Silithin counteracting him and limiting the chaos he can perform…but Mewtwo has already removed that possibility from us."

"Yes I have," Mewtwo agreed. "And will continue to further worsen things by detailing all of the possible random things which could occur to make things go in your favor and therefore prevent them from happening…starting by saying that I fully expect that any number of painful and/or humiliating things will happen to me at any moment to prevent me from further hindering your ability to handle Dark Latios." All the Apostles groaned very loudly when they heard this.

"So let's end this farce, sister. Forget about these fools, so that I can kill them, then destroy this place, and allow us to return home. Father is waiting." He smiled at her enticingly. "Come on, Latias. What can they offer you that I cannot?"

Latias blinked. The answer came more quickly than she had thought it would. "Life."

Dark Latios stiffened, while the others all paid closer attention to her. "What? What was that? I'm sorry, I must have misheard. What did you just say?"

"I…" She shuddered, not from her brother's presence but from the effort of speaking the words that came to mind. "I…w-want…to…liv. Lif. _Live._"

The whole room went silent, save for the Mother's rapid heartbeat. Even Mewtwo had stopped reciting impossible possibilities, curious. "You…_what?!_" Dark Latios cried shrilly.

"I want…I want to live," she said clearly. "To live…and love. I did before. I…miss it. I want to feel them again."

"…Latias…" Rayquaza whispered, beginning to tear up with joy.

"You…you…" Dark Latios looked completely and utterly shocked by his sister's statement and defiance. "How…how dare you?! How _dare_ you choose to live?!" He was the one shaking now, his red eyes burning with rage as the fog of hatred began churning violently all around him, his tentacles writhing agitatedly. "How _dare_ you choose life over me?! How dare you choose to think for yourself?! _How dare you betray me?!"_

"You are the one who betrayed her, Dark Latios!" Rayquaza roared triumphantly. "By violating the sacred trust between brother and sister and torturing and twisting her so! She has every right to wish to live again, after what you've done to her!"

"But life is worthless!" Dark Latios shrieked. "Pointless! Meaningless! The desire to live is responsible for all the delicious agony and suffering in existence! Why choose that when you can be magnificently dead?!"

"My point exactly," Mewtwo muttered.

"Life…death…are the same," Latias said slowly, piecing together fragments of what she had learned so far. "Separated by…transition. But we are…neither. Abom-in-ations. I…don't…want to be nothing anymore. I want to exist. I want to live."

"Nothing? NOTHING?!" the evil dragon cackled madly, the room darkening and his malevolent aura increasing significantly. "Hahahaha…you want to live so badly?! When I'm through punishing you for your selfishness, you'll be less than nothing, even more broken than you are now!" His aura gathered itself into a horrific mass and lashed out at Latias with tremendous power…

And dissipated with a gesture from Anubis and Sibyl. "Latias has chosen to live," the necromancer intoned.

"And in doing ssso, ssshe hasss rejected you," Sibyl hissed.

"And so we may act, at last," Chloe said.

"You think you can challenge-" Dark Latios started.

It was over almost before it began.

First, a giant Parisian double-decker tour bus fell on Dark Latios, who had most certainly not expected it. Thanks to an enhancement of gravity in the small area around the evil dragon caused by Enki, the bus hit Dark Latios with the force of a meteor and flattened into the ground like a pancake. His bones smashed, splaying his body out in all directions. Before he could recover and telekinetically lift the bus off him, Nabu rewrote local space so that Dark Latios couldn't and then Nabu sent a tremendous bolt of lightning through the bus and straight into the evil dragon's brain. Dark Latios screamed in agony as neurons misfired and caused his body to shift and writhe chaotically (in a very ordered fashion, constrained to the increased-gravity field, thanks to Silithin) as it melted into a shapeless mass. Then Inanna took a deep breath, spread her wings, and simultaneously flapped and breathed out, releasing a tremendous blast of fire, propelled by gale-force winds, creating a force so hot that it melted the bus and set Dark Latios' deformed body on fire, causing it to meld with the molten metal of the bus.

Mizuna then drew all the heat out of the space Dark Latios was enclosed in, causing the tortured being to be frozen instantly in a disgusting, hideous mass of ice which was vaporized by a blast of Dragonbreath from Kalaran. The evil spirit's molecules, clearly disoriented and full of pain, struggled to reassemble themselves. In his confusion, his molecules mixed with those of the melted bus and caused him to reappear with various large bits of formless metal tearing out of his body in numerous places. His features were even more grotesque and misshapen than before. "You-" He was interrupted as the seed Chloe had pressed into the regrouping mass of molecules fertilized itself in the dragon's decayed flesh and sprouted. The resulting tree ripped Dark Latios in half as it grew to immense proportions from his body. Its roots spread throughout the broken halves of the dragon and tore through his skin and orifices. He was unable to scream physically or psychically because the roots were bursting out of his mouth and brain. However, since he was just a spirit here (and undead horror in general) he was still able to gather power. Using the unbelievable pain the Apostles had inflicted on him, he converted it into pure destructive energy which he would use to mutilate everything in this chamber with a single apocalyptic blast of Black Karma…

Only for the darkness building around his torn form, along with the tree, to disintegrate as Anubis dashed through him at the speed of darkness, breaking the dragon's power with his scythe. "There is no darkness you can bring here that I cannot control," the necromancer said coldly as he turned to face the undead dragon. "Your mockery of life and death will not be tolerated any longer."

"You have been rejected," Sibyl hissed, her blind eyes glowing and instantly neutralizing all of Dark Latios' attack power. "By the Mother, by the Island, and by your own sssissster. You do not belong here." She held out her claws, which began to glow. "Begone!"

All of the Apostles began glowing as well, gathering power to banish the helpless Dark Latios from Birth Island, hopefully forever. But then…

"I certainly expect that Dark Latios won't realize he can use his bond to Latias' soul to drag her back with him to whatever hell he came from," Mewtwo said loudly.

Silithin and Bobobo flinched. "D'oh!" the talking mushroom grunted in Manganese, having no choice but to make it so.

And so Dark Latios realized what he could do to salvage victory from this defeat. Without warning (well, technically there had been warning, from Bobobo in reaction to Mewtwo's prompt, and Sibyl, who already knew this would happen), a large glowing chain ripped its way out of Dark Latios' chest and sunk into Latias', causing her to blink and touch it with a claw as Rayquaza and Ash gasped in surprise. "Stop!" Dark Latios screamed through his regenerated vocal cords (His regenerative power hadn't been sealed by Sibyl, just his attacks). "If you banish me, you'll be banishing her, too! She used the bond between our souls to guide me here subconsciously, so I can use it too…to take her back with me!"

Rayquaza and Ash gasped, again. "No!"

"Yes! And that means you _can't_ send me away, since you're the _good_ guys!" Dark Latios sneered. "You can't just condemn a soul you think can be redeemed to Hell, it's not in your nature!"

"Actually," Mewtwo pointed out in between reciting impossibilities. "It is. They've done it by allowing your father to destroy all timelines, haven't they?"

There was a pause. "Oh…uh, I wasn't aware that they were responsible for that, but good point," Dark Latios grunted. "But…still, that means I'll win, because when they banish me, I'll still have Latias to play with forever! And if you don't banish me, then I'll still be here and you'll have solved nothing! And the longer it takes you goodie-goodies to decide what to do, the better the chances of my father tracking my soul here and obliterating your pathetic island to smithereens!" He laughed giddily, while Latias tugged on the chain in her chest unhappily in an attempt to rip it out. It wouldn't give. Rayquaza anxiously tried to remove it as well, but his claws only passed through the chain, it was a bond purely between siblings, something not even he, Latias' soulmate, could easily break.

Wait a minute…

"Uh, they've kinda got a point…" Enki said uncertainly. "But we can't banish Latias too…we agreed to help her, and she's suffered enough already. I mean, not that everyone else hasn't, but at least all those other damned souls are capable of _feeling_ something, rather than the empty oblivion Latias has been subjected to."

"If we do nothing, Dark Latios will be free to do as he pleases here and make it that much easier for his father to find us. If we banish them, we break our promise to assist Rayquaza and cause all his promises to be broken as well…which would not bode well for our future…" said Inanna. "Does it?" She glanced at Sibyl, who shook her head solemnly.

"Hmm…quite the logic trap we have here…" said an unhappy Nabu.

Mizuna sighed. "And so it seems that once again, our hands are tied…"

"No!" Rayquaza grinned fiercely at Dark Latios. "This new twist hasn't won the game yet, Dark Latios! You forget one thing…you're not the only one bound to Latias' soul!" With that, another glowing chain shot out of his chest—er, underside between his arms—and attached itself to Latias' chest, causing her to blink and tug on it, too. "If you take her, you'll be taking me as well! And I'll be sure to do everything I can to stop you from hurting Latias! I will battle you to the end of time and beyond, for her sake!"

Mewtwo frowned, stopped in his recitation once again, and glanced over at Bobobo, now a Meowth wearing pants, who had an innocent look on his face. "Hmm…I wasn't expecting that…"

Dark Latios laughed at Rayquaza's decree, although he looked slightly uncertain. "Ha! With what power? You've lost all the strength that could help you with your Green Orb!"

"I have all the strength I need right here!" Rayquaza roared, his serpentine form beginning to glow a brilliant emerald hue. "My heart has its own power…it burns with compassion for my friends and love for Latias, a fire you no longer understand! I don't need a Green Orb, or any other weapon, my heart is all I need to defeat you! Or, considering the prophecy I made before, help Latias defeat you! Either way, I will see your end!"

Dark Latios looked startled. "What?! You're bluffing! Why would you willingly throw yourself into Hell?!"

"Because of something that should be obvious, even to you…love, that which you forsook when you became Deoxys' servant. It is because of my love for Latias that I will follow you, and keep her safe from you once and for all!" He turned his head towards the Apostles. "Do it! Banish us from this island! All three of us!"

"Is this one certain?" Silithin asked.

"If you do this, there may be no coming back," warned Chloe.

"I'm not afraid. Latias and I have been to Hell and back before in past lives. We've fought our way free of there both in life and in death, and we can do it again," Rayquaza asserted. "Dark Latios is just one more obstacle in our path. I know that we can overcome him…together." He stared into Latias' eyes as he said this…and she stared back, for once finding no reason to blink. Mewtwo yawned, bored and somewhat disgusted by the romance.

"Very well," said Anubis. "So you have spoken, and so it shall be." The ten Apostles began gathering their power once again.

Dark Latios cackled madly. "Hahaha! You idiots! You put too much faith in this romantic fool! I'll chew their souls up and excrete them, then chew them up _again_! You're giving me exactly what I want!"

Ash looked on anxiously, worried that Dark Latios was right. Rayquaza didn't look the least bit afraid, but that didn't mean he was still going to win. The Apostles seemed committed to banishing all three soulbound dragons. Intervention from Mewtwo was clearly out of the question. That meant if there was any way out of this, it was up to Ash to find it.

He glanced around desperately, looking for some miracle that could save the day, not really expecting to find one…

And, of course, when you're not expecting something to happen when you're around the Apostle of Chaos, it generally tends to occur anyway. Ash's eye caught on the wooden door at the base of the Mother's heart…which now sported a handle. How very convenient.

Guessing from the crackling and humming air around them that the Apostles were almost finished preparing their banishment spell, Ash used his electric power to zap over to the door in a bolt of lightning and grab onto the handle. "STOP!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "If you banish Dark Latios, you're giving him what he wants, even if there is a chance Rayquaza and Latias can defeat him together! But I've found a better way!"

Sibyl smiled. "Of courssse you have," she hissed, for she had, being who she was, known that Ash would find the way all along. The other Apostles stopped charging up, though they did not release the power they had gathered, as they turned their attention to the former human.

"This door leads right to the core conscience ("Consciousness, you dolt," Mewtwo yelled grouchily, interrupted yet again from his recitations, which he was starting to think were of little actual use in making things worse, (probably because he had expected them to) by Ash's exclamation.) of the good soul-Beast thing. If I open it, all of us will be sucked through, even you Dark Latios, and you'll die for good and maybe even become a nice guy again!" Ash threatened the evil dragon.

"Ha! That door leads right to the heart of Paradise? Go ahead and open it! I'll infect it from within and cause it to come apart at the seams, granting my father victory!" Dark Latios boasted. "You'll do nothing more than hasten our inevitable triumph!"

"Are you so certain?" Rayquaza asked with a slow grin, sensing a deception in Dark Latios' words. "As I recall, it was your being cast into the heart of the Beast that made you so evil…therefore, if you were to pass through the heart of the soul collective of your father's opposite, shouldn't the reverse happen? Shouldn't your evil be drowned by a torrent of pure love for all that lives?"

"No!" Dark Latios cried, looking horrified by the thought. "Impossible! My corruption is too powerful! Nothing can resist it!"

"This place has, so far," Rayquaza pointed out. "And these Apostles here, agents of that good Beast, were able to easily subdue you once their rules permitted it. If they were able to defeat you, then surely the immense power of the positive emotions flowing through that which they serve should smash your infection like a dirt clump in a swift-running river and scatter it into harmless pieces, quickly consumed by the rushing waters?"

"Impossible! I'm like cancer!" Dark Latios protested, eyes fixed on the door. "If I'm mostly destroyed, the disease that is my soul will regroup and mutate itself into too many strains to be eradicated! Heaven will wither and die as I turn it into a Hell from within and merge it with Father to create the One! You're just speeding up what would have happened anyway!"

Rayquaza chuckled. "You're lying. You can't hide the truth from me, Dark Latios. If that door opens, your fate is sealed. Do it, Ash!"

"No! You can't!" Dark Latios panicked, his fear showing. "Won't that ruin whatever grand plans you weaklings have to oppose my Father?! Surely you can't defeat him if you lose a few Chosen, can you?!"

"The Chosen are necessary to our plan," Kalaran agreed. "But there are more than enough of them to make up for a few who sacrifice themselves to stop a great evil which threatens to ruin all we work for."

"Logically speaking, there is no reason for us to stop this," Nabu calculated. "Oh, and before Mewtwo says anything, I expect something to go wrong with this attempt."

"And I don't expect him to sssuddenly be ssstruck physssically and psssychically mute," Sibyl added in amusement.

Mewtwo clutched his throat in astonishment, trying to yell in surprise and frustration, only for no noise at all to come from either his mouth or his brain. This attempt had managed to get through the counter he had set up earlier because muteness wasn't exactly painful or humiliating, just annoying. He, of course, had not expected it. "Oh yes, and I also don't expect Silithin's restraint over Bobobo's chaos power to make it apply _only_ to spoken expectations, so you can't think something's not going to happen and force Bobobo to make it so," Chloe added, causing Mewtwo to give her a death glare which had absolutely no effect since she was the Apostle of life.

"But if _Ash_ is the cause of my downfall," Dark Latios protested. "Then Rayquaza's promises will have failed to come true! He won't have saved Latias, _and_ Latias won't have defeated me, _and_ you won't have fulfilled your promise to help ruin my sister! Beings as powerful as you can't break promises without serious consequences, right? The ugly blind snake-thing herself said the future wouldn't look good if you did!"

"But we won't have broken any promise," said Inanna.

"We promised to restore Latias to life. But 'life' is a subjective term and can mean many things. She is more alive as a free-floating soul joining her loved ones on the other side than she is at present, and sending her through the door will repair everything you've done to her," Mizuna said. "So, while we haven't done _exactly_ what we said we would, the end result is still the same…sort of. Well within the rules."

"And as for Rayquaza's promises," Silithin said. "That one said that Dark Latios would be defeated by Latias. That one will have brought about Dark Latios' downfall, because were it not for that one, Dark Latios would not have come here and put itself in the position of being absorbed into That which We Serve. In addition, Rayquaza will still have died so Latias may exist completely again, and will join this one with all others on the other side of the door. The promise has been kept."

"Go ahead!" Enki encouraged Ash. "Open the door!"

"No, don't!" Dark Latios cried, making one last plea. "If you do, you'll be abandoning your friends to their fate! They've probably just gotten over seeing you alive again somehow after they thought you lost forever, how do you think they'll feel that you've left them, again, this time no doubt for good?!"

Ash hesitated for a fraction of a second at that. "…I've died for my friends before. Many times. I've found a way back each time. Maybe this time is the last, but…they'll go on. They have to. Besides," he said, a smile lighting up his face. "This island is supposed to have a couple of holidays where the dead come back to interact with the living, right? There's no reason that custom should stop just because the people who started it are sleeping. Maybe I'll come back and see my friends. I bet they'd like that."

And with that, ignoring the evil dragon's screams of horror, Ash opened the door.

Light spilled out; light greater than the luminance that had shone from the door they had passed through to reach this cavern. Following it, a part of it, was an overwhelming wave of crushing power and emotion; love, hope, kindness, caring, joy, in such immeasurable quantities and purity that none of the mortals (or undead) in the chamber could stand against it for more than a second without being swept away and becoming a part of the flow itself as it rushed outward. Certainly Dark Latios couldn't stand it, as his screams of terror and agony demonstrated. The chain binding him to Latias vanishing, Dark Latios willingly leaped into the portal formed by his entrance before he could be consumed completely by the flood of positive energy, the breach in reality sealing shut behind him.

Latias blinked as the light shot past her and through her, bombarding her with emotions and sensations she still did not understand, but was beginning to. The longer she was caught in this energy's wake the more she began to feel, to become _whole_…

Which ended when Anubis slammed the door shut and cut the flow off at the source, causing the cavern to fade back into its original radiance and leave Ash, Rayquaza, and Mewtwo standing there, stunned and blinking dumbly, overwhelmed by what had just occurred.

Above them, the Mother's rapid heartbeat slowed down, the souls within calming with the departure of the evil one. All was well once again.

"I…I had no idea…" Ash said in awe, staring at the wooden door as if he could still see what lay behind it.

"That…that was…" the King of dragons whispered in disbelief.

"Rapshure?" Latias offered, experiencing a vague sense of loss which she had been feeling rather often recently.

"…" Even Mewtwo seemed stunned to silence by what they had just experienced. However, that might just have been because he was still rendered mute.

"He's gone," Nabu reported. "The good Beast's energy sent Dark Latios running. I've mended the hole in the firewall he used to get in here; neither he nor any other evil force will be able to invade Birth Island that way again."

"That does not mean he will not find some other way to return," Kalaran warned his comrades. "He is ruthless and desperate. His desire for Latias…and for revenge…knows no bounds. We have not seen the last of him."

"But he wasss defeated thisss time," Sibyl pointed out. "And ssso too will he fail the next time, not by our handsss, but by brave heroesss like thessse before usss, jussst asss he wasss now."

They blinked and stared at her. "Wait…" Rayquaza said, realization dawning on him and recalling the doubts his truth-sense had stirred in him earlier. "You _knew_ this was going to happen, didn't you? All of you! And you let it happen!"

"Of courssse," Sibyl said calmly.

"And yet…you did nothing to stop it," said the confused dragon king. "Why?"

"Yeah, I mean, we almost lost Latias there! And Rayquaza too!" Ash argued.

"Did you?" Sibyl asked with a raised eyebrow. "They ssseem fine to me."

"Yeah, because I saved them!" Ash pointed out.

"Exactly," Anubis intoned. "Because _you_ saved them."

Ash blinked. "Wait, what?"

"I knew Dark Latiosss would feel Latiasss' sssubconsssciousss doubtsss of her choice through the bond they ssshare, and would ussse that asss an excussse to assstrally reach her," Sibyl explained. "However, in doing ssso, he revealed hisss full intentionsss to Latiasss…not that ssshe had not already known them. However, in the context of her new experiencesss she wasss able to sssee them for what they were and wasss able to reject them, and him, freeing herssself from him sssubconsssciousssly. Now ssshe will resssissst him on future encountersss, and be ssstronger for it. But that," she said. "Wasss only _one_ reassson to allow him here. The other wasss…well, for you, Asssh."

They looked at Ash, an especially incredulous look on Mewtwo's face. "Me?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Sssince you ssstarted your journey through the catacombsss, you have been conssstantly berated by Mewtwo, and your ego and sssenssse of ssself-worth have taken a bit of a dive after ssseeing yourssself asss a missserable ssslave in a passst life. It alssso probably didn't help that the majority of thisss journey hasss focusssed on Latiasss and Rayquaza, and you have been relegated to the background. By allowing Dark Latiosss to come here, I gave you a chance to be a hero again and remind you of the great thingsss you can do. You will need to remember, if you are to continue protecting your friendsss in the future."

"Oh!" Ash's eyes widened in amazement. "Um…thanks, I guess."

"Wait," said a confused Rayquaza. "But if you saw the future, and knew it would happen as it did…what about all the parts involving Bobobo's chaos? Chaos is by its nature supposed to be unpredictable, so…how could you predict it would happen the way they did?!"

Bobobo, now a penguin, laughed. "Even chaos has to follow rules," he explained in Luffian. "And those rules are even stricter when enforced and limited by the power of Order." He glared good-naturedly at Silithin. "It's not really as random or unpredictable as you'd think. You're just so used to things being orderly and linear that chaos confuses and disturbs you. That's why it's so good at surprising you! Chaos has its own form of order and logic, after all, just one that's different from what you're used to."

"Oh…I suppose that makes sense," Rayquaza admitted.

"Even so, I should probably leave anyway," the Apostle lamented in Arabian, turning into a pot. "I think I've caused more than enough trouble for the moment, even for the embodiment of chaos. Good luck with doing what you came here to do, I expect it to fail horribly!"

"Goodbye," Latias said in reply to his gracious blessing.

"Hello," he returned cheerfully in Gallic before hopping away rather than disappearing, which was probably what they would have expected him to do.

"I should go too, then," Mizuna said. "I was going to lead a group of the sea-dwellers who chose to remain in the water around the island to the village where your friends are with an offering of fish to welcome them to their new home."

"Uh, please don't tell my girlfriend you kissed me, okay?" Ash said nervously.

Mizuna blinked in confusion. "Why?"

"She'd hit me. Hard."

Mizuna still looked confused. "What for? I was merely tast-"

"Yeah, yeah, _I_ know that, but she might not get it. So, could you please keep it between us?" Ash pleaded.

Still puzzled, the mermaid shrugged. "Well, all right. Good luck! I'll see you again shortly, I'm sure." She swam off through the air.

"Hmm…I think I'll join her," Inanna said. "A new Aerodactyl has been introduced to our island. I should help him get settled in with his fellows." She flapped up into the air and glided after Mizuna.

"Eh, I think I'll stick around here a little longer. Not in the mood to go visit the village yet and get yelled at by that buddy of yours for giving him exactly what he asked for," Enki said ruefully. "And besides, this should be interesting. Not every day you get to see something like this."

"This one shall remain too," Silithin said, twitching her antenna. "To make sure the laws governing this ceremony will work the way they should."

"As will I," agreed Kalaran.

"And I," added Chloe.

"I'd stay to watch, but I don't really need to since the data from the event will be available to me the instant it happens for instant replay," Nabu apologized. "Plus, I have other information to categorize from disintegrating timelines. I'll catch up with you later, though. As you slowlife (a term indicating your organic minds work slower than digital computers like mine do) tend to say, ciao!" He vanished.

"I don't tend to say that," said a confused Ash. "And neither do most of the people I know…well, maybe Zoro…"

Rayquaza chuckled. "I guess being a nearly all-knowing computer doesn't mean you're always right. Or understandable. How refreshing to know."

"Then I suppose," Anubis said, glancing around. "We have more than enough people for the ceremony. Rayquaza, Latias, do you wish to proceed?"

"As long as we get no more unpleasant interruptions, yes," Rayquaza said.

"I sssee none in your future," Sibyl predicted. "Essspecially sssince Mewtwo isss ssstill muted." The feline in question glared at her hatefully.

"All right. Latias? Are you ready?" the dragon king asked his past and future queen.

"…Yes." She nodded, a sense of determination that had been lacking in recent times filling her dead voice. "I'm ready."

"Very well." Anubis stepped forward and spread his arms. His scythe pulsed with a brief flash of light, the ankhs hanging from it rattling, and the room began to shake again. "Then let us begin." He slammed the butt of his scythe on the ground, sending a ripple of power through the floor. The shaking increased. Something emerged from the floor behind him. No, more like the floor itself rose up and molded itself into an incredible contraption. It was an immense glittering set of scales, more intricate and complex than anything made by human hands. What looked like fine transparent filaments or cables ran throughout the arms of the scales and into the platforms each arm supported, one marked with an engraving of a feather, the other a heart.

"Whoa," said Ash, feeling overwhelmed for the millionth time since he had arrived on the island.

"I presume we are to stand on those platforms?" Rayquaza guessed.

Anubis nodded. "Yes. Once you are both in place, I will activate this device and begin the process of swapping the life and death energies imbued in either of you. This transference will give Latias life once more, and kill Rayquaza. However, the exchange will not be equivalent, for the simple reason that Rayquaza's current body has been alive for much longer than Latias' has been dead, even if you factor in all the time Dark Latios tortured her. Since that happened in pocket universes of a fashion, where time flows differently, it doesn't quite count."

"So…that means Rayquaza won't become some kind of gross zombie from all the death energy, right?" Ash guessed. "Just…well, dead."

Anubis nodded. "Precisely. His life energy, however, will be more than Latias' own. Since Rayquaza's body has been alive for several thousand years—and has many more left--while her current body is barely a century old, and hasn't been dead or alive for very long, she will gain excess life energy. A good amount of it will go into repairing the physical, psychological, and spiritual damage done to her by Dark Latios, making her whole again. However, even with all that energy spent, there will still be excess. That remaining energy will be invested in her lifespan. Her original lifespan, which would have measured a meager few centuries, will now be considerably longer."

"How much longer?" Rayquaza asked.

Anubis shrugged. "It is hard to say. Your own body has many, _many_ years left in it, years which will now be given to Latias. The amount of energy spent regenerating her will barely put a dent in how many years she will receive. It's possible that she could live forever, or close to it."

"Forever?!" asked an amazed Ash. "That's…well, that's a really long time."

"Indeed," said an uncertain Rayquaza. "Are you sure that it isn't _too_ long? Especially since, if the universes are ending soon, she may not have the chance to enjoy such a long life to its fullest?"

"While the formation of the One, which is inevitable though by whom is not yet certain, will create such an attraction that virtually all souls in existence will be forced to fuse with it, it is possible that the amount of life energy Latias will receive, greater than her body was originally meant to have, will be enough to allow her to resist the attractive pull and remain an individual soul for a while longer. As such, if the Mother is to win the coming battle and become the core of the One, Latias may be privileged to be the first person to witness the new universe, whatever it might be, with perspective from the old. But, if Deoxys becomes the One and she is able to resist attraction, then she may find herself all alone, all of her friends and loved ones absorbed into that from which they were formed to begin with. Whether she gives up and lets herself be absorbed, or tries to do something such as start a new universe, which might be well within her capabilities at that point, will be up to her," Chloe explained.

"Latias can make a new universe?" asked a surprised Ash.

"Everyone can," Kalaran said. "By willing it to form out of the ether that is the One's subconscious, the material underlying all that is physical and making up everything outside of Time. That is how the souls there are able to form their own dream worlds or nightmares, by imposing their will on that subconscious. That is why universes where no life exists promptly die, for universes cannot survive without life to observe them and both shape and be shaped by it. Since when the One becomes manifest all things will return to that ether, it will be possible for someone else to step in and shape it into a new world if they choose. Of course we would expect the One to do that, but if it is indifferent to life it may choose not to, and so another solution must be found."

"By providing the opportunity for someone else to make the new world…" Rayquaza realized, astonished. "You were planning this all along, weren't you?"

"We are servants of life," Silithin chittered. "And as such, we endeavor to ensure its continuation, no matter the circumstances. We did not originally anticipate that Latias would be the one who might have this chance, for we had planned to transfer our own life energies into appropriate vessels if things should go poorly to give others a chance to start existence anew."

"But since Latias is in the position to do that for us, due to what's about to happen to her, why not have her do it?" Enki suggested. "Conservation of energy, which we need to be careful not to waste since there might not be much left of it seeing as we're approaching the end of everything. We can still do the transference of our own life energies later, but there's no reason not to hedge our bets this way too."

"So…you're saying that even if we lose everything, you _still_ have a back-up plan…" said an impressed Ash. "Wow." Mewtwo looked exasperated and more than a little annoyed at this point, though it may just have been because he still wasn't allowed to speak rather than just inability to suspend disbelief.

Rayquaza still seemed uneasy. "I'm not certain about this…it seems like you're placing an awfully large new burden on Latias."

"It will not _jussst_ be Latiasss," Sibyl said. "At leassst, not if the transssference goesss well. Even that will only happen in the worssst-cassse ssscenario. We may not have to do it at all. We may win. Or, we may lossse, and fail to transssfer our energiesss. Latiasss may find herssself all alone, asssuming she even managesss to avoid being absssorbed back into the One. Ssshe may even be alone if we win, but ssstill have a new universsse to explore, if sssh'esss not absssorbed. Even I cannot tell for certain what will happen, for it isss beyond Time'sss end, and I cannot read the future if there _isss_ no future, at least not yet."

"That makes sense," Ash said.

"So I take it this is all another part of the Mother's great effable plan which we all agreed to before we were born and promptly forgot when we were reincarnated?" Rayquaza asked.

"Yes," said Enki.

"That's what I thought," the dragon grunted while Mewtwo rolled his eyes in continued disbelief and exasperation. "Latias, are you all right with this thing they've just sprung on us? The possibility of being the one to make a new universe if all else fails…or the first to explore the new one?"

"…" Latias considered for a moment. "I want to live," she said after some deliberation. "It doesn't matter for how long. I want to feel again. It's better than this…isn't it?"

"I believe so," Rayquaza said. "But not all feelings are good. If you have to explore or make this new universe by yourself, you'll be all alone, and I can tell you from experience loneliness is a horrible thing."

Latias blinked. "Alone?" she looked confused. "But…" She glanced at Chloe. "You said…all are One. I am him and he is me." The plant nodded at this. "And…" Latias looked at Sibyl. "You've shown that…everything is…connected. How can I be…alone?" Latias touched the part of her chest where Rayquaza's soul-chain had bonded with her before. "You're…right here. You're…_always_…here. How can…I be…alone?"

"…" Rayquaza was speechless. "That's…that's right. That's absolutely right. You're not alone, are you? How could you possibly be? Even when I'm not there, a piece of me will always be with you…."

"And me too," Ash realized. "And all of us, all of your friends. We're all connected to you, right? Maybe not through some big magical thing like you and Rayquaza, but we're still a part of you, not just because we're your friends and family, but because we're all One too. You're a part of us and we're a part of you. Everything's connected." Mewtwo made a gagging sound, though whether it was at the intense sappiness of the dialogue or Ash saying something somewhat intelligent was up for debate.

"That's right," Rayquaza agreed. "So, whether or not you go alone to that new universe—if one should form—or with whomever is chosen to help make it—which I would presume to be the Chosen, considering how we've been told several times we serve an important, if not absolutely _essential_ role in the big plan—we'll always be with you, in memory and spirit. All are One, and One is All. If we _do_ become the One, and you for whatever reason do not join us, we'll still always be connected."

Latias blinked. "…Yes."

"Are you both ready?" Anubis asked the dragons. They nodded. "Very well. Rayquaza, please go to the platform engraved with a heart. Latias, your place is on the feather." Latias and Rayquaza nodded and both flew onto their respective platforms on either side of the scales. Amazingly, even though Rayquaza was far larger than Latias, her platform was lowered further by her weight than Rayquaza's was, while the platform Rayquaza set down on rose due to Latias' lowering. "Kalaran, I require your services as a power source to boost this machine's effectivenes."

The Dragon Apostle nodded. "As you wish." He sat on his haunches, a circle carving itself into the floor around him. A trench dug itself away from the circle in a straight line, running into the base of the crystalline scales. The dragon snorted, and his immense body began to ripple, the circle around him glowing and sending a channel of power flowing into the machine, causing myriad components and mechanisms within to light up and flash on and off in complex sequences. "Will that suffice?"

The necromancer nodded. "More than adequately. Chloe, it is good that you stayed, for your Life power will be a necessary balance to my Death, making the transfer of energies smoother."  
She smiled. "Why do you think I decided to stay?"

"Of course." He gripped his scythe with both hands, raising it over his head. "I suggest that both of you prepare yourselves. There may be some discomfort."

"Ah, discomfort as in a headache or sore foot, or discomfort as in unbelievable agonizing pain?" Ash asked uncertainly.

Instead of responding, Anubis sliced his scythe down, driving his blade into the ground, leaving a trail of blackness in its wake. There was a sharp clang as the scythe hit the floor, sending a line of crackling dark fire out across the floor and into the scales, causing the lights inside it to grow stronger. There was a loud humming noise, and the mechanism began trembling slightly.

Latias looked down and blinked as her platform began glowing a dark purple. She noticed her aura had turned the same color. That was interesting. It was even more interesting when suddenly that aura crackled up through the filaments supporting her platform and into the arm of the scale, causing her to gasp in surprise as she felt beautiful pain once more…only now it didn't feel quite so beautiful as it had before, when it was her only escape from the all-consuming numbness. However, it was still a novel surprise compared to the less threatening but still blank numbness she had experienced ever since she had arrived on this island.

It wasn't very beautiful for Rayquaza either. He bellowed in agony as his aura and platform turned a brilliant emerald and shot up the filaments and into the scale arm as well, flowing through the cables running inside it. Ash blanched. "Yeah, I figured it was going to be that kind." Mewtwo rolled his eyes again, as if to say, _Well, Duh!_

The two energy streams crackled down the cables and converged in a spherical gadget in the center of the fulcrum, visible through the transparent material that made up the giant scales. They spiraled up or down the sides of the sphere, running side-by-side, and passed each other, flowing through unused cables in either arm and headed to the platform opposite to the one from which either had originated. The emerald energy crackled down from the end of the arm holding the feather platform and shot into Latias like a viridian bolt of lightning, causing her to gasp again. She didn't scream though. This pain was marginal compared to what her brother had done to her both for his own amusement and to keep her from feeling numb. In fact, compared to that agony, this pain was actually quite pleasant. It wasn't quite as pleasant for Rayquaza, naturally. He had suffered great pain before, many times in his life, but that didn't necessarily mean he was inured to it. This hurt a great deal, and so he felt no reason not to demonstrate it by bellowing his pain throughout the cavern.

It was understandable why Rayquaza would be hurting. He felt as if something very crucial to him was being violently sucked out of his body, not his soul, no, that was untouched, but something almost as crucial: his life. What was replacing it wasn't nearly as good, no; it was a force that seemed to drain him even as it filled the places left by the departing life energy, causing him to feel increasingly weaker. His body, which just moments ago had been able to fly again, now seemed far too heavy for him to support once more, and he collapsed on his side, gasping for breath as his once again-weighty armor pressed into his organs. Ever so slightly, the heart platform he lay on began to sink.

The pain increased for Latias too, but not beyond the incredibly high threshold Dark Latios had set. The feeling of pleasantness increased as the death energy was drained bit by bit and replace by radiant, glowing life energy, the emerald green of her lover, sinking inside her and flooding through all the parts of her body and soul much as the soul-light of the Mother's true heart outside of time had before. Everything the energy touched greedily began to drink it up, like parched and dry soil kissed by rain for the first time after a very long drought. And the more it pumped into her, the more pleasant it felt, until it didn't seem like pain at all, but something else. It was warm, and powerful, and made her feel safe…Rayquaza's love, ingrained into every bit of the life he was giving up for her. It felt good, just like the ability to actually _feel_ it. Latias realized she was becoming less dead, less empty, the endless void that had threatened to consume her nullified and filled to overflowing with boundless emotion and memory and feeling and sensation and love and _life_ as she began to live again.

Rayquaza, on the other hand, was beginning to die, as the entropic forces from Latias' undead carcass were transferred into him. His trouble breathing had increased to the point where he couldn't even scream anymore but just laid there, gasping in pain as more and more of his body succumbed to age and weakness and just stopped functioning properly. His organs rotted and collapsed, his skin decayed, his bones crumbled and snapped apart. His teeth sagged out of his gums and fell out, his tongue drying out and cracking. His eyeballs dried up too, shriveling in their sockets. Cancers burst out of his skin like bunches of black grapes, boiling out across his skin in disgusting, steaming masses. Thousands, if not millions, of years were being taken from him all at once, and it showed rather badly. His platform lowered steadily, while Latias' rose higher and higher.

And on that platform…

Latias' eyes were rolled back in her face, a look of ecstasy on her features as memories flowed through her. Memories of her life, the one before it, _all_ of them, even back to before she had been an evil god-queen. No matter how different and vibrant all of them seemed, no matter how strange or unusual the worlds or kingdoms she had been a part of, not matter how painful or wonderful, all those lives had a single constant: Rayquaza. His soul, in all its different guises and faces, had been there beside her at some point or another, just as it was here now. It was a part of her more so now than ever, and it always would be, no matter what the future held.

This was as good as the feeling she had gotten from the light behind the door, if more long-lasting (due to the fact that Anubis closed the door early). _This_ was rapture, or close to it.

There was a thud in the dragon's chest as her heart warmed up and began to beat once again, sluggish and coagulated blood flowing through her veins with renewed vigor as it was circulated throughout her body once more. As her heartbeat began growing steadily stronger and faster, the black and bloodstained scales covering her body dried up and began to crack. Fissures spiderwebbed across her pear-shaped form. Light emanated from these cracks as the last of the emerald energy entered her body and the last of the dark purple left it. The light emanating from the cracks increased as they seemed to encircle her entire form, and then…with a note not unlike a loud, clear chime…the scales shattered, obliterated along with her wings in an all-consuming blast of light. Ash gasped and stepped back, shielding his eyes. Rayquaza twitched on his platform, which now almost touched the ground. Mewtwo was solidly unimpressed. The Apostles simply watched on, their faces devoid of any hint of emotion.

The light faded, or rather retreated back into Latias, who no longer looked weak, emaciated, or just plain dead. She was…

"Beautiful…" said a stunned Ash.

Latias had regained the pure white and red angelic form which she had received after being killed by the red Poke Ranger, Richie. Her dull black scales had been replaced with soft down, her bloodstains with coloration, her horns with antenna-like tufts, and her tattered wings with magnificent feathered ones to make any bird (or angel, I suppose) proud. Her soul-light, fully healed, permeated throughout her form in this semi-spiritual plane, making her almost too bright to look at.

As her golden eyes opened, blinking and looking out at the world with renewed sight, the first thing to catch her attention were not her gawking friend and ex-mentor, or even the Apostles, but the dear one who had sacrificed everything for her. "Rayquaza!" she cried, her voice ringing with the life and emotion that had been so noticeably absent until now. She spread her wings and immediately dove off her platform, gliding down to the twisted and decrepit dragon lying prone on the lowered 'heart' platform. She landed next to his withered form, lifting his head in her claws. "Rayquaza! Speak to me!"

"…Latiash?" the dragon, his body ravaged by age and death energy, rasped with almost destroyed vocal cords. "It…it'sh you…" He stared up at her with blind and shriveled eyes. "You're…you're back…you're whole…"

"You did it," she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. How long had it been since she had last been able to cry? "You did it. Just like you promised."

"Haff I…ever broken…a promish?" he wheezed, his lungs deflating.

"Never," she said softly. "Never."

"Of coursh not." He managed to chuckle once, for that was all the strength for laughter he could muster. "Latiash…I'm glad…I could shee you…one lasht time…"

She smiled through her tears. "Last time?" She laughed now, clear as a bell. "You speak as if this is really the end."

There was a pause. Rayquaza managed, slowly, to make a crooked smile. "No…I shupposhe…it'sh not, ish it?"

She lowered her head and kissed him on the nose. "Thank you, again. For everything."

"And thank you too. For everything," he whispered back. "I'm only shorry we didn't have more time together…before…"

"Yes," she agreed. "So am I."

"Then thish ish goodbye. For now."

"For now," she agreed, nodding slightly. "But not forever."

And with that, Rayquaza died, his ancient corpse fading away into nothingness, his will to speak to Latias one more time the only thing that had kept him living. Latias smiled though, and watched as his radiant soul flew up and away from where his semi-corporeal boundaries had once been, meeting the souls of Shedinja and Registeel, who had appeared from out of the chambers inside the Mother's heart to greet the departed King. Shedinja's soul took the form he had in life and bundled Rayquaza's shapeless spirit gently and with great care in his little claws, bowing to his Queen before he left the cavern, phasing through the door at the base of the Mother's heart and passing into the afterlife forever…or at least, for now. Registeel nodded at Latias and faded away as well, for his duty in this world was not over just yet, just as hers was not either.

_Goodbye,_ she thought quietly. _We'll meet again, soon._

With that, she turned away from the door, gliding down to greet Ash, who was staring tearfully at the door, stunned by Rayquaza's death. "He…he's gone…"

"What did you expect?" Anubis asked calmly as the scales sank back into the ground, his skeletal frame actually sagging slightly with what looked like weariness. Kalaran looked tired as well, panting and crouching to the ground as his glow faded and the circle he had made vanished. "You knew from the start that he was going to die."

"Well, yeah…" Ash said quietly. "But…I was expecting some last-minute miracle to keep him alive so he wouldn't have to go. So he could stay with us, and he and Latias could be happy together, instead…instead of…" He bit his lip, more tears rolling down his cheek. Mewtwo would have laughed at Ash's misery if he had a voice, but since he didn't he had to content himself with looking smugly at the distraught boy.

"I think," Latias said with a smile, putting her claw on Ash's shoulder. "That we've had enough miracles for today. Wanting more is just pushing it, you know?"

"How can you act like that?!" Ash snapped, pulling away from her. "You loved him! He died for you! And now you're just acting like it's all okay?!"

"That's because it is," Latias said softly, touching her chest. "Don't you remember everything we've seen so far, Ash? Everything we've learned anew? Death isn't the end, just the darkness before dawn. Just as the sun rises again every day, so will all souls return. We'll see Rayquaza again, soon. I _know_ this. And so do you."

"…I know," he said after a moment. "But…" His shoulders slumped. "Knowing doesn't make me feel better. Not even dying, more than once, and actually being a soul makes the loss of a friend any easier to bear. Especially when…when his death was so _awful_." He choked. "I didn't expect it to be so…so _painful_. That was…that was _horrible._"

"It was an exchange of energies," Enki said sympathetically to Ash. "Life to death and death to life. It was painful for Latias, too…but her pain threshold was raised so much by that cruel brother of hers it didn't seem so bad."

"Rayquaza accepted the pain because he knew it was what he had promised and what was right," Chloe said. "He has done the same thing many times before, in this life and others. As have you. As have your friends. As have almost everyone at one point or another. Taking on another's pain for the other's own benefit is one of the strongest signs of love there is."

"It is a reminder of how we are connected, all of us," Kalaran said, lumbering over. "To help another is to help yourself, for all are one and one is all. Is this not true?"

"Yeah…" Ash said, nodding slowly. "Yeah. It is." He smiled then, and turned to Latias. "Latias…I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to accuse you of being uncaring or anything."

She laughed and hugged him. "It's all right, Ash. I'm grateful for what Rayquaza did, more so than you can possibly imagine, and even more sorry that he had to go…but he will come back. We both know this." She smiled. "Everyone has to make sacrifices. He made his, and now I've made mine in a way…for I've given up the chance to be with him so that I could stay here with you and the others, alive and whole. And it's so good to _feel_ you again, and understand it rather than disregarding it as nothing." She nuzzled him affectionately. "It's good to be back. And…" She paused. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for killing Draganium, for killing Blaziken and Ivysaur, and for killing May."

"…It's all right," Ash said after a moment, leaning his head against her shoulder. "You didn't…you didn't mean it. Dark Latios made you do it. I mean, you didn't really have a will of your own, but-"

"But there was nothing else I could do. I know." She pulled back from him, looking into his eyes. "Don't worry. I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I know what I have to do to fix all this."

"And that is…"

"Defeat Deoxys, of course." She smiled. "I was able to come back from the Hell he represents more than once, with Rayquaza's help, and now with yours this latest time. And I'm not the only one who's escaped, either. If I can fight my way free, then we can help our friends do it, too. They're not lost." She hugged him again. "Nothing is, not really."

"…Yeah," Ash said, beginning to smile again. "You're right. Everyone's connected, after all. We'll save them, and everyone else, too…together."

The Apostles nodded. "It is the way of the hive, the way of order. When many are joined together as one, they accomplish far more than a single unit can ever do. But even that single unit's influence is great, for it only takes one raindrop to raise the sea…but only when you take into account the drops that have come before, and the drops that come after. And so it is as Latias said, and nothing is ever alone," buzzed Silithin.

"I do not need to sssee the future to know that there isss little we cannot accomplisssh together," Sibyl agreed. "Human and Pokemon, Apossstle and ssspirit…we are not that different, for we all live, even in different waysss. And asss long asss we keep that in mind, and cherisssh that life, we can ssstill win the fight ahead."

Mewtwo rolled his eyes in disgust at the corniness of it all and looked away. "Oh!" Latias pulled away from Ash. "Mewtwo…" The psychic glanced at her with a look devoid of any feeling. "Thank you. I know you didn't want to come down here, and I know you would have left us the minute you had the chance, but thank you anyway." He raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'For what?' "Thank you for raising me, and helping me become stronger, and being like a father to me. Even if you're not like that now, I'll always remember you as you were, as the caring person who took me into his home after mine was destroyed and trained me to become more than I was then. For all that, thank you." She hugged him, and was able to in this semi-spiritual plane.

He shoved her away instantly, a look of pure disgust on his face, as if she were little more than something undesirable he had stepped in. Sneering at her, he whirled away and stalked off, flicking his tail disdainfully as he went, until he faded away and was no longer there.

"Where'd he go?" asked the confused Ash.

"He left," Anubis said, turning his scythe in his hands, ankhs clattering against each other. "Now that Latias has been restored and Rayquaza is dead, the Triangle of Blood is broken and there is nothing to bind him here. Not even the dragon he once thought of as being like a daughter."

"That jerk!" Ash snapped angrily.

"It's all right, Ash," Latias said gently. "I forgive him. He has every reason to believe he should feel the way he does, from his point of view. Maybe he'll change his mind, and maybe he won't. But I know that for better or worse, our paths will cross again. They have too. And remember," she added. "Nothing is ever really lost. All my past lives are still inside me, just like yours. Even my latest 'life' as Dark Latios' plaything is still inside me too, just no longer dominant. That means that the Mewtwo we loved is still in that grouch now, no matter how much he denies it. And that means…" She glanced at where the portal her brother had escaped through once was. "That means some part of Dark Latios is still the Latios I knew, too. If we had all passed through the door, that aspect of him would have returned, I know it, and Mewtwo would have become the one we knew as well."

"Then why did you close the door?" Ash asked Anubis with a frown. "Why didn't you let us all become what we were?"

"Becaussse you are ssstill needed here," Sibyl said.

"Now that you have chosen to remain on this island, we'll need all the heroes we've got for the coming battle," Enki said. "Both as warriors, and as potential backups in case all else fails."

Latias nodded. "The ones who will make the new universe, if the One should deign not to." She touched her chest. "I can already feel it within me…the seeds of that universe, waiting to bear fruit should it be necessary. Thanks to Rayquaza's gift of life, I may live to see that new world. But I will never be alone." She smiled. "All are One, and One are All. Even if the One is outside time, and I'm inside it, I'm still connected to it and all my friends that are a part of it."

Chloe nodded. "And eventually, the One may once again split into many to fertilize the life within the universe with sentience, so that the cycle of existence may begin again."

"Will it be better this time?" Ash asked. "Than the last one was?"

"With the experience gained from the last cycle, perhaps the souls making up the One will understand better than before the folly of warfare," Kalaran said. "And the value of life. Perhaps in time, that understanding may fade, and we'll be back where we started…"

"But if it truly is a cycle, then those ones can be certain that these ones, or whoever these ones' souls reincarnate as eventually, will someday have the power to end the cycle and begin anew yet again," Silithin said, her wings humming.

"If that's the case…then are we really free at all?" Ash asked with a frown. "If we make a better universe, but it just decays again, have we accomplished anything after all? We'll be right back where we started…maybe Mewtwo's right, and it is hopeless." He sagged unhappily.

"It can't be," Latias said. "Because next time, if there is a next time, things will be different, I just know it. We'll make a world where all of us can live together in peace, even those who were once our enemies…for when everyone's connected, and part of the same whole, what is there really to fight about? Nothing important, nothing that really matters. We just need to remind them of that."

"We will go together," said Sibyl. "Into a gloriousss future unlike anything ever ssseen before. I cannot sssee it, but I do not need any precognition to believe in it."

"But to make that future come true," Enki said. "We have to win the battle still ahead. To defeat Deoxys and fuse all souls together into the One. And if we should fail…"

"Then I'll try again," said Latias with a nod. "As many times as I have to to get it right."

Ash nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I get it now. As long as we keep trying to make a better future, no matter what, evil in all its forms can never really win."

The Apostles all nodded at this, and even the Mother's pulse seemed to agree. "As long as you believe that, this time, and every time that may come, then the universe shall be saved, again and again. As many times as is necessary. But now," he said, turning away to look at one of the distant walls. "You must go." Off in the distance, a door appeared on the far wall, the same one they had used to reach this place…except it was on a different wall than it had been before.

"Jussst asss the sssun sssetsss in the wessst and risssesss in the Eassst…or it did on Earth, anyway…you have entered the catacombsss in one place, and ssso mussst leave another way," Sibyl hissed.

"That door will take you out of this place and lead you back to the village where your friends are," Enki explained.

"And there's still some food left from dinner," Kalaran advised. "If you're fast, you may still be able to get some of it."

"All right!" Ash whooped. "I finally get some of Mom's cooking!"

"I'd like some too," Latias commented. "I don't think I've been able to try any yet."

"You'll live it, Latias!" Ash assured her. "My mom's the best cook in the world! Especially since all other worlds have probably been destroyed by now…"

"Well, if you want that food, you had better get going," Chloe said cheerfully.

They nodded. "Okay," Latias said. "But before we go…thank you. All of you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here now, as I am. I will always be grateful for what you've done for me. Thank you." She bowed to them.

They bowed back. "It was our honor and privilege to assist you," Kalaran assured her.

"Go now," Silithin told them. "Live well. We will meet again."

"I know we will," Latias said with a final nod. "I look forward to it."

"Asss do we," Sibyl said with a smile. "Asss do we."

They turned then, and walked (or floated) away, Ash and Latias. Together, as the Apostles stood and watched, the pair of siblings, brother and sister in heart if not in blood, walked towards the door.

And the future.

…

The pathetic James wailed in agony as Dark Latios ravaged his body from within, the Jessies hissing and recoiling in pain from the evil dragon's rage.

"SHE REJECTED ME!" Dark Latios roared. "SHE REJECTED ME FATHER! SHE CHOSE LIFE OVER ME! HOW _DARE SHE!!!!!"_

"Don't worry," the voice of Deoxys whispered throughout the escape pod, causing the Jessies to cower and James to whimper and defecate himself for the millionth time. "All is not lost. You will see her again. She cannot escape you, after all. Your souls are bound together."

"Yesss…" Dark Latios hissed gleefully, causing James to sob pathetically and cause oily tears to roll down his filthy and disgusting cheeks. "Sister…you can't escape me. It doesn't matter if you've rejected me, cast me out. It doesn't matter if you're alive again. You can never escape me. I can and will track you down, no matter how long it takes. And when I do…" He giggled insanely. "Then all your friends are gonna diediediediedie…and Father will make their souls _writhe_…and you'll be mine _forever._ Won't that be _wonderful_?"

And he and Deoxys laughed, and James sobbed and lost control of his bowels (again), and the Jessies milled about uncertainly, and the small escape pod hurtled through the collapsing realities, with every moment getting closer to its final destination.

…

And that's that. Latias is safe and whole again.

And this really is the last chapter. Well, sort of. Next one's the epilogue and the true end, but you know what I mean.

Thank you all for reading this, and bear with me a little longer. We're almost there. It's almost over.


	66. One journey ends, another begins

And so it comes to this. After over two years of toil and struggle, we've reached this point.

The end.

I have to say, I honestly did not envision it ending like this when I began Latias' Journey back in 2004. Heck, a few months ago I didn't think it'd end like this either. If anything, I planned on making the story _longer_. But if that's the case, you wonder, why am I ending the story here?

Simply put, I'm tired.

I've enjoyed working on this story a great deal. Never believe anything to the contrary. But two years, folks, is a very long time…and I feel that it's time to move on to something new. I have plans for a new story, or set of stories, that I've been working on in my head for a while and I'd like to get started on. But I'm never one to do more than one story at a time (trust me when I say it's a big strain. I'm sure many of you who are also authors understand this all too well.), so I wanted to get this one finished first. I owe it to myself, and all my readers, don't I?

I'm sure you're also wondering if there's going to be a sequel. I'm afraid the answer is no. If I ever return to the Pokemon section, it'll probably involve a whole new venture altogether. Not saying that I _will_ ever return to Pokemon, but if I did I might have an idea or two for what I'd write, and it probably wouldn't feature Latias. This is, without a doubt, the end of the world of Latias' Journey.

But if there's anything you take from this story, it should be this: there are no endings or beginnings. Only transitions…into something else.

Disclaimer: All original characters owned by me or DiamondLatias3000. Canon characters belong to Nintendo or GameFreak or the Pokemon Company, whichever. All unfamiliar Pokemon are taken from the new Diamond and Pearl versions of the video game.

…

The sun was setting on another day on Birth Island…or half of it anyway, since the giant orbiting Solrock was really just moving to the other side of the island to bring day there.

Latias was lounging on a large, flat rock near the bank of a large river downstream from the lake and basins near the village, absorbing the warmth of the last bits of sunlight as it slowly faded away. The river was very wide and flowing very fast, going off a steep cliff only a few hundred meters away and cascading down in a magnificent waterfall before continuing on its journey to the sea.

She was not the only one there. Everyone, all her friends and family and the other refugees who had made Birth Island their home, as well as a good number of the indigenous species, were here as well, lining both sides of the river, and occupying the banks of other streams which led down to the ocean. All of them were seated or leaning against each other and avidly writing on what looked at first to be a simple scrap of paper but was actually some sort of incredibly high-tech 'memory' sheet which could retain impressions or folds made into it with little to no trouble, and was also very water and fireproof. Ink or charcoal was unnecessary to write on these sheets, all a person had to do was trace the image or lettering they had in mind on the surface with their fingers or claws, and the imprints from that tracing would deepen and darken noticeably to create the envisioned picture or message. That wasn't to say there wasn't regular paper or writing materials on the island, but they wouldn't be durable enough for these sheets' intended purpose. And besides, considering the ceremonial nature of the event that everyone had gathered at the banks of the river for, a relatively indelible form of communication seemed just the right thing to use. Very few of them only brought one sheet; most of those gathered by the river had brought several sheets with them and had already written on most of them. Latias herself had gone through almost three or four dozen and was taking a break before beginning on the last and most important one.

She smiled as she looked over the people gathered here, no trace of the trauma or anguish that had led to their exodus here on their faces, only smiles. Not all of them were especially cheery smiles, yes, many held more than a tinge of sadness in them, some were even crying as they wrote…but they smiled all the same, and she was glad for it. They had every reason to both smile and be sad, especially on this day.

She nodded, feeling satisfied at what she had seen. She didn't even need to look into their minds to see how everyone else felt, not that she would have done it without permission of course. Perhaps it was something about the innate peacefulness of this island, or some other form of magic here, that made it easier to understand what a person was thinking just by looking at their faces or even being near them. Deception was difficult if not impossible, which seemed a bit uncomfortable at first, but after a little while one got used to it. After all, what did they have to hide from each other, here of all places?

There was certainly no deception in their actions, manner, or faces as they all traced on their sheets of memory material; some with swift, scribbling strokes, others more slow and thoughtful, everyone working at their own pace, laying their souls bare(er) on paper so that the person each message was intended for would not only understand the written (or drawn) missives, but the emotions of the writer as well. Their thoughts and feelings as they inscribed this special communiqué, intended only for its specific recipient or recipients to understand and experience, were absorbed by the memory sheet as well as the written figures.

By now, you are all no doubt wondering just who these all-important messages were written for. The answer is quite simple. The letters, and the written and empathic content they contained, were meant for the dead.

According to calendars they had found in their new houses, loaned generously to them by the sleeping citizens of the island, next week was one of the major holidays in which Anubis reanimated the bones of the dead and channeled souls into them so that they might reunite with their loved ones among the living for a short while. Rukario had explained that it was customary to write a letter, or possibly several letters, to the deceased about a week before this specific holiday, expressing your feelings, telling them how you were doing, how life had been since last you saw them, etc. Much like what a usual letter to a distant relative would entail, save that these relatives were dead and a lot more distant than most. But considering the power dwelling in those who watched over the island, such a distance was not so great to traverse, or to send a letter by. Wes, as mayor, had decided there was no reason they shouldn't continue this fine tradition just because they had not been born on Birth Island, and decreed that all citizens of Westown would partake in all events related to this holiday, including sending off letters to the departed. They all knew his reasons for making this decree were partly because he hoped to get some message to Espeon and Umbreon and Gonzap, and find out what their fate was on the other side, but there was no reason to argue his decision. All of them wanted to make some kind of contact with their loved ones, in hopes that they might see them again soon. This would also serve as a form of beneficial catharsis, to express the loss most of them felt at having their friends and families torn violently and graphically from them, and also to vocalize their hopes that they would see each other again in the near future, without having to be consumed by Deoxys and the Beast.

Latias, like the rest of her family, had used most of the memory sheets she had brought to write to those who were no longer with them, mainly the friends they had lost to Deoxys or in other circumstances. She wrote for Draganium and Sceptile and Bulbasaur, for Charizard and Charla, for May, for May's parents and Pokemon, for the Pokerockers, for Zoro's team, for the other dead Chosen, for the family Latias had known on Alto Mare, for Pidgeot, for her biological mother and father, and all the other important people and friends she had encountered on her journey through this lifetime who were no longer there. There was even a letter for Shedinja, for in spite of all the horror he'd put her through he was still a loyal friend, in a way. There was also one for Mewtwo, though she had no guarantee that he wouldn't destroy it without reading. Then again, he might be forced to read it anyway, since the letter's data would be absorbed by the great subconscious mass outside of time, of which Mewtwo now inhabited. So either way, the message would get to who it was meant for.

It mattered little if many of the souls she and the others were writing to were buried in the bowels of the Beast, the magic involved in sending the messages would ensure they got to their intended recipient no matter what. And in receiving the letters, there was a chance, even a small one, that they might find the tiniest of hopes in their eternal damnation, the knowledge that there was still someone out there fearing for them and wishing for their safety. It might be enough incentive for them to break free, or it might be completely wasted. It didn't matter so much what the result was, as long as they got the letter at all. A sign that they had not been forgotten. And maybe that was all that mattered.

Latias yawned, smiled, and picked up the last clean sheet from the pile beside her, flexing her claws, deciding she had been on break long enough. It was time to write the last letter. Putting herself in the right frame of thought, so that the emotions she wanted would be imprinted on the sheet along with her words, she started tracing her claw on its surface, words forming as she pressed down and wrote her final and most important letter.

_Dear Rayquaza,_

_Have you been doing well on the other side? I doubt you're lonely, what with all our old friends and comrades waiting for you. I know you must think of me and wish I was there, just as I wish you were here. But I am not ready to join you there. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But somehow, we'll be together again. Our bond is unbreakable proof of that._

_It has been three months since you restored life to me, and I have done my best to appreciate this new existence to my utmost. Not a moment goes by when I don't think of you, of the sacrifice you made for both of us, and say 'Thank you' yet again, for giving me back what my brother stole from me and healing my soul._

_Life is wonderful here on Birth Island. It was a little strange at first, for this is a different place than the lands I've been to prior to this, but the calming aura of peace in the air is surprisingly easy to get used to, especially since it doesn't really seem to stop occasional crazy and wild things from happening now and then, like they tend to around us. (I think Bobobo's taken a little too much of a liking toward us.) And there's no shortage of things to do or work to be done in this idyllic place. The village doesn't run itself, after all. Well…it _could_, but then there'd be nothing for any of us to do, now would there?_ She chuckled at this, and the sense of laughter was imbedded in the sheet as well.

_The process of settling in and getting used to how different things were here wasn't the easiest thing in the world, even with the calming aura the Mother's soul gives off in her restorative sleep. You wouldn't believe how bizarre it was when we began using the houses floating on the lake the islanders left us and they started _talking _to us and trying to customize themselves to our individual tastes. It was very disturbing at first to know that some kind of artificial intelligence was watching you and monitoring your biological readings at every second of the day and had no qualms with loudly announcing that Ash's bowels were clogging up from this weird blue stuff he found in the vacuum food box in front of his mom and dinner guests and tried to force-feed him some kind of laxative thing…and turned his chair into a toilet to help empty him quicker…oy. It didn't help when Ash's mom started lecturing him about proper nutrition and how he shouldn't be eating certain foods and went into great detail about everything that had happened as a result of him eating said foods in the past…it was all very embarrassing, uncomfortable, but sort of funny too. Until the house tried to give _us_ laxatives too…_ She laughed again.

_Anyway, the place we've moved into is apparently the ancestral home of Ash's family on his father's side. Aside from being 'alive', it's also bigger inside than it is outside. Tesseract tech strikes again, huh? Ash, Pikachu, and Delia have been spending a lot of time looking through the house, the library, and anything they can find about Raiiki and his family's history. They all want to know as much they can about him, the man who none of them really knew as well as they thought they did and wish they had. I think all three of them have written letters for him, actually…I wonder if he'll show up at the holiday next week. Then Ash and Pikachu could do some male bonding with him or something, maybe even get Oliphan in too for a generational thing. That should be one for the albums. Our family is soooo weird…maybe we should try setting a trend, then our strange family unit will be the norm for everyone else._ She glanced down at Ash, who was sitting nearby and trying to write a letter, which was a bit difficult since both Misty and Delia had long since finished all of theirs and were trying to correct his rather sloppy handwriting and somewhat atrocious spelling. _It took Ash a while to figure out what he could do around the village other than generate power with his electric abilities, but I think he's found what he wants to do now. He's spent most of the time when he's not looking through family archives with his mom and brother exploring the island on foot with some of our friends and categorizing all the different species of Pokemon here in a makeshift Pokedex he was able to rig up with some of the smarter members of our new community (and some help from Joy and Jenny and Nabu). I go with him sometimes, so he doesn't get lost, which he always does anyway. It almost feels like we're journeying through Hoenn again sometimes…I'm not sure what he's going to do when this new Pokedex is full, but…I've heard him thinking about setting up some sort of tournament or League for everyone on the island to participate in. He's talked to a few people about it, including Wes. Most of the people here have been or still are trainers, and it won't be that hard to convince the youngest children to bond with certain friendly Pokemon…but I've also heard him considering training the kids to fight each other physically, maybe because he's still kind of embarrassed at how he got beaten so badly by Brendan back in the Battle Palace and wants to make sure everyone is as fit as he is now in his new dragonoid body. Or maybe he thinks there's a genuine need…I'm not sure whether this is a good idea or not. Could be fun, or could be potentially hazardous. Then again, Rukario says that the islanders actually have an arena of sorts somewhere around here where they spar on certain occasions, either for fun or sport. Perhaps this can work after all…_

_Delia and Misty have become sort of the 'mothers' of our bizarre little family. Delia cooks and cleans and makes delicious mouth-watering food that the whole community lines up for, and Misty keeps Ash and some of the others in line by threatening them with her giant mallet and water/ice powers. Even Wes sometimes defers to her out of fright, especially since Misty's been teaching Rui some lessons in how to better keep a cocky, arrogant, and overconfident man in line. Both women also do their best to raise the kids, both their own and the village's, something I help out with too when I have time. Misty's also become a kind of 'ambassador' for the aquatic species living in the sea around and underneath Birth Island. She spends a lot of time there some days, apparently entertaining the young prince of the underwater society, Manaphy, with stories of places she's been and waters she's swam in. He comes back with her sometimes. He's a really cute kid…but he already has parents, so we can't adopt him. Heh. And we probably have more than enough kids running about as is._

_And speaking of kids…_ Latias glanced away from her paper and back at her family. Pikachu was struggling to write his letter, no easy feat since any one of a half-dozen strong litter of Pichu and baby Sneasel kept crawling on top of him, tugging at his fur, trying to rip the sheet out of his paws, and in some cases started _eating_ him in frenzied attempts to get his attention. Sighing in exasperation, the electric rodent blasted the kids off him with a burst of Thundershock, which hurled them away, stunned but relatively unhurt. Unfortunately, that stun didn't last for long and they quickly started bothering him again. He threw a harried look at their mother, Sadic the Manyula, who was lazily lying against a rock and chewing on some bark. The former predator yawned and threatened to eat one of the kids if they didn't calm down and let their father finish his letter. The children knew this was not likely to be an idle threat, so they all quickly quieted and gave Pikachu some much-needed space. Latias smiled and went back to writing.

_Sadic, who's mellowed out rather a lot, laid the eggs she and Pikachu made a couple of months ago. The kids that hatched weren't hybrids, as some of us thought they might be…but they do seem to share some traits from both their parents. All of the kids have Sadic's tenacity, fearlessness, and love for violence, but they've also shown some of their father's compassion and loyalty in how close they are to each other and the rest of their family…even if they do show it in strange ways. Just the other day, when they found out it was Ash and Misty's anniversary…at least, we think it was, nobody can actually remember what it's the anniversary of, whether it's their first meeting, or when they first got into a relationship, or their first big fight…not even Ash and Misty know. It doesn't help that we're not even completely positive how long it's been since Earth was destroyed, we say it's been three months, but considering how time itself is dissolving and our own little timeline is zigzagging back and forth throughout all of reality, nobody can say for sure. But they've decided it's their anniversary, and left it at that._

_Anyway, so the kids heard it was their Uncle Ash and Aunt Misty's anniversary, and they weren't sure what to get them. So, after some deliberation among themselves, they ran into the forest and came back several hours later with a very confused baby Brontonadon bound and gagged, which they had managed to capture all by themselves through an astounding act of ingenuity and predatory skill. Ash and Misty were confused and Pikachu was extremely embarrassed, especially when the Brontonadon's unhappy parents showed up demanding their kid back. Sadic was supposed to punish them, but I think she was too proud of them to bother. Still, they haven't done anything like that since…although perhaps some of the other couples should be wary. I hear Wes and Rui's anniversary is coming up soon. Perhaps Pikachu and Sadic should have a talk with the kids just to be safe…I shudder to think what they'll be like when they reach adolescence, assuming their species have a long enough latency period for such a thing. I'm not positive. All the kids seem to have inherited the combined strength of both their parents, and it'll be _extremely _difficult to control them when they get older. Still, we've faced worse challenges…haven't we?_

_Anyway, speaking of Wes and Rui, I don't know if I already mentioned this but Wes has become the Mayor for life of the village, and has renamed it Westown after himself. Since no higher power is complaining, I guess nobody important has a problem with it. And he's not that bad really, he spends more time showing off than actually making any big laws so he's not causing any problems, other than inflating his ego. And Rui does everything she can to keep _that _under control._ She glanced over at Wes, Rui, and the Pichu sisters. Wes had a very serious, and rather sad, look on his face as he wrote his letter. Rui was holding his shoulder supportively and giving him a sad smile. The poignant moment was somewhat ruined by the silly cardboard crown with MAYUR written on it that Wes didn't go anywhere without, along with the large and rather ostentatious sash looped over his shoulder and chest. Latias smiled at this and went back to her letter. _He really misses Espeon, Umbreon, Gonzap, and his friends from Orre. Despite his usual cockiness, I think he's suffering from a lot of guilt that he couldn't do anything to save them from being killed by Deoxys, and that he's now living it up in an island paradise while they're screaming in Hell. He's not the only one, though…just about all of us refugees have someone there, and it is for them that we will fight all the more to liberate them in the final battle to come._

_You probably guessed this already, but thanks to Enki Brock has become a rocky dragonoid instead of a Golem. It was indeed difficult for him at first since his new body was so big and clumsy he almost smashed up half the village by accident when he first transformed. Wes even declared him a public nuisance and all but kicked the poor guy out of the village until he could become less clumsy. It took a while, and a lot of encouragement from us, his friends, but Brock was eventually able to master his new form and become a productive member of our new society. Once he proved himself capable, Wes revoked Brock's status as Public Nuisance and set him to work using his new power over rock and stone to carve a giant sculpture of Rui and himself from the nearby mountainside. The Apostles protested this…VERY loudly…and Wes quickly changed his mind and just assigned Brock to be under Delia's supervision indefinitely, since he figured she could keep him under control and think of something useful for him to do. Brock's still living with us, and seems to have finally made a niche for himself by using his breeding skills and…'experience' with romance to become the village matchmaker. His success rate has been surprisingly good, so far. He doesn't even seem particularly bothered anymore that he's still single, which is a somewhat refreshing relief from his old girl craziness._

_Speaking of matchmaking, one of Brock's earliest and most successful pairings involved Oliphan! That's right, my not-so-little nephew has almost fully grown up and found love…_ Latias smiled and looked away again, over at Oliphan, who was sitting on his hind legs and writing on an extra-large memory sheet using his trunk. Sitting next to him, writing her own letter, was an equally large Pokemon that didn't look much different from Oliphan, save that she was covered in very shaggy brown hair and had a short, piggy nose rather thank a trunk. Also, her big eyes were surrounded by two rings of white and blue hair. She was a Manmuu, a rare evolved Piloswine, grown to immense proportions on this mystical island and resembling the great elephantine beasts who may have been Oliphan's ancestors. _Misty cried rather a lot when it really dawned on her how much Oliphan's matured. Startled me a bit, too. Well, you know what they say, 'They grow up far too fast.' And in Oliphan's case, considering how his evolution was somewhat forced, that's more true than for most people. Too bad you and I never really got to enjoy all the trials of parenthood, huh? Not in this lifetime, anyway…oh well, there's always next time. Because there _will _be a next time, don't you think? Even if we lose, even if Deoxys does become the One, I'll probably still survive, thanks to you…and be able to start all over again. _

She paused, frowning slightly. _It feels strange and almost unreal sometimes, what's happened to me. Not even the Apostles have been able to give me a straight answer on just how long I might live thanks to the life energy you transferred to me. The best approximation I could get is from Nabu, who's calculated that if nothing dire happens to me I could potentially live for _hundreds _of _millions _of years! Maybe longer! I can't really comprehend that…or at least, I didn't at first. I mean, I've lived for very long times in some of our past lives, thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years. But millions?! But then I remembered that I had been able to live just as long as I can now back when we first met…and that brought back all sorts of memories, both warm and fuzzy and others…not so much. A lot can happen in such a long lifespan, both good and bad. And you know what? Even with all the bad, there's still a lot of potential in that time for good things to happen. Really good ones. In that other life, I spent my millions of years doing evil things, and that was fun at the time. But I'm not that way anymore. Now I know the true value of life. And so I'm going to use the time I've been given to make whatever universe comes next, even if I have to make it myself, as good a place to live in as any other has ever been._

_But I digress. I was telling you how the family's been, right?_

_Togetic got tired of being humanoid a while back for some reason and decided to become small and cute again,_ Latias continued writing. _So she used whatever weird power she has to transform herself into a new Pokemon called Togekiss._ She glanced over at Togekiss, who was about four feet tall and shaped sort of like a plump pigeon, with white skin and small red and blue triangles dotting her belly. She had traded in her arms and small wings for bigger ones (Wings, that is) and had grown a small feathery tail as well. She didn't really have a neck anymore, her head growing out of her plump body, a smile on her face and a three-pointed crest growing from the top of her skull, one point red, the other blue, and plain white one in the middle. _She doesn't miss having opposable thumbs as much as she thought she would, ever since I helped her develop telekinesis. She's really very good at it._

_Ash and Misty adopted Tyranitar into their family, so now we have another kid, although this one's gotten more mature just like Oliphan due to his evolution. He's pretty much okay with Ash being his father, since Ash was there for him when he was just a little Larvitar, but he's taking a while to get used to Misty as a stepmother. He really misses his real mom. It's no surprise that's who he's writing to…I'm sure he'll come to love Misty in her own right in time, though._

_Tyranitar's_ _not the only one who's been adopted, though. You may recall that the Mother left Max in Delia's care, right? Well, Max was insane for a while. A long while. He refused to sleep in the village or in anyone's houses, viciously attacked everyone who tried to help him, screamed random obscenities at the top of his lungs, and tried to kill himself and other people numerous times, despite Delia's attempts to control him. When he slaughtered a helpless Karanakushi, one of Manaphy's friends, one day when Misty brought them up from the sea to play with the other kids in the village, and feasted on the poor thing's brain and eyes, we all decided enough was enough. Delia went to the top of the mountain and asked the Apostles for help, seeing as how she had tried her hardest to tame Max on her own without success. Like they did with you and I, they made her pass a trial of some sort…she's never told us just what it entailed. But when it was over, the Apostles took deranged, savage Max away and gave us back a glasses-wearing Machop with Max's voice and soul. We don't know if they transformed him into a Machop or killed his old body and transferred his spirit into a new body, but he's a lot saner now and doesn't seem to have much memory about his past as a human. That's probably for the best, since those traumatic memories would probably just drive him crazy again. Sadic's the only one who's disappointed, since she wanted to eat Max and complains that the Apostles could have at least let her dispose of the body. (She hasn't mellowed _that _much. This is Sadic, after all.) Carrie, one of the other finalists from the Hoenn Championships managed to get here safely during Deoxys' attack, and she's been spending an awful lot of time with Max…hmm. Think something's going on between them?_

_Crawdaunt's come into his own by taking charge of the village brothel. Yes, it surprised us too to learn there was a brothel already here, but island customs are different than what we're used to and the rules of exclusive sex don't seem to exist here, or are at least less strongly encouraged. Wes almost passed a law saying there was no such thing as exclusive sex as an excuse to use the brothel or sleep with other people's wives, until Rui gave him an earful about it, so he reluctantly banned humans from going there. This was fine with Crawdaunt, since he didn't find humans particularly attractive anyway. He's found a number of lady Pokemon to work in his brothel, and business has been pretty well so far…he's such a pimp, isn't he? Corsola had to join the brothel as one of the prostitutes to make sure Crawdaunt didn't spend _too _much time with his employees._ She chuckled. _You'll be glad to know I have declined all offers to join them. Crawdaunt's not my type, after all. Hehe._

_Gyarados decided to move into the ocean, saying the village lake was a bit too small for him. We were kind of sad to see him go…but then again, most of us really didn't know him too well. He usually kept to himself. He visits often though, and Misty tells us he's found a lady friend. He doesn't say who, though…not very surprising, huh?_

_Aerodactyl_ _moved out too, though he still visits Wes often. He's become a member of the local flight (Is that the right term?) of Aerodactyl and other prehistoric avians living on the island. He seems pretty happy to be among others of his own kind. Now he's not the only one anymore…not that he was actually the only one before, since I think there might have actually been several Aerodactyl about the world before it ended, but you know what I mean. For an extinct Pokemon, there sure were a number of them about…_

_Jigglypuff's_ _using her experience as a rock star to try and form a new band here in the village. Joy Prime has been helping her study some of the music written by past islanders for inspiration. She's not quite the songwriter Mudkip was, but she's working hard at it. Someday she may even form a band to rival her old one…in honor of their memory, of course. Or maybe to prove her own worth. I think she's still stung that her mentor, the older Jigglypuff, booted her out of the band just before the world ended. She also seems to have 'adopted' a wannabe coordinator named Hikari and her Pochama to replace May. I might feel bad about that, if they didn't seem to genuinely get along pretty well…_

_Milotic, Wobbuffet, and Cacturne have moved in together and are doing rather well as a whole, despite the trauma they've suffered and the friends they've lost. Milotic's become a member of the new band, although Jigglypuff's pride has shown itself by trying to give her as limited a role as possible, since Jigglypuff's always been envious of Milotic's voice. Cacturne has taken up gardening and uses her Grass-type senses and some of the sense of style she learned from James shudders to arrange flowers and plants in ways that make the village look even lovelier. As for Wobbuffet, he was amazed to learn his ancestor Lord Wobbaku and his human friend came to this island a long time ago, back in the time when we ruled, and learned most of what he did about statuary and shielding techniques. Wobbuffet doesn't have much interest in making statues, but he is spending a lot of time in the tremendous universe-sized library Nabu told us about, studying new ways to manipulate shields and barriers, including the ones that protect the island. He feels partially guilty for not being strong enough to deflect Deoxys' attacks when he slaughtered so many of our friends after his evolution, and wants to make sure his shields will be strong enough so nothing like that will ever happen again. I hope he succeeds…_

_Our brave friend Rukario, the Mother's Knight, is doing well also. After a few months of anxiety and uncertainty, he gave in and begged the Apostles to wake up his beloved Crysta. She was more than happy to leave the Mother's embrace and return to the new body that's been prepared for her, and we had a grand party in celebration of her revival. They've spent a lot of time catching up on lost years, and are generally very happy to be together again._ She smiled wistfully as she glanced over at Rukario, who was sitting beside a bipedal vulpine about his size with blue and white fur and only one tail. She was leaning against him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, a smile on both their faces as he finished writing his letters to Regice and Regirock. They may have turned to evil, but they were still his master's siblings, and since Registeel was at the moment incapable of sending them a message it was up to him to send word to them in Hell about how things were going. Latias couldn't see from her rock just what he was writing, but the emotions he radiated in combination with her own heightened telepathic abilities told her that even though Rukario was angry at the two ancient sages for their betrayal, he forgave them as he knew Registeel and the Mother would, and hoped that that forgiveness might mean something to the brother and sister, and remind them of what they once were and still could be again. _They remind me of us, you know. What our reunion could have been like under different circumstances. We had so little time before you left, and they might have a chance to spend the rest of their lives together. But I'm not jealous. Not really. Even though you're not here completely, a part of you is always with me…and as long as I remember that, I'm never really alone, am I? It's a promise that we will meet again, and like the reunion of Rukario and Crysta, the day we come together once more will be joyous for all._

_There is little else for me to report that I feel needs telling. Our lives here have not been uneventful, but if I were to tell you all the little adventures we've had and the things we do day-to-day, this letter would go on for pages and pages, and I really must bring it to a close shortly. So only a few more interesting points, then:_

_One of the children Zoro and his team rescued during their fight through Ever Grande City was already a great fan of his, and now that his hero has fallen, the boy has decided it is his duty to take up his idol's mantle and become the next Zoro. He has been spending a lot of time with Pikachu, Brendan, and Rukario learning how to fight with a sword and with his body, as well as studying in the island's library to learn more about the way of a champion. Ash was kind of disappointed when the kid wasn't interested in training with him, but Misty was fine with it, saying they already have way too many kids to look after as is._ She smiled. _I just know this boy will be of great help in the coming battle. I think Zoro would be proud of him._

_Brendan and Wally have been doing just fine. Anubis couldn't change Wally back to normal since Deoxys still has his soul, so the poor guy's still a zombie. It's all right, though…he's quite harmless, and we've grown used to the smell. The kids love to play with him, actually. They've come up with all sorts of fun games, such as Hide-the-decomposed-body-part, Intestinal Grab Bag, and a variation of Kickball using Wally's head, which is totally detachable. He makes a great babysitter, too. I'd trust my children with him any day…er, if I had kids that is. A shame we didn't get the chance to make any. In any event, Brendan's been training his body and teaching some of the other villagers how to fight from his own experience and books on fighting styles he's found in the library, and I believe he's in on Ash's idea to start a new tournament or League. I wonder if I should tell Misty about this…it might be a good idea, but it also might get Ash's head pounded in for trying to stir up trouble at a peaceful time like this. And maybe endangering children. Well, that's our Ash for you…even after a traumatic experience and living in paradise, battling's still never far from his mind. And here I thought that he had changed a lot during our adventure, but I guess there's some things you just can't knock out of a person's head. Reminds me of you at times, actually._ She giggled at that. _Then again, perhaps both of them have the right idea here. It's only a matter of time until whatever event that's supposed to happen happens, and we're thrown into the final battle. The more people who are capable of fighting in any way possible we have with us when everything hits the fan, the better._

_Anyway, we were surprised to discover that a few of Ash's old friends managed to get here, having for some reason or another been in Ever Grande when Deoxys began his invasion and managed to survive long enough to reach the gateway that took everyone here. AJ was one of them (He was in Ever Grande when Deoxys attacked. He had decided to stick around to see Ash fight.), along with a salty old sea captain and his Wingull Peeko, some brother trainers with Eeveelutions and sister trainers with the same theme (one of which is an old friend of Misty's, Sakura. Wonder what they were all doing in Ever Grande during Deoxys' invasion…), as well as Lily, a witch Ash and friends met a while back. She's been learning a lot of new magic from the library and will probably be a great asset when the last battle joins. But what's really interesting is that Wallace managed to get here! You remember him, the Sootopolis City gym leader, who got captured by General Hanson because he had an old item which could help him find Birth Island? Well, he managed to find his way here just before all the fighting started, and he's become a great mentor to Misty and a lot of other people around here due to his style, experience, and all-around coolness. He's been teaching forms of stylish moves and techniques you can perform in battle and in your everyday life, including poise and posture, to anyone who wants to learn. He's also become an art teacher, and I decided to learn under him. I've already learned a lot about art from my family in Alto Mare, but I rarely put it into practice until now. Wallace thinks I'm one of his best students, and makes sure I stay that way by giving me harder and harder assignments for every masterpiece I manage to complete. So I guess I found my niche here too, as an artist._

_One of my most recent works, and one of my finest, was a mural of you and I, and our past incarnations, intertwining and flowing into each other down the ages, always together no matter how our forms changed. Wallace loved it and I think it's inspired a lot of my classmates …although it's made a number of them resentful of me too, sad to say. Well, art's a tough business, and it's all too easy to accidentally tread on somebody's toes…even if you don't actually have feet. Not that different from politics, in that respect, is it?_

_And that's about it. That's what we've been up to since we got here and I got my life back. We've adjusted to island life, and while we mourn for those we've lost, we also strive to live for the future, in hopes that we still have one. And I know that no matter which course that future takes, you will be a part of it._

_I hope to see you again soon, and maybe I will. After all, the holiday's coming up soon, which is why this letter managed to get to you, and Rukario's told us many times Anubis usually brings back the dead for this occasion. Of course, there's the little problem of not having the bones of any of the people who died on Earth to use as an anchor for summoned spirits…so will he be able to bring back any of our loved ones, let alone you, without a skeleton to put you in? And there's also the concern of whether he'll be able to reach any of the souls which are imprisoned in the Beast, of which most of those we miss are, since most of the planet's population was unlucky enough to be murdered by Deoxys before the Island could escape Earth and take everyone's remaining souls with it. Anubis can only summon souls who want to come back for the holidays, and won't bring enough of the Beast's corruption with them to destabilize the island's shields and make it easier for Deoxys and Dark Latios to find us. Since most of the souls we miss are buried deep in the Beast, will he be able to bring them back without risking everyone? And even if he is able to bring them back, will he choose to? It would be nice to see them again, but would it be crueler to leave them in Hell for an indeterminate time until we can find a way to free them and form a benevolent One, or to free them from Hell for a brief moment and then cast them back into damnation when the holiday's over, increasing their suffering due to their awareness of what they're missing? I don't know how many of them will be strong enough to fight their way free from the tortures imposed on them even with the incentive of freedom. You and I have done it before, but most of those times our souls were together, and their souls now might not be._

_It's not an easy question to answer. We all want to see the friends stolen from us again so badly. But even if we do see them, will they be the same? You saw what happened to Dark Latios. If my courageous, loving brother could be turned into _that_, what's to keep Deoxys from doing the same thing to the souls he's taken from us, our friends and loved ones?_ She sighed unhappily. _It's thoughts like this that makes us feel even guiltier sometimes for being here, warm and safe, while so many of the people we care about are screaming in Hell._ She closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath. _But somehow I know that, no matter how we feel about all this, it will be over soon. One way or another, it will be over. We'll win, or we'll lose…and that'll be that. From what I've been told about what will happen if Deoxys fuses all souls into One, it won't be hell, but it won't be heaven either. It'll just…be. And that's better than eternal torment, right? At least, I hope it is._

_In any event, as I said, it'll soon be over. One journey will end, and another will begin. That is the way of things, right?_

_And I know that, even if Deoxys wins, even if you become trapped inside him somewhere, we will take that new journey together. And through us, so will everyone. That, too, may be the way of things._

_With much love, and hope to see you soon, Latias, your Ever-Loving Queen._

_P.S. I hope you didn't hurt Mewtwo _too _badly when you got there, even though you promised you would. I really don't fault him for his behavior, though I do hope he will change his mind and become our friend again._

She ended the letter by pressing her mouth carefully into the sheet to make a perfect imprint of her kiss, which would reach Rayquaza on the other side and bring him pleasure. She smiled and leaned back in satisfaction, her very long letter complete. She glanced down the bank and saw everyone else was either finished or almost done with their letters too. Latias put her letter on the ground and floated into the air, concentrating on all her finished letters.

Each of the letters levitated off the rock and hovered before her. With a miniscule exertion of will, each of them began folding in on themselves, flipping and twisting and contorting itself until each had turned into a paper boat. (Well, not really paper, but you know what I mean.) She concentrated a little harder, and out of spare air molecules small candles were conjured out of nowhere, one for each boat. She gestured with a claw, guiding the candles with her mind and placing each one in a respective boat, nestled tightly in the fold made by their hulls. Another moment of focus on the wicks of the candles caused them to ignite, small flames burning brightly in the growing dusk. She smiled, heartened by how strongly they burned. The flames would guide the letters through the great beyond to their intended recipients, lighting the way through whatever might obscure their path. And perhaps those flames would light a spark in the hearts of her lost friends, those who were all but damned forever, a spark that might guide them to freedom.

"Or perhaps," whispered a familiar voice that only she could hear. "That spark will be snuffed out by the slightest breath…and all hope will be extinguished forever."

Latias did not start, did not smile or frown. She didn't even turn around to see the face she knew would be waiting for her, hazy and not fully there. "Hello, brother."

The faint form of Dark Latios cackled. "You only mentioned me in passing in your letter, sister. You never mentioned how I've been haunting you through our bond. Why is that? Do you fear me so greatly that you dare not tell your lover that I'm still here? Or do you say nothing for fear of letting him know that perhaps some deep, dark part of you still longs for my caress instead of his?"

Latias did smile then. "No…I did not mention you because if I did, I knew that Rayquaza would worry for me, when he need not."

"Is that so?" She almost thought she could feel his rancid breath on the back of her neck, even though there wasn't anyone there.

"Of course it is. So you're haunting me. I'm not bothered at all," Latias said calmly, still not looking behind her, knowing that would only gratify the evil dragon. "I've gotten over my fear of ghosts long ago. I'm not afraid of souls or shadows. And that's really all you are…a shadow. You're not here at all. You're still out there in the disintegrating mess of realities, struggling to use your link to find me."

"And it's working, isn't it?" he hissed.

"Perhaps," she acknowledged. "Perhaps not. After all, neither you nor your father have actually set foot here yet, which means we must be doing a pretty good job of eluding you. So all you can do in the interim is project a faint astral image of yourself into my mind to pester me, in an attempt to wear me down and break my resolve. And that," she said calmly. "You are failing at."

She could feel his rage. The rage was good, it meant she was correct. "It's only a matter of time, sister," he growled. "You can't defeat me. No matter what Rayquaza's prophecy said."

"Is that so?" she said idly. "I seem to recall you nearly getting defeated because of me three months ago, when I got my life back."

"That doesn't count," Dark Latios sneered. "You were _indirectly_ responsible for my defeat there."

"When did Rayquaza say I had to beat you directly?" Latias asked sweetly. "You lost then, and were almost totally defeated. That means you can lose again in the future, and be done away with for good." She smiled and opened her claw, the final GS Ball, a gift from Rukario, appearing in it. "And I still have this with me, no matter how powerful you are or will be. It could contain you before, and it can contain you again. And without your help, there's a chance that your Father will be weakened just enough to tip the scales in our favor. So by removing you from the picture, who knows? We may actually be able to win."

She could feel his rage growing again. "_You_-"

"Goodbye, brother," she said calmly, banishing his presence from her mind. He would be back, she knew. He always came back. He could not help it. And perhaps, in the end, that would be his downfall.

Smiling, cheerful again, she vanished the GS Ball, levitated her letter boats once more, and flew down off her rock back towards her family. "Hey miss Latias," Tyranitar said, seeing her approach.

"Hi Aunt Latias! Glad you joined us!" Oliphan chirped.

"I was just finishing my last letter. You guys done?" she asked.

"Just about," Ash grunted, trying to sign his name.

"Ash, you can do better than that," Delia chided. "That 's' looks more like a 'z'."

"And your last name is spelled with a K and a 't'," Misty pointed out.

"I know how to sign my own name!" Ash snapped at both of them.

"Well, if your name were Azh Cechum, you'd be right," Delia said. "But it isn't and you're not, so you have to fix it." Grumbling, Ash did just that.

"Yep, we're all finished Aunt Latias!" Togekiss said, flying over with her own telekinetically carried letters.

"Yes, despite interference from certain nuisances," Pikachu said, giving a good-natured scowl to his children.

"Awww, we can't help it if we get bored Daddy!" one of the Pichu squealed.

"It's not like we've got anybody to write letters too," said one of the Sneasel.

"Or like we even know how to write," another pointed out.

"Or cared to," added another Pichu.

"Now kids," Sadic drawled, getting to her feet and walking over. "You know literacy is important to your father…for some reason." Pikachu grunted.

"Awww, but mom, why can't we just learn to be hunters like you?" the third Sneasel whined.

"And kill stuff!" squeaked the last Pichu.

Sadic smirked. "Yes, I know, hunting and killing stuff so you can eat it is fun. However, we don't need to anymore. If we hunted and killed anyone here, we'd be yelled at and life would generally become unpleasant for us. Therefore, for our own sakes it's best that you humor your father and at least _try_ to become civilized, even though it can be extremely boring. And if you don't, I'll eat you and just make new babies with your father. If you're lucky, you'll have learned your lesson when you reincarnate. If not, tough luck. Now, apologize to your father for all the trouble you caused."

"We're sorry!" the six infants chimed.

"That's good. And what else?" Sadic asked, flexing her very sharp and deadly claws.

The children sighed and recited deadpan, "And we will try harder to become civilized and productive members of the community."

"Much better. Have some bark." She shoved a huge chunk of bark into each of their mouths, which they started gnawing on hungrily. "There. How'd I do?" she asked Pikachu.

He sighed and rubbed his temples. "I wish you didn't have to keep threatening to eat them. You know how uncomfortable that makes me, especially since my mom almost ate me."

"Oh, I wouldn't really eat them," she whispered into one of his ears. "And I think they know that too. I guess I might have once, but…awww, I don't think I've got it in me anymore. Being a mother's made me a big softy. That and this damn island. And the bark. Lots of bark. But a girl's got to keep her image intact, right?" She gave him a wink.

"Yes, exactly," said Misty, who had overheard because Sadic's whisper wasn't nearly quiet enough. "Speaking of which…" She opened her hand and a stream of water flowed out of the river and into her hand, forming a mallet, which she immediately whacked Ash with.

"Ow!" he yelped. "What was that for?!"

"For spelling your name wrong," she said sweetly, kissing his cheek and giving him very confusing mixed messages. "And mine, too. That was to condition you NOT to spell your name wrong again. According to classical conditioning theory, if I pair a neutral stimulus—in this case, my hammer hitting your head—with an unconditioned action, namely you're doing something stupid, eventually I'll have conditioned you NOT to do something stupid out of fear that you'll get hit on the head, even if I'm nowhere nearby to actually do so."

"Then you must have disproved classical conditioning theory," Brock said, stretching. "Since you must've been at this since the day you met him and he still hasn't learned. Or maybe it just means Ash is incredibly dense and unresponsive to conditioning."

"The same could be said of you, Brock," Ash pointed out. "Since you never seemed to learn that every time you went gaga over someone you'd get tugged away painfully by your ear."

Brock sulked. "Yeah, well…at least I don't do it anymore."

"Yeah, because the Mother ripped out your sex drive!" Crawdaunt taunted, surrounded by his adoring employees. "Oooh, hiss, burn!" Brock's eye twitched.

Latias laughed. "You guys are the best, you know that?" she said. "I can't think of any friends as silly or dysfunctional as you."

"We'll take that as a compliment, dear," Delia said sweetly. "Now, has anyone seen Max? I was too busy nagging Ash to notice that he's run off again. Where did he go this time?"

"Weee!" cheered Max the Machop, riding by on the bellowing Manmoo's back. "Faster, faster!"

"Manmoo, come back!" Oliphan cried, desperately chasing after the mammoth-boar-thing.

"Oh, there he is," Delia said unworriedly. "Just having a little fun. Nothing to worry about." All sweatdropped.

Tyranitar sighed and got up. "I'll go get him," he said.

"I'll help," Brock offered. "You'll need plenty of muscle to stop a rampaging mammoth-boar-thing." The two powerhouses quickly ran off.

Wobbuffet shook his head in bemusement as he watched the two giant Pokemon stampede all over the place and cause fellow villagers to scream and get out of the way. "Another day in the nuthouse, huh?"

"Well, at least it's never boring," Cacturne commented.

"And a lot nicer than being in either Team Rocket/Cipher or living on Mirage Island, right sweetie?" Milotic said gently, wrapping her tail around both her heads.

Wobbuffet sighed and looked at the letter he had just finished. "Yeah…if only Sis were here…"

Wes glanced up and saw that the sun had set and quickly stood up, gesturing at the nearby band, assembled by Jigglypuff, to start playing fanfare for him. "Ahem," he said loudly, adjusting his mayoral crown and not bothering to pay attention to the rampaging elephantine Pokemon in the background, since such a thing was almost a daily occurrence in the village. "Everyone, listen up! I, your Mayor, have an announcement to make! The sun has set, and as our local expert on customs, traditions, and rituals has told us-" He gave Rukario a quick nod of acknowledgement as he said this, and Rukario nodded back. "It is time for us to send our letters off to the great beyond. How exactly they're going to get there if we're putting them in a river that feeds into a waterfall I have no clue, but seeing as everything else on this crazy island isn't always what you expect I've decided it's not worth pondering. So…without further ado, let's get this show on the road. Fold your letters into boats, put a candle in them, light 'em up, and send them down the river." He posed. "The Mayor has spoken! Thank you."

"I'd say that crown was too heavy for his head," Rui murmured to the Pichu sisters. "If it weren't made of cardboard, and because he'd probably act like this even without it." The two mice giggled at the Mayor's expense.

Tyranitar and Brock managed to calm down Manmoo and bring Max back to Delia. Once they had, everyone did as Mayor Wes commanded and folded their letters into little paper boats, gave them lit candles, and put them in the river. This understandably took a while, since most of the villagers had written so _many_ letters, especially the Ketchum family. It didn't help that a number of them were rather bad at folding letters into boats and needed help from somebody else, delaying them further. It took close to half an hour to get everyone ready, the local Pokemon (who hadn't written nearly as many letters) graciously waiting until their new friends had finished to send their own letters off. But finally, everyone was ready, and with a surprising amount of silence and solemnity they carefully put the paper boats in the river and sent them off.

All of them, Pokemon and humans, native wildlife (though not really that wild) and refugee immigrants watched in silence as the little boats drifted downstream, a small candle burning brightly in each one, a veritable procession of light in the dark beneath the rising Lunatone-moon.

To those who had lived on this island all their lives, the boats represented the ties that bind, a message to their loved ones on the other side. To them, this ceremony was important, but in the end held as much emotional baggage as sending an E-mail or mailing a long-distance package to a loved one far away, the method of delivery might be different but the content and feeling behind it was still the same.

For those new to this island though, the boats represented much more. They held their hopes and wishes, their guilt and sorrows, their cries for forgiveness and pleas to meet again. Unlike the native Pokemon, the newcomers had no guarantee that their prayers would be answered. The letters might get to where they were going, but could the souls of the deceased return to them without any vessels to channel them into, a familiar form to serve as an anchor? And even if they could come back, would they be the same as they remembered them, since so many might have been in Hell long enough now to be changed for the worse? The burning candle flames represented their hopes, but those same flames could be snuffed out by a strong enough gust of wind, as Dark Latios had insinuated. But even so…it was the only hope they had, at that moment.

"Fascinating…" an voice that was unfamiliar but at the same time one that Latias could have sworn she had heard every day of her life whispered. "To put so much energy and emotion into so small a vessel, to make a wish so improbable out of hope to see those who have been lost, and ease the guilt of those that remain…but perhaps it is not so astounding, but yet another expression of the ties that bind all souls together. All is One, and One is All."

Latias started, for she had most certainly not detected this new being that had appeared beside her. Where had it come from? How had she not sensed it? And why did it feel so strange, now that she _did_ notice its presence?

She turned to look at the creature standing beside her, a strange dreamlike quality infusing the air and causing everything to seem slower and sharper than it had before, as if looking at it through different eyes. Latias was certain that she was the only person who could see this newcomer, just as she was the only one who could see her brother's shadow. She found herself wondering how the others would react if they _did_ see what she saw now.

It towered over her at a height of ten feet, smaller than Oliphan and yet it seemed even _bigger_ somehow than her nephew, bigger than anything she had ever seen before. Its body was shaped somewhat like a Stantler's, svelte and four-legged and covered in graceful shining white fur with a black underbelly. Instead of hooves, each of its slender yet powerful legs ended in glittering golden points, with vaguely wing-shaped tufts of fur growing out from the ankles. It had a fairly short and nondescript tail which flicked gently at the air, which seemed to vibrate every time it did so. Girdling its waist was a magnificent gold ring with great extensions which fanned out from the creature's body like a radiant halo with sharp, glittering points and emeralds set where segments of the halo intersected. Its neck was surprisingly long, its fur growing out in points down its sides, leading up to a graceful head turned away from her so she could only see its back. From what little she could see there were sharp curved white crests growing up the side of its head like ears, and a long mass of hair or stiffened mane grew straight out from the back of the creature's skull, wavy and white with a black underside like the rest of the creature's fur and ending in a point. The mane or whatever it was rippled as if from a breeze, as did the rest of the creature's fur…even though Latias was very certain there was no wind.

Latias was confused and a little frightened by this creature's aura. At first she thought it didn't have any, and then it seemed to, but it was much, _much_ too strong, stronger even than Deoxys or the Mother…what _was_ this?!

And why did it seem familiar. "Ex-excuse me," she said, startled by her timidity, still shaken by the waves of power that seemed to cascade off the creature with every breath it took…assuming it was breathing. "Who…who are you?"

The creature did not respond at first. For what felt like a long, long time it watched as the myriad letter-boats sailed slowly down the river, the candle flames still burning brightly as the moon inexorably moved across the ever-changing heavens outside Birth Island's shield. And then, just when Latias was about to ask again, thinking that either the stranger hadn't heard her or was just being rude and ignoring her, it said, "I am One."

Latias' heart almost stopped as those words rang loudly through her mind like a giant bell, all of reality quaking for a moment and threatening to come apart. None of Latias' friends noticed, which wasn't really a surprise. She stared at the white creature in shock, her jaw dropping without her notice. "How…what…_what are you doing here?!"_ she shrieked in disbelief. "I mean, you're…you're supposed to be broken up into everyone's souls, not, not here, not _now,_ not before we've revived you, I mean…what? What's going on?!"

Another long silence passed. And then, the creature said, "I am everyone. I am everything. I am everywhere. I am every_when_. Is this not truth?"

"Yeah…I suppose…" she said, still confused. It dawned on her then. "Oh…so…you traveled back in time from the future, when you _are _revived by fusing together all souls, to a point when you were still separated into many?"

After another moment of watching, the One said, "If that is how you wish to see it, then yes."

"Ah. Well…um…"

"Yes?"

"…Okay, I know how you're here, but…um…why? I mean, not that I'm not honored to meet you or anything, but…why did you come here?" Latias asked. "To this precise moment in time?"

"To see the boats."

"Oh." Latias blinked. "Why?"

"Because I remember sending them. I remember feeling anguish…doubt…guilt…sorrow…hope…joy…love. I remember receiving them. I remember the emotions those letters stirred…or failed to invoke. I remember this event from the memories of all involved, _my_ memories. But…there is no reason not to see it again, is there?"

Latias blinked again. "What do you mean?"

Although the One still did not look at her, Latias still got the strange feeling that it was smiling. "Think of existence as being…like a book. The story it describes tells the lives of…everyone. All souls. How their lives and experiences intertwine and affect each other throughout the story's myriad branching chapters and plot twists. All those souls and lives are me, for I am the book. But…now that I am unified once more, conscious instead of scattered, I am also the book's reader. I know every aspect, every nuance, every turn within my pages. But…as any bibliophile could tell you, there is a particular joy in rereading their favorite tales. Each time they do, they see new connections, new lessons, and understand what they did not before."

"So…you're rereading your own biography," Latias pieced together. "To get a better perspective of everything that's happened to you? I mean, your myriad pieces?"

"Existence," the One said, "Really is quite a captivating read."

Latias' eyes widened. "But…if you're rereading the book, then…that means you must already know the ending!"

"Ending?" The One's ear twitched, and Latias thought that the island ceased to exist for a split second. "There are no endings. Or beginnings. I am eternal, am I not? Therefore, if my existence were a story, it would be one that goes on forever."

Latias thought about that for a moment. "…Oh. Right. Um…let me rephrase that. If you're rereading the book, then that means you must know what the result of _our_ struggle is. A struggle that's going to result in your rebirth. Right? And since you're here, that means it must have happened one way or another. And you _know_ which way it went!"

"That is correct."

"Then-"

"But," the One interrupted. "I shall not tell you which way it went."

Latias blinked. "But why not?"

"Do you like it," it asked, "When someone spoils the ending of an incredible book or movie to you?"

Latias considered. "Well…no, but, while this may be like just a story to you, something that's already over and done with, to all of us it's still happening! So why shouldn't we find out how our efforts play out?"

"Because," the One said. "If existence is a book, then it is also one with many, many volumes to come...assuming they are not already written, which they might be, but not from your perspective. The first great volume of existence is coming to a close. And while that close will have the same essential result, it will occur because of what happens in two different and opposing plot threads. I suppose you could call it a book that has two possible alternate endings, each of which are as viable and real as the other. In one, you and your friends triumph over Deoxys and the Beast, conquer evil, and manage to use the Mother to fuse all back into a benevolent One who will begin a new universe, a new volume in the series of existence. In the other ending, you will fail and Deoxys will absorb all souls, becoming an indifferent One who will probably spend an eternity of self-contemplation. However, there is still a chance that some other entity…you, Latias…will begin the new universe, and so the next volume of existence will still occur, but it will not be written by me. I will still be the book, for I _am_ existence, but due to my indifference I (or should I say, my composite souls) will have less interest or control over how the story goes. Due to the marvel of quantum physics, because from your perspective the end and my rebirth has not come yet, the One you see before you embodies both possible endings, since for you neither has happened yet. But once you and your companions ultimately decide which of the two possible endings will in fact be the true one with your actions, my nature will become set, as will the nature of the next volume of existence."

"…That's confusing," Latias said after a moment.

"It's a bit more complex than that, actually, but I tried to frame it in a way you might be better able to understand," the One said apologetically. "It's rather similar to a phenomenon known as Schrodinger's Cat, actually. You already know what that is."

"Yeah," she said, though she wasn't positive if she had already known about it or the One had just given her that knowledge now. "So…everything that's happened so far and will happen up to the point of your rebirth is like a book with multiple possible endings and shifting plot threads," Latias said, trying to figure it out with the help of knowledge she had already gained. "And since you're rereading the book, but still _are_ the book, that means all of the endings apply to you at once…but once _we_ choose our ending and you're reborn, your nature will be set and those other possibilities will cease to apply because they'll have collapsed back into the one that's been chosen…because the next volume of existence will begin, and it can only start with one beginning, not two or more possible ones right from the start, right?"

"Something like that," the One agreed. "Although there's also the chance that, since all possibilities can theoretically occur, there will actually be _multiple_ versions of the next volume of existence, each one varying based on how this one ended."

Latias groaned. "Great, as if things weren't complicated enough already." She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. "It doesn't matter," she said after a moment. "Even if there are multiple volumes, for _us_ it'll only seem like there's one. Just one. A fresh start. That's all that really matters. Which means our decisions still mean something, as do all our efforts and struggles."

The One nodded. "That's right."

"So if that's the case, we'll make our own ending. Not," she admitted. "That it's really an ending per se, but a transition. Right?"

The One nodded again. "In books and life, there are no endings or beginnings. One thing leads or transforms into another. That is the way things are."

"And with any luck, always will be," she whispered.

"Yes."

They said nothing in companionable silence for a time, watching with everyone else as the boats and their candles floated further downstream, speeding up as they approached the falls. Latias detected hints of anxiety and concern from those who had never seen this ceremony before, for it looked as if the letters were going to go over the falls and be lost, while those who were more familiar with this event showed no concern at all, in fact, there was a bit of anticipation in the air.

That anticipation was realized when the ten Apostles suddenly appeared out of nowhere over the river, standing on thin air. Many of the villagers gasped at the sudden intrusion, and those who had never seen the ten before stared in awe at their dazzling resplendence. The native Pokemon inclined their heads in acknowledgement of the great beings, but did not bow, for the Apostles would never ask them to.

"Do you remember this part, too?" Latias asked the One.

"Of course."

"What are they thinking right now? The Apostles?" she asked.

"They are calm. Confident. Happy to assist. Compassionate towards those who miss their loved ones, and sad that they might not be able to give everyone what they want." There was a pause. "That's what _most_ of them are thinking, anyway. Bobobo's mind is a churning mass of chaos, randomness, and insanity, which is unsurprising."

"I'd be surprised if it were any different…" Latias frowned. "Which makes me wonder why his mind _isn't_ different then, since he would know we would be expecting madness. Or perhaps he didn't because we'd expect him to be different from what we expected, and so his mind would be crazy since we would have expected our expectations to be different than what actually occurred, or…oh, this is confusing."

She could feel the One smirking. "That is chaos."

The air seemed to hum with power as the Apostles prepared to perform their duties in this ceremony. Mizuna shifted on her tail and shoved her hands forward…and as a result, the current of the river increased, speeding up the boats and sending them right over the falls! Even Latias gasped in horror at this, but as the One's calmness showed, there was no reason to be afraid. With a gesture and flashing of lights along Nabu's body, the shape of the letters changed, transforming and re-folding into aerodynamic paper (okay, memory sheet) airplanes! None of the candles fell out of the sheets during this process thanks to Bobobo, since everyone would have expected them to fall. Enki altered gravity around the candles to make them lighter so they wouldn't weight the airplanes down. Inanna used her power over fire to keep the flames on the candles from blowing out, and then used her power over air to create a powerful gust of wind which carried the airplanes up from their dive towards the bottom of the waterfall and high into the skies, soaring and twirling and looping about in spectacular formations. The rueful looks the other Apostles threw the phoenix was proof positive that she was _so_ showing off. The crowd didn't seem to mind, though…the tricks the airplanes were doing were rather impressive, especially since the candles never fell out or were extinguished, even when the airplanes twirled about or flew upside-down.

But the moonlight was growing, and the Apostles seemed to think time was of the essence, and so with another gust of wind from Inanna the planes came together in a great armada, its size growing as other airplanes launched from other rivers all over the island joined it, and flew straight out towards the ocean and the edge of the bubble which enclosed the island. Before they could get there, Anubis and Sibyl both placed their hands on Kalaran's neck, causing the great dragon to glow as he fed them power. Anubis pointed his scythe and Sibyl pointed her free hand out towards the fleet of letter-airplanes, the necromancer throbbing with darkness and the oracle shining with light.

Energy came together in the air some distance away, in the flight path of the airplanes, swirling together into a vortex before forming a very familiar-looking door. With a creak of hinges that could be heard on the other side of the island, the plain-looking wooden door opened, blinding all with what was on the other side.

Against the backdrop of that glorious radiance were several shadows, the forms of the airplanes flying towards the gate, the flames from the candles still burning distinctly against that radiance with their own form of light. Flying in formation, the air fleet of letters flew into the door, which closed shut behind them and vanished, taking the light with it.

It was several moments before anyone recovered satisfactorily from the heart-aching loss of that light to notice that the Apostles had vanished as well. "Tch. Figures," Wes grunted, trying and failing to sound like his usual self in response to what he had just seen. "They had to leave, otherwise we would have pestered them about whether or not we'll actually get to _see_ the people we wrote letters to next week. How typical, avoiding responsibility like the all-powerful lazy asses they are. That's not how a leader should act."

"Oh, speaking of which, we got a complaint earlier about how the blueprints you drew up for that new addition to our house you wanted were totally inaccurate and when they tried to build it, it felt apart completely and almost destroyed our house and some of the neighboring ones," Rui spoke up. "And those neighbors want you to personally do something about the damage caused by that collapsing addition."

"Uh…" Wes' eyes darted about. "It's…Brock's fault! Yes, of course, he's the only Public Nuisance around!"

"But Wes, didn't you repeal that order?" one of the Pichu sisters asked.

"Uhhh…" His eyes shifted. "Yes, that's true and _look_ _over there_!"

"Where?" They looked.

"Yoink!" Wes ran away. All sweatdropped.

"That's…what you saw inside the island?" Misty asked, clutching Ash's shoulder a little too tight, still somewhat weak in the knees.

"Yeah…" Ash said with a smile. "It was good to see it again."

"It was really pretty…" Togekiss said, fluttering next to her brother and his girlfriend.

Manmoo nodded. "I have seen it many times before, and each time wish it would stay a little longer."

"I don't suppose seeing that thing makes you kids any less inclined to want to kill things?" Pikachu asked his children.

They stared at him blankly. "Why would it?"

He sighed, not really surprised. "Why do I even bother?"

"What did you think of that?" Latias asked the One.

"What did you think of it, seeing it again? And this time, being able to appreciate it for what it is?" the white creature replied, still not looking at her, its gaze instead turned to where the door in the air had been moments before.

"It was…words can't describe it, really," she said after a moment.

The white being nodded. "And that is how I felt as well, when I saw it as you…and Misty, and Wes, and Rui, and everyone else here. All of your friends. All of your neighbors and fellow living things. And I was what lay beyond the door too, and I saw all of you from that side as well."

"Is that confusing at all?" Latias asked. "Having to remember and view the same exact event from so many perspectives?"

The One was smiling again. "Not really. I find it enlightening, actually. Seeing the same thing from so many eyes, each of which has a different take on it, allows me to have the widest possible context, especially since I was the thing everyone was watching as well."

"Because you _are_ everything and everyone," Latias understood.

"Yes."

"So…now that you've reviewed this part of existence, will you leave now?"

He smiled. "How can I leave when I'm always here?"

She rolled her eyes and smirked. "You know what I mean."

He chuckled, and reality trembled around her again. "Yes, in that sense I will be leaving soon. But not this moment. The show's not over yet."

Latias looked at him in confusion. "Huh? What do you-"

"Whoa! Look at the sky!" Crawdaunt suddenly yelled, amidst the squeals of his various paramours.

"Huh?" The villagers and 'wild' Pokemon, who had been preparing to head home now that the ceremony was over, looked up as well. They gasped.

"The space outside the island…it's…" Delia whispered in shock.

"Stopped changing!" Oliphan pointed out.

"Wow," said an impressed Wes, looking out from his hiding place in the branches of a tree. "That's pretty impressive."

And it was. The ever-shifting array of realities that they had grown accustomed to seeing as their sky were gone, replaced with only a single, stable universe. It was very different from the one they had been used to, here space was not vast and dark but made up of colors which shifted in elaborate and magnificent patterns, serving as a backdrop for galaxies, the biggest of which were twice the size of Birth Island, made up of luminous crystal stars in every shape and color. What looked like comets with faces, some sort of spirit creatures, streaked across the sky, shooting over the crystal galaxies and causing the stars to light up and refract their ethereal glow. The comet creatures passed by the island, circling it several times with interest to see this new addition to their universe, before vanishing again off into the distance.

"This is…beautiful…" Misty whispered to Ash, who nodded dumbly.

Sadic shook her head in amazement. "Damn fucking incredible. Where are you gonna take me next, rodent?"

"Wish I knew," said an incredulous Pikachu. "If I did, I could plan in advance."

"It's okay, dad," one of his children said. "We like being surprised."

"Wow…incredible!" squealed Rui. "WEEEES! Where are you?! Go out there and get one of those jewels for me! As the mayor's wife, I have to have the best accessories in town!"

"Get it yourself!" Wes yelled from his tree. "I'm not going out there, woman! There's no air, and the change in pressure will probably cause me to explode spontaneously, like that psychic guy I knew from Team Snagem! You don't want me to explode spontaneously, do you?"

Rui huffed. "Well, I _suppose_ not…" Wes sighed in relief. "We'll just have to commission the village craftsmen to build a spaceship! With all the high-tech stuff lying around, that shouldn't be any problem, right?" Wes facefaulted, and since he was in a tree ended up falling out and hitting his head on the ground hard, squashing his crown. "Ow…"

"Am I to be a space hero now?" wondered the self-styled Zoro Jr., adjusting his cape and mask. "I do not think Senor Zoro ever came out this far on his adventures…"

"The music of the spheres…" whispered Jigglypuff, sitting in the lap of her new trainer, Hikari. "How beautiful it is…I'll just have to work harder to one-up them, then. Damn stars."

"It's just…amazing…" said Hinata, the very last Pokemon Ranger (That's PokeMON, not Poke, there's a big difference), the Plusle on her shoulder nodding in agreement.

"I've never seen anything like this…" Manmoo said, leaning against Oliphan. "And you see a lot of things, growing up on Birth Island!"

"The places we go just become more and more amazing, don't they Dad?" Togekiss asked her father, who nodded in agreement.

"And I think it's going to get more amazing…look over there!" Tyranitar pointed.

They looked. Up ahead, growing closer as Birth Island approached it, was a genuine, enormous fiery sun, rather than a small one made of jewels. Its incredible luminescence was blocked out by the shields surrounding the island so they could stare at it without going blind. Half of it was covered by a strange metallic substance which a true sci-fi buff (of which only a very, very small number of the villagers were) would recognize as a Dyson sphere, an enormous mechanism designed to utilize every photon of energy a star could give out. Numerous spirit comets and smaller forms that just might have been spaceships or some other variety of extraterrestrial life-form flew around the sphere, bathing in its energy.

And orbiting around that sun was a single planet, seeming to grow larger as it swung towards them and the island sailed closer towards it. The world was at least five times as large as Earth, covered in a vast amethyst ocean with enormous continents and archipelagos wrapped around the planet in interlocking belts. Tremendous groups of clouds swirled across the atmosphere, some turning into enormous storms and others just gentle and innocuous formations drifting through the skies. From the way the clouds moved, some might think that they were actually alive. Perhaps they were. Various tiny gem-moons and other strange satellites orbited around the planet at high speeds, so many of them that they formed artificial rings like one would expect to find on a gas giant. From the many lights shining up at them from the surface of the planet, it was clear that this world was inhabited…but by what, or whom, was yet to be seen.

"Whoa…" said an awestruck AJ.

"This is soooo cool! Like a science fiction novel!" Carrie squealed, who had of course been one of the few to recognize the Dyson sphere for what it was.

"Incredible…just…wow…" one of the Eevee brothers said, the Kimono sisters standing close to them and feeling the same way.

"Awesome," agreed the purple-haired Sakura, sitting on the riverbank with the various Eeveelutions of her sisters and the brothers arranged around her, looking up at the planet.

"Magnificent…simply magnificent…" Wallace murmured, rapidly drawing everything he saw in a handy sketchpad.

"That place looks…positively magical!" Lily said.

"Oh, Jimmy," Marina, a blue-haired trainer and coordinator (before the world ended) whispered, leaning against the boy in question who had a rather strange protrusion of hair sticking out through the front of his backwards-turned hat. "Hold me…"

"Uh, sure," he said, doing just that. The two trainers' Pokemon eyed each other warily, then decided to just grunt and look away. Except for Marina's Jigglypuff and Misdreavus, who found this moment incredibly romantic and were taking advantage of it.

"This is…a whole new world…" whispered Ash in awe. "Is this…"

"The world we were promised as a safe haven?" Rukario finished, standing up, Crysta by his side. "I believe so."

"Then…we're here," Delia said. "We made it. Our journey's over…right?"

Brendan squealed and hugged Wally, who moaned in a tone that might or might not have been joyous. "We're here, Wally! We're here at last! Oh happy day!"

Old Mr. Briney burst into tears and hugged his dear Peeko. "Oh Peeko, we've made it! Our wayward ship's finally come to port!"

Rukario shook his head. "Not quite. One journey ends…another begins. We may have made it here, but we have yet to defeat Deoxys. Our true battle is yet to come."

"Well…still," Pikachu said, getting up. "Until then…it should be a good place for us to rest, wait…and prepare ourselves, right?"

"Right," the vulpine agreed. "That's why the Mother planned to bring us here in the first place."

"And since we will be landing soon," Crysta spoke up. "That means the others will awaken too. The villagers slumbering deep within the island shall return to their bodies and come to the surface once more…and your friends who are down there, basking in the Mother's radiance, will return as well, with new and stronger bodies than ever before."

Ash's eyes widened. "Whoa…with that many people on our side, we'd have, like…an _army_ or something."

"An army…" Brock wondered. "Could that have been what the Apostles and the Mother were planning along? To bolster our numbers and increase the amount of Chosen and fighters we have on our side than we did the last time, and give us a better chance of winning this time around?"

"Could be," agreed Pikachu.

"But I don't think all of the people here are ready to fight…" Togekiss pointed out.

"Then we'll make them ready," Wes said as he came over, brushing dirt off his coat and fixing his cardboard crown. "We'll go down to that planet and train harder than we've ever trained before, all of us! It's been great living in this idyllic island paradise, but if we're going to do what we're meant to do, we have to be ready! We're going to make the best motherfucking army there's ever been! No more slacking off! You got it!" He crossed his arms. "The mayor has spoken!"

"So…this is what you meant?" Latias asked the One quietly, even though she doubted anyone could hear her speaking to it.  
The entity nodded, now looking at the approaching planet. "The people on that planet are friends of the Mother…and of you. All of you. You have met them in past lives, and will meet them again here." He stirred slightly. "Latias, listen carefully to what I am about to tell you. On that world you will find what you need to fulfill Rayquaza's prophecy and defeat Dark Latios forever. If you can control the power you will discover, the power that has already been given to you, not even Deoxys can triumph. Do you understand?"

"…I think so," she said, nodding slowly. "Is that all?"

"Almost." It was then, at last, that the One turned to look at Latias. Reality seemed to tremble again.

Later on, Latias would have absolutely no memory of what the face of God looked like, which was probably as it should be. All she could think of was that its eyes had looked like the eyes of everyone she had ever met…the friends she had encountered on her journey, the friends with her now on the island, the friends she had lost to Deoxys, even Rayquaza's eyes, and her own. She would later reflect that its voice had been exactly the same. It was the Voice of All.

And, once the One had said its final words and vanished, it took her a full five minutes of staring dumbly at the approaching planet and being shaken by her friends or bitten by Sadic and Pikachu's offspring before her mind was able to process what the omnipotent being had told her. On the way back to the village, she replayed it over and over to make sure she had gotten it all.

"_When the first volume of existence concludes, you _will _be present for the next one, as you are now,"_ it had said. "_That much is certain. But whether you are author, reader, or merely another character is yet to be seen. In the end, that fate is for you and you alone to decide. Regardless, you shall be there for the beginning of the next universe, and will probably be there for its end._

"_Why, you wonder? The reason is simple: a universe cannot exist without someone to perceive it, to keep the many possibilities from all occurring at once instead of being kept apart. That is why all the universes in which life dies out or was never properly developed stop functioning. And that…that will be your true purpose, no matter which way this volume ends. The eternal witness, who was present at the beginning and at the end, who will ultimately decide what form the new world will take based on the experiences of the old._

"_One journey ends and another begins. That is the way of things. And that is why the path you walk now will be so very long…but not alone. You are never alone. For I am always with you. For I _am _you, just as I am He you are bound to._

"_We will go together, he and you and I, into whatever the future holds."_

These words kept her awake for a long, long while once they had gotten home, as she turned them over in her head to try and glean their full meaning.

And after a while, she smiled, looking out her bedroom window at the Lunatone moon, and the new world they were approaching. Voices of the past, of all the lessons she had learned on this island and elsewhere echoed through her mind softly, as if just to get her attention but not to bother her. She searched her mind for the words she was looking for; to express how she felt right then, how to cram all the knowledge she had gained into a single sentence.

She succeeded.

"Life," she said finally, "Is wonderful."

And it was. Even when reality collapsed, even when the One became reborn once more, life would never end. It never could. And that was why it was wonderful, why existence was so glorious that it just had to continue in some form, no matter what.

As the One has said, in books and in life, there are no endings and no beginnings. The conclusion of one phase leads to the start of another. The ending had not yet been written, nor would it be, and she was glad for that.

There was much to do. She had to defeat Dark Latios, take part in whatever plan she was part of that would hopefully end Deoxys' threat forever and restore the One, and then bear witness to the universe to come.

The One had been right. She had a long journey ahead of her, one so long it made everything that had happened so far (in this lifetime, anyway) seem like a mere footnote in the story that was existence.

She couldn't wait to get started.

…

_**The End**_

…

And that's all there is. There wasn't anymore.

Thank you for sticking with me the last two years, everyone. Please leave a review on your way out.


	67. The REAL ending

Hey everyone. Ri2 here. Bet you didn't expect to see another chapter of this story, did you? At least, you wouldn't if you haven't been keeping up to date on my current story, Brave New World, and knew what my plans were for this thing.

I know that many of you are fine with how this story ended, even if it was rather abrupt and a bit of a cliffhanger. I also know some of you were disappointed when I started the sequel with only a brief recap to explain what had happened in between the two tales. (And another bunch are probably disappointed that what _did_ happen happened the way it did.) After some thought, I decided I wasn't happy leaving this story's ending hanging the way I did either. So, after finishing up the latest arc on Brave New World, I decided to make one last return trip to Latias' Journey and give it the ending it deserves.

My writing style has changed a lot in the last few years, as has my outlook on life. Looking back, I can see that I could probably have handled a lot of things in this story better, especially the final arc. I should have come up with a real grand finale, rather than just letting things peter out to a dead end. And I shouldn't have had so much pseudo-philosophical semi-religious (or anti-religious) vaguely symbolic gibberish mucking everything up in the last few chapters. I mean, this is Pokemon we're talking about, not Xenosaga or Neon Genesis Evangelion! We don't need that kind of stuff, do we?

That's part of the reason this true ending will go the way it will. That and because I'm displeased with some other things I did when I wrote the original ending back in the day. Whether or not you'll be satisfied with this rather sweeping change, I can't say, but I for one will be happier.

If you want to read further, even knowing that what you are about to see will pretty much invalidate the last big chunk of Latias' Journey and make it so that none of it really happened, then continue. If not, you can just skip to the sequel and skim past the first bit of the prologue. The events that happen here aren't really that important other than bringing in a sense of closure.

But I digress. You came here for stories, not apologies. This has been a long time coming, so sit back and enjoy…the true ending of Latias' Journey.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters that don't belong to me.

…

All was quiet in the shattered ruins of Ever Grande City. The dark clouds overhead roiled ominously but otherwise did nothing of interest. The wind mournfully whistled through toppled skyscrapers and empty streets, passing over the still forms of countless dead monstrosities. Waves lapped gently against the myriad beaches and shores formed when the artificial island the city had been constructed on split into chunks due to the intense fighting that had raged through its streets, the final decisive battle of ultimate good and ultimate evil. (Well, the armies of ultimate good and ultimate evil, anyway, the embodiments of those two alignments had done most of their fighting in orbit.) Given the emptiness of the place and how the world still seemed as if it were about to end, one could easily be mistaken into thinking that evil had prevailed. And yet…

The world still remained. Had evil prevailed, surely all of existence would have been erased by now, wouldn't it? But if good had won, then the world would have been changed back to normal, no, better than normal, rebuilt into a paradise! And yet neither outcome had taken place. Why was this? What had caused this eerie stalemate between the forces of creation and destruction?

Indeed, it seemed as if the whole world had gone as quiet as Ever Grande, as the attacking monsters froze in their tracks and the few remaining warriors of good defending against them either took advantage of this pause to attack or retreated to mend their wounds and figure out what was going on. Not a single living thing stirred in the city…

Until, with a gasp and a great splash, a small Squirtle wearing an impossibly cool pair of sunglasses burst out of the ocean and dragged himself onto one of the chunks of land, using some twisted metal rods from a nearby broken bridge dangling near the surface of the water to pull himself up. He threw himself on the ground, gasping for breath and trying to recover his strength as water dripped off his shell and formed a big puddle beneath him. After several moments, he sighed, grunted, and started to get up…

When with a hiss and a keening roar, a horrific sea monster, some grotesque fusion of Sharpedo and Octillery with too many heads and eyes and mouths, rose from the water behind him. Without even turning around, the exasperated Squirtle grabbed a rock off the ground and hurled it over his shoulder. "Oh, give it a rest already!" The rock smashed into one of the monster's eyes, causing it to burst. Squealing in pain, and blood gushing from the many other wounds it had taken in fierce battle with the sunglasses-wearing Squirtle only moments before, the beast decided enough was enough and that some prey just wasn't worth it. With a whimper, it sank back into the water, vanishing into the depths. The Squirtle scoffed and brushed himself off. "Pssh. Pussy." That annoyance taken care of, he took stock in his surroundings. He did not like what he saw.

"Huh. It's quiet. _Too_ quiet, cliché as that might sound," he muttered to himself as he slowly began to pick his way through the ruins, avoiding jagged pieces of rubble, pieces of glowing crystal, and the corpses of some of the more monstrous abominations lest they rise from the dead—again—and attack him. "Where is everybody? I heard this place was supposed to be the epicenter of all the crap that's been going on all over the world. I left the rest of the Squirtle Squad to take care of the city and swam all the way across the ocean from Johto to Hoenn under my own power, fighting sea monsters all the way and proving that I am without a doubt an utter badass, just to help my old pals Ash and Pikachu and Charizard and the others! I'd better not have made the whole damn trip for nothing, or else somebody's gonna be in for a world of hurt!" He frowned. "Assuming I can _find_ anyone in this place…anyone alive, that is. Oh well, at least none of the corpses look like anyone I know…then again, considering how everything's up and started mutating all of a sudden, would I even recognize them if I saw them?" He sighed. "Guess I'll just have to keep looking. I can't be the _only_ Pokemon left here, can I?"

He spent the next several minutes walking through the streets and swimming from bit of island to bit of island, calling for his friends and trying to find any signs of life. No matter where he went, everything was dead and still. Except when his shouts caused a moldering building to collapse and nearly crush him, that is. His sense of unease and his certainty that something was not right grew stronger and stronger…

Until finally, he found what he was looking for. In retrospect, he was surprised it had taken this long to find them, they were rather big and obvious and hard to miss. "Whoa…" he whispered in amazement as he cautiously approached the bizarre tableau laid out before him.

It was like a masterpiece painting brought to life. A monster so horrific it could be nothing less than the very incarnation of pure evil made flesh sat up to its waist in the ocean, defeated and helpless. Floating before it was its opposite, a majestic being of pure beauty and grace with a body of living metal that could only be the embodiment of all that was good and pure in the world, arm wound back with a magnificent gray sword to deal the final blow. Standing on the shore next to a cool-looking truck watching all this were a myriad assortment of humans and Pokemon wearing strange garments, many of which looked like they had been transformed or empowered somehow. The Squirtle was startled to realize that he recognized a good number of the humans and Pokemon, that they were the friends he'd swam across the ocean to find, but many of them had changed somehow. He wasn't entirely positive whether all the changes were for the better, though.

What was really weird was how none of them were moving. Everyone was standing as still as statues, frozen in a single moment of time with looks of hope and relief etched onto their faces, the belief that their nightmare was about to end…not realizing that it only seemed to have been prolonged indefinitely. Were it not for the fact that they were still breathing, the Squirtle would have thought they were dead. "This is freaky…" he murmured as he cautiously squeezed through the standing forms, careful not to bump into anyone or knock them over. He waved his hand in front of the eyes of anyone short enough for him to reach, but they didn't respond, not even when he shouted in their ears or sprayed them with water. They just kept standing there. "What's going on here?" What had happened to his friends?

He got his answer when a small glowing crystal appeared from behind the giant evil monster, tendrils of energy crackling across its surface and briefly dancing across the forms of the monster and the divine being as it passed them by, the crystal's glow increasing as it absorbed some of their power. "Yes…just a little more…" a faint voice whispered from within the gem. "It won't be much longer now…then everything will be _mine_, and their dream will become my reality…"

The Squirtle, hiding behind the bulky form of an immobile Tyranitar, narrowed his eyes as the crystal hovered overhead. He got the feeling that whatever was going on was somehow being caused by that thing. Obviously, that meant he had to destroy it. Considering that it didn't seem to have noticed he was there yet, that meant he still had the element of surprise. He quickly climbed up the Tyranitar, using its back spikes to help him reach the top of the immobile giant reptile's head. He crouched down and watched as the crystal slowly flew away, knowing he needed to do this at just the right time before the thing drifted too far away. With a grunt, he jumped into the air, pulling his body into his shell and whirling towards the crystal with a Rapid Spin.

"And my reality will be such a lovely reality, too," the crystal muttered to itself, oblivious to the shell spinning towards it. "Everyone will have hit points instead of…whatever it is they have now, and they'll have to roll dice to do anything interesting, and I can have any woman I want, and…hey, what's that sound? Yipe!" He quickly swerved to the side only seconds before he could be hit by the Squirtle. "What the hell was that?!"

_Damn!_ The Squirtle thought in frustration as he spun past the crystal and started falling towards the water below. _I missed! How embarrassing…good thing nobody's awake to have seen that, it could have totally ruined my street cred!_ To try to salvage his failed assassination attempt, the Squirtle popped out of his shell and spat Bubbles at the crystal.

The gem's surface flashed, and energy bolts lanced out, striking the Bubbles and popping them in midair before they could reach them. "Ha! You attack the greatest villain of all time by blowing bubbles?! Pathetic! And…who the heck are you, anyway? How are you not in a trance like the others?!"

The Squirtle couldn't answer the crystal right away, because it was at that moment he splashed down. He resurfaced a moment later several yards away and spat a Water Gun at the crystal. The crystal dodged the water stream and fired an energy bolt in retaliation. The Squirtle quickly dove back into the water, the blast sailing over his head. The crystal growled in irritation and fired several dozen bolts into the water, trying to shoot the Squirtle. The blue turtle bobbed and weaved as he swam rapidly here and there, zigzagging as the bolts pierced the water and shot down past him, leaving trails of bubbles in their wake. He surged downwards then up again, leaping out of the sea with a great spray of water and spitting more Bubbles at the crystal at the arc of his jump.

The crystal shimmered, and suddenly four smaller jewels appeared in front of it, shooting rapid-fire energy blasts that popped the Bubbles and also struck the startled Squirtle in the belly, cracking his shell slightly and flinging him into the side of the giant evil monster-thing. The Squirtle gasped in pain, not just at the impact but because just _touching_ the monstrosity sent every nerve ending flaring. Cackling gleefully, the crystal fired another energy bolt, but the sunglass-wearing turtle quickly spat off a Water Gun to counter it. The streams of power and water collided in midair. Much to the crystal's surprise, his energy beam didn't immediately splinter the water spray and strike the turtle. "Huh? Wait a minute, that's not possible! You're just _spitting_ at me, how's that capable of standing up against my attack?!"

Were his mouth not puckered into an 'O' to better squirt at the crystal, the Squirtle would have grinned and said a kickass one-liner about how he was able to do it because he was just that cool, but since he was busy attacking, he was unable to express his feelings, so just kept up the spray. After several seconds, the water pressure won out against the energy blast, and started pressing forward towards the crystal, despite the latter's protestations that this went against the laws of physics. Were he not busy causing this violation of the laws of physics, the Squirtle would have explained that he was able to do it because he was just that cool, but…eh, you get the drift. The water and deflected energy crashed into the crystal, causing it to spin away, sparks and bolts crackling around it in dismay and confusion. The Squirtle chose that moment to kick off the side of the giant monster thing, flipping over in midair to shoot a Water Gun back at it, the water pressure propelling him through the air towards the crystal like a water-powered rocket. When he'd built up enough momentum, he cut off the water feed, flipped back over, and slammed into the floating gem with his full twenty pounds, wrapping his arms and legs around the object and holding tight as they tumbled through the air. As the crystal sputtered and cried out in alarm, the Squirtle pulled back a fist and started punching the thing's surface repeatedly. He thought he could see the image of some grotesque twisted version of Mew's face in the crystal's depths, and the sight of the blasphemy only strengthened his resolve to smash the thing to pieces.

The Squirtle kept raining punches and an occasional headbutt against the crystal until cracks started forming. Alarmed, the thing that most definitely wasn't a Mew shook wildly about in an attempt to dislodge its passenger. When that failed to work, it finally just gathered its power and blew the Squirtle off with a point-blank energy blast, sending them both flying away from each other. The Squirtle crashed down on the shoreline below, his smoking shell absorbing the brunt of the landing and allowing him to recover and flip back onto his feet in moments. "Psh, is that the best you can do? I've gotten worse shocks from Pikachu in the past than that!"

"Pikachu? You know that stupid would-be swordsmouse with the Manyula girlfriend?!" the crystal hissed, floating back but maintaining a safe distance.

The Squirtle blinked. "Uh, yeah…didn't know he was using a sword now or had a girlfriend, though. Geez, people really need to tell me these things, I didn't even know my friends were here until I saw them on TV during one of the televised matches in the Hoenn League championships."

"So, you're _their_ friend, are you?" the crystal murmured to himself. "But then why were you not Chosen to fight here, like the others? And why are you unaffected by my spell?"

The Squirtle frowned. "Chosen? Spell? I have no idea what you're talking about, weirdo, but if you had something to do with why my pals here are all standing around like statues, then you and I have a few things to discuss!"

The crystal burst into laughter. "You have no idea what's going on? You just happened to come here by chance and the hope that you would run into your friends?! Bwahahaha! How priceless! It seems that destiny forgot about you, little Squirtle, when it chose its champions, in favor of your friends."

"You still aren't making any sense," the Squirtle said angrily. "Tell me what the heck is going on here before I put another crack in that ugly facet of yours! (And yes, I meant facet not face, since you're a crystal and have multiple sides. And some people say I'm not clever with words!)"

The crystal sneered. "Very well. Since you're hopelessly late to the party—or rather, were never invited, so happened to crash it after all the festivities were over--I might as well clue you in on what you've been left out of! The ultimate battle between the forces of good and evil was waged here mere hours ago, the champions of justice (including your friends, chosen by destiny—or the Unown, not like there's any difference—to fight for the cause of freedom) led by the disgustingly benevolent being known as the Mother battling against the malevolent forces of destruction controlled by the unfathomably evil Deoxys! I, the inestimably brilliant Mewgle, was one of Deoxys's generals, and was unfortunate enough to be the first one to be dispatched by the Mother when she entered the fight…or so it appeared to all, anyway! I was born from a computer program, and thanks to Deoxys's power I have expanded _far_ beyond my original capacities. By backing myself up on this crystal you see before you prior to my defeat at the Mother's hands, I ensured that I would be reborn should anything disastrous happen to me! The Mother joining the fray and the shifting of odds in the favor of the heroes distracted Deoxys and the Mother herself enough for my resurrection to go unnoticed by all…which was just how I wanted it, since it gave me a chance to make my _own_ bid for conquest! Deoxys had originally recruited me because of my devious mind, creative imagination, and hatred for all organic life forms, and put me in charge of generating VR fields within which microuniverses fitting his specifications could be implemented for use against the valiant Chosen. The Mother's arrival and destruction of Deoxys's castle disrupted the battle routines I had set in place for the Chosen to fight in against the other generals, but freed up enough of my processing power to take control of his fortress's remaining systems and begin creating a new simulation that I could trap them all in, one almost indistinguishable from reality, one so good that not even those who had the power to control reality would realize it wasn't real! After all, reality is subjective, isn't it? I bided my time and put the finishing touches on my simulation as the generals and Chosen fell one by one in battle, until finally Deoxys himself was defeated and it seemed the day was won for the heroes. Since everyone was weakened and exhausted at that point from the long struggle, I knew that that moment was my opportunity to strike, so at the instant before the Mother could finish off her immortal foe, I activated my simulation, throwing them all into an imaginary world of my own making from which there is no escape! They are all so deeply immersed in it they have no idea that not a bit of it is real, hence why they are as you see them now, frozen in place and lost in daydreams. And while they're out of commission, I'm free to absorb the power of the Mother and Deoxys, the very essence of creation and destruction, good and evil, order and chaos, the limitless energy which underlies everything! Once I've drained enough of their power, I will become the omnipotent God either of them intended to become by vanquishing the other, able to rewrite the laws of reality and bend space and time to my whim, turning all that exists into the ultimate RPG of which I shall be the eternal GM, a game which will never end and of which only I shall ever be the true winner! Gahahahahahahahaha…hey, where'd he go?" Mewgle said, suddenly realizing the Squirtle had vanished.

"Hey, sorry I ran off like that, I had something important to take care of. I miss anything?" the Squirtle asked as he pulled himself out of the water nearby.

"Yes!" Mewgle screamed furiously. "I was in the middle of monologueing and explaining my diabolically evil plan! It's bad form to walk out on a villain when he's doing that! Do you know how much work we put into our schemes? We want appreciation for all our efforts now and then too!"

The Squirtle shrugged. "Yeah, but after you told me everything I needed to know I decided that, rather than listen to your whole rant, I should go out and do something to derail your whole plan while you were distracted _telling_ me all about it. So, I took a quick swim around the city to destroy all the crystals I saw lying about that looked kinda like the one you're in now because I figured you might be using them either to create more backups for yourself or as servers to power this lotus eater machine you've trapped my friends in. The fact that they're still deep in a trance implies that your crystal is the last thing maintaining the illusion, so if I break it, I should theoretically be able to free everybody as well as kill you, hopefully permanently."

Mewgle gawked. At least, the Squirtle thought he did, it was kind of hard to see the thing's face through the crystal. "Wh-what?! But…but…but that's not possible!"

"Yeah, that's what most two-bit bad guys say," the Squirtle quipped.

"No, you don't understand, it's _literally_ not possible!" Mewgle protested. "You're-you're just a regular Pokemon!"

The Squirtle frowned. "Regular? These shades say otherwise, dude."

"They are rather nice," Mewgle agreed. "But that's not what I mean! You're not _Chosen!_ Your name was in no prophecy! The Unown and the Mother didn't pick you to fight in their army against the forces of evil! Your DNA doesn't possess the fluke that grants you immunity to Dexoys's virus! You shouldn't even be able to _scratch_ any artifact of his power, including myself, without the kind of protection that only comes from fate! Or good luck in genetics. Assuming there's a difference."

The Squirtle smirked. "Destiny? DNA? Dude, you don't seem to understand something. None of that makes any difference! A real mon makes his own path in life, and that's the way I've always done things! Whether it's been forming the Squirtle Squad, joining Ash's team, or reforming the Squad, I've never let anyone make my choices for me. That's just the way I roll!"

"…That doesn't even make any sense!" Mewgle said in confusion.

"Does too," the Squirtle said.

"No it doesn't!" Mewgle protested.

"It really does. It means, simply put, that the reason I can do all that stuff…is because I'm just that badass!" the Squirtle said.

"Badass?! _You?!_" Mewgle asked incredulously. "You're a _Squirtle!_"

"A Squirtle with a rad pair of shades who swam all the way across the ocean to get here," the Squirtle corrected Mewgle.

Mewgle blinked. "You swam across…wait, really?"

"Yep," the Squirtle said.

"Wow," Mewgle admitted. "That _is_ pretty badass."

"Yeah, I know, right?" the Squirtle said.

"But are you badass enough to keep from being drawn into my illusion?" Mewgle cackled, his crystal beginning to glow. "You said you came to see your friends…so why not join them in my dream world? I'm sure I can find some explanation as to how you got to where they are after being absent for so long…or perhaps I'll just convince them that you're their enemy and let you fight each other to the death! That'll certainly make things a lot easier for me!"

"Put me in a dream world? Yeah, right, like that's gonna happen!" the Squirtle snorted.

"Oh, but it is! Right…NOW!" The crystal emitted a blinding flash of light. When the glare died down, the Squirtle was standing as still as a statue. "Ha! You see? Nobody can resist my power!"

"Hmm? You do something? Because if that light show was it, I'm not particularly impressed," the Squirtle suddenly said in a bored tone, crossing his arms.

"But-but that's not possible!" Mewgle protested in alarm. "Not even the Mother or Deoxys could resist, and they're GOD!"

"Don't you mean gods?" the Squirtle asked.

"No, God, singular, since they're both essentially halves of…wait, what am I saying? This is _still _impossible! _NOBODY_ can avoid my power! NOBODY!" Mewgle screamed.

"Then I guess my middle name must be Nobody, 'cause I did it pretty easily," the Squirtle quipped. "I'm surprised my friends fell prey to a cheap trick like that. Really, some pretty lights? That's it? I was expecting more from a 'great evil' like yourself."

"You…I _am_ a great evil!" Mewgle snapped. "I've defeated the Chosen! I've put the embodiments of good and evil under my spell! The multiverse itself is within my grasp!"

"Yeah, and yet you failed to stop a puny little Squirtle like myself," the Squirtle pointed out. "That says everything, doesn't it? At least I'm not a Magikarp, or you'd _really_ be hosed! Nobody would take you seriously again! Not that anyone does already, though."

"Ngh…gah…RRGGH! You little piece of…" Mewgle snarled. "'Failed' to stop you? You're getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you?"

"You can't knock me out like the others, I've destroyed all your backups and spare servers, and already shown I can deal some pretty sweet damage," the Squirtle pointed out. "If I were you, dude, I'd consider surrendering and letting everyone go before I lose patience and send you to the trash bin for good."

"The only one getting trashed here is YOU!" Mewgle cried. "Creating virtual realities aren't all I can do…get a load of THIS!"

The Squirtle glanced around. Absolutely nothing happened. "Uh, a load of what?"

"What? You don't see the giant three-headed dragon?" said the startled Mewgle.

"I see some dragons over there," the Squirtle said, pointing at Latias and Rayquaza. "But they don't have three heads."

"Wait a minute…that can't be right…what about THIS?" Mewgle cried.

Again, nothing happened. "What about what?" the Squirtle asked.

Mewgle started. "You don't see the horrible tentacled monsters? The fanged maws? The swirling psychedelic battlefield?"

"No," the Squirtle said.

"So you're immune to regular illusions too?! No…more like you can see right through them…but how could…" Mewgle gasped. "Of course! It's those sunglasses you're wearing! They must be what's been protecting you from my power! Somehow they shield your eyes from my simulations and keep you from being trapped in my RPGs!"

"Huh, is that so? I always knew there was something special about these shades," said the amused Squirtle. "Which is why I stole them in the first place!"

"A kleptomaniac hero, huh? Still, even if your sunglasses protect you from my power to warp reality, that doesn't mean that's the only trick up my sleeve!" Mewgle boasted, his crystal crackling with energy. "I've absorbed more than enough power by now to be able to take you on in a fair fight! Let's see how you handle-"

"Oh, shut up already, I'm getting sick of your voice," the Squirtle complained, shooting a Water Gun at Mewgle.

The crystal dashed out of the way. "Hey, what are you doing?! I'm trying to do a transformation sequence here!"

The Squirtle snorted. "Right, and I'm just supposed to let you change into a bigger and nastier second form I'm gonna have to kill myself to take down? Why bother when I can just defeat you right now?"

"It's more climactic that way!" Mewgle protested.

"Climax THIS!" the Squirtle shouted, pulling into his shell and launching himself at Mewgle with a Rapid Spin.

"Ack!" Mewgle formed several smaller crystals to serve as decoys and quickly flew out of the way. The Squirtle smashed into and shattered the crystals. He popped out of his shell as he fell back towards the ground and spat Bubbles at Mewgle. Mewgle summoned several crystalline daggers from ether and flung them at the Squirtle, popping the bubbles and scarring his shell. The Squirtle grunted as he took the hits, but used the impact from the crystals to flip over and land on his tail, which he used as a cushion and a springboard to launch himself off the ground towards Mewgle, pulling back into his shell again for another Rapid Spin. Mewgle tried to dodge out of the way, but he was a second too slow this time, and the Squirtle managed to deal a glancing blow and smash off a large chunk of his side. "GAAAAHHH!"

The Squirtle landed and popped out of his shell again. "That's 2-0 in my favor, Mewgle. You aren't putting up nearly as much of a fight as you said you were. Where's that 'power' you were talking about, huh? Maybe you should just give up and save yourself the pain of getting totally whupped by yours truly."

Mewgle panted, realizing with a thrill of terror that he had a very good chance of losing. His mind raced as he tried to think of a solution to this, some way to win…and then he had an idea. "I'll kill them," he said abruptly.

The Squirtle frowned. "What?"

"I'll kill them. Your friends. You came to save them, right?" Mewgle asked. "So I'll kill them! I don't need them anymore anyway!"

The Squirtle growled. "You just try it, buster! I'll sacrifice my own body to protect them from you if I have to!"

Mewgle laughed. "Your formidable shell defense will be useless against _this_ attack! Since they're all in my simulation, I can control their very lives at will! I can kill them with just a thought! Unless you surrender to me this instant, I'll destroy them all!"

The Squirtle gasped. "No! You can't!" He paused, a thought occurring to him. "No…no, you _can't_, can you?"

Mewgle blinked. "Huh?"

The Squirtle smirked. "Ha! Nice try, but you'll need to do better than that to pull one over on this turtle!"

"Wh-what are you talking about? I'll kill them!" Mewgle insisted. "I've already deceived several of them into thinking they're already dead in the simulation, so why shouldn't I kill them in real life too?"

The Squirtle snorted. "Get real! You said yourself you don't need them anymore, if you could have killed them like that you would have done it a while ago! Since all of them are still on their feet and breathing, that must mean you can't for some reason…and I think I know why! You said they're all in one simulation, which means everyone is sharing the same fantasy rather than everyone being stuck in separate illusions. That includes the Mother and Deoxys too! If you killed my friends for real, that means they would vanish from the simulation…and those two would think something was wrong if they all up and disappeared like that, even if you somehow managed to quickly cook up doubles to take their place, something I doubt is in your power anymore thanks to my destroying those other crystals you were running your program on! And if they noticed something as weird as that, then they might become suspicious of the world they're in, realize it's all a fake, wake themselves up, and cream you for trying to take advantage of them!"

Mewgle recoiled in alarm. _Gah! How'd he figure that out?! He's right, if I killed them for real rather than just tricking them into thinking they were dead, the Mother and Deoxys would realize it's all a lie and kill me, since I don't have enough processor power anymore to create convincing phonies to keep them thinking that everything was fine! Not to mention it would be weird for them to die all at once given where they currently are in my simulation…_ He growled. _Which means…if I'm going to have any chance of surviving and fulfilling my ambitions, I need to kill THAT GUY instead!_ "I may not be able to hurt your friends without jeopardizing my plans," Mewgle howled as he gathered all his power, causing his crystal to flare like a star. "But I can still kill YOU!" There was a high-pitched whine and he suddenly fired a HUGE laser beam at the Squirtle.

"Whoo boy," the turtle said. He tucked inside his shell and launched himself forward with Rapid Spin, knowing it was his only chance for survival. The super laser smashed into him, bolts of energy splintering off his spinning shell as he used all his strength to try and repel the blast. But Mewgle kept on pouring on the power, laughing madly all the while, and the beam started pushing the spinning Squirtle back, the sheer force he was exerting beginning to crack and scorch the turtle's shell in the process. If the latecomer hero didn't do something soon, his shell would break apart in mere moments and he'd be vaporized. _Nngh…okay, maybe I shouldn't have made so much fun of this guy…he's…got more punch than I thought…_ He clenched his teeth inside his shell. _But…I can't let him kill me. Not only would it be utterly humiliating…but I'd be letting all my friends down! Even if they did somehow catch this 'destiny' adventure train and totally forget to let me on board, I can't fail them! I'm their only chance…I'm the only one who can save them!_

Were he a Fire Pokemon, his determination would have caused him to burst into flames, but since he was a Water Pokemon that wasn't an option. No, wait, his shell did seem to be burning, but it was probably from the heat of Mewgle's laser rather than the strength of his heart. His sunglasses glinted in the dark interior of his shell. _Come on…pull yourself together! You're the leader of the Squirtle Squad and wearer of the raddest shades on the planet! Everyone is counting on you…or they would if they knew I was here and they needed to be saved! You…can…DO THIS!_ "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He began spinning faster than ever, jets of high-pressurized water bursting out of the holes in his shell as he surged forward with Hydro Pump. The water jets whirled through the air, bashing the energy beam back and allowing the spinning burning turtle to gain ground in his duel with the evil crystal.

Mewgle gaped. "Wh-what?! No! No, he can't be doing this! How can he possibly be pumping out water while simultaneously being on fire _without the two extremes cancelling each other out?!"_

"Dude, everyone knows that the perceived badassery of any action is increased tenfold if it's performed while on fire!" the Squirtle retorted as he slowly but surely spun through the beam towards Mewgle. "Which means it's got a higher chance of success, too, no matter how improbable it might seem!"

"Of course! Stupid law of incendiary exponent…" Mewgle swore angrily. He frantically tried to increase his energy output, not only to make his beam stronger but in hopes that it would set himself on fire and therefore make it more likely for him to win too.

While a valiant effort, it was too little, too late, and the Squirtle rocketed forward like a fiery watery rocket that didn't care that it was an oxymoron or defying the laws of physics, plowing through the super laser and slamming into Mewgle's crystal with all his might. There was a tremendous explosion, and both combatants were blasted away from each other. The Squirtle landed in the water. Mewgle, on the other hand, landed on a rock. It was rather painful. "Nooooooooooooooo!...ow."

The Squirtle, his body steaming, pulled himself out of the ocean and adjusted his shades as he waded back onto dry land. "Woo!" he said. "That…was _awesome_! Too bad nobody was around to see me do it…"

"Uhhhhh…" Mewgle groaned.

"You don't count," the Squirtle said. He walked over. "So, let's see if you're still willing to fight…or if it's time for me to end this."

Mewgle's crystal was badly damaged. Cracks spiderwebbed all over its surface, and the cracks spread with every passing second, the whole structure coming apart at the seams. Sparks and weak arcs of energy crackled through the air around it. "No…nooooo…how could I have let this happen?!" the evil program wailed. "I should have seen all of this coming! I know everything about every RPG in existence, how could I not have anticipated any of this?!"

"Because, no matter how far you've evolved, you're still restricted by your programming," the Squirtle guessed, folding his arms over his chest. "And you, Mewgle, were clearly programmed to be a villain. Your average villain is rarely genre-savvy."

Mewgle groaned. "Dammit, you're right…I should have seen _that_ coming too!"

"Except you wouldn't have," the Squirtle pointed out.

"Yeah, I know…" Mewgle grumbled. "Dammit…this was supposed to be my big thing! I was supposed to win! I was going to be GM of the entire freaking multiverse!"

"Oh, quit whining. Even if you'd done that, all the 'players' would have kept complaining about your attempts to railroad them into doing whatever you wanted and you'd never be able to keep everything under control," the Squirtle said. "It would be 'rocks fall, everyone dies' forever!"

"We'll never know now, will we, because you freaking killed me before I could find out for myself!" Mewgle snapped angrily.

"Yep," the Squirtle said. "I had fun doing it, too."

The cracks in the crystal widened. Shafts of light streamed from the gaps, and piece by piece the entire crystal began to disintegrate. "Before I die, I must know…what is your name? Who are you, brave Squirtle, that has managed to best me?"

"You want my name, huh?" The Squirtle smirked. "Like most Pokemon, I didn't used to bother with one…but then the Squad and I started getting into this really cool cartoon about a team of awesome Squirtles just like us (only mutated, and ninjas, which is wicked cool), so we decided to name ourselves after them. My friends are named Brad, Tom, Matt, June (there's five of us but only four Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles, unless you count the girl in the abysmal live-action show, which we don't, so the token female in our group named herself after the Squirtles' main human ally) and yours truly, Leonardo, since I'm the leader and coolest of the bunch!"

"Leonardo…I will remember that name…as well as those wicked shades…" Mewgle whispered. He started laughing. "Don't think this victory means anything! You have made yourself a dangerous enemy this day, Leo, and while you might have defeated me now, things might not be so simple in the future. I will return to battle you as vengeance for my death, and I will keep returning again and again until I kill you and bring my dreams of becoming the ultimate GM to fruition. Do not think you have seen the last of-"

"Oh, shut up," the annoyed Leo said, stomping hard on the crystal. "Just die already!"

And Mewgle did. His crystal shattered completely with a scream of anguish and turned into dust, which then crumbled into smaller particles, which were scattered to the winds when Leo sneezed and sent them flying away. "Good riddance," the Squirtle said. He turned to look at the others. "And now that that weirdo's dead, they should snap out of their trance right about…"

The large assemblage of Pokemon, humans, and others blinked in unison, collectively shuddered, and stared at each other in confusion. There was a long, stunned silence. Finally, as realization of what had just happened slowly dawned on them all, someone—several someones, actually—said, "What the fuck?!"

"I'm not dead?!" cried the startled Charla, Charizard, Zaptres, Zoro, Zoro's Pokemon, Gonzap, Gonzap's Pokemon, Loreon, Enzo, Politoed, the Pokerockers, Umbreon, Scyther, and Rayquaza.

"You're not dead!" Ash and his Pokemon cried as they glomped Charizard and Charla.

"You're not dead!" Misty and her Pokemon said, glomping Politoed.

"We're not dead!" Zoro and his team cried joyously as they hugged each other.

"We're not dead!" the Pokerockers sang as they hugged each other. And Brock. Not Jigglypuff the younger, though, much to her consternation.

"You're not dead!" Wes cried…glomping Gonzap.

"Ack! Get off!" Gonzap cried.

Rui sweatdropped. "I did not expect that…"

"Isn't he happy that I'm alive too?" Loreon complained.

"Or me?" Enzo asked.

"I'm alive…but I have nobody to hug…" Umbreon said sadly, since her love was dead. Well, deader than dead, since she had been a Ghost and all.

"I'm alive! And…still so old that I'll probably die for real in a few months, if not a year…" Scyther groused. "Whoopee…"

"I'm not alive?" Latias asked dully, seeing she was a zombie again.

"But I am," Rayquaza said. "Don't worry Latias, we'll find a way to restore you, even if I have to give up my own life! Again."

"Okay," Latias said. Then she gouged out her own eyes and licked at the tears of blood that ensured.

"It really creeps me out when you do that," Rayquaza said with a shudder.

"Sorry," she said flatly.

"I'm not evolved?" said a disappointed Togetic.

"I'm not the father of a litter of psychotic Pichu and Sneasel kids!" Pikachu said with what sounded a little too much like relief. Sadic coughed and glared at him. He flushed. "Er, not that I'm _happy_ about that or anything."

"You'd better not be…" the Manyula muttered.

"Why am I a Golem again?" Brock complained.

"Where's my girlfriend?" Oliphan wondered.

"Where's _my_ girlfriend?" Rukario wondered.

"Where're my many, _many_ girlfriends?!" Crawdaunt cried.

"Or mine? I had quite the harem in the Aerodactyl nests," Aerodactyl complained.

"Where's my new band?" Jigglypuff the younger asked, somewhat confused and slightly conflicted at seeing the Pokerockers somehow alive and well again.

"I'm not the Mayor of an island paradise!" Wes wailed.

"You'll become one someday," Rui assured him.

"Not if I do it first," Gonzap growled.

"Isn't anyone happy to see us?!" Loreon and Enzo wailed.

"And I'm…um…no, I'm still me," Ash observed.

"Looks that way," Misty said.

"And I haven't transformed into an all-powerful monster that's devouring all of space and time," Deoxys complained.

"You're also dead," the Mother commented, running her blade through his crystal core, making sure not to stab the concealed Mewtwo corpse Deoxys had hoped she'd hit instead. (Guess one good thing came from them being put in Mewgle's false world, huh?)

"Bollocks," said he, exploding in a spectacular and surprisingly colorful shower of lights.

The Mother produced the final Giga Seal Ball and used it to suck up all of Deoxys's essence before it could escape. It seemed to take an awfully long time, and when the ball finally clicked shut it looked distinctly fatter than it had been while empty. The Mother pressed the ball into her chest, sighing deeply as her metal flesh rippled and absorbed it into her body. She closed her eyes for a moment, her magnificent form glowing brightly. The ominous clouds covering the skies finally parted, allowing the stars to shine down on the war-torn planet. (But not the Moon, since that had been blown up in the fight with Deoxys. They'd need to get a new one somehow.) Around the world, Deoxys' monsters stiffened and collapsed, the virus animating them dying and taking them with it. The weary warriors who had been fighting them stared in astonishment, then slowly started cheering raggedly, realizing that they had somehow managed to survive and had come out of all this as the winners. The nightmare was at an end. "It is done. The eternal war and the endless cycle have come to an end. We have won," the Mother said.

"We did?" Gyarados asked.

"Didn't the world get blown up and most of us killed and we went to live on a magical island drifting through time and space to…somewhere while we came up with a plan to somehow defeat an all-powerful reality-consuming monster?" Wobbuffet asked.

"I definitely remember the dying part, but not that other stuff," said Charizard.

"Maybe we're all dead and this is the afterlife?" Cacturne suggested.

"Then what was Birth Island?!" asked a very confused Rukario.

"An illusion our minds generated to make ourselves think we were okay when we were really all dying?" Crawdaunt suggested. "That would explain all the sex."

"If that was an illusion, then what're we in now?!" an exasperated Togetic asked. "_Another _hallucination?"

"Could be," Crawdaunt said.

"We could be trapped in an infinite number of fake realities, and each time we peel one away or wake up from the last one we only find ourselves in a different one," Ash said.

"That's surprisingly insightful, Ash. Where'd you get that idea from?" Misty asked.

"Onions," Ash said.

"Oh, you mean that analogy from Shrak and the Nurnia series?" Rui asked.

Ash stared at her blankly. "The what now? I was just hungry and a thought occurred to me that I wouldn't mind a good onion right about now." Everyone facefaulted.

"You're partially right," Leo said as he walked over. "It _was_ all a hallucination! But you're back in the real world, thanks to me!"

"Who is that strange Squirtle with the impossibly cool sunglasses?" Zoro wondered.

"My shades are better than that," Wes said enviously.

"No they're not," Rui, Gonzap, Enzo and Loreon said. Wes sulked.

"Hey, it's Squirtle!" Ash realized.

"Long time no see!" Pikachu said as his old friend and teammate joined them.

"Is it just me, or does he look cooler than ever?" Charizard wondered. "Not as badass as me, though. Still…maybe I should invest in some sunglasses." Charla rolled her eyes.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Crawdaunt asked, his masculinity feeling challenged for reasons he didn't understand.

"That's Brother Squirtle," Togetic told him. "He's Ash's first Water-type Pokemon, and by far the coolest."

"Wh-what?! Then what am I?!" Crawdaunt demanded.

"You're pretty cool, but not as cool as he is," Corsola said.

Misty nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Squirtle's hard to beat in that category." Crawdaunt turned red…der and started muttering to himself angrily about how he was _too_ cool and how he didn't need any stupid sunglasses to look badass.

"How did you get here?" Misty asked him.

Leo scowled at them all. "Well, considering that nobody bothered to invite me to this big battle to decide the fate of the world—or the Ever Grande tournament—I had to figure out you guys were over here and needed my help all by myself, so I left my city in the hands of the Squirtle Squad and swam over here to kick ass and help out!"

They stared at him. "…You _swam_ across the ocean?!" Gyarados asked in astonishment.

"Yep," said Leo.

"All the way from Johto?!" asked the incredulous Pikachu.

"Yep," Leo said. "And it wasn't easy, either, what with all the sea monsters!"

"…I flew here all the way from Johto, and it took me _days_," said an astonished Charla. "How could a Squirtle get here in just a few hours?!"

"Heh, you don't know my pal Squirtle!" Charizard said with a chuckle.

"I like to go by the name Leo these days, actually," Leo corrected him.

"Leo…it suits you," Ash complimented him.

Crawdaunt fumed. "I could swim across the ocean in a few hours too…if I wanted."

"And it's a good thing I came, too…because all of you would be toast if it weren't for me!" Leo said firmly.

"What do you mean?" Pikachu asked.

Leo told them how he had come across all of them in a trance, and discovered Mewgle, who had managed to survive the Mother destroying him and had entrapped them all in an illusory version of Birth Island while he sapped the Mother and Deoxys's power. He then explained how he had totally whupped Mewgle's ass, only embellishing a little bit. "So I got sick of that guy ranting about vengeance and whatever and just stamped on him to shut him up, destroying his crystal and waking all of you guys up in the process," Leo finished telling his tale. "He said he'd be back, but I doubt it'll be anytime soon."

"Whoa…so…Birth Island and all the stuff that happened on it was a lie?" Ash asked.

"Which would explain why I'm alive and Latias is…well, dead again," Rayquaza said sadly. Latias stared at him blankly.

"Amazing…to think that I, too, was deceived in such a manner…clearly I underestimated Mewgle…" the Mother mused to herself.

"…Wait, then…then you're telling us that the last six months of our lives never happened and that most of the deaths and horrible stuff that happened just before that was all a dream, more or less?" Wes asked.

"Pretty much, yeah," said Leo.

Wes swore. "That is such TS! It's like the crap they pull in comic books when they write themselves into a corner and all the readers are furious and fed-up with all the stupid plot twists and deaths and character derailments that have been happening over the last few story arcs, they say it never actually happened or that somebody else was responsible doing mind control or someone pushes a huge reset button to make it so that everything's back to normal and the whole thing is never brought up again!"

"…So, you're _not_ happy that your Pokemon or myself are alive?" Gonzap asked, hurt.

Wes flushed. "That-that's not what I mean! I'm saying…I'm saying it all seems so _cheap!_ We were building up for a huge epic final battle, only to get yanked out of it and have the whole thing resolved anticlimactically in just a few seconds! I mean, what the hell was the point of any of the stuff we've been doing, then?"

"There wasn't any point," Rui reminded him. "Because it was all fake."

"Exactly! That's why I'm so angry!" Wes shouted. "That, and I lost the title of Mayor…I liked being a political leader…"

"When you put it that way, I guess it is kind of cheap," Ash admitted.

"But it also means the world wasn't blown up, a lot of our friends are alive again, and we all have a better chance at a future," Misty pointed out. "So I think things worked out better this way than they would have if everything that happened on Birth Island had been really real."

"Other than Latias being dead again," said Rayquaza.

"Or us not having girlfriends," Oliphan, Rukario, Brock, Aerodactyl and Crawdaunt miserably complained.

"You have a girlfriend!" Corsola said to the lobster.

"Yeah, but not the big harem I had on Birth Island," Crawdaunt said wistfully. Corsola rolled her eyes.

"Brock, you never had any to begin with," Ash said.

"I know," Brock wailed, bursting into tears. "Would it have killed Mewgle to give me a soulmate?! Even a fake one?! I don't want to be a bachelor forever!" They sweatdropped.

"Or me needing to give birth to my kids a _second_ time," Sadic complained. "That won't be pleasant."

Pikachu grimaced. "Yeah, the first time was traumatic enough…especially for me."

"You weren't the one giving birth," Sadic pointed out.

"Yeah, but you almost ripped my arm off, so I'd say I suffered a bit too," Pikachu said.

Sadic rolled his eyes. "You're such a pussy…"

"I guess so…" Wes said reluctantly.

"So, how much if any of that fake Birth Island was real?" Togetic asked the Mother.

"It was mostly accurate," the Mother said. "Mewgle must have constructed it from the memories of Rayquaza, Rukario, and myself so we would be more easily deceived. However, quite a few of the details were completely false, especially most of the pseudo-psychology and anti-religious babble. He was just trying to make it seem deep and symbolic by cramming all that in there, a common tendency in RPGs."

"So what parts were real and what parts were fake?" Oliphan asked.

"Birth Island is indeed a tropical paradise where numerous ancient Pokemon extinct elsewhere can be found," the Mother explained.

"Oh, good," Aerodactyl said in relief, looking forward to seeing more of his kind. And having sex with them.

"Is it full of giant insects?" Misty asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid so," the Mother said.

"Figures," Misty growled.

"It also is, in fact, the home of human/Pokemon hybrids, descendants of humans and Pokemon who interbred millennia ago," the Mother continued. "They live in villages much like the one you saw in Mewgle's illusion. The majority of them have not, however, gone to sleep in underground chambers to make room for refugees from around the world; Mewgle probably just didn't include them because having that many fake people running about—including all the refugees he must have implanted—would have overtaxed his simulation and caused it to glitch, like any game played on a system that isn't quite advanced enough to run it. We would have noticed those bugs and realized the world was a lie, which is why he kept the hybrids safely out of the way."

"That explains why a lot of the other people on the island sometimes seemed a little…off," Rui realized.

"And why they often said the same thing multiple times," Wes agreed. "Because they were NPCs!"

"Was the whole part about Birth Island leaving Earth with a bunch of refugees and the souls of every living thing also something Mewgle made up, or was that your actual plan?" Rukario asked; glancing at the spell Registeel had given him and wondering what it really was capable of doing.

"It was indeed my backup plan, in case things went wrong," the Mother admitted. "Fortunately, things worked out, and in fact thanks to Mewgle's simulation, I knew Deoxys's plan to use Mewtwo against me, so when I regained consciousness I was able to defuse it and kill him permanently."

"Speaking of Mewtwo…that means he was an NPC too, wasn't he?" Rayquaza realized.

"And not a total jerk! Mewgle probably just made him act like that because he was still angry about Mewtwo helping us escape his digital dungeon the first time we ran into him, and wanted to get some kind of payback," Ash deduced.

"Tch. That guy's so petty," Leo said.

"What about the other things we saw and heard on Birth Island? Was that false as well?" Rayquaza wondered.

"Much of what you, Ash, and Latias learned in the catacombs of Birth Island was true," the Mother told Ash and the others. "Deoxys and I are indeed embodiments of the core consciousnesses of two enormous soul-beasts existing outside of time who have warred with each other and been forcibly reincarnated repeatedly every time the multiverse ended and was reborn, getting steadily worse each time as the endless conflict went on and on. Fortunately, now that I have defeated and absorbed Deoxys into myself, the soul-beast which represents all that is good has triumphed over the evil one once and for all. Nearly all evil save for that which we ourselves cause by our everyday actions and flaws has been eliminated from the multiverse, and when next the universes die, all souls shall flow together and converge to recreate the Original One, who will then build a new and much better reality that shall last forever."

"I see…" said Rayquaza. "What of the history we were told regarding Latias and my past relationships? Was that true?"

The Mother nodded. "Mostly, though a few details were embellished to make it seem more dramatic. And kinky."

"Ew," said Ash.

"I see…I suppose that's good to hear," Rayquaza said.

"Yes," Latias said, thought it was doubtful she actually cared. Considering she was incapable of it, that is.

"Are the Apostles real too? You said the hybrids were, so…" Ash asked.

The Mother shook her head. "If I had servants as powerful as them, don't you think I would have used them in the battle?"

"Good point," Ash said.

"A shame they weren't real, we could have used guys as strong as them," Pikachu said.

"But wait," said a puzzled younger Jigglypuff. "Didn't Registeel mention that Rayquaza needed to find someone named Anubis on Birth Island to save Latias? And wasn't Anubis the name of one of the Apostles?"

"Oh, he was talking about someone completely different," Rayquaza said.

"Yes, Anubis is one of the Mother's priests on Birth Island," Rukario explained. "He happens to be of the same species as me, and has some skill in necromancy, so would be able to cure Latias of her current affliction."

"I thought you were the only one of your kind," Milotic commented.

Rukario stared at her blankly. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Uhhh…" Milotic trailed off.

"The real Anubis's services would have helped save Latias had we indeed wound up on Birth Island fleeing Deoxys," the Mother said. "But since Deoxys has been defeated, I will soon have the power to cure not only her, but also revive everyone who has died this day in battle, both good and evil."

Everyone was overjoyed to hear this. "Really? That's great!" Tyranitar cried. "Then I can see my mother again!"

"And everyone else we've lost!" Misty said excitedly.

"But wait, why the evil people too?" Gonzap asked.

The Mother shrugged. "One of those balance of the cosmos things. Besides, most of them weren't completely serving Deoxys of their free wills and were turned into evil puppets by his virus. When I resurrect them, they will be as they were before his corruptive influence consumed them, if not better."

"When will that be?" Zaptres asked, looking forward to seeing Articuno and, amazingly, even Lugia again.

"Soon," the Mother said. "In the meantime, we can fill in more plot holes—I mean, correct inconsistencies that might have cropped up from the difference between our reality and Mewgle's false one."

"Are the natives of Birth Island really cannibalistic? Even if they are friendly, I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable going there if they do stuff like that," Milotic said.

"I would," Sadic said.

"We don't care," Pikachu said. She grunted.

"No, the natives are not cannibalistic. I don't know where Mewgle got that idea from," the Mother said.

"I need to know: is Crysta really on Birth Island? I know that she, at least, existed in the past, and was not just a fabrication," Rukario asked. "At least, I _think_ she was…"

The Mother nodded. "She is there, Rukario, waiting for you to awaken her."

"Then awaken her I shall…so we can be together again…" Rukario muttered.

"Hey, are there really a Joy and Jenny Prime on Birth Island, and are all the Joys and Jennies really part of some genetics project the people out there did?" Brock asked.

"No, Mewgle made all that up," said the Mother.

"Oh," Brock said in disappointment. "I guess cloning one who loves me is out of the question then, huh?" Everyone sweatdropped.

"Mother, are Pikachu and I really brothers, or did Mewgle make that up too?" Ash asked.

"I…am sorry to tell you that no, you are not brothers, at least not biologically," the Mother said apologetically. Ash and Pikachu's faces fell. "You are brothers in spirit, though, if that counts."

"I guess…" Ash said.

"So, what, does that mean Ash's father—and mine—aren't any of the hybrids from Birth Island?" Pikachu asked.

The Mother shook her head. "No, you were born to a perfectly ordinary Pikachu family until you were captured by Oak."

"Then who's _my_ father?!" Ash asked desperately. "I've been dying to know for years, but nobody's told me! Even Mom doesn't seem sure!"

"Oh, that's easy. Your father is Zoro," the Mother said, pointing to Zoro.

"I am?!" cried the startled Zoro.

"You are?!" Ash and Zoro's Pokemon yelled.

"He is?!" everyone else shouted.

"Wow, I did not see that twist coming," said Wobbuffet.

"This is just like a soap opera!" the elder Jigglypuff said eagerly.

"Only better, because it's real!" the younger Jigglypuff agreed.

"Unless this is yet _another_ simulation and we only _think_ we're in the real world, but…" Buzz started.

"Don't even _start_ that train of thought again," Swampert snapped. He nodded meekly.

"He's my father?!" Ash asked.

"He's my son?!" Zoro asked.

The Mother nodded. "Yes. You see, many years ago, Zoro in his civilian guise of Diego de la Vega and Delia Ketchum happened to both be attending a fundraising party to support Pokemon who had been orphaned when their trainers were killed on journeys. They did not come together and barely even exchanged two words with each other while there. However, somebody drugged the punch, causing a number of the guests to become intoxicated and do a number of things they normally wouldn't, with little to no memory after the fact aside from a splitting hangover. Delia wound up sleeping with a number of men while under the influence, one of whom happened to be Zoro…who, by accident, he managed to impregnate her. Nine months later, you were born, Ash."

"Dios mio…" whispered a shocked Zoro. "I had no idea…"

"Senor Zoro! I thought you had better control than that!" El Gato lecture sternly.

"It's not his fault, he was drugged!" Rosa argued. "He couldn't possibly have known!"

"Hmm…what kind of drug was it? I ask purely for the sake of curiosity," Brock asked innocently. Nobody bought it.

"Zoro…is my dad," whispered a stunned Ash. "All this time I thought he was some deadbeat who abandoned us…or a crime boss…or an alien…or a League Champion…or a legendary Pokemon…or my time-traveling future self…and now I find out he's actually a really cool hero who my mom slept with at a party neither of them remembered properly, so he had no idea I existed, let alone that he'd conceived me."

"Ash…I am so sorry," Zoro apologized. "I swear, I had no idea. If I had known that you existed and were my son, then I would have done everything in my power to care for you, even giving up my cause as a freedom-fighter if necessary!" His Pokemon gasped at him in surprise. Zoro frowned. "What? Family is more important than anything, isn't it?"

"I'm still trying to process this," Ash said, still looking stunned. "But…I guess I could have a worse parent. If you really mean what you just said…"

"I do!" Zoro assured him fervently.

"Then…then I think I can accept you as my father," Ash said finally. "I mean, it'd be nice if you married my mom and all, but that's probably asking a bit much right now, so let's…let's take this a step at a time, okay?"

Zoro smiled and nodded. "I can think of no greater pleasure…my son."

They hugged. Everyone went, "Awwww." Most of the girls cried, except Sadic. It was questionable if she even had tear ducts.

"Can I get a hug too, boy?" Gonzap asked Wes, tearing up.

"No," Wes said.

Gonzap pouted. "Why not? You glomped me earlier."

"Spur-of-the-moment thing. Won't happen again anytime soon," Wes said.

"Oh," Gonzap said, looking very disappointed.

"Wes!" Rui snapped.

"What?!" he said. She glared at him. He sighed. "Oh, fine…" He hugged Gonzap. Everyone went, "Awww," again.

"When do we get our hugs?!" Loreon and Enzo wailed.

"I'll hug you," Rui said, bending down to do just that.

_I guess this isn't so bad,_ Loreon said telepathically to Enzo.

_Yeah, her chest is much softer than Wes's thanks to those pillow things human females have growing out of them. Hers could be a bit bigger, though,_ Enzo agreed.

_I heard that!_ Rui shouted telepathically, causing them to yelp in alarm. They had forgotten she was psychic now, too.

"Since we're in the mood for heartwarming reunions, can I rejoin the band, please?" the younger Jigglypuff pleaded her mentor. "Since it turned out that it _wasn't_ my fault that the Mother didn't get all the power she needed, after all?"

"Well…yeah, okay. I guess it wouldn't be the same without you," the elder Puff said reluctantly. "And it's not like anyone really died or anything. You can come back."

The younger Jigglypuff glomped the older one. "!" she sang gratefully.

"Welcome back, kiddo," said Onix. "Welcome home." The Pokerockers had another touching group hug.

The Mother smiled, pleased by all the joy from the Chosen. "I believe that takes care of everything, doesn't it?"

"Not quite. I have a question. What exactly _was_ your plan to defeat Deoxys if he had won and forced us to flee, by the way?" Gyarados asked. "Back on Birth Island, you implied you had one. Or was that another of Mewgle's tricks?"

"I did indeed have a plan," the Mother said. "All the heroic souls who died in the battle against Deoxys's forces were absorbed by the evil Beast so it could torment them forever. What it didn't know was that they were actually 'sleepers.' When we became strong enough to face the evil Beast head-on, I was going to trigger those souls, causing them to reawaken and blast out of their prisons, freeing every soul around them as well so that they could battle the Beast from within and weaken it enough for us to prevail. However, since we have won here, that plan need not go into effect, and all the poor souls already trapped within the Beast have been released from their suffering."

"Which means you can resurrect them, right?" Cacturne asked hopefully, thinking of Wobbuffet's poor sister and Chimecho and everyone else who had died. Even Meowth!

The Mother nodded. "A great many of them, yes."

"That's great and all, but _I_ have a question, too!" Leo asked. "How come nobody told me about this shindig beforehand? If I had been Chosen right from the start, I bet I could have helped all of you out a lot sooner and brought this whole mess to a close with fewer deaths! So why was I left out?"

They considered this. "That's a good question, actually," Pikachu said. "We probably would have had an easier time of it if he had been here to help us before."

"Oh come on, he wouldn't have made _that_ big a difference," Crawdaunt scoffed.

"No, he would have, actually," Charizard said. "My mon here's pretty tough."

"Yeah, you bet I am!" Leo agreed. Crawdaunt fumed. "So, why _was_ I left out?"

_That was our doing._

Everyone looked up in surprise as a series of crystalline one-eyed figures shaped like letters spiraled down from the sky and formed a complex and ever-shifting formation over their heads. "Ah, I was wondering when you would get here," the Mother said.

"Hey, it's those crystal Unown things," Sadic observed.

"The who now?" Zoro asked.

"They're the ones who got us into this mess in the first place," Umbreon said. "What're they doing here?"

"And how did they get here? I thought they weren't capable of entering our world," Scyther said.

_We got tired of that,_ the Unown replied inside their heads.

There was a pause. "You got tired of it?" said Politoed.

_Yes,_ said the Unown. _So we stopped._

"So you just…stopped not being able to enter our world?" asked a confused Togetic.

_Yes,_ said the Unown. _It's more convenient that way._

"Ah," Aerodactyl said. Everyone exchanged dumbfounded looks.

"Hey, where's Molly?" Ash asked, changing the subject.

_She's been grounded,_ the Unown informed him. _You will never see her again. In this lifetime, anyway._

"Oh," Ash said. For some reason he did not understand, that thought made him relieved.

"What was that you were saying about being the reason I wasn't invited to the party?" Leo asked the Unown.

_Since we exist outside of time, we are capable of seeing all possible futures. We can see what has come before and what might come to pass. We knew that Deoxys would one day return and attempt to destroy all of reality so that only the evil Beast would exist. With the Mother's help, we pinpointed which nodes would make the most difference in the coming battle and tip the odds in the favor of the side of good. Those nodes were you all, the Chosen,_ the Unown explained. _However, we foresaw that even with all of you working together, there was still a rather large chance of Deoxys prevailing. To increase the likelihood of the best future becoming a certainty rather than just a chance, we decided to rig the odds in our favor by holding several Chosen in reserve so that Deoxys would not know of them until it was too late. That is why a great many of you were not summoned to the first gathering of the Chosen several weeks ago, and why in fact we called Deoxys in too…by showing him a select portion of the Chosen, we attempted to deceive him into believing that those few were the only ones he would have to worry about, so he would only gather enough forces and generals to counteract that group and focus more on destroying them before the great battle than on searching for others who might pose a threat to him. That way, when the time came, he would not be aware of the remaining Chosen until it was too late and they had already entered the fray, giving your side a significant boost in reinforcements and allowing you to overcome his minions._

They all murmured in surprise at this, seeing the wisdom in this decision. "That's very clever," Rukario said, impressed.

"Aside from the fact that it turned many of us and those close of us into targets…" Pikachu pointed out.

_It could not be helped. To get the best possible future, we had to arrange things just so, even though it required quite a few unfortunate sacrifices and deaths and deceptions to come about,_ the Unown explained.

"So…wait, you mean that you played us all like puppetmasters and allowed lots of things to happen that possibly didn't need to all because you believed it would somehow work out okay in the end?!" asked an incredulous Charizard.

_We have an omniscient morality license,_ the Unown said. _That means we can do pretty much anything we want, no matter how bad it might seem at the time, because we can predict that if it were done any other way things would not work out for the better. Had we not manipulated you the way we did, Deoxys would have won. And besides, now that you've won, we can change reality to fix all the damage caused by the battle and bring back just about everyone who had to die to achieve this victory, so it all works out for the best in the end, doesn't it?_

"…So…are you saying that the ends justify the means?" Rayquaza asked dubiously.

_That depends,_ the Unown said.

"On what?!" Rayquaza demanded.

_On the ends and the means,_ the Unown said cryptically. Rayquaza frowned, not liking this answer.

"Hey! Back to me?" Leo called. "So you held a bunch of these guys back so the big bad wouldn't know about them until it was too late. I can understand that, good tactics. But if I was one of them—which is what you seem to be implying—then how come I never found out about any of this until the very last second, and had to get here by myself rather than being mystically called to battle or whatever?"

_We knew you would be an excellent addition to the ranks of the Chosen long before you were born,_ the Unown said. _While you lacked the particular genetic code that would grant you immunity to Deoxys's virus, we foresaw that you would one day obtain the sunglasses you now wear, sunglasses which would grant you protection from the virus and allow you to pierce Mewgle's illusions. We knew ages ago that there was a good chance of Mewgle managing to survive his destruction and attempting to capture everyone in a virtual trap, and also knew that with your sunglasses you would be the only one who would not fall victim to his gambit and be able to defeat him and save the others._

"What the big deal about these sunglasses, anyway? They're not that cool…" Crawdaunt grumbled spitefully.

"Yes they are," Corsola said. Crawdaunt turned redder and started cursing loudly.

"That's a good question, actually. What is it about the sunglasses that protected him?" Pikachu asked.

_A few years ago, a drunken Unown wandering through the dimensions on its way home happened by chance to phase through a lens factory, its brief presence warping the molecular makeup of a pair of sunglasses about to be shipped out to a mall somewhere and endowing them with incredible reality-bending powers, including the ability to perceive the truth behind illusions and, conveniently enough, immunity to evil soul-stealing monster-creating viruses,_ the Unown explained.

"Wait, how do Unown get drunk? They don't have mouths!" Wes protested.

"They're Psychic," Loreon said.

Wes blinked. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"What do you think happens to a Psychic type when they read the mind of a drunk?" Loreon said. Everyone sweatdropped.

_Along the way to the mall, the shipment of sunglasses, including the altered ones, were waylaid by bandits,_ the Unown continued.

"The Squirtle Squad?" Charizard guessed.

"No, some other punks, actually. We beat them up and took the sunglasses for ourselves. I got the coolest ones, naturally, 'cause I'm the big boss," Leo said proudly.

_And because you did, you were able to see through Mewgle's deception and save your friends,_ the Unown said.

Leo smiled. "Yeah, I did…but why didn't you include me with the others to begin with?! I could have saved everyone the trouble of destroying Mewgle the minute he started his plan! Not to mention I wouldn't have had to swim all the way here!" Leo shouted.

_While you would have been a strong asset to the others if you had joined the battle earlier, we decided it would be too big a risk to have you involved in the fight from the start. The chance of you dying or being too injured from combat to play your role when you were needed was too high a risk for us to take. We kept you out of the loop and unaware of your true purpose until the very last minute so that Mewgle would let down his guard, thinking he had imprisoned everyone who could threaten his plans, allowing you to get the drop on him. And it worked,_ the Unown said.

"I suppose so…" Leo said reluctantly. "I'm just not fond of being yanked around like that without being told what's going on. I've always thought I controlled my own fate, but now…just how much of the events behind my and everyone else's lives have you masterminded in some way so that we could defeat Deoxys, anyway?"

_We would rather not tell you. You wouldn't like the answer,_ the Unown said. _In any event, it's nothing you didn't agree to beforehand._

"Uh, I don't remember agreeing to any of this beforehand," Oliphan said. The others nodded in agreement.

"You did it before you were born," the Mother said. "Naturally, you wouldn't remember after you'd been reincarnated. Most people don't."

"Ah," Oliphan said. Everyone exchanged confused looks, not really getting it.

"And now that all the exposition is taken care of," the Mother said, glancing at the Unown. "I believe it is time to set things right."

_Indeed. When we recruited you Chosen in the first place, we promised you all a wish once you had defeated Deoxys. We were not entirely truthful about that, but we intend to keep the spirit of our promise by repairing the damage Deoxys has done to your planet as well as resurrecting all your friends and, in general, doing our best to grant you a happy ending. After everything that's happened, you deserve it,_ the Unown said.

"We certainly do," Gonzap agreed. "So lay it on us!"

_Very well. Mother?_ The Unown said to the deity.

She nodded and closed her eyes, clasping her hands together as if in prayer. (Though considering who she was, who or what exactly would there be for her to pray to?) The Unown broke formation and rearranged around the Mother, forming a circle. They began to spin around the goddess, their initial revolutions slow but quickly accelerating to higher and higher speeds, the air literally humming as they sliced through it. The Mother seemed to be humming too, her body resonating as it emitted some kind of tone that vibrated down to the bone and seemed to make the fabric of the universe itself quiver. Or maybe it was something else that was causing the air around her to distort and crackle with intense energy. They all began glowing, the Unown radiating a pure white light while the Mother emitted a beautiful golden radiance. As the light fell upon the Chosen, they stirred, feeling energy of some kind flow into them and ease their weariness and any lingering injuries they had suffered in the battle. It made them feel something else, too…joy. Joy, and the gut-deep sensation that something wonderful was about to happen.

They were right.

The Mother gasped, her chest heaving, and the light coming from her and the Unown flared as a quantum surge rippled out from them, time and space churning like silly putty in their expert hands as reality itself was rewritten to suit their desires. The Chosen felt a weird tingling sensation as the wave passed over them, and started to see that in its wake, all the devastation that had been caused in their battle against Deoxys's forces had been repaired. Skyscrapers were no longer gutted towering ruins but shining pillars of glass and metal reaching into the skies once more. Streets were no longer split and cracked and full of holes, but as smooth and freshly paved as they had been on the day they had first been laid down. The artificial island Ever Grande City was built on, rather than being shattered into dozens of smaller little keys, had been reassembled to form one giant land mass once more, all the chunks of earth and turf that had been displaced or sunken in all the heavy battling replaced or regenerated. The city shined brilliantly as all the lights switched back on at once, seeming to blaze with renewed life and energy and creating a beacon on the seas visible for miles away. Ever Grande had been reborn, as if it had never been destroyed (and in a way, it hadn't been, since there had been more than a little temporal shuffling and quantum tunneling involved in its reconstruction), better and more beautiful than it ever had been. Even Battle Frontier and the monorail leading to it had magically reappeared, despite the total destruction of both just the previous night!

And the quantum surge didn't stop there. It washed over the planet like a rainbow-hued ribbon of energy, healing and mending all the desolation in its path. Burning cities were turned into gleaming metropolises. Barren wastelands became lush green plains and forests. Toxic reservoirs and polluted bodies of water were purified and became sparkling clean wellsprings of life. The people of the world stared in disbelief at the restored landscapes surrounding them, jaws slack and heads tilted so far back their necks started to hurt. Only the warriors of Sevii seemed unsurprised by the miracle, for they had known that this wonder would occur after the Mother had triumphed over her nemesis.

Once the surge finished healing the Earth, it continued expanding out into space and across universes, repairing the damage Deoxys and his parallels in other worlds had caused in their rampage throughout reality. Back on Earth, in the meantime, the Mother and the Unown released a second quantum surge, this one intended to resurrect all who had been slain in battle against the forces of evil in the last few days. The surge rippled over the Chosen…and suddenly they realized that their group had somehow gotten quite a bit larger, with several familiar and dear faces joining the crowd. Many hugs and shouts of joy and elation naturally ensued.

"Mewtwo! Gardevoir! You're alive!" Rayquaza cried.

"And Gardevoir's still-," Ash commented, only to receive a glare from Misty. "Um, perfectly fine in every way."

"Thank you," the Embrace Pokemon said, although she knew what Ash was really thinking. She was Psychic, after all. She didn't particularly care, though.

"Hello," Latias said dully.

"Are you yourself again, or are you still a jerk?" Ash asked Mewtwo.

"I was never a jerk, that was just an emo copy of me Mewgle used," Mewtwo explained. "How unimaginative of him. And untrue to my real character, too!"

Ash nodded. "I figured as much. Even when you were your most whiny and angsty back in the day, you were never that big a douche."

"…Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Mewtwo complained.

"Why is Latias a zombie?" Gardevoir asked as Latias munched on her own arm.

Rayquaza sweatdropped. "That's a bit of a long story…"

"Crobat, it's you!" Brock cried as the purple four-winged bat swooped down.

"Brock, you're…a Golem. How'd that happen?" Crobat asked.

"It's a long story," Brock said Mareepishly.

"Great! The gang's all here now!" said Forretress.

"Hey Crobat, how'd you like to join our band?" Onix asked.

"Yeah, your ultrasonic skillz could go far in a group like ours," Metal Sound said.

"I don't know…your music's a little hard on my sensitive ears," Crobat said.

"That's what earplugs are for," Buzz said.

"Come on, join us!" Jigglypuff urged.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm just not interested in rock and roll," Crobat said. The Pokerockers groaned in disappointment.

"Phew! At least one of my Pokemon doesn't want to be a rock star," said a relieved Brock. "Now, if only _I_ can find some way out of this crazy band…"

"Articuno! You're back!" Zaptres cried happily, tackling the revived blue ice bird.

"ACK! HELP! RAPE! GET OFF ME!" Articuno screamed.

"Articuno, don't you recognize us? We're Zapdos and Moltres, fused into one being and mostly happy to see you again!" Zaptres said.

"Ah," said Articuno. "ACK! HELP! RAPE! GET OFF ME!"

"We seem to be alive again," Papa noted.

"At least we weren't trapped in that awful airless gap between dimensions like the last few times," Mama said.

"Though nobody seems to be particularly happy to see us," Oniichan complained.

"I'm alive? I'm alive!" Lugia cried. "And…my family is still dead. Wonderful."

"Lugia! You're alive!" Zaptres cried, tackling the great white bird.

"ACK! HELP! RAPE! GET OFF ME!" Lugia screamed.

"I'm back," Blaziken muttered, looking himself over. "But…where is Harrison?"

"Right here," Harrison said, standing right beside him.

"Harrison!" the overjoyed flaming chicken cried, enveloping his trainer in a very warm hug. "You're alive again, too!"

Harrison laughed. "I certainly am! Wait, since when can I understand what you say?"

"Since we both came back from the dead?" Blaziken suggested.

"That works," Harrison agreed.

"Mom! You're alive!" Tyranitar squealed joyfully, knocking into his mother so hard they both toppled over and caused the ground to shake.

"My son! You're all grown up now…I wasn't gone that long, was I?" the female Tyranitar wondered.

"No, the Mother just evolved me right to this level," the child said.

The female frowned. "What! But that means I missed the end of your childhood and all your teenage years!...Hmm. On second thought, maybe I should thank her for that."

The younger Tyranitar blinked. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Draganium! Sceptile! Welcome back, you two!" Charizard welcomed the two Grass Pokemon back from the dead.

"What about me?" Venusaur, who was standing next to them, asked.

"We're not happy to see you because you got Sceptile killed," Charizard said. Venusaur sagged in disappointment.

"You did?!" cried the startled Leo. "What'd you do that for? And why'd you evolve, I thought you were happier being small and cute and cuddly as opposed to big and ugly."

"As to the first, envy," Venusaur said sadly. "As to the second, I didn't really have a choice. The Mother made me evolve."

"That wasn't very nice of her…" Leo muttered.

"It wasn't very nice of me to get Sceptile killed," Venusaur pointed out.

"True," Leo admitted.

"It's all right, I forgive you now," Draganium said. "You more than made up for it by sacrificing yourself to help us defeat Alpha. Sceptile-kun forgives you too, right?"

"No," Sceptile said. Draganium glared at him. He flinched. "Oh, all right. I guess I forgive you, since I'm alive now. But if you ever do anything like that again, or so much as lay a Vine Whip on Draganium, I'll kill you."

"I understand," Venusaur said. He perked up as Ash and the others came over. "Hey, Ash! You're alive again! Well, other than being some red lizard thing."

"What's wrong with that? I like being like this," Ash commented.

"So do I," Misty giggled. "In more ways than one." The others blanched, not really wanting to think about that.

"It's good to see you all again," Pikachu commented. "Even Venusaur, despite him getting Sceptile killed."

"I'm never gonna live that down, am I?" Venusaur muttered.

"No," Sceptile said. "You're not."

"Now the whole family is back together again!" Oliphan squealed happily, wildly flailing his trunk about. "Group hug!"

Everyone stared at his enormous heaving dancing bulk and sweatdropped. "Uh, maybe later," Togetic said. "Besides, I'm not sure we're all here yet, are we?"

"Then let's go find whoever's left," Pikachu reasoned. "They must be here somewhere, right? Everyone else so far is."

"Oh, that reminds me," Draganium said. "Where's Latias? Has she been fixed yet?"

Everyone exchanged uneasy looks. "Uh…" They glanced back at Latias, still under Rayquaza's watch. She had stuck her tongue up her nose so far that it ripped out through one of her eyeballs. "No. Not really," Corsola said.

Draganium sagged. "Oh. I guess I'll have to wait to forgive her for killing me until she's back to normal, then."

"You're going to forgive her for that, too?" Crawdaunt asked. "I certainly wouldn't. Especially considering how painful your death was. It was really awful."

"She's my best friend," Draganium said. "How can I not forgive her?" She turned to Sceptile, who was staring at Leo. "Come on, Sceptile-kun, let's go try to find the others!"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, right," the Forest Pokemon said, reluctantly turning away from Leo to follow his mate. _That guy's pretty cool,_ he thought to himself. _Maybe I should get shades._

_That guy's pretty cool,_ Leo thought, glancing at Sceptile. _Maybe I should start carrying a twig in my mouth everywhere._

"Ho-Oh, you're back!" Wes commented as he found the rainbow-winged phoenix. "I guess your kind really does come back from the ashes, huh?"

"You wouldn't say that if you knew how I died…" Ho-Oh said with a shiver. "It's good to see you and the others too, Wes. Where is my daughter? Is she all right?"

"Define 'all right,'" Rui said. They all glanced at Latias, who was now picking her ear. Except she drove her arm in so far it came out the other side of her head.

Ho-Oh groaned. "Dammit! That bastard must have done it to her…then again, is 'bastard' the right term, considering that I know who his father is? And that's me? Sort of? It's kind of confusing…"

"Wish I know who my father was…" Wes commented.

"What about me?" Gonzap asked.

"You're my foster parent, not my biological one," Wes pointed out. "Hmm…the Mother knew who Ash's dad was. Maybe she knows mine, too?"

"WYNAUT! WYNAUT!" Wobbuffet shouted as he, Milotic and Cacturne searched the crowd. "Where is she? She should be here, shouldn't she? Everyone else seems to be…"

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find her eventually," Milotic said.

"And if not, maybe the next energy wave will bring her back?" Cacturne suggested.

"I hope so…" Wobbuffet said anxiously. "This victory will be meaningless to me if my sister isn't here to enjoy it with me…"

"Registeel!" Rukario shouted happily, tackling the metal golem…and hurting his face. "Ow…I love you dearly, Father, but it's rather uncomfortable to hug you."

Registeel chuckled. "I imagine some could say the same of you, Rukario, what with that spike in your chest. But I'm happy to see you too. I hadn't expected to be resurrected so soon, to be honest. I had almost expected to just drift away peacefully, no matter which side won the battle."

"You could never do that," Rukario said. "You know you are needed here too much!"

Registeel nodded. "I suppose that is true. I could never leave my friends and the great Mother behind when there are still duties to perform."

"Then you won't be 'drifting away' for a long time, right?" Rukario asked hopefully.

Registeel shook his head. "No Rukario, I'm here to stay."

Rukario smiled. "That's good. Because I don't think there's anything that would make me happier. Except being with Crysta. And I intend to see her shortly."

"That should be nice," Registeel agreed. He sighed. "If only I could be as certain of ever seeing my siblings again…"

As Ash and Misty's family searched the crowd for their missing members, a familiar voice reached Crawdaunt's earholes. "Father! FATHER!"

"Son?" Crawdaunt's eyes widened in astonishment. "MY SON!"

"FATHER!" Kasurin the Luvdisc cried, hopping towards his parent as sparkling tears fell from his eyes.

"KASURIN!" Crawdaunt bellowed as he raced towards the Discfish, pincers extended and manly tears flowing down his face.

Father and son hugged, laughing and crying joyously as the others looked on. "Awww," Togetic said. "Isn't that sweet?"

"Yay, Emotional Brother Cousin Kasurin is back!" Oliphan cheered.

"That is kinda sweet, isn't it?" Sadic grudgingly admitted.

"Eh," Gyarados said.

"This is great…now there's only one left! But where is he? He must be around here somewhere…" Misty asked, glancing around. Then something bumped into her. She glanced down. "Huh?"

"Huh?" the yellow Golduck standing next to her said.

"Hey, it's Golduck!" Politoed observed unnecessarily.

"Yay Brother Golduck!" Oliphan cheered.

"I'm actually elated to see him," said an amazed Corsola.

"So am I!" Misty cried, hugging her moronic duck. "You have no idea how much I missed you, Golduck!"

Golduck's eyes crossed. "Ow…headache…" His eyes glowed blue, and he flung everyone away with Confusion. He stared at them blankly, blinked, and then wandered off. "Pink? Pink?"

They groaned as they picked themselves off the ground. "Ow…that wasn't nice of him," Draganium complained.

"Same old Golduck," Misty sighed.

"Why did we miss him again?" Corsola wondered.

"Can I kill him?" Sadic asked.

"No," Pikachu said. "Why would you want to, anyway? That attack of his didn't even affect you!"

"He threw around the father of my future children like a piece of garbage, that seems like a good reason to kill him to me," the Manyula said.

Pikachu sighed. "Murder is your solution to everything."

"Only because it works so well!" Sadic said. Pikachu rolled his eyes.

"He's looking for something pink? Didn't he notice these two?" Leo asked, pointing to Kasurin and Corsola.

"He's talking about his girlfriend, May's Delcatty," Charizard explained.

"She's pretty enough, but I prefer my womon with a bit more brains," Crawdaunt said.

"They're equally brainless, so they're perfect for each other," said Togetic.

Kasurin sighed happily. "I just love it when others are in love…and it reminds me of my beloved Rabufin! When will I see her again?!" He burst into tears.

Crawdaunt sighed. "I love my boy dearly…but does he have to be such a sissy?"

"You were crying earlier too," Corsola pointed out.

"Those were manly tears, womon! Kasurin's are more effeminate. There's a difference!" Crawdaunt said. Corsola rolled her eyes.

"Let's go after Golduck and keep him from tossing too many people," Misty suggested.

Ash nodded. "We have good reason to, too…if he finds Delcatty, then that means May can't be far behind!"

They were right. They quickly found Golduck hugging a very pink Delcatty, while May (who was still a sphinx), Munchlax, Blaziken (May's, not Harrison's), Ivysaur, and Beautifly looked on. "Pink!" Golduck said happily.

"Yellow!" Delcatty chirped. They nuzzled each other lovingly, reunited at long last.

"That's really sweet, isn't it?" Ivysaur said. "Munchlax, stop eating my leaves."

"I'm not eating your leaves," Munchlax lied through a mouthful of green plant matter. Ivysaur whipped him. He spat it out. "Ow. Fine."

"May!" Ash yelled as he and the others raced over.

May gasped. "ASH!" She flew over and hugged him perhaps a little too intimately.

"Ahem," Misty said.

May blushed and backed off. "Sorry. Um, it-it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too," Ash said.

"In one piece," added Togetic.

"And not horribly mutilated," Oliphan added.

"She probably still has crippling self-esteem issues, though," Crawdaunt said.

May scowled at him. "I'm over those now."

"If you say so…" the lobster said skeptically. "Are you over stupid riddles, too?" May threw sand in his face.

Kasurin washed it off. "Was that necessary, father?" Kasurin asked him.

"You didn't hear her riddle. It was really stupid," Crawdaunt said.

"It was not!" May snapped. "You were all stupid for not figuring it out!"

"Then maybe you should have picked an easier riddle, considering you were expecting a _mind-raped zombie_ to solve it!" Crawdaunt argued. May threw sand in his face again. "Now that's mature…then again, considering she murdered her own parents…" May covered him in sand until only his star-shaped crest poked out. "Okay, I'll shut up now."

"Probably a good idea," Corsola said. "Why do you always mouth off like that?"

Crawdaunt shrugged, displacing some of the sand on top of him. "Someone has to say it."

"That's usually my thing," Sadic complained.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have more opportunities to say bitingly cruel things or issue violent threats later," Pikachu told her.

"I'd better…" Sadic muttered.

"Oh! That reminds me," said May. "Is Latias…"

"No, she's pretty much exactly the same," said Corsola. "But at least she seems to no longer have much interest in killing things now that her evil brother isn't around, Rayquaza has her under control, and she's spent what felt like six months but was only a few hours in real life thinking she was alive again."

May gave her a confused look. "Huh?"

"It's a long story," Oliphan said.

May sighed, crestfallen. "Then my riddle really was no good after all…I was just trying to help her out, but it was useless, just like everything else I do!"

"May, you aren't useless!" her Blaziken protested.

"Every single one of you died either today or last night because you weren't strong enough fighters, probably because I've wasted my time training you for contests rather than _real_ battles. My attempt to save Latias was not only thrown back in my face, but she brutally killed me for it after Dark Latios verbally belittled me. The first and second boys I ever loved are taken, and the third died last night. My brother's gone insane and hates me due to the fact that I murdered our parents, thinking _they_ were monsters and possibly due to subconscious feelings of resentment and envy. I wasn't Chosen to save the world until the last minute, and I was too much of a wreck to do any good. Most of the people I saved were probably killed by monsters minutes after I left them. And on top of all that, I never made it to the Grand Festival. My entire life and everything I ever do ends in failure. How am I not useless?" May asked bitterly.

"Wait, I know Drew is the third guy you've loved, but who are the first two?" asked a confused Ash.

May sighed in exasperation. "The second is you, and the first is Brendan Birch! You know, that gay guy you kissed in the Battle Palace?"

"Oh," Ash said. "Right."

May moaned. "Everyone I love dies, goes crazy, finds someone else, or is gay. My life is meaningless. What's the point of me even being brought back to life, if I'm still as big a failure as ever?" Her friends exchanged uncertain looks, not sure how to answer that.

Somebody beat them to it. "_We_ don't think you're a failure, May," Norman said as he and Caroline approached.

May gasped. "Mom? Dad?"

"We're sorry if we ever made you feel unloved, like the unfavorite child, or that you were stuck in my shadow," Norman apologized.

"And we're also sorry we accused you of being a monster and not the real May," Caroline said. "We were scared and paranoid and instantly distrustful of anything out of the ordinary due to everything that's happened to us in the last day or so."

"We know now that you're the real deal, and we accept you for what you have become," Norman said. "We don't think you're a failure at all."

"You _can't_ be a failure, because you're a Maple, and Maples never give up, no matter how often they get pushed down," Caroline said.

"You're our daughter, and we love you. That's all that matters," Norman said.

"Let's go find Max so that we can be a family again," Caroline said.

May trembled, tears running down her cheeks. "M-Mom…Dad…" She lunged forward and hugged her parents, sobbing. "I love you both so much…I'm sorry I killed you."

"It's okay," Norman said.

"These things happen," Caroline said understandingly.

"Awww," almost all of May's friends and Pokemon said. (Munchlax was too busy eating something he shouldn't to pay attention to what was going on.)

"Eh," said Gyarados.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Gardevoir asked Mewtwo, who was controlling Norman and Caroline's minds.

"Maybe not, but May really needs a break," Mewtwo said. "The poor thing's had a really bad week, hasn't she?"

"But what happens when you're not controlling them anymore and their real feelings towards her, whether good or bad, resurface?" Gardevoir pressed.

"That's what brainwashing is for," Mewtwo said. "Brainwashing makes everything better, and clears up all problems!"

Gardevoir rolled her eyes. "That's your solution to everything."

"What? It's better than murder, isn't it?" Mewtwo said.

The Chosen were not the only ones to celebrate as they and their friends and loved ones were returned to them. As the quantum surge washed over the planet, it brought back to life just about everyone who had been slaughtered by Deoxys's minions either during the great battle or in the events leading up to his attack over the last few days. The gym leaders and scientists and world leaders and League officials and celebrities and other high-ranking personalities whom Deoxys had executed that morning all found themselves back in their homes, much to the delight of their families and friend. The world rejoiced, its population magically replenished and returned to those who loved them.

And the Mother and the Unown _still_ weren't done. There was one last great feat to go. Their glowing grew even _brighter_, the Unown spinning so fast they were no longer visible as individual letters but as a single glittering blur, and with a cry they unleashed one last quantum surge, bigger than the rest. As it passed over the Chosen, the size of their group increased again as abruptly several of Deoxys's generals and minions (except for Mewgle, naturally) reappeared in their original forms, purified of the virus and their souls cleansed of evil. The wave rushed past the Chosen, and any monster corpse it passed over was not only brought back to life but changed back to its original form, whole and hearty and human or Pokemon once more.

Naturally, this affected Latias too. There was no dramatic transformation or great flash of light, one moment she was a zombie, then the wave passed over her, and she was suddenly alive and herself again. "Latias!" Rayquaza cried joyously. "You're alive!"

"I-I can feel again," she whispered in astonishment, running her claws over her and Rayquaza's bodies. "inside and out. Emotions, thoughts, hopes, feelings…everything is running back to me. I'm…I'm myself again. I'm back. I'm _home…_"

Rayquaza blinked. "Home?"

"Of course," she said. "I'm with my family now, and with you. Wherever we're together is home, isn't it?" She hugged his neck.

He closed his eyes and sighed blissfully, wrapping his tail around her smaller form. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this…"

"As have I," Latias whispered, rubbing her head against his cheek. "As have I."

Her friends applauded. "About damn time!" Charizard roared.

"Yeah, we've been building up to this moment for the last sixty plus chapters—I mean, the entire adventure," Pikachu said.

"You know, to look at them, it's hard to believe that this is technically the first time that they've met in the flesh without either of them being some kind of undead horror," Crawdaunt said. "So…why are they in love again?"

"Because they've been lovers for billions of years in past lives and this is just the latest incarnation of their relationship with each other?" Togetic suggested, finding that very romantic. Most of the other girls agreed with her sentiment.

Crawdaunt did not. "Seriously? I thought that part was something Mewgle made up too."

"No, that was real," Registeel said.

"Ah," Crawdaunt said. "How schmaltzy."

"It's a happy ending," Corsola said.

"I repeat, schmaltzy," Crawdaunt grumbled.

"Still more satisfying than having a ton of foreshadowing to them reuniting each other—while technically meeting for real for the first time—and then Rayquaza abruptly dropping dead to make her alive again," Kasurin pointed out, gushing uncontrollably because he LOVED happy endings and romance, both of which this qualified as.

"I guess…" Crawdaunt admitted grudgingly. "I suppose it's no more unrealistic than Pikachu and Sadic hooking up despite only knowing each other for all of what, a day or two? And having sex and conceiving kids so quickly, too? Mother knows I've mated with and impregnated dozens of womon sooner than that…though usually they don't stick around afterwards."

"Part of the reason we've become a couple is because I'm the kind of guy who commits to a relationship long-term to see if it works out, especially if there's my progeny involved—unlike you, Mr. King of One-Night Stands and Harems…and partly because I'm afraid she'll eat me if I broke up with her," Pikachu confessed.

"That's right, I would," Sadic agreed.

Latias briefly turned away from Rayquaza. "Everyone, thank you so much for being here today. For so many of my closest friends and acquaintances to be here to see the culmination of what feels like centuries of waiting and longing and hoping-"

"Which it has been," Rayquaza pointed out.

"It means everything in the world to me. Thank you," Latias finished. "Oh, and Draganium, May, Delcatty, Blaziken, Ivysaur, and Beautifly, I'm sorry for killing you."

"That's okay, you weren't yourself," Draganium said. "We understand."

"Yeah, it seems like a lot of us have killed each other today," May said.

"If we didn't move past that and forgive each other, how could we stay friends?" Ivysaur said wisely.

"Yellow," said Delcatty, making out with Golduck and not paying attention to anything else going on around her.

"The only thing that could make this moment even better is if my brother were here," Latias said wistfully. "And not a horribly psychotic evil monster."

Naturally, it was at that moment that Latios, who had been released from his GS Ball prison, resurrected, purified, and given the same transformation that Latias had undergone (only in blue) floated over, a confused look on his face. "Latias? Is that you?"

Latias gasped. "BROTHER!" She lunged at Latios, tackling him in a hug and nearly knocking him out of the air. "You're back!"

"So it seems," said Latios, hugging his sister back. "Um, you wouldn't happen to know how that happened, would you? One second I was happily drifting about in the afterlife, next thing I know I'm here, with all these other people."

Latias pulled away from her brother and blinked in surprise, the confusion on her face shared by her friends. "You mean you don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Latios asked.

_I erased his memory of his sins as Dark Latios,_ the Mother told Latias telepathically. _While I will allow most of those who served Deoxys to keep most of their memories so they can learn from their mistakes and become better people or something like that, the atrocities Dark Latios committed were worse then all the others put together. He would go mad if he realized the full enormity of the evil he had done…especially to you._

_I see. Thank you, I think, _Latias thought back. _But what am I supposed to tell him, then?_

_Lie,_ the Mother suggested.

Latias mentally sweatdropped. _He's my brother and a Psychic. Won't he know?_

_Not if I don't want him to,_ the Mother said.

Latias sighed. _Oh, fine._ "We saved all of existence from the greatest evil to ever be, and as a reward the Mother resurrected you, along with a bunch of other people."

"Oh! That was nice of her. I guess she gave me this new body too? I should thank her, it feels pretty nice." He glanced at Rayquaza and frowned. "Say, don't I know you?"

"I am Latias' betrothed. I think we might have communicated once or twice when you were dead," Rayquaza said, taking a cue from Latias not to mention the whole being super-evil thing.

"Oh, right, I remember." Latios frowned. "Didn't you destroy my hometown and kill all its inhabitants?"

Rayquaza hesitated. "Ah…"

"We're trying to work past that," Latias said.

"Oh," Latios said. "Well, okay. But if you ever do anything like that again, or hurt my sister in any way…"

Rayquaza chuckled, deciding not to point out that since he was king of the dragons, Latios couldn't actually do much of anything to him. "I know, I know."

Latias took her brother's arm and tugged him over to the others, who looked understandably apprehensive about being near the guy, considering what he'd done only a short while ago as Dark Latios. "Now that you're here, I can introduce you to all my friends. You may recognize a few of them, you met them before you died…though they've changed quite a bit since then."

"I can see that," Latios commented, noting the strange forms and apparel of most of Latias's friends. "I really missed out on a lot when I was dead, huh? Hey, did the UST between those two characters I liked in that cop show ever get resolved?"

"Law and Disorder: Internal Investigations? It got cancelled a few months after you died," Latias said.

Latios gasped. "Cancelled?! No…NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Everyone sweatdropped. Any lingering fears that he'd snap and kill them were put to rest. It was hard to perceive a guy who was sobbing over the termination of his favorite show as a threat.

"We're alive again!" Entei roared triumphantly.

"And we don't have to share the same body anymore!" said a relieved Suicune.

"Woohoo!...hey, why isn't anyone rushing over to welcome us back to the land of the living?" Raikou complained.

"Because everyone believes we do a much better job as legendary beasts than you three?" Papa suggested as he, Mama, and Oneechan came over.

Entei sneered. "What do you know? You're just a human a psychotic little girl with way too much power transformed into a Pokemon."

"Yes, and you're a trio of legendary Pokemon who forsake their duty to the world in the name of power and pride, nearly dooming all of existence in the process," said Mama.

"…Touche," Suicune admitted grudgingly.

"We were kind of idiots, weren't we?" Raikou admitted.

"That's a bit of an understatement," Oneechan said. "But now that you realize you made a mistake, you can try to do better next time."

"A good start would be not killing people for peeing in rivers," Mama said.

"But it's disgusting!" Suicune protested.

"And also an overreaction," Mama said. "Just because you're a deity doesn't mean you can go around doing things like that willy-nilly."

"Especially since you're a _minor_ deity," Papa pointed out. The three beasts grumbled, not liking to be reminded of that uncomfortable fact.

"My husband!"

"Father!"

Lugia gasped, his heart stopping as his greatest desire appeared before him. "M-my love? My son?! MY FAMILY! YOU ARE HERE!"

The reunited Lugia family enveloped each other in a big white-feathered group hug, crying joyfully. "At last…we are together again," the female Lugia said.

"You have…you have no idea how long I have waited for this," Lugia whispered as he caressed his mate's neck, the last fragmented parts of his broken psyche snapping back into place. His family had returned. He was whole once more.

"Father…never leave us again…" Silver begged his father.

"Don't worry," Lugia said. "I promise we will be together forever from this day forward. Not even Ho-Oh can tear us apart!" He paused. "And…I'm sorry for killing both of you."

"We're sorry for eating you alive," the female Lugia said.

"If it's any consolation, you didn't taste that good," Silver said.

Lugia blinked. "…I am uncertain whether to be gratified or disturbed by that statement."

"Oh great, it's you," Ho-Oh growled as the female of his kind slunk over. "The Mother saw fit to revive you too, huh? After what you tried to pull? What do you have to say for yourself, bitch?"

"I'm…I'm sorry," the female whispered.

Ho-Oh blinked. "Wait, what? Say that again, I must have misheard you. I thought you were _apologizing _for something. We both know you never apologize for anything."

The female flinched. "I…I said…I'm sorry. For everything."

"Everything? That's a bit vague. Try being a little more specific, please?" the male said, getting angry and intrigued in the same breath.

"I'm sorry for everything I did to you and everyone else," the female said quietly. "For most of my life, I've been a vengeful, vindictive, petty excuse for a legendary bird. I banished you from my side because you were able to successfully reproduce with another womon, while I remained barren. I blamed the Psychics for my lack of fertility and did my best to drive them out of Johto. I cruelly separated Lugia from his family and forced him to guard the elemental birds in the Orange Islands lest I kill his mate and child. My paranoia has caused me to ignore and abuse my followers and mistreat my servants. I've regarded Mewtwo and his creations with nothing less than fear and disgust due to their origins. And on top of all that, I betrayed the Chosen and sided with Deoxys because he promised he could give me what I always wanted…and then he had Dark Latios kill me. I deserved it. I deserved every bit of it for all the hurt I've caused throughout my long life."

The fact that she was admitting these faults shocked the male phoenix. "You…are admitting you are wrong? That is something I never thought I would hear you say."

"Nor did I," the female said. "For the longest time I've been blinded by fear, pride, envy…and then I died, and I saw how little all of it really meant, and the full enormity of everything I've done to those that I should have called friends...and to you, who were once my husband. I do not ask for your forgiveness, for I know I do not deserve it. I just…I just want to say I'm sorry for everything I did, and that I'll try to be a better Pokemon from this day forward."

The male's stomach clenched as these thoughts reverberated inside his head. "I…even knowing this, that you are truly repentant…I can still hardly bear to look at you without feeling a strong desire to tear out your gizzard. But…I know now that you are not the only one of us who has been a fool and badly needs to change. Begone. I pray that when next we meet, the both of us will be better than we were before." She nodded and cautiously departed. After a moment, the male Ho-Oh realized someone else that knotted his insides had appeared beside him. "Y-you?! What are you doing here?!"

"I was the Leviathan," the elder Eon that was Latias and Latios's mother said sadly. "Or have you forgotten?"

"That's right," Ho-Oh recalled. "Dexoys turned you into that…monstrosity."

"'Monstrosity' is barely scratching the surface of what I was," the elder Latias said bitterly. "And I was a monster long before Deoxys found me, too…thanks to you. Did you know that I sought out the power of Missingno after you threw me out, the evil demon my ancestor sealed away millennia ago? That I wanted revenge against you and everyone else in the world, and was sealed away by my brother beneath Alto Mare at the cost of his life, causing me to miss the birth and maturation of our children?"

He flinched, a dagger of guilt stabbing at his heart. "I know. Latias told me."

"She's the one who stopped me…" the elder Latias murmured. "Which was probably for the best. She…she's got a good head on her shoulders. She seems to have grown into a fine young womon, hasn't she?"

"And her brother seems to be an upstanding mon himself," Ho-Oh said. "Other than his briefly becoming an evil monster, of course."

"And ripping out of my stomach when he was born a second time," the Latias said.

"That too," said Ho-Oh.

"And when he raped-" the Latias continued.

"I think that's enough of that," Ho-Oh said quickly. "Let's just say he's not that person anymore and leave it at that. In any event, they both seem to have done very well without us. One has to wonder if maybe the humans who raised them in our place made better parents than we ever could have been."

"Maybe," the Latias acknowledged. She glared at Ho-Oh. "But we'll never know for sure, now will we?"

"…No. We won't," Ho-Oh agreed.

They sat there for a moment in silence. "Why did you do it?" the elder Latias asked finally. "Why did you…why did you throw me out? I thought things were going so well between us. Was it really because I couldn't lay Ho-Oh eggs?"

"…No," Ho-Oh said after a moment. "That had nothing to do with it. It was just an excuse I used to cover up the real reason."

The Latias blinked in surprise. "The real…" She grew angry again. "What, are you saying you thought I was cheating on you or-"

"No!" Ho-Oh insisted. "I knew you were faithful!"

"Then why? WHY?!" the Latias demanded.

"Because…because you were turning into them, okay?!" he snapped.

She blinked. "Into…"

"My first wife! My mother! The two womon I hate most in this world! You…your behavior, your mannerisms…after we got married, you began to act just like them, obsessed with power and the trappings of your position rather than caring for the responsibilities that came with being my wife," Ho-Oh said. "I couldn't…I couldn't stand to see you like that, because every time I looked at you, you made me think of _them_, more and more with every passing day. So…so when you didn't lay any Ho-Oh eggs, I used that as a legal pretext to annul our marriage and get you out of my feathers for good." He paused. "It was the worst decision I ever made. Well, second worst, if you count marrying Lady Ho-Oh."

"Then…that's why?" the Latias asked. Ho-Oh nodded. Stunned into silence, the dragon reflected back on the last days of their marriage…and realized with an ugly feeling in her gut that her ex-husband might have had a point. "Maybe…I did let it go to my head…but…" She turned back to Ho-Oh, confusion and anger burning in her eyes. "Why…why didn't you tell me?! If I had known sooner, we could have-"

"Don't you think I tried?!" Ho-Oh snapped. "But you wouldn't listen! You _never_ listened! So…So I thought I had no choice but to…" He squeezed his eyes shut and looked away. "But I should have tried harder instead of giving up. I took the easy way out…and ruined both our chances for happiness. For that, I am eternally sorry."

"…I'm sorry too. I should have listened to you," she said sadly. "And maybe if I hadn't overreacted and sought Missingno's power for revenge, we could have…we could have worked it out." She laughed bitterly. "Then again, maybe not. You're right, Latias and Latios probably are better off because we didn't raise them. Both of us are so wrapped up in our own problems we've never been able to acknowledge others until it's too late. We would have been terrible parents."

"Yeah," Ho-Oh said. He paused, a thought occurring to him. He glanced at the Latias. "But maybe it doesn't have to stay that way."

She blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Look around you. The Mother is bringing back everyone, even people more screwed-up than us. Everyone is being given a second chance, and an opportunity to see themselves as they really have been for the first time in their lives. Just look at my ex-wife, she actually _apologized_ and admitted she was wrong, something she would have rather died than do before all this happened!" His voice rose in excitement. "Don't you see? If she can change, then why can't we?"

She looked at him in astonishment. "I…hadn't thought of it that way. Do you really think we can change, after all that we've done?"

"Why not? Everyone's getting a second chance! Everyone's trying to start over! Why shouldn't we at least have a shot at being better than we were before? In fact…" He hesitated for a moment, a small spark of hope kindling to life inside of him. "Maybe there's a chance for us, too. To start over. With each other."

She gave him an incredulous look. "You can't be suggesting what I think you are."

"Casting you out was one of the worst decisions I've ever made," Ho-Oh said. "But now…now that we're here together, now that all our sins are laid bare for each other to see…I see a chance at a fresh start. With a clean slate."

"That's preposterous!" she snapped. "After everything that's happened between us, do you really think we can just…reform our relationship and pretend none of it happened?!"

"No," Ho-Oh said. "What I'm saying is…look around us! Nearly everyone here has done something horrible. And yet they are being forgiven and offered a chance at a new and better life. Even my hated ex-wife seems to want to make the most of this new life that she's been given. And if we can't move past our mistakes like everyone else is trying to, how can we honestly say we've changed at all? And hey, if our daughter can get together with the guy that killed her family and wiped out her home town, why can't we give our relationship another go?"

She blinked and looked away. "I…I don't know…"

"For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure we both loved each other once," Ho-Oh pressed. "That has to mean something, right?"

She considered this for what felt like a very long time indeed. Finally, she said, "You realize it probably won't work."

"I know," he said.

"And we'll probably break up before the month is out," she said.

"I know," he said.

"And even with this talk of hope and change and moving on, how likely is it that we can make another relationship between us last?" she said.

"I know," he said.

"And yet…"

"And yet…"

Their heads turned, and they gazed into each other's eyes. _Maybe…_ they thought at the same time. _Maybe a happy ending isn't beyond our reach after all._

After a while, somewhat reluctantly, they glanced away from each other. "So, um, should we join our children and the others?" Ho-Oh asked awkwardly.

The Latias sighed. "No. Not now. I'm not sure I'm ready."

"We'll have to do it sooner or later," Ho-Oh said.

She nodded. "I know that, and I will. Just…not now. Until then…" She hesitated, and then floated a little closer to him. "Until then, I wouldn't mind spending some time catching up with you. If we're really going to make this work, then we need to be honest with each other and talk more about ourselves and what we feel. The things we've been up to, and how we dealt with them."

"Okay," said Ho-Oh. "After we split up, nothing particularly exciting happened until I helped Wes defeat the Cipher organization, allowed myself to get captured, started traveling with him, entered this tournament, met my daughter, got caught up in this battle to save the world, and then got killed by my son. Sort of. You?"

"Left my eggs with my brother, made a deal with a devil, got sealed beneath Alto Mare, broke out, got beaten by my daughter and her friends, was banished to some monastery far away from here, started getting over myself, then was tortured and raped by Deoxys, gave birth to Dark Latios, and turned into Leviathan," the Latias said.

"You win," Ho-Oh said.

She blinked. "Win what?"

"I don't know, but you still win," Ho-Oh said. They laughed. Neither of them was sure why, but it felt good. "So, how bad was your death? Dark Latios tore out my spine, psychically tortured me, crushed my brain, resurrected me, ate my testicles, pulled off my wings, shoved me on a spit to roast me alive—or undead—then ate me."

"Well…" the elder Latias told him how she had died.

Ho-Oh grimaced. "You win again."

"Harrison!" Ford said as he found his son.

"Dad!" said the startled Harrison. His Blaziken growled and interposed himself between the trainer and his father. Harrison put a hand on his partner's shoulder and gently pushed past him, much to the chicken's dismay. "Are you…you again?"

Ford nodded solemnly. "The madness is gone, son. Only now do I understand everything I've done…all the lives I've twisted and ruined…how I killed you. All I wanted was to make the world a better place by giving it heroes, not…well, what happened."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Harrison's Blaziken muttered.

"I know that now," Ford said. "I'm sorry, son. Can you forgive an old fool's mistakes?"

"If you're really yourself again, and if you really are sorry…then maybe you can still fulfill your dreams, dad," Harrison said. "The world will always need heroes. You just don't necessarily need to create them using unorthodox experiments and weird crystals."

Ford smiled ruefully. "Good advice. From now on, I'll try to make heroes the old-fashioned way…with training and lots of hard work! No more shortcuts or insanity-inducing superpowers from me, that's for certain!"

Harrison smiled. "That's good to hear, Dad." He hugged his father.

The Blaziken, not as satisfied by this easy forgiveness, sighed. "Here we go again…"

A rose flew through the air and landed at May's feet. "Rose!" Drew, still dressed as Tuxedo Masquerain, called.

"Why did you shout 'rose?'" his Roselia asked.

"It seemed like an appropriate sound effect," he replied.

May gasped. "DREW!" She hugged the green-haired young man. Then she paused and pulled back. "Why are you still wearing that costume?"

"Why are you a sphinx?" he countered.

"Touche," she admitted.

"May, who is this?" Norman asked.

"Mom, Dad, I'd like to introduce you to my boyfriend Drew!" May said.

"Why is he wearing that costume?" asked Caroline.

"Because I'm a superhero," Drew said.

"Oh," Norman said. "I'm guessing the Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny and those kids wearing spandex behind you are superheroes too?"

Soldier Heart sighed. "Isn't anyone fooled by our disguises?"

"How do they keep guessing our true identities?" wondered a mystified Soldier Wisdom.

"Because you aren't wearing masks?" Wes suggested.

"That could be it," Soldier Wisdom admitted reluctantly.

"Our suits _aren't_ spandex, they're a retrofitted nanopolymer blend-" the Green A.S.S. Ranger started to explain, until Blue Ranger cut him off.

"Don't bother explaining, nobody cares," he said. Green Ranger pouted.

"Hey, it's the A.S.!" Crawdaunt joked.

"Wow, we haven't heard that one before," Pink Ranger said sarcastically.

"Yeah," Yellow Ranger said. "Wait, did that Pokemon just talk?"

"And Richie…" Ash growled.

"Um…hey Ash, Misty, everyone," Richie said Mareepishly. "I, uh…kinda screwed up, didn't I?"

"Yes," everyone said deadpan.

"That's an understatement," Misty said.

Richie hung his head. "I'm…I'm really sorry. I never thought it would turn out like this. I just wanted to be a hero. But the power, the money, it…it consumed me. I gave up my dreams and abandoned my Pokemon to become some thrill-seeking glory Houndoom."

"And then you turned into a knife-nut who tried to kill everyone," Latias added.

"That too," Richie said. "But…I know what I did was wrong, and I'm going to try to do everything I can to make up for it. I know I may never win back your trust, but…I want you to know that I'll try as hard as I can to become the Richie I used to be. The Richie you were friends with."

"…Find all the Pokemon you've left behind. If they accept you back as their trainer, come and fight me in a Pokemon battle," Ash said. "If you win…maybe, just maybe, there's a chance we can be friends again."

Richie smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Ash. I promise not to let you down again."

"You'd better not," Misty growled. "Or we'll kill you the next time you go crazy on us. Again, that is."

"Ooh, can I help?" Sadic asked.

"We'll see," Pikachu said hesitantly.

"BIG BROTHER!" Wynaut cried, running to her brother.

"WYNAUT!" Wobbuffet shouted, wrapping his arms around his little sister. "Thank goodness you're all right! I mean, other than being dead a few minutes ago, that is!"

"It's okay, being dead was a lot better than being in Deoxys's captivity," Wynaut said.

Wobbuffet flinched. "I'm…sorry to hear that. How much of that do you remember?"

"More than I care to," Wynaut said quietly. "But none of it matters, now that I'm here with you again."

"Awww," Milotic and Cacturne said.

"Chiiii!" Chimecho chimed.

"Oh! Chimecho, you're back as well!" said the surprised Milotic.

"Chiiiiiiii!" Chimecho chimed, wrapping his tail around her head.

"Yes, I'm happy to see you too," Milotic said.

"And look, there's James's pet Arcanine Growlie bounding towards us at high speeds…and he's not slowing down!" Cacturne wailed.

Without looking, Wobbuffet threw up a shield. Growlie bounced off of it and landed with his legs splayed out on the ground, drooling stupidly. He picked himself back up and charged again, only to bounce off again, so he picked himself up again and charged again…and again…and again…

"He isn't very bright, is he?" Milotic commented.

"He certainly would have fit in well with Team Rocket," Cacturne commented. She frowned. "Hmm…speaking of which, I wonder where they are…"

Not too far away…

"Boss! You're back!" Meowth cried joyfully as he ran towards Giovanni, who was standing with Domino, Persian, the Iron Masked Marauder, Buson, Bashou, Butch, Cassidy, Nascour, Ein, Dr. Namba, Professor Sebastian, Dr. Robotnik, their Pokemon, and several hundred confused Rocket grunts on the outskirts of the group of Chosen.

Giovanni laughed and stroked Persian's head. "Of course I am, Meowth! Did you really think a little thing like death would keep me down? I've already died twice, a third time isn't going to make any difference!"

"That's why you're the Boss," Domino said admiringly.

"I thought _I_ was the Boss," Nascour complained sourly.

"Not anymore you're not," Giovanni said. "I've taken back the title, and I'm keeping it!"

"Not until I kill you and get it back…" Nascour muttered.

"I heard that," Giovanni said.

"I know," said Nascour.

"Now that we're all back from the dead, what're we gonna do?" the Iron Masked Marauder asked.

"We could try taking over the world again," Butch suggested.

"Considering our last attempt got us killed horribly and turned into monsters, and the world is now protected by some of its strongest defenders ever, that idea doesn't particularly appeal to me," Cassidy complained. "We'll probably just get creamed and put back in prison again."

"Then what else is there for us to do?" Annie whined.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but being killed, coming back from the dead, killed again, broken, turned into a horrible monster, getting fused with some other guy to become an even worse monster, and killed _again_ has put me off evil for a while," Giovanni said. "Given the current state of affairs, it might be in our best interests to attempt being good guys for a change, or at least until things settle down again and we have a chance to build up more power. I'm thinking of reforming our organization as a humanitarian and Pokemonitarian group dedicated to helping the world…while subtly gaining control over it from the shadows. What say you all? You could get in on the ground floor and become the founding elite of the new Team Rocket. Well, except for Nascour and Ein, that is."

"What did we do?!" they cried.

"Killed me and turned Team Rocket into Team Cipher, and forced all my agents to wear that ridiculous getup," Giovanni said. "Though I have to admit, the outfit you made Domino wear was a nice touch." She glared at him. "What? I'm a man too, you know."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Oakley said.

"Could be fun," Bashou grunted.

"It's not like we have anything better to do," Butch croaked.

"So long as we can keep performing morally ambiguous science," Namba said. Sebastian nodded in agreement.

"I'm with you all da way, Boss!" Meowth said loyally.

"Hey, can we get in on this action too?" Miror B asked as he, Dakim, Venus, Fein, and the rest of Neo Team Snagem came over.

"Gonzap abandoned us, and we don't have a Snag Machine or much else of a plan of action, so we don't really know what else to do," Dakim lamented.

Giovanni shrugged. "Sure. The more the merrier."

"Why do they get in but not us?!" Ein complained.

"Killed me, made Team Rocket Team Cipher, etc?" Giovanni reminded him.

The mad scientist sulked. "Oh. Right."

"Well, go ahead and make your shiny new Team Rocket! We'll go form our own team! So there!" Nascour said childishly. "And it'll be a MILLION times better than yours! Come on Ein, let's go!"

"Right!" Ein said. They stormed off.

Giovanni shook his head pityingly. "Fools. How do they think they can control a criminal syndicate with hair like that? It's too distracting! Whoever would take them seriously? Why do you think I always keep my hair short, geled, and elegantly coifed so I look evilly stylish wherever I go?"

"It certainly has my everlasting adoration!" Meowth said, eyes turning into hearts.

"…" Giovanni gave Meowth a weird look, then stepped behind Persian so the Classy Cat was between him and the smaller feline. Persian growled and hid behind Giovanni, not wanting to be anywhere near Meowth either. Giovanni grunted and reminded himself to reassign Meowth and the rest of his team (Assuming they had been resurrected. Where were they, anyway?) to Antarctica for the foreseeable future.

"Brother!" Regirock and Regice called as they lumbered over to Registeel.

"Siblings! You have been resurrected as well! This is wonderful!" Registeel said happily.

"We were not certain we would be, given how we betrayed our duty and the Mother's trust in us," Regirock lamented.

"But as always, she is generous and forgiving, and has given us another chance to serve as her high priests," Regice said.

Registeel nodded. "I am glad to hear it. I would not have relished doing the job all by myself, even with young Rukario to help me out."

"Registeel, I'm not _that_ young," Rukario joked.

"Compared to me, you are," Registeel said. "So, no hard feelings for my killing you?"

"It had to be done," Regirock said. "We needed to be stopped before our powers could be used to serve Deoxys's wishes. You did the right thing."

"It was a bit of a relief, actually," Regice confessed. "It wasn't pleasant having to share a brain with this blockhead."

"Better a blockhead than a cold heart, Ms. Ice Queen," Regirock retorted.

"Ha! Like your heart is any softer, stone-face!" Regice taunted.

"Frigid bitch," Regirock growled.

"Obstinate buffon," Regice grunted.

Registeel laughed and hugged both of them. "I missed you both so much. It's good to see you again." They chuckled and hugged him back. Rukario smiled ruefully and shook his head, amused and mystified as always by the strange ways in which families worked.

As the quantum wave engulfed the world, restoring all of Deoxys's victims to their original selves, the Mother sighed and sagged slightly, her energy drained, and the Unown stopped their spinning. The Mother's great gray sword shimmered and dissolved into the myriad souls that had been used to create it, the spirits drifting off to the next world, save for two. One of them landed on the Mother's shoulder and transformed back into Absol, who noticed her weariness and licked her cheek. She smiled and gently stroked his head.

The other soul floated down to Umbreon, who was standing apart from the others, looking on jealously as they celebrated the return of their loved ones. "Why so depressed, lover?" the soul asked, reforming into a very familiar Misdreavus.

Umbreon gasped and grabbed the ghost. "Misdreavus! You're ali…um…undead again!"

Misdreavus laughed. "I certainly am, and glad to be back in ectoplasm!"

Umbreon laughed as well, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm…I'm so happy to see you…I thought I'd have to wait until I died to be with you again!"

"Now that we aren't needed anymore, all of the spirits who helped the Mother defeat Deoxys were ready to move on to our true afterlives--even old General Shedinja and his girlfriend--except for two of us," Misdreavus said. "Absol remained because his loyalty to the Mother is too strong for even death to sever, and me because…well, because your love anchored me here. It gave me a reason to stay behind. With you."

Umbreon closed her eyes and leaned forward, pressing her forehead against her spectral beloved's head. "I don't think I've ever loved you more than I do now."

"Yeah," said Misdreavus. "Same here. We're gonna have to do something about that human body, though, because it's butt-ugly!"

Umbreon grimaced. "I know, right? It feels so weird walking on two legs, I can barely smell, hear, or see a thing, I'm always cold, and this…_thing_ I'm wearing isn't really that comfortable. Maybe the Mother can change me back."

"She'd better," Misdreavus said. "Otherwise I'd be tempted to kill you."

Umbreon frowned. "What? Why?"

"Your ghost would probably be much more attractive than your current form," Misdreavus said.

Umbreon considered this. "You know, you're probably right…"

The Mother smiled and caught her breath as she stared out at all the Chosen and their friends and families and former enemies spread before her, their forms practically glowing with joy and love. "We have done well," she said to the Unown.

_Indeed,_ the Unown agreed. _However, there is still one task left to accomplish._

The Mother frowned. "And what is that?"

_This has every element it needs to become a 'happily ever after' kind of ending…save for one thing,_ the Unown said.

"Ah, of course," the Mother said, eyes widening in realization. "The most important thing of all…" She looked out at the Chosen and their allies and ex-foes, appraising their hearts until she found one group of lovers who were perfect for what needed to be done. "It can't be a happy ending without a wedding!"

…

Some time later, at the foot of the Great Tree on Birth Island…

"Dearly beloved," the Mother intoned graciously. "Dearest friends and allies and family, all gathered here beneath the shade of the Great Tree…we are here today for a sacred occasion. One age has ended and another is beginning, one stranger and more wondrous than any we have experienced before. And what better way for us to usher in this new era than by forming a union of love, symbolically binding past with the future to create a glorious present? I can think of few who love each other more than the brave, compassionate beings who stand before you, and it is with great pride and joy that I formalize their bonds of love, signaling the start of our new age of peace and prosperity."

She peered down at the people standing eagerly at her feet. "Do you take this upstanding male to be your husband?" she asked the females. They nodded. "And do you take these lovely young ladies to be your wives?" she asked the male. He nodded. The Mother lifted her head and gazed out at the hundreds of guests attending the wedding. "Are there any who object to this union?" _That was a trick question, nobody answer or they'll be sorry, _she telepathically informed the legendary Pokemon, Chosen, ordinary heroes, world leaders, scientists, government officials, natives of Sevii and Birth Island, and other noteworthy individuals attending this historic occasion. Wisely, they all kept their silence. Pleased, the Mother looked back down at her petitioners. "Since there are no dissidents, I now pronounce you all mates. You may kiss each other, but please save anything more intimate for later, there are children present."

The crowd burst into applause as Wobbuffet, wearing a tux and bowtie, kissed first Milotic, then Cacturne, whom were wearing veils and flower garlands and standing on either side of him. Regice, Regirock, and Registeel placed necklaces of stone, ice, and metal over their heads to mark them as a wedded trio. "This is the happiest day of my life," Milotic said joyfully.

"Mine too," Cacturne said. "I never thought I'd get married to him too, I thought his heart was all yours!"

"It belongs to both of you," Wobbuffet said. "You can share it as much as you like."

"Hooray, big brother!" Wynaut cheered.

"All my previous doubts and misgivings about this union have completely disappeared, and I happily endorse my grandson's marriage," Wobbuffet and Wynaut's grandfather said in a daze. "I hope he will be very happy."

"Will you stop doing that?" Gardevoir chided Mewtwo, who was controlling the elder Wynaut's mind.

"No. It's fun. You should try it some time," he said. She rolled her eyes.

Kasurin was bawling like a baby. "I'm so happy! I always cry at weddings!"

Astonishingly, he wasn't the only one. "Me too! Waaaaahhh!" Crawdaunt sobbed.

"For some reason, I was expecting us to be the ones up on that altar," Rayquaza commented to Latias from their seats in the front row with the rest of the Chosen.

"We barely know each other silly, I want to spend some more time learning about the real you before I commit to something like that," Latias teased.

"But we've been soulmates for billions of years!" Rayquaza protested. "You should know everything about me by now!"

"Not in this current incarnation I don't. And besides, I don't think my brother would like it if we got hitched right away," she whispered to him. "He might flip his lid."

"Ah, good point," Rayquaza acknowledged.

"Ash, when are we going to get married?" Misty asked.

Ash started. "Wh-what?! Um, aren't we a little young for that?!"

"We've already had sex and know we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, I think we're ready for marriage," Misty said.

Delia gasped. "You what?!"

"Oh my," said Professor Oak, who had been invited too.

"Already?!" cried Mimey, who was there as well.

"Way to go, Ash!" crowed Gary, in his first and only appearance in the entire story.

"Dammit! Why is it always him?! Why?! WHYYYYYY?!" Brock howled.

"When were you going to tell me this?!" Delia asked.

"Um…never?" Ash said. "Because I knew you'd react this way…oh boy…"

"I'm a little disturbed you did it so early…but nevertheless, I'm happy you got that out of the way! Now I can have grandkids at least a decade early!" Delia said excitedly. Ash and Misty sweatdropped.

"You know, Rayquaza and Misty bring up a good point," Rui said. "Wes, when are we getting married?"

"Um," said Wes, turning white with horror.

"And what about us?" Draganium asked Sceptile.

"Or us?" Marshtomp asked Lombre.

"Or us?" Zaptres asked Articuno.

"Or us?" Brock asked a puzzled Venus.

"Or us?" Sadic asked Pikachu.

"Or us?" the revived Crysta asked Rukario.

"Or us?" Corsola and Crawdaunt's many, many girlfriends asked him.

"Or us?" Gardevoir asked Mewtwo.

"Or us?" Zaptres asked a disturbed Articuno.

"Or us?" Delcatty asked Golduck.

"Or us?" Delia asked her fiancé. (Was it Oak? Zoro? Mimey? Someone else entirely? You decide!)

"Or us?" May asked Drew.

"Ew," said a disgusted (and sane) Max.

"May!" Caroline scolded.

"What? I'm not human, the law doesn't apply to me anymore!" May claimed.

"Unfortunately…" Drew muttered.

"What was that?" May said.

"Nothing, dear," said Drew.

"Or us?" Soldier Heart asked Soldier Wisdom.

"Or us?" Pink Ranger asked Richie.

"Or us?" Yellow Ranger asked Blue Ranger.

"Or us?" June (who was there with the rest of the Squirtle Squad) asked Leo.

"Or us?" Charizard asked Charla.

"We're already married," she pointed out.

"Oh, right," he recalled.

"Or us?" Rosa asked El Gato.

"Or us?" Kyogre asked Groudon.

"Or us?" the elder Latias asked Ho-Oh.

"I thought we agreed to take things slow," he hissed.

"Oh, right, sorry, got caught up in the moment," she apologized.

"Or us?" Domino asked Giovanni.

"Or us?" Misdreavus asked Umbreon.

"Or us?" Butch asked Cassidy.

"Or us?" Raikou asked…Entei?

"Huh?" said the confused Entei.

"Sorry, I was talking to Mama," Raikou said.

"I'm married!" Mama protested.

"Why here and not me?!" Suicune demanded.

"What, you? You're a frigid bitch, what guy would want you?" Raikou asked. The enraged Suicune hit him with an Aurora Beam, proving his point.

"Or us?" Annie asked Oakley.

"Or us?" Buson asked Bashou.

"Or us?" Zaptres asked a very confused Articuno.

"Didn't you just ask me twice?" Articuno pointed out.

Zaptres shrugged. "I know, but third time's the charm." Articuno sweatdropped.

"Or us?" Wally asked Brendan.

"Or us?" Meowth asked…nobody. "Hey, wait, where is Jimmy anyway?"

"Or us?" just about every unmarried women in the audience asked their boyfriend or girlfriend. A few men asked it, too.

"Um," most of the significant others said, while those who weren't and just got queried out of the blue gave the askers confused looks.

Fortunately, the men (and women) were spared having to answer the awkward question when Milotic threw the bouquet, causing them to squeal and riot as they scrambled over each other to try and catch the flowers. The men (and women) sighed in relief.

A little later, after the enormous wedding cake had been rolled out and everyone had started dancing or getting portraits done by Wallace, who had managed to find his way to Birth Island all by himself and so managed to avoid the worst of the fighting, Groudon and Kyogre approached Latias and Rayquaza, who had not quite worked up the courage to go out onto the dance floor together yet. "Um, hey, can I talk to you two for a minute?" the big blue whale asked the dragons.

"Sure, what is it?" Latias asked. Rayquaza frowned, getting a bad feeling.

"Well, Groudon and I-" Kyogre started.

"No, just you," Groudon said.

Kyogre growled at him. "Okay, _I_ have something I kind of need to confess. But before I tell you, you have to promise not to kill me, okay?"

Rayquaza and Latias frowned uncertainly. "How angry is this news going to make us?" Rayquaza asked.

"Um…pretty cheesed, actually," Kyogre said anxiously.

"I don't know-" Latias started.

"All right," Rayquaza said. Latias looked at him in surprise, but he winked at her.

"Okay," Kyogre said reluctantly. She took a deep breath, glanced at Groudon, who glared at her, then finally said, "You remember how when Rayquaza was the Ghost King, Groudon and I kind of existed as parts of his subconscious, causing his mind to be a little disjointed and at times not entirely sane?"

"That wasn't very pleasant," Rayquaza grunted.

"Yeah, why?" Latias asked.

"Well, the thing is…Groudon and I were semi-aware while we were inside Rayquaza's head, and had some slight influence over his thought processes," Kyogre continued. "And when Rayquaza started getting fixated on you, Groudon started shoving in my face that you lived on an island city, which he saw as a triumph of land over water. And that got me annoyed, so to get back at him, I may have…um…subtly convinced Rayquaza to destroy Alto Mare to shut Groudon up."

There was a very long ominous silence. "What," Rayquaza said flatly. Latias's eye started twitching.

"Heheheh…yeah. It was me all along. But, um, no harm no foul, right? I mean, we're all over it and stuff, right guys?" Kyogre said nervously.

Latias snapped. "I KILL YOU!" she shrieked, lunging at Kyogre. The whale screamed as Rayquaza wrapped his tail around Latias's rear, grabbing her only inches away from Kyogre's face. That didn't stop the red and white dragon from howling and slavering madly as she tried to claw out the Sea Basin Pokemon's eyes.

"Waaahhh! No, don't! You can't! You promised, remember? And you can never ever break a promise, right? Right?!" Kyogre wailed desperately.

"I'm afraid that's me you're thinking of," Rayquaza said coolly. "_My_ promises are binding. Latias's? Not so much."

"Oh crap," Kyogre whispered.

"LET ME AT HER! LET ME AT HER!" Latias roared.

"Now, now, dear, while you don't _have_ to keep your promises, it would reflect rather badly on your image as a future queen if you did, now wouldn't it? So please calm yourself down," Rayquaza said level-headedly.

"But…but…I can't let her get away with this! It's because of her that everything…everyone…the only home I ever knew was destroyed!" Latias snarled.

"You're right, Latias. We _aren't_ letting her get away with it," Rayquaza said calmly.

Kyogre started. "But-but you said-"

"I said _we _wouldn't kill you. Latios made no such promise." As Kyogre turned chalk-white in horror, Rayquaza glanced at Latios as he drifted past, chowing down on some cake. "Oh, Latios?"

Latios glanced up, frosting coating his face. "Yeah, what is it, future brother-in-law of mine?" he asked, licking away his crumb mustache.

"Kyogre here just confessed to being behind the destruction of your home city of Alto Mare," Rayquaza said serenely.

"W-wait, it's not like that-" Kyogre protested.

Latios blinked. "I thought that was you."

"Nope. Her idea completely," Rayquaza said with a smug smile.

"Ah. Okay then." Latios swallowed the last of his cake, threw away his plate, bellowed, "I KILL YOU!" and lunged at Kyogre.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! MY EYE! MY EYE!" Kyogre screamed.

"GIVE ME YOUR FACE!" Latios roared as he savagely maimed Kyogre.

"THE PAIN! OH SWEET MOTHER, THE _PAAAAIIIIN_!" Kyogre moaned.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Latios shouted.

"Ha-ha!" Groudon laughed, pointing at Kyogre.

"There. That's much better now, isn't it dearest?" Rayquaza said to Latias.

She nodded, her anger abated. "Oh yes, very much so. I feel better now."

Above it all, the Mother smiled and gazed at everyone dancing and eating and having fun. "Ah, isn't it wonderful, Absol? It seems that all is right with the world."

"Er, yes, I suppose so," Absol said from his place on her shoulder as he and an increasingly large crowd watched Latios maul Kyogre.

The Mother frowned, a puzzled look forming on her face. "And yet…I can't help thinking that somehow I'm forgetting something…"

…

Meanwhile…

"Hello?" the pathetic and broken figure of James asked timidly, pressing his scarred bloodstained face to the window. "Is anybody out there?"

He glanced over his shoulder at the three Jessies. Their horrific bladed red-headed figures were still as motionless as they had been a few minutes ago, but being tortured endlessly by Deoxys had taught him that just because something looked dead didn't mean it was. And even if it was dead, that didn't mean it was harmless.

Satisfied for the moment that his torturers were, indeed, still dead, he turned back to the window, peering out at the depths of space and the blue planet spread out below his satellite prison, looking more beautiful and pristine than he would have expected, considering it was supposed to be ravaged by all-out war. "Can anyone hear me?" he queried in a weak, tremulous voice, not really expecting to be answered. "Meowth? Boss? Borsch? Twerp? Other twerps? Pikachu? Latias? Deoxys?...Ri2?"

There was no answer. Which shouldn't really be a surprise, given that sound didn't travel in space, but James was too thick and crazy from what felt like millions of years of torture to know that. He shivered. "_I'm so cold…_"

He hoped someone remembered he was up there and rescued him soon. He was getting hungry, and he didn't really relish eating any of the Jessies. With his luck, their flesh would be as poisonous as their hearts…

…

THE END?

(Yes, really the end. Until Brave New World, anyway.)

…

And that is that! Wow, I didn't expect that to be so long. It felt good to get all of that out, didn't it?

So, are you guys satisfied with this resolution? I certainly am. I think I resolved all the lingering plot threads, and if I didn't I'm sure one of you will notice what I missed and bring it to my attention. And if there's any discrepancies between this story and the tale told at the beginning of Brave New World…well, keep it in mind that it was probably told millions and millions of years in the future, so a few details might have gotten messed up along the way. Or there was a time warp. Those always cause problems.

Next on the agenda: the next chapter of Brave New World, kicking off the next story arc, with plenty of thrills and adventure. Hopefully I'll be able to get it done soon, considering that finals are coming up…stupid graduate school.

In any event, that's it for this story, for real this time. So go read the sequel, if you haven't already! It'll be worth your while.


End file.
